journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 92. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 92. international perspectives on teaching social studies dr anatoli rapaport, purdue university editor international perspectives i offer two wonderful articles providing international perspectives from different parts of the world. one provides a window of clarity about what happens in turkish social studies classes and how international education trends such as assessment are affecting these classroom practices. turkey has followed united states’ models of good practice in social studies but has in the united states itself assessment has become an issue, not because models have changed but because in turkey traditional standardised tests have continued despite professional learning for teachers and their communities. dr açıkalın provides ideas for future developments for both turkish and u.s. social studies. the other article i have had the honour to review provides guidance for social studies teachers in the united states to help them explore some of the contradictions in the rhetoric between different sides of current issues such as the arab spring. dr saada provides useful examples of how ‘othering’ is used in current media debates and suggests approaches that may help develop critiques around these debates. i commend the articles to you and thank my colleagues for their work. anatoli corresponding author email: rapaport@purdue.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 92 journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 48 spring/summer 2011 media review editor’s message "the innovative cities of the coming age will develop a creative union of technology, arts and civics." so wrote sir peter hall in his 1000 page treatise on how particular cities in the past have been not just a backdrop for innovation and creativity, but, because of how they are organized, have facilitated the emergence of a dynamic community (hall, 1988). hall is an internationally known geographer whose studies of urban environments have shaped policy-making in the uk and other nations for generations. in the first section of this column i offer a review of a single author whose highly acclaimed work is being used by teachers around the world, in part because of the universal themes she addresses, and in part because of the way her ideas and her cityscapes are presented: as wordless books. ideally this review of the collected works of australian author and artist, jeannie baker, will help readers think about the “creative union of technology, arts and civics” in their own contexts. in the section on recently released media, ncss-published author myra zarnowski (usa) offers an insightful review of reading globally, k-8: connecting students to the world through literature, by barbara lehman, evelyn freeman, and patricia scharer (2010). its authors are key members of the international board on books for young people (ibby) and long-time advocates for using international children’s literature in classrooms. continuity, change, and opportunity are exciting concepts for social studies educators in this digital age. it was no accident that internet developers redefined the term “forum” in order to describe an online meeting place. an online forum such as this one should provide individuals within a shared profession with a virtual place to talk and share ideas, much as the stone forum did in ancient rome. readers are strongly encouraged to participate through the journal website (iajiss.org), and to join in discussions with reviewers and other readers about the reviewed texts and questions they raise. the media review column offers readers a place to share resources they have discovered and find useful, or perplexing, in their efforts to be the most effective social studies educators they can be. please contact the media review editor if you have a resource that you would like to have reviewed, or a resource you would like to review in a future edition of jiss. carolyn o’mahony, media review editor references hall, p. (1998). cities in civilization: culture, innovation and urban order. london: pantheon books. lehman, b., freeman, e., & scharer, p. (2010). reading globally, k-8: connecting students to the world through literature. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 social studies classroom in the time of pandemic from the editor: dear readers, this volume of journal of international social studies is different from others. the covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of millions. it has become a defining moment for governments and civil society all over the world. schools and universities were among those hit hardest. unprepared for the new threat, the quickest (and probably most correct) decision was to move all instruction online. this unprecedented step forced all educators to face new challenges in our profession: we have always cherished the ability to communicate with students face-to-face, to have students emotionally involved in important discussions, and to see the passion in students’ eyes when addressing controversial issues. educating good citizens requires a personal touch. the several months of the pandemic have brought myriads of social and ideological issues to light: chaotic official responses in many countries; blatant inequality in regard to access to medical services and healthcare; economic, racial, and ethnic inequalities; naked xenophobia and frightening ignorance. the pandemic became a magnifying glass that made all social problems much more obtrusive and visible than before. unfortunately, the media report that many schools, particularly elementary schools, plan to reduce time for social studies and even temporarily exclude social studies instruction from their curricula. this is a dangerous move that sadly demonstrates the failure of some politicians and school administrators to appreciate the role of social studies and citizenship education in this trying time. from the very beginning of the pandemic, we all have faced the question of how to adapt to new extraordinary circumstances. we in the ncss international assembly and journal of international social studies believe that one of the most efficient ways to help is to exchange experiences and best instructional practices accumulated by social studies professionals during the first months of the pandemic. with this idea in mind, we invited colleagues to share their ideas and practices regarding how to respond to the current challenges. eleven essays in this special issue involve helpful advice on how to design an online class, develop electronic social studies content materials, establish relations with students in online classrooms, and use the pandemic as a way to educate responsible citizens. the authors of the essays are classroom teachers and university instructors. i would like to thank all colleagues for the very fast and meaningful response – we planned to publish this special issue before the school year starts to make sure our readers can include some advice in their instructional planning. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 this issue opens with the article “cultivating ordinary voices of dissent: the challenge for the social studies” by graham pike (vancouver island university). this article is based on the address that dr. pike delivered last november in austin, texas, when he received the ncss ia global scholar award. the article is the author’s reflection on his 40-year career in global and international education. despite its success in many areas, the global education movement has yet to deliver on its main principle that our world is a complex, interdependent, and multilayered system. to fully comprehend this complexity requires global collaborative actions on an unprecedented scale by governments, corporations, community groups, and individuals. the critical role for social studies educators is to lay the groundwork for social innovation and cultivate ordinary voices of dissent. in “civic thinking and public policy analysis: a comparative approach to political decisionmaking,” jason fitzgerald (monmouth university) explores the processes that community civic leaders use when thinking aloud about hypothetical civic action scenarios, comparing their processes with the public policy analysis process promoted by a number of action civics programs. the author concludes that while the process of civic action and public policy analysis may be similar, the tones of the processes are somewhat different. social studies teachers who look for ways to engage their students in communities should focus on having youth interact with the community, making such interaction pre-requisite to direct action. i hope that you will enjoy this volume and find it helpful for your classroom practice. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: this volume includes articles and an essay that will be interesting to scholars and social studies teachers. melisa akbulut and mehmet açıkalın (i̇stanbul university-cerrahpaşa) investigate students’ and teachers’ experiences during their work with primary sources in a social studies classroom. research demonstrates that social studies teachers in turkey generally use traditional lecturebased teaching techniques rather than student-centered methods such as primary source-based teaching, which are largely marginalized in the classroom. in their article rebuilding the past through dusty stuff: how turkish students respond to primary source-based social studies education, the authors describe a classroom in which primary source-based activities helped participants to better understand the lessons, increased interest, motivation, and participation in the course, and gave students the opportunity to express themselves. the teacher, who initially had limited experience with primary sources and was reluctant to include them in the curriculum, became very positive and enthusiastic about primary sources by the end of the study. a study by eric moffa (washington and lee university), teachers’ perspectives on global citizenship education in central appalachia, aims to uncover social studies teachers’ perspectives and practices of teaching global citizenship in rural appalachian high schools through an exploratory mixed-methods research design. the two-phase study, which included interviews and a survey of social studies teachers from remote rural high schools located in central appalachia, suggested that the participants, while not using the exact terminology of global citizenship, supported multiple types of global citizenship aims. the results of the study problematize simplistic and assumptive views on rural appalachia and its anti-globalist sentiment. participants, who expressed their desires to implement various forms of global education, relied on their own global knowledge, professional tact, and perceptions of community to navigate global education in their schools with autonomy. rural teachers acted as interlocutors for their “isolated” students and, in many ways, as the sole bearers of worldly knowledge, which raises critical questions about teachers’ own worldviews and assumptions about rurality. for many decades, international programs, including government-sponsored education programs, have played an important role in the development of civic knowledge and democratic values among their participants. one such program, the english access microscholarship program, is the focus of the article “it changes me from nothing to something”: identifying mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 educative-psychic violence in a public diplomacy program for nonelite youths by jennice mccafferty-wright (missouri state university). this study draws on critical theories and concepts to analyze content promoted by the program on its social media platform. it examines problematic interpretations and implementations of the program’s mission through critical concepts such as educative-psychic violence and education as a cultural bomb. the author concludes that the content does not emphasize the portion of the mission statement regarding teaching an appreciation for democratic values. this lack of critical guidance on civic education and democratic values calls into question the design of the program and whether it meets its goals. oral history is a proven teaching technique that helps social studies teachers bring live history to the classroom by contextualizing known events and providing a nuanced picture of the past. “when one’s lived experiences of trauma or joy occur during a significant time in history, they yield rarely forgotten memories and deeply held, private knowledge that might never come to light without a storyteller,” writes toni fuss kirkwood-tucker (florida state university) in her essay experiences of a german girl growing up during the nazi regime, the end of world war ii, and coming to “amerika”: an oral history narrative. kirkwood-tucker shares her memories of growing up during the nazi era and the end of world war ii in a village in southern germany. the narrative is based on her lived experiences and stories shared by her father about the horrors of the nazi regime. the media review section includes a review by evan saperstein (william paterson university) of the new book research on teaching global issues: pedagogy for global citizenship education, edited by j. p. myers. i would like to thank all authors and reviewers who contributed to this issue of jiss, and i wish all our readers to stay safe. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: global pandemic: a painful lesson for social studies educators what happened? how was it possible? where did it come from? who is to blame? quarantine is a perfect time for reflection. at first glance, this pandemic has very little to do with education and educators. schools and universities have moved classes online, and we begin to hear opinions that in a time when nonessential businesses are closed, so-called “nonessential” classes should be cut from emergency curricula. this is dangerous, particularly in a time of global crisis. now, when the economy is at a standstill, the importance of what we as social studies educators do is becoming more evident. paradoxically, this global pandemic has become a real test of good citizenship. you are a good citizen if you help your elderly neighbor or those in need in another town, state, or nation. you are a good citizen if you find ways to keep working in these challenging circumstances. you are a good citizen if you actively demand that elected officials demonstrate their leadership qualities instead of empty demagoguery. you are a good citizen if you simply stay at home instead of meeting with friends. in a time like this, good citizenship becomes essential and even life-saving. in no other time do we realize the meaning of the term global interdependence. and i am concerned. i am concerned that there are people who will scapegoat other nations instead of demanding real leadership in their countries. i am concerned that we may hear more and more calls to isolate ourselves, to lock national borders, ignoring the very premise on which this nation was built. i am concerned that, here and there, we see public figures who use the current situation to call for a halt to democratic processes and promote the idea of temporary authoritarian measures; temporary has a tendency to become permanent. this global pandemic is also an ominous sign of how the lack of global citizenship education is detrimental to our globalizing society and how urgently we need it in curricula. “one of the most painful lessons of this crisis is the extent to which america cannot or will not identify with chinese pain,” tweeted emily rouhala, who covers foreign affairs for the washington post. “every horror that is happening here happened first in wuhan. we covered it. many people did not care.” imagine if people in the u.s., italy, or spain did care! mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 this pandemic will teach people many lessons. the most important lesson for social studies educators will be the importance of powerful and transformative citizenship education that addresses the needs of a global community. in this issue, we publish works of scholars and researchers that represent four continents. omiunota ukpokodu (university of missouri-kansas city) writes about the lack of preparation for global competence and the development of a global perspective among social studies teachers. oluseyi matthew odebiyi and cynthia sunal (university of alabama) analyze contemporaneous historical documents that demonstrate the complexities in meaning-making processes in the indigenous social practices in the southwestern part of nigeria. servet üztemur (gaziantep university, turkey) investigates the mediation role of fear of negative evaluation in the context of social studies courses. melissa mitchem and yeji kim (teachers college, columbia university), hanadi shatara (university of wisconsin, la crosse), and william gaudelli (lehigh university, pennsylvania) examine how teachers and administrators enact global education at two schools in the new york city metropolitan area. moshood babatunde lawal (adeniran ogunsanya college of education, nigeria) analyzes to what degree social studies teachers in nigeria are ready to teach security education themes. suzanne macqueen, ruth reynolds, and kate ferguson-patrick (university of newcastle, australia) compare the assessment of cultural competence data from the research literature with findings from an earlier study of american preservice teachers and discuss significant differences between the two cohorts. another researcher from the university of newcastle, gideon boadu, explores history teachers’ conceptions about historical objectivity and whether or not their reasoning resonates with their classroom practices. barend vlaardingerbroek (american university in beirut, lebanon) calls for special attention to human rights education in elementary schools, particularly in developing countries. the use of technology to explore economics within the c3 framework is discussed in the essay by jennie m. carr (bridgewater college, virginia) and john kruggel (james madison university). in an essay by juan manuel walker and kim barker (augusta university, georgia) and cody cruse (harlem high school, virginia), the authors advocate, through research and personal experiences, for an inquiry approach to teaching social studies and other disciplines in all grades. enjoy the reading. stay safe. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ personal profile journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 55 spring/summer 2011 ia perspectives editor, gloria alter in this issue we share an excerpt from toni fuss kirkwood-tucker‟s remarks upon receiving the international assembly‟s distinguished global scholar award, 2010. dr. kirkwood-tucker is associate professor emeritá, florida atlantic university, and visiting associate professor, florida state university. she has decades of experience in global education, including work with her late husband jan l. tucker. her recent book, visions in global education, was reviewed in our first issue of the international journal of social studies. dr. kirkwood-tucker spoke about several critical life experiences and how they influenced her development, particularly her world view, values, and commitment to global education. these experiences were growing up during the nazi era, engaging in international study and travel, and crossing the border (emigrating to the united states from germany at the age of 22). our excerpt addresses her most poignant remarks about growing up in nazi germany. ________________________________________________________________________ critical life experiences that mold a person into a global scholar my childhood years during the nazi era were filled with stark images of a population scarred by war and yearning for peace. too many death notices from two fronts had decimated the male population in my farming village of 1500 residents in the foothills of the alps. husbands, sons, brothers, uncles, and cousins were missing in action, either detained as prisoners-of-war or killed. to this day i still see my mother fainting when the death notice arrived of her oldest brother, a scout in siberia. i remember hundreds of refuges, from the sudetenland and as near as munich 100 kilometers away, seeking shelter in our village; the first group migrating from polish lands conquered by the nazis; and the city-dwellers hungry and homeless from the bombing. when the death notice came that my father‟s youngest brother had fallen in france at the age of 17, i still hear my grandmother‟s primeval scream that caused me nightmares for years. i feared that we would be bombed to death. i could feel this blanket of despair hovering over my village nestled along the ammer river, liberated in april 1945 by united states tanks. mind you, this is catholic bavaria. the mayor, priest, and teachers were the prominent individuals in the village. i clearly remember the scene when our village priest entered our classroom one morning, climbed on a chair, removed the hand-carved crucifix from the wall behind the teacher‟s desk and replaced it with a framed picture of hitler he pulled out from under his black frock. he stepped down from the chair and told the class, “from now on, when your teacher comes into the room, you will no longer pray. instead, you stand up, salute hitler, journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 56 spring/summer 2011 and shout „sieg heil‟ three times. only then are you allowed to sit down. second, when you greet people in the street you no longer greet them with „gruess gott, frau such and such‟ but you raise your arm and say, „sieg heil, frau such and such.‟ as a first-grader i thought jesus coming down from the wall was cool. i always felt sorry for him having to hang from a cross. when i informed my father of this exciting event, he grabbed me by the arms and spoke in no uncertain terms: “i forbid you to salute hitler in the classroom or in the streets, do you understand? do not let me catch you.” from the next day on, i had to remain one hour longer in school every day cleaning blackboards, floors, and windows. from then on, herr pfarrer disliked my family. in another vivid memory, i still hear to this day the daily clicking of a young woman‟s passing footsteps—heading daily for the train station expecting her fiancé to arrive home from the war on the 10:30 night train. it must have been a year before the feet stopped clicking by. he never arrived; he had died in one of history‟s bloodiest battles in stalingrad at the age of 23. when my little brother was born in our house in 1944, i questioned my mother as to why dr. kohlmeier did not deliver him like he did me and my sister. she responded that he was not around any more. my father, just arriving from munich where he worked in the messerschmitt factory after being injured in the war, screamed at my mother, “tell her the truth. dr. kohlmeier is a jew, and he was taken away. who knows in which concentration camp he and his family were killed.” mama started moaning, and i begged my father to tell me about the camps. he ranted for hours as he spoke to his seven-year old first-born of the horrors happening at dachau. the memories of war and genocide of my early childhood (and there are more) have shaped me into a questioning individual distrusting governments and authority, and hating war. for most of my life i felt shame to be german, wondering how so much darkness could emanate from a hard-working, cultured, and gifted people, trying to make sense of the nightmare. the shame eventually turned into pain and, for nearly all of my life, i carried it silently as i did not have the courage to discuss the horror in my high school or university classes in south florida, an area with a large jewish population. ________________________________________________________________________ toni‟s international travels revealed more devastation and victims of corruption, colonialism, and greed. but many of the victims still worked selflessly to improve conditions in the world. in the south (united states) in the 60s, she witnessed “cities burning, demonstrators beaten and killed by the police, and unnerving race riots.” and in miami, during integration and bussing, she taught students who were living in poverty. toni experienced disappointment, frustration, pain, and horror as well as the achievement of hopes and dreams, and encounters that would profoundly affect her life. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 1-2. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 1-2. ruth reynolds, journal editor. social studies teachers as agents of change. ___________________________________________________________________________ as i watch unfolding scenes of devastation and war on my television screen and hear groups affiliated with opposing perspectives arguing and threatening each other i am tempted to despair. how can we be so cruel to each other? have we learnt nothing from decades of previous pointless battles and senseless deaths and suffering? in australia we are scrutinising all citizens who have visited the middle east at our borders to ensure they are not terrorists and they run the risk of being arrested. refugees are not allowed on australian soil if they arrive by boat. children are kept in detention centres awaiting processing with their parents for a number of years and mental health issues in this younger populations, most of whom will be future australian citizens, are very evident. australian tourists are shot out of the sky and australian citizens are joining terrorist groups and foreign armies overseas. this is not only about australia, it is a difficult world we live in and inequality is writ large within nations and between nations. is this what living in a global world is all about? clarifying on a larger scale than ever before who are our friends and who are our enemies and trying to subjugate them. allowing others to suffer so we can prosper? what sustains me and excites me is the way in which social studies teachers keep fighting for equity and social justice and address in many ways the tough questions of our time. education has to be the answer. certainly war and conflict cannot be. in a curriculum which seems to disregard the ethics of human interactions and focuses on testable outcomes social studies teachers have a big job to do. they have to seize the teachable moment, try to sort and sift and clarify and weigh up with their students, the myriad influences that are influencing our perspectives and help our community find a way through a world beset with conflict. this edition provides some great insights into ways in which some gifted researchers and teachers are going about making real changes in the lives of students and ways of thinking in our disparate communities. toni fuss kirkwood-tucker has been kind enough to allow us to publish an abridged speech on global critical dialogue she made to a conference in florida. she pointed out that dr. edvard dmitrievich dneprov, the russian minister of education, appointed by president yeltsin, had this to say at the opening of russia’s first international education conference at sochi in 1991 after the fall of the berlin wall: it is education that is to destroy old-fashioned stereotypes and will change the psyche of the nation. it is education as well that is to lead the way in developing people’s democratic world outlook, their acquiring new political culture and their economic awareness. by reacquainting us with the work of hanvey (1976) on teaching for global education and what this means for her and other teachers like her she helps us refocus on tried and true themes that persist despite our troubled times. read this in the media perspectives section of the journal. dr gloria alter, our social justice editor, introduces us to some exciting ideas about reforming and reframing critical democracy studies from talented authors dr matthew knoester and dr. wangari gichiru. they argue for the need for our students to learn the ‘trade of democracy’, to make arguments and get involved in a critical manner and provide examples from kenya and from international student experiences to clarify their points. dr anatoli rapaport, our international perspectives editor, has similarly worked with researchers with an international background to help raise a lens to examine our taken-for-granted practices in corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 1 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 1-2. the so called developed world. dr najwan saada writes about how teaching strategies using postcolonial theory in social studies education can help us as teachers and our students better understand some of the sources of tension evident in our world today. he argues that: applying postcolonial theory in social studies education will encourage students and teachers to challenge the dichotomy between east and west, and to understand, for instance, that democracy, with free and fair elections, which gives real representation for all citizens, can be produced in middle eastern countries as well. i believe that democracy is context-based, and each society may develop its own understanding of democratic values, processes, and culture. i can see that dr saada and drs knoester and gichiru may have some meaningful conversations starting here. dr acikalin from istanbul university ponders on the future of social studies teaching drawing on the precedents of his country and the united states to build a plan for a meaningful future for social studies teaching. the fully refereed research articles in our edition continue the important conversations about how to teacher social studies and how to teach it to transform our world. jeroen bron from the netherlands has investigated how to best teach to provide students with voice in terms of their education. he argues that students arguing for their own curriculum and negotiating their learning is part of 21st citizenship skills. our classrooms are where our students should be active citizens. jessamay pesek likewise has also addressed issues of learning for democracy in her study of youth opinions toward compulsory voting across five countries. her research provides some interesting perspectives on how students construct their views of democracy and how our own taken for granted views can be held to account. approaches in the classroom and teacher decision making is also addressed by dr debra donnelly in her study of teachers’ use of historical feature films in the teaching of history. she pointed out that these ‘films can be used to teach rich lessons about the nature of historical inquiry and the subversion and redrafting of history in contemporary media’. she argues that these films appeal to the emotions and as such can help develop epistemological and ethical debate around the ideas promoted by popular culture and those that may have been evident in the period under discussion. the last two papers in our peer reviewed section address cultural diversity and intercultural understanding. dr maguth’s paper investigates how technology can be used to build global awareness using an example from a study and class connection with thailand and drs kambutu and nganga explore changes in perceptions of african peoples in a period of globalisation. they traveled to kenya and investigated changes in perceptions as a result of such a visit – the value of study tours to develop global awareness. intercultural understanding must surely be a major focus for educators for the 21st century. enjoy this fantastic read. ruth corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 2 journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 38 spring/summer 2012 a wandering poet for the classroom: naomi shihab-nye amy kilbridge ingham intermediate school district, mason, michigan _____________________________________________________________________________________ naomi shihab-nye is a poignant and prolific writer of poems, young adult novels, essays, and stories. she has received the witter binner fellowship from the library of congress, the i.b. lavin award from the academy of american poets, four pushcart prizes, a guggenheim fellowship, and numerous other honors for her books for young readers. shihab-nye brings an international perspective to her writing. she is an arab american whose father was a palestinian refugee and whose mother is an american of swiss and german descent. much of her work is devoted to bridging gaps between cultures and people. when the world trade center fell, shihab-nye immediately penned the essay, “a letter from naomi shihab-nye, arab american poet: to any would – be terrorists” expressing her sadness over the tragedy in new york and presenting her vision for a better world. it remains a powerful piece of social activism and a plea for cross-cultural understanding. social studies teachers who wish to expose students to personal stories describing the middle east situation should consider the picture book, sitti’s secrets, the young adult novel, habibi, or both. sitti’s secrets is a semi-autobiographical story about naomi’s childhood visits to her grandmother who lived in a small palestinian village. sitti means grandmother in arabic. sitti’s granddaughter mona, the narrator of the story, describes everyday life with her grandmother and gives the reader a sense of the rhythm of sitti’s life in palestine. the book ends with a letter from mona to the president of the united states describing her grandmother’s life and urging peace. the character of mona provides a role model for social activism, a central theme throughout most of shihab-nye’s works. habibi, winner of the jane addams children’s book award, is a young adult novel with the same setting as sitti’s secrets. sitti is once again the palestinian grandmother and habibi is liyana, a 14 year old girl who moves with her family from st. louis to jerusalem, just as shihab-nye did as a young girl. while shopping in jerusalem, liyana befriends a boy named omer. she assumes he is arabic but finds out later that he is jewish. upon meeting omer, her mother says, “liyana, i don’t think he’s an arab,” and liyana responds, “we already talked about it. he believes in the peace as much as we do.” although liyana and omer are friends, the book does not leave the reader thinking that the palestinian/jewish conflicts can be solved easily. it does, however, give the reader hope. older students will be interested in shihab-nye’s nineteen varieties of gazelle, a collection of poems of the middle east. the sixty poems depict lives of ordinary palestinians. she dedicates these poems to “the wise grandmothers and to the young readers in whom i have always placed my best faith.” shihabnye’s writing of the middle east is always a plea for peace and a window into the hearts and minds of the people. in the introduction to this collection, shihab-nye writes about her own sitti, her grandmother who lived to be 106. after writing about her in essays, poems, picture books and a novel, i had thought i could let her rest … but since september 11, 2001, she has swarmed into my consciousness, journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 39 spring/summer 2012 poking my sleep saying, “it’s your job. speak for me too. say how much i hate it. say this is not who we are. considering some of the stereotyping and profiling that continues to plague arab-americans, shihabnye’s voice adds a much needed global perspective to our national discourse. shihab-nye’s social activism is not limited to issues of the middle east. in her young adult novel, going going, the main character, a 16 year old girl named florrie, lives in san antonio and takes up the cause of local businesses. florrie differs from most of her peers in that she likes old buildings, old clothes, and worries about the future of her town if more small businesses fail. much of the novel centers around a boycott of franchises organized by florrie and some family and friends. this campaign to save “old san antonio” succeeds enough so that florrie feels rewarded for her actions. many readers will be inspired. again, the author draws on her real life experiences. san antonio is shihab-nye’s home and when on the road she requests non-franchise hotels. while many adults decry the apathy of youth, civicminded teenagers are everywhere and will enjoy this story. another of shihab-nye’s books, i’ll ask you three times, are you o.k? offers potential for use in the classroom. shihab-nye is a self-proclaimed “wandering poet,” and this collection of essays, draws on her experiences in taxi cabs and cars in cities in the united states, mexico, and canada. the essays are a testament to staying open to people and new surroundings as well as the potential benefit of taking a slightly different path. adults and students interested in writing essays will find good models in this collection. the essays prod our thinking and lead us to a well-planned destination, even as we take some interesting detours in the process. shihab-nye is an advocate for children everywhere. she has taught writing workshops in palestine and israel to arab children and jewish children. she gives voice to young authors in her collection of the works of twenty-five poets under twenty-five, time you let me in. it is obvious from her own writing that shihab-nye remembers what it’s like to be a child, both the wonder and the pain of it. she honors young writers across the globe arguing for peace, justice, and a future without prejudice. reference shihab-nye, n. (1994). sitti's secrets. (n. carpenter, illus.). new york: macmillan. (1996). habibi. new york: simon & schuster. (2002). nineteen varieties of gazelle: poems of the middle east. newyork: greenwillow books. (2005). going going. new york: greenwillow books. (2007). i’ll ask you three times, are you ok? new york: greenwillow books. shihab-nye, n. (ed.). (2010). time you let me in. new york: greenwillow books. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 40 spring/summer 2012 about the author: amy kilbridge is the secondary language arts consultant for ingham intermediate school district in lansing, michigan and co-leader of lattice international book club (www.latticeworld.org). http://www.latticeworld.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 1-3. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor global initiatives: contributions of social studies educators to global learning welcome to volume 3 issue 2 of the international assembly, journal of international social studies. once again we have a great selection of important research papers, and commentary, of interest to social studies educators’ both in the u. s. and abroad. i am very pleased with the growth of this journal and the integrity of its processes and was able to join with a number of fellow editors at the national council for the social studies conference in st louis, missouri in november to present our credentials to interested authors. the other journals represented included the social studies, theory and research in social education, social studies research and practice, and ohio social studies review. it was great to hear about what other journals are doing to advocate for social studies education and to meet such committed social educators. i was able to report that our journal has a 40% acceptance rate, has received approximately 35 submissions in 2013, had 105 visits on its website in the month of october 2013 of which 56% were new visitors. the majority came from 10 different countries and on average visited 6 pages. i have received most of this information from the google analytics i set up on the journal and which has only been operating for a few months now. it is useful for our editorial board who can use this information to grow the journal and its impact. i really felt that as a journal we are very clearly targeted to an international audience and those interested in international issues and that marks the difference between us and the other journals i mentioned above. we also have forum space for advocacy and opinion pieces in the media, social justice and international perspectives sections, also unusual in other social studies journals. these are strengths which we should build on. i hope you will help us do that by referring researchers to our journal and by submitting work to us. the focus on innovative global perspectives is very strong in this edition and it is a clarion call for advocating for the leadership of social studies education in building sustainable futures and intercultural understanding. in fact we have decided to produce two special editions on these themes with at least one of them, sustainability, appearing in later 2014. i will formally announce the editor, processes and submission dates to submit articles and opinion pieces on this theme shortly. we will still produce at least one general issues volume in 2014, particularly as we are receiving such a lot of good articles. please keep sending them in. i must now turn to the offering sin this edition and as currently ‘the big cold’ is sweeping the u.s. many of our readers will have time to read as they stay warm and safe out of the weather. professor graham pike from vancouver island university in canada starts us out with an article he kindly agreed to write up from his wonderful international assembly presentation at the seattle national ncss conference, global education in times of discomfort. he provides us with some useful backward looking lessons gleaned from his extensive international experience in teaching for a ‘better world’ and then some future visions for how to adapt our thinking to the new contexts, particularly neoliberal constraints on what counts as a good education. he points out that ‘ global educators believe that their vision for education is key to developing safer and more sustainable societies, but they are struggling to be heard amidst the strident neoliberal voices’ and argues that there is a need for research that supports global education approaches. he expands upon themes that help may help future global educators and concludes with a counter to a focus on education for personal and social as one where ‘i would suggest that a key role of public education at this critical stage in human development is to instil a much more sophisticated vision of personal and social well-being’. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 it seems that at least in teacher education in elementary school there is a need for such new ideas. russell and poole in their article global perspectives of american elementary school teachers: a research study, argue that we are not making headway in developing a more sophisticated view of global education and a more globally aware teacher workforce despite lots of rhetoric about its importance. they point to the importance of the classroom teacher in establishing global perspectives for our future students and note that there is a disappointing lack of progress in elementary teachers’ education and knowledge of global education as evidenced by their attitudes and participation in courses and activities that promote global awareness. perhaps some insights provided by studies of civic identity can assist teacher education and teacher practice in providing global perspectives. obenchain, bellows, bernat and smith in their article romanian youths’ civic identities: 20 years after the revolution, reminds us of the complex nature of civic identity and the multiple impacts that influence it. in the world of formal education we do tend to take for granted the multiple informal influences on our civic engagement and civic identity. this study, which analysed interviews with 21 romanian young people who have only known a democratic political system, identified the strong impact of family, teachers and the wider society, who have mostly experienced a communist system, on their civic identity. it was apparent from the youths’ comments that their observations of democracy provided space for optimism but also for pessimism; ‘they are developing a civic identity in which democracy is characterized by the extremes of wealth and poverty, neither of which they believe is achieved through justice or the rule of law’. democracy in romania is seen in a different way than we in different democracies may perceive it. this fact is in itself an important factor in global consciousness and could be a useful trigger for controversial discussion in our classrooms. international standpoints on service learning is the focus of the article by o’keefe and feinberg, service-learning: international teachers' perspectives. o’keefe and feinberg turn our attention to the popular, and often disputed, notion of service learning and provide an international perspective on what is commonly seen as a u.s. based classroom and school initiative. in particular the international students they interviewed provide interesting insights into the notion of mandated controversy. they argued that ‘service-learning design and implementation varies depending on the beliefs and goals of practitioners’ and by giving voice to these international students who had little knowledge of service learning before they visited a program in the u.s. some of our pre suppositions of service learning can be clarified. in addition to the themes that the international students identified in the notion of service learning o’keefe and feinberg provided some useful directions for classroom teacher and teacher educator research by modelling their use of dedoose qualitative software and how it assisted their understanding of the analysis. last but certainly not least of our articles in this issue is that of dan, wei and zhao in evaluation of history interest inventory development and evaluation of a history interest inventory for chinese k12 students. dan, wei and zhao have compiled an ‘interest inventory’ to ascertain the level of interest in students’ history studies with the possibility of clarifying the extent to which such interest correlates with actual results in tests. they developed the test items carefully using research literature and theory to guide the development of test items to assess three key factors associated with ‘interest’. the factors they identified as being separate but related themes, were knowledge of history; assessment of value and importance of history; and positive feelings towards history. in the sample of year 7 students in an eastern china school, value and importance of history correlated most strongly with achievement in history assessment tasks. the authors cautioned that culturally specific issues could influence these results but this research instrument appears to be useful in leaning about what factors specifically affect learning. further uses of the ‘interest inventory’ in different contexts may help clarify the contextual constraints. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 in the media review we have reviews of two outstanding and thought provoking books: de blij, h. j. (2008). the power of place: geography, destiny and globalization’s rough landscape. new york: oxford university press; and stitzlein, sarah m. (2012). teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism. boulder, co; paradigm publishers. isbn-13: 978-1612052281 the latter offers some solutions to key issues emerging from the articles in this issue – how to teach controversy and dissent in a democracy with global perspectives. to add to this feast of innovative ideas and careful research we have commentary from associate professor hilary landorf from florida international university in the social justice issues column. hilary has much experience in weighing in on some of the most controversial debates around definitions of key themes in international education. i really enjoyed her chapter on the philosophy of global education in toni fuss kirkwood-tucker’s recent book, visions in global education. in our column she attempts to build bridges between global education and multicultural education; ‘understanding and valuing difference is one of the overarching goals of both multicultural education and global education. it is by adopting the dialectic model of social justice, in which educators openly acknowledge, examine, and draw on differences, that both fields may be strengthened’. this is well worth a read. i would also like to announce carolyn omahony as our new assistant editor replacing deborah hutton who could not continue due to her pressing workplace commitments. i would like to thank deborah for her help to this point and her continuing ongoing support and great global intuition. carolyn will need to be replaced as media editor but she will be able to offer us her international experience in the role of assistant editor as we expand our editorial board and review editors. let me know if you have ideas on potential members of our editorial board or ideas for expanding our profile and our impact. about the editor associate professor ruth reynolds is the leader of the global education research and teaching group at the university of newcastle, australia and currently teaches courses in teacher education in social studies (called studies of society and environment until very recently in australia and now is called humanities and social sciences), civics and citizenship and environmental sustainability. her research interests include curriculum history, geographic place knowledge, teaching global education in preservice courses, environmental education and teaching using historical fiction. check her profile on: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/staff/research-profile/ruth_reynolds/publications.html journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 115-118. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 115-118. education for democracy at the university level matthew knoester (university of evansville) wangari p. gichiru (central connecticut state university) ___________________________________________________________________________ although i (knoester) teach at a small regional university in the midwestern part of the united states, i was fortunate to teach a seminar last summer that included 12 students from a variety of countries, including three from saudi arabia, three from the u.s., two from south korea, one from japan, and one each from the united arab emirates, lithuania, and kuwait. with this interesting mix of students, we embarked on a first-year writing-intensive seminar focusing on the topic “perspectives on democracy.” the university of evansville, like many universities, requires a seminar for all incoming first-year students to prepare students for college-level writing, along with the reading and discussion of challenging texts. often, these courses share particular books to allow in-coming students to share a “common experience.” in this case, i was able to choose the topic and the books that would be read. it was a wonderful opportunity to teach outside of one’s discipline (education, in my case), and to think about issues that might not arise in my usual courses. i was able to use the opportunity of proposing this course to think further through these issues myself, even as i had recently written or edited two books on the topic of democratic education (knoester, 2012a, 2012b). before i begin discussing in more detail how this class explored the topic of competing definitions of “democracy,” allow me to first suggest that i don’t believe this topic arises enough at the university level. social studies education is generally associated with primary and secondary education—that set of disciplines, including u.s. and world history, generally taught throughout a child’s matriculation in k-12 schools in the united states. but aside from history majors in colleges and universities, i do not believe it can be said that these institutions pay enough attention to what it means to participate in a democracy, or to be a citizen of the world. where do students learn what deborah meier (2009) calls the “trade of democracy,” those skills that include debate, deliberation, questioning, and rethinking one’s own cultural assumptions in light of that of others? in one of the chapters of the edited volume i cited above, my colleague christopher b. crowley and i argue that the “public” in higher education is currently under vociferous attack in the united states. given the large amount of debt that students accumulate, and the decreasing amount of public support for universities, student tuition is rising, amounting to what we argue is a “regressive tax,” and steering students away from citizenship education and toward courses and majors that focus on attaining high-paying jobs upon graduation. in fairness, the same could be said about primary and secondary education. given the increasing pressure of high-stakes testing, and political investment in education for jobs and the economy, rather than for the original purpose of public education in the u.s.—for effective citizenship in a corresponding author email: gichiru@ccsu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 115 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 115-118. democracy—social studies has taken a backseat to the reading and math that are the focus of the tests. yet, judging by the low levels of voter knowledge on basic political issues in the u.s., low levels of voter turnout, the deep social inequalities we see on multiple levels, the large amount of legislation passed that is arguably against voters’ interests, and the sight of wealthy donors drowning the political process with campaign contributions for policies that benefit a small minority while cutting essential goods and services for those who need it, it is not difficult to argue that the social studies education currently available in the u.s. is grossly inadequate. so, of course, when there was a chance to teach social studies—even to non-history majors—and at the university level, i jumped at the opportunity. as mentioned above, the course i proposed and taught was entitled “perspectives on democracy.” i chose this title because the term “democracy” is understood differently by different people, yet it is how countries like the united states officially characterize themselves. it is how “we” organize ourselves, how “we” understand our role as citizens, and provides terms around which “we” debate what is “fair.” (i use quotation marks here because these terms and claims are also strongly disputed). still, the term “democracy” continues to be a topic of debate. in defining “democracy,” tensions inevitably arise, such as: whose voice counts? who should decide the most important issues of the day, and how? what is the role of education in democratic participation? why shouldn’t “experts” decide and be the “final call?” should everyone have a vote? why not people under 18? why not people who lack citizenship papers? why not ex-convicts? why not african americans, women, native americans, people without land (when the u.s. was first founded)? how are the rights of the minority protected? should we listen to those who do not vote? what is and should be the role of money in politics? what is the role of education in democratic participation? what is the role of newspapers and the media? what should their role be? these were the questions explored throughout this course. drawing from the book on democracy by robert dahl (1998), and the constitutions of five different countries (france, ireland, kenya, south korea, and the united states), along with guest lectures from scholars from each of the countries outside of the united states named above, students compared how “democracy” appears to be defined from country to country. one of the guest speakers for the class, the second author of this essay, detailed how she was involved with the movement for democracy in kenya, and offered a valuable perspective from a politically active citizen within a movement that helped to create the first democratic constitution in her nation’s history. i invited her to provide this lecture because “democracy” is too often narrowly defined as “voting” and “elections.” and yet, here is a person who, shut out from the electoral process, was able to help make political changes in her country by contributing to a movement that pressured the government to be more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the people. here also was a college student creating this political pressure, an act that anyon (2005) has argued is perhaps the best form of democratic citizenship education. here are the words of wangari gichiru, the second author of this essay, in describing how she participated in the movement for democracy in her native kenya. she gave this lecture via skype after the students had read a copy of kenya’s new constitution: one cannot understand the modern history of kenya without placing the country in the context of colonialism and postcolonial politics that formed the basis of the struggle for democratic citizenship by kenyans. for most africans, the wave of independence movements from colonialists corresponding author email: gichiru@ccsu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 116 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 115-118. that swept through the continent in the 1960s brought renewed hope and high aspirations for what a free and independent africa would provide, but these hopes were soon dashed. in many regions of africa, people realized that the newly formed governments were not delivering the promises they had made. instead, the african post-independence elite, who took over from the colonialists, inaugurated a new era of persecution characterized, among other things, by corruption, nepotism and dictatorship, leading to total disillusionment, endless conflicts, and resulting in a quality of life that has continued to deteriorate (ali & mathews, 1999). for many kenyans, like in many african nations, political independence did not bring the prosperity that so many had expected. though it would be right to say that kenya has enjoyed relative stability since independence, as compared to most of her neighbors, the years following independence have been marked with brewing tensions and recurring sporadic pockets of violence that the government has generally managed to contain. the grievances mostly had to do with long-standing disputes over land and the distribution of economic and political resources (oucho, 2002). in addition, constraining realities of poverty and political instability put university students almost always at loggerheads with the government of the day. university riots have been going on for as long as i can remember. even though many times the riots were triggered by a single incident (e.g. the recent riot that took place at my alma mater, the university of nairobi because ‘a student who had been caught cheating in an exam had been arrested only for him to ‘commit suicide’ in jail – an explanation that the students would not buy) (nation reporter, 2013). such incidents--and they are too many to name--became the very sites within which students struggled to push back at the ‘de facto’ ideologies that ran the country while the governments struggle to maintain the status quo. of course, this came with dire consequences, both intended and unintended. as a student who endured a riot almost every year of my undergraduate life, i was often left wondering when a new dawn would come. the perpetual struggle was too daunting. we were punished by long expulsions from the campus, occasional student detention without trial, and heavy casualties and damage during protests by clashing sides. by the mid 2001, mixed feelings of expectation and resignation hung in most of our minds about the hopes of a real democratic transition (murunga & nasongo, 2007). it was in this struggle that, somewhere in 2003, the constitution of kenya review commission was created for the purpose of soliciting public input for the first time to help draft a new constitution. this led to the draft constitution being rejected in the 2005 referendum. the draft was eventually revived after the 2007-2008 post-election violence and garnered a 67% approval in the 2010 referendum to become the kenya constitution of 2010. dr. gichiru knew, because i told her before her guest lecture, that several of the students in the class were keenly interested in the “arab spring” taking place in the middle east. students were particularly interested in the fate of egypt at the time, as news outlets reported the rapidly evolving political situation there. some of my students even wished they were in egypt, taking part in the political situation there. in this scenario, discussions about “democracy” are not merely abstract ideas or philosophies, but on-the-ground struggles that demand new answers to questions such as: when is it appropriate to use violence as a tool for a more “democratic” or inclusive and responsive corresponding author email: gichiru@ccsu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 117 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 115-118. government? can the work of ghandi and mandela be replicated in other politico-historical contexts? dr. gichiru stressed that in the midst of her struggle for democracy, it seemed that the fight would never end. only in hindsight does the outcome seem inevitable. i will not embark on attempting to answer all of the questions i raised in this short essay and that were discussed in this class, but only raise them because i think they are important to think about. they demonstrate that these topics allow for passionate and interesting discussions in class, (and perhaps because of this reality, the students wrote the most well-researched papers i have ever received from a first-year seminar), but also because many of us live in a “democracy” and questions about how citizens can effectively participate in democratic processes cannot be left to one or two classes in high school, or to the profit-driven newspapers and other news media outlets most of us rely upon in adulthood. perhaps more of us should be asking ourselves, where can we find additional spaces for critical democratic citizenship education? references ali, t. m., & mathews, r. o. (1999). conclusion: conflict resolution, and building peace. in t. m. ali & r. o. mathews (eds.). civil wars in africa: roots and resolution (pp. 288-311). montreal & kingston: mcgill-queens university press. anyon, j. (2005). radical possibilities. new york, ny: routledge. dahl, r. (1998). on democracy. new haven, ct: yale university press. knoester, m. (2012a). democratic education in practice: inside the mission hill school. new york, ny: teachers college press. knoester, m. (ed.). (2012b). international struggles for critical democratic education. new york, ny: peter lang. meier, d. (2009). democracy at risk. educational leadership, 66(8), 45-49. murunga, g. r., & nasong'o, s. w. (eds.). (2007). kenya: the struggle for democracy. london: zed books limited. nation reporter. (december 14, 2013). university of nairobi students riot over death of colleague. daily nation. retrieved from http://www.nation.co.ke/news/universityof-nairobistudents-riot-over-death-of-colleague/-/1056/2112260/-/o5ryfr/-/index.html oucho, j. o. (2002). undercurrents of ethnic conflict in kenya. boston: brill academic publishers. corresponding author email: gichiru@ccsu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 118 microsoft word social justice perspectives galleys.docx journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 100 social justice perspectives from the social justice perspectives editor this issue of jiss initiates a new column on social justice. the column addresses concepts, principles, and perspectives of social justice as they relate to the purposes of social studies. the contexts may be global or national, and may focus on particular social groups, and/or discuss substantive issues and current events. the column explores reasons why social justice is vital to social education, and draws implications for educators as they take on the mission of social justice education in the world. it will include theory and research with implications for practice. this initial essay introduces the topic of social justice and suggests some ideas for the integration of social justice into the social studies curriculum. prospective authors should contact gloria alter (galter9@comcast.net), depaul university-lincoln park. challenging ourselves to take social justice education seriously social justice education can be the vehicle to transform the existing curriculum into a dynamic, meaningful, and substantive study, and global citizens who willingly take on the work of justice in the world show us how to translate that learning into our lives. stories of the extraordinary lives of ordinary citizens, their greatness and humility, can inspire us to live for a higher purpose. during the civil rights movement in the u.s. for example, many otherwise ordinary citizens became heroes—the freedom riders, the little rock nine, the greensboro eight, and others. this non-violent movement, inspired by the principles of mahatma gandhi, forever changed the lives of americans. its heroes give citizenship new meaning, and their sacrifices call us to a greater involvement in struggles for national and global human and civil rights. the history of social movements and the views and experiences of the diverse population of the u.s. are either excluded or not fully developed in u.s. social studies textbooks and typically, the social studies curriculum (alter, in press; journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 101 southern poverty law center/teaching tolerance, 2011; zimmerman, 2011). thus, teachers and leaders in social education concerned with social justice should integrate the study of social movements, critical historical events, and diverse perspectives, and encourage students to become engaged in the ongoing struggles for equality in the u.s. and around the world. the work of howard zinn provides a people’s history that addresses social movements and calls attention to what is left out of traditional american history (zinn, 1995) (see also http://zinnedproject.org/). a people’s history reveals that stories of traditional heroes often reflect nationalistic and militaristic perspectives and a limited and often distorted (stereotyped) sense of diverse social groups and their role in history. zinn’s work challenges educators to fill in the blanks, to find what is missing in our histories and why, and to teach the much more complicated stories of our past. historical narratives of primarily stock stories (traditional history supporting the white racial status quo) can be expanded to include concealed stories (alternative stories about racism known by marginalized groups and white antiracists), resistance stories (acknowledgement of and explanations for continued resistance to the ongoing racist policies and practices of dominant groups/institutions/nations), and transformative stories (those which oppose stock stories and combine concealed and resistance stories into new narratives for social justice education) (bell, 2010). this content raises questions about historical facts, multiple perspectives, underlying motivations/causes and effects of events, and the hierarchies we have been socialized to accept. while these narrative types have been used by bell to address racism, they are applicable to other –isms as well. in addition to expanding the curriculum by developing a more accurate and complex history, key concepts and principles of social justice (e.g., socialization/social control, critical thinking, privilege, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, -isms, denial/resistance to social justice education, etc.) can be taught using current events, media/popular culture, and the students’ life contexts and concerns. sensoy and diangelo (2012), bringing u.s. and canadian perspectives to their work, explicate these foundational concepts of social justice with engaging real world examples. they enable the reader to critique and question their own socialized knowledge, as they challenge the thinking of privileged groups. adams, bell, and griffin (2007) provide a strong theoretical foundation for social justice as well, and along with adams, blumenfeld, castaneda, and others (2010), they discuss various forms of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 102 heterosexism, classism, religious bigotry, ageism, ableism, etc.). adams, bell, and griffin (2007, p. 1) state, “the goal of social justice is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs. social justice includes a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.” bickmore (2008) identifies “dimensions of democratic social interaction . . . [that] facilitate (or impede) social justice.” they include a) communication and deliberation-related processes such as, advocacy, dissent, and consensusbuilding, b) institutional governance frameworks that provide “civil, legal, and political protections” and mechanisms to ensure “appropriate and consistent treatment of persons and problems,” and c) “substantive equity,” such as fairness, non-discrimination, and so on. in addition, the author shares insights regarding the integration of social studies and social justice. to address the global stage we also need to look at relationships between nations and another set of concepts about the use and abuse of power that impacts those relationships. (e.g., nationalism/super-patriotism, political mythology in comparison with the actual values of the political system and democratic practices, the nature of political institutions and the legitimacy of its leaders, commitments to international human rights including economic rights, war/war crimes, foreign policy and practice/values for decision-making, imperialism, colonialism, cultural dominance, fair and moral treatment of other nations/peoples, transnational effects of government and business collusion, distribution of wealth, etc.). numerous global issues and conflict zones of the world should be identified. global perspectives inform social action that can be taken in solidarity with marginalized groups worldwide, and they encourage us to reconsider our educational assumptions and commitments. an increasing number of curricula for human rights and global issues are now available online to support goals for global social justice. instruction can include exposing students to “the other,” to controversial issues, and to service-learning for social justice on a local and/or global level. these approaches engage students’ attitudes, values, and commitments, and direct their growth in the understanding of social justice. students develop a more critical consciousness for social change as they increase their self-awareness, awareness of others, awareness of social issues, and ethic of service/ involvement as change agents (cipolle, 2010). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 103 tensions between individual and community/group rights, freedom and responsibility, caring for others and ourselves, economic equity and individual achievement, and national and world views are encountered as students become more concerned about others, take responsibility as citizens, and come to see beyond their own experiences. speaking the truth to power and teaching about human rights and social justice issues can be challenging and even life-threatening depending upon where you are located. those who have lost their lives for telling the truth and supporting human rights should be included among our heroes. resistance to teaching social justice is to be expected, but we cannot let that deter us from responding to the needs of humanity in our communities, nations, and the world. consider that: poverty is “unacceptably high” in the united states, affecting 15% of all residents (46 million) and 20% of children under 18 (coalition on human needs, 2012; u. s. census, 2012). half of the world’s population is living in poverty with the greatest population growth concentrated in the poorest countries (c-span, 2011; population reference bureau, 2011). child labor affects 246 million of the world’s children (15%) and one million in the u.s. (of 12 million). over 10 million are involved in “drug-trafficking, sex work, and other hazardous labor.” (p.a.p. – blog, 2012). hundreds of thousands of children are soldiers. the numbers vary with continually changing armed conflicts. (ibid.). every 3.6 seconds someone dies a hunger-related death. over 800 million (1/3 of them are children) “go to bed hungry every day.” six million children under 5 years old die every year from hunger (16/day). (ibid.). in the u.s. 750,000 people are homeless on any particular day. those who are homeless at some time during the year number 1.5 million (325,000 being children). one-fifth are chronically homeless. more of these people are black, male, middle aged, veterans or disabled. (ibid.). others have no country. refugees numbered 33 million in 2006 and 15 million in 2011 with 800,000 of them new refugees, the highest number in the 21st century (ibid.). hate groups have increased to over 1,000 in the u. s. according to the southern poverty law center, and they are increasingly targeting lgbt youth and adults. across the world at least 10 countries support same sex marriage and in about the same number of countries, it is illegal to be gay and, it is punishable by death. casualties and deaths from war, violence against women, unemployment, illnesses, loss of property and lives from natural disasters, and many other concerns can be added to the list of human needs. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 104 when we respond with compassion and civic action, we see that social justice is the soul of social studies. references adams, m., bell l. a., & griffin, p. (2007). teaching for diversity and social justice, 2nd ed. new york: routledge. adams, m., blumenfeld, w. j., castaneda, c., et al. (2010). readings for diversity and social justice, 2nd ed. new york: routledge. alter, g. (in press). portraying ourselves and others in united states elementary social studies textbooks, k-6, implications for caring, understanding, and action. in j. h. williams (ed.). (re)building memory: school textbooks, identity, and the pedagogies and politics of imagining community, vol. 2. rotterdam, the netherlands: sense publishers. bell, l. a. (2010). storytelling for social justice, connecting narrative and the arts in antiracist teaching. new york: routledge. bickmore, k. (2008). social justice and the social studies. in l. s. levstik, & c. a. tyson, (eds.). handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 155171). new york: routledge. coalition on human needs (2012). as poverty remains unacceptably high, coalition on human needs calls on congress to preserve programs proven to lift families out of poverty. washington, dc: author. cipolle, s. b. (2010). service-learning and social justice, engaging students in social change. landam, md: rowman & littlefield. c-span (2011, october). washington journal: poverty in america. washington, dc: author. p.a.p. – blog. (2012). human rights statistics. retrieved october 1, 2012 from http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights. population reference bureau (2011). 2011 world population data sheet. retrieved october 8, 2011 from http://www.prb.org/publications/datasheets/2011/world-population-datasheet/data-sheet.aspx. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 100-105 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 105 sensoy, o., & diangelo, r. (2012). is everyone really equal? an introduction to key concepts in social justice education. new york: teachers college press. southern poverty law center/teaching tolerance (2011). teaching the movement, the state of civil rights education in the united states 2011. montgomery, al: author. u.s. census (2012). income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the united states: 2011. washington, dc: author. zimmerman, j. (2011). brown-ing the american textbook, history, psychology, and the origins of modern multiculturalism. in e. f. provenzo, jr., a. n. shaver, & m. bello (eds). the textbook as discourse (pp. 216-239). new york: routledge. (first published in the history of education quarterly, vol. 44, no. 1, spring 2004, pp. 46-69.) zinn, h. (1995). a people’s history of the united states, rev. ed. new york: harper perennial. about the social justice editor dr gloria alter is visiting associate professor at depaul university chicago. her research interests include elementary social studies curriculum design and reform, textbook analysis, social studies and social justice, and social studies in local and global perspective. she teaches courses in elementary social studies methods. dr. alter was the editor of social studies and the young learner, president of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies, and president of the illinois council for the social studies. journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 151 worthwhile questions and dancing through despair to hope martha j. ritter cabrini university what i have learned anew from teaching during the covid-19 pandemic is that we live in an interdependent world. we are responsible for one another and are profoundly connected to each other in our shared world. to explain what i mean, i reflect on the graduate course titled elementary social studies/minority issues: teaching strategies, which i taught from may 19 to june 25, 2020, at a college just outside of philadelphia. i describe the arc of the course, share student work, and consider self-care to elaborate the idea of our responsibility to each other, including our children, and to reflect on the aims of social studies education and education more broadly. though not offered as an online course when students registered, it was of course quickly redesigned as schools remained closed by the governor’s order. comfortable with teaching online, i appreciate how surprisingly intimate the experience can be as we all write notes to one another and share work and life stories with people that we may have never met in person and yet are accountable to (unlike in many online forums). in many ways, it is easier to hear all voices in the class as students read each other’s responses and share connections to their own lives. this was true in the courses that moved online overnight in march as people around the world were told to stay at home. students supported each other as we showed up in each other’s homes via computer screens. many of the graduate students were suddenly homeschooling their own children and trying to teach young children online for the first time. this was also true in the summer course, when outrage at police brutality and systemic racism drew many into the streets in mostly peaceful protests in the midst of the pandemic. in philadelphia, there have been more than 20 days of protests of outrage over the death of george floyd at the hands of police on may 25, and at the same time, there is a sudden hope of real change. and the protests and movement continues. the pandemic highlighted fault lines of equity in our society, fault lines that opened wider with outrage at floyd’s death due to police brutality. then, on june 3, a rare storm classified as a derecho followed by a thunderstorm, two different weather systems, flew through our region in one day causing widespread power mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 152 outages, downing trees, and closing many roads. all the while, lives are lost to the virus, nearly everything is closed, we worry about elders in our families and communities that we’re not allowed to see, and we face increased isolation and periods of despair. amidst all of this, our work as educators goes on. for me and the beginning educators in my class, questions about the aim of education and social studies education in particular took on a clarity that is often absent. we could see the need for change more clearly. in a recent interview, actor will smith said, “it’s like peaceful protests put up a mirror to the demonic imagery of your oppressor, and the more still you are in your peaceful protest, the more clear the mirror is to the oppressor for the world to see and for them to see themselves” (farr, 2020, p. d2). speaking of his experience growing up, smith continued, “there’s a part of this that people who didn’t grow up in that, you just can’t comprehend … you just can’t comprehend what it feels like to feel like you live in an occupied territory” (p. d2). smith believes that our problems are not only rooted in our society and our systems but in the hearts and minds of people. at least a part of social studies education should entail learning how to comprehend the experiences of others, however imperfectly, and think critically about our society and the ways in which our systems work to perpetuate racism and other forms of discrimination. and we need an education that touches our hearts as well as our minds. this happened this summer, as our hearts were torn open by the world health crisis and the controversy in controlling the virus, and then again, somehow having the courage to face inequity and continued brutal violence. the arc of the course begins with two inquiry questions: “why teach social studies? what do we want for the children in our classrooms and our world?” the course then moves through a consideration of human rights education as civic education to integrating children’s literature and artful responses that build understanding to designing a unit on the movement of people that incorporates a text set and ends in some kind of advocacy project. this summer term, after the protests manifested, i encouraged students to design a unit that focused on either the broad idea of the movement of people or people’s movements. the simple flip of the words surprised me in how it emphasized how closely the two are related. i’ll move through this arc drawing on the students’ work and then return to the idea of our responsibility to each other, including our children, and finding the heart, a focus on the common good in our connections or communities of shared fate (ritter, 2020; williams, 2003, 2009). the course is framed by the national council of social studies (ncss) statement on the purpose of social studies and, alongside it, a national association of multicultural education (name) explanation of multicultural education: mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 153 the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. (ncss, 1994, p. 3) multicultural education is a philosophical concept built on the ideals of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and human dignity as acknowledged in various documents such as the u.s. declaration of independence, constitutions of south africa and the united states, and the universal declaration of human rights adopted by the united nations. it affirms our need to prepare students for their responsibilities in an interdependent world. it recognizes the role schools can play in developing the attitudes and values necessary for a democratic society. it values cultural differences and affirms the pluralism that students, their communities, and teachers reflect. (name, 2020) as educators, the students and i consider together what key understandings and values students should gain from citizenship education. our responses were in the form of a montage of images and words that highlighted empathy, perspective-taking, equity, and care for others. these themes came through strongly as we all responded to readings, lesson plans, talks, and films on human rights and social justice. small groups in online breakout rooms were lively, the group members seemingly more engaged than if they had been seated in a classroom. as i moved from room to room, i felt like i was traveling to people’s homes. people could speak from their own space. these conversations were extended in discussion threads. below are two examples that respond to articles and films related to the broad questions: who chooses the stories that we tell in elementary school classrooms? whose history is included in textbooks and children’s literature? are there stories, accounts that are left out or told falsely? students were asked to discuss one or two lingering thoughts or new discoveries prompted by the reading/viewing. sarah wrote: the events that have been in the news the last few days have been on my mind a lot. it has made me wonder what teachers’ and schools’ role is in this. i read a powerful passage on theadvocatesforhumanrights.org website. it said, “children develop an awareness of the similarities and differences between people from a very young age and pick up on value judgments by others about those differences. they are influenced by the behaviors and attitudes modeled by those around them throughout their childhood and develop their own values and beliefs based on these observations.” i believe that we as teachers have a powerful impact on how our students view not only themselves but other people as well. mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 154 kelsey wrote: in this extremely sad and challenging time, i found myself feeling encouraged and refreshed by the chalkbeat1 article that dr. ritter shared with us yesterday. the article showcases how different teachers from around the country are connecting with their students in the wake of the recent acts of police brutality, protest, and unrest. a school in new york is preparing to host a “day of action” via zoom next week; a teacher in chicago has plans to use the current events as a springboard into conversations about the larger, overarching issues faced by black people in america; and a teacher in ohio has been conscious to allow time for students to discuss their identities and share their experiences so that concepts such as racism become more tangible. rather than shying away from these difficult engagements, these teachers are deeply committed to listening to their students’ feelings and frustrations while also educating them on the broader issue of systemic racism and how they can be responsible, yet powerful, advocates for change. the responses exemplify thoughtful exploration of values that are in the classroom, that have an impact on children, and they begin to articulate our responsibilities as educators to young students and to society. the theme of listening to students and following their lead came up often. for me, my thoughts about listening were impacted at this time by participating in a zoom meeting organized by power, an interfaith community organization, called “finding grounding: listening deeply to one another” led by .o, lena glickman, and rev. yvette davis.2 it was part of a monthly series, but this was my first session. it was a turning point for me in recognizing my own emotional state with worry about what people were going through with the virus, with my not being able to see and care for my father who lives in an assisted living facility, and with listening and working to be present to students’ stress and worry regarding what was often referred to as “all that is going on.” in this session on self-care, we were skillfully led in a practice of listening and reflecting back without judgement. we were asked to think about where we carried the emotions we were feeling now, how they felt in our bodies. then we had a dance break where all 90 of us danced around in our homes to the song “already won” by unspoken. the intent of the dance break, glickman explained, was to move beyond the fight-or-flight 1 https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/5/31/21276371/educators-tackle-tough-conversations-about-race-andviolence-this-time-virtually 2 https://powerinterfaith.org/event/finding-grounding-listening-deeply-to-one-another/ mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/5/31/21276371/educators-tackle-tough-conversations-about-race-and-violence-this-time-virtually https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/5/31/21276371/educators-tackle-tough-conversations-about-race-and-violence-this-time-virtually https://powerinterfaith.org/event/finding-grounding-listening-deeply-to-one-another/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 155 response brought on by stress or a threat to a place of hope, of joy, where social engagement and creativity are possible. both listening deeply and remembering that we can dance our way out of a threatened feeling, out of despair, at least for a moment, are vitally needed at this time. i don’t know a way forward or back to a more familiar world, but i was heartened by the surprising pleasure of joining together each in our home space for a shortened class period in weekly zoom meetings. in these meetings and in written responses, we had rich discussions of children’s literature about families and children who had to flee from danger. we experimented with integrating the arts to build comprehension of the text, of another’s experience, many trying out a strategy such as sketch to stretch with their own children. we read about the scope of the refugee crisis, now compounded with the covid-19 crisis, and reflected on welcoming the stranger. and as we sat in our homes, we thought about those families who were not at home or whose homes were not safe. in the short timeframe of the course, students wrote powerful units on movement of people and people’s movements. in conclusion, we simply are connected. this may not be good, of course. we work in that direction when we are accountable to one another, when we listen with our hearts, when we respect the dignity of each person and take care of one another and the world where we live and breathe. responsibility is only sometimes a difficult thing. i remember a father saying toward the end of a long community organizing meeting that we might be looking at responsibility in too limited of a way. he continued, referring to his sleeping five-year-old daughter curled on his lap, “it is my responsibility to pick up my daughter and take her home, tuck her into her bed, and it is a joy to do so and source of deep satisfaction.” in thinking about our responsibility to our students and with our students, we need to listen to one another and take up difficult conversations, and there can be a deep satisfaction in that. we also need to head straight for the joy at times, finding ways to dance and laugh together and enjoy each other’s company, whether in our classrooms, families, work places, or communities, whether in person or through online platforms. in the book of joy (2016), his holiness the dalai lama and archbishop desmond tutu are asked whether, in a world where there is so much turmoil, it is possible to find joy. rev. tutu responds, “you show your humanity … by how you see yourself not as apart from others, but from your connection to others” (p. 115). you choose hope. “[hope] is in the pit of your tummy. it’s not in your head” (p. 122). “despair turns us inward. hope sends us into the arms of others” (p. 123). mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 151-156 corresponding author: mjr399@cabrini.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 156 references dalai lama trust, tutu, d., & abrams, d. (2016). the book of joy: lasting happiness in a changing world. avery press. farr, s. (2020, july 17). smith talks philly cops. philadelphia inquirer. national association of multicultural education (name). (2020). definitions of multicultural education. https://www.nameorg.org/definitions_of_multicultural_e.php national council of the social studies (ncss). (1994). expectations of excellence: curriculum standards for social studies. washington dc: ncss. ritter, m. (2020). civility and shared fate: social studies teaching as teaching for belonging. journal of curriculum studies research, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.02.01.1 williams, m. (2003). citizenship as identity, citizenship as shared fate, and the functions of multicultural education. in k. mcdonough & w. feinberg (eds.), citizenship and education in liberal-democratic societies. oxford, uk: oxford university press. williams, m. (2009). citizenship as agency within communities of shared fate. in s. bernstein & w. coleman (eds.), unsettled legitimacy: political community, power, and authority in a global era. vancouver: british columbia university press. about the author: martha j. ritter is an associate professor at teacher education department in cabrini university. mailto:mjr399@cabrini.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nameorg.org/definitions_of_multicultural_e.php https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.02.01.1 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 with love: attempting to instill the lasting value of humanity while teaching during a global pandemic scott t. glew university of minnesota ryan oto university of minnesota j.b. mayo university of minnesota abstract: given the onslaught of covid-19, the university of minnesota suspended in-person instruction, forcing instructors to engage multiple forms of distance learning. this essay describes how two graduate instructors in social studies teacher education shifted their pedagogical focus from one course’s content to the ways in which their students would experience their online instruction. the instructors’ overarching goal was to model for their pre-service teachers what they hoped would be the pedagogical imperatives in those pre-service teachers’ future classrooms: the centering of humanity, the ability to balance grace with high expectations, and the willingness to reflect and learn on their own. introduction in mid-march of the spring 2020 semester, the president of the university of minnesota announced an end to all face-to-face instruction due to the covid-19 pandemic. although there had been warning signs of the impending changes given the rapid spread of the coronavirus, course instructors felt unsettled because they were expected to pivot quickly from the face-toface format to some form of distance learning. what we have laid out here are some of the pedagogical moves taken by two graduate instructors—and the lessons learned from those mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 moves—for a course i (re)designed several years ago, ci 5746: global and multicultural education in the secondary classroom. this course originated at the university of south florida, where i completed my doctoral studies in 2005 and had previously taught it as a graduate instructor under the guidance of my advisor, professor barbara cruz. this 12-week class represents one of the final courses taken in a 13-month initial licensure/m.ed. program in social studies education at the university of minnesota. unlike other courses, in which instructors had to pivot from one teaching format to another mid-stream, ci 5746 did not begin until after the university’s spring break and after the president’s directive. therefore, it was taught using a distance learning format from the very beginning, but the two instructors had little time to adjust the course before the march 17 start date. scott glew and ryan oto, two veteran social studies teachers who are also doctoral students in the social studies phd program, were charged with co-teaching this course and making the changes necessary given the u of m president’s new directives. both instructors have previous teaching experience within our social studies program, and ryan cotaught this course with me and another graduate instructor the previous spring (2019) semester. instructors’ narrative: laying the groundwork as secondary social studies teachers currently working in middle school classrooms, we both took seriously the fact that this was the final course our students would take before they earned their graduate degrees and, more importantly, become responsible for the development of students in their own classrooms. we were positioned to send a group of educators into our profession with the traits that we value among our peers: the centering of humanity, the ability to balance grace with high expectations, and the willingness to continue reflecting and learning on their own. these tendencies are important in any classroom context, but they became even more so when ours shifted to a completely online format for the entire semester. we never met the students in this course face-to-face. some of the seemingly peripheral aspects of teaching that we often take for granted—the conversations with students who arrive early or linger, the casual banter during class—are vital components when building community, and they were noticeably absent in this format. therefore, we deliberately made space for community building in each synchronous class session, where students asked questions and shared what they wanted about both their professional and personal lives. in addition, we left the zoom meeting open before and after the shortened class times so that students could talk to each other with or without our presence. when our presence was requested, students took those opportunities to engage us more deeply on concepts/ideas that we had previously discussed. these moments of grounding made us feel more connected, but they also took up a considerable mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 amount of time from class periods that we had already committed to shortening so our students would not need to endure three-hour zoom meetings. this meant that some parts of the planned curriculum needed to be cut. when attempting to teach a course about a topic as important and broad as global and multicultural education in 12 weeks, what makes it onto the syllabus in a normal year is just a sliver of what we would want students to learn. because the shift to an online format forced us to cut content and activities, we felt that the best way to maintain the integrity of the course was to emphasize big ideas and model the dispositions we hoped these educators would take with them into the years ahead. wiggins (1989) wrote that “students cannot possibly learn everything of value by the time they leave school, but we can instill in them the desire to keep questioning throughout their lives” (p. 44). that is a lofty goal, to be sure, especially for a short, spring semester course taught in the middle of a global pandemic. as currently practicing k-12 classroom teachers, we were openly vulnerable, sharing our own ongoing development and moments of discomfort, and this move allowed us to credibly emphasize that this course needed to be the starting point for a lifelong journey of learning, reflection, and growth. instructors’ narrative: in theory and in practice this challenging time for students also had to be met with grace and flexibility, as we both felt a strange sense of disconnection from the class content each time we met to plan the next class session. exhausted from our commitments as full-time secondary social studies teachers, emotionally spent after reaching out to families to ensure their well-being, and disgruntled about the efforts that our public school districts were making to ensure access to food and mental health services made the planned topics for ci 5746 feel less authentic and meaningful in this particular moment. in addition to that, we were routinely barraged by questions about how to justify passing our middle school students if they did not do any work. many of our k-12 colleagues chose a vision of school as a content delivery system, simplifying the work of teaching into creating content that they could assess and determine whether students understood material. from this position, we routinely heard our k-12 colleagues deem students as failures because they were not engaging in the content. this was especially true for low-income black and brown youth. common refrains began to form as engagement with virtual classrooms dwindled throughout the spring semester: is it fair that teachers are working harder than students? the ncaa won’t accept “pass or fail” so we need to do something else. students can’t just pass classes because we’re doing distance learning; what is the point of school, then? mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 as we shared these stories with one another, we came to understand our k-12 colleagues’ commentary on young people as extensions of the deficit-orientations that have long been maintained in school systems about racially and economically minoritized youth (delpit, 1995; ladson-billings, 1995). we also noticed that these arguments and questions were rooted in a decontextualized understanding of school; rather than shifting how to think about schooling to account and respond to the global pandemic, these arguments were rooted in maintaining what was known and what had become “normal” school practices. as a direct consequence of this thinking, the pre-existing and deeply rooted inequities in schools were exacerbated. the more we processed these ideas about our collective teaching experiences at our public schools, the more we came to understand the urgency of centering something different for the students in ci 5746, understanding that it would not be perfect. but we felt compelled to send a strong message that schools serve an equally, if not more, important purpose of maintaining and building a sense of community and well-being among adults and youth. we approached ci 5746 attempting to instill the value of humanity first and foremost, knowing that this work remains imperative across all contexts, and especially those that exacerbate injustice. our first class was a lesson in humility. scheduled to meet for over three hours as a discussion seminar, we tried to host the entire class of 23 students for three hours. in short, the experience was terrible. we attempted to graft what we would do in person onto a virtual context, and by the midway point, everyone was exhausted. we offered a survey to see what students thought, and overwhelmingly, the responses indicated that we needed shorter class times online and more time to “just talk with each other about life,” as one response noted. humbled by the challenge and the honest responses, we decided to reframe the overall course, and we spent time in the next class devoted to getting to know each other better. we also decided to shorten the actual instruction time in the class to two hours. the next week, the grounding took an hour and neither of us were ready for the way this process consumed our time together. as our anxieties about trying to fit content into the remaining hour flooded our minds, what unfolded before us was the formation of a cathartic experience where people checked in, sharing their collective grief and frustration about their lives and offering support for one another. at the end of class, one student spoke up, saying: hey, i just want to say thanks for the start of class. i don’t get to see these people anymore and it just feels super important to stay connected. i really appreciate that you guys built time and space for that, even if it meant we didn’t get to all the readings. (personal communication, april 7, 2020) mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 nods of affirmation echoed across the screens, and after this, we continued to work in spaces for people to be together and maintain the relationships that existed before covid-19. this was a difficult choice because so much of our internal narratives revolved around the importance of the content we taught. were we doing a disservice to students by not covering all the material? were we saying that the curriculum was not valuable? we understood this to be our own fears of being judged by those around us, and when we let go of those fears, we came to understand that if we wanted these pre-service social studies teachers to have a critical disposition that centered the humanity of their future students, we needed to practice and model that disposition as well. throughout the remainder of the course, a fluid dynamic grew out of opportunities for students to voice how they wanted to engage with the course content and the community. while our preservice teachers overwhelmingly enjoyed being together, these moments could have easily been wasted by hosting discussions in a physically decontextualized classroom. while we could not hope to control what people felt, we aimed to offer follow-up on their advocacy and flexibility when something didn’t go as planned. for example, our last class was scheduled to take place at the same time that multiple peaceful protests were taking place in minneapolis and st. paul in the wake of george floyd’s murder on may 25 (ferraro, 2020). while we as facilitators grappled with what to do or think in our own right, we felt a need to host a class discussion. after sending out the plan for class a day in advance, we had a number of students reach out to us saying that they would not be attending class because they would be protesting instead. some asked if their grade would be marked down for not attending, which caused us to feel a deep sense of dismay. given their apparent sense that we would punish them for engaging in meaningful community action to fight for racial justice, we realized that hosting class at all was the barrier that inspired this sense of concern. while being together in class made us feel good and supported our belief that we were fulfilling our responsibilities as educators, it became clear that this was a choice for ourselves, not for those we taught. understanding the nuance of this balance became critical in how we made decisions about what to teach and when to let go of the reigns, allowing our students to learn and take action in response to far greater learning opportunities within their communities at-large. concluding thoughts teaching global and multicultural education in the secondary classroom to pre-service social studies teachers in the wake of our current global pandemic pushed the instructors to locate new depths of flexibility, grace, and humility in their teaching practices. in reading their narrative, we mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 hope that you notice several tensions at play: coverage of content vs. allowances for students to connect with cohort members; fulfilling class contact hours vs. shorter instruction time with check-in times built in; adhering to preconceived expectations as instructors in a graduate education course vs. making pedagogical moves in the moment that met students’ cognitive and emotional needs. throughout the 12-week span that scott and ryan taught the course, there was on-going communication with each other and with the students in the class, and there was a consistent modeling for their students what they hoped would become common practice in their future classroom spaces: the centering of humanity, the ability to balance grace with high expectations, and the willingness to continue reflecting and learning on their own. what was unsaid but present throughout their narrative is the pressure they likely felt when reframing a course that had been well-established by their advisor. despite this pressure and their inner voices that often tempted them to reverse course and focus on content only, these graduate instructors created a virtual teaching environment that enabled the pre-service teachers to maintain the bonds that had previously existed among them and later to engage their need for activism in the wake of an injustice felt across the united states and abroad. we encourage other social studies instructors to strongly consider replicating (when possible) the pedagogical moves demonstrated here and to notice the thoughtful reflection that prompted these moves. we leave you with the final email sent to the class on june 2, 2020, the day that had been scheduled for the final class (virtual) meeting but conflicted with peaceful protests occurring in the twin cities in the wake of george floyd’s murder: good morning all, after hearing from many of you, we are going to be cancelling class tonight in its entirety. your passion to demonstrate solidarity and resistance in our community is exactly what this course is about and we will not claim that our work is more important than what is currently happening. while we considered rescheduling the class, we cannot in good conscience try to plan out a different time given the rapidly evolving dynamic of the protests, resistance, and support efforts. that said, if you want to organize a meeting time to collectively process/reflect, we welcome that and will support that by setting up a zoom and communicating out times/dates. please reach out with concerns about specific issues pertaining to the class if need be. in the meantime, please keep in touch, be safe, and remain steadfast in your resistance to oppression. with love, scott and ryan mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 60-66 corresponding author: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 references delpit, l. (1995/2006). other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. w. w. norton & company, inc. (the new version published by the new press.) ferraro, n. (2020, june 2). thousands gather for peaceful protests across twin cities tuesday. twin cities pioneer press. https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/02/thousands-gatherfor-peaceful-protests-across-twin-cities-tuesday/?clearuserstate=true ladson-billings, g. (1995a). but that’s just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3), 159-165. ladson-billings, g. (1995b). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. wiggins, g. (1989). the futility of trying to teach everything of importance. educational leadership, 47(3), 44-48, 57-59. about the authors: scott t. glew is a phd student in social studies education at the university of minnesota. his teaching/research promotes thoughtfully and critically engaged democratic citizenship through social studies education. specifically, he focuses on how critical pedagogy and peace education may impact this work during a time of perpetual war and militarism. ryan oto is a phd candidate in social studies education at the university of minnesota. his research focuses on anti-oppressive pedagogies that center community knowledge(s) to repair the historically broken relationships between communities of color and schools. ryan’s work also focuses on youth participatory action research (ypar) in social studies. j.b. mayo is an associate professor of social studies education at the university of minnesota. his work focuses on school(ing) experiences of lgbtq+ students and teachers, especially their engagements with social studies curriculum. mayo’s work also explores the impact of genders and sexuality alliances (gsa) on school environments. mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/02/thousands-gather-for-peaceful-protests-across-twin-cities-tuesday/?clearuserstate=true https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/02/thousands-gather-for-peaceful-protests-across-twin-cities-tuesday/?clearuserstate=true journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 teaching global health in the time of covid-19: key concepts for social studies classrooms mark helmsing george mason university shiri noy denison university abstract: this article highlights the promise of global health approaches for social studies curricula, especially urgent in the time of the covid-19 pandemic. focusing on six facets that inform a global health perspective, the authors offer social studies educators an approach from this applied field of study to support lessons and curriculum on covid-19 across sociology, geography, and other disciplines within social studies education. the authors provide select digital resources for teachers and students to use in learning and teaching about the covid-19 pandemic through a global health perspective aligned with the national council for the social studies’ thematic standards. introduction social studies educators are faced with a double-edged challenge. on the one hand, there is an urgent need to explain the covid-19 pandemic to students and to keep them informed of the latest medical, political, and social understandings of the virus, its effects, and the nature of the pandemic. some would argue that social studies educators have an ethical imperative to teach students about the pandemic in ways that are informed, reasoned, and oriented toward allaying students’ fears and promoting protective measures. such an approach would work toward promoting understandings of the pandemic that are in support of healthy emotional stances against fear, resentment, confusion, and anger (zembylas, 2015), as well as practical measures informed by public health expertise. mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 teaching about the pandemic can be an opportunity for social studies educators to position their curriculum as a resource that promotes peace, healing, and global citizenship (davies, 2004). on the other hand, however, there exists the dilemma of which fields of study and sources of knowledge social studies educators can turn to for shaping and informing the curriculum they teach. for the most part, social studies educators have not taken courses in virology, epidemiology, and cellular biology. while such fields of study may be relevant and important for teachers of the natural sciences, we argue that there are more immediate and accessible fields of study that hold promise for social studies educators when broadening their knowledge base about the covid-19 pandemic. one such field, the field of global health, is well suited for equipping social studies educators with concepts, terminology, and perspectives that complement existing curricula in sociology, geography, economics, and other disciplines of the social studies. in this article, we present six key concepts, drawing primarily from the fields of global health and sociology. these concepts enable students to learn about global health and to apply students’ own “sociological imaginations” (mills, 2000) to understanding the pandemic. by making the connection between biography and history through understanding how this pandemic affects their lives. by applying ideas from sociology and global health to understand how key concepts may shape the experience and trajectory of the pandemic, students can engage in social scientific thinking while learning about the pandemic within existing social studies education curricula. while there are many additional public health ideas educators may find valuable and important to incorporate into lesson plans such as herd immunity, prevention methods, and stigma, we focus on broad, more structural global health concepts. we draw on global health studies, the sociology of health, illness, and development, and other social sciences to highlight a global health approach that we encourage social studies educators to use in their lessons and curriculum. integrating global health within the social studies curriculum can help move students to think about their lives and the pandemic sociologically, integrate global themes and ideas to the social studies curriculum, and have students consider how key axes of difference such as power, inequality, political economy, and more shape experiences and pathways of this pandemic, not just interpersonally but also internationally and globally. mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 defining global health much like the very idea of social studies itself, global health is encompassing and shared among many disciplines, including but not limited to the social sciences. global health is a multidimensional, somewhat unstructured term. this is partly because different disciplines (e.g., public health, sociology, anthropology) conceptualize global health differently. there appears to be, however, a baseline agreement that global health is the study of health across national borders (beaglehole & bonita, 2010); that is, global health as a field of inquiry is focused on health challenges, solutions, and determinants across the planet. it is important to note that this definition is global in scope and should be distinguished from previous fields that focused on “international health” or date even further back to the field of “tropical medicine” with an overtly exoticized focus on diseases “over there” in the global south (noy, 2019). in this way, global health recognizes that risk is shared globally, albeit not equally. a global health approach reduces stigma of certain populations and regions, a crucial move for social studies educators to make in light of how some people refer to the novel coronavirus in harmful, racist ways, ranging from the “wuhan virus and “chinese virus” to the “kung flu” (wang, 2020). global health encompasses clinical care of individuals and the medical field, but also the social systems and institutions that organize the provision of care, preventative as well as curative approaches, coordination across countries, and both infectious diseases (such as covid-19 and other pandemics as well as ebola and tuberculosis) and non-infectious diseases (such as cancer and heart disease). furthermore, ideas from global health studies provide opportunities for social studies educators to integrate concepts and ideas to support students’ systems and economic thinking skills. this can be supported in teaching about the global differences and similarities in financing health care, as well as the production, distribution, and consumption of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. indeed, the fourth disciplinary component of economics in dimension 2 of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards focuses on the global economy. in this framework, students are asked to consider how “economic globalization occurs with cross-border movement of goods, services, technology, information, and human, physical, and financial capital” (ncss, 2013, p. 39). social studies educators can use global health as a conceptual horizon for designing inquiries when teaching lessons aligned to the disciplinary concept of the global economy. one such inquiry may ask students to analyze the role of comparative advantage in determining how vaccines for covid-19 are researched, tested, manufactured, and distributed for consumption within countries and across countries globally. mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 what is a global health perspective? interest in global health and global health education has grown over the last few decades (kerry et al., 2011). health care costs have surged in response to advances in medical technologies, ageing populations, and the rise of chronic diseases. at the same time, there is growing concern about equity, equal access, and the centrality of the state in ensuring people’s right to healthcare. at the forefront of these challenges are national health systems and the international organizations that provide support and facilitate coordination across borders (such as the world health organization and doctors without borders/médicins sans frontières). in an increasingly connected reality—not only via communication but through trade, travel, and migration—pressing public health challenges extend beyond national and regional boundaries. covid-19 provides a real-time example of the ways in which governments, individuals, businesses, and other institutions and groups are struggling to address this global health challenge. these contemporary challenges and debates in global health can and should be integrated in social studies classes, especially now, as they can prompt students to think about covid-19 in comparative, broad perspectives. for these and other reasons, a global health perspective supports geographic and spatial thinking skills. the third disciplinary component of geography in dimension 2 of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards focuses on human population and spatial patterns and movements. a global health perspective supports this disciplinary concept when teaching about covid-19. for example, students can map and trace the movement and spread of the novel coronavirus across different regions of the world. this allows analysis of how relationships between humans and environments extended or contracted spatial patterns, thinking about networks and connections of transmission of the virus and how such spatial patterns of transmission are in flux with regards to hot spots and outbreaks of the virus. at the time of this writing, the united states is grappling with a continued string of outbreaks that proliferate across different regions of the country. students could use a global health approach to compare and contrast responses to the pandemic in the united states, brazil, sweden, and new zealand, as some examples. a global health perspective could also better enable social studies educators to design instruction that “evaluates the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions” (ncss, 2013, p. 43). students could think globally about how such regional variation affected early outbreaks of the pandemic in northern italy, wuhan, and new york city, respectively. mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 preliminary social scientific insights during covid-19 covid-19 has required societies across the world to reimagine everyday aspects of their social lives. physical distancing, masks, hand-washing, and sanitization are fundamentally reshaping social interactions as well as creating tension and disagreement across civic dimensions of public life, from policy debates over economic reopening and forcing the wearing of face coverings to marches and demonstrations across ideological spectrums, from right-wing protests against perceived government overreach to left-wing protests against racial inequities in treatments and government support. all of this happens against the backdrop of our contexts: homes, neighborhoods, schools, as well as national and international contexts. research shows that covid-19 is exacerbating already-existing systems of inequality along lines of race and class (laster pirtle, 2020). research also shows that countries have had different levels of success in containing and managing the spread of the virus (van bavel et al., 2020). this has to do with a variety of factors, including differences in peoples’ willingness to embrace mask-wearing, health systems, resources and readiness, and the rapidity and types of governmental responses. underlying these factors are whether and how people understand and respect scientific expertise and whether and how they take a social view of health problems—whether they feel their fates are tied to those of their fellow country-people. the fourth disciplinary component of civics in dimension 2 of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards focuses on civic processes, rules, and laws. teachers can use global health perspectives when teaching students to “evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved” (ncss, 2013, p. 34). a global health perspective can enable students to consider how different governmental and civic contexts shape and enable different public health outcomes. teachers can ask students why, for example, the civic and governmental contexts of china and south korea allow for specific processes and rules to be enacted that support swift surveillance, contact tracing, and quarantine measures that are different from the civic culture of, say, the united states or sweden, two nations that have had far different national, civic responses to the pandemic. key concepts from the social sciences: opportunities for student learning and reflection we offer the following six key concepts that may be useful to teachers incorporating global health into their social studies curriculum. following these concepts, we list five selected resources teachers can digitally access to deepen their global health perspective on the pandemic as well mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 as five select resources teachers could assign their students to read and access online to deepen their global health engagement related to the pandemic and beyond. we hope the approaches shared in this article will provide a launching pad for social studies educators to integrate global health ideas into existing social studies curricula. 1. globalization: the interconnections across national borders as well as global processes (martin, metzger, & pierre, 2006) in terms of the flow and movement of goods (trade), people (refugees, immigrants, tourists), ideas (ideologies, concepts), technologies (electricity, travel), and communication (internet, phone) are important to understand as they highlight international codependence. a global health approach must consider globalization in order to understand how diseases circulate as well as understanding the spread of ideas and medical technologies, for example. 2. neoliberalism: neoliberalism is widely debated as an ideology or economic approach that focuses on individual (as compared with structural) factors and espouses a free market (rather than state-based) approach (noy, 2017). neoliberalism is important to consider in a global health approach because global health challenges (including in pandemics, for example) require coordinated social approaches and regulation that the market may be ill-equipped to provide, as one example. 3. social determinants of health: social determinants of health shift the focus from individual behaviors associated with health outcomes and foreground the conditions in our environments. this approach focuses on aspects such as income inequality, racism, neighborhood disparities, and access to health care that lead to health inequalities and require systemic intervention to improve health (phelan, link, & tehranifar, 2010). 4. international health organizations (e.g., world health organization, world bank): international organizations can create a forum for coordination between national governments, which is especially important for pandemics, and have important resources in the form of funding and expertise to provide loans and aid to countries. however, these organizations may also create inequalities and are characterized by internal and international political tensions and inequities (chorev, 2012; noy, 2017; shandra, nobles, london, & williamson, 2004). 5. sustainable development goals (sdgs) and their predecessor, millennium development goals (mdgs): the sustainable development goals (sdgs) were adopted in 2015 by united nations member states to help “end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030” (http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en /home/sustainable-development-goals.html). the third goal focuses on health and wellbeing, and many global health efforts rely on the un system for coordination. 6. comparative health systems: a key part of understanding global health is making sense of differences between countries’ health systems and how privately versus publicly funded systems, the organization of health (e.g., hospitals, clinics), and insurance coverage and schemes, as some examples, are related to health outcomes and policies (blank, burau, & kuhlmann, 2017; mechanic & rochefort, 1996; noy, 2018). a global health approach should consider how these differences affect how health systems may be equipped to deal with pandemics and global health challenges. select resources for teachers 1. the united nations development programme’s case studies of covid-19 across countries: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/covid-19-pandemic-response/socio-economicimpact-of-covid-19.html 2. an article in nature: human behavior, “using social and behavioural science to support covid19 pandemic response”: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0884-z 3. the council on foreign relations’ report comparing six health care systems in a pandemic: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/comparing-six-health-care-systems-pandemic 4. an article from the chicago reporter explaining the built-in racial inequities of responding to covid-19: https://www.chicagoreporter.com/flatten-whose-curve-covid-19-response-overlooks -built-in-racial-inequities/ 5. the international sociological association’s research committee on social classes and social movements panel on changing solidarities and collective action in the time of covid-19: https:// www. youtube.com/watch?v=1qbieyrfcic&feature=emb_title select resources for students 1. exploring the sustainable development goals through facts, figures, and short articles a. data dashboard to explore, monitor, and visualize sustainable development goals data: http://www.sdgsdashboard.org/ mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en%20/home/sustainable-development-goals.html http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en%20/home/sustainable-development-goals.html https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/covid-19-pandemic-response/socio-economic-impact-of-covid-19.html https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/covid-19-pandemic-response/socio-economic-impact-of-covid-19.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0884-z https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/comparing-six-health-care-systems-pandemic https://www.chicagoreporter.com/flatten-whose-curve-covid-19-response-overlooks%20-built-in-racial-inequities/ https://www.chicagoreporter.com/flatten-whose-curve-covid-19-response-overlooks%20-built-in-racial-inequities/ http://www.sdgsdashboard.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 b. goal 3 on good health and well-being: https://www.undp.org/ content/undp/ en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-wellbeing.html 2. the new york times interactive coronavirus map: https://www.nytimes.com/ interactive /2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html 3. an article in the new york times on the global health puzzle of seeing different effects of covid-19 across different national and regional contexts: https://www.nytimes.com/ 2020/05/03/world/asia/coronavirus-spread-where-why.html 4. an article in contexts: sociology for the public discussing structural inequalities and the pandemic: https://contexts.org/blog/inequality-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/#vargas 5. an article in usa today on masks as a social intervention: https://www. usatoday.com/ story/ opinion/2020/05/14/require-masks-stop-coronavirus-spread-over-100-health-leaderscolumn/5182076002/ mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.undp.org/%20content/undp/%20en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-well-being.html https://www.undp.org/%20content/undp/%20en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-well-being.html https://www.undp.org/%20content/undp/%20en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-well-being.html https://www.nytimes.com/%20interactive%20/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html https://www.nytimes.com/%20interactive%20/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html https://www.nytimes.com/%202020/05/03/world/asia/coronavirus-spread-where-why.html https://www.nytimes.com/%202020/05/03/world/asia/coronavirus-spread-where-why.html https://contexts.org/blog/inequality-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/#vargas journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 references beaglehole, r., & bonita, r. (2010). what is global health? global health action, 3. 10.3402/gha.v3i0.5142. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v3i0.5142 blank, r., burau, v., & kuhlmann, e. (2017). comparative health policy. macmillan international higher education. chorev, n. (2012). the world health organization between north and south. cornell university press. davies, l. (2004). education and conflict: complexity and chaos. routledge. kerry, v. b., ndung’u, t., walensky, r. p., lee, p. t., kayanja, v. f. i. b., & bangsberg, d. r. (2011). managing the demand for global health education. plos med, 8(11), e1001118. laster pirtle, w. n. (2020). racial capitalism: a fundamental cause of novel coronavirus (covid19) pandemic inequities in the united states. health education & behavior, 47(4), 504508. martin, d., metzger, j.-l., & pierre, p. (2006). the sociology of globalization: theoretical and methodological reflections. international sociology, 21(4), 499-521. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0268580906065298 mechanic, d., & rochefort, d. a. (1996). comparative medical systems. annual review of sociology, 22(1), 239-270. mills, c. w. (2000). the sociological imagination (1959). oxford university press. noy, s. (2017). banking on health: the world bank and health sector reform in latin america. palgrave macmillan. noy, s. (2018). healthy targets? world bank projects and targeted health programmes and policies in costa rica, argentina, and peru, 1980–2005. oxford development studies, 46(2), 164-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2017.1346068 noy, s. (2019). an emergent sociology of global health and development: an introduction. sociology of development, 5(1), 1-8. retrieved from https://socdev. ucpress.edu/ content/5/1/1.full.pdf+html mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v3i0.5142 https://doi.org/%2010.1177/0268580906065298 https://doi.org/%2010.1177/0268580906065298 https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2017.1346068 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 103-112 corresponding author: mhelmsin@gmu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 phelan, j. c., link, b. g., & tehranifar, p. (2010). social conditions as fundamental causes of health inequalities: theory, evidence, and policy implications. journal of health and social behavior, 51(1_suppl), s28-s40. shandra, j. m., nobles, j., london, b., & williamson, j. b. (2004). dependency, democracy, and infant mortality: a quantitative, cross-national analysis of less developed countries. social science & medicine, 59(2), 321-333. van bavel, j. j., baicker, k., boggio, p. s., capraro, v., cichocka, a., cikara, m., & druckman, j. n. (2020). using social and behavioural science to support covid-19 pandemic response. nature: human behaviour, 1-12. wang, c. (2020, june 23). trump’s "kung flu" slur, pervasive scapegoating recall a brutal decadesold hate crime. nbc news. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anniversaryvincent-chin-death-relevant-era-kung-flu-covid-10-n1231888 zembylas, m. (2015). emotion and traumatic conflict: reclaiming healing in education. oxford university press. about the authors: mark helmsing is an assistant professor of education at george mason university. his teaching and research center on critical approaches to social studies education and applying critical thought to rethinking the social studies curriculum in schools, museums, and in public pedagogies in the united states and internationally. shiri noy is an assistant professor of sociology at denison university. her teaching and research center on global health and development, as well as political culture and the cultural authority of science and religion. pedagogically, she seeks to creatively engage students’ sociological imaginations via research inside and outside the classroom. mailto:mhelmsin@gmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anniversary-vincent-chin-death-relevant-era-kung-flu-covid-10-n1231888 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anniversary-vincent-chin-death-relevant-era-kung-flu-covid-10-n1231888 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 jan l. tucker memorial lecture: illuminating equity through global learning hilary landorf, florida international university introduction it is my deep honor to give the jan l. tucker memorial lecture. special thanks go to my long-time colleague and friend toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, for her constant leadership, scholarship, and support of the international assembly (ia) and of course, of global education. thanks also go to the current ia chair beatrice bailey, the immediate past chair jing williams, and the 2021 ia program chair, jongsung kim. i begin with a snippet or two of jan tucker’s work, move into my own global learning story, transition to an example of university-wide global learning, and then move into equity through global learning, with strategies for social studies educators and students. jan tucker’s influence and legacy jan tucker was a man of firm convictions and enormous energy. he was a serious scholar, a powerful leader, a generous mentor, and from all accounts, a force to be reckoned with. i never met jan, but a big part of the reason i came to florida international university (fiu), was because of his legacy. for those of you who don’t know, jan tucker was a professor of social studies education at fiu from first the year the university opened its doors to students, in 1972, until his untimely death in 1997. when i arrived at fiu, in 2002, i was in my first department meeting, and i saw a painting of jan in a corner of the room. not knowing that much about him at the time, the serious, determined, yet gentle look in his eyes really struck me. i quickly learned of jan’s incredible influence on global education at fiu, throughout miami-dade county, and in the state of florida. i learned that through the global awareness program, which jan created in 1979, and lasted until his passing, he and his colleagues were able to form university-school partnerships that advanced global education in schools in every district of the miami-dade county public school system, and throughout the fiu teacher education program. as you can imagine, i felt an incredible mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 responsibility as a new faculty member to carry on jan’s work and stay true to his vision of global education for all. among everything that jan did and all that he stood for, two aspects have especially lit the way for me. the first, is something i gleaned from barbara cruz, in her chapter about jan in the book, the global education movement (cruz, 2018), edited by toni kirkwood-tucker. in her heartfelt narrative, barbara writes that when she was jan’s graduate student, he said to her, “if you want to know a little more about me and how i grew up, just watch hoosiers – it will tell you all you need to know (p. 38).” the second aspect is something i read in one of jan’s own writings on human rights. in the conclusion of this piece, jan wrote that “the developmental task in education for a global perspective requires educators in higher education to be determined realists (tucker, 1982, p.79).” what was special to me about these aspects of jan tucker? first, in jan’s mention of the movie hoosiers, he is referring to his childhood in indiana. i understood from this reference his conviction that one’s cultural identity and lived experience matters in everything we do, and that we have a responsibility to reflect on the forces that shaped us as global educators. the second aspect, determined realism, i took to mean a combination of a clear vision for change, the cluster of skills it takes to navigate the politics of all educational institutions to effect change, and the constancy of hope, the attitude that positive change can happen. my global learning story just as jan was influenced by his upbringing in indiana, i know that my own childhood, spent in the late 1960s and early 1970s in new haven, connecticut, was where my global learning began. it was the height of the civil rights movement, and the attempts to integrate schools through busing were playing out in real time in new haven. as a teenager, along with most of my friends in my predominately white neighborhood, i was bused to a predominately african american and latino/a high school downtown. however, rather than make a positive difference in our education by learning with a diverse group of students, i remember a profound sense of confusion amongst all of us the teachers, those of us who were bused in, and the students who had been there before me. although we learned about diversity in our social studies classes, there was no professional development for teachers to help students’ learning with diversity. i remember thinking at the time that there’s something wrong. there has got to be a way for diversity to become a catalyst for a positive learning experience. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 a year out of college i was off to the peace corps in morocco, another turning point in my global learning. my love for teaching was born in oujda, a mid-sized city on the border with algeria, where i taught english-as-a-foreign language in an all-girls public high school. just as i felt a sense of freedom in speaking arabic, while helping students express themselves in english, i could see their eyes light up as their confidence in their abilities grew. fast forward to 2002, when i began as a social studies educator at fiu. the first course i taught was developing a global perspective, a course that jan tucker developed in the early 1980s and that later was offered throughout the state of florida. in this course, we studied the most pressing global issues of the time sea level rise, genetically engineered food, cell phone use among kids – with the goals of developing students’ global awareness and global perspective. in fact, i remember thinking that if i had my wish, every student at fiu would take this course as a graduation requirement. however, when i was teaching this class, i saw, out of the corner of my eye, that even though there was great geographical and ethnic diversity in the class, most students sat with their friends from high school, and they were usually of the same ethnic group. but i think i was so intent on getting students to understand the interconnections between the local and the global, what i saw then as the foundation to developing a global perspective, that i just plowed on. global learning for global citizenship initiative at fiu a few years later, in the summer of 2008 i was tapped by the senior leadership team at the university to become the director of global learning for global citizenship, an initiative to infuse global learning throughout the undergraduate curriculum and co-curriculum. the initiative was in the beginning planning stages. university stakeholders had just chosen it as fiu’s quality enhancement plan, a required part of reaffirmation of accreditation for our regional accreditation body, the southern association of colleges and schools commission on colleges (sacscoc). the first thing i did when i became director of the newly founded office of global learning initiatives (ogli) was to hire a brilliant doctoral student and, at the time, a middle school social studies teacher, stephanie doscher, as my partner. that fall, together with a global learning development team, we examined the results of a very large survey the university had conducted the year before, as part of a rebranding campaign. what we saw in the results was that all groups of the survey participants from students, to faculty, staff, administrators, community members and business leaders – reported diversity as fiu's greatest strength. however, all these groups also reported that, even though the classroom was very diverse, students were not being mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 challenged to use their diversity in their learning. we called this our internationalization gap. it was findings such as these that switched the light on for me. global learning is really about enabling students to be able to express their unique perspectives and work together to begin to address issues that matter to us all. how to make this kind of learning happen? this was, and is, the question behind global learning. once we did the research on the origin, development, and uses of the term, we defined global learning as “the process of diverse people collaboratively analyzing and addressing complex problems that transcend borders” (landorf & doscher, 2015, p.24). much later, we even wrote a book about this process, making global learning universal: promoting inclusion and success for all students (landorf, doscher, & hardrick, 2018), which serves as a guide for institutions that are interested in promoting global learning as an inclusive, participatory process for all students. the global learning for global citizenship initiative was first implemented in 2010 and is now part of the landscape of the university, both literally and figuratively. in 2013, the alumni association donated a large plaque to fiu with an artistic rendering of the globe and the words global learning for global citizenship underneath. the plaque is displayed at the entrance to the student union. fiu’s 2015-20 strategic plan, beyondpossible2020, characterizes the initiative as the “centerpiece of internationalized undergraduate education at fiu” (fiu, 2015, p. 12). on its simplest level, global learning for global citizenship is a two-course graduation requirement for all undergraduates, who also engage in co-curricular activities to enhance, consolidate, and put into action their global learning. through courses as varied as artistic expression in a global society, managing global cities, health without borders, and global perspectives in biology, students strive to achieve the following outcomes: • global awareness, an understanding of the interconnectedness of local and global issues; • global perspective: the ability to analyze issues from multiple perspectives; and, • global engagement: the willingness to engage in local and global problem-solving. these are our graduation-level global learning outcomes. they are the north star of the initiative and the guide for our faculty and students for all parts of the initiative, from course design, to faculty development, activities, and assessment. now, more than a decade later, there are over 250 global learning courses that span all undergraduate academic departments, with more being added each year. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 but as we all know, the classroom is not the only place perhaps not even the primary site – for students’ global learning. for students to effectively use their learning to address complex issues, they must be able to integrate what they learn in the classroom with their learning outside the classroom and in their personal lives. half of the work we do in the ogli is focused on providing students with opportunities to engage in high impact global learning outside the classroom so that they are able to make connections from one course to another, and from their courses to their co-curricular activities and their personal lives. we do this through our programs, the global learning medallion, the millennium fellowship, and the peace corps prep, each of which we call a “global learning habitat” (landorf, et.al, 2018, p. 145). these are dedicated programs that provide students with multiple entryways to collaborating with diverse others, and multiple environments where they can plant deep global learning roots and grow as global citizens. we also help students make these connections through our flagship global learning co-curricular activity, the tuesday times roundtable (ttr). the ttr is a voluntary weekly discussion series of pertinent global issues, loosely based on a new york times article and supported by the new york times readership program. each ttr is guided by one or more faculty and/or community members. students have been coming to this event consistently for the past 11 years, not just for the free lunch, but because they are also hungry to discuss global issues of concern to them, ask questions, and learn about others’ perspectives in a safe, non-competitive, non-graded space. by all measures, global learning for global citizenship has been a success. it brought us the 2021 nafsa paul simon award for campus internationalization, the 2019 association of public and land grant universities’ gold award for inclusivity in global learning research and engagement, and the 2016 institute for international education’s andrew heiskell award for campus internationalization. analyses of our assessment data clearly show that the global learning students do increases their global awareness, perspective, and engagement. after a decade of providing global learning for our students, one of our most interesting assessment findings is that more than one global learning course is necessary to move the needle on students’ global competencies, and even more global learning courses are better. another interesting assessment finding is that the activities that are most predictive of global competency growth are those in which students interact with diverse others. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 an equity focus for global learning in summary, we know we have provided global learning that is inclusive of all students, and that accounts for diversity not just geographical diversity, but disciplinary, cultural, ethnic, and cognitive diversity as well. but because global learning is a lifelong process, and we all pride ourselves in being global learners, in the summer of 2020, when the murder of george floyd and others sparked demonstrations and dialogue about police brutality, racism, and inequality around the world, the ogli was among many educational groups that publicly denounced the violence, hatred, and injustice affecting african americans throughout the united states, and committed to critical reflection of our own actions and practices. we started by reading and discussing derald wing sue’s book, race talk and the conspiracy of silence (sue, 2015), and participating in a 21-day racial equity and social justice challenge sponsored by the ywca. we did an analysis of the demographic make-up of our specialized student programs and saw that we need to do a much better job of recruiting african american and caribbean students. we then created a multi-pronged plan to focus on in our work. it consists of several strategies, including faculty development, research, and student engagement. faculty development and research all faculty who are revising a course for global learning designation, developing a new global learning course, or teaching a global learning course that their colleagues have designed, are encouraged to participate in a half-day hands-on workshop. the overall goal of the workshop is to sensitize participants to the development of their own global awareness, perspective, and engagement, and to move towards new ways of thinking about and implementing the content of their courses. to address equity in global learning, sherrie beeson, the ogli sr. coordinator, collaborated with erica caton, the director of educational and faculty development in the center for the advancement of teaching and a faculty fellow in the division of diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei), to add a module to these workshops that is focused on equity. the module includes engaging in a reflective activity around race as a socially constructed concept, discussing definitions of equity and equitable teaching, and identifying teaching practices that advance equity. as for research, for the past year, i have been working with the association of american colleges and universities’ office of global citizenship for campus, community, and careers on a multiuniversity study. the vice president of this division, dawn whitehead and i have conducted focus mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 groups with students from seven institutions of higher education across the u.s., including fiu. we explored students' perspectives of the meaning, challenges and possible intersections of global learning and dei. from preliminary results, it is clear that students perceive global learning and dei as intricately connected concepts, one essential for the other, and that engagement (rather than knowledge or skill-building) in local social justice-related activities is students’ preferred entrée into global learning. student engagement we know that students want to get engaged in issues around equity, and that when they are given the opportunity for their voices to be heard, they take off on their own. here are just a few examples of strategies we have used, and that you can use too, to fuel student engagement in global learning equity issues. first, there’s the dei global learning student fellows. our office started this initiative this year. two students were chosen as dei-gl student fellows based on the importance and relevance of their proposals to equity focused global learning issues. the fellows receive a small financial stipend, mentoring, and dei specific training to carry out their research agendas. another strategy to jump-start student engagement in equity-focused global learning is to form a global learning student board, a group of student leaders on campus who act as the liaisons between your global learning office and the student body. at fiu, the ogli initiated such a board in spring 2021, amidst the covid19 pandemic, to give more agency to students in their global learning, and to actively engage students in recruiting and mentoring their peers in the various global learning habitat programs. the global learning student board at fiu is made up of 8 students, each of whom has a specific role which include operations coordinator, external and internal outreach coordinators, media relations coordinator, and gl peer advisor. in fall 2021 the global learning student board collectively made the decision to develop an age-appropriate video series to educate miami-dade county public school youth about equity issues impacting south florida. they are now working on a discussion guide that miami-dade county public school teachers can use. a third strategy is to have students apply to become millennium fellows. this is a program sponsored by the millennium campus network and the united nations academic impact, to help make the sustainable development goals (sdgs) a reality (millennium campus network, n.d.). undergraduate students are selected based on their campus leadership and potential to pursue projects that advance the sdgs in their own communities. as millennium fellows, in addition to mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 carrying out their projects, the students participate in a semester-long program in which they get to network with millennium fellows around the world and meet and learn from international experts in all the sdgs. the millennium fellowship class of 2021 includes over 2,000 undergraduate students on 136 campuses, in 30 nations, including 25 students from fiu. here are just two examples of the action-based research that fiu millennium fellows have undertaken since fiu became a millennium fellowship campus in 2019. raqqya adside-west, 2021 millennium fellow campus co-director, addressed sdg 11, sustainable cities and communities, and sdg 2, zero hunger, by establishing letsgrowurban.com. letsgrowurban.com is an urban gardening blog in which raqqya discusses strategies for creating and sustaining urban community gardens. she uses her own work securing locations and creating green spaces in planned gardens in low-income communities in miami as evidence that it is possible for a 20year-old with knowledge, determination, and grit to make a difference in achieving the sdgs. sophia emperatriz jaimes, 2020 millennium fellow, addressed sdg 4, education, by creating dale start smart, a program that guides low-income students in pursuing a higher education through free standardized testing preparation and college essay revisions. sustainable development goals for me, and for many global learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion campus leaders, the sdgs represent the most obvious, and one of the most appropriate sites in which to illuminate equity through global learning. the sdgs allow students and faculty to wrestle with tough questions and consider how ethnicity, gender, and access are correlated to global and local challenges around the most important and vexing issues of our time. within k-20 educational institutions, they can and are being used to bring global learning and equity together for a common purpose. the millennium fellowship program is one of many that gives students the structure, the resources, and most importantly, the sense of community they need to get their projects off the ground. there are several other programs that provide a similar home for global learners. one other example in post-secondary education is the sdg student program (sdg student program, n.d.), an initiative of the united nations sustainable development solutions network (sdsn). the program is a global network of student hubs designed for students to come together to learn about, engage with, and collaborate to take action on the sdgs. for primary and secondary school students, the sdsn sponsors the global schools program (global schools program, n.d.), mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 a combination of resources, grassroots advocacy trainings, outreach to k-12 schools, and research partnerships with universities to design localized curriculum that focus on the sdgs. conclusion i end with an image, of fiu’s vice provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion, el pagnier hudson, who was slated to give a keynote address a couple of weeks ago to this year’s millennium fellows at fiu. she had lost her voice that day, but rather than stay home, she came with the director of the division of dei, emmanuelle archange, who read her speech, while el pagnier flashed messages on her ipad. her last message – so proud of you – applies to all of you you are on the frontlines of schools, colleges, and universities, empowering your students to contribute to the well-being of the world. to all of our students who are engaged in this work. and of course, to jan tucker, who led the way for all of us. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 1-10 corresponding author: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 references cruz, b. c. (2018). global visionary: the life and work of jan l. tucker. in t.f kirkwood-tucker (ed.), the global education movement: narratives of distinguished global scholars (pp. 37-58). information age publishing. florida international university (2015). beyondpossible2020. retrieved from: https://beyondpossible.fiu.edu. global schools program (n.d.). retrieved from https://globalschoolsprogram.org landorf, h., doscher, s. & hardrick, j. (2018). making global learning universal: promoting inclusion and success for all students. stylus press and nafsa. millennium campus network (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.mcnpartners.org sue, d.w. (2015). race talk and the conspiracy of silence: understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. john wiley & sons, inc. the sdg students program (n.d.). retrieved from https://sdgstudent.org tucker, j.l. (1982). international human rights education: the challenge for colleges and universities. in m.s. branson & j. torney-purta (eds.), international human rights, society, and the schools (pp. 71-80). national council for the social studies. about the author: hillary landorf is the founding executive director of the office of global learning initiatives at florida international university (fiu). in this position, she oversees fiu’s university-wide initiative, global learning for global citizenship, recipient of nafsa’s 2021 paul simon award for comprehensive internationalization she is also an associate professor and graduate program director of fiu’s master of science degree program in international and intercultural education. hilary’s expertise centers on visioning, implementing, and assessing the policies and practices of global learning efforts in higher education. she has written, consulted, and presented internationally on integrating global learning into higher education. diversity, equity, and inclusion have been consistent themes throughout her work, in topics ranging from human rights education, teaching for social justice, education for sustainable development, and defining global learning. hilary’s latest co-authored book is making global learning universal: promoting inclusion and success for all students. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://beyondpossible.fiu.edu/ https://globalschoolsprogram.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 127-140 corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 human rights before and after covid-19: getting human rights education out of quarantine glenn mitoma university of connecticut alan s. marcus university of connecticut abstract: this essay explores the way in which the covid-19 pandemic has worsened human rights conditions across the globe, particularly around the rise of authoritarianism, erosion of democracy, increase in hate crimes and racism, and deepening of economic inequality. we then advocate for the possibilities and significance of human rights education as a core component of every student’s learning experience and provide suggestions and specific resources for teaching human rights during and after the covid-19 pandemic. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 introduction speaking in 1966, robert f. kennedy offered a powerful metaphor of change in a country fraught with injustice. touring apartheid-era south africa, kennedy declared that one person standing up for an ideal or taking action “sends forth a tiny ripple of hope” that ultimately joins with others. together, these ripples create “a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance” (kennedy, 1966). today, the world continues to challenge us to confront injustice, combat hatred, and fight for human rights, a challenge deepened by the covid19 pandemic. if, as kennedy imagined, justice requires empowered, courageous, and knowledgeable individuals acting alone and in community with others, education must prioritize human rights as a core element of the curriculum. this article explores how the covid-19 pandemic, by inflaming human rights issues around the world, has created opportunities to center human rights education (hre) and encourage ripples of hope on the troubled waters of our world. human rights education the 2011 united nations declaration on hre and training established a global definition of hre as encompassing “all education, training, information, awareness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights.” broad and openended, this definition orients hre toward the progressive advancement of human rights in practice. it aims to prevent “human rights violations and abuses by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understandings and developing their attitudes and behaviors, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights” (united nations general assembly, 2011). hre is understood to have three dimensions (united nations general assembly, 2011): • education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection; • education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners; • education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129 in u.s. classrooms, human rights are most often discussed in the context of the holocaust and other genocides (donnelly, 2006). currently, 42 of 50 states in the u.s. include human rights topics in their social studies standards as either required or example content (the advocates for human rights, 2016). many k-12 students view human rights issues as non-american problems that happen elsewhere, particularly in “third world” countries (barton, 2019). this view is concerning because “[i]f students consistently think of human rights as problems that apply to other countries but not their own, then studying human rights may not only reinforce negative stereotypes of other regions but also blind students to the need to address such issues locally and nationally” (barton, 2019, p. 214). barton proposes that in order to transform students and schools in line with human rights principles, hre must support students to develop related content knowledge. for students to take action on human rights, they need to learn what these rights are and how institutions and policies can protect human rights (barton, 2019). in particular, barton recommends that teachers focus on social context—students’ own experiences and the influence of sources like the news— and help students understand the local, national, and global policies and practices related to human rights. the covid-19 pandemic provides an unfortunate but critical opportunity for u.s. students to evaluate how the pandemic is impacting human rights in their own communities. human rights can be difficult to teach and learn. hre involves trauma, making it both affectively and conceptually difficult (walsh, hicks, & van hover, 2017). the prevalence of anti-human rights ideologies makes teaching human rights increasingly fraught. within the context of racially, economically, and politically diverse school communities, hre is especially difficult, as the trauma is not confined to the past but endemic in classrooms and communities (epstein, 2009). some teachers are uncomfortable addressing difficult histories when society is divided, and could resist incorporating multiple perspectives or interpretations in their teaching (zembylas, 2016). teaching human rights during and after a pandemic prior to the covid-19 pandemic, there was no shortage of human rights issues for students to explore. these include the erosion of democracy in the face of authoritarianism, increased racist and anti-semitic hate coupled with persistent structural racism, and extreme economic inequality. contemporary human rights challenges such as these are deeply rooted, and the pandemic is exacerbating the harms they cause, further exposing political, racial, and economic divisions. this context provides an opportunity for authentic inquiry and learning. here we mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 130 explore these contemporary human rights issues, how they connect with the covid-19 pandemic, and ideas for including them in social studies classrooms. the erosion of democracy in the face of rising authoritarianism recently, human rights experts and advocates have watched with alarm as the post-cold war democratic consolidation has given way to authoritarian politics across the globe (applebaum, 2020). for example, the governments of viktor orbán in hungary and jair bolsonaro in brazil retreated from democratic commitments with rhetoric and policies that explicitly reject human rights. the united states has joined this slide toward authoritarianism, with freedom house, which is among the most respected human rights organizations in the world, noting that “[u.s.] democratic institutions have suffered erosion” (freedom house, 2020a) and, under the banner of “america first,” the u.s. has all but abandoned its traditional role as a global champion for human rights (freedom house, 2020b). authoritarian leaders have often exploited racial, religious, or other divisions to secure and maintain power. in india, for example, prime minister narendra modi’s virulent hindu nationalism inspires intense loyalty and has spurred violence against minorities, including vigilante attacks on muslims. this strategy of extreme polarization relies on casting one’s political opposition as not merely opponents but enemies. with the heightened anxiety and social pressure generated by covid-19, this polarization has led to a politicization of necessary public health measures—wearing masks, limiting large gatherings, staying at home—in ways that reinforce divisions, seed interpersonal conflict, and may ultimately worsen the human toll of the virus. table 1 provides potential learning goals for hre around the issue of rising authoritarianism, proposes how to connect similar historical issues to today, and suggests relevant teaching resources. the goals described highlight teaching about human rights to help students develop a richer knowledge and understanding of key human rights histories, concepts, and challenges. there are a range of connections to the past, as the current rise in authoritarianism echoes similar trends from the early twentieth century. the suggested resources orient teachers to reliable information on the challenges covid-19 presents to human rights in the context of democracy and authoritarianism. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 131 table 1 hre with rising authoritarianism learning goals students will: identify authoritarian threats to human rights. evaluate strengths and weaknesses of democracies in addressing crises. compare and contrast the balance of civil liberties (i.e., privacy, free speech, right to protest) with public health and safety. explore how identity is used to polarize society and compromise human rights. connecting past and present ● compare the factors that contributed to the rise of fascism in the 1930s with those contributing to the rise of authoritarianism today. ● analyze the role of propaganda and new media technologies such as the radio in the 1930s and the contemporary role of “fake news” and social media. ● contrast the debate about privacy vs. security surrounding warrantless wiretaps during the war on terror with the debate about privacy vs. public health surrounding contact tracing during the covid-19 pandemic. resources websites addressing privacy and digital security during the pandemic. includes information and monitoring on use of data, quarantine enforcement, tracking apps, etc. privacy international: https://privacyinternational.org/examples/trackingglobal-response-covid-19 access now: https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/03/access-nowrecommendations-on-covid-and-data-protection-and-privacy.pdf fighting misinformation and defending free expression during covid-19: recommendations for states. from access now. a detailed report focused on inadequate access to information and the rise of hate speech. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://privacyinternational.org/examples/tracking-global-response-covid-19 https://privacyinternational.org/examples/tracking-global-response-covid-19 https://privacyinternational.org/examples/tracking-global-response-covid-19 https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/03/access-now-recommendations-on-covid-and-data-protection-and-privacy.pdf https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/03/access-now-recommendations-on-covid-and-data-protection-and-privacy.pdf https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/03/access-now-recommendations-on-covid-and-data-protection-and-privacy.pdf https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/03/access-now-recommendations-on-covid-and-data-protection-and-privacy.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 132 https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/04/fightingmisinformation-and-defending-free-expression-during-covid-19recommendations-for-states-1.pdf covid-19 outbreak: human rights defenders & civic freedoms. includes websites that track government responses to covid-19 that impact civic freedoms, freedoms for journalists, threats to prisoners, and more. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/covid-19-coronavirusoutbreak/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak-human-rights-defenders-civicfreedoms the increasing prevalence of racist and anti-semitic hate and persistent structural racism well before the outbreak of covid-19, reports documented a rise in racist, anti-semitic, and islamophobic hate. far-right terrorist attacks from norway to new zealand, the surge of hate speech in u.s. schools following the 2016 election, and the return of anti-semitic tropes and conspiracy theories are all indicative of the enduring human rights challenge of racism and bigotry. the spread of covid-19 has led to an increase in anti-asian bias, extending a pattern of scapegoating minorities for disease that extends back at least to the black death. asian americans have been subjected to harassment and intimidation, with one poll finding that 60 percent of asian american respondents reported witnessing someone blaming asians for the pandemic (jackson, berg, & yi, 2020). these acts emerge out of a long history of xenophobia against asians, from the chinese exclusion act in the 1880s to the internment of japanese americans in the 1940s. they are also extensions of rhetorical efforts on the part of the media and political leaders to label covid-19 the “chinese virus” or “kung-flu.” while the asian american community has been disproportionately blamed for covid-19, black, native, and latinx communities have been disproportionately affected by covid-19 itself. black, native, and latinx individuals are more likely to contract the virus and, once infected, more likely to die as a result (centers for disease control, 2020). unequal access to health care, exposure to environmental contaminants as a result of segregation, and the daily “allostatic load” of living mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/04/fighting-misinformation-and-defending-free-expression-during-covid-19-recommendations-for-states-1.pdf https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/04/fighting-misinformation-and-defending-free-expression-during-covid-19-recommendations-for-states-1.pdf https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/04/fighting-misinformation-and-defending-free-expression-during-covid-19-recommendations-for-states-1.pdf https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak-human-rights-defenders-civic-freedoms https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak-human-rights-defenders-civic-freedoms https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak/covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak-human-rights-defenders-civic-freedoms journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 133 with racism are just some of the reasons why people of color are at high risk for the comorbidities that make covid-19 more deadly. table 2 provides potential learning goals for hre around the issue of rising hate and systemic racism, connects similar historical issues to today, and suggests relevant teaching resources. the goals described below highlight teaching for human rights to help students develop values, attitudes and skills necessary to building a culture of human rights. we suggest a few sample resources relevant not only to the intersection of covid-19 with race and ethnicity but also to the broader need to build racial equity into the curriculum. table 2 hre with increasing racism learning goals students will: develop empathy and recognize racism/bias in themselves and others. identify and evaluate various strategies for achieving social change. critique the back-and-forth of progress and decline of legal and institutional racism in the united states connecting past and present ● compare the tactics used and the impact of the african american civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to today’s black lives matter protests. ● examine the racism behind the chinese exclusion act, japanese internment, and today’s anti-asian xenophobia. ● connect centuries of anti-semitism in europe and the united states to a re-emergence of modern day anti-semitism and hate crimes. resources racial equity tools. a comprehensive list of over 100 resources for learning and teaching about racial equity and social justice issues related to covid-19. https://www.racialequitytools.org/fundamentals/resourcelists/resources-addressing-covid-19-with-racial-equity-lens combating bias and stigma related to covid-19. ideas from the american psychological association. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.racialequitytools.org/fundamentals/resource-lists/resources-addressing-covid-19-with-racial-equity-lens https://www.racialequitytools.org/fundamentals/resource-lists/resources-addressing-covid-19-with-racial-equity-lens journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 134 https://www.apa.org/news/press/statements/combating-covid-19bias.pdf the human rights lessons from covid-19: equity requires economics and social rights protections. good article from just security. https://www.justsecurity.org/69602/the-human-rights-lessons-fromcovid-19-equality-requires-economic-and-social-rights-protections/ the covid tracking project. volunteer organization with origins with the atlantic. data on the impact of the pandemic on people of color in the united states. https://covidtracking.com/race extreme economic inequality racial disparities overlay broader inequality across a range of economic and social rights, including access to food and housing security, health care, and quality education. economic inequality has expanded over the past three decades and is a key driver of global migration and human rights risks. within the united states, the distribution of wealth has become so concentrated that just three individuals—jeff bezos, bill gates, and warren buffet—have more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of households (inequality.org, n.d.). inequality has been compounded by covid-19. the shuttering of businesses led to the highest recorded unemployment rates since the great depression. these layoffs and furloughs have disproportionately impacted workers unable to telecommute, especially those in the hospitality, retail, and service sectors (dey & loewenstein, 2020). predictably, food bank usage has surged. mass foreclosures and evictions have been avoided only through timely legislative action. as schools moved to distance education, many in under-resourced districts found themselves cut off from meaningful learning opportunities. many students fell through the cracks, particularly those with special needs or individualized education plans, without ready access to a computer or the internet, or whose home lives became more difficult. table 3 highlights potential learning goals, past-present connections, and resources for hre connected to the problems of economic inequalities. the goals include those related to teaching through human rights to offer students an opportunity for authentic learning that promotes human rights in their own communities. in connecting with the past, students can explore how mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.apa.org/news/press/statements/combating-covid-19-bias.pdf https://www.apa.org/news/press/statements/combating-covid-19-bias.pdf https://www.justsecurity.org/69602/the-human-rights-lessons-from-covid-19-equality-requires-economic-and-social-rights-protections/ https://www.justsecurity.org/69602/the-human-rights-lessons-from-covid-19-equality-requires-economic-and-social-rights-protections/ https://covidtracking.com/race journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 135 communities have worked to support each other in times of need. the selected resources provide contextual data on the economic impacts of covid-19, as well as examples of “mutual aid” efforts. table 3 – hre and economic equality learning goals students will: analyze the ways in which economic inequality demonstrates the interrelated nature of rights to health, housing, food, and education. investigate how education policy and practices promote inequities in schooling. take informed action to support access to food, housing, and education within their own community. connecting past and present ● evaluate past and present education policies and their impact on educational access (e.g., segregation, school choice, school funding, online learning/access to online learning). ● compare and contrast the economic impact (income, housing, health care, education) on african americans and women during the great depression and during the 2020 pandemic. ● examine the treatment and rights of workers during industrialization to “essential” workers during the pandemic. resources ten equity implications of the coronavirus covid-19 outbreak in the united states. from the naacp. lots of resources consider the pandemic and racism, frontline workers, the impact on democracy and education, etc. https://naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ten-equityconsiderations-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-in-the-unitedstates_version-2.pdf school, district, and student education resources to address covid-19. resources and links compiled by the southern educational foundation to mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ten-equity-considerations-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-in-the-united-states_version-2.pdf https://naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ten-equity-considerations-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-in-the-united-states_version-2.pdf https://naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ten-equity-considerations-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-in-the-united-states_version-2.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 136 help communities address the challenge of equitable education during the pandemic. https://www.southerneducation.org/covid-19-resources/ lessons from mutual aid during the coronavirus crisis. describes community-led responses to the covid-19 epidemic as a model for supporting the vulnerable during and after the crisis. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/lessons_from_mutual_aid_during_the_co ronavirus_crisis triaging trauma: community schools tap partners to address needs made worse by covid-19. article exploring the role of community schools, which provide a range of services beyond just classroom instruction, in addressing the pandemic. https://www.educationdive.com/news/triaging-trauma-communityschools-tap-partners-to-address-needs-made-worse/576746/ conclusion society continues to struggle with protecting human rights, particularly for those marginalized based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other identities. these strains are magnified by the covid-19 pandemic. teachers have a responsibility to teach about past and current human rights issues. the connections between these past events and society today, particularly in light of the pandemic, makes this responsibility especially urgent. human rights education can transform students into ripples of hope. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.southerneducation.org/covid-19-resources/ https://ssir.org/articles/entry/lessons_from_mutual_aid_during_the_coronavirus_crisis https://ssir.org/articles/entry/lessons_from_mutual_aid_during_the_coronavirus_crisis https://www.educationdive.com/news/triaging-trauma-community-schools-tap-partners-to-address-needs-made-worse/576746/?fbclid=iwar2w1mmumzgmvnmfdmzvov8qlsaykrlvzabwh3jjpnzmu2osab6plomnpxk https://www.educationdive.com/news/triaging-trauma-community-schools-tap-partners-to-address-needs-made-worse/576746/?fbclid=iwar2w1mmumzgmvnmfdmzvov8qlsaykrlvzabwh3jjpnzmu2osab6plomnpxk journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 137 references applebaum, a. (2020). the twilight of democracy: the lure of authoritarianism. new york: penguin random house. barton, k. c. (2019). what should we teach about human rights? implications of international research. social education, 83(4), 212-216. centers for disease control. (2020). covid-19 in racial and ethnic minority groups. retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racialethnic-minorities.html dey, m., & loewenstein, m. a. (2020). how many workers are employed in sectors directly affected by covid-19 shutdowns, where do they work, and how much do they earn? monthly labor review, u.s. bureau of labor statistics, april 2020. https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2020.6 donnelly, m. b. (2006). educating students about the holocaust: a survey of teaching practices. social education, 70(1), 51-54. epstein, t. (2009). interpreting national history: race, identity, and pedagogy in classrooms and communities. new york: routledge. freedom house. (2020a). united states. in freedom in the world 2020. retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-states/freedom-world/2020 freedom house. (2020b). a leaderless struggle for democracy. in freedom in the world 2020. retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderlessstruggle-democracy inequality.org. (n.d.). wealth inequality in the united states. retrieved from https://inequality.org/facts/wealth-inequality/ jackson, c., berg, j., & yi, j. (2020, april 28). new center for public integrity/ipsos poll find most americans say the coronavirus is a natural disaster. ipsos. https://www.ipsos.com/enus/news-polls/center-for-public-integrity-poll-2020 kennedy, r. (1966, june 6). day of affirmation address. speech, university of capetown, capetown, south africa. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-states/freedom-world/2020 https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderless-struggle-democracy https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderless-struggle-democracy https://inequality.org/facts/wealth-inequality/ https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/center-for-public-integrity-poll-2020 https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/center-for-public-integrity-poll-2020 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 138 kupferschmidt, k., & cohen, j. (2020, march 2). china’s aggressive measures have slowed the coronavirus. they may not work in other countries. science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-aggressive-measures-haveslowed-coronavirus-they-may-not-work-other-countries national council for the social studies. (2015). human rights education: a necessity for effective social and civic learning. social education, 79(3), 161-164. the advocates for human rights. (2016). human rights in state social studies standards: an analysis. report prepared for human rights educators usa, 2016. tufekci, z. (2020, february 22). how the coronavirus revealed authoritarianism’s fatal flaw. the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/02/coronavirus-andblindness-authoritarianism/606922/ united nations general assembly. (2011). united nations declaration on human rights education and training. ga resolution 66/137. retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/unitednation sdeclarationonhumanrightseducationandtraining(2011).aspx united nations. (2020). we are all in this together. retrieved from https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covi d_23_april_2020.pdf walsh, b., hicks, d., & van hover, s. (2017). difficult history means difficult questions: using film to reveal the perspective of “the other” in difficult history topics. in j. d. stoddard, a. s. marcus, & d. hicks (eds.), teaching difficult history with film (pp. 39-56). new york: routledge. zembylas, m. (2016). teacher resistance to engage with “alternative” perspectives of difficult histories: the limits and prospects of affective disruption. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 38(5), 659-675. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-aggressive-measures-have-slowed-coronavirus-they-may-not-work-other-countries https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-aggressive-measures-have-slowed-coronavirus-they-may-not-work-other-countries https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/02/coronavirus-and-blindness-authoritarianism/606922/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/02/coronavirus-and-blindness-authoritarianism/606922/ https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/unitednationsdeclarationonhumanrightseducationandtraining(2011).aspx https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/unitednationsdeclarationonhumanrightseducationandtraining(2011).aspx https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 139 appendix additional resources for teaching human rights during and after the covid-19 pandemic robert f. kennedy center comprehensive lesson plans on human rights at risk during the covid19 pandemic. “our rights at risk in a public health crisis.” https://rfkhumanrights.org/work/teaching-human-rights/lessons/drs-anthony-fauci-andtedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus united nations policy brief on covid-19 and human rights. emphasizes three rights at the frontlines of the pandemic and six key human rights messages to teach and that require action. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_a pril_2020.pdf human rights watch: covid-19: a human rights checklist. includes 40 questions to consider in response to the pandemic that addresses the needs of groups most at risk, including people living in poverty, ethnic and religious minorities, women, people with disabilities, older people, lgbt people, migrants, refugees, and children. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/202004_northamerica_us_covi d19_checklist2.pdf covid-19: how human rights can help protect us. from amnesty international. a look at key rights during the pandemic including healthcare, access to information, rights at work, and fighting discrimination. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/coronavirus-how-human-rights-helpprotect-us/ about the authors: glenn mitoma is assistant professor of human rights and curriculum & instruction and director of the thomas j. dodd research center at the university of connecticut. his research, teaching, and engagement focuses on the history of human rights and human rights education. mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://rfkhumanrights.org/work/teaching-human-rights/lessons/drs-anthony-fauci-and-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus https://rfkhumanrights.org/work/teaching-human-rights/lessons/drs-anthony-fauci-and-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/202004_northamerica_us_covid19_checklist2.pdf https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/202004_northamerica_us_covid19_checklist2.pdf https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/coronavirus-how-human-rights-help-protect-us/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/coronavirus-how-human-rights-help-protect-us/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. tba corresponding author: glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 140 alan s. marcus is professor in the department of curriculum & instruction at the university of connecticut and is a university of connecticut teaching fellow. his scholarship and teaching focus on history museum education and teaching history with film, with an emphasis on the holocaust and other human rights issues. .’ mailto:glenn.mitoma@uconn.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 185 impariamo insieme in italia (learning together in italy) via scambio di instruzione –through instructional exchange. barbara torre veltri, (barbara.veltri@nau.edu) northern arizona university _____________________________________________________________________________________ introduction preparing teacher candidates for their roles in 21st century schools, calls for direct experiences with inquisitive, linguistically diverse, and often technologically savvy students across global and economic contexts. this article presents lessons learned from a unique practicum experience through a semester abroad in italy, where faculty, teacher candidates, and students engaged in educational and cultural collaboration. here’s our story: what the research tell us: the cc3r framework (college and career readiness) seeks to prepare students to enter a “globally competitive workforce,”(ncss, 2013), and teachers (k-8) are responsible for “helping social studies students increase their understanding of the world,” (ncss 2014). but how do teachers, students and colleagues demonstrate competencies in teaching issues and problem-based solutions, if one is unable to communicate and collaborate with schools across the globe? teacher candidates need real time preparation in teaching the increasing numbers of linguistically diverse students present in 21st century schools and learning how kids critically engage in discussion on issues that effect them and their world. but, in what contexts does this occur? the global studies foundation reports: “only 10% of undergraduates actually study or work abroad and 43% spend only one month or less outside of their home country. higher educational institutions provide even less support for faculty study or work abroad (27%) or on faculty language training (16%),” (harth, 2005). according to a may 2015 report published by the national center for educational statistics, “the percentage of public school students in the united states who were english language learners was higher in school year 2012–13 (9.2 percent, or an estimated 4.4 million students) than in 2011–12 (9.1 percent, or an estimated 4.4 million students). and, while foreign language learning, both critically important and economically vital for students in an increasingly global economy, appears to be a neglected area within the united states’ cc3r and ncss journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 186 framework, gregg roberts, world languages and dual language specialist, utah state office of education, warns, “monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st century!” (kluger, 2013). scholars from the center for applied linguistics argue that u.s. economic competitiveness is not only tied to technological advances, but foreign language skills (wiley, et al., 2011). foreign languages are best learned at younger ages, yet only 15% of primary and 58% of middle schools, offer foreign language courses (wiley, 2011; alden, 2012, u.s. commission on linguistics, 2012). the association of international education (2014) reports, “the number of u.s. students studying abroad for credit during the 2012-2013 academic year grew only 2 percent from 283,332 students to 289,408 students. when reviewing the state-by-state data, arizona’s total number of students, across all majors studying abroad, was only 0.54%. we were ready to change the statistics, noted above. the inaugural education track in siena, italy during the spring 2014 semester, the first education track was launched with school partners from the siena school for the liberal arts, in siena, italy, a unesco heritage city ensconced amid the traditions of medieval history and culture. nine teacher candidates accompanied me, an associate professor of social studies and elementary education to pilot, lead, and develop a prototype for the program. teacher candidates lived with host families, were immersed in a new country for 17 weeks, and as native english speakers, supported existing english language instruction, (often supplementing textbook/audio taped lessons) for prek-8 grade students, in two public schools and one private school. our own limited italian language proficiencies became a serious impediment, tempering our initial excitement and confidence when we arrived in a city of italian native speakers. all of us felt an urgency to achieve personal language learning goals, as a matter of functional utility and shared purpose. we also recognized that “global understanding” was not something learned from textbooks, skyping, or streaming lessons. rather, it is a process developed through (1) quality time immersed within another culture, (2) learning from people within communities, (3) meeting in person with people to build trust (4) observing cultural standards of etiquette and demonstrating patience. cecco angiolieri scuola mediale: partnering with the public middle school while we were living, teaching, and immersed in schools abroad, teacher candidates were co-enrolled in social studies methods (taught in a face-to-face format), and educational technology (taught in a hybrid format), as well as three other courses. the elementary practicum course involved supporting english language learning for primary grade students bi-weekly. but the social studies’ practicum experience required that candidates teach older students in a meaningful, relevant, and engaging format that included curriculum competencies at one italian middle school. jonassen, howland, moore, & marra (2003) note that 13-20 year-olds are increasingly more tech savvy than their teachers and readily look to technology to solve problems and locate information. in early march, we entered a darkened classroom with no textbooks, only ipads. we observed dr. tuliani’s 8th graders, in teams of four, creating ibooks that answered one key question related to the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 187 causes and effects of world war i. social studies content was the nucleus from which rich discussion and concepts were presented, however, all research and final assessments were produced through web 2.0-generated products. dr. tuliani, a veteran educator, teaches history, geography, and italian to middle school students at cecco-angioleri scuola mediale in siena, italy. he not only holds a ph.d. in medieval history from the university of siena, but is one of only 25 apple-certified technology teachers in the country. he’s the technology guru for his precocious adolescent students, but he developed teaching methodology for a pedagogical unit using ipads in arts and letters/liberal studies classes that he uses to instruct teachers across his region. prior to visiting dr. tuliani’s class at the public middle school, we did not observe much in the way of technology integration in schools over the seven weeks that we were located in his city. dr. tuliani has “looped” with his level 1a 8th grade students for three consecutive years. he explains, “in italy, and in most of europe, public school students are placed into cohort classes, and all students in those cohorts, follow each other until graduation. middle school students in a “1a” class take the same core classes with each other until they graduate from that middle school.” the class of twenty-one 8th graders, 10 male and 11 female, attended public school in italy for 8 years (5 elementary and 3 middle) and dr. tuliani taught geography, history and italian (three different subjects) to all of them over three consecutive years. this aspect of italian schooling contrasted with what my teacher candidates experienced during their own k-8 education in the u.s., and in previous u.s. based practicum assignments. most report that they were taught by different teachers for each elementary grade, and then by several different core subject matter specialists across their 6-8th grades in their middle schools. getting started: after our initial visit we decided to arrange a meeting to collaborate on a project during our remaining seven weeks of the semester. admittedly, clear communication of ideas was not easy. dr. tuliani, a native italian speaker, was fluent in french and spanish. his english language skills surpassed my basic italian, but we agreed to converse in italian, to build my confidence and vocabulary when speaking to his class later in the semester. we asked the questions that all teachers need to ask, but often don’t when collaboration is planned: where could we collaborate? how could we engage native italian speaking students in discussion and meaningful exchange of ideas, with english speaking italian-language learner teacher candidates? how could technology assist us in reaching our lesson objectives? journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 188 what level of instruction, with time for assessment and evaluation of product could result from a 90 minute face-to-face classroom lesson in a middle school in italy? what other realities and expectations were we all dealing with? (we would have only 14 weeks of italian language immersion study completed; the italian school calendar limited prior interaction with this class because of their spring break that coincided with the easter holiday week and liberation day, april 25th) we agreed on the date of april (29, 2014) and then worked on planning the specifics of how our education track teacher candidates would engage with his adolescent students via a lesson and assessment that aligned with our curriculum requirements. we used italian-english google translate and discussed time frame, 90-minute block, and the format: introduction, discussion, design, and full class review of individual final products that were sent to a drop box file. i shared visual “samples” to illustrate how visual art is used as assessment of students’ critical thinking on ‘big idea’ topics and constructs related to history: (e.g. democracy, freedom, immigration, liberty, voting). in addition, to the visual images that students create, captions offer a single sentence summation (in dual language, english and italian) that presents the students’ understanding of the concept, from a kids’ point of view.* initially, dr. tuliani wondered how an open-ended, arts-based assessment, would qualify as rigor related to curriculum competencies, since end-of-year academic assessments, that his students were required to pass, were coming up in six weeks. however, after he reviewed samples of finished products from u.s. 8th graders who interpreted world war i through their artistic images, he agreed with the practicum project and required three specific elements be included: (1) group work, (2) content related to 8th grade world history curriculum, and (3) technology integration with final product completed on an ipad. the project: the abc’s project from a kid’s point of view when we (myself and 9 female teacher candidates) returned to teach the practicum lesson in late april (with greater command of the language), the 8th grade students were experts in working with the web 2.0 formats and familiar with group dynamics. each teacher candidate was assigned to teach a small group of students. stahl (2006) argues for small groups as the productive unit for meaning making for several reasons. small groups: (1) are where members’ methods for “intersubjective” learning can be observed; (2) allow the full range of social interactions to play out, and (3) enable participants and researchers to keep track of what is going on. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 189 what we didn’t realize, was that not only were we working with small groups, but we were engaged in computer-supported collaborative learning (cscl) that is an emerging branch of the learning sciences that studies how people can learn together with the help of computers, (stahl, g., koschmann, t., & suthers, d., 2006)! kids’ thinking vs. knowing: the “ah ha” process of the project dr. tuliani introduced the project and refined the instructions: final product would be created in web 2.0 format. i assigned teacher candidates to work with one group of three-four students. each group received threefour letters of the alphabet. students would select one letter and brainstorm terms related to history/politics/geography associated with that letter (hence the name, the abc’s project….) as this was an original lesson from my own classroom teaching of middle grade students a decade ago, replicated over the years with students of my teacher candidates over the years, i explained the lesson’s purpose to the students (in my basic-level italian). then i displayed a model on the smart board that shared how each student selected one term related to world war i, with both an image and explanation, from a “kids’ point of view.” the 8th graders in italy viewed the images with enthusiasm and understood the meaning behind the illustrations created by students of their same age, who lived in another country, and this prompted discussion. i presented one additional request:“schools and teachers require students to prove what they know about a topic, usually through a test. we’re here to find out what you think, about a topic. there’s a difference.” the 8th graders were incredulous. one student asked for clarification in italian, "you mean you want to know what we think? nobody ever asks us, or cares about, what we think...we're always tested on what we know." i encouraged 8th graders and my teacher candidates, engrossed within their small groups, to deepen verbal discussions. i observed interactions that were rich, fluid, authentic, at times sprinkled with humor, and frustrating moments, when teacher candidates didn’t understand the metaphors and language nuances of the 8th graders’ discussions. candidates jotted down any thing that seemed pedagogically significant. dr. tuliani moved about the room to assess his students’ responses and ipad products. fifty minutes later,”i raggazzi” (the students) were sharing “their own thinking” via digitally created images that we all viewed from the drop box file downloaded onto the large screen in the front of the room. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 190 the students covered a range of constructs represented by a singular word : democracy, elections, forced labor, independence, opinion, unity, vote, world, youth, etc. each image included a onesentence summary presented in italian, with a sprinkling of english,and included students’ name, age, and gender for data coding purposes. learning outcomes, findings, and lessons learned what does collaboration look like, how does it happen, and in what curriculum contexts can mutually beneficial learning goals (both cognitive and affective) be realized? teacher candidates reflected on these questions and what they learned from observing student’s thinking on real life topics through more than a pencil paper task. “their images were genuine. they [the students] allowed me to see through the eyes of a child.” danielle “the project prompted me to think about my own perceptions and misjudgments regarding adolescent students. they are thinking, listening, observing and noticing the inequalities of people around them. that’s pretty advanced. they are not kids, really, but mature thinkers.” – andrea “ i couldn’t believe the discussions that we had in our small group as students were considering what captured the essence of what one topic/word signified to them. a few were so attuned to the hypocrisy of the system, especially with the word, vote.” – beka findings suggest that : (1) students are aware of messages behind the explicit and/or mainstream terms discussed openly in the media. (2) the internalization of these terms is often surprising to teachers or observers. (3) teacher candidates noted how student’s thinking was varied, unpredictable, original, creative, and more mature, than they anticipated, after the final products were displayed, and explained, on the smart board. (4) kids ipad images appeared to be more explicit, detailed, graphic, and emotive in content, than their written commentary. this work draws upon the research of michael polanyi (1967) who termed the pre-logical phase of knowing as “tacit knowledge: the belief that creative acts (especially acts of discovery) are shot-through or charged with strong personal feelings and commitments,” (p.24-25). polanyi theorized, “we can know more than we can tell.” this project builds upon that theory and relates and mid-level students (grades 4-8) are innovators who do know more than they can tell, especially within the contexts of standardized testing. through this project the author suggests that kids’ make a clear distinction between:  “thinking of” (opinion/feeling) vs.  “knowing about” (the term/content)  journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 191 children ingest personal and direct experiences that appear emotionally linked to their point of view. the “thinking of” illustrations demonstrate, that even with months of study on focused historical content, kids think “their way,” and do have an opinion, and sometimes they are able to share it in an academic setting. through this joint project, that integrated technology as the format for image creation, lessons were learned on multiple levels. my teacher candidates noted the benefits of small group communication with students. students and candidates were engaged in a temporal, fully-focused, in-themomentidea-exchange that was genuine and served as authentic assessment. students and teacher candidates benefitted from modeling and the “techspertise ‘of dr. tuliani, whose prior lessons infused technology into his teaching of history through the use of these apps: cbb creative book builder for creating ibooks on world war 1 notability and pages for taking notes and writing and organizing thoughts inspiration for creating a conceptual map doodle buddy and paper 53 for the design dropbox for a full-class review of final products 8th grader’s responses validated their understanding, led to authentic discussions, and engaged small and whole groups in critical thinking and pragmatic communication strategies. communication (verbal, visual, and computer-assisted) offered second “language learners,” (teacher candidates and me) the opportunity to feel what it is like to possess advanced ideas on a particular issue, with limited second-language proficiency, vocabulary, and comprehension. through verbal cues, body language, patience, humor, and “google scholar,” ancillary learning occurred: communication relied upon innovative pragmatism, collaboration yielded amazing products, and, no text or e-learning could ever replicate the feelings of accomplishment, acceptance, and purpose of our being in that classroom on that day. the result: collaboration, team teaching, dual language discussion, peer learning, and original high quality student products, created on ipads in web 2.0 format, that aligned with the ncss c3r framework and the italian ministry of education’s program of study (ncss, 2013), implications for practice teachers and faculty, who are open to sharing new ideas and strategies, learn from each other. consider how to: (1) take advantage of every opportunity to collaborate, commit and comingle history content in an international educational setting; (2) extend invitations to communication; it’s a nucleus of trust-building; (3) adapt to the structures in place within an educational setting, (4) access “student thinking” when planning instruction. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 192 after a semester’s time, candidates, students and faculty benefitted from not only integrating history content with the arts, technology, and critical thinking, but sharing methodologies and examining previously held ideas. what makes for an effective lesson might not be predetermined or particularized. all of us deepened our understanding of each other, as well as the intricacies of language learning and teaching in a foreign country. in spite of initial challenges, we persisted, only to recognize that collaboration is a process, and global understanding, calls for human interaction in face-to-face settings, for extended periods of time. no doubt, this program will grow, and other faculty, students, and teacher candidates will engage in cross-cultural teaching experiences abroad, that include imparando insieme (learning together). data sources and products data included multiple samples of qualitative and arts-based products. teacher candidates’ products demonstrated successful small group management and instruction, documentation of learning goals, and ancillary ‘surprises’ in how language is mediated through communication competency level disparities. 8th graders’ met goals that ranged from understanding the concepts through bi-lingual verbal exchange that drew upon their english-language literacy and comprehension skills, to their creativity in interpreting, designing, and formatting a digital final product based upon their own ‘thinking.” data sources include: teacher candidates reflections pre-lesson concerns journal (how am i going to teach 8th graders in small groups?) with steps to problem solve proactively. on-site note taking of how students completed their task post-lesson reflection student publishing of original designs created on ipads; some requested paper to create hard-copy images. students discussed designs in small groups with teacher candidates who worked to clarify their thinking: what does this word/construct mean to you and why? how can you express this visual summation in one sentence to describe your ideas? how is this sentenced expressed in english and italian? drop box files of final students products created on ipad can be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e7atbdmk93jlka1/aadsmg4b47gkjkmhisqjcsmya?preview= dr. tuliani documented the process on his ipad with anecdotal data on individual students. author documented notes as she reviewed the teacher candidate small group interactions. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e7atbdmk93jlka1/aadsmg4b47gkjkmhisqjcsmya?preview journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 193 references: alden, e. 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(june, 12, 2012). “a language for jobs” initiative: innovation memorandum no. 24. u.s. council on foreign relations. retrieved from:http://www.cfr.org/unitedstates/languages-jobs-initiative/p28396. http://blogs.cfr.org/renewing-america/2012/06/26/foreign-languages-and-u-s-economic-%09competitiveness/ http://blogs.cfr.org/renewing-america/2012/06/26/foreign-languages-and-u-s-economic-%09competitiveness/ https://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/ http://www.mla.org/pdf/2013_enrollment_survey.pdf http://science.time.com/2013/07/18/how-the-brain-benefits-from-being-bilingual/ http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/technology https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_204.20.asp http://gerrystahl.net/mit/ http://www.cfr.org/united-states/languages-jobs-initiative/p28396 http://www.cfr.org/united-states/languages-jobs-initiative/p28396 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 185-194 corresponding author email: barbara.veltri@nau.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 194 veltri, b. t. (may, 1, 2013). i is for immigration: from a kids’ point of view. paper presented at american education research association annual meeting, research in the social studies. san francisco, ca. _____________________________________________________________________________________ the author wishes to thank: dr. maurizio tuliani, 8 1a teacher, alberta cambi, principal, cecco angiolieri scuola mediale in siena, the 2013-2014 8 1a students at cecco angiolieri, dr. michael blocher, professor, naueducational technology, and siena 2014 teacher candidates for their efforts to make this collaboration possible. barbara torre veltri, ed. d., associate professor social studies & elementary education lead faculty scottsdale cohort northern arizona university college scottsdale campus uc 109 9000 e. chaparral road scottsdale, az 85256 480 221-1826 (cell) 480 423-6407 (office) recipient of 2011 research and creative activity award: "most significant scholarly work" learning on other people's kids: becoming a teach for america teacher (information age inc., 2010). www.drbarbaraveltri.com http://www.drbarbaraveltri.com/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 exploring covid-19 in a social studies methods course: pre-service teachers harness the current pandemic to design inquiry-based webquests for elementary learners erin vaughn piedmont university of north alabama abstract: covid-19 quickly upended life in many ways, presenting teachers with the opportunity to confront the issue with their students or forge ahead in the midst of a societal crisis. teachers can harness such current events with youth in ways that foster active democratic citizenship, but they must be prepared to implement such pedagogy. this article illuminates how pre-service teachers in an elementary social studies methods course explored the global pandemic of covid-19 to become more informed citizens and to plan for powerful inquiry-based learning about the current pandemic with young learners. introduction covid-19 upended life in a myriad of ways, from a drastic shutdown of the u.s. economy to forced school closures and mandatory quarantine orders to prevent the spread of the virus (glanz et al., 2020). there were so many questions that governed how we moved through our daily lives: “how does the virus spread?” “when will a vaccine be ready?” and even, “is it safe to go to the grocery store?” life as we knew it changed all over the globe. life-altering events like the current pandemic, or other societal crises such as 9/11 or hurricane katrina, present an opportunity for teachers to channel their students’ questions and concerns into meaningful examination that can help them both make sense of and cope with the event (lipscomb, 2002; passe, 2006). because social studies education aims to foster civic competence that “[helps] young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the common good” mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 (national council for the social studies [ncss], 2010, p. 3), examining such timely events can prepare youth to be informed citizens who collectively solve problems in their communities. this means that teachers must be prepared to harness such teachable moments in powerful and developmentally appropriate ways with their students. likewise, teacher education programs play a role in preparing pre-service teachers for such pedagogy. thus, this article illuminates how pre-service teachers in an elementary social studies methods course explored the global pandemic of covid-19 to become more informed citizens and to plan for inquiry-based learning about the current event with young learners. teaching current events scholars have argued for the inclusion of current events in social studies curricula to better foster an informed citizenry with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to participate in their communities. examining such events help youth build connections to the broader community, encouraging them to engage with social, economic, and political issues relevant to their daily lives (lecompte, blevins, & ray, 2017; obenchain & pennington, 2017; shiveley, 2014). furthermore, exploring current events provides the potential for children to unpack their own beliefs and consider the diverse perspectives of their peers, enhancing their abilities to develop informed opinions and collectively solve problems (beck & parker, 2017; camicia & dobson, 2010; lecompte, blevins, & ray, 2017; mccafferty-wright & knowles, 2016). meaningful learning centered on current events provides opportunities for children to act as citizens, “to see the things that need doing and respond” (parker & beck, 2017, p. 174), the essence of living in a democracy. many teachers avoid current events for a variety of reasons, some regarding their controversial nature (lipscomb & doppen, 2013), an already-demanding curriculum (lecompte, blevins, & ray, 2017), and/or beliefs that children are too young to understand (parker & beck, 2017). however, when in the midst of a societal crisis, teachers are faced with a choice: continue “business as usual” or confront the issue with their students (lipscomb, 2002, p. 237). teachers who rise to the challenge can create nurturing spaces where youth simultaneously make sense of and cope with the issue while also fostering a sense of agency (lipscomb, 2002; o’mahony, 2017; passe, 2006; veugelers, derriks, & de kat, 2006). a powerful way to teach current events is through inquiry-based learning. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 exploring current events via inquiry-based learning inquiry-based learning is a powerful pedagogical approach for teaching current events due to its investigative nature and because it nurtures the most valued habits of democratic citizens (grant, swan, & lee, 2017; parker & beck, 2017). transcending traditional bounds of social studies instruction, where children are often perceived as passive recipients of knowledge, inquiry-based learning engages youth in the investigation of powerful ideas and issues. reflecting the dimensions of the “inquiry arc” of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards, inquiry-driven instruction prioritizes “the pursuit of knowledge through questions” (ncss, 2013, p. 12). teachers act as facilitators while students socially construct knowledge by searching for answers to compelling questions such as “who benefits from advertising?” and “why is there poverty in rich nations?” (parker & beck, 2017, p. 285). throughout the inquiry process, children critically evaluate and corroborate across a variety of sources in order to develop and defend evidence-based arguments. furthermore, inquiry-based learning can provide opportunities for youth to take action beyond the classroom walls, utilizing their knowledge of an issue to improve their communities (swan, lee, & grant, 2018). thus, the major tenets of inquiry—asking questions, interrogating sources, and developing evidence-based arguments—are among the most desired skills of democratic citizens. webquests are one example of an instructional tool valuable in guiding inquiry-based units of study and which have served as a powerful way to integrate social studies and technology (byker & thomas, 2018; dodge, 1995; halat & karakus, 2014; obenchain & morris, 2015). reflecting the major goals of the c3 framework (ncss, 2013), “webquests support the inquiry arc as learners use technology to research a question or issue through an analytical process in order to communicate their findings” (byker & thomas, 2018, p. 19). the format typically includes the following attributes that guide learners through the inquiry process: 1) an introduction that stages the exploration, including the compelling questions; 2) a series of learning experiences via which students explore web-based sources of information; and 3) a summative assessment task that requires them to defend their response to the compelling question of the unit. utilizing a webquest served as a particularly beneficial tool for exploring covid-19 as a current event when university and k-12 learning environments transitioned online due to the pandemic. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 designing the unit on covid-19 the goals of the inquiry-based webquest in my elementary social studies methods course were twofold: 1) to foster my pre-service teachers’ construction of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to discuss issues within the pandemic, and 2) to model how to design inquiry-based learning focused on a current event. as i planned the unit, i sought to foster what mccafferty-wright and knowles (2016) described as an “open classroom climate” where my students felt safe and valued enough to discuss sensitive issues and were positioned as coconstructors of knowledge (p. 116). therefore, i administered an anonymous survey to my students to gain insight into their interests and/or hesitations about exploring the pandemic. a theme that arose in their responses was the need to feel safe and hopeful amidst the uncertainty that many felt. using this information, i centered the unit on the concept of support with the following compelling questions: 1) “how can society support its citizens during the covid-19 pandemic?” and 2) “how can we make sure to support our citizens in equitable ways?” these particular questions would foster my students’ construction of disciplinary concepts and tools focused on civics, as described in the c3 framework (ncss, 2013), while they explored ways in which citizens of their communities were working collectively to support each other and solve problems during this crisis, additionally examining the inequities brought further to light that continue to shape how individuals and groups have experienced the pandemic differently. furthermore, i included time during each class period to unpack how i planned each learning experience of the webquest using an adapted version of the inquiry design model (idm) working blueprint, a one-page representation of the questions, tasks, and sources of the entire inquiry (grant, swan, & lee, 2017), in order to scaffold my students’ experiences as they planned their own units of study. exploring covid-19 via inquiry-based webquests the pre-service teachers spent the initial class session setting guidelines to better foster an open classroom climate as we explored the pandemic, some of which included: 1) empathize with others’ experiences; 2) use credible sources and have evidence-based discussions; and 3) listen as much as you talk. we had already spent a significant portion of the semester discussing the importance of such discourse in the context of social studies education; therefore, we did not have to spend much time unpacking these ideas before beginning the unit. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 i introduced the unit via the idm working blueprint (see figure 1) and the accompanying webquest and reviewed the four dimensions of the inquiry arc in the c3 framework (ncss, 2013), a process we had revisited throughout the semester. for each learning experience of the webquest, the pre-service teachers worked collectively to synthesize across the sources and develop arguments in response to the compelling questions. to conclude the inquiry, they developed individual videos sharing their final arguments using a variety of digital mediums such as flipgrid and tik tok. figure 1 idm working blueprint inquiry-based webquest blueprint compelling question(s) ● how are citizens being supported during the covid-19 pandemic? ● how can we support individuals and groups in equitable ways? standards • c3 standard d2.civ.6.3-5. describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, work-places, voluntary organizations, and families. • c3 standard d2.civ.9.3-5. use deliberative processes when making decisions or reaching judgments as a group. • c3 standard d3.1.3-5. gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, structure, and context to guide the selection. • c3 standard d3.4.3-5. use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions. • c3 standard d4.3.3-5. present a summary of arguments to others using print and oral technologies. learning experience #1 learning experience #2 learning experience #3 supporting question supporting question supporting question mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 how are medical professionals and scientists working to support citizens during the covid-19 pandemic? how are public officials working to support citizens during the covid-19 pandemic? how are other citizens in the u.s. (teachers, essential workers, non-essential workers, our neighbors, etc.) working to support each other during the covid-19 pandemic? formative assessment task formative assessment task formative assessment task create a symbol that represents a major takeaway from your exploration. create a wordle using vocabulary that highlights the most important ideas from your exploration. pretend you are a state public official. list 2-3 policies you would propose to support our most vulnerable citizens during the covid-19 pandemic. sources sources sources ● npr: states get creative to find and deploy more health workers in covid-19 fight ● npr: some insurers waive patient’s share of costs for covid-19 treatment ● bbc: coronavirus – how close are we to a vaccine? ● the new york times: 5 key things in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package ● npr: schumer calls for hazard pay for frontline workers in coronavirus fight ● cnbc: how small business owners are coping with covid-19 pandemic ● time: los angeles embarks on massive effort to move homeless residents into hotels amid coronavirus ● pbs: “i am not a virus.” how this artist is illustrating coronavirusfueled racism ● time: the achievement gap is ‘more glaring than ever’ for students dealing with school closures summative compose a speech that you would give during a white house press briefing to the citizens of the united states explaining how you will support all citizens, especially mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/25/820706226/states-get-creative-to-find-and-deploy-more-health-workers-in-covid-19-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/25/820706226/states-get-creative-to-find-and-deploy-more-health-workers-in-covid-19-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/25/820706226/states-get-creative-to-find-and-deploy-more-health-workers-in-covid-19-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/25/820706226/states-get-creative-to-find-and-deploy-more-health-workers-in-covid-19-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/25/820706226/states-get-creative-to-find-and-deploy-more-health-workers-in-covid-19-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/30/824075753/good-news-with-caveats-some-insurers-waive-costs-to-patients-for-covid-19-treatm https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/30/824075753/good-news-with-caveats-some-insurers-waive-costs-to-patients-for-covid-19-treatm https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/30/824075753/good-news-with-caveats-some-insurers-waive-costs-to-patients-for-covid-19-treatm https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/30/824075753/good-news-with-caveats-some-insurers-waive-costs-to-patients-for-covid-19-treatm https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51665497 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51665497 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51665497 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825577637/schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825577637/schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825577637/schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/i-am-not-a-virus-how-this-artist-is-illustrating-coronavirus-fueled-racism https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/i-am-not-a-virus-how-this-artist-is-illustrating-coronavirus-fueled-racism https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/i-am-not-a-virus-how-this-artist-is-illustrating-coronavirus-fueled-racism https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/i-am-not-a-virus-how-this-artist-is-illustrating-coronavirus-fueled-racism https://time.com/5810503/coronavirus-achievement-gap-schools/ https://time.com/5810503/coronavirus-achievement-gap-schools/ https://time.com/5810503/coronavirus-achievement-gap-schools/ https://time.com/5810503/coronavirus-achievement-gap-schools/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 throughout the inquiry, the pre-service teachers engaged disciplinary concepts and skills related to civics, or “the study of political processes, as well as how citizens solve problems together as members of a civil society” (ncss, 2013, p. 31), as they explored how citizens were supported throughout the pandemic while also grappling with the ways in which support was limited or at times exclusionary for some. to illustrate, they examined sources related to financial aspects of the pandemic, such as senator schumer’s address to increase the pay of frontline workers, including nurses, doctors, and first responders (gringlas, 2020), and the key elements of the coronavirus stimulus package that had not yet been passed at the time of this lesson (edmondson, 2020), both of which appeared on the surface to be supportive actionable steps for citizens. their discussions revealed holes in each approach, which are illuminated in the sample exchange below. bobby: “why are medical professionals the only jobs considered to be on the front lines? what about grocery store workers? or gas station workers? we have to have those places open to survive.” hannah: “yeah, i work at the local grocery store and i don’t get paid much more than minimum wage. i think people like me would need the raise more than doctors.” me: “this discussion makes me think of that lesson when we examined the state minimum wage in comparison to the essential expenses a family might have each month. did anyone else make this connection?” sarah: “it just seems unfair that the workers we literally rely on right now weren’t even making livable wages to begin with and now they are facing worse circumstances with the virus. they definitely need to include more than just medical professionals if that gets passed.” the pre-service teachers also critiqued the coronavirus stimulus package, as most of them were first-generation college students whose parents claimed them as dependents on their tax assessment task the most vulnerable, during the covid-19 pandemic. record the speech using a digital medium of your choice (smartphone/tablet video or audio recording, flipgrid, tik tok, etc.). mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 returns, making them ineligible for stimulus checks. they expressed the “unfairness” of this gap, as many worked to support themselves and had lost jobs due to the shutdown of the economy. “how will we be able to pay rent if our parents cannot help us?” was a widely debated question. their interrogation of such sources allowed them to consider multiple perspectives and suggest alternative solutions, disciplinary skills aligned with dimensions 2 and 3 of the c3 framework. for the summative assessment task, the pre-service teachers constructed evidence-based arguments to the compelling questions of the inquiry, reflecting dimension 4 of the c3 framework. they shared their findings via “white house press briefings” that synthesized their learning throughout the unit and addressed how they would support citizens across the country, particularly the most vulnerable. some of their ideas included: 1) provide housing to citizens experiencing homelessness; 2) ensure access to high-speed internet and technology for teachers and students in pk-12 and higher education settings; and 3) provide hazard pay to all essential workers. the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions fostered throughout the unit encouraged the pre-service teachers to make evidence-based decisions about the communities they live in, reflecting the major goals of social studies education. planning inquiry-based webquests about covid-19 the pre-service teachers planned inquiry-based webquests for elementary learners by analyzing the process of “backward design,” instructional planning that emphasizes learning reinforcing the alignment of goals, assessment tasks, and learning experiences/activities (wiggins & mctighe, 2011, p. 7). this approach optimizes student understanding of big ideas and concepts rather than promoting their participation in a series of meaningless, disconnected activities. to reinforce backward design, the pre-service teachers used the idm working blueprint as i guided them through a step-by-step planning process. to begin, the pre-service teachers composed compelling questions for their inquiries, which aim to represent “big content ideas” that have relevance in the daily lives of students and frame the inquiry in its entirety (swan, lee, & grant, 2018, p. 31). i asked them to draw from the knowledge they had constructed about the pandemic in order to compose a list of three essential understandings for elementary learners. several of their ideas included: 1) how to stay safe; 2) how citizens are working together to solve problems; and 3) what children can do to help. they then reframed them into compelling questions. for example, if the essential understanding was “how to stay safe,” then it was reframed to ask, “how can we stay safe during the pandemic?” mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 addressing dimension 1 of the c3 framework, they created compelling questions reflecting the civics discipline, which guided the social studies content of their webquests. next, the pre-service teachers planned for assessment tasks that reinforced student understanding of the compelling questions and that could be completed in a home setting, given the current circumstances of online learning. using my idm working blueprint as a model, we discussed how each formative assessment was a stepping-stone in preparing learners for the summative task. one example of a formative assessment task they designed required the learner to create several laws that would ensure the safety of all citizens during the pandemic. as my students planned the summative assessment tasks, we reviewed dimensions 3 and 4 of the inquiry arc, whose major goals require youth to construct and share evidence-based arguments in response to compelling questions. an example of a summative task required the learner to video record a news anchor segment explaining the need for specific safety measures during the pandemic (see figure 2). figure 2 student webquest sample mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 finally, the pre-service teachers chose sources appropriate for elementary learners that aligned with the compelling questions and assessment tasks of their inquiries. as they explored available web-based sources about the pandemic (see table 1), we reviewed dimension 3 of the inquiry arc, which encourages learners’ analyses of multiple sources in order to make evidence-based claims. thus, they sought to include multiple sources for each learning experience that fit the content goals of the unit. the pre-service teachers used their idm webquest blueprints to design webquests that were donated to local students to be used at home during the state-mandated quarantine. table 1 elementary web resources about covid-19 resource grade level title of sources newsela https://newsela.com/ 3-5 ● play it safe: what kids should know about the coronavirus outbreak ● why everything is closing for coronavirus: it’s called “flattening the curve” ● why the coronavirus looks different to black america a kids book about https://akidsbookabout.com/ k-2; 3-5 ● a kids book about covid-19 time for kids https://www.timeforkids.com/ 3-4 ● coronavirus questions? ● slow reopening ● vaccines in progress mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://newsela.com/ https://akidsbookabout.com/ https://www.timeforkids.com/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 conclusion the primary purpose of social studies education is to develop informed citizens capable of making reasoned decisions that support the common good. exploring covid-19 provided an opportunity for my pre-service teachers to construct civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that enabled them to delve more critically into different aspects of the pandemic while considering solutions to issues that have arisen during this crisis. furthermore, the pre-service teachers applied their knowledge of both the pandemic and the inquiry process as they designed webquests appropriate for elementary learners. these experiences will benefit them both as citizens of their communities and as future social studies teachers committed to citizenship education. moreover, this unit provided a unique opportunity to support the local community by providing relevant social studies units to students and their families who suddenly found themselves teaching and learning at home. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 references beck, t. a., & parker, w. c. (2017). “now, let’s decide”: using current events to practice democracy. social studies and the young learner, 29(3), 27-30. byker, e. j., & thomas, a. (2018). culturally responsive webquests: connecting technology with inquiry-based learning. teaching social studies, 18(2), 19-25. camicia, s. p., & dobson, d. (2010). learning how to respond to current events: partner journals between u.s. pre-service teachers and children. teaching and teacher education, 26, 576-582. dodge, b. (1995). webquests: a technique for internet-based learning. distance educator, 1(2), 10-13. edmondson, c. (2020, march 25). 5 key things in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirusstimulus-bill.html glanz, j., leatherby, l., bloch, m., smith, m., buchanan, l., win, j., & bogel-burroughs, n. (2020, march 20). coronavirus could overwhelm u.s. without urgent action, estimates say. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/20/us/coronavirus-model-usoutbreak.html grant, s. g., swan, k., & lee, j. (2017). inquiry-based practice in social studies education: understanding the inquiry design model. routledge. gringlas, s. (2020, april 1). schumer calls for hazard pay for frontline workers in coronavirus fight. npr. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/ 2020/04/01/825577637/ schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight halat, e., & karakus, f. (2014). integration of webquest in a social studies course and motivation of pre-service teachers. the georgia social studies journal, 4(1), 20-31. jones, m. (2020). a kids book about covid-19. malia jones. lecompte, k., blevins, b., & ray, b. (2017). teaching current events and media literacy: critical thinking, effective communication, and active citizenship. social studies and the young learner, 29(3), 17-20. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/whats-in-coronavirus-stimulus-bill.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/20/us/coronavirus-model-us-outbreak.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/20/us/coronavirus-model-us-outbreak.html https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/%202020/04/01/825577637/%20schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/%202020/04/01/825577637/%20schumer-calls-for-hazard-pay-for-frontline-workers-in-coronavirus-fight journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 lipscomb, g. b. (2002). classroom success storiesdealing with crisis: teachable moments in the social studies classroom. the social studies, 93(5), 237-238. lipscomb, g., & doppen, f. (2013). finding one’s place in the world: current events in the k 12 social studies classroom. in j. passe & p. g. fitchett (eds.), the status of social studies: views from the field (pp. 247-256). information age publishing. mccafferty-wright, j., & knowles, r. (2016). unlocking the civic potential of current events with an open classroom climate. social studies research and practice, 11(3), 112-121. national council for the social studies (ncss). (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. national council for the social studies. national council for the social studies (ncss). (2013). the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. national council for the social studies. obenchain, k. m., & morris, r. v. (2015). 50 social studies strategies for k-8 classrooms (4th ed.). pearson. obenchain, k. m., & pennington, j. l. (eds.). (2017). cultivating civic life through studying current events [special section]. social studies and the young learner, 20(3), 2-3. o’mahony, c. (2017). a guide to selecting powerful current events for study. social studies and the young learner, 29(3), 4-8. parker, w. c., & beck, t. a. (2017). social studies in elementary education (15th ed.). pearson. passe, j. (2006). a counter-intuitive strategy: reduce student stress by teaching current events. social studies and the young learner, 20(3), 27-31. shiveley, j. (2014). revisiting current events: old ideas to address current challenges. ohio social studies review, 51(2), 66-70. swan, k., lee, j., & grant, s. g. (2018). inquiry design model: building inquiries in social studies. ncss. mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 113-126 corresponding author: evaughn1@una.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 veugelers, w., derriks, m., & de kat, e. (2006). education and major cultural incidents in society: september 11 and dutch education. journal of peace education, 3(2), 235-249. wiggins, g., & mctighe, j. (2011). the understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units. association for supervision & curriculum development. about the author: erin vaughn piedmont is an assistant professor of elementary education in the department of teaching, learning, and leadership at the university of north alabama. she currently teaches social studies and literacy methods to undergraduate pre-service teachers, as well as qualitative research methods to graduate students. erin earned her doctorate degree in social studies education at purdue university in 2018. .’ mailto:evaughn1@una.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 114. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 114. social justice perspectives, spring 2014 editor’s message gloria t. alter depaul university-lincoln park the authors, matthew knoester and wangari p. gichiru remind us that our teaching about democracy can be a narrow study when we do not address global perspectives, current struggles for democracy around the world, or the “competing definitions of democracy.” in the u.s. in particular, the changing landscape of our “democracy” deserves an in-depth critical analysis (e.g., the role of money in politics, the protection of minority rights, the media’s influence in politics, and how we teach about democratic participation, etc.). dr. wangari gichiru brings her background of participation in the democratic movement in kenya to this essay. she is an assistant professor of education at central connecticut state university. dr. matthew knoester is an assistant professor of education at the university of evansville. both received their ph.d.’s at the university of wisconsin, madison. dr. knoester’s edited book, international struggles for critical democratic education, (peter lang), containing a chapter by dr. gichiru, received a critic’s choice book award from aesa. corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 114 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 161 book review maguth, b. m., & wu, g. (eds.). (2020). inquiry-based global learning in the k-12 social studies classroom. routledge. christian d. pirlet university of south dakota inquiry-based global learning in the k-12 social studies classroom provides detailed lesson plans for k-12 social studies teachers to expand global education in their curriculum. the editors compiled a wide breadth of source material including the tanzanian education system, the nanjing safety zone of world war ii, the role of human rights in free market international trade, the global stance on gay rights, international differences in cold war perspectives, and the ability to correct environmental harms. in addition to providing these diverse perspectives, the editors outlined each lesson using the national council for the social studies’ (ncss) college, career, and civic life (c3) framework. the depth of each lesson, when coupled with this inquiry-to-action model, can provide k-12 teachers with a multitude of approachable options to integrate research-based materials into their classrooms. since its beginning in the 1970s, global education has gained renewed attention among teachers in the united states. however, most teachers are not prepared to teach social studies through a global lens (merryfield, 2000; zong, 2015). in response to this challenge, the editors of the book have provided teachers with “strong standards-based resources and materials to allow them to teach about the world, its people, and issues” (p. 13). the text consists of 19 chapters organized into two primary parts. in the first portion, the editors outline the importance of global education and the inquiry model through the c3 framework. maguth and wu note that the framework’s units “help in the formulation of compelling and supporting questions, build disciplinary knowledge, help students evaluate evidence, construct arguments, and take informed action” (p. 4). the second part explores 17 lessons from 31 contributors. this portion makes up the brunt of the text, categorizing it into four areas of analysis: investigating global and cross-cultural perspectives, understanding global issues and geographies, making local to global connections, and applying global learning to take informed mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 162 action. instead of reviewing chapter by chapter, this book review highlights three overarching themes from the book: the uniformed chapter, the abundance of teacher resources, and its overall contributions to current social studies curricula. each chapter follows a similar and easy-to-use format. contributing authors identify intended grade levels for each topic and guide readers through the c3 framework’s inquiry design model. although this format appears terse at times, all chapters guide the reader through a narrative explanation of the design model. for instance, in the chapter discussing the differences between dragon depictions in china and the west, the authors identify the purpose of the lesson as an inquiry that “leads students through an investigation of the different ways in which dragons are represented in the west and in chinese history and culture” (p. 29). this text stands as an exemplar of clarity and organization. the text can provide teachers, many of whom lack expertise in each of these areas, with a clear explanation of how to incorporate each of these lessons to create rich learning opportunities. an example of this is each section’s rationale behind its prescribed performance tasks. in the chapter focused on the impact of the use of nuclear weapons during world war ii, the authors discuss the desired student expectations, stipulating that “these sources require students to review the number of casualties caused by the bomb, images of hiroshima immediately upon dropping the bomb, and an article about how people in hiroshima decided to pursue peace” (p. 146). at face value, this text offers classroom teachers many features that make it a go-to resource. lessons are aligned to several ncss standards and represent many content fields. for instance, using a chapter focused on effective opportunities to protect bees and other pollinators, teachers enjoy the freedom to emphasize specific content. while one teacher might highlight the geographic and economic ramifications of not providing protections to pollinators, another teacher might focus on civics and the importance of taking civic action. the ability for teachers to find several vetted sources to use with each lesson makes this text easy to access. these sources range from the websites of national and supranational organizations to activity materials lists and multimedia resources (images, videos, etc.). it seems that, regardless of the specific chapter, users find diversified resources at their fingertips. this text fills several gaps in current social studies curricula. its diverse scope proves especially useful to those in predominantly homogeneous environments, such as the rural united states. teachers in those areas often experience easier access to local content such as family histories and regional economic activities. that said, they struggle to incorporate the diverse curriculum. the editors have identified this need and supplied teachers with a diverse array of topics found mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 163 in global education. in addition to rural teachers, this text supplies content for a wide spectrum of grade levels. many of the text’s topics, such as studying responses to refugees or the applicability of the u.s. constitution around the globe, are serious in nature and, as a result, focused on secondary grade levels. other chapters, however, concentrate on lighter topics including societal and cultural connections found within iraqi cuisine and are intended for elementary grade levels. as with all books of this nature, the difficulty of integration is in the eyes of the reader. just because the text outlines a topic for one age group, it does not mean that that lesson could not be realigned, or reimagined, to apply to another age group. furthermore, this text acts as a window to greater opportunities in social education. to summarize, this text provides classroom teachers, pre-service teachers, curriculum specialists, and teacher educators a wide breadth of lessons to incorporate global education into a traditional k-12 environment. maguth and wu have created an exemplary guide to global education integration. with an easily adaptable template and a seemingly endless amount of source material, it would not be surprising for this text to be volume one of many future works. if one is in search of rich and diverse material to enhance social learning, look no further than inquiry-based global learning in the k-12 social studies classroom. mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 164 references maguth, b. m., & wu, g. (eds.). (2020). inquiry-based global learning in the k-12 social studies classroom. routledge. merryfield, m. m. (2000). using electronic technologies to promote equity and cultural diversity in social studies and global education. theory and research in social education, 28(4), 502-526. zong, g. (2015). globalization and teacher education: teaching about globalization through community-based inquiry. in b. m. maguth and j. hilburn (eds.), the state of global education: learning with the world and its people (pp. 92-110). routledge about the author: christian d. pirlet is a doctoral student at the university of south dakota and a social studies teacher at aberdeen central high school. his research interests include global education, gamification, and economics education. mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 self-regulation, empathy, and compassion: a critical triad to develop anti-racist digital citizenship in the time of pandemic eric b. claravall california state university, sacramento kelsey evans-amalu delta state university abstract: the coronavirus has unleashed another pandemic: xenophobia. this article aims to counter the xenophobic narrative that affects many asians and people of asian descent due to the covid-19 pandemic. to counter this narrative, we offer an anti-racist digital citizenship framework in social studies. this illustrates a critical triad of self-regulation, empathy, and compassion. self-regulation is the ability to develop cognitive control of emotional reactivity to facilitate self-directed change. empathy is the understanding of another person’s emotional state and the projection of oneself into the other’s situation. compassion is taking mindful action to alleviate the struggles and sufferings of others. introduction as coronavirus ravages the basic structure of society, a “tsunami of hate and xenophobia” (guterres, 2020) has been unleashed in the midst of the pandemic. xenophobia, an intense dislike or fear of a particular member of an outgroup, usually a different race, has become an unexpected consequence of the coronavirus. while the idea of “xenophobia is conceptually distinct from racism” (kim & sundstrom, 2014, p. 21), the xenophobic behaviors against chinese and other people with similar physical features manifest actions that are racist. asians and people of asian descent have been targets of derogatory remarks and physical attacks in the united states and other western countries (human rights watch, 2020). mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 in this article, we situate xenophobia within the bigger context of digital citizenship in the time of pandemic. covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has social ramifications, and its effects on people of color are magnified by unfounded antipathy and stereotypes. words, memes, gifs, and photos depicting malevolent characterizations of asians are simply racist and discriminatory. this xenophobic narrative is pervasive online, and it feeds the minds of many middle and high school students. ninety-five percent of young adults have access to digital devices (anderson & jiang, 2020; kenna & hensley, 2019). eighty-one percent of these teenagers, ages 13 to 17, use social media (common sense media, 2018). because of the dominant use of mobile devices and the easy access to digital information among youths, we offer middle and high school teachers an anti-racist framework for teaching digital citizenship in social studies. this framework aims to counter the xenophobic narrative that we currently face onand offline. first, we describe the concept of emotional dysregulation as a potential consequence of xenophobia. we argue that the counter-narrative to xenophobia hinges on an anti-racist perspective. then, we contextualize xenophobia within the study of anti-racist digital citizenship in social studies. finally, we discuss the critical counter-narrative triad of self-regulation, empathy, and compassion as a pedagogical framework to develop anti-racist digital citizenship. xenophobia and dysregulation xenophobic behaviors in the u.s. are deeply rooted in unfavorable attitudes toward non-white immigrants. a recent integrative review has shown that xenophobia harms the health of nonwhite individuals and their communities (suleman et al., 2018). the experiences of social stress associated with race affect the mental and physical health of marginalized populations (polancoroman, danies, & anglin, 2016). an attack on an individual’s sense of self could, in turn, threaten their sense of safety and security, and consequently trigger a stress response (bryant-davis & ocampo, 2005; carter, 2007). thus, maladaptive reactions to experiences of xenophobia may compromise the individual’s mental health. undeniably, covid-19 creates undue physical and mental stress for individuals (saltzman, hansel, & bordnick, 2020). for asians and people of asian descent, xenophobia exacerbates this stress, which can lead to maladaptive cognitive responses: rumination on negative thoughts (nolen-hoeksema & morrow, 1991) or thought suppression, avoiding unwanted thoughts (wegner et al., 1987). this rumination and catastrophizing can result in adverse psychological outcomes that affect how individuals regulate their emotions and behavior (selby et al., 2009). as a result, emotional dysregulation occurs. dysregulation is a faulty emotional reaction to a perceived inconsistent stimulus (e.g., blowing up at a small inconvenience) that can lead to social discomfort (price & hooven, 2018). consistent dysregulation of emotions may be an indicator of exposure to long-term stress, which affects the overall reactivity of the body’s stress response mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ about:blank#r10 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 system (ellis et al., 2011). moreover, this could indicate other underlying issues of depression or anxiety (crowell et al., 2017; price & hooven, 2018). research has begun to assert that racial discrimination may lead to more racialized stress rather than being stated as a negative lived experience (bryant-davis & ocampo, 2005; carter, 2007). we have witnessed this in the wake of black lives matter protests. the ethos was emotional, painful, and traumatic to many people of color. racial discrimination is an adverse event capable of influencing multisystem psychological dysregulation. this can manifest in the form of racialized trauma and dysregulation, higher episodes of anxiety, and, in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder (polanco-roman, danies, & anglin, 2016). anti-racist digital citizenship in the social studies consistent with the c3 (college, career, and civic life) framework for social studies education (national council for social studies, 2013), studying xenophobia and the lived experiences of many people of color in the time of the pandemic highlights the importance of understanding the habits of civic life through critical thinking, problem-solving, and collective efforts to dismantle oppression. in a multicultural society like the u.s., many teachers use white, eurocentric narratives in social studies and history (crowley & smith, 2015). the use of textbooks, for example, maintains the status quo of a monolithic perspective. teachers cannot address the topic of xenophobia in social studies classrooms if they do not espouse an anti-racist stance. as we argued earlier, xenophobic behavior is racist behavior; therefore, teachers need to foreground anti-racism when covering this topic to underscore racial inclusiveness, social justice, and equity. race plays a pivotal role in deconstructing xenophobic behavior. when the president of the united states used epithets such as chinese virus, wuhan disease, or kung flu about covid-19 (forgey, 2020; rogers, jakes, & swanson, 2020), he was stirring racist sentiments in his politically charged governance. the racial narrative engenders hate and disdain toward asian americans and people of asian descent living in the u.s. this irresponsible use of power endangers americans. for example, extremist groups with white supremacist ideals took advantage of the pandemic to commit violence toward minorities (margolin, 2020) and spread conspiracy theories (benlolo, 2020). with xenophobia at the forefront of our discussion, we ground our anti-racist stance in social studies based on the critical race theory of education (ladson-billings & tate, 1995). additionally, through our suggestions and descriptions in approaching anti-racism during covid19, we use pollock’s (2008) principles of anti-racist education to conceptualize our understanding of a more poignant form of digital citizenship (king & chandler, 2016). these principles examine mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 the falsehood of human differences, acknowledge the reality of racially shaped lived experiences, encourage diversity in learning, and continue to challenge institutionalized racism (pollock, 2008). understanding anti-racist pedagogy in social studies empowers teachers to reframe digital citizenship through an anti-racist lens, teaching students to challenge racial inequity in online spaces. with such a large number of teens using social media, digital citizenship should encourage students to participate in an online community that is inclusive and attends to issues of human rights, social justice, and other forms of political participation (mossberger, tolbert, & mcneal, 2008; oyedemi, 2018). students must learn to acknowledge the presence of institutionalized racism in online sources and distinguish the difference between racially charged narratives and factual information (king & chandler, 2016). the national council for the social studies (ncss, 2016) calls for enhancing the critical thinking skills of students via digital citizenship so that students may ask questions, assess credibility, and reflect on varied information presented to them both in and outside of the classroom. as educators, we recognize that this may be quite a challenging undertaking for students. the pandemic has already created a stressful learning environment with the switch to online schooling, and when we account for xenophobic social media, this may exacerbate any attempt at anti-racist learning (levy et al., 2016; sampaio, 2020). however, in an age where the media may be espousing fake and harmful information (e.g., conspiracy theories about the origin of coronavirus, racial remarks), it is imperative to develop skills that foster critical thinking outside of cognitive bias (ball & maxmen, 2020; firth et al., 2019; workman, 2018). in pursuit of furthering anti-racist learning in and out of the social studies classroom, we recommend layering a critical triad of skills to increase the likelihood of incorporating an anti-racist worldview. selfregulation, empathy, and compassion are life skills that may be interwoven into digital antiracism. self-regulation, empathy, and compassion: a critical triad the use of social media among teenagers had been rising rapidly before the pandemic (common sense media, 2018). the aftermath of school shutdowns and moving to virtual learning during the covid-19 pandemic allowed many teenagers more time to use social media for social support (nauert, 2020) and gathering information (ahmad & murad, 2020). while the use of digital media has its benefits (khan, swar, & lee, 2014), there is also an increased risk of socio-emotional problems as children spend more unstructured hours online (alamri, 2019). fake news and misinformation about the spread of coronavirus and the xenophobic images or information shared in teenagers’ social media feeds can further aggravate the issues of anti-immigrant sentiments, racism, and hate. to address this issue of xenophobia, we offer teachers a framework mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 to develop digital citizenship. first, we describe this framework that encompasses the selfregulation, empathy, and compassion triad (see figure 1). then, we apply this framework to a lesson on xenophobia in the time of the pandemic. figure 1 anti-racist digital citizenship imagine that a student opens his snapchat and reads a story shared by his friend. this story is based on a u.s. government official’s tweet related to coronavirus that says, “millions of chinese suck the blood out of rabid bats as an appetizer” (behrmann, 2020). on the other hand, when another student opens her instagram account, she sees an anti-racist photo at the top of her feed (see figure 2). this divergent experience evokes opposing emotional reactions and can positively or negatively affect students’ well-being. the tweet exemplifies a xenophobic behavior and can stimulate emotional dysregulation. on the other hand, the picture on instagram aims to call out people on their racist behavior and can elicit a favorable reaction. these two instances necessitate an individual's awareness on how the information affects their cognitive and emotional responses. this is the first step of achieving self-regulation. figure 2 anti-racist photo on instagram (blunie, 2020) mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 . self-regulation self-regulation is the ability to develop cognitive control of emotional reactivity to facilitate selfdirected change (bandura, 1986; brunzell, waters, & stokes, 2015; rothbart & bates, 2006). the goal of self-regulation is to develop attentional shifts, to focus on external experience and introspective awareness, and to engage in appropriate internal emotional responses (blair & raver, 2012; rothbart et al., 2011). self-regulation is learned and practiced; one has to understand how motivation and behavior can engage in further cognitive control (bandura & simon, 1977; pintrich & schrauben, 1992). when presented with information in or out of the social studies classroom, self-regulation may look like a complete observation of self, cognitively processing situational context without judgment (grossman et al., 2017). (see figure 3 for selfregulation activities.) when accessing information online, students need to withhold their initial reaction to the message, and they must reframe the emotional undertone of the information. students need to develop a habit of healthy skepticism and critical thinking as they process online texts, photos, gifs, and memes. the students need to question the trustworthiness of the source and understand that this source comes from a particular perspective (king & chandler, 2016; lawton, 2016). as students self-regulate, they become mindful of other perspectives and critically aware of the sources of knowledge. mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 figure 3 cultivating calm: self-regulation + digital citizenship mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 empathy one of the core values for teaching social studies is to “develop a spirit of inquiry that will enhance their [students] understanding of their world so that they will become rational, humane, participating, effective members of a democratic society” (maxim, 2018, p. 13). in a diverse society such as the u.s., the use of multiple perspectives is an indispensable cognitive tool to understand the social world and the phenomena that make the world dynamic. when students deal with diverse points of view, empathy is an inevitable process of perspective-taking (barton & levstik, 2004). empathy has affective and cognitive dimensions: from a psychological point of view, empathy is the understanding of another person’s emotional state, in the affective dimension, and the projection of oneself into the other’s situation, in the cognitive dimension (ricard, 2015). within the realm of historical reasoning, empathy requires students to be mindfully aware of others’ affective and cognitive states as they situate their own lived experiences in the context of a social phenomenon (endacott & brooks, 2013). figure 4 fostering empathy in an anti-racist digital citizenship central to the development of empathy in digital citizenship is the awareness of the pretext, the subtext, and the context of the information being shared on different social media platforms. what is the underlying reason behind this image? what is the implicit meaning of the president’s tweet? what set of facts do we know that influences the creation of the video? these are critical questions that demand perspective-taking and undergird the moral imperatives of empathy as applied to digital citizenship (see figure 4). fostering empathy is important, but not sufficient. a mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 transformative pedagogy (zembylas, 2013) in an anti-racist digital citizenship should involve compassion—taking a mindful action to alleviate the struggles and sufferings of others compassion self-regulation and empathy are connected intricately to compassion. empathy helps us understand and identify the struggles of people who are affected by xenophobia. as we identify the stressors and define the oppressions that take place in social media, we self-regulate our emotional reaction and critically analyze the validity of the source. this self-regulation brings us clarity of mind and enacts compassion. in social studies, acting from a state of compassion allows us to interact with a diverse society (rule, montgomery, & vander zanden, 2014). it is from this space that we define compassion as the feeling that arises in bearing witness to another's suffering and fosters the desire to help (goetz, keltner, & simon-thomas, 2010). figure 5 suggested activities to enact compassion figure 5 presents some learning tasks that enact compassion in an anti-racist digital citizenship. compassion, then, drives students to counter the racist behavior associated with xenophobia. the platform that actualizes xenophobic behavior can be the same platform that dismantles this mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 behavior. thus, calling out egregious behavior on twitter to fight coronavirus-related racism or creating anti-racist videos and memes is an act of compassion; we bear witness to others’ suffering in a digital realm, and this fosters a greater desire to aid in the removal of suffering. compassion, therefore, transforms digital citizenship as a tool to create a socially just digital experience. conclusion the issue of xenophobia has been around for centuries, but the proliferation of accessible digital information is exacerbating xenophobic ideals and behaviors during the covid-19 pandemic. these hurtful behaviors underlie racism and anti-immigrant sentiments worldwide. in this article, we offered an anti-racist digital citizenship framework to counter this xenophobic narrative. fundamental to the development of anti-racist digital citizenship is the transformation of one’s desire to challenge mainstream conceptions of citizenship through critical and intentional analysis of how digital information is being created and used. anti-racist digital citizenship becomes transformative when teachers develop self-regulation, foster empathy, and enact compassion in social studies classrooms, whether face-to-face or in virtual space. transformative digital citizenship is anti-racist education because it challenges inequalities, enhances communal values, and motivates action to create multicultural, democratic, and socially just societies. mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 44-59 corresponding author: eric.claravall@csus.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 references ahmad, a. r., & murad, h. r. 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(2020). teaching and literacy practices in covid-19 pandemic times. research, society and development, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4430 selby, e., connell, l., & joiner, t. (2009). the pernicious blend of rumination and fearlessness in non-suicidal self-injury. cognitive therapy and research, 34(5), 421-428. suleman, s., garber, k., & rutkow, l. (2018). xenophobia as a determinant of health. an integrative review. journal of public health policy, 38(4), 407-423. wegner, d., schneider, d., carter,s., & white, t. (1987). paradoxical effects of thought suppression. journal of personality and social psychology, 53(1), 5-13. workman, m. (2018). an empirical study of social media exchanges about a controversial topic: confirmation bias and participant characteristics. the journal of social media in society, 7(1), 381-400. zembylas, m. (2013). affective citizenship in multicultural societies: implications for critical citizenship education. citizenship teaching & learning, 9(1), 5-18. about the authors: eric b. claravall is an assistant professor in the college of education at california state university, sacramento. he is a scholar-practitioner in the fields of educational psychology and special education. his research interest falls within the intersection of text-based literacy development, digital literacies, and disciplinary literacy. twitter: @indio_edukado kelsey evans-amalu is an assistant professor in the college of arts and sciences at delta state university. she is a scholar-practitioner in social studies education. her research interest focuses on the use of mindfulness and sel strategies in k-12 and higher education. instagram: @themindfulprof mailto:eric.claravall@csus.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4430 journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 deliberating complicated conversations in curriculum discourse for social justice omsin jatuporn chiang mai university, thailand abstract: taking inspiration from dewey’s (1998) writing on experience and education and pinar’s (1981) conception of currere, dealing with autobiographical reflections of individuals regarding their educational experiences, i would like to problematize the curriculum studies as a broad education studies field in thailand, and social studies education in particular. locating my own positionality as a curriculum worker, i perceive curriculum as an educational text that opens diverse possibilities for critical-reflective and deliberative thoughts about my educational experiences throughout my life. shifting the personal conception from curriculum development to curriculum understanding discourse, i have gained insights that curriculum is a hermeneutic journey through one’s lived experiences grounding on the socio-cultural, historical, and political economy of each specific society. the field of curriculum studies and social studies education is still under the various forms of technical-instrumental rationality at all levels of education. i have come to recognize the reason why curriculum development becomes a mainstream educational narrative in curriculum history and theory and is currently still the powerful hegemonic discourse for conceptualizing curriculum in thailand. critical reflection on such discourse, therefore, has the potential to cause individuals to change their recurrently entrenched normative beliefs about curriculum and knowledge production as well as educational praxis, and to augment transformative knowledge and deliberative actions. key words: currere, educational experiences, curriculum studies, social studies, social justice mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 introduction to create democracy, equity, and social justice in our society, educators believe that their involvements in curriculum, pedagogy, and knowledge production are to question the genuine meaning of education, and to strive for the attainment of a socially just curriculum. this context becomes the fundamental premise in the field of curriculum studies, which is conceptualized around various disciplinary and interdisciplinary theory and practices in social sciences, humanities, and science and technology that intersect in the sites of knowledge production such as curriculum and education. in so doing, curriculum discourse for social justice is one of the curricular discourses that aim for building democracy, equity, and social justice in our society through curriculum theory and practices. social studies education as well as citizenship and history education has been ideologically grounded in educational progressivism and social reconstructionism. prominent social reconstructionist educators such as george s. counts, harold rugg, and theodore brameld argued that education, schooling, curriculum, and pedagogy should be grounded upon social reconstructionist ideology in order to build a new social order out of an unjust society (hursh & ross, 2000). thus, educators should work toward social justice by practicing democratic ideals in schools, participating in collective solidarity, and striving for socio-cultural and economic justice. john dewey also advocated for radical democracy and social reconstruction, and the essence of his philosophical ideology influences the lived worlds of many contemporary curriculum theorists, social studies and multicultural educators, and critical pedagogues to work for social justice both in theory and social praxis. therefore, curriculum discourse for social justice becomes a shared tenet and ideological goal that both curriculum studies and social studies education would like to achieve in order to build a just society. in light of this, as pinar (2011) suggested, to study and to become educated in the present moment, we must ask such critical questions as: what is our vision of the educated person? how do our curricular decisions affect children? do we create schools as humane environments that nurture the potential of all students? toward these questions, it is an arduous task for all concerned with teaching, curriculum, schooling, and education to provide definite answers, for these questions direct us to the knowledge production sites where knowledge, culture, and power discourse intersect and demands the commitment to address the ontologicalepistemological and methodological issues constantly being contemplated to comprehend its relational didactics between theoretical underpinnings and practices (pacheco, 2012) and between academic curriculum discourses and curriculum practices (molnar, 1992). in this light, mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 pinar’s (2011) premise about curriculum as a complicated conversation greatly contributes to the integration of influencing debates and tensions together. pinar’s scholarly contribution is a fruitful resource for emerging curriculum scholars and for graduate students particularly oriented to curriculum studies, teacher education, and social studies education. thus, scholars and graduate students should recognize the difficulty of engaging in debates on various theories in the field since the state of conflicts and the search for new meanings and tensions have given the field a unique identity. like most other education faculty members and graduate students directly involved with curriculum studiesthe academic field of education principally housed in departments of curriculum and teaching, socio-cultural foundations, educational administration, and higher education—my principal understandings in education are nurtured, challenged, confronted, and contradicted by different sets of histories, cultures, worldviews, and human experiences, which eventually come into collision with a rapidly increased international discourse in curriculum studies that is flourishing in western, anglo-american academia. positioning myself as a curriculum worker means two things. i see myself as a reflective teacherpractitioner who lives, studies, teaches, and contemplates congruently with such a collision, hoping for an awakening and self-examination though the lens of others such as university-based curriculum specialists, teacher educators, and educational policy elitists; then, i study curriculum and conduct research dealing with curriculum with exposure to current socio-cultural, historical, and political economy contexts of education, which a curriculum is variously defined among others as a scholarly field, phenomenon, and design (johnson-mardones, 2014). further, curriculum becomes the contested terrain for controversial public debates. in light of this, my own struggle with how best to move from the technical-instrumental rationality discourse in the form of curriculum development to reconceptualize curriculum in more philosophical, humanistic, and artistic ways, drawing on the reconceptualist curriculum scholarship, the turn in curriculum and post-ism movements are being subjected to many scathing criticisms such as the claim that reconceptualist curriculum theorizing in social studies education is unable to put curriculum theory into classroom practice of use to teachers. my intent is that i should not give up and turn away, because i am convinced that our committed ethics and dignity of the calling informed by the international curriculum studies scholarship and global social studies discourse such as multiculturalism, democracy, and social justice, which have been rigorously studied in the field, is the right direction for approaching curriculum discourse in today’s pluralistic world. mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 consequently, the meaning of curriculum theorists should be shifted from contemporary specific intellectuals who were assigned to perform an instrumental function by pushing government policy into action through the discourse of curriculum reform, more specifically in revision, decision-making, and policies (rivera, 2011), to be curriculum workers. pinar (1995) pointed out that curriculum theorists distanced themselves from schools and classroom practices that are a space for curriculum workers. he also stressed the reluctance of curriculum theorists to “get in bed with” curriculum workers, who have become foot soldiers in the cultural politics space as demonstrated in “the curriculum war” in curriculum studies field and “the social studies war” in social studies education. this cultural politics over knowledge production becomes a contested terrain for curriculum theorists and social studies scholars for critique and proposing alternative possibilities beyond issues on social efficiency, standardization, accountability reform, and neoliberal movements in education in the 1980s and 1990s. thus, my intent positionality as a curriculum worker means that the mediated position between curriculum scholars and teacherpractitioners, whose curricular works are very much situated within the regional, national, and global contexts and informed by the socio-political and educational issues and inquired in a more complicated, sophisticated, interdisciplinary, and epistemological diversity in understanding curriculum for social justice, are used, in this sense, throughout this paper. in addition, curriculum in this paper connotes what pinar (2012) described as an interdisciplinary field where teacher education is originated as the vital platform for the expression of intellectual freedom, installing the originality of educators and learners, their critical reflexivity and deliberation, and constantly facilitating the engagement in ongoing complicated and deliberative conversation. in this paper, i will divide my discussion into two parts. first, curriculum development reform as mainstream discourse in thai education and the struggling toward curriculum discourse for social justice: my perspectives and discussions for deliberating a complicated conversation in the curriculum field and social studies education in thailand will be critically analyzed. taking inspiration from dewey’s (1998) works on experience and education, supported with currere and reconceptualist curriculum discourses, i acknowledge these concepts to articulate an interminable engagement with educational lived world organisms. these concepts can be helpful in critiquing the status of curriculum studies and social studies education, and in framing and on becoming a critical social actor who can propose alternative possibilities and new imaginations for reconceptualizing curriculum and education in the specific and unique contexts. mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 curriculum development reform as mainstream discourse in thai education the thai education ministry launched the first phase of curriculum policy reform in 1996 and the second phase reform in 2012. since then, the curriculum reform has been put under the educational policy to enhance students’ learning outcomes and educational achievement. the processes of raising education quality are organizing teaching and learning processes that instill in youth the desirable characteristics as prescribed in the goals of curriculum and learning reform. the thai national education act of 1999 was launched in accordance with the constitution of thailand in 1997. this education act led to the national curriculum framework influenced by standards-based curriculum reform in the u.s. and then promulgated in 2001 with the latest version in 2008. thus, the national curriculum provides a framework for the development of school-based curriculum. educational institutions must develop their own curriculum on the basis of substances, standards, and indicators stipulated by the ministry of education. consequently, each educational institution shall formulate its own curriculum which comprises learning and essential experiences previously planned for the development of learners. these experiences must be based on the national curriculum standard (office of the education council, 2013). having described the curriculum and learning reform situation, which concerns multiple stakeholders, most curriculum theorists have shared common understandings about the reform by referring to the research and development (r & d) as well as the follow-up assessment of the basic education curriculum of 2001 and the more updated version as the basic education core curriculum of 2008, and these processes would be supposedly accomplished by developing a new curriculum for improving quality education. the discourse of curriculum reform and development would continue like this and become rhetorical discourse for thai educational reform. in this vein, i have witnessed that not many curriculum theorists have sensed, realized, or dared to criticize the hidden hegemony and status quo which has been exercised through the discourse of educational reform. based on their understandings, this national curriculum reform will be responsive with the national economic growth and social development plan concerning a human capital approach and a policy emphasis of the ministry of education in developing children and youth toward the 21st century. in addition, to promote the effectiveness of the curriculum, educational research has been conducted and focused on teaching and learning innovations such as constructivism, active learning, project and problem-based approaches and brain-based instruction, education management catered for specialized and gifted children, inculcation methods for ethical values, and inclusion of educational inquiry in classroom action research, mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 along with research on student-centered educational models. after the curriculum was implemented in schools nationwide for five years, the office of basic education commission’s curriculum development department would conduct an analysis of limitations and weaknesses of the implemented curriculum. ongoing monitoring, assessment, and research will be continued over the years for improving the effectiveness of the curriculum. based on the findings reported by the thai education ministry, the major limitations of the curriculum in the past were concluded to be as follows. first, the formulation of the curriculum by central authorities neither reflected nor responded to the needs of students, schools, and provincial cities. second, curriculum development and the educational outcome of mathematics and sciences including stem-based subjects as well as foreign language failed to develop leaders in these fields. therefore, teaching and learning procedures needed to be improved for increasing problem-solving competence, creativity, and disposition appropriated to learning in mathematics, science and technology, and foreign languages. third, the application of the curriculum failed to foster the foundations of critical thinking, to create learning procedures in the management of life skills, and to enable learners to effectively tackle rapid changes in social and economic areas (department of curriculum and instruction development, 2002). due to these limitations and weaknesses of curriculum as the educational system, the ministry of education operated by the educational policy elites made further revisions and implemented the new curriculum by reproducing educational reform discourse claiming the autonomy for reforming curriculum and education for the betterment of the nation (jatuporn & wattanatorn, 2014). the new curriculum is thought to better respond to the need for improving the teaching approaches of teachers and learning achievements of students, to promote skills and creativity, and to foster attitudes for lifelong learning among thai people. by positioning the political economy of thai curriculum reform, i have come to recognize the reason why the curriculum development became the mainstream educational narrative in curriculum history and theory and is currently still the powerful hegemonic discourse for conceptualizing curriculum in thailand. influenced by those external structures of educational reform and socio-political economy of education and reflectively mediated by my positionality as a committed curriculum worker whose personal ethics and orientation toward the conception of curriculum has been transformed for years, i have been exposed to a wealth of international curriculum discourses describing the complexities of the educational enterprise. i come to fully contemplate my learning, teaching, and curricular life, and reflect upon it with a kind of altered vision and realize that this kind of situation has taken place repeatedly over the years. mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 more importantly, i begin to question: if the previous curriculum is not up-to-date or contains ineffective results revealed in the empirical research, should the curriculum just be developed, revised, evaluated, improved, or reformed for more quality education? more issues raised are: should we limit our attempts to the quality knowledge and skills demanded by the competitive capitalist-neoliberal world? are we not concerned about their ability to apply the high-quality knowledge and other obtained competence in thoughtful, reflective, critical, and practical ways in order to create quality life in their existing socio-cultural, historical, and political contexts? all of these concerns that i have engaged in, consciously reflected upon, and contemplated become my nexuses in curriculum and social studies inquiry. an emergent curriculum worker like myself who is nurtured, cultivated, and has contemplated through life experiences has begun to grow in subsequent years with more reading, writing, and critical reflection, eventually becoming a focus of my professional identity, whereas the language and discourse of the technical-instrumental rationality framework and the curriculum development discourse for school efficiency and effectiveness has gained national acceptance in thai curriculum studies and social studies education. in accordance with the discourse on curriculum development and reform, public reports and research papers significantly contribute to the construction of the curriculum development model and quality education aligned with the neoliberal and neo-conservative principle of schooling and educational policy reform. to achieve this, quality education is definitely the result of a curriculum; in other words, a curriculum is a necessary prerequisite for a quality education (grundy, 1987). a systematic process of constructing a curriculum will help in keeping the curriculum on the same track as the development of the society and the nation. consequently, teachers will be instrumental in translating the national curriculum to classroom practices. based on the national education act, teachers are provided the professional roles in making decisions at school and classroom levels. they are trusted with the responsibility to develop their schoolbased curriculum. their participation in curriculum development can also enhance their profession. in reality, however, teachers struggle to develop a curriculum because they perceive themselves as primarily curriculum users, not curriculum designers. they teach by following prescribed textbooks and materials suggested by the ministry of education. some of them may not have enough experience to design their class curriculum in compliance with the national education standards. in addition, teachers who have no opportunity to participate in workshops on curriculum development may not understand or become confused regarding how a curriculum is designed and implemented, or why it needs to be uniquely designed at the schoolbased level. therefore, in real situations, it is not an easy task for teachers to develop a curriculum mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 even though it is essential for teachers to develop their professional capacity to design a schoolbased curriculum. ornstein and hunkins (2014) proposed that necessary components for developing a curriculum are contents, experiences, criteria for selecting experiences, and the relationships of content and experiences. in reports on using the new curriculum in pilot schools throughout thailand, researchers suggested some aspects of teachers’ understanding to develop essential competencies to implement student-centered curriculum and instruction, focusing on the basic education core curriculum. these aspects included new knowledge, teaching and learning strategies, integrated teaching, assessment and evaluation, mentoring, and classroom action research. the situations described above can be found in thailand and many countries in south east asia, the curriculum of which has largely been subjected to design, develop, implement, and evaluate based on the mainstream language of technical-scientific curriculum development that has influenced the field of education and teacher education for more than six decades (rivera, 2011). those influential impacts on curriculum studies and social studies could be historically investigated back to the recontextualized and rearticulated educational policy processes administered by the national policy elites who looked to the west and appropriately and selectively adopted the educational reform models to their local contexts since the post-cold war and decolonization era (kim, 2010). this historical fact is often evident in thailand, where the curriculum development model reflects the powerful contemporary curriculum discourse leading to educational reform and curriculum development focusing on content and learning organization, efficiency, and outcomes, addressing the needs stipulated by increasing changes in thailand among the developed countries in the west (jatuporn & wattanatorn, 2014). all of these are the critical reasons why the major tasks of curriculum development are aligned with the demands of curriculum design, development, implementation, and evaluation. this technocratic curriculum development model has been a monopolistic force and has contributed to a stagnant status that discourages the advancement and internationalization of global curriculum discourses such as democracy, multiculturalism, and social justice (mckernan, 2008). the struggle toward curriculum understanding discourse for social justice the context in the curriculum and instruction (c&i) department throughout thailand is one of the important factors of limited exposure to the contemporary internationalization of curriculum discourses. in a similar vein, the social studies education program has been disciplinary, organized under the administration of the curriculum and instruction department. this means that most social studies educators have been affiliated with the curriculum and instruction department. in mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 effect, the administrative organization both in terms of academic disciplines and specialized educators who are assigned and responsible for curriculum development, teaching, research, and academic services are the same. furthermore, graduate students in curriculum and instruction and social studies education have been exposed to few seminal academic texts in curriculum studies and social studies education. i personally suppose that this factor might stem from their limited exposure to the thai version of curriculum theory textbooks, which have almost all been translated from the original english versions of prominent curriculum theorists such as charles bobbitt, ralph tyler, hilda taba, david pratt, and others, as well as academic articles which presented only the curriculum development model. more significantly, most of the thai policy elites and curriculum specialists who produced curriculum theory textbooks during those times were professional state-based technocrats and educational administrators responsible for modernizing thailand through education and schooling reform. that is the reason why they appropriately selected only technical and instrumental aspects of curriculum development models and translated them into a thai version. the documents, therefore, contain information on how to develop curriculum but lack historical, philosophical, and ideological foundations of curriculum theories. in terms of professional degree, most of the faculty members in the c&i department, like their graduate students, received their doctoral education in thailand. those who experienced international degrees in curriculum studies are not affiliated with the curriculum department of regional universities; they mostly work in the large comprehensive research universities in bangkok, the capital city of thailand, and some of them work in the ministry of education. at this crucial point, it is interesting to note that curriculum theorists who obtained doctoral degrees in the field of curriculum studies, though predominantly from the united states, focused their inquiries into curriculum development and instructional design rather than approaching curriculum understanding. therefore, the research in the field of curriculum is lagging behind critical issues and controversies in contemporary education emerging from the public spheres. faculty members in the c&i department still rely on the curriculum development discourse which strongly focused on the instrumentalist and mechanistic practices. research on curriculum development and instructional design, on the one hand, is still the predominant discourse for curriculum reform and school effectiveness. graduate students would be similarly guided to conduct research focusing on student achievement prescribed in the national curriculum and desirable characteristics required for students and generations to come in the 21st century. the final outcomes of this research will be the model of curriculum and mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 instructional design that was assumed to be generally applicable to other similar schooling contexts. however, not all educators agree with what should be approached in curriculum research. as the nature of curriculum, most confusions and disagreements emerge from the theoretical ambiguities rooted in the subtle contexts in which curriculum is extensively discussed (dupreez & simmonds, 2014). in addition, scholars outside the field held various perspectives toward a curriculum which lacked a definite meaning and then could lead to confusion for students inquiring into curriculum, whereas, in international curriculum studies and social studies education, it has been evidenced that curriculum scholars and social studies educators accepted the ambiguities as a sign of dynamic vitality (pinar, 2012). in the thai case, to compromise the tensions between curriculum scholars and scholars outside the field, research on curriculum development and instructional design is considered to be the most appropriate research inquiry into curriculum because educators view that successful education and curriculum requires careful and systematic planning. so, they have come to recognize that without serious planning, confusions and conflicts are likely to characterize educational activity. they originated curriculum development strategies by formulating master plans prior to creating or implementing a program for students. certainly, it is inconceivable that a curriculum can be conceived without any consideration in regard to goals, content, learning experiences, methods, materials, and evaluation. under this condition, there is an attempt to challenge the curriculum development by a range of curriculum workers and practitioners who have devoted their professional time studying and designing curriculum under other frameworks of curriculum (thongthew, 2011). it is especially interesting to note that those committed to reconceptualizing curriculum are mostly people outside the scholarly fields of education, and they are oriented in their educational ideologies, perspectives, and praxis toward transformative education grounded in critical and radical democracy for transforming the society. in stark contrast to this research phenomenon is the curriculum understanding discourse i experienced as a visiting scholar in a curriculum studies and social studies education program in one of the largest public schools of education in the midwestern united states. i was exposed to education and curricular discourses in both professional contexts and in general communication with graduate students and faculty members in broad fields of education. for me, those earliest insights shifting from “curriculum development” to “understanding curriculum” took place during my junior year of study required by the doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction, mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 when i was a doctoral student in my mid-20s who had chances to study and had rich conversations with an alumna of the curriculum studies program at the university of wisconsinmadison and now a retired education faculty of chulalongkorn university. she discussed alternative curriculum paradigms in curriculum inquiry as well as alternative approaches to conducting curriculum studies research that moves beyond the technical-instrumental scientific approach to curriculum construction. furthermore, what permanently changed my conception of education, curriculum, teaching, and schooling was a year-long course in socio-cultural contexts for curriculum development. this course emphasized critical and transformative theory as well as interpretative approaches in understanding curriculum. these powerful descriptive frameworks revealed and made clear to me what was invisible, hidden, unspoken, suppressed, and marginalized, especially in terms of education, curriculum, pedagogy, and schooling. this was my first contact with the contemporary discourses in curriculum which have shaped and influenced the field for many decades, but few educators in thailand are exposed to this scholarship. for one-and-a-half academic years, i was awakened by intensively reading seminal texts in curriculum studies and social studies education and went further to engage in the work of postmodern and poststructuralist critics of curriculum, teaching, and schooling. these are not only curriculum scholars but include international philosophers and educators such as maxine greene, michael apple, elliot eisner, william pinar, william reynolds, henry giroux, joe kincheloe, and peter mclaren, to name but a few. their shared perspectives on curriculum and knowledge production, which involved a living organism opposing a machine that is precise and orderly and cannot be precisely planned, was a groundbreaking idea and became an important resource for me as i drew upon these ideas in conjunction with my curricular experiences to help me contribute to the curriculum studies and social studies education in thailand. i also started writing previews and academic articles relating critical social studies and history education and competing discourses in the field, both in thai and english. i have gradually learned that it is not an easy task to convince education scholars about my perspectives in approaching the curriculum; some of the articles were harshly questioned by readers who seemed displeased by my non-technical approach to conceptualizing curriculum, which makes curriculum research inappropriate and unprofessional. since then, my personal inquiry in curriculum and social research has significantly shifted from “curriculum development” to “understanding curriculum.” i have realized that the contemporary discourses on curriculum are no longer to provide technical-scientific curriculum planning, development, implementation, and evaluation. thus, curriculum discourse for social justice in curriculum theory and social studies education could be mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 achieved by the praxis of an ethical and committed curriculum worker who perceives themselves as a critical agent in their educational and cultural politics space. conclusion by acknowledging the concept of “currere” proposed by pinar (1981), curriculum will be explored as a regressive by adopting a process of reflective introspection to our personal life journeys, a progressive by looking forward to an imagined future, an analytical by studying the historical past, contemporary situations, and future, and a synthesis by merging our experiences with the larger contextualization of cultural, historical, and political economy of its society. the articulation of this notion enriched my entanglement with our educational organisms, one that could be conducive for analyzing, criticizing, and imagining the status of curriculum studies and social studies education by formulating the ever-changing educational world. in thailand and many countries in south east asia, these academic fields of education are still under the various forms of technical rationality at all levels of education. as curriculum workers, we must recognize the reason why the language of curriculum development has been the mainstream discourse in curriculum history and is still currently the powerful discourse for approaching curriculum (lim & apple, 2018). these premises have inspired my inquiry into curriculum and helped construct the identity of a curriculum worker who was once naïve in the field and gradually became a critical curriculum worker. looking back through my own experiences and enthusiastically committing to curriculum inquiry, as well as struggling with how best to move from curriculum development to curriculum understanding, have shaped and changed my professional and personal identity. we believe that curriculum workers should engage in complicated conversations in curriculum and social knowledge through criticisms and debates, which are the lifeblood of curriculum studies and social studies education. being under the hegemony of educational reform, education quality, standardization, accountability, and school effectiveness, among others, it is incumbent upon curriculum workers to assure that the directives of the educational institutions that address those things within the system be fulfilled. they should also settle the issues pertaining to the individual, community, and social justice (callejo-perez, 2011). the contemporary society requires education weaving throughout the curriculum opportunities, so that learners can think critically, concomitant with the contemplation of their values and beliefs about schooling and education. critical reflection on such a paradigm has the potential to cause individuals to change their recurrently entrenched normative beliefs about education and related mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 issues (null, 2011). it also serves as a catalyst to promote radical social change. thus, it is my hope that we will liberate curriculum, whether in forms of our thoughts or practices, and act seriously toward that liberation. mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 references callejo-perez, d. m. (2011). the future of our making: recapturing the identity of curriculum. curriculum: from theory to practice. plymouth: rowman & littlefield. department of curriculum and instruction development. (2002). basic education curriculum b.e. 2544 (a.d. 2001). ministry of education, thailand: the express transportation organization of thailand. dewey, j. (1998). experience and education. phi delta kappa. dupreez, p., & simmonds, s. (2014). curriculum, curriculum development, curriculum studies? problematising theoretical ambiguities in doctoral theses in the education field. south african journal of education, 34(2), 1–14. grundy, s. (1987). curriculum: product or praxis. london: falmer press. hursh, d. w., & ross, e. w. (2000). democratic social education: social studies for social change. new york: falmer press. jatuporn, o., & wattanatorn, a. (2014a). curriculum studies: the convergence of globalization, educational ideology and interdisciplinary study of the humanities and the social sciences. journal of education, naresuan university, 16(1), 158–171. jatuporn, o., & wattanatorn, a. (2014b). outcome-based curriculum: the discourse analysis of curriculum based on the postmodernism paradigm. journal of education studies, chulalongkorn university, 42(4), 171–184. johnson-mardones, d. f. (2014). toward a multidimensional concept of curriculum: understanding curriculum as phenomenon, field and design. european journal of curriculum studies, 1(2), 172–177. kim, y.c. (2010). transnational curriculum studies: reconceptualization discourse in south korea. curriculum inquiry, 40(4), 531-554. lim, l. & apple, m.w. (2018). the politics of curriculum reforms in asia: inter-referencing mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 discourses of power, culture and knowledge. curriculum inquiry, 48(2), 139-148. mckernan, j. (2008). curriculum and imagination: process theory, pedagogy and action research. london: routledge. molnar, a. (1992). contemporary curriculum discourse: too much ado too much nothing. theory into practice, 31(3), 198–203. null, w. (2011). curriculum: from theory to practice. plymouth: rowman & littlefield. office of the education council. (2013). curriculum development of thai basic education. paper presented at the international conference on education 2013. bangkok: the office of the education council, ministry of education. ornstein, a. c., & hunkins, f. p. (2014). curriculum: foundations, principles and issues (6th ed). london: pearson. pacheco, j. (2012). curriculum studies: what is the field today? journal of the american association for the advancement of curriculum studies, 8, 1–18. pinar, w. f. (1981). the reconceptualization of curriculum studies. in curriculum and instruction. berkeley, ca: mccutchan. pinar, w. f. (1995). understanding curriculum: an introduction to the study of historical and contemporary curriculum discourses. new york: lang. pinar, w. f. (2011). the character of curriculum studies: bildung, currere, and the recurring question of the subject. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. pinar, w. f. (2012). what is curriculum theory? new york, ny: routledge. rivera, f. d. (2011). in southeast asia: philippines, malaysia, and thailand: conjunctions and collisions in the global cultural economy. international handbook of curriculum research. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. thongthew, s. (2011). an alternative conceptualization for curriculum development: the case of educational project for cultural diversity context in the southern border mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 22-37 corresponding author: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 schools of thailand. journal of education, naresuan university, 13(3), 189–196. about the author: omsin jatuporn is a committee member of ma and phd program in multicultural education at the department of educational foundations and development, faculty of education, chiang mai university, thailand. his main interests include critical curriculum theory, multicultural education, teacher education and socio-cultural and historical foundations of education. mailto:ajarn.hon@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 138 the belize project: a host school perspective frans h. doppen ohio university laura f. wentworth ohio university abstract: while the research literature is replete with studies on student perspectives and their development of cross-cultural sensitivity, research on the perspectives of educators who host international preservice teachers is woefully lacking. this study seeks to fill that gap by assessing the experiences of 15 educators at an elementary host school in belize. it draws on their experiences with hosting the belize project, a week-long international field experience. our findings lead to two major conclusions. culture and completing a field experience in a classroom in another country are two closely intertwined and difficult to disentangle experiences. it is a reciprocal process in which both participating partners, the teacher candidates and host school community, reap the benefits of both a cultural and educational exchange. not only does it benefit the student teachers, it also contributes to the professional development of the host school community and its educators. despite the short length of the project, the mentor teachers and administrators unanimously agreed that its benefits clearly outweigh its challenges. key words: teacher education, global competence, study abroad, field experience introduction while the research literature is replete with studies on student perspectives and their development of cross-cultural sensitivity (shaklee & baily, 2012; vandeberg, phoebe, & lou, 2012) research on the perspectives of educators who host international preservice teachers is woefully lacking. this study seeks to fill that gap by assessing the experiences of 15 educators at an elementary host school in belize. it draws on their experiences with hosting the belize project, mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 139 a week-long international field experience program offered at ohio university, an american university in the mid-west. conducted in march 2018 during its third iteration, the findings in this study are based on interviews with 13 of the 16 teachers and the two administrators at an elementary roman catholic, state-sponsored school with 540 students in the corozal district in northern belize. the major objective of the belize project is for american early field teacher candidates to develop a global-minded perspective by teaching in a classroom in another country. as such, the teacher candidates who participated in this ongoing project were required to develop a curriculum unit to be implemented, and possibly revised, in collaboration with the mentor teacher while in belize. in addition, their experience in belize included exploring the local community, taking a day trip to corozal town and visiting the mayan ruins at lamanai. literature review in our ever globalizing world, teachers are faced with the challenge of preparing their students to thrive in a global community and become globally competent themselves (stewart, 2013). a student’s capacity to develop a global perspective in an academic setting relies heavily on the ability of the teacher to provide a learning environment that cultivates global-mindedness (colville-hall & adamowicz-hariasz, 2010; merryfield, tin-yau lo, & po, 2008). teachers have the responsibility to educate students to “have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to live and work in a global society” (mcgaha & linder, 2014, p. 305) teaching abroad allows preservice teachers to learn new ideas and skills in the area of culture and develop global competence. according to the asia society (boix mansilla & jackson, 2010) global learning includes examining global issues, recognizing different perspectives, communicating ideas across cultures and taking action. likewise, madrid akpovo and nganga (2018) argue that international field experience programs provide preservice teachers with opportunities to develop a critical consciousness grounded in cultural relativism through dialogue. they note that american preservice teachers, because they come from wealthier regions of the world which constitute a small percentage of the world population, have developed a minority world perspective on what constitutes developmentally appropriate teaching. in their research in nepal and kenya, they found that while the american preservice teachers were often troubled by a lack of teacher-centered play and an authoritarian approach to teaching, letting children play independently is regarded as being responsible, nurturing and caring. according to the council on international educational exchange (ciee, 2019), a nonprofit study abroad and intercultural exchange organization, teaching abroad brings people from different mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 140 cultures together to learn from one another and make positive connections by becoming part of a community through daily interactions with people in and out of the classroom. an integral aspect of international field experience programs, immersive experiential learning seeks to move preservice teachers beyond tourism (cushner, 2018, pasquarelli, 2018; quezada, 2004). o’connell (2018) argues that students “should avoid places full of tourists” as tourist traps, “unlike places of genuine cultural significance, tend to contribute to the disneyfication of a culture” (p. 230). going abroad should be “more than a surface experience, more than a holiday” (p. 235) but rather an opportunity to grow by being exposed to new people, places and culture, and to return home “with a new appreciation of the diversity of our world” that “demonstrates honor and respects and brings more understanding in this world” (pp. 222-223). while the research literature on the specific international perspectives of educators at institutions that host american preservice teachers is largely non-existing, some of the research on mentoring and intercultural competence can serve to identify aspects of the benefits and challenges of hosting international preservice teachers. located in the united kingdom, durham university (2019) lists eight reasons why mentoring benefits mentors. it provides an opportunity to reflect on one’s practice, enhances job satisfaction, leads to new personal relationships, enhances peer recognition, uses one’s experience to benefit a new person, widens one’s understanding of the institutions involved in the program, allows one to practice interpersonal skills and provides the personal satisfaction of supporting someone else. reflecting upon creating and sustaining relationships with domestic “cooperating teachers,” kerr and norris (2008) argue that the benefits of hosting a preservice teacher includes “understanding group dynamics, more opportunities to problem solve, potential for increase in self-understanding, developing interdependence skills, gaining multiple points of view, seeing life through others’ eyes, expanding one’s worldview, and rethinking previously held beliefs” (p. 77). echoing some of the same reasons, in their study of the franco-american teachers-in-training institute (fititi), a still ongoing three-week seminar followed by a nine-week internship in an area school offered by the university of akron, ohio for french teachers, colville-hall and adamowiz (2010) include, amongst other, cross-cultural experience, citizenship diplomacy and professional growth as its goals. the program exposes teachers from france, “themselves the products of a strongly hierarchical society and trained to become distant authority figures in the classroom,” to new instructional student-centered approaches to instruction” and allows them become “part of the school community” (pp. 53-54). mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 141 in a study, conducted in india, rekah and ganesh (2012) found that after a year of mentoring children from underprivileged backgrounds, their mentors found the experience enhanced their interpersonal, leadership and communication skills, including their self-confidence and selfawareness. in another study specifically focused on teachers’ perceptions of their mentoring role in three different domestic clinical settings, including early field experiences, gut, beam, henning, cochran and knight (2014) found that the development of the relationship between a mentor and mentee was contingent upon their personalities, interpersonal skills and professional background. specific to early field experiences they found that since early field preservice teachers spend a limited amount of time in their classrooms, mentor teachers tended to view them as “temporary and often silent occupants of their classroom” (p. 254). hence, they tended to focus on encouraging the preservice teachers’ professionalism and helping them confirm education as their chosen career path. they also found that if mentors had a prior positive mentoring experience, they expected another positive experience, while if they had had a prior negative mentoring experience, they expected another negative experience (p. 257). finally, they also found that mentor teachers would limit their early field student teachers to “one-on-one tutoring, working with small groups of students, or assisting with whole class instruction” (p. 258). research has shown that culturally diverse students have a deeper trust in teachers who themselves are culturally sensitive and competent. teaching abroad helps teacher candidates to be better able to relate to students of cultures different than their own. experiencing a different culture where the first language is not english makes preservice teachers more sensitive to the cultural underpinning of language used by students from different cultures, a disposition they need to serve an ever more diverse domestic student population (quezada, 2005; malewski, sharma & philion, 2012, williams, 2017). while intercultural experiences may sometimes reinforce negative stereotypes (egekivst, lyngdorf, & du, 2017), they provide a unique opportunity to not only increase awareness of one’s own values (doppen & shahri, 2018) but also share one’s perspective as a visitor with the hosting institution (gorsuch, 1988). reflecting upon hosting domestic as well international student teachers, mcpherson (2005), a dance instructor, argued that hosting student teachers involves “an investment of time and energy” that benefits not only the students but the mentor teacher as well. she learned that there “always is more than one way of approaching a particular topic,” that “students react differently to different teachers,” that international students teach mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 142 “invaluable lessons about the world,” and that it brings the “joy of camaraderie” by sharing delightful as well as disappointing experiences (pp. 105-106). methodology this study was conducted during the third year of the belize project. its purpose was to assess the experiences of teachers and administrators and to determine the teachers’ and administrators’ assessment of the project and what they thought could be done to improve it. research suggests that a qualitative method is especially appropriate when studying a contemporary phenomenon to describe the meaning of a lived experience from the perspective a group of individuals (creswell, 2012; merriam, 2016; stake, 1995; yin, 2002). participants. the findings in this study are based on 15 interviews with 13 of the 16 teachers and the school’s two administrators at san benito, a pseudonym. san benito is an elementary roman catholic, state-sponsored school with 540 students in a small village in the corozal district in northern belize near the mexican border. to protect their identity, all participants were assigned a pseudonym. table 1. participants teachers standard age 2016 2017 2018 darcy pre-k 3-4 x x rafael infant 5-6 x x angélica infant 5-6 x x x maribel 1 6-7 x x x clara 1 6-7 x x x alejandro 2 7-8 x juanita 2 7-8 x zenoemi 3 8-9 x x x linda 3 8-9 x x x guillermo 4 8-9 x x x andrés 6 10-11 x 5 9-10 x 4 8-9 x antonio 5-6 9-11 x x x mónica special education 3-14 x x julian principal 3-14 x x x elsa vice principal 3-14 x x x mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 143 nine of the 13 teachers were female, while four were male. the students they taught ranged from three-year-olds to fourteen-year-olds. two teachers participated in the belize project for this first time, three did so for the second time, while eight teachers did so for the third time since the project first began in 2016. the two administrators were a married couple and had a prominent presence at the school. the district’s economy continues to predominantly depend on the sugar industry although more recently tourism had become more significant as well. while english is the language of instruction at san benito the region is largely populated by maya-mestizo people whose primary spoken language is spanish. interview. the purpose of the interviews was to assess the teachers’ and administrators’ perspective on whether the teacher candidates demonstrated increased cultural sensitivity during instruction (see appendix: interview protocol). specifically, they were asked whether the teacher candidates added value to their school and were sensitive to the students’ background. the questionnaire also included questions intended to identify the most gratifying as well as most challenging experiences they had with the teacher candidates. finally, they were asked to identify the strengths of the belize project and whether they had any suggestions for improvement. in concluding the interview, they were asked to rate the belize project on a likert scale. all interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. limitations. one limitation of our findings may be that laura conducted the interviews and that the mentor teachers may have sought to please her. furthermore, being welcoming to visitors is a distinct feature of belizean culture. another limitation may have been that the interviews were conducted during the field experience itself in belize and that the mentor teachers may not have had sufficient time for reflection. finally, corozal is distinctly rural and hence differs significantly from belize’s urban centers. its rurality may have been a factor in the interview responses as well. data analysis. data sources for this study consisted of the 15 interviews. to analyze the interview transcriptions, we chose to use dana and silva’s (2003) four steps for inquiry. first, we separately read each interview transcription to form a detailed description. we then met to compare our descriptions and begin the sense-making process to develop our categories. next, we undertook an interpretation of our descriptions to organize our categories in themes. throughout the sense making and interpretation stages of our analysis, we used the constant comparative method to determine common themes (merriam, 2016). finally, we developed a consensus on the implications of this study for future practice and research. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 144 findings our data analysis suggests two major themes. the first theme focuses on the cultural exchange aspect of the belize project in the areas of language, classroom management, and adding value. the second theme focuses on whether the teachers and administrators at san benito would welcome continuing the project and their assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. culture the teachers at san benito indicated that one week was too short for a full immersive cultural experience. while according to alejandro, belize itself “is full of different culture practices,” linda argued that “[t]eaching in one culture and in another culture is different.” yet, all mentor teachers strongly agreed that the teacher candidates became increasingly sensitive to cultural differences between belize and the united states. language. while the mentor teachers made references to other aspects of belizean culture, such as food and traditional dances, they most notably commented on issues related to language as most students in the corozal district speak spanish at home even though instruction is in english. initially, the students at san benito struggled with getting used to american english and often had difficulty with the teacher candidates’ american accent and pronunciation of words, or when they simply spoke too fast. as linda stated, i think that’s a little problem. culture coming again. you know, belize is spanish speaking, especially in the north. the accent of your language might be a little bit fast for them. one, [our students] are barely adapting to the english language. and then, here you come, another one, they’re trying to get into the language. and the way you speak – the way the teacher speaks may be a little fast for them. … a lot of them speak spanish at home, and that’s a very big problem, even in our school when we try to teach them in english, have them speak in english, it’s a little bit difficult for them. although one teacher candidate had difficulty overcoming the language barrier and tended to focus her interactions on a student who spoke english well, according to clara, by the end of the week, classroom instruction greatly improved as the teacher candidates had “gained the hearts of our students.” as alejandro commented as well, the children’s original tongue is spanish, and i think that is one of the things that the [university] students grow a little bit in that. they learned a lot of things different that we have in belize, not in ohio. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 145 classroom management. the mentor teachers also commented on different approaches to classroom management. since their students are more “used to an authoritative voice,” according to linda, they found that sometimes it was difficult to “control” them because the teacher candidates were so “kind and sweet to them.” the teacher candidates, as guillermo noted, engaged in novel approaches such as “play[ing] along with the children” during break time, or as alejandro noted, “sit[ting] on the ground” with them. he stated, in working and playing with them, we don’t have those values, maybe we can start to develop those. friendship, cooperation. i see how they show cooperation to teachers after we made class last year, how they cooperate working among the children and learn also. sharing, there was a lot of sharing, so there was a lot they contribute to our school. adding value. the teachers and administrators unanimously believed that the teacher candidates added value to their school. “for some reason,” darcy commented, “whenever we have the presence of a new teacher in the classroom, the children are always attentive. any advice given by that new person will always be kept as part of the children’s memory and their behavior will improve.” while, according to elsa, the children “became very interactive and they practiced the english language,” linda argued that the “students feel happy whenever people come to visit them, especially people from another culture.” she added, and they practice it, not only in the classroom, but outside, so these are some things or values they left the students. but not just the students, personally as well, because it was a joy listening to someone who is not from belize and come in now and tell us and speak to us about this. i embrace that, something unique from them, and we tried to develop it as well. elisa as well, among others, liked that the teacher candidates emphasized values such as “friendship, cooperation, respect, love, unity, care, [and] sharing.” they liked that the teacher candidates introduced “new ideas, methods and strategies.” the mentor teachers agreed that the teacher candidates were respectful, well prepared, and professional. they commented that the teacher candidates were open to feedback and responded positively to suggestions for improvement by making changes or adding to the curriculum. at times, the mentor teachers thought it was actually their students who lacked respect. as alejandro suggested, mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 146 i think that maybe the children might be a little disrespectful to them, telling them how beautiful they are. we don’t use those at school. we ask them to respect that. they, in their part, at no time have we heard that they have been disrespectful to no one. on the contrary, we have heard that the children, the students are a little bit disrespectful. project assessment as part of the interview, the mentor teachers were asked whether they would welcome the student teachers back to their school as well as to rate the project. their responses were overwhelmingly positive. welcome. the teachers unanimously would welcome the teacher candidates back into their classroom. guillermo liked that the project “takes us away from the routine and acts as a refresher for both the students and the teacher.” zenoemi liked the “interchange of teaching strategies,” while mónica liked the “exchange of ideas of our different cultures.” in a representative response, darcy, opined that “[the] experience that people bring and the experience that people take is what makes us develop more professionally, and i think that in this case, i gain from [the teacher candidate] and she gained from our school.” antonio thought “the collaboration is helpful because belize teachers can see other ways of teaching.” carlos liked that “[t]hey bring along with them a more student-centered approach to teaching,” while juanita humbly suggested “that what we can give to them is little compared to what they can give to us.” suggesting that “some of us are old in these things,” alejandro liked that the teacher candidates brought a “new way of strategies and methods.” he was “surprised that we have not been using those” and that their presence “serves as a refresher course to see how they are bringing these new ideas.” others, such as mónica and elisa, argued that the teacher candidates inspired the students with “the passion that they have for the students and for the teaching profession.” some of the mentor teachers argued that the teacher candidates continued to have an impact even after they had left. according to alejandro, the challenging part comes now because the children are expecting us to have activities similar to those that [the teacher candidates] bring. then we find that a lot of those techniques and methods that you know, that is the most challenging part is at the end, after you leave. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 147 while acknowledging that “in your developed country, sometimes there are things that are easy to do but here you really need to find your resources,” darcy learned that sometimes afterwards his students nonetheless tell him, “but, sir, she [did] it different.” rating. while two interviewees did not respond, one teacher ranked the belize project as satisfactory, two as above average, and eight as excellent. in summary, they argued that although there was room for more prior communication and planning as well as, especially, for more time in belize, the major strength of the project was the “exposure for both candidates and the children to learn about other cultures and to build relationships,” and learning from each other. angélica even suggested a study on how the teacher candidates might feel about their experience in belize “maybe after being in a real class for more than five years.” the principal and vice-principal both agreed with the mentor teachers’ assessment. julian, the principal, thought “this program is excellent – new ideas, new teaching strategies, methods, great interaction with the ohio university students, teacher with students, belizean students and administrators.” he thought that, “[t]he greatest strength of the program is building relationships among teachers” and especially appreciated the complete lesson plans the student teachers shared and left for the teachers at the school to use as a reference. elsa, the vice-principal agreed that san benito’s “administrators and teachers welcome new ideas, strategies, methods of teaching, and also improved new relationship with other countries.” she especially believed that “the program has been effective since belizean teachers and american teachers work together for the benefit of our students.” conclusion our findings lead to two major conclusions. culture and completing a field experience in a classroom in another country are two closely intertwined and difficult to disentangle experiences. it is a reciprocal process in which both participating partners, the teacher candidates and host school community, reap the benefits of both a cultural and educational exchange. not only does it benefit the student teachers, it also contributes to the professional development of the host school community and its educators. despite the short length of the project, the mentor teachers and administrators unanimously agreed that its benefits clearly outweigh its challenges. while true cultural immersion may well require an extended stay “beyond tourism” (cushner, 2018), our findings suggest that a shortstay program, nonetheless, adds significant value for all. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 148 implications our findings suggest several implications for future practice and research. a first significant implication is that international field experience programs are worth their while when wellcoordinated between the sending and receiving institution. as such clear lines of communication are essential to align expectations with regard to successes and challenges. while past research has been narrowly focused on the learning experiences of teacher candidates, future research should notably examine to what extent the background of the mentor teachers, in addition to that of the teacher candidates, has implications for the cultural exchange experience. factors, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, socioeconomic background, geography, are all integral to the cultural exchange experience and their impact should be further examined. replicating this study to re-search whether our findings are valid will offer additional insights. finally, research to compare similar international field experience programs, notably in different international contexts and longterm for ongoing programs, will further add to the research base. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 149 references: boix mansilla, v., jackson, a. (2011) educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world. new york, ny: asia society. colville-hall, s., & adamowicz-hariasz, m. (2010). going global, a requirement for the 21st century: how teacher candidates and a community benefit from teachers abroad. ohio social studies review, 46(1), 48-55. council on international educational exchange (2019). intern abroad. retrieved from https://www.ciee.org/ creswell, j.w., & poth, c.n. (2017). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. los angelos, ca: sage publications, inc. cushner, k. (2018). teacher as traveler: enhancing intercultural development of teachers and students. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. doppen, f.h., & shahri, b. (2019). overseas student teachers’ reflections on american national identity: a longitudinal study. journal of international social studies, 9(1),72-92. durham university (2019). what are the benefits of mentoring? retrieved from https://www.dur.ac.uk/hr/mentoring/mentoringguidelines/mentoringbenefits/ egekvist, u.l., lyngdorf, n.e., & du, x.y. (2017). internationalization in schools – perspectives of school leaders. international journal of educational research, 83, 20-31. gorsuch, m. (1988). hosting foreign visitors in the classroom. juneau, ak: alaska department of education. gut, d.m., beam, p.c., henning, j.e., cochran, d.c., & knight, r.t. (2014). teachers’ perceptions of their mentoring role in three different clinical settings: student teaching, early field experiences, and entry year teaching. mentoring & tutoring: partnership in learning, 22(30, 240-263. kerr, j., & norris, l. (2008). community, collegiality, collaboration: creating and sustaining productive relationships with cooperating teachers. the field experience journal, 2, 7690. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.ciee.org/ https://www.dur.ac.uk/hr/mentoring/mentoringguidelines/mentoringbenefits/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 150 malewski, e., sharma, s., phillion, j. (2012). how international field experiences promote crosscultural awareness in preservice teachers through experiential learning: findings form a six-year collective case study. teacher college record, 114, 1-44. malewski, e., sharma, s., & phillion, j. (2012). how international field experiences promote crosscultural awareness in pre-service teachers through experiential learning: findings from a six-year collective case study. teachers college record, 114(8), 1-44. mcpherson, e. (2005). hosting student teachers: a teaching and learning experience. journal of dance education, 5(3), 105-106. merriam, s.b. (2016). qualtitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. mcgaha, j. m., & linder, s. m. (2014). determining teacher candidates’ attitudes toward globalmindedness. action in teacher education, 36, 305-321. merryfield, m., tin-yau lo, j., & po, s. (2008). worldmindedness: taking off the blinders. journal of curriculum and instruction, 2(1), 6-20. o’connell, r.m. (2018). speaking from abroad. (2018). in s.l. pasquarelli, r.a. cole, m.j. tyson, & h. landorf (eds.), passport to change: designing academically sound, culturally relevant, short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs (pp. 222-235). sterling, va: stylus publishing. psquarelli, s.l (2018). defining an academically sound, culturally relevant study abroad curriculum. in s.l. pasquarelli, r.a. cole, m.j. tyson, & h. landorf (eds.), passport to change: designing academically sound, culturally relevant, short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs (pp. 35-59). sterling, va: stylus publishing. quezada, r. l. (2005). beyond educational tourism: lessons learned while student teaching abroad. international education journal, 5(4), 458-465. rekha, k.n., ganesh, m.p. (2012). do mentors learn by mentoring others? international journal of mentoring and coaching in education, 1(3), 205-217. shaklee, b.d., & baily, s. (eds.) (2012). internationalizing teacher education in the united states. lanham, md: rowan & littlefield publishers, inc. stake, r.e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 151 stewart, v. (2013). succeeding globally: transforming the teaching profession. international educator, may-june, 82-87. vandeberg, m., phoebe, r. m., & lou, k. h. (2012). student learning abroad: paradigms and assumptions. in m. vande berg, r. m. phoebe, k. h. lou (eds.), student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 3-28). sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. williams, s. (2017). teaching abroad: effects on the cultural competence of pre-service teachers. the field experience journal, 19, 3-25. yin, r.k. (2002). case study research. beverly hills, ca: sage publications. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 152 appendix: interview protocol 1. did the ou teacher candidate grow in his/her knowledge of cultural practice? if so, how? if not, why not? 2. over the course of the week, did the ou teacher candidate show growth in his/her knowledge of student instruction? please explain. 3. what challenges did you observe the ou teacher candidate handle well? what areas of the experience did the candidate not handle well? 4. did the ou teacher candidate plan for and successfully navigate language barriers? 5. did the ou teacher candidate teaching present content age appropriately? please explain. 6. did the ou teacher candidate differentiate for student needs and, if so, how did he/she do so? 7. was the ou teacher candidate sensitive to your classroom schedule? if so, how? if not, why not? did the candidate work with you in planning daily classroom schedules and activities? please explain. 8. did the ou teacher candidate grow in his/her ability to be flexible and change the needs of the classroom throughout the week? 9. did the ou teacher candidate assess his or her students? if so, how? please describe. if not, why not? 10. did the ou student add value to your school? if so, how did he/she contribute to your school, your students? 11. did the ou teacher candidate accept constructive feedback from the supervising san benito teacher? and how did he/she respond? 12. was the ou teacher candidate respectful toward the san benito teacher? please explain. 13. if you were asked again to host another or multiple ou students would you welcome them into your classroom? if so, why? if not, why not? 14. what did you find the most gratifying about having the ou students at your school? 15. what did you find the most challenging about having the ou students at your school? 16. do you think the ou program has been effective? is so, how and why? and if not, why not? mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 138-153 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 153 17. did you feel included in the program? what do you like about it? and how can it be improved? 18. was the ou teacher candidate professional and appropriate while working with students? 19. did ou teacher candidate prioritize motivation and classroom community? 20. was the ou teacher candidate sensitive to student background, individual interests, language and cognitive skills? 21. did the ou teacher candidate prioritize student relationships and work to develop a caring connection? 22. overall, on a scale of 1-5, how would you rate the program? please explain. (scale: 1. excellent, 2. above average, 3. satisfactory, 4. below average, 5. poor) 23. what are the program’s strengths? 24. in what areas can the program be improved? about the authors: frans h. doppen is a professor of social studies education and chair of the department of teacher education in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. laura f. wentworth is an assistant professor of instruction in the early childhood and elementary education program and director of the belize project in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 1 spring/summer 2011 editor’s message the editorial staff of the journal of international social studies welcomes you to the second issue of our new journal. thanks to all of you who have contributed to the journal either through manuscript submissions or peer reviews. this scholarly undertaking is a team effort that goes beyond the individual efforts of a small group of people. we welcome three manuscripts to our second issue of the journal. in keeping with our mission to create a forum for common concerns among social studies educators around the world, these manuscripts focus on the concept of citizenship and citizenship education within a national and global context. in “educating citizens: a cross-cultural conversation,” susan a. adler and kho ee moi consider the meaning of citizenship in two different national settings, singapore and the united states. their findings are based on computer based conversations between teachers in singapore and in the united states midwest. in “global citizenship and global solidarity through study abroad: an exploratory case study of south korean students,” sohyun an discusses pre-collegiate korean students’ ideas about global citizenship. the findings are based on interviews with korean students living and studying in the united states. the third manuscript, “holocaust, genocide and human rights education: learning political competencies for 21 st century citizenship” by rosanna m. gatens and mary johnson studies how holocaust, genocide and human rights education support students in their transformation into active world democratic citizens. we appreciate the addition of this new research to the scholarly conversation on global citizenship. in the media review section, the editor carolyn o’mahony, discusses the author jeannie baker’s contributions to international books for children. in her review of the book, reading globally, k-8: connecting students to the world through literature, myra zarnowski continues the conversation and introduces us to a book that discusses the use of international children’s literature throughout the school curriculum. in the final section on international assembly perspectives, gloria alter presents excerpts from toni fuss kirkwoodtucker’s speech upon accepting ia’s global scholar award. we will continue to publish the journal biannually and encourage the submission of new manuscripts and media reviews through the journal website iajiss.org. beverly milner (lee) bisland, editor journal of international social studies journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. experiencing the local to become global: a portrait of teaching and learning abroad kristy a. brugar, ph.d. university of oklahoma norman, ok, usa ______________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this case study analyzes the experiences of two first-year american (u.s.) social studies teachers, sam and libby, working aboard. over the course of the year, these two teachers developed an understanding of place and themselves as global educators. using place-based theory (sobel, 1994) and drawing on case study methodology, the research question is: how do international teaching experiences impact in-service teachers’ identities as global educators? i interviewed sam and libby six times over the course of one calendar year about their teaching and living experiences in port-au-prince, haiti, their first-year teaching as well as their thoughts on global teaching and learning. findings show each teacher developed a growing understanding of place and their identity as global educators. the implications of these understandings have an impact on their work as social studies teachers and ways in which international experiences may be used to facilitate better global understandings. recommendations for future research, teacher education, and in-service teacher professional development are identified. key words: international teaching experiences, social studies, place-based education ______________________________________________________________________________ experiencing the local to become global: a portrait of teaching and learning abroad the fan slowly pushes the hot air around libby’s brightly painted caribbean classroom. it’s early october and libby has been in port-au-prince, haiti for less than two months. she takes a deep breath before collapsing into a chair. i ask, “how are things going?” she takes another deep breath before responding, “this is hard.” this case study describes an inquiry into the impact of local experiences and place-based education in an international setting on the global teaching and learning of two first-year american (u.s.) social studies teachers (libby and sam)1 teaching abroad in port-au-prince, haiti. through each teacher’s growing understanding of the local history, place, and the implications 1 the names of the teachers and school are pseudonyms. 23 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. of these understandings on their work as social studies teachers, their growing identities as global educators emerge. according to the national council for the social studies (ncss), social studies is “the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence” (2010, p. 9). one purpose of social studies education “is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.” (2010, p. 9) with the focus of an interdependent world, ncss issued a position statement in which they delineate global and international educations. global education focuses on the interrelated nature of condition, issues, trends, processes, and events while international education emphasizes specific world regions, problems, and cultures. international education encompasses studies of specific areas or regions of the world as well as the in-depth examination of a single culture or some aspect of that culture, such as its history, language, literature, religion, political organization, economic system, or current issues. (ncss, n.d., para. 3) with this in mind, social studies teachers must provide global perspectives in order to assist students to understand the similarities and differences of people around the world through universal ideas (merryfield, 2002). thus, global educators teach their students about the world through multiple perspectives in order to develop the skills necessary to live in an increasingly global society. the purpose of this study is to describe the international teaching experiences of two american teachers as they learn about their new locality, varied points of view, and to develop a greater global awareness. selected literature review this study draws from two areas of educational research: (1) global education and (2) international teaching experiences. global education as defined above, global education is focused on the interrelated nature of issues and events. avery (2004) explored the ways in which social studies teachers identify (globally and nationally) in order to negotiate varied spaces. teacher preparation programs should provide pre-service teachers with pedagogical and content knowledge in order to successfully teach in an increasingly global society (diaz, 2004). metzger (1988) identified several challenges associated with global education. these challenges include: controversies and misconceptions of global education, curriculum mandates, media, student attitudes, teacher knowledge (content and pedagogical), and textbook bias. regardless of these challenges, teachers are approaching social studies from a global perspective (kasai & merryfield, 2004). merryfield (2002) found global educators share common approaches to teaching and learning. for example, they encourage the use of multiple 24 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. perspectives; teach about social justice issues; and explore experiential learning opportunities. in addition, she found that global educators share some personal characteristics. for example, global educators tend to confront stereotypes and try not to oversimplify the global issues. finally, many social studies teachers with global dispositions have had personal experiences with other cultures through travel, reading, or other cultural experiences (merryfield, 1998). international teaching experiences the international teaching research is somewhat limited about american (in-service) teachers living/teaching aboard. the majority of this research has been conducted with student teachers and student teaching (teaching internship) requirements met abroad. clement and outlaw (2002) examined the impact of student teaching abroad and found participants learned about their teaching, the culture of the host country, and themselves (personally and professionally) through their work abroad. research suggests that pre-service teachers’ participation in meaningful international experiences can be transformative (cushner & mahon, 2002; marx & moss, 2011). in an essay about their experiences teaching internationally, potash and potash (2011) described their time in bulgaria. as in-service teachers, they described their own growth and development. in particular, they identified three distinct gains: (1) having a global context for the lessons they taught; (2) developing a greater understanding for their international students; and (3) positioning themselves as school and community leaders. stevens (2001) suggests local history provides opportunities to take a deweyan approach to historical study by personalizing the curriculum through connections of abstract historical events and students’ lives and experiences. students’ lives and experiences are often referred to as funds of knowledge. funds of knowledge are defined as “historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well-being” (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 2001, p. 133). teachers should see their students as having rich resources created outside the classroom. students need to be cognizant of important domestic issues and to be knowledgeable of important global issues (merryfield & wilson, 2004). in light of this research my research question is: how do international teaching experiences impact two first-year teachers’ identities as global educators? theoretical framework for this study, i employed the theoretical framework of pedagogy of place or place-based education (pbe). pbe is grounded in curriculum and instruction of local contexts (woodhouse, 2001) with an emphasis on authentic learning experiences. sobel (1994) defines pbe as “the process of using the local community and environment as a starting point to teach concepts . . . across the curriculum” (p. 7). in order to examine place, learners inquire through observation, investigation, and application of knowledge. researchers (gruenewald, 2003; orr, 1994 sobel, 25 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. 1994; woodhouse & knapp, 2000) have identified several guiding principles associated with place that include (1) content is specific to place; (2) experiences are experiential/participatory; (3) place is multidisciplinary; (4) connection of individual to place; and (5) reflection of a more broad educational philosophy. pbe is an important lens through which to look at international (or national) teaching experiences because it roots teachers and their experiences to the contexts in which they are teaching and learning. methodology to examine my research question, i employed an interpretive case-study method (yin, 2003). a case study was utilized because it allows for the examination of “specific phenomenon such as a program, an event, a person, a process, an institution, or a social group” (merriam, 1988, p. 9). in this instance, the case study is an examination of two american teachers working in a school in port-au-prince, haiti (pap). data collection over the course of one calendar year, i conducted six interviews. these interviews included individual interviews (2) and focus group interviews (4) and ranged in time from 60 to 90 minutes. the individual interviews focused on the teachers’ backgrounds and various history experiences including participating in community activities (appendix a). the interviews were concentrated on their school and living experiences over the course of the academic year. the final interview was held during the following academic year and was reflective in nature. i transcribed, coded, and analyzed each interview. participants i met libby and sam in the fall of 2011: they were enrolled in masters’ level courses coinciding with their teaching internship that i taught (one per semester). during the academic year in which they were my students, i learned about their interests in international teaching, encouraged them as they went to international teaching job fairs, and explored online possibilities for teaching abroad. during the summer of 2012, i became aware of teaching opportunities at alliance school in pap and immediately contacted libby and sam. at the start of this study, sam and libby had just completed their teacher preparation program, gotten married, moving to a new country, and were embarking on their first-year of teaching. libby and sam went to high school together in a middle class community outside a large, urban area in the midwest. from high school, they attended a large, mid-western university approximately 75 miles from their childhood homes. both sam and libby had international experiences. most notably, they participated in a university-sponsored program (merryfield, 1998) to australia. during this experience, each was paired with a collaborating australian teacher who (1) they observed, (2) co-taught with, and (3) observed their teaching. sam and libby completed a fifth-year (post-bachelor’s) teacher certification program in which they participated in a year-long internship (student teaching) while taking two masters-level classes 26 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. each semester. both completed their internships in suburban middle schools closer to their homes than the university. during their teacher preparation program, each expressed an interest in teaching overseas. sam described “the possibility for adventures” and libby expressed an interest in seeing “new parts of the world, like we teach about in social studies.” (interview, october 18, 2012) following the completion of their teacher education programs, sam and libby took teaching positions in an american school, alliance school, in pap. in operation for almost 100 years, alliance school is a k-12 institution that libby and sam describe as a “school for the elite and bourgeois in haiti.” (interview, december 20, 2013) in this teaching position, sam taught a variety of high school courses including world history, american history, and advanced placement united states history. libby taught middle and high school courses including world geography, united states history, and current issues. interviews. the first interview was conducted with libby and sam individually. the purpose of this initial interview (appendix a) was to gather background information about each of the participants. for these interviews, i met with libby in her classroom in pap and sam via skype. i approached the second, third, and fourth interviews as focus groups and conducted with sam and libby at the same time via skype. as identified above, each interview was a discussion of “how things are going” in their classrooms, with teaching, at school, and, most generally in pap. the final interview was conducted approximately one year after the initial interview. at the time of this interview libby and sam had left pap and were teaching in two different high schools, outside a large urban area in a mid-atlantic state. sam prompted this interview. initially, he sent me an email asking for recommendations for a historical/realistic fiction book set in haiti for his high school students. as part of this request, he stated, i wanted to offer if you would like to skype again, libby and i could discuss our reflections about teaching in haiti after returning and how it has affected teaching in our current classrooms. i feel that our conversations in haiti were my current reactions to the environment and now since returning i have really thought about my experiences and had time to reflect on them. while they are not totally different, some situations that did not seem very odd at the time, i’ve realized really were. (email correspondence, december 20, 2013) data analysis this study is interpretivist in that it seeks to make sense of libby and sam’s experiences. in order to analyze these data, i used a three-step interpretivist approach (miles & huberman,1994). to begin, i read through the transcribed data to determine patterns and themes that became codes (merriam, 1998). next, i organized the coded material into categories. the categories that emerged fell into two broad categories: teaching and place. 27 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. through further examination of the teaching, notions of global education emerged. during further examination of the place category, i recognized elements of pbe. last, i revised the original outline to include the categories thus allowing me to compare and contrast. findings at the start of the academic year and this project, i asked sam, “how and why did you come to teach in haiti?” he stated frankly, “it is a job and i think it will be an adventure.” (interview, october 18, 2012) however at the end of the year, he was more hesitant to describe haiti saying, “it is interesting” and rhetorically saying, “how do you describe it?” (interview, june 15, 2013) similarly, libby was cautious to describe haiti saying, “it is difficult to explain . . . hard to be accurate . . . sometimes, i just can’t share because i am not sure people with get it.” (interview june 15, 2013) their experiences were laden in local histories and experiences, which facilitated their growth and development as global educators (merryfield, 2002). over the course of the academic year, libby and sam grappled with multiple perspectives, question issues of justice (for their students and themselves), and explore opportunities to learn about their new home. sam and libby demonstrated the guiding principles (gruenewald, 2003; woodhouse & knapp, 2000; sobel, 1994; orr, 1992) associated with pbe: (1) content is specific to place; (2) experiences are experiential/participatory; (3) place is multidisciplinary; (4) connection of individual to place; and (5) reflection of a more broad educational philosophy. in this section, i describe sam and libby’s experiences and development in light of each of these principles. utilizing these principles, i will address my research question: how do international teaching experiences impact first-year teachers’ identities as global educators? content is specific to place in order to integrate local history and global thinking to one’s curriculum and instructional practices, they must first understand that locality. according to gruenewald (2003), a place has particular attributes or content which are distinct to the culture, geography, politics, sociology, and “other dynamics of that place” (p. 11). port-au-prince, haiti is no exception. the distinct characteristics of pap are geographic and economic factors (e.g., port city; one of the poorest cities in the western hemisphere; the destruction left as a result of the earthquake in january of 2010). libby and sam exemplified this aspect of pbe throughout the year. most generally, sam and libby peppered our conversations with phrases like “that’s haiti” or “it’s so haitian” or simply, “it’s different here.” (interviews, march 17, 2013; june 15, 2013) they identified pap as having distinct attributes, which they were trying to understand. one such distinction libby and sam identified was in reference to celebrations. sam acknowledged that the general haitian population is very poor but the people approached a celebration of their culture with a great richness. he described the community becoming 28 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. “engulfed in a celebration of culture.” (interview, march 17, 2013) in particular, he described the annual carnaval celebration. for carnaval, sam and libby travelled from pap to cap haitian. historically, the official carnaval was held in pap. however following the earthquake in 2010, pap was unable to host this national event. in 2013, carnaval was officially held in cap haitian, which is less than 100 miles north of pap and takes four to six hours to drive there. to sam and libby, it seems like a world away. this experience provided libby and sam with the opportunity to talk with their students about this haitian tradition and the impact of the earthquake on their lives, which ranged from massive loss (e.g., family members, property) to spending a school year in the united states or elsewhere so that there would be little interruption in their academics. sam reflected on this experience as “life changing” and “a top experience of my life.” (interview, february 16, 2013) unlike pap, sam and libby felt they were more able to walk around cap haitian, and they were able to visit two historical sites: the citadelle and palace sans souci. in the early 19th century, haitian revolutionary, and later king, henri christophe built the citadelle and palace sans souci. in 1982, both were designated unesco world heritage sites. the citadelle is a massive stone fort built at the top of a hill. sam and libby rode motorbikes to the site and explored the rooms and vistas. sam recalled, “it was amazing. the citadelle is one of my favorite historical places.” (interview, february 16, 2013) at the bottom of the hill sits the remains of palace sans souci. “it reminded me of the ruins in england,” (interview, february 16, 2013). libby recalled the similarities and differences of this place as it related to her other international experiences. as a global educator, libby considered these multiple perspectives, or this case, her experiences. these experiences exemplify the experiential learning opportunities sam and libby took advantage of as global educators (merryfield, 2002). place is multidisciplinary in addition to the distinctions of a place, another characteristic of pbe is a multidisciplinary approach to education. a multidisciplinary approach involves the use of content and skills associated with across academic disciplines in order to holistically address problems and experiences. for sam and libby, they needed to use what they knew about the world and haiti (content) and various skills (e.g., talking, viewing, and listening). in several of our conversations, libby and sam described their haitian experiences and the texts they were reading in a variety of ways from conversations to visual material they were seeing to language barriers. sam and libby spoke extensively about their interactions and discussions with students. their students provided them with an insight into haitian culture and society they did not have. libby began to express her understanding of place in multidisciplinary ways; she made connections between the content of each text and haitian geography, ideology, and politics; “i never realized the interconnectedness of all these places [u.s., haiti, and france]. i want my students to get that because if they live here they have to depend on other countries.” (interview, march 17, 2013) she went on to describe an experience in her current issues class – discussion about the 29 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. issue of poverty. she said, “my students like to talk about haiti, actually they love to talk about it. but some students got angry when i brought up poverty here because they said i was trying to make them feel guilty.” (interview, march 17, 2013) these multiple perspectives and inquiries into issues of social justice pushed libby as a global educator. sam reified these notions by saying “they [students] love talking about haiti but they want to distance themselves from the people [italics added].” (interview, march 17, 2013) as stated earlier, alliance school serves a privileged population in pap and socially just conversations were sometimes tricky for sam to negotiate. he recalled a student saying, “if we change haiti, i lose my privilege.” (interview, march 17, 2013) sam shared this experience several times trying to make sense of historical, political, and sociological implications of this statement/classroom experience. sam and libby did not and do not speak french nor do they speak haitian creole (the official languages of haiti). however, they rarely discussed the language barrier – all their students spoke english, all school business was conducted in english, and people they met spoke english. the issue of language came up in our second interview. i asked libby and sam if the radio was a way in which they are getting local information. sam said, “not really, since i can’t understand what they are saying, but it seems relevant. our driver2 listens to the radio all the time.” (interview, may 7, 2013) libby chimed in, “sometimes he yells back at it. so, i think they might be saying something important or at least provocative.” (interview, may 7, 2013) while sam and libby were able to talk with others, make observations, and listen, it was also important that they have experiences in haiti that i will discuss in the next section. experiences are experiential/participatory pbe is inherently experiential for the participants/learners. teachers and learners become involved in their communities and environments through a variety of activities. these types of experiential opportunities make the learning more meaningful and more sustainable. the fondest memories libby and sam shared were those in which they participated in community and cultural experiences, within and outside the school setting. libby reflected and said, “people celebrated being haitian.” (interview, december 23, 2013) she spoke more broadly about celebrations in which they participated and every day occurrences. the first holiday sam and libby experienced in pap was dessalines day (october 17), which commemorates the death of the haitian revolutionary leader, jean-jacques dessalines. during our interview, libby stated, “i learned a lot about these guys [dessalines and l’ouverture]. i have heard of toussaint [l’ouverture] but i had no idea why he was so important. . . . it was interesting to see how one country’s actions relate to another country’s history.” (interview, 2 alliance school provided a driver to transport all the international teachers from their apartment building to and from school. 30 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. february 16, 2012) further, libby described the relationship among haiti, france, and the united states. sam added, “it was cool to know how important dessalines was to the haitian revolution . . . and, i guess to world history.” (interview, february 16, 2012) libby and sam’s acknowledgment of this new information helped to develop an understanding of haiti’s complexities and they started to personally connect with haiti. connection of individual to place the fourth over-arching idea associated with pbe is an individual’s connection to a place. it is the notion that an individual and community are linked to a place. these links or relationships are persistent in the ways in which sam and libby describe their experiences in pap and helped them to better connect with their students. haiti is now part of each of them and their life stories (connelly & clandinin, 1990). libby described the value of thinking about the place that you live from a more critical lens to better understand the diversity of one’s own community. one such example is relatable to those who have traveled and those who have always stayed close to home. in the reflective interview, i asked libby and sam, “what do you miss most about haiti?” libby described missing her students. she described individual students with whom she connected with over the year in ways that many teachers do. sam also spoke about missing his students – not individual students, but rather the discussion he had with his students. “they didn’t just agree with everything i said. i miss the discussions where they talked about america – the things they didn’t agree with or the problems they saw in democracy.” (interview, december 23, 2013) each of their reflections exemplified what they learned about teaching, the place, and themselves (clement & outlaw, 2002). through their localized experiences, sam and libby were able to broaden their thinking about education. reflection of a more broad educational philosophy the final aspect of pbe is the reflective broadening of one’s educational philosophy. this includes the exploration of larger educational objectives, which may encompass the other four tenants of pbe. sam and libby consistently reflected on their experiences at the alliance school and on their development as global educators. experiences:. while sam and libby acknowledged that teaching at alliance school was challenging, they each grew as educators. libby said, “because we had to do so many things [e.g., school leadership, coaching, chaperoning international travel with students] i developed a lot of skills that my friends in the states didn’t in their first year of teaching.” (interview, december 23, 2013) sam identified one area of growth as “my knowledge has really expanded because i had four preps. i was always reading and thinking and trying to connect the material to my students so it would make sense and they could get it.” (interview, december 23, 2013) (metzger, 1998; moll, et al., 2001). after their experience in pap, sam stated he developed skills like flexibility and libby described herself as resourceful and incredibly flexible. libby told a story of the power going out at 31 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. alliance school – there was no access to the internet, photocopying, light or fans for almost a week but school was in session. she described her planning process as “i have a lesson plan and a back up plan and then one or two more ideas in case something goes wrong.” (interview, december 23, 2013) sam parroted libby’s ideas about having back up plans but also explored the idea of flexible thinking in reference to his students. “i have to remind myself that my students are not americans even though this is an american school. they think differently about things. i have to be aware of those other perspectives.” (interview, december 23, 2013) libby reflected on her experience in pap as a very vivid reminder of importance of a basic education in order for people to not simply survive but thrive. global educators. the content, skills, and experiences sam and libby had and discussed over the course of the year demonstrated their development as global educators. i asked libby and sam if they identified themselves as global educators. demonstrating his understanding of multiple perspectives, sam responded, “yes, especially teaching internationally in haiti. the perspectives [e.g., students, teachers, families] are completely different. much more critical of the united states than you would expect.” (interview, december 23, 2013). libby continued, “they [students] are critical of the united states but they don’t have a lot of evidence about the united states. . . . what they do know, well a lot of the feelings about the us come from their parents. they are cautious of the united states.” (interview, december 23, 2013) the process of learning and growing over the course of this academic year was one of give and take. while libby and sam were the teachers in the classroom, they describe themselves as students and the adolescents in their classrooms as the teachers. these adolescents provided sam and libby with insight into haitian culture and classroom teaching. thoughtful examination of these experiences impacted their identities from social studies teachers with global awareness to global educators who explained the complexity of places and relationships (beyond haiti). these identity shifts will impact their future work as social studies teachers through 1) instruction centered around a global interconnectedness and 2) the use of students’ funds of knowledge to connect to global issues. as mentioned earlier, sam, as a teacher in the mid-atlantic, “teach[ing] a global studies/ap government, [i] teamed up with ap language. as a result, i have to teach a fictional novel that incorporates global issues. due to my experiences in haiti, i have been looking for a novel that takes place in haiti.” (interview, december 23, 2013). thus, he was looking to teach with a more global perspective (kasai & merryfield, 2004). implications sam and libby reflect the previous research done on international teaching experiences (clement & outlaw, 2002) and the dispositions (merryfield, 2002) and challenges (metzger, 1998) associated with global educators. they exemplify challenges – teaching knowledge, student attitudes, and instructional opportunities. however, because much of that research has been conducted with pre-service teachers, this case provides another dimension to that body of 32 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. work. the case of libby and sam provides opportunities to think about teacher learning in schools, both domestically and internationally. this study has implications in two areas: teacher professional development and teacher practice. with regard to teacher professional development, i suggest three school-based or district-based possibilities. according to darling-hammond and mclaughlin (1995), “effective professional development involves teachers both as learners and teachers, and allows them to struggle with the uncertainties that accompany each role” (p. 598). professional development involves “deepening teachers’ understanding about the teaching/learning process” and “continue throughout a teacher’s career” (p. 598). first, districts and schools should provide in-service opportunities to explore ideas associated with global education, the notions of global perspectives, and the possibilities for the integration of these ideas in their classrooms. second, administrators could encourage short-term international teaching experiences through various organizations (e.g., fulbright-hays programs, teachers for global classrooms). once teachers have an understanding of the concepts, materials, and instructional possibilities for global education in their classrooms, my second implication can be addressed: teacher practice. i suggest professional learning communities in which teachers participate in an ongoing process of evaluation and re-evaluation of materials, their practice, and students’ learning in light of global education goals. this may lead teachers to develop collaborative and supportive professional relationships that help them develop further in other aspects of their work. for teachers designing and implementing curricula for their classrooms, this fosters growth of their content knowledge, increases their pedagogical content knowledge, extends their curricular knowledge, and, most importantly, deepens the work they do with students. limitations there are two limitations associated with this study: the small number of participants, and the teaching experiences of those teachers. this study examines the experiences of two teachers. in addition, the experiences of sam and libby are complicated by the fact that they are first-year teachers. thus the various experiences they grapple with could be attributed to their international setting or their first-year of teaching or a combination of these two factors. for example, when asked about the challenges they encountered in haiti, sam identified “creating good, quality lessons. i do what i can so they will learn it but it is not creative.” (interview, march 17, 2013) libby lamented, “i can’t live up to my expectations.” (interview, march 17, 2013) each of these statements can be attributed to teaching in pap where resources (e.g., teachings, internet access) are limited as well as being a first-year teacher (ingersoll & smith, 2003; smith & ingersoll, 2004). conclusion existing research on international teaching opportunities suggests that international experiences expand teachers’ knowledge and understandings of the places in which they teach. in addition, 33 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. international teaching experiences can foster a stronger connection between teacher and place and, as a result facilitate a teacher’s ability to globalize their instruction for their students in a variety of settings. future research and development should aim to replicate these experiences with more tenured teachers in pap and other in-service american teachers teaching abroad in other contexts. references avery, p. (2004). social studies teacher education in an era of globalization. in s.a. adler (ed.), critical issues in social studies teacher education (pp. 37–57). greenwich, connecticut: information age publishing. clement, m. c., & outlaw, m. e. (2002). student teaching abroad: learning about teaching, culture, and self. kappa delta pi record, 38(4), 180-183. connelly, f. m., & clandinin, j. d. (1990). stories of experience and narrative inquiry. educational researcher, 19(5), 2-14. cushner, k., & mahon, j. (2002). overseas student teaching: affecting personal, professional, and global competencies in an age of globalization. journal of studies in international education, 6(1), 44–58 darling-hammond l., & mclaughlin m. w. (1995). policies that support professional development in an era of reform. the phi delta kappan, 76(8), 597–604. diaz, c. (2004, november). the role of global perspectives in teacher preparation. paper presented at the college university faculty (cufa) assembly of the national council for the social studies conference, baltimore, maryland. gruenewald, d. a. (2003). the best of both worlds: a critical pedagogy of place. educational researcher, 32(4), 3–11. ingersoll, r. m., & smith, t. m. (2003). the wrong solution to the teacher shortage. educational leadership, 60(8), 30–33. kasai, m., & merryfield, m. (2004). how are teachers responding to globalization? social education, 68(4), 312–316. marx, h., & moss, d. m. (2011). please mind the culture gap: intercultural development during a teacher education study abroad program. journal of teacher education, 62(1), 35–47. merriam, s. (1988). case study research in education: a qualitative approach. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers. 34 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. merryfield, m. (1998). pedagogy for global perspectives in education: studies of teachers’ thinking and practice. theory and research in social education, 26(3), 342–379. merryfield, m. m. (2002). rethinking our framework for understanding the world. theory and research in social education, 30(1), 148–51. merryfield, m., & wilson, a. (2004). social studies and the world: teaching global perspectives. silver spring, md: national council for the social studies. metzger, d. (1988). the challenges facing global education. louisiana social studies journal, 15(1), 13–16. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (2001). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, xxxi(2), 132–141. national council for the social studies. (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning and assessment. silver spring, md: author. national council for the social studies, (n.d.). what are global and international education? retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/global/whatisglobaled orr. d. (1994). earth in mind. washington, dc: island press. potash, b., & potash, b. (2011). why teach abroad: two american teachers explain their motivations and experiences teaching in bulgaria. independent school magazine, 70(2). retrieved from http://www.nais.org/magazines-newsletters/ismagazine/pages/whyteach-abroad.aspx smith, t. m., & ingersoll, r. m. (2004). what are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover? american educational research journal, 41(3), 681–714. sobel, d. (1994). place-based education: connecting classrooms & communities. great barrington: the orion society. stevens, r. (2001). homespun: teaching local history in grades 6–12. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. woodhouse, j. (2001). over the river & through the ‘hood: re-viewing “place” as a focus of pedagogy: an introduction. thresholds in education, 27(3–4), 1–5. 35 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org http://www.nais.org/magazines-newsletters/ismagazine/pages/why-teach-abroad.aspx http://www.nais.org/magazines-newsletters/ismagazine/pages/why-teach-abroad.aspx journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 23-36. woodhouse, j. l., & knapp, c. (2000). place-based curriculum and instruction: outdoor and environmental education approaches. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed448012.pdf yin, r. k. (2003). case study research: design and methods (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. appendix a: interview protocol thank you for agreeing to talk with me. as i have mentioned previously, i am interested in learning about how americans teaching abroad incorporate local history into their curriculum. i am going to ask you a series of questions. name:/ current teaching position:/ teaching background: what other teaching and/or preparation have you done prior to your current position? probe: did you have any additional training or preparation for teaching in international schools? first, i am going to ask you a few questions about haiti. how long have you been in haiti? what was your purpose for coming to haiti? in other words, why did you come to haiti? now i am going to ask you three inter-related questions. prior to arriving in haiti, what did you know about haiti? what did you think about haiti? and what did you feel about haiti? let’s start with what you knew about haiti prior to coming? what did you think about haiti? in other words, what were your impressions of haiti? last, prior to arriving, did you have any feelings about haiti? having been here for x months/years, what are your current impressions of haiti? next, i am going to ask you about the curriculum you are teaching. what is your philosophy about teaching and learning? what types of materials do you use in order to prepare your lessons/units? what types of materials do you incorporate in your lessons? are there materials you would like to include but for some reason have been unable to? what might you include and for what purpose? are there opportunities for you to take field trips with your students? if yes, where have you visited and for what purpose? if no, why not and where might you like to take your students? for what purpose would you take students to that location or those locations? in what ways do you incorporate the place you are in the lessons you are teaching your students? 36 | p a g e corresponding author email: kristy.a.brugar@ou.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org experiencing the local to become global: a portrait of teaching and learning abroad selected literature review global education international teaching experiences theoretical framework methodology data collection over the course of one calendar year, i conducted six interviews. these interviews included individual interviews (2) and focus group interviews (4) and ranged in time from 60 to 90 minutes. the individual interviews focused on the teachers’ backgroun... participants data analysis findings content is specific to place place is multidisciplinary experiences are experiential/participatory connection of individual to place reflection of a more broad educational philosophy implications limitations conclusion references journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 aligning the goals of the university with opportunities in education abroad chris mcgrew indiana state university zachariah mathew indiana state university john conant indiana state university abstract: this quantitative study was conducted at a large four-year, high undergraduate, public university (called midwest university for the purposes of this article) to compare and assess the perceived benefit of traditional study abroad programs and short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs on participants’ employability skills, cultural competency, and global citizenship. participants reported that their education abroad experience enhanced their understanding of course content as well as their views about global citizenship. the survey collected data about participants’ perceptions about social responsibility, global competency, and global civic engagement. in addition, the survey collected data about career competency skills such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, networking ability, leadership, problem solving, and foreign language skills. the study defined education abroad at midwest university and determined how well the program delivered on the midwest university promise of social and economic mobility. given that the resources devoted to short-term, faculty-led experiences are significantly lower than in a traditional study abroad program, the authors argue that this type of experience is more accessible to the students and participants at midwest university. key words: education abroad, global citizenship, global competency, global civic engagement and social responsibility, career competency, student mobility mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 aligning the goals of the university with opportunities in education abroad according to the national council for the social studies (1994), the curricular goal of the social studies is to provide young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for full participation as citizens of the united states and the world. in 2010, the national council for the social studies refined that aim to promote civic competency, including the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be participants in public life as members of the global community (national council for the social studies, 2010). hirsch (2003) argued that decision-making and other higher order thinking skills required a base of knowledge. parker (2009) argued that civic participation required not only knowledge and skills but should instill a desire to participate. dispositions are the positive attitudes for learning and the desire to investigate in order to find answers for societal problems. according to parker (2009), these positive attitudes should be less focused on specific content knowledge and instead focused on emotions, beliefs, and attitudes. milner (2002) called knowledge such as is derived from the social sciences; skills, such as decision-making and critical thinking; and the desire to act in a democracy, a person’s “ability capacity” (p.1). kishina and takahashi (2019) found that even though students participating in a study abroad program initially feel uncertainty during their study abroad experience, in the long-run those students felt more connected to the world, showing a higher concern for global social problems and improving their interpersonal skills across cultures. as is true for many universities, midwest university claims that its graduates have gained an increased understanding of global societies; however, evidence to support this claim is scarce. the university mission statement includes this language: “we challenge them to grow and learn inside and outside the classroom. and to make an impact on the community, whether right here… or halfway around the world.” the purpose of this study was to determine if short-term, faculty-led study abroad is an effective and efficient means of attaining a number of university goals, including learning social studies content, developing generalized critical thinking and career skills, and developing global citizenship skills. the education abroad program at midwest university was crafted to serve the demographics of the population of students who make up the student body, but only three percent of midwest university students take advantage of an education abroad experience. thirty percent of those mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 students who travel participate in traditional summer, semester, and yearlong study abroad experiences. it is widely accepted that education abroad is a high-impact experience, but firstgeneration, minority, and transfer students are rarely able to participate, even though study abroad provides integrated and reflective learning as well as personal/social development (nsse, 2007; salisbury, paulsen, & pascarella, 2011). in addition, a first international trip matters (mckeown, 2009). many midwest university students are neither willing nor able to invest the time and money into that first trip. whatley (2017) found that students taking loans, as well as students with high family participation in paying for college, participate in study abroad experiences at a much lower rate than their peers who are able to self-fund college. however, grants provided to these financially fragile students allow higher levels of study abroad participation (whatley, 2017). research also suggests that study abroad be integrated into general education courses (o’rear, sutton, & rubin, 2011) and that coordination between the study abroad office and the campus career center is key for students to know the career readiness value of a study abroad experience (iie, 2019). therefore, approximately 70 percent of the students who take advantage of an education abroad opportunity at midwest university participate in a faculty-led, short-term intensive study abroad experience. midwest university is committed to the idea that study abroad and other types of global engagement are an integral part of a midwest university education. the most popular option for students who want to travel the world while earning college credit is through short-term, facultyled study abroad programs. much shorter (and less intimidating) than the solo semester-long study abroad, these programs generally last one to three weeks and provide a cost-effective option for international travel. while the subject matter of short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs can vary considerably, each program shares the important goal of expanding students’ worldviews along with enhancing disciplinary knowledge and career success skills. the authors have experienced that well-designed short-term study abroad experiences, regardless of their basic disciplinary objectives or their usefulness at enhancing general student career skills, are effective at illustrating some of the diverse real world social, economic, and political systems. as long as the experiences go beyond classroom work and “tourist” activities, working in the diverse social system of an international society and with members of those local communities enhances social studies and global citizenship knowledge and skills. the typical education abroad student at midwest university is white, studying in the college of arts & sciences (cas), and holds a gpa of 3.66/4.0. however, target student populations include pell-eligible students, first-generation college students, and 21st century scholars. the 21st mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 century scholar program is a program operated by the state to encourage low-income students to complete the requirements necessary to qualify for college admission and stay on track to graduate in four years. the university claims to be the most diverse public university in the state. however, as illustrated in table 1, the description of students participating in education abroad does not match the overall demographics of the university. table 1 comparison of education abroad and general student population at midwest university percent of midwest university student population percent of midwest university student population who traveled in an education abroad experience federal pell eligibility 38.23% 2.01% twenty-first century scholars 14.08% 0.81% first generation students 24.91% 1.2% ethnicity (non-white) 25.25% 15.59% the survey and response a survey study of the population of midwest university students and alumni from 2010 to 2019 took place in the fall of 2019. the researchers were interested in skills and dispositions gained by study abroad experiences, specifically the skills related to career readiness and global citizenship. in addition, the survey study collected data about the respondents’ views of the value to their education and career based on their education abroad experience. the survey used a seven-point likert scale to collect participants’ responses. the likert scale values ranged between 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree); value 4 represented neither agreed nor disagreed. data in the study were collected in an on-line qualtrics questionnaire. those data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics to define the study abroad experience and examine the relationships between the skills gained during the experience and the respondents’ perceptions mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 about how their academic and career success may have been enhanced by obtaining skills through the experience. the non-parametric mann-whitney u test was used to compare the difference in outcomes between the faculty-led, short-term study abroad and traditional study abroad participants. the mann-whitney u test was used when the assumption of normality was violated. the results from the study were used to request external funding to support education abroad efforts at midwest university. these funds were to augment what the university was using to support the current education abroad program, as well as to allow the program to expand to include additional populations of students. one hundred and eighty-seven individuals attempted the survey and 156 completed and returned the survey. seventy-seven respondents reported having a traditional (summer, semester, or yearlong) study abroad experience, 47 reported having a short-term study abroad experience, and 19 participated in both traditional study abroad and short-term; 13 participated in an alternate experience abroad such as short-term service learning as part of a spring semester course. all groups of students responded to a few general questions; more specific questions pertained only to the two populations of education abroad participants. the data: description as identified by shaftel, shaftel, and ahluwalia (2007), cost can be a major factor that effects access to education abroad, especially for students attending public university. according to dessoff (2006), lack of financial resources and insufficient financial aid limits african american and other minority students’ abilities to study abroad. due to the cost of education abroad, there was little diversity represented by the students who took advantage of any education abroad program at midwest university. this is especially concerning in that there was evidence that these experiences are important for students’ understanding of course topics and content. table 2 shows participant responses to questions given to both groups, representing the entire population of education abroad students. the mean of responses to the statement “i would recommend other students to invest in the kind of study abroad experience i had at midwest u” was 6.67 (sd=.86), showing very strong agreement with the statement. the mean of responses to the statement “overall, i believe that the experience was worth the time and money i invested” was 6.61 (sd=.1.01), again showing very strong agreement with the statement. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 table 2 student opinions about education abroad n m mdn sd other students should invest in study abroad. 156 6.67 7 .868 i believe that the experience was worth the time and money i invested. 14 6.61 7 1.012 there was widespread agreement among those returning the survey that the experience was worth the time and money they had invested in education abroad and that the students would recommend the experience to others. only three students disagreed with the statement to recommend to others (1 in each category of intensity of disagreement), two students reported neutrality, and four expressed “somewhat” agreement with the statement. fully 94% of the respondents agreed that the experience was worth their investment, with 81% strongly agreeing. in addition, 92% of the respondents expressed the belief that the experience was worth their investment in time and money. among the respondents who participated in the traditional study abroad experience, 98% (n=77) agreed that the program was useful. within this group, 74% strongly agreed and two respondents neither agreed nor disagreed. in addition, as shown in table 3, these participants reported that a short-term, facultyled study-abroad program was as beneficial in terms of the experience abroad as well as in engaging with fellow students. respondents indicated that this helped them to learn the concepts and topics for the class. respondents also indicated that in the short-term, faculty-led experience, professors or instructors helped them understand the course concepts better. respondents reported that the faculty-led, short-term experiences covered topics useful in their major or minor course of study and their future careers. short-term, faculty-led study abroad participants also felt that the travel was very useful as part of the coursework. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 table 3 impact of education abroad experience on course content academic impact n m sd mdn experience abroad helped learn class content 143 6.2657 1.04107 7 fellow students helped learn class content 143 6.1189 1.20146 6 instructor helped learn class content 143 6.3287 1.10553 7 experience helped learn global skills 143 6.7203 .69612 7 course content useful for major/minor 143 5.9510 1.38568 6 course content useful for career 143 5.7972 1.43674 6 overall, taking classes abroad was useful. 143 6.4126 .98101 7 table 4 illustrates the comparison of the median between students who participated in the shortterm, faculty-led study abroad program and the median of student responses from the traditional study abroad program. respondents reported that the faculty-led experience was more impactful. this impact was reported in terms of the education abroad experience generally, specifically due to the engagement with fellow students and professors, and that it helped them learn the course content. participants also indicated that it was useful for their future career. table 4 comparison of perceived impact of traditional and faculty-led study abroad experience on course content academic impact mdn median u z p tsa* flsa** experience abroad helped learn class content 7 6 7 1149.00 -3.759 .000 mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 fellow students helped learn class content 6 6 7 1117.500 -3.844 .000 instructor helped learn class content 7 7 7 1392.00 -2.446 .014 experience helped learn global skills 7 7 7 1661.500 -1.076 .282 course content useful for major/minor 6 6 7 1313.500 -2.714 .007 course content useful for career 6 6 6 1596.00 -1.151 .250 overall, taking classes abroad was useful. 7 7 7 1373.500 -2.548 .011 note. *traditional study abroad; ** faculty-led study abroad in addition, two questions were included in the survey for students who only experienced a shortterm, faculty-led trip and were designed to separate the travel experience from the classroom experience that preceded it. these two questions asked to what extent the travel experience helped students understand the concepts and topics that were taught in the classroom prior to traveling and to what extent the travel aspect of the course added to the value of the experience. note that in table 5, students reported a high degree of agreement that the travel increased their understanding of the topics in the on-campus course (mean = 6.56) and that the travel added value to the on-campus course (mean = 6.71). table 5 perceived impact of traditional study abroad experience on course content n m mdn sd intense travel experience helped learn the topics of class 66 6.56 7 1.01 mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 travel portion added value to the experience in a significant way 66 6.71 7 .576 citizenship skill development of education abroad according to morais and ogden (2011), “…global citizenship is understood as a multidimensional construct that hinges on the interrelated dimensions of social responsibility, global competence and global civic engagement” (p. 449). social responsibility can be defined as the level of interdependence and social concern for individuals in one’s local, national, and global communities (braskamp, braskamp, & engberg, 2014; westheimer & kahne, 2004). global competency is defined as the capacity and disposition to interact, communicate, and work on issues outside of one’s own environment unitizing knowledge about other cultures, norms, and expectations (deardorff, 2006; mansilla & jackson, 2013). global civic engagement can be defined as one’s ability to recognize local, state, national, and global community issues and respond to them through actions and contribute to solutions (michelle, 2013; westheimer & kahne, 2004). participant views about global citizenship the study included 12 questions to assess the global citizenship of participants. questions and statistics about student responses are included in tables 6, 7, and 8. participants rated that the short-term, faculty-led study abroad program had a higher influence on their thinking about global citizenship in terms of how their actions influence global communities. overall, the short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs had a slightly higher influence on students empathizing with people from other countries, and respondents generally believed richer countries should help poorer countries. a majority of respondents also thought their short-term, faculty-led study abroad experience influenced their thinking about current global political and economic affairs. combining all the attributes, the short-term, faculty-led study abroad program had a higher impact on the overall global competency of the student. social responsibility data from questions associated with the social responsibility domain appear in table 6. the combined mean for these questions was 6.20 on a seven-point likert scale. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 while 65% of the respondents strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced their way of thinking about how they connect to people around the world and that their local actions may affect people in other countries, 17% just agreed and 12% somewhat agreed with the statement; 4% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.37 on a seven-point likert scale. a total of 40% of the participants strongly agreed, 19% just agreed, and 14% somewhat agreed that their education abroad experience influenced the way they think about countries that are well off helping people in countries who are less fortunate; 21% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 6% disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a 5.65 mean on a seven-point likert scale. while 45% of the respondents strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced their way of thinking about helping others in need irrespective of their nationality, 26% just agreed and 16% somewhat agreed to the statement; 10% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 5.97 on a seven-point likert scale. table 6 perceived impact of education abroad on social responsibility social responsibility n m mdn sd my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about how i connect to people around the world and that my local actions may affect people in other countries. 156 6.37 7.00 1.030 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about countries that are well off helping people in countries who are less fortunate. 156 5.65 6.00 1.390 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about helping others in need irrespective of their nationality. 156 5.97 6.00 1.204 mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about my responsibility to understand and respect cultural differences globally. 155 6.55 7.00 .775 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about empathizing with people from other countries. 156 6.50 7.00 .799 the data show that 66% of participants strongly agreed, 26% just agreed, and 5% somewhat agreed that their education abroad experience influenced the way they think about their responsibility to understand and respect cultural differences globally; 2% neither agreed nor disagreed, and less than 1% disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a 6.55 mean on a seven-point likert scale. among the 156 participants, 64% strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced the way they think about empathizing with people from other countries. while 25% agreed to the statement, 9% somewhat agreed and 1% of the participants neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.5 on a seven-point likert scale. global competency the global competency domain, which included six questions, had a combined mean of 6.1 on a seven-point likert scale. the questions associated with this domain are in table 7. while 63% of the respondents strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced their way of thinking about themselves as a global citizen, 25% just agreed and 7% somewhat agreed to the statement; 4% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.46 on a seven-point likert scale. while 54% of the respondents strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced their way of thinking about being informed of current global affairs, 28% just agreed and 9% somewhat agreed to the statement; 6% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement and less than 4% disagreed. this attribute had a mean of 6.21 on a seven-point likert scale. among the 156 participants, 78% participants strongly agreed that their education abroad experience broadened their worldview. while 20% agreed to the statement, 19% somewhat mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 agreed and less than 1% of the participants neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.73 on a seven-point likert scale. table 7 perceived impact of education abroad on global competency global competency n m mdn sd my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about myself as a global citizen. 156 6.46 7 .868 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about being informed of current global affairs. 156 6.21 7 1.107 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about broadening my worldview. 156 6.73 7 .626 my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about global politics and economics. 156 6.01 6 1.288 my study abroad experience enhanced my interpersonal communication skills. 156 6.29 7 1.047 a total of 49% of participants strongly agreed, 24% just agreed, and 14% somewhat agreed that their education abroad experience influenced the way they think about global politics and economics. while 8% neither agreed nor disagreed, 4% disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a 6.01 mean on a seven-point likert scale. while 41% students strongly agreed that their education abroad experience had an impact on their foreign language skills, 12% agreed and 15% somewhat agreed; 20% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. additionally, 12% disagreed at different levels. this attribute had a 5.37 mean on a seven-point likert scale. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 among the 156 participants, 54% strongly agreed that their education abroad experience influenced their interpersonal communication skills. while 32% agreed to the statement, 8% somewhat agreed and less than 3% of the participants neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.29 on a seven-point likert scale. global civic engagement the only question in this domain was if the education abroad experience influenced the way they think about reaching out to individuals who are from a different background than theirs. the data for this question are shown in table 8. while 58% strongly agreed that there was an influence, 25% agreed and 12% somewhat agreed to it; 5% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement, and less than 1% disagreed with the statement. this attribute had a mean of 6.34 on a seven-point likert scale. table 8 perceived impact of education abroad on global civic engagement global civic engagement n m mdn sd my study abroad experience influenced my way of thinking about reaching out to individuals who are from a different background than mine. 156 6.34 7 .933 career competency skills the career competency skills identified in the survey included: communication skills, confidence, courseor major-related knowledge, curiosity, adaptability, intercultural skills, interpersonal skills, language skills, leadership, problem solving skills, self-awareness, teamwork, technical skills, tolerance for ambiguity, and work ethics. pellegrino and hilton (2012) clustered these skills into three domains. cognitive competencies, the first of the three domains, includes skills such as problem solving, curiosity, confidence, foreign language, and technical and course-related skills. the second domain, intrapersonal competencies, includes tolerance for ambiguity, adaptability, and work ethics. the third domain, interpersonal competencies, includes leadership, networking ability, interpersonal communication, and teamwork. data from the survey involving questions concerning these domains appear in tables 9, 10, and 11. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 table 9 shows the breakdown of cognitive skills, which had a combined mean of 6.12 on the seven-point likert scale. while 51% strongly agreed that the education abroad experience enhanced their cognitive skills, 21% just agreed and 11% somewhat agreed to the statement; 12% neither agreed nor disagreed with the same, and 5% of the total respondents either strongly agreed, disagreed, or somewhat disagreed that the experience had no impact on their cognitive skills. table 9 perceived impact of education abroad on career-related cognitive skills cognitive skills n m sd problem-solving skills 156 6.21 1.101 curiosity 156 6.66 .807 confidence 156 6.39 1.145 foreign language skills 156 5.37 1.767 technical skills 156 5.19 1.544 course knowledge 156 5.91 1.231 table 10 illustrates the breakdown of intrapersonal skills, which had a combined mean of 6.21. among the 156 respondents, 54% strongly agreed that their experience significantly enhanced their intellectual skills, while 26% agreed and 10% somewhat agreed to the statement; 9% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 2% either strongly disagreed, disagreed, or somewhat disagreed that the experience had enhanced their intrapersonal skills. table 10 perceived impact of education abroad on career-related intrapersonal skills intrapersonal skills n m sd tolerance for ambiguity 156 6.07 1.208 mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 adaptability 154 6.61 .640 work ethics 156 5.95 1.185 the interpersonal skills had a combined mean of 5.75 on a seven-point likert scale and are shown in table 11. among the 156 respondents, 46% strongly agreed that their experience significantly enhanced their dispositions, with 27% agreeing and 14% somewhat agreeing to it; 5% answered that they either strongly disagreed, disagreed, or somewhat disagreed, and 8% of participants neither agreed nor disagreed that the experience enhanced their interpersonal skills. table 11 perceived impact of education abroad on career-related intrapersonal skills interpersonal skills n m sd leadership 156 5.88 1.275 networking ability 156 5.90 1.392 interpersonal communication 156 6.29 1.047 teamwork 156 5.95 1.279 conclusions and recommendations gibson and mckay (2005) described a view of social studies that took into account global perspectives. the authors described the global orientation of social studies as helping students understand the world and its growing interdependence through trade, the increased mobility of people, and the expanding global systems of cultural exchange. gaining global perspectives flows from education abroad. harder et al. (2015) found that the cultural competency skills gained in an education abroad experience could be demonstrated by students in a competitive workplace. this would make them more valuable in that workplace. these competency skills are the skills of economic reasoning identified in the economicsamerica (1997) voluntary national content standards in economics. these standards describe the skills of economic reasoning students will need to be global citizens. not only do these skills help students to become global citizens, but mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 schmidt and pardo (2017) argued that they help develop the human capital students need to earn higher incomes. for these reasons, more students should have access to education abroad opportunities. it was clear that the education abroad experience undertaken by the students at midwest university improved participant understanding of course content, as well as their views concerning their own perceptions about global social responsibility, global competency, and global civic engagement involvement and their own role as a global citizen. in addition, the survey confirmed existing research that an education abroad experience for students like those at midwest university also improved their own career competency skills such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, networking ability, leadership and problem solving, and foreign language skills. it is important to note that the students were very positive about their midwest university education abroad experience. this was true whether they participated in a traditional semester abroad at another institution or in a short-term study abroad course with a subset of their classmates (typically the travel experience in these classes at midwest university are an optional add-on to the course) and their instructor. however, the participant responses indicated that the group traveling and studying with classmates and an instructor from a shorter faculty-led course were more satisfied with their experience than their traditional study abroad peers. evidence provided by the study indicated that for the midwest university student population characterized by a greater proportion of first-generation and lower-income students, short-term, faculty-led study abroad experiences provided a less risky alternative to the significant investment these students need to make in a traditional study abroad experience lasting a summer, semester, or year. respondents were less likely to find the experience disappointing or less useful/valuable (although this percentage is extremely low in both populations) and were more likely to be very happy with the usefulness/value of the experience (although this percentage is high in both populations). in this study, and given the shortcomings of self-reported studies, the inability to follow up with respondents limited the generalizability of the authors’ findings. kruger and dunning (1999) found that respondents to self-reported surveys often exaggerate their own abilities. this could certainly have been the case in this study. however, these data provide a starting point for further investigation. the broader questions of the specific experiences students have while engaged in a short-term study abroad trip that are the most beneficial, both in terms of specific disciplinary mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 knowledge and also more generalized social studies and global citizenship and career skills, must be left to a further study. that study would benefit from using focus groups and one-on-one interviews with participants. these focus groups and interviews would also provide the kinds of “stories” that institutions value in the pursuit of resources to subsidize the cost of study abroad experiences and to help convince students that the experience is well worth the investment necessary to participate. the authors’ experiences with organizing, recruiting, and leading short-term, faculty-led study abroad experiences at midwest university combined with the data derived from the survey of study abroad participants lead to an important conclusion. the authors conclude that the shortterm, faculty-led study abroad experiences have several advantages over traditional study abroad for a student population with demographics similar to midwest university (lower socioeconomic status and more likely first-generation students). these advantages stem from being “easier” to recruit participants and the lower expenditure of both time and money on the experience. the data revealed that these advantages are important because the experience of short-term travel with a class of students that they have been engaged with for a semester prior to travel is at least if not more effective at increasing the desired course content and critical global skills gained than in a traditional study abroad experience. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 references braskamp, a. l., braskamp, c. d., & engberg, e. m. (2014). global perspective inventory (gp): its purpose, construction, potential uses and psychometric characteristics. chicago: global perspective institute. deardorff, d. k. (2006). the identification and assessment of intercultural competence. journal of studies in international education, 10, 241-266. dessoff, a. (2006). who’s not going abroad? international educator, 15(2), 20-27. economicsamerica. (1997). voluntary national content standards in economic. new york: national council on economic education. farrugia, c., & sanger, j. (2017). gaining an employment edge: the impact of study abroad on 21st century skills & career prospects in the united states. new york: institute for international education. gibson, s., & mckay, r. (2005). reexamining competing views of citizenship education and their influence on social studies. in democracy at the crossroads: international perspectives on critical global citizenship education (pp. 167-185). harder, a., andenoro, a., roberts, t., stedman, n., newberry iii, m., parker, s., & rodriguez, m. does study abroad increase employability? nacta journal, 59(1), 41-48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/nactajournal.59.1.41 hirsch, e. d. (2003). not so grand a strategy. education next, 3, 68-72. iie: institute for international education. (2019). study abroad matters. new york: institute for international education. kishina, h., & takahashi, t. (2019). global citizenship development: effects of study abroad and other factors. journal of international students, 9, 535-559. kruger, j., & dunning, d. (1999). unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessment. journal of personality and social psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134. mansilla, b. v., & jackson, a. (2011). education for global competence: learning redefined for an interconnected world. in h. h. jacobs (ed.), mastering global literacy (pp. 5-27). bloomington, in: solution tree press. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/nactajournal.59.1.41 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 mckeown, j. (2009). the first time effect: the impact of study abroad on college student intellectual development. albany, ny: suny press. michelle, l. (2013). from global knowledge to global civic engagement. journal of political science education, 9, 417-435. milner, h. (2002). civic literacy: how informed citizens make democracy work. hanover, nh: university press of new england. morais, b. d., & ogden, c. a. (2011). initial development and validation of the global citizenship scale. journal of studies in international education, 15(5), 445-466. national council for the social studies. (1994). curriculum standards for social studies: expectations of excellence. washington d.c.: national council for the social studies. national council for the social studies. (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching learning and assessment. washington dc: national council for the social studies. nsse: national survey of student engagement. (2007). experiences that matter: enhancing student learning and success. center for postsecondary research, school of education, indiana university, bloomington. o’rear, i., sutton r., & rubin, d. (2011). the effect of study abroad on college completion in a state university system. us department of education international research studies office. www.glossari.uga.edu parker, w. (2009). social studies in elementary education. boston, ma: pearson. pellegrino, j. w., & hilton, m. l. (eds.). (2012). education for life and work: developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. national research council of the national academies. washington, dc: the national academies press. salisbury, m. h., paulsen, m. b., & pascarella, e. t (2011). why do all the study abroad students look alike? applying an integrated student choice model to explore differences in the factors that influence white and minority students’ intent to study abroad. research in higher education, 52(2), 123-150. schmidt, s., & manuel, p. (2017). the contribution of study abroad to human capital formation. the journal of higher education, 88(1), 135-157. doi: 10.1080/00221546. 2016.1243951. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.glossari.uga.edu/ https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.1243951 https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.1243951 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 63-82 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 shaftel, j., shaftel, t., & ahluwalia, r. (2007). international educational experience and intercultural competence. international educational experience and intercultural competence, 6(1) 25-34. whatley, m. (2017). financing study abroad: an exploration of the influence of financial factors on student study abroad patterns. journal of studies in international education, 21(5), 431-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315317697798 westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41(2), 237-269. about the authors: chris mcgrew is the director of the center for global engagement and teaches secondary social studies methods and microeconomics at indiana state university. his research focus is on experiential learning for in-service teachers in social studies. he is a former social studies supervisor for the indiana department of education, served on the national council for the social studies standards revision task force, and is a past president of the council for state social studies specialists. chris served as president for the indiana council for the social studies and is cofounder of global indiana: a consortium for international exchange. zachariah mathew currently serves as the associate director for the center for global engagement at indiana state university. since january 2011, zachariah has been overseeing international student success initiatives, international student recruitment and retention, as well as study abroad and faculty led programs. his passion for culture and the lived experience was the calling to pursue a career in international student affairs and comprehensive internationalization. he earned his ph.d. in higher education administration and leadership from indiana state university. his research interest includes, comprehensive internationalization, student mobility and international student leadership. john conant is a professor of economics and the director of the center for economic education at indiana state university. he has led short-term, faculty-led study abroad courses on sustainable local economic development to china, thailand, and morocco. he has also designed and led study trips to china for k-12 teachers and education leaders. his work includes the design and teaching of both domestic and international travel courses in natural resource and public choice for social science students and teachers. he has published works on the benefits of field study of complex systems for students in the natural and social sciences. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315317697798 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 transforming the activity of teaching a foundation of diversity and equity course dean p. vesperman university of wisconsin river falls abstract: what happens to a foundations of diversity and equity in schools course when the main mode of instruction changes? the shifting of the class from face-to-face to virtual asynchronous instruction due to covid-19 led to a transformation of the activity of the course. to replace the use of various discussion techniques, the author redesigned the course using content area literacy techniques melded with asynchronous voice and electronic thread pedagogies. introduction how do you teach a class on the foundation of diversity and equity in schools virtually? this was the quandary i faced when we were informed that courses were going from face-to-face to online within two weeks. the other issue i needed to address was that a quarter of my class did not have consistent internet to allow synchronous classes. holding synchronous classes that excluded pre-service teachers (psts) was simply unjust. this required me to consider the activity of teaching the course and how to modify the tools used to guide my psts in constructing their understanding of teaching for diversity and equity. the purpose of this paper is to engage in an action research (mertier, 2018) examination of the pedagogies used melded with secondgeneration activity theory (engeström, 1987). chat: a theoretical foundation for curriculum my work in teaching and learning is grounded in sociocultural theory (vygotsky, 1978), in that teaching and learning is a dynamic process of social interaction and is “a function of the joint actions and understandings of the participants” (gutierrez, 1993). the construction of knowledge mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 occurs in the everyday activity that subjects (individuals or groups who are members of a community) engage in as they progress toward an object of the activity. next, that activity has a cultural historical origin that permeates the activity (engeström, 1987). the origins of the activity guide how subjects engage in mediated action as they progress toward the object of the activity. lastly, it is important to remember that an activity is not rigid; the subject may choose to pursue different actions and use a multitude of different operations while pursuing the same object as other subjects (cole, 1996; gutierrez & rogoff, 2003; wertsch, 1991). thus, teaching and learning are not monolithic activities with predetermined outcomes; it is a fluid space. it is for these reasons that cultural historical activity theory (chat) (engeström, 1987; jonassen & rohrer-murphy, 1999; vygotsky, 1978; yamagata-lynch & haudenschild, 2009) is a key tool used in designing curriculum (see figure 1). chat reveals the object, the culturally mediated artifacts used in knowledge construction, the community of which the subjects are members, the rules of the activity, and how labor is divided. figure 1: second generation mediational triangle chat (engeström, 1987; jonassen & rohrermurphy, 1999; yamagata-lynch & haudenschild, 2009) mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 the interplay of these foci allows for an examination of how a subject’s knowledge of teaching and learning can be mediated as pre-service teachers move toward the object of the activity. it is for these reasons that this model of curricular design was used to create my foundations of diversity and equity class (see vesperman & leet-otley, 2020) (see figure 2). figure 2: second generation mediational triangle for multicultural education class (pre-covid) (vesperman & leet-otley, 2020) foundation of diversity and equity before covid-19 a key aspect of the course before covid-19 was the use of small and large group discussions on the readings and current events (see figure 2). these discussions were used as the primary tool in the construction of knowledge because classroom discussion is a particularly “powerful instrument for developing critical thinking skills, teaching content, and increasing tolerance” (hess, 2009, p. 29). discussion allowed psts to explore what they had learned from readings and apply those ideas to their future classrooms. several pedagogies were used to facilitate active discussions, including turn-and-talks, think-pair-share, affinity mapping, 5-3-1 discussion, listenmailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 read-discuss, conver-stations, questioning, socratic seminars, and structured academic controversy. another standard pedagogy is an electronic thread to provide space for students to explore major concepts of diversity. changing the mediational triangle the decision to shift classes from face-to-face instruction to virtual instruction caused me to reexamine the activity. this process began with me revisiting my mediational triangle for the activity of this course (see figure 3). first, changing the object of the activity, which is based on teaching tolerance social justice standards (teaching tolerance, 2016), was not an option, as a key component of the course is helping pre-service teachers grow toward being anti-racist teachers (see hooks, 1994; lowenstein, 2009). figure 3: second generation mediational triangle for multicultural education class during covid-19 mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 given the desire to not change the object of the activity, it was important to focus on other aspects of the mediational triangle to ensure that my psts engaged in the mediational process of using particular signs and tools to achieve the object of the activity. it was important to acknowledge that this could lead to contradictions and inner tensions in the activity (engeström, 1987; yamagata-lynch & haudenschild, 2009). these inner tensions could lead to runaway objects (engeström, 2009), which can have unintended effects as the subject moves toward the object. a key runaway object that i sought to avoid was psts choosing to not fully engage with the readings or class activities. the other object to avoid involved psts ceasing participation in the course discussions completely. the primary focus on changing the activity was the mediated artifacts being used. the inability to do synchronous classes necessitated creating asynchronous activities that would generate discussion similar to in-class activities. manzo, manzo, and thomas (2009) provided a useful model for implementing content area literacy techniques, which became the framework for achieving the aforementioned goal. the key reason for using manzo, manzo, and thomas’s (2009) framework focuses on subjects engaging with readings in three important ways: using prereading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies. these strategies focus on a fluid, interactive (mediational) model of how subjects construct knowledge as they engage with readings. the strategies were then shaped to meet the technological realities of virtual teaching. to achieve this, it was important to consider technology and how it constrains learning (nardi & o’day, 1999). the best format that would allow for asynchronous discussions close to in-class activities was to use google docs. this allowed all psts, including those with limited connectivity, to work collaboratively and deliberate on the issues raised in the readings. new mediating artifacts the change in the activity led to the creation of new mediational artifacts. these new artifacts fell into the categories of pre-reading, during-reading, or post-reading strategies (manzo, manzo, & thomas, 2009). after reviewing the readings that would be covered for the course, several pedagogies seemed to fit the new virtual format of the course; the majority of these were either duringor post-reading strategies. pre-reading: anticipation-response guide during virtual teaching, only one pre-reading strategy, the anticipation-response (a-r) guide, was used (manzo, manzo, & thomas, 2009). a-r guides are used to activate the reader’s prior knowledge about a topic covered by a text. thus, as students engage with the text, the guide has mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 highlighted key concepts. next, after the students have completed the readings, they fill out a post-a-r guide. this allows students to reflect upon how their ideas about a key concept have changed due to what they read. prior to reading, the pre-service teachers answered three two-part questions in a google form (see table 1). the first part of each question was a value statement psts either agree or disagree with on a five-point likert scale. the second part was a short answer on how they felt about the statement. the a-r guide was used to activate psts implicit biases about immigrants and schooling, which might differ from the values, beliefs, and concepts presented in the readings (gorski & pothini, 2013). next, the questions on the a-r guide allowed psts to explore several key concepts presented in the readings before reading the text. after completing the text, the psts completed a post-a-r guide. this literacy technique ended with psts sharing a video in a social learning platform detailing how their ideas, values, or beliefs changed from the preand post-a-r guide due to the readings. table 1: sample a-r questions for cases on immigrant status (gorski & pothini, 2013) 1. immigrant children need to become americans because the u.s. is a melting pot. 2. all immigrants face the same problems when coming to the u.s. 3. schools should not have to protect immigrant children. during reading: strategic reading guide given the complexity of the topics contained in the readings, a strategic reading guide (strategic guiding questions) provided a framework for analyzing multiple readings on the same topic (manzo, manzo, & thomas, 2009) (see table 2). the purpose of a strategic reading guide is to aid readers in analyzing a reading using multiple cognitive tools (signs). typically, a strategic reading guide is provided to students in the form of a graphic organizer or worksheet. the first question is used for students to summarize the main ideas from the readings. the next question requires students to write about key aspects or concepts from the reading and provide evidence. lastly, the third question allows students to write about how they feel about the readings they completed. mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 table 2: sample strategic reading questions: immigration, bilingualism, and schools (au, 2014; gorski & pothini, 2013) 1. what are the main ideas across the readings? (focus on two) 2. what are the important details from the readings? (make sure you cite where you found these ideas using paraphrasing (gorski & pothini, 2013, or au, 2014).) 3. after reading all four sections, how do you feel about this issue and why? this strategy was modified only slightly. psts were provided with the three main questions. the first question required psts to summarize the readings and to synthesize the main patterns across a diverse set of readings (for example, three chapters from au (2014) and a chapter from gorski & pothini (2013)). the next question required them to determine key evidence from the readings to support their synthesis. this allowed the psts to determine key supporting evidence for their claims, which required analysis of the text. lastly, the third question focused on psts exploring the affective aspects of reading. this question required psts to explore their implicit biases and how their beliefs were influenced by the readings. they were asked to create their own google doc in a shared folder where they wrote the answers to three main questions. after psts completed the task, they were asked to read four other responses to the readings and determine two patterns they saw across their peers’ answers in an electronic forum. post-reading: conver-stations, five-minute write/chat, and digital response chaining post-reading strategies were used most often during the virtual teaching of this course. this group of strategies required psts to explore implicit biases and merge prior knowledge with information in readings into new knowledge they applied (manzo, manzo, & thomas, 2009). these strategies allow for checking comprehension, aid in the construction of new concepts, and reveal misconceptions that might arise from the readings. these strategies were then connected to the pedagogy of asynchronous voice (larson & keiper, 2016) to create a space for a digital discussion of key topics. conver-stations as an electronic thread this post-reading strategy requires students to connect prior knowledge to what they have read and create a running dialogue in response to a discussion question (gonzalez, 2015). in a standard classroom, complex normative statements or questions regarding readings are posted around mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 the room in stations. during the first rotation, groups deliberate and write the first response to the question/statement on a common document. as participants move from station to station, they discuss the question/statement and previous groups’ responses. after discussing, they add more to the common document at each station, creating a flowing dialogue. given the constraints of technology, one of the primary components of an electronic thread discussion (larson & keiper, 2016) was integrated with conver-stations: individual psts respond to the posted questions instead of small groups. instead of physical stations, questions (see table 3) were posted on separate pages in a single google doc. to ensure the psts would collectively construct answers to the questions, the first respondent to a question was asked to write only one or two sentences in response. each subsequent respondent had to add to the previous participant’s comments before expanding the collectively constructed answer. thus, each participant added something substantive to the dialogue. the result was a flowing discussion/dialogue that explored questions in greater depth. this pedagogy was used for discussions on exceptionalities and on institutional racism in schools. table 3: sample conver-station questions: exceptionalities (gorski & pothini, 2013) 1. why do we need idea? 2. when comparing ieps and 504 plans, what is the biggest difference you noted between these two methods of addressing exceptionality? 3. do all teachers need to be concerned with accommodations? 4. should teachers try to meet all accommodations? 5. should schools be allowed to ignore some accommodations? five-minute write/chat another key post-reading strategy is the five-minute write, which is used to increase participation, promotes linear analysis of the reading, and “induces a greater sense of agency and ownership” of analyses (manzo, manzo, & thomas, 2009, p. 137). typically, students perform a five-minute write/chat after they finish reading a section of a text. students are given a general prompt and are allowed to write for five minutes in any format they choose. mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 this pedagogy was modified by incorporating aspects of an electronic thread (larson & keiper, 2016) and write-pair-share (marzano, 2017). after reading about bilingual education (au, 2014; gorski & pothini, 2013), psts were asked to perform the five-minute open write in their own google document about the major ideas they learned from the readings. once completed, they shared their five-minute write with me and one other pst. psts then read and commented on each other’s analysis of the reading. this lesson finished with psts taking their five-minute write and their peer’s comments to produce a five-minute video of their thoughts about bilingual education. thus, participants had two opportunities to interact with a peer and engage with the readings in two formats. digital response chaining (whip around) the last pedagogy was a digital version of a response chaining (sometimes referred to as a whip around) (marzano, 2017). the purpose of this pedagogy is to create an environment in which students work collaboratively in small or large groups to respond to a complex question. in a typical classroom, the teacher asks a small group or whole class a complex question. the first person to answer can only say one sentence. the next student rephrases the previous answer and then adds another sentence. thus, the group creates a co-constructed answer to the question. for virtual teaching, this pedagogy was modified using some aspects of an electronic thread (larson & keiper, 2016). psts were given four questions (see table 4) related to teaching about race in k-12 classrooms (au, 2014). they were allowed to write only one sentence in response to the question. the next participant had to start with the previous pst’s answer and add more information, thereby collectively answering the question. additionally, they were also allowed to add comments to the google doc when answers lacked cohesion. psts were given two hours to complete posting twice for each question. thus, participants created a free-flowing response to the question, which required them to connect with the readings for the course, analyze previous participants’ answers, and collectively construct an understanding of the issue. table 4: sample digital response chain questions on teaching about race in schools (au, 2014) 1. race is a social construct. in what ways did race appear in heidi tolentino’s classroom and how did tolentino address these issues? 2. how did lisa espinosa deal with the issues of race relations in her classroom? mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 3. how did nathaniel smith develop a curriculum that made race enormous, difficult, and personal? 4. how do we teach about race (in our classrooms)? discussion my goal of trying to recreate the interactive, deliberative nature of my face-to-face course in an asynchronous virtual setting had mixed results. the technological constraints of teaching virtually led to the loss of the interactive discussions and deliberations of important issues of diversity and equity. the use of content area literacy techniques did allow psts to explore the major concepts in the readings during the virtual portion of the class. this was especially true for the a-r guide and strategic reading guide. some techniques allowed limited discussion of essential topics, occurring when using the digital chain response chain and digital conver-stations. post-reading literacy strategies seemed to be the most effective in promoting asynchronous discussions. the asynchronous discussions with these strategies resulted in a deeper exploration of the topics. mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 references au, w. (ed.). (2014). rethinking multicultural education: teaching for racial and cultural justice (2nd ed.). rethinking schools. cole, m. (1998). cultural psychology: a once and future discipline. harvard university press. cole, m., & engeström, y. (1993). a cultural-historical approach to distributed cognition. in g. salomon (ed.), distributed cognitions: psychological and educational considerations (pp. 47-87). new york: cambridge university press. engeström, y. (1987). learning by expanding: an activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. helsinki: orienta-konsultit oy. engeström, y. (2009). the future of activity theory: a rough draft. learning and expanding with activity theory, 303-328. gonzalez, j. (2015). the big list of class discussion strategies. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/ speaking-listening-techniques/ gorski, p. c., & pothini, s. g. (2013). case studies on diversity and social justice education. routledge. gutierrez, k. d. (1993). how talk, context, and script shape contexts for learning: a cross-case comparison of journal sharing. linguistics and education, 5(3-4), 335-365. gutierrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19-25. hess, d. e. (2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. routledge. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. routledge. jonassen, d. h., & rohrer-murphy, l. (1999). activity theory as a framework for designing constructivist learning environments. educational technology research and development, 47(1), 61-79. larson, b. e. (2016). instructional strategies for middle and high school social studies: methods, assessment, and classroom management. routledge. mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/%20speaking-listening-techniques/ https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/%20speaking-listening-techniques/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 lowenstein, k. l. (2009). the work of multicultural teacher education: reconstructing white teacher candidates as learners. review of educational research, 79(1), 163-196. manzo, u. c., manzo, a. v., & thomas, m. m. (2009). content area literacy: a framework for reading-based instruction. john wiley & sons. marzano, r. j. (2019). the handbook for the new art and science of teaching. solution tree press. mertler, c. a. (2018). introduction to educational research. sage publications. nardi, b. a., & o’day, v. l. (1999). information ecologies: using technology with heart. mit press. teaching tolerance. (2017). social justice standards. https://www.tolerance.org/sites/ default/ files/2017-06/tt_social_justice_standards_0.pdf vesperman, d. p., & leet-otley, j. (in press). primary contradictions: qualitative transformations of white social studies teacher identity. in t. haefner, l. handler, & t. rock (eds.), the divide within: intersections of realities, facts, theories, & practices. information age publishing. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. wertsch, j. v. (1991). voices of the mind: sociocultural approach to mediated action. harvard university press. yamagata-lynch, l. c., & haudenschild, m. t. (2009). using activity systems analysis to identify inner contradictions in teacher professional development. teaching and teacher education, 25(3), 507-517. about the author: dean p. vesperman is an assistant professor of education at the university of wisconsin river falls and editor of the iowa journal for the social studies. he teaches courses in secondary and elementary social studies methods and foundations of diversity and equity in schools. mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.tolerance.org/sites/%20default/%20files/2017-06/tt_social_justice_standards_0.pdf https://www.tolerance.org/sites/%20default/%20files/2017-06/tt_social_justice_standards_0.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 90-102 corresponding author: dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 mailto:dean.vesperman@uwrf.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 students’ perspectives on social studies teachers’ views on immigration and nationalism william mccorkle college of charleston hannah jeffries college of charleston abstract: this mixed-methods study examines university students’ reflections on their high school social studies teachers’ views and pedagogy surrounding the issues of immigration, nationalism, and patriotism within the classroom. the article is based within the framework of critical pedagogy, particularly critical nationalism. the sample (n=58) comes from students enrolled in an introductory education course at a university in the american southeast. the quantitative data revealed that students believed their teachers tended toward more inclusive views regarding immigration overall, but they were more exclusive toward undocumented immigration. they also tended to have high levels of patriotism and more moderate levels of nationalism. the qualitative data revealed a lack of discussion on immigration, which related to a larger fear of discussing contemporary issues of controversy within the classroom. this study has strong relevance for both educators and teacher educators in critically and thoroughly examining issues such as nationalism and immigration, particularly in more conservative settings like the american southeast where these topics are often given little more than a cursory overview. key words: immigration, critical nationalism, teachers’ attitudes, social studies education mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 students’ perspectives on social studies teachers’ views on immigration and nationalism particularly due to issues such as police brutality and a contentious political environment, racism has become more centered in the larger national discussion. vibrant discussion has occurred about how issues of race have been taught in the social studies classroom, particularly with issues of critical race theory, the broader controversy surrounding the 1619 project, which centers slavery in the understanding of u.s. history and society (lee, 2020), and the reaction to these perspectives seen most clearly in the executive orders of donald trump (2020) to promote a patriotic education that decenters and largely ignores historical racism. while issues of race have at least become more central in the national discussion in social studies education, often the issues of nationalism and immigration have received less attention. in some ways, these issues are still seen as more ethically debatable. in some sectors of society, it is still seen as more acceptable to have openly xenophobic views than to have racist views (author, 2018a). however, the reality is that in the modern context these issues cannot be separated, as the majority of immigrants entering the united states are now people of color, with 46% of new immigrants identifying as white compared to 26% who identify as asian, 10% as black, and 15% as some other race; additionally, 44% are latino or hispanic (batalova, blizzard, & bolter, 2020). in light of this reality, issues such as immigration cannot be separated from issues of race. issues of immigration and nationalism must be also centered in the larger discussion on a more critical and just social studies curriculum. this proposal is based on a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods study (creswell & creswell, 2005), which examines education students’ reflections of the teaching of issues such as immigration and nationalism within their high school social studies courses. the students were asked a range of quantitative questions regarding their teachers’ views on immigration, patriotism, and nationalism and then asked to describe some of the most notable experiences in relation to these themes. nationalism was defined in this context as the belief that the u.s. is superior to other countries, and patriotism was defined as love for one’s country. overall, we found that the students said their teachers had fairly strong patriotic views, leaned toward nationalistic views, and were slightly more inclusive on immigration. however, they also commented on the lack of discussion on immigration in the classroom, which was related to the larger hesitancy of teachers to discuss controversial political subjects from both the past and present. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 literature review nationalism and patriotism this research builds on previous scholarship regarding teachers’ attitudes to nationalism, patriotism, and immigration. gershon and pantoja (2011) explored the issue of patriotism among a group of teachers in los angeles. they measured patriotism based on three items “(1) ‘i find the sight of the american flag very moving’; (2) ‘i have great love for the united states’; and (3) ‘i am proud to be an american’” (p. 1529). anglo-american teachers had the highest levels of patriotism, followed by native-born latinos and then foreign-born latinos. there was only a marginal difference between the anglo-american and native-born latino teachers, but there was a more significant difference between the foreign-born and native-born. they also found that patriotism was positively associated with more pro-english-only views. in a different cultural context, altikulaç and sabanci (2017) studied the views of nationalism among turkish pre-service social studies teachers. overall, they found that teachers did not see nationalism as dangerous; only 24% said it causes violence, and only 27% stated that it divides the country. on the other hand, 70% said that they were “nationalist but not a racist” (p. 246). in a study of teachers of greek heritage in cyprus, zembylas, charalambous, charalambous, and lesta (2016) found that it was difficult for teachers to apply larger ideas of international human rights to their own national context with the past grievances and oppression from the turkish government and a sense of nationalism that remained predominant. this trend is not unique to cyprus, as the belief in human rights is at times inconsistent when one’s own nation is at the center of the discussion. in a study of teachers in south korea, chang (2015) found that teachers believed that “korean ethnicity and pride” was an important aspect of the curriculum (p. 33). however, the author argues that this is problematic in regard to multicultural education and also highlights the unconscious biases of the teachers. as chang states, “in preserving static national identity, it is likely that ethnocentrism is not being challenged, while other nations or ethnicities are being excluded” (p. 34). immigration there have been several studies on the attitudes of teachers toward immigration and immigrant students. a study from sas (2009) found that pre-service teachers had more inclusive immigration positions as a whole. she also found that there was a positive relationship between mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 more inclusive immigration positions and more embracive positionality toward esl students. her analysis also showed that minority status, experience working with immigrants, and speaking more than one language were significant factors in attitudes toward immigration. the analysis showed that the levels of inclusive attitudes toward ell learners were substantially higher than the positive views toward more inclusive immigration policy. this was a similar trend that the author (2018a) found in a previous study. some teachers have more inclusive immigration views when it centers around education or rights for their students while holding more exclusive views on broader immigration issues. this disconnect, however, often means that the more inclusive educational policies are not incorporated. a study from van den bergh, denessen, hornstra, voeten, and holland (2010) showed that dutch teachers overall had significant differences in implicit attitudes regarding refugee students from morocco and turkey and non-refugee students. they also measured the role these attitudes played in student outcomes. they found that teachers’ implicit biases (not their explicit biases) were significantly related to a detriment in students’ academic outcomes. this research in particular has relevance in a current political setting where many educators may not admit to having exclusive immigrant views but may harbor implicit biases. this disconnect is one of the reasons why this study examining students’ perceptions of their teachers’ attitudes is relevant. cruz (2014) found that teachers had more positive views toward immigration after attending a workshop that included information about the immigration system as well as first-hand accounts from immigrants. similarly, a study from howrey (2018) revealed that when pre-service teachers read literature that connected them to the experiences of mexican immigrants, some of the attitudes of the pre-service teachers became more empathetic. she found that the strongest difference in attitudes came when participants allowed themselves to become immersed in the emotions of the readings versus those who more analytically examined the author’s intent. there has been additional research on views toward emergent bilingual students (de oliveira & athanases, 2007; karabenick & noda, 2004; youngs & youngs, 2001), with most studies showing more inclusive views of teachers toward emergent bilingual students overall. dixon, liew, daraghmeh, and smith (2016) found that pre-service teachers had neutral to slightly positive views toward emergent bilingual students overall with greater inclusive attitudes among latino and african american teachers. shim’s (2019) qualitative study revealed that teachers had more deficit thinking and undermined the importance of the students continuing to speak in their native language. however, there is a caveat to be considered when studying attitudes toward emergent bilingual students: emergent bilingual students and immigrant students are not mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 synonymous, and the difficulties teachers may have in integrating ell practices may be a unique issue from teachers’ actual views toward immigrant students (author 1, 2018a). though there has been some limited research on teachers’ beliefs on immigration and nationalism, there had not previously been a nationwide study to examine these areas. in order to address some of these gaps in the literature, author 1 (2018a) conducted a quantitative, nationwide study of k-12 teachers’ (in all subject areas) views on the issues of nationalism/patriotism, broader immigration beliefs, and rights for immigrant students. he found that overall, teachers leaned slightly toward nationalism as a whole, more strongly toward patriotism, and tended against the more blatant forms of chauvinistic nationalism. on the issue of immigration, the author asked teachers about their abstract ideas about borders and migration. the results showed that teachers did tend to believe largely in the rights of migration but that they were also in favor of strong government regulations of the border. the same study found that teachers had more inclusive views toward education rights for undocumented immigrants in higher education. the analysis also demonstrated a significant correlation between nationalism and more restrictive attitudes toward immigrant students (r=.5, p=<.01). likewise, there was a significant correlation between more inclusive attitudes toward borders and migration and more inclusive attitudes toward rights for immigrant students (r=.73, p=<.01). this study as well as the previous studies have some limitations, particularly when examining the overall descriptive data, as the teachers who participated in these studies may tend to be more inclusive and less nationalistic. this relates to the larger issue of population validity (bracht & glass, 1968), which is often an issue with any type of broad survey data. one issue is that individuals who are more interested in the issue being examined may be more likely to respond to a survey (sax, gilmartin, & bryant, 2003). there is also the danger of the social desirability bias (nederhof, 1985) in which participants want to appear more tolerant or welcoming. lüke and grosche (2018) found that this bias was an issue when exploring issues of inclusive education at the university level. this study, on the other hand, asks students to give their perceptions of their social studies teachers, which helps frame this issue from a different angle. theoretical framework this study is based in the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy with a special emphasis on a more critical form of nationalism. it is based in the realization that pedagogy is “a moral and political practice that is always implicated in power relations and must be understood as a cultural politics that offers both a particular version and vision of civic life (giroux, 2004, p. 33). mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 critical theorists such as freire (1970/1992) call for an education that calls those suffering oppression to become conscious so they can confront the social injustices they face. in some aspects a forebear to these critical theorists, george counts (1932/1978) calls for teachers to take a proactive stance in not merely adapting to the social changes and influences but to be agents of change and not succumb to the oppressive status quo. in this framework, the critical is not just used to deconstruct but eventually leads to a more ethical, “reordered” framework (rohr, 2017). burbules and berk (1999) highlight that critical pedagogy is highly distinct from mere critical thinking, as belief claims are “not primarily as propositions to be assessed for their truth content, but as parts of systems of belief and action that have aggregate effects within the power structures of society” (p. 47). more specifically, this study is based in a more critical notion of nationalism, which seeks to undermine the xenophobia inherent in many nationalistic beliefs. as jonathan french (1929) highlighted at the beginning of the 20th century, it is often harder to see nationalism in one’s own culture than it is to see it in other cultures. buttle (2000) argues that nationalism is actually incompatible with the ideals of liberal democracy, as the national interests become supreme. loewen (1995) contends that when it comes to poor social studies teaching, “nationalism is one of the culprits. textbooks are often muddled by the desire to promote inquiry and to promote blind patriotism” (p. 14). other critical scholars like howard zinn (1995) highlight how the u.s. history curriculum painted an overly generous view of its own history and that in doing so it suppressed the stories of those who had suffered due to the actions of the nation. this form of nationalism means that we fail to confront our often problematic history. the ideas of xenophobia are very much interwoven within the ideas of nationalism. as spencer and wollman (2002) state, ideas of nationalism “are processes of categorization that create and reproduce as enemies, strangers, and others who do not fit inside the nation” (p. 2). hjerm (2001) found in his international study that there was a significant correlation between nationalism and xenophobia in all the nations studied. in the context of the populist movements in greece, a recent study by andreadis, stavrakakis, and demertzis (2018) found that there is a significant correlation between ethnic nationalism and xenophobia (r=.368, p=<.01). though it may not be able to be proven that nationalism causes xenophobia, it is likely that nationalism often comes first, as it is seen as more benign or even praiseworthy. methodology and population the study (n=58) was conducted in the spring of 2019 in a mid-size state university in the american southeast. the self-generated instrument, with both quantitative and qualitative mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 items, was given to students during their introductory foundations of education course. although not all of the students were education majors, the majority were focused in k-12 education. this study is based in a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods design (creswell & creswell, 2005), which attempted to give relatively equal weight to both sets of data. the quantitative data was analyzed through spss by author 1, and then qualitative data was analyzed by both authors using a more “holistic” form of coding, which seeks to understand the “essence of categorization of a phenomenon” (adrasik, frey, & endeshaw, 2014, p. 11). research questions 1. what did students perceive were their social studies teachers’ views on nationalism, patriotism, and immigration? what were the relationships between these three areas? 2. what themes emerged from the qualitative data on students’ memories about how teachers approached these issues and how does this help to inform the quantitative data? quantitative findings students were asked to rate their social studies teachers’ patriotism and nationalism on a scale of 1-7. the students reported that their teachers tended toward support for patriotism with a mean of 4.79 (sd=1.09) and to a lesser extent toward nationalism with a mean of 4.20 (sd=1.51). these results not only show more support for patriotism, but also that there was less variance in comparison to nationalism. however, it should also be noted that the mean between the two is only .6, which is relatively small. in regard to patriotism, no students said that their teachers had a “very low” level of patriotism, with only one marking “low.” in contrast, 26 students stated that their teachers had high levels of patriotism, with 11 stating “somewhat high,” 10 stating “high,” and five students stating “very high.” among the participants, 29 said the levels were average. in regard to nationalism, no students said that their teachers had very low levels of nationalism. however, nine participants said that their teachers had low (8) or somewhat low (1) levels. in contrast, 21 participants said their teachers had somewhat high (14) or high (7) levels of nationalism, while none had very high levels of nationalism. among the participants, 26 stated that their teachers had average levels of nationalism. regarding views toward immigration, the students were also asked to rate their secondary teachers’ views on immigration—and undocumented immigration specifically—on a scale of 1-7 (with 1 being less embracing and 7 being more embracing). they reported that their teachers overall tended to lean in a slightly more inclusive direction with a mean of 4.36 (sd=1.16) but mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 were more exclusive toward undocumented immigrants with a mean of 3.96 (sd=1.14). between these two items, the standard deviation was similar with slightly more inclusive views toward immigration in general rather than undocumented immigration specifically. on the issue of immigration more broadly, 22 participants said their teachers were either very embracing (1), embracing (10), or somewhat embracing (11). in contrast, 12 respondents stated that their teachers were somewhat restrictive (11) or very restrictive (1), and 21 stated that their teachers’ views were considered average. in regard to undocumented immigration in particular, none of the participants said that their teachers were very embracing, but 13 were embracing (7) or somewhat embracing (6). in contrast, 16 participants reported that their teachers were somewhat restrictive (11), restrictive (4), or very restrictive (1) in their views on undocumented immigration, and 26 reported that their teachers had average views. table 1 descriptive statistics on nationalism, patriotism, and immigration n mean std. deviation what was the level of patriotism (love for country) overall among your high school social studies teachers? 56 4.79 1.091 what was the level of nationalism (belief that the u.s. is superior to other nations) among your high school social studies teachers? 56 4.20 1.151 what were the views of your high school social studies teachers on issues of immigration? (1: less embracing; 7: more embracing) 55 4.36 1.161 what were the views of your high school social studies teachers on issues of undocumented or illegal immigration in particular? (1: less embracing; 7: more embracing) 55 3.96 1.138 students were also asked on a scale of 1-7 how their social studies teachers’ views on immigration compared to their other teachers, with 1 being more exclusive and 7 being more inclusive. on mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 this item, the students responded with a mean of 4.25 (sd=1.41); 22 students responded that their social studies teachers were more inclusive, 11 said they were more exclusive, and 18 said they had the same views as their other teachers. inferential statistics not surprisingly, there was a significant correlation between nationalism and patriotism (r=.396, p=.002). there was not a significant correlation between patriotism and either immigration item or between nationalism and immigration overall. however, there was a higher correlation of .248 (p=.068) between nationalism and more exclusive views toward immigration. a larger sample may have shown evidence of the stronger relationship between these items. the research of author 1 (2018a) revealed a significant relationship between patriotism/nationalism and attitudes toward rights for immigrant students. an analysis was also run to measure differences between students who went to school in the north and west versus the south. although the means of patriotism and exclusivity toward immigrants were higher for those who went to school in the south, there was no statistically significant difference. there was also an anova analysis employed to examine the differences between students who went to urban, rural, and suburban schools. given the smaller size of the sample, none of the items showed a statistically significant difference based upon geographical region. however, an examination of the data reveals some noteworthy trends. for example, when the patriotism and nationalism items were combined, students from rural schools had a higher mean of 10.22 (sd=1.99) compared to urban schools, which had a mean of 8.92 (sd=1.83), and suburban schools, which had a mean of 8.8 (sd=1.88). qualitative findings both researchers analyzed the qualitative data to look for certain themes that would emerge regarding students’ experiences in regard to the issues of immigration and nationalism in the social studies curriculum. the data was analyzed using a more “holistic” coding (adrasik, frey, & endeshaw, 2014, p. 11). lack of discussion on immigration one theme that emerged was the absence of the discussion of immigration in many of the students’ social studies experiences, though the topics of race and nationalism/patriotism were brought up more regularly. as one student stated, “immigration was never a topic that came up.” another student stated, “we didn't really speak much about immigration. we did speak a lot of mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 nationalism/patriotism.” one student mentioned that this was potentially because “my teachers only taught the standards.” another student discussed possible cultural factors that contributed to this, stating, “my high school social studies teachers completely avoided the topic of race and immigration. they were the typically southern teachers that said those conversations shouldn’t be had in the classroom.” similarly, according to another student, “we really didn't talk that much about immigration in high school. all of my high school teachers including social studies were white, so the issue of race was brought up, but from a white perspective.” when controversial issues or debates were brought up in the students’ high school social studies experiences, it tended to be in advanced placement courses, where it was up for moderated debate. this issue of differences in advanced placement courses was seen in the data overall with advanced placement classes being one of the places where teachers were more willing to have discussions about controversial issues. high levels of patriotism another theme that emerged was the overall high level of patriotism of the teachers. though a few students did mention that their teachers had a more critical approach on aspects of u.s. history, patriotism and to some extent nationalism tended to be strong overall. “very patriotic” was a sentiment used to describe several social studies teachers. a student wrote, “...all of our teachers had an immense sense of nationalism for our country.” another stated, “when [my teacher] would talk about nationalism, they were very biased to the u.s. in almost any situation.” additionally, a student wrote, “it was always made to seem that the u.s. was this perfect nation that did nothing wrong when fighting for our freedom.” one student stated, “[my teacher] supported patriotic sentiments.” another student stated that, “my social studies teachers were very patriotic but only taught from power points and were not that interesting.” some students did note that their teachers were patriotic and proud though still vaguely critical of the u.s. as one stated, “my high school teachers always were quick to point out where the u.s. had gone wrong in history/overstepped boundaries, but they were still very patriotic.” some mentioned how their teachers reframed what patriotism means. one stated, “nationalism and patriotism was expressed by my history teacher (as) wanting the better for [our] country.” another stated that their teacher thought that “america had a lot to do in order to better our country...” this was reiterated by a second student, who noted that their teacher “believed that racism is still very prevalent and believed that the country has a lot to work on in order to have more nationalism and patriotism.” mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 fear of discussing modern controversial issues a third theme that emerged was the caution or even fear of some teachers regarding discussing highly controversial issues such as race and immigration. this was especially true in a current event context and mostly in regards to immigration. a student wrote, “i was in economics when trump was running for president. our teacher did not want to voice his opinion about tax cuts or any political views.” the study showed that while teachers tended to avoid controversial topics, they were more likely to discuss race than immigration. as one student stated, “from what i can remember, immigration was not discussed often. racism was talked about often when we were discussing slavery and discrimination.” as noted before, for many of the students polled there was a complete absence of discussion on immigration in their high school social studies classes. this includes discussion of both past and present immigration to the u.s. students strongly noted that controversial issues were only discussed in connection to the past. for example, their classes discussed the topic of race when studying the civil rights movement and slavery, and nationalism and patriotism when studying world war i and world ii, but immigration history was rarely mentioned. as one student stated, “we never really talked about current-day immigration or racism, but we did talk very little about racism during the civil war and after, probably to like the ‘80s.” another stated, “we never really went through the topic of immigration and we touched on racism in the past. we never really talked about current racism.” many students said that if teachers did discuss these issues, they did not openly express their own views on the subjects. several students remembered that their teachers would moderate debate and keep their personal opinions private. one wrote that their teacher “never gave his opinion on the issue, but allowed us to state ours and talk with each other about them.” another stated that the teacher “would state what it was objectively and then have us as a class discuss our views and opinions on it.” there were some notable exceptions to these trends. some teachers were more willing to take a more critical approach, such as those who “supported immigration” or a teacher who dedicated an entire day to “the kkk, the black panther movement, and the black lives matter movement. it was an interesting day of class because he allowed all of us to voice our opinions and became very passionate about the subject of racism and social/racial injustice.” limitations there are certain limitations that should be acknowledged in the study. for one, many of the teachers that students reflected upon may have been teaching history courses and thus may not mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 have felt the urgency to bring in as many current social studies topics such as immigration. however, as julian (2019) highlights, integrating current events in the history classroom can increase student engagement. it is worth nothing that in the state where the study took place, all students are also required to take economics and government, and many students also take a world geography course. if this study were to be expanded to a larger sample, it could be beneficial if students focused on one subject in particular (such as u.s. history or government). there are also some unique disadvantages of having students reflect on past educational experiences instead of what they are experiencing at the moment. however, given the nature of the questions, it would likely be more difficult to gain a representative sample of students to answer these somewhat sensitive questions about their current teachers. discussion from an examination of both the quantitative and qualitative data, it appears that teachers had moderately high levels of both nationalism and patriotism, but leaned more toward inclusive beliefs on immigration overall and in comparison to other teachers. however, it was not common for them to bring up the topic or their opinions during class. if they did bring up controversial issues, they tended to trod very lightly on the issues. they were also hesitant to openly discuss their beliefs in the classroom. while this can be commendable, especially from a more deweyan (1897) student-centered approach, there is some cause for concern, as the teachers may allow exclusive attitudes and/or false immigration narratives (author, author, and author, 2018) to control the class debate without being willing to push for more inclusive immigration narratives or give information to challenge false immigration narratives. in this context, it could be argued that a more political approach based on counts’s (1932/1978) ideas could have some merit when there is a need for class discussion in a more inclusive direction but teachers are unwilling to express their own views. social studies teachers also leaned toward patriotic and sometimes nationalistic views. it is interesting that on both the issues of nationalism and patriotism, there were no teachers with very low levels and few with low levels. at the same time, none of the students said their teachers had very high nationalistic views. it should also be noted that there is inherently a difficulty in deciphering the difference between nationalism and patriotism and what this meant for the students. though a brief description of both was given to the students (patriotism is “love for country” and nationalism is the “belief that the u.s. is superior to other nations”), as fonte (2017) argues, the line between patriotism and nationalism is very thin. this line might also be difficult to decipher during the current era, particularly during the trump administration, when love for mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 country might be more associated with a more stringent nationalism and american superiority. the qualitative data revealed this similar trend with a moderately high level of nationalism and patriotism, with some teachers being willing to reframe patriotism in a more critical light. it did seem that teachers were overall more willing to give a more inclusive stance in regard to immigration as opposed to a more critical nationalistic perspective in the classroom. the context of the american south is especially relevant when considering this data, since most of the students came from this area of the country. the south notably does not have the same level of union protections and is a region of the country with more restrictive views on immigration and higher levels of nationalism. this could possibly be a reason for the lack of willingness to engage with controversial issues. it could also be due to the fact that immigration is often portrayed as a debatable, controversial issue as opposed to discussing immigration in more humanizing ways (dabach, merchant, & fones, 2018). as referenced by the students, it could also be a feeling that being too political in the classroom was not appropriate. as both authors are social studies educators in the southern context, this issue has certainly been seen firsthand. it is often difficult to take an inclusive immigration approach, much less a stance that is critical toward nationalism, in a conservative educational environment where few administrators will applaud a more critical approach but rather want teachers who focus on the standards and refuse to cause controversy. even teachers that may have more critical approaches may stifle these views or pedagogical approaches in the classroom. this is especially the case in classrooms where the majority of students are white and come from a middleto upper-class background. it may be easier to take a critical approach in the parts of the growingly segregated south that have primarily middleto lower-class black and hispanic students (felton, 2017). this might have also been relevant to the data from this study. since the study took place at a fouryear university, students that come from higher economic statuses and more white and wealthy schools likely disproportionately made up this sample. although the class statuses of students were not measured, the race of the students was analyzed: five students were african american, one was native american, and the rest identified as white. though this is not far from typical at the university setting in the state, it is vastly different from the overall demographics of the state, where 33% of students are african american and 11% of students are hispanic/latino with only 50% of students being white (dept. of education, 2020). implications the authors believe from the results of this data that there needs to be a sense of autonomy given to teachers. teachers should be free to not only delve into controversial issues such as mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 nationalism and immigration, but also feel comfortable taking on a more critical approach and expressing their own views on controversial issues (counts, 1932/1978). this sense of autonomy will come both through the support of administration and department chairs for such an approach and a sense of job security, which teachers may not feel in a state such as the one where this study took place due to the lack of union protections. furthermore, we believe that teacher educators need to strongly focus on these themes of immigration and critical nationalism within the methods courses and stress the vital importance of a social justice approach in general. although teacher educators overall, particularly in the area of social studies, may have a more critical perspective, it is also true that the school environment and state, district, and school administrations often seek to minimize critical and social justice approaches. it is quite easy for teachers who come in with a more critical approach to slowly lose this as they become engaged in all the other issues of the classroom environment. it is therefore of even greater importance that teacher educators are bold in focusing on themes of social justice (mcdonald & zeichner, 2009). there is often a small window for educators to become truly engaged in this more critical framework, and if they do not receive this in the teacher education program, that opportunity could be lost. conclusion the authors contend that this type of study, in which students not only reflect on the teaching methods of their teachers but also their beliefs on social and political issues, should be expanded. in many ways, it could provide a more accurate view of teachers’ beliefs than research focused directly on the teachers due to the reality that teachers want to appear more inclusive or give more socially appropriate answers (nederhof, 1985) and the problems with population validity (bracht & glass, 1968) with a possible tendency of teachers with more outspoken and critical views to participate, which could skew the results. with a nation that is rapidly becoming more xenophobic and violating human rights in regard to immigration, we contend that it is necessary that teachers discuss the issue of immigration and that they be bold in articulating at least some aspects of immigration as basic human rights and certain elements of nationalism as inherently dangerous. the hesitancy to critically discuss these issues in the classroom and beyond allows the most radical voices to gain ground (author 1, 2018b). when teachers do choose to engage in these issues, it helps students grow in the democratic process of articulating and supporting their own ideas (soley, 1996). cranston and janzen (2017) argue that this critical lens is vital as we “move beyond the instrumental sense of mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 transmitting information and instead focus on questioning the ways in which knowledge and practice are constructed, evaluated, and used” (p. 13). teachers have a serious task in teaching effectively about these controversial issues. this study reveals that while some teachers are doing this in an effective manner, many are failing at this important task. changing this paradigm will not be easy, but it must start with teacher educators helping to raise a new generation of social studies educators with both the knowledge and courage to teach for social change. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international 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(2009). social justice teacher education. in w. ayers, t. quinn, & d. stovall (eds.), handbook of social justice in education (pp. 595-610). erlbaum. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2010.535549 https://doi.1080/2f13691830124482 https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2017-0012 https://www.ajc.com/news/weekend-read-%20the-1619-project-reopens-book-on-slavery-%20%20%20%20but-not-without%20controversy/r436s22z5rdd3g4zec2vwqldfm/ https://www.ajc.com/news/weekend-read-%20the-1619-project-reopens-book-on-slavery-%20%20%20%20but-not-without%20controversy/r436s22z5rdd3g4zec2vwqldfm/ https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1348548 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 nederhof, a. j. 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(2002). nationalism: a critical introduction. thousand oaks, ca: sage.[abridged/preview version]. https://www.google.com/books/edition//9_ntlx6jzjsc?hl=en trump, d. (2020). president donald j. trump is protecting america’s founding ideals by promoting patriotic education. white house. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-americas-founding-ideals-promoting patriotic-education/ van den bergh, l., denessen, e., hornstra, l., voeten, m., & holland, r. w. (2010). the implicit prejudiced attitudes of teachers: relations to teacher expectations and the ethnic achievement gap. american educational research journal, 47(2), 497-527. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209353594 youngs, c. s., & youngs, g. a. (2001). predictors of mainstream teachers’ attitudes toward esl students. tesol quarterly, 35(1), 97-120. https//doi.org/ 10.2307/3587861 zembylas, m., charalambous, p., charalambous, c., & lesta, s. (2016). human rights and the ethno-nationalist problematic through the eyes of greek-cypriot teachers. education, citizenship and social justice, 11(1), 19-33. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://cac.org/order-disorder-reorder-2017-07-14/ http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1385223 http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1001.01 https://www.google.com/books/edition/9_ntlx6jzjsc?hl=en https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-americas-founding-ideals-promoting-patriotic-education/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-americas-founding-ideals-promoting-patriotic-education/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-americas-founding-ideals-promoting-patriotic-education/ https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209353594 http://https/doi.org/%2010.2307/3587861 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 83-102 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 zinn, h. (1995). a people’s history of the united states 1492–present. new york: harper-perennial. about the authors: william mccorkle is an assistant professor of education at college of charleston. his research focuses on the nexus of immigration, nationalism, and education with a particular focus on teachers’ attitudes. he also writes on pedagogy surrounding immigration in the social studies classroom. hannah jeffries is a recent graduate of the college of charleston and a middle school social studies teachers. she has recently published articles related to the teaching of the civil war and racial justice in the social studies classroom as well as an examination of pre-service teachers’ civic engagement. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. global perspectives of american elementary school teachers: a research study cyndi mottola poole; william b. russell iii university of central florida __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the importance of global education cannot be overstated in modern society. in order to be successful and live happily in the world, today’s young people must develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to interact with people and countries around the globe. the first step to promoting global perspectives in the classroom is to ensure that the teachers we entrust those classrooms to have developed their own global perspectives. this study sought to determine the extent to which american elementary school teachers in a diverse, urban school district had developed global perspectives as well as the demographic, educational, and lifestyle factors that influenced those perspectives. the results indicated that while most of the teachers who participated in the study did have global perspectives, schools of education are not doing enough to promote globalization and global citizenship in pre-service teachers. key words: social studies, global perspectives, teacher education, elementary education, elementary teachers __________________________________________________________________________________ a multitude of international education organizations have emphasized that comprehensive global education must be made a priority in the schools of all nations. the united nations educational, social, and cultural organization (unesco) underscored the need for all countries to incorporate such global education concepts as sustainability education, education for human rights, and intercultural and interfaith education into their school curricula (unesco, 2006). similarly, the organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd, 2010) asserted that high levels of educational attainment and the ability to work effectively in a global context will be the key indicators of success in the new world economic order. the worldwide popularity of specific globallyfocused alternative education programs such as the international baccalaureate (ib) program, which is currently offered in more than 3,300 schools in more than 140 countries, is also evidence of the strength of the movement towards a more international approach (hill, 2012). the education systems of many specific countries throughout the world have also called for the inclusion of global education goals within their curricula. the department for education and employment (dfee, 2005), for example, has laid out eight key concepts of a global dimension that all schools at all levels in the united kingdom should integrate into their curriculum, namely diversity, human rights, global citizenship, interdependence, conflict resolution, values and perceptions, sustainable development, and social justice. beginning in the fall of 2013, a new global learning programme has also been instituted in the united kingdom as a network of schools devoted to educating globally-minded young people. australia’s global perspectives: a framework for global education in australian schools (education services australia, 2011) also insists on the importance of integrating global perspectives into all schools, which is conceptualized as five learning emphases: interdependence and globalization, identity and cultural diversity, social justice and human rights, peace building and conflict resolution, and sustainable futures. within the united states, the partnership for 21st century skills’ framework for 21st century learning (2009) states as one of its corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 18 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. main goals that students must be ‘prepared to thrive in today’s global economy’ (p. 1), and includes global awareness, civic literacy, and environmental literacy – all key elements of global education – in its ‘21st century themes’ (p. 2). the mission statement of the common core state standards initiative (2012) sets as one of its objectives that students should be prepared to successfully compete in the global economy. additionally, the national council for the social studies’ national curriculum standards (2010) specifies that american social studies programs should emphasize cultural diversity and global interdependence. however, despite this ostensible agreement on the imperative of global education, educational researchers in many countries have expressed concern about the slow pace at which these needed reforms are taking place. mundy and manion (2008) discovered that attempts by canadian education professionals to integrate global perspectives into their elementary schools were plagued by insufficient teacher training, little coordination between different education authorities, and lack of support for curriculum development. the united kingdom’s dfee reports that although four out of five teachers in the u.k. believe that teaching about emerging nations and their relationships to great britain, 60% lack confidence in their ability to do so (dfee, 2005). hayden (2013) argued that one cause for the popularity of ib and other similar alternative education programs in the united kingdom may be the lack of a true international focus in these countries’ public education systems. likewise, the desire for a more global dimension in education has led many upper-class south korean parents to desert the public education system and enrol their children in english-language international schools originally intended for international residents of the country (song, 2013). similar concerns abound in the united states. according to the national center for education statistics, only 27% of eighth grade students and 20% of twelfth grade students scored at or above the ‘proficient’ level on the 2010 national assessment of educational progress geography examination (nces, 2010). the 2006 national geographic-roper public affairs geographic literacy survey found that common errors made by young adults in the united states included greatly overestimating the size of the united states compared to other countries, incorrectly identifying english as the most prevalent native language in the world, and the inability to locate many countries on a world map. just as worrisome, only 32% of students indicated they could speak a foreign language, and 38% of respondents stated that speaking a foreign language was ‘not too important’. additionally, 50% thought it was not important to be able to locate news-worthy countries on a globe (national geographic, 2006). these results show a need for more expansive global education programs in k-12 american education. these days, american educational decisions seem to be driven primarily by state-mandated curriculum standards and their corresponding standardized tests. unfortunately, global education and global citizenship do not seem to be a priority in the standards of any u.s. state. rapoport (2009) discovered that the social studies curriculum standards of only 15 states contained the term globalization, and only two included the term global citizen(ship). at the elementary level, the situation is even worse. the ‘expanding environments’ curriculum popular in most elementary social studies standards basically guarantees that elementary social studies has no global focus. additionally, the emphasis on standardized test performance in many districts nationwide serves to marginalize social studies as an unimportant subject on which little instructional time can afford to be spent (vanfossen & mcgrew, 2008). despite the pressure to conform to the established curriculum standards, there is evidence that most american teachers still have control over the learning opportunities within their own corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. classroom (barton, 2012). it is logical to believe that teachers who have developed their own global perspectives and who have a personal commitment to global education will be more likely to integrate these themes into their classrooms. thus, this study sought to determine the extent to which elementary school teachers in a large urban school district in the southeastern united states had developed global perspectives. purpose the purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which elementary school teachers in a large urban school district in the southeastern united states possessed attitudes and perspectives consistent with the aims of global education and global citizenship. the research was guided by the following research questions: 1. to what extent are the perspectives of american elementary school teachers consistent with the aims of global education and global citizenship? 2. what demographic factors influence the extent to which american elementary school teachers have developed global perspectives? 3. what educational factors influence the extent to which american elementary school teachers have developed global perspectives? 4. to what extent have american colleges improved in promoting global perspectives in teacher graduates in the past 15 years? framework global education global education is a field of study developed in the cold war era which, has as its main goal to ‘develop in youth the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to live effectively in a world possessing limited natural resources and characterized by ethnic diversity, cultural pluralism, and increasing interdependence’ (quoted in merryfield, 2012, p. 58). while there exists no single unifying vision of global education, most global educators would agree upon a focus on helping their students to ‘perceive the world as an interconnected system. . . [which] leads to the need to understand diverse cultures, cultural interactions, and human conflicts’ (merryfield & wilson, 2005, p. 59). students throughout the world need to understand that they are not only citizens of their own country but also citizens of the world and that their actions may affect people internationally. two main themes of global education are perspective consciousness and global interconnectedness. perspective consciousness is ‘the recognition or awareness on the part of the individual that he/she has a view of the world that is not universally shared and that this view of the world has been and continues to be shaped by influences that often escape conscious detection, and that others have views of the world that are profoundly different’ (hanvey, 2004, p. 5). global interconnectedness is the understanding that we are all linked to people around the world, through economics, politics, culture, the environment, and technology; and that our actions may have international effects (merryfield, 2012). most social studies educators in the united states accept the necessity of integrating global education into our country’s educational system (anderson & anderson, 1977; hong & halvorsen, 2010; merryfield, 2012; rapoport, 2009; ukpokodu, 2010). ‘global education is not only essential today but should be an integral part of school curriculum on every grade level’ (ukpokodu, 2010, p. corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. 139). rapoport (2009) pointed out that the united states lags behind many other countries in this implementation. merryfield (2012) emphasized the need for american students to develop intercultural competence and ‘students need to have global knowledge and multicultural awareness to be socially and economically successful in a rapidly changing world’ (hong & halvorsen, 2010, p. 371). numerous specific recommendations on how to promote global perspectives in american k-12 and college students exist in the literature. one primary method suggested by the research literature is to require students to take more diversity-oriented, foreign language, or multicultural courses (braskamp & engberg, 2011). other researchers suggest that increasing the international, global, and multiple perspective contents of already-existing courses, such as social studies, literature, and even music, is a key factor (case, 1996; eslami, 2005; frederickson, 2010; heimonen, 2012; mcnulty, davies, & maddoux, 2010; martin, smolen, oswald, & milam, 2012). some research suggests that providing study abroad experiences may positively affect the development of global perspectives (braskamp, braskamp, & merrill, 2009; braskamp & engberg, 2011; talbert-johnson, 2009). encouraging student involvement in co-curricular activities has also been shown to have a positive effect (braskamp & engberg, 2011). increasing service-learning opportunities may also help promote global perspectives in american students (braskamp & engberg, 2011). additionally, many have stressed the importance of emphasizing globalization and civic responsibility in teacher education in the hopes that future educators will be better-prepared to integrate global perspectives into their future classes (erickson, 2011; eslami, 2005; ochoa, 2010). if a true global perspective is to be promoted in american schools, then proper teacher preparation is the key. however, there is great concern in the literature that american schools of education are not doing enough to prepare future educators for the demands of global education. according to a 1994 american association of colleges of teacher education study, ‘only about 4% of the nation’s k12 teachers have had any academic preparation in global or international studies’ (merryfield, 1994, p. 4). other researchers agree. ‘many future teachers get little systematic grounding in global education as a regular and required aspect of their teacher preparation… [and when global education is included], it is all too easy to slip into colonizing and stereotyped ways of doing global education’ (crocco, 2010, p. 20-21). ukpokodu (2010) also found that teacher education programs were doing very little to prepare teachers to teach from a global perspective. elementary social studies in the united states since the 1930s, elementary education has been dominated by the expanding environments curriculum, first introduced by paul hanna. his textbook series ‘combined social studies disciplines, such as history, economics, and geography, and established for the first time an integrated social studies curriculum for the elementary grades that has continued into the present time’ (bisland, 2009, p. 156–7). hanna’s curriculum focused on what he believed to be the natural progression of a child’s awareness, starting from the child’s understanding of him or herself, and gradually expanding to include his or her community, state, region, nation, and eventually, the world (turner, russell & waters, 2012). while the elementary social studies curriculum of most states seems to be organized this way to the present day, this schema has been criticized because some researchers feel it does not give students a realistic understanding of the integration of local, national, and world systems or that it is based on antiquated notions of child development (akenson, 1987, 1989; leriche, 1987, 1992; palmer, 1989). it also basically precludes the integration of global education perspectives, since it does not call for any substantial instruction about the world until sixth grade. corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. social studies instruction is seen by many researchers to hold a tenuous position in the elementary curricula of many modern american schools. since the subject is not tested on the high-stakes standardized examinations in most states, many schools and teachers feel that social studies instruction is tantamount to wasted time that could be spent on other, seemingly more important, subjects (heafner & fitchett, 2012; vanfossen & mcgrew, 2008). thus, it is crucial that elementary teachers not only value social studies as a discipline, but also that they value the promotion of global perspectives in their students, otherwise both of these important areas can easily be eclipsed by other subjects and pedagogical prerogatives. methods participants the participants in this study were all elementary school teachers currently employed by a large southeastern urban school district. according to the information published on the district website, as of summer, 2013, the school district had approximately 82,000 elementary students enrolled in 123 elementary schools. sixty-one percent of the elementary school students were white, 30% were black, 1% were native american, 3% were asian, and 3% were of multiple ethnicities. additionally, 37 percent of elementary students were hispanic. nine randomly selected elementary schools participated in the survey. in all, 313 teachers were sent an invitation email which included a link to an online survey. due to time restrictions imposed by the school district administration, teachers had two weeks to respond to the survey, during which time they were sent one additional reminder email. ultimately, 60 teachers completed the survey [19% response rate]. the survey respondents were a diverse group in every respect except for gender. ninety-two percent of respondents were female, while only 8% were male. this is most likely due to the inherent gender discrepancy within the field of elementary education. seventy-three percent of respondents were white/caucasian, 12% were hispanic/latino, 7% were african-american/black, 2% were asian or pacific islander, 2% were of multiple ethnicities, and 5% declined to respond. eighty-eight percent of respondents indicated that they were native-born american citizens, 10% were naturalized citizens, and 2% were legal residents of the united states. of those who were not native-born citizens, all but one had lived in the united states more than 20 years. ten percent of respondents indicated that they were under 25 years of age, 29% were between 25 and 34, 22% were between 35 and 44, 29% were between 45 and 54, and 10% were aged 55 or older. fifty-eight percent indicated that they had earned a bachelor’s degree, 39% had earned a master’s degree, and 2% had earned a specialist degree. seventy-three percent of participants graduated from a traditional bachelors-level teacher preparation program. materials the questionnaire utilized in this study was the global perspectives inventory. it was created by larry braskamp, david braskamp, kelly carter merrill, and mark engberg (2010). the survey was used with permission. the bulk of the survey is a 40 question likert-type questionnaire regarding the global perspectives of the participants. this questionnaire is broken down for analysis purposes into six subscales: cognitive-knowing, cognitive-knowledge, intrapersonal-identity, intrapersonal-affect, interpersonal-social responsibility, and interpersonal-social interaction. the cognitive-knowing subscale focuses on the way participants approach thinking and knowing, while the cognitiveknowledge subscale focuses more on the actual knowledge that participants have acquired about the world. the intrapersonal-identity subscale measures the participants’ knowledge about corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. themselves and their unique identity and purpose in life, while the intrapersonal-affect subscale measures participants’ level of respect for and acceptance of cultural differences. the interpersonalsocial responsibility subscale measures participants’ feelings of concern for members of other cultural groups, while interpersonal-social interaction measures participants’ degree of interaction with members of other cultural groups (merrill, braskamp, & braskamp, 2012). the questionnaire was originally developed for use with college students, but the authors do specifically state that ‘the survey items do not focus on growth and development only appropriate or limited to college students as a result of a specific collegiate experience (e.g., education/study abroad). rather, the items in the gpi are meant to portray markers in a life-long journey in which people of all ages are constantly asking questions about how they think, feel, and relate to others’ (braskamp, braskamp, merrill, & engberg, 2012, p. 3). thus, it seems reasonable to use the questionnaire with elementary school teachers, as well. in order to insure that reliability was not negatively affected by this change in population, cronbach’s alpha was calculated by the researcher for this specific population. cronbach’s alpha for the 40 question likert-style questionnaire was found to be .79, which indicates an acceptable level of reliability. additionally, questions were asked regarding coursework taken in college, activities the participants choose to participate in in their daily lives, and demographic questions. cronbach’s alpha was also calculated for the college coursework section and the daily activity sections of the questionnaire. the college coursework section’s alpha score was .446, and the daily activity section’s alpha score was found to be .771. limitations one limitation of this study was the short window that teachers had to respond to the invitation to participate email. ideally, participants would have had a month to respond, and more than one email reminder would have been sent during that time. this would probably have resulted in a larger response rate which may have provided more accurate results. since only american elementary school teachers were surveyed, the results cannot be generalized to teachers of other grade levels or in other countries. additionally, the study relied on self-reported data only, which may be skewed by the perceptions of the participants. results global perspectives questionnaire the first analysis completed was of the likert-style questionnaire. the mean total questionnaire score was 149.3 out of a possible 200 points, which indicates a moderate global perspective amongst teachers. a few questions stood out as generating notable results. on a positive note, 95% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they had a definite purpose in life. all respondents (100%) agreed or strongly agreed that they could explain their personal values to others. eightythree percent agreed or strongly agreed that they see their life in terms of giving back to society. ninety-three percent responded that they take into account different perspectives before drawing conclusions about the world. ninety percent responded that they were accepting of people with different religious or spiritual traditions. additionally, 97% of participants indicated that they enjoyed learning about cultural differences. a few of the results were slightly troubling, however. for example, 42% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that when cultural differences occur, their culture has the better approach. forty-six percent agreed or strongly agreed that most of their friends were from the same racial or ethnic corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. group as themselves. only 56% agreed or strongly agreed that they were informed about current issues that impact international relations. additionally, only 55% agreed or strongly agreed that they intentionally involve people from different cultural backgrounds in their lives. subsequently, the questionnaire was divided into subscales and each subscale was analyzed separately. when all respondents were considered together, a significant difference in subscale scores was found (f = 31.4, df = 5, p > .01). as shown in table 1, respondents scored significantly higher on the intrapersonal-identity (m = 4.2, sd = .37) subscale than on any other scale. the lowest score was obtained on the interpersonal-social interaction subscale (m = 3.49, sd = .39). these subscales were also analyzed based on demographic factors. again, no significant differences were found based on years of teaching experience, age of respondent, prior study abroad experience, or teacher certification route. table 1. mean scores by subscale subscale mean standard deviation intrapersonal-identity [self-knowledge] 4.2 .37 interpersonal-social responsibility [concern for others] 3.88 .47 intrapersonal-affect [intercultural respect & acceptance] 3.86 .46 cognitive-knowing [approach to thinking & knowing] 3.57 .42 cognitive-knowledge [accumulated world knowledge] 3.54 .5 interpersonal-social interaction [degree of intercultural interaction] 3.49 .39 effect of global education courses an analysis of college courses taken by the participants during their teacher preparation program revealed an overall lack of global education-related courses. the results of this analysis are shown in table 2. fifty-one percent of participants reported that they had taken only one or no foreign language courses. forty-nine percent of respondents recalled taking fewer than two multicultural courses. forty-two percent recalled taking only one or no world history courses. fifty-two percent of respondents reported that they had taken no courses that required a service learning component. additionally, 76% indicated that they had taken one or fewer college classes that focused on significant global issues or problems, while 61% indicated that they had taken one or no classes that provided time for intensive cross-cultural dialogue. table 2. number of global education courses taken class 0–1 2 3–4 5+ multicultural courses 49% 31% 15% 5% foreign language courses 51% 33% 11% 5% world history courses 41% 43% 7% 10% service learning courses 68% 13% 15% 3% global/international issue courses 76% 18% 7% 0% intercultural dialogue courses 61% 18% 10% 11% corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. when these results were broken down by years of experience, significant differences could only be found with regards to service learning courses (f = 20.252, df = 1.57, p > .01). teachers with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience (m = 2.58, sd = 1.36) were significantly more likely to report having taken courses with a service-learning component than those with 10 years of experience or more (m = 1.32, sd = .612). when the results were broken down by age group, the same question again provided significant results (f = 9.6, df = 1.58, p > .01). teachers who were younger than 35 years of age (m = 2.57, sd = 1.376) recalled taking significantly more service learning courses than those who were 35 years of age or older (m = 1.62, sd = .982). another factor that significantly influenced global coursework was certification route (f = 5.441, df = 2.48, p > .01). teachers who obtained their certification after graduating from a traditional bachelor’s level teacher education program (m = 12.71, sd = 3.26) took significantly fewer global education classes than those who became teachers through an alternative certification route after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in another field (m = 16.4, sd = 2.67). despite the overall low number of education courses taken by the respondents, the number of global education college courses taken (as measured in the college coursework section of the survey) did have a significant impact on mean total questionnaire score (f = 14.088, df = 2.48, p > .01). elementary school teachers who took many global education courses (m = 157.9, sd = 9.45) scored significantly higher on global perspectives than those who took a moderate number of global courses (m = 147.9, sd = 7.89) or those who took few global courses (m = 140.4, sd = 7.64). this suggests that more global education courses should be required for teacher candidates, as they seem to have a positive effect on their global perspectives. in fact, the number of global education courses taken was the only demographic factor that had a significant impact on mean total questionnaire score. no significant differences on mean score were found based on years of teaching experience, age of respondent, prior study abroad experience, or teacher certification route. participation in global activities global education-related activities had mixed results. ninety-one percent of respondents reported that they often or very often interact with students from a different race or ethnic group than their own. seventy-five percent stated that they watch news programs on television often or very often, while 66% often or very often read newspapers or news magazines. seventy-two percent indicated that they often or very often followed international events or crises through media sources. fifty-six percent reported that they often or very often participate in leadership programs that stress collaboration and team work. seventy-five percent of respondents participate in community service activities at least sometimes. however, 31% of participants indicated that they never or rarely attend cultural events reflecting their own cultural heritage, while 35% indicated that they never or rarely attend cultural events reflecting a different cultural heritage than their own. forty percent never or rarely attend spiritual or religious events. also, 75% of respondents indicated that they never or rarely attend lectures, workshops, or discussions on global or international issues. corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. table 3. frequency of participation in global activities activity never rarely sometimes often very often events from own culture 10% 21% 38% 21% 10% events from other cultures 8% 52% 51% 10% 5% religious/spiritual events 8% 31% 15% 23% 23% leadership activities 5% 11% 55% 36% 20% community service 5% 18% 41% 23% 13% global/international lecture 49% 25% 21% 3% 2% read a newspaper 0% 10% 23% 23% 44% watched tv news 2% 3% 20% 25% 51% followed international event 2% 2% 25% 30% 43% discussed current events in class 3% 18% 38% 23% 18% interacted with students/coworkers from other countries 3% 3% 11% 34% 48% interacted with students/coworkers from other ethnic groups 0% 0% 8% 34% 58% when these results were broken down by years of experience, significant differences were found on 4 out of 12 questions. participation in religious or spiritual activities (f = 5.332, df = 1,57, p > .01), participation in community service activities (f = 10.046, df = 1.57, p > .01), following an international event or crisis (f = 5.494, df = 1.57, p > .05), and participation in leadership programs that stress collaboration and teamwork (f = 7.226, df = 1.57, p > .01) were all significantly different by years of teaching experience. teachers with 10 or more years of teaching experience were more likely to participate in religious or spiritual activities (m = 3.61, sd = 1.315), community service activities (m = 3.61, sd = .956) and leadership programs (m = 3.93, sd = .858) than those with fewer than 10 years of experience (m = 2.84, sd = 1.241; m = 2.81, sd = .980; & m = 3.19, sd = 1.195, respectively). teachers with 10 or more years of experience (m = 4.39, sd = .786) were also significantly more likely to follow international events and crises than were those with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience (m = 3.84, sd = 1.003). similar results were found when the results were broken down by respondent age. significant differences were found in participation in religious or spiritual activities (f = 6.065, df = 1.58, p >. 05), participation in community service activities (f = 7.801, df = 1.58, p > .01), and following international events or crises (f = 7.884, df = 1.58, p > .01). respondents who were 35 years of age or older were more likely to participate in religious or spiritual activities (m = 3.52, sd = 1.237), participate in community service activities (m = 3.46, sd = 1.015), and follow international events or crises (m = 4.35, sd = .823) than those who were younger than 35 years old (m = 2.70, sd = 1.295; m = 2.74, sd = .915; & m = 3.70, sd = .974, respectively). discussion overall, a moderate global perspective was found amongst the elementary school teachers who participated in this study. due to the increasing emphasis on globalization of college curriculum and teacher education programs cited in the research literature, it was expected that younger teachers or teachers with fewer years of experience, who presumably would have graduated college more recently, would have scored higher on the global perspective inventory than older or more corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. experienced teachers. however, no significant differences could be found on the total mean score or on the individual subscale scores based on age or years of experience. this suggests that more recent graduates of american teacher education programs are not any more likely to have a global perspective than those who graduated fifteen or more years ago. this result substantiates other researcher’s claims that american schools of education are currently not meeting global education goals (merryfield, 1994; ukpokodu, 2010). additionally, there was no significant difference in mean total questionnaire score based on certification route. this finding provides evidence that graduates of traditional teacher education programs have not developed global perspectives at a higher rate than teachers who earned an alternative certification. the questionnaire subscale analysis revealed that the teachers in this study scored well on the intrapersonal-identity, intrapersonal-affect, and interpersonal-social responsibility subscales. the lowest scores were obtained on the cognitive-knowing and cognitive-knowledge subscales. these results indicate that teachers the teachers in this sample know themselves well and feel an obligation to help others, but that they are generally not as well-informed about different cultures and international issues or their importance. thus despite merryfield’s (1997) emphasis on the incorporation of global content knowledge into successful teacher education programs, it appears that this is still an area of need. additionally, the lackluster scores on the interpersonal-social interaction subscale suggest that a second component of merryfield’s (1997) framework, the integration of meaningful cross-cultural experiences, is also deficient. these are definitely areas that teacher education programs could focus on in order to increase the global perspectives of their graduates. another interesting finding of this study relates to study abroad programs. study abroad programs are typically seen as a powerful means to increase college students’ global perspectives. despite the suggestion by multiple researchers that study abroad experiences are of the utmost importance in creating globally-minded individuals (braskamp et al., 2009; braskamp & engberg, 2011; talbertjohnson, 2009), only 23% of teachers in this study participated in a study abroad program, and of those nearly 30% indicated that their program lasted for shorter than 2 weeks. furthermore, no significant difference in any global perspective outcome was found based on the existence or lack of study abroad experience among participants. this may be an indication that study abroad programs are not as meaningful in promoting global citizenship as is commonly believed. the results of the college coursework section of the questionnaire were also surprising. while there is much talk these days of colleges providing their students with coursework that is aimed at helping them to develop a global perspective, the results of this study suggest that this population has not taken many of these types of courses. nearly half of the elementary school teachers in this study have taken only one or no multicultural courses, world history courses, or foreign language courses. more than half have taken no service learning courses, while about half have taken no courses that provided intercultural dialogue or focused on global or international problems. even more troubling, the only coursework area in which we have seen improvement in the last 15 years is in service learning. none of the other types of courses investigated in this study showed any significant increase in teachers who are younger or who had less teaching experience. this seems to suggest that for all of the talk about globalizing college education, very little actual change has occurred. since the findings of this study showed that participants who took more global education classes in college scored higher on the inventory, these classes do seem to be effective at promoting global perspectives. also alarming was the finding that teachers who became certified after graduating from a traditional bachelor’s level teacher education program took fewer global education courses corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 18-31. than those who became certified through an alternate route after initially receiving their bachelor’s degree in another field. this seems to imply that traditional teacher education programs offer require fewer global education classes than other bachelor’s degree programs, when in fact, they should be required to take more global education classes. a similar concern arose from the global education activity section of the questionnaire. while some positive indications of global perspectives were found, such as the high rate of news consumption, when age or years of experience were analyzed, the results were actually the opposite of what we hoped to find. participation in religious or spiritual activities, likeliness of following international events or crises, participation in leadership activities, and community service all decreased in younger and less experienced teachers. if the modern american teacher preparation system was truly producing students with more global perspectives, we would have anticipated that younger teachers would have higher scores on these measures. conclusion this study investigated the global perspectives of american elementary school teachers and the demographic, lifestyle, and educational factors that increase these perspectives. results indicated that the participants in this study did have many global perspectives. it was hoped that evidence would be found that would support the notion that teacher education programs were increasing their global focus, and that this important change would produce a greater global awareness in younger or less experienced teachers. however, the findings suggested that few substantial changes to globalize teacher education have been made, and that therefore, younger teachers are not actually more globally aware than older or more experienced teachers. these findings are troubling for two reasons. first of all, since 82% of respondents reported that they often or very often interact with students or coworkers from other countries, it is clear that intercultural acceptance and communication skills are a required part of their daily lives. secondly, elementary school teachers are charged with providing the first exposure most students have to internationalization or global perspectives. if the goals of globalizing teacher education programs were realized, teachers would graduate more prepared to integrate these important concepts into their daily instruction. the results of this study suggest that much more needs to be done to improve the global education in american teacher preparation programs if we desire that new teachers will come to the classroom ready to accept the challenge to teach from a truly global perspective. further research is needed to compare these results of american elementary school teachers with others around the world. references akenson, j. e. 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(2008). is the sky really falling?: an update on the status of social studies in the k-5 classroom in indiana. international journal of social education, 23(1), 139– 182. corresponding author email: russell@ucf.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 31 http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/p21_framework_definitions.pdf purpose framework global education elementary social studies in the united states methods participants materials limitations results global perspectives questionnaire effect of global education courses participation in global activities discussion conclusion references journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 awakening the sleeping giant: a commentary on social studies during the coronavirus pandemic brad maguth the university of akron abstract: in this essay, i highlight two ways in which the coronavirus pandemic has influenced the teaching and learning of social studies. first, despite its marginalization and underinvestment nationally, the crisis highlighted the significance of social studies by serving as a refuge for youth and families to navigate and better understand this disaster. this includes serving as a cathartic space for learners grappling with current events as they unfold. second, curricular innovations emerged that guided informative practices. such innovations include “maslow before bloom” (attending to basic human needs before focusing on academic learning) and noting the ways in which youth took informed action at home and in the community to make a difference. while the list is in no way comprehensive or mutually exclusive, it does present one picture of social studies in classrooms and communities during this challenging period in our history. in late december 2019, officials in wuhan, china, confirmed to the global community dozens of pneumonia cases. despite news reports of this new strain of coronavirus, many americans took comfort that this isolated disturbance was half a world away. in addition to a vast ocean that separates the u.s. from china, americans were given confidence in having one of the world's most developed economies with exceptional hospitals and universities. on march 13, 2020, however, after several confirmed coronavirus cases in the u.s., president trump declared a state of emergency. on the same day, ohio governor mike dewine and director of health amy acton mandated a statewide closure of all schools. as of july 10, 2020, the u.s. led the world with 3.29 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 137,000 deaths (centers for disease control and prevention, 2020). schools in ohio and around the country were given days to close in mid-march and move to remote learning. educators courageously moved at warp speed, many without much training, to put instructional materials online. as teachers put materials online for student learning to mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 continue, many were also navigating their fears related to the virus. these fears included the realization that store shelves were emptying, with staples like milk, bread, and toilet paper challenging to find. most non-essential businesses like libraries, gyms, and community organizations were closed. realities were jolted as the virus reminded the global community how interconnected humans are to each other and the planet's resources. events in one region of the world (like china) have and will continue to connect us to an increasingly global community. below, i highlight two ways in which the coronavirus has influenced the teaching and learning of social studies. this perspective has been shaped by my experiences working with hundreds of k12 educators as president of the ohio council for the social studies and as a social studies teacher educator during the pandemic. while the list below is in no way comprehensive or mutually exclusive, it does present one picture of social studies in classrooms and communities during this challenging period in our history. first, despite its marginalization and under-investment nationally, the crisis highlighted the significance of learning social studies (heafner, 2020). in times of local, national, and global distress, social studies, inclusive of the curriculum and teachers, has served as a “civic education first responder.” social studies allows youth and families to glean the lessons of history, geography, economics, government, psychology, and sociology to better understand current events and the overall human condition (maguth, 2016). as the destructive coronavirus spreads, the social studies classroom will serve as an essential reflective and inquiring space for learners grappling with current events as they unfold. during the height of the spring stay-at-home order, berinato (2020) published a commentary in the harvard business review that went viral on social media. he painted a picture of the losses people were experiencing: a loss of normalcy, a loss of economic security, and the loss of physical connection between neighbors, friends, and loved ones. this article pulled from research and theory in psychology to discuss collective grief and the discomfort youth and families experienced during the outbreak. demand also increased for history content (books, films, podcasts, websites, etc.) related to past pandemics, like the 1918 flu pandemic and the bubonic plague of the 14th century. readers were accessing historical content to investigate themes and patterns to make connections to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. john barry’s the great influenza: the story of the deadliest pandemic in history experienced record sales and sat atop the new york times bestsellers list. netflix’s six-part mini-series pandemic: how to prevent an outbreak reached millions of viewers. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 social studies skills and content often emerged critical in local, national, and global conversations as citizens sought updated information and insights on public health and the economy. however, an information glut often existed, with opinion and analysis pieces masquerading as breaking news on traditional and new media. inaccurate and politically biased content reverberated across televisions, computers, and mobile phone screens and applications. information literacy was of paramount importance, especially for a generation raised and dependent upon the internet for quick and easy answers. unpacking fake news and teaching learners to be critical consumers of news has been and must be a vital part of a well-rounded and meaningful social studies education; during a national emergency, it is paramount (journell, 2019). in record numbers, audiences tuned in to watch the local news and to view presidential and gubernatorial news briefings. these briefings usually included tables and graphs that frequently represented confirmed covid-19 cases, hospitalizations rates, and mortality rates. in late spring and early summer, this event dominated the news coverage and conversations in households and on social media. ohio television viewers ritualistically tuned in every weekday afternoon for news briefings with governor mike dewine to better understand the rapidly changing situation and circumstances; these briefings were dubbed “wine with dewine,” as some adult viewers would affectionately watch with their favorite spirit in hand (diadiun, 2020). meaningful social studies experiences help youth understand their civic responsibilities and obligations within a democracy. after all, the national council for the social studies (ncss) notes that the primary purpose of social studies is “…to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (ncss, 1992). john dewey (1916) explained the significant role of public schools in advancing and sustaining communities and democracy: for dewey, democratic education goes beyond preparing youth to vote and centers on schools promoting a mode of associated living together or conjoined communicated experience. this conjoined experience is rooted in young people, as social beings, having the opportunity to inquire and reflect with diverse populations on shared experiences and problems (dewey, 1916). during the global pandemic, social studies emerged as a reflective space for learners to discuss how the individual actions (and inactions) of citizens affect the overall health and vibrancy of one’s household, community, country, and world. to halt the deadly spread of the virus, all citizens needed to abide by enacted public health guidelines (i.e., social distancing, washing and sanitizing hands, stay-at-home orders, etc.). the crisis reminded communities of the paramount role that schools—as the nation’s largest institution reaching the bulk of youth—play in preparing citizens mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 for associated living. after all, one person alone acting in isolation from the many is unable to flatten the coronavirus curve. second, curricular innovations emerged due to the coronavirus pandemic that influenced the teaching and learning of social studies. such innovations include prioritizing the physical and mental well-being of students and their families, which emerged as essential during these trying days; in education circles, this was called “maslow before bloom,” based on the work of two influential thinkers in psychology and education. abraham maslow (1908-1970) is known for his hierarchy of needs, which describes five tiers of basic human needs, including physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. maslow’s two lowest tiers, physiological and safety needs, involve our most basic needs: food, water, shelter, sleep, and security (maslow, 1943). youth and families that struggle to meet these most fundamental needs have little opportunity to address maslow’s higher tiers in positive ways. benjamin bloom (1913-1999) is known for his taxonomy of educational objectives, tiers of verbs that organize higher and lower levels of cognitive skills for learning (bloom, 1956). bloom’s cognitive demands have had a profound impact on the shaping and design of curriculum in u.s. schools. as a result of covid-19, numerous threats emerged that challenged students’ most basic human needs. already struggling families that once relied on schools for food and social services were now displaced with buildings shuttered. additional stressors included medical and public health costs for families in a time when a historic number of workers were laid off and furloughed: in the first 10 weeks of the outbreak, americans filed more than 40 million jobless claims (romm, 2020). with families and students’ most basic needs not being met, it is exceptionally challenging to foster learners’ cognitive and affective success in school. “maslow before bloom” supports the idea that families and youth must have the foundational physical and socio-emotional safety nets to meet their most basic needs before launching into an advanced curriculum, especially during a historic pandemic. children were grieving the loss of their in-person time with friends, their daily school routines, and the predictability of life that often provides a sense of safety and security. everywhere, children witnessed adults (at home and in the media) discuss economic toil, illness, and death. as educators, we understood the importance of acknowledging and honoring that grief process. few children, especially those already predisposed to trauma, would be able or motivated to jump seamlessly and successfully into a perfect online learning program, especially in those many mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 households where students had little to no reliable access to a computer or the internet. after all, most kids, parents, and teachers never signed up for remote learning. another curricular innovation that emerged was the opportunity to ground social studies teaching and content in a real-world context. as novelist grant allen reminds us, we must never let formal schooling interfere with our true education (allen, 1894). the coronavirus pandemic created a launching pad for some social studies teachers to design purposeful inquiries on the covid-19 pandemic. youth wrestled with compelling questions, applied disciplinary tools, evaluated and used evidence, and took informed action. in many cases, america’s youth rose to the occasion to take action to help others. for instance, during the stay-at-home order in arkansas, a junior high school student played trumpet outside his house every morning to uplift his community: “i want to give people in my community hope that it's going to get better,” he said (d’angelo, 2020). in ohio, two elementary school students joined an army of people making masks for medical workers. in massachusetts, when a young boy lost a tooth, he wore a mask to bed to protect the tooth fairy from illness (silvia, 2020). during this time, inspiring stories of youth taking informed action filled the newspapers. this included kids making signs to support first responders, leading letter-writing campaigns to lift the spirits of isolated and lonely senior citizens, and even using tiktok and social media to create public service announcements for people to wear masks and wash their hands regularly. a teacher near toledo, ohio, had her middle school students journal and interview family members about their pandemic experiences via an oral history project. kids around the country creatively engaged in civic action, a hallmark of the c3 framework for social studies (ncss, 2013). in the ways noted above, the teaching and learning of social studies has been and will continue to be influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. citizens across the world are staring down their fears to help one another survive, to push back against injustice, and to create a stronger future for the next generation. the field of social studies (inclusive of its content and pedagogy) has been front and center in this journey. i am optimistic that at the end of this historic pandemic, social studies teachers from across the globe will possess a more robust set of tools and strategies to bring social studies to life in households, classrooms, and communities. we will know what was broken within our system and have renewed courage and insights to solve them. perhaps, when all is said and done, there will be a newfound resurgence and investment in social studies teaching and learning, for it is the subject most at the center of helping young people and our communities learn from the past. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 references allen, g. (1894). post-prandial philosophy. london: the westminster gazette. berinato, s. (2020, march 23). that discomfort you’re feeling is grief. harvard business review. retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief bloom, b. e. (1956). the taxonomy of educational objectives, handbook i: the cognitive domain. new york: david mckay co., inc. centers for disease control and prevention. (2020). cases and deaths in the u.s. retrieved july 13, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/us-casesdeaths.html d'angelo, b. (2020, march 18). arkansas student trumpets good cheer to neighbors to deflect coronavirus concerns. retrieved from https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/arkansasstudent-trumpets-good-cheer-neighbors-deflect-coronavirusconcerns/fm4v3fzjhrdhhiactjlnrwlc3u dewey, j. (1916). democracy and education. new york: free press. diadiun, t. (2020, march 8). "wine with dewine" an indispensable refuge in our day. retrieved july 13, 2020, from cleveland.com: https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/05/winewith-dewine-an-indispensable-refuge-in-our-day.html heafner, t. (2020, april 6). president heafner's message: "ncss leads in time of crisis: an ongoing response to covid-19." retrieved july 13, 2020, from https://www. socialstudies.org/presidents-message/president-heafners-message-ncss-leads-timecrisis-ongoing-response-covid-19 journell, w. (2019). unpacking fake news: an educator's guide to navigating the media with students. new york: teachers college press. maguth, b. (2016, november 11). social studies teachers as front-line responders in times of civic divisiveness and distress. retrieved july 13, 2020, from http:// globalandsocialstudieseducation.blogspot.com/2016/11/social-studies-teachers-asfront-line_48.html maslow, a. (1943). a theory of human motivation. psychological review, 170-96. national council for the social studies. (1992). national curriculum standards for social studies: executive summary. retrieved from https://www.socialstudies.org/standards/ execsum mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 37-43 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 mary#:~:text=thematic%20strandsnational%20council%20for%20the%20social, ncss)%20defines%20social%20studies%20as%3a&text=the%20primary%20purpose%2 0of%20social,society%20in%20an%20interdependent%20world national council for the social studies. (2013). the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. silver spring, md: ncss. romm, t. (2020, may 28). americans have filed more than 40 million jobless claims in past 10 weeks, as another 2.1 million filed for benefits last week. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/28/ unemployment-claims-coronavirus silvia, k. (2020, april 7). gavin loses a tooth, wears mask so the tooth fairy won’t get germs. retrieved from https://fun107.com/gavin-loses-a-tooth-wears-mask-so-the-tooth-fairywont-get-germs about the author: brad m. maguth is professor of social studies education in the lebron james family foundation school of education at the university of akron. he also was elected by membership president of the ohio council for the social studies in 2018 for a two year term. recently, brad served as coeditor of inquiry-based global learning in the k-12 social studies classroom (routledge press, 2020). mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. sozial studies: how travel abroad empowers a global perspective mark pearcy, ph.d rider university, lawrenceville, nj. ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the personal experiences and values of individual teachers can tend to restrict the ability to promote a “global perspective” in the social studies, the subject area most suited to that concept. one antidote to this instructional myopia is the prospect of overseas travel, in the form of study tours, the type of which have been shown to have a great impact in this area (wilson, 1982, 1983, 1993a, 1993b; germain, 1998; kirkwood, 2002). this article is a reflection on the findings of a twoweek study tour of germany in 2013, sponsored by the transatlantic outreach program and the goethe-institut. during this tour, i was able to visit german schools, corporations, museums, , and to meet german educators. in this article, the value of such experiences to promote a global perspective, essential to global education, is examined—additionally, i analyze the impact that the german sozial approach might have on american educational decisions. key words: global perspectives, global education, social studies, overseas travel studies ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction given the manner in which technology has shrunk the world and broadened the scope of our reach, it is no wonder that the process of globalization is often greeted with overt hostility for its impact on indigenous cultures (barber, 1996; chua, 2004) or the possibility that new trends may disrupt the traditional “american way of life” (legrain, 2002). social studies teachers, however, have a different reaction—many take it as an article of faith that globalization is not only a fact of life in the modern era, but also an endorsement of the subject area we teach. notwithstanding the particular content of a globally-infused curriculum, the value of promoting a “global perspective” is evident in its power to expand the passive, obedient form of citizenship that is, regrettably, a regular feature in most u.s. schools (knight-abowitz & harnish, 2006; westheimer & kahne, 2004). this citizenship, in which students are “merely spectators in the democratic process,” delimits one’s ability to “cross cultural boundaries or understand diverse perspectives” (castro, 2013, p. 220). focusing on our students’ capacity to navigate these boundaries in a globally conscious and effective manner is no longer a luxury in our pedagogy—it is fast becoming a necessity, especially in light of the social studies’ goal of educating citizens who are members of “an ethnically diverse and just community” (dilworth, 2004, p. 56-57). this creates a problematic situation—how can teachers help engender this form of global consciousness if they have limited exposure, in their own lives and experiences, to distinct cultures and the issues embedded in them? one answer is the opportunity to travel abroad. it is clear that a teacher’s global perspective (as well as the instructional decisions made in light of that perspective) is directly impacted by travel (wilson, 1982, 1983, 1993a, 1993b; kirkwood, 2002). there is also considerable research indicating that teachers who had overseas teaching experiences made 93 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. positive and lasting changes in their pedagogy, empathy with students, and continuing professional development (germain, 1998; kirkwood, 2002; willard-holt, 2001; rodriguez, 2011). in 2013, i was able to travel to germany under the auspices of the transatlantic outreach program (top), a venture formed in 2002 as a partnership of the german federal foreign office, the goetheinstitut, and german corporations like deutsche bank and the siemens corporation. its mission is “to promote education about germany, to encourage intercultural dialogue, and to provide the opportunity for north american social studies educators to experience germany in person” (transatlantic outreach program, 2014). in furtherance of this goal, top offers study tours of “modern” germany to social studies educators from both the secondary level and higher education. germany, when featured in the standard social studies curriculum, typically appears in the context of historical events that are unrelentingly negative—most notably, the two world wars, the rise of national socialism, and the holocaust. these are vitally important events, of course, but the modern reality of a nation of 81 million people, with europe’s largest economy and the fifth largest in the world, often goes unrepresented in american classrooms (“what germany offers the world,” 2012, april 14). the issues faced by germany today—climate change and environmental policy, the use of renewable energy, educational policy and immigration—are not so different from contemporary debates in the u.s. in germany, however, the policies adopted in light of these issues–often the subject of much political acrimony and partisanship in the u.s.—are greeted with almost unanimity among the population (with the notable exception of immigration policy). for instance, the german commitment to renewable energy is practically universal, and the german educational system— though administered by the sixteen lander, or federal states—is virtually identical from state to state, built around the common “tripartite” framework (hyslop, 2012). how does a modern state achieve this degree of unanimity over sociocultural issues? this is an especially vexing question for an american, given the paralytic nature of our contemporary national politics. the chance to travel to germany gave me the opportunity to explore this question and to experience and evaluate the roots of that nation’s national character. such an experience is vital towards the larger goal of developing a global perspective, though it is understandably difficult for many teachers to travel overseas, given the financial burdens. the assistance of the transatlantic outreach program, therefore, is especially noteworthy, as is the comprehensive nature of the trip’s design. the wide spectrum of experiences—in schools, in museums and historical landmarks, in corporations and private homes—provided me with a unique view of the german commitment to a collective sense of obligation, one that is representative of their national and historical identity. the german concept of sozial—a national sense of collective responsibility and individual dignity—is situated at the center of the country’s sense of self, and provides a positive example for what american educators can hope to achieve here at home. this article describes my experiences in germany in three specific spheres of public life—in schools, in corporate life, and in the growing and dynamic immigrant community—and the theme of sozial that is present across all three. 94 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. education in germany upon arrival in berlin, i quickly became aware of the level of commitment germany had made to the concept of renewable energy. we were fortunate enough to have a hotel with air conditioning, since we were told that it was a rarity in most buildings across the nation. the same is true of ice—“ice is not german,” we were told by one of our guides. our initial experience was a lecture from a journalist, paul hockenos, who has lived and worked in berlin for some years—the event was held in a conference room that was stifling, and upon exiting the room i noticed that the door was lined with corrugated cardboard, which was serving as insulation. many of the germans i spoke to were quite proud of the national policy of energiewende, the “energy transition” from fossil fuels to renewable energy. the goal of the german government is to achieve an 80% shift to renewable resources by 2050 (hockenos, 2012b, p. 29). the major push came after the reactor disaster in fukushima, japan, in 2011—germany, a nation already hostile towards nuclear energy, quickly closed 8 of the 17 nuclear reactors within the nation (hockenos, 2012b, p. 29). the policy was led towards the new “greening” policy by the prime minister, angela merkel, whose party, the christian democratic union, was traditionally friendlier towards the fossil fuel and nuclear energy industries. however, the roots of this policy were largely already in place, built over time into a stable, enduring national consensus over policy (so stable that the rest of the european continent has reacted to the german policy initiatives with skepticism—mr. hockenos told me in an aside that the rest of western europe thinks that germany might just be “off their rockers”). this phenomenon—a large national agreement over a policy that, in other nations, would generally result in partisan debate or acrimony—is surprisingly common in germany. the national educational system is a good example. modern german history begins at the end of world war ii, the devastation of which is hard to grasp or overstate. in a strange way, the best measure of the war’s disastrous effects is not in descriptions of the human or physical cost, but the political impact. germany’s first postwar leader, konrad adenauer (a former nazi), aimed at two national goals which were incongruous with both germany’s immediate past and its relationship with former adversaries—the installation of a market-based economy and the establishment of deep diplomatic and commercial ties to the west, the westbindung (hockenos, 2008, p. 1; hockenos, 2012a, 2013). ironically, it took a wholesale disaster like world war ii could cause the german nation to contemplate a total reversal of national policy and a binding commitment to their former enemies. entire social structures had to be rebuilt, including the educational system. education under nazism was marked by both the fascist tendency to promote the singular authority of the nazi party and adolf hitler, as well as the use of curricula to disseminate racial propaganda. mills (2002) illustrates how educational materials could be subverted towards this agenda, citing math problems like the following: “the jews are aliens in germany—in 1933 there were 66,060,000 inhabitants in the german reich, of whom 499,682 were jews. what is the percent of aliens?” (mills, 2002, p. 228). children’s books, like trau keinem fuchs auf grüner heid und keinem jud bei seinem eid (“don’t trust a fox in a green meadow or the oath of a jew”) were used to promote a racial ideology that formed the philosophical underpinning of the state. the modern german educational system is far removed from this approach, both philosophically and structurally. because germany is a federal republic, most educational policy is controlled by the lander, the 16 separate states (erk, 2003; hyslop, 2012, p. 41). despite this localized control, most of 95 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. the german states have roughly the same structure (erk, 2003, p. 312). the german “tripartite” system consists roughly of three levels: the gymnasium, the realschule and the hauptschule (see figure 1: school structure in germany). the gymnasium offers an advanced general education for students who aim at university attendance; in the 13th year, they take a comprehensive national examination, the abitur (andell, 2008, p. 17). the realschule is an intermediate level, which offers an extended general and vocational education, while the hauptschule is the strictly vocational track—following graduation, students typically begin an apprenticeship with businesses and corporations across germany. students are directed through the tripartite system in a process that american educators would instinctively label “tracking.” the process—omnipresent throughout germany—is derived from a long-standing emphasis on the use of “norms” to determine best outcomes (sliwka, 2010, p. 209; tillman, 2006). what is most interesting is the manner in which these decisions are made. students, their families, and teachers confer in detail (typically around the fourth or fifth year) and make a 96 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. collaborative decision about the route each student should take. the student has the option of choosing a different route, but generally, the teacher’s recommendation is followed. coming from a nation that has distinguished itself in recent years by pointedly not listening to teachers, i found this refreshing. in 2000, germans were shocked to see their national standing on the programme for international student assessment (pisa) evaluation of that year—they ranked 21st in reading and mathematics, out of 31 total nations participating, which put them near the bottom of the list of industrialized nations (andell, 2008, p. 17). when pisa rankings are released in the u.s., it traditionally provokes cries for reform, for accountability, for standardization (“are america’s students falling behind the world?” 2013, december 9). there were similar calls in germany; but angela merkel, the current prime minister of germany and then-leader of the cdu, insisted there was nothing wrong with the tripartite system. she pointed instead to oversized classrooms and a general lack of instructional time, both of which could be addressed by increased funding (andell, 2008, p. 18). this reaction—so contrary to the standard reaction of the u.s. government in recent years—is striking. another feature of german schooling that is unusual for americans is the emphasis on apprenticeship. for many u.s. families, the idea of their children being consigned to vocational training is distasteful at best, a violation of the traditional goal of college (“too narrow, too soon?” 2010, june 7). in germany, however, the dual education system of academics and job training has been called the “secret” to the system, providing “’just in time’ training and ‘just in time’” skilled employees for companies (hyslop, 2012, p. 40). german students hold no disdain for the prospects of apprenticeship over college; they are aware that the jobs waiting for them (often with corporations like mercedes and siemens) require highly-skilled applicants who are well-paid and respected in german society. similarly, german corporations are assured new generations of skilled workers, and thus feel particularly invested in educational policy, a sentiment not as deeply felt in the american business community (hyslop, 2012, p. 44). during our time in germany, we were able to visit several schools of varying types and sizes. for instance, we were welcomed to a gymnasium in neukloster, where bilingualism was the standard approach in every classroom—i watched teachers and students switch effortlessly between english and german (most students begin to learn english as early as age 6 or 7), with a heavy emphasis on project-based learning. teachers have great autonomy in what they teach and how; for the most part, the curricula were generated by the teachers themselves. when i asked one teacher whether or not he had to file lesson plans with his administration—a standard feature for most u.s. educators—he showed me a slim spiral notebook. “this is my whole planner,” he told me. he found my surprised reaction very amusing; though the teachers i met were not similarly amused by conditions facing teachers in the u.s. when asked about reform movements currently underway in america—merit pay, tenure restrictions, standardized testing, accountability models, “value-added” data—the german educators i spoke to were bewildered and skeptical. “it doesn’t sound like they treat you like professionals,” one told me, a comment that elicited rueful nods from the americans present. 97 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. an intriguing moment occurred at the helene lange schule, a comprehensive high school in wiesbaden. this school is comparatively unique in the german system—students range from age 10 to 16 (corresponding to years 5 through 10), and travel through their time at the school with the same teacher for all five grades. in 2002 it was hailed by some media members as the “best school in germany,” based on released pisa results, a pronouncement that the school and the state’s educational agency immediately distanced themselves from—both because they didn’t want to appear to endorse the comprehensive school model as superior to others, and also, as one teacher told me, it would be “vulgar” to appear boastful (kraus, 2002). i was speaking to a social studies teacher, and i asked him how he would deal with a student who held controversial views. what would you do, i asked, if a student expressed sympathy or agreement with nazi ideology? the teacher shook his head emphatically. “i wouldn’t let him leave the room,” he said earnestly, “until i talked him out of it. we can’t allow children to believe anything like that.” he showed me a book that is widely read by german students—jugend ohne gott, “youth without god,” by odon von horvath (2005). written originally in 1937, the novel is set in germany during the rise of national socialism, and the protagonist is a teacher, confronted with the regime’s militarism and racism. students are never referred to by name, but instead as letters (“t” and “n”), to illustrate the dehumanization of nazi propaganda and their own loss of individuality. the teacher i spoke with was using the book as the basis for an ongoing series of lessons about nazism, a standing feature of the school’s curriculum. in the u.s., most teachers would find analogous views—for instance, white supremacy—to be abhorrent, and most would certainly try to dissuade their students from holding them; but ultimately, in a culture that esteems freedom of speech as a fundamental principle, that student would be allowed to believe what he/she believed. the commitment, among german educators, to confront such views and the historical events that perpetuated them—as well as their commitment to change such views—was impressive. the principle of responsibility extends to both the materials used in the classroom and the philosophies behind their use. corporate culture in germany given the unique relationship of the german educational system and the corporate world, it was especially useful to be able to explore the latter. we were able to visit a thriving industry in northern germany as well as one of the largest financial institutions in the world, deutsche bank. in bremen, in the northern part of the country, we went to the factory of a unique company, werkstatt martinshof, just outside the city limit. the company ostensibly makes rear window assemblies for auto manufacturers, but has also branched off into the production of such unusual goods as bicycles, ceramics, nursery furniture, honey, wine, and ceramics. what is even more surprising, however, is that the company employs, almost in its entirety, adults with developmental disabilities. currently, werkstatt bremen employs over 2200 people (“werkstatt martinshof,” 2013). 98 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. we met the company’s chief executive officer, wilfried hautop, and i asked him why he chose to employ, almost exclusively, the disabled, especially in an enterprise of such a varied nature. he looked at me a little skeptically, and then said, “i just felt the need.” he explained that, when employing the disabled, many people conceive of the work being done as primarily rehabilitative, not with great commercial value. but hautop made clear to us that his employees took great pride in the products they created, a fact that was borne out when i watched a worker complete a window assembly for a mercedes sedan—he operated a complex piece of machinery with great dexterity and speed, and when he was done, he broke out into a huge smile and laughed. our next corporate experience came near the end of the study tour. one of the chief sponsors of the trip was deutsche bank, so we were invited to their corporate headquarters in frankfurt. we had thought the visit would be a great relief, on a sweltering summer day; until we entered the gleaming steel-and-glass building to find that the german commitment to environmentalism extended to the corporate world as well, as we were told (with great pride) that deutsche bank had removed the air conditioning, out of commitment to energiewende. during our meeting at deutsche bank, we met dr. ottmar kayser, the deputy head of the sustainability initiative at db (whom we jokingly blamed for the lack of cool air in the building). dr. kayser talked about deutsche bank’s concept of “corporate social responsibility,” which they define as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society” (kayser, 2013). i thought, at first, this was a reference to the renewable energy push of which db was so proud, and so it was—but “csr” means much more, at least in theory. deutsche bank has committed to three aspects of corporate social responsibility—environmental elements, economic elements (including a pledge to avoid “controversial financing”), and social elements, including “socially responsible investing” and “corporate citizenship” (kayser, 2013). in all honesty, my first reaction to this was rather cynical—it sounded like a vague and showy endorsement of intrinsically attractive concepts, without any real effort required. but i was surprised when dr. kayser detailed the very concrete limitations on investments that deutsche bank had set for itself: defense equipment (“we will not consider any involvement in transactions with specific types of weapons, in particular antipersonnel landmines, cluster bombs, or abc weapons…”); pornography or “red light” districts, even in a nation where prostitution is fully legalized; betting and gambling, industries that “are prone to serve as the basis for illegal activities” (kayser, 2013). and dr. kayser was emphatic in his insistence that this commitment was not “a fad,” and not simply meant to appease critics of large corporations. moreover, he said, the concept of “corporate social responsibility” was not about philanthropy, or public relations—it was “the way of doing business.” this concept of corporate social responsibility is relatively new in germany, though its practice—the expectation of “doing well by doing good”—was common throughout the business community (antal, oppen, & sobczak, 2010, p. 285). and it is important to note that not all german corporations have practiced what they preached—deutsche bank, in fact, was at the center of a financial scandal in 2012, the public humiliation of which was “unprecedented” for a german multinational corporation (“a reputation in ruin,” 2012; atkins, 2014). still, it seems that the csr approach is ingrained in the german business community, to a sufficient extent that the german government 99 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. has developed a national csr strategy to “foster civic engagement,” following the “principle of responsible conduct and above and beyond the individual company’s actual business operations for the good of civil society and in societal, environmental, and cultural causes” (national strategy for corporate social responsibility–action plan for csr–of the german federal government, 2010, p. 8). it is even developing a plan to link the motto “csr—made in germany” with trade and product quality (“unternehmens werte, csr—made in germany,” 2014). what is compelling is the degree to which the principles espoused by giant financial corporations like deutsche bank are practiced by smaller entities like werkstatt martinshof. it is a guiding principle evident through the elements of german corporate culture i was able to observe, and seems to represent the broader part of german society. immigration in germany unlike csr, there is an issue in germany that does not enjoy unanimous public support on a national scale. when asked about the issue of immigration, german citizens display a bewildering and often contradictory array of opinions. according to a survey commissioned by the bertelsmann foundation in 2012, 70% of respondents felt that immigration made it easier for international investment in germany, and 62% felt it could alleviate the impact of an aging population; while at the same time, two-thirds of those surveyed felt that immigration was an “extra burden” on the social security system, as well as a source of conflict both with “native” germans and in public schools (“’immigrants cause problems,’ say germans,” 2012, 17 december). according to a study by the migration policy institute, this contradictory attitude extends even further—62% of respondents believed that “immigrants are not well-integrated,” but at the same time, integration was ranked as a “low-priority” issue by surveyed germans, especially as compared to concerns about unemployment or the economy (abali, 2009, p. 1). there is a sense of cultural familiarity at work in parts of germany, especially berlin—the prevalence of english, the presence of identifiable institutions (e.g., starbucks), all can make an american feel, if not exactly at home, at least more comfortable with the foreign character of the nation as a whole. this familiarity was also present in our group’s exploration of a major issue facing modern germany, one which americans have struggled with for decades, even centuries—immigration, or more specifically, “people with migration backgrounds.” we travelled to a district in berlin called kreuzberg, which has been the traditional destination for germany’s largest ethnic group of non-german origin—turkish immigrants. we were to visit the fhxb friedrichshain-kreuzberg museum, dedicated to the history of the district and its role as a unique home for immigrants and their descendants. there we spoke to alpaslan laden schulklassen, a second-generation turkish-german, who explained the history of immigration in the modern era and the issues that still linger. figure 2: pearcy, m. (2013). the friedrichshain-kreuzberg museum, kreuzberg, berlin 100 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. when the berlin wall went up in 1961, the continuance of the postwar “economic miracle” was in peril, due mainly to a lack of workers. around half of berlin’s labor force was now on the eastern side of the wall—at one point, in october 1964, there were 20,000 available jobs in berlin with only 9,000 workers (schulklassen, 2013). the west german government put out a call for immigrant workers, offering one-year contracts and high pay. the majority of those that answered were from turkey, mostly skilled tradesmen, trained in textiles, electronics, and other trades—and many were women (at one point, 67% of the workers at the siemens corporation were female). many settled in west berlin, for which they received bonuses from their employers, who were themselves subsidized by the west german government to encourage such relocation (schulklassen, 2013). most of these turkish workers had a singular expectation of their time in germany—they would work a year, maybe two, and then return to turkey. the problem, it seems, was that the arrangement was too successful. at the conclusion of their contractual period, many workers found it difficult to leave; they were paid well, and had built lives and families in germany. at the same time, corporations were reluctant to let go of the workers who had become so essential to economic growth and prosperity. so the result was a sort of mass “blind eye” turned to the issue; turkish workers stayed, longer than they had imagined, and their children, born in germany, began to think of themselves as german. the result was a “parallel world of immigrant communities outside mainstream german society” (sliwka, 2010, p. 206). this was a real complication. german law regarding citizenship germany traditionally was a jus sanguinis state, in which citizenship was conferred by parentage and not location. what this meant was that people like alpaslan, who were born in germany, could not be german citizens, since their parents were born in turkey. it wasn’t until 2000, during the period of the red-green coalition, that the law was amended—but not until an ugly, public rift occurred over the law itself, a surprising occurrence in nation where most social views were broadly held. once the law was proposed, anti101 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. immigrant sentiment coalesced around a petition campaign to halt the initiative; begun in january 1999, within six weeks it had gathered over five million signatures (howard, 2008, p. 52). the resulting compromise version of the law was watered down from its original position, but still represented a major shift from the jus sanguinis tradition—now, children born to non-german parents are extended jus soli, citizenship based on location of birth, as long as at least one parent has a permanent residence permit and had resided in germany for at least eight years (howard, 2008, p. 53). the law has not solved all (or maybe even most) problems regarding immigration in germany. immigrant students and students with migration backgrounds are heavily overrepresented in the lower tracks of the tripartite system, even when allowing for cognitive abilities and grade averages (sliwka, 2010, p. 211). a united nations human rights commission concluded in 2008 that the german school system “excludes children from poor families and immigrant backgrounds” (andell, 2008, p. 19). perhaps more pervasive are the stereotypes that are still present—alpaslan told us about the standard view of the kreuzberg district among many of berlin’s citizens, who see it as a crime-ridden slum, when in fact it is a remarkably clean and well-maintained neighborhood. while we were in kreuzberg, we saw a group of men emanate from a makeshift tent camp in a nearby park and proceed towards the main avenue of the district, holding signs and shouting. alpaslan told us these were immigrant workers, mostly from africa on temporary visas, whose residence permits had expired, and were now refusing to leave (see figure 3): figure 3: pearcy, m. (2013). a worker march in kreuzberg 102 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. the problem is recognizable to americans, who have argued ferociously about the role and presence of immigrants practically since the founding of the republic. alpaslan illustrated the problem for germans, and with all nations trying to establish a balance between integration and assimilation: “do you have to lose your own identity? that’s ‘assimilation,’ when you lose your identity, and become ‘equal.’” sozial studies the ramifications of this study tour, and similar trips, are especially notable in how they may change teacher perceptions of global education and the promotion of a global perspective among our students. the national council for the social studies (ncss) distinguishes between global and international education, asserting that the former “focuses on the interrelated nature of condition, issues, trends, processes, and events while international education emphasizes specific world regions, problems, and cultures” (national council for the social studies, 2014). the ncss’ position is that “viewing human experience only in relation to a north american or european frame of reference is unrealistic given the globalized nature of american society today.” this is contrast to the traditional world history course in u.s. schools, which implicitly adopts an ethnocentric focus on “the role of the u.s. in the world and its political interests” (myers, 2006, p. 372), often derided as “the west versus the rest” (saldaña, 2012, p. 14). in accepting the value of a global perspective in our teaching, we should also recognize the importance of travel abroad as well as the immersive quality of such experiences, including their ability to foster “global mindedness” with our teachers and by extension, our students. there is considerable research indicating the influence of teachers’ personal and professional experiences on their instructional decisions (cornett, 1990; cornett, et al., 1992; shaver, davis & helburn, 1980; wilson, 1982, 1993b; kirkwood, 2002). this kind of travel—and the intercultural experiences that attend it—also impacts both the instructional choices made by teachers after the fact and the perspective brought by teachers in making such choices (germain, 1998). more than that, an “open minded” stance towards the world—“the willingness to consider experiences, beliefs, values, perspectives…that differ from one’s own” (merryfield, 2012, p. 18)—is implicit in the practice of travel abroad. encouraging teachers (and, in the case of the transatlantic outreach program, enabling them) to experience the world about which they teach is vital to passing on this openminded perspective to our students. where, then, does the german commitment to excellence, equity, and community come from? in its energy policy, educational system, corporate culture, and policy decisions, germany has taken choices that are consistent with a national world view. it would be foolish to consider a two-week trip across germany a definitive basis from which to draw conclusions about a national characteristic; but there are certainly elements of german life and culture that shed some light on the nature of this belief system. 103 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. one aspect of this is evident in germany’s modern history. the conservative nature of the adenauer administration, the “bonn republic,” combined in the early 1960s with a nascent student movement, similar in some respects to the organizations that developed in the u.s. (largely in response to the vietnam conflict). the german students, however, determined a course of action that was in many ways divergent from their u.s. analogues—most notably in their commitment to work within existing institutions, rather than in opposition to them. student leaders like joschka fischer and rudi dutschke promoted a strategy they termed the “long march,” a generational approach to change (hockenos, 2008). as students graduated, and entered professional life, they would build consensus for change through local politics, aiming to develop unanimity over their goals before enacting them into law through political structures. this process moved from the local to the national stage in 1983, with the election of the first representative to the german bundestag (parliament); it culminated in 1998, with the declaration of the “red/green coalition,” under gerhard schroder of the social democratic party and the former student leader, joschka fischer. what followed was a period of seven years in which many of the initiatives the student leaders had advocated during the “long march” were passed into law, with remarkable consensus among the german people. marriage equality, the abolition of nuclear energy, the national commitment to energiewende (now reflected both in german private and corporate life) the reformation of germany’s immigration law—all these policies were adopted between 1998 and 2005, a remarkable string of legislative victories by any standard. the german approach to national policy didn’t begin with the “long march,” though, any more than it ended in 2005 (the national debate over immigration, at a minimum, proves that). built into the german constitution—itself written in the shadow of world war ii—are concepts which both signal and foster a national character. the “basic law,” or grundgesetz, declares the role of the state in defending the humanity of its citizens: “die würde des menschen ist unantastbar. sie zu achten und zu schützen ist verpflichtung aller staatlichen gewalt”—“the dignity of man shall be inviolable. to respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority” (cited in eberle, 2008, p. 3). this approach was termed sozial by one of our guides—he was quick to point out that the word connotes, in german, a deeper sense of collective responsibility than its english equivalent. in germany, sozial thinking means acknowledging the freedom of the individual—a very american perspective—but, at the same time, the duty owed by the individual to the community. cultivating a global perspective means examining the deeper principles at work in defining a given nation’s character. there are two features of german law that are uniquely derived from a sense of historical identity. the rechsstaat is a state dedicated to rationality and equality, one which “constrains and directs authority along a pre-established path of ideas” (eberle, 2008, p. 5). for most americans, this is both the purpose of the constitution and the primary role of government. for germans, though, there is a second purpose to the state—the sozialstaat, the “social state,” which is required to provide a minimal level of security for the lives of its citizens. the phrase “general welfare,” in the american political consciousness, is a much looser and vaguely-defined concept than it is in germany, where it is correlated with each individual’s moral obligation to each other— “individual choice is bounded by community, civility norms, and a sense of responsibility” (eberle, 104 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 93-108. 2008, p. 16). the civic choices facing americans—whether or not to vote, or to volunteer one’s time for charitable causes—are largely determined by personal choice and values. for germans, the concept of freedom is deeply invested with a sense of duty, both to each other and to the history that forms the connective tissue of the national character. there is great value in the experiences offered by groups like the transatlantic outreach program, in both fostering teachers’ own sense of global-mindedness and in helping those teachers develop a global perspective with their students. the german concept of sozial, central to their policy choices and the aims of their sociocultural institutions, is difficult for non-germans to appreciate until they are able to see it applied and practiced. the truism that the “world is growing smaller” does not mean that the barriers to understanding are less daunting; but, by providing tools with which to surmount them, we can equip our students with a global perspective which helps bring different cultures closer. references: abali, o.s. 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(1993b). the meaning of international experiences for schools. westport, ct: praeger. 108 | p a g e corresponding author email: mpearcy@rider.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mpearcy@rider.edu http://www.economist.com/node/16380980 http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/lp/prj/top/abt/enindex.htm https://www.csr-in-deutschland.de/en/home.html https://www.csr-in-deutschland.de/en/home.html introduction journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 52 the mwanje project: engaging preservice teachers in global service learning frans h. doppen * (ohio university, athens, ohio); jennifer tesar (davis & elkins college, elkins, west virginia) _____________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this article reports the findings of a study that engaged preservice social studies teachers at two institutions of higher education in ohio and west virginia in a service learning to benefit the mwanje school in malawi. the findings suggest that despite some initial levels of apprehension the project enhanced the student teachers' global awareness and kindled their predisposition to engage their future students in service learning beyond their own region to include a global perspective as well. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ background social studies methods courses offer a unique opportunity for preservice teachers to learn and serve in a global context. as the world is rapidly becoming a smaller place, a global project offers many opportunities to help students think beyond their local community by becoming globally engaged, and develop a deeper understanding of global issues and the interconnectedness of humankind (friedman, 2007; h2o for life, 2012). this article’s purpose is to present the findings of a study that sought to identify the successes and challenges of a global service learning experience of preservice social studies teachers at two mid-western institutions of higher education, ohio university and davis & elkins college, both located in appalachia. ohio university is located in southeast ohio in athens county, one of the 32 counties that together make up the appalachian region in the state (see http://www.arc.gov/counties). nearly two thirds of the preservice teachers at ohio university come from urban and suburban communities near cincinnati, columbus and cleveland. before coming to athens, most have grown up in white middle class neighborhoods and had very little experience with diversity. davis & elkins college is a small private liberal arts college affiliated with the presbytery church, located in rural elkins, west virginia. surrounded by the monongahela national forest, "you can stand on any street in elkins and turn in all directions and see forest covered mountains rimming the city. it is unbelievable" (crampton, 1995). while the community is surrounded by beauty, randolph county, the county in which davis & elkins college is located, and its six contiguous counties illustrate many of the challenges facing significant portions of the appalachian region. the seven-county region covers 4,343 square miles, a region larger than the states of delaware and rhode island combined; however, randolph county and its contiguous counties are among the poorest and most economically disadvantaged in the state of west virginia. nearly half of the preservice teachers at davis & elkins college are comprised of first-generation students, many of whom come from the region itself. the other half of preservice teachers are comprised of middle and upper class students from west virginia, virginia, maryland, pennsylvania, new york, and new jersey, many of whom are on academic or athletic http://www.arc.gov/counties journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 53 scholarships. while diversity at davis & elkins college is not readily observable, much of it is economic and cultural. it is against this background that the ohio university college of education and davis & elkins college department of teacher education have sought to make their preservice teachers aware of the influence of context and culture. there is not a great deal of racial diversity in southeast ohio and eastern west virginia. according to local school report cards published annually by the ohio department of education (see http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/) and the west virginia department of education (see http://wveis.k12.wv.us/nclb/pub/) caucasian students typically make up close to 100% of each appalachian school district. however, diversity is noticeable with respect to differing levels of socioeconomic status and the number of students with disabilities. the appalachian school districts, in which ohio university and davis & elkins college preservice teachers participate in field experiences and clinical practice, typically have a population in which one-third to two-thirds of all students are considered economically disadvantaged and about one fifth to one fourth have been identified with learning disabilities. the findings in this study are based on a qualitative analysis of an initial and ongoing weekly map quiz, a pre-test, informal in-class discussions and a final reflective essay completed by preservice teachers at both universities, who as part of their social studies methods courses participated in the mwanje project. before starting the project our preservice teachers were asked to complete a blank map of africa as well as take a pre-test that asked them a series of basic factual questions about malawi, including such statistics as population size, birth, death, and fertility rate (see appendix a). the initial map quiz and pre-test results at both our institutions typically were abysmal as evidenced by a “grading” of the completed work the preservice teachers submitted as well as by their own admission during in-class reviews. while data gathering throughout the project was mostly informal, upon completion of the project all preservice teachers were asked to complete an essay in which they were asked to reflect upon what they had learned about malawi and the mwanje school, service learning, and what connections they had discovered between their own world and that of the mwanje school (see appendix b). to analyze the essays we each separately read our students’ essays to determine emerging themes. next we compared and discussed our analysis to reach a consensus on common themes across our institutions. in ohio middle childhood preservice teachers are being prepared to teach in two content areas in grades 4-9. at davis & elkins college preservice teachers are being prepared to teach social studies in a k-6 setting. since 2008 the mwanje project has been part of the ohio university’s middle childhood social studies methods course in which a total of 87 preservice teachers have participated. at davis & elkins college the mwanje project was first introduced in the spring of 2011 as part of a social studies methods course for elementary education students in which seven preservice teachers participated. in response to an original idea developed by drs. toni fuss kirkwood-tucker and gloria alter to provide students at the mwanje school with backpacks, and most notably in response the efforts of dr. josiah tlou, professor emeritus at virginia tech university in blacksburg, va, who in 2007 made a plea on behalf of the school at the annual conference of the international assembly, we decided to further develop the mwanje project. the mwanje primary school, named after a http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/ http://wveis.k12.wv.us/nclb/pub/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 54 nearby stream, is located in mututa, a village in the zomba district. mwanje became a service learning project to benefit a globally distant school lacking in basic educational needs such as student supplies, textbooks, tables, chairs and desks. unfortunately, the preservice teachers’ self-selected activities met with mixed results as, for example, sending student supplies turned out to be prohibitively expensive. as a result of further communications with dr. tlou and mrs. memory makiyi, the school’s principal, we decided mwanje’s most pressing need was to have a source of safe drinking water. as a result, while international assembly continued the backpack project, our mwanje project became the adopt-a-well project, an ongoing social action project to raise funds for drilling a borehole. service learning definition unfortunately, service learning means a lot of different things to different people. the terms “service learning” and “community service” are often used interchangeably, yet they have a different meaning. according eyler and giles (1999) service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities around the world. through service learning projects students use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. community service projects also provide donated services or activities but they usually lack instruction and student reflection. service learning is a dynamic process in which students' personal and social growth is tightly interwoven with their academic and cognitive development. in a globally connected society, service learning can take on a whole new meaning as students expand their service learning projects beyond the local community to a global community. according to braskamp and engberg (2011) when students participate in service learning projects that benefit those living in another country global perspective taking involves three critical, developmentally based questions: “how do i know; who am i; and, how do i relate to others in a globally connected society?” as students engage in these types of projects they grapple with these three questions in order to develop a global perspective as they increase their intercultural knowledge and broaden their notion of civic responsibility to include an appreciation of global differences as well as a motivation to behave in a socially and globally responsible way. in 2000, the national council for the social studies [ncss] issued a position statement defining service-learning as “an essential component of citizenship education” (p. 240). according to ncss, service learning differs from community service in that the service is integrated with academic skills and content as well as engages students in reflection activities. effective service learning activities not only use the community as a learning laboratory but also seek to “solve community problems, meet human needs and environmental needs, and advocate for changes in laws to promote the common good” (ncss, 2000, p. 240). effective service learning projects teach students that “they can make a difference” (ncss, 2000, p. 240). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 55 according to saltmarsh (2005) service learning is one of many avenues to promote civic engagement, as are democratic education, political engagement, citizenship education and moral education. arguing that historical knowledge contextualizes community-based problem solving, he emphasizes the important role of community in shaping student learning (pp. 5254). k-12 schools in k-12 schools service learning has increased student motivation by establishing meaningful links between their service and academic learning (krebs, 2008; scales, blyth, berkas, & kielsmeier, 2000). service learning is a “method in which children can learn through active participation in organized service experiences to meet the needs of a certain population and/or environment” (fox, 2010, p. 1-2). it has resonated among teachers who believe in the importance of teaching today’s youth that they can make a difference in the world (krebs, 2008; metz, mclellan, & youniss, 2003). guided by supportive mentors, service learning, even when mandatory, has been found to be an effective tool in preparing high school students for civic engagement (bennett, 2009; wade & yarborough, 2007). westheimer and kahne (2000) have observed, however, that while many high schools offer service learning opportunities, few ask students to analyze the cause of social problems and generate possible solutions. in order for service learning to be effective, allowing students to develop their sense of caring for others, service-learning projects should provide a structured time for students to explore issues through talk, journaling, and expressions of art in order to truly reflect on the experience (fox, 2010). in ohio, according to the ohio department of education [ode] (2010), the community service learning program helps “schools plan creative classroom projects that teach students to apply creativity, leadership, problem-solving and subject knowledge they gain in the classroom to community needs and problems.” ode posits that, “community service learning projects are in place all over ohio and are targeted to every grade level and subject [and that] schools that have added community service learning to classroom teaching find their students are better able to connect their academic subjects, develop leadership and decision-making skills, explore careers and grow their potential as contributing community members.” in 2005, west virginia became the second state in the nation to join the partnership for 21st century skills (p21). p21, an advocacy organization that includes members from the business community, education leaders, and policymakers, was developed to “define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child’s success as citizens and workers in the 21st century” (p21, 2004). in joining p21, the west virginia department of education (wvde) collaborates with leaders and stakeholders in the state who have committed “themselves to systemic change that will prepare the youth of west virginia to be productive and successful citizens globally, both now and in the future”(wvde, 2011, p. iv). wvde believes that in order for students to be productive and successful citizens they must be provided with time for exploration and preparation for careers; “therefore, work-based learning, introduction to journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 56 majors, and community service opportunities are offered at the middle and high school level to assist students in making decisions about the future” (p. 8). higher education building upon the foundation laid in k-12 schools, support in higher education for service learning has gained much momentum in recent years. in 2008 president mcdavis of ohio university suggested that what makes the bobcat spirit unique is its emphasis on not only serving the nation and state but the region as well. this spirit is expressed by formally introducing all freshmen to a core set of values: community, citizenship, civility, character and commitment. according to mcdavis, each of these qualities affirms “the value of citizenship as expressed through political engagement and public service” (p. 2). in 2009 the davis & elkins college board of trustees unanimously approved its new mission documents which refer to the value of diversity multiple times. in the davis & elkins college statement of identity the college welcomes diversity by noting that it “provides a friendly and supportive environment for curious, engaged, and freethinking students of diverse backgrounds.” its statement of values notes that the college “value[s]….the importance of other countries, cultures, and regions.” and, in its vision statement davis & elkins college notes that students are challenged to “act responsibly as citizens of multiple communities” (davis & elkins college, 2010, p.16). furthermore, in its identity statement davis & elkins college emphasizes “hands-on,” experiential learning through internships, practicums, service projects, field research, travel and study abroad programs. research at the college level has found that having volunteered, for whatever reason, is a behavior that is sustained over time. through service learning students take away experiences that last a lifetime as service-learning is a self-contesting experience that provides a context for exploring deeply important questions about oneself in relationship to the world (butin, 2005). batchelder and root (1994) found that college students who had engaged in service learning made greater gains than students in traditional classes in their thinking about social problems and prosocial decision-making, while strage (2004) found modest long-term academic benefits. hammond (1994) found that faculty members in higher education who engage in service learning are predominantly driven by curricular concerns and derive satisfaction from service learning activities as well as the students because they provide a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as generate positive feedback not only from students but colleagues as well. however, although service learning often advances teaching effectiveness, barriers include tenure and promotion policies that emphasize research at the expense of teaching and a lack of institutional support (mckay & rozee, 2004). while similar objections have been raised against the lack of attention to issues of social justice in higher education, others have argued that service learning can serve to empower marginalized students by involving them in communities from which they are often excluded (barclay-mclaughlin, kershaw, & roberts, 2007; ransom, 2009 , 2009; zimmerman, krafchick, & aberle, 2009). in her discussion of colorado state university’s involvement with the soweto music project, which provides instrumental and music literacy instruction to approximately 100 children from journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 57 14 primary and high schools in soweto, cook (2008), adding a global dimension, argues that, “a distinguishing feature of service learning is its reciprocal and balanced emphasis on both student learning and community service. objectives [should be] co-determined with community partners and … linked to meaningful and needed outcomes for both students and communities” (p. 6). prentice (2007) studied eight community colleges beginning to integrate service learning into their courses. her study found there are few experiences in college that provide students with the opportunity to move beyond textbook discussions of injustices such as poverty, racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and ageism. service learning, as experiential education, provides an opportunity for students to link academics with social change. for community college students, many of whom are currently living the “isms,’’ the connection between academic concepts and community experiences may be what allows them to become aware of how social structures have been set up to privilege some and marginalize others. service learning then can be the vehicle through which students learn the specific skills they need to become committed justice-oriented citizens (see westheimer and kahne, 2000). preservice teachers preservice teachers often live in a bubble because they “just go to school [and] then plan to leave” (boyle-baise, 2005). as a result they are often completely alienated from the local communities that surround their college towns. as they first venture out into a local community they often find themselves in unfamiliar culturally mixed or low-income settings in which they are forced to confront their own stereotypes (baldwin, buchanan, & rudisill, 2007; boyle-baise, 1997). however, as they become increasingly familiar with the surrounding communities they learn to appreciate the importance of building reciprocal partnerships based on trust, mutual understanding and shared values, inspiring them to become potential advocates for social justice and agents of change (boyle-baise, bridgwaters, brinson, hielstand, johnson, & wilson, 2007; carrington & saggers, 2008; chen, 2004; ethridge, 2006, mckay & rozee, 2004; perry & katula, 2001; swick, 2001; wade & yarborough, 1997). as these partnerships help students and faculty to break down the perception of the university as an ivory tower, they meet community needs while simultaneously empowering communities as a resource for learning (boyle et al., 2007; mckay & rozee, 2004). another goal of teacher preparation is to prepare culturally relevant, asset-based, rather than deficiency-driven, community-centered teachers (boyle-baise & langford, 2004; boyle-baise, 1998, 2005; ladson-billings, 2001). furthermore, the national council for the accreditation of teacher education (ncate) requires that teacher preparation programs provide experiences for candidates to work with diverse populations (see http://www.ncate.org/standards/ncateunitstandards/tabid/123/default.aspx). therefore, culturally responsive teacher preparation programs should include confronting stereotypes and enhancing communication skills by helping preservice teachers understand how variables such as race and ethnicity, social class, and region strongly influence student behavior (banks, 1998; banks, cookson, gay, hawley, irvine, nieto, schofield, & stephan, 2005; mcintosh, 1990). http://www.ncate.org/standards/ncateunitstandards/tabid/123/default.aspx journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 58 furthermore, they should include moving preservice teachers along on the continuum from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism, which has local as well as global dimensions (bennett, 1993; trifonovitch, 1977). a special goal of teacher preparation programs is also to help preservice teachers, especially those who hope to teach social studies, gain an appreciation of service learning as an enriching method for democratic place-based education in their own future classrooms (dinkelman, 2001; swick, 2001). according to smith (2002) place-based education reveals five thematic patterns as students study local culture, study local nature, identify and solve local problems, help the local community through internships and creating entrepreneurial opportunities, and become engaged in the community decision-making process. as it uses the “community as text,” place-based education often allows students to discover they have a rich family history (blank, johnson, & shah, 2003; beccaris & woshner, 2007). in addition, cook (2008), reminds us that “advances in digital communication [have brought us] the capacity to enlarge the scope of service learning opportunities for students from local communities to the global arena [and that] linkages with international community partners allow [students] to see the possibilities for contribution beyond their local community and connect … with their roles as global citizens” (p. 7). while gruenewald (2005) advocates for a critical “place-conscious education,” nespor (2008) warns against creating “separatist dichotomies” that focus, for example, on urban versus rural or local versus global (p. 489). finally, keith (2005) suggests that service learning activities in the face of increased globalization, rather than based on reciprocity and meeting community needs, should be based on interdependence and citizenship action through the lens of social justice. mwanje primary school in our courses at ohio university and davis & elkins college the typical first encounter for the social studies methods students with the mwanje primary school was a “pop quiz” in which they were asked to label a blank map of african countries. for nearly all students this “pop quiz” typically proved to be a revealing experience which they accompanied with comments such as, “are you serious?”, “i don’t know any of these!”, and “were we supposed to know this?” after the quiz we typically asked the students how many countries they were able to label successfully. most reported less than five countries, with egypt and south africa being the most well known. typically after having been informed the “pop quiz” did not count for a grade there was great relief as evidenced by such comments as, “i have no idea of the names of those countries” or “my geography knowledge of africa is very poor.” each time after the map quiz, we followed up introducing the mwanje project with a review of basic historic, geographical, socioeconomic and political information about malawi and a review of the annual mwanje school report which informed the preservice teachers about the school’s history, its student and faculty demographics, its curriculum and examination system, as well as about some of the successes and challenges the school has faced since it was first established in 1997 to provide local children with a free education (see appendix b). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 59 when available, a native guest speaker has helped to make malawi “real” to these preservice teachers. as sherry and anita commented, it allowed them to “put a face with the nation” and dispel “stereotypes of jungles [and] wilderness.” finally, despite the lack of internet capabilities and intermittent phone connections, the preservice teachers were able to speak directly with mrs. makiyi, the school’s principal, during telephone conferences which, according to allison, “made it that much more real,” as they “could hear the excitement and enthusiasm in her voice as the class was speaking to her.” furthermore, as lisa wrote, it was “interesting to hear about the similarities and differences between her school and the schools we have here,” which made her feel like she “was helping make a difference.” thus, as tim suggested, these “personal connections help[ed] put a face” on the project. the typical next step was to enhance the students’ general knowledge of malawi by assigning them to research information about malawi through such websites as those hosted by the united nations, the cia world fact book, and the government of malawi. in a typical comment on this assignment, allyson wrote, “at first i was just going to do a quick google search to find out information on malawi. i was just going to read and print off the first websites that appeared from my google search and be done. but once i started reading about the country i became so interested in this small little african country that i found myself wanting to know more!” another student, tim, a military veteran who had spent time in africa, stated, “i had been stationed in africa but when i was there i didn’t take the time to learn about where i was living…i can’t believe that i was living so close to this country [malawi] and didn’t even know it existed.” following a sharing of information about facts related to such issues as hiv, birth and death rates, poverty, irrigation, and education, we used a powerpoint presentation to present additional information on malawi and the mwanje school. learn and serve one of the main objectives of the mwanje project was to help preservice social studies teachers make global connections and engage in civic action (ncss, 2010). global service learning projects often differ from what many people consider a “typical” service-learning project. typically a service-learning project entails students studying a local group/community, understanding its needs, raising awareness about its needs, and then applying concepts and knowledge learned in class in order to work as a group to raise funds and/or build something to meet the needs of the group/community. however, since malawi is located thousands of miles from athens, ohio and elkins, west virginia, our students were not able to meet in person with the local school community to discuss its needs. however, after each powerpoint presentation our preservice teachers generally agreed that raising funds towards a borehole constituted a worthy endeavor. they then used concepts and information they had learned in the social studies methods course to raise funds by educating others about their project. it was through their fund raising efforts that many of our preservice teachers began to develop a global perspective while reconsidering their knowledge base and how to relate to a globally distant school community (braskamp and engberg, 2011). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 60 the preservice teachers at ohio university and davis & elkins college who participated in the mwanje project report having learned a great deal about malawi. admitting their prior ignorance, in a typical response at ohio university, rebecca wrote that she “had never heard of malawi,” while grant admitted, “i knew malawi was located in africa, but that’s about it. i wasn’t even aware that it was a country in africa.” similarly, eric at davis & elkins college admitted that he “was ignorant of the world’s second largest continent [and that] like many people in the united states [he] had a very limited view of africa,” while jesse confessed that her ‘prior knowledge of malawi was zero.” after completing the orientation on malawi and the mwanje school, we typically organized the preservice teachers into groups to develop their own service learning projects by brainstorming ideas on how to raise funds. although they were weekly allotted some time in class to discuss the service-learning project, most of the planning and meetings was done outside of class time. typically some students were assigned or chose to become self-elected “team leaders” to set up meeting times, create contact lists of phone numbers and assign various tasks on and off campus, including locating facilities to host an event, approaching local community members and businesses to donate goods, money, services or even their talent, as well as developing strategies for advertising. when the mwanje project was first initiated at ohio university the students were allowed to develop their own service learning projects, which in sheri’s words gave them “a sense of ownership” instead of “hardly ever ha[ving] a say in what [they] did” in service learning projects while in high school. as a result, since the beginning of the project, these preservice teachers organized a variety of events to raise funds. since athens is a college town, they tended to focus on its student population. creating brochures and informational displays as well as using facebook to mobilize their social networks proved to be effective strategies for organizing successful events at local establishments. soliciting donations from local businesses to organize hot dog sales on the main street in town was another popular activity whose success often depended on the weather. bake sales in the college of education and at the university’s food court was another, although less successful, popular activity. some students chose to go “their own way” by engaging customers at their place of employment, going door-to-door in residential neighborhoods, or making a presentation during a church service. still others used their field placement in local schools to teach their students about the mwanje school and successfully organized “pennies for mwanje” competitions between different grade levels. despite these successes there the project also faced some challenges. originally one group decided to collect and send school supplies. this ended up becoming an important learning experience as, after a successful collection, they discovered to their dismay that the cost of shipping the school supplies would be prohibitive. an additional challenge was that some students questioned the purpose of a global project when in fact there is “so much need in appalachia and “right here in [our] county” as deidra and jocelyn wrote. despite these challenges, however, in general the preservice teachers at ohio university have unanimously expressed that they value the project. as a result of the failed school supplies effort, however, the mwanje project service learning activities became focused on raising funds for a borehole. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 61 when first introduced at davis & elkins college, the mwanje project also met with apprehension. the course instructor was concerned about how the preservice teachers would respond to the project. however, after introducing the assignment, they launched into a barrage of questions about the students at the mwanje school. the first time the service-learning project was introduced students decided to organize a “mwanje aid benefit concert.” three local bands agreed to perform for free and all money raised through admission tickets to the concert would go towards the mwanje project. several businesses donated items that were raffled off during the concert, other businesses agreed to provide free advertising, and two local distributors agreed to donate food and beverages. in addition to creating a facebook page, the preservice teachers created fliers and posters that provided information about malawi and the mwanje school that were distributed across campus and in local businesses. the local and campus newspapers even featured interviews with the students a few days before the benefit concert. their efforts resulted in a highly successful concert. the second time the service-learning project was introduce, the students decided to sell davis & elkins “teacher education” t-shirts. the students did everything from designing the tshirts, to having them printed, to selling over a 100 t-shirts. from apprehension to exhilaration the mwanje project has provided a unique learning opportunity to enhance our preservice teachers’ knowledge of africa while simultaneously involving them in a global service learning project. while at first many of these preservice teachers were apprehensive of the project, once engaged they became enthusiastic, exhilarated participants. typical of the students’ initial apprehension, miranda commented, “when we were assigned the service project, i have to admit my initial reaction was that of concern. i have done service projects before, and i do not enjoy asking people for money. what would we be doing? who would we be doing the service project for? these were just a few of the questions that quickly ran through my mind. my worries were soon put to rest when we were introduced to the mwanje primary school. as education students the class had an immediate connection with the cause.” since fox (2010) has found in her research on service learning projects that “poverty, hunger, and homelessness are most often discussed in terms of a canned food drive during a holiday season, but a deeper level of understanding is generally avoided in the classroom” (p. 1), there is a need for more explicit teaching of global connections. the mwanje project taught our preservice teachers several valuable lessons about how to collaborate with others and, as bryn put it, “build camaraderie and community,” how to raise funds, and how to create and reach a public forum. and as miranda stated, “the service project gave seven students from the small town of elkins, wv, the opportunity to connect with children half way around the world. children of another ethnicity and culture, who most likely valued education more than we could even fathom. we learned that even though we may be miles apart on a map, we have a lot more in common than we expected.” in addition, in a typical evaluative comment, andrea wrote, “i wish we had more projects like this in my other classes,” while janice and joseph both wrote that it “was one of [the] favorite projects [they] completed in [their] college career.” sam journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 62 and chelsea wrote that they were “excited to use a service-learning project in [their] future classroom” because “it is important to show and teach students about the importance of giving back to the community and world.” thus for many the mwanje project became a journey of self-discovery. paul learned that “studying other cultures helps you make connections with your own culture and understand yourself better,” which is “crucial for teachers to learn.” brianna wrote, “i learned about myself. i learned i enjoy helping others” and that “it’s important as a teacher to instill in future generations love, compassion and the act of giving.” frances stated that he had “to rethink and re-evaluate [his] own world,” whereas marlene thought that “this was a great project that allowed our class to become more global thinkers,” which she hoped “everyone takes with them in their teaching careers.” andrew stated, “our small contribution is not enough for a borehole, yet we left the venue … knowing that we had done our best to eliminate one more obstacle standing between a student and his/her education.” finally, charlene realized that “it is our responsibility as educators to help students, not only in and around our community, but all around the world.” thus, the mwanje project became “an eye-opening experience” for emily and many others that allowed them to make global connections. suggestive of the power of learning by “doing,” the mwanje project affirmed courtney’s belief that, “getting students involved in global problems and offering small solutions can create a genuine interest in the subject,” and validated luke’s conviction that “more education is one of the best ways to improve the world and stop conflicts.” conclusion according to ncss (2000), effective service learning activities teach students that “they can make a difference” and increase their “awareness of the community and world around them.” in addition, it offers an opportunity to provide them with “a variety of strategies that they can use to create a better world [and] connect with real individuals and institutions working against injustice (p. 240). our findings suggest that these preservice teachers valued the mwanje project as they learned and served simultaneously. while cook (2008) and freire (2002) caution us against a “feel good,” neocolonial pedagogy, we have sought to develop the mwanje project in collaboration with local, national and global partners to meet the needs of one small school community. the mwanje project has enhanced these preservice teachers’ global knowledge and increased their awareness of the importance of serving global community needs, as well as inspired them to implement service learning in their own future classrooms. unfortunately, the time constraints of modeling service learning in a single methods course will continue and the engendered enthusiasm among these preservice teachers to implement service learning in their own future classrooms may well dissipate. future research to determine to what extent these preservice teachers have indeed engaged their own students in service learning will be necessary. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 63 references baldwin, s.c., buchanan, a.m., & rudusill, m.e. 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(2004). there are children here: service learning for social justice. equity & excellence in education, 37, 55-66. boyle-baise, m., bridgwaters, b., brinson, l., hiestand, n., johonson, b., & wilson, p. (2007). improving the human condition: leadership for justice-oriented service-learning. equity & excellence in education, 40, 113-122. braskamp. l.a. & engberg, m.e. (2011). how colleges can influence the development of a global perspective. liberal education, 97(3-4), 34-39. butin, d. w. (2005). service-learning in higher education: critical issues and directions. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. carrington, s., & saggers, b. (2007). service-learning informing the development of an inclusive ethical framework for beginning teachers. teaching and teacher education, 24, 795-806. javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss%7e%7ejn%20%22liberal%20education%22%7c%7csl%7e%7erl',''); journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 52-65. corresponding author email*: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 64 chen, d.w. (2004). the multiple benefits of service learning projects in pre-service teacher education. the delta gamma bulletin 70(2), 31-36. crampton, n. (1995). the 100 best towns in america (2nd ed.). new york, ny: mcmillan, inc., 134-37. cook, a.s. (2008). global dimensions in service-learning: a collaborative grant-writing project. international education, 37(2), 6-16. davis & elkins college. (2010). davis & elkins college self-study report. retrieved from http://issuu.com/davisandelkinscollege/docs/davis___elkins_college_self_study dinkelman, t. (2001). service learning in student teaching: “what’s social studies for?” theory and research in social education, 29(4), 617-639. eyler and giles (1999). where’s the learning in service learning? san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers ethridge, e.a. (2006). teacher modeling of active citizenship via service-learning in teacher education. mentoring & tutoring, 14(1), 49-65. gruenewald, d.a. (2005). accountability and collaboration: institutional barriers and strategic pathways for place-based education. ethics, place and environment, 8(3), 261-283. fox, k. r. (2010). children making a difference: developing awareness of poverty through service learning. the social studies, 101, 1-9. freese, b. (2003). coal: a human history. new york, ny: penguin books. freire, p. 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(2010). community service learning. retrieved from http://www.ode.state.oh.us/gd/templates/pages/ode/odedetail.aspx?page=3&t opicrelationid=81&content=112615 perry, j.l., & katula, m.c. (2001). does service affect citizenship? administration & society, 33(3), 330-365. prentice, m. (2007). social justice through service learning: community colleges as ground zero. equity & excellence in education, 40, 266–273, ransom, l.s. (2009). sowing the seeds of citizenship and social justice: service-learning in a public speaking course. education, citizenship and social justice, 4(3), 211-224. saltmarsh, j. (2005). the civic promise of service learning. liberal education, 9(2), 50-55. scales, p.c., blyth, d.a., berkas, t.h., & kielsmeier, j.c. (2000). the effects of service learning on middle school students’ social responsibility and academic success. journal of early adolescence, 20(3), 332-358. smith, g.a. (2002). place-based education: learning to be where we are. phi delta kappan, 83(8), 584-594. strage, a. (2004). long-term academic benefits of service-learning: when and where do they manifest themselves? college student journal, 32(2), 257-261. swick, k.j. (2001). service learning in teacher education: building learning communities. the clearing house, 73(5), 261-264. trifonovitch, g. (1977). culture learning – culture teaching. educational perspectives, 19(4), 1822. wade, r.w., & yarbrough, d.b. (1997). community service learning in student teaching: toward the development of an active citizenry. michigan journal of community service learning, 4(1), 42-55. wade, r., & yarbrough, d. (2007). service-learning in the social studies: civic outcomes of the 3rd-12th grade civiconnections program. theory and research in social education, 35(3), 366-392. westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2000). service learning required. education week, 19(2), 52. west virginia department of education. (2011). a chronicle of west virginia’s global21 initiative (2004-2011) retrieved from http://static.k12.wv.us/tt/2011/wv_global21_chronicle_2011.pdf zimmerman, t.s., krafchick, j.l., & aberle, j.t. (2009). a university service-learning assignment: delivering the fair curriculum to promote social justice. education, citizenship and social justice, 4(3), 195-210. http://www.ode.state.oh.us/gd/templates/pages/ode/odedetail.aspx?page=3&topicrelationid=81&content=112615 http://www.ode.state.oh.us/gd/templates/pages/ode/odedetail.aspx?page=3&topicrelationid=81&content=112615 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 cultivating ordinary voices of dissent: the challenge for the social studies graham pike vancouver island university graham pike is the recipient of the 2019 distinguished global scholar award, the highest award of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies. this article is an expanded version of the speech he gave on receipt of the award at the ncss annual conference in austin, texas, on november 22, 2019 abstract: two broad ideas emerge from reflections on my career in global and international education: first, that my “lived experience” offers both intelligence and ignorance in terms of how i view the world; and second, that the essence of my humanity is enhanced through my identification with and sense of responsibility for fellow humans. the latter idea is encapsulated in the african philosophy of ubuntu. these two ideas prompt my contention that the global education movement has failed to adequately convey through its literature and practice the complexity and interrelatedness of global systems, including the inextricable connections between humans and their environments. the nature of contemporary global challenges such as climate change demands that we understand how global systems are intertwined and adjust our actions accordingly. the social studies need to be at the forefront of nurturing systems-level thinking and innovation, particularly to counter the tendency arising from advances in information technology to develop cultures of conformity. young people around the world have the potential to bring about system-wide change through their ordinary voices of dissent, a collective commitment to decision-making based on recognizing the needs of all humanity, rather than just assessing the benefits to individuals or nations. mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 introduction as i reflect on my 40-year career in global and international education, a journey on which i have been privileged to learn from people of very many cultural backgrounds and diverse perspectives, two overarching ideas emerge. the first of these is embedded in the contradictory qualities of both power and impotence to be found in my “lived experience”; the second is neatly encapsulated in the african philosophy of ubuntu, the belief that my essential humanity can only be fully realized through my identification with others (tlou, 2018). for each of us, our lived experience—the sum of all the events, thoughts, and actions that have touched our lives—is an incredibly powerful tool. it is our “window on the world,” the framework through which we view what is happening around us and with which we attempt to understand how we fit in. it develops over time and is constantly susceptible to change as we encounter new information or experience. without it, our lives would seem chaotic and unfathomable; it is essential for our emotional and psychological well-being. at the same time, there is an inevitable—and unconquerable—impotence within our lived experience. the very “window” through which we view the world is shaped by a range of factors, including culture, ethnicity, and gender, that restricts interpretations and understanding of what we see and experience and leads us to derive conclusions that are always biased. exposure to new information or experience can certainly broaden that window but, given the incredible diversity and incessant growth of collective human experience, will only constitute a fraction of the sum of possible interpretation. our lived experience affords us, at the same time, both intelligence and ignorance. at the heart of the philosophy of ubuntu, states desmond tutu, is the idea that “my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together” (1989, p. 71). in societies such as canada and the u.s., where individualism is prized and rewarded, the notion that our essential humanity is dependent on our connections with and understanding of others is often obscured by the relentless pursuit of self-fulfillment, fueled by economic and education systems that promote competition over collaboration. the negative consequences of such pursuits, seen in the current wave of personal alienation, xenophobia, and suspicion of “the other,” engender a belief that human progress is best achieved through “going it alone” rather than in partnership; “brexit” might be considered the poster child of this movement. paradoxically, the cult of isolationism occurs at a time when humans have never been so connected through information technology and when cross-border migration, whether by choice or necessity, is at a peak. harnessing the mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 power of ubuntu remains, for the moment, the province of alternative movements that operate on the margins of health, education, and social systems. emerging from these two key ideas is my contention that the global education movement, despite its undeniable successes, has failed to deliver on one of the central pillars of its founding principles: an understanding of the world as a complex, interdependent, and multi-layered system. anderson and becker (1968), alongside other early global education pioneers, wrote about the systemic quality of the world in terms of relationships between nations in the light of increasing globalization. this concept was explored further by curriculum developers in numerous programs and classroom activities that focused on “the world in ….”, encouraging students to see how their community was connected to the global system through trade, migration, and the adoption of cultural practices from other countries. these are worthy attempts to convey the ways in which our lives are influenced by ideas, goods, and people that emanate from elsewhere and which, by virtue of their influence, become part of our “lived experience.” however, such activities tend to illuminate a one-way path of influence, the impact of globalization on our everyday lives. what is missing is an understanding that our personal lived experience—through our actions and the choices we make—has a countervailing impact on global systems. nearly 70 years after the development of systems theory, derived from the findings of quantum mechanics, our understanding of the global system often fails to acknowledge the infinitely complex and multilateral connections in interdependent relationships. such failures, i would suggest, lie at the heart of many contemporary global challenges: climate change, predicted at least 50 years ago, has evolved to crisis point due to humans’ willful inability to appreciate the cumulative impact of countless individual actions; the widening gap between the ultra-rich and the poor, which belies the “trickle-down theory” of neoliberal economics, reveals a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the complex and selfperpetuating environment of systemic poverty; discussion of the “refugee crisis” rarely acknowledges the decisions taken over many decades in the global north that have created conditions of insufferable hardship for many in the global south; and the myriad catastrophic impacts of covid-19 have exposed starkly our collective insecurity in the face of a truly systemwide threat. the logic of systems theory, when applied to the interdependence of humans in global systems, suggests that national boundaries are far too restrictive frameworks within which to fully understand the development of nations in the contemporary world. increasingly, nations are shaped by myriad forces emanating from beyond their shores, despite recent attempts to close mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 borders. the concept of global citizenship has emerged as an acknowledgment of the fact that our lived experience, even if we are not widely traveled, has roots in other regions of the world from which part of our identity is formed. integral to this notion, in line with systems theory, is the idea that individuals are not only shaped by but also shape the global system through our collective thoughts and actions. the next logical step in this argument concerns responsibility. just as we accept, to varying degrees, our responsibilities toward the nation with which we identify, should we not, as global citizens, accept some degree of responsibility toward others in the global system? such thinking is central to the philosophy of ubuntu: not only does our identity as humans depend on our relationships with other humans, but also our humanity is enhanced by the degree to which we accept responsibility for the welfare of others. in his concept of cosmopolitanism, appiah (2006) presents the idea that all people have responsibilities and obligations to others beyond “the local tribe or clan.” furthermore, he argues that “the cosmopolitan impulse that draws on our common humanity is no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity” (2018, p. 219). similarly, nussbaum (1996, p. 9) contends that humans should widen their “circles of compassion” to include not only those in the closer circles of family, neighborhood, and nation but also to embrace all those who share our common humanity. the challenge, for humanity and for global educators attempting to convey these altruistic ideals, is the enormity of the vision proposed and the lack of sufficient grasp of it in our current lived experience. we may talk often about a “global village,” with its inference of an intimate community in which neighbors look out for each other; in reality, few of us actually “live” in that global village in terms of the thinking processes that inform our decisions and actions. rarely, i would suggest, do we consider the interests of all in the global village when deciding what goods to purchase, how and where to travel, or for whom to vote. to do so, as a matter of course, would require extensive amounts of information, and time to access and assimilate it, that few of us have. furthermore, the recent explosion of information accessibility on the internet suggests that, while the availability of information may be necessary for globally informed decisionmaking, it is in itself an insufficient motivator of human behavior. indeed, the rise in popularity of information media, including social media, driven by personal beliefs and perceptions rather than a pursuit of objective fact indicates that humanity is far from wanting to accept the responsibilities of the global village. as the poet piet hein put it, we are “global citizens with tribal souls” (cited in dower, 2003, p. 145). our collective lived experience in the 21st century so far suggests that humans are not yet sufficiently evolved to act upon the “cosmopolitan impulse.” yet, as appiah (2006) indicates, the mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 global problems we face today demand such action; it is no longer a luxury. the multidimensional challenges of climate change, if we are to mitigate its most damaging impacts, require global collaborative actions on an unprecedented scale and at multiple levels by governments, corporations, neighborhood groups, and individuals. the inspiration for such actions cannot be simply “how does it affect me or my group?”; it has to be “how does it affect humanity and the environments on planet earth that sustain us?” the philosophy of ubuntu, which, according to nussbaum (2003, p. 9), incorporates “the spontaneous desire to act in a caring and compassionate way in which our selfhood is inspired by a sense of collective belonging,” is critical to this way of thinking. a deeper understanding of systems, and the ways in which humanity is profoundly connected through and continues to shape global systems, would go some way toward recognizing not only our responsibilities as global citizens but also how perceptions of self can be enriched through our interactions with others with whom we share the planet. the role of the social studies the task i am outlining is no small one. what is required is an evolutionary leap, a paradigm shift as profound as that which heralded the renaissance or the scientific revolution. the latter movement gradually shifted our consciousness out of a dependence on personal beliefs and mythologies toward a thirst for knowledge based on scientific evidence and technological innovation; it generated unprecedented advances in meeting basic human needs, at least in wealthier countries, and in creating social systems that are more grounded in equity, inclusion, and respect for the rule of law. though slower to make its impact in the global south, the model of “development” thus generated has been adopted across the planet. recent global crises, however, have begun to expose the limitations of this model, with its primary focus on unregulated technological innovation principally designed to serve populations within the artificial boundaries of the nation state. lacking in this vision is sufficient attention to the social innovation required on a global scale to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding, increasingly mobile population in an already compromised natural environment. rather than the reverse, social innovation needs to drive technological innovation. the critical role for social studies educators is to lay the groundwork for social innovation. this includes nurturing “soft skills” such as critical and creative thinking, conflict resolution, negotiation, and participatory decision-making, which are now recognized as important in the workplace as well as in our everyday lives. it encompasses the requirements for active citizenship at local, national, and global levels, such as the ability to access and analyze information and to mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 make informed choices that protect the well-being of all inhabitants of the planet. certainly, it includes recognizing and challenging inequities and injustices wherever they are found. more than this, however, is required for the paradigm shift to occur. prevailing models of development are still predicated on 19th century formulas of unbridled economic growth, the exploitation of natural resources, and competition between nations. such formulas are so deeply embedded within our consciousness that it is easy to overlook the powerful hold they maintain; none of them, however, fits well with the urgent need for a sustainable future that requires concerted international cooperation to reduce the harmful impacts of human activity and restore planetary health for the good of all citizens. the new paradigm requires systems-level thinking and decision-making. an unintended impact of recent advances in information technology has been, paradoxically, to restrict social innovation rather than to broaden our thinking. through the brilliance of algorithmic intelligence, i can be connected instantly to people around the world who share a similar worldview; i am fed a regular diet of news clips that align with my personal interests and political beliefs; i am bombarded with advertising tailored to nurture my consumer preferences. a consequence of such innovation is the creation of transnational cultures of conformity that have tended to promote “a fragmentation of our shared reality,” suggests homer-dixon (2003, p. 15): “never before have we been so connected together on this planet and never before have we been so far apart in our realities.” the deepening political divisions appearing in many countries, and the seemingly unbridgeable chasms of perception among citizens that they generate, suggest that we are far from establishing a globally inclusive discourse with a focus on the common good. thankfully, leadership in social innovation is emerging among today’s youth, in both north and south. the courage and precocious wisdom of greta thunberg and malala yousafzai have sparked the interest and passion of millions of young people in their determined quests to disrupt established thinking and pursue alternative, more socially conscious paths of development. gifted and inspirational cheerleaders, however, have come and gone in the past with limited lasting impact. their efforts need to be supported by myriad ordinary voices of dissent: young people around the world, in diverse socioeconomic situations, who are prepared to stand out from the crowd and demand a new vision for the future of the planet. such voices will need to break free from the cultures of conformity that tend to regulate the thoughts and behavior of the interest groups with which we all identify. such voices will need to recognize that their everyday decisions and actions have consequences, for themselves, for those around them, and mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 for global systems. such voices will need to be informed by an understanding of systems, both in terms of the planet-wide consequences of harmful individual actions as well as the potential of everyday decisions to contribute to social change for the common good. cultivating ordinary voices of dissent is a key task for the social studies. by “voices of dissent,” i do not mean vocal social activism, although it might include that; rather, i wish to convey the idea that individual decisions, however insignificant they may seem, are made using the common good—that which benefits most members of the global community—as the principal term of reference, rather than just the good of the individual, the social interest group, or the nation. dissent will be required whenever the demands of the common good are misaligned with the dominant call of other interest groups; it necessitates all of the critical skills that are integral to the learning and teaching of the social studies, as well as a willingness to recognize that systemslevel thinking and decision-making are needed to nurture social innovation. to foster voices of dissent, the social studies will need to demonstrate how ordinary actions are inextricably connected through global systems to the well-being of other humans and the environments we share and how an understanding of “everyday transcendences” (gaudelli, 2016) can illuminate the potential of our daily lives to stimulate innovation at a planetary level. at the heart of this call for the social studies to lay the foundation for social innovation is the philosophy of ubuntu. through their expressions of dissent, individuals advocate for the common needs of humanity and, in so doing, strengthen our sense of collective belonging. our lived experience becomes progressively more enlightened, more inclusive, and more rewarding. mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 references anderson, l., & becker, j. (1968). an examination of the structure and objectives of international education. social education, 22, 639-647. appiah, k. a. (2006). cosmopolitanism: ethics in a world of strangers. london: allen lane. appiah, k. a. (2018). the lies that bind: rethinking identity. new york: liveright publishing. dower, n. (2003). an introduction to global citizenship. edinburgh: edinburgh university press. gaudelli, w. (2016). global citizenship education: everyday transcendence. new york: routledge. homer-dixon, t. (2003). human adaptation and the ingenuity gap. brock education, 12(2), 1-22. nussbaum, m. (1996). patriotism and cosmopolitanism. in j. cohen (ed.), for love of country: debating the limits of patriotism. boston: beacon books. nussbaum, m. (2003). ubuntu: reflections of a south african on our common humanity. reflections, 4(4), 21-26. tlou, j. (2018). my journey in global education through the decades. in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), the global education movement: narratives of distinguished global scholars. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. tutu, d. (1989). the words of desmond tutu. new york: newmarket press. about the author: graham pike has held teaching and administrative positions at four universities in the uk and canada, most recently as dean of international education at vancouver island university. he has spoken widely on global and international education and his publications have been used in schools and teacher education programs around the world. he has led professional development for global educators in more than 20 countries and his work as a consultant has included multiple united nations contracts for school improvement projects in eastern europe and the middle east. his research and teaching have focused on the development of innovative pedagogies for exploring global issues and developing active global citizens. his work has been recognized by the mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 3-11 corresponding author: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 canadian bureau for international education with the award for innovation in international education and by the international assembly of the national council for the social studies with the 2019 distinguished global scholar award. mailto:graham.pike@viu.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 2 number 1 41 spring/summer 2012 ___________________________________________________________________________________ the impact of a global educator profile of josiah tlou gloria alter, editor ia perspectives __________________________________________________________________________________ dr. josiah tlou, professor emeritus at virginia tech, shared with me, a bit about his background, professional work, and special projects in african countries that have resulted in substantive educational program development there. background dr. tlou was born, raised, and trained to teach in zimbabwe (formerly rhodesia). he began teaching at the middle school level and then became the principal of a lutheran boarding school. in the 1960s, he came to the u. s. to complete his undergraduate studies at luther college, through a sponsorship from the lutheran world federation of switzerland. he then continued his studies at the master’s level at illinois state university. josiah taught at luther college for four years before completing his doctoral work at the university of illinois-urbana, where he earned a degree in curriculum development with a social studies emphasis and a minor in comparative education. virginia tech and international work dr. josiah tlou worked as a professor in the college of education at virginia tech for over 30 years, retiring in 2004. he was a social studies teacher educator, curriculum development specialist, and director of the center for research and development in international development. dr. tlou has had extensive experience in universities in the united states and africa. he has done field research in malawi, zimbabwe, and botswana, and also did some work in south africa, kenya, zambia, and lesotho. he served as a consultant for universities, school associations, and numerous international organizations, such as usaid and unicef. the map of africa shows the projects that dr. tlou led over a 25-year period. josiah provides some detail here: many of those projects were very successful in that the graduates from the projects are in leadership positions in their countries today. for example in malawi, with usaid sponsorship, virginia tech trained a total of 12 ph.ds and 24 masters in education students in the past 10 years. these two groups of educators became the founding instructors for a bachelor of education degree program at domasi college, enrolling 30 students each year since 2004. they have now graduated 5 cohorts of 30 each for a total of 150 who have earned degrees from this project. they are now deployed in various sectors of the ministry of education. in botswana, it is the same. the university of botswana is quite successful with the department we established in primary education. in fact, for the first 15 years of its existence, the deans of the school of education at the university of botswana came from our project. i have also worked on civics curriculum development in malawi under the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 2 number 1 42 spring/summer 2012 sponsorship of usaid, and one of my former students agreed to set up a civitas chapter in malawi. we also set up a civitas chapter in kenya at kenyatta university in nairobi. they were helped by the center for civic education in calabasas, california. these two groups are doing well. i have just completed a 5-month consultancy with unicef to develop the road map of the curriculum review process for the zimbabwe education system. we are also working with the new partnership in africa's development (nepad), which is the organization of the african union (au). the african union would like to have 600,000 schools wired with internet connectivity across the continent of africa. they have already laid an under sea broadband cable from morocco to djibouti on the red sea. they are now laying fiber optic cables in many african countries. i have seen the cables being laid as i go around to many countries in africa that are connected to the under sea broadband cable. virginia tech has now signed a memorandum of understanding with nepad as a resource institution to help train teachers on the use of instructional technology. we appointed one of our members to be one of the experts on nepad's team at their request. “ recently a colleague and i traveled to zambia to have discussions with the ministry of education for establishing a degree program in vocational and technical education at the university of zambia. currently, four doctoral students from zambia are enrolled at virginia tech in vocational and technical education. this is our latest project.” grants awarded and recognition josiah tlou and his colleagues and partner organizations were awarded grants totaling over 4 million dollars for cultural exchanges, fulbright, and program development projects. josiah was given three awards from virginia tech university and luther college: the virginia tech college of education, dean’s excellence in service award, (1986); the alumni award for excellence in international programs (2002) from the virginia tech university office of international programs; and an honorary degree for international service, doctor of humane letters, from luther college in decorah, iowa (2003). dr. tlou’s ongoing commitment to global education and his contributions to the work of many state departments of education, schools, educators, and students around the world is impressive. we greatly value and appreciate his work and wish him continued success. editor’s note through josiah’s service to the international assembly we established connections to the mwanje primary school in malawi that have enabled us to begin projects there as well. our initial project was the adopt-a-school project, which provided backpacks to students. josiah’s colleague patricia kelly of virginia tech graciously delivered the backpacks for us each year of the project. given the needs of the community there, frans doppen was inspired to begin a well project to provide water to the community. he and his students have raised most of the necessary funds already and only $1,500 is needed to complete the project. please join us in this effort by emailing vice-president and program chair of the international assembly, frans doppen at doppen@ohio.edu to offer your donation. journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 teaching hard history: whose monument is this, anyway? juan manuel walker augusta university abstract: as a social sciences methods professor, i face a growing concern over preparing teacher candidates (tc) for an ever-divided political system. the purpose of this study was to create and use primary source reading techniques regarding modern controversial issues. as educators, it is clear that the divide from political allegiance is hard to separate from our personal identities or political affiliations. we know from this study that this is a difficult but necessary process for future teachers to explore. key words: dominant narrative, teacher education, democratic citizenship introduction and statement of problem according to hillburn, journell, and buchanan (2016), content decisions in social sciences have escalated over the years, often due to our divisive political views. with this context in mind, the purpose of this article is to advocate for teaching a hard history approach to social sciences and other disciplines in all grades through research and personal experiences. vansledright (2008) contends that the process of history is one that “investigates, wrestles with, and interprets [the] past in an uncomfortable, ongoing struggle to wrest some meaning from it all, all on its own terms as much as possible” (p. 120). social sciences as a discipline, then, theoretically affords students the opportunity to objectively approach a given topic or event, critically examine it from differing viewpoints, synthesize this learned information, and from it produce an informed and wellrounded conclusion. what we find more often in the social sciences curriculum is an encoded knowledge that is both “selected through mainstream values, perspectives, and ontological and epistemological traditions” (salinas & blevins, 2014, p. 35), as well as “simplistic and void of complex, nuanced, and other perspectives” (p. 36). surveys of high school history teachers reveal that they broadly engage in the “common, long-standing practice of using and covering the vast textbook, occasionally supporting it with additional print materials and visual imagery..., and mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 reinforcing the ideas the textbook conveys with classroom lectures” (vansledright, 2008, p. 118). instead of providing a more holistic and analytical approach to history through the active development of students’ critical thinking skills, the social sciences curriculum advocates for students to simply learn a predetermined, streamlined, and homogenous ideological narrative propagated by a dominating group (salinas, blevins, & sullivan, 2012, p. 18). division over curriculum according to ogbu (1992), the social sciences curriculum is seen as divisive. there are groups in the united states that do not see themselves as being represented in textbooks, standards, and current events while other groups think they are not represented fairly. a student might yearn for history lessons presented through a hero’s narrative while another student might want to learn history from an evidence-based perspective. as we witness in the classroom, these perspectives shape how teachers approach social sciences. in the following sections, the researcher will argue that the neglect and underdevelopment of student critical thinking within the social sciences curriculum (particularly the u.s. history curriculum) is abetted by two distinct yet interrelated phenomena: the impetus in standards and textbooks and the influence of the dominant narrative. dominant narrative in analyses of u.s. history textbooks and standards across the united states, a common narrative trend presents itself: textbooks are “frequently privileging eurocentric narratives” (rogers stanton, 2015, p. 183), and standards are telling a “traditional, euro-american narrative” (shear, knowles, soden, & castro, 2015, p. 69). salinas et al. (2012) posit that this favoring of a collective narrative is the result of dominant groups in american society having the “ability to shape and produce the official narratives that are communicated in our society because they have access to particular means of cultural production” (p. 18). those who have the power to produce the u.s. history narrative are molding it into a framework that they identify with and seek to promote. the dominant narrative found in the social sciences curriculum is not only shaped by a certain group of people who favor their own group’s narrative, but it also aims to tell a certain type of story. this story has three different themes that help it to achieve its goal. vansledright (2008) argues that in schools and textbooks, (1) there is constant repetition of the “american nationbuilding story” (p. 110), which (2) seeks to “celebrate and proscribe the terms in which the celebration is cast” (p. 115). this celebration manifests itself in (3) the onward-marching story of american progress (shear et al., 2015, pp. 86-87). k-12 students, consequently, are continuously mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 taught year after year, the same progressive, celebratory, nation-building narrative crafted and endorsed by the dominant group. the challenge in social sciences is that the textbooks tend to present a eurocentric viewpoint of history. depending on one’s political affiliation, one might be content with a version of history that ignores the negative treatment of minorities so that a positive view can be placed on what is viewed as an individual’s interpretation of events (journell, 2008). which two groups are most likely to argue for and against historical content? during the traditional tenets, social sciences finds itself at a crossroads in regards to how content is explored (anderson, 2013). narrative selectors the impact of state standards is visible in numerous textbooks that support the argument of states’ rights during the civil war. despite all the historical evidence that states’ rights was not the reason for the civil war, based on how standards are worded, this narrative is interjected into numerous state standards. this, in turns, causes teachers to divert their attention away from other perspectives in history. the constant theme throughout history is that the victor writes the history, but this is certainly not true in regards to the confederate narrative. we do not see this narrative view for other historical events; for instance, we rarely hear the accounts of those who suffered greatly at the expense of westward expansion. in regards to hard history, we face a greater challenge in the divisive nature of how historical events are construed. historical relevancy relevancy is an essential part of the social sciences curriculum, yet it is woefully underused. relevancy helps students comprehend that history is not a static discipline but a dynamic one that provides context to understanding the politics, conflicts, struggles, cultures, etc., of the world today. salinas et al. (2012) describe dynamic history as history that is “continuously interpreted and reinterpreted by individuals, communities, and nation states in undeniably different ways” (p. 19). instead of students being passive consumers of history, critical analysis of the relevancy of any given historical topic allows students to become active inquirers engaged in current civic and social issues. if relevancy is important, provides a sense of immediacy to students, and actively develops critical thinking, then why is it not a prominent part of the social sciences curriculum? one reason for this occurrence is that the social sciences curriculum presents historical events as narratives with a beginning, middle, and end/resolution (salinas & blevins, 2014, p. 36). it is this sense of a conclusion that prevents continued conversation and investigation. journell (2008) provides the mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 state standard scenario of racial inequality being interpreted as ending with the voting rights act of 1965 because of “the lack of emphasis on modern african american issues” (p. 46); indeed, only one state of the nine that he studied included anything about african americans after the civil rights movement. historical thinking within the social sciences field, we are introduced to various approaches to teach historical content. one of the most used approaches is historical thinking. the theoretical view behind this approach is for students to think like historians (ashby & lee, 1987). based on this approach, other research was conducted to examine young learners’ thinking (barton, 1997). wertsch’s (2002) approach changed the focus from individual abilities to employ historical reasoning and methods to produce an objective or rational interpretation of the past to social-group uses and interpretations of history to create and sustain social identities. research methods breakstone (2014) designed an original case study by defining history-assessment tasks as the unit of analysis. he designed, piloted, and revised three classroom-based assessment tasks—each one analyzed as a separate case—using student responses and think-aloud protocols as data sources to evaluate the tasks’ validity and construct alignment, as well as to assess the cognitive processes in which students engaged to answer the tasks. a related methodology involves visual or image-based educational research (prosser & burke, 2008). which is often used to enable children, adolescents, and other “non-researchers” to represent their understandings of the world. using the methodology, researchers working in the fields of childhood and youth sciences ask children and young people to produce drawings, photographs, and/or videos as ways to represent their understandings. the premise is that children and youth are active participants and interpreters of their social worlds and construct their own unique perspectives. keeping this in mind, the same should hold true for adult learners as well. site description in order to evaluate the attitudes of future social sciences teachers (n=24) regarding the inclusion of hard history in the curriculum, the researcher devised a case study that involved visiting a removal of confederate statues. this study specifically focused on robert e. lee’s statue at the antietam national battlefield (appendix a). this was accomplished through preparation, mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 observation, reflections, break-out sessions, and post surveys. the study took place during the spring semester of 2020 and consisted of 24 (n=24) pre-service social sciences middle and high school teachers. classroom preparation during the inquiry process for a secondary methods course in the southeastern region, teacher candidates (n=24) were asked to use the professor’s approved list of sources for the assignment (appendix a). during this process, many of the teacher candidates used resources not approved by the professor. we engaged in discussions with the teacher candidates about controversial monuments. the main question was: do these monuments represent southern heritage or do they serve as symbols of oppression? basic questions (e.g., who paid for the monuments? where were the monuments built? for what purpose?) were explored and discussed in class sessions. data collection the teacher candidates’ (n=24) post-survey responses to the prompts were coded by the researcher after the end of the course. grades were based on responses and evidence collected based on wiggins and mctighe’s (2005) backwards design framework. after the course, a graduate student coded the names and created a chart of key terms and statements that were recorded during the assignment. member checking member checking was performed to embody the authenticity as constructed by the participants (social science teacher candidates [tcs]). once we had completed the analysis of the data, the tcs were invited to the computer lab after all assignments had been graded to review statements and to check the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the researcher’s findings. this included the researcher’s notes, significant themes, and a viewing of the sources used for the assignment. all responses were anonymous. the students also received a copy of the peer researcher’s notes and themes, as well as a copy of the session. they were allowed to read and post notes or questions on all documents. the tcs were allowed to address any concerns raised by checking the data collection process. they were allowed to remove items or clarify statements with the research assistant after the course was completed. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 results this study examines the experiences of 24 teacher candidates (tcs) as they learned about hard history and acted as historical thinkers. while the tcs were all in the same social sciences methods course, their historical accounts varied due to the wide range of social and political backgrounds and on the subject of removing the robert e. lee monument, as well as their own personal experiences. we examined how these tcs applied their findings into two themes: an emphasis on primary source usage and a non-emphasis on primary sources. during this project, the tcs’ experiences with primary sources varied greatly. tc 7 said, “it is important to recognize implicit bias during this process.” experience with using questions enabled teachers to enter into the inquiry design process, providing a pedagogical framework for the study (see table 1). emphasis on the sources teacher candidates found the process of using pre-selected resources helpful. however, several found this problematic and limiting. tc 4 asserted, “ha! he told us we could only use the sources in the assignment. ok! he is forcing us to agree with him. it is rather blatant on his part.” positive responses were also presented. according to tc 9, “i really enjoyed this process. i can see myself using this with my students. i taught at a high-poverty school this semester. i know my students would love to explore a topic like this during a civil war unit.” all tcs demonstrated a willingness to participate despite some negative feedback from, for example, tc 13: i think this is a great approach to learning. however, i did hate how provocative it was. i know a number of people felt uncomfortable about the assignment. now that is over, it was not that bad of a learning experience. for myself, i will select a non-aggressive personal hard history assignment for my students. regarding the removal of robert e. lee’s monument: i am so glad that we were able to complete this project. i was not aware of the time period that these statues were built and what their intent was. i can only guess what that might be. i assume it was to preserve their way of life, but also to scare those that were free in the southern states during the jim crow era. based on my review of the current events, i think it was for both reasons. i also think racism is viewed differently now. (tc 3) mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 in defense of statues: it is heartbreaking to know that cancel culture wants to destroy my heritage. i think that i am in a class that seems to take joy in the death of my culture to help others. it is a real sad experience for me. (tc 1) i am not sure why i am asked to condemn my ancestors. no other group of people are asked to renounce their race in this class. it is just the lone white male who is blamed for everyone’s short comings. the sooner this class is over, the sooner i can go back to teaching the way that i know works best. (tc 4) let me get this straight, i have to say these monuments should be removed to get a good grade? i am just going to switch it up here. what if i asked the black students to take down a statue of martin luther king jr? i assume i would be fired for that. not for this? ridiculous! (tc 16) discussion as demonstrated above, the utilization and development of students’ critical thinking, as it prohibits skills in the social sciences classroom have been severely stunted by the curriculum’s dominant narratives, exclusions of other perspectives, and the absence of historical relevancy. the previous section examined these three phenomena as singularities, but here we seek to thread them together to highlight how they work together to restrict what can be called authentic critical thinking. previous research has shown that eurocentric narratives are the dominant narrative in u.s. history textbooks and standards, and that this narrative is positively and progressively constructed and propagated by those with power, access, and means. if textbooks and standards are consistently privileging and preserving a traditional narrative that fits within an exclusive framework constructed by a partisan group in society, then students do not have an authentic opportunity to critically engage with the social sciences curriculum. authenticity in critical thinking as it relates to social sciences should be cast in the same relief as the vansledright (2008) quote from the beginning of this paper and the salinas et al. (2012) definition of dynamic history as a disputative discipline that requires students to investigate and interpret historical sources and materials. students cannot genuinely engage in these processes of critical thinking if the evidence they are given is the type that, for example, excludes other perspectives that provide challenging, contentious, and diverse counterpoints to the dominant narrative. lack of historical relevancy further enshrines the set parameters of student critical thinking as it prohibits students from evolving from passive consumers of the historical narrative mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 to active inquirers engaged with the social and civic historical present. as a result, students are provided with a purposeful imbalance of perspectives and a clear conversation demarcation that favors the dominant group so that it can keep control of the narrative it seeks to promote. the effect of this is that even if textbooks or standards ask students to utilize their critical thinking skills, the information and resources given are hand-picked, subjective, and biased. consequently, any conclusion students derive from analysis is one that has already been essentially predetermined by the dominant group. students, therefore, cannot participate in authentic critical thinking because the scope of the narrative has been narrowed and simplified to exclude any meaningful analysis that would allow students to investigate, research, interpret, and wrestle with historical material as it presents itself, and not how the dominant group presents it. conclusion and implications for future research parker (2010) advocates for students to value differences and work towards solving common problems. social studies is a key field to practice deliberation. inquiry is a valuable tool in any discipline. in regards to hard history in social studies, teacher candidates have the opportunity to explore events and discuss them and the surrounding issues in a positive manner. perspectives and background are essential (clay, 2003). teachers and students are in a constant state of engagement. this study sought to examine how issues in the social studies teacher candidates (tcs) regarding dominant narratives, exclusion of other perspectives, and the absence of historical relevancy have a direct influence on the development and utilization of authentic student critical thinking skills. this study has shown us as social studies professors that not only do we need to be more aware and to question the agendas behind us history textbooks and standards, but also that there are significantly deficient areas of diversity, other voices, connections to current issues, and student developmental skills in the social studies curriculum. whether in lectures or student activities, as a social studies methods professor, we want teacher candidates to scaffold from what they have learned, critically evaluate new information, and shape their own evidentiallyand logically-informed understandings so they may similarly guide students through this process as well. this research project has also made me more considerate of how various minority groups might struggle to identify and to engage with the social studies curriculum due to this we must be aware of bias in teaching. we also must recognize self-imposed limitations like black history month should be expanded into a robust curriculum that celebrates the many accomplishments of those not recognized by the dominant narrative. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 references anderson, c. b. (2013). the trouble with unifying narratives: african americans and the civil rights movement in u.s. history content standards. journal of social studies research, 37(2), 111–120. ashby, r., & lee, p. (1987). children’s concepts of empathy and understanding in history. in c. portal (ed.), the history curriculum for teachers (pp. 62–88). london, uk: falmer press. barton, k. c. (1997). “bossed around by the queen”: elementary students’ understandings of individuals and institutions in history. journal of curriculum studies, 12(4), 290–314. breakstone, j. (2014). try, try, try again: the process of designing new history assessments. theory & research in social education, 42(4), 453–485. doi:10.1080/00933104.2014.965860 clay, r. (2003). unraveling new media’s effects on children. monitor on psychology, 34(2), 40. grossman, p. l., smagorinsky, p., & valencia, s. (1999). appropriating tools for teaching english: a theoretical framework for research on learning to teach. american journal of education, 108(1), 1–29. hilburn, j., journell, w., & buchanan, l. b. (2016). a content analysis of immigration in traditional, new, and non-gateway state standards for u.s. history and civics. the high school journal, 99(3), 234–251. journell, w. (2008). facilitating historical discussions using asynchronous communication: the role of the teacher. theory & research in social education, 36(4), 317–355. doi:10.1080/00933104.2008.10473379 mcguire, m. e. (2007). what happened to social studies? the disappearing curriculum. the phi delta kappan, 88(8), 620–624. ogbu, j. u. (1992). understanding cultural diversity and learning. educational researcher, 21(8), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x021008005 parker, w. c. (2010), idiocy, puberty, and citizenship in w. c. parker (ed.), social studies: research and practice (pp. 247-260). new york: routledge. prosser, j., & burke, c. (2008). image-based educational research: childlike perspectives. in j. g. knowles & a. l. cole (eds.), handbook of the arts in qualitative research: perspectives, mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 methodologies, examples and issues (pp. 407–419). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. rogers stanton, c. (2015). beyond the margins: evaluating the support for multicultural education within teachers’ editions of u.s. history textbooks. multicultural perspectives, 17(4), 180–189. salinas, c., & blevins, b. (2014). critical historical inquiry: how might pre-service teachers confront master historical narratives? social studies research and practice, 9(3), 35–50. salinas, c., blevins, b., & sullivan, c. c. (2012). critical historical thinking: when official narratives collide with other narratives. multicultural perspectives, 14(1), 18–27. vansledright, b. (2008). narratives of nation-state, historical knowledge, and school history education. review of research in education, 32, 109–146. wertsch, j. v. (2002). voices of collective remembering. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 table 1 teacher candidate demographics ethnicity age gender tc 1 tc 2 tc 3 tc 4 tc 5 tc 6 tc 7 caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian multi-racial latina 18-21 22-25 26-30 31-35 31-35 31-35 31-35 male male male male male male female tc 8 tc 9 tc 10 tc 11 tc 12 tc 13 tc 14 tc 15 tc 16 tc 17 tc 18 tc 19 tc 20 tc 21 tc 22 tc 23 tc 24 african-american african-american african-american african-american african-american caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian caucasian 18-21 22-25 22-25 22-25 22-25 22-25 22-25 22-25 26-30 26-30 26-30 26-30 31-35 31-35 31-35 36-40 36-40 female female female female female female female female female female female female female female female female female mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 table 2 teacher candidate comments grade tc 1 comparing robert e. lee to martin luther king. 1 tc 2 stated historical reason for the monument to stay. cited 3 current events. 10 tc 3 stated historical reason for the monument to stay. cited 3 current events. 10 tc 4 stated historical reason for the monument to stay. cited 3 current events. 10 tc 5 stated cancel culture as the reason for removal. they only cited one current event for their stance. 5 tc 6 wanted the monument removed. did not cite sources. 1 tc 7 wanted the monument removed. cited all articles in their decision. 10 table 3 post monument study survey strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strongly agree were the media literacy sources valid? tcs 1-4 tc 7 tcs 5,6 tcs 8-14 tcs 15-24 did you have an opinion on this topic before the class assignment? tcs 3-5 tcs 16-24 tcs 6-15 tcs 1,2 did the sources change your opinion? tcs 6-15 tcs 16-24 tcs 3-5 tcs 1,2 would you use a similar method to teach media literacy in your classroom? tcs 3-5 tcs 16-24 tcs 1,2 tcs 4-7 mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 appendix a primary sources resources you have been tasked as a civil war historian to explore the rationale to keep confederate monuments. see link for background on the subject from politifact: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/12/facebookposts/fact-checking-claims-about-robert-e-lees-position-/ historical figure background information on the confederate geographic location evidence from various primary sources decision to remove monument: yes/no must provide evidence and rationale for stance robert e. lee born 1807 confederate general (1861-1865) died 1870 hall of fame for great americans 1900 monument to robert e. lee at the antietam national battlefield congress.gov to remove monument: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3779 congress.gov restores citizenship posthumously to general robert e. lee https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-jointresolution/411 the smithsonian: https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchcode=lccn&searcha rg=12004370&searchtype=1&permalink=y robert e. lee’s statue vandalized: https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/lee-statue-atantietam-battlefield-vandalized-again/article_6f31bb34-35165da2-b994-6a9ca230c7a0.html narrative response 2-3 paragraphs. establish a proposal to remove or protect the monument based on the sources. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/12/facebook-posts/fact-checking-claims-about-robert-e-lees-position-/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/12/facebook-posts/fact-checking-claims-about-robert-e-lees-position-/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3779 https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-joint-resolution/411 https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-joint-resolution/411 https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchcode=lccn&searcharg=12004370&searchtype=1&permalink=y https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchcode=lccn&searcharg=12004370&searchtype=1&permalink=y https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/lee-statue-at-antietam-battlefield-vandalized-again/article_6f31bb34-3516-5da2-b994-6a9ca230c7a0.html https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/lee-statue-at-antietam-battlefield-vandalized-again/article_6f31bb34-3516-5da2-b994-6a9ca230c7a0.html https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/lee-statue-at-antietam-battlefield-vandalized-again/article_6f31bb34-3516-5da2-b994-6a9ca230c7a0.html journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 appendix b monument rubric monument position proficient capable adequate limited poor narrative response 2-3 paragraphs. establish a proposal to remove or protect the monument based on the sources. an insightful understanding of the reading selection(s) is effectively established. the student’s opinion, whether directly stated or implied, is perceptive and appropriately supported by specific details. support is precise and thoughtfully selected. a wellconsidered understanding: opinion is thoughtful. support is well defined and appropriate. a plausible understanding is established and sustained. the student’s opinion is conventional and plausibly supported. support is general but functional. some understanding is evidenced, but the understanding is not always defensible or sustained. opinion may be superficial and support scant and/or vague. an implausible conjecture. the student’s opinion, if present, is inappropriate or incomprehensible. score: 10 7 5 3 1 comments: the evaluation of the answer should be in terms of the amount of evidence that the student has actually read something and thought about it, not a question of whether the student has thought about the topic in line with the professor or any other students. reference wiggins, g. p., & mctighe, j. (2005). understanding by design. alexandria, va: association for supervision and curriculum development. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 36-50 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 about the author: juan walker is an associate professor of curriculum and instruction (social studies) at augusta university. he teaches social studies methods and curriculum, and serves as the secondary program coordinator. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, xxx-xxx. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 25 adolescents’ conceptions of democracy in central/eastern europe and the united states patricia g. avery *, sara a. levy, annette m. m. simmons (university of minnesota ); michael h. scarlett (montana state university at billings) ______________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the term democracy has an overwhelmingly positive connotation for most people (diamond & plattner, 2008), yet it is a contested, fluid, and evolving concept that represents many different things to different people. this article presents our analysis of conceptions of democracy among groups of adolescents (n=2,848, ages 13-19) in the czech republic, macedonia, romania, serbia, ukraine, and the united states. this study focused on students’ responses to one open-ended item on a written questionnaire. our inquiry is significant because the ability to provide a meaningful definition of democracy has been shown to be associated with support for democratic institutions, and more complex understandings of democracy have been associated with greater political involvement and commitment to democracy (bratton, mattes, & gyimah-boadi, 2004; miller, hesli, & reisinger, 1997). we found that the vast majority of the students gave acceptable definitions of democracy and that students were most likely to describe democracy in terms of freedoms and rights and least likely to mention civic equality as an aspect of democracy. additionally, we found that demographic characteristics, students’ level of political engagement, and students’ perception of classroom climate sometimes impacted the complexity of the students’ conceptions of democracy. keywords: civic education; adolescent civic knowledge; adolescent political knowledge; political socialization; conceptions of democracy ______________________________________________________________________________________ introduction the term democracy has an overwhelmingly positive connotation for most people (diamond & plattner, 2008), yet it is a contested, fluid, and evolving concept that represents many different things to different people. this article presents our analysis of conceptions of democracy among groups of adolescents (ages 13-19) in the czech republic, macedonia, romania, serbia, ukraine, and the united states. our inquiry is significant because the ability to provide a meaningful definition of democracy has been shown to be associated with support for journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 26 democratic institutions, and more complex understandings of democracy have been associated with greater political involvement and commitment to democracy (bratton, mattes, & gyimahboadi, 2004; miller, hesli, & reisinger, 1997). the central and eastern european context is important because democracy is relatively new to these nation-states. under the specter of a global economic crisis, democracy may be particularly fragile in these countries. liaquat ahamed, author of lords of finance: the bankers who broke the world, observed that "the debt crisis in eastern europe is much more than an economic problem. the wrenching decline in the standard of living caused by this crisis is provoking social unrest" (2009, p. 12). the u.s. context is significant because while the nation has been a democracy for over 200 years, it is experiencing a demographic shift characterized by increasing numbers of immigrants and non-european-americans. the diversity of the populace presents challenges and opportunities for the country’s democracy. the u.s. census bureau (2012, may) estimated that in 2010, nearly 13% of the u.s. population was born outside of the united states. conceptual framework and related literature defining democracy the past 20 years has seen a dramatic increase in the number of democratic governments around the world. according to freedom house (2009), the number of electoral democracies in the world increased from 69 in 1989 to 119 in 2008. central/eastern europe, in particular, has seen the greatest increase in the number of democracies because of the fall of the soviet union in 1989. this dramatic rise in democracies begs the question: exactly what makes a country a democracy? clearly, not all democracies are the same. in ancient greece, where the term was first used, democracy (demos means people, kratos means rule) in city-states such as athens was defined by the direct rule of citizens. in ancient rome, on the other hand, the citizens of the republic ruled through representatives. after a long absence, democratic principles experienced a revival during the renaissance. one of these positions, liberalism, developed in response to the rise of absolutist systems and religious intolerance in europe during the middle ages. at its core is the idea that individuals should be free to pursue their own political, economic, and religious affairs, undeterred by the state (held, 2006). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 27 confusion often arises however, about the meaning of democracy because it is an idea that has been claimed by people and governments that seem to represent contradictory aims and practices. political scientist robert dahl (1998) argues that a source of this confusion is because people understand it as both an ideal and an actuality (p. 26). understanding democracy as an ideal is useful, dahl argues, for identifying the standards against which we can measure progress, but because it is an ideal it cannot be found in the real world (p. 29). when understood as an ideal, dahl suggests that a democracy provides opportunities for: (a) effective participation, (b) equality in voting, (c) gaining enlightened understanding, (d) exercising final control over the agenda, and (e) inclusion of adults (p. 38). these criteria point to the fact that democracies, in general, are defined by the degree to which all citizens are able to play a role in the governance of the nation. unlike monarchies and other autocratic forms of government, democracies require a degree of political equality and participation. dahl further argues that in actuality, representative democracies require institutions that support democratic practices, including: (a) elected officials; (b) free, fair, and frequent elections; (c) freedom of expression; (d) alternative sources of information; (e) associational autonomy; and (f) inclusive citizenship (p. 85). based on these criteria and basic principles are various types of governments to which the label democracy is applied. since 1973, freedom house has issued an annual “freedom in the world” report compiled by country experts that indicates the degree to which the civil liberties (e.g., freedom of expression, assembly) and political rights (voting, electoral choices) inherent in democratic institutions are supported in countries around the world. ratings of the degree to which civil liberties and political rights are realized in countries around the world are developed and validated by country experts. the indicators (e.g., free and fair elections, protection of minority rights) largely correspond to the criteria developed by dahl. previous empirical research adults’ ability to define democracy there has been a strong interest among political scientists in examining popular support for democratic values and institutions in the post-soviet countries. the assumption is that broad support is necessary to sustain democratic regimes. several studies have specifically examined adults' definitions of democracy. in 1992, for example, miller, hesli and reisinger (1997) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 28 surveyed over 2300 political elites (legislators and government officials) and ordinary citizens in russia and ukraine. in face-to-face interviews, respondents were presented with the following question: "there is considerable argument concerning the meaning of democracy. what does democracy personally mean to you?" (p. 164). responses were sorted into nine categories, the most prevalent of which included freedom, rule of law, responsibility, and majority rule. the researchers found that most adults were able to give a reasonable definition of democracy. although elites were more likely to provide definitions than were ordinary citizens, 71 and 75% of the mass public in russia and ukraine, respectively, were able to respond to the question. elites were more likely to define democracy as rule of law; ordinary citizens were more likely to define democracy as freedom, and to ascribe negative characteristics to democracy. number of responses (an indicator of complexity in our study) was associated with elite status, education, political involvement, and a greater commitment to democracy. dalton, shin, and jou (2007a, 2007b), researchers at the center for the study of democracy at the university of california-irvine, compared popular definitions of democracy given by adults from surveys conducted in africa, asia, europe and latin america between the early 1990s and early 2000s. although the surveys varied in terms of exact wording, in general, adults were asked how they would define democracy through an open-ended question. dalton et al. coded responses according to three categories: freedoms, civil liberties, and citizens’ rights (freedom of expression); democratic institutions or political processes (voting, majority rule); and social benefits (prosperity, jobs). the researchers found that most people were able to give an acceptable definition of democracy regardless of whether they lived in established or new democracies, or in nations that have little or no experience with democracy. the ability to define democracy increased as a country developed more democratic institutions (tracking at various points in the central/eastern european countries post-1989 showed an increased awareness of the tenets of democracy). across 49 countries, adults were most likely to associate democracy with rights and freedoms, and least likely to associate democracy with social benefits. in countries that had transitioned to democratic forms of government in the past 20 years, freedom and rights were initially overwhelmingly associated with democracy, but within a few years, adults also cited institutional or political processes. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 29 adolescents’ conceptions of democracy relatively few studies have documented young people’s understanding of the term democracy. the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea) cived study (torney-purta, lehmann, oswald, & schulz, 2001), conducted in 1999 in 28 countries, surveyed 14-year-olds’ conceptions of democracy by asking whether particular conditions would be very good, good, bad, or very bad for democracy. the results suggested that there was a fair amount of consensus across countries that the right to elect political leaders freely and to have the opportunity to belong to various types of organizations was good for democracy, and that when one company owns all newspapers or wealthy people have more influence on government than average citizens, it is bad for democracy. on items which suggested more conflict (e.g., people demanding their social and political rights), there was little consensus. the more recent international civic and citizenship education study (iccs), conducted in 2008-09 in 38 countries, again indicated very strong support for most democratic values, particularly the right to express one’s opinions freely (schulz, ainley, fraillon, kerr, losito, 2010). only two studies and two national assessments were located in which students were asked for the definition of democracy in an open-ended format. the u.s. national assessment for educational progress (naep) in civics typically asks questions about students’ knowledge of political processes (e.g., the length of a u.s. senator’s term of office) as opposed to assessing conceptual understanding. however, in the 1976 and 1988 assessments, twelfth graders were asked in an open-ended format to define democracy. the majority of seniors (84.3% in 1976 and 88.4% in 1988) were able to provide “acceptable” responses (the criteria for “acceptable” was not disclosed; as cited in flanagan et al., 2005, p. 194). over 30 years ago, sigel and hoskin (1981) asked twelfth grade students from pennsylvania to explain democracy to someone unfamiliar with the concept. over 85% of the students interviewed (n = 992) were able to give an acceptable response, and the most frequent responses involved individual freedoms. however, the majority of responses were considered “simplistic,” and despite probing, most students were unable to elaborate beyond the “slogans of democracy.” constance flanagan and her colleagues (flanagan, gallay, gill, gallay, & nti, 2005) studied the correlates of a sample of 701 midwestern youths' conceptions of democracy. in 1995, the researchers asked students from six schools in grades 7-12 to respond to the open-ended question: "in your own words, what does democracy mean to you?" a slight majority of students (53%) accurately defined democracy; not surprisingly, the students' age (older) and journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 30 their parents' level of educational attainment (higher) were associated with more correct responses. there were no differences between males and females. the lower percentage in comparison to the sigel and hoskin (1981) and naep 1988 and 1996 assessments may be attributable to the wider age span (grades 7-12 as opposed to grade 12 only). responses were coded inductively, which resulted in three categories of responses: individual rights and freedoms, representative democracy and majority rule, and civic equality. although a single student response could include references to one, two, or all three categories, the researchers assigned each response to one category based on theme salience (e.g., the initial response, or the prevalence of ideas associated with one category). on that basis, of the students who responded to the item, 30% defined democracy in terms of individual rights, 40% mentioned representative rule, and 30% identified aspects of civic equality. the two naep assessments and the sigel and hoskin and the flanagan et al. studies differ from other work in this area in that the students were allowed to give their own definition of democracy as opposed to selecting from a list of definitions or identifying traits of democracy. presumably, this format is less prone to students guessing. this format also does not limit students’ responses by presenting them with the researcher's predetermined categories. both of the studies (sigel & hoskin, 1981; flanagan et al., 2005) were conducted during relatively stable political, economic, and social times. each study also involved relatively small samples of students from one state in the united states. although we located only two studies and two assessments that directly asked adolescents to define democracy, other studies—both u.s.-based and international—have shown that political knowledge among adolescents is positively related to age and socioeconomic status (lutkus & weiss, 2007; national center for education statistics, 2011; schulz et al., 2010; torney-purta et al., 2001). older students are more likely to have been exposed to more coursework related to history and politics, and are more likely to have developed a higher level of cognitive sophistication. higher socioeconomic status students are more likely to have access to a wide range of resources and experiences that expose them to political ideas (kahne & middaugh, 2008). although studies conducted more than 20 years ago were likely to find males demonstrating greater political knowledge than females (sigel & hoskin, 1981; torney, oppenheim, & farnen, 1979), more recent studies of political knowledge among adolescents both in the united states and in other countries have been mixed, with some suggesting a slight advantage for females (lutkus & weiss, 2007; shulz et al., 2010; but see torney-purta et al., 2001). in the study that follows, we examine some of these demographic variables in relation to students’ ability to give more complex conceptions of democracy. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 31 we also explore the impact of two additional variables: students’ level of political engagement and their perceptions of an open classroom climate. there has long been a strong association between political knowledge and engagement (delli carpini & keeter, 1996; galston, 2001). in general, a higher level of political knowledge provides an individual with the resources to participate politically, while political participation—whether in the form of voting, discussing issues with others, contacting a public official, or protesting, for example—tends to increase one’s political knowledge. open classroom climate is defined by torney-purta et al. (2001) as the “extent to which students experience their classrooms as places to investigate issues and explore their opinions and those of their peers” (p. 137). in the iea cived study (2001), the construct was measured by six items,1 and is grounded in a conception of discussion that is issues-based, involves perspective-taking, and fosters respectful disagreement. in over two-thirds of the countries involved in the iea cived study, students’ report of an open classroom climate was a significant predictor of their civic knowledge and their stated expectation that they would vote as adults (torney-purta et al., 2001, pp. 151-155). the iccs report, which used a slightly modified version of the classroom climate scale, found that in 27 of the 34 countries students’ perception of an open classroom climate was a significant predictor of civic knowledge (schulz et al., 2010, p. 225). from a theoretical perspective, the more open the classroom climate, the more likely the class has formed a “community of practice” (wenger, 1998) in which students observe models of the teacher and perhaps other students searching for and weighing evidence, formulating and stating positions, and listening to those with whom they disagree. at another level, we reason that more open classroom climates tend to be more democratic because they foster an environment characterized by respect for divergent views. students who not only learn about democracy but also experience aspects of it may be more likely to articulate more complex definitions of democracy. the present study the surveys of adults in central/eastern european countries and in the united states suggest that most people are able to give acceptable definitions of democracy. we did not know whether these findings would apply to adolescents. the questions that guide our inquiry are: 1. are young people able to give acceptable definitions of democracy? 2. how do young people define democracy? journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 32 3. to what degree do students’ definitions of democracy demonstrate a level of complexity? 4. within countries, to what degree are students’ demographic characteristics, level of political engagement, and perception of classroom climate predictors of a more complex understandings of democracy? the study was conducted in the united states and the central and eastern european countries of the czech republic, the republic of macedonia, romania, serbia, and ukraine. country context since the collapse of the soviet union in 1991, the world has witnessed the democratization of countries in eastern europe and central and western asia that had been under communist rule, in some cases for almost 80 years. civic education, and education in general during the communist era was highly centralized, emphasizing loyalty and conformity to the communist system rather than enlightened, engaged citizenship. social scientist martina klicperová-baker (2008) said: “instead of fostering civic virtues, the [totalitarian] regimes suppress the notion of citizenship, provoke a sense of learned helplessness, suppress individuality, etc.” (p. 162). today a new generation of young people, born since the disintegration of the soviet union, represents the future of democracy in these new post-communist republics. although there is currently a great deal of interest in citizenship education in the former communist countries, research suggests that, at least in some countries, schools are struggling to create educational systems that promote democratic values and participatory citizenship (mason, 2005). many of the teachers are those who have known communist rule for most of their lives, and the transition from teaching under an authoritarian regime to teaching in a transitioning democracy is difficult. this transition has implications for content and pedagogy, as well as the roles of the teachers and students. moreover, there is a concern that overall levels of interest and participation in politics are in decline in post-soviet republics (piattoeva, 2005). structure and content of education. students in the united states, regardless of race or ethnicity, can attend public comprehensive schools from grades k-12. in most states, attendance is compulsory until age 16. although tracking by achievement level within schools and within classes exists, students generally journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 33 attend schools with students who demonstrate a wide range of achievement levels. the central and eastern european countries in our study generally follow the traditional european model: school is compulsory through 8th or 9th grade, after which examination scores determine whether a student attends the gymnasium or a vocational/ technical school. the united states has long had a tradition of local and state control on matters related to education. although the trend in the past decade has been toward more federal mandates, state and local governments make decisions about required coursework, curriculum, and assessments. in contrast, in the post-communist countries education policies are centrally controlled by ministries of education, and as such, teachers are generally required to follow a national curriculum. one of the primary purposes of schooling in the united states is ostensibly to prepare students for their role as citizens in a democracy. in terms of civic education coursework, most states in the united states require students to complete separate courses in either civics or government. in some of the central and eastern european countries, the term “civic education” can carry a negative connotation, a reminder of indoctrination classes during the communist era. the european union, however, has played a central role in bringing citizenship education to the forefront in trying to foster a european identity (see european commission, 2005). in the czech republic, macedonia, and romania, students are required to take a separate course in civics; notably, the czech republic and romania are members of the european union (which encourages civic education). macedonia received full candidate status in the eu in 2005, and serbia received full candidate status in march 2012. in serbia and ukraine, civic education classes are optional. across all sites, civic-related content is integrated into other courses such as history, geography, law, and ethics, to varying degrees. methodology students and settings secondary students (n = 2,848) from six countries were asked to complete a survey as part of an evaluation of an international civic education project.2 the students ranged in age between 13 and 19; the mean age of participants was 17.1 years. approximately 45% of the students were male, and 54% female. table 1 presents students’ demographic information by country. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 34 table 1: student demographics by country site number of students mean age of students (range) gendera f m czech republic 261 18.0 (13-19) 59.0% 41.0% macedonia 97 16.6 (14-18) 60.8 39.2 romania 163 17.3 (13-19) 52.8 47.2 serbia 170 17.4 (16-19) 39.4 60.0 ukraine 94 15.7 (13-19) 55.3 44.7 united states 2063 17.0 (13-19) 53.5 46.3 total 2848 17.1 (13-19) 53.8 45.4 athe total number of students is more than the number of students who identified themselves on the questionnaire as male or female, because some students chose not to indicate their gender. u.s. students were from various sites across the country, including: bloomington/evansville, indiana; chicago metro; columbia, south carolina; denver; fairfax county, virginia; los angeles metro; montgomery country, maryland; and new jersey. schools in the united states represented a diverse range of settings and student populations, including urban, suburban, and rural schools; schools with ethnically homogenous and ethnically heterogeneous student populations; and schools surrounded by affluence and those engulfed in poverty. data collection we collected data on students’ conceptualizations of democracy, demographic characteristics, levels of political engagement, and perceptions of classroom climate. all surveys were conducted in the spring of 2008. conceptualizations of democracy. this study focused on students’ responses to one open-ended question (previously developed by flanagan et al., 2005): people have different ideas about what it means for a society to be a democracy. in your own words, what does democracy mean to you? journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 35 we chose this open-ended format as opposed to students checking those characteristics they most associate with democracy from a prescribed list for several reasons. first, democracy is a complex and contested concept. there is disagreement among political scientists and theorists as to the most salient characteristics of democracy (miller et al., 1997). any prescribed list would likely be inadequate in accounting for the complexity of the concept. second, this format allows us to explore the meanings students bring to the concept of democracy. if we had presented students with a prescribed list of definitions and/or characteristics of democracy, we might have limited their responses and students would have been more likely to guess due to the low effort associated with marking predetermined options. along these same lines, we are more likely to uncover their misconceptions about democracy through this format. third, as previously noted, to our knowledge only two previous studies and two assessments have used the open-ended format with students. if we had multiple studies over time that showed a relatively limited number of similar responses, we might be comfortable using a checklist. finally, that the study was conducted in multiple nations, each with different political histories and cultures, suggests that responses might be quite varied, and in ways that we as europeanamericans might not have anticipated. demographic information. we collected information on gender because its impact on civic knowledge has been mixed over the years. in general, while past studies have shown males to be more knowledgeable than females, more recent studies show either no differences or a female advantage. the cived study (data collected in 1999) showed males significantly outperformed females in 11 of 28 countries (though differences were small), with no differences in the remaining countries. conversely, the iccs study (data collected in 2008-09) revealed that in 31 of 38 countries, females significantly outperformed males, with some countries showing substantial differences. in the united states, neither of the most recent two naep studies showed significant differences in civic knowledge among adolescents by gender (lutkus & weiss, 2007; national center for education statistics, 2011). across countries, we collected students’ self-report of the number of books in their home, a proxy for socioeconomic status used by the cived study. students were asked to estimate the number of books in their home, with response options including: none, 1-10, 11-50, 51-100, 101-200, 200+. in the united states, we asked students to report their typical grades in social journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 36 studies (mostly as, bs, cs, or ds). we did not collect this information in the post-communist countries due to the different types of evaluation systems. political engagement students’ level of political engagement was reflected by the mean response to four items: i know more about politics than most people my age; when political issues or problems are being discussed, i usually have something to say; i am able to understand most political issues easily; and i am interested in politics. for each item, students could respond on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). cronbach’s alpha, an indicator of reliability, ranged from .697 in ukraine to .809 in macedonia. open classroom climate the six-item scale from the cived study was used to measure students’ perception of an open classroom climate. this measure was used at an individual level, that is, we used students’ individual perceptions as opposed to an average classroom score. in the present study, cronbach’s alpha for the classroom climate scale ranged from .734 in macedonia to .874 in serbia. students were given the survey in their native language; all surveys were translated and then back-translated. to limit the possibility of students’ statements being mistranslated, paraphrased, or summarized, all translators were instructed to translate all responses as literally as possible. coding procedures we began by tentatively using flanagan et al.’s system of coding, testing it first with a small number of responses from each of the countries. we were aware that the categories might not be appropriate, particularly for the european context. however, all but a very small percentage of responses could be categorized using flanagan’s framework. only 2.7% of the students’ responses were those that characterized democracy as ineffective, prone to corruption, or generally a bad form of government (e.g., “different name for a totalitarian regime” and “democracy is the worst form of dictatorship,” and “because it’s hypocritical and insincere, it doesn’t mean much to me”) and 1.6% of the students referred to economic issues (e.g., journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 37 “democracy means the ability for people to have the chance to prosper through hard work and competition”); the former were coded negative and the latter economic. a total of 150 of the students’ responses, evenly divided across sites, were categorized by all three coders. interrater agreement ranged from 91 – 94%. disputes were resolved through discussions among the three raters. typical responses in the freedoms and rights category included “freedom of speech and choice,” “we have the right to freely express our ideas,” and simply “freedom.” examples of responses in the representative government category included “power of the people,” “democracy is government of the people,” and “the people rule the country.” responses representative of the civic equality category included “everyone is treated equally,” “guaranteed rights for minorities,” and simply “equality.” responses categorized as vague/incorrect included “a form of government,” “joy – like a pepsi,” and “the government works as a service industry.” results young people’s definitions of democracy acceptable responses as shown in table 2, with the exception of the serbian students we surveyed, the vast majority of the students gave acceptable definitions of democracy. the percentages are similar, if not higher, to those found in surveys of adults. table 2: percentage of acceptable definitions of democracy by country country acceptable definitions no response, “don’t know,” vague, or incorrect czech republic 86.2% 13.8% macedonia 85.6 14.4 romania 85.3 14.7 serbia 41.2 58.8 ukraine 85.2 14.8 united states 77.7 22.3 journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 38 less than half of all the serbian students we surveyed offered acceptable definitions of democracy; the majority of serbian students did not respond at all. the serbian context is interesting because there has been (and is) intense political conflict in the country. a strong and vocal minority of the populace supports the ultranationalist policies of the milosevic era. with the backing of nato and the united states, kosovo (predominantly muslim and ethnic albanian) declared independence from serbia in the spring of 2008. this action is of particular interest to this study, as it occurred concurrently with our data collection. therefore, the intense emotions of the time may have impacted students’ survey responses. this is a highly volatile and contentious issue among many ethnic serbians. the serbian government has sought to have kosovo’s declaration of independence invalidated in the international court of justice. the united states led nato’s bombing of belgrade in the spring of 1999, a bombing campaign that lasted almost three months. combined with the u.s. stance on kosovo, we wonder if some of the serbian students reacted negatively because this was a survey conducted by a u.s. institution. alternatively, these students have likely seen a high level of political conflict during their lives. “democracy” may be such a muddled concept for them, or may hold such negative connotations, that they simply did not attempt to respond to the question. fully 12.8% of the serbian students offered negative definitions of democracy, a far higher percentage than students from any other country (in comparison, the next highest percentages of negative responses were from ukrainian students—6.8%—and u.s. students—2.8%). one 17-year-old serbian male wrote: “the term democracy does not exist to me. behind the word democracy mild fashism [sic] and nacism [sic] is hiding.” since 2001, students in serbia may elect to take either a course in religious education or civic education. the choice, according to two serbian civic education experts, “shows the existing division with the society between the modern, progressive serbia and the traditional, conservative serbia. the latter see civic education as something imposed and imported from abroad” (stevic & dudic, personal communication, february 2009). they went on to say, however, that although they support civic education, the course has been poorly conceptualized and teachers are ill prepared to teach it. a major revision of the civic education curriculum for the high school is currently in progress. with the exception of the serbian students, however, students from all other countries demonstrated an understanding (albeit often a simplistic one) of democracy. regardless of whether students lived in a more established or a more recent democracy, or the degree to journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 39 which political rights and civil liberties were supported in their country, the vast majority of students were able to offer a valid definition of democracy. categories of responses across countries, students were most likely to describe democracy in terms of freedoms and rights, and least likely to mention civic equality as an aspect of democracy (see table 3). table 3: students’ conceptions of democracy by country and category country rights, freedoms representative democracy civic equality czech republic 76.2% 58.2% 15.3% macedonia 63.9 37.1 26.8 romania 73.0 21.5 8.6 serbia 24.7 20.0 14.7 ukraine 60.6 27.7 21.3 united states 46.4 46.0 8.9 except in the united states, students were also more likely to mention freedoms and rights than representative democracy. the results are consistent with surveys of adults, which show that rights and freedoms are foremost in the minds of the citizens when they think of democracy, and particularly so in recent democracies (dalton et al., 2007a). u.s. students were almost equally as likely to define democracy in terms of rights and freedoms as they were in terms of representative democracy. there are several ways to interpret this finding. first, other research suggests that after a strong emphasis on rights and freedoms, the more experience a society has with democracy, the more likely citizens will also associate democracy with its procedural aspects. second, the survey was conducted in spring 2008, a time when the presidential primaries were receiving an unprecedented amount of media coverage in the united states. this factor could have prompted students to give more processoriented responses. finally, many of the u.s. students who completed the survey were in civics or government classes, courses that tend to emphasize the procedural aspects of democracy. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 40 complexity of responses we identified complexity of responses by adding the number of separate categories mentioned in a student’s answer. students received one point for each valid response in terms of individual rights, representative rule, and civic equality, as well as other reasonable responses which fell outside these three categories (e.g., economic issues). the higher the number of categories in which we could place a single student’s response, the higher her or his score in terms of complexity. complexity scores could range from 0 to 3+ (see table 4). zero indicates a student didn’t answer the question or gave only an incorrect or vague response. table 4: complexity of students’ conceptions of democracy by country country 0 (no response, vague, incorrect, “don’t know”) 1 2 3+ (more complex) czech republic 13.8% 25.3% 54.4% 6.5% macedonia 14.4 49.5 28.9 7.2 romania 14.7 69.9 12.9 2.5 serbia 57.6 25.3 15.9 1.2 ukraine 14.9 62.8 19.1 3.2 united states 21.9 55.7 20.5 1.9 overall, the czech and macedonian students demonstrated the highest levels of complexity (the mean age of the czech students was 18, the highest of the six countries, but macedonian students were the second youngest group with a mean age of 16.6). several students’ responses from the czech republic and macedonia illustrate the relatively complex nature of their conceptions of democracy. democracy means to have a democratic regime in the country; basic freedoms and rights for all citizens; a right to participate through the politicians in the governance of the state. (czech male, 17 years old) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 41 the freedom of speech and movement within the existing rules, which have been set by a democratic process. (czech female, 18 years old) democratic society is one that allows its citizens to express themselves freely their ideas and opinions in all areas regardless of their age, sex and ethnic group. (macedonian male, 16 years old) democracy, for me, means everybody to have the same rights and privileges and be able to express his opinions and ideas. (macedonian male, 15 years old) each of these responses includes more than one aspect of democracy (i.e., rights and freedoms and/or representative government and/or civic equality). that the students from the czech republic and macedonia should score higher in terms of the complexity with which they define democracy might be attributed to their countries’ requirement that students complete a course specifically devoted to civic education. young people in macedonia are required to pass an examination that includes civics in order to advance and/or graduate; czech students may choose to take civics as one of their standardized exit exams. additionally, after the velvet revolution in 1989, a wide range of civics education projects were implemented in the czech republic, such as civitas, street law, and project citizen, providing teacher in-service training and curriculum resources. klicperová-baker (2008), a czech scholar in political psychology, describes the czech political culture as a “robust civic culture characterized by relative sophistication, loyalty without blind devotion and realistic levels of trust in democratic institutions” and notes further that “the manifestations of post-communist syndrome, alienation or disaffected egalitarianism were less prominent than in other countries in the region” (p. 167). the czech republic also leads the other post-communist countries in our study on a number of dimensions, such as educational attainment and gross domestic product per capita. predictors of complexity for each country’s group of students, we explored whether demographic characteristics, students’ level of political engagement, and students’ perception of classroom climate impacted the complexity with which they defined democracy. in romania and ukraine, none of the variables were significantly correlated with the complexity of students’ definitions. there journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 42 were no differences by age or gender, and neither political engagement nor classroom climate was associated with the complexity of students’ definitions of democracy. among the czech students, those who reported a higher level of political engagement were also more likely to offer more complex definitions of democracy (p<001). classroom climate was a statistically significant predictor of complexity in both macedonia and serbia, but in different ways. among the macedonian students, those who reported a more open, supportive classroom climate were likely to give more complex responses when defining democracy (p=.014). this is the relationship between classroom climate and complexity that we had expected. but among the serbian students, the result was the opposite: students who reported more closed classroom climates were more likely to give complex definitions of democracy (p=.029). in the united states, students’ self-report of grades and ethnicity were added to the model. table 5: descriptive statistics for u.s. students percentage ethnicity american indian or alaskan native 1.4% asian or pacific islander 8.5 black or african american 16.1 latino or hispanic 28.9 white 37.1 multiracial or multiethnic 5.6 other race or ethnicity 2.4 english language most often spoken at home yes 74.2 no 25.8 born in united states yes 86.1 no 13.9 mean (sd) classroom climate (1 = closed, 4 = open) 3.50 (.50) political engagement (1 = low; 4=high) 2.73 (.62) average grades (1 = ds, 4 = as) 3.13 (.80) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 43 table 6 shows the results of the analysis. females and younger students were more likely to give complex responses. students’ reported level of political engagement (high) and perception of classroom climate (positive) were statistically significant predictors of complexity. students who reported higher average grades in school were more likely to offer complex definitions of democracy. the only differences in terms of ethnicity were between african americans and whites; the former offered less complex definitions of democracy than did the latter. none of the following were statistically significant predictors of complexity: reported number of books in the home (a proxy for socioeconomic status), immigrant status, and language spoken at home. note, however, that our model accounts for only 7.5% of the variance in scores. thus, many of the factors that impact students’ understanding of democracy are unaccounted for. for example, we did not include political discussion at home in our analysis, nor did we assess students’ political knowledge per se. the variable number of books in home may not be as accurate a proxy for socioeconomic status that it once was, given that books are increasingly downloaded in electronic format. further, lower income students may use the library more frequently than their counterparts, and thus don’t have an accumulation of books in the home. the overall results certainly point to the need for greater exploration. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 44 table 6: predictors of complex definitions of democracy among u.s. students: test of between-subjects effects source type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. corrected model intercept gender birth country ethnicity english spoken at home age political engagement classroom climate average grades books error total corrected total 129.093a 7.087 11.495 .762 12.976 .241 3.991 15.724 8.982 29.459 .833 1441.846 8410.000 1570.939 15 1 1 1 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1858 1874 1873 8.606 7.087 11.495 .762 2.163 .241 3.991 15.724 8.982 29.459 .833 .776 11.090 9.132 14.813 .981 2.787 .310 5.143 20.262 11.575 37.961 1.074 .000 .003 .000 .322 .011 .578 .023 .000 .001 .000 .300 r squared = .082 (adjusted r squared = .075) note. gender (1=male, 2=female), birth country (1 = u.s., 2 = other), english spoken at home (0 = no, 1 = yes), political engagement (1 = low, 4 = high), classroom climate (1=closed, 4=open), average grades (1=d, 4=a). discussion similar to previous studies (sigel & hoskin, 1981; flanagan et al., 2005), the majority of students surveyed in the present study were able to give acceptable definitions of democracy, regardless of whether they lived in an established or more recent democracy, and regardless of the degree to which their country exhibits strong support for political rights and civil liberties. students from serbia were the one exception; we suspect that these students have received many mixed messages about the nature of democracy as an ideal and as practiced, and thus had conflicting beliefs as they attempted to respond to the question. their responses (and non-responses) may be reflective of the political tensions within the country. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 45 students across countries were most likely to define democracy in terms of rights and freedoms, and least likely to define it in terms of civic equality. this is consistent with sigel and hoskin’s (1981) findings, which found that adolescents associate democracy with the expected outcomes for individuals, and less so with the procedural aspects of democracy (representative government), or equal protections for all (civic equality). it was clear from our coding of the responses that the right to freedom of expression is a dominant theme among the adolescents. one might have expected more references to economics, particularly among students in the central/eastern european countries. but similar to dalton et al.’s findings among adults (2007b), few students mentioned economics (the highest percentage was in the united states—4%). in the united states, the difference between the percentages of students mentioning rights and freedoms and representative government was negligible. these themes reflect the focus of civics and government courses. analyses of history and civics textbooks and standards in the united states indicate a strong emphasis on individual rights (gonzales, riedel, avery, & sullivan, 2001). civics and government courses also tend to be very much oriented toward democratic processes and institutions. indeed, critics often claim that the procedural focus is so overwhelming that the potential excitement of civic and political life is all but extinguished (niemi & junn, 1998). in the central/eastern european countries, few of the experiences and demographic characteristics we had thought would be associated with complex definitions of democracy were statistically significant. only in the czech republic was the complexity of students’ responses associated with their reported level of political engagement. perhaps this is because the czech republic has a stronger history of a democratic civic culture. klicperova-baker (2008) writes: despite political turmoil and economic crisis in 1930s czechoslovakia remained democratic even when all its neighbors became authoritarian. the pride of the first czechoslovak republic and love for president masaryk survived almost half a century of nazi and communist propaganda. the collective memory of it is for the czechs a reference point of a golden age, a role model of a progressive, prosperous liberal democracy. (pp. 159-160) in romania and ukraine, none of the demographic characteristics or students’ levels of political engagement and perception of classroom climate was associated with complexity of definitions. we need to know more about the ways in which civic education is enacted in these journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 46 countries to develop an understanding of the results. one possibility is that democracy is taught as a term to be memorized and not deeply understood. in misco’s (2008) study of romanian education, he found: to some extent, the communist pedagogy still prevails within romanian education. the system of didactic instruction with a primary focus on recitation and recall is the stuff of authoritarian and totalitarian education, but it is also a current thread that weaves throughout many of today’s schools….national exams and communist-era teaching still emphasize the value of acquiring content knowledge at the cost of skills and dispositions. (p. 81) if democracy is yet another term to be memorized, then there is little reason to think students’ definitions would be associated with greater political engagement. this possibility may also account for the negative association between complexity and classroom climate in serbia. a strong pedagogical focus on memorization is more likely to engender a closed classroom climate, but might also result in students being able to offer “standard” definitions of democracy. in essence, in only two countries—macedonia and the united states—did classroom climate have the expected effect on understandings of democracy. it is perhaps worth remembering that in the two major international studies on civic education (cived and iccs), analyses showed that in approximately 20% of the countries, open classroom climate did not have a statistically significant, positive impact on civic knowledge. our understanding of classroom climate would be significantly enhanced if we probed more deeply into these cases. that is, why and in what contexts is an open and supportive classroom climate in which students feel free to express their opinions not predictive of students’ civic knowledge or understandings of democracy? we might also ask how these items are interpreted by students in various contexts. country context may shape how actions such as “presenting several sides of an issue” and “disagreeing openly with teachers” are interpreted by youth. in the united states, complexity was associated with a higher level of political engagement and students’ perceptions of a more open and supportive classroom climate. these are relationships that have been demonstrated with political knowledge in previous studies (andolina, jenkins, zukin, & keeter, 2003; torney-purta et al., 2001), i.e., students who report a more open classroom climate and those who are more politically engaged demonstrate higher political and civic knowledge (in these studies, the relationship between engagement and knowledge is quite strong, between classroom climate and knowledge more moderate). journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 47 not surprisingly, u.s. students who reported higher grades also demonstrated greater complexity. we had not expected, however, that younger students’ responses would be more complex than older students’ responses. a closer inspection of the data showed that 14and 15-year-olds gave the most complex responses. two possibilities may explain the results. first, this age group was most likely to be enrolled in civics classes at the time of the study. presumably there would be congruence between what they were studying at the time and a question about democracy. responding to a question about the nature of democracy would be aligned with the broader content of their class. students in history or geography classes, however, might find the item less aligned with their class curriculum, and thus devote less time to it. second, given that the surveys were voluntary and completed in the spring, seniors might have been nonchalant about responding to the item. females were likely to give more complex responses than were males; as mentioned previously, other research shows that the male advantage in political knowledge that used to be standard in surveys 15-20 years ago has given way to a slight female edge, particularly among adolescents. we were heartened to find no difference by socioeconomic status, at least as measured by the number of books in the home, but question whether this item is still a valid measure of socioeconomic status. that there were no statistically significant differences by immigrant status (born in the united states versus born in another country) is another positive finding, and bodes well for democracy in the united states. there was a difference, however, between african american and white students’ complexity scores, a difference that is similar to the civic achievement gap found in other surveys (african americans score lower than whites) (lutkus & weiss, 2007; national center for education statistics, 2011). implications and conclusions the students we surveyed are not necessarily representative of the students in their countries, i.e., these were samples of convenience and not representative. but country is a part of the context in which the students learn about and experience democracy, just as demographic factors such as gender and immigrant status provide a lens through which we see, the experiences we have, and the way in which we interpret those experiences. civic educators may be gratified to know that most students can give definitions of democracy, albeit often simplistic ones. country context does make a difference. in the nation with the highest level of political conflict (serbia), students were least likely to respond to the item. this journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 48 may represent lack of knowledge, disaffection with the concept of democracy, or distrust of the united states (the origin of the survey). perhaps most disconcerting was a response from one 17-year-old serbian male, who wrote: “democracy here didn’t even visit, let alone stay.” students in the newer democracies were most likely to define democracy in terms of individual outcomes--rights and freedoms. students in the most established democracy (united states) were just as likely to associate democracy with rights and freedoms as they were the procedural aspects of democracy. studies suggest that adults who associate democracy with institutions and processes (representative democracy) are more likely to support democratic practices and oppose practices antithetical to democracy (see dalton et al., 2008a). it is therefore noteworthy that 60% of czech students mentioned representative government in their definitions of democracy (the highest percentage of students), and that the czech republic has arguably made more progress in terms of re-establishing institutions that support democratic practices than the other central/eastern european countries in our study. the relatively low identification of democracy with civic equality across sites, but particularly in romania and the united states, suggests the need for more attention to the ways in which democracies guarantee equal protection under the law for all members of society. young people were quite likely to associate democracy with the right to freedom of expression, but we wonder if they appreciate that the right extends to all persons, and particularly to minority groups and those with whom one disagrees. this, of course, is one of the core principles and challenges of today’s democracies—respect for and protection of minority rights. we envision future work exploring in more depth students’ understandings of democracy and the conflicts inherent in democratic principles, and how they make sense of the inevitable tensions between democracy as an ideal and as practiced. the ways in which curriculum and pedagogical practices convey the meaning and practice of democracy in established and newer democracies is an area of critical import. this study gives a broad, general picture of the ways in which students define democracy; much work remains to be done to uncover the meanings and significance of that picture for students and their democracies. notes 1the responses to this question provided contextual information for our evaluation of the deliberating in a democracy (did) project (www.deliberating.org), but were not directly journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 49 related to the civic education project. the sample is a sample of convenience, determined by the countries and teachers who chose to participate in the project. (we served as the evaluators for the project, and thus were not involved in project implementation.) it is possible that the teachers who volunteered to participate in the project may have been more interested in the promotion of democratic practices both within their societies and their classrooms. because they chose to engage in professional development, they may represent a more effective and committed group of teachers. however, we assume that whatever effect this may have had on students' responses to the question, the effect would be similar across the population. 2the items are: students are encourages to make up their own minds about issues, teachers respect our opinions and encourage us to express them during class, teachers present several sides of an issue when explaining it in class, students feel free to express opinions in class even when their opinions are different from most of the other students, students feel free to disagree openly with their teachers about political and social issues during class, and teachers encourage us to discuss political or social issues about which people have different opinions. response options include strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. references ahamed, l. 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(2011). the nation’s report card: civics 2010 (nces 2011–466). washington, dc: institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education . http://www.civicyouth.org/popups/workingpapers/wp59kahne.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 25-51. corresponding author email: avery001@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 51 piattoeva, n. (2005). citizenship education as an expression of democratization and nationbuilding processes in russia. european education, 37(3), 38-52. schulz, w., ainley, j., fraillon, j., kerr, d., & losito, b. (2010). icss 2009 international report: civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement among lower-secondary school students in 38 countries. amsterdam, the netherlands: iea. sigel, r.s., & hoskin, m. (1981). the political involvement of adolescents. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. torney, j. v., oppenheim, a. n., & farnen, r. f. (1975). civic education in ten countries: an empirical study. new york, ny: john wiley and sons. torney-purta, j., lehmann, r., oswald, h., & schulz, w. (2001). citizenship and education in twenty-eight countries: civic knowledge and engagement at age fourteen. amsterdam, the netherlands: iea. u.s. census bureau. (2012, may). the foreign-born population in the united states: 2010 (acs19). retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf wenger, e. (1998). communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. new york, ny: cambridge university press. http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. from miami to moscow: critical dialogue in global education promoting critical dialogue in global education dr toni fuss kirkwood-tucker this edited keynote address was delivered at the fourth global learning conference at florida international university, april 4, 2014, by dr. toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, retired associate professor of social studies and global education, florida state university. ___________________________________________________________________________ when i visited china on a fulbright in 1985, our group stayed in the dormitories of beijing normal university. as we were settling down for the night on a straw-filled bed and a rice-filled pillow, suddenly beautiful voices entered our sparse dormitory, doors flung open and, following the sound, chinese students and american fulbrighters hurried down the stairs flocking around the only television in the building. cnn was broadcasting, we are the world. what a momentous time in the history of the world. some of the west’s best musicians had gathered pro bono to appeal to the world to feed hungry african children dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases. tell me, have the conditions of our world improved since then? have the prejudices ceased. do we still believe that hungry people are hungry because they are lazy? thank you for inviting me to discuss the importance of critical dialogue in global education at this conference. here, at florida international university (fiu), you have accomplished a remarkable feat in integrating a global perspective into curriculum and instruction in each college and department during the last four years, ranging from education to business to anthropology to architecture, to the social sciences to engineering, physics and mathematics, health, art, literature, medicine and law. you have established a successful national prototype in the infusion of global teaching and learning in your disciplines in higher education. congratulations to you on your exemplary vision. however your continued active role in this global initiative is critical. dewey (1901) said it best: the teacher is the most important figure in so far as the curriculum is concerned, and there is simply no point in attempting a reform of the curriculum without the active participation of the teacher (n. p.) likewise dr. edvard dmitrievich dneprov, the russian minister of education, appointed by president yeltsin, had this to say at the opening of russia’s first international education conference at sochi in 1991 after the fall of the berlin wall: it is education that is to destroy old-fashioned stereotypes and will change the psyche of the nation. it is education as well that is to lead the way in developing people’s democratic world outlook, their acquiring new political culture and their economic awareness. however, there is no room for complacency. an alarming study by the pew research center (2007), views of a changing world, found that the united states among all wealthy nations has the highest proportion of citizens who believed that “our culture is superior to others.” in its 2009 survey, threequarters of americans maintained that domestic concerns should take precedence over foreign corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 81 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. matters. even more tragic is the fact that the u.s. educational system supports national superiority in its curriculum (gaudelli, 2007; tye, 2009). the need for global education is a critical factor in the education of our youth if we are to promote greater acceptance of diversity and reduce stereotyping and prejudicial assumptions about the other and eliminate xenophobia. the other among us who is the other among us? the other comprises those individuals who are in the minority--the marginalized, the immigrant, the lgtb community, the homeless, the mentally ill, the vietnam veteran, the oppressed, the descendants of slavery. multiculturalist pang (2011) noted that “critical global education moves to eliminate the marginalization of many underrepresented communities such as the indigenous, people of color, and women” (p. 5). acceptance of the other is one critical aspect in global education that must be repeatedly stressed by the teacher—as the others are many of the very students who study on our campuses--the very students who are in your classrooms who, with determination, perseverance and sacrifices, study diligently to achieve a college degree. we, teachers, must do everything we can do for our students to accept differences and honor the voices of the other. conference of the association of international education administrators of great interest to you might be findings presented at the 2014 conference of the association of international education administrators (aiea) in how to effectively integrate international students on american campuses to maximize the potential for global learning. i suggest that these findings apply just as much on minority-majority campuses as on campuses in which there is a predominance of diversity. executive director of the aiea, and expert on intercultural competence, darla k. deardorff, stated: it’s not enough to say, look, we have x number of international students on campus. what difference does it make? we must ask: how can we better utilize those resources as well as our international faculty and scholars and--thinking broadly—the international backgrounds of staff on our campuses? (n. p., see redden, 2014.) the question of integrating international and domestic students is “an ongoing issue that has been with us for many years and unfortunately i have not found any institution yet that has found the answer,” stated deardorff (n. p., see redden, 2014). since campuses in recent years have seen huge influxes of international students across the u.s., the issue is how to effectively honor diversity on american campuses to maximize the potential for global learning that has taken on increasing salience. even at fiu, located in one of the u.s. most diverse metropolitan cities with a latin majority, minority students, particularly students of color, often feel alienated in the hispanic mainstream culture. fiu, like other universities, needs to do much more to bring domestic and international students together in an intentional way as interactions occurring naturally between foreign and domestic students are not sufficient. your challenge here at fiu is huge in order to instill in our students respect for the other to eradicate xenophobia. corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 82 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/04/international-educators-consider-challenges-integrating-students-abroad http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/04/international-educators-consider-challenges-integrating-students-abroad http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/04/international-educators-consider-challenges-integrating-students-abroad journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. researchers at the 2014 aiea conference, however, also found positive results. krista jenkins, director of international programs, farleigh dickinson university, who surveyed college students first as freshmen and then again as sophomores, found that the mere presence of international students does affect domestic student attitudes of entering u.s. college students with high levels of xenophobia as they became much less xenophobic if they had social contact with foreign-born students. she also found freshman and sophomore students on campuses with a higher density of international students were more likely to experience a decrease in globalization anxiety than students on campuses with a lower density of international students (redden, 2014). deardorff, however, warned that it’s not sufficient to simply bring people together even in the same classroom; neither does a one-time faculty training on intercultural competence work. her research is supported by philip g. altbach, professor and director of boston college's center for international higher education, who also emphasized that diverse student intermingling in itself is not sufficient in realizing the broad goal of “universalizing global learning” (redden, 2014). deardorff suggested instead that universities offer faculty numerous symposia with invited outside international speakers and working groups, and the pairing of international and domestic students such as through conversation partners and buddy programs. but importantly, intercultural programs designed to bring diverse students together are only effective when certain conditions are met, such as the existence of a common goal for some greater purpose with students directly interacting and the intentional commitment of faculty to such goals. successful intercultural interaction, then, can be brought about when students share common goals in arenas like service learning, research, and on sports teams. however, deardorff is convinced that it is faculty who play the key role in creating a context for effective intercultural experiences leading to intercultural competence. robert d. putnam, harvard university, observed that simply being in the vicinity of those who are different can sometimes lead to greater distrust and more suspicion so it is imperative that we are very intentional about how we create the environment for intercultural integration (redden, 2014). an alarming study published in the journal of international and intercultural communication in 2012 found that nearly 40 percent of international students in the u.s. report having no close american friends (redden, 2014). i admit to my own failings when attempting to create a cross-cultural dialogue between asian and africanamerican graduate students during my tenure at florida state university. suggestions for pedagogy the following ideas are some suggestions for a pedagogy that can assist you in the process of promoting intercultural communication, cross-national understanding, and respect of the other--key components for minority/majority student integration on university campuses. in your teaching, you may consider applying the hanvey (1976) conceptual framework in how to teach from a global perspective. the hanvey conceptual framework this classic and oldest framework in the field of global education is the most frequently used framework by teachers in the us to globalize curriculum and instruction. an anthropologist by training, hanvey (1976) has the distinction of being among the first u.s. global educators in the corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 83 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=12802663 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/14/new-study-finds-many-foreign-students-lack-american-friends journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. 1960s and ‘70s to propose strategies applicable in the classroom to globalize teaching and learning. the framework consists of five dimensions. you can choose one or two or all five dimensions as you see fit since you are the sole decision-maker in your classroom. indeed—you are the intellectual shepherd in the vast fields of the universe in the attempt to bring your diverse sheep together into a holistic integrated learning body. state of the planet awareness the first dimension of the framework is the state of the planet awareness. it addresses the importance of possessing knowledge of prevailing world conditions such as population growth, human migrations, economic conditions, diminishing resources, political developments, science and technology, law, health, inter-nation and intra-nation conflicts. in short: students should learn about the latest events and developments occurring in the contemporary world as well as their causes and effects, such as the recent events in the ukraine, where anti-government demonstrations literally led to the deposition of its president, leading to the resultant russian annexation of the crimea. other examples might be the ongoing civil war in syria, the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into lebanon, turkey and jordan and the ramifications of interrupted schooling for tens of thousands of children in the middle east—or, moving to another continent, brazil’s anxiety in preparation for the world cup and summer olympics, and its concomitant problems of infrastructure needs and removal of the favelas to the outskirts of the city, etc. international students could report on the happenings in their own country, which can lead to their own pride as well as to greater awareness among domestic students in changing their attitudes toward international students. this pedagogy is consistent with deardorff’s suggestion that students work in groups to discuss common goals of some greater purpose so that each gains more understanding of the other. professors of geography, in particular, must emphasize geographic concepts that american students have been found to lack in comparison to international students. perspective consciousness the second dimension proposed by hanvey for global teaching and learning is perspective consciousness. it is the recognition on the part of the individual that he or she has a view of the world that is not universally shared, that this view of the world has been and continues to be shaped by influences that often escape conscious detection, and that others have different views of the world that we must respect since in any field of study it is possible to take an international view of that field what textual, audio-visual or technological materials, then, can we use to demonstrate that individuals, groups and nations have different belief systems on issues that we must respect? that their voices are honored? you can use primary source documents--for the immediacy of the perspectives (slave diaries); role play-for understanding viewpoints and multiple perspectives; humor--political cartoons can be very helpful in this regard; case studies--that put a human face on issues with open-ended questions to promote discussion; the use of art--incorporating the arts from each of the respective groups can be eye-opening and uplifting as each image has a story to tell. the perspective consciousness or worldview, for example, of ukrainians and that of the russians regarding the russian annexation of the crimea consists of two diametrically opposed perspectives here. both parties believe they are right. should these diverse beliefs not be deeply examined before jumping to conclusions? research clearly shows that openmindedness toward the other is corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 84 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. associated with less chauvinistic bias, greater empathy for other cultures, and the expectation of complexity in the world (kirkwood-tucker, 2011; 2001; kolker, sheina & ustinova, 2009; liferov, kolker, ustinova, kriuchkov & sheina, 2005; merryfield, 2009). however, it is important to acknowledge that discussing differences in worldviews is complex. teachers are cautioned as to the difficulties encountered in the struggle for cross-cultural knowing. heilman (2009) warned that we will never fully know who the other is. she believes that coming to know across difference is an acutely difficult process when advocating appreciation for multiple perspectives denies or underestimates the discomfort of real difference and active tolerance and cross-cultural knowing and does not require complete and nonjudgmental acceptance (the topic of female circumcision, for example). but it does require respect for differences. crosscultural awareness the third dimension proposed by hanvey is cross-cultural awareness, which constitutes an awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices to be found in human societies around the world, an understanding of how such ideas and practices compare, and a sense of how the ideas and ways of one’s own society might be viewed from others’ vantage points---leading to empathy and transpection of the other. deardorff proposed that students interact collectively to discuss common goals of some greater purpose. so---you, the teacher, can choose a common goal of significance related to your own discipline that you wish to emphasize such as: • the immigrant experience • business practices in industrialized and non-industrialized nations • civil rights challenges • family values • climate change • environmental conservation • common humanity • nobel prize winners in your discipline • courtship norms; marriage laws • international designs in architecture • child trafficking • human rights violations • health care • infant mortality among cultures for example, in florida, the average white infant mortality rate from 2007 to 2009 was 5.5 per 1,000 live births; the african-american infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was more than double at 12.7 (state health facts, 2011). what great discussion should ensue from these findings. you might ask your students: what are the live births in cuba? haiti? mexico? japan? zimbabwe? indonesia? you can identify a local social issue and compare its similarities and differences in the different cultures of the student represented in your classroom. such discussion can promote cross-cultural understanding leading to empathy and transpection. empathy evokes the deep sadness for the suffering of the other. transpection comprises the highest level of empathy when the individual begins to think and feel like the other. such changes generally occur when one lives or works in another culture for a long time—like our peace corps volunteers. corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 85 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. culturally-responsive teaching is critical. my empirical study (kirkwood-tucker, 2009) of a large k-12 sample of students in miami’s schools revealed that when students deepened their knowledge and understanding of the other they demonstrated greater acceptance of diversity and reduced stereotyping and prejudicial assumptions about the other. merryfield (2002) found that global education fostered students’ compassion for others in the larger world---emotions that pave the way to wanting to understand and help the other who experience pain just like us. my ten-year work in the miami schools brings the following cross-cultural misunderstanding incident to mind: one of our to-be-globally-trained elementary teachers received a student from ethiopia in her class. the students and teachers were excited—until lunch time. when the children brought their lunch trays to the table, the ethiopian student asked permission to go to the restroom. the elementary students were half-way through eating when she finally reappeared. the teacher scolded her in front of her peers telling the newcomer that she is now in america and must follow american rules. what was she doing so long in the restroom? with a sea of tears rolling down her cheeks the ethiopian student sat down, and began to eat with her hands. the classmates and the teacher gasped, rolling their eyes and starting to laugh…did the teacher not know that there is an elaborate cultural cleansing ritual of hands preceding eating---and that many cultures in the world use one’s god-given hands to eat? what does a teacher have to do to avoid such cultural embarrassment? miami being one of the most diverse cities in the world, let’s ensure that such tragedies do not happen in your classrooms. knowledge of global dynamics the fourth dimension of hanvey’s conceptual framework, knowledge of global dynamics, for global teaching and learning, is defined as some modest comprehension of key traits and mechanisms of the world systems, with emphasis on theories and concepts that may increase intelligent consciousness of global change. in essence, the dimension speaks to the world’s increasing globalization and its interconnectedness to the world’s nations and people, suggesting that students should possess some modest comprehension of world systems. can you, in your discipline, • demonstrate to your students the interconnectedness of the human family that leads to a sense of global belonging with all humanity? • illustrate how the world is interconnected historically, economically geographically, culturally, technologically, and academically? ---leading your students to move from national independence thinking to international interdependence thinking in your particular discipline? can you demonstrate to your students • the linkages or interconnections between, for example, the origin of math or the origin of writing in the middle east? which leads to respect for the other and pride of the other. can you illustrate to your students the global connectivity of goods and services of resources, of ideas, of student and teacher exchanges, of international faculty partnerships? can you show to students • how human interrelationships among peoples of the world create a web of cross-cultural interconnectedness? that effective communication among nations can prevent ethnic conflict among groups? that the effects of a breakdown in communication among nations, including the united states, neighboring countries, the people themselves can lead to war? corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 86 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. hanvey warned of unanticipated consequences of an event. a classic example of unanticipated consequences in interconnectedness is the nestle baby formula catastrophe where women in nonindustrialized nations were suggested to use instant formulas for their newborns so they could be freed from breastfeeding and have the opportunity to work. nestle, however, failed to think of the contaminated water used with the formula---resulting in permanent physical and mental impairment of thousands of babies in non-industrialized nations. you may ask, “were the nestle executives aware of this?” a question, in a business class, for example, that would surely lead to heated discussions of business ethics. awareness of human choices hanvey’s fifth and final dimension of awareness of human choices addresses the problems of choice confronting individuals, nations, and the human species a consciousness and knowledge of global systems expand. this dimension probes the choices made by individuals/ groups/nations on the local, national and international levels. students are placed in a problem-solving decision-making mode to examine the context within which decisions were made. they are asked to hypothesize alternative solutions, like in the case of mr. putin’s decision in the annexation of the crimea. the teacher may ask: • what historical/geopolitical reasons did the russian president have to make this decision? • what other choices did mr. putin have? • are our actions important enough to bring about change? such a question can lead to individual empowerment and action. or---the teacher can play the devil’s advocate, stating: this problem is too big for us to address---testing student responses to such a statement. as merryfield (2009) found, the relationship between efficacy, empowerment, and the ability of an individual clearly makes a difference in global engagements. applying the hanvey framework to the classroom when applying these five dimensions, you might ask: where in the curriculum is it most effective? should it be spontaneous in every class or in every wednesday class only? only you can make the decision about when it is most appropriate during the instructional process. but surely you can include one or more dimensions in teacher led-discussions in average-sized classes in collaborative groups divided equally among majority and minority students, and in team-based learning groups of 7 or more in your big classes with international and domestic students equally represented in every group. the suggestions above require that both teacher and students practice reflexivity---thinking about what works and what does not; active listening to all voices, and, ideally, journaling. recommendations following are some recommendations for building a more peaceful world: welcome your students in the languages they represent; learn additional innocuous words like como esta, nihou, wie geht es ihnen; and complimentary words like great, wonderful, please and thank you. in your classes, pair students from different cultures and have them formally introduce each other to the whole class on the first day of the semester. emphasize the affective domain by opening doors to group work or team-based learning so students are compelled to communicate interculturally. in your small classes, have students ask each other teacher-prepared questions of a common intentional goal. in your large classes, use team-based learning strategies with intentionally intercultural teams. critical corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 87 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. is that you divide the groups to ensure that minority and majority students are equally presented in each group. another recommendation i would like to make is simulating the united nations. it is a wonderful and effective culminating activity at the end of the semester or academic year even though it requires major organizational skills and time to include students in all disciplines. invite fulbright scholars in your disciplines; invite speakers who have lived abroad into your classrooms; engage with the local visitors’ bureau; promote student and teacher exchanges; engage in faculty partnerships with international scholars; support or build a school in needy neighboring country. in summary, fiu’s global initiative provides the ideal framework by which to transform global teaching and learning into global engagement—the willingness to help others. the global learning for global citizenship component is the optimal goal of global education as we seek to become cosmopolitan citizens who must accept the other, reduce stereotyping and false assumptions, eliminate xenophobia, and take responsibility for solving the problems of mother earth. you are representing fiu’s multiple disciplines. what great fortune for fiu’s students to be exposed to the diversity of cultures, architecture; literature and poetry; dance and theatre; business practices; rules of law; forms of governments, engineering craftsmanship, etc. that exist in other parts of the world where—in many cases—they began. with the world becoming increasingly violent, teaching from a global perspective requires deepening complexity and sophistication if we are to achieve social justice and a more peaceful world for all members of the human family. lived experiences you might ask why my passion for global teaching and learning is embedded so deeply in my psyche? there are many reasons. i will mention five. first, because i am a teacher—the noblest of all professions. it is my strong belief that good teachers, outside the family, have the greatest opportunity to reach our youth. second, because global education is humanistic, integrative, interdisciplinary, inclusive, generic, and comprises a viable strategy for democratizing education. third, my passion for global teaching and learning is embedded deeply in my psyche because my beliefs about the larger world have been shaped by memorable experiences during my travel-study trips to england, vietnam, cambodia, europe and nepal, japan, peru, israel and jordan and by international conferences in russia and siberia, korea, south africa, zimbabwe, the caribbean, canada, and mexico, as well as two fulbright fellowships to china and russia. these experiences have taught me that the world is filled with kind, caring, talented people--many of whom have been victims of corrupt governments, colonialism, and greed. their deprivation did not prevent them from moving forward selflessly to improve the lives of others. i believe that all human beings on this earth are born with the innate capacity of goodness. a fourth reason for my passion for global education is my border-crossing experiences when i left southern germany for the deep south of the united states in the early 1960s. not only was i traumatized by shotgun houses, rocking chairs on front porches, and 100-degree weather, but by the segregation of african-americans in daily life such as separate water fountains or being confined to the back of the bus. i was traumatized by the refusal of my mother-in-law’s maid, yvonne, to eat at the same table with me and by her request to drop her off at the corner of the housing-project when corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 88 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. she finally consented to let me drive her home. i was traumatized by cities burning; demonstrators beaten and killed; unnerving race riots, the discovery in my first year of teaching at the height of integration in miami’s schools that my bussed-in black middle-schoolers from liberty city had never seen the atlantic ocean nor even dipped their toes in the warm waters of the atlantic ocean (i took them on this very fieldtrip). the fifth reason and, perhaps, most passionate reason for my deep belief in the criticality of global education stems from my experiences growing up during the nazi era. i clearly remember the scene when our village priest entered our classroom one morning, climbed on the teacher’s chair behind the desk, removed the hand-carved crucifix from the wall and replaced it with a framed picture of hitler. this was catholic bavaria. the mayor, priest, and teachers were the prominent individuals in the village. the priest stepped down from the chair and told the class: “from now on, when your teacher comes into the room, you will no longer pray. instead, you stand up, salute hitler, and shout ‘sieg heil’ three times. only then are you allowed to sit down. second, when you greet people in the street you no longer greet them with ‘gruess gott, frau meier, but you raise your arm and say, ‘sieg heil, frau meier.’” as a first-grader i thought jesus coming down from the wall was cool. i always felt sorry for him having to hang from a cross. when i informed my father of this exciting event, he grabbed me by the arms and spoke in no uncertain terms: “i forbid you to salute hitler in the classroom or in the streets, do you understand? do not let me catch you.” from the next day on, i had to remain one hour longer in school every day cleaning blackboards, floors, and windows until the end of the school year. when the priest came to the house to speak about my disobedience, papa threw him out of the house, calling him einen schwarzen lumpen —a black-frocked bandit. my family had become the other in the village. when my little brother was born in our house in 1944, i asked my mother why dr. kohlmeier did not deliver him like he did me and my sister, mama responded that she could not find him. my father, just arriving from munich where he worked in the messerschmitt factory after being injured in the war, yelled at my mother, “tell her the truth. dr. kohlmeier is a jew, and he was taken away. who knows in which concentration camp he and his family were killed.” mama started moaning, and i begged my father to tell me about the camps. he ranted for hours as he spoke to his seven-year-old first-born child of the horrors of concentration camps… especially in nearby dachau... you can understand more fully now, i think, why i see global education not as a choice, but as a vital imperative in education. you now can understand my passion for global education and my belief in its power over time to dispel prejudice, intolerance and marginalization illuminating the way to intercultural understanding and respect for the other that will help us build a more harmonious world. thank you.” bibliography dewey, j. (1901). speech given at the national education association meeting. chicago, ill. hanvey, r. g. (1976). an attainable global perspective. new york: the american forum for global education. gaudelli, w. 2007). global courts, global judges, and a multicitizen curriculum. theory and research in social education, 35(3), 465-491. corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 89 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. heilman, e. e. (2009). terrains of global and multicultural education: what is distinctive, contested, and shared? in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), vision in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp.25-46). new york: peter lang. kirkwood-tucker, t. f. (2009). from the trenches: the integration of a global perspective in curriculum and instruction in the miami-dade county public schools. in t. f. kirkwoodtucker (ed.), vision in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 137-162). new york: peter lang. kirkwood-tucker, t. (2011). what kind of teachers will teach our children? the worldmindedness of undergraduate elementary and secondary social studies teacher candidates at five florida public universities. the international journal of development education and global learning, 3(3), 5-28. kirkwood-tucker, t. (2001). building bridges: miami “ambassadors” visit russia. social education, 65(4), 236-239. kolker, j. m., sheina, i., & ustinova, e. (2009). the russian experience in integrating global perspectives in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), vision in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp.163-186). new york: peter lang. liferov, a., kolker, j., ustinova, e, kriuchkov, v. & sheina, i. (2005). a global perspective as a vehicle for education. ryazan russia: ryazan state university press. merryfield, m. m. (2009). moving the center of global education: from imperial world views that divide the world to double consciousness, contrapuntal pedagogy, hybridity, and crosscultural competence. in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 215-239). new york: peter lang. merryfield, m. m. (2002). the difference a global educator can make. educational leadership 60(2), 18-21. pang, v. o. (2011). what’s taught in global education? critical global perspectives. book review. theory and research in social education, 39(4), 576-580. pew research center for the people and the press (2003). views of a changing world. washington, d.c. accessed from pew research center website: http://www.peoplepress.org/files/legacy-pdf/185.pdf pew research center for the people and the press (2009, may 21). independents take center stage in obama era: trends in political values and core attitudes: 1987-2009. washington, d.c. accessed from http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/517.pdf redden, e. (february 20, 2014). students at michigan state university: integrating international students. inside higher ed. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/20/gathering-senior-internationalcorresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 90 http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/517.pdf http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/20/gathering-senior-international-educators-integration-international-students-was%23ixzz2ulzppxbk journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 81-91. educators-integration-international-students-was#ixzz2ulzppxbk. accessed march 20, 2014. state health facts (2009). infant mortality rate between 2007 and 2009. the henry j. kaiser family foundation. http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/infant-death-rate-byraceethnicity/ accessed april 1, 2014. tye.k. a. (2009). a history of the global education movement in the united states. in t. f. kirkwoodtucker (ed.), vision in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 3-24). new york: peter lang. corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 91 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/20/gathering-senior-international-educators-integration-international-students-was%23ixzz2ulzppxbk hanvey, r. g. (1976). an attainable global perspective. new york: the american forum for global education. journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 teachers’ perspectives on global citizenship education in central appalachia eric d. moffa washington and lee university abstract: this paper reports on a sequential mixed-methods (quan  qual) study that explored rural appalachian teachers' perspectives and pedagogical decisions about global citizenship education (gce). in phase one, a questionnaire was completed by social studies teachers (n=19) from remote and distant rural high schools located in central appalachia across two states. closed-ended items were analyzed through descriptive statistics. open-ended items were coded to elicit themes that helped to answer the research questions. in phase two, two participants from the original sample were interviewed to uncover their experiences navigating gce in their unique community contexts. findings suggest social studies teachers in rural appalachia, while not using the exact terminology of global citizenship, support multiple types of global citizenship aims. they tend to perceive their communities as homogenous, isolated, and conservative, which presented both challenges to and stimuli for teaching global curricula. participants tend to perceive much of their global curricula as contrarian in their communities and, therefore, rely on professional tact and community-based knowledge as rural natives to inform their pedagogical decisions. key words: global citizenship education, rural education, appalachian studies introduction as the world becomes more transnational and interconnected, there is an increased need for global citizenship education (gce) (myers, 2006). gce is a pedagogy that aims to prepare students to understand and take action on global issues such as human rights, environment sustainability, and peace. (gaudelli & heilman, 2009; myers, 2006; noddings, 2005). however, mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 the increase in global interconnectedness has also led to a rise of anti-globalization sentiment among the working class as traditional job sectors wane (stiglitz, 2018). using nationalist rhetoric, politicians in various countries have capitalized and amplified these anti-global sentiments. for example, in the united states, donald trump used anti-global rhetoric and promises to revitalize the coal industry, a declining job sector in central appalachia, during his 2016 presidential campaign. he ultimately won a majority of votes in the region in 2016. the dichotomy of an increased need for gce and the rise of anti-global sentiments in places like central appalachia raise critical questions about the existence and characteristics of gce in the region’s schools. to help answer these questions, this study aims to uncover social studies teachers’ perspectives and practices of gce in rural appalachian high schools through an exploratory mixed-methods research design. likewise, it purposefully investigates the influence of teachers’ perceptions of their rural contexts on their gce curricula. review of related literature gce is an unsettled concept with multiple meanings and competing aims (goren & yemini, 2017). these competing aims are often due to opposing worldviews, values and definition of global citizenship (gaudelli, 2009; oxley & morris, 2013). in the present study, gce is broadly operationalized to encompass these competing views. for the purpose of this study, gce was understood as the integration of global-oriented content or experiences into a social studies curriculum to foster students’ knowledge, abilities, and/or dispositions to personally and collectively live in the world. this definition enabled multifaceted dimensions of gce to be explored through the concepts and experiences which participants themselves provide. several typologies have been created to organize the diverse aims of gce (goren & yemini, 2017). yemini suggests gce aims can be understood by three overarching types: relationship-focused, economic/neoliberalism-focused, or critical discourses (brehm, 2017). relationship-focused gce emphasizes aims related to cosmopolitanism, human mutuality, and care for others beyond national boundaries (gaudelli & heilman, 2009); economic and neoliberal discourses tend to emphasize knowledge and skills for individual or national competition in a global marketplace (gaudelli & heilman, 2009); and critical discourses apply marxist or colonial lenses to analyze unequal relations and systems that perpetuate unjust wealth and power inequality where some countries do the “globalizing” while other countries “are globalized” (andreotti, 2014, p. 3). the complexity of gce discourses in the academy have left teachers with little guidance for developing curricula. only 15 states in the u.s. have standards that incorporate exact or mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 synonymous terms of global citizenship (rapoport, 2009). few teachers mention global citizenship even when they incorporate “global, international, and comparative perspectives into citizenship education” (rapoport, 2010, p. 186). moreover, national interests complicate gce by pressuring teachers to further a country’s economic and political goals (goren & yemini, 2017); and, similarly, local community contexts can place pressures on teachers to adhere to certain value systems (rapoport, 2009). the influence of such pressures on teachers’ decision-making about gce is under-researched (goren & yemini, 2017). rural localities offer one specific under-researched context for gce. approximately 46% of the world’s population is rural, though china and india account for 45% of the world’s rural population (united nations department of economics and social affairs, 2014). in the united states, rural schools make up 28.5% of all schools and 19.3% of the nation’s students attend these rural schools (showalter et al., 2014). the size, demographics, and geographic remoteness of these schools vary (national center for education statistics, 2007). rural schools offer frequently overlooked strengths, such as small class sizes, established personal relationships, and feelings of safety and care (herzog & pittman, 1995). yet, the geographic remoteness of rural schools present structural challenges to non-traditional curricula like gce. for example, rural schools generally have fewer course offerings and less access to technology (bouck, 2004); recruiting and retaining teachers are persistent problems for rural schools (white & kline, 2012); and the professional isolation of rural teachers is a common concern (burton et al., 2013). structural issues facing rural schools likely work against the development of gce since non-state sponsored, emergent curricular initiatives depend on the professional knowledge and willingness of teachers to challenge or move beyond traditional curricula. rurality, as a sense of place and not only a geographic location, raises similar challenges to gce. global issues sometimes appear distant and disconnected from local rural life, sentiments, and ways of knowing (azano, 2011; waterson & moffa, 2015). research suggests rural people sometimes hold resentment toward urban places and political institutions that often have more economic and political power (cramer, 2016; sawhill, 2018). as noted above, the working class, common in many rural areas, have shown a tendency toward anti-globalism in the face of modern globalization which has gutted traditional job sectors (stiglitz, 2018). additionally, rural areas lean toward social conservativism (brown & schafft, 2011); and conservatives are more likely to view gce as a threat to national interests (grygiel, 2013; wood, 2014). relatedly, rapoport (2010) found that “small town mindsets” work against teaching ideas the community deems unpatriotic (p. 186). mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 teachers are tactful when making decisions about the curriculum due to the perceived values of their schools and communities (moffa, 2019; romanowski, 1996; thornton, 1989); yet, rural places generally suffer from misplaced assumptions and stereotypes and rural teachers can be complicit in propelling these stereotypes or misunderstandings of place (moffa, 2019). stereotypes of rural places can misguide curriculum development and lead to assumptive teaching. assumptive teaching is a problematic manner of instruction that stems from inaccurate assumptions about students. since rural places are not socially and politically monolithic, scholars call for researchers to challenge dominant narratives that might not be true about rural places (burton et al., 2013) and to better understand the specific rural conditions that impact a phenomenon (coladarci, 2007). the present study seeks to contribute authentic representations of rural schooling in central appalachia to help answer these calls. central appalachian contexts central appalachia is a region of the united states defined as the counties of west virginia, southeastern ohio, eastern kentucky, southwestern virginia, eastern tennessee, and western north carolina. these counties offer a distinct mountainous area whose per capita rural population is double the national average and whose population has higher than national averages for poverty and white racial identity (pollard & jacobsen, 2017). yet, catte (2018) criticizes such generalized data as it can misrepresent the complex realities of appalachia and promulgate longstanding stereotypes of the region as poor hillbillies and rednecks. for example, appalachia also contains urban centers, cultural diversity, and varied political beliefs and practices, but these characteristic are not often represented in national media outlets (catte, 2018). it should be noted that appalachia specifically has a long history of progressive labor activism (catte, 2018; schumann & adkins fletcher, 2016). appalachia has been theorized as an internal colony whose problems of poverty and negative stereotypes stem from the concentration of its land and resources in the hands of those who reside outside the region (lewis, 1978). the mining industry, led by exploitative “absentee investors” (eller, 1982, p.45), brought changes to the economic and political lives of central appalachia and intertwined the region with the national and global economy (eller, 1982). despite the public perception of the appalachia coal miner, only approximately 5% of people in the region today are employed in mining (housing assistance council, 2013). as coal mining declines, few alternatives with comparable wages exist. this economic plight fuels political mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 discontentment, particularly as livelihoods interweave with place-based identities that emphasize self-reliance, personal freedom, love of the land, and a strong sense of kinship (demarrais, 1998). the interaction between appalachian contexts and gce is unknown. appalachia, like all localities, are connected to global places through trade and commerce, historic and modern immigration patterns, and human mutuality (waterson & moffa, 2015). while traditional boundary lines between rural and non-rural are shifting and blurring due to fluctuating job markets and housing patterns (lichter & brown, 2011), these changes do not necessarily ease or erase the unequal distribution of political power, human capital, and resources. andreotti (2014) suggests connections between local places and global citizenship are fraught with issues of power that must be unpacked; that global citizenship is inherently tied to the local; and that questions should be raised about whose local gets globalized and whose local is diminished in the process. this relational dynamic offers a compelling point of entry into the study of appalachian-global relations and gce in the region. waterson & moffa (2015) theorize rural teachers can use local subject matter to bridge geographic divisions and develop global citizens that are critically conscious of place. however, little evidence exists of this “bridging” pedagogy in the current literature on gce. similarly, few studies privilege the voice of rural teachers that might speak to gce’s hurdles or pitfalls in the context of their schools and communities. theoretical framework gaudelli and heilman’s (2009) typology of global education provides the framework for this study. gaudelli and heilman (2009) suggest that some types of global education are more democratically-congruent than others (see table 1). since the central aim of social studies is preparing students for democratic citizenship (national council for the social studies, 2001), this framework provided a useful distinction between various types of gce aims that might be present in appalachian schools. the framework informed the construction of likert-scale items for a questionnaire used in phase one of the study. each likert-scale item was aligned to a global education type (see appendix a); however, the framework was not used prescriptively for all questionnaire items. since this study sought to specifically understand the influence of rural contexts – something outside the typology’s original purpose – several open-ended items were developed to encourage the sharing of respondents’ perspectives on rurality and a second qualitative phase of the study was conducted to uncover context-specific relationships between gce and rural places. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 table 1 global education typology (adapted from gaudelli and heilman, 2009) category type curricular goal more democraticallycongruent environmental focused problem based. provide awareness, inquiry, and skills for technical and human solutions to create a sustainable future. critical justice critique based. explore and critique power relations, oppression, and exploitation. cosmopolitan inquiry based. explore global experiences, foster personal/collective responsibility toward human rights, question cultural universals, and develop actions rooted in democratic processes/principles less democraticallycongruent disciplinary discipline based. learning global dimensions of history, economics, geography, or literature. avowedly apolitical. human relations socially based. develop social skills and crosscultural understanding, assert cultural universals, enhances personal identity and ability to achieve aims in social and business relations. neoliberal focused problem based. understand the global to maximize personal, national, economic, and geopolitical power/capital. in addition to this global education typology, waterson & moffa’s (2015) reconceptualized model of curriculum development for gce in rural areas informed the analysis of data in this study. waterson & moffa (2015) theorized that deweyan principles should be applied to rural gce to emphasize local relationships and place-consciousness, or the awareness of a place’s geography, culture, and history and its relationship to other places. their framework positions familiar mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 subject matter as the tool to stimulate new ways of observation and judgement on global issues. when developing gce curriculum, waterson & moffa (2015) recommend rural teachers utilize funds of knowledge which stem from three interconnected levels of rural life (i.e. student, home, and community) where the interests, values, and relationships of a place provide an accessible position from which to make connections to gce. findings were positioned against this theoretical model to assess the successes and challenges of connecting home or community life to rural-based gce. study design and methods in light of the dearth of knowledge of gce in rural appalachia, the present study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. what are high school social studies teachers’ gce aims in rural appalachia? 2. how do teachers’ perceptions of their rural contexts influence their decision-making about gce? this study was conducted in a two-phased mixed-methods design. mixed research enables a topic to be examined more comprehensively than using a sole method and, consequently, provides stronger evidence when drawing a conclusion (creswell & plano clark, 2007). this study utilized a quan  qual design where the qualitative component came after the quantitative component and was more heavily emphasized during the research process (see leech, 2012). the initial quantitative phase provided preliminary data and, therein, directed a purposeful, more robust qualitative investigation during the second phase of research. given the interand intracommunity diversity of appalachia (see moffa & mchenry-sorber, 2018; schumann & adkins fletcher, 2016), the qualitative component facilitated the collection of more rich, nuanced descriptions of the rural conditions influencing participants’ experiences than allowable in the quantitative components of phase one alone. lastly, the sequential design enabled a nested sampling of participants from the original quantitative sample and provided baseline data to help position interviewees’ responses. phase one – data collection and analysis in the first phase, data were collected via an electronic questionnaire. the questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended items. likert scale statements, aligned with gaudelli and heilman’s (2009) typology of global education, sought to examine teachers’ aims for gce. for example, one item stated, “global education should emphasize working together to improve mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 human rights around the world.” this statement corresponds with gaudelli and heilman’s cosmopolitan type of global education. next, a series of open-ended items were utilized to capture participants’ perspectives on gce. for example, one open-ended item stated, “in your own words, define a global citizen”. see appendix a for the full questionnaire. prior to distribution, the questionnaire was piloted with three social studies teachers known professionally by the researcher in one rural appalachian school. this group provided feedback about the relevancy and usefulness of the items in depicting their gce perspectives and pedagogies. this feedback led to a refinement of questionnaire items for clarity and relevancy. to sample participants, the researcher used the national center for education statistics (2007) searchable database of public schools. schools were identified in the central appalachian region of two states with the designation of "remote" or "distant" rural. remote rural territories are located at least 25 miles from an urbanized area (50,000 or more residents) and at least 10 miles from an urbanized cluster (25,000 to 50,000 residents). distant rural territories are 5 to 25 miles from an urbanized area or 2.5 to 10 miles from an urbanized cluster. central appalachia was selected as the sole rural region to provide a geographically bound area for examination with some distinct characteristics. with the help of an undergraduate assistant, a database was constructed containing 99 high school social studies teachers from the region’s rural schools. each teacher had a publically available and functioning email address. the electronic questionnaire was sent to this sample. after the initial email and two follow-up emails to encourage participation, the questionnaire received a 20% response rate (n=19). likert-scale item responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and open-ended items were analyzed using consecutive rounds of open and pattern coding to elicit themes that answered the research questions. codes that aligned with gaudelli & heilman’s (2009) typology were noted. inferential statistics were not analyzed in this study due to the low number of participants. phase two – data collection and analysis two of the original participants from phase one of the study volunteered to be interviewed over the phone for a second phase of data collection. no additional sampling criteria was used for the selection of these participants due to the low number of volunteers for phase two. an interview protocol was created based on existing theories of gce and rurality, and findings from phase one. the phone interviews lasted approximately one hour. interviews were audio recorded and fully transcribed using microsoft word. then, textual data were analyzed using consecutive rounds of mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 open and pattern coding to reveal themes that helped answer the research questions. no a priori codes were used when analyzing the perceived impact of rural communities. in this way, themes arose from participants’ unique perspectives and narratives of teaching in rural appalachia. additionally, the researcher applied an interpretivist perspective to analyzing the data. interpretivism recognizes the inherent subjectivities of social science research and the researcher’s personal values that contribute to the social constructions of knowledge (denzin, 1994). participants and settings the two participants in phase two taught high school social studies in two different counties of central appalachia. some commonalities existed across participants and their communities. each participant identified as white and in their mid-thirties. one identified as female and the other as male. each of their schools were 9th-12th grade and possessed majority white student populations with less than 3% racial minorities enrollment. each school had 41% to 53% of students on free and reduced lunch. in addition to being classified as distant rural schools, all participants described their communities in exact or synonymous terms with “conservative” and “homogeneous”. participants and schools have been provided pseudonyms to protect anonymity. the first participant, ben, had been teaching social studies for 12 years, including 10 years in his current position as lake county high. ben was a native of an adjacent rural county but resided within lake county at the time of the study. he identified as a “small town person (but) not from the sticks”. ben specialized in teaching 12th grade civics and ap us government, but reported teaching nearly every social studies course at his school over his career. relevant to the study, ben founded an elective course titled international studies that specifically utilized his selfdeveloped global education curriculum. ben held a ba in secondary education, an ma in instructional communication, and a state teaching license for social studies, 5th-12th grades. lake county high is the sole secondary school in the district and is located approximately 30 miles from the nearest metropolitan area. the second participant, kara, had been a social studies teacher at west creekside high for 11 years. she held a ba in secondary education and held two m.ed. degrees in reading and educational leadership. at the time of the interview, she had just been named as assistant principal at her school but had yet to begin her administrative work. she was raised in the community where she taught, graduating from west creekside high, but she said, “i don’t think mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 of myself as a rural person. i think of myself as displaced.” this displacement was rooted in her “very progressive ideology” that was at odds with what she described as the “archaic mindset” of her community. prior to her administrative appointment, she taught world civilizations, ap us government, and contemporary us studies. west creekside high was one of three high schools in the district. it served the rural end of the county while the other two schools served the district’s most populated city. west creekside high was approximately 30 miles from the nearest metropolitan area. table 2 contains an overview of each school setting. table 2 setting characteristics school name participant name 2017-2018 enrollment racial profile free and reduced lunch district population district poverty rate lake county high ben 400* 98% white < 2% other races 43% ~10,000 18.1% west creekside high kara 800 97% white < 3% other races 53% ~56,000 13.3% *enrollment figures and other numerical data are approximations to protect school and community anonymity. findings this section integrates themes that emerged from findings from both phases of the study. qualitative data from open-ended questionnaire responses and interviews are prioritized for their ability to detail the experiences of rural appalachian teachers. these qualitative descriptions are positioned against results from closed-ended items of phase one to enhance and explain the quantitative findings. findings are organized around thematic categories that arose from the data that helped answer the research questions: what are high school social studies teachers’ gce aims in rural appalachia? how do teachers’ perceptions of their rural contexts influence their decision-making about gce? mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 global education aims the most supported global education aims from the closed-ended questionnaire items related to disciplinary knowledge as evinced in the following statements: global education should emphasize unbiased factual knowledge about places and people (4.63 out of 5); and global education should teach history, economics, geography, and literature from a neutral political position (4.63). respondents equally supported human rights aims for their global curricula. (e.g. global education should teach students to support the rights of all humans regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, 4.63), though they were slightly less supportive when the item used wording that emphasized collaborative actions regarding human rights (e.g.… working together to improve human rights, 4.21). the only closed-ended item to fall under the neutral positions on the likert scale was the statement: global education should focus on maximizing the united states’ power and wealth in the world (2.95). similarly, environmental sustainability was only moderately agreeable when compared to other results (3.89). see table 3 for the means for each global likert scale item on the questionnaire. table 3 questionnaire items means question stem: global education should: likert scale averages 1 – strongly disagree 5 – strongly agree focus on environmental sustainability. 3.89 focus on the root causes of economic inequalities and social injustices. 4.21 teach students to support the rights of all humans regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. 4.63 emphasize unbiased factual knowledge about places and people. 4.63 mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 prepare students to be successful in future social and business relations. 4.42 focus on maximizing the united states' power and wealth in the world. 2.95 help students develop skills to solve environmental problems. 4.00 focus on critiquing unequal power relationships that lead to oppression and exploitation of some people and places. 4.16 emphasize working together to improve human rights around the world. 4.21 teach history, economics, geography, and literature from a neutral political position. 4.63 help students develop skills to achieve their individual desires in this world. 4.26 prepare students to personally compete for positions in the global economy. 4.11 an analysis of responses to open-ended items questionnaire and interview data from phase two revealed two major categories of global education aims: individualism and cosmopolitanism; and one outlier, critical justice. the categories are evidenced with participants’ responses below. individualism. some respondents emphasized individualistic and american-centric gce aims that align collectively to gaudelli & heilman’s (2009) less democratically-congruent types of global education (i.e. neoliberal, human relations, and disciplinary). for these respondents, individualistic aims were stated exclusively, not in conjunction with cosmopolitan or critical justice aims. for example, one respondent on the questionnaire said, “i usually look at how [global issues] effects [sic] them or the united states”. another respondent stated “help(ing) my students discover ways that they can become responsible citizens of the town where they live, as well as their county, state, country, and the world” and “understand how things connect to them, their lives and their futures.” another respondent emphasized students learning the skills mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 to “recognize bias and unreliable sources of information” and gain knowledge from “fact-based resources.” phase two data suggested more complexity and nuance in the use of individualistic or americancentric emphases. notably, ben used american-centric emphases as an entry point to stimulate students thinking about cosmopolitanism. this finding was not apparent from the phase one data alone. ben situated america’s role in the world as the core question of his international studies class as a way to promote ethical decisions about local-global relations. he said: i start the course by asking students: what should the role of the us be in the world? i want to get kids debating. should american be the police force of the world? should it be america first? should our involvement be economic or otherwise, such as intervening when people are being oppressed elsewhere? then i teach the world religion, various world economic and government systems. i teach about us race relations so when we talk about sunni and shia students realize they aren’t that different than us. they have things to work out like us… ultimately, i come back around to the role of the us in the world. ben’s approach to the course signifies a critical use of an american-centered lens, humanizing global people and places, rather than the use of an unadulterated america-first position. when asked what he hoped students take away most from the course, ben represented more cosmopolitan ways of thinking, reconciling the familiar and the different: i want to give them an ideas of things beyond their own world, lake county, and connect things to them… and to not be scared of diversity. i teach a lot about islam because it’s not common in this neck of the woods. just because someone has different skin in a different part of the world. doesn’t mean we treat them differently. cosmopolitanism. this category emerged from data that stressed respect for cultural differences and human mutuality beyond one’s national borders. questionnaire respondents provided phrases like “open[ing] the door to the world” or “teach[ing] tolerance and understanding of other cultures, beliefs, and customs.” several respondents positioned their aims in relation to students’ rural existence – an interaction examined further in the next section of findings. one participant suggested students grow up in a “bubble” that is not the same as the rest of the world, so they need to understand “that it is ok if people have different views.” similarly, another respondent stated “there is a whole lot of world beyond [students’] little corner of it.” mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 respondents shared dispositional or affective aims built upon relational ideals such as trust and understanding. one respondent epitomized this tenet, saying, “people are more alike than different and searching for this common ground will bring about understanding, empathy, and peace.” likewise, one respondent stated, “my main goal is for students to see others equally and to understand the history that makes people and groups unique.” alluding to empathy, one respondent said, “i try to challenge students to put themselves in the shoes of people with different cultures/backgrounds.” lastly, a respondent shared their aim “to help students open their minds to a larger scope and to understand that people are people, no matter where they are in the world.” phase two participant, kara, who taught 10th grade world history at west creekside high, highlighted cosmopolitanism through her examination of world religions with students. she worked to bring experiences with global diversity directly to her students and some of her pedagogical tactics raised concerns from administrators as demonstrated in a vignette she shared during an interview: i brought in an imam when we were doing world religions and it was alarming. i had some pushback. a very telling moment is when he walked into the main office and i got a nasty call from the principal at the time wanting to know why we would have someone like that come into the school. but in the end the students loved him. he was a rock star. they thought he was cool. they wanted him to recite verses from the quran and islamic songs. they thought that was neat. they wanted him to write arabic so they could see how their names looked in that language. he made the students verbally state what they identified him as and he fished out a terrorist… we had a christian preacher come that same week and in the end, in the papers that the students wrote, they identified the christian preacher as the most forceful to follow the way he thought. the imam and rabbi were welcoming to all. kara’s decision to host an imam, as well as other religious leaders, in her classroom displays her desires to provide students firsthand experiences interacting with people that are culturally different than them. this pedagogical strategy appeared aimed at challenging prior held assumptions and deepening cultural understanding about islam, a stigmatized religion in her community. critical justice. the likert scale items that dealt with critical justice issues received generally positive ratings (4.21 and 4.16); yet, only one respondent on the questionnaire referenced mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 terminology that aligns with this aim in open-ended items; hence, this data emerged as an outlier. the respondent said students should learn about “underlying assumptions and power dynamics; ethically responsible behavior; and various conceptual dimensions of global citizenship.” this represents justice-oriented aims in its acknowledgement of power inequities between nations and the complexities of global citizenship. neither participant in phase two offered explicitly critical justice aims, though it is possible that the presence of the imam in the vignette above moved students beyond recognitions of human mutuality to reveal the unjust treatments of a minority religion. however, it should be noted justice aims were not made explicit in kara’s narrative, whereas cosmopolitanism was. influence of rural contexts on gce data were analyzed to help answer the second research question: how do teachers’ perceptions of their rural contexts influence their decision-making about gce? one closed item asked if participants felt the rural context of their schools impacted their decisions to teach global citizenship. respondents were split nearly 70/30 in the affirmative. open-ended items revealed a largely unified theme that rural contexts present challenges to teaching global citizenship. three categories emerged from data about these rural-specific challenges: lack of diversity, contrary sentiments, and isolation. lack of diversity. the most common refrain among questionnaire respondents was that rural appalachian communities have a “lack of diversity” that makes teaching global matters difficult. for example, ben responded on his questionnaire: the lack of diversity makes it extremely difficult. in my nake (sic) of the woods, the only occasional difference(s) in student demographic makeup would be male or female, catholic or protestant, and liberal or conservative (mainly conservative). gay or straight is too ostracizing and we literally only have handful of students of any other race other than white/caucasian. another respondent suggested students “only know the points of view of their parents or what they read on social media platforms.” several respondents suggested teaching about global matters was “more necessary” because of the perceived lack of diversity present in their communities. in his phase two interview, ben reported his community as “very conservative, fox news watching, and right-sided” and stated that “as a civic teachers, that’s what i deal with. kids have mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 that kind of mindset.” when asked how he navigated teaching for global citizenship in that social context, he said: i’m a little worried about it. my department chair is a little weary of my approach. i’ll tell my students whether i agree or disagree with them, but i’ll back it up. when debating, i want to get people to think differently, not change opinions. there are times when we should think american first, but other times america is seen as a ‘champion of democracy’ and we should take care of that and support it and be a model that people want to follow. you gotta always be careful about how you word things. i’m not antagonist the way i do it. if i have a kid that is really quiet in class and then one day they speak up, i’m just going to listen. but the other talkative kid, i’ll challenge. i use humor to ease tensions. contrary sentiments. respondents shared concerns that their communities were inherently at odds with global citizenship aims. one teacher wrote, “…political and religious feelings of small rural communities can make teaching certain ideas less desirable for teachers, especially new teachers who do not feel confident in their job security.” another respondent said, “for the most part, it is difficult to teach about other cultures when there is a small town bigotry present and a lack of support for education from parents. ignorance prevails.” in her interview, kara acknowledged that students’ identities were often rooted in their parents’ values and she hoped to help students “…step outside the box to see perspectives and issues for themselves.” to do so, she said teachers have to “let [students] know you are human too. see how you deal with things in order to change the way they think.” she said that she models “forward thinking” by sharing with students her own evolution on acceptance of homosexuality and gender identity moving from “being from a family that thinks it’s wrong to be gay” to her currently being close friends with a transgender man. isolation. common phrases such as “grown up in a bubble”, “never left the state”, “remain in their rural community”, and “limited worldview” were used in questionnaire responses to describe rural students. one respondent suggested that geographic isolation produced a “lack of interest” about global issues. for other respondents, isolation produced barriers to access, but not interest, and stimulated their desires to teach gce to “expose students to the world” or “challenge their thinking”. another respondent focused on intersections of isolation and poverty: the majority of my students fall into a low socioeconomic profile. sadly, these kids have very little exposure to other ethnic, religious, political (etc.) groups and have formed perspectives based on a very "tunnel vision" environment. i focus on explaining our mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 similarities rather than differences and i teach world history based on the perspectives of those involved...trying to explain why people feel/react the way they do. in her phase two interview, kara said that she aimed to challenge her “secluded” and “underserved” rural students. “the boundaries our kids have within the county lines, and really the state lines, it makes them close-minded. it is just the product of the inaccessibility for these kids to actually experience different people from different cultures.” kara, who grew up in the school’s community, made the purposeful decision to seek professional opportunities outside her largely rural state. she had been awarded multiple domestic and international fellowships so she could “surround myself with peers that are likeminded”. this professional engagement, which influenced the development of her own global mindedness, stimulated her approach to teaching gce. moreover, her life journey is emblematic of the type of rural student whose interest in global issues surpassed the access she had as a youth in the community. kara elaborated on her perceptions of rurality, stating that she believed “rural is a bad label for these students. when someone identifies a school, family, or students as being rural, at least in this areas, they mean that they come from a low ses household.” yet, her curriculum decisionmaking was also stimulated by her perceptions of rurality. kara said, “ignorance breeds ignorance... but educators can break that cycle. small moments can turn into a huge change… i long for the state to mirror the surrounding states when it comes to opportunities and rigor in education.” discussion findings from this study, in part, challenge existing knowledge on the relationship between global curricula and community contexts. past research suggests that teachers are not likely to teach for global citizenship aims deemed unpatriotic in the face of small town mindsets (rapoport, 2010) and that teachers alter their social studies curriculum due to perceived community values (romanowski, 1996; thornton, 1989). based on findings from this study, gce is being taught for a variety of aims in remote appalachia with some teachers challenging students to adopt global perspectives and probe local norms. approaches to gce were rooted in teachers’ professional knowledge and perceptions of their rural area. overwhelming, teachers viewed their areas as insular and lacking diversity and they relied on their professional tact and community-based knowledge to provide gce experiences they deemed approachable and necessary for their students. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 participants showed support for a variety of gce aims both collectively and individually. they did not strongly oppose any gce aims as evidenced by the results of the questionnaire. this finding implies that a divide is present between theories of gce and actual classroom practices. for example, democratically-congruent aims like cosmopolitanism were supported on par with less democratically-congruent aims like neo-liberalism (see gaudelli & heilman, 2009). this divide may be the result of the absence of gce in state standards (rapoport, 2009) or limited exposure to gce in teacher education programs (merryfield, 2000). alternatively, varied aims among participants demonstrate that gce in not monolithic in rural appalachia, but reliant, in part, on teachers’ professional experiences and perceptions of the needs of their rural students. relatedly, participants demonstrated autonomy in curriculum and instruction despite school culture, state-mandated curricula, or community values; and offered concrete examples of ways they challenged the status quo in their schools and communities such as kara’s decision to host the imam or ben’s instructional tact that challenged his largely homogeneous students’ thinking. in this study, teachers self-positioned as interlocutors for their rural students, where they possessed worldly knowledge that their students did not. this positioning paired with teachers’ displays of deficit thinking, where they viewed students and communities as “lacking” instead of assessing them for their strengths or funds of knowledge, has potential to be problematic (see waterson & moffa, 2015). since rural communities face marginalization at-large (moffa, 2019), this finding raises concern about the knowledge and power dynamics within rural educational spaces. waterson and moffa (2015) suggest a deweyan-backed theory of centering rural student, home, and community life to better teach global citizenship in rural schools. likewise, teachers characterized their communities as being insular and having contrary sentiments. prior research suggests appalachian teachers might actually reinforce stereotypes and prejudices toward appalachia instead of challenging them (reck et al., 1987); and appalachian teachers may represent a middle class value system that is at odds with lower class students and families (woodrum, 2004). however, phase two data contests this point to a degree by revealing tensions in teachers’ thinking about rural places. interviews with ben and kara evinced their personal knowledge of socio-geographic structures that produce local sentiments, where students have limited opportunities and access to travel. they also offered viewpoints on the communal strengths of their communities. when asked specifically about rural exploitation, interviewees acknowledge awareness of the power dynamics that harm their communities, but it should be noted that this did not correspond to gce curricula that might help students criticize unjust economic exploitation. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 azano (2011) warns that a failure to critically interrogate place hinders students’ abilities to connect the familiar to larger issues that seem more remote (such as the gce curriculum) and fails to prepare them for civic actions that might alter or improve their place. similarly, andreotti (2014) suggests gce should analyze the connections between local places and globalization to reveal unjust power dynamics. ultimately, findings point to place-consciousness as an area of growth of teachers. critical justice aims were largely absent, but they hold potential to foster a type of place-conscious global education that could simultaneously produce global connectivity and critical knowledge of ones’ place. additionally, critical orientations to gce could help challenge the idea that a gap needs bridged between rural communities and global issues, instead, revealing the varied and often unjust economic and political lines that already connect local and global places. limitations this study of rural appalachian teachers is not generalizable to all rural contexts as characteristics differ by geographic region; however, findings should be transferable to rural contexts with similar characteristics. also, this study examined a small sample of teachers’ perceptions via electronic questionnaire and phone interviews. it did not observe or evaluate the physical communities, schools, or classrooms of the study. as such, findings should not be used to represent rural places or classrooms themselves, but only participants’ perceptions of their rural contexts. lastly, this study relied on teachers to self-select into answering a questionnaire on gce and being interviewed. one might suspect that teachers who had a distinct interest in gce were more likely to participate as was evinced in phase two interviews. findings may not capture the uninformed or apathetic rural teacher. implications and conclusion this study contributes new knowledge about gce in rural appalachia. its descriptions of teachers’ perspectives on gce and their desires to implement various forms of global education problematize simplistic or assumptive views on rural appalachia and its increasing anti-globalist sentiment. generally, participants positioned rural students and community life in opposition to gce which stimulated their commitment to bring “awareness of others” to their students. participants relied on their own global knowledge, professional tact, and perceptions of community to navigate global education in their schools with autonomy. rural teachers acted as interlocutors for their “isolated” students and, in many ways, the sole bearers of worldly mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 knowledge which raises critical questions about teachers’ own worldviews and assumptions about rurality. findings act as a notice for teacher preparation programs to equip pre-service teachers with both theoretical understandings of gce and knowledge of rural community and social life. to engage in place-conscious gce that pulls on the strengths of rural home and community life (see waterson & moffa, 2015), teachers need to be able to recognize the socio-geographic structures of rural places, the assets of rural communities, and the existing social, political, and economic connections between local and global life. similarly, critical orientations to global citizenship – that typify democratically-congruent aims (see gaudelli & heilman, 2009) – could prepare teachers to tap into the existing power dynamics between local and global places to challenge deficit thinking about “isolated” rural communities and validate such communities as constantly evolving, globally-connected places. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 references andreotti, v. o. 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(2009). heuristics of global citizenship discourses towards curriculum enhancement. journal of curriculum theorizing, 25, 68-85. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 gaudelli, w., & heilman, e. (2009). reconceptualizing geography as democratic global citizenship education. teachers college record, 111, 2647-2677. goren, h., & yemini, m. (2017). global citizenship education redefined–a systematic review of empirical studies on global citizenship education. international journal of educational research, 82, 170-183. grygiel, j. 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(ed497509). mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 national council for the social studies. (2001). creating effective citizens. silver spring, md: ncss. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/se/6505/650511.html noddings, n. (ed.). (2005). educating citizens for global awareness. new york: teachers college press. oxley, l., & morris, p. (2013). global citizenship: a typology for distinguishing its multiple conceptions. british journal of educational studies, 61, 301-325. pollard, k., & jacobsen, l. a. (2017). the appalachian region: a data overview from the 20112015 american community survey. appalachian regional commission. retrieved from https://www.arc.gov/research/researchreportdetails.asp?report_id=132 rapoport, a. 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(2019). why rural matters 2018-2019: the time is now. rural school and community trust stiglitz, j. e. (2018). globalization and its discontents revisited: anti-globalization in the era of trump. new york: norton. thornton, s. j. (1989). aspiration and practice: teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper in social studies. paper presented at the american educational research association, san francisco, ca. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 united nations department of economics and social affairs (2014). world urbanization prospects: the 2014 revision, highlights. united nations publications. retrieved from http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/highlights/wup2014-highlights.pdf waterson, r. a., & moffa, e. d. (2015). applying deweyan principles to global citizenship education in a rural context. journal of international social studies, 5(1), 129-139. white, s., & kline, j. (2012). developing a rural teacher education curriculum package. rural educator, 33(2), 36-43. wood, p. (14 march 2014). the world citizen on campus. the national review. retrieved from https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/03/world-citizen-campus-peter-wood/ woodrum, a. (2004). state-mandated testing and cultural resistance in appalachian schools: competing values and expectations. journal of research in rural education, 19(1), 1-10. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 appendix questionnaire on global citizenship education 1. based on your opinion as a social studies teacher, please rate the following statements. global education should: • focus on environmental sustainability. • focus on the root causes of economic inequalities and social injustices. • teach students to support the rights of all humans regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. • emphasize unbiased factual knowledge about places and people. • prepare students to be successful in future social and business relations. • focus on maximizing the united states' power and wealth in the world. • help students develop skills to solve environmental problems. • focus on critiquing unequal power relationships that lead to oppression and exploitation of some people and places. • emphasize working together to improve human rights around the world. • teach history, economics, geography, and literature from a neutral political position. • help students develop skills to achieve their individual desires in this world. • prepare students to personally compete for positions in the global economy. 2. what is your main goal when teaching global issues to students? 3. how often would you say that you teach any global education aims? • almost never • seldom (at least once a term) • occasionally (at least once a month) • frequently (at least once a week) • always (almost daily) 4. in your own words, what is a “global citizen”? 5. what are your reasons, if any, for not teaching "global citizenship" in your classes? 6. what types of activities or lessons do you implement when teaching for global citizenship? 7. does the rural context of your school impact your decision to teach global citizenship? mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 40-65 corresponding author: moffae@wlu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 yes/no how so? about the author: eric d. moffa assistant professor of education, department of education studies, washington and lee university. mailto:moffae@wlu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 framing the pandemic within global citizenship education jay m shuttleworth city university of new york, queens college abstract: the coronavirus pandemic has presented an opportunity to rethink how social studies education is framed. using global citizenship education to teach about the pandemic properly places global health within the purview of all people and builds an onramp for teachers and students to make this kind of theoretical framing a mainstream part of social studies instruction. drawing on the practice of one experienced secondary social studies teacher, this paper discusses the potential of issues-centered dialogue about the pandemic to narrow the gap between what people know about global health issues and what they do about them. key words: global citizenship education, issues-centered education, coronavirus pandemic introduction as my colleagues and i hugged good-bye, i wondered if we both instantly regretted our lack of social distancing. yet there wasn’t much time to overthink things as we hustled out the front door on the last day of in-person teaching at global tech, a high school in new york. we were now contemplating our uncertain futures dictated by the coronavirus. at this site and others where i coach preand in-service social studies teachers, the mysteries that lay ahead were both practical and existential. we would have to become proficient in things like zoom and google classroom as well as empathically engage adolescents facing their own challenges at home. we would also contemplate how to adjust planned-for content curriculum to find time to meaningfully talk about the pandemic. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 as one of my colleagues put it, many teachers had hoped to teach about the crisis remotely but wound up doing more crisis teaching, remotely. they wanted to discuss the pandemic in-depth but wound up doing little, if any, discussion of the topic. stress from the abrupt transition surely contributed to this outcome. uncertainties of where and how to teach it also influenced it being taught as a curricular add-on, if at all. however, discussing the pandemic in a limited, disjointed fashion (which is often how a “current event” is treated) does not have to be the default approach, and it shouldn’t be. the pandemic has presented an opportunity to rethink how social studies education is framed. teaching the coronavirus as stand-alone instruction decontextualizes the issue and is likely to generate limited understanding. also, this strategy sets up the pandemic to be replaced by the next current issue, rendering these topics as curiosities or “flavors of the month” instead of perennial issues worthy of ongoing analysis. as we learn through the practice of an experienced secondary social studies teacher, framing one’s classroom through global citizenship education (gce) helps to streamline dialogue about world events like the pandemic. this dialogue may also provide opportunities for participants to narrow the gap between what they know about global health issues and what they do about them. teaching the pandemic as global citizenship education because of their transcendent nature, pandemics should be taught within a broader approach of gce. doing so properly places global health within the purview of all people and builds an onramp for teachers and students to make this kind of theoretical framing a mainstream part of social studies instruction. rethinking classrooms through a gce lens prepares teachers and students to see world issues as challenges and responsibilities arising from membership in a world community—not as curricular tangents. gce is a necessary way to frame the current pandemic (as well as many other world issues) because it acknowledges that nation-states are poorly suited to solve such global problems on their own (gaudelli, 2003, 2016). also, it extends the ideas of rights and responsibilities beyond the limits of one’s local community (pashby, 2016, 2018). a goal of gce is to increase the range of schooling to “imagine new forms of identity, nationhood and citizenship” (soong, 2018, p. 173). indeed, issues like public health (and others, like climate change) are matters of collective responsibility that require rethinking one’s place in national and global communities. reassessing responsibilities beyond the laws of one’s state or country can be challenging and unfamiliar, but it represents a necessary opportunity to “unlearn” one’s mindset on global issues mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 (curley, rhee, subedi, & subreenduth, 2018). also described as a “decolonisation of the mind” (wa thingo’o, 1986), “unlearning” in gce presses students to see beyond constrained political structures and toward a more interconnected, interdependent world. thus, instruction seeks a sort of “destabilization” of a constituency’s inward gaze (gaudelli & schmidt, 2018). as such, teaching about the pandemic through gce challenges the tendency to limit responsibilities for public health to local jurisdictions. an ethical rethinking of one’s relationship to the world is a hallmark of gce. humans are a part of a global community that demands morally and legally obligated actions (banks, 2004; byrd, 2012; misco, 2018). yet, gce researchers concede the futility of agreeing on what a global theory of morality or common humanity could look like (dill, 2013; peterson, 2011). indeed, determining ethical specifics associated with rethinking one’s relationship with the world is no small instructional task (e.g., selby & kagawa, 2014), especially given president trump’s recent announcement to remove the united states from the world health organization. despite global interconnectedness and interdependence’s profound influence on humanity, gce remains a minor topic in schools, if it is included at all (myers, 2020). contributing to its marginalization is a school curriculum dominated by a nationalistic orientation (gaudelli, 2009; rapoport, 2019). research suggests that introducing gce as a course-wide theme (or one of several) may be the best approach to adequately contextualize world issues in the social studies classroom (shuttleworth, 2015); however, many teachers i talked to were unsure how to fully address and properly contextualize the pandemic. gce and the pandemic: bridging theory and practice insights from one experienced secondary social studies teacher’s pedagogy reveals how a gce framework can be used to facilitate more seamless discussions about the pandemic. james (a pseudonym), a nine-year veteran of the new york state public school system, is participating in an ongoing study with me on how global issues are taught in the social studies classroom. drawing upon three years of observations and collaborative discussions, i briefly share here how james outlined two components to teaching about the pandemic through a gce framework. james’s process could work in orienting teachers or students who are interested in global issues but are unfamiliar with gce. the first step involves unpacking one’s conceptions of citizenship and responsibilities to others. second, participants create and participate in issues-centered dialogue about gce-themed questions. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 unpacking citizenship and self james nodded to the important first step of deconstructing one’s present stance on citizenship and civic duties. he said, i think the first thing is that they need to unpack their own learning first before they think about global citizenship education. there are certain concepts that develop over time that are latent, that teachers themselves might not be aware of. for example, what is their schema for citizenship? and then we can move into global citizenship and some of the theories behind it. but before we are able to unpack their own ideas, i don’t think we can get to global citizenship. for james, “unlearning” long-held assumptions about citizenship, presumably rooted in nationalism and/or ethnocentrism, was a critical first step. he also admitted that many americans might be reluctant to critically self-examine: i think it’s hard when you live in a country that only has two countries that border it and one which is very much like it… i don’t think you need to leave the country to be a global citizen. but you need to be aware of your mindset, and i think that can be hard for people who don’t know how to do that. here, one wonders how students transfer classroom lessons into their own lives, and if classroom experiences are similarly transformative as personal ones (harshman, 2015). embedded in this perspective is also the understanding that some students already see themselves as part of a world community (e.g., josić, 2018). even then, as james admits, “… students could think of themselves as global citizens, but their mindset is still nationalistic, individualistic.” thus, an ongoing challenge is how to develop empathy for other people’s health, particularly of those one might never meet. james argued that rethinking one’s conception of citizenship and responsibilities started with reevaluating how more familiar and personal things fit into a larger, global construct. he said, “i think people need to see it in practice, through stories, case examples, through the community; they need to experience it for themselves.” examples of such opportunities could include analyzing how travel affects public health or how civic duty transcends political preferences. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 global citizenship as issues-centered education james anticipated that organizing his upcoming world history course through gce allowed teaching for more seamless dialogue about the pandemic. for example, he foresaw an issuescentered approach to gce utilizing the course-long overarching question, “what does it mean to be a global citizen?” through a variety of themes and content areas, he planned to raise this question to get students to think about responsibilities associated with topics like colonialism, imperialism, climate change, and pandemics. for each of these (and other) topics, the above question is complemented by additional issues-centered questions. an issues-centered question is one about which well-informed individuals may disagree (evans, newmann, & saxe, 1996; ochoa-becker, 1996). for example, a question i anticipate arising in james’s fall instruction is: “what does it mean to be responsible for other people’s health?” on this topic, james said, “i do think that there are certain issues in the pandemic that are coming up, especially masks, which have caused me to think about issues of citizenship.” thus, an objective of dialoguing about this kind of question is how to narrow the gap between what people know about public health issues and what they are willing to do about them (e.g., wearing a mask to prevent possible (asymptomatic) transmission of the virus to others). when crafting these kinds of issues-centered questions, locating the appropriate controversy within gce broadly—and pandemics specifically—is a critical matter. for james, it was implicit that, for the above questions, one should behave like a global citizen and should safeguard public health. the topic worthy of an issues-centered dialogue was what such behavior actually looked like. james has been clear: meeting one’s needs should not infringe upon others’ ability to do the same. how and why one accomplishes such a sustainable (and globally-minded) outlook was a topic open to dialogue and discussion. just because some people disagree with wearing a mask as a matter of (global) civic duty does not make the topic a controversial issue. for a topic to be legitimately controversial, it must be something about which the field’s most informed scholars disagree, and that is not the case here (saey, 2020). thus, the presence of disagreement with a settled position, like the efficacy of mask wearing, does not change its closed status (hess, 2009; zimmerman & robertson, 2017) and affirms james’s stance. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 conclusion teaching the pandemic through gce treats such world issues as perennial matters and not as passing “current events.” james emphasized this point when he said, …if you talk about covid or climate change as a current event, it’s like, well, on to the next thing, without understanding the underlying themes that are within climate change and covid-19… climate change isn’t a current event. it’s been around for decades now. the same with pandemics… we are moving toward a globalized way of seeing the world… but what about teachers who might be reluctant to build gce into their upcoming social studies course(s)? the good news is that formally introducing gce as a course’s overarching theme is not as alien as some might think. for example, in one study, social studies teachers reported unfamiliarity with gce and did not explicitly use the term “global citizenship” with students, yet many of them still taught global citizenship-related themes in their classes (rapoport, 2015). such themes include habits like “knowledge of global interconnectedness, inquiry into global issues, skills and perspectives consciousness, open-mindedness, recognition of bias, stereotypes and exotica, and intercultural experiences and intercultural competence” (merryfield, lo, po, & kasai, 2008, p. 8). of course, much work remains to introduce a critical perspective of global citizenship, even if half of u.s. state social studies standards mention the term (rapoport, 2020). yet teaching about the present pandemic as a global issue represents an important step for social studies education. teachers have a duty to frame global health as a moral imperative, especially if dialogue about the topic might bridge the gulf between what people know about public health issues and what action they are willing to take on behalf of others. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 references banks, j. (2004). teaching for justice, diversity, and citizenship in a global world. the educational forum, 68(4), 296-304. doi:10.1080/00131720408984645 byrd, d. (2012). social studies education as a moral activity: teaching towards a just society. educational philosophy and theory, 44(10), 1073-1079. doi:10.1111/j.14695812.2011.00761.x curley, s., rhee, j., subedi, b., & subreenduth, s. (2018). activism as/in/for global citizenship: putting un-learning to work towards educating the future. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant, & y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship education (pp. 589-606). london, uk: macmillan publishers. dill, j. (2013). the longings and limits of global citizenship education: the moral pedagogy of schooling in a cosmopolitan age. new york, ny: routledge. evans, r., newmann, f. m., & saxe, d. w. (1996). defining issues-centered education. in r. w. evans & d. w. saxe (eds.), handbook on teaching social issues (pp. 2-5). washington, dc: national council for the social studies. gaudelli, w. (2003). world class: teaching and learning in global times. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gaudelli, w. (2009). heuristics of global citizenship discourses towards curriculum enhancement. journal of curriculum theorizing, 25(1), 1-4. retrieved from https://journal.jctonline.org /index.php/jct/article/view/gaudheu/22 gaudelli, w. (2016). global citizenship education: everyday transcendence. new york, ny: routledge. gaudelli, w., & schmidt, s. (2018). global citizenship education and geography. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant, & y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship education (pp. 473-488). london, uk: macmillan publishers. harshman, j. (2015). the future of teaching and research in global citizenship education. in. j. harshman, t. augustine, & m. merryfield (eds.), research in global citizenship education (pp. 215-221). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. hess, d. e. (2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. new york, ny: routledge. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 josić, j. (2018). u.s. youth’s sense of belonging as citizens of their communities: probing youth’s nonbelonging in a national community. in a. rapoport (ed.), competing frameworks: global and national in citizenship education (pp. 11-29). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. merryfield, m. m., lo, j. t.-y., po, s. c., & kasai, m. (2008). worldmindedness: taking off the blinders. journal of curriculum and instruction, 2(1), 6-20. misco, t. (2018). morality. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant,& y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship and education (pp. 363-376). london, uk: macmillan publishers. myers, j. p. (2020). understanding the landscape of teaching global issues. in j. p. myers (ed.), research on teaching global issues: pedagogy for global citizenship education (pp. 1-12). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. ochoa-becker, a. s. (1996). building a rationale for issues-centered education. in r. w. evans & d. w. saxe (eds.), handbook on teaching social issues (pp. 6-13). washington, dc: national council for the social studies. pashby, k. (2016). global, citizenship, and education in discursive fields: towards disrupting reproduction of colonial systems of power. in i. langran & t. birk (eds.), globalization and global citizenship: interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 69-86). new york, ny: routledge. pashby, k. (2018). identity, belonging, and diversity in education for global citizenship: multiplying, intersecting, transforming, and engaging lived realities. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant, & y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship and education (pp. 277-294). london, uk: macmillan publishers. peterson, a. (2011). the common good and citizenship education in england: a moral enterprise? journal of moral education, 40(1), 19-33. doi:10.1080/03 057240. 2011.541763 rapoport, a. (2015). global citizenship education: classroom teachers’ perspectives and approaches. in. j. harshman, t. augustine, & m. merryfield (eds.), research in global citizenship education (pp. 119-135). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 67-75 corresponding author: jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 rapoport, a. (2018). national and global in citizenship education. in a. rapoport (ed.), competing frameworks: global and national in citizenship education (pp. 1-10). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. rapoport, a. (2020). the c3 framework and representation of global citizenship in state standards. in j. p. myers (ed.), research on teaching global issues: pedagogy for global citizenship education (pp. 51-68). charlotte, nc: information age publishers. saey, t. h. (2020, june 26). why scientists say mask wearing shouldn’t be controversial. science news. retrieved from: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-whywearing-masks-controversial selby, d., & kagawa, f. (eds.). (2014). sustainability frontiers: critical and transformative voices from the borderlands of sustainability education. toronto, on: barbara budrich. shuttleworth, j. (2015). teaching the social issues of a sustainable food supply. the social studies, 4: 159-169. doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2015.1043602 soong, h. (2018). transnationalism in education: theoretical discussions and the implications for teaching global citizenship education. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant, & y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship and education (pp. 165-177). london, uk: macmillan publishers. subedi, b., & rhee, j. (2018). transformative spirituality and citizenship. in i. davies, l.-c. ho, d. kiwan, c. l. peck, a. peterson, e. sant, & y. waghid (eds.), the palgrave handbook of global citizenship and education (pp. 377-392). london, uk: macmillan publishers. wa thiong’o, n. (1986). decolonising the mind. london, uk: james currey. zimmerman, j., & robertson, e. (2017). the case for contention: teaching controversial issues in american schools. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. about the author: jay m. shuttleworth is an assistant professor of social studies education at the city university of new york, queens college. his research interests include global citizenship education, issuescentered education, social studies teacher education, and teaching hard history. he grew up in northern california and lives in new york city. mailto:jay.shuttleworth@qc.cuny.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-why-wearing-masks-controversial https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-why-wearing-masks-controversial journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 global project-based learning as an approach to teaching the 4cs in schools marini budiarti suzanne macqueen indonesia university of newcastle, australia kate ferguson-patrick ruth reynolds university of newcastle, australia university of newcastle, australia abstract: although developing the 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity have been seen as an important foundation of 21st century teaching and learning, there have been difficulties identified in 4cs implementation in schools. primarily, issues associated with an overcrowded and disjointed curriculum, a continued focus on teacher-centered teaching, and lack of encouragement of independent student inquiry have been identified. however, initial studies have identified global project-based learning (global pbl) in extracurricular activities (eca) as a promising approach to incorporating the 4cs in an authentic and sustainable manner. it is also consistent with the core competencies of global citizenship. this investigation of a global pbl approach in indonesia, linking with educators in an african country as part of the 2013 indonesian curriculum, clarifies some key teaching focuses within the 4cs teaching strategies to enhance teacher planning. additionally, it identifies teacher and student perspectives on key functions of global pbl in augmenting the 4cs. working closely together in pursuing a successful global pbl project, teachers and students had different views of their level of attainment of the skills of the 4cs. however, it was evident that learner-centered, constructivist, and reflective approaches to teaching and learning did promote all the 4cs in one project. an understanding of the challenges and opportunities based on the findings of this research can serve as a guide for educators who wish to transfer global pbl activities to classroom activities key words: education abroad, global citizenship, global competency, global civic engagement and social responsibility, career competency, student mobility mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 global project-based learning as an approach to teaching the 4cs in schools the 4cs of 21st century skills are comprised of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving, and creativity and innovation. they are considered critical skills that are needed to engage with the global economy (kay & greenhill, 2011; p21, 2019; soulé & warrick, 2015), for global problem-solving (oecd, 2018; oxfam, 2015a; unesco, 2015), and for global diplomacy (unesco, 2013). development of the skills is therefore considered essential for students in many countries, including indonesia, where they feature in the 2013 national curriculum (directorate general for primary and secondary education, 2017). project-based learning (pbl), where students participate in authentic experiences and challenges through an extended project inquiry process (boss, 2013), is highly recommended as a way to help learners develop the 4cs skills, according to studies in various areas. rooted in dewey’s constructivist approach (dewey, 1933; dewey & dewey, 1962) and vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (vygotsky, 1978), these include studies in topics including middle school (harris, 2014), professional development (ravitz, hixson, english, & mergendoller, 2012), biology teaching (insyasiska, zubaidah, & susilo, 2017), english teaching (amalia & apriani, 2016; astawa, artini, & nitiasih, 2017) and general education (talat & chaudhry, 2014). an enhancement to pbl occurs when technology is added to make it a global pbl project, leading to an even more active and student-driven experience. this project can “take advantage of digital tools for inquiry, collaboration, and communication to connect leaners to one another or even to the world beyond the classroom” (boss & krauss, 2014, p. 3). for the purposes of this study, global pbl refers to an instructional model where teachers and students work collaboratively with diverse audiences around the globe or with local audiences to solve authentic problems locally, regionally, and globally, guided by a driving question, using technology for research, and presenting a collaborative product. however, exactly how global pbl can positively contribute to the 4cs skills has been underexplored and often restricted to pre-service students’ perceptions (kuo, 2015; nganga, 2016; york, 2017). using teacher and student perceptions, this study investigated how global pbl was used to nurture and practice the 4cs skills in an extracurricular school-based program. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 literature review the 4cs of 21st century skills, project-based learning (pbl), and global pbl as a result of the need to prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world, the indonesian government broadened the national curriculum with skills to mitigate 21st century challenges. such challenges, which affect many nations, include potential risks of conflict, environmental change, inequality, and poverty (oecd, 2018; oxfam, 2015a; unesco, 2013, 2015), conflict within traditional relationships, and clashes of cultural values (rapoport, 2015). the 4cs skills are directly related to the national council for the social studies’ definition of the role of social studies in a democracy like indonesia: “the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (ncss, n.d.). building skills to work with diverse others is a democratic imperative. a number of organizations and researchers have proposed sets of skills and competencies pertinent to 21st century readiness, including: “the 21st century skills framework” (p21, 2019); “global competence” (mansilla & jackson, 2011; oecd, 2018); “global citizenship” (oxfam, 2015a, 2015b; unesco, 2015), and “intercultural competence” (unesco, 2006, 2013). however, there have been some problems in school implementation of the skills, including a lack of explicit guidance for classroom practice and clarification of the fundamental tenets of being a global citizen (reynolds, macqueen, & ferguson-patrick, 2019b), little attention to independent student thinking and inquiry (lamb et al., 2017; poon et al., 2017), and a lack of student-centered learning (adarlo & jackson, 2015). nevertheless, the 4cs appear to be the most cited skills for “developing critical thinking, problem solving, and participatory skills to become engaged citizens” (ncss, 2017) among these various frameworks. particularly, the constructs of these skills are akin to the core competencies of global citizenship (unesco, 2014), where critical thinking and problemsolving and creativity are categorized as cognitive competencies while communication is seen as a non-cognitive competency and collaboration is classified as a behavioral capacity. they are also listed among the most in-demand skills required in future diverse workplaces, as projected by international surveys (world bank, 2019; world economic forum, 2018). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 in indonesia, the 4cs are included in the 2013 national curriculum. teachers are provided with training, a guidebook, and some recommended teaching models for embedding the skill set in classroom practices (directorate general for primary and secondary education, 2017; directorate general for secondary education, 2017). the guide panduan implementasi keterampilan abad 21 kurikulum 2013 di sma (implementation guide for the 21st century skills in the 2013 curriculum for sma [high schools]) (directorate general for primary and secondary education, 2017) provides definitions of the 4cs skills, some exemplary activities promoting the 4cs skills, and the steps for integrating the 4cs skills in a lesson plan. however, the existing guide lacks clarity, providing some ambiguous and complex concepts and indicators of the skills (budiarti, 2020), and thus clarity in a “real” teaching context would assist teachers in classrooms as well as in the co-curricular and eca, which are part of the indonesian curriculum offerings. as an inseparable part of the national curriculum, eca is mandated to be structured and organized in schools to develop learners’ potential such as personality, talents, interests, abilities, and skills (communication, collaboration, creativity) while serving as a social and recreational function and career preparation as well as a joyful learning experience (moec, 2014). uniquely, ecas could be offered as subject-related activities (e.g., youth scientific activities club, math club, english club) and non-subject-related activities (e.g., scouting, religious activities) that involve a graded report separated from the academic subject with commonly assessing the learners’ active participation (moec, 2014). a strong relationship between eca and the 4cs skills development has been reported by researchers, for example, teamwork (the main feature of collaboration) and the communication skill (buckley & lee, 2018; clark, marsden, whyatt, thompson, & walker, 2015), creativity (lau, hsu, acosta, & hsu, 2014), and thinking and research skills (of which critical thinking and problem-solving is a part of students’ citizenship competencies) (keser, akar, & yildirim, 2011). it is possible, therefore, to expect that if an eca, with its non-classroom-like context and active, authentic learning, is able to grow the 4cs skills in students, then similar approaches in the classroom learning across curriculum areas may yield similar results. defining the 4cs pbl is one of the recommended teaching strategies in the curriculum to facilitate 4cs skill development with indonesian students, and numerous studies have shown that pbl can develop mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 4cs skills (for example astawa et al., 2017; york, 2017), but these studies vary in how they conceptualized 4c skills and so a key focus of this paper is to provide clear guidance as to terminology. clarification is taken from a variety of sources, and it is evident that each of the 4cs affects some of the other 4cs in implementation. communication. this skill plays a significant role in pbl. referring to the construct of communication conceived by painchaud and leblanc (1995), larmer, mergendoller, and boss (2015) explained that receptive communication is shown by listening to and understanding others’ views respectfully, whereas productive communication is needed when sharing ideas, negotiating, and solving problems. the communication skill should also be used to present the result of students’ work or learning (bender, 2012). it is clear that a competent communicator might contribute to the effectiveness of group collaboration (boss, 2013; buck institute for education, 2019a) and the problem-solving process (buck institute for education, 2019c). collaboration. when working in the pbl culture, students become “seasoned team players” (bender, 2012, p. 52) as they carry out skills of individual collaboration (take responsibility, help the team, and respect others) and group collaboration (reach and follow an agreement, organize work, and work as a whole team) (buck institute for education, 2019a). collaborative working can enhance the quality of relationships among students and improve group effectiveness (johnson & johnson, 2009) as well as promote psychological adjustment and social competence (johnson & johnson, 1989). learners in pbl are also encouraged to collaborate with the teachers facilitating the project. frequent interactions are a predictor of a positive relationship between teacher and students (pieratt, 2011), which increases students’ motivation and engagement in learning (mccombs & miller, 2007). critical thinking and problem-solving. this skill in pbl can be identified as the ability to analyze a driving question (a guided, open-ended question in pbl) and begin an inquiry, gather and evaluate information, use evidence and criteria, justify choices, and consider alternatives and implications (buck institute for education, 2019c). other indicators include mastering the ability to define the problem, proposing a solution, implementing a solution, and evaluating outcomes (bransford, sherwood, & sturdevant, 1987). the process of solving a problem in pbl may involve students reaching a consensus (boss, 2013), which “…requires patience, the ability to listen and mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 learn from others and a willingness to adjust one’s own needs with those of the team” (peterson, 1997, p. 3). these abilities are contributing factors for a democratic classroom (ferguson-patrick, 2012). furthermore, there is a strong relationship between students’ involvement in democratic activities, including selection of social studies content, as well as their ability to think critically when engaged in project-based or issue-based learning (bron, 2014). a closer examination of the decision-making process in pbl is relevant to the inherent values of indonesians as collectivists (mangundjaya, 2013; novera, 2004) and the traditional indonesian decision-making system, musyawarah-mufakat (deliberation and consensus) (kawamura, 2011). creativity and innovation. in pbl, this skill primarily refers to product creation. a product should be “representations of the students’ problem solutions that reflect emergent states of knowledge” (blumenfeld et al., 1991, p. 372) such as a constructed object, solution to a problem, an event, an improvement to an existing product, and so on (boss, 2013; buck institute for education, 2019b). the creativity and innovation skill includes defining a creativity challenge, identifying sources of information, generating and selecting ideas, and presenting work to users/target audience (buck institute for education, 2019b). during pbl implementation, students experience an iterative cycle of revision, from planning to presenting a product (barell, 2007; boss, 2013; larmer, 2016; wurdinger, 2016). for ease of access, a summary of definitions is provided in table 1. global pbl studies conducted in pbl with a rigid class schedule indicated issues with time constraints (see gómez-pablos, martín del pozo, & muñoz-repiso, 2017; lee, blackwell, drake, & moran, 2014), and because of this, boss and krauss (2014) suggested that pbl could occur in a global, collaborative context within classroom constraints enabled by current technology, thereby allowing learners to work at their own time and pace. alternatively, noam (2003) and schwalm and tylek (2012) recommended that teachers use afterschool or extracurricular activities to undertake pbl, which could be renamed global pbl (buck institute for education, 2012; iearn, nd) to clarify application differences. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 table 1 operational definition of the 4cs skills used in pbl in this study communication skill collaboration skill the ability to communicate both verbal (oral communication) and written (written communication) information, as well as comprehend the written text and oral information (receptive communication) (larmer et al., 2015; painchaud & leblanc, 1995). the ability to perform individual and group collaboration. individual collaboration is indicated through the ability to take responsibility, help the team, and respect others. group collaboration is demonstrated by the ability to reach and follow an agreement, organize work, and work as a whole team (buck institute for education, 2019a). critical thinking and problem-solving skill creativity and innovation skill  the ability to analyze a driving question, begin an inquiry, gather and evaluate information, use evidence and criteria, justify choices, and consider alternatives and implications (buck institute for education, 2019c).  the ability to define the problem, propose a solution, implement the solution, and evaluate the outcome (bransford et al., 1987). the ability to define the creativity challenge, identify sources of information, generate and select ideas, and present work to users/target audience (buck institute for education, 2019b). recent studies have found that global pbl can promote the 4cs skills (chi-syan et al., 2015; york, 2017), enhance cultural awareness (ingelsson & linder, 2018; nganga, 2016), and be a catalyst mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 of digital citizenship (snyder, 2016) through the use of social media such as facebook, twitter, and wikis in global collaboration. additionally, students in global pbl programs have been seen to develop adaptability and open-mindedness, increase a sense of responsibility, and further technological skills (chi-syan et al., 2015; york, 2017). these compelling findings are significantly connected with the global citizenship core competencies (unesco, 2014), with some globalmindedness features of respect for diversity and deep knowledge of universal value (interconnectedness) when interacting with people of different backgrounds, origins, cultures, and perspectives. while global citizenship education is deemed as an emerging, valuable education objective worldwide, some studies of national curricula suggested the need for a more explicit guide for teachers to engage students with experiential opportunities to become effective global citizens (lee, cho, park, & lee, 2015; reynolds, macqueen, & ferguson-patrick, 2019a; reynolds et al., 2019b). within this concern, implementing global pbl is a strategic way to instill and practice the global citizenship competencies. methodology this case study reports on the second phase of a sequential mixed method study that aimed to examine the extent to which global pbl incorporates the 4cs skills through the 2013 curriculum (budiarti, 2020). the survey data collected in the first phase of the study revealed that global pbl in an extracurricular setting was seen as the most promising teaching model to nurture the whole skills set among the diversity of models used by teachers in senior high schools in central kalimantan, indonesia. the second phase of the study aimed to explain and elaborate on the quantitative results by investigating teachers’ and students’ perspectives as well as observing their activities. two consenting high school english teachers in two different regions, yunita and amelia (table 2), participated in interviews. they had each been facilitating, from indonesia, a similar nine-week project (february-may 2019) offered by africa’s association of teachers of english (the pseudonym is used since the researchers did not obtain informed consent from the indonesian schools’ partners) called the “collaborative english learning through cultural exchange project.” focus groups were employed to obtain their students’ perspectives on aspects of global pbl. four students from two schools (n = 8) participated in two sessions (one per school) of focus group discussions (table 3). observations of global pbl activities were also mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 conducted to corroborate the information obtained from the teachers and students and to look for attitudes or actions that reflected the presence of the 4cs skills during global pbl activities. table 2 teacher participants participant 1 2 pseudonym yunita amelia gender female female name of school sma1* sma2* school setting urban suburban subject taught english english number of years teaching 19 years 15 years experience in global pbl six projects none note. * sma: sekolah menengah atas or senior high school table 3 student participants pseudonym name of school gender role in the global pbl group aulia sma1 female leader irma sma1 female member dyah sma1 female leader mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 angga sma1 male leader ade sma2 female member maria sma2 female member utami sma2 female leader surya sma2 male member the project was conducted during the participants’ extracurricular activities, english clubs, which focused on communication skills development through english language-related activities. this project was guided by a driving question: how can we introduce our traditional food to our global peers? the objective of the project was to promote authentic english learning activities, as follows: 1. the orientation of the project the students discuss the similarities and differences between their and their partners’ countries and create any form of media to reflect their understanding of the comparison. 2. introduction to international partners the small groups create whatsapp groups to communicate with their partners with teachers monitoring the activities and facilitating them if needed. both sides of students introduce themselves and/or their school using different types of media depending on the students’ abilities and interest. additionally, they may share their typical market with their partners or other relevant information. 3. traditional food exchanges at their schools, students select their traditional food, conduct research to determine whether each ingredient or specific kitchen utensil is available in their peers’ region, and decide the media through which to present it to their partners (photos, videos, slides, etc.). consultation with mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 teachers should be completed before sharing with the targeted audience. after presenting the chosen recipe, students are encouraged to discuss it with their international partners to ensure their familiarity with the ingredients and understanding of how it tastes, how to cook it, and other relevant aspects. photos, videos, and or links may be provided to assist their partners’ understanding. replacement of the proposed recipe should be done if it is not possible to cook, for example, due to an unknown ingredient. 4. cooking and dishes presentation both sides of students plan, prepare, and cook their peers’ proposed recipe. during and after the preparation and cooking process, the students should record or capture the activities. the collaborative group present their photos, video, or slide presentation cooking process and the dish presentation. comments on the process and product should be shared with their partners. 5. reflection at the end of the project, students write reflections about the project. these activities were undertaken in 1-2 hour meetings once a week with groups working at homes. the research reported here was completed in the middle of the project, after step 3. both teachers and students provided important data in terms of providing insights into global pbl and the 4cs skills. the findings relating to the teachers illuminated their important role as facilitators and guides for the 4cs skills to be performed by students in global pbl, while the findings relating to the students provided the researcher with a deeper, tacit understanding of practical perspectives from the students. field notes from observations were used to corroborate the information obtained from the teachers and students and to look for attitudes or actions that reflected the presence of the 4cs skills during global pbl activities. cross-checking of the data was completed to seek contradictions in and confirmation of the information (denzin, 2009), to identify any unique information found in one data source but not another, and to illuminate information when data were different but not contradictory (lambert & loiselle, 2008; sands & roer-strier, 2006). the validated english transcripts were first analyzed mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 manually and afterward exported to nvivo for further analysis. the interview and focus group data analyses were completed using king and joanna’s (2017) template analysis. template analysis is a form of thematic analysis which emphasizes the use of hierarchical coding but balances a relatively high degree of structure in the process of analysing textual data with the flexibility to adapt it to the needs of a particular study. (brooks, mccluskey, turley, & king, 2015, p. 203) an iterative cycle of template analysis steps was applied to provide a coherent and rich description of the phenomenon. this analysis combines both top–down and bottom–up approaches (king, horrocks, & brooks, 2019). the unique traits of this approach allow the researcher to create themes in advance in a top down approach that are called a priori themes (king & joanna, 2017). the initial themes were adopted from the buck institute for education’s rubrics (boss, 2013; buck institute for education, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c) and the characteristics of global collaboration, including cross-cultural projects, tasks or products enriched with multimedia, multilingual projects, and worldwide digital communications (buck institute for education, 2012; iearn, nd; kuo, 2015; moursund, 1999). these a priori themes included components of the 4cs skills—communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problemsolving, and creativity and innovation—as the first-level themes. then followed a data-driven bottom up approach, where the researcher created as many potential codes as necessary, organizing the codes into meaningful themes (brooks et al., 2015; king & joanna, 2017). both the a priori (first level) themes and the new (second level) themes were refined in the step of applying and developing the template, providing concrete examples of the sub-skills of 4cs utilized by students in the global pbl. the occurrence of the themes from the teachers’ interviews and students’ focus groups are presented based on the matrix coding queries in nvivo. according to guest, macqueen, and namey (2012), presenting it in this way “allows the reader to quickly see (and understand) the most common themes. it also reveals patterns over time” (p. 255). findings the quotations presented in these findings are labeled as teacher interviewee (ti) and focus groups (fg), and they were triangulated with field notes from observations (o). four themes, mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 each with a number of sub-themes, were constructed from the qualitative data based on the frequency of occurrence in focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and researcher observations, represented in table 4. communication skill the teachers’ interviews showed that communication was the least common theme throughout their data while it was the most prevalent theme in the students’ data. receptive communication teachers observed some “receiving and understanding information activities” during the discussions either in a face-to-face or virtual communication driven by students’ curiosity about their global partners’ country and culture. one said, “the students … questioned the socioeconomic conditions of their friends in africa based on the shared photos. then, students looked for data about the country…” (yunita–ti). most students identified that being involved in a real, contextual communication led them to pay close attention to the topic being discussed, and all participants agreed that it developed the students’ cultural awareness. when experiencing some communication barriers with the international partners due to unclear chats, one student reported using multiple strategies to understand such as using an online translator and consulting with the teacher. oral communication production both teachers and students described a range of face-to-face discussions as part of both small group and whole-class discussion. some typical activities were clearly depicted by students, one of whom said: usually on monday and on friday, we gather in the library to discuss what we are going to do. particularly if it is about sharing food recipes, then we discussed among the groups which recipes we were going to share with our friends in africa, the ones they could cook. (dyah–fgp) mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 additionally, the use of brainstorming strategies was observed in teacher-facilitated sessions (sma1–o and sma2–o). teachers also encouraged students to reflect, sharing their thoughts and feelings about any issues faced, as well as on the project progress, which promoted oral communication. written communication production both teachers and students deemed this cross-cultural project as an opportunity for enhancing the students’ english writing skills. one of the students shared, “so through [written] chats we can talk [interact] freely with each other using less formal language. we can tell what our hobbies are, what we like...” (ade–fgp). although some students felt frustrated about having a lack of common interests during interactions and others felt they did not have sufficient grammar skills, they worked to mitigate the challenges. collaboration skill the collaboration skill was one of the most evident themes throughout the teachers’ interview data as well as the students’ focus group. individual collaboration the teachers and some students linked individual collaboration with the students’ preparedness and readiness to take responsibility and help the team. teachers and some students also expressed the need for respect when collaborating with others. a student said, “here we also learn to understand and appreciate people’s opinions. sometimes in a discussion, different arguments appear. some agree and some do not” (utami–fgp). this comment was affirmed by the observation data, which showed that all members respected each other and took turns to express their opinions in all discussions while also listening attentively to the speakers (sma1–o and sma2–o). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ table 4 approaches to the 4cs skills in a global pbl context final template the first level themes the second level themes definition no. of occurrences** teachers’ interview students’ focus group communication skill*  receptive communication students’ activities in receiving and understanding information through listening in a face-to-face discussion and reading during chats in virtual discussions. 17 40  oral communication students’ activities in using words verbally during a face-to-face discussion in clear, comprehensible, and organized ways.  written communication students’ activities in using written words virtually through whatsapp in clear, comprehensible, and organized ways. collaboration skill*  individual collaboration individual preparedness and readiness to take responsibility, help the team, and respect others. 28 54  group collaboration group activities in following agreements, organizing work, and working as a whole team. critical thinking and problem-solving skill*  problem definition students’ activities of determining the key elements of the problem based on some criteria and by gathering information. 21 17  solution definition students’ activities of suggesting possible solutions to address the fundamental cause of the problem.  solution implementation students’ activities of carrying out the compromised solution to the problem.  outcomes evaluation*** students’ activities of evaluating the effectiveness of the implemented solution to the problem and considering an alternative solution. creativity and innovation skill*  creative challenge definition students’ activities in developing insights about the particular needs and interests of the target audience. 13 18  ideas generation and selection students’ activities in seeking out and using feedback and critiques to revise a product to meet the needs of the target audience.  work presentation students’ activities in presenting initial products to meet the needs of the target audience for clear, comprehensible, and complete information. note. * a priori themes ** number of references coded in nvivo. ***the outcome evaluation was not evident in students’ data. journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 group collaboration both teachers and students identified “following agreements,” “organizing work,” and “working as a whole team” as indicators of group collaboration. while most of the students stated that they all participated in the group discussions, the observation results revealed that in a few groups, leaders and certain group members dominated the discussion. this might be due to the cultural influence of collectivism resulting in students feeling that respecting others is mandatory in order to maintain the harmonious relationship among group members (mangundjaya, 2013; novera, 2004). despite these differences, almost all group discussions reached a consensus at the end of the meeting (sma1–o and sma2–o). in contrast to the teachers who tied the activities with the students’ sense of responsibility, students highlighted their sense of interdependence within the group as the driving force allowing them to build a positive rapport with their friends and teachers. both teachers and students in indonesia found the progress of the project was hindered by late responses from their global peers. nevertheless, there was open-mindedness to differences and tolerance to uncertainty without being judgmental: “[it might be] because of the lack of supporting facilities … despite being less active, they keep trying to reach us” (irma–fgp). critical thinking and problem-solving skill compared with the teachers’ findings that showed that critical thinking and problem-solving was a dominant theme, this theme was the least common theme generated from the students’ data. problem definition the teachers identified the process of determining key elements of the problem-solving process as a key platform to establishing critical thinking skills. however, students suggested that their intention to meet the needs of their international peers as the target audience encouraged them to undertake such activities, thus an active learning process driven by necessity. one student presented an example: mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 so we needed to communicate with them [international peers], whether they had these ingredients or not, then we replaced it, we re-thought, how and re-find the ingredients. we needed to find the solution to the ingredients they could get easily there [in africa]. (aulia–fgp) solution proposal teachers and students noted that group meetings were established to address the delayed responses from their international peers, unclear shared videos, and media selection to present the initial product: “…after some time we thought about it together with our teacher that ‘live’ cooking might be less effective [efficient]... we decided to show the pictures of recipe [and cooking process] in a video” (maria–fgp). solution implementation both teachers and students indicated that the students had determined solutions to various challenges in varied ways. teachers saw the key challenges addressed as their own school issues such as lack of financial support, limited access to internet, and the school’s mobile phone ban. the students, on the other hand, suggested the key challenges they addressed were the production of videos of selected traditional recipes and group introduction, as well as implementing an agreement on a common time for virtual interactions. a student demonstrated how their group solved the delayed discussion due to the time difference between countries: “… we [my group and my international partner’s group] set the time at eight in the morning [indonesia time], then we messaged them, then they replied, then we continued, and so on” (aulia–fgp). outcomes evaluation there were differences between the teachers and students in regards to evaluation of the solution to the problem. teachers reported that students did show effort in this regard and were able to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution they designed for the problem. one of them says, “they [students] had a problem that the video was not really clear. and then, they have other solutions… work together in their team to communicate every problem in regard to mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 weaknesses and strengths … not everything depends on me” (amelia–ti). this was not evident from student comments. they did not articulate this as a separate process but did reflect on the fact they needed to keep trying new ways to solve the problem. interestingly, the field notes indicated that after having some critiques on their initial product, some students demonstrated resilience and persistence by reacting positively toward the given feedback and seeking solutions to improve (sma1–o and sma2–o). instead of revising their own video, a few students signaled a lack of enthusiasm by proposing to replace it with an existing video from the internet (sma2– o). creativity and innovation skill creativity and innovation was the least common theme in both the teachers’ and the students’ data. creativity challenge definition creativity challenge in pbl refers to the consideration of the students about the particular needs and interests of the target audience (buck institute for education, 2019b). it was noticeable when the students developed some insights about their international peers’ needs and interests when selecting the recipes and presenting them. some words used by the students’ descriptions of this included “simple food,” “similar tasting ingredient,” and “the most suitable food.” others commented, “we kept thinking about how to present the way we cooked the dish [the food], and what we should do to make our accent understandable because we might speak differently...” (utami–fg). although the teacher suggested that the creativity challenge had been defined before the initial product was created, the field notes indicated that their international peers’ feedback on the initial product presented a new creativity challenge for the group (sma1 and sma2–o). thus, product creation in this global pbl was a non-linear process. idea generation and selection the teachers viewed various dimensions of the students’ efforts to generate and select ideas differently. one teacher focused on how students integrated the relevant information from the internet in developing their creative ideas, while the other highlighted the involvement of mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 technically competent students in photography and video making. regardless of these views, most of the students described the idea for their creative work as a result of joint thinking by the members in the group rather than a solo effort or individual creativity, as demonstrated below: irma is the most active one in this group… she always helps me and also the other friends, in order to share ideas with each other. i also help the others making the handshaking videos. me and dyah [the other leader] create the concept together, the words, and so on. (aulia–fgp) work presentation a number of students’ activities in presenting initial products to meet the needs of the target audience were mentioned by participants. these included sending their global partners introduction videos and photos of the schools and participants, as well as general information about indonesian traditional food videos and selected traditional recipes. although students provided limited descriptions of these products, both teachers were impressed by specific features of the videos, saying, “text caption with kind of interesting text along with an interesting picture” (amelia–ti) and “they made videos that i myself can’t” (yunita–ti). they believed that this happened due to the freedom given to the students. discussion the findings confirmed the contribution of global pbl to the development of 4cs skills (chi-syan et al., 2015; york, 2017) and provided a new understanding on how global pbl in an extracurricular setting could be used to nurture the 4cs skills in students. it also described what sub-skills had been developed during the projects. based on this information, it is possible to develop a simple observation and activity plan for school implementation of a global pbl. by using the bottom–up approach and re-reading the evidence of the sub-themes, the researchers found that the teachers and students emphasized different aspects within those themes. the teachers found that the collaboration and critical thinking and problem-solving skills were the most frequent skills exhibited by the students, whereas students emphasized that they used their collaboration and communication skills more than the other skills during the global pbl mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 activities. both teachers’ and students’ findings showed the creativity and innovation skill was the least prevalent skill, which may be because the data collection occurred during the middle of the project. accordingly, this skill may be more evident in later stages. teachers’ findings showed that: (a) communication skills were encouraged by the students’ curiosity; (b) the collaboration skill was used as a result of growth in the students’ sense of responsibility; (c) the critical thinking and problem-solving skill was directed toward solutionfocused discussions; and (c) the creativity and innovation skill was driven by the freedom to be creative. it is demonstrated that the authentic and meaningful experiences in global pbl, along with greater autonomy encouraged by the teachers, became motivational factors in students’ engagement in learning (boss, 2013; dole et al., 2017; larmer et al., 2015). in contrast, the students suggested that: (a) communication skills were encouraged by the authentic experience; (b) the collaboration skill was closely related to their interdependence within groups; (c) the critical thinking and problem-solving skill was directed toward the audience orientation; and (d) the creativity and innovation skill was made possible by collective creativity (which links back to the development of the collaboration skill). perceiving that a project is valuable and interesting, having opportunities to work with others, and learning in an non-subject related assessment (extracurricular activities) could therefore be the keys in promoting the students’ active engagement in pbl (blumenfeld et al., 1991). all of these aspects can be adapted to a classroom environment. importantly, both teachers and students identified several benefits from this cross-country collaboration pbl project, not only cultural awareness (understanding, adaptability, tolerance) (kuo, 2015; nganga, 2016), persistence and resilience (boss,2013), but also in developing selfdirected behaviors (macmath, sivia, & britton, 2017), tenacity, and a sense of independence. those are deemed to be 21st century qualities that could assist the younger generation to succeed academically as well as in future careers (oecd, 2018; oxfam, 2015a; p21, 2019; sri international, 2018; unesco, 2013, 2015). the growth of positive relationships among students and between students and teachers in this study was similar to benefits seen from pbl in extracurricular settings previously (noam, 2003; schwalm & tylek, 2012). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 while demonstrating the 4cs skills, the students appeared to: (a) be respectful by providing equal opportunities to share ideas and listening attentively to speakers; (b) support others’ ideas rather than oppose them; (c) reach unanimous decisions through consensus; and (d) work cooperatively. these are relevant to some aspects of a democratic classroom environment (ferguson-patrick, 2012) and also reflected the positive contribution of the culture of collectivism (hofstede & hofstede, 2005; mangundjaya, 2013; novera, 2004), the indonesian traditional decision-making practice of musyawarah-mufakat (kawamura, 2011), and the communal work practice of gotong royong (bowen, 1986). conclusion the results of this study provide important insights into how to identify the 4cs skills through global pbl in practice (table 4). global pbl approaches can be used to incorporate the 4cs skills in regular classrooms, regardless of the teaching strategy employed. specifically, the findings indicate that teachers should be aware of the need to adopt a role as facilitator to support students’ ownership of learning in global pbl. the authenticity of tasks in global pbl (selecting a recipe and sharing it with international peers) and the extracurricular setting allowed the students to construct their knowledge socially and personally and contributed to the students’ positive attitude toward learning by translating the challenges in the project into learning opportunities. these findings have important implications for developing teaching practices generally in indonesia and supporting implementation of 21st century skills internationally. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 references adarlo, g., & jackson, l. 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(2012). systemwide implementation of project-based learning: the philadelphia approach. afterschool matters, 12(spring 2012), 2-8. snyder, s. (2016). teachers' perceptions of digital citizenship development in middle school students using social media and global collaborative projects. (doctoral dissertation, walden university, minneapolis, minnesota), retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3607&context=dissertations soulé, h., & warrick, t. (2015). defining 21st century readiness for all students: what we know and how to get there. psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts, 9(2), 178-186. https://doi.org/110.1037/aca0000017. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/13/ https://doi.org/110.18546/ijdegl.18511.18541.18507 https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3607&context=dissertations https://doi.org/110.1037/aca0000017 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 talat, a., & chaudhry, h. f. (2014). the effect of pbl and 21st century skills on students. the lahore journal of business, 2(spring 2014). unesco. (2006). unesco guidelines on intercultural education. retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000147878?posinset=1&queryid=dd6b81c7-8a774a8b-8838-bb10cbd733df unesco. (2013). intercultural competences: conceptual and operational framework. retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219768e.pdf unesco. (2014). global citizenship education: preparing learners for the challenges of the twenty-first century. in. retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227729 unesco. (2015). global citizenship education: topics and learning objectives. retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002329/232993e.pdf vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes (m. cole, v. john-steiner, s. scribner, & e. souberman eds.). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. world bank. (2019). world development report 2019: the changing nature of work. washington, dc: world bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1328-3. world economic forum. (2018). the future of jobs report 2018. geneva, switzerland: world economic forum. wurdinger, s. d. (2016). the power of project-based learning: helping students develop important life skills. lanham: rowman & littlefield publishers. york, m. k. (2017). going global: exploring the behavioral intent of stem pre-service teachers in a global collaboration focused teacher preparation course. (doctoral dissertation, texas tech university, lubbock,texas), retrieved from https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/73486/yorkdissertation-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y about the authors: marini budiarti has a newly achieved masters of philosophy in education from the university of newcastle, australia to add to her bachelor of english education and a masters of educational management from indonesia. as a secondary teacher in kalimantan tengah in indonesia, she mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000147878?posinset=1&queryid=dd6b81c7-8a77-4a8b-8838-bb10cbd733df https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000147878?posinset=1&queryid=dd6b81c7-8a77-4a8b-8838-bb10cbd733df http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219768e.pdf https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227729 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002329/232993e.pdf https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1328-3 https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/73486/york-dissertation-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/73486/york-dissertation-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 33-62 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 coordinated a number of global projects and was a recipient of international leaders in education program (ilep)-u.s. department of state and endeavour leadership program-postgraduate scholarship-australian government for her achievement. she has just started her phd program at central queensland university after gaining a research training program stipend scholarship and an international excellence award. dr kate ferguson-patrick is a university educator and community outreach coordinator for the gert (global education research and teaching) at the university of newcastle. she has research expertise in qualitative research particularly in semi structured interviews and classroom observation. her expertise is in 21st century learning, cooperative learning, democracy classrooms, intercultural understanding, global education, and teacher professional learning. dr suzanne macqueen has expertise in interviewing and qualitative analysis. her research and teaching interests are in student equity and as such she has participated in large nationally funded projects regarding university students from equity groups. she has university roles in student integrity initiatives and faculty governance. suzanne has published 15 journal articles and 6 book chapters. her expertise is in tertiary student advancement; intercultural understanding; global education; and classroom pedagogy. associate professor ruth reynolds is the leader of the global education research and teaching team at university of newcastle. she has 118 officially certified academic publications to date and supervised a substantial number of phd students. her expertise is in intercultural understanding, social studies education, citizenship education and primary classroom pedagogy. for further information on staff see: https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ mcqueen budiarti 1 table 4 mcqueen budiarti copy journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 157-160 corresponding author: soadbadran@my.unt.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 157 book review journell, w. (ed.). (2019). unpacking fake news: an educator’s guide to navigating the media with students. new york, ny: teachers college press soad badran university of north texas abstract: in unpacking fake news: an educator's guide to navigating the media with students (2019), editor wayne journell and the contributing scholars offer an overview of the issue of fake news and how teachers can teach students to navigate it critically. the book starts by showing how fake news works and impacts people's beliefs, especially in the political field. this book also gives the reader an overview of historical events of fake news and why teenagers are more susceptible to it. additionally, the book provides readers with assessment tools that can help students evaluate and distinguish between fake and real news and includes educational approaches and strategies that teachers can use to help their students become critical thinkers. nowadays, social media is considered a source of information for many people of different ages; however, the information may be real or fabricated (journell, 2019). the main idea of this book is to provide students with strategies to combat unreliable sources and fake news. fake news is rapidly deployable, so to combat this, civic education scholars provide social studies teachers with valuable information for teaching students the impact of and how to identify fake news. chapter one describes how fake news works, especially in social media. h. james garrett discusses the fake news taxonomy in great detail: the first type of fake news highlights specific issues for entertainment purposes or critique of culture, the second type of fake news targets disinformation and shapes people’s beliefs in the political field, and the third type of fake news mailto:soadbadran@my.unt.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 157-160 corresponding author: soadbadran@my.unt.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 158 dismisses reliable news and describes it as a misinformation. the chapter also describes the three emotional effects of newly encountered information: (i) “motivated reasoning,” in which people tend to interpret information based on their view of the world, (ii) “confirmation bias,” which states that individuals are inclined to interpret evidence relying on their existing knowledge of the world, and (iii) the “backfire effect” (pp. 20-21), which means that people tend to reject evidence that goes against their beliefs, which in turn strengthens their beliefs. chapter two by woodson, king, and kim discusses the impact of fake news on african american life, providing some stories to demonstrate how fake news affects african american people. for instance, one historical incidence of the damaging effect of fake news involved the emancipation proclamation of 1863: the authors demonstrate how fake news led to the delay of the dissemination of the proclamation for two years in texas in order to sustain slavery. the second moment regards the black lives matter global network (blmgn), which seeks better treatment for black communities: individuals belonging to this group were accused of being terrorists and criminals by russia during the u.s. presidential election of 2016. chapter three outlines why adolescents who interact a great deal with social media are more vulnerable to fake news. ellen middaugh provides results from several national surveys showing why teenagers specifically are more susceptible to fake news than other groups. this chapter focuses on the habits of teenagers, citing national surveys that show how much time teenagers spend on social media platforms (e.g., facebook, instagram, snapchat). there are many factors that motivate teenagers to interact with social media, including identity exploration, one of the features of adolescence. the author concludes with practical solutions such as engaging students to analyze and discover different sources in social media and building credibility skills by reading and discussing information that could help teenagers to combat the potential effects of constant exposure to fake news. in chapter four, sarah mcgrew, joel breakstone, teresa ortega, mark smith, and sam wineburg highlight the importance of integrating logical reasoning skills in class discussions about political issues. the authors present a new assessment of students’ civic reasoning to determine the extent to which teenagers can separate fake news from real news. in the assessment, students analyzed a post about trump on facebook, a link followed by a link for the source of the tweet, and a video on youtube; the results of the assessment showed that students usually focus on the content and do not click on the source to verify the information. the authors demonstrate how middle school to college-age students can verify information in social media and how it is important to improve their thinking skills to evaluate online information. mailto:soadbadran@my.unt.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 157-160 corresponding author: soadbadran@my.unt.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 159 in chapter five, avner segall, margaret smith crocco, anne-lise halvorsen, and rebecca jacobsen present a longitudinal mixed-method study with high school students focusing on students’ perspectives on u.s. immigration policy to highlight how fake news affects the tenor of their discussions. in their findings, students used incorrect and biased information to support their points of view. in chapter six, erica hodgin and joseph kahne focus on the challenges that a person faces when assessing the credibility of information: (i) the spread of the different social media platforms, (ii) distrusting democratic institutions such as journalism, and (iii) the large number of political parties. the authors provide some educational approaches to civic media education: (i) developing metacognition concerning the reliability of online information, (ii) providing youth with skills for assessing the truth of claims, and (iii) providing youth with more opportunities to practice assessment strategies they have learned. chapter seven by wayne journell and christopher h. clark provides an overview of how memes as a traditional form of media can be analyzed and how students can identify the hidden messages they may convey. for example, teachers can help their students to create memes and post them on social media in order to assist them to understand and improve their critical thinking skills. this chapter focuses mainly on political memes and their effects on social issues. additionally, historical context is provided to demonstrate how memes have developed over time and how they are used for political persuasion. in chapter eight, jennifer hauver presents eight mini-lessons for elementary and middle school teachers to assist students to think deeply and be critical consumers of information. this includes students building trust in themselves and understanding the two sides of the story, the true and the fake side. in conclusion, this book is a useful resource for k-12 social studies teachers, providing them with practices to support k-12 students in becoming more critical consumers of news disseminated through social media and to assist students in protecting themselves from fake news in social media. mailto:soadbadran@my.unt.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 157-160 corresponding author: soadbadran@my.unt.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 160 references journell, w. (ed.). (2019). unpacking fake news: an educator’s guide to navigating the media with students. new york, ny: teachers college press. about the author: soad badran is a doctoral student at the university of north texas, curriculum and instruction ph.d. program. her area of interest is social studies education. mailto:soadbadran@my.unt.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 collaborative, online, and international learning to promote civic competence in japan and the u.s. cory callahan the university of alabama katsuki umeda chiba university, japan saki matsubara university of tsukuba, japan abstract: this paper describes a mixed-methods investigation into whether an asynchronous, virtual collaboration with japanese peers helped pre-service social studies teachers in the u.s. demonstrate civic competence as it relates to international and global education. after the collaboration, most students described themselves as better-prepared world citizens; however, analysis of preand post-intervention surveys revealed only one statistically significant u-test result concerning participants’ pedagogical thinking. this investigation suggests education programs can better prepare novice teachers to think and act globally by providing international telecollaborative experiences and explicitly emphasizing classroom instruction (practice) informed by civic competence as it relates to international and global education (theory). key words: international education, global education, social studies, civic competence introduction the notions of internationalization and globalization are often found within contemporary conversations concerning education policy, curriculum reform, and instructional practice in the u.s. (see de wit, 2020; engel, 2019) and around the world (see pushpanadham, 2020; tye, 2014; mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 zapp & lerch, 2020). scholars have even suggested that the 21st century could be considered a type of “golden age” for internationalization because of sustained public discourse surrounding “global citizenship” and “global citizenship education” (grossman, 2017, p. 530). yet, despite the evident need for teachers to think globally, have international experience, and to incorporate a global dimension into their practice, teacher-education programs tend to be some of the least internationalized on campuses in the u.s. (heyl & mccarthy, 2003) and around the world (see leutwyler, popov, & wolhuter, 2017). while the benefits of globalized teacher-education programs are clear (e.g., promoting a type of re-imagined active participatory citizenship for the world), so too are the challenges and costs. travel and in-person collaboration—mostly by wealthy students—tend to characterize traditional internationalization of higher-education programs (de wit, 2019). recent efforts, however, have focused on making participation in international experiences more inclusive. for example, one innovative internationalization strategy minimizes costs and increases participation by featuring virtual collaboration (see suny coil center, 2020). here, the authors share a mixed-methods investigation into a five-week, collaborative, and online international experience for pre-service social studies teachers facilitated by the american council on education and its u.s.-japan coil initiative. the project modeled a pedagogical approach developed by the state university of new york coil center (see http://coil.suny.edu) and began to answer: to what degree can an asynchronous, virtual collaboration with international peers help pre-service social studies teachers demonstrate civic competence for international and global education? this article presents data related to a cohort of pre-service social studies teachers in the u.s. as they joined with japanese peers to explore current trends in social studies education and design wise-practice activities for secondary students in both nations. when writing at the end of the project, most students demonstrated a better understanding of civic competence (e.g., explained philosophical tenets, specifically described real-world applications), and many students described ways they had become better prepared as world citizens. analysis of the preand post-intervention surveys, however, revealed only one statistically significant u-test value concerning participants’ thinking about teaching and learning. this study suggests that social studies teacher-education programs could better prepare novice teachers to think and act globally by providing opportunities, even if limited in scope and duration, to interact socially and academically with international peers, and by explicitly emphasizing real-world classroom applications of civic competence for international and global education. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://coil.suny.edu/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 review of related literature social studies because of its emphasis on citizenship, the discipline of social studies is a logical context for preservice teachers in japan and the u.s. to explore internationalization and globalization. for example, recent national and prefectural education reforms have compelled many japanese teachers and teacher-educators to rethink the purpose of teaching students social studies courses and how to best promote citizenship (harada, 2018). while stakeholders in japan tend to agree that social studies courses should help students develop “qualities that are necessary in the people who make up a peaceful and democratic nation and society” (ministry of education, culture, sports, science, and technology-japan, 2006, article 1), there is no consensus about how to best accomplish the goal. the resulting discussions—which have included, for example, the proper balance of knowledge and skills with empathy and values, and the correct emphasis on traditional culture and customs—have distilled opinions into at least two viewpoints. one viewpoint, called academic social studies (ikeno, 2012), considers paramount the disciplinary knowledge and skills that social studies courses can introduce and strengthen. citizenship from this perspective is an outcome of students developing the thinking habits and processing skills of social scientists (i.e., economists, geographers, historians, political scientists, sociologists, etc.). another viewpoint, called applied social studies (ikeno, 2012), maintains that citizenship must be built through students’ reasoning about value-conflicts that underpin real-world issues and attempting to solve complex social problems. strong opinions exist on both sides of this ideological divide (see fujiwara, 2011). observers of social studies education in the united states will find familiar arguments in japan’s contemporary debate over effective approaches to promote citizenship. strikingly similar categories can be used to describe approaches practiced by social studies teachers and teachereducators in the u.s., where at least two overarching philosophies exist. one philosophy is called traditional and its proponents emphasize the “retention of prescribed facts, narratives, images, and content” and the transmission of “specific traditions from the past” (fallace, 2017, p. 44). proponents argue that if students were to retain common (pre-determined and objective) information, a common understanding of culture would form (i.e., “cultural literacy;” hirsch, kett, & trefil, 2002). advocates of a second philosophy, called progressive, promote learning facts in the context of real-world problems and applying facts to advance social progress (fallace, 2017). for example, advocates of a progressive approach to social studies promote students mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 using facts to posit solutions to authentic problems which can be “substantiated and critiqued using rules of evidence and reasoning” (saye, 2017, p. 336). the collaborative project shared here added an international element to the pre-service teachers’ experiences of exploring the dual approaches to social studies education. they were to identify potential benefits and challenges posited by advocates of each approach in both nations and evaluate which approach, or a synthesis of the approaches, could best help secondary students develop the skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary for robust participation in a democracy. civic competence supporting learners’ efforts to interpret information, weigh contrastive evidence, make and support arguments about solutions to public issues, and take action according to their wellinformed consciences—i.e., developing civic competence—is a tremendous challenge for many social studies teachers (callahan, 2009, 2013a, 2013b, 2015). to develop civic competence within a context of international and global education only compounds the difficulty. yet, contemporary surveys and international research studies consistently suggest that k-16 students would greatly benefit from additional opportunities to further develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for civic competence in their often pluralistic and multicultural communities (see almond & verba, 2015; banks, 2008; council of foreign relations, 2016; hoskins et al., 2011; kahne & middaugh, 2010; longview foundation, 2008; merryfield, 2000; myers, 2006; national assessment of educational progress, 2015; noddings, 2005; rapoport, 2013; shah et al., 2009; ukpokodu, 2020; zeichner, 2010). therefore, the researchers designed this project to simultaneously provide pre-service teachers with 1) guided international experiences to further develop their individual civic competence, and 2) scaffolded opportunities to develop their capacity to design activities for secondary students to do the same. civic competence for international and global education the researchers’ review of literature related to integrating global and international elements into teacher-education programs and k-12 curricula revealed a complicated web of related concepts with little consensus. they read advocacy articles or empirical investigations into globalization (friedman, 2007), global education (grossman, 2017; ukpokodu, 2020), global perspective (hanvey, 1976), world-mindedness (parker et al., 1997; samson & smith, 1957), globalmindedness (hett, 1993), cultural competence (jenks, 2011), intercultural competence (cui, 2013), global citizenship (unesco, 2012), global citizenship education (krutka & carano, 2016; mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 white, 2020), global mindset (vassar, 2006), cosmopolitan citizenship (nussbaum, 2002), and global citizenry (shulsky et al., 2017). deciding which term(s) to use to describe phenomena was itself a challenge.1 they also found concerns about the concepts and their implementation (i.e., their coherence can be less than desirable [see myers, 2006] and u.s. practitioners tend to be less enthusiastic than teachers in other nations about introducing them [see rapoport, 2015]). yet, the researchers distilled the following common principles from this review of related literature. interconnectedness thinking deeply about global facts and interpreting resources from multiple international perspectives can help students achieve powerful learning outcomes; however, those tasks seem to constitute only one element of civic competence as it relates to international and global education. a more robust experience would feature students using information about people, societies, and events from around the globe to explore relationships between cultures and nations (hanvey, 1976; hicks, 2003; nussbaum, 1996; parker, 2008; shulsky et al., 2017). more specifically, students could explore connections between their lives and concerns and those of peers from around the world. this “interconnectedness” was a common theme and the first principle of civic competence for international and global education. these connections could strongly emphasize how issues of public interest around the world are interconnected and often interdependent (see merryfield, 2000; selby, 1999; unesco, 1989). exploring these connections could help students recognize a “shared humanity” and empower students to see themselves as global citizens prepared to make positive contributions to the world (barrow, 2017, p. 163; shulsky et al., 2017). as it relates to this study, the researchers began to determine the degree to which students demonstrated “interconnectedness” by evaluating whether they, for example, explicitly connected their personal and professional concerns to those of their international peers. 1 the national council for the social studies (2016, para. 3-4) states: “global education and international education are complementary approaches with different emphases…. global education focuses on the interrelated nature of conditions, issues, trends, processes, and events while international education emphasizes specific world regions, problems, and cultures.” the authors use the combined term “international and global education” because this study emphasized both. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 cosmopolitanism the second principle, cosmopolitanism, is a notion with a long history (nussbaum, 1994, 2002) and many definitions. here it is used to describe one’s willful acceptance of—and comfortable interaction within—a multiplicity of rational ways to build and understand social realities (delanty, 2006; parker, 2008). cosmopolitanism can positively motivate individuals to comfortably and confidently participate in diverse settings without paternalistic or parochial attitudes. as it relates to this study, the researchers began to determine the degree to which students demonstrated “cosmopolitanism” by evaluating whether they, for example, demonstrated respect for their international peers’ contributions to their collaborative efforts and allowed those contributions to inform their construction of new knowledge about teaching in general and social studies education in particular. inquiry into global issues the literature reviewed also suggested that attempts to facilitate students’ international and global learning should be nested within a problem-based instructional approach. for example, a recent position statement from the national council for the social studies claims that “an important characteristic of global studies is the analysis of problems” (ncss, 2016, para. 6). additionally, scholars have stated that inquiry is an “ideal framework for teaching about global issues” (mccall, 2017, p. 137) and an inquiry arc, such as dimension one of the c3 framework, is in “direct conversation” with global and international education (harshman, 2016, p. 162). merryfield, lo, po, and kansai (2008, p. 9) reported a problem-based approach into issues of international concern can help students synthesize “important lessons of history over hundreds of years and (link) them to contemporary events.” therefore, inquiry into global issues is the third principle. as it relates to this study, the researchers’ curricular design centered around authentic ill-structured problems to help each participant work through the problem-solving process (barrows, 2002; brush & saye, 2014) and thereby further develop a “capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance” (mansilla & jackson, 2011, p. xiii). the researchers began to determine, for example, the degree to which students demonstrated the principle by evaluating whether they clearly crafted and supported positions on the fairness and desirability of solutions to global issue, and whether they similarly designed instructional activities for k-12 students. the above research-based principles—and components subsequently derived from them—were synthesized from a review of related literature and informed the researchers’ design and mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 implementation of this study. moreover, the notion of “civic competence for international and global education” (see figure 1) also established measurable criteria for assessing students’ outcomes and experiences; these criteria are further described below in the methodology section. figure 1 civic competence for international and global education theoretical framework knowing that social interactions would frame (and be framed by) the students’ exploration of civic competence for international and global education, the researchers selected the socialcultural theory of mediated action to guide their research. the theory posits that social interactions tend to mediate a person’s making sense of the world and can involve a wide variety of material and immaterial phenomena with which they develop conclusions about the world (vygotsky, 1978; wertsch, 1991; zhang et al., 2018). consequently, the theory underscores the importance of a person’s context: the surrounding tools, language, signs, activities, resources, etc. the theory provided deductive guidance for the quantitative aspects of the study as its mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 activities and assignments were intended to help inform and expand participants’ existing ideas about social studies education, civic competence, and international and global education. the theory also informed the study’s qualitative aspects as it helped the researchers explain participants’ experiences throughout the project and its influence, if any, on their beliefs about teaching and learning in context of international education, global education, and civic competence. methodology this study was an investigation into the degree to which a collaborative, online, and international learning project may have helped pre-service secondary social studies teachers demonstrate civic competence as it relates to international and global education. the researchers employed a basic type of convergent mixed-methods design with a parallel database variant; they collected both quantitative and qualitative data, analyzed them independently, and combined emerging results for further interpretation (see figure 2). specifically, they used results from a preand postintervention survey to test whether a significant correlation existed between the project and the participants’ prioritizing of instructional practices. the researchers also used results from participants’ summaries of an individually designed classroom activity to describe their understanding of civic competence. the collection of different yet complementary types of data allowed the researchers to compare and potentially corroborate findings. they presumed a mixed-methods approach would provide greater guidance for exploring the research question than either type of data could provide separately. participants because of space limitations, this article only concerns data associated with students in the u.s.; a future article is planned to explore data from the japanese participants. eighteen students at a large public university in the southeastern united states participated in this study: 50% were female, 50% were male, all were caucasian, and all but one were between the ages of 20 and 24. the study occurred during the students’ penultimate semester before an internship and, upon its successful completion, graduation from an initial teacher licensure program. the students’ secondary social studies program included 36 hours of social studies content courses, six hours of social studies methods courses, and 15 hours of field experiences courses. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 figure 2 data map: convergent mixed methods design, parallel-database variant the collaborative, online, and international learning project below is a brief description of each week that comprised the project. week one. in japan, a professor introduced nearly 30 students—pre-service teachers and social studies majors— to the goal, objectives, and logistics of the project. in the u.s., a professor did the same for the 18 students described above. all students were afforded class time to explore specific online tools (e.g., flipgrid) that would facilitate their future interactions, and they were encouraged to ask questions to better understand the multimedia interface(s). students were grouped into small, internationally diverse teams upon which the professors agreed. next, students were assigned task one: “create a 3-5 minute video that introduces yourself to your mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 international partners.” the u.s. students posted their videos first; the japanese students then posted their videos. both professors viewed all of the students’ videos throughout the project and offered formative feedback as appropriate. week two. students were asked to view their international partners’ introduction videos and reply (i.e, answer questions they were asked; correct inaccuracies, stereotypes). then, they were assigned task two: “create a 3-5 minute video that introduces your current understanding of the culture(s) found within your international partners’ nation. be sure to ask several questions.” the japanese students posted their videos first; the u.s. students then posted their videos. week three. students were asked to view their international partners’ cultural understanding videos and reply. they were then assigned to read lengthy excerpts from an article about competing visions of social studies education in their international partners’ nation. japanese students read about “traditional” and “progressive” approaches to social studies education in the u.s. (see fallace, 2017) while u.s. students read about “academic” and “applied” approaches to social studies education in japan (see ikeno, 2012). each student was then assigned to complete task three: “using the letters in the japanese word ‘shimin’ (which can be translated to mean ‘citizen’ or ‘citizenship’ in english) create an acrostic poem to demonstrate a meaningful understanding of the reading assigned to you.” upon completing the above interpretive task and receiving formative feedback from their respective professor, students were asked to complete task four: “create a 3-5 minute video that introduces your current understanding of the similarities (and differences) between visions of social studies education in japan and the u.s.” week four. students were asked to view their international partners’ social studies education videos and reply. they were then assigned to read a national council for the social studies (2016) statement about global and international education in social studies. each student was assigned to complete task five: “develop an interpretive, annotated, and illustrated bookmark that demonstrates your understanding of how global and international education can inform our social studies instruction.” upon completing this second interpretive task and receiving formative feedback from their respective professor, students were then introduced to, and subsequently discussed thoroughly, the notion of civic competence for international and global education as developed by the professors’ review of related literature (see figure 1). week five. students were assigned task six: “collaborate with your international partners to develop a brief activity—between 10 and 20 minutes—to help secondary social studies students in both nations demonstrate civic competence for international and global education (i.e., “the mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 activity should reflect the principles and components that we have explored throughout the project”). the content-specific topic for the activity should help students to think critically about a geography standard provided.” the professors designed two geography standards from a synthesis from japan’s new curriculum standards (e.g., geography a, objective [mext (2009)]) and a recent course of study standards (i.e., geography 9-12, 10) from a state in the u.s. the students’ teams were to select one of the two geography standards and complete the task. a week later, u.s. students were asked to individually select the other standard and create a new, original activity; the participants’ descriptions of these activities were evaluated for this study. reflexivity/positionality statement this study’s methodology positioned the researchers as types of “research instruments” as they designed the study and analyzed the data. the researchers recognized that the ways they interacted with data were shaped by this close proximity and their underlying positive beliefs about the project. the mixed-method design was therefore more subjective than a purely quantitative study because of the decreased distance between the researchers and the data. therefore, they emphasized reflexivity when making sense of qualitative data. along a priori codes suggested by related literature (saldaña, 2009), the researchers also specifically allowed phenomena made relevant by the participants’ experiences to inform their thematic analysis approach (miles, huberman, & saldaña, 2013). additionally, they made reflexive reports to two u.s. colleagues for peer critique (see creswell & miller, 2000). quantitative data a portion of this study was modeled upon the work of education researchers john saye and thomas brush and their work with pre-service social studies teachers; they used a cohort survey protocol where participants completed the same survey more than once “to determine differences in responses to various items over the course of an intervention” (brush & saye, 2014, p. 85). here, the u.s. professor twice employed a survey to assess the degree to which participants in the u.s. may have allowed their participation in the aforementioned program to inform their pedagogical thinking. he sought to learn if the intervention could help students emphasize principles and components associated with civic competence for global and international education. participants completed the survey before and after the program, and the researchers compared results to draw tentative conclusions about any possible variations in their thinking about social studies instruction. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 survey the survey consisted of three questions that asked participants to prioritize five possible studentoutcomes in the design of: 1) learning targets, 2) instructional activities, and 3) culminating tasks. for each survey question, the options for participants to rank-order included several traditional strategies and at least one strategy that clearly represented civic competence for global and international education. the survey afforded space for participants to describe in their own words the rationale for their decision-making (i.e., prioritization), although this was not overtly emphasized during either administration of the survey. validity content validity was established by way of a review of the survey by an ad hoc committee of the u.s. researcher’s peers with experiences in international and global education. the committee reviewed the survey to determine if the items intended to be exemplars of civic competence for international and global education were indeed valid indicators of the concept. after an independent review and a collective conversation, the committee concluded that the survey seemed to represent the concept of civic competence for international and global education as described above. data analysis social science researchers often design studies to “test for differences in the central tendency between two experimental treatments… whether one variable of interest is, on average, higher or lower in one treatment than in another” (feltovich, 2003, p. 273). when treatments feature larger sample sizes, standard parametric analytical strategies such as the t-test are appropriate; however, smaller sample sizes require a different type of statistical test. because this aspect of the study featured fewer than 20 participants, the researchers determined that a non-parametric statistical test—one that would not require data normality distribution assumptions or a large sample size—was best. they employed a robust rank-order test to compare participants’ survey responses: the wilcoxon-mann-whitney test (also called the u-test). the u-test is the most commonly used non-parametric hypothesis test to measure if two related samples, including repeated measurement of the same instrument, correspond to the same distribution (feltovich, 2003; green & salkind, 2008; noether, 1992; wilcoxon, 1945). for this study, u-tests measured the degree of difference in the central tendency between u.s. students’ prioritization of civic competence as it relates to international and global education before and after the five-week collaborative project. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 the researchers decided against using a multiple-comparison adjustment (i.e., bonferroni correction) that is sometimes employed when multiple inferential tests are conducted (napierala, 2012; weisstein, 2004). while a multiple-comparison adjustment is used to reduce the likelihood of type i errors, it may increase the likelihood of type ii errors (cabin & mitchell, 2000). thus, for this study, the researchers used the traditionally accepted .05 level of significance (i.e., p <.05) and a one-tailed hypothesis. qualitative data the researchers also designed this project to qualitatively analyze the participants’ words to complement quantitative analysis of their survey rankings. after they joined with peers to collaboratively develop a classroom activity for secondary social studies students, u.s. participants then completed an individual assignment. they crafted a new, completely original classroom activity for secondary students centered around a different geography standard. the only additional instruction participants received was to include an approximately 250-word description of how their individual activity “demonstrates what you’ve learned from the asynchronous, collaborative project (i.e., civic competence for international and global education).” data analysis because of space limitations, this article’s qualitative analysis includes only the participants’ descriptions of their activities. these descriptions were reviewed for references to the collaborative project with japanese peers and, moreover, for direct explanations of principles and components of civic competence for international and global education. the researchers completed the following four-step systematic analysis: (1) multiple, intense readings of data; (2) making notes and generating interpretations and codes; (3) re-reading data through a sociocultural lens; and (4) reflexive reporting. the above approach grounded their findings in the dataset and helped establish validity and credibility. also helping to establish trustworthiness were the weeks the researchers spent interacting with the participants (i.e., engaged time in the field; lochmiller & lester, 2017) and that colleagues critiqued the reflexive reports (i.e., peer debriefing; creswell & miller, 2000). mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 findings the following findings are presented according to the study’s methodological approach, with quantitative data presented first and qualitative data second. the combination of the two approaches (i.e., convergent data) is presented and discussed in the implications section. quantitative data the u.s. professor twice administered a survey to begin to answer whether the collaborative, online, and international learning project with japanese peers could help the u.s. pre-service social studies teachers prioritize instructional strategies designed to promote civic competence for global and international education. the survey asked students to prioritize five elements within three different aspects of social studies instruction: learning targets, instructional activities, and culminating tasks. therefore, in total there were 15 individual u-test values that resulted from a comparison of the pre-project and post-project survey responses. because 16 students completed the pre-program survey and 15 students completed the post-program survey, the critical value of u in this study was 77 (p<.05, one-tailed hypothesis). culminating tasks fourteen of the u-test values measured above the critical value and therefore did not refute a null hypothesis. there was only one value difference that proved to be statistically significant: selection a in the culminating tasks aspect. students were asked to rank the following five culminating tasks in order of importance: 1 (most important) to 5 (least important): a. students will craft and support positions that make clear connections to broad, frequently recurring historical themes. b. students will craft and support positions that evaluate potential solutions to issues of local and national importance. c. students will craft and support positions that identify multiple perspectives of a nation’s solutions to domestic problems. d. students will craft and support positions that include evidence from primary and secondary historical sources. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 e. students will craft and support positions on the fairness and desirability of solutions to global issues. an overall summary of the participants’ responses is provided in table 1. in the survey completed before the project, 62.5% of the time students listed selection a as first or second “most important.” this was not surprising to the researchers because “craft(ing) and support(ing) positions that make clear connections to broad, frequently recurring historical themes” is a tenet of the pedagogical approach that the u.s. professor promotes for secondary social studies education (a type of problem-based historical inquiry). nor was it a surprise that after the project, students listed selection a as first or second “most important” only 33.3% of the time; the researchers thought it possible that students would slightly devalue selection a as a consequence of subsequently prioritizing another selection (i.e., selection e). the u-value (77) of this change proved statistically significant. table 1 percentage of participants who ranked each culminating task as first or second “most important,” and u-value pre-project post-project u-value a 62.5% 33.3% 77 b 50.0% 60.0% 103 c 12.5% 33.3% 110 d 31.2% 33.3% 112.5 e * 43.8% 40.0% 110 * indicates the culminating task that most closely represents civic competence for international and global education as operationalized for this study. the researchers were surprised, however, that both selection a and selection e were deemed less important in the second administration of the survey (a: from 62.5% to 33.3%, and e: from 43.8% to 40%). rather than prioritizing the globally and internationally focused option of selection e, participants placed greater value on the more nationally-focused selections b and c. it seemed that after five weeks of working with japanese peers, the u.s. students’ attention was drawn away from international issues and toward issues of “national importance” or “domestic mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 problems.” this nationalist shift may be due, in part, to the context in which participants took the second survey. the post-survey was administered during the public hearings phase of the u.s. president’s impeachment trial. coverage by the media—traditional and social—of the impeachment may have occupied the social studies education students’ minds as they completed the survey. learning targets there were no statistically significant differences in students’ responses to the surveys as it relates to prioritizing learning targets. students were asked to rank the following five learning targets in order of importance: 1 (most important) to 5 (least important): a. students will be able to describe the causes of a social or political movement in another nation. b. students will be able to describe how the lives of people from various nations are interrelated. c. students will be able to describe the effects of various cultural or social movements in a nation other than their own. d. students will be able to describe how aspects of a culture have developed within a nation. e. students will be able to describe themes across different cultures or societies in their nation and within other nations. table 2 is a summary of students’ responses to this survey question. the most valued learning target before and after the project was selection e, an option focused on international education. its mode was 1 in both surveys. the other selection that could be identified as having an international focus was selection b; its mode moved from 5 to 2. in the second administration of the survey, selections a, c, and d were each ranked as first or second “most important” only 26.7% of the time. also, it may be of interest to note that all three of those options were focused on a single nation, while selections b and e involved two or more nations. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 table 2 percentage of participants who ranked each learning target as first or second “most important,” and u-values pre-project post-project u-value a 12.5% 26.7% 106 b * 43.8% 40.0% 117.5 c 50.0% 26.7% 106.5 d 25.0% 26.7% 117 e * 68.8% 80.0% 102 * indicates the learning targets that most closely represent civic competence for international and global education as operationalized for this study. instructional activities students were asked to rank the following five instructional activities in order of importance: 1 (most important) to 5 (least important): a. students will interpret primary documents to compare and contrast socio-economic arguments from multiple international perspectives. b. students will interpret primary documents to compare and contrast socio-economic themes within one country’s recent national history. c. students will interpret primary documents to compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages of a more cosmopolitanism approach to socio-economic decisions. d. students will interpret primary documents to compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages of a more nationalistic approach to socio-economic decisions. e. students will interpret primary documents to compare and contrast socio-economic arguments from different perspectives within one country. a summary of participants’ responses is provided in table 3. while there were no statistically significant differences in students’ responses to the surveys as it relates to prioritizing the mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 instructional activities, it may be of interest to note that before the program, students ranked selection e as first or second most important 81.3% of the time and its mode was 2. this was not surprising to the researchers because thinking deeply about “arguments from different perspectives” is another tenet of the pedagogical approach the u.s. professor promotes. after the program, students continued to value selection e, ranking it first or second 53% of the time; its mode changed to 1. the other option involving more than one “perspective” was selection a, which participants ranked first or second 25% of the time before the program and 33.3% after. selection a had a mode of 1 during the first administration of the survey and at its second administration, selection a had a mode of 1 (tied with 2). table 3 percentage of participants who ranked each instructional activity as first or second “most important,” and u-values pre-project post-project u-value a * 68.8% 66.7% 111 b 25.0% 33.3% 115.5 c 18.8% 20.0% 95 d 6.2% 26.7% 114.5 e 81.3% 53.3% 105 * indicates the instructional activity that most closely represents civic competence for international and global education as operationalized for this study. another option with an international focus was selection c, which mentioned “cosmopolitanism,” a globally related theme. selection c was ranked either the lowest or the second lowest priority by students in both surveys; its mode was 5 before the program and 4 after. selection d was deemed first or second most important only 6.2% of the time during the first survey, and then 26.7% of the time in the second survey. in brief answer to the study’s research question, the quantitative data (i.e., only one statistically significant u-test result) suggest that the asynchronous collaboration with japanese peers was not very helpful for participants to prioritize instructional strategies designed to promote civic competence for international and global education. while the quantitative data suggest that the mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 project had little impact on students’ thinking about instructional strategies, the qualitative data suggest it may have been helpful in other ways. qualitative data the qualitative data helped the researchers begin to assess whether the asynchronous collaboration with japanese peers helped u.s. participants identify the principles and components of civic competence for international and global education and explain how those principles could be made real in a classroom. as they described in their own words their experiences in the project, students made references to a principle or a component of civic competence as it relates to international and global education. also, many students seemed interested in productive communication and several thought that they became more civically competent world citizens. these themes are further explored below. principles of civic competence each student made a reference to at least one principle of civic competence for international and global education, some cited two, and a few mentioned all three. the most commonly cited principle was interconnectedness; however, the majority of responses included only a vague reference to the notion. for example, one student wrote “the project helped me further my understanding of japan’s social studies education (sic) and interconnect that with our own… (it) provided me with insight on how interconnected our educational practices are.” the researchers attempted to determine the degree to which students demonstrated interconnectedness by evaluating whether they, for example, explicitly connected their personal or professional lives and concerns to those of their international peers. there were more direct responses that suggested students more thoroughly understood the notion; for example: this project showed me how we like some of the same things. out of the four japanese partners in my group, two were [sports team] fans, and had [sports team] gear before we even met them, which was awesome. we also had the same favorite baseball team. it just proves that no matter how different two people, countries, languages, etc., are, there can still be similarities found, which i think is a big part of being civically competent and recognizing those similarities. a similar response by another student also attempted to explicate the notion of interconnectedness: “this project helped develop my understanding of how certain aspects of society are connected… nearly all of us attend festivals or sporting events, and we hold some of mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 or all of our identity in the events we attend.” there were several students who seemed to describe the notion of interconnectedness in ways that were brought about by the project. the researchers attempted to determine to what degree students demonstrated another principle by evaluating whether they clearly crafted and supported descriptions of the educative power of “inquiry into global issues.” several students made specific and thorough references to the principle; for example, when describing their individually developed activity, a student wrote: it challenges and benefits students to build a global response to complicated issues, such as natural disaster response and relief. by studying and then representing their host countries, students will experience a diverse array of global responses, concerns, and problems that people from all over the world will experience when trying to come up with solutions to this issue... by studying natural disasters from across the world, students will be better educated in the multiple global perspectives and concerns about this issue, and they will be better prepared to be active and aware participants in a 21st-century globalized society. another student wrote that “students should acknowledge the reach that issues in other regions of the world can have on the global community. analyzing these issues from different perspectives allows students to create… a well-rounded idea about a solution to a global issue.” the quotes above describe several aspects of inquiry into global issues: multiple international perspectives, positing a solution to complex global issues, and how practicing these skills in the classroom can better prepare students for their present and future away from school. these aspects were introduced and reinforced throughout the project. the least-mentioned principle was cosmopolitanism. the researchers attempted to determine the degree to which each student demonstrated cosmopolitanism by evaluating their collaborative efforts and if they allowed contributions from their international peers to inform their construction of new knowledge about teaching in general and social studies education in particular. for example, one student wrote: what i have learned from the project is to have relational bandwidth. what this means is the ability to communicate with strangers with relative ease. this is something as a future educator that is of utmost importance and goes along with effectively communicating information to others. all it means is that having a conversation with somebody needs to not be hard and anxiety-ridden. overall, i think the project was an awesome experience. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 another student wrote that the project helped “me develop… (the) knowledge that supports productive collaboration across cultures, since i had the opportunity to talk to japanese students via video recordings and learn more about not just them but aspects of japanese culture and way of life.” the above quotes reveal that students considered their interaction with international peers to be “positive” and without “anxiety.” they seemed to revise their understanding (i.e., schema) about social realities. communication an emergent theme was the need for real-time, interpersonal communication to supplement the asynchronous collaboration. one student wrote that “communication skills like those learned and practiced in [the project] are essential to global education because understanding not only language but cultural reference and background is part of effective communication (sic).” another student wrote, “the project did not work as a two-way street, mainly due to the lack of real time communications.” a third student wrote, “i had the chance to communicate with students outside of the united states... i believe being able to communicate effectively is a big part of civic competence.” a final example is as follows: “there were downsides, however specifically in the time allotted for this project… we just did not have enough time to communicate to the best of our ability having to wait several days to receive responses.” students wanted real-time, interpersonal communication to supplement the asynchronous collaboration within the project. global citizenship another theme was personal growth in global citizenship. many students perceived positive development in their personal civic competence as it relates to international and global education. for example, one student wrote, “we can take the knowledge of the japanese culture we learned and apply it to our thoughts and ideas on international relations and come up with ways to apply it to our roles as citizens.” an additional example of a student expressing the belief that their personal civic competence for international and global education had developed is as follows: before this class, being a social studies teacher to me meant that we are to create civically competent citizens for our own country. what the last several weeks in this class taught me is that to be a social studies teacher means more than to just create civically competent citizens for the united states. it means that we have to create civically and globally competent citizens. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 another example is as follows: my biggest takeaway this semester came as a result of the project we started with our japanese counterparts. when preparing for the project, we began looking at issues from a different perspective than we usually do. while we are used to placing a large emphasis on citizenship education, it is often that i find myself condensing this to american citizenship education. social science education should be approached with a wellrounded understanding of how to contribute a global citizenship education; oftentimes this is done through examining topics with different perspectives. these students strongly believed that they personally grew in the development of the knowledge and skills associated with global citizenship. they considered themselves more civically competent as it related to international and global education. therefore, the brief answer to the research question is that qualitative data suggest that the asynchronous collaboration with japanese peers was helpful for participants to identify the principles and components of civic competence for global and international education and explain how those principles benefited them personally and could be made real in a classroom. convergent data and implications contemporary teacher education programs need to better prepare pre-service teachers by helping them develop skills, knowledge, and experiences that promote civic competence as it relates to international and global education. this project seemed to reinforce several of the participants’ positive beliefs about global education (i.e., the need to include multiple perspectives, an international focus). the study also seemed to help participants develop new positive beliefs about international education (i.e., personal growth in civic competence, communication). what follows are implications for further research drawn from the convergence of collected data. synchronous communication students engaged in international collaborations would benefit from real-time, synchronous communication with their partners. this project called for at least six exchanges between international partners; they were all asynchronous. the class in the u.s. met for three hours on wednesdays, and the class in japan met for three hours on mondays. also, the two classes did not attempt to overcome the 14-hour time difference by having one of the classes meet very early or very late one day to participate in a synchronous teleconference with the other. as it mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 occurred, one class made videos and waited several days before the other class responded (i.e., it was often a week between the initial video and the reply video). students in this project may have benefited from participating in some type of real-time communication: formal classroomto-classroom video-conferencing or informal person-to-person social media interaction (see arnold, 2019). in future iterations of projects similar to the one described here, professors should plan to have students interact synchronously to supplement the asynchronous collaboration. connect theory to practice students engaged in international collaborations would benefit from explicit connections between the theory they study and the practice they simultaneously experience. transparent discussions of the rationale underpinning their learning activities and assignments would better prepare students to recognize, internalize, and implement pedagogical exemplars. the project described in this article was positioned as an exemplar of the type of instruction it promoted; however, the researchers were not explicitly transparent about this fact. only a few students mentioned this overlap of theory and practice. ideally, all participants would have been able to make direct connections between their classroom experience and the educational rationale it modeled. there are several ways in which future iterations of projects similar to this one could help students connect theory to practice. the survey could include more overt references to the theoretical basis for its questions; students may then see a direct connection between what they have read and experienced within the instructional choices manifest in the project. the professors could also make specific references to how the students’ learning experiences model the type of instruction under consideration (i.e., modelling instruction; brewe & sawtelle, 2018). additional international experiences to better understand and implement the lessons learned from this project, students would benefit from more time invested in international experiences. first, the project’s timeline could be moved up within the semester to include more collaboration. for example, this iteration of the five-week project began in late october and was complete by the end of the u.s. students’ fall semester. it may be more beneficial for the project to start earlier in the semester to allow participants more time to collaborate. relatedly, additional international and global experiences could be added to earlier and later semesters to afford students more activities over an increased duration. it is this type of intensive commitment over several semesters—or perhaps several years—that research suggests is needed for lasting instructional change (see kohlmeier et al., 2020). mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 conclusion the researchers found it encouraging that all u.s. participants could describe in their own words at least one principle of civic competence for international and global education, a notion with which they were not familiar prior to the study. most participants, in fact, could describe at least two principles, and a few could describe all three. it was also encouraging that several students claimed that they personally grew in their preparedness as world citizens and offered convincing supporting evidence. future studies into similar international and asynchronous telecollaborative projects could better emphasize subjective portions of a prioritization survey (i.e., “please explain your rationale”) to help make sense of its objective results. researchers may also prefer to increase both the duration of the project and the depth of interaction between the international peers. this study attempts to contribute to current research into wise practices for further internationalizing a teacher-education program and for helping teachers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to support students’ civic competence as it relates to international and global education. acknowledgement the research and materials presented here were sponsored in part by chiba university, the university of alabama’s capstone international center, the american council on education and its u.s.-japan coil initiative, the u.s. embassy in tokyo, and japan’s ministry of education, culture, sports, science, and technology (mext). mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 2-32 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 references almond, g. a., & verba, s. 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(2018). embodied cognition from the perspective of vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. philosophy, 8(8), 362-367. about the authors: cory callahan the university of alabama, united states cwcallahan@ua.edu katsuki umeda chiba university, japan umeda@faculty.chiba-u.jp saki matsubara university of tsukuba, japan sakisun2.fhas@icloud.com mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu mailto:umeda@faculty.chiba-u.jp mailto:sakisun2.fhas@icloud.com journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 revamping teacher community jillian o’connor university of oklahoma abstract: the school community is made up of different components, including students, teachers, administration, and the community as a whole. in recent times, the teacher community has been impacted by various things such as a lack of support from administrations and the community, the covid-19 pandemic, education legislation, and more. this lack of teacher community is impacting the number of teachers who choose to stay in the profession and the quality of education that students receive. with this article, i hope to bring more awareness to the importance of teacher community, the ways that it can be improved, and its implications in the field. keywords: communities of practice, dialogue, teaching profession. introduction i’ve been a part of different roles within the school system over the course of my educational career. student, classmate, teacher, and colleague are some of the hats that i have worn over the years. these roles have helped shaped my viewpoints related to education as well as personal views that helped me become who i am today. when it comes to school community, i experienced community the most as a student. my teachers created not only a space for learning but also opportunities for us students to grow as people. my peers created community through collaborating on group projects, reviewing concepts that we struggled with, and leaning on each other as support when we were stressed. in my student teaching cohort, an online group page was created for us to check in with each other on how our first year of teaching was going and ask each other for advice on how to navigate new situations we might be encountering early in our teaching careers. transitioning into my teaching career, it has been more challenging to find and maintain a teacher community. as a brand new teacher, it did take some time for me to find people to connect with mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 as i was figuring out who i was and what kind of teacher i wanted to be. within my department at my school, there has been some turnover due either to retirement or new teaching opportunities elsewhere. however, my department has been consistent in terms of the people present, what our goals are as a department, and what we stand for. this was my first introduction to what a strong teacher community could look like. outside of that context, however, it has been more challenging to find a teacher community on a school-wide scale or even a larger community scale. at school, for example, we conducted a series of personality tests to learn about ourselves, our leadership styles, and how those personality traits influence who we are as teachers. we spent the day learning about the different personality tests and how we can collaborate in the future. while it was helpful to learn more about our colleagues, it was something we did once and never addressed again. at a state level, the oklahoma teacher walkout in 2018 brought teachers and education advocates from all over the state together for a common cause. in those two weeks, teachers worked together side-byside, connecting with legislators and advocates in different capacities. a strong community was formed in fighting for the same cause: more funding for our students. however, as the walkout ended, that sense of community faded as people went back to their respective schools and lives. as a now veteran teacher, i see the lack of teacher community at various levels of education. within the first five years of their teaching careers, 44% of teachers leave the profession (ingersoll et al., 2018). in recent memory, education has been facing more challenges with the wave of legislation being passed on what and how teachers teach various subjects in the classroom, as well as challenges that the covid-19 pandemic has wrought in education since 2020. with all of these factors in place, without a strong teacher community, the profession will continue to struggle. in this piece, i will be arguing for a renewed emphasis on teacher community, the things impacting teacher community, and the implications that a strong teacher community will have on the profession and education as a whole. attempts at teacher community when it comes to community in education, there have been attempts and research conducted on how to create a classroom community with students. lev vygotsky’s theory on learning emphasizes the importance of social interaction and community. the interaction between peers is important as it helps students create meaning within their learning (dimitriadis & kamberelis, 2006). john dewey discussed the importance of creating a safe classroom space for all students so that they feel comfortable sharing their various life experiences and foster a community of mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 learning (dimitriadis & kamberelis, 2006). there is also various research conducted on how to create class community in various educational spaces, such as in virtual classrooms, pre-k to 12th grade classrooms, classrooms in different subject settings, and more. when it comes to specifically creating a teacher community, lave and wenger’s (1991) community of practice can provide some insight into how to create a community space. communities of practice are defined as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (lave & wenger, 1991). in order for a community of practice to occur, there must be three aspects in place. the first aspect is a domain or a shared interest. it is important to note that being a part of a community of practice is considered the same as a membership or another serious commitment (lave & wenger, 1991). the second aspect is that there must be a community. the people within a community of practice need to regularly and consistently interact with each other and building relationships (lave & wenger, 1991). through these relationships, the people are able to share, collaborate, and build up their group. the last aspect is that there must be practice. being part of a group is not enough—it must be an active process. with members of the group working on their practice, the people in the group reflect on what is going well and what needs improvement (lave & wenger, 1991). the members of the group also create and share resources with each other. the goal for practice is that eventually, the members of the group become practitioners in order to pass their work on to others. impacts on teacher community while there have been teacher communities from the beginning, there has been more of an emphasis on creating communities of practice for teachers within education over the past few decades. for example, deborah meier (1998) pushed for a small schools initiative in order for teachers to have more of a direction in what they were teaching in order to help students become more successful in the classroom. in addition, there has been a push to create more professional learning opportunities for teachers to come together to learn new techniques and strategies, and teacher education programs have been working on creating a space for pre-service teachers to build their own communities (grossman, wineburg, & woolworth, 2001; jimenez-silva & olson, 2012; lieberman, 1988). in 2021, the united states department of education created two communities of practice: evidence-based interventions: using american rescue plan resources to accelerate learning community of practice, and toward an equitable education and recovery: transforming kindergarten community of practice. the goal of these communities of practice is to help combat issues created as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 one example of a type of community of practice seen within daily teaching is professional learning communities. plcs are designed to have teachers work together collaboratively using research and inquiry to help students become successful in their learning goals (eaker, dufour, & dufour, 2002). although the original purpose of plcs was about teachers working together in community, it has turned into a space where it is expected to focus more on data, prioritizing test scores and which standards we must cover in order for students to be successful for their tests, as opposed to developing and working on teacher practice. the lack of support for teachers to navigate these spaces, the lack of funding, and the task of creating time for teachers to meet add to the challenge of creating effective plcs. another factor playing a role in the lack of teacher community is the anti-dialogue rhetoric currently plaguing education. according to paulo friere (1970), dialogue is people in conversation while they practice collective reflection and action. this means that people are engaging in meaningful conversation, trying to address problems within a community, and trying to work together to find solutions. there is also a balance of power within dialogue, meaning that both sides are able to equally contribute to speaking out on issues and finding solutions. what we are experiencing in education is the use of anti-dialogue. anti-dialogue is different than dialogue due to the power imbalance between the two groups and the need to assert control over the other group (friere, 1970). we have seen recent examples of this within education legislation over the past few decades, from no child left behind and earlier. legislation has been created at national and state levels without consideration for teachers or others who have worked in the education field. this has led to harmful educational policies that are changing and/or limiting what is being taught in classrooms. the most recent examples of this include the “don’t say gay” bill in florida, banning the teaching of critical race theory in different states across the country, the attempt to ban certain books in schools, and more. these laws are not designed to protect students. rather, these policies are being created in order to keep teachers in line and prevent them from teaching topics that are deemed “uncomfortable” for students. on top of this, heavy workloads along with unrealistic expectations and demands have caused more teachers to feel like they have no choice but to leave the profession to maintain their own well-being (berger, 2022). years of teachers feeling mistreated and burned out add to these policies to create a situation in which record numbers of teachers are leaving the profession. if these trends continue, the teaching profession will drastically change as more experienced professionals exit. this will impact the quality of education children at all levels will receive for years to come. mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 how to foster teacher community in order to address teacher community, school districts need to re-emphasize the use of communities of practice. this needs to be a strong effort made by teachers and districts as well as state personnel in order to allow for communities of practice to flourish. by creating consistent and meaningful collaboration time with teachers, we will see more teachers working together and thinking about their practice in a more critical and reflective way, and, ultimately, new ways of teaching will come out of these communities. there must be more for teachers than a professional development seminar each semester. there has to be a space for teachers to meet regularly and consistently in order for communities of practice to work and for teachers to feel like they have a community in their respective schools and districts. in addition, there needs to be a shift from the anti-dialogue impacting education today. community members, district administrators, educational policymakers, and teachers need to come together to create a more balanced power relationship with legislators. educational policy impacts everyone who is involved in education in one way or another, especially students. by having more active advocates for education, teachers will feel like they have more support from the communities that they are teaching in and create a more balanced dialogue with legislators creating policy. it cannot only be on teachers to fix the dialogue, it must be a community effort. this will take time and patience, but it is a strong start in changing the narrative and power dynamics causing teachers to leave the profession. the implications of changes to how we see and practice teacher community will have positive benefits for education in the future. for teachers, having strong communities of practice and dialogue with legislators will allow them to have power in their profession, help them create stronger teaching strategies and practices, and, ultimately, help keep teachers in the profession. this in turn will help improve student learning and school community as a whole, as the teachers feel motivated and constantly engage in ways to help improve students’ experience. at my school, there was a phrase we were told constantly during the last two years regarding student achievement and meeting them where they are at: “grace over grades.” it is time that we as a society take that philosophy and apply that to our teaching profession. mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 references berger, c. (2022, february 10). burned-out teachers are sharing their great resignation stories on tiktok. fortune. retrieved april 21, 2022, from https://fortune.com/2022/02/09/burned-out-teachers-are-sharing-their-greatresignation-stories-on-tiktok/ dimitriadis, g., & kamberelis, g. (2006). theory for education. new york, ny: routledge. eaker, r., dufour, r., & dufour, r. (2002). getting started: reculturing schools to become professional learning communities. bloomington, in: solution tree. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. grossman, p., wineburg, s., & woolworth, s. (2001). toward a theory of teacher community. the teachers college record, 103, 942–1012. http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=10833 ingersoll, r., merrill, e., stuckey, d., & collins, g. (2018). seven trends: the transformation of the teaching force – updated october 2018. cpre research reports. retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/108 jimenez-silva, m., & olson, k. (2012). a community of practice in teacher education: insights and perceptions. international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 24, 335–348. lave, j., & wenger, e. (1991). situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. cambridge university press. lieberman, a. (ed.). (1988). building a professional culture in schools. new york: teachers college press. meier, d. (1998). the company we keep: the case for small schools. schumacher center for new economics. retrieved april 19, 2022, from https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/the-company-we-keep-the-case-forsmall-schools/ u.s. department of education. (2021, december 2). u.s. department of education launches two communities of practice to help states address impact of the pandemic on students. u.s. department of education. retrieved april 13, 2022, from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-launches-twocommunities-practice-help-states-address-impact-pandemic-students mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://fortune.com/2022/02/09/burned-out-teachers-are-sharing-their-great-resignation-stories-on-tiktok/ https://fortune.com/2022/02/09/burned-out-teachers-are-sharing-their-great-resignation-stories-on-tiktok/ http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=10833 https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/108 https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/the-company-we-keep-the-case-for-small-schools/ https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/the-company-we-keep-the-case-for-small-schools/ https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-launches-two-communities-practice-help-states-address-impact-pandemic-students https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-launches-two-communities-practice-help-states-address-impact-pandemic-students journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 76-82 corresponding author: jillian.oconnor@ou.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 about the author: jillian o'connor is entering her seventh year of teaching social studies in the state of oklahoma. in addition to teaching, jillian is the new teacher liaison, mentoring new teachers to the profession as well as to her school. she is also currently a phd student at the university of oklahoma in the instructional leadership and academic curriculum program, with an emphasis in social studies education mailto:jillian.oconnor@ou.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 emergency remote learning in social studies methods: seeing, understanding, and disrupting racism linda doornbos oakland university abstract: covid-19 shut down our university and sent us into remote learning. my elementary social studies methods teacher candidates and i sought to make sense of the ensuing chaos. fueled by the threat of covid-19 and growing issues of racism, i designed a focused, inquiry-based lesson using the inquiry design generator of the c3 framework (ncss, 2013) to revisit our work in takaki’s (2012) a different mirror for young people: a history of multicultural america. the inquiry invited the teacher candidates to grasp the significance of the past in shaping the present and to engage in informed action using children’s literature. introduction on march 12, 2020, covid-19 shut down our university and sent us reeling into emergency remote learning. we—my social studies methods elementary teacher candidates (tcs) and i— sought to make sense of the ensuing chaos and the rising fear and anger, for as the virus spread, so did issues of racism and xenophobia. people of asian descent were targets of racist comments and accused of being associated with the disease. additionally, just 35 miles from our campus, in one of america’s poorest big cities, the virus was spreading faster than nearly anywhere in the united states, disproportionately affecting black and brown people. with a renewed sense of urgency, i knew we needed to press on in the difficult and uncomfortable work of seeing, understanding, and disrupting racism. specifically, this work requires: 1) interrogating the whiteness of teacher education and the dominant narrative portrayed in social studies education; 2) exposing the systemic marginalization of certain ethnic mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 and racial groups; 3) disrupting pedagogical practices in schools that perpetuate white superiority, and; 4) committing to ensuring that all students thrive, not merely survive. throughout the semester, tcs were challenged to think differently about the purposes of social studies. we participated in numerous activities and critical conversations to struggle with the complexities of human interactions with each other and the environment, to expand our pedagogical content knowledge, and to be informed, critical participants taking action toward a more just and equitable society. specifically, we used takaki’s (2012) a different mirror for young people: a history of multicultural america to situate our own narratives within the larger narrative and to understand the systemic racism embedded within our country. pedagogically, we interacted with the inquiry arc as represented in the c3 framework (ncss, 2013) to design student-centered lessons to enact in our field-based assigned classrooms. therefore, fueled by the growing issues of racism and xenophobia, i developed a focused, inquirybased lesson using the inquiry design model (idm) generator of the c3 framework (ncss, 2013) to revisit our work in takaki (2012). the compelling question—“what does covid-19 reveal about what it means to see, understand, and disrupt systemic racism?”, investigated through supporting questions, tasks, and sources—invited the tcs to grasp the significance of the past in shaping the present and to engage in specific action to uplift traditionally marginalized groups using children’s literature. perspective as a white, heterosexual, female citizen of the united states, i recognize white supremacy and systematic oppression that dehumanizes individuals from marginalized groups. as a social studies teacher educator, i acknowledge the role schooling plays in perpetuating this white supremacy, and i seek innovative teaching methods so that in my work with tcs, we might deconstruct, dismantle, and disrupt racism. whiteness, as a social construct of hierarchical and hegemonic power structure, informs the way people see themselves and their roles in society. this way of knowing and being continues to systematically marginalize and dehumanize those who are black, indigenous, and people of color (doane & bonilla-silva, 2003; kincheloe & steinberg, 1998; swartz, 2007). whiteness permeates social studies education, and the k-16 social studies curriculum reinforces the “hegemonic notion that whiteness is synonymous with american citizenship while positioning everyone else as noncitizens who exist only in the margins” (vickery & duncan, 2020, p. xvi). mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 systematic whiteness in education, if left unexamined and uninterrupted, will continue to implicitly and explicitly harm those in the margins. love (2019) powerfully names this harm as spirit-murder. spirit-murdering racism “robs dark people of their humanity and dignity and leaves personal, psychological, and spiritual injuries” (p. 38). the devastating results of constant harm lead to a lack of learning, a lack of thriving, and a lack of mattering as human beings. disrupting this harm requires abolitionist teaching. abolitionist educators acknowledge the unjust policies and practices in schooling that commit daily spirit-murder and keep marginalized people from mattering. they work tirelessly to pursue educational freedom—freedom built on “the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an education system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving” (love, 2019, p. 11). critical social studies teacher educators must be abolitionist teachers. first, we must be vigilant in discovering how whiteness manifests itself in visible and invisible ways in what chandler and branscombe (2015) define as white social studies (wss). wss, as the traditional approach to teaching social studies content, systematically marginalizes the histories of people of color. then, using critical whiteness pedagogy (cwp), we must actively seek to disrupt and dismantle structures, policies, and pedagogies that cause harm to others (hawkman, 2018). one particular cwp stance i use to disrupt white supremacy within my social studies methods courses is to utilize takaki’s (2012) “different mirror.” with language geared toward middle-level readers, takaki disrupts the master narrative of white european-americans by telling stories of indigenous, jewish, mexican, japanese, chinese, irish-american, and black peoples. these counternarratives make visible the social construction of race and the systematic inequalities that continue to marginalize racial minorities in our country. through various activities and discussions of takaki’s text, space is provided for teacher candidates to: 1) see themselves critically as they situate their own narratives within the larger narrative; 2) understand the systemic racism embedded within our country, and; 3) engage in strategic actions that uplift humanity as the center of all pedagogical decisions. tcs first use the mirror to see the familiar—their lived experiences—in order to better see themselves and to analyze the lens through which they see others. then, as they encounter the counternarratives and interact with quotations, personal stories, excerpts from folk music, and forms of poetry, they begin to wrestle with the unfamiliar. essentially, we question the dominant narrative of what it means to be an american citizen. collectively, we examine systemic racism mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 and expose how master narrative ideals withhold inalienable rights needed for all to thrive. importantly, we discover ways to disrupt educational harm and creatively pursue freedom. this type of teaching and learning is difficult. researchers have documented common forms of resistance that white pre-service teachers exhibit when looking in the mirror and seeing their whiteness, possibly for the first time, during teacher education courses (busey & vickery, 2018; crowley & smith, 2015; garrett & segall, 2013; matias, montoya, & nishi, 2016). teacher educators need to provide space for tcs to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. additionally, tcs need opportunities in the university classroom to work with others on how to engage elementary students in controversial and difficult topics (alarcón, 2018, p. xvi). therefore, the following lesson highlights how i utilized the inquiry arc and counternarratives to engage tcs in thinking historically about the rising spread of covid-19 and issues of racism. in this endeavor, i invited them into seeing, understanding, and disrupting systemic racism, and to develop pedagogical practices where students thrive, not merely survive. lesson context and overview the following lesson was taught in week four of covid-19 remote learning in a social studies methods course made up of 28 female students—27 white and one black—at a midwestern u.s. university. fueled by the rapid spread of the virus and ensuing issues of racism, and drawing on the use of critical pedagogical knowledge, this lesson continued work done in the previous 10 weeks of using counternarratives to think historically. the lesson positions teachers and students to actively engage in seeing, understanding, and disrupting racism. to navigate the tension of content coverage, traditional textbook instruction, and bringing controversial topics into the classroom, i intentionally used the inquiry blueprint template as offered in c3 teachers: the inquiry design model (idm) (www.c3teachers.org). specifically, a focused inquiry narrows the instructional focus to a oneor two-day lesson, as opposed to the broad structured inquiries that typically take four to seven days. the strength of using the idm blueprint is how it draws attention to the important elements of the inquiry—moving from the compelling question, through the tasks and sources, constructing an evidence-based argument, and taking informed action—all on a single page. the flexibility of the idm allows for adapting the lesson as needed across geographic and grade level contexts. mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.c3teachers.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 figure 1 focused inquiry: using takaki (2012) to see, understand, and disrupt racism compelling question: what does covid-19 reveal about what it means to see, understand, and disrupt systemic racism ? standard d2. his.3-5: compare life in specific historical time periods to life today. ccss: ela-literacy. ri.4.9: integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. teaching tolerance anti-bias framework. justice 12: students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g., discrimination). disciplinary practice history: change, continuity, and context staging the question padlet: respond to a quote from takaki’s a different mirror supporting question 1 supporting question 2 what historical knowledge have we gained from examining takaki’s (2012) different mirror regarding u.s. history of navajos, blacks, asians, and mexican migrant workers? how are each of these groups—navajos, blacks, asians, mexican migrant workers— experiencing covid-19 in spring 2020? formative performance task 1 formative performance task 2 create a mentimeter word cloud to indicate your assigned ethnic/racial group’s historical experiences of inequality and dehumanization. write a three-sentence summary connecting your historical knowledge of the assigned group to how this group is experiencing covid-19. featured sources featured sources a different mirror for young people (takaki, 2012) navajos: chapter 2, 9, 14 blacks: chapter 3, 5, 14 asians: chapter 8, 10, 14 mexican migrant workers: chapter 7, 12, 14 select news articles navajos: npr blacks: bridge: michigan news sources asians: usa today migrant workers: politico mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/c3/c3-framework-for-social-studies.pdf http://www.corestandards.org/ela-literacy/ https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/tt%20anti%20bias%20framework%20pamphlet_final.pdf https://tinyurl.com/yamb4hww https://www.mentimeter.com/ https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-to-get-ahead-of-pandemic?fbclid=iwar0qodedcyx0rnm_kezmukshlvitxbyp4oq1obs7n1s8gezcjwhgaavfouc https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/black-communities-hit-harder-coronavirus-michigan-not-just-detroit https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/28/coronavirus-racism-asian-americans-report-fear-harassment-violence/2903745001/ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/trump-immigrant-workers-coronavirus-162177?fbclid=iwar0p9g04tqque5htuzzrkvgmshjmvcotalmjsc9lh2yp-jnezsirbmun9bu journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 lesson narration inquiry description and compelling question this inquiry lesson leads tcs through an investigation of using the past to understand the present. by investigating the question—“what does covid-19 reveal about what it means to see, understand, and disrupt racism?”—tcs use the knowledge gained from studying the history of marginalized racial groups in the united states (takaki, 2012) to better understand how each of these groups experienced covid-19 in spring 2020. the formative performance tasks build on knowledge and skills throughout the course of the inquiry and help tcs better understand the manifestations of systemic racism. for the summative task, they create an evidence-based argument to answer the compelling question, and take action by designing a read-aloud lesson using an age-appropriate children’s literature book that speaks into and disrupts the master narrative. staging the question padlet, an online bulletin board, connected us virtually and prompted us to see through takaki’s different mirror. we first responded to a quote taken from takaki’s (2012) last chapter: “the future is in our hand. the choices we make will be shaped by our view of our own history. a history that leaves out minorities reinforces separation, but a history that includes everyone bridges the divides between groups” (p. 339). then, we read and responded to each other’s posts. lastly, tcs were invited into the compelling question, “what does covid-19 reveal about what it means to see, understand, and disrupt systemic racism?” summative performance task argument: what does covid-19 reveal about what it means see, understand, and disrupt systemic racism? construct an argument (e.g., paragraph, diagram, bulleted list) that addresses the compelling question using specific, evidence-based claims. extension: design a read-aloud lesson using an age-appropriate children’s literature book that speaks into and disrupts the master narrative (i.e., voices not heard, voices that have been silenced, or voices that are told they don’t matter). mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 supporting question 1 the supporting question—“what historical knowledge have we gained from examining takaki’s different mirror regarding u.s. history of navajos, blacks, asians, and mexican migrant workers?”—allowed tcs to revisit takaki. in zoom breakout groups, small groups reviewed the assigned chapters and previously completed guided reading notes (appendix a) related to their assigned racial group. each individual then contributed four words representative of the historical experiences of this racial group. these words were collectively used to generate a mentimeter word cloud. back in the zoom main meeting, groups shared their word clouds. a short discussion of observed similarities and differences across the word clouds highlighted the particular historical context of each marginalized group. featured sources sq1: • padlet: https://tinyurl.com/yamb4hww • mentimeter: https://www.mentimeter.com/features/word-cloud • selected chapters in takaki (2012) navajos chapter 2: removing the “savages” chapter 9: dealing with the indians chapter 14: wwii and america’s ethnic problem (pp. 286-289) blacks chapter 3: the hidden origins of slavery chapter 5: life in slavery chapter 14: wwii and america’s ethnic problem (pp. 278-281) asians chapter 8: from china to gold mountain chapter 10: the japanese and money trees chapter 14: wwii and america’s ethnic problem (pp. 274-278, 281-283) mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://tinyurl.com/yamb4hww https://www.mentimeter.com/features/word-cloud journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 mexican migrant workers chapter 7: the war against mexico chapter 12: up from mexico chapter 14: wwii and america’s ethnic problem (pp. 284-286) supporting question 2 building on the historical context, tcs used news articles to explore the second supporting question, “how are each of these groups—navajos, blacks, asians, mexican migrant workers— experiencing covid-19 in spring 2020?” back in the breakout rooms, tcs read corresponding news articles and generated a three-sentence summary to share in the main meeting room. guided questions within the whole group discussion prompted the tcs to think historically, to use the past to better see and understand the present, and to critically analyze the manifestations of embedded systemic racism. connections were made to the historical context of immigration, slavery, indigenous removal, and associating groups of people with diseases. featured sources sq2: • navajos https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-toget-ahead-ofpandemic?fbclid=iwar0qodedcyx0rnm_kezmukshlvitxbyp4oq1obs7n1s8gezcjwhgaavfouc • blacks https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/black-communities-hit-harder-coronavirusmichigan-not-just-detroit • asians https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/28/coronavirus-racism-asianamericans-report-fear-harassment-violence/2903745001/ • migrant workers https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/trump-immigrant-workers-coronavirus162177?fbclid=iwar0p9g04tqque5htuzzrkvgmshjmvcotalmjsc9lh2yp-jnezsirbmun9bu mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-to-get-ahead-of-pandemic?fbclid=iwar0qodedcyx0rnm_kezmukshlvitxbyp4oq1obs7n1s8gezcjwhgaavfouc https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-to-get-ahead-of-pandemic?fbclid=iwar0qodedcyx0rnm_kezmukshlvitxbyp4oq1obs7n1s8gezcjwhgaavfouc https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-to-get-ahead-of-pandemic?fbclid=iwar0qodedcyx0rnm_kezmukshlvitxbyp4oq1obs7n1s8gezcjwhgaavfouc https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/black-communities-hit-harder-coronavirus-michigan-not-just-detroit https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/black-communities-hit-harder-coronavirus-michigan-not-just-detroit https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/28/coronavirus-racism-asian-americans-report-fear-harassment-violence/2903745001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/28/coronavirus-racism-asian-americans-report-fear-harassment-violence/2903745001/ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/trump-immigrant-workers-coronavirus-162177?fbclid=iwar0p9g04tqque5htuzzrkvgmshjmvcotalmjsc9lh2yp-jnezsirbmun9bu https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/trump-immigrant-workers-coronavirus-162177?fbclid=iwar0p9g04tqque5htuzzrkvgmshjmvcotalmjsc9lh2yp-jnezsirbmun9bu journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 summative task the inquiry into the supporting questions prepared tcs to formulate a response to the compelling question, “what does covid-19 reveal about what it means see, understand, and disrupt systemic racism?” using our university online platform, they individually constructed arguments using a paragraph, diagram, or bulleted list to address the compelling question, using specific evidence from the sources to back up their claims. informed action our online session ended with a recap of what it means to be on a journey to expose whiteness in social studies education and subsequent pedagogical practices that cause harm to children. i highlighted my intentional pedagogical decisions using the idm template for the day’s session. i then challenged the tcs to come the following week with an online-accessible, age-appropriate children’s literature book that offers a counternarrative, one that challenges the dominant narrative of u.s. history and prompts readers to make connections to contemporary racism and xenophobia. i described how our work together would provide the opportunity to develop a read-aloud lesson to enact virtually with students in their field-based classrooms. albeit a small step, we would be consciously developing our ability to see, understand, and disrupt racism. in developing and enacting inquiry lessons on thinking historically using counternarratives, we will be taking strategic, informed action toward ensuring that all students thrive, not merely survive. informed action sources • extraordinary black mighty girls and women https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14276&fbclid=iwar3srco33ezpuo_jkrgnp7kohlta7goi 32sl0ea3gkrfm7gqxadszri3nnm • indigenous https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/12akdfxoickmg5igdqknjlyhybcdzufe0gvqmj_po-4/htmlview • multicultural children’s literature best books https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?wid=82 mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14276&fbclid=iwar3srco33ezpuo_jkrgnp7kohlta7goi32sl0ea3gkrfm7gqxadszri3nnm https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14276&fbclid=iwar3srco33ezpuo_jkrgnp7kohlta7goi32sl0ea3gkrfm7gqxadszri3nnm https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/12akdfxoickmg5igd-qknjlyhybcdzufe0gvqmj_po-4/htmlview https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/12akdfxoickmg5igd-qknjlyhybcdzufe0gvqmj_po-4/htmlview https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?wid=82 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 • young readers celebrating asian pacific american heritage https://www.slj.com/?detailstory=great-books-asian-pacific-americanshowcase&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=sljtw&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_ca mpaign=articles&fbclid=iwar1j_js9m7cnn5jrxxsdj6zbfiqed_46dnsduaupzvduhdg4yf6glbhlp4 mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.slj.com/?detailstory=great-books-asian-pacific-american-showcase&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=sljtw&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=articles&fbclid=iwar1j_js9m7cnn5jrxxsdj6zbfiqed_46dnsduaupzvduhdg4yf6-glbhlp4 https://www.slj.com/?detailstory=great-books-asian-pacific-american-showcase&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=sljtw&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=articles&fbclid=iwar1j_js9m7cnn5jrxxsdj6zbfiqed_46dnsduaupzvduhdg4yf6-glbhlp4 https://www.slj.com/?detailstory=great-books-asian-pacific-american-showcase&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=sljtw&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=articles&fbclid=iwar1j_js9m7cnn5jrxxsdj6zbfiqed_46dnsduaupzvduhdg4yf6-glbhlp4 https://www.slj.com/?detailstory=great-books-asian-pacific-american-showcase&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=sljtw&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=articles&fbclid=iwar1j_js9m7cnn5jrxxsdj6zbfiqed_46dnsduaupzvduhdg4yf6-glbhlp4 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 references alarcón, j. d. (2018). foreword. in s. b. shear, c. m. tschida, e. bellows, l. b. buchanan, & e. e. saylor (eds.), (re)imagining elementary social studies: a controversial issues reader. information age publishing, inc. chandler, p. t., & branscombe, a. (2015). white social studies: protecting the white racial code. in p. chandler (ed.), doing race in social studies: critical perspective (pp. 611-687). information age publishing, inc. crowley, r. m., & smith, w. (2015). whiteness and social studies teacher education: tensions in the pedagogical task. teaching education, 26(2), 160-178. doane, a. w., & bonilla-silva, e. (2003). white out: the significance of racism. routledge. hawkman, a. m. (2018). exposing whiteness in the elementary social studies classroom: in pursuit of developing antiracist teacher education candidates. in s. b. shear, c. m. tschida, e. bellows, l. b. buchanan, & e. e. saylor (eds.), (re)imagining elementary social studies: a controversial issues reader (pp. 49-71). information age publishing, inc. busey, c. l., & vickery, a. e. (2018). black like me: race pedagogy and black elementary social studies teacher educators. in s. b. shear, c. m. tschida, e. bellows, l. b. buchanan, & e. e. saylor (eds.), (re)imagining elementary social studies: a controversial issues reader (pp. 25-48). information age publishing, inc. garrett, h. j., & segall, a. (2013). (re)considerations of ignorance and resistance in teacher education. journal of teacher education, 64(4), 294-304. kincheloe, j. l., & steinberg, s. r. (1998). addressing the crisis of whiteness: reconfiguring white identity in a pedagogy of whiteness. in j. l. kincheloe, s. r. steinberg, n. m. rodriguez, & r. e. chennault (eds). white, reign; deploying whiteness in america. st. martin’s press. kobe, j. f., & goodrich, a. (2017). countering single stories. in p. t. chandler & t. s. hawley (eds.), race lessons: using inquiry to teach about race in social studies (pp. 269-295). information age publishing, inc. love, b. l. (2019). we want to more than survive: abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. boston, ma: beacon press. mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 matias, c. e., montoya, r., & nishi, n. w. m. (2016). blocking crt: how the emotionality of whiteness blocks crt in urban teacher education. educational studies, 52(1), 1-19. national council for the social studies (ncss). (2013). the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. national council for the social studies. swartz, e. (2007). stepping outside the master script: re-connecting the history of multicultural america. the journal of negro education, 76(2), 173-186. takaki, r., & stefoff, r. (2012). a different mirror for young people: a history of multicultural america. seven stories press. vickery, a. e., & duncan, k. e. (2020). lifting the veil: on centering whiteness in social studies curriculum, teaching, and research. in a. m. hawkman & s. b. shear (eds.), marking the invisible: articulating whiteness in social studies education (pp. xiii-xxiii). information age publishing, inc. mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 appendix ethnic/racial group: use the following graphic organizer to take notes as you read the assigned chapters. factors to consider chapter: (include page numbers) post wwii: (include page numbers) push/pull factors location employment education housing government policies/laws resistance briefly describe how looking through a different mirror helps expose systems of oppression that have historically marginalized this particular ethnic/racial group in america. mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 76-89 corresponding author: ldoornbos@oakland.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 about the author: linda doornbos is an assistant professor of elementary social studies at oakland university in rochester, michigan. professor doornbos formally spent 28 years teaching in multiple contexts and at different grade levels. she is deeply committed to educating teacher candidates to be responsive and responsible teachers and leaders in a culturally diverse and complex world. her research work is grounded in supporting teachers as learners and builders of inclusive learning communities, and in investigating pedagogy that enhances the teaching and learning of powerful social studies. .’ mailto:ldoornbos@oakland.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 32 romanian youths’ civic identities: 20 years after the revolution kathryn obenchain*, (purdue university); elizabeth bellows, (stephen f. austin state university); simona-elena bernat, (learn and vision romania); billy smith, (the university of texas at austin). __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the study explores the civic identities of romanian youth. children born after 1989 have no memory of the communism; yet, they are the children and students of those who were educated under communism. data sources were small group interviews with 21 youth and results indicate that participants believe civic engagement is possible and desired; but few are engaged because they believe that freedom is misunderstood and corruption permeates everything; and, ultimately, nothing changes. civic education is one factor in developing civic identity; and, knowing youths’ constructions of their identity is one source of information to consider as civic education curriculum evolves. key words: romania, civic identity, civic education __________________________________________________________________________________ a change will come in the following years; i hope. it is a process that needs time like the birth of a baby. he is weak; in his first hours he needs protection; kept in an incubator. in the first years of life, he depends on parents and family. i think it is [the] same for democracy or any political system in the first years of life. (vasile) romania is one of several eastern european nations that began a transition from an authoritarian and communist system to a democratic political system and free market economy in the 1989–1991 time frame. the last two decades have brought tremendous changes to the citizens and residents in all of these nations as political, social, and economic systems continue to evolve as new relationships and roles are defined, and new identities are created. for romanian youth, the previous dictatorship is not even their own memory; however, it is firmly in the memory of the adults in their individual and institutional lives (torney-purta, schwille, & amadeo, 1999). those children born just after the 1989 revolution have no memory of the previous regime; yet, they are the children and grandchildren of those who grew up under communism and many are the students of teachers who grew up and were educated under communism. they are also citizens in a nation run by those who grew up under an authoritarian regime. how these young people view and craft a civic identity for themselves, individually and as a generation, is connected to their nation’s history, as well as their experiences; and the civic identity they craft will determine their nation’s future. the past is a large part of the youths’ daily interactions with adults and powerful institutions; and, the future of romania will be theirs to shape. in another 20 years, today’s youth will run the nation. the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the developing civic identities of romanian, specifically transylvanian, youth. crafting a civic identity what it means to be a citizen of any nation or community is complex and situated politically, historically, economically, and culturally. according to knight abowitz and harnish (2006), ‘citizenship, at least theoretically, confers membership, identity, values, and rights of participation and assumes a body of common political knowledge’ (p. 653). one’s civic identity is constructed journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 33 through assimilation and accommodation as one searches for equilibrium (fosnot, 1996) in making sense of his or her world. in other words, and while not a linear process, youth in emerging democracies are understanding their civic world as they navigate through what they learn in school, from their parents, from the national and international media, and from their civic leaders. they are shaping their civic identities through what are often contradictory experiences. a civic identity refers to a person’s sense of belonging to a larger polis and a sense of responsibility to contribute to its health (atkins & hart, 2003; youniss, mclellan, & yates, 1997). the glue that holds identity together is ideology, defined as a set of beliefs that links one to a broader historical and cultural world and that signals one’s social and political commitment (erikson, 1994/1968; gee, 1996; youniss & yates, 1997) (as cited in kirshner, 2009, p. 415). the construction of a civic identity, learning what it means to be a citizen of a state, is a responsibility shared among multiple formal and informal institutions. education, or schooling, is one of the formal institutions that participates in the socialization of young citizens (arthur, davies, & hahn, 2008; flanagan & faisen, 2001; wiseman, astiz, fabrega, & baker, 2011). this citizenship education may occur in schools through structured lessons focused on political and historical knowledge and requisite skills (cowan & mcmurty, 2011; pasek, feldman, romer, & jamison, 2008), as well as informally through participation in civic traditions such as youth councils, sports, or school clubs (ludden, 2011; michelsen, zaff, & hair, 2002). but, the formal institution of school is still only one place to learn what it means to be a citizen and to begin to craft a civic identity. young citizens also learn informally through established political processes, community organizations, family, and the media (bertram & lin, 2009; boyd, zaff, phelps, weiner, & lerner, 2011; vercellotti & matto, 2010). young citizens in more established and long-standing democracies (i.e., democratic republics or representative democracies), also have the opportunity to learn from generations of the collective and individual experiences of older citizens, as well as through well-established civic traditions (e.g., honoring those who died in wars of liberation through specific holidays, patriotic songs extolling virtues such as freedom or allegiance to the state or even a specific leader). in sum, learning what it means to be a citizen of a nation-state, and crafting one’s civic identity, are built upon numerous and varied experiences. understandably, these experiences differ within different contexts. the national context of established democratic state vs. emerging democratic state is just one of many contexts. civic identities in established democracies in long-established democracies, a democratically-aligned civic identity is relatively consistently crafted. while exemplars of democratic institutions and good democratic citizens may change over time as examples become tarnished with time, additional information is gained, and new interpretations are made, for the most part, the ideology or beliefs that bind citizens to their state remain relatively consistent. if individualism or meritocracy were important values in the state’s infancy, they continue to be valued. if a commitment to the rule of law was part of the state’s ideology, it probably still is. the nuances of the ideology have changed; the examples change as new internal and external political relationships are crafted; and, there are challenges to how well these ideals have included marginalized members of society. but the core ideology and beliefs remain consistent. it is important to note that in the crafting of a civic identity even in an established democracy or democratic republic, an individual may craft an identity that while consistent with the democratic journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 ideals of the established state, the identity may also incorporate elements such as distrust of political institutions. given varying individual experiences, as well as the collective experiences for historically marginalized populations, civic identities are not just politically situated. they are also historically and culturally situated. for example, research conducted in the united states (kirshner, 2009; levinson, 2007; rubin, 2007) has explored how some youth from historically marginalized populations within the united states have constructed civic identities, sometimes characterized by cynicism, apathy, and disengagement (levinson, 2007; youniss & hart, 2005) or civic identities that value types of civic engagement that are inconsistent with traditional civic engagement measures (dalton, 2009). civic identities in emerging democracies in newer or emerging democracies, particularly multi-ethnic states, like romania, the development of a democratically-aligned civic identity co-exists with an ethnic identity, both of which may be situated within a human rights agenda (georgescu, 1998). in addition, romanians are navigating a european identity (dragoman, 2008; fuss, 2003; osler, 2010) enhanced by romania’s joining of the european union (eu) in 2007. prioritizing and synthesizing these sometimes competing goals with a recognition that some emerging democracies, like romania, look to the west as a ‘model of organizing the political space’ (dragoman, 2008, p. 63), further supports the development of a complex and unique civic identity. for example, dragoman’s study of identity in the transilvanian city of sibiu indicates a conflation of civic (i.e., political) and ethnic (i.e., origin) aspects of citizenship and identity, similar to sekulic’s (2004) work in croatia. further, the collapse of the ceauşescu regime in romania in 1989 may be seen as a ‘critical juncture’ (marcussen, risse, engelmann-martin, knopf, & roscher, 2001, p. 103) and an opportunity to frame new social (e.g., civic) identities that embrace shifting ideologies that are more democratic in nature. the shaping of these new identities are facilitated by political elites; however, the ideologies make their way from broad national policy into the daily lives of citizens through local institutions (e.g., schools, city councils), electoral processes, and media. while a strong body of literature exists that explores the political or civic knowledge and civic attitudes of youth in both established and emerging democracies (badescu, 2011; badescu & radu, 2010, torney-purta et al., 1999), this work is predominantly quantitative. there is little work available that specifically focuses on the voices and words of youth. this qualitative study makes a contribution to that void by exploring the developing civic identities of transylvanian youth through their own words. social construction of knowledge constructivist theory is an appropriate and useful theoretical frame for the qualitative nature of this study (schwandt, 2000) and specifically for exploring identity in europe (brubaker, feischmidt, fox, & grancea, 2006; christiansen, jørgensen, & wiener, 2001). recently used to examine the identity construction related to european integration, constructivist tenets from both cognitive and sociocultural traditions are relevant. cognitively, one can explore how young citizens ‘construct their ways of knowing as they strive to . . . restore coherence to the worlds of their personal experience’ (cobb, 1996, p. 34). as romania struggles to accommodate democratic notions and embrace democratic traditions, young citizens experience the growing pains of a young democracy. consistent with a constructivist theory of learning, the construction of a civic identity is a process in which ‘we as human beings have no access to an objective reality since we are constructing our version of it, while at the same time transforming it and ourselves’ (fosnot, 1996, p. 23). young romanians (i.e., journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 transylvanians) are learning about democracy and civic life through formal and informal social and cultural experiences as all romanian co-construct democracy, civic life, and civic identities in an evolving and democratic romania. romania the current state of romania consists of three former principalities in the balkan region of europe: moldova, wallachia, and transylvania. in addition to the political changes in the last 20 years, romania, like many nations in europe has a history of shifting borders and loyalties (spiridon, 2006), including the addition of transylvania after world war i (wwi) when a majority of transylvanian residents voted to become part of the kingdom of romania (brubaker et al., 2006). the addition of transylvania added a substantial ethnic hungarian minority to romania and while the political boundaries of romania remained relatively stable from that point on, the remainder of the 20th century included political and economic instability through involvement in world war ii (wwii), soviet occupation and nearly 50 years of a dictatorial regime that ended in 1989. romania’s brief and violent revolution occurred over the last months of 1989, ending with the december execution of romania’s dictator, nicolae ceauşescu, and the installation of a democratic political system. while ceauşescu was gone, the newly democratic system was filled with political appointees and experienced politicians who had worked in the previous regime and little changed in the day to day running of government institutions (pop, 2006). therefore, those with the knowledge and access to power, remained in power, at least initially. while a new democratic constitution was adopted in 1991, romania remained under the control of members of the communist party until the 1996 election (georgescu, 1998). at that time, additional political parties gained access to power and the federal government came under the control of a moderate and democratically-aligned party. at present, romania is a politically stable state with free, fair and frequent elections (freedom house, 2011). related, voter turnout is relatively consistent with other nations in central and eastern europe and ranged from a high of over 80% just after the 1989 revolution, to over 65% in the 2004 election (sum & badescu, 2004). while voting is only one behavior associated with a civic identity, civic identity is evolutionary in romania as the past dictatorship moves more into memory (ciobanu, 2011) and romanians explore a democratic path. methods this was an exploratory qualitative study to discover how romanian (in particular transylvanian) youth construct their civic identities within a unique time and place in romanian, european, and world history. the research question for this study is: how do transylvanian youth characterize their civic identity? setting: transylvania this study was conducted with romanian youth from two cities in the transylvanian region of romania. transylvania is in the northwestern part of romania bordering hungary, and over the centuries has been ruled by the romans and was part of the habsburg, and later the austrohungarian empires before becoming part of the nation of romania after wwi. it is the most ethnically diverse part of romania and includes strong hungarian and german minority populations, as well as a disempowered and relatively invisible roma minority. the romanian and hungarian populations of transylvania have a tense recent history that has boiled over with ethnic conflicts and nationalistic posturing (brubaker et al., 2006; kulcsár & bradatan, 2007). citizens in transylvania, the journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 site for this study, experience shifting identities, as well as a history of shifting borders. while the youth of transylvanian romania have not experienced these shifts, the adults in their world have. participants the 21 participants1, high school and university students and all volunteers, were between the ages of 16 and 20 (16 females and 5 males) living in two different transylvanian cities. the two cities were chosen in part because of an existing multi-year professional relationship the first author has with institutions and individuals in both communities. in addition, the first author was living in one of the cities as a fulbright scholar during data collection. three schools were chosen because of an existing relationship with teachers and school administration (viteazul, novac, unirii). it was also expected that the participants in the ethnically different viteazul and novac might provide different perspectives. recognizing that these schools represented university attendance or university preparation, two additional schools with technical/non-university profiles (iancu and tepeş) were recruited with the assistance of romanian colleagues. in each of the five schools, the first author met with an administrator and/or recommended teachers to explain the study and ask permission to recruit student participants, who were then recruited following an institutional review board approved script. three of the 21 participants were in their first year of university studies; the remainder were high school students. the university students attended a large, regionally respected romanian university (unirii) and studied in the faculty of letters (liberal arts). two of the public schools, viteazul and novac were described as having academic profiles, preparing students for university study. the other two schools, iancu and tepeş, included vocational preparation programs with the expectation that while some students would attend university, more would directly enter the work force in skilled positions (e.g., technical careers). aside from the school profiles, all of the high school participants indicated a plan to attend post-secondary education. all of the participants were multi-lingual and spoke english; the majority had academic english proficiency, a requirement at three of the schools. table 1. school name school profile no. of participants female/male location interviewer viteazul academic preparation & bilingual (romanian & english) 6 5/1 large city 1 st author novac academic preparation hungarian 4 2/2 large city 1 st author iancu technical 4 3/1 large city 1 st & 3rd authors tepeş technical 4 3/1 small city 1 st author with translator unirii large university 3 3/0 large city 1 st author 1 per the approved institutional review board protocol, pseudonyms are used for the names of all participants, schools, and cities in the study. participants chose their own pseudonyms. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 data collection data were collected through a series of three semi-structured small group audio-taped interviews designed to explore the participants’ civic identities, as well as their understandings of democracy. the portion of the interview guide that specifically addressed civic identity began with the prompt of ‘what does it mean to be a citizen?’ from this general probe, participants were asked to provide examples of how they and their fellow citizens displayed their citizenship and what they believed good and bad citizenship looked like in a democracy, and distinctions between rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democracy (see appendix a for interview guide). given results from a previous pilot study during which it was discovered that participants focused their answers on academic recall, the language and cultural differences, and a goal of qualitative research to explore a topic with depth (patton, 2002) and as open-ended as possible (arnot & dillabough, 2000), the concepts of citizenship and civic identity were examined abstractly and concretely, individually and institutionally. the first author conducted all of the interviews. the interviews at iancu also included the third author, a romanian who translated when requested by the participants. the first interview at the tepeş also included a romanian colleague who translated, as needed. data analysis grounded theory methods were chosen to avoid the imposition of an existing framework for analysis (charmaz, 2006). given that many of the existing frameworks for democratic citizenship and civic identity represent american or western european ideas and legacies of democracy (e.g., gutmann, 1987; knight, abowitz & harnish, 2006; papastephanou, 2008; westheimer & kahne, 2004), we wanted to approach the analysis as inductively as possible. however, the fact that the researchers most directly involved with the data analysis were from an established democracy (the united states) and neither they nor their families had experienced the legacy of political and geographical shifts of romania; we were situated politically, historically and geographically very differently from the participants; and, were aware that we brought our own perspectives and civic identities to the analysis (charmaz, 2006). recognizing that we represented a dominant discourse in democracy, our romanian co-researcher and third author interrogated our results. data were analyzed at two levels. using a constant comparative method (strauss & corbin, 1998), the first author completed initial analyses after each interview, and then after each series of interviews to begin to search for patterns as well as to adjust subsequent interview protocols. in addition, the results of the initial analyses were reviewed with the third author. the second level of analyses was conducted by the three american co-authors. through initial and focused coding (charmaz, 2006), we independently read through the interview transcripts multiple times, noting recurring categories across the interviews, as well as ideas that to which participants repeatedly returned. after discussing the initial codes and categories, we returned to the data to refine our categories and engaged in memo-writing to further conceptualize our categories. in addition to the analysis of the data as one large data set, the data were reanalyzed by interview (ethnic romanians interviewed together; ethnic hungarians interviewed together), allowing for the construction of ethnic group civic identity. given the history of ethnic tensions in transylvania (dragoman, 2008), we expected differing civic identities between the hungarian and romanian participants. however, we found no noticeable differences in the interview responses between the two groups in these data. therefore, the results below are organized around the themes that cross all participants. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 38 results in expressing their ideas of what it means to be a citizen, we have some insight into the participants’ developing civic identities. in general, their civic identity is characterized by both optimism and pessimism. the participants believe that civic engagement is possible and desired; but few are engaged because they believe that the freedom that comes with democracy is misunderstood and corruption permeates all aspects of their lives; and, ultimately, nothing changes. in the following paragraphs, we utilize the preceding statement to organize the results. key phrases from the statement frame separate sections of the results for the purpose of presentation. civic engagement is possible and desired civic engagement is one component of our participants’ civic identities. definitions of civic engagement vary; however, most definitions include ‘individual and collective actions designed to address issues of public concern, including political activism . . . volunteering . . ., and actions such as joining community associations’ (chung & probert, 2011, p. 227). this definition is consistent with how our participants’ construction of civic engagement. similar to youth in other democracies, both established and emerging (torney-purta et al., 1999), transylvanian youth believe that participating in the political and civic life of the community is a desirable characteristic. in addition, they believe that civic engagement in romania today is different from life before 1989. civic engagement before and after 1989 the participants have no personal memories of civic life before the 1989 revolution because of their age. however, the collective memory (halbwachs, 1992) constructed in informal and formal institutions served as a reference point for understanding their own civic identity. hope explained the importance of civic engagement in comparison to her understanding of the previous regime. ‘i think what we learn now, at school, [is that in] other regimes, in communism for example, you couldn’t say your personal opinion, and now you’re respected for [your] opinion, not punished’. similarly, andi expressed frustration that her family was not able to move from a past construction of civic life and civic engagement to a more current and more democratic construction. she explained: they seem to expect that one person, and in the communist time, the dictator, [should] do [every]thing for the country. but this is not possible. we all have to have our own contributions and our responsibilities. and now i understand that i have to be active and [i ] feel that until now i have been passive. but . . . i’m 18 now and try to participate, to vote, and i try to have an opinion. in contrast, and with a nod to the previous generation and optimism for younger citizens, vasile explained, well, most people are very happy that we’ve managed to, they’ve managed, i actually wasn’t born you know . . . some people have managed to overthrow communism and i think there are a lot of enthusiastic teenagers who think they could make a difference, or who want to make a difference, and i think their enthusiasm could drive this country. the participants differed on their perceptions of the civic engagement of older generations and offer three different constructions. hope believed that civic engagement was dangerous before 1989; andi saw this history and prior experience as limiting the current engagement of older generations; journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 39 and vasile credited older generations with ending communist rule. what they share is the belief that civic engagement in romania post-1989 is desired. anca articulated the special role of her generation: we need young people who have the courage and the strength to change because old people will soon die and young people will come to govern. but, if those young people are not bright enough and don’t have the desire to change, it will not change. the participants consistently included civic engagement as part of their civic identity; and they recognized the potential importance of this engagement. civic engagement is a right and a responsibility once civic engagement was established as important, the participants also described civic engagement as both a right and a responsibility. elena expressed this dual nature by stating, ‘i’m part of the country and i can choose who’s going to lead it. . . . i also have obligations as a citizen, not only rights, and it makes me feel like a part of something’. when asked how the obligations made her feel a part of something, she replied, giggling, ‘it’s from the fact that i have to pay taxes, and it kind of makes me equal with the greats’. aside from taxes, she also articulates the benefit of belonging as a consequence of civic engagement. that is, while she is aware of the political nature of her civic identity (rights and responsibilities), she also expresses a social or communal dimension of belonging, consistent with civic republican notions of democratic citizenship (annette, 2008) as well as kirshner’s (2009) definition of the components of a civic identity. this notion of belonging was also articulated by vasile, ‘citizenship entails actually caring about the community you’re part of, and actually doing something for its good’. similarly, robert’s vision of belonging included the need ‘to go and take part in public activities, [you have] an obligation to not live in your house, stay there every hour of every day, [you should] go out and live an active life, to work and have some kind of life’. in the same interview, robert’s peers also mentioned ‘picking up garbage’, ‘voting’, and ‘donate blood’, further articulating responsibilities. in particular, many of the participants’ examples of civic engagement focus on the environment, including larger environmental issues such as deforestation, as well as community issues such as littering. given that the goal of addressing environmental challenges is a well-documented problem (see for example, articles in central europe review, at setimes.com, or the 2006 report submitted by ghk) and is explicitly stated as an ongoing millennium development goal as part of romania’s european union membership (united nation development program, 2013), it is not surprising that environmental protection is one concrete way to civically engage. during one of the interviews at novac, when asked about what responsibilities citizens have, the participants shared the following: silvia: [it is important] to protect the environment in which now we live. we've got to learn to throw the garbage [in appropriate places]. kati: to keep your city clean [and] learning to not throw down, but to clean the snow from the front of your house, and things like this. interviewer: why is this important to being a citizen? kati: because you live in a community and you expect from the other ones to keep the street clean and you have to do the same if you expect that. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 40 these kinds of responsibilities may be associated with the type of civic engagement expressed by personally-responsible citizen, as described by westheimer and kahne (2004). while participants noted problems in the community and nation that they deeply cared about (e.g., environmental issues, animal abuse, homelessness), none suggested what they could do to organize others or an interest in exploring the systemic or institutional causes of a problem or issue, both of which would have incorporated a different type of civic engagement characterized by more leadership and/or a disposition of social justice (westheimer & kahne, 2004). rather, acting as a citizen was constructed as a solo endeavor one might do next to, or parallel to others, but not necessarily with or for others. freedom, as a key characteristic of democracy, is misunderstood the participants’ civic identities were additionally characterized by their belief that while they understood the complexity of democratic traditions, particularly freedom, many, particularly the older generations (teachers and parents) did not understand because of the older generation’s experiences under authoritarian rule. in explaining his decision, as editor of the school’s magazine, to focus one entire section on the idea of freedom, vasile explained, we can define it. freedom, you know, it’s a concept, but that is hard to define, and it’s not just a concept, but rather a way of life. i mean, you can hear a lot of things about freedom without actually getting to know what it is, because you haven’t experienced it. through this statement, vasile draws a distinction between his generation of romanians who have only experienced democracy and the generations before whose formative experiences were not in democracy. this was echoed by irina, in a different interview, ‘democracy is not necessarily a very good for us. those who are limited [in their thinking] like communists, they are not thinking so far in terms of need. and because freedom is misinterpreted; i’m not sure if we are going to be the generation [to effect change]’. in a separate interview, one of vasile’s school colleagues, andi, explained: oftentimes people here in romania tend to mix liberty, freedom in a democracy with anarchy. [they believe it means] simply to do what they want. and, after the revolution, i think that many people tend to think like that, that liberty allows them to do whatever they want, not only to think what they want, but also to do what they want. this idea was echoed by dorina, who shared, ‘because many persons believe that because they’re living in a democratic state they can do whatever they like to do. they confuse democracy with the wrong form of freedom’ (t 2 ). while vasile and irina assigned this misunderstanding to those who are still affected by their experiences under authoritarian rule, andi, dorina, and others did not limit this misunderstanding to older generations; they were disappointed with any of their fellow citizens who understood freedom and democracy to mean unlimited rights. anca, expressing frustration, explained that any misunderstanding of democracy and freedom was more about a disposition than anything else. she stated, ‘we don’t know what democracy is because we don’t have the brain to think [of] what to do. 2 “t” indicates that the participant’s oral response was translated from romanian into english during the interview by a translator. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 we’re not stupid; we don’t have the mentality’. this dispositional component came up in two other interviews as participants explained that misunderstanding was a convenient excuse. loradonna (t): if there are some persons who justify their acts just by saying it is democracy. something like, ‘it is democracy so i can do what i want’. interviewer: do they have a limited understanding? loradonna (t): they get it wrong [because] some persons understand they have unlimited rights. this dispositional component was also explained during one interview at unirii. elena: we have many willing people to be paid for something. they think they have the liberty to take something for nothing. they can play with somebody’s life. it is too much democracy for them. delia: it is misunderstood. democracy means that the common people have the right to interfere in politics, to express their opinions, not to overcome others’ opinions. these participants returned to this idea of misunderstanding later in the same interview when elena shared her opinion of adolescents. ‘they think they have the power to do whatever they want – to smoke, to drink; it is democratic to do whatever they want; it is a misunderstanding’. this misunderstanding of democracy, whatever the reason, also caused the participants to be wary of democracy, as noted by irina and elena in separate conversations above, as well as by vasile, who said, but to me, too much freedom can also harm people. i believe that having the opportunity of doing whatever you want can lead you to rebellious acts or illegal acts, commit crimes. you have the feeling that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want . . . even though it's not good for those around you. while the participants clearly believed that a democratic civic identity, and their own civic identity included the act of balancing individual rights and collective responsibilities, reflecting both liberal and civic republican notions of democracy (annette, 2008), they believed that their fellow citizens, old and young, were dismissive of any collective responsibilities. tismăneanu (1998) concurs that, while the institutions are present, the traditions and civic values consistent with democratic institutions are missing in much of romanian society. as vasile noted above, believing freedom is the same as doing whatever you want can have dire consequences for any society, especially an emerging democracy. corruption permeates everything the concern expressed over a misunderstanding of freedom combined with a perception that corruption permeated every aspect of life in romania mitigated the participants’ optimism about civic engagement, and became a distinct part of their civic identity. with some sadness and pessimism, vasile noted, ‘i hope my vote makes a difference. that’s what i hope; i’m not sure’. in general, study participants seemed knowledgeable about their country’s political past as retold to them through the adults in their lives, but they also discuss the inability for those currently in political power to effect change from within. for these transylvanian youth, their newly constituted journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 democratic state is just a new name ascribed to an old situation. at viteazul, idina and vasile, discussed their perceptions of the current corruption in romania. idina: nowadays, in profound ways [romania is] still the same, only different on the surface. now we are in a democracy, everything is transparent. but really everything is so corrupt; you can’t call this a democracy. vasile: romania is an emerging democracy; it is not an established democracy. it is in a period of transition; we all have to figure it out. i believe corruption is not necessarily a characteristic of communism. so, corruption is undefined; [it is] almost unavoidable because people have access to power and people are selfish. they only want what is good for them, not for others around them. so if power is easily obtained, why not go and get some – like to go and buy it at the supermarket. i think it’s normal in the first years of a democracy; corruption will appear. it is just natural. idina: people are people. i think we are thinking too latin. i mean romania, italy, spain – in general we have this mentality that everyone is like us and i can definitely assure you that everyone does not think like us. i went to germany and stayed with relatives. [a] german man is not thinking that corruption is an essence of man. he thinks it is for those who are weak. though vasile speaks to a selfish and human nature of corruption and ties it to power in a period of transition, idina was quick to identify corruption as a cultural characteristic. she posits that it is only ‘latins’ that carry the belief that all politicians are corrupt, in part because of their politically tumultuous past. while there may be disagreement on the causes of corruption in romania, the topic of corruption was introduced by the participants at every interview site. while vasile and idina spoke broadly about corruption, other participants offered specific examples, some they have heard about and some more personally experienced. elena shared that ‘i’ve heard that they (members of parliament) . . . tend to sleep while they’re in [the parliament meetings]. when they have to vote they don’t know for what they are voting because they don’t pay attention’. in addition to concerns about parliament, gigi, a participant at another school, explored corruption in the judicial system by stating, ‘a lot of criminals have escaped very easy, or they received almost no sentence. i believe [this is] mostly because of corruption, which is very heavily fitted very deep in the system; and, that’s a problem’. others shared their own stories of corruption. roxana’s story below is but one example of participants sharing their families’ experiences with corruption in the medical field. roxana: my uncle had a heart problem and he was here in [the city] to see a specialist, to have surgery, and the doctor said [that] if you pay a certain amount of money, you can have the surgery. while the previous examples illustrate the participants’ perceptions of corruption in the national government and in medical institutions, participants provided other examples including local government, licensing, and education. in essence, the participants’ perception of widespread corruption is consistent with the findings by a world bank report commissioned by the romanian government in 2001 (anderson, cosmaciuc, dininio, spector, & zoido-lobaton, 2001) and is a topic widely discussed in the romanian, european, and world media. for the participants in this study, one journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 important part of this perception of corruption is the link to power and money, as alluded to by vasile above, and as detailed in the next section. love of money is the root of all evil . . . (1 timothy 6:10) the youth who participated in our study believe that power equals money in romania. they believed that those with access to power—particularly politicians—are making the highest salaries. one distinct aspect of the discussion of corruption was the participants’ beliefs that corrupt behaviors occurred because people, particularly those in positions of political power, were working for their own financial gain, which was frequently at odds with the financial security of the citizens and the nation. mihai and hope explained this concern through the example of the use of money from the european union and the construction of new roads. mihai: the roads. some people paid to some companies who are making the roads, at a big, big price. and, from that [money], they steal some money and the roads they are making are of very poor quality. so, it’s very expensive and we get to pay for it and it’s of very poor quality. hope (t): we get money from the european fund and the money goes into their pockets. the example above is similar to what we heard in other interviews. institutional and individual corruption was not a topic introduced by the interviewer. it was always introduced by the participants; and, they provided examples of corruption in various levels and functions of government (e.g., licensing, police services, elections, judicial system, legislation), infrastructure improvements, educational institutions, and medical services. whether these accusations of corruption are true was not the purpose of the study, although corruption is well-documented (racoviţa, 2011). rather, the participants in the study perceived the existence of pervasive corruption in all levels of romanian society. this belief about those in power in their country is one aspect of their civic identity as romanian citizens. a potential consequence of this perception of corruption is that, given the participants’ ages and lack of access to power and privilege, they do not see a place for themselves in the civic life of romania, now, and potentially in the future, especially if nothing (e.g., the corruption) changes. and then nothing changes the optimism that may accompany the growth of democratic institutions in formerly authoritarian nations was severely tempered by the participants’ belief that, ultimately, there will be very few changes for romania in the near future, and this lack of change would be negative. the final interview question in the last interview of the series asked participants to consider how romania might be different in another 20 years, when their generation would be gaining access to political and economic power. reflecting on the role of corruption today in inhibiting change now and in the future, idina linked the existence of corruption to a sense of hopelessness. she stated: i think we are thinking too latin...it is just us [romanians] that thinks that corruption is natural. a lot of countries gained force and power to overcome communism. we're just off. if we don't gather the power inside to change ourselves, we can't change our country. idina thought change was possible; however, she was pessimistic that some characteristics of her latin heritage might inhibit positive change. at another school, vasile echoed this pessimism, stating that ‘a lot of romanians . . . criticize everything . . . in the country, but don’t try to make a difference, journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 don’t try to think of possible solutions, remedies’. without making a specific cultural connection, vasile’s thoughts resonate with pessimism and hopelessness as he points out that while many complain and see problems, few attempt to effect change. alina also articulated this pessimism about positive change in the future. if the things are going as they are going now, i think things won’t change. i don’t know whose fault it is, but we are not very kind with other people. no one respects other persons. but if we change, it will be for nothing because we can’t change the other people. alina’s comment incorporates an inability to identify who or what to blame; but also expresses a hopelessness that even if youth think differently, they cannot change others. loradonna tempers her pessimism with hope, but is specifically concerned about her age peers, offering: i’m very sorry that i have to say this, but the answer, persons my age, are irresponsible. they don’t take risks; they expect that [everything will] be done for them, and [they do not have] to do things. i hope that we will have a better romania; [i] hold out hope. while alina and loradonna specifically addressed their peers in the present, kati talked about ongoing negative influences on her peers in the future. when asked what romania would be like in another 20 years, kati shared: kati: hopefully, it will be better and there won’t be so much corruption and everybody will have a decent life. interviewer: what do you think has to happen for those changes to happen? kati: people, especially politicians don’t have to think only about themselves, they have to think about somebody else too. while kati, along with the other participants in the study believe that the end of the authoritarian regime was positive, the ongoing development of democratic traditions is, and will remain a struggle. as explored in the previously discussed category of misunderstanding freedom, the others who may be part of the problem cut across generations, but the problem squarely resides in romania. in sum, transylvanian youth construct a passive civic identity, characterized by pessimism for the future. they acknowledge the importance of civic engagement in their emerging democracy, but, in general, they do not embrace an active and empowered identity that utilizes the freedoms and opportunities to improve life for themselves and others. like youth in many nations, they believe they are politically and socially marginalized (see for example, coussée, roets, & de bie, 2009; diemer & li, 2011; galston, 2001, gordon, 2007). in addition, these youth are pessimistic about a better future – for themselves and for romania. discussion the purpose of this study was to explore the civic identities of youth in romania, with a focus on transylvanian youth. the civic identities constructed by the participants drew on, not surprisingly, their personal and recent experiences, collective experiences, and the collective historical memory held by individuals and institutions (toshcenko, 2011). relying on the voices of youth, results indicate that their civic identity is characterized by both optimism and pessimism. optimistically, the participants believe that civic engagement is possible and desired; but few are engaged because, journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 pessimistically, they believe that the freedom that comes with democracy is misunderstood and corruption permeates all aspects of their lives; and, ultimately, nothing changes. further, their civic identity is characterized by abstract notions of a freedom that accompanies democracy, as well as concrete experiences with corruption. cautious recommendations as mostly american authors of this paper, we are cautious with our recommendations. for three of us, the romanian experience with democracy is not our own and our understanding of romania and of emerging democracies continues to evolve. further, as educational scholars, all four of us (authors) are reminded of the trend of transnational educational reform borrowing and lending, as well as the concern over the oft-neglected element of agency when addressing this borrowing/lending (steiner-khamsi, 2000, 2002). in an increasing era of globalization, this borrowing and lending is not surprising and may hold benefits, and as steiner-khamsi notes, ‘borrowing is not copying. it draws our attention to processes of local adaptation, modification, and resistance to global forces in education’ (2000, p. 5). we do believe that education, and civic education in particular, is an important component for moving youth from just an optimistic desire for civic engagement to both a desire and the actual engagement in the civic and political life of romania, given that romanian youth find few domestic examples of civic engagement in their communities (uslaner, 2003). the potential of civic education civic education in romania continues to evolve and has been marked by three distinct periods: 1996, 2003, and 2007. both the ministry of education and various non-governmental organizations (ngos) are the major forces in the development and implementation of civic education curricula and programs 1996 marked the first institutional attention to the development of a civic education curriculum. nationally selected teacher trainers worked with ngos from western nations such as the united kingdom and the united states, and supranational organizations such as unicef, to develop civic education curricula. these curriculum programs typically took conceptual frameworks supplied by the ngos and worked with romanian educators to adapt and modify these programs to the local context. curriculum materials were rewritten and there were professional development programs for teachers coordinated and run by romanian teacher trainers who had been originally been trained by non-romanian staff. many of these ngos and programs are still in place, although the majority have evolved as british and american resources have slowed. much of the current professional development programs are now romanian-run and self-sustaining. a second wave of attention to civic education occurred in 2003 when the existing civic education curriculum was revised and approved by the national ministry for grades 3 through 8 (primar and gimnazial) and civic education became a compulsory subject. finally, since joining the european union (eu) in 2007, there is additional attention and funding focusing on a civic education consistent with the values of the eu and european citizenship. this move to incorporate a european component to citizens’ civic identity adds a level of complexity and the possibility of a transnational or european identity that may conflict with one’s national and ethnic identity. baban (2013) posits that european integration will positively promote an identity that is cosmopolitan and embraces the diversity of the peoples of europe, nurturing a sense of commitment and belonging to another polis, is complex. the institutionalization of a democratically-framed civic education, whether national or european, is a positive step for preparing a new generation of romanian citizens. however, shedding the communist past for a democratic future remains transitional in civic education policy, civic education journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 curriculum and implementation of the curriculum (rus, 2008). further, romania, like many nations in the region, has focused on developing and promoting a civic education curriculum devoid of any ‘ideological and political content’ (steiner-khamsi, 2002, p. 194). this raises the question of how to educate politically informed young citizens without including historical, philosophical, and current political content. the same historical memory that affects the youth of romania also affects the evolution of civic education. this study is part of a larger and long term project examining civic and citizenship education in romania. knowing how students’ are currently constructing their civic identities is one additional source of information for educators, curriculum developers, and teacher educators to consider as they design curriculum and instruction in future years. mindful of the devastating communist past and the desire to express and embrace individualism, the pessimism associated with the selfish nature of corruption, as a component to participants’ civic identity is troubling and should be explored further to determine if this is a national pattern. if so, it must be addressed in future iterations and at all levels of the civic education curriculum. conclusion we return to vasile’s words that opened this paper. from his perspective, patience and support are necessary for romania to become the democratic nation it envisions. substantial progress has been made to shed the stifling yoke of the past, to heal deep wounds, and to participate in the difficult work of rebuilding a national infrastructure, all while learning a new political system and a ‘mode of associated living’ (dewey, 1916, p. 101) that is democracy and as romania continues to struggle with its communist past (light & phinnemore, 2001). as noted by manea (2004), it is tremendously naïve to believe that any nation transitioning from a communist to democratic state will do so smoothly or quickly. it is unwise for anyone to compare an emerging democracy with any established democracy. what are now referred to established democracies, have gone through, and continue to weather ideological, financial, and constitutional crises. they have just been weathering these crises longer. romania has and will experience diversions and setbacks as a people and the institutions they create drastically change. it is important to remember, however, that the youth of the nation are watching. their patience is wearing thin as they bear witness to corruption and economic hardships. they are developing a civic identity in which democracy is characterized by the extremes of wealth and poverty, neither of which they believe is achieved through justice or the rule of law. it will be difficult for romanian civic educators to nurture an identity that encompasses civic engagement for the betterment of individuals and the nation if they do not experience it in the small and large civic spaces they occupy. these youth will be in positions of power in another 20 years, and they are learning about democratic institutions and traditions from adults who are newly learning these institutions and developing these traditions themselves. how romania’s vision of democracy is constructed and lived in the future is related to the civic identity of its youth today. romania, like many nations in central and eastern europe, is just 20 years into its democracy experiment. just as romania’s youth are watching their elders at home and abroad, there are even newer emerging democracies, each with their own difficult histories and complex presents that may be watching romania for guidance. how romania’s democracy evolves will offer lessons; the hope is that the lessons are positive. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 references anderson, j., cosmaciuc, b., dininio, p., spector, b., & zoido-lobaton, p. 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(2008). schools as incubators of democratic participation: building long-term political efficacy with civic education. applied development science, 12(1), 26–37. http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/pdf/evalstrat_env/ro_main.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/pdf/evalstrat_env/ro_main.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 50 patton, m. q. (2002). qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. pop, l. (2006). democratising capitalism? the political economy of post-communist transformations in romania,1989-2001. new york: manchester university press. racoviţa, m. (2011). europeanization and effective democracy in romania and bulgaria. romanian journal of political science, 11(1). retrieved february 17, 2012, from http://www.sar.org.ro/polsci/?p=601 rubin, b. c. (2007). “there’s still not justice”: youth civic identity development amid distinct school and community contexts. teachers college record, 109(2), 449–481. rus, c. (2008). the model of organized hypocrisy applied to romanian civic education policies and practices. journal of social science education, 9(1), 112–120. schwandt, t. (2000). three epistemological stances for qualitative inquiry: interpretivism, hermeneutics, and social constructionism. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.), 189–213. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. sekulic, d. (2004). civic and ethnic identity: the case of croatia. ethnic and racial studies, 27(3), 455–483. spiridon, m. 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(1999). mapping the distinctive and common features of civic education in twenty-four countries. in j. torney-purta, j. schwille, & j. a. amadeo (eds.), civic education across countries: twenty-four national case studies from the iea civic education project (pp. 11–35). amsterdam: iea. tismăneanu, v. (1998). communism and post-communism in romania: challenges to democratic transition. washington, dc: national council for eurasian and east european research. toshcenko, z. t. (2011). historical consciousness and historical memory: an analysis of the current situation. russian social science review, 52(1), 4–19. http://www.sar.org.ro/polsci/?p=601 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 51 united nation development program. (2013). energy and environment. retrieved august 15, 2013from http://www.undp.ro/environment/ uslaner, e. m. (2003, december). what is a good citizen? how and why romanians think of citizenship obligations. paper prepared for the conference on contemporary citizenship: the politics of exclusion and inclusion: is there a chance for a post-national citizenship? slovenia. retrieved march 16, 2012, from http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/uslaner/uslanergoodcitizen.pdf vercellotti, t., & matto, e. c. (2010). the classroom-kitchen table connection: the effects of political discussion on youth knowledge and efficacy (circle working paper no. 72). medford, ma: center for information and research on civic learning and engagement. retrieved february 16, 2012, from http://www.civicyouth.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/09/wp_72_vercellotti_matto.pdf westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41(2), 237–269. wiseman, a. w., astiz, m. f., fabrega, r., & baker, d. p. (2011). making citizens of the world: the political socialization of youth in formal mass education systems. compare: a journal of comparative and international education, 41(5), 561–577. youniss, j., & hart, d. (2005). intersection of social institutions with civic development. new directions for child development, 109, 73–81. acknowledgments the first author gratefully acknowledges the support of the fulbright organization whose award of a fulbright fellowship in the spring of 2009 supported the study conceptualization and data collection. http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/uslaner/uslanergoodcitizen.pdf http://www.civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/wp_72_vercellotti_matto.pdf http://www.civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/wp_72_vercellotti_matto.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 32-52. corresponding author email: kobench@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 52 appendix a semi-structured interview guide 1. what does it mean to be a citizen of romania? 2. what should democratic citizens know? 3. what should democratic citizens be able to do (as an aspect of democratic citizenship)? 4. what should democratic citizens value and care about (as an aspect of democratic citizenship)? 5. who do you know that is a good democratic citizen and what makes him or her a good citizen? 6. what does it look like when someone is being a good citizen? 7. what does it look like when someone is not being a good citizen? 8. what do you do that is consistent with good citizenship? 9. in 20 years, you and your colleagues will be in charge in romania. what do you think it will be like? journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6669. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6669. corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 66 media review from the media review editor arabs, atlases and explorations in the exciting, exploding, exhausting world of on-line resources. first of all, congratulations to the new editor of the journal of international social studies, dr. ruth reynolds, university of newcastle, australia. founding editor dr. beverly (lee) bisland, queens college, city university of new york, put many, many hours of hard work and love into its inception, so it is wonderful that she can pass it into ruth’s very capable and equally caring hands. as we move forward, jiss can develop as a truly international journal, not just in content, but in administration also. i look forward to working with dr. reynolds and to hearing from readers. please contribute to the community by sending me your commentaries and reviews of books, websites, and other media that you are finding useful for teaching social studies with global perspectives in mind. in this issue of the journal of international social studies, hani morgan considers how using the scholarship of jack shaheen and marvin wingfield can help teachers mediate negative media representations of the arab world and its people. within his article he reminds readers of important distinctions when addressing race, ethnicity and religion with students. not all arabs are muslims, not all muslims are arabs, and not all arabs live in the “arab world” that is defined by location. earlier in the year i posted a request to the international assembly listserver for suggestions regarding world atlases. i considered the possible reasons for the general silence. my first idea was that the majority of ia members who are teacher educators do not respond to requests sent to lists. then i thought perhaps people do not see the need or have the time to address geography teaching in their social studies methods class. the third reason, which is the one that i am going to elaborate on here, was that perhaps readers wondered why i was even bothering having student teachers purchase atlases. in these days of google maps and ubiquitous global positioning systems in cell phones and vehicles, hard copy atlases and maps are perhaps going the way of 45 rpm records and analog signal television receivers. however, even truly committed educational technologists point out that technology integration needs to be meaningful. educators need to be talking with each other about the instructional materials they choose to use. what are the benefits and the opportunity costs of moving from a print-based classroom to a screen-based or 1:1 (one student: one computer) learning environment? charged with launching the ipad and google apps for education in high schools, boston-based instructional technology specialist andrew marcinek’s comment on his blog (2012) resonated with my experiences with student teachers. marcinek pointed out that many students deemed "digital natives" prefer analog formats for learning and organizing information. accordingly, the use of technology should http://www.edutopia.org/user/15396 http://www.edutopia.org/user/15396 http://www.edutopia.org/blog/dispelling-one-to-one-myths-andrew-marcinek journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6669. corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 67 be purposeful rather than forced. he quoted chris lehman (2009), principal of the awardwinning science leadership academy in pennsylvania: "technology should be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible." for the next few months i had some intellectually nourishing conversations with educators including mary haas, professor of curriculum and instruction, university of west virginia; jeri hammond, former middle school teacher, social studies resource specialist, and current district coordinator for international baccalaureate, orange county, florida; and david virtue, associate professor, university of south carolina. among other things, we discussed the merits of various atlases such as rand mcnally’s goode’s world atlas, which is used in the geography courses at usc, and map.com’s paperback world atlas scholastic edition, which is the price of a cup of designer coffee but has little in the way of comparative information. for just a little more you can purchase their world history atlas, which is printed on far superior quality paper. mary advised caution with using historical atlases as stand-alone resources. if students do not know current land and water locations and shapes, or political or cultural regions, misconceptions can be created or perpetuated. as an example, she suggested that most u.s. university students would be unlikely to know the current or historical importance of the indian ocean for international trade. a longtime advocate for geography education, mary proposed having students or student teachers undertake a country study just using the information they could glean from an atlas, in order to really learn their way around using the resource. i am guessing that the information they would share would be much more tentative, and more thought-provoking than the usual “the currency is the new zealand dollar and the capital city is wellington” type of report. jeri shared that rather than using an atlas per se, her sixth grade students had loved using the cia factbook, both paper and online versions. using the lens of social geography, she also advocated using ted (technology, education, design) talks to put her students in touch with thinkers from around the world. as it happens, in a recent ted talk mike matas (2011) demonstrated the new generation of digital book. it is an electronic book that links expository text to real time images and spatial information. despite the wonderful access to information that the internet allows teachers and their students, and the exciting paths that the work of matas and his colleagues point to, and the exciting research of colleagues presented in journals such as theory and research in social education, contemporary issues in teacher education, or social studies research and practice, to name a few, my ambivalence towards what seems to be an all out assault on paper versions of books remains. in my elementary social studies methods class a few weeks back i was reminded yet again as to why educators need to be cautious in whole-sale advocacy for internet connectivity rather than books in our twenty-first century classrooms. this semester i have asked the student teachers to have either hard copy or electronic versions of our texts for the class. it is the fall semester and, as it is a federally recognized holiday in the united states, a number of schools celebrate columbus day in mid-october. in preparation for my class the student teachers read extracts about columbus from jody http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruwzqylqllg&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruwzqylqllg&feature=youtu.be https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html http://www.socialstudies.org/cufa/trse http://www.socialstudies.org/cufa/trse http://www.citejournal.org/vol12/iss3/socialstudies/ http://www.socstrpr.org/ http://www.socstrpr.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6669. corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 68 potts’ adventure tales of america (2005). we reviewed what they had learned. then i asked the students to work with a partner, to look through their resources to find a map (or other visual representation of information) that would help them talk with students about christopher columbus and why he might be celebrated or vilified. some students immediately pulled out and flipped through their paper “historical world atlases,” found useful pages, started asking questions of themselves and dived from there into maps on other pages in the book, exclaiming that they had not realized how far south the explorations of columbus were and wondering about the connection between his routes and those of the slave trade. other student teachers struggled with their partner to use electronic versions of the same resource to find the same images. they did not generate the range or depth of questions, or browse in the same way. instead, they were dealing with technical issues. of course, afterwards we were able to look on the internet for answers to the questions we had generated – something that would have been extremely difficult just five years ago. perhaps one could argue that twenty-two year old student teachers are not digital natives, as fifth graders might be – but upon reflection i realized that the electronic version of the atlas we were using was an example of the internet being used as an electronic storage spot for text and images. it was not that helpful in the limited-time context of the classroom, even if the images and text can be updated daily. the screen size of portable devices meant that having multiple windows open rendered images so miniscule as to be useless. the power of the internet as a useful instructional tool for social studies educators lies in its interactivity, not its storage capacity. it is time to move from thinking of the internet as an electronic library where we send students to get information to create their own beautifully presented you-tube videos, for such videos may be as full of inaccuracies as their mothers’ stunning two-fold informational brochures were. instead, we can revisit the “internet as cyberspace” metaphor. the internet is not a galaxy that remains as static as a book, where teachers ask their learners to journey from planet to planet, collecting information as nintendo’s super mario collects stars and coins without any apparent change to local environments. alternatively, today’s learners are on a journey in cyberspace where, just like christopher columbus and his men, their interactions with the environment change the nature of the places they visit. they should expect to contribute to what has already been shared by other people around the world – ideally in mutually beneficial ways. which brings me to another contributor to the conversation about world atlases, peter britton. peter responded to my post on the international assembly listserver and suggested that i might want to look at the work he and his colleagues are doing online. based in great britain, timemaps is an interactive atlas and timeline. peter explained, “we’re a small group of british history educators who were originally wanting to promote world history studies in uk schools… most of the interest in our project comes from outside britain. more than 90% of our visitors are from north america, and we have a far higher proportion of repeat visitors than average, which is very encouraging.” peter asked me to invite ia members to http://www.adventuretales.com/ http://www.timemaps.com/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6669. corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 69 contact him (peter.britton@timemaps.com), as his group would appreciate having international contributors to the project. so, there you have it, international assembly members can help colleagues, both novice and veteran teachers, to better use our internet connectivity in the service of improving social studies education. in this “new world” we can help teach about the planet by sharing and making public our discoveries. we can help others think about instructional practices in this not-quite-new millennium. brilliant blogger or happily book-bound, please consider sending descriptions of your journeys to the journal of international social studies. references britton, p. (2012). explore world history. retrieved march 4, 2012 from http://www.timemaps.com/ central intelligence agency (2012). the world factbook. retrieved march 24, 2012 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ lehmann, c. (2009). chris lehman: school tech should be like oxygen. retrieved october 5, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruwzqylqllg&feature=youtu.be maps.com (2012). atlas of world history. santa barbara, ca: author. maps.com (2012). world atlas: scholastic edition. santa barbara, ca: author. marcinek, a. (2012). dispelling the myths about 1:1 environments. retrieved october 5, 2012 from www.edutopia.org/blog/dispelling-one-to-one-myths-andrew-marcinek matas, m. (2011). mike matas: a next-generation digital book. retrieved august 2, 2012 from http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html potts, j. (2005). adventure tales of america: an illustrated history of the united states, vol. 1, 1492-1877. dallas, tx: signal media publishers. veregin, h. (ed.). (2010). goode’s world atlas. 22nd edition. skokie, il: rand mcnally. about the editor carolyn o’mahony is associate professor of social studies education at oakland university in rochester, michigan. she teaches undergraduate k-8 social studies methods courses and graduate classes in comparative education, and international-mindedness in the international baccalaureate teacher development program. her current research focuses on how teachers develop global awareness and global pedagogical content knowledge. she can be reached at omahony@oakland.edu mailto:peter.britton@timemaps.com http://www.timemaps.com/ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ http://www.edutopia.org/blog/dispelling-one-to-one-myths-andrew-marcinek http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 102-104 corresponding author: sapersteine@wpunj.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 book review myers, j. p. (ed.). (2020). research on teaching global issues: pedagogy for global citizenship education. information age publishing. evan saperstein william paterson university the recent novel coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic has brought a number of urgent global issues to the fore, including public health, economic development, and universal education. addressing these issues requires increased international collaboration, research, and instruction. in recent decades, global citizenship education (gce) has sought to foster the very cross-cultural awareness and cooperation needed to solve pressing global challenges. as an increasingly important and timely discipline, gce continues to be a source of growing scholarship. research on teaching global issues: pedagogy for global citizenship education is the latest look at critical global issues and the need for related education. it is a topical read for educational stakeholders (teachers, administrators, curriculum writers, policymakers) trying to navigate the pedagogical priorities of an increasingly globalized world, particularly now in light of covid-19. edited by john myers, research on teaching global issues serves as a guide for incorporating pressing global issues in curricula and classrooms, be they issues of public health, sustainability, poverty, hunger, gender equality, or education. research on teaching global issues comprises two parts. the first (chapters 2-4) considers “the educational contexts and policies that shape how global issues are taught in schools” (p. 7). the second (chapters 5-9) covers “case studies of global issues in classrooms and schools” (p. 8). in the introductory chapter, myers provides helpful context and frames the book’s raison d’être: “to bring the worlds of youth interest and engagement with global issues in closer alignment with the democratic purposes of schooling in a global age” (p. 3). myers accordingly stresses that schools and teachers prepare students to become engaged citizens through the critical examination (e.g., pedagogy debates and discussions in a democratic classroom) of global issues. in chapter 2, yemini, goren, and tibbitts undertake an ambitious quantitative network analysis of scholarship concerning gce and teacher education. focusing on scholarly literature from 2006 to 2017, the authors identify four main clusters: “subject areas and disciplines”; “globalization mailto:sapersteine@wpunj.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 102-104 corresponding author: sapersteine@wpunj.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 and culture”; “education for environmental sustainability”; and “language learning” (p. 16). while observing an increased scholarly interest in these fields, they recognize the need for more research on gce and teacher education. in chapter 3, shultz, pillay, karsgaard, and pashby use a deliberative pedagogy to engage students from various nations in remote and in-person instruction as part of a unesco initiative. notably, the participating students viewed global citizenship through the prism of equity and justice (i.e., interconnection and complexity; diversity and difference; community, relationality, and compassion). the authors emphasize the importance of student input (16to 18-year-olds) in designing and developing gce curricula, while providing a critical look at mainstream gce views. in chapter 4, rapoport conducts a content analysis of u.s. state social studies standards and related curricular documents that refer to an inquiry-based framework (c3 framework). while more states over the past decade have incorporated global citizenship (or similar terminology) in their social studies standards, rapoport rightly concludes that there is insufficient emphasis on transformative critical gce. in chapter 5, bourn reviews how certain schools in the uk, in conjunction with the fairtrade foundation’s award program, address fairtrade through classroom activities and school clubs. despite the potential limitations of such instruction (e.g., providing simplistic causes or answers to unjust trade practices or poverty), bourn finds that teaching about fairtrade generates student interest, engenders empathy, and develops a global mindset based on awareness and social justice. in chapter 6, cruz, ellerbrock, denney, and viera spotlight insideart, an innovative university of south florida program for secondary social studies and visual art teachers incorporating contemporary art into their curriculum (e.g., using open-access material) and teaching global issues. through workshop evaluations and teacher interviews, the authors conclude that collaboration with museum curators/educators, college professors, and global artists can increase awareness of global and social issues, make these issues relevant for students, and provide more instructional flexibility despite implementation obstacles. in chapter 7, baildon and bott conduct a revealing case study at a public secondary school in singapore that adopted a gce curriculum focused on experiential and student-centered learning. according to the authors, the school does provide more opportunities for students to discuss and analyze global issues by emphasizing values (e.g., caring, empathy) and volunteerism, despite national curricular constraints. however, with insufficient critical inquiry of certain global issues, the authors correctly point out the need for a more transformative gce curriculum. in chapter 8, bardo advances a thought-provoking conceptual model that serves to foster cultural selfawareness. through a simulation, he demonstrates how experiential learning activities can help students separate themselves from their cultural positioning and develop a more informed global outlook. in chapter 9, chong argues, persuasively, why the hong kong special administrative region should make gce an integral part of school curricula and teaching methods, in response mailto:sapersteine@wpunj.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 102-104 corresponding author: sapersteine@wpunj.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 to recent government efforts to promote national identity over the teaching of global issues. he also provides conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical considerations for teachers tasked with preparing active global citizens. despite the range of topics covered in the book, three common themes emerge. first, teachers need more professional development and training to help students critically examine global issues. second, schools need to embrace critical and transformative gce, including analyzing nonwestern perspectives from the global south and examining sources of inequality and poverty. this also involves rewriting curricula, designing frameworks, and implementing new pedagogical approaches consistent with forward-thinking gce values. third, schools should groom justiceoriented citizens prepared to take action to solve urgent global challenges. this requires students not only to exercise basic civic duties locally or nationally but to become global agents of change. in sum, research in teaching global issues spans far-reaching gce-related topics ranging from teacher education to student engagement, from curriculum frameworks to an interdisciplinary whole-school approach, from school-university partnerships to innovative global studies programs, and from new conceptual models to novel pedagogical practices. for aspiring and established gce scholars, the book offers insight into recent related literature and an opportunity to consider and analyze new perspectives. for teachers, department chairs, and directors of curriculum and instruction, the book offers lessons from on-point case studies. and, for scholarpractitioners, it is a how-to guide to translate research into practice and reflect on the multipurpose value of gce. this book methodically examines the complexities associated with teaching such a broad discipline. the coherence and flow of each chapter stand out. the careful scrutiny of gce curriculum and pedagogy also warrants note. research in teaching global issues serves as a springboard for future research. more attention should be given to both pre-service and inservice gce training. more studies should look at pioneering schools already engaged in critical inquiry of gce. and, in a post-covid-19 world, more should connect with like-minded gce educators committed to helping students create a better world. about the author: evan saperstein is an adjunct professor at william paterson university and a high school social studies teacher in new jersey. his research interests include global citizenship education, experiential learning, service-learning, curriculum development, and pedagogy. mailto:sapersteine@wpunj.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 2 spring/summer 2012 improving participation in a pluralistic democracy through a cosmopolitan approach to social studies education di ryter university of nebraska, lincoln ______________________________________________________________________________ democracy in a pluralistic society depends on individual and group participation. one of the goals of social studies education is to instill a sense of civic efficacy. some people are able to consistently participate in democratic processes, yet many are not able to because of cultural and societal marginalization. the assimilationist approach to building national unity forces individuals to give up their cultural identity in order to be accepted by the mainstream culture. this loss of identity can cause resentment and alienation, which leads to a fragmenting of the national society, and decreasing national unity. globalization has increased the diversity of american society, and ignoring the relationships that individuals have in their local, national, and global communities can contribute to the marginalization of diverse cultural groups. a cosmopolitan approach to social studies education can reinforce democratic principles that are valued in the united states by acknowledging ethnic and cultural diversity and multicultural citizenship. this can increase national unity and individual civic efficacy while also celebrating the diversity found in our communities. keywords: postcolonial theory, globalization, multicultural citizenship, cosmopolitanism, transformative citizenship education. ______________________________________________________________________________ several processes operating in the modern world are bringing the issue of diverse cultural populations and how to work with it while maintaining national unity to the forefront. globalization and immigration are causing the mixing of cultures and ethnicities in nations and regions such as the united states and western europe. this phenomenon is being dealt with by homogenizing the culture through an assimilationist approach in an attempt to build national unity by assimilating citizens into a majority culture. an alternative to this approach is cosmopolitanism, which, though it has various definitions and means of practice, generally has a global view and recognizes the differences between people. it holds that there is much to learn from these differences. postcolonial globalization has tended to perpetuate the political, economic, and social structure of dominant western countries and cultures (spring, 2008). this hierarchy has often marginalized minority groups in many ways, including education, segregation of communities, unequal representation, and disparate opportunities. a further effect on minority populations is the control of communication and standardization of knowledge by large, multinational publishers, that causes the marginalization of groups whose cultural icons are not represented in this knowledge. globalization also influences individual, local, national, and global identities and allegiances and requires education to address national unity, multicultural citizenship, and global sensibilities (arnett, 2002; banks, 2001; parker, 2008). journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 3 spring/summer 2012 how a nation-state develops policies and educational reforms to deal with diverse cultural populations can cause marginalization of minority groups, loss of identity, and fragmenting of connections between youth and the culture of their families. in particular, forcing youth into a mainstream majority culture can cause them to lose connection with their support groups in their minority communities. cosmopolitanism in education by the definition used here recognizes the differences between people, and holds that there is much to learn from these differences (appiah, 2006; hansen, 2010). cosmopolitanism is proposed as an alternative to the assimilation method to include acceptance of individual cultures while maintaining national unity. this article is an exploration of the influences of postcolonial globalization on our communities, the development of multicultural identities, the need for a cosmopolitan approach to social studies education, and identification of educational approaches that include enabling people in a pluralistic society to engage in their community as active citizens. postcolonial globalization theories of postcolonial globalization can help explain how rich and dominant powers sustain their political and economic agendas (apple, 2000; apple, 2005; brown & lauder, 2006; spring, 2008). they are based on the influences of economically and politically dominant countries on social structures or systems such as education in other countries today. these theories also claim that western education in world powers such as the united states, the european union, and japan aims to produce a population that meets national economic demands and maintains economic dominance. spring (2008) discusses german political scientist weiler’s theory that particular knowledge and power work hand-in-hand as knowledge produced by a transnational system legitimizes the very power that created it. this theory holds that the postcolonial structure perpetuates itself by supporting an education system that in turn supports the structure. apple (2000) provides examples of how “official knowledge” found in textbooks in the united states serves as a societal “reference point” established by particular groups of people perpetuating the status quo of the dominant elite. the content of textbooks adopted by most american school districts often excludes or minimalizes the experiences and perspectives of minorities and groups such as women, children, african-american, latino, and other cultures. furthermore, the content, cultural portrayal, beliefs, and values included in texts often become the official knowledge that is required learning for standardized and criterion referenced tests. markets and ideology often drive the content published in textbooks and select forces dominate this market. apple (2000) explains, texas and california (and now increasingly perhaps florida) have the most power over what counts as official knowledge…texas spends tens of millions of dollars on instructional materials and has a rather narrow policy of approving five textbooks or less (the minimum is two) for each subject. this puts it in an exceptionally strong position to influence the content of texts as publishers compete to gain their share of what is obviously a lucrative part of the market (p. 61). an example of minority group minimization can be seen in the recent texas board of education exclusion of most minority historical figures from the state history standards and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 4 spring/summer 2012 curriculum (stutz, 2010; farney, 2010). because texas is such a large textbook market, a publisher may adopt the subjective texas history and curriculum, which impacts other states that have limited choices of textbooks to use in their school districts (apple, 2000; stutz, 2010). the global dissemination of this official knowledge is also market and ideologically driven and perpetuated by control of communication by multinational corporations operating in other countries (apple 2000). although it may be impossible to mitigate all of the negative influences of globalization, educators can include multiple perspectives in their curricula and maintain an awareness of the positive and negative effects of globalization. issues concerning current social and educational realities include migration, diasporas, identity formation, and the effects of race, culture, class, and gender in society (spring, 2008). individual, group, national, and global identities and affiliations are prominent topics concerning globalization and citizenship education (ladsonbillings, 2005). citizenship education, which is part of social studies, needs to address the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity in our schools and communities. the diversity found in the american schools requires recognition and expanded approaches to citizenship and national identity. identities and allegiances in the modern globalized age, establishing and maintaining national identities by assimilating all citizens into a single american culture, an assimilationist approach, does not include individual cultural identities in the united states and may weaken national identification. banks (2008) observed that an assimilationist approach marginalized german ethnic turks and united kingdom muslims in schools. in these cases, the marginalized groups tried to preserve their ethnic identities, but were marginalized in their nation-state (banks, 2008). a mechanism by which the assimilationist approach marginalizes people is by creating an “ideal” citizen that is not represented in all cultural groups (ortloff, 2009). when people from diverse cultures do not see themselves represented in the curriculum or national story, as seen in the new texas history textbooks, it may lead to a potential disconnectedness in schools and society. conversely, embracing multiculturalism can enhance solidarity and strengthen a nation by reducing prejudice and mistrust and does not threaten the welfare of a state (kymlicka & banting, 2006). banks (2001) states, “one of the challenges to pluralistic democratic nationstates is to provide opportunities for cultural and ethnic groups to maintain components of their community cultures while at the same time constructing a nation-state in which diverse groups are structurally included and to which they feel allegiance” (p. 5). however, citizenship education has taken an assimilationist approach by assuming that individuals give up their home culture, language and identity to participate in the national civic culture (banks, 2001; kymlicka & banting, 2006; theiss-morse, 2009; m. m. suárez-orozco and qin-hilliard, 2004). this approach has left millions of citizens marginalized from being active and transformative citizens (banks, 2008). in an era of globalization, establishing a personal, cultural, national, and global identity is a complex process that may be more complex for cultural minorities. harvard cultural psychologist, c. suárez-orozco (2004) describes identity formation of ethnic immigrants and their children by relating to erickson’s theory that the development of self-identity is influenced by the views of others. c. suárez-orozco also refers to parham’s theory of spiraling through journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 5 spring/summer 2012 various stages of identity development and suggests that identity formation is “fluid and contextually driven.” c. suárez-orozco (2004) explains the development of achieved and ascribed identities, emanating from an individual’s sense of belonging and how others categorize them culturally. c. suárez-orozco (2004) argues that ascribed identities are stronger for ethnic minority groups than western european descendents in the united states, because over time cultural distinctions lessen as accents are lost, names change, and style of dress becomes similar to the majority, though this can be more challenging for minorities of color (c. suárez-orozco, 2004). ascribed identities are also influenced by the “social mirror” reflected by dominant groups, which reflects intolerable difference and discrimination from the majority in countries like the united states and western europe with large immigrant communities (c. suárez-orozco, 2004). some people resist this mirror, but for others it often perpetuates a negative self-image that can cause hopelessness and a negative self-fulfilling prophecy in young people. c. suárez-orozco (2004) also suggests that the greater degree of differences between the majority and individual cultures, the more likely young people will struggle with their identity as they adapt and navigate the social order of their community, thus affecting their development of a positive sense of self and civic efficacy. social studies education that takes a cosmopolitan approach can be more inclusive of students’ diversity and culture, thus positively impacting their sense of self and civic efficacy, a primary goal of social studies education (parker, 2012). as described by c. suárez-orozco (2004), marginalizing young people in society and from the structures of social mobility may develop an adversarial stance of adaptation as seen with many disenfranchised people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder in societies around the world: on one hand, immigrants tend to develop cultural models and social practices that serve them well in terms of educational adaptations and outcomes. on the other hand, ‘involuntary minorities,’ after generations of living with structural inequities and symbolic violence, tend to develop social practices and cultural models that remove them from investing in schooling as the dominant strategy for status mobility (pp. 186-7). one such adversarial style is when the perception of doing well in school is seen as “acting white” (ogbu, 2007; fordham, 2008). this is problematic if american national and educational goals are to provide equal access to opportunities and develop a positive national identity and civic efficacy. though receiving a diploma or degree guarantees neither financial or social mobility, nor the development of a sense of contributing citizenship; the lack of education appears to severely limit professional opportunities and decreases (legal) resources. c. suárezorozco (2004) identifies that the likelihood of being drawn to gangs or dropping out of school increases when one adopts an adversarial perception of the dominant culture. not only can adversarial styles of cultural adaptation threaten the well-being and social mobility of individuals, but it can also threaten the nation-state. it is in the national interest to provide a sense of inclusion to all members of society through teaching multiple perspectives and cultural sensitivities as part of social studies education. this will facilitate developing a stronger, more united pluralistic democracy, and extend empathy beyond the nation’s borders. as thornton (2005) asserts, “both unreflective patriotism and censorship are undemocratic in intent and close off critical consideration of viewpoints other than those asserted by some individual or journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 6 spring/summer 2012 group as representing the american view” (p. 84). immigrants and recently appointed citizens are often excluded because they don’t have cultural understanding of the majority view promoted in schools and texts, nor do schools and text often include immigrant viewpoints. also, assimilation into the mainstream culture can alienate people from their own ethnic group (fordham, 2008; ogbu, 2007; valenzuela, 1999), which takes away support from social networks and connectedness with friends, family, and cultural affiliations (c. suárez-orozco, 2004). to maintain support groups, a transcultural identity can be developed, which allows people to be a part of and move between various communities’ contributions to their livelihood because it expands the cultural and social capital available to them (bourdieu, 2007). pollock and van reken (1999) identify young people with these identity traits as third culture kids, who develop cultural traits that are neither fully representative of their parent’s culture (first culture), nor of their host culture (second culture), but a created, shared, and learned combination that allows them to maneuver between cultures, groups, and institutions (third culture). among youth engaged in bicultural styles, the culturally constructed social structures and patterns of social control of their immigrant parents and elders maintain a degree of legitimacy. learning standard english and doing well in school are viewed as competencies that do not compromise their sense of who they are. these youth network seamlessly with members of their own ethnic group as well as with students, teachers, employers, colleagues, and friends of other backgrounds (c. suárez-orozco, 2004). ultimately, however, individuals develop loyalty to the nation when they feel that they receive reciprocal benefits and rights. kymlicka and banting (2006) recognize the importance of national identity contributing to the support of the systems found in a nation-state, but they also recognize how multiculturalism can support and enhance national unity. multiculturalism contributes to national unity by destigmatizing cultural differences, which in turn contributes to treating one another with respect and dignity. perceiving each other as equals worthy of respect is one of the first steps in uniting a population. multicultural education, along with nationbuilding practices, such as citizenship education, contributes to national solidarity. in addition, multiculturalism perceived as a national narrative unites a larger population that includes diverse groups of people (kymlicka and banting, 2006). multicultural citizenship can also help balance diversity and unity in a nation-state (kymlicka, 1995) and help to facilitate upholding the democratic ideals that many nation-states proclaim. it can also, however, neglect global awareness and sensibilities and environmental issues that connect societies around the world. banks (2001) takes multicultural citizenship a step further than kymlicka by including global identification balanced with cultural and national identifications, which, combined with citizenship education that enhances a sense of civic efficacy, contributes to a more inclusive and humane local and global community (banks, 2001). social studies education, which should include multiple perceptions and multicultural citizenship that accommodates varying identities in a united nation-state, can help young people identify and celebrate not only their similarities, but also their differences. approaching diversity with acceptance may contribute to individuals developing a sense of belonging and loyalty to a democratic and pluralistic nation like the united states. one type of education that can contribute to these goals is cosmopolitanism. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 7 spring/summer 2012 cosmopolitanism two schools of thought on the definition of cosmopolitanism exist. one definition holds that it is a type of world citizenship; an allegiance to humanity as opposed to a singular state allegiance (nussbaum, 2002). a second definition is that cosmopolitanism recognizes the differences between people and holds that there is much to learn from these differences (appiah, 2006; hansen, 2010). there are also opponents of cosmopolitanism who suggest that its approach to humanism creates a homogeneous global society that is a detriment to unity, identity, and loyalty within a nation-state (barber, 2002; mcconnell, 2002; taylor, 2002). opponents believe there is a perceived lack of care for those closest to an individual, such as family, community, and nation, in exchange for global allegiance. however, appiah (2002) and sen (2002) address this critique by referring to the ability and longing of individuals to acquire multiple affiliations and allegiances to local, national, and global identities. appiah (2002) suggests that one can be a cosmopolitan patriot, maintaining attachment to their home while appreciating other diverse places with diverse cultures. nussbaum (2002) further argues that individuals can and should pay attention to those closest to us, but that we also extend that behavior beyond our borders and boundaries to include all people, all human-kind. some people will spend their whole lives in one location, sustaining local cultures and traditions, and others will move within and between countries creating a hybrid or multiple cultural identities (appiah, 2002; arnett, 2002). no matter the lifestyle, we can strive to include, learn from, and celebrate, not only our similarities, but also our differences. this rooted or grounded approach to cosmopolitanism can help create a balance between national affiliations and individual and global identities. furthermore, it can facilitate inquiry and analysis of ideas and concepts that enhance our daily lives. allegiance to humanity and our global society does not exclude allegiances to a nation, community, or family. as nussbaum (2002) suggests, one is not required to forego ethnic or religious identifications, but should include all human beings as part of our sphere of influence, and include “interlocking commonality” in our deliberations. education can and should include multicultural identities and global sensibilities. neglecting to include international affiliations and ideas in education ignores the current realities of the diversity found in our local and global communities. mitchell and parker (2008) describe nussbaum’s concentric circles of affinity starting with the self in the center and then expanding to the family, school, community, state, nation, and global humanity. this view of the self is often used in k-12 education in the united states to teach social studies and civic education. social studies in lower elementary grades often start with the self, family, and school and expands to the community, state, nation, and world in upper elementary grades. the nation and world are further addressed in middle and high school. this approach is commonly referred to as the expanding horizons approach to social studies education, which has been deemed insufficient because of current global realities (mitchell & parker, 2008; ncss, 2011; wade, 2002) wade (2002) counters that people do not consecutively develop affiliations with the self expanding to the community, state, nation and world, but rather these affiliations develop simultaneously. young people today are exposed to varied cultures, issues, people, and countries due to improved means of transportation, communication, technology and movement of people. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 8 spring/summer 2012 mitchell and parker (2008) further challenge nussbaum’s sequential development of affiliations. “we believe both nussbaum and her critics reify these categories by abstracting them from the everyday local and global practices through which space is produced and allegiance secured” (mitchell & parker, 2008, pp. 777-778). it was originally thought that children were not able to understand concepts related to the world outside their immediate surroundings until they were older, however this initial belief has been challenged. there is research and theory that suggests children are capable of understanding more “abstract and distant” concepts and spaces (levstik & barton, 2008; mitchell & parker, 2008; wade, 2002). mitchell and parker (2008) support the notion that young people today develop global affiliations due to their experiences and various modes of communication. they argue that these experiences allow young people to imagine the interdependence and interconnectedness of societies. these experiences and modes of communication can be seen in movement of peoples between nations, the use of media, and in the use of technology to gain awareness of various regions, people, and cultures around the world. mitchell and parker (2008) state that a majority of students in their case study demonstrated an awareness of global interdependence, though the examples of student expressions included in their article does not illustrate how the world is interdependent, just that sentiment should include the world beyond a nation-state. some of the student expressions do, however, reflect mitchell and parkers’ argument that young people are able to visualize and relate to global entities and do not follow a set development of an expanding horizons pattern. hansen (2010) suggests that we must know ourselves, our individual and local culture, but inquire about and learn from diverse ideas and approaches, “what characterizes cosmopolitanism from the ground up is a fusion, sometimes tenuous and tension-laden, of receptivity to the new and loyalty to the known” (p. 5). hansen’s view of cosmopolitanism emphasizes learning from diverse cultures, traditions, and ideas. this type of cosmopolitanism takes into account the diverse experiences of individuals. it is appropriate because this type of cosmopolitanism includes all citizens and residents and their views and experiences, and does not marginalize minorities by focusing on the dominant culture. it is an approach that has the potential to enhance civic efficacy of all students. furthermore, hansen’s view of cosmopolitanism would allow for young people of the dominant culture, with little knowledge of cultures other than their own, an opportunity to expand their own paradigm. hansen (2010) states, “cosmopolitanism is not an identity that elbows aside other dimensions of being a person. it is phasic. it comes and goes. it finds expression in particular moments, spaces, and interactions” (p. 5). this approach to cosmopolitanism leaves room for other aspects of citizens’ identity (i.e., national, cultural, and individual). furthermore, mitchell and parker (2008) argue that our conceptualization and understanding of our local, national, and global communities is a continual fluxuating process, similar to hansen (2010) and c. suárez-orozco’s (2004) explanation of identity development. in addition to including individual, local, national, and global identities, cosmopolitanism includes citizenship/civic education and a commitment to act towards addressing the challenges that threaten social justice in local communities and national, regional, and global society (banks, 2008; falk, 2002). falk (2002) describes this type of cosmopolitanism as “cosmopolitan democracy”. it aims to balance national and global political and economic agendas toward individual and societal wellbeing. “if global economic governance structures are reoriented to express a kind of equilibrium between market-oriented (globalization-from-above) and peopleoriented (globalization-from-below), then it is possible that political space will be recreated to journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 9 spring/summer 2012 enable the reemergence of the humane state” ( p. 59). this approach to education addresses civic education to the extent of developing students’ civic efficacy and responsibility to individuals, their community, nation, and global society. cosmopolitanism and education two goals of social studies education are to promote social understanding and civic efficacy (parker, 2012). taking into account the diverse experiences of students can contribute to a more global understanding and sense of responsibility for our global society, nation, and local communities. for example, many schools in the united states have a diverse student body representing numerous countries and a plethora of cultural identities. providing students the opportunity to share and learn from each other implements a cosmopolitan approach, consistent with the goals and standards of the social science disciplines and curriculum. moreover, this approach taps into students’ funds of knowledge enabling them to share their knowledge and experiences with their peers. social studies curriculum and teachers should address social issues found in our communities, especially if teachers aim to make the curriculum meaningful to their students. one way of making the curriculum meaningful to students is to include, celebrate, and learn from the diversity of students in the classroom. social studies teachers should provide students with experiences and material that help them tap into their funds of knowledge that develops their social understanding and civic efficacy (banks, 2002; parker, 2012). this includes acknowledging different ethnic, social-class, and language groups, providing opportunities to expose students to diversity, to deliberate and collaborate with others to address or act on social challenges, and to question how and what we know. an educational program that includes various ways of learning and knowing is the theory of knowledge course included in the international baccalaureate diploma program. hansen’s (2010) approach to cosmopolitanism suggests that education should encourage people to engage in the larger world, to be receptive and reflective to new ideas and ways of knowing in order to enhance the “integrity of the local”. theory of knowledge aims to provide students and teachers an opportunity to reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing by reflecting on their own culture, the culture of others in the world, and on disciplines of knowledge. it also encourages students to become aware of the intricacy of knowledge. the aim of theory of knowledge is for students to understand the interpretive nature of knowledge, with personal biases rooted in ideology, even if these biases are pervasive or rejected (international baccalaureate organization, 2011). this objective of the ib diploma program supports hansen’s (2010) view of a ground up cosmopolitan education. another method of implementing a cosmopolitan education or experience as described by nussbuam (2002) and appiah (2002) is to provide students experiences that allow students from different cultures and countries to collaborate with one another, helping them to understand how nations are interdependent. issues surrounding the environment, spread of disease, climate, and human rights require the collaboration of citizens around the world because these issues know no border and affect multiple nations in our global society. collaboration addressing these challenges can facilitate a global identity and citizenship that is concerned about challenges around the world that connect to local experiences. collaboration between and among citizens around the world can be accomplished in a number of manners. one example is through virtual classrooms, such as iearn or other organized groups that allow students to collaborate with journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 10 spring/summer 2012 other students from another country on an issue based social challenge. there are numerous activities and projects (role-playing, identifying personal influences on ethnicity, gender and social class identification, literature/media sources, and action research) that can facilitate students’ understanding of social understanding and civic efficacy. practicing cosmopolitan democracy may take the form of “transformative citizenship education” (banks, 2008). it helps students use information and skills to challenge societal issues pertaining to social justice and improving the lives of individuals and groups. transformative citizenship education can lead to change that ensures the well-being of individuals and society. concluding thoughts there are many challenges to maintaining a balance between cultural diversity and national unity. practicing and reflecting on multicultural citizenship, global sensibilities, and cosmopolitanism from early in life can help develop the skills that allow people to be able to make informed decisions about their lives and positively contribute to living in a pluralistic democracy while maintaining their individual identities. awareness of one’s own culture and traditions can help people to understand their own prejudices and biases, and can contribute to learning about and accepting those who practice different cultural traditions and ways of knowing (hansen, 2010). despite democratic nations like the united states promoting equality and protection of human rights, there are discrepancies between doctrine and reality. during times of conflict, democratic ideals and human rights are often neglected. for example, the reaction to the attacks of september 11 severely marginalized arab-americans because of their ethnic and cultural background. this is similar to the fate of japanese-americans during world war ii. if a cosmopolitan approach to education were in place, the differences between people may have been better understood, and these divisions may not have been so severe or, perhaps, even created. the ability to debate and deliberate an issue is a key function in democratic practices. “deliberating about the demands of justice is a central virtue of democratic citizenship, because it is primarily, though not exclusively, through our empowerment as democratic citizens that we can further the cause of justice around the world” (gutmann, 2002, p. 69). practicing social justice has the potential to empower people in local and global capacities. nussbaum’s concern is that it often stops at our national borders. in today’s globalized society, individuals must have an awareness of and care for local and global connections that impact their identity, lives, and purpose. an awareness of postcolonial effects on systems today contributes to our ability to understand the structure that influences our lives. furthermore, including varied perspectives and cultures in education contributes to developing global sensibilities that are essential to enhancing social understanding that allows individuals to interact among and between people and cultures. individuals working together in cooperation can uphold democratic ideals, adding importance to addressing global similarities, differences, and issues of social justice in the elementary and secondary school curriculum. schools can offer appropriate opportunities that tie in with local, state, and national standards to practice identifying, investigating, and problem-solving challenges found in our local and global communities. opportunities to exchange ideas, experience diverse cultures, and interact with diverse groups of people must be available to students if we are to have a thriving pluralistic democracy. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 11 spring/summer 2012 social studies education should take a cosmopolitan approach to address the impact of globalization and the movement of people between cultural regions and nations. this movement and exchange of culture impacts individual development of identity leading to multiple identifications affiliated with their home culture, nation and global society. education that solely focuses on developing national identity, not only neglects the diversity found in our communities, but it also neglects opportunities to promote civic ideals and misses opportunities to learn and improve our society. references appiah, 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(2004). globalization: culture and education in the new millennium. california: university of california press, ltd. taylor, c. (2002). why democracy needs patriotism. in m. c. nussbaum (ed.). for love of country? (pp. 119-121). boston: beacon press. theiss-morse, e. (2009). who counts as an american? the boundaries of national identity. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. thornton, s. j. (2005). incorporating internationalism into the social studies curriculum. in n. noddings (ed.), educating citizens for global awareness (pp. 81-92). new york: teachers college press, columbia university. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling. albany, ny: state university of new york press. wade, r. (2002). beyond expanding horizons: new curriculum directions for elementary social studies. the elementary school journal, 103(2), 115-130. wineburg, s, & monté-sano, c. (2008). “famous american”: the changing pantheon of american heroes. journal of american history, 94(4), 1186-1202. ______________________________________________________________________________ about the author di ryter is a phd candidate at the university of nebraska, lincoln and a social studies methods instructor and supervisor for social science practicum and student teachers http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerfulandpurposeful journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. man, peace and peace education oluwaseun bamidele institute of peace, security and governance, ekiti state university, nigeria __________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the essence of education is the development of human potentialities and ultimately, the human self. since the self is continuously changing, peace education becomes imperative if a planned development of the human self is not achieved. based on this, this article examines the nature of man in relation to peace and the role of human development and peace education in contributing to a peaceful environment. this paper argues that peace education will also foster the development of man to live and work in dignity, participate in the development of peace and the establishment of processes for compromise and negotiation. this paper concludes that education for peace will produce assertive humankinds who will individually and collectively be committed to autonomy of thought and action, eradicate the culture of violence and develop sustainable peace. key words: civilization, education, man, peace, peace education, culture of violence ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction “since wars begins in the minds of men, it is in the mind of men that defenses of peace must be constituted” (unesco constitution, 1945) “although attempting to bring about world peace through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way. . . . peace must first be developed within an individual. and i believe that love, compassion, and altruism are the fundamental basis for peace. once these qualities are developed within an individual, he or she is then able to create an atmosphere of peace and harmony. this atmosphere can be expanded and extended from the individual to his family, from the family to the community and eventually to the whole world”. (dalai lama, in thich nhat hanh, 1991: vii) in 1945, the united nations was established to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, “to reaffirm faith in the …dignity and worth of the human person [man] [and] in the equal rights of man”, “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”, and “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom…” (harris, 2002). peace education has developed as a means to achieve these goals, and is “directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms” (duffy, 2000). it promotes “understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups” and furthers "the activities of the united nations for the maintenance of peace” (salomon, 2002). peace education is in line with the general assembly’s resolution 23/243 of 1999, article 1, which promotes non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation, and promotes all human rights and fundamental freedoms of man. peace education plays a vital role in equipping nations to be more humane, despite the trials and tribulations they may face. 73 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. peace education is the education of man (humanity), without any discrimination of race, caste, creed, language, nationality or other differences. this education continues throughout the life of every man, leading them to be just, peaceful and nonviolent. only peace education can lead to a real peace on this earth. it has been said that if we are to reach real peace we shall have to begin with man. peace is not just the absence of war; it is the practice of love. in a peaceful society man would work together to resolve conflicts, develop strong morals, treat each other with justice, satisfy basic needs, and respect each other. in essence, they would live in unity. the aim is not to achieve a perfect place to live, but to promote more unity and peace throughout the earth. there is no happiness greater than peace, which is linked with the practice of love. peace can develop within man. some believe this inner peace can be strengthened through our relationship with the divine. inner peace involves peace of mind and absence of fear. outer peace is peace in society. our impression is that in nigeria there is, in general, a greater stress on inner peace than in the west, where there is more emphasis on outer peace. east and west must come together, as the world needs both. this is known as holistic inner-outer peace. it has both spiritual and material dimensions. the sacred texts of the world’s great religions can help us better understand holistic peace. peace education would not exist unless man throughout the earth believed that global peace is attainable through a multifaceted effort but starting with the education of man. peace education is strengthened through the will-power and efforts of those who actively promote it, for they are aware of the terrible consequences if they do not. the horrors and suffering within our society and worldwide can be reduced if we have the strong will to act. in the words of the philosopher sarvepalli radhakrishnan “we must will peace with our whole body and soul, our feelings and instincts, our flesh and its affections”. in more critical terms, peace can be seen as both a process and a goal (deepa and arul lawrence, 2013). this opens up a particular focus on the process by which peace, a self-conscious and reflexive goal, may be achieved. if peace is seen solely a strategic goal, it would focus on mutual preservation and never move beyond the preliminary stages relating to security. but there are other, more inspiring, possibilities. that is, the idea that the essence of peace is the development of human potential and ultimately, the human self. since the human self is involved in continuous process of change and evolution, peace education becomes a necessity for such development and promotion of equal rights and opportunities for women and men. this involves the rights of everyone, freedom of expression, opinion and information, adherence to the principles of freedom, justice, tolerance, pluralism and the creation of an environment conducive to peace. the great advantage of education is that the development of peace need not be haphazard, but can rather be purposeful and directed towards noble goals, as human intelligence may be capable of designing. the universe is anthropocentric, whether we look at it from the religious and biblical stories of creation, from other national and cultural myths of creation, or scientifically through the concept of evolution. all things in the world are “made” for man. equipped with this intelligence, man becomes the homo creator, the inventor, the discoverer and the true progeny of prometheus. in the process of evolution, man’s struggle for survival and “meaningful existence” created so-called “modern civilization”, which is materialistic and characterized by an assemblage of gadgetries and other artifacts of scientific and technological inventions. all these he did in his search for “peace”, comfort and satisfaction. however, like the tantalus of old, he found himself in the cycle of forever striving but forever unsatisfied. heibonner (1978) has described this result as the “civilization malaise”, in which man is overwhelmed by the inventions of his own hand, is eventually displaced from the centre, and becomes de-humanized and enslaved in his own world. this situation is characterized by kraus (1973) as the “syndrome of the sorcerer’s apprentice”, in which the sorcerer’s apprentice (man), in imitation of his master (god), ordered his master’s magic broom 74 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. (human brain or intelligence) to fetch water (provision of “modern” amenities). however, he did not know how to stop the broom from fetching more water, until he eventually drowned in the flood of water in his small cave (the world). the above is the predicament in which the 21st century man finds himself. the response from philosophers of the existentialist mold is to decry the loss of man’s authenticity and freedom and to call for readjustment in the imbalance between man and materials and between man and education. the religionists come out with ringing denunciations of the materialism that has dominated man and overwhelmed his spiritual self. “what profiteth a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”, the bible rhetoric asks. but what is the educational response to this predicament? the simple answer, as educational philosopher bjerstedt (1990) sees it, is “peace education”, or more education at all levels, at all times and in all conditions. given the right education, in adequate doses, at every stage of human existence, it is believed that the position of man as the centre point, the rationale and the director of all peace can be restored. it is from this optimistic point of view that this paper is titled “man, peace and peace education”. it is intended to examine the role of man towards peace, whether as an individual, as a member of a community or as a citizen of the world. it will demonstrate that, from whatever perspective we look at man, he should still be the director of peace. and as the initiator, as well as the beneficiary, of peace, all these conceptions of his roles have an implication for peace education. the world is anthropocentric and peace education should give meaning to this idea. but the first question is: what is man? and knowing this will make us appreciate his role regarding peace and thus, the importance of peace education. conceptual framework of peace education a clear conceptualization of ‘peace education’ is essential when developing a wider body of scholarship and knowledge. conceptual clarity is also crucial if we want to benefit from experience and lessons learned from existing peace education initiatives (salomon 2002: 4). reardon (1999), defines peace education as “the transmission of knowledge about requirements of, the obstacles to, and possibilities for achieving and maintaining peace, training in skills for interpreting the knowledge, and the development of reflective and participatory capacities for applying the knowledge to overcoming problems and achieving possibilities.” the field of peace education challenges the belief that human beings are inherently violent and thus creates a space from within which the forwarding of the argument that peace education will address structural and cultural violence against human beings can grow. peace education promotes understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups and furthers activities geared towards the maintenance of sustainable and holistic positive peace. peace education in this article specifically targeted at the human kinds which is being proposed as the way out of cultural and structural violence against human kind. it is therefore paramount that an understanding of peace education as it is envisaged is brought to the fore. over the years, education has been looked at as a way of promoting a positivistic scientific outlook and discouraging human values including peace. under the ideal of value-free positivist and reductionist knowledge the whole concept of education was viewed narrowly as teaching facts of various subjects. the aspect of education building the bridge towards life skills was shelved and instead education approached only from a theoretical underpinning that did not take the social dynamics within society into consideration. with the current education system, the sense of empowerment for human kinds has never been realized. instead structural and cultural violence against them has continued unabated thus proving that education as it is now is not the panacea for addressing these forms of violence and culminating into positive peace. this then also shows a need 75 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. to develop the humanistic side of education in order to achieve the desired end. peace education strives to bridge this gap and propagate the idea that it is the way out of structural and cultural violence against human kinds in the world today. this is not only due to its theoretical background and the value-based approach it brings but also in its delivery as shall be shared below. education can be an effective tool in building peace and yet its potential has been highly underutilized. peace education has been defined as “an attempt to respond to problems of conflict and violence on scales ranging from the global and national to the local and personal. it is about exploring ways of creating more just and sustainable futures” shapiro, (2002). if peace education is to be adopted to address structural and cultural violence against man/or human kinds, one of its essential aspects to be emphasized upon is its futuristic approach right from the grassroots to the national and international levels. peace education would enable man to have an equal platform in contributing to addressing forms of structural and cultural violence and actively participating in seeking effective and sustainable ways of resolving the situation and enhancing all-rounded peace. schmidt and friedman (1988) stated “peace education is skill building. it empowers human beings towards creative and non-destructive ways to settle conflict and to live in harmony with themselves, others and their world. peace education is holistic. it embraces the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social growth of man within a framework deeply rooted in traditional human values. it is based on philosophy that teaches love, compassion, trust, fairness, cooperation and reverence for the human family and all life on this planet.” peace education thus is not only based on transmission of theoretical knowledge but goes further to build life skills that are useful in promoting a culture of positive peace within the society. peace education provides a dynamism that ensures that even the above principles can be taught thus providing a platform that does not only offer the opportunity for peace education to young people but also to old people. this is because the values it pushes forward are part of the traditional set up of the society and have only, due to gender disparities and unequal power distribution, been pushed to the periphery and consequently ignored. peace education is a remedial measure to protect human kinds from falling into the ways of violence in society. it aims at the total development of human potentials. it inculcates higher human and social values in the mind of man and attempts to develop a set of behavioral skills necessary for peaceful living and peace building from which everyone within society lives. these skills include communication, active listening, understanding different perspectives, cooperation, problem solving and critical thinking, decision making, empathy and compassion, mediation, negotiation and conflict resolution, patience and self control, responsible citizenship, imagination, leadership, vision and social responsibility. peace education also encompasses transmission of specific knowledge that revolves around self awareness and recognition of prejudice and tackles issues relating to conflict and war, peace and non-violence, environment/ecology, nuclear and other weapons, justice and power, theories of conflict analysis, prevention and resolution, culture, race, gender, religion, human rights, responsibilities, globalization, labor, poverty and international economy, international law and criminal court, health care and united nations, international system, standards and instruments. it is believed that in the transmission of skills and knowledge, certain attitudes are developed that would influence positive peace and shape a future for man/or human kinds free from structural and cultural violence. this is further supported by porath, (2003) who stated that peace education leads to better learning of cognitive material and heightened motivation and response to learning situations. the essence of peace education is that it tries to stop conflicts from breaking out in the first place and is thus strategic in peace building efforts. the core of peace education lies in the content being 76 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. taught, the pedagogy and the skills that the intended audiences learn in order to become peaceful people. as patrick whitaker, a british educational advisor and former teacher puts it “if peace is the destination and the journey, then what we teach and how we teach it must not be separated”. peace education in this instance, would include the study of the origins or history of structural and cultural violence against mankind, the current state of things and develop into coming up with practical strategies dealing with these issues drawing from various peace contexts and concepts. “peace education does not teach man what to think, but rather how to think critically. in the process, its holistic and participatory approach may conflict with more traditional curriculum design or strict standards-based schooling. peace education aims not to reproduce but to transform. it consists of people ‘consciously striving to educate their successors not for the existing state of affairs but so as to make possible a future better humanity’." (john dewey, democracy and education) in the world today, the propagation of peace education must be culture and context specific. it must take into account how key concepts in this case, structural and cultural violence against human kinds, are interpreted as this would inform the approaches for intervention. these attitudes include ecological awareness, self-respect, tolerance, respect for human dignity and difference, intercultural understanding, gender sensitivity, caring and empathy, non-violence and reconciliation, social responsibility, solidarity, world mindedness and resolution. this article shows that through the integration of peaceful attitudes, values and skills into the teaching and learning process in the society and making these a part of the curriculum, and also through the passing on of the same to next generation through empowerment trainings, education would have acted as a powerful tool towards addressing structural and cultural violence against man. this is supported by paolo freire, who contributes to peace education by stating that it must be contextual having been based on a questioning attitude adopted towards not only analyzing the violence status quo but also seeking alternatives to this violence. for peace education to be successful in the addressing of structural and cultural violence against mankind in the world today, how it is delivered is a key characteristic. the peace education envisioned in this article must rely on dialogue that seeks to enmesh the opinions of not only the person delivering the education but also the recipient. it must strive within democratic space that teaches cooperation rather than competition and results in promoting positive self esteem among the mankind. the advantage of peace education over the education system being offered now is that it not only offers a teaching style that adjusts to the developmental needs of the recipients, respecting the various identities and concerns about structural and cultural violence but that it provides a long term solution through its orientations towards peaceful values, beliefs and behaviors. as shall be seen in this article, based on the period of time that there has been existence of structural and cultural violence against man, a sustainable solution that provides a futuristic perspective is the only viable option. peace education as an aspect provides this alternative over all other forms of conflict resolution and transformation. this is because it is a process that inculcates not only a change of the current status quo but also a change in values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. as montessori, m. states “those who want war prepare young people for war; but those, who want peace, have neglected young children and adolescents so that they are unable to organize them for peace.” peace education provides this perfect opportunity to prepare man for peace. it builds and fortifies a sustainable culture of positive peace through building at an early age, a social imagination about alternatives to structural and cultural violence against man and a building of systematic relationships grounded on sustaining conflict transformation before it gets to be manifested through any form of violence. the addressing of structural and cultural violence against man is also highly supported by the idea of empowerment. 77 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. peace education, according to harris, i., (2000), is about empowering human kinds with skills, attitudes and knowledge to: build, maintain, and restore relationships at all levels of human interaction, develop positive approaches towards dealing with conflicts-from the personal to the international, create safe environments, both physically and emotionally, that nurture each individual, create a safe world based on justice and human rights and build a sustainable environment and protect it from violence peace education provides a critical dimension of concrete possibilities for alternatives to the current conditions of structural and cultural violence against man and offers a constructive dimension to complement and apply to all the diverse forms of peace education. the actual experiences of mankind would comprise much of the peace education and would be more readily understood and would form the core of understanding structural and cultural violence better, its control, reduction and eventual elimination. this is because peace education also strives to foster human dignity, its recognition, fulfillment and universalization and this can only be achieved when the whole world has eliminated all forms of cultural and structural violence against human kinds and has inculcated a culture of peace. the transformative element of peace education lies in its participatory nature. peace education relies on families, communities, and social networks to affect positive and lasting change. the notion ‘think globally, act locally’ is central to education for a culture of peace because it strives to create a linkage between theory, practice and the realities on the ground and seeks to find a connection between the grassroots level individual efforts and larger international issues. man as an individual in spite of its obvious failure to adequately account for the spirituality of man, the evolutionary theory offers the most plausible and the most intellectually stimulating explanation of the peace (though not necessarily of the origins) of man to date. the evolutionary theory also makes possible an orderly direction of that peace for the future. one of the basic principles discovered by evolutionary theory is that man is an evolving organism and always in the in process of becoming. man is physiologically incomplete and spiritually imperfect, which is important for peace, as well as for peace studies. peace, in the sense that man is imperfect but is in an enviable position of choosing his own destiny and directing the pace of his own perfection. man is educable in the value-free sense of being capable of changing and of being changed. however, these changes happen with the help of his intelligence, contents, meanings and the available values to which he is exposed. he is able to perceive his own creative ability through the product of his own hand, and the quality of his intelligence thus becomes crucial for the quality of peace that will occur. this is where the dilemma comes in. man has in his own hand the power to develop himself or to do otherwise (copiously celebrated by the existentialists). there are concerns that man’s incompleteness and the possibility of his process of becoming are both subjects of serious distortions along the evolutionary path. this is exactly what has happened: man has employed his intelligence in one direction and becomes entrapped in his own creation. he has traded his humanity for a mess of material civilization. but, perhaps, this paper should stick to the optimistic aspect of man’s dilemma: the possibility of his being educated in the direction of peace. the design of education is the major challenge to man, and peace education has been seriously suggested as the right type of education in this context. another inherent characteristic of human nature is the possession of culture. geertz bluntly puts it that “without men, no culture, certainly: but, equally and more significantly, without culture, no men”. culture is not something to offer man but has rather evolved with man and is inseparable from human nature. again, geertz (1976) puts it that “there are no such things as a human nature independent of culture. man without culture would not be the clever savages of loins golding’s lord of the flies thrown back upon the cruel wisdom of their animal instinct; nor even, as classical 78 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. anthropological theory would imply, intrinsically talented apes who had somehow failed to find themselves. they would be unworkable monstrosities with very few useful instincts, fewer recognizable sentiments and no intellect: mental basket cases”. thus, men and culture overlap in their evolution as well as in their interaction. men are creators of culture because, in reacting to their environmental conditions, they shape the course of the future direction of their environment, transform it and create new values. this is the most plausible explanation of the predicament in which man has found himself. in solving the social, economic, cultural, technological and scientific problems that beset him, some partial solutions and achievements are made which pass into the inheritable culture, while new problems are created, the solution to which constitute new challenges to man. but man must not be simply a problem solver, but also a problem-poser. problem-solving as botkin (1982) notes is an instance of “shock learning”, in that the problem solver is only reacting (scientifically and theoretically) to a conflict or crisis instead of anticipating such a crisis. on the other hand, change learning, which is a characteristic of peace education, is marked by its participatory and anticipatory learning modes. the latter form a good rationale for peace education, since not only must the individual participate actively in the creation of his own culture but he must also be equipped with anticipatory learning skills to plan for the future. in not, he will not roll from crisis to crisis and jeopardize his future existence. only peace education, with a new content and a new methodology, can ensure that man will acquire both anticipatory and participatory skills for the future peace of man’s culture. man-in-relation this paper, up to now, has been explaining peace education as if man can exist as an individual and still be human. it should be noted that man is a beingin-relation, as the existentialist philosophers would described him. the essentially social nature of man has been celebrated in literature starting from the famous saying of aristotle that man is a zoon politikon (an animal that lives/survives only in a polis/state), terence afer, a roman comic poet, stated: homo sum, humani alienum nil est (i am a man and nothing that pertains to mankind is foreign to me).donne’s famous poem reads: “no man is an island entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the continent, a part of the main”. karl marx’s explicit statement on the inter-related nature of man and society is that “man is not only a social animal but an animal that can develop into an individual only in society”. thus, perhaps a more fundamental characteristic of man is his social and universalistic nature. as a product of a social relationship, an infant is born into a family and by extension into a community and then a society, in that order. his growth is to a larger extent determined by the “significant others” in his environment rather than by his genetic inheritance. language, which was discussed by thomas as “the single human trait that marks us all genetically, setting us apart from all rest of life”, can only develop in a social setting. our humanity is dependent on the use of language: “we cannot be human without it; if we were to be separated from it, our minds would die, as surely as bees lost from hive”, and there, logically cannot exist one man’s language, in as much as language still serves as a tool of peace. peace is the essential basis for all relationships, be it permanent, temporary or evanescent. the relationship between parents and their children is not guaranteed by the fact that the former gave birth to the latter and provided materials for survival at a certain point in time, but rather by some parental and filial feelings which constitute peace. across cultures there may also be peace links, in spite of wide physical distances. it is with such universalistic bonds of feeling that peace education should seek to promote an antidote to excessive feelings of individualism and rabid nationalism among nations. this is not to suggest an antithesis between the education of the individual man and his education as a member of society. in fact, it is not possible, as rousseau long ago discovered, to educate the individual apart from the society. it is the society that provides the conducive 79 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. environment and a resource for man’s learning. man is interdependent, whether he lives within the family unit, the village or township, community, or as a citizen of a nation-state. this interdependence makes it obligatory for him to seek to provide for those who are dependent on others. he thus must tackle economic, social, cultural, political and moral issues. all these provide him with motivation to acquire the necessary skills to solve such issues. two of the most intractable issues that are raised for mankind appear to be those of survival, security and welfare on one hand, and the quality of life on the other. in poor and underdeveloped nations, the issue of finding three or even one square meals a day is an existential reality which overshadows all talks of quality of life or peace. it is only once the stomach is filled that one can think or participate in any meaningful cultural activities except of course in the dubious culture of poverty which can be equated with galtung’s pure economical “culture of violence”. but even at the non-economic moral and structural planes, the basic struggle for existence has given rise to callousness and insensitivity toward basic human and societal values (galtung 1990). the greed of powerful individuals and privileged elites to monopolize public wealth and political power at the expense of the under-privileged and disadvantaged is a crucial factor in this valuecrisis. the values which need to be promoted, in spite of the needs of basic human survival, include those of an individual’s freedom of expression, participation in societal ideals, respect for the basic rights and needs of others, tolerance and acceptance of individual differences and being each other’s brother’s keeper. when all these are integrated with the material needs of man, the basic human dignity which is the core of his humanity will be restored. quality will be added to survival, even in the struggle to escape from the clutches of poverty. the crisis posed by man’s existence in society is, perhaps, much more clearly dramatized in the developed and affluent societies than in the poor and developing world. it seems that the more affluent a society is, the greater the danger to the individual’s peace and self actualization. affluence seems to give rise to insatiable passion to produce more and to consume more, until humanity appears to be locked or trapped in these cycles of materialism and power. in the process of satisfying his demands through more or more sophisticated inventions, new and more complex problems are created which seem to threaten the very gains of civilization to date. for example, more things are accomplished through the use of nuclear energy than through traditional energy sources and yet, nothing so far created through human ingenuity constitutes a graver danger to his existence than the nuclear power. this is in addition to the inordinate investment of national wealth in perfecting the weapons of war, a small fraction of which would have been enough to produce an environment conducive for the development of truly peaceful human qualities. the rationalization for this investment has always been the “national security” and the “defense of freedom” so much that one can almost sigh with the french revolutionary’s slogan, robertspierre; “liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name”. the above is just a glimpse of the promises, the dangers and the prospects of the man living in relationship with his society. it may appear gloomy, but man has an indomitable capacity for cheerfulness and optimism, even in the most seemingly helpless situations. if education gave rise to this society of the one-dimensional man, it is then education of a more desirable type that is needed to correct the situation. it is an education that will restore the balance between the marginalized man and his world and that can reinstate man’s control of his peace. this paper shall discuss this type of education later, but before then this paper must try to locate man in peace. 80 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. man’s role in peace even though the concept of peace has been separated from economic and political interpretations, it has not yet been infused with sufficient humanistic content so as to restore the rightful place of man in it. protagoras had once said that “man is the measure of all things”. by inference, this can be interpreted to mean that all things should be evaluated and judged by their contribution to the peace of what is essentially human and elevating in man. in this sense, all economic, political, social and technological arrangements have meaning, so far as they promote the security, comfort and general welfare of human beings. this welfare has, however, turned out to mean material consumption and physical comfort. the result is that the intangible but important non-material values, which are in fact the core of human-ness and which are fundamental to any harmonious relationship in society, are undermined, neglected and relegated to a secondary position. such values includes respect for the human person and his dignity, social justice, equity tolerance, respect for the rights of others, freedom of self expression and even commitment to purpose and meaning in human existence. the result, as noted above, is dissatisfaction with the latest materialistic inventions and high insensitivity in human relationships. but this interpretation of protagoras’ dictum is just one aspect of what is now popularly described as man-centred or anthropocentric peace. the second, and equally important, interpretation is in respect of the role of man in the process of peace. while the first interpretation takes man as the object of peace, the latter mode makes man the subject and creator of his own peace. nyerere (1974), one of the leading exponents of this concept of human-centred development, said: people cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves, for while it is possible for an outsider to build a man’s house, an outsider cannot give the man pride and self-confidence in himself as a human being. those things man has to create in himself by his own action. he develops himself by making his own decisions by increasing his understanding of what he is doing, and why; by increasing his understanding of what he is doing, and by his own knowledge and ability and by his own fall participationas an equalin the life of the community he lives in… a man is developing himself when he improves his educationwhatever he learns about-a man develops himself by joining in free discussion of a new venture and participation in the subsequence decision. in the above quotation, man is the sole cause of his peace and an active participant in the process of social peace, since, as this paper has shown above, his social nature is an indispensable part of his human nature. peace refers to the development of human capacity to meet human needs and to realize full human potentials, within a framework of universal human values the context of the specific situation and environment limits. this quotation also combines the individual and the socialuniversalistic dimension of peace. implication for peace education based on all these perspectives on peace, if man is to take his peace into his own hands, he must be fully equipped in a way to maximize rather than jeopardize the process of peace. from all indications, peace education can enhance and fructify man’s role in peace. according to hicks (1988), the objectives of peace education are: the acquisition of skills (critical thinking, cooperation, empathy, assertiveness); knowledge about issues (conflict, power, peace, gender, justice, ecology etc); and the development of attitudes (self respect, respect for others, open mindedness, vision). thus, the basic principle of peace education is that it is conterminous with life and living. it belongs to the essence of man as a peaceful organism. but peace education in its modern idiom would not 81 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. have attracted attention as a possible solution to the present civilization malaise, if it is only a natural, experimental process. peace education is much more than this. it is hinged on the dilemmas that confront man. the first dilemma to which peace education will be expected to provide a solution is the present misplacement of priorities at the national and international levels. at both levels, there are concern with national security, national pride and prestige and military superiority, and these have led to a high degree of insensitivity to the plight of individuals and the underprivileged within a nation and to a hardening of heart against the agony and cries of poor nations. it is hoped that peace education will be able to restore a balanced view of human values and a feeling of oneness and brotherliness with less fortunate ones. another dimension to human problems that calls for a new concept of education is the deprivation of these qualities that make man truly human, such values as personal freedom, freedom of selffulfillment and the need to be self-directed. on the social plane, there is the need for participation in the governance of one’s society, the need for equality of treatment and the need for social justice. all these contribute to the peace of the human person and are appropriate values for peace education to realize. conclusion this paper has outlined some of the challenges facing education to help man resume the control and direction of his civilization. shock and maintenance learning has been found to be inadequate in this regard. problem solving is a form of maintenance learning, but the learning that can give man confidence and control of his environment is the anticipatory or innovative learning. it is a futureoriented learning which anticipates problems and designs solutions to meet them. this is the type of learninglearning to learn upon which peace education places a premium and which can guarantee man’s orderly and continuous future peace. education remains the best tool to achieve lasting positive peace. peace education, whose primary objective is to develop good citizenship and national unity, has been found to contain adequate number of topics related to peace and man to serve this purpose of integrative peace education. in other words, peace education is an integral part of the work of the united nations. through a humanising process of teaching and learning, peace educators facilitate human development. they strive to counteract the dehumanisation of prejudice, discrimination, rape, violence, and war. originally aimed at eliminating the possibility of global extinction through nuclear war, peace education can address the broader objective of building a culture of peace. references bjerstedt, a., (ed.,) (1990), education for peace in the 1990’s, a conference report, peace education report no1, malmo school of education, university of lund botkin, j, w., elmandja, m and malitza, m. (1982) no limits to learning: bridging the human gap. oxford: pergamon press. deepa, t. and a. s. arul lawrence (2013) peace education in modern world, unpublished manuscript dewey, (n.d), progressive education theory, retrieved on 23 december, 2014 from http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/dewey/educ.html 82 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/dewey/educ.html journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 73-83. duffy, t. (2000, march). peace education in divided society: creating a culture of peace in northern ireland. prospects: quarterly review of comparative education, 30 (1): 15–20. freire, p. (n.d) philosophy of education. retrieved on 16 december, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy_of_education#paulo_freire galtung, j. (1990) ‘cultural violence’, journal of peace research, 27, 3: 291–305. geertz, c. (1976) “is human nature universal?” dialogue 9 no 1 geertz, c. (1979) “from the native’s point of view,” in interpretive social science: a reader, paul r. and w. sullivan, (eds). berkeley: university of california press harris, i. (2002). conceptual underpinnings of peace education. in g. salomon and b. nevo (eds.), peace education, the concept, principles and practice around the world (pp. 15–26),new jersey and london: lawrence erlbaum publishers. harris. i, pedagogy in the educational process, retrieved on 23 december 2014 from http:www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/peace/content.htm hellbronner, r. l. (1978) “the human prospect” dialogue 2 no 2 hick, d (1988) understanding the field in education for peace: issues, principles and practice in the classroom, london: routledge. jean jaques rousseau, fragments of the social contract. kraus, g. (1973) homo sapiens in decline: a re-appraisal of human selection, bedfordshire: new diffusion press. nyerere, julius. k. (1974) man and development, oxford: oxford university press. reardon, b. (1999), human rights as education for peace, retrieved on 21 december 2014 from http://www.pdhre.org/book/readrdon.html salomon, g. (2002). the nature of peace education: not all programs are created equal. in g. salomon and b. nevo (eds.), peace education, the concept, principles and practice around the world (pp. 3–13), new jersey and london: lawrence erlbaum associates publishers, pp. 3-14. shapiro, s. (2002) ii educating against violence, online tikkun magazine, www.tikkun.org, last visited on the 24 december 2014. schmidt. f and friedman. a (1988) “what is peace education”, retrieved on 19th december 2014 from http://ncte-in.org/pub/unesco/ch.1.htm porath, s. r ben (2003), ‘war and peace education’, journal of philosophy of education, 37(3), oxford. plato, fragments of the republic. 83 | p a g e corresponding author email: oluwaseun.bamidele@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philosophy_of_education%23paulo_freire http://www.pdhre.org/book/readrdon.html http://ncte-in.org/pub/unesco/ch.1.htm journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 141 fostering an interactive social studies classroom instruction during a pandemic: experience, practice, and advice razak kwame dwomoh purdue university abstract: this essay expounds on the merits and demerits of two social studies instructional strategies (cooperative learning and discussions) through virtual means in the current covid-19 global pandemic, and offers eight helpful guidelines in addressing the strategies for social studies instructors. the merits of virtual cooperative learning and discussions include distance learning, elicitation and extraction, introduction to new virtual technological tools, appreciation of diversity and diverse opinions, and sharing of external resources. the demerits include the fear of large class sizes, the disconnect in classroom interactions, cultural and socio-cultural differentiations, non-constructive discourses, “the preferential syndrome,” classroom discussion tardiness, and verbose posts. eight recommendations for instructors include the use of voice threads for audio and video discussions, a synchronous class introduction, responding to peers with minimal or no responses to their posts, assigning chapters of reading for students to present, balancing complimentary remarks with analytical critiques to posts, instructors working with students to plan alternatives during technological challenges, and a formative and summative assessment of students’ engagement, discussion, and learning experiences. key words: virtual learning, social studies instructional strategies, peer discussion, cooperative learning. introduction this essay is a narrative account of the experiences, practice, and recommendations of a social studies student-instructor that reflects varied perspectives and effective ways of teaching social studies during the covid-19 global pandemic. the narration addresses the merits and demerits of two main virtual modes of social studies instructional strategies, cooperative learning mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 142 (johnson, johnson, & holubec, 1993; larson, & keiper, 2011; sharan & shachar, 1988; slavin, 1980, 1983, 1995) and discussions (larson, & keiper, 2011), and provides resources to foster and mitigate the two strategies for college-level instructors. the focus is on how college instructors can effectively teach social studies courses remotely using synchronous and asynchronous ways to engage students, encourage peer discussions, and assess students’ virtual learning experiences. this study will create the awareness and the consciousness of the experiences of students and instructors in a typical virtual classroom. the suggestions are intended to help instructors plan and choose from the multiple choices for ensuring effective and interactive social studies virtual instruction during a pandemic. virtual learning according to howell (2003), there are few learning environments that effectively create and provide the platform and resources to students so that they can actively engage in questioning and answering. there are serval studies that expound on classroom environments and universities incorporating virtual learning where experiences can be shared and practice documented (armitage, browne, & jenkins, 2001; browne & jenkins, 2003; moron-garcia, 2004; weller, 2007). the conversational framework propounded by laurillard (1993, 2001) indicates that the use of technology should help enhance classroom discourses between students and teachers and among students in knowledge construction. the study by jyothi, mcavinia, and keating (2012) posits that computer-mediated communication “systems allow learners to interact with one another over time and promote collaborative learning” (p. 32). merits distance learning. the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus poses a great challenge to instructors, students, and educators. since the pandemic is a public health concern, its “social” impact places a great demand on social studies instructors and educators globally to employ effective and appropriate pedagogical tools in delivering instruction virtually, in the planning, allocation of resources, instruction, and assessment phases of a lesson, so as to help mitigate the proliferation of the spread of the virus in social studies classrooms. as a social studies studentinstructor, in my opinion, this shift to online instruction and remote learning serves the continued purposes of academic work, educational goals, and a community of social interactors for collaborative learning and research. elicitation and extraction. the virtual mode of social studies instruction allows social studies instructors to create a student-centered learning environment (moate, & cox, 2015; mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 143 schweisfurth, 2014; weimer, 2002) where students can cognitively engage synchronously with their peers through discussions and presentations. i have observed from class this summer that a post from one student can elicit several responses from the other students that can bolster knowledge in a particular field of inquiry. introduction to new and different technological tools for learning. many social studies instructors and students from sub-saharan african countries, like in some other disciplines, have limited internet access (unesco institute for statistics, 2007) and hence, may lack the requisite skills in using new technological tools. gakio, (2006) rightly puts it that internet connection in africa is "too little, too expensive and poorly managed" (p. iii). this shift will allow them and other students with minimal skills to explore and use technology tools to learn and build their technological skills. instructors will also learn new ways of delivering an effective virtual instruction. also, it is an effective teaching tool during a global pandemic. in this global pandemic, in-person instruction is becoming less prioritized, so it is expedient that social studies teachers resort to, learn, and effectively use virtual means of instruction. demerits threat of large class sizes. a large and asynchronous class size can pose the threat of voices not being recognized in a pool of discussion threads. i have observed with time that at the beginning of every course, the students who do not engage in class introduction by introducing themselves in the introductory thread become overwhelmed with the subsequent discussions and assignments for the rest of the semester, and postpone their introduction to a later time, especially if the course is offered in the summer, as a result of the limited instructional and learning hours (approximately 2-4 weeks) for summer courses. failure to self-introduce in the initial stages of the class gives the other students little or no clue of their peer in class. when this happens, it leaves a vast relational gap among several students throughout the course of the class. this gap benefits no one in the class and hinders collaborative and peer learning. pictorial representations. in virtual classrooms, students do not have a face-to-face interaction with their peers and it creates a disconnect among the students (stodel, thompson & macdonald, 2006). this creates an "abstract" classroom environment in social studies classrooms where each student might not know the next colleague in the class when all the learning and discussions are done asynchronously. also, when all the readings, learning, and discussions are done through text, they have the tendency to make the class “boring” and lose touch with realworld analogies. mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 144 cultural, religious, social, and learning differentiation. diverse students engage in virtual class instructions (bonk, & zhang, 2006). each student, too, comes to a virtual class with some background cultural, religious, and social perspectives on the present global crisis and public health concerns, as well as different ways of learning and, to some, “mystical” beliefs about the do’s and don’ts in using technology to learn and spending time on the internet. some, too, prefer reading handwritten and typed notes to e-reading. when all these factors are not considered when creating social studies course content for a virtual class, the instructor might lose students’ intellectual and affective inputs in the entire learning process. their virtual presence may be there, but the whole faculty of reasoning, comprehension, historical thinking, historical argumentation, and learning may be entirely lost. in addition, some students might choose not to respond to or actively engage in a discussion that they feel contradicts their ideological, health, religious, social, or political standpoints. virtual discussions virtual discussions where students can critique peer-written texts and documents and corroborate resources via e-learning can be very instrumental to the teaching of social studies. the challenge is that some researchers have raised concerns and questions about the role of participation in online discussions in fostering learning (goodfellow & hewling, 2005). therefore, students’ participation and mutual involvement in online class discussions need careful consideration. a large class size where there is daily class activity can pose a major challenge to the instructor in allocating time to review all discussion threads and give remarks (fitzgibbon & jones, 2004; hamuy & galaz, 2010; karasavvidis, 2009). in addition, some learning prompts in social studies do not encourage students to engage in critical critiques of a peer writing, but merely a passing commentary of what is observed in the writing (bickford, bickford, & dwomoh, 2020). according to bickford et al., (2020), such students who do "not ask too many questions" in a writing prompt ends up presenting "shallow work" to the teacher (p.15). merits social studies students learn from each other’s lived, academic, and social experiences that inform their sense of societal differences, problems, and the possible solutions to redress and mitigate such societal problems and differences. since students come from diverse cultural and socio-cultural backgrounds, the virtual discussions provide room to openly express one’s opinion without being reticent about feelings or fear of prejudice, which students might have experienced in an in-person classroom. this “openness” can help them appreciate others and mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 145 broaden their social construct of the world around them. it serves as a platform to share opinionated views. sharing of external resources and materials. discussion threads that create room for students to share other resources and materials with peers is seen to empower peer discussions. in one of my classes, the instructor created a slot on the discussion thread, and the resources the students shared among themselves started a new conversation different from the discussion questions we were asked to respond to. i realized that when students facilitate their own learning, there is maximum interest in what they want to read, explore, find, analyze, share, and discuss. several of the students explored the links to the resources shared by their peers, and they responded to how the resources were beneficial to their study. demerits unequal engagement in constructive classroom discourse. some students may hide behind a large class size to disregard posts from other peers. this could be a total neglect or a demonstration of non-interest in other students’ contribution to a discussion. some students might never read posts from their peers on their discussion board platform throughout the duration of the course, especially when they are given a minimum number to respond to, like two or three minimal responses for the week. “the preferential syndrome.” some students may prefer to respond to particular students’ posts rather than others. this may be because they established a good rapport with those students on the first day of class, and they feel they are responsible to continue the established relationship throughout the class sessions. class discussion tardiness. some students, too, wait until the last hour of the deadline to post their initial comments or respond to peers. this causes them to rush through the comments and earlier posts of their peers without taking ample time to closely read, understand, and give constructive critiques to their peers. long, verbose posts. some students go the extent of writing longer posts to demonstrate their intellectual acuteness on a given topic. this causes the other students to have a distaste for reading that particular student’s posts each time in a discussion forum. they may feel like they do not have the time to do extensive readings from peers in addition to course readings and other class engagements. they then disregard such posts the moment they see them and search for a more concise and precise post that they can easily read and respond to. mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 146 recommendations considering the analysis of the merits and demerits of virtual class instruction and discussion forums, which are significant social studies instructional strategies and are pertinent in enhancing social studies instruction, the following eight recommendations are made for social studies instructors to aid in their virtual teaching and learning: first, i recommend the use of a voicethread (vt) for virtual discussions. vt (www.voicethread. com) is a free cloud-based platform where students can effectively engage in audio and video discussions. second, instructors could be encouraged to design synchronous instructional time for wholeclass introductions for building rapport on the first day of class. every student should be asked to meet at a scheduled time, introduce themselves, and respond to each peer’s introductory remarks. this will help all the students in the class build a network system among themselves, know of each other’s academic interests, goals, and research, and choose to collaborate where research interests align. third, instructors are to encourage students to respond to peers who have not received responses to their initial posts before responding to other peers who have received numerous responses to their posts. this can ensure fairness in discussions and no student would feel left out in a discussion forum. when i noticed this problem of neglected posts, maybe due to a late post, i decided to respond to my colleagues whose posts received no responses before responding to others with several responses. when i started doing that, i equally received responses from those students to my comments made on their posts. it makes each student feel involved and appreciated in the class. fourth, instructors are to assign students various chapters of the reading to present to peers. this will bolster their presentation skills in e-learning. i have noticed that anytime the course readings are deconstructed and each student is assigned a chapter to present, the students approach the course readings differently. each took the assigned chapter seriously and developed a good powerpoint presentation that simplified the entire readings for the class. the other students took interest in reading and responding to the discussion threads. the social studies instructor is encouraged to actively engage in the discussions throughout the week. "powerpoint enables a melding of textual and visual elements" (bickford et. al., 2020, p. 17). mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 147 fifth, instructors are to encourage students to balance complimentary remarks with analytical peer constructive critiques to the responses of their peers during discussions. most students prefer to give compliments to their peer’s post than to critically analyze such posts, which is essential in social studies classroom instruction. the preference could be an attempt to equally receive complimentary remarks and no critiques on their posts, too. a constructive critique can encourage a good atmosphere for debate, which is another effective social studies instructional strategy. the teacher will serve as a facilitator for charting classroom debates and at the same time take due cognizance of the "classroom’s social and emotional tension" (bickford, et al. 2020, p. 19). sixth, there should be at least a video post, an audio post, or a picture with each student’s responses. it enhances variety in the discussions, and it gives the other students an idea of who they are responding to in the discussion. when all the posts and responses are done through text, it can decrease the interest with which students approach the discussion posts. a student who sees a new post in a video or image format will be easily drawn to read and comment. seventh, instructors should work collaboratively with students on the first day of class, planning with the students an alternative means of continuing discussions and class assignments should there be any technological challenges. prior to the virtual class, some supplementary measures and resources may be provided for students who face challenges with their audio and video devices and internet connections for presentations. some students in the course of the virtual class encounter problems with their electronic devices, but when the instructor finds an alternative way to send assignments and responses, this alleviates fears about possible technological failures and missed deadlines. lastly, a formative and a summative assessment should characterize every virtual instruction and discussion. one way in which the instructor can formatively assess the students is by personally contributing to the discussion threads, especially through the vt platform. anytime the students see their instructor post a comment to a presentation, a comment, or a question, it assures the students that their instructor is observing the discussion threads. it also encourages the students to respond to the instructors’ comments and builds good rapport between the students and the instructors. also, a summative assessment can be made by posting the grade scores of each responses of a student in their grade boxes. when students are able to track their day-to-day progress in the discussion and virtual class, they are encouraged to make informed choices in allocating time for their virtual classes and discussions. mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 148 conclusion this essay accounts for and details the merits and demerits of social studies virtual instructional strategies of cooperative learning and discussions. it also discusses eight instructional recommendations for social studies instructors in delivery of an effective and comprehensive virtual instruction that fosters discussions and peer work among students during the covid-19 global pandemic. the essay addresses how to create an awareness for instructors to consider when delivering virtual instruction during a pandemic. implementation of the eight instructional recommendations can help foster social studies students’ virtual classroom engagements, participation, and virtual learning experiences. references armitage, s., browne, t., & jenkins, m. (2001). management and implementation of virtual learning environments: a ucisa funded survey. ucisa bickford, j., bickford, m., & dwomoh, r. (2020). middle level students’ responses to a guided inquiry of the weeping time. the history teacher, 53(2), 255-318. browne, t., & jenkins, m. (2003). vle surveys: a longitudinal perspective between march 2001 and march 2003 for higher education in the united kingdom. ucisa bonk, c. j., & zhang, k. (2006). introducing the r2d2 model: online learning for the diverse learners of this world. distance education, 27(2), 249-264, doi: 10.1080/01587910600789670 fitzgibbon, k. m., & jones, n. (2004). jumping the hurdles: challenges of staff development delivered in a blended learning environment. journal of educational media, 29(1), 25-35 goodfellow, r., & hewling, a. (2005). reconceptualising culture in virtual learning environments: from an ‘essentialist’ to a ‘negotiated’ perspective. e-learning, 2(4), 355367. hamuy, e., & galaz, m. (2010). information versus communication in course management system participation. computers and education, 54, 169–177 howell, k. (2003). question generation and answering systems r&d for technology-enabled learning systems research roadmap. available at: http://www.thelearningfed eration.org/qa.pdf mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.thelearningfederation.org/qa.pdf http://www.thelearningfederation.org/qa.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 149 johnson, d.w., johnson, r.t. and holubec, j. (1993) cooperative learning in the classroom, 6th edn. edina, mn: interaction book company. jyothi, s., mcavinia, c., & keating, j. (2012). a visualisation tool to aid exploration ofstudents’ interactions in asynchronous online communication. computers an education 58(1), 30-42 karasavvidis, i. (2009). activity theory as a conceptual framework for understanding teacher approaches to information and communication technologies. computers and education, 53, 436–444. larson, b. e., & keiper, t. a. (2011). instructional strategies for middle and secondary social studies: methods, assessment, and classroom management. new york, ny: routlege. laurillard, d. (1993). rethinking university teaching: a framework for the use of educational technology. london: routledge. laurillard, d. (2001). rethinking university teaching: a conversational framework for the use of educational technology. london: routledge. moate, r. m. & cox, j. a. (2015). learner-centered pedagogy: considerations for application in a didactic course. the professional counselor, 5(3), 379–389. moron-garcia, s. (2004). understanding the approach to teaching adopted by users of virtual learning environments. in c. rust (ed.), 11th improving student learning symposium: theory research and scholarship (pp. 235–248). oxford: oxford centre for staff development. schweisfurth, m. (2014). learner-centered pedagogy: towards a post-2015 agenda for teaching and learning. international journal of educational development, 40, 259–266. sharan, s. and shachar, h. (1988). language and learning in the co-operative classroom. new york: springer-verlag. slavin, r. e. (1980). cooperative learning. review of educational research summer, 50(2), pp. 315-342 slavin, r. e. (1983). when does cooperative learning increase student achievement? psychological bulletin, 94(3), 429–445.https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909. 94. 3 mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 141-150 corresponding author: rdwomoh@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 150 slavin, r.e. (1995) cooperative learning: theory, research, and practice, 2nd edn. boston: allyn & bacon. stodel, e. j., thompson, t. l., & macdonald, c. j. (2006). learners' perspectives on what is missing from online learning: interpretations through the community of inquiry framework. international review of research in open and distance learning, 7(3). retrived may 4, 2007 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/rrodl/ article/ view weimer, m. (2002). learner-centered teaching: five key changes to practice. san francisco: jossey-bass. weller, m. (2007). virtual learning environments: using, choosing and developing your vle. abingdon: routledge web-based gakio, k. (2006). african tertiary institutions connectivity survey (atics). cyberplex africa, botswana http://www.gesci.org/files/connectivity%20in%20african%20tertiary% 20insttutions.pdf unesco institute for statistics. (2007). global education digest 2006: comparing education statistics across the world http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?id=6827 _201&id2 = do_topic voicethread: https://voicethread.com about the author: razak kwame dwomoh is a doctoral student, social studies education, department of curriculum and instruction, college of education, purdue university. his research interests include the impact of post-colonial theory on social studies and history curricula in africa and comparative aspects of educational reform in the u.s., social studies and history education (pedagogy and assessment), students’ historical thinking, historical (mis) representations in u.s. and ghanaian social studies and history trade and textbooks, the interface between religion and education, and how various forms of citizenship, multicultural citizenship, and global citizenship in particular, are conceptualized, rationalized, and thought in different educational systems. mailto:rdwomoh@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.gesci.org/files/connectivity%20in%20african%20tertiary%25%2020insttutions.pdf http://www.gesci.org/files/connectivity%20in%20african%20tertiary%25%2020insttutions.pdf http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?id=6827%20_201&id2%20=%20do_topic http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?id=6827%20_201&id2%20=%20do_topic https://voicethread.com/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, p. 1 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: it has become a tradition that every spring our journal publishes the paper that received the ncss international assembly best paper award. this issue opens with the article collaborative, online, and international learning to promote civic competence in japan and the u.s. that received the 2020 best paper award. the group of authors, cory callahan (the university of alabama), katsuki umeda (chiba university, japan), and saki matsubara (university of tsukuba, japan) investigated whether virtual collaboration with japanese peers helped pre-service social studies teachers in the u.s. demonstrate civic competence as it relates to international and global education. the study demonstrated that education programs can prepare novice teachers to think and act globally by providing international telecollaborative experiences emphasizing classroom instruction informed by civic competence as it relates to international and global education. other articles published in this issue are: global project-based learning as an approach to teaching the 4cs in schools by an international group of scholars from university of newcastle, australia marini budiarti, katre ferguson-patrick, suzanne macqueen, and ruth reynolds; aligning the goals of the university with opportunities in education abroad by chris mcgrew, zachariah mathew, and john conant (indiana state university); students’ perspectives on social studies teachers’ views on immigration and nationalism by william mccorkle and hannah jeffries (college of charleston); and global citizenship perceptions and practices within the international baccalaureate middle years programme by andrea christoff (kent state university). enjoy the reading. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 an emerging critical lens: elementary teacher candidates’ developing evaluation of social studies resources on online sites of curriculum sharing jennifer gallagher east carolina university abstract: this article shares findings from a qualitative inquiry that explores preservice teachers’ evaluation of social studies curriculum resources found on pinterest and teachers pay teachers. both at the beginning and the end of their elementary social studies methods course at a large university in the southeastern united states, the teacher candidates were asked to identify good and bad examples of social studies resources and justify their choices. their choices and the justification they provided were analyzed using qualitative coding. findings indicate that while teacher candidates’ choices and justifications were sometimes further developed by the end of their social studies methods course, their critical evaluation of shared online curriculum resources was incomplete or limited to near-exact examples from the class. the author poses a number of on-going considerations regarding teacher candidate equity literacy skills as they relate to evaluation and usage of online curriculum sharing sites. key words: online curriculum literacy, pinterest, teachers pay teachers introduction often, pedagogy is defined as the “how” of education while curriculum is defined as the “what”. for decades, commercially published curriculum materials have been the primary resource for instructional materials utilized by teachers to determine the “what” of curriculum. these resources then have had considerable impact on “how” children are taught in schools (lowenberg ball & cohen, 1996). but at a time when state and local governments are continually underfunding resources for teachers (the century foundation, 2020) and at a time when the mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 influence of social media on professional and personal life continues to increase (greenwood et al., 2016) and merge (sihi & lawson, 2018), there could be little doubt that our society would see a convergence of curriculum resources and social media. shelton et al. (2020) have termed sites related to this convergence “the online marketplace of ideas” because they differ from more traditionally vetted resource sites such as those from professional teaching organizations. ultimately, the field of teacher education is interested and motivated to improve the pedagogical practices of teachers. in this work it is necessary to attend to the current conditions under which teachers make their pedagogical choices (cornbleth, 2001). given the rate of teachers and teacher candidates are utilizing the online marketplace of ideas for curriculum resources (greene, 2016; hunter & hall, 2018), there is perhaps no more pressing condition to understand than that of how teacher candidates are learning to evaluate the pedagogical resources within these digital spaces. in their study of 158 elementary pre-service teachers’ lesson plans, sawyer et al. (2020) found that pinterest and teachers pay teachers were the most frequent site-specific internet resources utilized. therefore, specific attention to teacher candidate evaluation of resources on these two sites is warranted. this article shares findings from a qualitative inquiry that explores preservice teachers’ evaluation of social studies curriculum resources found on pinterest and teachers pay teachers. both at the beginning and the end of their elementary social studies methods courses, the teacher candidates were asked to identify good and bad examples of social studies resources on pinterest or teacher pay teachers and also justify their choices. their choices and the justification they provided were analyzed using qualitative coding in order to understand the changes in their criticality of resources. findings indicate that while teacher candidates’ evaluations were sometimes further developed by the end of their social studies methods course, their tools for critically consuming shared online curriculum resources were not fully developed or limited to near-exact examples from the class. this empirical evidence is important because it illustrates the continued importance of cultivating critical curriculum literacy skills within teacher education programs. literature review teachers’ curricular choices pedagogic choices can be defined as “the complex, practical-oriented set of understandings which they [teachers] use (to) actively shape and direct the work of teaching” (elbaz, 1983, p. 3). while evaluating and choosing curricular materials is just one part of the many pedagogical mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 choices that teachers make, these decisions (like other pedagogical choices) are influenced by teachers past experiences and their beliefs (mccutcheon, 1995). in social studies education, pre-service teachers and in-service teachers’ curricular choices have been found to be influenced by technical and philosophical reasons (swalwell & pellegrino, 2015). their choices have also been found to reflect more sanitized or “master narrative” versions of the subject (swalwell & pellegrino, 2015). additionally, despite being drawn to online resources for the teaching of history, teacher candidates are not very adept at distinguishing good resources from bad ones in digital spaces (salinas, bellows, & liaw, 2011). in particular, social studies teachers and teacher candidates are often drawn to curricular resources and activities that are “cute” (bauml, 2016) and “fun” (dicamillo, 2010). teachers’ use of social media educators have been found to use social media for a number of professional purposes (hunter & hall, 2018). for example, they use twitter and pinterest for provide ongoing professional learning (holmes et al., 2013; krutka & carpenter, 2016) and facebook for peer support networks (kelly & antonio, 2016). but the use of social media by educators also poses a number of problems and challenges. carpenter and harvey (2019) found these challenges fit into five levels of context: the intrapersonal, interpersonal, local school community, online educator community and broadly, culture and society. for example, educators may experience intrapersonal challenges that include internal conflicts of how to represent themselves online to broader online educator community challenges or interpersonal challenges of engaging in echo chambers because specific online communities become insular by members who “overwhelmingly sharing the same opinions and philosophies” (p. 7). despite these challenges, many teachers turn to social media for curricular resources in particular. pinterest according to hertel and wessman-enzinger (2017) curricular resources found on pinterest may be low quality. in their analysis of math resources, they found approximately 33% of those analyzed had mathematical errors. despite this, many teachers still turn to pinterest for curricular materials and they have varying strategies for navigating and using the resources found there. according to schroeder, curcio and shelton (2019), elementary and secondary teachers engage with pinterest in a variety of ways and there are differences in how pre-service teachers and inservice teachers navigate and evaluate curriculum resources on pinterest. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 teachers pay teachers while not always included in research on social media in education, teachers pay teachers should be considered a platform of social media because it allows users to create and share content (often for purchase, in which teachers pay teachers earns a portion). teachers pay teachers boasts that five million teachers use teachers pay teachers for curriculum resources and that two out of every three teachers in the u.s. is a member (teachers pay teachers, 2020). teachers selling lesson plans on teachers pay teachers, also known as teacherpreneurs, are largely white and female, as well as experienced practitioners who engage in teachers pay teachers in a variety of ways (shelton & archambault, 2019). they earn supplemental income (some have become millionaires) through the marketplace and some have left the teaching profession to sell their lesson plans full time (greene, 2016; kardoza, 2018). however, despite the financial success of the platform, curriculum expert reviewers evaluated the curriculum resources sold on the site as mostly mediocre or poor (polikoff & dean, 2019). the context of elementary social studies education the context of elementary social studies education is important to consider when attempting to understand teacher candidates’ use of the questionable social studies curriculum resources on social media. the national council for social studies identifies five characteristics of powerful social studies: meaningful, integrative, challenging, value-based and active (micva). instead of utilizing time in the elementary classroom to provide powerful social studies education, the subject has been largely marginalized within elementary classrooms since the standards-based movement began in the 1990’s (fitchett & heafner, 2010; rock et al., 2006; zhao & hoge, 2005). additionally, elementary teachers and teacher candidates often report low levels of confidence in their social studies content knowledge (e.g., bolick et al., 2010). in their study, bolick et al. (2010) found that elementary teacher candidates struggled to apply the content from their social studies-related general education courses to elementary teaching and that praxis content knowledge testing may exacerbate these low levels of confidence (p. 7). these contextual factors are important as they may influence the reasons why teachers rely on online curriculum sharing sites and the frequency with which they use them within specific curriculum subjects. additionally, within any study that attempts to understand criticality in evaluating social studies resources, it is important to acknowledge that social studies curriculum has long been problematic. social studies education and curriculum has long been found to be frequently rooted in materials and practices that are dominated by whiteness (e.g. hawkman & shear, 2020) mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 as well as sexist (e.g. engebretson, 2014), islamophobic (e.g. sensoy, 2014), colonial settler (e.g. masta, 2018; shear et al., 2015), heteronormative and cisnormative (e.g. mayo, 2017). bias, prejudice and narrow “master narratives” (see more: demoiny & ferraras-stone, 2018; salinas, blevins & sullivan, 2012) are not a new phenomenon in social studies education since the influence of social media, but it is important to understand how these problems are addressed (or ignored) within the more contemporary practices of evaluating curriculum on pinterest and teachers pay teacher. rodriguez et al. (2020) found that given a particular black history topic and critical curriculum literacy scaffolding, teacher candidates were limited in their ability to critically evaluate curriculum resources and they “generally defaulted to popular, highly visible resources and made evaluations about credibility, reliability, and utility based on the metrics that for-profit platforms are designed to reinforce” (p. 516). thus, they were greatly influenced by the mechanisms of the platform itself and limited in their ability to navigate those mechanisms in ways that addressed race or racism within their curriculum analysis. equity literacy in social studies teacher education the equity literacy framework (gorski and swalwell, 2015) is a set of four abilities that enable educators to be “a threat to inequity in all of their spheres of influence” (equity literacy institute, 2020). the four abilities include: “1. recognize even subtle forms of bias, discrimination, and inequity. 2. respond to bias, discrimination, and inequity in a thoughtful and equitable manner. 3. redress bias, discrimination, and inequity, not only by responding to interpersonal bias, but also by studying the ways in which bigger social change happens. 4. cultivate and sustain biasfree and discrimination-free communities, which requires an understanding that doing so is a basic responsibility for everyone in a civil society.” (p. 35). according to gorski and swalwell (2015) the abilities of equity literacy are applicable to all subject areas and are most effective when they are interdisciplinary and integrated. in a number of different contexts, research in teacher education has found that teacher candidates struggle with even the first ability of the equity literacy framework “recognizing even subtle forms of bias, discrimination and inequity” (gorski & swalwell, 2015). this is especially true of teacher candidates ability to recognize bias, discrimination and inequity in regard to race. crowley and smith (2015) found that some teacher candidates rejected ideas of racial privilege when discussing race and whiteness in education. the researchers attributed limited experience with structural thinking as an obstacle that prevented some teacher candidates to recognize systemic (rather than interpersonal) forms of racism. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 methodology this research was framed by the following two guiding questions: (a) how did teachers candidates justify their choices of good and bad social studies resources on sites of curriculum sharing at the beginning and end of their social studies methods course? (b) was there a change in the justifications from the beginning to the end of the social studies methods course? conceptual framework in this work, i draw from the vast fields of social studies education and social justice education. i particularly employ two frameworks, one from each of these fields, for understanding the phenomenon under study. the first is the micva framework of powerful and purposeful elementary social studies teaching explicated by the national council for social studies (2017) which proclaims valued characteristics of social studies education: meaningful, integrative, challenging, value-based, and active. this framework was used to make meaning of the teacher candidates evaluation of the curriculum resources in context of accepted characteristics of powerful social studies within the field. the second is the equity literacy framework of gorski and swalwell (2015) reviewed above. within gorski and swalwell’s (2015) equity literacy framework, recognizing “even subtle forms of bias, discrimination and inequity” is an important first ability for teachers in order for them to also be able to subsequently respond to and redress bias and inequity and ultimately be able to “cultivate and sustain bias-free and discrimination-free communities” (p. 35). this framework grounded the research by assuming the value of the equity literacy skill to recognize bias, discrimination and inequity (the first ability of the equity literacy framework) – and applying it to teacher candidates’ evaluation of resources from sites of curriculum sharing. research design this research project is a qualitative naturalistic inquiry (lincoln & guba, 1985) because it does not attempt to isolate variables to make causal claims. rather, the research is designed to better understand a phenomenon as it exists bound by context. the work also aligns with the conceptions of the qualitative researcher as bricoleur, or quilt maker, who uses the tools and strategies necessary and available to understand the research question within a context (denzin & lincoln, 2008). participants and context. the participants of the study were fourteen teacher candidates who were students in an elementary social studies methods courses at a large public university in the mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 southeastern united states. thirteen participants were female, and one was male. three participants identified as african american, one participant identified as latina and ten participants were white. the teacher candidates were part of classes in two different semesters of the same elementary social studies methods course. all were taught by the principal investigator/author. all of the students in both sections of the course were offered the opportunity to have their preand post-data analyzed, only six from the first section and eight from the second semester section consented to have their work analyzed. both courses took place in the second semester of the students’ junior year in their undergraduate teacher education program. while the teacher education program does not wholly ground itself in inquiry or social justice education, this particular elementary social studies methods course centers on inquiry, master and counter narratives of the social sciences, disciplinary literacy, as well as justice-oriented and micva characteristics of social studies education. procedure and data collection. at the beginning of the course, as part of a course preassessment, students were asked to browse teachers pay teachers and pinterest for the following (a) a good example of a social studies curriculum resource and (b) a bad example of a social studies curriculum resource. this pre-assessment did not offer additional criterion in order to understand the prior concepts of “good” and “bad” social studies curriculum students were entering the course with. for each answer, they were asked to provide a link where they found the resource and give a brief explanation of why they chose it as either “bad social studies” or “good social studies”. during the course of the semester, the instructor modeled evaluations of curriculum resources and students (multiple modeled examples were from pinterest and teachers pay teachers). the students were also provided multiple opportunities to evaluate social studies curriculum and resources particularly for the narratives and perspectives they were illuminating about the social world. they were scaffolded with readings, activities and discussions that compared “master” and “counter” narratives (e.g. see demoiny, & ferraras-stone, 2018). at the end of the semester, the students completed the same google form again as part of their semester post-assessment asking them to identify a “good” example of social studies curriculum resource and a “bad” example of social studies curriculum resource with short justifications for each. this assessment attempted to evaluate how their conceptions of “good” and “bad” social studies had grown or changed after their course experiences. data analysis. in order to answer the research questions, the teacher candidates’ short written responses of their justifications were analyzed. the links of resources that the students provided were also analyzed to provide context for the students justifications and to evaluate the mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 resources the students were choosing. the written data were analyzed in two rounds of qualitative coding. the first semester participants’ data were organized into a spreadsheet and coded through emergent ideas directly from the data. this process was done by drawing from ideas of grounded theory (strauss & corbin, 1998) which allowed for recurring ideas to emerge directly through the data in a grounded theory approach while also acknowledging that all knowledge is theory-laden. initial themes emerged from this first set of data. after the second round of data collection, with the new semester of participants, their data was organized and initally coded first using the a priori codes from the first cycle but nuances within the first set of codes emerged through the second set of data. therefore, all the data was re-coded through a second cycle of focused coding (saldaña, 2016) with the further refined coding structure. then, the coding was compared both within and between cases to understand the differences in teacher candidate evaluation of online resources from the beginning of the course to the end and the commonalities among teacher candidates’ growth and limitations. the coded data that represented commonalities in the teacher candidates’ growth and limitations were developed into themes as the research findings. findings at the beginning of the course, participants largely evaluated online resources with vague reasoning about the substance of the content and potential level of engagement. at the end of the course, they more often identified additional characteristics, including notions of equity, and more sophisticated evaluations of intellectual demand. however, despite one focus of the course being anti-bias curriculum, some students were still choosing problematic resources. by the end of the course, some students had developed partially developed lenses of criticality when choosing resources but were often referring to near exact examples of problematic resources from class. while the intention of this research was not to evaluate the efficacy of the course in developing students’ critical online curriculum literacy skills, rather the data was collected to understand commonalities and conceptual changes among pre-service teachers during particular points in their teacher education program. the findings are organized starting with the most salient theme. moving from a vague focus of engagement to more sophisticated lenses of intellectual demand at the beginning of the course, teacher candidates were largely evaluating resources based on their perceived potential for engagement from students. however, the justifications the teacher mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 candidates used to make this evaluation were limited in their specificity of what engagement meant. their justification often only used the buzzwords of “engaging”, “interactive” or they only included the general actions that would be required of students, such as “draw” or “write”. one example of a limited evaluation criteria of engagement initially used by a teacher candidate d was “this lesson is a great way for the students to learn about different christmas traditions in other countries. it is fun and engaging yet informative lesson for the students to learn.” similarly, teacher candidate d used a limited conception of engagement to negatively evaluate a resource. “although this seems to be an informative lesson, it is not very engaging for the students. the students will only be reading and answer questions in this lesson which is not engaging.” teacher candidate c also used a limited conception of engagement to evaluate a resource as bad. “i don't think this lesson is typically a "good" lesson plan because it looks like a lot of worksheets for the students and i have always been told to try and steer away from worksheets as much as possible. from flipping through the lesson preview i saw multiple worksheets and i didn't like the worksheets that they had posted.” with the simplistic notion of “worksheets are bad” and “answering questions is not engaging”, the teacher candidates didn’t specify what characteristics or intellectual demand requirements of the worksheets or questions made them “bad”. these pre-assessment justifications don’t provide any specific or sophisticated ideas of what engagement means or the differences between questions that require lower levels of engagement, versus questions that require more intellectual demand. in the post-assessment, teacher candidates were able to identify more specific ideas of intellectual demands required of students within the resource that made the resources more engaging. rather than just referring to a resource as “interactive” or “engaging”, many students were able to identify that resources would require students to “create”, “reflect”, “analyze”, “research”, “investigate”, “make an educated opinion”, “discuss” and “make decisions”. teacher candidate h was able to evaluate a resource as “bad” during the post-assessment because he was able to specify the low-level intellectual demand that the resource required of students. he wrote, “this just has students remembering information about the bill of rights verbatim.” this evidence supports a claim that students were growing in their ability to evaluate resources based on intellectual demand. in sum, the participants displayed evidence of first starting with vague notions of engagement and then growing to more specific ideas about intellectual demands when choosing sources at the end of the semester. this finding relates to the ncss micva framework, as it shows that teacher candidates were developing more sophisticated ways of evaluating the micva characteristic of “challenging” by the end of their social studies methods course. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 shifting focus from content to processes of learning the second most repeated code when analyzing the pre-assessment data was the focus on content. many teacher candidates justified their evaluation of a good or bad curriculum resource based on if they found the content knowledge embedded in the resource “important” or “deep” or just related to social studies. for example, during the pre-assessment teacher candidate j evaluated a constitution unit as good because “the us constitution is a huge piece of history that is still used today.” similarly, teacher candidate n evaluated a resource as “good social studies” because “it teaches children about real world social issues.” the content was a primary lens utilized for these evaluations and justifications. during the post assessment the teacher candidates were more focused on the processes of learning in the curriculum resources than the actual topics of the content. teacher candidates frequently used terms like “inquiry”, for example, teacher candidate j, who previously focused the whole of her evaluation on the content of the topic, focused on the potential for inquiry and the topic when evaluating resources at the end of the course. she wrote, “this is a good example of social studies because it starts off with a question. then students with or without the help of the teacher answer the question below in the chart. you can make this assignment into an inquiry-based lesson. it has the students learning about communities, which is social studies.” likewise, teacher candidate k also prioritized the process of learning in her post-assessment evaluation of a “good social studies curriculum resource”. she explained, “this is an inquiry-based lesson that has the students learning about a topic enough to where they can make an educated opinion. this not only works on history but also plays on civics and government.” this finding illuminates how teacher candidates were growing in their ability to evaluate the characteristic of active from the ncss micva framework as active implies that students are actively, rather than passively, constructing new knowledge within processes of learning. a developing but incomplete lens of equity literacy a comparison of the coding from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment also provides evidence that the group of teacher candidates were developing a lens of equity literacy in their evaluation of online curriculum resources. in the pre-assessment, only two teacher candidates referred to issues of perspective within a curriculum resource, one to evaluate the resource as bad because it came from a home-school parent and the second to justify a resource that vaguely explained the strategy of “hot seating” a historical figure as bad because it could lead to bias. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 in the post assessment, six out of the fourteen participants evaluated one or both of their resources using multicultural perspectives as an evaluation criterion. teacher candidates f and g considered perspectives missing from the resource that they evaluated as bad. teacher f wrote, “this is a bad example of social studies curriculum because it teaches a single story. it teaches only that it was our country's ‘destiny’ to take over the west but teaches nothing about the native american or the mexican perspective.” and in her evaluation of a display board of student artwork of american symbols, teacher g explained, “i believe this activity of american symbols is bad social studies because yes these are american symbols and they should be taught, but not all the students will be able to see themselves in these symbols. i think this is trying to conform everyone to the same things that overall represent ‘america’, but it isn't all of america.” as a group, the teacher candidates moved from exhibiting no lens towards multicultural perspectives to several evaluations based on the inclusion of multiple perspectives in the curriculum at the end of the semester. in an even more developed lens of equity literacy, three teacher candidates expressed concern over how multicultural perspectives were being represented in a curriculum resource. both were concerned with how native americans were being represented in resources on teachers pay teachers. teacher candidate b justified her chosen thanksgiving resource as bad in the following way, “this is a lesson on native americans. it only shows the stereotypical aspect of native americans rather than the critical narrative or different perspectives.” and teacher candidate c evaluating a different resource on native americans explained, “this lesson looks like a bad example because already on the very front, they are portraying native americans in a very stereotypical way. this is how the whole lesson kind of seems and it looks like it describes them in one way and not different perspectives.” teacher candidate l used perspective to evaluate both of her resources in the post-assessment. but in her evaluation of a good resource, she included ideas about how diversity was being represented in her justification. she evaluated an interactive social studies notebook resource as good because, “it doesn't just go through history, it gets students involved and engaged. it also goes through native americans and that not all of them use totem poles that is only a certain area of american indians that do that. it is diverse!” all six of the teacher candidates who used the inclusion of multicultural perspectives as part of their evaluation of resources exhibited a more developed equity literacy skill of recognizing inequity and bias than they did previously at the start of the semester. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 despite this evidence of developing lenses of multicultural perspectives, some students were still choosing resources that might be expertly evaluated as problematic. teacher candidate f chose a resource she determined good at the end of the semester because it had students analyzing multiple resources. however, the “pioneer journal” project had a singular view of history in that students were to make pioneer journals from the perspectives of pioneers who migrated west (http://www.literacylovescompany.com/2016/05/classroom-diy-pioneer-journals.html?m=1). this project ignores the plight of indigenous groups who lost land and resources to pioneers. additionally, teacher candidate l’s resource, which she evaluated as good in part because it shows that “not all native americans used totem poles”, was problematic in that it was still grouping together diverse tribes into monolithic categories and displaying inauthentic cartoon images of indigenous people (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/product/interactivenotebook-social-studies-bundle-1-grades-3-5-1575617). so, while these teacher candidates were exhibiting partially developed abilities to consider what curriculum was representing multicultural perspectives, the decision by some to still evaluate problematic resources as “good” shows only a very beginning development of the first equity literacy skill of gorski and swalwell’s (2015) framework. discussion value of the findings in one respect, the teacher candidates in this study were given an innately difficult task. previous research has shown that there are not a lot of high-quality resources on curriculum sharing sites and in fact there may be an over-abundance of low-quality resources (hertel & wessmanenzinger, 2017). and beginning research particular to social studies (e.g., rodriguez et al., 2020) would suggest that there are few curriculum resources on these sites that include many of the micva characteristics or address race and racism in meaningful ways. despite the problematic nature of the task, the justifications that teacher candidates wrote provide a glimpse into the teacher candidates’ developing criticality of curriculum on the already potentially problematic sites. interestingly, the finding that teacher candidates were initially using a lot of vague buzzwords of “engaging” and “interactive” were some of the same words often used by “sellers” and “pinners” of the curriculum resource. therefore, teacher candidates were initially evaluating the resources in ways that mirrored how the resources were being “advertised”. this further supports rodriguez et al.’s (2020) claim of the overwhelming effect of racial platform capitalism as the mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.literacylovescompany.com/2016/05/classroom-diy-pioneer-journals.html?m=1 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/product/interactive-notebook-social-studies-bundle-1-grades-3-5-1575617 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/product/interactive-notebook-social-studies-bundle-1-grades-3-5-1575617 journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 teacher candidates were obviously influenced by the internal evaluation mechanisms of the platform that do not address race or racism (or even broader conceptions of equity). however, at the end of the course, the teacher candidates were able to employ additional criteria when evaluating online curriculum resources after their social studies methods course – many of which included intellectual demand and some of which included ideas of equity. these research findings relate heavily to the work of michelle bauml (2016) in social studies education who prompted her teacher candidates to determine if an activity or resource was worthy of teaching by asking them to consider, “is it cute or does it count?” in similar ways, the teacher candidate participants in this study were able to move in their criticality of resources over time. this study shows that teacher candidates can grow in their evaluation of what “counted” in specific ways during their teacher education program and the findings reflect that their lens developed in ways that focused on higher intellectual demand, inquiry learning processes and multicultural perspectives – although their evaluation was not always critical enough to deeply unpack remaining problems in the resources they chose, particularly regarding race. focus and examples from the course influenced evaluation while the purpose of this study was not to evaluate the impact of the social studies methods course, the changes in the teacher candidates’ criticality from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester clearly relate to topics addressed in the course. the methods course focused on inquiry a learning process that teacher candidates heavily relied upon when evaluating resources at the end of the semester. the methods course also modeled critically evaluating curriculum resources for bias and multicultural perspectives. in fact, some of the examples students found of bad resources such as those displaying stereotypical or “single story” images of native americans were near mirror examples as the ones modeled in class. therefore, while some students were able to find similar “bad examples” of bias in curriculum resources, they weren’t necessarily transferring that equity literacy ability of recognizing inequity to new content topics. the development of equity literacy takes time one participant, teacher candidate l was able to explain an important aspect of recognizing bias in her justification making sure indigenous people are not represented in inaccurate ways when she explained she didn’t want students to only think of native americans as only living in teepees. but she was unable to recognize that her “good” resource was still exhibiting a lot of mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 racist stereotypes of native people through cartoon representations and inauthentic grouping of distinct tribes. therefore, her equity literacy capability of recognizing bias (gorski & swalwell, 2015) was present, but it was not necessarily fully developed. this substantiates other studies that have found that developing critical lenses to recognize bias as well as equity and inequity is not without obstacles and such critical lenses take time to fully develop (king & ladson-billings, 1990) like so many aspects of social change and human development. and similar to rodriguez et. al (2020), this study has found that teacher candidates were unable to fully contextualize the problematic, racialized social studies curriculum resources found on pinterest and teacher pay teachers and further validates the need for specific tools of critical race media literacy in social studies teacher education. infusing critical perspectives of social media into teacher education, as employed, examined and advocated in schroeder & curcio (2022), may further teacher candidates’ equity literacy skills within online curriculum resource evaluation because it could help them to contextualize the resource within an “ecosystem” of profit, consumerism and capitalism that often runs counter to equity (p. 138). conclusion this article shared findings that support the claim that teacher candidates can grow in their ability to critically evaluate online social studies curriculum resources during their teacher education program. while this research provides an important glimpse into teacher candidates evaluation and potential use of online teaching resources, it also provides for further calls for work and research in the field. the first is a call to understand more longitudinal progressions of how teachers change in their ability evaluate online social studies resources as they grow from novice to expert classroom teacher. if teacher candidates are able to develop more critical online curriculum skills during their teacher education program, how can these skills be sustained and further developed in their in-service practice? this would be an important line of research to help improve continuing professional development for teachers. it will also be important to study specific interventions to cultivating teacher candidates’ and inservice teachers’ critical online curriculum skills. are there best practices in cultivating teacher candidates or in-service teachers who can critically evaluate curriculum resources on sites of curriculum sharing? rodriguez et. al (2020) found that one tool developed within the field (gallagher et al., 2019) although initially helpful, did not fully support teacher candidates’ critical evaluation of curriculum resources. nor did the regular course instruction in this study. however, given the apparent impact of the course focus and course examples on the ways in which the teacher candidates did develop in their evaluation of online resources in this study, it’s clear that mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 what we as teacher educators are doing in our methods courses matters tremendously to the ways in which our students are developing equity literacy habits. as the course instructor as well as the principal investigator in this study, the findings brought me great pause in considering how to make every single example from class an example that teacher candidates could use as a model for the equity literacy abilities they will need to practice throughout their career. given the current context of increasing influence of online curriculum sharing sites, it will be important for the field to continue to create and evaluate focused strategies moving forward especially given the restraint of time that both teacher educators and classroom teachers face in pedagogical planning and instruction. how can teacher education programs prepare students to evaluate online resources in ways that are conducive to the limited time available in preservice courses and provide strategies that are reasonable given the limited time for curricular planning they will have as in-service teachers? this article shares empirical evidence that teacher candidates can begin to develop these skills within their initial teacher education program. however, it is important to consider that their critical online curriculum skills may not be fully developed and will need continued professional development given the rapidly changing context of online curriculum sharing. mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 2-21 corresponding author: gallagherj17@ecu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 references bauml, m. 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(2015). teachers׳ curricular choices when teaching histories of oppressed people: capturing the us civil rights movement. the journal of social studies research, 39(2), 79-94. teachers pay teachers (2020). about us. retrieved from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/about-us zhao, y., & hoge, j. d. (2005). what elementary students and teachers say about social studies. the social studies, 96(5), 216-221. about the author: jennifer gallagher is an assistant professor in the literacy studies, english education and history education department in the college of education at east carolina university where she teaches social studies education courses and serves as the program coordinator for the undergraduate and graduate history education programs. gallagher taught social studies for several years in colorado before earning her phd at iowa state university. her research and her professional efforts focus on supporting teacher candidates, in service teachers, and p-20 students in critical inquiry of the social world. her work has been presented and published in state, national, and international outlets including social education, social studies and the young learner, social studies research and practice, education, citizenship and social justice and journal of social studies research. she can be reached at gallagherj17@ecu.edu or on twitter at @drgsocialed mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/about-us mailto:gallagherj17@ecu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 evaluation of history interest inventory development and evaluation of a history interest inventory for chinese k-12 students yongjun dan *(college of education, texas tech university, u.s.); tianlan wei (college of education, texas tech university, u.s.); wenjun zhao (college of history and culture, ti tianjin teachers' university, china). abstract: the purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a history interest inventory (hii) to measure chinese k-12 students’ history interest. in this study, data were drawn from two independent samples of a city in eastern china, and exploratory factor analysis (efa) and confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) were conducted to reduce instrument size and evaluate the construct validity associated with this hii. furthermore, multiple regression analysis was run to evaluate the weights of each component in predicting students’ achievement. the indices of construct validity and reliability indicated that the history interest inventory (hii) was an effective and reliable instrument to measure chinese students’ history interest. to apply this instrument to students from other countries, it is suggested that a cfa be conducted with the samples from target countries to check its validity and reliability. key words: history interest inventory, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, cultural differences __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction former studies have indicated that interest is closely related to students’ learning and achievement (e.g., krapp, hidi & renninger, 1992; stevens, 1980; tella, tella, & adeniyi, 2009), but the lack of effective measurement tools poses a methodological problem for its research (schiefele, krapp, & winteler, 1988; weber & patterson, 2000). history is widely learned in primary and secondary schools but there is no reliable instrument to measure students’ interest levels in history as yet. the purpose of this study was to fill the gap by developing such a measurement scale, the history interest inventory (hii). the ability to measure students’ history interest levels not only helps examine the reason for some students’ low history achievement, but has a practical application—understanding what levels of history interest are brought to the classroom by students enable educators to better plan for interventions and learning activities. based on available resources, the participants came from china. cultural differences may have significant impact on the formation and levels of students’ interest (li, 2003; purdie & hattie, 1996; yamazaki, 2005) and therefore, the sample may only be generalized to chinese students, and the instrument’s application may only suit chinese students’ population. to apply the instrument to the students from other regions and countries, the confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) with the samples from these regions or countries should be conducted in order to check its validity and reliability. literature review clarification of the concept of interest researchers have not reached an agreement as to the exact definition of ‘interest’. hidi and renninger (2006) define interest ‘as a motivational variable refers to the psychological state of journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 engaging or the predisposition to re-engage with particular classes of objects, events, or ideas over time’ (p. 112). schunk, pintrich and meece (2008) defined interest as ‘people’s liking and wilful engagement in an activity’ (p. 210). regardless of differences in the definitions, researchers generally agree that it is a phenomenon emerging from an individual’s interaction with his/her environments (krapp et al., 1992). interest has often been associated with intrinsic motivation, serving as an explanatory factor in students’ choices of topics, tasks, or activities. motivation is defined as the process that instigates and sustains people’s engagement in an action (schunk et al., 2008). researchers usually distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, with the former referring to the momentum that gets learners involved in a subject due to the subject itself, such as fun or enjoyment, and the latter to an inspiration beyond the subject, such as for a reward or praise (schunk et al., 2008). comparatively, intrinsically motivated students are more likely to exhibit the characteristics of motivation. there are a variety of categorizations of interest according to different theoretical frameworks. a common differentiation is between situational and individual interests (schunk et al., 2008). situational interest designates a temporary, situation-specific attraction, evoked by environments that are new, surprising, or vivid. bergin (1999) summarized some situational factors in the classroom that are under the control of teachers: hands-on, novelty, food, social interaction, visible author, modeling, games and puzzles, content, biophilia, fantasy, humor, and narrative. students’ attention is easily evoked by these factors. personal interest represents a relatively stable disposition. for example, a student may be interested in an activity and get involved for a long time. personal interest originates from students’ former experiences or situational interest (hidi & renninger, 2006). it may also come from students’ knowledge in one area. interest and knowledge seem to perpetuate each other: increased knowledge in a domain promotes higher interest, which in turn fuels a quest to learn more about the domain (hidi & mclaren, 1990). history interest belongs to the latter, reflecting students’ enduring preference for the subject. interest and learning the positive influence of interest on learning has been documented in many studies (e.g. corbiere, fraccaroli, mbekou, & perron, 2006; krapp et al., 1992; schiefele, 1991, 1992). krapp et al. (1992) proposed a classification in terms of interest effects consisting of five fields: effects of personal interest on achievement (field 1) and cognitive structures (field 2), effects of situational interest on achievement (field 3) and cognitive structures (field 4), and effects of interest on students’ learning strategies (field 5). learning outcomes can be categorized into the global indicator and cognitive structures (krapp et al., 1992; schiefele, 1998). the global indicator is represented by students’ general grade or achievement (e.g., test scores or gpa) and cognitive structures distinguish between different levels of learning results (e.g., lower and higher level thinking), therefore, they are more precise measures than using students’ global indicators. for example, bloom taxonomy (bloom, englehard, furst, hill, & krathwohl, 1956; krathwohl, 2002) offered a criterion to order lower level thinking (knowledge) and higher level thinking (abilities and skills), such as comprehension, application, and analysis. while memorizing is a typical way to learn knowledge, other learning strategies are needed to develop higher level thinking. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 most studies examining effects of personal interest on achievement (field 1) used the correlational method, with some designed to predict the learning outcome (e.g., corbiere et al., 2006). a metaanalysis by schiefele, krapp and winteler (1992) yielded a mean value of correlation coefficient .31. the researchers constructed two groups, grade 5-10 and grade 10-12, and found that the relationship was more salient at higher grade levels (r = .33) than lower grade levels (r = .29). the effect of personal interest on cognitive structures was usually examined by analyzing students’ learning through text readings (field 2). assessment involved both quantitative standards, such as students’ memorization of words, and qualitative examinations, such as type and quality of responses. significant interest effects were detected even when confounding factors, such as previous knowledge and intelligence, were controlled. the effects were more prominent according to qualitative criterion than quantitative standards, and for students’ deep level learning than surface-level learning (fransson, 1977; hidi, 1990; hidi & anderson, 1992; schiefele, 1990, 1992, 1998; schiefele & krapp, 1996). it is reasonable to assume that situational interest, triggered by instructional methods or materials, may play a role in students’ learning (field 3), but few studies have examined the relationship so far (krapp et al., 1992). at the same time, some examinations on the influence of situational interest on students’ text comprehension revealed positive effects, qualitatively or quantitatively (field 4), while others failed to confirm the effect (e.g. garner, brown, & sanders, 1992; hidi, baird, & hildyard, 1982). although the positive influence of interest on students’ learning outcomes has been documented in numerous studies, only a few studies have been conducted to examine the mediating process (ainley, hidi, & berndorff, 2002; schiefele, 1998). the existing literature was mainly about the relationships between interest and learning strategies (field 5). entwistle and ramsden (1983) found that interest-oriented learners are more likely to adopt the deep-processing study, building a qualitatively superior representation of a text and better recalling text content. the study by nolen (1988) indicated that high interest learners tended to use more elaborations, pay attention to the storage of knowledge, and establish more cross-references. schiefele, wild and krapp (as cited in krapp, 1999) confirmed that students’ interest affected their attitude towards the adoption of learning strategies. in sum, the research revealed a relatively consistent positive relationship between individual interest and learning outcomes or strategies; while the studies on the effects of situational interest were inconsistent. because most of them were correlational in nature, they did not support a casual relationship between interest and learning outcomes or strategies. defining the dimensions of individual interest personal interest is usually defined as multiple constructs, but researchers differ on the specific components it may comprise. actually, the lack of the consistency on interest dimensions and its measurement has limited the interest research (hidi & renninger, 2006). in general, there are three schools in expounding the interest components: 1) one dimension, 2) two dimensions, and 3) three dimensions. some researchers (alexander, jetton, & kulikowich, 1995; deci, 1998) viewed interest as affection or intrinsic motivation. in the expectancy-value theory, eccles and wigfield (eccles, 1983, 1984; wigfield & eccles, 1992) identified three task value constructs: interest, personal importance, and utility, in which interest is the only designated emotion. schunk, et al. (2008) defined interest as journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 ‘people’s liking and wilful engagement in an activity’ (p.210), and juxtaposed interest with affect in their book motivation in education, conveying the idea that interest belonged to the category of emotion. schiefele (1991) and krapp (1999) adopted two dimensions: feeling-related and value-related valences. the former referred to a person’s association with a topic or an activity with positive feeling, especially enjoyment, while the latter designated an individual’s attribution of personal significance. renninger (1989, 1990, 1992) and renninger and wozniak (1985) conceptualized interest as two other dimensions: high stored knowledge and value perception. they assigned a state with low knowledge and high value perception as attraction rather than interest. however, other theorists disapproved the division between interest and attraction, claiming that interest could exist in a state of low knowledge (alexander, kulikowich, & jetton, 1994; tobias, 1994). the third school (hidi & harackiewicz, 2000; hidi & renninger, 2006) integrated all three components: value, feeling, and knowledge: ‘positive feelings, stored knowledge, and stored value have been described as having complementary and coordinated roles in interest development’ (hidi & renninger, 2006, p. 120). the three factors were usually viewed as relating to each other. schiefele, krapp and schreyer (as cited in baumert & koller, 1998) believed it was impossible to separate feeling and value. meanwhile, there were researchers who insisted on the distinction of the components. wigfield and eccles (1992) suggested that for analytical reasons, it was useful to keep these dimensions separate; schiefele (1991) also believed that it was justified to distinguish between them considering people may vary based on the emphasis they put on their feeling experience, attributions of personal significance, or attraction derived from knowledge. the authors chose to adopt the three-component theory, considering it better explained interest’s resources. in terms of history interest, knowledge refers to students’ history knowledge level in comparison with their peers; value to their evaluation of history’s importance; and positive feelings to their enjoyment and entertainment in interacting with history-related activities. among these components, knowledge and value belong to the cognitive valence, and positive feeling to the domain of emotion. china’s historical and cultural backgrounds china is a country with a long history. officially claimed history can be traced back to about 5000 years ago, however, the written history is dated back to about 4000 years, with the early history characterized by many legendary stories. importantly, its civilization never breaks during thousands of years of evolution, which is a unique characteristic of chinese history. its language, cultures, and customs are maintained after many historical vicissitudes. modern chinese people recognize the same ancestry, inherit the same teaching, and share the collective memory. many dynasties in china have passed during this long period, leaving numerous historical heritages, including artifacts, buildings, legends, and stories. china is also famous for its historiography, which is considered as an important duty for each dynasty. besides official recording, nongovernmental individuals and organizations also contribute to its numerous historical books and documents. history is an important part of chinese cultures, permeating in media, magazines, and books. historical deposit is viewed as both advantage and disadvantages for the chinese development in the new era. history education is emphasized in schools as well, for both political and cultural purposes. from the primary school, chinese students begin contact with history education, but there is no formal history journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 class in this stage. students begin to learn history formally from the junior high school, or the middle school, and continue to the senior high school. during the junior high school or the middle school, they mainly learn domestic history, with world history as supplement, and in the senior high school, the emphasis shifts to world history, with domestic history as supplement. historical content covers wide topics, from politics, to economics, and to cultures (wang, 2005). while in many western countries history, and other subjects, such as geography and politics, are combined into the social studies, history is an independent discipline in chinese secondary school. history is also a required subject in the entrance examination for college. students are expected to earn as high as possible scores in order to be admitted by colleges. teachers’ lectures dominate the history class, and in this aspect, it is very different from the teaching styles in the western countries, where students’ participation in class activities are stressed and interest is fostered. chinese rich, legendary, and continuous history traditions may contribute to their higher interest, but its class teaching method, which neglects students’ involvement, may decrease their interest levels. methodology item development initial items of hii were developed based on the three components theory, measuring the factor of knowledge, value, and positive feeling. knowledge was measured by items such as ‘i know history pretty well’ and ‘i read more history books than my classmates’. students’ self-rating of their knowledge level has been used by biggs and other researchers as a way to evaluate their knowledge level (biggs, 1987). items of value include statements like ‘learning history is important’ and ‘history learning increases people’s abilities of analysis and judgment’. to test students’ positive feeling, the statements such as ‘i like history’ and ‘i like touring history museums’ were adopted. students were be asked to rate their perceptions with a 7-point linear scale (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree). an example of the item and the scale is listed below: history learning increases people’s abilities of analysis and judgment. totally disagree totally agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 translation validation the inventory was initially developed in english, and then translated into chinese. two translators who were proficient in both english and chinese attended the translation and validation work. the first person was responsible to translate english into chinese edition, and the other translated it back to english. the two english versions and the chinese version were compared and revised to make sure that the translation was accurate. participants two independent samples were collected over 1 year period. all participants were grade 7 students from eastern china. the convenience sampling approach was adopted to recruit students, (i.e., to recruit the whole class). the history teachers distributed the hard copy questionnaire during the class time, and students completed it with paper-and-pencil. they were informed that the participation was voluntary and anonymous, and they could terminate their participation at any time they want without any punishment. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 the first sample consisted of 110 students, with ages ranging from 13 to 15. forty-eight (43.6%) described themselves as females, and 62 (56. 4%) as males. the second stage survey was conducted about one year later, containing 208 participants. with one missing value, the ratio of female and male students was 1 to 1. students’ ethnicity was not considered a factor due to the homogeneity of chinese population in the region. data analysis two phases of data analysis were conducted to reduce the instrument size and evaluate the construct validity associated with hii. in phase 1, exploratory factor analysis (efa) with spss 17 program was performed with the first sample to eliminate the smallest factor pattern coefficients and generate a less cumbersome instrument. in phase 2, confirmatory factorial analysis (cfa) with amos 17 was conducted with the second sample to examine the model fit, construct validity, and reliability. furthermore, multiple regression was run to evaluate the weights of each factor in predicting students’ achievement. the three factors make up the concept of ‘interest’, and all of them contribute to the formation and development of interest. the authors had no intention to drop any variable but rather to identify which factor was significant predictor and evaluate the weight of each factor. results phase 1 analysis the authors adopted parallel analysis (o’connor, 2000) to statistically determine the number of factors and compared it to the three factors based on the theoretical decision. the parallel analysis involved extracting eigenvalues from random data sets that paralleled the actual data set with regard to the number of cases and variables. factors were retained when the ith eigenvalue in the actual data was greater than the corresponding eigenvalue from the random data. three factors were retained according to this criterion. maximum likelihood analysis with oblimin rotation was implemented to eliminate the smallest factor pattern coefficients while keeping the most salient items associated with the factors. oblimin rotation was selected based on the assumption that there would be significant correlations between the factors. in general, the analysis result matched theoretically based three factors. on the basis of examining three sets of items, factor 1 was named as knowledge, factor 2 as value, and factor 3 as positive feeling. factor 1, 2, and 3 accounted for 38.50%, 10.50%, and 9.26% of the variance respectively. based on stevens’ criterion (1996), which took into elements of both factor loadings and sample sizes to retain items, it was decided to retain items with factor loading with .50 or over without cross. seven items were retained in factor 1, eight in factor 2, and nine in factor 3. referring to table 1 for pattern matrix for factor loadings, with loadings under .50 suppressed. to further reduce the instrument size, five items with highest factor loadings on each factor were retained. the instrument was reduced to 15 items, with 5 items on each factor. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 table 1. rotated factor weights (pattern coefficients) and eigenvalues items component 27, i know history pretty well .93 26, i read more history books than my classmates .93 28, comparing with my peers, i think my knowledge in history is above the average .83 30, i know more history allusions than my peers .82 29, i am satisfied with how much i know about history .81 25, i know more history comparing with peers .80 31, i know a lot of history, ancient and present, our country’s and other countries’ .72 32, i enjoy talking upon history topics 20, history knowledge is important to other subjects 16, reading history makes people wise .91 14, learning history is important .81 15, learning history increases people’s capability in judgment and analysis .81 21, many historical figures worth learning from .67 17, history knowledge is essential to for an informed citizen .62 24, history knowledge makes people be good at argument .54 13, history can relate to present problems .51 22, historical experiences and lessons deserve our references .50 18, knowing some history is useful in daily life 19, to better understand today, we should know yesterday 23, history is helpful to other subjects 7, i feel very excited when a new history topic is initiated .83 1, i am interested in history .82 5, i like touring history museums .76 2, i enjoy reading history stories .74 10, i like doing assignments relating to history .67 12, i like discussing history questions with friends .63 4, history class is interesting .62 8, i like visiting historical sites .60 11, i like telling history stories to others .55 3, i like to answer question in history class 9, i like watching historical movies and videos 6, i like listening to history stories eigenvalues 12.32 3.36 2.96 extraction method: maximum likelihood rotation method: oblimin with kaiser normalization journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 phase 2 analysis in phase 2, cfa was conducted to test the model fit. the indices checked were the chi square (χ 2 ), the normed fit index (nfi), the comparative fit index (cfi), tucker luis index (tli), and root mean square error of approximation (rmsea). based on rule of thumb, the values over .90 of nfi, cfi, and tli are considered as accepted indices, and those over .95 as good fit indices. the values below .80 of rmsea indicate an accepted model, with a good model having a value of .06 or less. the cfi yielded the following model fit indices, χ 2 (87) = 167.91, p < .001; cfi = .94; ifi = .95, nfi = .89; rmsea = .067. among them, although chi square (χ 2 ) was significant, and nfi was a little bit lower than .90, other indices of cfi, ifi and rmsea indicated acceptable or good fit. in combination, it was concluded that the model was acceptable. concurrent validity criterion validity means that the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure. to test concurrent validity, students’ scores of total history interest and each factor were correlated with their achievement, with the expectation that higher interests lead to higher history scores. the total interest score was defined as the sum of the three factors’ score, which was the sum of respective items. the associations were significant and in the expected direction. in the first sample, the correlation between the total interest score and achievement was, r (102) = .28, p < .01. the correlations of three factors with achievement were: knowledge, r (102) = .17, p = .09; value, r (102) = .26, p < .01; and positive feeling, r (102) = .26, p = .01. in the second sample, the correlation between the total interest score and criterion was, r (115) = .44, p < .001. for the three factors, knowledge, r (122) = .32, p < .001; value, r (131) = .38, p < .001; positive feeling, r (132) = .38, p < .001. the bivariate correlations between the total interest, three factors, and achievement across the two samples are listed in table 2. table 2. bivariate correlations between factors, total score, and criterion achievements variable mean sd 1 2 3 4 5 sample 1 1. factor 1: knowledge 25.34 8.94 .30** .40** .17 2. factor 2: value 31.87 5.26 .43** .26** 3. factor 3: positive feeling 30.64 5.80 .26** 4. total interest score 87.85 15.38 .28** 5. achievement 87.80 11.59 sample 2 1. factor 1: knowledge 23.83 7.62 .43*** .50*** .32*** 2. factor 2: value 31.47 4.43 .54*** .38*** 3. factor 3: positive feeling 28.90 5.74 .38*** 4. total interest score 84.46 14.51 .44*** 5. achievement 82.41 10.62 * p ≤ .05, ** p ≤ .01, *** p ≤ .001 (2-tailed) journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 reliability we estimated the internal consistency reliability with cronbach’s alpha coefficient. for the first sample, cronbach’s alpha = .90 for the total 15 items. the reliabilities of three factors were also evaluated. for knowledge, alpha = .94, value, alpha = .87, and positive feeling, alpha = .86. all of them indicated good or excellent internal consistency reliabilities. for the second sample, for 15 items, cronbach’s alpha = .90. for the three factors, knowledge, alpha = .90; value, alpha = .78; and positive feeling, alpha = .84. these indices also indicated good or excellent internal consistency reliabilities. multiple regression analysis standard multiple regression was conducted to examine the coefficient index of each factor as three of them were used to predict students’ achievement. first sample. for the first sample, the multiple correlation coefficient r = .31, and r 2 = .094, showing that approximately 9.4% of the achievement variance was attributed to the combined predictor variables. and the three factors were significantly in predicting the criterion variable, f (3, 98) = 3.39, p < .05. the regression equation was expressed as: students’ achievement = .06 knowledge + .39 value + .31 positive feeling + 64.49. the equation in standardized score form was: z achievement = .05 z (knowledge) +.18 z (value) +.15 z (positive feeling) none of them alone as a predictor was significant, but the coefficient of value had the highest t value and was the closest to significant level (t = 1.65, p = .10). the coefficients and related indices are listed in table 3. table 3. coefficients (sample 1) model unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. b s beta constant 64.49 7.44 8.67 .000*** knowledge .06 .15 .05 .42 .68 value .39 .23 .18 1.65 .10 positive feeling .31 .23 .15 1.32 .19 *** p < .001 second sample. for the second sample, the multiple correlation coefficient r = .47, and r 2 = .219 showing that approximately 21.9% of the achievement variance was attributed to the combined predictor variables. and three factors were significantly in predicting the criterion variable, f (3, 110) = 10.28, p < .001. the regression equation was expressed as: students’ achievement = .19 knowledge + .75 value + .24positive feeling + 47.77. the equation in standardized score form was: z achievement = .13 z (knowledge) + .31 z (value)** + .12 z (positive feeling) journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 the weight was significant for value (t = 3.11, p < .01), indicating that serving along with other two factors, value was a significant predictor for students’ achievement. the coefficients and related indices are listed in table 4. table 4. coefficients (sample 2) model unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. b s beta constant 47.77 6.68 7.16 .000*** knowledge .19 .15 .13 1.01 .22 value .75 .24 .31 2.66 .00** positive feeling .24 .23 .12 .89 .31 ***p < .001. discussion components and indices of hii hii was theory-driven, reflecting the three factors contributing to students’ history interest: knowledge, value, and positive feeling. it was defined by 15 items, with 5 items in each factor (see appendix). the three factors were relatively independent despite the fact that they were significantly correlated with each other. it is likely that people differ in history interest based on their history knowledge level, attributions of personal importance, and/or the emphasis on feeling experiences. factor 1, knowledge, contained statements: ‘i know history pretty well’, ‘i read more history books than my classmates’, ‘compared to my peers, i think my knowledge in history is above the average’, ‘i know more historical allusions than my peers’, and ‘i am satisfied with how much i know about history’. the stored knowledge prompts and sustains students’ interest in the subject. as students’ knowledge increases, so does their interest. factor 2, value, was defined by items: ‘reading history makes people wise’, ‘learning history is important’, ‘learning history increases people’s capabilities in judgment and analysis’, ‘many historical figures worth learning from’, and ‘history knowledge is essential for an informed citizen’. as pupils realize the importance of history, they are more likely attracted to the topic. factor 3, positive feeling, consisted of statements: ‘i feel very excited when a new history topic is initiated’, ‘i am interested in history’, ‘i like touring history museums’, ‘i enjoy reading history stories’, and ‘i like doing assignments relating to history’. while the other two factors fall into the category of cognition, positive feeling belongs to the field of emotion. enjoyment of history is the most prominent feature of historical interest, and it is more likely to bring adolescents to the related activities. the cfa indices showed that the model fit was acceptable, the internal consistency reliability coefficients proved to be good or excellent, and the concurrent validity indicated it was an effective instrument in measuring students’ interest levels. multiple regression analysis further indicated that, when the three factors served to predict students’ history achievement, value could be a significant predictor. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 cultural differences and developmental effects social cultural theory views learners as active participants within cultural environments, including families, schools, and communities (martin, 2006). in light of the theory, students’ learning cannot be viewed as a content-free activity; instead, it is constituted by sociocultural messages. crosscultural studies have demonstrated that cultural backgrounds influence students’ self-regulation, beliefs about learning, and learning styles (li, 2003; purdie & hattie, 1996; yamazaki, 2005). given that history is a required subject in the entrance examination for college in china, and chinese school systems usually pursue a test-oriented teaching and learning styles, emphasizing higher scores in exams instead of fostering learners’ interest, the educational environment in china is quite different from those in western countries, where students’ initiation and motivation receive greater attention. li’s (2003) research showed that among american students’ conceptual framework of learning, interest was mentioned as part of motivation; while it was not included in their chinese counterparts’ learning conceptualization. therefore, it is reasonable to assume that interest plays a more important role among students in western countries than their counterparts in eastern countries. furthermore, grade 7 was the first year when chinese students study national history in depth. the survey was conducted in the first semester, when students were learning the history stories covering the origin of chinese civilization to qin dynasty’s unifying of the country. this period had a substantial impact on chinese historical development thereafter. it is possible that value emerging as a significant predictor in multiple regression analysis reflected the content importance learned in this period. dan and todd’s (2011) study showed that students were more likely to view local history as significant. the weights of the three factors may fluctuate according to learned history content. when students learn world history, their importance to them might decrease, because narrations seem far away to their own regions and cultures. there is also a possibility that as students’ history knowledge accumulates with grades, the weight of the factor of knowledge may increase. simultaneously, the coefficient of positive feeling can also increase along with students’ historical experiences. the study by dan and lan (2010) found that people’s history interest connected to their life experiences. therefore, the weights of three factors in predicting students’ achievement may change from a developmental perspective. conclusion this study developed and evaluated hii for measuring chinese k-12 students’ history interest levels. the indices of cfa, internal reliability, and concurrent validity indicated that it was a stable and effective instrument. the limitation of this study is clear: the participants are chinese 7 th graders, therefore, the instrument’s usage may be limited to chinese students, and no cross-cultural backgrounds validations were conducted. in addition, when the three factors serve together to predict students’ achievement, only value is significant at the stage. although the authors intended to develop an instrument for measuring k-12 students’ interest worldwide, more work is needed to prove its feasibility when applied to other samples. furthermore, it is hypothesized that the prediction weights of three factors may vary from a developmental perspective. therefore, more research is needed to address the issues of generalization and limitation of this research, including, 1) whether the scale applies to students in different cultural backgrounds, 2) whether the prediction weights vary across different grades. it is journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 expected that the instrument can be used to 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(1987). student approaches to learning and studying. melbourne, australia: australian council for educational research. bloom, b. s., englehard. m. d., furst, e. j., hill, w. h., & krathwohl, d. r. (1956). taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals. handbook i: cognitive domain. new york: david mckay. corbiere, m., fraccaroli, f., mbekou, v., & perron, j. (2006). academic self-concept and academic interest measurement: a multi-sample europe study. european journal of psychology of education, 21(1), 3–15. dan, y., & lan, w. (2010). the measurement and comparison college students’ history interests. college students journal, (44)2, 424–432. dan, y., & todd, r. (2011). secondary school students’ perceptions of historical significance in u. s. history. southern social studies journal, 37(1), 20–26. deci, e. (1998). the relationship of interest to motivation and human needs—the self-determination theory viewpoint. in l. hoffmann, a, krapp, k. a. renninger & j. baumert (eds.), interest and learning: proceedings of the seeon conference on interest and gender (pp. 91–104). kiel, germany: ipn. eccles, j. s. (1983). expectancies, values, and academic choice: origins and changes. in j. spence (ed.), achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 87–134). san francisco: w. h. freeman. eccles, j. s. (1984). sex differences in achievement patterns. in t. sonderregger (ed.), nebraska symposium on motivation: vol. 32 (pp. 97–132). lincoln: university of nebraska press. entwistle, n. j., & ramsden, p. (1983). understanding student learning. london: routledge. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 fransson, a. (1977). on qualitative differences in learning. iv—effects of motivation and test anxiety on process and outcome. british journal of educational psychology, 47, 244–257. garner, r., brown, r., & sanders, s. (1992). “seductive details” and learning from text. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi & a. krapp (eds.), the role of interest in learning and development (pp. 151–182). hillsade, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. hidi, s. (1990). interest and its contribution as a mental resource for learning. review of educational research, 60(4), 549–571. hidi, s., & anderson, v. (1992). situational interest and its impact on reading and expository writing. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi & a. krapp (eds.), the role of interest in learning and development (151–182). hillsade, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. hidi, s., baird, w., & hildyard, a. (1982). that’s important but is it interesting? two factors in test processing. in a. flammer & w. kintsch (eds.), discourse processing (pp. 63–75). amsterdam: north—holland. hidi, s., & harackiewicz, j. m. (2000). motivating the academically unmotivated: a critical issue for the 21 st century. review of educational research, 70(2), 151–179. hidi, s., & mclaren, j. (1990). the effect of topic and theme interestingness on the production of school expositions. in h. mandl, e. de corte, n. bennett & h. f. friedrich (eds.), learning and instruction: european research in an international context: vol. 2:2 (pp. 295–308). oxford, england: pergamon. hidi, s., & renninger, k. a. (2006). the four-phase model of interest development. educational psychologist, 41(2), 112–127. krapp, a. (1999). interest, motivation and learning: an educational-psychological perspective. european journal of psychology of education, 14(1), 23–40. krapp, a., hidi, s., & renninger, k. a. (1992). interest, learning, and development. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi & a. krapp (eds.), the role of interest in learning and development (pp. 3–25). hillsade, new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. krathwohl, d. r. (2002). a revision of bloom’s taxonomy: an overview. theory into practice, 41(4), 212–218. martin, j. (2006). social cultural perspectives in educational psychology. in p. a. alexander & p. h. winne (eds.), handbook of educational psychology (pp. 595–614). mahwah, new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. li, j. (2003). u.s. and chinese cultural beliefs about learning. journal of educational psychology, 95(2), 258–267. nolen, s. b. (1988). reasons for studying: motivational orientations and study strategies. cognition and instruction, 5, 269–287. o’connor, b. (2000). spss and sas programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and velicer’s map test. behavior research methods, instruments, & computers, 32(3), 396–402. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 purdie, n., & hattie, j. (1996). cultural differences in the use of strategies for self-regulated learning. american educational research journal, 33(4), 845–871. renninger, k. a. (1989). individual patterns in children’s play interests. in l. t. winegar (ed.), social interaction and the development of children’s understanding (pp. 147–172). norwood, nj: ablex. renninger, k. a. (1990). children’s pay interests, representation, and activity. in r. fivush & hudson (eds.), emory cognition series: vol. 3. knowing and remembering in young children (pp. 127– 165). cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. renninger, k. a. (1992). individual interest and development: implications for theory and practice. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi & a. krapp (eds.). the role of interest in learning and development (pp. 361–395). hillsade, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. renninger, k. a., & wozniak, r. h. (1985). effects of interest on attentional shift, recognition, and recall in young children. developmental psychology, 21, 624–632. schiefele, u. (1990). the influence of topic interest, prior knowledge and cognitive capabilities on text comprehension. in j. m. pieters, k. breuer & p. r. j. simons (eds.), learning environments (pp. 323–338). berlin: springer. schiefele, u. (1991). interest, learning, and motivation. educational psychology, 26(3 & 4), 299–323. schiefele, u. (1992). topic interest and levels of text comprehension. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi & a. krapp (eds.), the role of interest in learning and development (pp. 151–182). hillsade, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. schiefele, u. (1998). individual interest and learning—what we know and what we don’t know. in l. hoffmann, a, krapp, k. a. renninger & j. baumert (eds.), interest and learning: proceedings of the seeon conference on interest and gender (pp. 91–104). kiel, germany: ipn. schiefele, u., & krapp, a. (1996). topic interest and free recall of expository text. learning and individual differences, 8, 141–160. schiefele, u., krapp, a., & winteler, a. (1992). interest as a predictor of academic achievement: a meta-analysis of research. in k. a. renninger, s. hidi, & a. krapp (eds.), the role of interest in learning and development (pp. 3-25). hillsade, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. schiefele, u., krapp, a., & winterler, a. (1988, april). conceptualization and measurement of interest. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association (aera), new orleans, la. schunk, d. h., pintrich, p. r., & meece, j. l. (2008). motivation in education, theory, research, and application. upper saddle river, nj: merril prentice hall. stevens, j. (1996). applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (3rd ed.). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. stevens, k. (1980). the effect of topic interest on the reading comprehension of higher ability students. journal of education research, 73(6), 365–368. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 tella, a., tella, a., & adeniyi, o. (2009). locus of control, interest in schooling, self-efficacy and academic achievement. journal of educational sciences 4(3), 168–182. tobias, s. (1994). interest, prior knowledge, and learning. review of educational research, 64, 37–54. wang, h. (2005). 人民教育出版社中小学历史教材沿革[the succession and innovation of renmin educational press history textbooks in the primary and secondary schools]. retrieved january 12, 2012, from http://hist.cersp.com/jcyj/jcll/200512/840.html weber, k., & patterson, b. r. (2000). student interest, empowerment, and motivation. communication research reports, 17, 22–29. wigfield, a., & eccles, j. s. (1992). the development of achievement tasks values: a theoretical analysis. development review, 12, 265–310. yamazaki, y. (2005), learning styles and typologies of cultural differences: a theoretical and empirical comparison. international journal of intercultural relations, 29, 521–548. http://hist.cersp.com/jcyj/jcll/200512/840.html journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 71-86. corresponding author email: yongjun304@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 appendix history interest inventory (for k-12 students) perceived knowledge possessed (knowledge) 1. i know history pretty well. 2. i read more history books than my classmates. 3. compared to my peers, i think my knowledge in history is above the average. 4. i know more historical allusions than my peers. 5. i am satisfied with how much i know about history. history value perception (value) 1. reading history makes people wise. 2. learning history is important. 3. learning history increases people’s capabilities in judgment and analysis. 4. many historical figures worth learning from. 5. history knowledge is essential for being an informed citizen. positive feeling in learning history (positive feeling) 1. i feel very excited when a new history topic is initiated 2. i am interested in history. 3. i like touring history museums. 4. i enjoy reading history stories. 5. i like doing assignments relating to history. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 media review preparing citizen-agents: a review of teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism gregory j. soden, columbia public schools, columbia, missouri. stitzlein, sarah m. (2012). teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism. boulder, co; paradigm publishers. isbn-13: 978-1612052281. abstract: teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism, by sarah m. stitzlein, argues that all students have the right to public education that aims to prepare them for social dissent. offering a guide to preparing students for dissent agency, stitzlein offers teachers a rationale for why dissent matters, the history of dissent grounded in the philosophy of critical pragmatism and hope, and what preparation for dissent looks like in a public school classroom. since dissent is truly a global phenomenon, the book has relevance for educators worldwide who believe in strengthening democratic public life for all citizens in every nation. introduction dissent is a global phenomenon. in the years since september 11, 2001, dissent around a multitude of social issues has risen to high levels worldwide. for example, in the united states, citizens of all dispositions engage in dissentious activity from the far-reaching occupy movement, the tea party, the debate of marriage equality, and environmental movements such as 350.org or the keystone xl pipeline. in 2012, over 500,000 protesters in quebec, canada, achieved remarkable success opposing tuition increases and anti-protest laws. for the past two years, hundreds of thousands have engaged in intense civil demonstrations as part of the broad arab spring movement. in south america, laid-off argentine workers occupy factories while neighboring brazilians protest issues surrounding the 2016 olympics. each of these movements has a shared characteristic in that citizens act in the hope for improving life, but each also varies in effectiveness, clarity of objectives, and overall impact. so the question is implored: how do societies cultivate citizen-agents with the abilities and cognitive skills to initiate and sustain effective dissent movements? teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism, by sarah m. stitzlein (2012a), seeks to answer such a question; it is a relevant and judicious book broadly aimed at k-16 educators invoking explicit preparation of students for effective, organized, and pragmatic societal involvement. book overview the argument woven throughout teaching for dissent’s eight chapters is that all students attending schools in democratic nations ‘have a positive right to learn how to politically dissent’ and that teachers have the duty to ensure students have opportunities to learn related skills (p. 77). such skills include practicing dissentious expression, engaging in public forums, and challenging injustice. in order for teachers to effectively prepare students for developing mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 citizenship, it is important for them to consider and understand the history of dissent, why dissent agency matters, and the schools of thought informing productive and hopeful movements. stitzlein organizes the book into the following format: why dissent matters, a history of dissent in america, critical pragmatist philosophy, and, finally, practical teaching recommendations. the frameworks of the book are critical and experiential pragmatism, as well as the notion of interlacing all dissent with hope. pragmatism requires a person’s experiences to inform their decisions for improving society; in order for a student to become a mature citizen able to engage in dissentious activity, they must be given opportunities in school to practice clearly articulated dissent from a young age and be shown why some forms of dissent (peaceful over violent; articulated as opposed to vague objectives) are more effective than others. stitzlein’s first chapter introduces readers to the book’s principle arguments. well aware of the lack of democratic opportunities students currently receive in schools, stiztlein argues educators must cultivate dissent abilities in students, regardless of political affiliation. after all, while dissent is often mischaracterized as the domain of the left, such stereotypes weaken the position of all. chapter two then offers a history of dissent in the united states and how political action is embedded into the nation’s culture. the chapter also highlights the international influences upon american dissent, including the english whigs of the 1690s and the scottish enlightenment of the 1750s. the historical chapters of the book are helpful summaries for readers to comprehend the sophistication of dissent movements and describe how dissent can turn ‘self interest into public good’ (p. 19). the early tradition of some citizens in early america to engage in public discourse rings true today: large numbers of young people are interested in the workings of democracy and there is a desire among historically marginalized people to engage in public action. the question remains if schools will prepare these willing citizens adequately for citizenship. chapter three offers explanation for why dissent matters to sustain democracy. as parker (2003) gently warns, ‘democracy is not a given in nature, like gold or water…there can be no democracy without its builders, caretakers, and change agents: democratic citizens’ (p. xvii). it seems reasonable to suggest that many potential democratic change agents will never realize their own power and may become disillusioned with the lack of engagement in school without stitzlein’s proposed purposeful cultivation. without dissent pedagogy, educators lackadaisically allow many leadership-oriented students to never reach their social potential. stitzlein’s declares that dissent is ‘fundamental to a vibrant democracy’, (p. 69) but the irony is that the very institutions charged with preparing democratic citizens are dominated by an ethos of control. effective dissent by cultivated citizens that positively impacts a situation is contingent upon the disposition of the movement; notably, is the movement ‘good’? stitzlein’s characteristics of good dissent, mirroring many of naomi wolf’s (2012) suggestions for building strong social movements, include: noncompliance in the face of perpetual injustice; hopeful as opposed to cynical; collective as opposed to individual; peace as opposed to lawlessness; and a dedication mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 to language, reasoning, strategy, and intellectualism. the reflective and emotional power of the effective dissenter is one of the hallmark inclusions in the book. chapter four defines the difference between positive rights and negative rights. a positive right is a “right that guarantees that certain services will be provided by the state as a correlative duty” to citizens (p. 77). a negative right is when citizens seek a guarantee that the government will not interfere with their actions or expressions. while the united states is seen as a largely individualist nation based on personal freedoms from intrusion or interference, teaching for dissent calls for explicit clarity to students regarding their entitlement to education fostering dissentious activity. while psychological research would argue that youth do not possess the cognitive abilities to engage in public action, offering students the opportunity to dissent peacefully and coherently in school is a building block toward establishing preparedness for social action and critical thinking. if schools only serve to suppress students or teach students about dissent as a negative right, schools will fall into irrelevance as the globalized world and high levels of engaged youth leave institutionalized thinking behind. chapters five and six discuss the omission of dissent from curriculum and how teachers (are) silence(d). silencing brings to mind tucson’s mexican-american studies and the teachers, students and community members fighting for the program’s survival. opposition to the program, mostly white state administrators, suggest the program condones ‘the overthrow of the…government’ (horne, 2011). the opposition neglects to acknowledge the historical irony of their oppressive actions while strengthening the dissent resolve of marginalized people. in the instance of tucson, an organized and justified dissent movement gained national traction, produced the film ‘precious knowledge’, and has nearly brought one of the nation’s most culturally-relevant programs back from abolition. marginalized students are most likely to receive basic, structural civics education (kahne & middaugh, 2008), but teachers in tucson are attempting to escape traditional civics mostly focusing on memorization and replacing it with engaged, culturally responsive, and participatory education. while stitzlein’s passionate call for dissent education elicits enriching discussion in such a conservative age (apple, 2000), creating courses designed to empower people will remain difficult for the foreseeable future. it is unfortunate that so many of america’s activistminded teachers are not nurtured in their ideas, but are instead attacked through a deskilling of their professional decision-making. chapter seven reaffirms the importance of teaching dissent as a positive right while remaining hopeful. the final chapter complements a wealth of practitioner-based work. the chapter is directed at practicing teacher educators and teachers of social studies, language arts, and humanities, while also offers purpose to science teachers educating about climate change (bennon, 2013), art teachers discussing art-as-civil disobedience (kotin et al, 2013), or math teachers addressing community injustice (gustein, 2013). stitzlein emphasizes how teachers can move students towards democratic goals, notably how students can effectively, responsibly, and steadfastly dissent in society after practicing in school. a fascinating aspect of this chapter is the frequency with which stitzlein’s pedagogical suggestions (public speaking skills, persuasive writing, etc.) already take place. the major difference is that the philosophical and “big picture” chapters mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 leading to the practical conclusion chapter present teachers with clearer reasons for why students should care about the work they do. readers of this review likely remember asking a past teacher, ‘why are we doing this?’ only to receive the unsatisfying, ‘it’s on the test’ or ‘i said so’. teaching for dissent illuminates the practical uses of everyday schooling that will build each student’s understandings and abilities to achieve full citizenry in their country. this book offers a theoretical and practical blueprint for every teacher in democratic nations charged with educating young people. no teacher need ever respond, ‘because it’s on the test’ again. dissent as a curriculum and moral imperative teaching for dissent is an important book because it elucidates what the social education experience could become. unfortunately, democratic education in schools is suffering from what diamond and plattner (2009) might call a ‘democratic recession’ (p. x). for example, research suggests schools, likely urban, in the us, and probably elsewhere, do not offer students the opportunities to engage in practical democracy (kahne et al, 2000). dissenting students are disciplined en masse, bringing into view the moral imperative of educating all students (ladenson, 2011). furthermore, social studies seem to be rapidly vanishing in elementary grades (fitchett & heafner, 2010), potentially delaying young people’s social knowledge. scholars continue to see young teachers fall into default modes of teaching in which teaching does not reflect critical, constructivist teaching; instead, young teachers perpetuate traditional social studies models dominated by undemocratic control, lectures, note taking, and memorization (barton & levstik, 2004; conklin, 2008; ross, 2000; van hover & yeager, 2003, 2004). furthermore, the least powerful students are on the negative end of the ‘civic empowerment gap’ (levinson, 2012). as result of dominant undemocratic forces, limited conceptions of democracy, citizenship, and agency prevail (castro, 2013; martin, 2008, 2010; patterson, doppen, & misco, 2012), perpetuating status-quo marginalization. teaching dissent is important for teachers worldwide because, on paper, dissent is an inherent fundamental of education. the national council for the social studies (2010) claims as its aim the promotion of civic competence among students able to ‘be active and engaged participants in public life’ (p. 9). registering one’s discontent with representatives and other citizens engages that person in the purest form of civic engagement: dialogue with diverse peers. stitzlein argues in favor of dissent education for all people because, ‘dissent is not simply an activity of politicians or elite citizens, but an undertaking central to the continued practice of such democracy-rich activities today’ (p. 25). it is true in many countries around the world that, though all citizens have the right to dissent, obtaining results from movements remains difficult when facing a powerful elite. conclusion teaching for dissent is largely written in an american context, but dissent is a global phenomenon and the book is relevant to educators in all nations. the book is useful to teacher educators, practicing teachers, and students of education, as is stitzlein’s (2012b) other work on the topic. as teacher education pushes new teachers towards critical, justice-oriented dispositions and methods, books like teaching for dissent are supportive tools to share with mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 young teachers. the book provides a clear rationale, purpose, and direction that can be pursued in schools worldwide. references apple, m.w. (2000). official knowledge: democratic education in a conservative age. new york: routledge. barton, k. c. & levstik, l. s. (2004). teaching history for the common good. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. bennon, b. (2013). paradise lost: introducing students to climate change through story. rethinking schools, 27(3), 54-57. castro, a. j. (2013). what makes a citizen? critical and multicultural citizenship and preservice teachers’ understanding of citizenship skills. theory & research in social education. 41(2), 219-246. conklin, h. g. (2008). modeling compassion in critical, justice-oriented teacher education. harvard educational review, 78, 652–673. diamond, l. & plattner (2009). democracy: a reader. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. fitchett, p. g. & heafner, t. l. (2010). a national perspective on the effects of high-stakes testing and standardization on elementary social studies marginalization. theory and research in social education, 38(1), 114-130. gustein, e. (2013). whose community is this? mathematics of neighborhood displacement. rethinking schools, 27(3), 11-17. horne, t. (2011). findings by the state superintendent of public instruction of violation by tucson unified school district pursuant to a.r.s. § 15-112 (b). retrieved from: http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/20110103arizona ethnic-studies-tucson-tom-horne.html kahne, j., rodriguez, m., smith, b., & thiede, k. (2000). developing citizens for democracy? assessing opportunities to learn in chicago’s social studies classrooms. theory and research in social education, 28(3), 311-338. kahne, j. & middaugh, e. (2008). democracy for some: the civic opportunity gap in high school. retrieved:http://www.civicyouth.org/popups/workingpapers/wp59kahne.pdf mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 92-97. corresponding author email: gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 kotin, a., mcgregor, s. a., pellecchia, d., schatz, i., & liu, s. p. (2013). speak out. act up. move forward. disobedience-based arts education. harvard educational review, 83(1), 190200. ladenson, r. f. (2011). limitations upon legitimate authority to suspend and expel k-12 public school students: a moral analysis. theory and research in education, 9(3), 265-281. levinson, m. (2012). no citizen left behind. boston, ma: harvard university press. martin, l. a. (2008). elementary and secondary teacher education students’perspectives on citizenship. action in teacher education, 30(3), 54–63. martin, l. a. (2010). a comparative analysis of teacher education students’ views about citizenship education. action in teacher education, 32(2), 56–69. national council for the social studies (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. silver springs, md: national council for the social studies. parker, w. c. (2003). teaching democracy: unity and diversity in public life. new york, ny: teachers college press. patterson, n., doppen, f., & misco, t. (2012). beyond personally responsible: a study of teacher conceptions of citizenship education. education, citizenship, and social justice, 7(2), 191-206. ross, e. w. (2000). redrawing the lines: the case against traditional social studies instruction. in d. hursh & e. w. ross (eds.), democratic social education: social studies for social change (pp. 43-63). new york, ny: falmer press. stitzlein, s. m. (2012a). teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. stitzlein, sarah m. (2012b). the right to dissent and its implications for schooling. educational theory 62(1), 41-58. van hover, s. d. & yeager, e. a. (2003). just trying to stay above water: a case study of a beginning teacher. international social studies forum, 3(1), 219-232. van hover s. d., & yeager, e. a. (2004). challenges facing beginning history teachers: an exploratory study. international journal of social education, 19(1), 8-26. wolf, n. (2012). engaging democracy: how citizen uprisings will reshape america. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsnfysvxvzs mailto:gregorysoden@mail.missouri.edu the work of australian author and illustrator jeannie baker has won numerous awards, including recognition for “window” as a notable trade book by ncss journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 49 spring/summer 2011 art filled social studies resources: considering the books of jeannie baker carolyn o’mahony, oakland university ______________________________________________________________________________ visual artist jeannie baker is a truly international children’s book author. an english-born australian, her innovative books address universally shared themes, such as family relationships and human-land interactions, through the use of collage. her publications have won australian and international awards, including a national council for the social studies notable trade book award, and have been published in non-english speaking countries such as france, israel, and japan. her most recent books have been published simultaneously in england and the usa. her oeuvre includes early work as an illustrator as well as an impressive collection of books she has both written and illustrated. however “written” is putting it metaphorically because many of baker’s creations are wordless books. readers will enjoy puzzling over the various materials she uses to construct collages that, not surprisingly, have brought her accolades as an artist. the attraction of baker’s work for social studies teachers is that she deliberately addresses issues that are commonly explored in social studies classes. so, while there is an incredibly strong sense of place and “australian-ness” in the illustrations, the underlying narratives speak strongly to readers in other parts of the world (aitken, 1997). many of baker’s books could be used on their own, paired together, or as a group. “grandfather” (1977) and “grandmother” (1978) depict a little girl with her grandfather in an antiques store, and in a cottage with her grandmother. they provide rich material for discussing cross generational relationships and the role of artifacts and stories of the past in establishing personal identity and interpersonal connections. either of these books could be paired with “millicent” (1980), which depicts the rich inner world of an elderly lady on her daily walk through a busy city park. with its detailed depictions of city life, this book could also be partnered with “home in the sky” (1983), which tells the story of a new york city homing pigeon that gets separated from his flock. new york based reviewers have enthused over the quality of these depictions of life in their city. this book was reissued in spanish in the 1990s. in the 1980s baker also produced “where the forest meets the sea” (1987), which tells the story of a boy’s beach picnic with his father, while cleverly alluding to the people and creatures who once inhabited that location. this book could easily be read with a later creation, “the hidden forest” (2000), in which baker brings a boy into contact with the world below the surface of the sea he thinks he knows. reminiscent of alfred hitchcock’s iconic movie, “rear window,” baker uses a window to frame views of changing journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 50 spring/summer 2011 landscapes in the appropriately titled “window” (1991) and in “belonging” (2004), which was also published and lauded as “home” (2004). the mechanism of the window in these wordless books enables the artist to depict growth in the individual main character, sam in “window” and tracy in “home,” while focusing readers’ attention on changes in the environment: urban sprawl and urban gentrification respectively. a growing body of research in literacy and early childhood education asserts the effectiveness of using wordless books such as baker’s with young pre-readers, students with learning disabilities, foreign language learners, and bilingual students. perhaps not surprisingly, when adults and children tell stories about books they tend to use broader vocabularies and use more words than when they read them (jalongo, dragich, conrad, & zhang, 2002). meticulous illustrations in baker’s collages provide readers with numerous opportunities to look for details to describe, question, discuss, and integrate into their narratives. given that so many children now live in urban areas, discussing particular elements of baker’s illustrations, such as the direction vehicles are driving on the roads, the multinational companies being advertised on billboards, or the types of plants in the gardens, can foster their awareness and help them have insights about the cityscapes they see each day. the incremental positive changes in the cityscape of “home” can provide children with a plan of action for their own communities. however, explaining some details in baker’s books requires background knowledge. the word “sorry” being written by a skywriter in “home“ is the author’s message to australia’s indigenous peoples. four years after its publication the australian prime minister made an official apology for past mistreatments, and in particular for the stolen generations, the aboriginal and torres strait children who were forcibly taken from their families and communities (the australian, 2008). in her most recent creation, “mirror” (2010), baker uses the attractiveness of arabic and roman type as well as collage to communicate her appreciation of not only the uniqueness of each place on the planet but also of our connected shared humanity. readers will notice how the explicit context of her work has globalized. they can also look at the development in her artistic techniques and use of technology. her innovative work with collage has been extended to the quality of the book itself. opening the book in the middle allows readers to follow a story in english and arabic at the same time. turning the pages they follow the daily lives of two boys, one in australia and one in morocco. at a time when many social studies educators are saddened by what baker observes as “political poisoning of attitudes towards foreigners and foreignness” (2010, afterword) they can appreciate and be uplifted by using teaching resources such as the ones baker has created. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 51 spring/summer 2011 the author’s website: www.jeanniebaker.com references aitken, m. (1997). a place to live: urban images in australian picture books. la trobe journal, 60, 48-61. baker, j. (1977). grandfather. sydney, australia: scholastic inc. (1978). grandmother. sydney, australia: scholastic inc. (1987). where the forest meets the sea. new york: scholastic inc. (1991). window. new york: greenwillow books. (2004). belonging. london: walker books. (2004). home. new york: harpercollins. (2010). mirror. somerville, ma: candlewick press. jalongo, m., dragich, d., conrad, n., & zhang, a. (2002). using wordless picture books to support emergent literacy. early childhood education journal, 29(3),167-177. full wording of the apology to the stolen generations. (2008). the australian. retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/indepth/aboriginal-australia/apologyto-the-stolen-generations/storye6frgd9f-1111115535578. http://www.jeanniebaker.com/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 marrying turkey to global citizenship: tendencies in citizenship education in modern turkey vahap demir purdue university abstract: this paper reviews the literature on citizenship education and examines the factors that have influenced trends in citizenship education in the republic of turkey since its foundation in 1923. the aim of this paper is to discuss the general tendencies and practices in citizenship education that have shaped how turkish youth perceived citizenship throughout the republic’s history. by addressing three important aspects of these tendencies and traditions (history, geography, and geopolitics), the author will discuss whether turkey is prepared to produce globally minded citizens in today’s interconnected world. the history of civic education in modern turkey can be divided into four time periods, as organized by i̇nce (2012): the single party period (1923-1946), the democratic party period (1946-1960), the first military intervention period (1960-1980), and the second military intervention period (1980 onward). key words: global citizenship, turkey, citizenship education history of citizenship education in modern turkey single party period (1923-1946) modern turkey, or the republic of turkey, came into existence on october 29, 1923, following the fall of the ottoman empire. according to çayır (2015), “turkish history [in this era] represents a painful transition from the multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual ottoman empire to the turkish nation-state” (p. 523). this was a multifaceted and quick change. because the ottomans had fallen far behind europe in terms of development before their empire fell apart, the modern turkish republic sought to bring turkey back into step with europe and the modern world. mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 in turkey, nationalism was a new concept that arose with the republic. the complicated circumstances and events that occurred during wwi may be considered as the source of turkish nationalism. until the end of wwi, turkishness (the state of being turkish), which refers to an ethno-nationalistic worldview that excludes all non-turkish people, was never considered a term that distinguished between identities (çayır, 2015). the ottomans had no notion of citizenship; the empire was made up of subjects (tebaa) who were treated equally regardless of their ethnicity, culture, or language. religion was what made them different. the ottoman empire was primarily a muslim empire. non-muslims, christians, and jews were all recognized as such and had considerable control over their own lives; nonetheless, they were forced to acknowledge islam’s authority and were subjected to a muslim state that granted them fewer privileges than muslims. after the empire was defeated in wwi and the balkan wars (1912-22) and lost territory in the balkans and the middle east, the country’s trend was toward turkish nationalism, driven by the “modernizing elite” who subsequently formed the republic (çayır, 2015). the growth of nationalism in the early years of the republic led to racial, religious, and linguistic classification, as well as a shift in the notion of citizenship in contemporary turkey. during the period from 1923 to 1946, the only legal political party was the people’s republican party (chp) (i̇nce, 2012). the chp was built on a set of ideas known as the six pillars: nationalism, republicanism, populism, secularism (adopted in 1927), statism, and revolution (added in 1935). ataturk’s six principles were the inspiration for these six pillars. he described these ideas as “essentials” that the nation should adhere to while it worked to rebuild and develop the country. the term “citizen” was narrowly defined throughout the chp period. citizenship was perceived “on the basis of a single religion (sunni islam) and a single language (turkish), and the slogan of the period was ‘one language, one culture, one ideal’” (i̇nce, 2012, p. 119). people of other religions and languages like christians and jews, as well as kurds and circassians, were classified as non-turkish (kadıoğlu, 2007). as a result of this classification, these non-turkish “others” were forced to assimilate; for example, the use of kurdish language or names was prohibited (çayır, 2015). during the first six years of the newly founded country, there was no explanation of what made up the turkish nation in civic textbooks (i̇nce, 2012). while the 1924 constitution declared that “all citizens of the republic are considered equals regardless of their religion, color, or ethnicity” (polat, 2011, p. 144), civic education textbooks did not reflect this. according to the 1924 constitution, everyone in the country had the same rights and obligations (i̇nce, 2012). these rights, on the other hand, were fundamental rights like the right to an education, health care, and privacy. although the constitution did not offer precise words to mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 preserve these rights, it did highlight the duties and responsibilities (i̇nce, 2012). the goal of citizenship education was defined as “teaching citizenship duties” (emin, 1930). during its early years, the republic of turkey began to narrow its idea of “nation” as it moved away from the ottoman model socially, culturally, and politically. when we study the circumstances, however, we can see why the chp administration shifted from the ottoman definition of “tebaa,” which was more inclusive compared to the concept of citizenship. given that nationalism was one of the strongest motivators in wwi, the chp government’s motivation for turkish nationalism is understandable. it is also reasonable to conclude that the nationalist environment of the moment drove turkey in a similar path. after 1929, definitions of turkish citizenship appeared in civic education textbooks (i̇nce, 2012). vatandaş için medeni bilgiler (civic information for the citizen) was the most important citizenship education textbook during this time period and can be considered the official citizenship book (i̇nce, 2012). although it was published under the name of afet i̇nan, mustafa kemal ataturk’s adoptive daughter, this text was written by mustafa kemal ataturk, the founder of modern turkey (i̇nce, 2012). in the early years of the republic, this textbook, which was released in 1931, was a significant resource for developing and understanding turkish citizenship (gürses, 2010). according to i̇nce (2012), the “one language, one culture, one ideal” discourse is heavily emphasized in this book, and a nation is defined as a social and political community made up of citizens who share the same ideals, language, and culture. i̇nce (2012) goes on to say that, while the book’s definitions are promoted as “inclusive,” ataturk’s views on what made up the turkish nation appear to contradict this. the following elements make up turkish nationhood, according to him: a) political unity; b) linguistic unity; c) territorial unity; d) racial unity; e) shared history; f) shared morality (i̇nan, 1931, in i̇nce, 2012, p. 119). the following headings appeared in civics textbooks during the single-party period: democracy, nation, the state, the republic, taxes, the military and military service (üstel, 2005, in çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). these textbooks emphasized solidarity and national unity based on turkishness (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). following 1929, textbooks began to define turkish citizenship. in relation to these definitions, despite the linguistic reference to a political idea of citizenship, it was acknowledged that behaviors during the nation-building process were exclusivist (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). indeed, education has been viewed as a tool by the government to transform the lives of its citizens to mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 create an organic turkish society since the inception of the republic (parlak, 2005; üstel, 2005, in çayır, 2015). entering multi-party democracy (1946-1960) in 1946, a second successfully created political party, the democratic party (dp), was brought to the country. this year was significant in turkish politics since it signified the start of the “multiparty democracy” era. following a 27-year period of single-party government, the democratic party won the 1950 elections and ruled the country until 1960, when military intervention ended the party’s reign (i̇nce, 2012). during the first decade of the democratic party’s administration, significant changes took place in the country. the dp not only liberalized key citizenship rules but also changed how citizenship was taught in textbooks (i̇nce, 2012). this period saw a greater emphasis on citizenship rights and democracy in textbooks than the previous period; however, throughout this time period, the same textbooks described martial law in a way that signaled it was appropriate to curtail fundamental human rights in certain instances (i̇nce, 2012). the abandonment of the chp’s six pillars was one of the most significant developments during the dp’s administration (polat, 2011). this shift, particularly the abandonment of nationalism as a pillar, was a key indicator of how the single-party period’s worldview was shifting toward more inclusive civic education. according to çayır and gürkaynak (2007), the multi-party period’s broad liberalization and democratization movement was reflected across the educational system. prior to the 1980 coup, the country saw a rapid phase of liberalization. the advancement of minority rights was another notable achievement during the republic’s new era. turkey only succeeded in creating multi-party democracy after the second world war, following multiple failed efforts during the single-party period, and once there, turkey began to pay more attention to minority rights (polat, 2011). despite the growing focus in textbooks on minority rights, citizenship rights, and democracy, as well as the abandonment of a nationalist perspective in citizenship education during this time, issues of inclusivity remained within the concept of nation. between 1956 and 1960, textbooks described the nation as “a community of people who share the same fatherland, speak the same language, and share the same historical links, emotions, opinions, and ideals” (aksan, 1952, in i̇nce, 2012, p. 122). the textbooks released during the democratic party period, according to karakılıç and müjdeci (2014), mainly perpetuated the beliefs and approaches stated during the single-party period. similarly, i̇nce mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 (2012) claims that the definition of nation in this period looks to be fairly similar to the singleparty period’s conception of “nation” and “citizen.” between the two coups (1960-1980) during this period, the 1961 constitution was amended. the amendment included promoting citizenship rights and inclusion. this constitution ushered in a more liberal and inclusive view of citizenship, which was reflected in school curricula and civic textbooks (i̇nce, 2012). this trend came to a halt following the 1971 memorandum, in which the military forced the government to resign by writing a letter, and after 1971, civics texts returned to “emphasizing obligations over rights” (i̇nce, 2012, p. 124). individual rights, for example, have been defined as something provided to citizens in exchange for completing citizenship duties (erdem & konuk, 1972, in i̇nce, 2012). the military coup of 1980 signaled the end of the efforts for an inclusive democracy and liberalization in the country. the phrase “everyone” appears in practically every item involving citizens’ rights and freedoms in the 1961 constitution, which states that “everyone who is tied to the turkish state by his or her citizenship ties is turk” (polat, 2011, p. 152). in comparison to the previous period, the state appeared to be more receptive to citizens and their rights during this time. the ministry of education’s citizenship education syllabus, based on the 1961 constitution, discussed the state’s responsibilities in terms of respecting and protecting people’s rights (i̇nce, 2012). in one article, it was said that no one is granted privilege or discrimination (constitutional court, 1993, in polat, 2011). turkishness was understood as a term that encompassed people of various races (constitutional court, 1993, in polat, 2011). greeks, jews, and armenians were all regarded as turks in this context (pazarlı, 1964, in i̇nce, 2012). the goal of “one language, one culture” was less emphasized in this constitution, and its wording appeared to be more inclusive. furthermore, according to tanör (1992, in polat, 2011), the term nationalism was disassociated from notions such as racism and hostility in the 1961 constitution (polat, 2011). the 1961 constitution promised a more democratic and free turkey. it listed the rights and freedoms outlined in the universal declaration of human rights and the european convention on human rights (tanör, 1992, in polat, 2011). the 1961 constitution promoted critical thinking and participatory education in terms of education (i̇nce, 2012). the teaching and education committee’s syllabus published in 1969, for example, strongly encouraged active citizenship (i̇nce, 2012). nonetheless, the emphasis on homogeneity over diversity and ethnic divide over diversity has not waned: the textbooks mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 published during this period described the basis of turkish nationalism as “every turk should carry the feeling of ‘i am a turk, and i am proud to be a turk’” (i̇nce, 2012, p. 123). the expanding governmental authority against individuals and society disrupted the fundamental rights and freedoms trend after the 1971 military memorandum and a constitutional amendment the same year (polat, 2011). after the 1971 memorandum, the term “nationalism,” which had been dropped from the 1961 constitution, was reintroduced into schooling. according to the national education basic law, “the general aim of the turkish national education is to develop a sense of citizenship which protects and develops the national morality of the turkish nation, which embraces the moral, human, spiritual and cultural values of the turkish nation based on ataturk’s revolutions and turkish nationalism” (p. 153). social studies, which includes history, geography, and citizenship education courses, were adopted by the ministry of national education in 1970. according to çayır and gürkaynak (2007), “the curriculum was still very eclectic, with remains of a nationalistic structure and a newly acquired spirit of freedom and solidarity found together in the texts” (p. 52). toward the end of this time, the government’s fear of internal and external threats grew. diversity, according to “political elites” of the time, was producing internal tensions and eroding the country’s defenses against exterior threats. as a unifying component for the country, a stronger nationalistic viewpoint was recommended, and this was quickly reflected in the educational system. as a result, new course textbooks have been introduced: national history, national geography, and citizenship (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). 1980 to recent times with a new constitution in 1982, two years after the previous military coup, the government appeared to be regressing in its image of inclusive democracy. the favorable developments of the 1960s and 1970s were being swept away by this downturn. in many ways, the new constitution differed from the previous one, particularly in terms of citizenship rights. citizenship rights in the 1982 constitution were limited, their practice was rendered harder, and the rights lost their conformity with universal human rights norms (kaynar & ak, 2017). a nation, according to textbooks written after 1980, is the sum of history, culture, religion, and language, in which an aim to homogenize the country could be seen (i̇nce, 2012). despite the republic’s determination to join the globalizing world in the 1980s and 1990s, human rights looked to be the main focus of curriculum and textbooks (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 citizenship and human rights was introduced as an obligatory study in the seventh and eighth grades in 1998, highlighting the importance of human rights (i̇nce, 2012). according to gök (2003), the true motivation for this move was not to strengthen the rights of turkish citizens. instead, human rights were viewed as “simply a tool to boost turkey’s reputation and legitimacy on the world scene” (in i̇nce, 2012, p. 125). üstel (2004) claims that civic education became ethnocultural in the 1980s (in kaya, 2016). the emphasis was not just on celebrating turkish culture from a patriotic standpoint but also on acknowledging turkey’s foes and its “excellent” culture as well as its territorial integrity. the republic’s goal since its founding has been to raise the country to the “level of contemporary civilization” (muasır medeniyetler seviyesi), which ataturk designated as the nation’s ultimate goal. simultaneously, defining the enemy in textbooks was seen as a necessity so that the youth would be aware of those who wished to thwart the fulfillment of that goal. according to çayır and gürkaynak (2007), textbooks from this era depict turkey as “always under threat from both internal and external enemies due to its geopolitical importance” (p. 53). the ideology underpinning the turkish education system was nationalistic and militaristic, according to an analysis of the threats given in textbooks. the citizenship and human rights education textbook created and published by the ministry of national education in 1998 said that “[from this book] you will better understand how our enemies strive to achieve their aims with damaging and divisive techniques” (bilgen et al., 2001, in çayır & gürkaynak, 2007, p. 53). internal threats have been characterized as “separatist and reactionary” (bilgen et al., 2001, in çayır & gürkaynak, 2007, p. 54). for example, in turkey’s southeast, a struggle between kurdish guerrillas and the turkish government has raged for more than 40 years (çayır, 2015). the kurdish people involved in the conflict are frequently depicted as internal threats who wish to take control of the state (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). external threats, on the other hand, have always been present in turkish politics and education. in the schooling process, students are constantly informed of external risks and are required to stay vigilant. external opponents were emphasized in the social studies curriculum and textbooks during the 1980s and 1990s. studies in national security was a required course urging young citizens to be vigilant; this course was part of the high school curriculum from 1926 until it was withdrawn by the justice and development party (jdp) government (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). armenia and greece were depicted in the textbook as seizing lands from turkey in order to form “greater armenia” and “greater greece” (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 during this time, turkey was concerned about national security and wary of foreigners. however, as part of other changes, and to be able to enter the european union, the state improved its economy and integrated itself into the global free market (çayır & gürkaynak, 2007). with the start of the new millennium, reforms became even more intense. after the jdp won the elections in 2002, sweeping reforms were pursued, including in education. one of the jdp government’s educational reforms was to eliminate the national security (milli güvenlik) course, which was deemed undesirable due to its militaristic tone (altınay, 2004, in çayır, 2015). the turkish student oath, which was recited by elementary and middle school pupils every morning before classes began, was also abolished. the controversial statement “how happy is the one who says i’m a turk” (çayır, 2015, p. 525) was incorporated in the oath. the word “turk” was interpreted in this oath to relate to a specific ethnic identity: that of ethnically turkish people. as a result, other ethnic groups in the country such as kurds and armenians were left out of the oath. allowing education in kurdish language was another key step taken by the jdp in order to address the needs and expectations of minorities. kurds, who make up around 20 percent of turkey’s population and have long been rejected by the previous governments, have been requesting schooling in their mother tongue for decades (çayır, 2015). the jdp made history by introducing a kurdish language course as an elective in the school curriculum (çayır, 2015). these developments, according to çayır (2015), were “the opening of a pandora’s box in turkey” (p. 526). despite these reform efforts, the 1982 constitution remains in force. although there have been some minor updates, many people believe it is outdated. both the 1961 and 1982 constitutions’ conceptions of citizenship have been challenged for reflecting a race-based and exclusive understanding of citizenship (aybay, 2008, in polat, 2011). despite this criticism, the constitutional court decided that the constitution’s concept of citizenship should be understood as inclusive and unifying, and that it does not entail any special treatment or discrimination for or against any ethnic group (aybay, 2008, in polat, 2011). since its inception in 1982, the constitution has been amended multiple times, but an acceptable and inclusive understanding of citizenship has yet to be achieved (polat, 2011). geographical & geopolitical factors influencing citizenship education in modern turkey turkey’s perception of civic education is shaped by its geographical and geopolitical location. turkey has traditionally seen itself as one of the most strategically important lands in the world, with lands in both europe and asia surrounded by the aegean sea, black sea, and mediterranean. mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 turkey is regarded as a “bridge” between the west and the east. this idea contributes to current suspicions that turkey’s neighbors armenia and greece are attempting to partition the country and seize land. such fears have their origins in the ottoman empire, as most of these bordering countries, especially greece, wished to be independent of the ottomans before the empire’s collapse. the ministry of national education’s (mone) textbook citizenship and human rights education, published in 1998, highlights the existence of opponents surrounding the country. the following sample demonstrates how neighboring countries are presented to turkish students as potential threats: “turkey has a critical geopolitical situation in the region and the world. because of this, many countries have several aims in our motherland. […] the places that harbor destructive terrorist organizations are neighboring countries, which we think are our allies” (bilgen et al., 2001, in çayır & gürkaynak, 2007, p. 54). textbooks portray these countries as prospective adversaries while underlining that turkey has always sought peace with other nations, referencing ataturk’s famous dictum, “peace at home, peace in the world.” however, because challenges to turkey’s territorial integrity exist, these texts state that turkey must remain vigilant and ready to fight and protect itself. turkey, despite not being a participant, was influenced by world war ii due to its geopolitical location (taşdöven, 2013). throughout wwii, turkey had to maintain a state of readiness to secure its borders. as a result, the government governed the economy in accordance with the actual risk of war, and the army was constantly prepared (taşdöven, 2013). armaoğlu (1994) depicts how turkey felt during these years: turkey’s situation in the second world war was nothing but the efforts of the allies and the axis to get turkey involved in the war, and the pressures they placed on turkey because of its strategic position. turkey’s policy towards these activities of the warring parties was to stay out of the war and to protect the country from the destruction of the war. (p. 407) turkey’s belief in its geopolitical importance is one of the main reasons why the government is distrustful of its neighbors. given that some of these countries yearned for independence from the ottomans, it is understandable that modern turkey depicts them in this way in its educational system. turkey remains apprehensive of a hypothetical alliance between these countries, believing that some of them, such as greece, seek turkey’s lands. mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 as turkey is situated between the continents of europe and asia, acting as a link between western and eastern cultures, there is a constant interplay among turkish, european, and asian traditions. both western and eastern influences guide turkey’s approach to citizenship and citizenship education. the major curriculum reform of 2005 was the outcome of the country’s western and secular trajectory, and it was heavily influenced by american and other western models. however, after more than a decade, the west’s influence appears to be decreasing, and turkey’s present course appears to be away from such influences. western criticism of turkey’s present domestic affairs could be one of the causes for the shift. another factor influencing turkey’s decision is the region’s political instability, particularly in syria. these concerns, together with western criticism of turkey’s present political events, are potentially driving turkey away from an inclusive citizenship notion. discussion & concluding remarks even though the notion of “global citizenship education” emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, turkey did not openly discuss it until the 2000s. curriculum reforms arose in many regions of the world in the 1990s because of globalization’s pervasive influence and new entities such as the european union (terra & bromley, 2012, in çayır, 2015). in 2005, turkey’s jdp government implemented a significant curriculum revision. in the turkish education system, the reform tried to replace the old behavioral approach to instruction with a constructivist one. constructivism, as opposed to behaviorism, involves students in the learning process. in global citizenship education, the constructivist approach is highly appreciated. the reform also included a “global connections” topic in the social studies curriculum for students in grades 4 through 7 (ttkb, 2009b, 2009c, in açıkalın, 2010). this was the first time that the word “global” was used in the turkish social studies history. this curriculum aimed to integrate global perspectives in school and increase turkish youth’s “global mindedness.” the necessity of this issue, according to mone, derives from advances in science and technology that have improved the relationship between societies by blurring their boundaries and making them more accessible (ttkb, 2009). students should be aware of inter-societal linkages in such a world (ttkb, 2009). the following is mone’s description of this theme for each grade level: students in the fourth and fifth grades will be able to recognize the general characteristics of countries from around the world and compare them to their own. while forming an opinion about the natural resources, economic status, and economic relationships of other countries as well as their own, students in the 6th and 7th grades will appreciate the value of ideas and art in international engagement. students will also learn about the functioning of international mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 organizations and develop views about economic, political, security, health, and environmental challenges. (ttkb, 2009) simply incorporating these concepts into the curriculum is insufficient. açıkalın (2010) evaluated these units using global citizenship elements as criteria. he found that the most significant aspects of global citizenship are included in the new social studies curriculum and standards; however, they are not presented well enough. for example, skills that a global citizen should have were not covered. the new curriculum/standards, as well as the corresponding textbooks produced and published in response to the reform, have been in use since 2005, with their benefits and drawbacks. as part of its efforts to improve global mindedness in education, the jdp administration is still developing and revising the curriculum (açıkalın, 2010). the jdp’s efforts to promote diversity, consider minorities’ rights, and advance inclusiveness from 2002 to the present cannot be overlooked. however, despite recent developments under the jdp government, çayır (2015) claims that the depiction of problems such as national self and ethnic minorities in textbooks has not changed significantly from past periods. as discussed in this paper, citizenship education in contemporary turkey has a long history of excluding elements that accord with what we now refer to as global citizenship. turkey attempted to provide a more inclusive citizenship that was more linked with the concept of global citizenship at times, but these efforts were frequently thwarted by numerous occurrences. while the jdp government’s most recent attempts are encouraging, turkey’s historical tendency toward citizenship (education) makes it difficult for today’s turkey to reach a higher level of conformity with what we now refer to as global citizenship/education. mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 references açıkalın, m. (2010). the influence of global education on the turkish social studies curriculum. the social studies, 101(6), 254-259. doi: 10.1080/00377991003774887 armaoğlu, f. (1994). 20. yüzyıl siyasi tarihi (20th century political history) 1914-1980, c. 1. ankara: türkiye i̇ş bankası kültür yayınları. çayır, k. (2015). citizenship, nationality, and minorities in turkey’s textbooks: from politics of non-recognition to “difference multiculturalism.” comparative education, 51(4), 519536. doi: 10.1080/03050068.2015.1088210 çayır, k., & gürkaynak, i. (2007). the state of citizenship education in turkey: past and present. journal of social science education, 6(2), 50-58. http://www.jsse.org/index.php/jsse/article/view/1048/951 emin, m. (1930). yurt bilgisi (kanaat kütüphanesi). gürses, f. (2010). kemalism’s model lesson book: civilized knowledges for the citizen (kemalizm’in model ders kitabı: vatandaş i̇çin medeni bilgiler). akademik bakış, 4(7). i̇nce, b. (2012). citizenship education in turkey: inclusive or exclusive. oxford review of education, 38(2), 115-131. doi: 10.1080/03054985.2011.651314 kadıoğlu, a. (2007). denationalization of citizenship? the turkish experience. citizenship studies, 11(3), 283-299. karakılıç, c., & müjdeci, m. (2014). the identity and citizenship in the books on citizenship (1950-1960). the pursuit of history. international periodical for history and social research, 11, 173-198. http://www.tarihinpesinde.com/dergimiz/nisan2014/m11_10.pdf kaya, a. (2016). ethno-religious narratives of citizenship in turkey: fabricating citizens through national education. research and policy on turkey, 1(2), 119-131. doi: 10.1080/23760818.2016.1201243 kaynar, m., k., & ak, g. (2017). an analysis regarding relation between 1982 constitution and human rights. the journal of academic social science, 41, 90-103. polat, e. g. (2011). the concept of citizenship from the ottoman empire to current times. ankara barosu dergisi (ankara law society magazine), 3. http://www.ankarabarosu.org.tr/siteler/ankarabarosu/tekmakale/2011-3/2011-3-4.pdf mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.jsse.org/index.php/jsse/article/view/1048/951 http://www.tarihinpesinde.com/dergimiz/nisan2014/m11_10.pdf http://www.ankarabarosu.org.tr/siteler/ankarabarosu/tekmakale/2011-3/2011-3-4.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 51-63 corresponding author: vdemir@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 taşdöven, z. (2013). the understanding of education in the period of democratic party (19501960). (master’s thesis). http://adudspace.adu.edu.tr:8080/jspui/bitstream/11607/678/1/zehra%20ta%c5%9ed %c3%96ven.pdf üstel, f. (2004). education in turkey, castle of conservatism (transcription of interview), feridun andaç. http://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/61182-turkiyede-egitimmuhafazakarligin-kalesi üstel, f. (2005). makbul vatandası̧n pesinde. i̇stanbul: i̇letisim yayınları. about the author: vahap demir is a doctoral candidate at purdue university, department of curriculum and instruction. he is a first-generation college student and recipient of a highly prestigious scholarship from turkish government (ylsy). he teaches social studies methods courses at purdue university. vahap’s research interests include global citizenship education, multicultural education, and international education. in his free time vahap enjoys playing soccer, hiking, and spending time with his friends from all over the world. mailto:vdemir@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://adudspace.adu.edu.tr:8080/jspui/bitstream/11607/678/1/zehra%20ta%c5%9ed%c3%96ven.pdf http://adudspace.adu.edu.tr:8080/jspui/bitstream/11607/678/1/zehra%20ta%c5%9ed%c3%96ven.pdf http://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/61182-turkiyede-egitim-muhafazakarligin-kalesi http://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/61182-turkiyede-egitim-muhafazakarligin-kalesi between self and state: singapore social studies teachers’ perspectives of diversity journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 20 between self and state: singapore social studies teachers’ perspectives of diversity li-ching ho national institute of education, nanyang technological university, singapore theresa alviar-martin national institute of education, nanyang technological university, singapore journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 21 social studies and civic education scholarship assert that, to be effective proponents of multicultural education, teachers must navigate a complex agenda comprising knowledge, personal beliefs, student needs, and state policies (banks, mcgee-banks, cortes, hahn, merryfield, moodley, murphy-shigematsu, osler, park, & parker, 2005; matthews & dilworth, 2008). teachers should be familiar with multicultural content and instructional strategies (villegas & lucas, 2002), and understand the major theories and principles within the field (gay, 2002). multicultural education also compels teachers to build awareness of their own identity, requires teachers to appreciate how personal perceptions of diversity may influence their instruction, and demands recognition of how societal policies and discourse relating to diversity affect instruction and learning. citing the spread of democracy, a growing number of scholars view multicultural curricula as crucial to the preparation of young citizens, especially within societies marked by social inequalities (banks et al., 2005; castles, 2004). yet, national narratives and policies regarding race, gender, socio-economic stratification, and education vary in the manner by which schools welcome children from a wide cultural spectrum (banks, 2008; bokhorst-heng, 2007; castles, 2004; feinberg, 1998). in addition, despite contentions that the investigation of the nexus of identity, diversity, and society offers important implications for multicultural education, few studies have examined how state policies and predominant societal narratives influence teachers’ perceptions and practice. consequently, we seek to expand social studies scholarship by making visible the influence of national policies and narratives on singapore social studies teachers’ conceptions of diversity. singapore, a young and diverse postcolonial city-state with ethnic chinese, malay, and indian heritage, has implemented national educational policies that have historically emphasized racial harmony in the interest of national survival (ho, 2010). by contextualizing teachers’ perceptions in this qualitative study, we aim to contribute to international efforts in understanding how best to prepare social studies teachers, as they, in turn, prepare young citizens for effective participation in multicultural, democratic societies. diversity and the state states’ efforts to reconcile tensions between a unified national identity and citizens’ diverse affiliations span a range of philosophical stances: assimilationism, separatism, pluralism, and multiculturalism (feinberg, 1998). these stances manifest in policies and narratives that, in turn, implicate the role of education (banks, 2008; miller-lane, howard, & halagao, 2007; castles, 2004; parker, 2003). proponents of multicultural education have advocated for broad societal and educational policies that take into account complex forms of identity. parker (1997), for example, argues that education should promote both singular citizen identities as well as cultural identities through the creation of a sense of citizenship that is inclusive of individual differences, multiple group affinities, and a cohesive political community. more recently, banks (2008) has argued against traditional, universal conceptions of citizenship in proposing a model of cultural citizenship that includes cultural rights for citizens from diverse ethnic or racial groups. for banks, the state and, by extension, the schools should recognize group differentiated rights within a wider framework of democracy. in many societies however, singapore included, predominating narratives and values do not necessarily mirror multicultural principles. nevertheless, our study is informed by contentions that, as curriculum gatekeepers, teachers are in a unique position to make pedagogical choices about how best to address their journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 22 students’ learning needs. although societal discourse and state policies may echo assimilationist, separatist or pluralist values, teachers can learn to recognize, develop, and implement multicultural theories and values (merryfield, 2000). teacher preparation therefore, plays a crucial role in furthering multicultural education because teachers’ beliefs and dispositions toward their students, pedagogy and curriculum greatly impact their professional behavior (gay & howard, 2000). factors that appear to influence teachers’ attitudes toward diversity and multicultural awareness include personal dispositions (garmon, 2004), beliefs (pohan, 1996), political ideologies (k.s. cockrell, placier, d.h. cockrell, & middleton, 1999) and experiences (garmon, 2004; smith, moallem & sherrill, 1997). teachers consequently, need to reflect, interrogate and acknowledge their own attachments, beliefs and privileges because “the process of affirming the diversity of students begins first as a teacher’s journey” (nieto, 2000, p. 184). as such, proponents of multicultural education call for teacher education programs that deepen teachers’ understanding of multicultural principles by combining study of multicultural theory with reflection on both diversity and identity. they contend that before teachers can recognize how issues such as race, ethnicity, culture and social-economic inequality influence the learning experiences and social and cultural realities of students, teachers must learn to ponder their own civic, cultural, linguistic or socio-economic attachments (t.c. howard, 2004). teachers must likewise clarify their roles in achieving a just and democratic society because achieving equality for all students is a fundamental tenet of multicultural education (banks & nguyen, 2008; t.c. howard, 2003; marri, 2005; matthews and dilworth, 2008; miller-lane, et al., 2007). context – multi-racial singapore singapore dates its beginnings as a modern state with the arrival of the british east india company in 1819. the establishment of the new colony spurred the immigration of large numbers of people from china, india and other southeast asian states in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. after a short period of anti-colonial agitation, singapore became fully independent in 1965. from its inception, singapore, governed by the same political party, the people’s action party, since 1965, has explicitly sought to pre-empt and address the challenges of building an “imagined community” (anderson, 2003) from a diverse population largely consisting of first or second generation asian immigrants. as the minister of state for education reminded the public in 2005, “when we achieved independence, many doubted our ability to survive, let alone thrive. we were a third world country … our mainly immigrant population had little sense of nationhood” (chan, 2005, n.p.). consequently, in an attempt to define the singapore nation, the government has articulated several national “shared values” such as placing the “nation before community and society above self” and “consensus not conflict” (parliament of singapore, 199, n.p.). the state also provides explicit instruction on the desired social and moral behavior of national subjects so as to build a socially cohesive, economically competitive and resilient nation. the national social studies curriculum and textbooks, for example, constantly reiterate the importance of a citizen’s responsibility to promote racial and religious harmony, social cohesion and meritocracy (ho, 2009). the singapore state’s approach to multiculturalism rests on a pluralist conception of multiculturalism (ho, 2009). given the heterogeneous nature of singapore residents, chinese (74.2%), malays (13.4%), indians (9.2%), and “others” (3.2%) (department of statistics, journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 23 2010), public schools place great emphasis on the development of a common national identity premised on several state-defined governing principles such as racial equality and meritocracy. the state, however, has not explicitly addressed the position of foreign citizens who comprise 25% of the population of singapore within this framework. the national secondary social studies curriculum, with its primary goal of promoting “a deep sense of shared destiny and national identity” and developing citizens who will “participate responsibly and sensibly in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society” (singapore ministry of education, 2008, p. 3), clearly reflects this focus on national interest. the singapore government has, on the other hand, sought to implement tight controls on public discourse and has aggressively attempted to resist the politicization of racial and religious issues through the use of legal controls such as the sedition act. the study to investigate singapore social studies teachers’ conceptions of diversity, this study utilizes a qualitative instrumental case study framework (creswell, 1998, 2003; miles & huberman, 1994; stake, 1995). we conducted semi-structured hour-long individual interviews that were tape recorded with the participants’ permission. during the interviews, the participants answered a series of questions centering on their conceptions of diversity these questions focused on how they defined diversity and their awareness of discrimination and inequality between different groups in singapore (see appendix). we focused on how the teachers’ positionality and personal experiences shaped their understanding of diversity and concepts such as power, privilege, and prejudice. analysis was data-driven and inductive, guided by the notion of grounded theory and the constant comparative method (glaser & strauss, 1967). using the qualitative software, nvivo 8, we classified and coded the raw data, searching for patterns and linkages. the selection of cases was influenced by considerations of representation, balance, variety, and accessibility (stake, 1995). the participants in this study consisted of three in-service secondary school teachers who were enrolled in a graduate level course at the only accredited teacher education institute in singapore. these three participants, identified by their pseudonyms, represented a range of perspectives and experiences that was typical of social studies teachers in singapore. all three teachers, julie, salim, and rabiah, taught history and social studies. salim was a muslim male teacher with a malay and chinese background, jennifer was a female chinese teacher, and rabiah was a female teacher with a sinhalese and chinese background but identified as a malay muslim. the next section provides brief sketches of the backgrounds and experiences of the three teachers. julie was the youngest and newest student in the graduate course. in her late twenties, she taught history and social studies for nearly four years at one of the top girls’ schools in singapore before her promotion to department head at another school. of chinese ethnicity, julie was surprisingly candid and open about her self-professed racist and pro-gay views. interestingly, she described herself as “consciously racist,” although she pointed out that she does not discriminate in real life as “it’s just thoughts.” citing a speaker from the singapore ministry of foreign affairs who stated that “every race is racist,” she gave an example of having a good indian friend who was also racist. julie described their relationship in the following manner, “we are both mutually racist but we are good friends.” unlike rabiah and salim, julie studied at elite state schools that were not racially or socio-economically diverse. consequently, she had very few opportunities to interact with other non-chinese students. this lack journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 24 of contact, compounded with her description of her family as “generally quite racist,” greatly shaped her interactions with, and perceptions of, her students and colleagues from the minority racial groups. rabiah, an articulate and thoughtful teacher in her mid-thirties, spoke very openly about her beliefs and perceptions, both during the interview and in class. she was the most experienced teacher among the three participants, with almost fifteen years of teaching history and social studies in two secondary schools. rabiah described herself as “very mixed up” numerous times, not in a derogatory sense, but in a manner that suggested her willingness to accept different opinions. for example, she spoke of her background, “at home, i am very very flexible because my mum is chinese and my father’s south asian so … we accept lots of things.” rabiah’s understanding of her racial identity appeared more fluid compared to her peers because of her unusual background. brought up as a malay muslim despite a south asian-chinese background, she continued to celebrate the chinese new year with her maternal relations. interestingly, rabiah also referred to how her academic background in history and southeast asian studies, as well as the different historical perspectives provided by her lecturers shaped her understanding of racial relations. salim, one of the most vocal and outspoken students in class, was, like rabiah, of mixed ethnicity. a tall, assertive man in his early thirties whose looks reflected his chinese-malay heritage, he taught history and social studies at a parochial state school. salim’s responses clearly demonstrated his consciousness about his racial background. as he pointed out, many people assumed that he spoke mandarin, “i’ve got a lot of instances where people will speak to me in dialects, in mandarin … if i tell them that i’m mixed blood, they give me a very surprised look, like i’ve done something wrong because i fail to fit in the mold.” although a muslim, he studied at a catholic school until he was sixteen. a history and sociology major, salim too, had a very keen interest in multicultural education, particularly with regard to issues affecting the malay community. influenced by critical scholars such as michael barr, he argued passionately that it was his role as a teacher to debunk stereotypes and problematize issues such as class and racial discrimination. findings from our analysis of the data, we identified three recursive themes: (1) the influence of state policies on conceptions of diversity and discrimination; (2) counter-narratives of diversity and discrimination; and (3) emergent and ambivalent perceptions of inequality. theme one: the influence of state policies on conceptions of diversity and discrimination the participants’ conceptions of diversity and discrimination closely paralleled state policy and rhetoric, particularly in the privileging of issues pertaining to race, religion, and language. during the interviews, all three participants shared the state’s narrow emphasis on racial, linguistic, and religious diversity, with many of their responses focusing on race and religion. julie constantly referred to the “four distinct races” during her interview while rabiah described diversity in singapore in the following manner, “the simple meaning is of course the different racial groups … they speak different languages, they believe in different religions, and bring in their own cultures, habits, which is peculiar to them.” similarly, both salim and julie made reference to the state’s differentiation of singapore’s disparate population into four categories, chinese, malay, indian, and “others” (also commonly referred to as the cmio model). as salim pointed out, in journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 25 singapore, “diversity is basically (referred to) in terms of the cmio model.” the participants’ responses were also peppered with references to the key governing principles advocated by the singapore government, such as meritocracy, racial harmony, and national unity. in this respect, the teachers’ understanding of diversity closely mirrored numerous official state and curricular documents. the national pledge of allegiance, for example, begins with a statement that emphasizes what the state regards as the three most important elements of diversity in singapore, “we the citizens of singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion …” (singapore ministry of education, 2007b, p. 134). the national social studies textbooks and the influential state-defined national education messages characterize diversity and social cohesion in a similar manner: “we must preserve racial and religious harmony: we value our diversity, are determined to remain a united people” (singapore ministry of education, 2007a, p. 1). these two statements, while discursively positioning all ethnic groups as equals and emphasizing “unity in diversity” (bokhorst-heng, 2007, p. 635), clearly privilege issues relating to race and religion. other aspects of social diversity such as sexual orientation, gender, and disability, on the other hand, tend to be downplayed in government policy and are omitted from the social studies curriculum. theme two: counter-narratives of diversity and discrimination in spite of the influence of numerous national policies on the teachers’ understanding of diversity, particularly their focus on racial and religious issues, all three teachers, intriguingly, also offered numerous counter-narratives that were explicitly in opposition to the state’s official understanding of diversity. salim and rabiah, for instance, opposed the government’s claim of equal treatment for all citizens. based on their experiences teaching in regular non-elite schools, derogatorily termed “neighborhood” schools, they considered socio-economic class as a much greater source of inequity and discrimination compared to race and religion. to illustrate their point, both pointed out the disparity in family income between students attending the most popular and competitive elite state schools and “neighborhood” schools. salim also observed that this socioeconomic gap had become significant within the different racial groups and argued that racial and religious divisions within singapore society had become increasingly irrelevant, even in the communities themselves, there is also a widening gap between the better educated ones, the ones who have easy access to economic opportunities, as opposed to others. within the malay community, this gap is actually increasing … and this is something that has been highlighted quite a number of times in the malay media and even by the minister himself (interview notes). when asked whether certain groups had more power in singapore, rabiah described the marginalization of less privileged singaporeans, “i definitely see the educated as more powerful. whatever they have to say, people will listen … if you are a nobody … then it’s going to be quite difficult for people to accept it” (interview notes). a second counter-narrative offered by the participants focused primarily on how the discrimination faced by homosexuals or transsexuals in singapore was not acknowledged by the state. julie and salim passionately objected to the discrimination faced by gays and transsexuals in singapore. their opinions, largely shaped by their own experiences and their journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 26 personal friendships, were at odds with the state’s position. as salim pointed out, sexual affiliation is “a taboo area in singapore.” he also expressed his uneasiness with regard to the state’s overt bias against homosexuals, most of them will take on very menial jobs, probably as social escorts, entertainers, singers, something related to entertainment, to see any one of them holding managerial positions in corporate sectors, it’s unthinkable … (even) if they have the talent and the ability in terms of their merits…what are their chances of being accepted (interview notes)? julie was particularly vocal in her criticisms of government policy when describing how her friend, who was undergoing a sex change procedure, was not offered a job in the civil service because of her sexual orientation. she argued that “there’s no meritocracy” for gays in singapore because many singaporeans think that “gays are not right … something is wrong with them psychologically, like it is a mental disease kind of thing.” finally, julie offered an alternative definition of diversity, one that incorporated the experiences of foreigners in singapore. julie defined diversity in the singapore context thusly, “in the past, it meant the four different races … now i would see it as a melting pot of a lot of expatriates.” interestingly, she contrasted the privileged position of white expatriates in singapore and the prejudice faced by foreigners from china. she explained that singaporeans, the majority of whom were ethnic chinese, were prejudiced against chinese nationals and considered them inferior because “they don’t take up the most glamorous of jobs,” are seen as uncouth, and the women, perceived as “husband snatchers.” citing her own experience, julie then described how expatriate teachers were accorded more respect than singaporean teachers in local schools: “it seems that their views are more taken into account at work. whenever they voice something, people listen but actually it’s the same thing as what maybe a singaporean has already pointed out. i find that quite amazing.” this, julie attributed to the lingering colonial-era attitudes held by the less educated and older singaporeans, pointing out that “the less educated singaporeans are more afraid of the caucasians (because) they seem to hold them in greater reverence.” theme three: emergent and ambivalent perceptions of inequality the participants’ complex and occasionally contradictory responses also reflected the multiple personal, social, and political influences on their understanding of diversity and discrimination. this reflection also appeared indicative of the inherent tensions between their own identities, lived experiences, and official state policy. rabiah’s position on the state’s official policy of meritocracy, for instance, was particularly conflicted. on the one hand, she expressed confidence in the singapore government’s policy of advancement by merit, describing it as a policy that treated all citizens equally and was “blind to individual and group differences” (young, 1989, p. 250). she cited her own personal experience of overcoming poverty as an example to demonstrate that success in the singapore context was to work hard and make personal sacrifices: i don’t see much of discrimination … i have this mentality that as long as you work hard, everything will be there for you… my parents are not well-to-do, so my father journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 27 had to have two jobs to make up for the need, send us to school and everything. so on our part, we worked hard (interview notes). elaborating further, rabiah highlighted several state structures set up to assist the less privileged such as mendaki, an organization focused on helping the malay community and reiterated the need for an individual to be industrious, “it’s just a matter of whether you want it, that you want to improve yourself.” this position shared much in common with the concept of meritocracy, one of the key cornerstones of singapore’s state ideology. this goal is also clearly articulated in the national social studies curriculum and in the citizenship education program, “we must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility: this means opportunity for all, according to their ability and effort” (singapore ministry of education, 2007a, p. 1). interestingly, this position is very similar to the common american perception that u.s. schools were supposed to level the playing field by “providing opportunity for all, regardless of social background, by serving as the impartial ground on which individuals freely prove their merit” (villegas & lucas, 2002, p. 22). rabiah, however, substantially contradicted her original position toward the end of the interview. citing her own personal experiences, she suggested that in singapore, chinese speakers were in an advantageous economic position, “chinese will bring you more opportunities (and) jobs.” continuing her argument, she ranked the relative importance of the three native languages of singapore, “in singapore, i always see it as layers, chinese will go first, then malays, then tamils, so it’s always in that position. so i guess it’s a form of discrimination” (interview notes). interestingly, salim’s positions with regard to racial diversity and discrimination in singapore were similarly ambivalent. his uncertain views of the dominant source of inequality in singapore surfaced throughout the interview. when asked whether there was inequality between different groups in singapore, he referred explicitly to the advantages accorded to the chinese majority in singapore: yes. i will not mince my words on that part … in terms of access to resources especially in this economic downturn period, different ethnic groups are accorded different amounts of help. not just from the government, but from the society at large … for example, when we look at employment opportunities … there’s always a tendency that these individuals come from a particular ethnic group, which would be the chinese (interview notes). immediately after making this assertion, salim, paradoxically reiterating the state’s official position, argued that the racial divide was becoming far less salient in singapore: these days, it’s not longer that clear, the racial divide, unlike back in the 50s and 60s, it was very easy to play the racial card then. but not now, now it’s more of socio-economic issues, class … not only are the malay students who are more likely to face a lot of obstacles because of their family background, because of their lack of access to resources, but even my other chinese students are in the same predicament because of their socio-economic background … that’s an indicator to show that they come from different socioeconomic background, and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 28 this is something that does not depend on your ethnicity at all (interview notes). yet, referring to the work of scholars such as michael barr and lily zubaidah rahim, he then subsequently proceeded to contradict his previous statement by explaining in great detail how malays in singapore were systematically marginalized educationally and economically by the chinese majority. despite julie’s explicit objection to the discrimination faced by gays in singapore, she appeared ambivalent about the existence of institutional and societal discrimination against members of ethnic minorities, such as the malays. citing the example the domination of ethnic chinese in the singapore cabinet, julie seemed to recognize that the ethnic minority “might feel that they are disadvantaged.” this reaction, she pointed out, was due to the fact that “it’s easier for chinese to integrate in political groups because of a racial similarity.” almost immediately, however, she proceeded to question the will and ambition of the malays in singapore, “is it that they don’t want (the position in the cabinet) or is it not happening to them because they see that, oh there’s a glass ceiling?” this position, ironically, reflected the singapore state’s position on meritocracy which implicitly attributes an individual’s lack of success and achievement to an absence of will or talent. such policy is clearly reflected in the official social studies textbook used by all secondary students in singapore that conceptualizes meritocracy as giving everybody “an equal opportunity to achieve their best and be rewarded for their performance, regardless of race, religion and socio-economic background” (singapore ministry of education, 2007b, p. 31). to conclude, in spite of the singapore state’s narrow definition of diversity and assumptions of meritocracy, the participants were both conscious and highly critical of instances of inequality and discrimination in singapore society. when referring to members of groups who were, from their own personal experiences, unacknowledged and marginalized by the state, rabiah, salim, and julie adopted positions that contradicted mainstream political discourse and spoke of the inherent contradiction between a political system that advocated universal equal treatment for all but systemically discriminated against particular groups. as members of minority racial groups, both rabiah and salim appeared to encounter substantial difficulties in reconciling their own personal beliefs and experiences with official state policies, possibly contributing to the logical inconsistencies and gaps in their arguments. the teachers’ contradictory perceptions of diversity and inequality also serve to illustrate some of the issues that teachers in singapore face in reconciling state policies and their lived experiences. discussion and conclusion the three predominating themes which capture teachers’ conceptions of diversity and discrimination, as well as their perceptions of inequality and social structures point to the manner in which singaporean social studies teachers’ perceptions are both influenced by state policies and are reflective of multicultural principles culled from personal experiences. in this section, we discuss findings in light of previous research and the singaporean context. we conclude the study by forwarding suggestions for multicultural education teacher preparation. previous studies clearly demonstrate the impact of teachers’ experiences, beliefs and multicultural knowledge on their professional behavior and decisionmaking. pohan (1996), for example, found a strong positive correlation between a teacher’s personal and professional beliefs. political ideologies and beliefs about the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 29 roles of schools and teachers, in addition, affect teachers’ positions on diversity and multiculturalism (k.s. cockrell et al., 1999). likewise, a teacher’s personal dispositions such as openness, self awareness, and sense of social justice can influence her conceptions of diversity (garmon, 2004). experiential factors, such as education, personal experiences of discrimination, and working with supportive group members also help shape teachers’ multicultural understanding and development (garmon, 2004; smith et al., 1997). the results of our study suggest a particularly interesting point that may be worthy of further exploration. apart from the dispositional and experiential factors that influence both preservice and inservice teachers’ sensitivity to diversity, our study indicates that state policy and narratives also play a significant role in influencing the singapore social studies teachers’ understanding of multicultural issues. the close relationship between all three participants’ conceptions of diversity to state policy and rhetoric manifested in both policy documents and the national social studies curriculum is clearly reflected in the similar emphasis accorded to racial and religious issues. while the participants appeared familiar with the different cultural values and particularities of the different ethnic groups, none of the teachers, however, challenged the metanarrative of the development of singapore history and culture. none of the participants demonstrated an understanding of the role of the singapore state in constructing and validating identity groups, including their own. their cultural diversity knowledge base remained largely confined to a simplistic understanding of diversity, closely mirroring the singapore state’s approach that focuses primarily on surface culture. finally, the teachers faced numerous challenges in trying to reconcile their personal identities, beliefs, and experiences with the state policies and narratives that dominate the centralized singapore education system. this finding holds implications for multicultural teacher education and suggests that for teacher education to be more effective, it is important for teacher educators, particularly within the social studies, to both be conscious of, and explicitly address, systemic and policy issues. reform in teacher education is particularly constrained by the narrow influence wielded by multicultural education advocates (berliner, 2005; gay, 2005). beyond efforts at the individual and school levels, transformative multicultural education hinges on “systemic changes…that affect policies, programs, personnel, pedagogy, and power” (gay, 2005, p. 223). these concerns echo scholars’ observations that, especially within societies with predominant separatist or assimilationist philosophies, teachers’ enactment of multicultural education is limited by the lack of supportive curricular guidelines, administrative direction, assessment policies, or textbooks (gay, 2005; gay & t.c. howard, 2000). to conclude, as teacher educators ourselves, we feel that social studies teachers have a moral obligation to ensure greater equity in education by acting as “agents of change” (villegas & lucas, 2002, p. 24). as change agents, teachers should recognize how political and social structures help to reproduce societal inequities (sleeter & grant, 1991; sleeter & mclaren, 1995) and develop a cultural diversity knowledge base (gay, 2002) because teachers cannot teach what they do not know (g. r. howard, 2006). thus, this study’s explication of the impact of factors such as national policies on singapore social studies teachers’ beliefs and understanding of diversity will contribute to international efforts in understanding how best to foster transformative classrooms and help journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 30 teachers develop the capabilities and dispositions necessary for the preparation of students for democratic living in an inclusive global multicultural society. appendix interview protocol 1. singapore has frequently been characterized as a diverse society. what does diversity mean in the context of singapore society? 2. is there equality between different groups? do any of these groups experience discrimination? do certain groups have more power than others? why? give examples. 3. what factors have influenced your understanding of diversity and multicultural education? what has helped shape your perspectives of individuals from different groups or backgrounds? 4. how important are issues of race, diversity and multicultural education to you? why? references anderson, b. (2003). imagined communities. london: verso. banks, j. a. (2008). diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. educational researcher, 37(3), 129-139. banks, j. a., & nguyen, d. (2008). diversity and citizenship education: historical, theoretical, and philosophical issues. in l. s. levstik & c. a. tyson (eds.), handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 137-154). new york: routledge. banks, j.a., mcgee-banks, c., cortes, c., hahn, c.l., merryfield, m., moodley, k., murphy-shigematsu, s., osler, a., park, c., & parker, w. (2005). democracy and diversity: principles and concepts for educating citizens in a global age. seattle: center for multicultural education, college of education, university of washington. berliner, d. c. (2005). the near impossibility of testing for teacher quality. journal of teacher education, 56(3), 205-213. bokhorst-heng, w. d. (2007). multiculturalism’s narratives in singapore and canada: exploring a model for comparative multiculturalism and multicultural education. journal of curriculum studies, 39(6), 629 – 658. castles, s. (2004). migration, citizenship, and education. in j.a. banks (ed.), diversity and citizenship education (pp. 17-48). san francisco: jossey-bass. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 31 chan, s. s. (2005). speech by mr. chan soo sen, minister of state for education, at the joo chiat national day dinner on sunday, 7 aug 2005, at 7.30 pm at neptune theatre restaurant [electronic version]. retrieved dec 24, 2009, from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2005/sp20050807.htm cockrell, k. s., placier, p. l., cockrell, d. h., & middleton, j. n. (1999). coming to terms with "diversity" and "multiculturalism" in teacher education: learning about our students, changing our practice. teaching and teacher education, 15(4), 351-366. creswell, j. w. (1998). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. creswell, j. w. (2003). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. department of statistics. (2010). monthly digest of statistics, singapore, april 2010. singapore: ministry of trade & industry. feinberg, w. (1998). common schools/uncommon identities: national unity and cultural difference. new haven: yale university press. garmon, m. a. (2004). changing preservice teachers' attitudes/beliefs about diversity: what are the critical factors? journal of teacher education, 55(3), 201-213. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-117. gay, g. (2005). politics of multicultural teacher education. journal of teacher education, 56(3), 221-228. gay, g., & howard, t.c. (2000). multicultural teacher education for the twenty-first century. the teacher educator , 36(1), 1-16. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago: aldane. ho, l. c. (2009). global multicultural citizenship education: a singapore experience. the social studies, 100(6), 285-293. ho, l. c. (2010). "don't worry, i'm not going to report you": education for citizenship in singapore. theory and research in social education, 38(2), 217-247. howard, g. r. (2006). we can't teach what we don't know: white teachers, multiracial schools. new york: teachers college press. howard, t. c. (2003). culturally relevant pedagogy: ingredients for critical teacher reflection. theory into practice, 42(3), 195-202. marri, a. r. (2005). building a framework for classroom-based multicultural democratic education: learning from three skilled teachers. teachers college record. 107, 10361059. http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2005/sp20050807.htm journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 32 matthews, s. a., & dilworth, p. p. (2008). case studies of preservice teachers’ ideas about the role of multicultural citizenship education in social studies. theory and research in social education, 36, 356-390. merryfield, m. m. (2000). why aren't teachers being prepared to teach for diversity, equity, and global interconnectedness? a study of lived experiences in the making of multicultural and global educators. teaching and teacher education, 16(4), 429-443. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. miller-lane, j., howard, t.c., & halagao, p.e. (2007). civic multicultural competence: searching for common ground in democratic education. theory and research in social education, 35(4), 551-573. nieto, s. (2000). placing equity front and center: some thoughts on transforming teacher education for a new century. journal of teacher education, 51(3), 180-187. parliament of singapore. (1991). shared values white paper: cmd. 1 of 1991. parker, w. c. (1997). navigating the unity/diversity tension in education for democracy. the social studies, 88(1), 12-17. parker, w. c. (2003). teaching democracy: unity and diversity in public life. new york: teachers college press. pohan, c. a. (1996). preservice teachers' beliefs about diversity: uncovering factors leading to multicultural responsiveness. equity & excellence in education, 29(3), 62-69. singapore ministry of education. (2007a). report of the committee on national education. singapore: ministry of education. singapore ministry of education. (2007b). upper secondary social studies 3. singapore: epb pan pacific. singapore ministry of education. (2008). combined humanities ordinary level social studies syllabus (syllabus 2192) [electronic version]. retrieved feb 23, 2008, from http://www.seab.gov.sg/seab/olevel/syllabus/2008_gce_o_level_syllabuses/219 2_2008.pdf sleeter, c. e., & grant, c. a. (1991). race, class, gender and disability in current textbooks. in m. w. apple & l. k. christian-smith (eds.), the politics of the textbook (pp. 78110). new york: routledge. sleeter, c. e., & mclaren, p. (eds.). (1995). multicultural education, critical pedagogy, and the politics of difference. albany: state university of new york press. http://www.seab.gov.sg/seab/olevel/syllabus/2008_gce_o_level_syllabuses/2192_2008.pdf http://www.seab.gov.sg/seab/olevel/syllabus/2008_gce_o_level_syllabuses/2192_2008.pdf journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 33 smith, r., moallem, m., & sherrill, d. (1997). how preservice teachers think about cultural diversity: a closer look at factors which influence their beliefs toward equality. educational foundations, 11(2), 41-61. stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). preparing culturally responsive teachers: rethinking the curriculum. journal of teacher education, 53(1), 20-32. wong, a. (2000). education in a multicultural setting the singapore experience [electronic version]. retrieved feb 9, 2009, from www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2000/sp24112000_print.htm young, i. m. (1989). polity and group difference: a critique of the idea of universal citizenship. ethics, 99(2), 250-274. li-ching ho is an assistant professor in the humanities and social studies education department at the national institute of education, nanyang technological university, singapore. theresa alviar-martin is an assistant professor in the curriculum teaching and learning deparment at the national institute of education, nanyang technological university, singapore. http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2000/sp24112000_print.htm journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 2 spring/summer 2012 editor’s message welcome to the third issue of the journal of international social studies. we have three articles that address major concerns in a global society. di ryter considers how the united states can work to improve the participation of diverse cultural and ethnic groups in a democratic society by using a cosmopolitan approach to citizenship. in this approach the acknowledgement of the individual cultural and ethnic identities of immigrants and minority groups can establish a sense of inclusion into the national society. jim martin weiler and cassandra juanita martinweiler study university students in ghana to measure their attitudes towards the teaching of hiv-aids in the schools of that country. they find that the students do have the knowledge, confidence, and willingness to address the hiv/aids problem, yet they do not. the reason, they argue, is that teachers do not have much incentive to address contentious issues in the classroom. in the final article, david h. lindquist evaluates the coverage of the destruction of the armenians in world history textbooks in the united states. this destruction at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century established that the 20th century would be known as “the age of genocide.” lindquist critiques the coverage, identifying the overall flow of the information that is presented while noting several instances in which information is presented in an underdeveloped, confusing, or contradictory manner. in the media review section amy killbridge describes the books and poems of naomi shihabnye, an arab-american author, who advocates for more understanding between diverse cultural groups and for peace in the middle east. in the ia perspectives section editor gloria alter interviews joshia tlou, a member of our honorary editorial board, about his extensive work in international education and development in africa. it is with mixed emotions that i say farewell to my position as founding editor of the journal of international social studies. as of september 2012, i will be stepping down and ruth reynolds of the university of newcastle in australia will be assuming the editorship. we welcome ruth and look forward to her leadership in continuing the work of the journal. establishing the journal and setting it on a scholarly course has been both a challenging and exhilarating experience. many people have supported me in this endeavor including the leadership of the international assembly and the journal’s honorary board. gloria alter of depaul university, carolyn o’mahony of oakland university and my colleague sunghee shin of queens college/cuny have offered valuable assistance. i owe the greatest debt, however, to my colleague michelle fraboni, who did the initial research to find a platform for the journal and recommended the open forum system maintained by simon fraser university. thank you, michelle, the journal wouldn’t have happened without your research and diligence. beverly milner (lee) bisland, editor journal of international social studies journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 66 “it changes me from nothing to something”: identifying educative-psychic violence in a public diplomacy program for nonelite youths jennice mccafferty-wright missouri state university abstract: since 2004, the english access microscholarship program, a u.s. public diplomacy initiative, has impacted at least 150,000 nonelite youths. u.s. department of state employees created the program in response to suicide bombings committed by moroccan youths at international sites in casablanca. the program later expanded throughout the middle east and then across the world, eventually operating in more than 85 countries for students aged 13-20. in this paper, i examine images promoted by the program associated with the mission for students to develop an “appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values through cultural enhancement activities” using critical concepts such as educative-psychic violence and ngũgĩ wa thiong’o’s description of education as a cultural bomb. troubling content promoted by the program features students depicting themselves as lacking dignity and worth paired with portrayals of gaining dignity and worth through their participation in the program. additionally, the program’s “cultural enhancement activities” intended to promote “appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values” often occur in communities deeply impacted by the u.s.-led war on terror and amid dramatic economic and military power differentials. finally, my analysis encourages academic engagement with policy makers on the use of education within public diplomacy initiatives. key words: citizenship education, diplomacy, international education, youth programs, social studies mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 67 “access is unlimited joy”: framing the access origin story in 2014, while learning about a civic education ngo in north africa, i encountered the public, official facebook page of a u.s. public diplomacy program, “english access microscholarship program: headquarters” (english access microscholarship program, n.d.). the first image i noticed featured two girls in pakistan, perhaps 13 or 14 years old. they stood together in blue and white school uniforms, holding printed coloring pages in their hands. one girl, in braids with pink barrettes, stared into the camera. she held a coloring page featuring children marching with a flag and a drum and with “happy 4th july [sic]” across the bottom. her classmate, taller and wearing a headscarf, clutched a coloring page with a large american flag held by a white boy and girl, drawn in a style reminiscent of a mid-century u.s. children’s book, complete with pinafore, bows, and a little dog. thirty-seven people liked the photo, and some responded with praise for the students’ creativity and “excellent work.” intrigued and unsettled by what i saw, especially in the context of the u.s. drone strikes that were happening in pakistan at the time, i scrolled through pictures from other countries. one from the country of georgia featured a poster declaring that “access is unlimited joy.” these images raised questions about education in u.s. foreign policy and eventually led to policy studies in counterterrorism and a year of ethnographic research in morocco. in this study, i identify examples of educative-psychic violence in content on the english access microscholarship program’s (henceforth access, english access) official facebook page, and i address implications for education in public diplomacy programs. my identity and experiences shape my understanding and analysis of public diplomacy programs. i am a white woman who benefits from u.s. citizenship and research funding that allows me to use a powerful u.s. passport. i know many scholars who have received crucial support for research projects and professional development through various programs administered by the u.s. department of state, including fulbright, the international leaders in education program, and the teaching excellence and achievement program. although i critique elements of some public diplomacy programs, i support others. i have benefitted from federal education programs, and i continue to support work which helps educators teach for critical global understanding and intercultural cooperation. given the remarkable growth already experienced by the english access microscholarship program in the past decade, i anticipate that it will continue to operate for decades more, impacting hundreds of thousands more youths. acknowledging this trajectory, my specific concerns and critique are offered as a partial analysis of the program and for consideration by scholars, program leaders, and experts in public diplomacy and education. it should be noted mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 68 that despite my critique of certain components of the program, i know that many participants value it and would not want it to end. public diplomacy generally operates as a carrot, not a stick. the global north has long operated education programs throughout the global south under a variety of frameworks including humanitarian response, development, peace education, and public diplomacy (berman, 1979; brock & demirdjian, 2010; danaher, 1984; mazawi, 2010; retamel & aedo-richmond, 1998; schmidt, 2007; smith & vaux, 2003; sobe, 2009). decades of scholarly attention to education policies from the global north for the global south demonstrate shared concerns. for example, berman (1979) found that u.s. foundations and corporations such as ford, rockefeller, and the carnegie corporation shaped south african education from 19451975 in ways that benefited u.s. corporate interests over those of host nations. danaher (1984) found that during the reagan administration, u.s. assistance in south africa worked against counter-apartheid efforts and likely reinforced the white minority government in pretoria despite the administration’s “constructive management” policy being framed to do otherwise. schmidt (2007) described differences in perception between western policymakers and sudanese participants implementing western policies in an international development program. within the context of the u.s.-led war on terror, mazawi’s (2010) meta-analysis of education reforms in the arab world identified the impact of policies intended to shift cultural values. for example, iraqi curricula could not contain religious references because it was funded by usaid and therefore had to comply with the u.s. constitution. these previous studies point to divergent interests and power differentials between the global north’s education policies and the needs or desires of the global south. for this study, at one end of the differential sits the united states, one of the most powerful governments in the world, and in some cases a government that has recently had or currently has a military presence as well as surveillance and policing networks in some of the countries where its education programs operate. at the other end of the power differential, we find nonelite students living in countries that are part of the war on terror. in many cases, these students have or are continuing to experience u.s. occupation and military engagement. this is especially true for u.s.-centric civic and cultural education programs operating in countries such as afghanistan and iraq where some students are internally displaced peoples whose lives have been profoundly disrupted by war. notably, all students participating in the access program who are 19 years old or younger at the date of this publication have lived their entire lives in the war on terror. people connected to access’s origin story eagerly tell it. thus far, i’ve heard the access story from retired public diplomacy workers, the program’s first moroccan teachers, and students from its first cohort. it is believed that in 2003, abu musab al-zarqawi and saad bin laden, one of osama mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 69 bin laden’s sons, helped orchestrate an attack against foreign interests in casablanca. from sidi moumen, an impoverished suburb of casablanca, the cell recruited 14 male youths, 12 of whom killed themselves and 33 other people in coordinated suicide bombings. more than 100 other moroccans were injured in the blasts that occurred at international sites such as a five-star hotel, a spanish restaurant, and outside a jewish community center. newspapers following the event documented mass demonstrations from citizens angry about terrorism and the socioeconomic conditions of sidi moumen (bbc news, 2003). citizens of casablanca responded to the attacks with demonstrations, while u.s. consulate staff responded by creating what would become the english access microscholarship program (u.s. department of state, 2014). the program’s first cohort included 17 male youths from sidi moumen. today, access provides instruction for nonelite youths aged 13-20 and has operated in more than 85 countries. at least 150,000 youths have participated (bureau of educational and cultural affairs, 2019). this rapid expansion illustrates the capacity and desire for the bureau of educational and cultural affairs to incorporate education into global counterterrorism efforts. access includes in its mission that it will “help participants gain an appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values through cultural enhancement activities” (u.s. embassy in morocco, 2010; english access microscholarship program, n.d.). the bureau of counterterrorism highlighted the importance of civic education, such as teaching for democratic values, in its 2008 country reports on terrorism when describing the united states’ “increased focus on education in predominantly muslim countries and those with significant muslim populations…. with a specific emphasis on youth and on developing civic-mindedness in young people” (office of the coordinator for counterterrorism, 2009). the civic mission of english access and its intent to teach an appreciation for u.s. culture situates this education program squarely within the united states’ policies for public diplomacy and anti-terrorism. the u.s. government strategically uses programs such as access to “engage, inform, and influence foreign publics in order to increase understanding of american values, policies, and initiatives” (office of the coordinator for counterterrorism [s/ct], 2005, p. 58). these programs fall within u.s. goals to endear participants toward market-based democracy and u.s. culture as part of what it calls a “war of ideas” (office of the coordinator for counterterrorism, 2008, p. 223). additionally, u.s. public diplomacy’s post-9/11 mission has an especially strong focus on reaching “foreign audiences with core policy messages on democracy, tolerance, and the universal values of liberty and freedom,” goals that remain “at the center of us efforts to counter extremist rhetoric and disinformation coming from hostile groups” (s/ct, 2005, p. 58). this tactically positions the access program’s curriculum and mission to teach an appreciation for mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 70 “u.s. culture and democratic values through cultural enhancement activities” to shift values in support of u.s. foreign policy objectives in the war on terror. education as psychic violence this study draws on critical theories and concepts to analyze content promoted by the access program on their social media platform, and it examines problematic interpretations and implementations of the program’s mission through critical concepts such as educative-psychic violence and education as a cultural bomb. i often see nelson mandela’s (2003) claim that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” we cannot forget that such a weapon operates for better or worse, especially in the context of imperialism, colonization, industrialization, and late capitalism. for example, franz fanon (1963/2004) and amilcar cabral (1973/1994) observed that education operates as a weapon because it can be used to undermine the culture of colonized peoples, thus weakening resistance to foreign or exploiting powers and creating conditions for political and economic control. scholars continue to frame education as a weapon (loewen, 2009; mccaffertywright, 2017; von feigenblatt, et al., 2010) because of its historic and contemporary use to systematically yield compliant and exploitable populations. kenyan author ngũgĩ wa thiong’o (1986/2003) described the ends and mechanisms of education operating as a weapon, explaining that “economic and political control can never be complete or effective without mental control. to control a people’s culture is to control their tools of selfdefinition in relationship to others” (p. 16). in colonial and imperial contexts, attempts to shift students’ self-definition in relationship to foreign powers occurs daily in classrooms through what wa thiong’o names the “cultural bomb” (p. 3). wa thiong’o’s experiences with education as a cultural bomb included both physical and psychological violence. he writes that “…one of the most humiliating experiences was to be caught speaking gĩkũyũ in the vicinity of the school. the culprit was given corporal punishment – three to five strokes of the cane on bare buttocks – or was made to carry a metal plate around the neck with inscriptions such as i am stupid or i am a donkey” (p. 11). wa thiong’o’s experiences with weaponized education reverberate throughout the histories of colonized peoples from north america to australia as a means of cultural assimilation, from forced boarding school enrollment to colonial language education policies. education as psychic violence is a concept grounded in franz fanon’s (1963/2004) work. fanon, a doctor from martinique who was stationed in algeria during its nationalist movement, wrote mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 71 of the psychological impact of the “depth and scope of the wounds inflicted on the colonized during a single day under a colonial regime” (p. 182). these psychological wounds came from a variety of abuses, from physical torture to attacks on the cultural values of colonized peoples. components of educative-psychic violence have been described by multiple critical scholars. tunisian author albert memmi (1965/1991) writes that colonizing education robs students of their heritage, as “the memory which is assigned him is certainly not that of his own people. the history which is taught him is not his own.” students are taught “reference to what he is not” so that what is known is divorced from reality and not fully understood (p. 105). “values education” through subjects such as social studies can also shift how students define themselves in relationship to exploitative powers. of this, fanon (1963/2004) writes, “the supremacy of white values is stated with such violence…. in the colonial context the colonist only quits undermining the colonized once the latter have proclaimed loud and clear that white values reign supreme” (p. 8). over time, master narratives and values are “inherited from the past and uncritically absorbed,” producing the “condition of moral and political passivity” described by gramsci (1971, p. 203). this supports conditions ripe for political and economic exploitation. education scholars describing the harmful effects of racist curriculum and educative practices have adopted the term educative-psychic violence. king and woodson (2017) write that “the ‘violence’ in educative-psychic violence does not refer to physical actions that injure, harm, or damage persons or property. instead, it is a type of psychological violence, one that keeps students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds from developing a full sense of their racial, historical, and political identities” (p. 3). leonardo and porter (2010) use the term educative-psychic violence to describe the harmful effects of conversations about race that diminish or overlook racism. for leonardo and porter (2010), curriculum and instructional practices are understood to be educative-psychic violence when they: 1) make the values and practices that are often associated with european cultures the standard through which all other cultures are evaluated; 2) exclusively represent people of color in oppressed or subordinate positions; 3) suggest that all people of color think, behave, and act in the same ways, ignoring complexity and diversity; and 4) offer simplistic or superficial accounts of non-white persons’ history that relegates them to exceptional representatives of the race and within certain fixed historical time periods. king and woodson (2017) draw on the work of brown and brown (2010) to suggest a fifth dimension based on literature in social studies education: mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 72 5) include stories about history or society that make the exploitation and abuse of people of color seem accidental, or that fail to attribute this exploitation and abuse to individuals. returning to the work of anticolonial scholars and the dynamics of education as an apparatus of state in foreign affairs, i propose a sixth dimension derived from wa thiong’o’s (1986/2003) concept of the cultural bomb. curriculum and instructional practices are educative-psychic violence when they: 6) shift how students define themselves in relationship to a more powerful and/or exploitative apparatus such as a nation state or corporation, so that they identify with it even if counter to their interests. education plays a key role in how students learn to identify with exploitative apparatuses. historically, the imposition of language, culture, and values undermined local knowledge and power as colonized subjects were forced to “pawn some of their own intellectual possessions” and assimilate “the way the colonial bourgeoisie thinks” (fanon, 1963/2004, p. 13). though not identical to the colonial and imperial past, the face of colonizing and exploitative education persists in new forms and market powers. neocolonialism, driven by market and government interests, has been a feature of the colonized world for decades (sartre, 1964). this includes exploiting workers of previously colonized countries as cheap labor for the global bourgeoisie while simultaneously facilitating the spread of western culture, corporations, and precarity among working classes (standing, 2016). methods of inquiry data the units of analysis for this study are public images that depict learning activities. this content has been created and posted to the english access microscholarship headquarters site by its staff. international students and teacher-participants interact with the site, which presently has 41,882 followers. this public digital gallery and feed is displayed in reverse chronology. typical content includes class activities involving artwork and writing, community service activities, and celebrations. analytical process when analyzing the content, i use a methodological and analytical bricolage (denzin & lincoln, 2005; kincheloe & mclaren, 2005; kincheloe, et al., 2011) shaped by both the content and context of images on the page. bricolage supports critical content analysis because through it, i can employ theoretical constructs that consider socio-politically and historically complex mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 73 contexts and “methodological processes as they are needed in the unfolding context of the research situation…. involving construction and reconstruction, contextual diagnosis, negotiation, and readjustment” (kincheloe, et al., 2011, p. 168). i employ concepts from critical traditions as analytical tools. for example, concepts such as educative-psychic violence operate as anti-imperial critiques of education, while incorporating the critical historicity of international relations into my analysis illustrates the ends to which educative-psychic violence works. in this way, i use critical hermeneutical analysis “to understand the historical and social ways that power operates to shape meaning and its lived consequences” (kincheloe, 2004, p. 11). thus, i draw connections between my data, the policies and cultures that produced it, and the children and educators connected to it, mindful that content on the access social media site is both a product of and reproducer of power. throughout my analysis, i found it helpful to use a visual process described by rose (2012): consideration of the site of the imaging (access programs and the countries in which each photo was produced), the site of the image (the contents of the images themselves), and the site of the audiencing (facebook and the people who interact with it) with attention to the image as discourse in the context of differential power relations. sampling reports to establish broad themes i began examining the page by reading several months of content to familiarize myself with the kinds of media featured. while sampling, i created a relational database built around features of the data such as multimedia content, urls, dates, major themes, and the countries from which images originated. during the initial reading, i also identified broad themes such as civic education and u.s. culture, and i decided to further investigate the access program through a larger, purposeful sample of content. reading and analyzing a purposeful sample a purposeful sample is built around a specific goal (patton, 1990). after the initial sampling, my goal was to better understand how the page communicates examples of the program’s mission to teach an “appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values” and the ways images are manufactured and curated to communicate relationships between the program and students. by looking at two complete years, i was able to identify patterns associated with repeated holidays and seasonal activities. creating records for content by pasting images, their urls, and preliminary notes into the database permitted me to sort files into broad categories such as u.s. mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 74 holidays and civic engagement. while creating files in the database, i recorded dominant themes and adjusted my interpretation of the data using constant comparative analysis, a continuous and inductive method (boeije, 2002; lincoln & guba, 1985; patton, 1990). to maintain their contextual relationships, theory, images, and analysis were considered jointly as i regularly moved between examination of individual images and their relationship to the broader set of data. collecting and analyzing revelatory cases finally, i identified and collected revelatory cases (yin, 2004) of content containing components of educative-psychic violence. in order to maintain each image’s contextual relationships, i examined and interpreted them critically and hermeneutically as individual cases, but also in relationship to others within the site, intercultural contexts, and in the context of u.s. foreign policy. the content that i found most problematic demonstrated educative-psychic violence at the level of individual worth or value and activities that obscure diversity and inequity in the united states. below, i use data from access’s facebook page as well as historical and sociocultural contexts to illustrate examples of how public diplomacy can produce educativepsychic violence. findings: educative-psychic violence as building up, tearing down, and rebuilding when looking broadly at content, i identified themes related to demonstrations of abundant thankfulness to the access program, a love for the united states and the english language, and student projections of having a successful future because of participating in the program. these images overwhelmingly communicate a building up of the united states, access, and english through positive messages. the content was often related to u.s. culture with a focus on traditions and holidays while generally ignoring diversity and inequity in the united states. while much content focused on building up structures that fell largely outside of students’ lives—a country, program, and language foreign to them—the most troubling content that i describe in this paper features students tearing down their own dignity and worth of who they were prior to participating in the program, paired with rebuilding their dignity and worth through their participation. this building up, tearing down, and rebuilding reflects dimensions of educative-psychic violence presented by leonardo and porter (2010), king and woodson (2017), and this paper. this process brings students into a position of defining themselves in relationship to a more powerful and/or exploitative apparatus, in this case a foreign nation state, so that they may identify with it. in a mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 75 much more literal sense of tearing down, some content is connected to countries that have been physically damaged by u.s. bombings and/or through economic exploitation in global market systems. these themes of building up, tearing down, and rebuilding can be found throughout the following examples of how a public diplomacy program can produce educative-psychic violence through a deficit orientation to personal identity and through superficial studies of u.s. culture. devaluing personal identities and shifting relationships access communicates the mission of helping “participants gain an appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values through cultural enhancement activities” (u.s. embassy in morocco, 2010; english access microscholarship program, n.d.) by publishing photos and accounts of the “cultural enhancement activities” used to accomplish the curricular goals of the mission statement. much of this content is related to community service, such as picking up rubbish in the community or painting school desks. however, some is more problematic and suggest educative-psychic violence at the level of individual worth or value. for example, the page’s content includes a poem written by a student in bangladesh. the author self-identifies as a disadvantaged student from bangladesh, a muslim majority country. bangladesh bears the brunt of global market exploitation, and the minimum wage for textile and garment workers, bangladesh’s largest industrial sector, is equivalent to $64.01 a month (national wages and poverty commission, 2018). despite these conditions, the student claims that because of access, he will become successful. his praise for access includes positioning himself from a deficit orientation, a reference to what he is not and what he lacks. he tears himself down through claims that he is “fruitless,” a “bottomless” container that cannot hold water, and “baseless.” however, he changes through his participation in access. he will be successful because access removes his “darkness,” gets him “developed,” and helps him overcome his “blindness.” notably, these changes are not just because he participates in access; this young author describes himself as “an access.” in his poem, access is his identity. he has “become an access” and therefore has become whole. other content demonstrates that the poet’s sentiments are not an anomaly but that the program systematically encourages students to communicate their love for it. a series of images show students holding signs created on printer paper with the words “i [heart] the english access microscholarship program because…” across the top. in one photo, a smiling girl from the philippines holds a sign drawn with colorful markers and decorated with butterflies. it reads, “i [heart] the english access microscholarship program because… it changes me from nothing to something.” nothing and something are written in a contrasting color to stand out from the rest of the statement. a smiling boy from the same class holds a different sign: “i [heart] the english mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 76 access microscholarship program because… it teaches us how to speak with dignity and it molds us to be the best version of us,” with dignity and best accented in a contrasting color. a boy in argentina holds a similar sign: “i [heart] the english access microscholarship program because… i learned to be a better person.” i cannot know what role students played in completing the prompt provided. if they did not write on the papers they held, someone else in the program, perhaps an adult, did. it is also possible that students copied words onto their paper. regardless, a leader, likely a teacher, composed and took pictures and shared them with the program, where access staff promoted them. like the poem, these children’s signs communicate a deficit orientation about who they were before participating in the program. they were “nothing” and lacked “dignity.” access made them “something” and made being the “best version” of themselves possible. in the process of building up access, they have torn down their intrinsic dignity and worth as something. poignant examples of shifting students’ relationship to a more powerful and/or exploitative apparatus can be found not just in how the program operates, but also where and for whom. for example, an image from the me kong delta in vietnam shows a group of students and adults posing for a photo on a stage. behind them, a large wooden sign depicts two red waving flags: one, the yellow-starred flag of vietnam, is positioned slightly in front of the other, the yellow hammer and sickle flag of communist parties. below the flags on this sign, the smiling students in red school uniforms hold a large seal of the u.s. consulate general for ho chi minh city. in this case, students learn to appreciate u.s. culture through “cultural enhancement activities” in a place where the united states engaged in a destructive war that included blanketing the country with 11-12 million gallons of agent orange, directly exposing up to 4.8 million people to its continuing, multigenerational health and environmental effects (congressional research service, 2009). access succeeds where war failed. in an example from more recent u.s. military presence, an image celebrates the access graduation of 100 youths who were internally displaced persons in iraq. these examples illustrate the dramatic power differential between the united states and displaced youths studying the culture of a country that invaded in 2003 and whose military presence continues. content that includes students grateful for access removing their “darkness,” changing them “from nothing to something,” making them “the best version” of themselves, and teaching them to love a country that doesn’t necessarily love them back illustrates the potential for a public diplomacy program such as english access to achieve its mission through educative-psychic violence by shifting how students define themselves in relationship to a more powerful and/or exploitative apparatus such as a foreign nation state, so that they identify with it. additionally, pulling children into the neoliberal context of needing to be enough, to become something mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 77 through english, re/colonizes them and brings them into a system of “accountability” and accounting for their personal value and worth to a neoliberal system (ambrosio, 2013). this reverberation from colonizing education has been described by memmi (1965/1991), who writes that for the colonized, “if he wants to obtain a job, make a place for himself, exist in the community and the world, he must first bow to the language of his masters” (p. 107); furthermore, “everything in the colonized is deficient” (p. 117). through the program’s social studies and english language instruction, the neocolonized receive extra help becoming complete, becoming “something,” and speaking “with dignity.” appreciation for u.s. culture through cultural enhancement activities the notion that students and/or their culture need “enhancement,” that their value can be built up through activities about the united states, can be problematic in and of itself; however, many of the actual activities are also problematic. the u.s. culture delivered through “cultural enhancement activities” include celebrating u.s. holidays as well as consuming u.s. popular media such as songs and movies. some of the most commonly published activities involve children around the world engaging in patriotic expressions such as waving u.s. flags, creating patriotic posters, and eating red, white, and blue cakes. for example, images from pakistan include students holding homemade paper u.s. flags, a cake decorated as a u.s. flag, and posters in red, white, and blue reading, “land of the free because of the brave” and “happy independence day.” through access, these youths from pakistan ironically celebrated the united states’ independence while the u.s. undermined their own country’s sovereignty with a unilateral drone war that has lasted more than a decade. further, the pakistani children were taught to celebrate u.s. bravery in a country where a study by the bureau of investigative journalism estimates that between 172-207 children have been killed by u.s. drone strikes since 2004 (serle & purkiss, 2017). striking parallel images can be found online of pakistani youths not eating a cake with a u.s. flag but burning a u.s. flag, or youths shrouded for burial because of u.s. drone strikes. a different holiday, martin luther king jr. day, holds promise for students to learn about justice, the right to participate in government, and other “democratic values” mentioned in the access program’s mission statement. however, its thin treatment obscures dr. king’s actual work toward economic, social, and political justice. for example, in kyrgyzstan, students watched a video of his “i have a dream” speech and then drew pictures of their own dreams. one student’s poster shows that they will “improve upon my country.” however, other students dreamt of wealth and capitalism, drawing pictures of the “most expensive bag” written on top of a glittercovered blue purse and a man standing in front of high rises in a business suit with u.s. dollar bills floating around him and “#rich_man” written in the corner. mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 78 the 4th of july and martin luther king jr. day are not the only holidays celebrated by access students. other popular activities included on the page show carving pumpkins for halloween and hosting potlucks for thanksgiving. it is not possible to tell from the content which thanksgiving narratives are taught, whether they are centered around the experiences of white settlers or whether they honor the experiences of indigenous peoples. however, columbus day is one troubling holiday activity that poignantly illustrates how “cultural enhancement activities” through the access program can operate as a cultural bomb, distancing students from their own history. for example, in a picture from the philippines, female students line up by twos in a corridor behind two smiling girls holding a large, decorated poster. the two girls in front are dressed in costumes reminiscent of disney’s pocahontas with fringed faux leather mini-skirts, tops, and arm bands. some appear to wear face paint. the poster is decorated with ruffled trim and reads, “columbus (native american) day.” the indigenous peoples of the philippines have a strong anticolonial history; in fact, they managed to kill magellan as he barely set foot on their shores. however, through access, these students in the philippines were led to have a fun costume party for columbus day. the activity celebrates opposing identities, honoring a day for columbus while also happily pretending to be the indigenous peoples who experienced genocide through the resulting colonization. through this image, we cannot know the full context of how columbus and colonization were approached by the teacher. however, not only were the english access site teachers unaware of or uncaring of the tensions in this activity, but so were the u.s. department of state’s staff when they featured the photo on the access programs’ social media page. studying the heroes and holidays of another culture is hardly a new phenomenon in foreign language education. however, essentializing any culture, in this case “u.s. culture,” can result in narratives that obscure diversity, inequity, and exploitation in the united states (gorski, 2009, 2016; gorski & swalwell, 2015; ladson-billings, 2006; st. denis, 2009). in this way, teaching an appreciation for u.s. culture as promoted through the access program’s mission statement can operate as a cultural bomb by obscuring the experiences of exploited peoples in the united states while also endearing students of the global south to a thin and inaccurate veneer of u.s. “culture” that hides violence, economic injustices, and intolerance. in addition to getting students to celebrate a history that is not their own or may have values opposed to their own, the english access microscholarship program encourages students to love a country that doesn’t necessarily love them back. for example, during this research period, the trump administration cut refugee admissions from a maximum of 110,000 to 18,000. additionally, the administration banned the citizens of seven countries from traveling to the mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 79 united states: iraq, syria, iran, sudan, libya, somalia, and yemen. the united states also banned refugees from syria and placed tight restrictions on refugees from muslim majority countries. the restrictions privileged christians, effectively excluding muslims. even if muslim access students taught to love the united states do somehow manage to travel here, they face possible discrimination and hate crimes against immigrants and muslims, from mosque burnings to verbal and physical assaults. in fact, some u.s. schools have even banned studying arabic cultures and script because they are “un-american” (mccafferty-wright, 2015). teaching students to love a powerful country that not only does not love them back but has a history of harmful engagement with them places students in an abusive relationship created through educative-psychic violence. implications for education in public diplomacy the english access microscholarship program has grown from 17 youths in sidi moumen to include at least 150,000 participants and has operated in more than 85 countries around the world. since the beginning, its mission has been to endear nonelite youths to the united states, and its appearance in the bureau of counterterrorism and countering violent extremism’s annual reports to congress signals the program’s purpose to battle a war of ideas within the broader war on terror (mccafferty-wright, 2017). helping participants “gain an appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values” through “cultural enhancement activities” positions the english access microscholarship program to shift how nonelite students define themselves in relationship to the united states through social studies and english language instruction. educative-psychic violence and the use of education as a cultural bomb through the celebrations of u.s. heroes and holidays are apparent. however, despite a rise in youth civic engagement throughout north africa and the middle east (herrera, 2012, 2014), access content does not emphasize the portion of the mission statement regarding teaching an appreciation for democratic values. this thin veneer of social studies narratives and lack of critical guidance on civic education and democratic values begs the question of whether this widespread program is poorly designed to accomplish its goals or whether the english access microscholarship program is operating exactly as intended. through fieldwork in access programs, i know there are many talented teachers making pedagogical decisions that honor and respect the dignity of their students and the values they bring to class with them. i can also attest that some foreign service officers, guest speakers, ngos, and tesol specialists feel that their work with the english access program is bringing the world “drop by drop” (as one foreign service officer put it) closer to world peace. additionally, students who participate in access see it as a great honor and more fun and engaging than their mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 80 traditional classrooms. however, the notion that we are only helping underprivileged youths through this program becomes so ingrained as common sense that we may fail to recognize cultural imperialism and educative-psychic violence attached to the programmatic goals of “appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values.” if public diplomacy policy makers and shapers do truly wish to create a more peaceful world through education, they can create programs with missions less primed to produce cultural bombs and educative-psychic violence. some public diplomacy programs from the united states and great britain are already operating with missions rather different from teaching “an appreciation for u.s. culture and democratic values.” for example, the fulbright teachers for global classrooms program and the british council’s connecting classrooms program teach for global understanding and intercultural cooperation, and in the process provide teachers and classrooms with opportunities to participate in meaningful, collaborative projects with students around the globe. it is also possible for the english access microscholarship program to shift its own mission toward intercultural cooperation and understanding, and in the process partner with u.s. schools to also meet an urgent need in the united states of teaching for global understanding. as we can see from the examples provided in this paper, reforming access would require professional development in culturally sustaining education, moving away from a deficit orientation to students, their skills, and cultures. this would include moving from “cultural enhancement activities” and toward learning through students’ communities and cultures. although some access teachers already excel at honoring the cultures of their students and operate outside of or against the access program’s mission statement, the content promoted by access suggests that there is no guiding framework to steer staff away from supporting educative-psychic violence and toward culturally sustaining education. this paper demonstrates that the mission and implementation of the english access microscholarship program can result in education being used as a cultural bomb and educativepsychic violence. whether intentionally or not, the program as it stands has produced and even celebrated some unacceptable outcomes. the will and capacity to rapidly and widely expand and operate the program through the bush, obama, and trump administrations, as well as regular reference to it in counterterrorism reports, suggests that the program will continue. this requires attention from education scholars and a willingness to engage with policymakers on the use of education within access and other public diplomacy programs. mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 81 references _____ (2003, may 25). moroccans march against terror. bbc news. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2936918.stm ambrosio, j. 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(2009). vietnamese victims of agent orange and u.s.-vietnam relations, order no. 34761. http://www.vn-agentorange.org/rl34761 _200905.pdf mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2936918.stm https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015%20/index.htm http://eca.state.gov/files/bureau/access/index.html https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/english-access-microscholarship-program?fbclid=iwar3p1djb-utilyj1epkqffcrxbvpzgmfhcmenn8fk7eul%20r3ri6mawd0gaka https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/english-access-microscholarship-program?fbclid=iwar3p1djb-utilyj1epkqffcrxbvpzgmfhcmenn8fk7eul%20r3ri6mawd0gaka https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/english-access-microscholarship-program?fbclid=iwar3p1djb-utilyj1epkqffcrxbvpzgmfhcmenn8fk7eul%20r3ri6mawd0gaka http://www.vn-agentorange.org/rl34761%20_200905.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 82 danaher, k. 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(2015). disrupting a diversity desert: a rural teacher’s journey. in l. miller, d. becker, & k. becker (eds.), technology for transformation: perspectives of hope in the digital age. information age publishing. mccafferty-wright, j. (2017, november 16). cultural bombs and dangerous classes: social studies education as state apparatus in the war on terror [paper presentation]. college and university faculty assembly of the national council for the social studies, san francisco, ca, united states. memmi, a. (1965/1991). the colonizer and the colonized. beacon press. national wages and poverty commission. (2018). comparative wages in selected countries (as of january 31, 2018). http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/ stat_comparative.html office of the coordinator for counterterrorism (s/ct). (2005). country reports on terrorism 2004. https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2004/ office of the coordinator for counterterrorism (s/ct). 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(2012). visual methodologies: an introduction to researching with visual methodologies. sage publications. sartre, j. (1964). colonialism and neocolonialism. routledge. schmidt, s. (2007). gender gap: the disjuncture between western-developed policies and their african-determined implementation. in r. maboleka (ed.), soaring beyond boundaries: women breaking educational barriers in traditional societies (pp. 7-36). sense publishers. serle, j., & purkiss, j. (2017). drone wars: the full data. the bureau of investigative journalism. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-01/drone-wars-the-full-data smith, a., & vaux, t. (2003). education, conflict and international development. dfid. sobe, n. (2009). educational reconstruction "by the dawn's early light": violent political conflict and american overseas education reform. harvard educational review, 79(1), 123-131. standing, g. (2016). the precariat: the new dangerous class. bloomsbury academic. st. denis, v. (2009). rethinking cultural theory in aboriginal education. in c. levine-rasky (ed.), canadian perspectives on the sociology of education (pp. 163-182). oxford university press. u.s. department of state. (2014). u.s. department of state english access microscholarship program in morocco. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/morocco/19452/ pdfs/accessmorocco.pdf u.s. embassy in morocco. (2010). access microscholarship program in morocco. http://morocco.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/access-in-morocco-info-sheet.pdf von feigenblatt, o. f., suttichujit, v., shuib, m. s., keling, m. f., & ajis, m. n. (2010). weapons of mass assimilation: a critical analysis of the use of education in thailand. journal of asia pacific studies, 1(2), 292-311. wa thiong’o, n. (1986/2003). decolonizing the mind: the politics of language in african literature. heinemann. yin, r. k. (2014). case study research: design and methods. sage publications. mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-01/drone-wars-the-full-data http://photos.state.gov/libraries/morocco/19452/%20pdfs/accessmorocco.pdf http://photos.state.gov/libraries/morocco/19452/%20pdfs/accessmorocco.pdf http://morocco.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/access-in-morocco-info-sheet.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 66-85 corresponding author: jmwright@missouristate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-358 page 85 about the author: jennice mccafferty-wright is an assistant professor at missouri state university where she teaches courses in social studies methods and theory. mailto:jmwright@missouristate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 promoting equity through inquiry-based instruction cory callahan the university of alabama abstract: in this brief advocacy article the author discusses common characteristics of strong, equitable systems of schooling from around the world. citing contemporary research from the european journal of teacher education, the official journal of the european union, and the european commission’s report on equity in school education in europe, he will explore findings from europe, asia, north america, and australia, which despite very different historical and social contexts, tend to demonstrate common characteristics for equitable schooling. while each characteristic deserves its own presentation, this article will center around a characteristic arguably within the most direct influence of teachers and teacher educators: developing and supporting well-prepared teachers. the author advocates for preparing teachers to design and implement inquiry-based instruction; the pedagogical approach that research suggests develops the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind needed for an empowering educational experience. the article encourages teachers in each subject area to consider designing and implementing problem-based curriculum materials and classroom events to help all students develop their capacity to think critically and subsequently help students take control of their learning and their futures. the article concludes with a discussion of ways to meet challenges that teachers face when designing and implementing inquiry-based instruction. keywords: equity, inquiry-based instruction, professional development mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 introduction here, the author posits the notion that one meaningful way to promote equity1 in schools is to develop and support teachers and teacher educators who can implement an empowering form of education (i.e., inquiry-based instruction) for all students. this article follows four steps as the author (1) describes the “characteristics of equitable systems of schooling” from around the world, (2) discusses one of those characteristics more carefully, (3) explores a wise-practice approach toward promoting that characteristic, and (4) addresses the challenges to promoting equity in this fashion. characteristics of equitable systems of schooling research suggests that strong, equitable systems of schooling from around the world—europe (finland), asia (south korea and singapore), north america (ontario, canada), and australia (victoria and new south wales), for example—tend to demonstrate common characteristics despite very different cultures and histories. the common “characteristics of equitable systems of schooling” are secure housing, food, and health care; fairly-funded and well-funded schools; school autonomy and school accountability; well-prepared teachers; and schools organized for opportunities to learn (see darling-hammond, 2010, 2017). these characteristics are drawn from the work of linda darling-hammond, the founding president of the learning policy institute, which was “created to provide high-quality research for policies that enable equitable and empowering education for each and every child” (https://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/ldh). more recently, the european commission issued a report called equity in school education in europe (european commission/eacea/eurydice, 2020). at the beginning of that report, the authors listed 12 “systemic factors” that tend to influence equity in schools. an image from that report is shown in figure 1. 1 there are many ways to operationalize “equitable” systems of schooling, including definitions that start from students’ talents (a meritocratic view) and those that start from students’ needs (an egalitarian view) (see kyriakides et al., 2019). for the purposes of this article, the author conceptualizes equity along the egalitarian perspective: affording each student the resources and support they need to more fully develop their academic potential. this individualized approach works to reduce difference in students’ academic outcomes that can be attributed to socio-economic factors, ethnicity, and gender (charalambous et al., 2018). mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/ldh journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 figure 1 systemic factors that influence equity in schools one will notice some overlap between darling-hammond’s findings and the european commission’s list (i.e., early childhood education and care, school autonomy, school accountability, opportunities to learn), and each of these characteristics or factors deserves its own thorough treatment. however, for the purposes of this brief article, the author concentrates on just one of the common characteristics and moves forward with an in-depth exploration, which will include a field-tested social studies example. the characteristic, well-prepared teachers (and, by extension, teacher educators), is explicit in darling-hammond’s work and implicit in the european commission’s report. one characteristic as it concerns equity, teachers and teacher educators find themselves with a type of middle ground of influence (unterhalter, 2009) because, on one side, there are government ministries and local municipalities making policy decisions and regulations for equity (i.e., top-down efforts), and on the other side there are parents and students participating in and advocating for equity (i.e., bottom-up efforts). this positioning could lead one to argue that the characteristic of equitable systems of schooling over which teachers and teacher educators have the most direct mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 influence is well-prepared teachers. in other words, the most foundational and important of all educational resources—well-prepared teachers—is also a key to equitable systems of schooling. the following two quotes advance this argument and illustrate how well-prepared teachers can help promote equity. the first is from darling-hammond and the second is from the official journal of the european union. readers are invited to look for a word or phrase that stands out as worthy of further consideration. the quotes are: a major aspect of the struggle for equity is “access to an empowering form of education— one that can enable people to think critically and powerfully, to take control of the course of their own learning and to determine their own fate—rather than merely to follow the dictates prescribed by others” (darling-hammond, 2010, p. 28). the official journal of the european union invites “member states, with due regard for subsidiarity and in accord to national circumstances, to focus on ensuring high-quality and inclusive education, and contributing to the development of the talent and potential of all learners… through projectand problem-based learning.” (12.d. council conclusions on school development and excellent teaching [2017/c 421/03]) for the author, the phrases that stand out are “empowering form of education” in the first quote and “problem-based learning” in the second quote. together, they suggest that a way to meaningfully promote equity in schools is to develop and support teachers as they implement an “empowering form of education,” as they plan, implement, and assess “problem-based learning” for every student. this approach is no panacea; rather, it is one method that can complement other methods that also promote equity. this type of powerful instruction, however, stands in contrast to the typical pedagogical approach observed in many classrooms, where one tends to observe superficial coverage of large amounts of information and lower-level thinking skills (for a discussion of social studies classrooms, see saye & ssirc, 2013). this type of instruction does little to help students develop the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind that comprise an empowering educational experience. to develop the knowledge and skills needed to think critically and powerfully—to take control of their learning and determine their own fate—students need teachers in all subject areas to lead them in challenging and interesting explorations of content material. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 a century of research a pithy summary of the past 100 years of strong, consistent research findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience research—from john dewey, maria montessori, and lev vygotsky in the early 1900s to the committee on how people learn from 2018—is that information processing tends to activate when learners feel an authentic desire to know more. sensemaking (i.e., learning) does not occur simply through the presentation of new data, regardless of how innovative and winsome delivery systems or incentive programs become; rather, “people learn when they seek answers to questions that matter to them” (levstik & barton, 2015, p. 13). those in the field of education sometimes use different terms to describe the pedagogical approach that features asking questions for learners to explore. some of the terms are inquirybased learning, problem-based learning, constructivist learning, discovery learning, inquisitive learning, and minimally guided instruction. here, the author uses perhaps the most common term, inquiry-based instruction, and defines it with the following features (see national council for the social studies, 2013; onosko & swenson, 1996): 1. teachers posit an authentic question that resonates with students (i.e., compelling questions) 2. students create knowledge and skills through disciplinary tools, procedures (i.e., exploring content) 3. students collaborate, discuss and deliberate, experience scaffolded instruction, and make public presentations (i.e., developing arguments) 4. students act according to well-informed conscience (i.e., culminating activities) in all disciplines—the sciences, language and literature, mathematics, social studies, the arts, etc.—inquiry-based instruction tends to be most effective when it is systematic and intentional, guided by the rules of each discipline and appropriate to each field (see saye, 2017, for a thorough discussion of disciplined-inquiry in social studies classrooms). so, while this empowering form of instruction would follow a similar pattern, it would look different in each classroom. for example, students in a biology class, students in a geometry class, and students in a literature class could be observed answering questions, collaborating, having closelyscaffolded experiences, and participating in meaningful discourse and presenting arguments as potential solutions; however, the particular tools and procedures they use to develop content knowledge and build disciplinary skills would look very different. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 empowering form of instruction next, the author would like to explore what this type of empowering form of education could look like in a real-world classroom facilitated by a well-prepared teacher. initially as a teacher and now as a teacher educator, the author is an active member of a national community called the persistent issues in history network (saye & brush, 2005). the persistent issues in history (hereafter: pih) network is founded on the belief that pre-collegiate history must help students develop “civic competence: the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society” (saye & brush, 2004, p.124). accordingly, the pih network “seeks to nurture and support a national community of teachers who engage their students in problem-based historical study that promotes competent citizenship,” which, for example, includes “inquiry into historical instances of fundamental societal questions” (saye & brush, 2005, p.168). one of the many educative features of the pih network is a videocase library that demonstrates empowering inquiry-based units and lessons implemented in real-world classrooms. there are also short videos of pih network partner teachers reflecting on their experiences teaching students; they discuss the benefits of implementing problem-based historical instruction and their efforts to overcome its challenges. all necessary curriculum materials for powerful teachingand-learning are also included with the videocases. what follows is a description of an especially dynamic inquiry-based lesson, one that demonstrates how an empowering form of education can promote equity in schools. the lesson described below is copyrighted by the pih network and was developed in collaboration with a pih network partner teacher, mac matthews. the berlin crisis. this lesson was intended for a modern world history classroom in a middle school, for students around 13 or 14 years of age, and where the class met for 90 minutes each day for one semester. the students were studying the very early years of the cold war, focusing in this lesson on the post-war division and reunification of germany into west germany and east germany, berlin into west berlin and east berlin, and, moreover, the tension in 1948 because western-influenced west berlin was geographically within soviet-influenced east germany. the teacher centered the lesson around this compelling question: what course of action should u.s. president harry truman take in the 1948 berlin crisis? mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 to answer that question well, students created knowledge and developed skills by exploring four different historically accurate perspectives that existed at the time, weighed conflicting information, and thought critically. after learning details of the situation through an engaging activity in which president truman was “thinking aloud” about the berlin crisis, students collaborated in expert groups where they read and understood one of four assigned perspectives. they made sense of arguments suggesting that the president should (1) take an aggressive, bold stance, (2) allow diplomacy to work, albeit slowly, (3) demonstrate industrial strength and clear support for west berlin, or (4) seek peace, even if it means allowing a soviet sphere of influence in eastern europe. the above descriptions are heavily truncated for the purpose of providing brief context. this step asked students to socially construct knowledge in collaborative tasks, examine a perspective situated in an authentic real-world problem, and deliberate facts, definitions, and values. the teacher also explicitly structured the activity to support critical thinking; he designed materials in advance to anticipate learners’ typical difficulties and he was prepared to spontaneously support learners by providing just-in-time help. students then moved into decision-making groups where they shared and explored all four perspectives and collaborated to develop one argument to answer to the compelling question. this step included collaborative discourse, deliberation, and critical reasoning, the negotiation of multiple truth claims, and asked students to develop larger webs of meaning. the activity included rich, complex tasks that appealed to multiple ways of knowing and communicating. after each group made an informal presentation of their recommendation for the president, students completed a culminating activity. they were released from any assigned perspective and asked to answer the compelling question from their newly informed personal perspective by writing a speech or drawing and annotating an editorial cartoon. both assignments asked students to use historical evidence and rational thinking to support and defend a claim about the compelling question. this lesson was a demonstration, in a real-world classroom, of the type of empowering form of education that can help promote equity. students engaged in this type of instruction are very likely to develop 21st-century skills, knowledge, and habits of mind to help them take control of their learning and decision-making, and, as darling-hammond (2010) wrote, “determine their own fate, rather than merely to follow the dictates prescribed by others” (p. 28). mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 challenges the type of classroom instruction shared here is not easy. in truth, it is very difficult. the author ends this article by addressing some of the challenges to inquiry-based instruction. the challenges are as follows: time, energy, and cognitive demands (saye, 2017) beliefs about knowledge and learning (colburn, 2000) inexperience with inquiry (monte-sano et al., 2014) comfort level with the ambiguity of inquiry-based contexts (saye, 2017) capacity for leading substantive discourse (hess, 2008; journell, 2011) large class sizes, expectations for coverage, and high-stakes testing (grant & gradwell, 2010) some of these challenges (i.e., high-stakes testing) are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. however, the effects of others (i.e., teachers’ inexperience with inquiry) can be addressed. the author suggests practicing the necessary skills—planning, implementing, and assessing inquirybased instruction—and receiving substantive feedback upon that practice, and then practicing them again many times. this iterative process is a logical step. also, the author suggests reading what researchers and practitioners in the field have found and what implications they have drawn from scientific investigations into inquiry-based classrooms. reading to understand both the “how” and the “why” can better prepare teachers to implement empowering forms of instruction. another suggestion is collaboration. the author considers it a wise practice to work with colleagues to share the difficulty and think deeply together. this type of collective rationality can occur through many approaches; however, the author is particularly fond of lesson study (callahan, 2018; kohlmeier et al., 2020) and collaborative efforts that attempt to build professional teaching knowledge (callahan, 2019; hiebert et al., 2002; howell & saye, 2015). conclusion there are many ways, of course, that teachers and teacher educators can promote equity in schools; however, one can argue, as the author has throughout this brief article, that a viable mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 path toward promoting equity is to help develop and support well-prepared teachers who can implement an “empowering form of education” (i.e., inquiry-based instruction) for every student. acknowledgements this article was developed from an argument first presented as the keynote address for the kosovo international conference on education research, hosted by the faculty of education at the university of prishtinë in kosovo. the author would like to thank drs. blerim saqipi, blerta perolli shehu, majlinda gjelaj, and the scientific and organizing boards for the 2022 conference who invited him to think more deeply about these ideas and deliver the address. faleminderit shumë. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 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(1996). designing issues-based unit plans. in r. w. evans & d. w. saxe (eds.), handbook on teaching social issues (pp. 89–98). national council for the social studies. saye, j. (2017). disciplined inquiry in social studies classrooms. in m. m. manfra & c. m. bolick (eds.), the wiley handbook of social studies research (pp. 336–359). wiley blackwell. saye, j., & brush, t. (2004). promoting civic competence through problem-based history learning environments. in g. hamot, j. patrick, & r. leming (eds.), civic learning in teacher education: international perspectives on education for democracy in the preparation of teachers (vol. 3, pp. 123-145). eric clearinghouse for social studies/social science education. saye, j., & brush, t. (2005). the persistent issues in history network. social education, 69(3), 168-171. saye, j., & social studies inquiry research collaborative (ssirc). (2013). authentic pedagogy: its presence in social studies classrooms and relationship to student performance on statemandated tests. theory & research in social education, 41(1), 89–132. unterhalter, e. (2009). what is equity in education? reflections from the capability approach. studies in philosophy and education, 28(5), 415–424. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 64-75 corresponding author: cwcallahan@ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 about the author: cory callahan, ph.d., auburn university, is an associate professor in the college of education at the university of alabama. he taught secondary students for 14 years, practicing the craft of social studies instruction the way he promoted it in presentations, workshops, and scholarly writing. he has authored or co-authored more than 30 journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, and books, including those who can teach (15e) and teaching for student learning (3e). callahan has encouraged a more dynamic relationship between research and practice through opportunities afforded him by a national technology leadership initiative fellows award, a jacobs educator award, a gilder lehrman alabama history teacher of the year award, and a literati award from emerald publishing. callahan is also a japan fulbright memorial fund fellow and recently completed a fulbright specialist project with the university of prishtinë in kosovo. mailto:cwcallahan@ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 70 media opinion counteracting misconceptions about the arab world from the popular media with culturally-authentic teaching hani morgan, university of southern mississippi _________________________________________________________ abstract: the popular media has not represented the arab world and its people accurately for many years. two researchers who have documented this poor portrayal are jack shaheen and marvin wingfield. shaheen is one the leading scholars on this topic and has written numerous books and articles, and wingfield has also contributed to this area with several convincing articles. this article describes their writings and discusses how educators can respond to their concerns. some of the suggestions this author recommends for fighting the stereotypes about this region include emphasizing the contributions that people from the arab world have made to society and using lesson plans that focus on where the first great civilizations of the world originated. ______________________________________________________________________________________ the way different groups of people are represented in the popular media is a topic that educators need to address. if a particular group is portrayed poorly, it will influence students in schools to develop misconceptions and unfavorable attitudes about that group. the popular media has a great deal of influence on students and has portrayed many groups unfavorably in previous years, including native american, german, japanese, and russian people (gollnick & chinn, 2009). the popular media has also represented people from the arab world very poorly, and today, they seem to be targets of some of the strongest forms of misrepresentation, which originates in television shows, movies, and news reporting. two researchers who have documented the inaccurate portrayal of the arab world and its people are jack shaheen and marvin wingfield. shaheen is one of the leading scholars on this topic and has written numerous books and articles, and wingfield has also contributed to this area with several cogent articles. this article discusses their writings and describes how educators can respond to their concerns. the negative image of the arab world on television shows people from the arab world have historically been represented very poorly on television. shaheen (1980) discusses that as a result of this “most americans do not view journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 71 arabs objectively” (p. 1). in the 1970s, many tv shows, which are still shown today as reruns, portray men from this region as evil millionaires with harems who mistreat women. some of the shows shaheen (1980) refers to include vegas, fantasy island, charlie’s angels, and the bionic woman. in charlie’s angels, the highest-rated tv series of the late 1970s, for example, shaheen provides detail showing how a few demeaning episodes portray arabs. in one of these shows, “angels on ice,” arabs are depicted as having intentions to kill each other and innocent people. in one scene, a group of arabs is shown eating with their hands, without any table manners, and licking food from their fingers. shaheen also mentions how one episode of fantasy island portrays a group of arabs as evil and foolish. in the 21st century, people from the arab world continue to be portrayed poorly in television programming. shaheen (2008) discusses that many tv series, like west wing, transmit fear and hatred to the new generation of viewers. in addition to west wing, some of the recent tv programs that shaheen considers to be stereotypical, for suggesting that people from the arab world are evildoers, include law & order, the practice, and sleeper cell. shaheen (2008) also discusses that the popular media fails to present many of the contributions of people from the arab world: though the vast majority of arab americans are christians, tv programs present us as evil muslims and link the islamic faith, a religion of peace, with violence. besides being dangerous, post–9/11 tv shows continue ignoring real arab-american accomplishments. arab americans, like their african american brothers and others, died in combat serving their country. yet, hollywood continues to ignore their military sacrifice and heroics. (pp. 52-53) what is even more disheartening for many arabic-speaking people is that tv show producers often create content, in the form of cartoons, which depicts people from the arab world negatively to provide children with entertainment. banks (2009) mentions how damaging this is to young children and discusses how a child’s first exposure to a given cultural group will contribute greatly to the child’s views of the group for her/his entire life. unfortunately, some stereotypic cartoons produced in previous years are still shown today as reruns (shaheen, 2000). in many cartoons, heroes defeat evil arab rulers, dumb arabs on magic carpets, and monstrous genies. some of the shows shaheen (1984) says do this include: bugs bunny, journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 72 popeye, porky pig, heckle and jeckle, plastic man, woody woodpecker, and fonz and the happy days gang. wingfield (2002) describes how the cartoon show batman, on fox’s children’s network, depicted dark-complexioned arabs who were plotting to take over the earth with the help of “alien” allies. shaheen (2000) writes that since 1975, more than 60 cartoons appeared on television that have depicted this group negatively, showing them as swine, rats, dogs, magpies, vultures and monkeys. michalak (1988) discusses that even sesame street, a children’s show that usually promotes respect for different cultures, once used an arab to clarify what the word “danger” meant. banks (2009) discusses that news reporting has also contributed to the stereotyping of people from the arab world. in 1979, for example, nbc nightly news announced that the united nations human rights commission had voted to condemn the destroying of the homes of arab “terrorists” when the un commission had condemned the demolition of arab houses (shaheen, 1980). although many people who have ancestry from the arab world currently challenge this type of broadcasting, in previous years, it occurred with little opposition. the negative image of the arab world in movies wingfield (2002) discusses that the most harmful stereotypes of people from this region are those portraying them as terrorists and believes that the film industry has for years perpetuated this image. although shaheen (2008) discusses that a slight improvement occurred after 9/11, many films produced in the 21st century still depict people from the arab world as terrorists. the most egregious example of this type of portrayal in recent years, according to shaheen, is the kingdom (2007). in this movie, fbi agents arrive in saudi arabia to kill arabs, and this film portrays the region as an extremely evil area, where arabs are waiting to shoot americans. the plot suggests that if the fbi agents do not kill the evil arabs, including the women and children, they will kill the americans. shaheen criticizes this movie for not including the viewpoint that saudi leaders expressed when they condemned the 9/11 attacks, shortly after this horrific event occurred. historically, many of the most popular movies ever made have depicted people from this region poorly. wingfield (2002) discusses how high profile films such as rules of engagement, the mummy, true lies, executive decision, raiders of the lost ark, back to the future, and patriot games have portrayed people from the arab world poorly. similar to cartoons seen on television, many movies, consisting of cartoons, are made journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 73 for children, and unfortunately, many children from a middle eastern or arab background will not likely see their cultural heritage in a positive way in these movies. many people from the arab world are familiar with a blatant example of a cartoon movie made by disney, which caused them to speak out about its demeaning portrayal of this area. the original version of this movie—aladdin—featured a song at the beginning of the film that offended many people from the arab world: oh i come from a land from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face it's barbaric, but hey, it's home wingfield (2002) discusses that the lyrics were not the only problem with the film; the heroes in the movie, aladdin and jasmine, have light skin and anglo accents, but the villains have darker skin and arabic accents. although the american-arab antidiscrimination committee persuaded disney to change some of the lyrics, wingfield (2002) discusses that problems remain with the movie and does not recommend it for classroom use. movies and television shows produced in the u.s. provide entertainment to people from all over the world, and in many cases, their popularity is greater overseas than in the u.s. for example, blakly (2001) reports that one of the most popular tv shows in the world—the bold and the beautiful—has 500 million viewers, in 98 countries, and that in 1999, the top four grossing movies at the international box office made more money abroad than domestically. furthermore, popular culture is one of the united states’ largest exports to other countries, and in the 1990s, the majority of the world’s mostattended films were produced by u.s. based companies (kendal, 2012). thus the damaging effect of stereotypes about the arab world from popular culture is not just an american problem but a global concern. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 74 misconceptions about people from the arab world many people have misconceptions about who arabs are. although the term “arab american” is usually used by organizations that fight for the rights of people coming from the arab world, such as the american-arab anti-discrimination committee and the arab american institute, it can be a misleading term because it is often used to refer to anyone having ancestors in the arab world. however, a person who has cultural origins in what is today known as the “arab world” is not necessarily an arab. although egypt, for example, is located in the arab world, and its people speak arabic, egyptians, as haeri (2003) explains, generally do not view themselves as arabs: historically, egyptians have considered themselves as distinct from “arabs” and even at present rarely do they make that identification; “il-‘arab” as used by egyptians refers mainly to the inhabitants of the gulf states….that egypt’s inhabitants spoke coptic before the arrival of the muslim armies, that the lengthy pharaonic civilization flowered there, and, more important, the fact that unlike other arab states egypt has historically had the same territorial boundaries are all in part reasons for the perceptions of a distinctly egyptian identity. (p. 47) in addition to equating people from the arab world with arabs, many students have other misconceptions about this region of the world and its people. many people, for example, mistakenly believe that all muslims are arabs and that all people from the arab world are muslim (al-hazza & lucking, 2007). although most inhabitants of the arab world are followers of islam, there are thousands of jews and approximately 12 million christians who reside in this region (david & ayoubi, 2005). in addition, not all arabic-speaking people come from the middle east; they also come from countries such as those in the western part of north africa, which include morocco and algeria. ameri and ramey (2000) include an accurate map of the arab world in the arab american encyclopedia, and an accurate map of this region is also available online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/arab_world in contrast to some of the demeaning portrayal of the arab world in the popular media are the many positive aspects of their culture and the contributions they have made to american society. in politics, for example, samhan (2001) discusses that four americans journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 75 who have heritage from arabic-speaking countries have held public office in the u.s. senate, including george mitchell (1980-1995) of maine. other americans from the arab world have held positions in the offices of republican and democratic administrations. for example, john h. sununu worked, as chief of staff, under president george bush, and donna shalala served under president bill clinton, as health and human services secretary. under the administration of george w. bush, spencer abraham served as energy secretary, and mitchell daniels worked as director for the office of management and budget. samhan (2001) discusses how americans with heritage from the arab world have also made contributions in other areas of american culture, such as entertainment. famous americans in this field include danny thomas, tony shalhoub, paul anka, casey kasem, and paula abdul. culturally responsive teaching about the arab world the negative image of the arab world in the media and society leads students from this region to have negative experiences in school. wingfield (2002) discusses how negative stereotypes influence many students to mistreat others who have ancestry from this region and mentions how dr. jack shaheen, the author of much of the research used for this article, was taunted at as a student at his school, when his peers called him a “camel jockey” and a “greasy leb.” fortunately, through culturally responsive teaching, opportunities exist that should aid students from this region to have better experiences in school than in previous years. in areas where large concentrations of people from the arab world live, for example, some schools have successfully implemented programs that use arabic language and literature. using bilingual programs is beneficial because these programs help students whose first language is not english learn english and also helps these students feel welcome. other strategies educators can use include assigning students to investigate the contributions that people from this region made in the world during previous eras. teachers can explain that at one point in history, while europe was in the dark ages, the areas in what is known today as the arab world had one of the most advanced cultures in the world. as burns and fulder (2002) explain: it was the arabs who, more than a thousand years ago, helped to preserve, promote, and develop further the medicine and cultural accomplishments of the greeks and romans, which are the bases of journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 76 western civilization and medicine. their role was vital because, in the early medieval period in europe, for 5 centuries, medical knowledge and advancement languished and was largely forgotten although some knowledge was preserved in christian monasteries. (p. 409) during the golden age of islamic rule, between the seventh and fifteenth centuries, many arabic scientists were responsible for discoveries, ranging from medicine to astronomy, which had considerable influence on the west (shetty, 2011). for example, ibn firnas, an andalusian, discovered that glass could be used for magnification to enhance vision in the 9th century, and ibn sina, a persian polymath, wrote some of the earliest texts describing an empirical approach to medicine. ibn sina’s five-volume text al-quanun was at one point used as the main medical text in european schools (burns & fulder, 2002). the arabs also translated greek and roman texts, added commentaries, and wrote original texts, and these works were to become the basic writings used in western medical schools and continued a tradition originating with the greeks (burns & fulder, 2002). additionally, the arabs created a hospital system and integrated pharmacy and chemistry into medical practice. the knowledge of the arabs was so important that several notable scientists, including edmond halley, learned arabic in order to comprehend important texts. halley’s research led to our current knowledge on the acceleration of the moon (shetty, 2011). another strategy educators can implement is the use of lessons focusing on where the first great civilizations of the world originated. ancient civilizations located in the arab world today, such as mesopotamia and ancient egypt, were the most advanced civilizations in ancient times. teachers can assign students to develop projects in order for students to gain awareness of these cultures. teachers can also organize lessons on famous people whose ancestral homeland is in the arab world. in addition to the politicians and entertainers mentioned previously, there are other famous people who trace their ancestry to arabic-speaking countries such as ralph nader, a consumer advocate, and doug flutie, a famous athlete. teachers can use the list in appendix 1, which contains more names of famous persons whose heritage is from the arab world to create lesson plans that focus on racial and ethnic stereotyping. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 77 teachers can invite parents and community members from the arab world to discuss their history, food, music, and language. this usually turns out to be very rewarding for students and teachers and helps lead students in school to believe that people from this region are more similar to other groups than the negative characters the popular media often makes them out to be. for younger children who are in the elementary or middle grades, teachers can take advantage of children’s books that portray people from the arab world favorably. in previous years, it was very difficult to find such books, but today more of these books are available. using these books with children from arabic-speaking families is important because it helps them develop their cultural identities (al-hazza & bucher, 2008). the following children’s books are recommended by leading specialists and scholars in the field of children’s literature on the arab world, such as tami al-hazza and elsa marston. fiction heide, f.p., & gilliand, j.h. (1992). sami and the time of troubles. new york: clarion. lewin, t. (1998). the storytellers. new york: lothrop, lee & shepard. london, j. (1997). ali, child of the desert. new york: lothrop, lee & shepard. marston, e. (2008). santa claus in baghdad and other stories about teens in the arab world. bloomington, in : indiana university press. schami, r. (1990). a hand full of stars. new york: dutton. stolz, j. (2004). the shadows of ghadames. new york: delacorte. nonfiction david, a. (2006). lebanon in the news: past, present, and future. berkeley heights, nj: myreportlinks.com books. dutton, r. (1985). an arab family. minneapolis, mn: lerner. harkonen, r. (1991). the children of egypt. minneapolis, mn: carolrhoda. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 78 haskins, j. (1987). count your way through the arab world. minneapolis, mn: carolrhoda. sheheen, d. (1985). a child’s picture dictionary, english/arabic. new york: adama books. winter, j. (2005). librarian of basra: a true story from iraq. orlando, fl: harcourt. conclusion the negative stereotypes about people from the arab world in the popular media continue to occur and are harmful to students who come from this region. shaheen (2008) reports that these inaccurate ideas about this region lead young students to be humiliated, excluded, and harassed. as a result, many students who come from arabicspeaking countries deny their cultural heritage, by coloring their hair blond and not telling their friends they are from the arab world but that they are italian or spanish (shaheen, 2008). young students from arabic-speaking homes also often change their names, from hussein to howard, for example, to prevent others from finding out about their culture. in previous years, many school resources were also stereotypic and led students to falsely believe that the majority of people from this region live as desert nomads, when in fact, no more than 2% of the arab population live this way. although today school textbooks and other curricular materials are much improved, errors continue to be made (david & ayoubi, 2005). teachers therefore need to provide accurate understanding about the arab world for their students. it is very important for students to understand this group of people and their culture because so much of what happens in the arab world influences society on a global level. this understanding will help students to perceive the world more accurately and will also guide them to develop tolerance toward people from the arab world, the majority of which are peaceful people. educators can begin culturally responsive teaching about arabs at an early age, through the use of culturally authentic children’s books. in addition, teachers can implement lesson plans focusing on the contributions of the islamic empire during its golden age. other strategies educators can use include teaching about great ancient civilization located in the arab world today and inviting members of the arabic-speaking journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 79 community to share knowledge of their culture. teachers can also organize activities based on exploring famous people from the arab world. through these activities and similar lesson plans, students will likely gain a more accurate understanding about the arab world and its people. references al-hazza, t., & bucher, k. t. (2008). building arab americans' cultural identity and acceptance with children's literature. the reading teacher, 62(3), 210–219. al-hazza, t.c., & lucking, b. (2007). celebrating diversity through explorations of arab children’s literature. childhood education. 83(3), 132–135. ameri, a., & ramey, d. (eds.). (2000). arab american encyclopedia. detroit: the gale group. arab american institute (2012). famous arab americans. retrieved on november 9, 2012, from http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/famous-arab-americans/ banks, j. a. (2009). teaching strategies for ethnic studies. newyork: allyn and bacon. burns, s. b., & fulder, s. (2002). arabic medicine: preservation and promotion. a millennium of achievement. journal of alternative & complementary medicine, 8(4), 407-410. blakley, j. (2001). entertainment goes global: mass culture in a transforming world. usc annenburg, the norman lear center. los angeles, california. david, g. c., & ayoubi, k. k. (2005). studying the exotic other in the classroom: the portrayal of arab americans in educational source materials. multicultural perspectives, 7(4), 13–20. gollnick, d. m., & chinn, p. c. (2009). multicultural education in a pluralistic society. upper saddle river, nj: pearson prentice hall. haeri, n (2003). sacred language, ordinary people. new york: macmillan. http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrumzpbbir6ietbins1kypp5oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fivautr06xr7frtkqkhn%2fk5vxj5kr84lpfioac8nnls79mpnfsvbwstk6uqa8%2b5oxwhd%2fqu37z4uqm4%2b7y&hid=15 http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrumzpbbir6ietbins1kypp5oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fivautr06xr7frtkqkhn%2fk5vxj5kr84lpfioac8nnls79mpnfsvbwstk6uqa8%2b5oxwhd%2fqu37z4uqm4%2b7y&hid=15 journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 80 kendal, d. (2012). sociology in our times: the essentials. belmont, ca: wadsworth. michalak, l. (1988). cruel and unusual: negative images of arabs in american popular culture. washington, d.c. adc research institute. samhan, h. h. (2001). who are arab americans? retrieved on may 10, 2012, from http://www.aaiusa.org/page/file/21b02cde94d4307c47_jsnmvy5dd.pdf/whoar earabamericans.pdf shaheen, j. g. (1980). the arab stereotype on television. the link 13(1), 1-15. shaheen, j. g. (1984). the tv arab. bowling green, ohio: bowling green state university popular press. shaheen, j. g. (2000). hollywood's muslim arabs. muslim world, 90 (1-2), 22-42. shaheen, j. g. (2001). real bad arabs: how hollywood vilifies a people. new york: olive branch press. shaheen, j. g. (2008). guilty: hollywood’s verdict on arabs after 9/11. northhampton, ma: olive branch press. shetty p. (2011). arabic roots of modern medicine. the lancet. 378, 19-20. wingfield, m., & karaman, b. (2002). arab stereotypes and american educators. in e. lee, d. menkart, & m. okazawa-rey (eds.), beyond heroes and holidays: a practical guide to k–12 anti-racist, multicultural education and staff development (pp.132–136). washington, dc: teaching for change. http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrumzpbbir6ietbins1kypp5oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fivautr06xr7frtkqkhn%2fk5vxj5kr84lphhepa6z7y1%2bvvv8skeeyzsem1qbdosqukfu3o63nys%2bsn6ulyffbq&hid=15 journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 81 appendix 1: famous people from the arab world (adapted from the arab american institute, 2012) academics elias corey, chemistry professor at harvard university (1990 nobel prize winner) michael e. debakey, cardiovascular surgeon philip s. khoury, professor of history and associate provost at the massachusetts institute of technology edward said, former professor at columbia university performers f. murray abraham, academy award winner paul anka, singer jamie farr, actor casey kasem, radio personality kristy mcnichol, actress tony shalhoub, emmy award-winning actor vic tayback, actor danny thomas, actor marlo thomas, actress frank zappa, musician http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/massachusetts_institute_of_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/massachusetts_institute_of_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/academy_award journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 82 politicians james abdnor, u.s. senator (1981–1987) james abourezk, u.s. senator (1973–1979) spencer abraham, u.s. secretary of energy (2001–2005) victor g. atiyeh, governor of oregon (1979–1987) john baldacci, governor of maine mitchell daniels, governor of indiana pat danner, u.s. congresswoman (1993–2001) darrell issa, u.s. congressman chris john, u.s. congressman (1997–2005) abraham kazen, u.s. congressman (1967–1985) ray lahood, u.s. congressman (1995–2009) george j. mitchell, u.s. senator (d-maine) (1980–1995) ralph nader, consumer advocate mary rose oakar, u.s. congresswoman (1977–1993) nick rahall, u.s. congressman donna shalala, u.s. secretary of health and human services (1993–2001) john e. sununu, u.s. senator (2003–2009) john h. sununu, governor of new hampshire (1983–1989) chief of staff to george h.w. bush http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/u.s._secretary_of_energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oregon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/indiana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/u.s._secretary_of_health_and_human_services http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/new_hampshire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/white_house_chief_of_staff journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 70-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 83 arab american institute (2012). famous arab americans. retrieved on november 9, 2012, from http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/famous-arab-americans/ appendix 1: famous people from the arab world (adapted from the arab american institute, 2012) academics performers politicians journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 preservice teachers’ use of mathematics pedagogy to conceptualize distortion in world maps song a. an the university of texas at el-paso timothy g. cashman the university of texas at el paso daniel tillman the university of texas at el paso abstract: this research study focuses on preservice teachers’ (n=66) inspection of pedagogical connections between geography and geometrical reasoning. the aim of this study was to empirically investigate the use of mathematical analysis to enrich the social studies topics of the distortion of country sizes on the world map. the analysis of data collected from the 66 participants generated seven specific pedagogical strategies and covered nine identified mathematics and social studies topics during their lesson concepts for introducing the world map to elementary students. results from this study reveal that after being corrected regarding this misconception, the participating preservice teachers were successful in developing learning activities to address this topic, employing student-centered strategies including technology-based, paper-based, hands-on, and feet-on approaches. keywords: social studies education, mathematics education, geography education, teacher education, interdisciplinary teaching introduction geography is a subject that allows students to explore their own living planet, from continents to their local streets, as well as how these components are dynamically structured and interact http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 (hinde et al., 2007). maps shrink this complexity into a transferrable and succinct picture and therefore have become one of the chief representational modalities for illustrating and communicating geographical information, particularly within the k-12 geography curriculum. most regional maps provide fairly accurate information regarding relative sizes of geographic features—for example, a map of the united states shows texas to be about four times the size of oklahoma—and thus the visual sizes displayed match up with their relative sizes in reality. conversely, a flat world map will always have a degree of nontrivial distortion, with the types and severity of distortion determined by the projection system employed during the selected process for converting the spherical surface of the earth into a two-dimensional and generally rectangular representation. a typical example of such misrepresentation is the size of greenland, which is visually equivalent to the whole continent of africa on most classroom world maps, although in reality the geographical size of the african continent is roughly 14 times larger than that of greenland. to represent earth’s entire surface accurately on a twodimensional map would require that the actual earth be a two-dimensional surface, which it is not, and so the use of complex conversion processes for transferring spheroidal objects onto flat projections will continue to be inevitable, along with the distortion they entail. through the lenses of critical geography, and more specifically critical cartography, these inaccuracies and others can be explored further. both critical geography and critical cartography are practices grounded in critical theory and thus actively acknowledge that maps in general are not objective realities but instead often reflect the interests of the institutions that created them, the historical contexts in which they were developed, and the idiosyncrasies related to individual cartographers (au, 2022). according to crampton and krygier (2010), critical cartography assumes that maps can essentially create new realities despite their intended goal of representational authenticity. because maps are dynamic and cartography can construct knowledge, the products of cartographers can either be employed to uphold existing dominant political structures and norms or, on the contrary, promote social change. historically, the most popular world mapping system has been the mercator projection, which has been widely adopted across many countries particularly in terms of use within classrooms and atlases. the mercator projected world map is basically a flattened cylindrical map, similar to placing a marble into a cylindrical cup and then printing the marble’s pattern on the cup’s outer wall. the mercator mapping system has been demonstrated to provide suitability for marine navigation in comparison with some of the other popular types of projected maps, in particular because the mercator system allows positions to be calculated via constant bearing http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 as a straight segment. the downside of the mercator map is that the regions in high latitudes such as northern europe, north america, and russia become increasingly enlarged as they near the top edge of the rectangular map; the distortions near the bottom of the map mostly impact antarctica and are therefore less of a concern for geographers. yet such inaccuracies in the presentation of geographic sizes on mercator world maps are rarely mentioned in social studies or history classes that employ such maps, and therefore many students—along with adults— develop life-long misconceptions about the relative sizes of key geopolitical countries (cormas, 2009). marginalization of social studies in elementary education researchers have previously noted that social studies education was continuously marginalized throughout the k-12 curriculum for the past 30 years. specifically, the adoption of the no child left behind act (nclb) and common core state standards (ccss) were two major driving forces that actively sidelined the position of social studies within the k-12 curriculum (aktan, 2016; heafner, 2018; kenna & russell, 2015; waters & watson, 2016). while nclb increased accountability via state-level standardized testing, school subjects such as mathematics and reading were prioritized during instructional time whereas subjects such as social studies were given less focus (fitchett & heafner, 2010; pace, 2012). likewise, social studies was essentially excluded from ccss, while the subjects of mathematics and language arts were given primacy (heafner, 2018; waters & watson, 2016). the collective result of nclb and ccss was thus a substantial decrease in the instructional time allotted for social studies across students’ regular academic time (fitchett, heafner, & lambert, 2014; strachan, 2015). the marginalized status of social studies within the k-12 curriculum is not expected to change in the foreseeable future, and so the integration of social studies instructional opportunities into the “core” subjects such as literacy, math, and science has been identified as a crucial method for providing social studies content knowledge to students (heafner, 2018; huck, 2018; kinniburgh & busby, 2008). as a partial remedy for addressing the issue of inadequate instructional time for social studies (castro, field, bauml, & morowski, 2012), the methods employed for embedding social studies into language arts and mathematics can offer students pedagogy focused on connecting knowledge across subject boundaries during student-centered and project-based activities (anderson, 2014; holloway & chiodo, 2009). without proper professional development, however, many teachers will remain unaware of the interdisciplinary teaching opportunities available to highlight social studies in their language arts and mathematics lessons (cashman, 2021; harris, wirz, hinde, & libbee, 2015). http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 pedagogical connection of maps with elementary curriculum as a useful component within many fields of education, maps are frequently embedded in written texts to serve as supplementary visual information (mccall, 2011). a wide range of classroom topics can be accessible with maps, including, for example, science lessons from biology and environmental science, both of which can use maps to display animal-habitat relationships around the world such as pandas in central china, kangaroos in australia, or penguins in antarctica (aikenhead, 2001). in early childhood literacy education, maps have been used during educational strategies employing picture books to help children pinpoint the relative locations in the stories (kümmerling-meibauer, 2010). during dance and physical education classes, maps have been used to help individual students become aware of their positions within a large group dance or team sports (an, tillman, & hachey, 2021). in political science and civic classes, maps have been utilized to illustrate the complexity of gerrymandered voting districts, divisions along county-city boundaries, and the growth of public transportation systems (bar-natan, najt, & schutzman, 2020). regarding the role of maps in mathematics education, maps are both cognitively and instructionally entangled with mathematics pedagogy. researchers that have studied and identified the processes responsible for mapping within cognition have found that they are associated with the same mental processes occurring during mathematically oriented thinking (nctm, 2000, 2006). specifically, both map-cognition and mathematical-cognition require students to (1) understand and apply new sets of symbols, (2) conceptualize objects through multiple perspectives (e.g., 2d versus 3d, algebraic versus geometric), (3) develop a sense of measurement, (4) use coordination systems to determine positions, (5) make scale adjustments based on proportional thinking, and (6) transition between physical and abstract representations. nevertheless, interdisciplinary educational opportunities that connect mathematics with mapping have generally been neglected by classroom teachers. previous research studies that have examined the use of maps during mathematics instruction has primarily focused on the teaching of projection to geology majors during undergraduate education (e.g., basaraner & cetinkaya, 2019; savric, patterson, & jenny 2019); research empirically investigating the appropriate pedagogy for introducing world maps and their projection systems to k-12 students is generally absent. the purpose of the current research study is to examine preservice teachers’ instructional strategies for helping their students understand different projection http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 systems for displaying a world map, with special emphasis on pedagogy employed to explain distortions to country sizes within mercator world maps. specifically, this study aims to answer the following two research questions: (1) how did the participating elementary preservice teachers respond to learning about the distortion within mercator projected world maps? (2) what were the participating elementary preservice teachers’ instructional strategies for delivering lessons about world map distortions to their students? methods research setting and participants the current study was conducted in the southwestern region of the united states, and included a total of 66 preservice elementary teachers, each of whom was enrolled in a one-year residency program during which they practiced clinical teaching in local schools while guided by field supervisors. the participants in this study were predominantly female (n=61) and hispanic (n=63) and had enrolled in a mathematics methods and a social studies methods course concurrently. all participants had also completed prerequisite mathematics content and social studies content courses earlier during their freshman and sophomore years. description of the learning task the main preparatory activity prior to data collection was to introduce a web-based interactive world map software called “the true size of ...”. this software was created by james talmage and damon maneice for the educational purpose of helping teachers to demonstrate how latitude impacts country size on a world map. specifically, the software enables students to drag a country from its regular geographic position on the mercator world map to a different latitudinal position; for example, norway can be moved to the equator to see how its apparent size shrinks, showing students the patterns of geometric distortion caused by the cylindrical projection systems. for this study, the continents of north america and africa were selected as the two foci for the tasks the participating preservice teachers would undertake while mathematically examining country distortions on the mercator world map. the rationale for choosing these two continents was that north america was familiar to all of the participants because that is where they lived, and africa is one of the continents with the least amount of distortion on a traditional mercator map. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 during the task focused on north america (see figure 1), the preservice teachers were asked to develop a new map showing the correct relative sizes among canada (which is significantly enlarged on a mercator world map), the united states (which is somewhat enlarged on a mercator world map), and mexico (which accurately displays its real size on a mercator world map). then, during the task focused on africa (see figure 2), the preservice teachers were asked to find two or more means of selecting a group of non-african countries that roughly matched the size of the african continent. figure 1 sample drawings of north america created by one of the participants data collection and analysis a total of 66 reflective essays were collected from the participants. the content of the essays generally included three paragraphs corresponding to the following three questions: (1) what is your understanding of mercator world map distortions for country sizes? (2) do you think mathematics can help explain such distortions, and why or why not? (3) what are your teaching strategies for explaining the world map’s distortions of country sizes? the average word counts for the collected essays were 438 words each, upon which the grounded theory approach was http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 utilized as the major data analysis technique (corbin & strauss, 2008). emergent themes across the data were identified and consistency was compared and iteratively refined until the main categories and subcategories were saturated. to ensure reliability, the data was independently coded by three researchers, and inconsistencies were resolved collectively by group dialogue and decision making. figure 2. sample drawings of african continent from one of the participants http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 results the analysis of data collected from the 66 participants generated seven specific pedagogical strategies and covered nine identified mathematics and social studies topics during their lesson concepts for introducing the world map to elementary students (see table 1). each of the participants proposed methods for demonstrating the world map distortion patterns, including: (a) computer-based approaches from 53 participants (80.3%), (b) paper-pencil based approaches from 60 participants (90.1%), and (c) hands-on based approaches from 29 participants (43.9%). nine different mathematics topics were covered in the collected lesson plans, ranging from “number and operation” to “ratio and proportion” topics. measurement and geometry were the mathematics content areas most frequently addressed, 52 times (78.8%) and 35 times (53.0%), respectively. to illustrate the instructional strategies employed, the lesson plans of seven participants—belinda, natalia, emiliano, gia, sofia, martina, and carmen (pseudonyms)—were selected as demonstrative of the most important representative features. pedagogy for helping students conceptualize map distortions while almost all of the participants acknowledged computer simulations during their design of teaching methods, especially during the first stage of their lessons, only a small portion of participants (16.7%) proposed showing a video to their students; the general method proposed was to find pre-existing educational videos from media sharing websites and play these videos in class to their students. as a demonstrative example, belinda presented an instructional design that employed steps that included having students first watch a video and then participate in follow-up activities using hands-on manipulatives to measure and compare country sizes. belinda described her lesson as follows: if i had the chance to show my students a map of the world, i could show the misrepresentation of size by playing a video from youtube that talks about the size of the united states compared to canada or mexico. then, i would guide my students to look at the map together and see if the map is accurate or not based on the actual size of the united states. to help my students learn the true size of different countries, i would assign one country to each student and they would have to research the exact size of their country in square miles. we would then use 10 small cubes to represent one million square miles and the students would have to make a model of their country http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 that is “true” to size using the blocks. this would help them to see what true size may be represented as. table 1 pedagogical approaches and content foci for addressing world map distortions teaching methods and contents occurrence s rates teaching methods computer simulation through existing videos 11 16.7% computer simulations by teacher 27 40.9% computer simulations by students 15 22.7% paper-pencil activities (fixed comparison) 38 57.6% paper-pencil activities (open comparison) 22 33.3% hands-on activities with manipulatives (2d only) 19 28.8% hands-on activities with manipulatives (3d and 2d) 10 15.2% feet-on activities 3 5.0% content coverage historical background 29 43.9% alternative types of projections 17 25.8% data collection 25 37.9% geometry (shapes, locations and dilation) 35 53.0% measurement (area and size comparisons) 52 78.8% number and operation (addition, multiplication, division, fractions and percentages) 26 39.4% ratio, scale and proportion 30 45.5% algebra (equations) 8 12.1% http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 belinda’s hands-on activities featured assessments of the relative sizes of different countries compared to a fixed reference: the size of the united states. by contrasting the number of equal-sized blocks that covered the united states versus other countries, belinda’s students were able to quantify country size differences. different from belinda’s approach, which emphasized manipulatives-based activities, natalia developed her instructional strategy by emphasizing the process of drawing. in natalia’s lesson, students were asked to draw a map based on their mental conception of relative country sizes and re-draw the same map after learning the correct relative sizes from a reliable online source. specifically, natalia said: i would have my students pick out a country and have them draw it as it is represented on a regular map. after that, they can log on to the website of truesize and then draw it out as it is represented on there. from a mathematical standpoint, i would like my students to look for the square miles of at least two countries, like mexico and france, and then compare them to the size displayed on a regular map, and then again on the truesize website. this will allow them to see which of two maps represents the size correctly based on numbers. my students can draw the countries out with shapes, as i think it is a fun activity that could work for both social studies and math. natalia’s lesson plan encourages her hypothetical students to compare country sizes by dragging a pair of countries to the same latitude on a digital world map, and this experience was designed to result in the drawing of maps with superior precision. similar to natalia, participant emiliano also proposed a lesson that encouraged students to use digital software to investigate the relative sizes of different countries. however, unlike natalia, emiliano prepared additional materials intended to highlight the mathematical concepts behind the mercator world map projection system as well as the historical and political context in which it was developed. emiliano specified his instructional process as follows: … my students need to peel an orange and extend it into a flat shape. after discussing how difficult it is, i would ask them if they think it is easy to represent the earth (or any planet) into a 2d shape. after that, i would introduce them to the website of thetruesize.com so they can start comparing the different countries and make observations on them. some of the observations that i would like them to think about is why is europe in the center of the world and whether or not they think it is on purpose. i would also present my students world maps used in different parts of the world such as australia where they put australia in the center of the world, and analyze the importance of representing our countries in a certain way. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 emiliano’s lessons featured a mapmaking process that allowed his students to create maps by placing different countries as the center of a mercator projected world map and observing how this impacted the relative sizes of the countries. in comparison, participant gia attempted to go beyond the mercator route by introducing her students to maps employing other types of projection systems. within her instructional strategy, the common use of mercator maps was compared with mapping systems that show accurate country sizes but must employ other compromises to fit a spherical surface onto a flat plane. gia described why she believed that having students make comparisons among multiple projection systems for mapping may help them understand why there is distortion within flat world maps. gia stated: i am going to make sure i get one [mercator] world map that has misrepresentation and another type of projections such as the dymaxion map and gall-peters map that has an accurate representation of country sizes of our world. i would plan activities for my students to compare the sizes of countries in the maps with different projections for them to understand why none of the maps is perfect and we cannot fully rely on any single resource to know about areas of countries or continents. it will really help them see and understand how each map shows different things and the strength and weakness of each type of map. analyzing and comparing “accurate” and “compromise” maps is one of the strategies that i would use to help students realize the limitation of maps. although the use of digital technology such as the truesize online mapping software was found extensively across the analyzed instructional strategies, some of the participants decided to use digital technology in other ways. one of the participants, sofia, proposed instruction that offered hands-on activities followed by statistical examination. sofia described how having students compare country sizes using bar graphs that show the relative areas could supplement the visually oriented comparisons of the countries’ borders and internal areas on maps. as sofia described: i will show a picture of a standard mercator map and put a picture of each continent with actual size on the mercator map. this will help the students get an overall visual representation of the correct size of each continent… i can show my students a bar graph that represents the size of [selected] countries from smaller to largest. my students will develop a more accurate view of size [of countries] based on square mileage or kilometers rather than visual representations. i would also help my students http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 understand how to find the right scale by presenting fraction, ratios, and proportions in constructing the world map with correct country sizes. similar to sofia’s teaching approach, which emphasized statistical data analysis and the use of bar graphs to compare ratios, martina also contributed an advanced pedagogical approach by asking students to make pie charts representing the countries on grid-based world maps, helping them to transition between multiple representations of the data they were investigating. martina further developed the learning activities for her students by having them make world maps with carboard and play-doh, based on their previously created grid-maps. as martina specified: i would give my students graph paper to draw their new maps based on squares. i would set the entire land on the earth to equal 100% and have the students arrange the countries within 100 squares on the graph paper. this will give them the opportunity to identify and sort the top 20 largest countries together with the rest of the world in a pie graph. students would calculate the percentage of each country and then assign the percentage in the graph paper until they all add up to 100%. this means that the students should determine the country sizes by counting the number of squares on their graph paper. the follow-up activity i thought about was having them make the countries out of clay or play-doh. when they are done, they can have a gallery walk and compare between their play-doh maps. unlike most of the participants, who generally employed traditional instructional resources during their lessons, carmen was one of the few participants who employed full-body kinesthetic learning activities to help her students conceptualize the mercator world map projection system. in carmen’s instructional plans, a physical sandbox was employed and her students were expected to draw the relative sizes of different countries in the sand, using their finger or a stick as the drawing tool. carmen also provided a learning activity during which the whole class participated in kinesthetic movement around the room while comparing country sizes. she stated: my students will be able to identify how each country looks like by drawing out the countries themselves in the sandboxes… i would also use the same concept of students creating their maps by playing a grid-game. i would set up strings on the floor where they form a grid and the students would walk around the grid to represent the size of a country they are assigned. as a class they can help each other. for example, if the http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 [continent] north america were 4 squares by 6 squares, then 10 students will walk together represent the size of the canada, another 10 students to represent the size of united states, and 2 students to represent the size of mexico. post-debriefing reflections on the distortions in world maps according to cormas (2009), “displaying a single world map in the middle school classroom (often some version of a political map and a mercator projection) has contributed to student misconceptions in geography and earth science” (p. 8). it is not uncommon for preservice teachers to confuse common directional terms (up, down, right, and left) with cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west). moreover, within the mercator projection system, landmasses may be depicted inaccurately, such as greenland appearing to have a greater land mass than south america. even more disconcerting is the tendency among some preservice educators to “assert information gleaned from a map as if it were infallible and complete” (p. 8). in general, the participants agreed that the learning tasks changed their perceptions toward social studies teaching, and they acknowledged the value of integrating mathematics into the presentation of social studies concepts. one of the predominant themes that was repeatedly expressed in the collected reflection essays was their feelings of frustration at being misled by the common mercator world map system. most participants stated that they had never been taught about distortions based on a world map’s projection system, and participating in the current study allowed them to develop a better understanding of how to go about creating effective pedagogy for addressing this topic with their own students in the future. by mathematically and visually deconstructing the world map into accurately sized countries, the participants learned about the types of distortion that occur when a projection system is selected. as an illustration, gia shared her insights into how she transformed her perceptions and pedagogy toward world maps: the map is all lies! this gave me a major existential crisis. i was astonished to learn how political reasons such as western imperialism and eurocentrism have deceived us into thinking that maps provide an accurate depiction of countries. after looking at the actual representations of sizes of countries, i learned the valuable lesson of not trusting everything i see because it can be easily distorted. as future teachers, it is our job to teach our students that the map we have is wrong and it can be proven that is wrong… it might take some time to get the real and exact measurement of each country. but it http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 will help [students] know the true size of each country and make a new map according to the correct size. likewise, belinda shared her newfound understanding about the importance of developing and implementing interdisciplinary education that connects social studies with mathematics to help students avoid incorrect conceptions. for belinda, the key pedagogical transformation in her mindset was to realize that by highlighting geography in the social studies curriculum, she could make links between geography and mathematics during the teaching process. as belinda commented: i was never aware that there exists misrepresentation of size [of countries] on world map. teachers explained which [countries] are bigger but no one, at least in my experience, showed me a visual representation of it. i was shocked when i read the information provided about the errors on the world maps we see in the classrooms. it also made me realize that when learning about all these different countries, i have completely disregarded one very important part: geography. the location and actual sizes of these components that make our planet are essential to really understand these places and their relationships between humans and the environment. emiliano also articulated during his reflections that, similar to gia and belinda, the experience of investigating country size distortions in world maps had reshaped his teaching philosophy. specifically, emiliano pointed out that not only will he address critical thinking during his teaching process, he will also facilitate and encourage future students to make their own verifications of whatever they are taught. emiliano described what he learned and how it changed his approach to teaching: something that was very provoking for me was that the mercator map is the most widely used map in the world. this is the map that may be found in the schools through the world. i feel betrayed. in my whole life, i thought the countries that were shown in the world map were an accurate size. it is astonishing [for me to know] the nations around the poles are depicted as considerably larger than they are in reality. so, i believe that as teachers it is our responsibility to give our students correct information. discussion this research study focused chiefly on the participating preservice teachers’ investigation of pedagogical connections between social studies and mathematics as a means for enriching http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 social studies education. specifically, the aim of this study was to examine empirical evidence of mathematical thinking, such as proportional and geometrical reasoning, within participating preservice teachers’ instructional strategies for explaining the distortion of country sizes within mercator-projected world maps. the findings from the current study were consistent with previous studies on social studies and mathematics integration within education (an & tillman, 2018; maguth, 2012) showing that preservice teachers were generally underprepared to employ mathematics during their instruction of social studies concepts. a majority of the participants in this study acknowledged that they had assumed the traditional mercator world map was accurate regarding country sizes. results from this study revealed that after being corrected regarding this misconception, the participants were successful in developing learning activities to address this topic, employing student-centered strategies including technologybased, paper-based, hands-on, and feet-on approaches. analysis of the participants’ instructional designs revealed their processes for teaching the topic of world map distortion regarding country sizes. a wide variety of mathematical activities were created by the participants during their lessons explaining the distortion of countries in high latitude regions, such as canada and russia. these activities offered a variety of options for displaying the relative sizes of different countries, including the use of dynamic digital maps on computers, drawings on paper, cubes on a table, play-doh spread on cardboard, statistical graphs, and even choreographed movement. many of the participants included more than one type of medium, thus employing multiple representations in their pedagogy. a wide range of mathematical topics was integrated into the participants’ instructional approaches for teaching about world map projection systems. the use of mathematics to help explain the distortion of country sizes, especially the deformations that occur within mercator system world maps, enabled the participants to develop lessons featuring interdisciplinary connections. the empirical findings from this study demonstrate some of the potential for maps to help teachers find connections between mathematics and geography. each of the overarching topics within mathematics, such as number and operation, geometry, measurement, algebra, data analysis, and probability, can provide resources for better understanding maps and mapmaking, thereby supporting interdisciplinary approaches to social studies and geography education. this study also investigated the implementation of student-centered teaching methods appropriate for supporting interdisciplinary instruction in the social studies classroom. social studies knowledge was systematically linked with mathematics so as to encourage students to http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 develop a better understanding of how a country’s size can be quantitatively analyzed; a similar approach could be used to teach other geographic information including aspects of population, economics, currency, temperature, transportation, energy use, and many other quantifiable variables. the inherently quantitative nature of most social studies data collection and analysis might even indicate that many social studies concepts cannot be accurately conveyed without mathematics. nevertheless, the majority of traditional pedagogical approaches to teaching social studies still focus on memorization of facts and definitions, which are then assessed during multiple-choice timed tests (stohlmann, 2018). to improve the teaching of social studies, it is therefore crucial to provide preservice teachers with interdisciplinary pedagogical techniques that encourage students to construct their own internal knowledge networks regarding understanding of social studies. before transitioning to the conclusion, several limitations to this study’s research design should be acknowledged. first, this research study employed an ethnically homogenous group of participants containing a majority that were hispanic female college students. because of the homogeneity of the participants, any conclusions from this study are limited in their generalizability. in addition, no assessments were conducted prior to the study to evaluate participants’ content knowledge and pedagogical capacity in either mathematics or social studies. therefore, it is difficult to discern what (if any) impacts were a direct result from the intervention, as opposed to a pre-existing understanding regarding the interdisciplinary links between mathematics and geography. both of these limitations will be addressed in future studies by our research team, and it is our hope that other research teams might also be interested in empirically investigating these topics with research designs that specifically tackle these challenges. despite these limitations, the current study empirically analyzed the preservice teachers’ development of teaching strategies that highlighted interdisciplinary connections between social studies and mathematics. to further develop this line of research, the authors encourage further systemic investigation of preservice teachers’ changes in effectiveness and self-efficacy at teaching interdisciplinary lessons combining social studies with mathematics, as well as impacts on students’ learning that results from classroom teachers implementing such interdisciplinary pedagogy. conclusion a best-selling children’s picture book, oh, the places you'll go! written and illustrated by dr. seuss (1957), presented a misleading world map illustration showing readers a south america that was visually equivalent to the united states in size. dr. seuss’s books were well-known for http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 their creative liberties and distortions of reality, so perhaps a world map based on the mercator system was appropriate within that context. but there was nothing special or unique about dr. seuss’s use of this world map projection system within his book; instead, similar maps based on the mercator projection system can be found anywhere from commercial products to educational resources. without geography education employing mathematical analyses, students and their teachers might never learn that the most common world maps intentionally distort the actual sizes of some countries. after years of repeatedly seeing these distorted map projection systems in a wide variety of settings and contexts, such representations can become especially challenging to correct. the use of projection systems for converting our spherical world into a flat, generally rectangular map has resulted in geographic misconceptions about the sizes of africa and central and south america, as well as portions of asia, all of which were significantly shrunk on the standard mercator world map. furthermore, countries like canada, greenland, and iceland were vastly oversized, giving students an inaccurate understanding of these nations’ physical presence on the globe. the boston public schools system has attempted to address this educational issue, announcing in 2017 that their schools were replacing mercator world maps with gall-peters projected maps, which more equitably size non-western countries; however, the vast majority of school districts in the united states continue to use the mercator projection system for their standard world maps across the curriculum. a core component of modern social studies education is learning to think from an empirical rather than a subjective perspective (hawkman, 2020). for example, cormas (2009) recommended that students be supported in developing understanding of the following key social studies concepts: (1) maps are simplified representations of an infinitely complex reality; (2) maps are tools that can be used for a wide variety of purposes; (3) maps are created by mapmakers and therefore can contain intentional as well as unintentional misconceptions and biases. but in order for students to be taught these concepts, more teachers will need to acquire pedagogical aptitude for meaningfully integrating mathematics into their social studies lessons (martignon & krauss, 2009). the results from this study suggest that teacher education programs would benefit from the identification and piloting of interdisciplinary approaches to preservice teacher preparation, particularly those approaches that highlight connections between mathematics and social studies instruction. as an alternative to traditional social studies instruction that is often based on isolated, fragmented, and abstracted information, an interdisciplinary approach employing mathematics activities may help students better understand both social studies and the world in which it is taught. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 references aikenhead, g. (2001). integrating western and aboriginal sciences: cross-cultural science teaching. research in science education, 31(3), 337–355. aktan, s. (2016). how can i describe the social studies curriculum? a case study. journal of social studies education research, 7(1), 41–72. an, s. a., & tillman, d. a. (2018). preservice teachers’ pedagogical use of “gerrymandering” to integrate social studies and mathematics. journal of mathematics education, 11(3), 33– 53. an, s. a., tillman, d. a., & hachey, a. c. (2021). off the paper and into the dance: investigating preservice elementary teachers’ experiences with dynamic spatial reasoning choreography tasks. research in dance education, 22(1), 17–37. anderson, d. (2014). outliers: elementary teachers who actually teach social studies. the social studies, 105(2), 91–100. au, y. 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(2009). maps, representations of the earth, and biases. middle level learning, 36, 8–11. crampton, j., & krygier, j. (2010). an introduction to critical cartography. acme: an international e-journal for critical geographies, 4(1), 11-33. http://www.iajiss.org/ https://kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/en/what/critical-maps.html journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 fitchett, p. g., & heafner, t. l. (2010). a national perspective on the effects of high-stakes testing and standardization on elementary social studies marginalization. theory & research in social education, 38(1), 114–130. fitchett, p. g., heafner, t. l., & lambert, r. g. (2014). examining elementary social studies marginalization: a multilevel model. educational policy, 28(1), 40–68. harris, l. m., wirz, j. p., hinde, e. r., & libbee, m. 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(2012). in defense of the social studies: social studies programs in stem education. social studies research and practice, 7(2), 65–90. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 martignon, l., & krauss, s. (2009). hands-on activities for fourth graders: a tool box for decision-making and reckoning with risk. international electronic journal of mathematics education, 4(3), 227–258. mccall, a. l. (2011). promoting critical thinking and inquiry through maps in elementary classrooms. the social studies, 102(3), 132–138. national council of teachers of mathematics. (2000). principles and standards for school mathematics. reston, va: author. national council of teachers of mathematics. (2006). curriculum focal points for pre-k–grade 8 mathematics. reston, va: author. pace, j. (2012). teaching literacy through social studies under no child left behind. journal of social studies research, 36(4), 329–358. reiz, n., o’lear, s., & tuininga, d. (2018). exploring a critical legal cartography: law, practice, and complexities. geography compass, 12(5), e12368. savric, b., patterson, t., & jenny, b. (2019). the equal earth map projection. international journal of geographical information science, 33(3), 454–465. seuss, dr. (1957). oh, the places you’ll go! uk: harpercollins publishing. shreiner, t. l. (2018). data literacy for social studies: examining the role of data visualizations in k–12 textbooks. theory & research in social education, 46(2), 194–231. stohlmann, m. (2018). a vision for future work to focus on the “m” in integrated stem. school science and mathematics, 118(7), 310–319. strachan, s. l. (2015). kindergarten students’ social studies and content literacy learning from interactive read-alouds. the journal of social studies research, 39(4), 207–223. waters, s., & watson, j. (2016). examining the standardization of social studies content in the united states. curriculum and teaching, 31(1), 89–99. about the authors: song a. an is an associate professor in mathematics education at the university of texas at el paso (utep), where he has served since 2012. dr. an received ph.d. in curriculum and instruction from texas a&m university. his research is to build on the natural cognitive http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 1-21 corresponding author: saan@utep.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 overlaps between music/dance and mathematics, and to pedagogically develop such transdisciplinary contexts into opportunities for students recognize, analyze, and apply mathematics. he is a researcher who dedicates the effort on systematically and empirically studying the impacts on mathematics education resulting from project based activities involving authentic music/dance-themed learning for k-12 education and teacher education. timothy g. cashman is a professor in the teacher education department at the university of texas at el paso. he received his doctoral degree from washington state university and his master’s degree from the university of new mexico. dr. cashman has conducted empirical studies in various countries. cashman currently teaches curriculum and instruction, social studies education, and comparative education. previous educational experiences include 15 years of teaching k-12 in new mexico, california, and korea. cashman has sole-authored books entitled promoting transborder dialogue during times of uncertainty: a time for third spaces and developing a critical border dialogism: learning from fellow educators in malaysia, mexico, canada, and the united states. academic journals featuring his research include multicultural education, action in teacher education, journal of social studies research, international journal of critical pedagogy, critical education, research in comparative and international education, issues in teacher education, and the journal of international social studies. daniel tillman is an associate professor in educational technology at the university of texas at el paso (utep) as well as the co-director of the college of education makerspace. his current research focuses on the diffusion of technology innovations into k-12 education, physical and digital multimedia in elementary school science and mathematics education, and the stem career pipeline and mainline. he teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses about instructional technology and has developed a hybrid graduate course on advanced digital multimedia design. he received his doctoral degree in instructional technology at the university of virginia in 2012 under the mentoring of dr. glen bull. while at uva, he served as a graduate fellow in the curry school of education's center for technology and teacher education and as the office manager for the dynamic media research laboratory. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 experiences of a german girl growing up during the nazi regime, the end of world war ii, and coming to “amerika”: an oral history narrative toni fuss kirkwood-tucker florida state university abstract: this oral history describes the memories of a young german girl growing up during the nazi era and the end of world war ii in a village in the bavarian alps of southern germany. the narrative is based on her lived experiences and stories shared by her father about the horrors of the nazi regime. her memories include shrieking bells and imminent bombing attacks, boy soldiers inducted in the wehrmacht, the sabotage activities of her dissident father, and the despair of villagers when death notices came for sons and husbands killed at the front. she also describes the white-flag welcome her father and grandfather gave troops from general patton’s third u.s. army 10th armored division when they arrived at the edge of their village, and her experiences meeting white and black soldiers who threw fruit and candy to the village children from their tanks. concluding with her immigration to the united states at the age of 22 and her discovery of profound racism and discrimination against african americans, this oral history gives teachers and teacher educators a rich, personal resource to use as an adjunct or alternative to textbook readings about a devastating time in germany history. when one’s lived experiences of trauma or joy occur during a significant time in history, they yield rarely forgotten memories and deeply held, private knowledge that might never come to light without a storyteller. when first-hand accounts are shared publicly, however, they offer powerful insights into historic events. in the classroom, such oral histories can be a powerful force in the dynamics of knowledge creation. oral histories move students from abstract textbook descriptions to concrete and compelling “lived” stories associated with an historical happening. in this way, they are often critical to a deeper understanding of the past. this oral history narrative enables teachers and teacher educators to enrich historical facts with the voice of an individual who grew up during the turbulent times preceding the end of world war ii. it may be used to enhance the study of topics such as nazism, the holocaust, or the impact mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 of war on families, neighbors, and communities. educators can divide students into pairs, assign to each pair one of the lived experiences in the account, and have them dramatize the event from the point of view of the child in the story. or students might be asked to reflect on the oral history and write a letter to or poem about the child in the story. a concluding discussion might involve students’ assessment of the value of oral history as a learning tool as compared to textbook readings. my birthplace i was born in the beautiful village of unterammergau on the ammer river located in the foothills of the bavarian alps in southern germany. the village name originates from its location: the place (gau) below (unter) the river ammer. with only around 1,500 inhabitants, the mayor, priest, and teachers were prominent local figures who were deeply respected by the local populace, most of whom were farmers. like most inhabitants in germany's state of bavaria, the villagers were deeply entrenched in the catholic religion. during world war ii, 41 men of unterammergau perished, 21 went missing in action, and many more were wounded. today, a marble memorial in front of the village’s st. nikolaus catholic church is engraved with the name, birth date, and location of death of every soldier who was killed. most died in russia, others in poland and france. the names of soldiers missing in action are not inscribed. my schooling in 1939, germany became embroiled in world war ii. by 1943, it had been five years since jewish children had been banned from attending school. i was six years old and attending first grade in our public elementary school. as in many catholic villages in bavaria, religious studies were taught every day, and in unterammergau this role fell to our local priest, herr pfarrer. when he entered the classroom, we automatically stood up and waited for his gesture indicating it was time to pray. every morning we said the same prayer to the crucifix on the wall before we were permitted to sit down. one morning at the start of the school year, when herr pfarrer arrived in class, he walked directly behind the teacher’s desk, moved the chair against the wall, climbed on it, and took down our hand-carved crucifix. the crucifix was especially beautiful. it had been handmade by a wellknown woodcarver living in nearby oberammergau, world-renowned for its wood carving school and its elaborate, many centuries-old passion play. we students had to participate in fundraising toward the purchase of this cross, so i was surprised to see herr pfarrer remove it. at the same time, i was secretly relieved that jesus was able to come down from the wall. as a first grader, i had felt sorry for him having to hang on a cross. from under his black frock, herr pfarrer pulled out a framed picture of hitler, hung it on the same nail, turned to us, and said, “from now on you mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 will not pray at the beginning of class. instead, when i enter the classroom you will stand up, raise your arm, and say heil hitler! three times. and when you greet the people in the village—which of course you should do—you will no longer say grüβ gott (greetings to god in bavarian), frau (mrs.) so-and-so. instead, you will raise your right arm and shout heil hitler, frau so-and-so! do you understand?” i could not wait to run home from school to tell my father about our exciting new heil hitler greeting. i will never forget how he grabbed me by my arms in no uncertain terms and shouted that i was never to salute hitler in the classroom nor in the street, stating, “don’t let me catch you not listening to me!” the next day, i did not raise my right arm three times to say heil hitler in our classroom. my teacher, fräulein grainer (she and herr pfarrer were our only teachers), asked to see me after class, and she tried to persuade me to use the hitler greeting. when i informed her that my father forbade me to do so, she shook her head, raised her eyebrows, stared into my eyes, and said, “from now on you must stay one hour longer after school every day to clean blackboards, floors, and windows as punishment for not saluting hitler’s portrait.” as fräulein grainer lived in the basement of our schoolhouse, it was easy for her to check on my duties. once, she threatened that i would have to stay even longer if i was not more thorough in my work. i made sure that did not happen. after this event, my peers ignored me, herr pfarrer disliked my family, and the villagers shunned us. when my peers at school planned group activities, i was not invited. they looked over their shoulder at me with disapproving eyes. along with my family, i was ostracized, and my life became much more difficult. i had nobody to talk to; i felt lonely and abandoned. as a six-year old, i wondered why my father felt that the hitler gruβ was such a terrible thing. after all, everybody else used it in school and in the village. but i sensed he knew more about the world and had a good reason for his directive, and i dared not question him about it. he was very strict, and i wanted to obey him. imminent bombing attacks to this day, i can still hear the screeching sounds of the rusty hand siren used by the old city clerk to announce imminent bombing attacks that began around 1943, in the last years of the war. the small church bell would also be rung by anyone who could manage to get to the tower first. the big church bell had long ago been taken down to be melted for war material, as the nazi government mandated at the start of the war. the cruel sound of the siren alerted us schoolchildren to run home from school to take cover in our cellars. if we could not make it home in time to escape the low flying bombers soaring over us, we threw ourselves into the ditch along the street and held our ears. the shrieking fighter mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 planes would fly so low that i could sometimes see the pilots’ faces. they were allied bombers on their way to repeated, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to bomb an underground messerschmittwerk (factory) inside the base of the laber mountain in the next village of oberammergau. the main factory was located in munich, the capital of bavaria, but the nazis had moved essential manufacturing to protect it from bombing attacks. the oberammergau villagers were enraged but nonetheless required to house the hundreds of technicians who came to work in the messerschmittwerke. being so nearby, we feared we would be bombed to death, and a blanket of despair hung over our village. refugees i vividly remember the hundreds of refugees who sought shelter in our village after the war ended in 1945. they came from as far as the sudetenland (now reconstituted as czechoslovakia) and from as close as munich, only 90 kilometers away. the former group included germans who had lived in the sudetenland regions of bőhmen, schlesien, and mähren for centuries. the latter group was composed mainly of city-dwellers—many of whom had vacationed in our village in peacetime—trying to escape allied bombings. now, homeless and hungry, they were begging for a place to stay. of the 3.4 million sudeten germans forced to flee their homeland at the end of the war, 1.2 million were sent to bavaria. of these, 600 arrived in our village of unterammergau. the local authorities mandated that every homeowner provide housing for one refugee family. suddenly, our classroom became crowded with newly arrived refugee children who spoke in a strange dialect and looked afraid, as did we. we eventually overcame our fear on the playground, as many excelled in sports which impressed us. my classmates and i soon realized that they were children just like us. my parents i have many profound recollections of my mother and father during the nazi era and the end of world war ii. when my younger brother was born at home in 1944, i asked my mother why dr. kohlmeier did not come to deliver him, as he had with my sister and me. my father heard my question and yelled at mama in the vernacular, “tell her the truth, why he did not come to deliver her brother! dr. kohlmeier is a jew who was arrested, and who is likely in the dachau concentration camp with his family and other jews… where they are being murdered in cold blood.” i can still hear my mama moaning when i begged my father to tell me more. he ranted for what seemed like hours as he told me, his seven-year-old first-born child, of the horrors taking place in concentration camps. i had a thousand questions to ask him every time he returned home on a weekend from munich. he then would take me aside and explain about the nazi’s mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 brutality against the jews, the romas, the forced laborers, the prisoners-of-war, the resistance fighters, the mentally ill. today, i wonder fearfully if my mentally challenged daughter andrée would have been euthanized under nazi rule. papa why was my father located in munich and not fighting at the front? papa had been assigned to the messerschmittwerke in munich after being injured early in the war. he was expected to apply his engineering skills to the smooth operation of large machinery that assembled airplane parts into fighter planes. there, papa found a room to rent in the home of the overseer of the notorious stadelheim prison, a facility where the nazis confined and tortured german dissidents working against the reich who had been uncovered by the secret police. one nightmarish day, papa’s host was ordered to supervise the decapitation of the scholl siblings, a young brother and sister studying at the university of munich who had printed and distributed anti-nazi leaflets. when papa came home that night to his rented room, he found the overseer and his wife dead from suicide. papa had to live through many nightmares while working in munich during the war, but there was one horrific event he repeatedly dreamt about: the day he and other factory workers were ordered to gather in a wheel barrow the body parts of children strewn in the shattered streets of a nearby orphanage bombed during an allied attack. mama mama was the fourth child in a farmer’s family of nine children. at birth, the toes of her feet were webbed to each other, a disability that required many trips to a specialist in munich and placed an enormous burden on her family. mama's parents gave her to be raised by her much older grandparents, who had the time and means to afford the operations she needed. after many surgeries she could walk, but she had to wear specially designed orthopedic shoes. the neurological damage from the surgeries left her legs strangely underdeveloped from the knees down; even as a child, i wondered why she did not wear long dresses to cover them up. mama's smiles were rare, and only later in life did i understand why. growing up with her grandparents and having to assist them with their daily needs precluded her from playing with her siblings or neighborhood children. she was told that life in her parents' home, with eight siblings and little food, would be much worse. there was little joy in her young life. her grandmother, as the only midwife in the ammer valley, was often picked up by a farmer's horse and buggy in the middle of the night to assist in the birth of a child. her grandfather was the royal mailman to king ludwig ii (1845-1886), the last king of bavaria. the frequent absences from home of her grandmother and grandfather made her life even harder. mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 among all my relatives, my mother's grandfather, or my great-grandfather vetter, as i called him, was my favorite person. he was obsessed with education. when my teacher recommended after the fifth grade of elementary school that i attend the oberschule (prep school for the university) in murnau—some 13 miles from my village and requiring a roundtrip train ride each day—he paid for my tuition until he died. each day i had to report to him what i learned from each of my teachers. he made me proud of excelling in school. boy soldiers another profound memory surrounds my mother’s decision to hide three boy soldiers who came into our house for refuge during the final days of the war. they were part of the retreating german army, many of whom were trying to escape into the nearby mountains. my mother agreed to hide them in the cellar, where we stored potatoes, apples, and glass jars of marmalade. its small rectangular door was in the corner of the kitchen floor and covered with a carpet. my father yelled at my mother that she would be shot when the ss (the schutzstaffel, hitler's security, surveillance, and terror organization) found the boys there. at that time, the ss regularly searched the houses in our village for deserters and resistance fighters. mama refused to change her mind and, thank god, the boys were never discovered. after several days in the cellar, they thanked mama, stuffed her food provisions into their backpacks, snuck out of the back of our house, and fled for the mountains. we never learned what happened to them. another profound memory surrounds the boy soldiers who were conscripted by the nazis near the end of the war. by then, over a million boys aged 10 to 18 were members of the hitlerjugend (hitler youth) brigades and had undergone physical training and indoctrination into the nazi ideology. with the german army suffering great casualties at the eastern and western fronts, boys as young as 14 were sent to serve as frontline troops. in one panzer tank division, over 65 percent of the soldiers were aged 16 to 18, as they were sent to face the allies on d-day. brutally disciplined, these young boy soldiers acquired a formidable reputation for their violence in battle. the boys from my village were not spared. i can still see them walking through town, their uniforms too big and scared to death. i can still hear the wailing of their mothers, siblings, and grandparents as they said goodbye. one of these child soldiers, drafted into the germany army in 1943, was my uncle gustl, my father's youngest brother. my grandfather had forbidden him from joining the hitlerjugend, just as my father had forbidden me to join the bund der deutschen mädchen, the female division of the hitlerjugend. at the time he was drafted, gustl was a talented woodcarver and had just been accepted to the famous woodcarving school in the next village of oberammergau. to this day, i can hear my grandmother’s primeval screaming when, in november 1944, she received a death notice saying mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 that gustl had been killed in hochsavoyen, near iacques, france. her screaming gave me nightmares for years. whereas my stoic grandfather withdrew into his workshop, my grandmother continued to yell about the nazi killers who had murdered her son and other boys to win a useless war. i remember her saying, “is it not enough that my oldest son (my father) was injured in the war, my second son luisl is fighting in russia, and my youngest son gustl has been killed?” we later learned that gustl was buried in a french cemetery for german soldiers at andilly, france. i am still saddened today about my grandmother not being able to visit his grave. luisl, the second brother of my father, was more fortunate than gustl—he survived the war. luisl was my favorite uncle; he had often taken me skiing and mountain climbing when i was a little girl. after fighting in the five-month-long battle of stalingrad, where almost two million axis and allied soldiers died, he finally returned home in 1945. emaciated and wild-looking, his mother did not recognize him at first and would not let him into the house. much later, as an adult, i tried many times to interview uncle luisl about his wartime experiences, but he always painfully refused. as the war raged on, mama continued knitting socks, as many women did, for the soldiers on the front lines. mandated by the nazi regime, the activity, i believe, allowed her to maintain her sanity. mama was not given to easy emotion; her much older grandparents had taught her not to cry. but despite her deeply stoic approach to life, i watched how she broke down sobbing when she learned of the death of her oldest brother nikolaus, a scout in the wehrmacht (german army), who died in a prisoner-of-war camp in staβdopol, siberia. at the war's end, her second brother toni, who also had fought at the eastern front, came home after being released from a russian prisoner-of-war camp. soon after, he died of his wounds. nightly footsteps by the time i was seven, my farming village in upper bavaria had experienced many years of tragedy. one sad event i experienced was listening to the clattering footsteps of a young woman walking past our bedroom window on her way to the train station. she intended to pick up her fiancé, who she was told would arrive on the 10:45 night train. night after night she walked by our bedroom window, until a year or so later, when the clattering ceased after she received notice that her fiancé had fallen in the battle of stalingrad at the age of 24. she would never marry. to more fully understand the tremendous suffering of german families in these years of war, the reader should know that her fiancé’s two other brothers also were killed in russia. my childhood memories are filled with stark images of a village population scarred by war, desperately yearning for peace. too many death notices from the eastern and western fronts had reduced the male population in the country and in our little village where, by the end of the war, mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 41 husbands, sons, uncles, cousins, and neighbors had been killed, 21 were missing-in-action, and many more were wounded. lieutenant hubert menninger was the first soldier from the village to lose his life on june 29, 1941. the villagers remembered him proudly waving goodbye in his brand-new air-force uniform. he fell in russia at the age of 25. the nazis in our village some members of our village served as nazi appointees. they wore perfect-looking uniforms and nazi insignias on their jackets, and shouted commanding heil hitler greetings. they marched around the village with great authority and evoked deep anxiety in the townspeople, who wondered with fearful anticipation what they might do next. the nazis had grown increasingly suspicious of my father. every time he was home from munich, there was a big sigh of relief in my house when they did not knock at our door. they had the authority to order those suspected of disloyalty to be taken out of their house in the middle of the night without notice. our apprehension was multiplied by my father’s constant warning to us: “trust no one, including your own mother, the spitzel (spies) are everywhere.” i think my father feared that my mother might inadvertently mention his frequent outbursts to her sister, outbursts about “the mad and murdering nazis who trample über leichen (dead people) in their brutality.” during the mandated evening blackout periods, he frequently jumped up from our peaceful family dinner table and pulled back the window curtains to see if a spitzel was eavesdropping. of all the fears i experienced as a young girl during the nazi era, the greatest fear was that my father would be shot. often in the night, i would awaken to the sound of shots fired in the distance and run to my mother, who would assure me that papa was alright working at the messerschmittwerke in munich. but she was not really privy to his activities. we heard that in the nearby coal-mining town of penzberg, the ss had shot 17 men and women in cold blood after they attempted to remove the appointed nazi leader of the village. he had commanded the local miners to destroy nearby bridges and industrial sites to prevent the approaching allies from reaching southern bavaria, and they had resisted. during the months before the war ended in april 1945, the german army and waffen ss retreated to southern bavaria to regroup. they began to prepare for the last stand against the approaching allies, who had landed on the normandie coast and were sweeping with lighting speed through germany, overrunning the wehrmacht. tens of thousands of german soldiers had surrendered en masse, but there were many true believers among the nazi forces. faced with the allied demand for unconditional surrender, fanatical ss officers gave a dreadful choice to retreating soldiers, most of whose commitment to the third reich was forced on them and mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 anxiously awaited the end of the war: the soldiers could continue fighting or be shot or hanged on the spot. germany’s looming defeat meant that more and more retreating soldiers and waffen ss officers arrived in our village. at the same time, many german underground resistance groups, who were aware of the imminent arrival of general patton’s third army armored division, grew bolder. around the corner from my village, the auerhahn resistance group burnt down the hundigungshütte, the largest wooden cabin on a nearby mountain in the graswangtal valley. the cabin was intended as a place where the waffen ss could store food and ammunition that would help them escape to austria, approximately 10 kilometers away. the auerhahn also sought to eliminate the kreisleiter schiede (district leader), a ruthless nazi official who, along with his staff, governed our entire county of garmisch partenkirchen. the attempt failed due to the unexpected speed with which the advancing u.s. army arrived. my fear for my father by this time i was almost eight, and i was sure my father would be shot, for many reasons. one was his refusal, from the start of hitler's takeover, to wear the nazi pin. i witnessed him tear the nazi insignia off my mother’s blouse and tell her to never wear it again. plus, despite his compulsory military service, papa was highly critical of the “murderous nazi regime,” as he called it. he spoke openly about it to encourage other villagers to recognize its dangers, but to no avail. on the contrary, they began to look at him and our family with suspicion. the frequency and suddenness of his unexplained disappearances and reappearances, both to and from munich, suggested that he may be involved in activities that were unacceptable to the nazis in our village. he did not tell me about them. what he did tell me about was the horror of the concentration camps and their victims. since papa really had no one to talk to, i became the person he most spoke to of his overwhelming rage. moreover, his early admonitions forbidding me to say heil hitler in school or in the street or join the bund der deutschen mädchen exacerbated the local nazis’ suspicions. from the beginning of the war until its end, the nazi leadership kept a suspicious eye on our family. the role of our village church how well i remember the many church services held in our village, a reflection of the deeply entrenched catholicism in southern bavaria. on sundays, the high mass was held at 10 am and the vespers at 2 pm, and my mother required me to attend both. in addition, throughout the war a kriegerandacht (service for soldiers) was held every evening of the week to pray for the safe return of the soldiers fighting at the front. we had to say an entire rosary during these services— for me, a very tedious church ritual. mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 the most traumatic church services were those held after a death notice came for a soldier from our village. between 1941 and 1945, 41 young men had fallen. the city clerk, with his rusty bell, would bicycle through the village announcing that a special mass would take place at a certain day and time. these services usually had more village attendees than any other, a pitiful assembly of old men, distraught women, and children like me. the priest, standing close to the parishioners, would announce the name of the fallen villager and the place where he died. a photograph of the uniformed soldier would be placed on a memorial—a cross made of birch trunks—and a helmet would sit on top, surrounded by flowers. bereaved families would sit in the front row of the church dressed in black, the women sobbing and wailing. hymns would be sung by a small female choir, alternating with parishioners’ prayers in the vernacular and the priest’s prayers in latin. when we attended the evening kriegerandacht on april 28, 1945, it was the night before the american troops arrived in unterammergau. deafening artillery fire came from behind the schergen mountain and echoed in the church. i thought it must be hitler fanatics, ss officers, and old and young soldiers shooting at the approaching american tanks, and the american soldiers returning fire. filled with terror, we all ran out of the church to the relative safety of our cellars. peaceful surrender of the village the artillery fire we heard in church on the night before was the prelude to a momentous next day. on april 29, 1945, the prospect of liberation from the nazi reich spread quickly through the village when we learned that general george s. patton’s third u.s. army 10th armored division had halted at the entrance to our village and, as was custom among liberating american troops, waited for the local mayor to come and officially surrender the village. at this auspicious moment, frau reindl, whose house and gas station were located at the village entrance, ran panicked across the surrounding fields, escaping from a lone nazi who had fortified himself in her gas station with the intention of resisting the americans. a u.s. reconnaissance plane circling over the village shot her; she died two days later. four 18-year-old german soldiers were hiding behind the gas station and also were killed as they attempted to flee. they were buried in our cemetery and years later exhumed and returned to the cemeteries in their hometowns. given the might of the u.s. army at the edge of our village and the passionate resistance of the nazi fanatics, it is remarkable that these were the only deaths at that time. i can still hear my marxist grandfather's voice on that fateful sunday. equipped with a white flag hanging from a pole, he tore open our front door and shouted inside, “are you ready?” my father came quickly with a pole to which he had nailed a white bed sheet. i watched them shakily balance the poles on their shoulders as they wobbled down the street on their bicycles. as they rode over the ammer bridge to the edge of the village, they yelled, “the americans are coming... hang white sheets from your windows!” my two role models, predicting that the nazi mayor mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 would not appear when the victorious “enemy” arrived, had long planned this act of bravery. their action defied ss commander heinrich himmler, who had issued an emergency order to shoot all males whose dwellings displayed white flags welcoming the liberators. as a little girl, i was very proud of my father and grandfather who delivered our village peacefully to the americans. who was my grandfather? he came from the small farming village of alteglofsheim, near regensburg in lower bavaria, where vast fields of wheat danced in the sun of rich farmlands and beautified the countryside. the son of a struggling farmer and one of many children, he had decided to become a metalworker. his education and certification obliged him to become an apprentice and travel from place to place to make a living with his craft. in this way, he met my paternal grandmother in unterammergau, fell in love, and produced an illegitimate son, my father. he decided to remain in the village, get married, build his own house, and open his own metal shop. my teenage father had to work for years at the big farm of a farmer who provided my grandfather with a hay wagon and horses for transportation. my father was tasked with “working off” the debt my grandfather had incurred to build their house. yet, despite settling in the village, my paternal grandfather remained an outsider. bavarian villagers did not look positively at those who were not born in the village and did not accept them as equals. moreover, my grandfather’s ideas about the world were controversial and out of step with those of the conservative local catholic farmers. he proudly challenged the status quo, believed in the philosophy of karl marx, and held regular meetings of like-minded individuals at his house until the local nazis forbade him to hold these meetings under threat of arrest. although my father never discussed karl marx with me, i know that early in his life he already had recognized the grave dangers of authoritarianism and fanaticism and would later recognize the same brutality of the hitler regime. american soldiers on tanks what seemed like hundreds of u.s. tanks with soaring u.s. flags rolled down our street on the day the american forces entered our village. we children of war waved to the black and white soldiers sitting on top of these tanks, overwhelmed to find them throwing us bananas, oranges, and hershey bars—fruits and sweets we had never seen before. a contingent of the third u.s. army 10th armored division settled into our village; the remaining armored division moved on to oberammergau and other villages until it reached the austrian border, only miles away, to liberate the german people from the nazi regime. the american troops had only minor skirmishes with the retreating nazi waffen ss officers. the occupying contingent in my village was part of the overall allied forces occupation, implemented throughout defeated germany by mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 the british, french, russian and american victors, who divided the country into four occupation zones. as the americans settled in the village, they evicted several homeowners in order to set up u.s. headquarters and sleeping quarters in the two-story houses. when we were given just one hour to evacuate our house, my mother quickly borrowed an ox and hay wagon from our neighbor so we could throw our feather beds down from our second-floor balcony. but by the time mama had found a neighbor to take us in, the americans no longer needed our house; they had found bigger ones for their purposes. used to a hard life, mama showed no anger toward the americans. she was just relieved that we could stay in our pretty 18th-century house with its blooming geraniums on the balcony—her pride and joy. one afternoon, we children apprehensively gathered near some of the soldiers and they gave us a soccer ball, another surprise we had never seen before. we began to realize how genuinely kind the american soldiers were. another time, they allowed us to taste a trout they had caught in our ammer river and had asked my mother to cook. we had never tasted fish before because, unlike in the united states, fishing in germany was strictly for the affluent. one day, having never seen people with black skin before, i mustered all my courage to walk up to an african american soldier and asked him in my halting school english if i could touch his skin. when he laughingly consented, i licked my right forefinger and swiped it along his arm, certain that the black paint would rub off. i still remember him smiling at me with perfect white teeth, patting me on the back, and shaking his head. the kindness and generosity of the african american soldiers toward us war-scarred german children remains deeply carved into my memory. it is the same kindness i later experienced with my african american colleagues after i moved to the united states. immigrating to the united states at the age of 22, i fell in love with an american military officer stationed in germany. my father had prohibited me from ever marrying a man in uniform, but my future husband was a security officer with top-secret qualifications who worked at the nato and special weapons school military installation in oberammergau and wore civilian clothing. as a result, my father grudgingly allowed us to marry. in 1959, soon after i became pregnant with our daughter andrée, i left with my new husband for the united states. we settled in new orleans, louisiana. i will never forget the faces of my crying parents saying goodbye to their oldest child at the munich airport. my border crossing proved overwhelming when i found myself confronted by the way of life in the american deep south. with my marriage, i had chosen shotgun houses, rocking chairs on front porches, cooling fans, and debilitating humidity in 110-degree heat. i was shocked by the blatant segregation of african americans in their daily life: “colored” water fountains, mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 confinement to the back of the city bus, access to doctor’s offices in the rear of buildings, black children bussed to integrated schools only to be spit on by whites. i observed the u.s. south’s deliberately slow desegregation efforts in the hesitation of my mother-in-law’s maid yvonne to eat with me at the same table, and in my naïve insistence to drop her off at her housing project when she finally consented to let me drive her home. i saw cities burning, demonstrators beaten and killed by police, racial profiling, and unnerving race riots. we lived near the 9th ward in new orleans, an african american neighborhood that later was the very place where hurricane katrina drowned more of its victims than in any other part of the crescent city. were these not the same kind and generous african americans i had encountered as a child of war, the ones who had liberated my village from the nazi regime? how could they be treated this way in the land of the free? in my newly adopted country, i was seeing a different type of victimization and discrimination, but one similar to that which i had experienced in germany, where hitler had selected jews as his main target. after immigrating to the deep south, i learned that in the united states, in contrast to nazi germany, it was african americans who had been the targets of injustice for centuries. i saw how this persecution operated through a kind of systemic racism that led to the slow and deliberate deaths of its victims. my german education had not prepared me for this traumatic experience. for a young girl from the bavarian countryside, it was difficult to understand the environment in which i now lived. only with time and education was i able to put together the pieces and grasp the broad set of circumstances that had produced this other form of genocide, this slow-motion genocide in the country to which most of the world’s people want to immigrate. my own emigration from germany also helped me gain insight into the complex experience of life as an immigrant. african american scholar w.e.b. dubois (1903) best articulated this experience in his notions of double consciousness and the ever-present invisible veil that minorities often choose to wear for survival. although dubois's ideas refer to the african american experience in a predominantly white, racist society, i found that they also captured the dilemma that was keeping me separate from my newly adopted country. what caused this separation? it was, at least in part, inescapably linguistic. although my accent reflected my cultural and linguistic background and made it possible for me to speak both goethe’s high german and the bavarian vernacular, i still struggle to pronounce “th”—a non-existent sound in the german language—as well as the ubiquitous american “w.” like all immigrants, i also had to learn to navigate cultural differences. what i missed most from the culture of my native country was celebrating christmas eve with an emphasis on the birth of “baby jesus” and midnight mass. as a child, i saw no christmas tree mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 in my house until christmas eve, when mama rang the bell and invited us children into the living room to see the tree decorated with burning candles. before we opened our presents, we all sang in harmony stille nacht, heilige nacht (silent night, holy night). i maintained this custom in my new country and taught my children to sing the song in german. to this day, i have trouble accepting the american tradition of telling children on christmas day that santa left presents the night before. in bavaria, saint nikolaus, patron saint of children, sailors, merchants, and students, arrives on the sixth of december, when he goes from house to house to fuss at or praise children on their school performance and give out small presents. after coming to “amerika” (as germans refer to the united states), i also missed celebrating my “name day.” in bavaria, catholic children are named after catholic saints, so the day a child's namesake is celebrated is the child's name day. in fact, my mother once told me that in bavaria, name days are more important than birthdays. i was given the name antonie, after st. anthony, because my parents expected me to be a boy. in my new country, no one congratulates me on st. anthony's feast day except my sister, who phones me from germany. since living in the united states, i also have missed the bavarian cultural tradition of wearing a dirndl (bavarian dress) without being told by an american that i forgot to take off my apron! the dirndl consists of a sleeveless dress with mother-of-pearl or silver buttons down the front, a white blouse underneath, and a half apron tied around the waist with long ribbons attached. like many immigrants, i typically feel compelled to perform my responsibilities with 200 percent competency at all times. yet, despite my continuous efforts to fit in and gain acceptance, i always remain vigilant for some unanticipated consequence of my actions. i believe that i will always feel marginalized to some degree in the united states, though it is a country with which i fell in love. yet, as with all immigrants, a dual identity steeped in two cultures is permanently ingrained in my psyche. my border crossing from german bavaria to the american deep south, and my proximity to profound racism and discrimination, and even genocide, against african americans and jews, are experiences that have sensitized me to the struggle of the other for social, economic, and educational justice. i feel deep empathy toward african americans in the united states, particularly because of the systemic racism that still exists. i am grateful that my varied cultural and historical experiences have helped me develop a particularly deep level of cultural sensitivity, cross-cultural competence, and world-mindedness. visiting home even after 60-plus years in the united states, i remain homesick and frequently long for my family and the mountains i used to climb. i have had the great fortune to return often to my bavarian mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 village during these long years in the united states. on these visits, my father would devote hours to conversations about the nazi era. we would take a cable car to a mountaintop or sit in our family's log cabin, which he built near the village during the war. with a keen mind until his death, my father would elaborate on the horrors of the nazi regime, sharing even more than he had earlier with his unsheltered seven-year-old first-born daughter. as adults, we talked of the murder of jews, gypsies, and dissidents, the euthanasia of the mentally challenged, the waffen ss atrocities, and the forced laborers from russia and poland, some imprisoned in our village near our sawmill. the pages of my now-treasured diaries of these conversations overflow with inexplicable human tragedies. one of these trips home stood out from the others. papa told me of two anti-nazi actions he had engaged in during the war, actions he had never revealed to me. assigned to the messerschmittwerke in munich, papa had to assemble airplane parts for fighter planes. in acts of resistance over years, he and two confidants from a nearby village deliberately left out key components to impair the reliability and effectiveness of the aircraft fighters. their sabotage was performed under the threat of grave danger, as monitors continuously walked through the huge halls looking over the workers’ shoulders. saboteurs were shot on the spot. my father also helped to avoid the detonation of explosives that nazis had attached to the huge echelsbacherbrücke (bridge) spanning the steep cliff beds of the ammer river. the nazis were desperately trying to stop general patton’s advancing third u.s. army 10th armored division tank columns from crossing the ammer, and my father, along with other resisters, did whatever was necessary to prevent the blowing up of the bridge. amazingly, none were caught, even though the waffen ss officers might have suddenly appeared from nowhere, anywhere, anytime. reflections i often think of my courageous father, and when i do, i realize how deeply his stories—his oral history—penetrated my consciousness. the perspectives and experiences he shared have irreversibly shaped me into the questioning individual i have become. his distrust of governments, authorities, and bureaucracies cultivated in me a highly critical mind. his abhorrence of war inspired the direction of my college teaching, curriculum writing, and academic publications. i have also reflected on the deep affection i felt for the african american soldiers who threw oranges and bananas and hershey bars to us, children-of-war, when the tanks rolled into our village at the end of the war. somehow, these interactions laid the foundation for the many deep friendships i am sharing with african americans in my newly adopted country. mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 86-101 corresponding author: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 references dubois, w. e. b. (1903). the souls of black folks. chicago: a. c. mcclurg. resources butler, r. (2019). ss-hitlerjugend: the history of the twelfth ss division, 1943-45 (the waffenss divisional histories series). die weisse rose (the white rose), documentary on the geschwister scholl tragedy. lindauer, j. (2006). zeit heilt…!? historischer arbeitskreis unterammergau. standifer, l. (1997). binding up the wounds. louisiana state university press. utschneider, l. (2012). oberammergau im dritten reich 1933-1945. der ammergau, schriftenreihe des historischen vereins oberammergau 1999 e.v., band 6. waddy, h. (2010). oberammergau in the nazi era: the fate of a catholic village in hitler’s germany. oxford university press, inc. about the author: toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, bilingual and bicultural, obtained her b.a. degree from florida atlantic university and her m.a. and ed.d. degrees from florida international university. she served as associate professor emerita at florida atlantic university from 1996 to 2004 and visiting professor and program coordinator in the school of teacher education at florida state university from 2006 to 2012. she globalized the social studies curriculum and instruction at both institutions. prior to her university appointment, toni worked in the miami public schools as classroom teacher, curriculum specialist, and coordinator of the international global education program. she was a member of the florida international university-indiana university delegation to russia between 1991 and 1997, training educators in global education in democratizing russian education. her primary research centers on the integration of global perspectives in teacher education and schools, global pedagogy, curricular balance, and human rights. toni can be reached at tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b07tzgft3v/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b07tzgft3v/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3 mailto:tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 91 international perspectives commentary the effectiveness of service learning practice for teacher education in japan: for the support of a new subject called, houshi, for a high school in tokyo takeshi miyazaki, soka university, tokyo, japan ___________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study presented practices based on service learning that gave pre-service teachers ideas about the significance of service learning and the challenges that exist. they made lesson plans for “houshi” (=service) and conducted them in a high school in tokyo’s public school system. service learning is one of the effective methods in which students improve their academic learning and develop social and civic skills through structured service activities that meet the needs of the community. service learning was introduced to japan in the 1990s. educators in japan are interested in the application of service learning in grades k-12, and also in some colleges and universities in japan. however, the introduction of service learning into teacher education programs is relatively new in japan. the study particularly focuses on these three questions: (1) what impact does the project have on teacher development?; (2) what challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing service learning project?; (3) what are the positive results of the experience? according to the study, in order for this program to succeed, it is important for the students to be given responsibilities, to understand social and educational values, and to develop a spirit of teamwork. the introduction of service learning in teacher education fosters teacher's abilities and teaching skills, and gives them a sense of personal growth. they can incorporate these ideas and methods from their experience of service learning after having after become teachers. the teachers will be encouraged to be leaders in introducing these concepts of service learning in their schools. key words: service learning; pre-service teachers; teacher education; “houshi” service learning was introduced to japan in the 1990s as both an educational philosophy and as an instructional method imported from the united states. as an educational philosophy, service learning reflects the belief that education should develop social responsibility in students and prepare them to be involved citizens in a democratic society. as an instructional method, service learning involves a blending of service activities with academic curricula, which allows students to learn through active engagement while addressing real community needs. educators in the field of social studies are interested in the application of service learning in grades k-12 in japan. the social education act and school education act were revised in 2001, with the stated provision “to endeavor to improve social volunteer work activities” stipulated in the legislation. national high school curriculum standards were ratified in 2009 to promote social volunteer work activities as an important part of high school education. the introduction of service learning has been used in the first-year experience of students in some colleges and universities in japan, and also has been encouraged by the central government. however, the introduction of service learning into teacher education programs is relatively new to japan. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 92 literature review according to a survey by anderson and erickson (2003), 59 percent of teacher education programs taught pre-teachers about service learning strategies, only 24 percent indicated that all students participated in service learning as part of the program, and 18 percent of programs had pre-service teachers develop lesson plans for service learning in the united states. the impact of the learning experience on the student might not be maximized and sustained if the service does not include a well -crafted opportunity for reflection and integration with academic content (hatcher & bringle, 1997; hess et al., 2007; petkus, 2000; wallace, 2000). simons and cleary (2006) utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative strategies to study the impacts of service learning on 140 students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses. students mentored or tutored elementary-age students at three sites for a total of 16 hours. subjects showed gains in their community self-efficacy, which carried over to stronger intentions to become involved in the community in the future. these positive effects of service learning varied little between the two activities (mentoring or tutoring) and across the three placement sites (elementary school, after-school program, or community learning center). root and anderson (2010) examined the impacts of service learning on pre-service teachers in over 25 studies. they organized these studies into five categories looking at impacts on; (1) fostering academic learning, (2) understanding of and care of students, (3) knowledge of the teaching profession and professional skills, (4) understanding and appreciation of diversity, and (5) motivation, knowledge and skills needed to implement service learning as a teaching method. furco and ammon (2001) examined the challenges of experiences in pre-service teacher education in the united states. according to their research, one of the challenges to teacher education is the need to respond to accountability requirements, ranging from no child left behind, to standards of national accreditation organizations. another challenge is that many teacher educators remain confused about the distinction between practica or student teaching and service learning. in japan, interest in service learning has increased at higher education institutions, but research connecting it to teacher education is still limited. in one study that pertained to teacher education, toda (2010) showed that pre-service teachers mentored or tutored with service learning methods at an orphanage from 2006 to 2010, a total of 20 days. the students grew to have the capability of seeing children’s personality and fully recognized the importance of communication with them. the challenge of the study showed the difficulties in adapting the activities to curriculum and teaching practice. overview of the project “learn by doing” background of the project high schools in the tokyo public school system created a new subject houshi (service), in 2007. that is now required of all public high schools in tokyo, although the meaning of houshi is voluntary. concerns expressed about community-service when it was forced into schools in the journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 93 united states in the 1990s were also seen in japan (miyazaki, 2011). teachers are required to teach this subject since its enactment even if they are against it individually. a survey of the tokyo teachers union reported (2008) that the reasons why teachers took passive attitudes toward teaching this subject were that they couldn’t agree on the purpose of the subject and they were too busy to do additional work (miyazaki, 2011). therefore, common service projects were often simply uncomplicated or “routine” projects such as cleaning parks near schools, which have very little relevance for learning. as a result, there are literally no more spaces for this type of service learning activity. under these conditions, it is necessary to learn service learning from other countries, particularly the united states, to develop teaching strategies from the point of view of civic engagement, and to provide more opportunities and resources for teachers, administrators, and community members. theoretical framework the theoretical background of service learning is based on the action-reflection theories of david kolb, who developed the experiential learning cycle, a learning process in which knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (1984). kolb illustrates the process of reflection in the experiential learning cycle (1984). similarly, hatcher and bringle, showed that effective reflection activities (1) link experience to learning objectives, (2) are guided, (3) occur regularly, (4) allow feedback and assessment, and (5) include the clarification of values (1999). relationship between this project and social studies’ education the national council for the social studies (2007) states that, “service learning greatly enhances the potential for social studies teachers to complete their mission of educating informed and active citizens, who are committed to improving society through the democratic process”(n.p.). the aims of social studies’ education are to prepare students to be involved citizens in a democratic society, and to develop social responsibility, and the capability for social change. houshi means to foster a sense of caring for others, however, its similarity to “charity,” raises many concerns in japan about extreme patriotism or even jingoism, which could be thought of the government or cultural arrogance as blind. nonetheless, adding aspects from social change education to houshi gives it balance. therefore the practice is focused on project development and social change along with charity (morton, 1995). participating in the project: “learn by doing” class: the seminar class of 2009-2010 make-up of students: sex: 2 males and 7 females grade: 3(2009) and 4(2010) of pre-service teachers (undergraduate college students), majoring in social studies education career after graduation: 5 elementary school teachers, 4 part-time teachers (expected full time teachers next year) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 94 participants: 2 graduate students from teaching profession (junior high school teacher: 20 years of experience, high school teacher: 16 years of experience) and one coordinator from the local area. school: a public high school in tokyo which is “typical” of high schools in that city. seven classes of 1st graders, 2 teachers who are in charge of houshi. term: from sep. in 2009 to mar. in 2010. 2 to 4 hours of class for 10 days. involvement: pre-service teachers cooperated with teachers from the high school directly. graduate students of teaching profession made suggestions when pre-service teachers needed some advice about making lesson plans. students were required to write the goal before every activity and reflect after every activity. the faculty attended the reflection meetings. learning cycle: the kolb learning cycle (kolb 1984) was applied to practice to combine action with reflective thinking, to develop greater understanding of the content being studied. this learning cycle involved cooperation with high school teachers; making a lesson plan; trial lesson; remaking a lesson plan; practice; reflection and feedback. reflection took place alone, with classmates, with high school teachers, and with community partners and involved reflection before action, during action, and after action. table 1: sequence and pre-service teachers’ roles sequence the roles of pre-service teachers 1. orientation presentation: taking charge of each class 2. introduction presentation: taking charge of each class 3.sharing experiences of disasters, such as ’95 earthquake presentation & facilitates: taking charge of each class 4. experience of rescue operations (aed) coordinate the activities 5. experience of distributing food coordinate the activities 6.pre-guidance to visit institutions presentation & facilitates: taking charge of each class 7. visiting institutions －preschools, elementary schools and special-needs schools company and support 8.reflection of visiting institutions facilitates: taking charge of each class 9. preparation of high school students’ presentation(about their experience) facilitates & support: taking charge of each class 10.high school students’ presentation coordinate the assemblies 11. college students’ presentation presentation & coordinate the assemblies journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 95 purpose of the study and research questions the study was designed to trace the impact of service learning practice on a select group of pre-service teachers, who made teaching plans and conducted them in the classes. this research will present practices based on service learning that give prospective teachers ideas about the significance of service learning, and the challenges that exist. the research seeks to confirm pre-service teachers’ commitment to service. the study particularly focuses on these three questions: what impact does the project have on teacher development? what challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing service learning project? what are the positive results of the experience? method the approach involved analysis of previous studies that apply service learning to teachers’ educational practices. participating students were then given questionnaires before service, in the middle of service, and after service. reviewing interviews involving note making and recording of responses of participating students were held. additionally alumni who participated in this practice six months ago and became teachers; and alumni who participated in a similar practice four years ago and became teachers were likewise interviewed. the interview structure several open-ended questions were sent out in advance by e-mail. students and graduates were informed that the interview was being used for the study in order to improve the quality of higher education, and that they could give criticism or negative comments freely. group 1 the students who took part in the above project were interviewed in march of 2011, immediately prior to their completion of teacher training and university graduation. interviews were conducted as semi-structured face-to-face conversation, but in the middle of them, tokyo was hit by strong earthquakes (the east japan great earthquake) therefore part of the interviews was continued by telephone. about 60 minutes were required to complete each interview per person. group 2 group 2 was made up of 5 of the 9 students who formed part of group 1, who were now teachers. they were comprised of three elementary school teachers, one part-time elementary school teacher and one part-time junior high school part-time teacher. the interviews were conducted by telephone in october 2011. about 20 minutes were required to complete each interview. group 3 this group was made up of 3 graduates who participated in a similar project in 2007-2008. they work as teachers, respectively at a junior high school, an elementary school and a special journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 96 education school. the interview was carried out as a group interview, and about 90 minutes were required to complete it. the text was organized around three research questions of this study above. for the analysis, similar responses were collected as specific examples and then were classified into several key words. for example, the remark “to concentrate on one thing, to bear up and complete their duties on school days led to a sense of fulfillment” was classified into the key word “fulfillment.” the statement such as “i’m unsure about taking care about taking charge of classroom because i don’t know the first thing about volunteer work” was classified into the key word “lack of selfconfidence”. afterwards the correlation of key words was arranged. the qualitative data were analyzed by two data analysts (a graduate student and one of the authors). qualitative results group 1: college students who were about to graduate what impact did the project have on you? most of the study participants started to work on the project with hesitation or embarrassment, because they hadn't been exposed to the subject in their high school, and service learning related teaching methods hadn’t specifically been taught. their remarks showed their initial hesitation and these difficulties evolved into a sense of fulfillment, and they realized the meaning and importance of what they were going to accomplish. the sense of contribution and achievement helped them overcome this difficulty. as one student explained, “before, i didn’t have any experience in teaching this subject and didn’t even know the first thing.” another insightful comment made by a study participant was that “i was so happy that we could communicate with many people and i realized how important interpersonal contact was. it made me joyful.” both comments show that the interpersonal relationships made possible by this service learning experience was linked to their own fulfillment. the study participants’ comments about this question could be categorized in the following way; first example: personal development the study participants referred to perseverance, a sense of achievement and the importance of teamwork, and dealing with diverse opinions. second example: the good influence of teachers. the study participants remarked that they were impressed by the good example of the high school teachers, and that they noticed that they learned from their attitudes. as one student explained, “the teachers in that school are our ideal. i want to emulate their kindness with our future students.” third example: teaching skills the study participants spoke about teaching skills. “i learned practical ways to instruct and teach a lively lesson,” said one pre-service teacher. students in this category also mentioned that service-leaning was useful for student teaching and/or internships. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 97 what challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing project? remarks by study participants about “getting over difficulties” were classified into two categories. one was to “halt the temptation of giving up” which related to the fact that they were completely responsible for the classes. the other was “the desire to achieve” which related to expectation or confidence from their surroundings. here, subjects indicated that they were filled with great expectation. they were very grateful to the high school teachers, the community coordinator, and the faculty, who encouraged them not to give up, to do their best, and to reach the goals they had set for themselves. another category of response, related to the support of peers, is represented in the statement that “i was able to get over a problem because my buddies encouraged me.” the friends who were challenged together were transformed. one study participant said, “it was a trying experience not only for me but also others. i’ll never give up!” for these subjects, being able to overcome the difficulties was due in large part to the influence of their peers. group 2 teachers with 6 months of teaching experience how do you use the experience from the project while teaching in your school? teacher education graduates said that they gained useful knowledge from the experience in the project for their teaching profession in the future. they expect to utilize this new approach in teaching. all of them replied, “the experience was very enlightening.” these pre-service teachers talked about their discussions, putting themselves in the students' shoes. they could modify their lessons depending on their students' aptitude, or they could tailor the lesson to be specific for each individual student. on the other hand, researchers noticed that the subjects were not always able to implement what they learned. various reasons prevented them, such as being beginner teachers, having busy schedules, and an overall lack of time. nonetheless, these students stated their hope to integrate this knowledge in the future. moreover, they recognized that the sensitivity and co-operation of the teachers of the school enabled them to succeed. for example, as one stated, “that is what made the experience so special”. group 3 : graduates who participated in a similar practice in 2007-2008. how do you use the experience from the project while teaching in your school? subjects in this category recognized that they are using their experiences unconsciously in their classes. as one stated, “when i was in charge of a work-study program where students learn through work experience, i applied the same procedures that we had learned: pre-planning, experience and reflection. i learned the importance of pre-planning and reflection through the experience of the project. also, i tried to link our academic study with experiences in real life situations.” looking back they realize the value of the project, as it brought a new perspective to the school, even though they could not implement it single-handedly. one of the graduates said, “we couldn’t change the curriculum of the school but we could offer them something unique.” these participants looked back on this experience as something important and unique. one graduate commented “the school which accepted us for the project was so generous. it is unique that college students from one seminar class manage entire classes for an extended journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 98 period of time” another agreed, saying, “i can really understand now how amazing those teachers were for accepting us. i appreciate them and want to grow up to be a teacher like them.” some initial conclusions what impact does the project have on teacher development? self-esteem and sense of self efficacy; sense of personal growth; increase in knowledge and instruction capabilities; awareness of teacher as a role model what challenges needed to be overcome in the project? there is a lot of pressure and substantial responsibilities for participants; deeper understandings of significance of the project needed; ongoing need of participants to encourage each other what are the positive results of the experience? teachers with six months teaching experience have knowledge which will be applicable in the classroom: teachers with three year experience have been able to apply their experience with service learning in the classroom successfully: increased interaction and active cooperation with community (via managing the projects). in order for this service learning to succeed in japanese teacher education programs, it is important for the students to be given responsibilities, to understand social and educational values, and to develop a spirit of teamwork. the introduction of service learning into teacher education fosters teachers’ abilities, teaching skills, and sense of personal growth. these are ideas and methods they can incorporate when they become practicing teachers who will be encouraged to be leaders in introducing these concepts of service leaning in their schools. references bringle, r. g., & hatcher, j. a. (2002). campus–community partnerships: the terms of engagement. journal of social issues, 58(3), 503–516. butin, d. w. (2006). disciplining service learning: institutionalization and the case for community studies. international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 18(1), 57–64. deci, e. l., & ryan, r. m. (1995). human autonomy: the basis for true self-esteem. in m. kernis (ed.), efficacy, agency, and self-esteem, 31–49. new york: plenum. astin, a., sax, l., & avalos, j. (1999). long-term effects of volunteerism during the undergraduate years. review of higher education, 22(2), 187–202. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 9199. corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 99 hatcher, j. a., & bringle, r. g. (1997). reflection: bridging the gap between service and learning. college teaching, 45, 153–158. hatcher, j. a., & bringle, r. g. (1999). reflection in service learning : making meaning of experience. educational horizons, 179-185. hess, d. j., lanig, h., & vaughan, w. (2007). educating for equity and social justice: a conceptual model for cultural engagement. multicultural perspectives, 9(1), 32–39. jacoby, b. (1996). service learning in today’s higher education. in b. jacoby & associates (ed.), service learning in higher education, 3–25. san francisco: jossey-bass. kolb, da. (1984). experience as the source of learning and development. englewood cliffs, nj prentice hall, 25–42. miyazaki, takeshi (2011) suggestions for the development of “activities to experience social service” from the analysis of discussion on “service learning ” in the united states. journal of soka university of education. 20, 3–5. (in japanese) morton, k (1995). directed toward systemic change and social change: the irony of service; charity, project, development, and social change in sl. the michigan journal of community sl. 19–32. petkus, e., jr. (2000). a theoretical and practical framework for service learning in marketing: kolb’s experiential learning cycle. journal of marketing education, 22(1), 64–70. simons l., & cleary b. (2006). the influence of service learning on students’ personal and social development. college teaching, 54(4), 307–319. toda, tatsuya., & mimori, yoshie., & ninomiya, shinichi. (2010). significance and subjects of learning support activities at foster home on the teacher-training program. kushiro ronshu, journal of hokkaido university of education at kushiro,42, 83–88. (in japanese) wallace, j. (2000) a popular education model for college in community. american behavioral scientist, 43(5), 756–766. this ongoing work is supported by a grant-in-aid for challenging exploratory research. the japan society for the promotion of science. 23653283. service learning for social studies teacher education. 2011-2013. karaki, kiyoshi. (rep), & kuramoto, tetsuo., & miyazaki, takeshi. journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 what is politically-economic modern? world sub-orders in a social science educator’s take on history pedagogy todd j. barry hudson county community college abstract: at the dawn of the 21st century—when your author, who is now an educator, was in college—the united states was the sole global superpower. but the world changed with the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, as well as other events that remade the world in which current students now study. as an educator, i can explain that the structure of the world, termed “world orders,” can subsist of underlying world “sub-orders,” and “suborder traits” which even underlie them historically, and how students can outline them. in this way, while political-economic history looks to be constantly repeating itself, with the alignment of “traits” changing, what is considered “modern” and how we go about teaching it in history, political, and economic courses is the research aim of this article. unlike the historian, whose job it is to identify such “traits,” the social scientist should attempt to measure their importance; as educators, we need to point this difference out to students. these new ideas come from an educator with a background in both history and the social sciences. the article summarizes the current world order and concludes with a discussion of what “future” world orders might be, based on sub-orders, while offering ideas for educators to use for students, many of whom will be future scholars, on how to measure which world orders and “sub-orders” are generationally and empirically “modern.” key words: education, modern, paradigm shift, sub-order, sub-order trait, world order introduction the word “modern,” whether it is referring to history, politics, economics, art, architecture, the hard sciences like chemistry or physics, or many other disciplines, is a word that is thrown about easily, but do we truly know or understand what “modern” is or means? is it the same for mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 educators as it is for students? in political-economy, a social science combining the two subjects, any event that changes the world dramatically is now often called a change in “world order.” dividing the world into eras, or orders of worldly nations’ influences, makes the history of any subject easier to teach and study. how can we as educators convey this message to students for their own understanding, and for their own future research, in order to categorize the world? in fact, there are few clear-cut eras in such disciplines that can be marked by a single event, let alone by perhaps thousands of events or even thousands of individuals. students need to understand this totality. in an admittedly eurocentric view, rome did not fall for a single reason, nor did the “dark ages” so start, the “renaissance” begin, the “enlightenment” and “reformation” take hold, the “age of empires” and “exploration” develop, the “industrial revolution” surge ahead, or the current age jolt forward. this is true whether one prefers the term “space age,” “computer age,” “information age,” or the “age of globalization,” with globalization in its most hyper sense viewed as a new phenomenon that students today are writing about along with newer debatable issues such as race relations and sustainability. as an educator and researcher, i think that educators would do well to start classes—or, in the middle of courses when appropriate—by discussing our own personal relationships with history in order to help students know where we are coming from, the events that we remember, and how they shaped our lives as history changed. also, perhaps we would do well to teach students to list or outline various events or categories of events that can here be called world “sub-orders,” which can be further broken down into “sub-order traits.” these traits are noted by historians and measured via cases/regressions by social scientists. this is despite the fact that many of the authors of history texts might not be world-systems writers. in this regard, teaching students how to outline historical events, with major headings for world orders, sub-headings for sub-world orders, and spaces for sub-order traits, could give them a better understanding of events, help them distinguish on their own what is “modern” and what is the “past,” and teach them analytical skills for their own academic future and to become understanding citizens. modernity review in literature, shakespeare used the word modern in the 15th century to describe “every-day” or “commonplace” events (delanty, 2007). in other subjects such as sociology, most look to the 17thcentury enlightenment or to the writings of freud or durkheim in the 19th century for modernity. in the hard sciences, most point to copernicus, galileo, kepler, or newton, although some might point to planck or einstein more recently, while with technology, the printing press of the 15th mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 century is noted as a turning point. in art and music, the 18th and 19th century romantic movements started modernism, most agree, while in religion, most point to an 1864 work by pope pius ix, although some point to the vatican ii council of the 1960s. in politics, most look to writings before major upheavals, such as the american and french revolutions, while in economics, while “neo” is used to mean “new,” most point to john maynard keynes in the 1930s and 1940s. the 1648 treaty of westphalia, which ended the thirty years’ war in europe, is now generally regarded as truly “modern” in political-economy because it created a long international peace by ending the catholic rule of europe, thus giving sovereignty to many states. yet others like dussel and quijano look toward colonialism in the global south as a world-involving beginning. although many scholars have opined since then, it was not until much later that francis fukuyama, a u.s. defense department official, claimed in the late 1980s and several times throughout the 1990s that there was “an end of history,” because countries around the world had refined democracy and the world stood, for a brief moment, on the precipice for global peace led by the united states. he was only to echo the mistakes of earlier scholars with such buoyant hopes. students will often take the view that history cannot repeat itself, or that it will follow different “laws” or rules, but we as educators should try to emphasize that “this time is not different,” and that some laws, counter to relativism, tend to stay the same. today, internationally, conditions are reverse unstable. despotism is growing globally, rendering the world a consternate powder keg. in the united states, “cancel culture” supporters are trying, whether for good or bad, to rewrite modern american colonial history in support of a seemingly overdue education on african-american history, which makes the subject of “modernity” even more important. sharing our own perspectives about growing up and how we were taught would make these issues easier to understand for students and let them know where we personally are coming from. for instance, president andrew johnson was treated as a “hero” in my history texts, while today he is regarded as a villain for his clemency toward the post-civil war south. my mother did a great job of sharing her views of history, speaking of the “duck and cover” of the cold war era and about the newsreels at the start of movies in the 1940s and ‘50s. so, what is “modern,” and how do we, as educators, help students measure it, through politicaleconomic world orders, in these very much intertwined social sciences? aside, does living in “modernity,” or researching it, make us feel more important? mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 with the study of history, in history classes that i have taken and in the titles of countless books i have read or perused, historians use such lines as “launched us into the modern age.” however, other books also refer to modern ages which are many years different. conversely, still later authors assign the word “modern” to periods unthought of by earlier authors. perhaps, in looking over more information, later authors have a greater view of the totality of historical changes. we, as educators, need to convey this knowledge to students so that they can be aware that history can often be over-sensationalized and used at times to market new books. many educators can probably remember their parents asking them: does that seem “old” to you? or “that must seem so far away?” i have noticed that my students view history very differently from me, often focusing on recent events that seem to me inconsequential in the larger span of history. perhaps, then, research into this question must go beyond a historian’s view and take the shape of a social scientist’s. in this way, one can take into consideration as educators that, maybe, in history’s span, each generation in any and all disciplines newly defines what is “modern.” history does not always progress forwards, as naïve historians and philosophers like hegel might assert, and instead, we have definitive marking points of when disruptions in history occur, “world orders,” which may be different from an educator’s and student’s perspective. the youth, and our students, ultimately determine what is modern. yet, generations by themselves are constantly being renamed and analyzed. the average life expectancy of humans has increased dramatically since early humankind. in the bible, human lifespans were around 40 years, so is it a surprise that the length of 40 years, or sometimes 80 years in the extreme case, is used to describe some time from long ago in the bible? if asked to choose what seems “far away” to me, a middle-aged man, i would answer world war i, an event that occurred approximately 70 years—roughly the average lifespan decades ago—before i was born. assuming that children are born when their parents are around 30 years old on average, this equates to two generations to the year 1909, around the time of the start of world war i. by this measure, today’s students would put “modern” much later. and yet, in the field that i work in as an educator, political-economy, scholars would put the modern age probably at the time of the following generation in history, or at two generations if one is assuming that children are born when their parents are 20. this dates to world war ii, which drastically reshaped the world. in figure 1, for instance, the beginning of one generation to the next is 20-25 years. but is this simply clinging to the obvious? mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 in an undergraduate course that i took as a student, “the history of the u.s., west of the mississippi,” a professor posed the question, “what is the american west?” was it surprising that most of the students indicated on their map handouts that it was america west of the mississippi river, which was the description specified in the course catalog? the same may be true for how students and educators look at world changes as a whole. true changes in disciplines was studied by thomas kuhn, who coined the phrase “paradigm shifts,” which are sudden moments in history in which thinking dramatically changes. as such, most historical scholars might point to a more pivotal event of “modernity” such as the 1648 treaty of westphalia, which ended the thirty years’ war and curtailed catholic southern europe. for historians, is this a naïve answer? table 1: generations. generation birth years (roughly) u.s. population today greatest (or gi) generation prior to 1924 1.7 million silent generation 1925-1942/45 20.87 million baby boomers 1946-1964 69.56 million generation x 1965-1979/80 65.17 million millennials 1980/81-1996 72.12 million generation z 1997-no endpoint set about 68 million (from cnn and statistica) note: global generations have tended to follow the same pattern as in the united states, at least until the baby boomer generation, after which, as in places like the middle east, countries are witnessing “youth bulges,” while in europe and russia the population is declining. some researchers place a gap generation between the baby boomers and x, x and the millennials, and the millennials and generation z. but most students and individuals are not (yet) historical scholars, so there is clearly a difference between scholars and the average person, and with different generations and races. so, a true study of modernity would require a carefully worded survey involving both scholars and lay people of all races and countries. perhaps, as educators, we should, like my teacher of “the west” course, ask students at the start of all introductory history courses to write an essay about their mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 earliest memories of history, major changes, and how they view modernity, in order to understand where they are coming from. to conduct a larger, societal study of “modernity,” such demographic research is beyond the scope of this philosophical paper. we can nevertheless analyze how political-economic historians talk of “ages” and “orders,” as opposed to “old,” “modern,” and “the future.” “world orders” refer to the alignment of nations based on international rules. an idea introduced in this paper will be the idea of “sub-orders,” after the westphalia treaty, and “sub-order traits,” which are underlying structures and which can change in importance to the nations that lead the politicaleconomic world. these traits can start a new “order” by such realignment. as educators, we need to bring into class discussion current events of when such sub-orders may be changing, as, for instance, it is at present with russia possibly becoming a “rogue nation” due to its invasion of ukraine. my methodology here will reconcile various authors’ views philosophically and then show several examples of how the world’s sub-order traits have changed since world war i, an event already mentioned as my “old” view of modernity. then, the paper will show how educators can help students to better understand these global changes. the analysis will conclude with ideas for future research. literature review to understand the political-economic world, students need to learn the current writings on world orders. most scholars argue, as already discussed, that the current world order dates back to the 1648 treaty of westphalia, a subject that most history or political-economic students know little about. for much of the history of the world, europe was isolated from the far east and the americas, such that rome was the world’s first superpower, followed by the holy roman empire. the first real scholarly mention of a “world order” came from henry kissinger in his 1957 book a world restored, a work based on his dissertation. kissinger, according to haass (2017), wrote, “no order is safe without physical safeguards against aggression” (p. 22). older students, though, might perhaps recognize the second ostensible mention of a world order in the 1977 book the anarchical society: a study of order in world politics by australian academician hedley bull. he wrote about the power of international “forces” or rules (haass, 2017, pp. 18-19). the third rendition of a world order, this time applied in propinquity, came from former u.s. president george h. w. bush, who used the term in 1989 to draw a distinction between the united states and the rest of the world, particularly russia, after the collapse of the soviet union. his “world order” also referred to the rise of regional powers in multiple spheres mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 of influence around the world. since then, many scholars including kissinger (2014), haass (2017), and other academicians and practitioners have made further references to the term. sadly, many students of history today do not know these facts. perhaps, as educators, in discussing books from different periods, we should ask students about the differences in perspectives between historians and social scientists, or how different authors view “modernity.” while the historian looks for such orders, the social scientist should measure and quantify them, such as through surveys and by looking at the ongoing changes in the world sub-order traits. “traits” is a term introduced here to describe a ranking of the most important social, economic, and political factors underlying the world order. thus, a historian’s book titled “… and the war that changed america” could be restated as “and the war that changed america by 15%.” this percentage could be measured by the trait change in economic growth or trade, the political ideology and class structure of the country, or the international power of the country, such as the number of leadership roles in international organizations. consequently, for new generations of students, the defining dates of “modernity” are constantly changing. the research in this paper will thus examine the existing literature and put forth a hypothesis that “modern” is defined by generations and means a significant event or change in a discipline equated to roughly the age expectancy of one or more generations which brought about that significant change. this should correspond to one dramatic change in the alignment of sub-order traits. also changing are the dates of “the future,” which is an equally complex topic, here left aside. this article will discuss methods for future research—by scholars or by students who will be future scholars—in order to analyze whether or not such a hypothesis of modernity based on world orders is palpable. definitions the world order itself is best characterized by kissinger (2014) as a “general equilibrium of power” (p. 3). he quotes ancient indian texts discussing a “circle of states,” writing that “power (at that time) was the dominant reality. it was multidimensional, and its factors were independent. all elements in a given situation were relevant, calculable, and amenable to manipulation toward a leader’s strategic aims” (p. 195), and then goes on to list some of these traits. many astute students are aware of thomas hobbes’s 1651 book leviathan, penned just three years after the treaty of westphalia, where kissinger attributes that humankind surrendered their individual sovereignty to states. kissinger (2014) paraphrases that this was “the only way to mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 overcome the perpetual fear of violent death war” (p. 31). foreign policy expert charles hill (2019) points to immanuel kant’s 1794 essay “perpetual peace,” which was based on the idea of future republics living peacefully, perhaps hopeful from the revolutions against monarchies of that era (hill, 2019, p. 3). haass (2017) defines world orders as “the extent to which there is a widely shared definition of the rules” (p. 103) and says that there can be multiple orders at the same time (p. 257). here, they would be referred to as sub-orders. this layering happened in the 1980s with “liberal” capitalism, of open trade spreading in the developing world (p. 55). today’s students are often confused by the changes in the term “liberal” over time, and rightfully so. french historian simon serfaty (2012) writes of sub-order traits, calling them “power attributes,” the most important ones being “size of the population and territory, resource[s]…, economic capability, military strength, political stability and competence” (p. 27). he lists other scholars’ takes on these powers, and writes that they layer on top of each other to create political “steering” power (p. 28). later, he refers to the three most important ones, mass, military, and economics, as “core attributes” (p. 38). even further, he divides the 1940s and 1950s into periods based on what one could call traits, as “perspective, mood, assumptions, and formula (or outcome)” (p. 90). all of these traits are constantly in flux, and students should be made aware. but, as american scholar richard haass (2017) writes, “power on paper does not translate into power in practice” (p. 205). thomas kuhn, in his 1963 book the structure of scientific revolutions—which scholar samir okasha (2002) calls one of the most important philosophical books of the last 50 years, especially in the social sciences—lays out “paradigm shifts” (okasha, 2002, p. 77). although he moderated them several times, kuhn’s primary theory was that research and events continue historically in the same model of thought until a paradigm revolution takes place and all issues in that science are viewed through a new lens. perhaps looking at orders and sub-orders is a new paradigm shift itself in the study of political-economy; perhaps the “traits,” often called “forces,” are. science has had many paradigm shifts in history. in 1542, the copernican revolution changed the way we look at our solar system, placing the sun at its center. over the next 100 years in physics, new discoveries were made by galileo, kepler, and descartes, followed by newton’s laws of gravity, motion, and calculus, which reigned as the greatest scientific achievements for the next two centuries. however, it was a scientific revolution in other disciplines, such as biology, first by charles darwin’s theory of evolution in the mid-19th century and then watson and crick in 1953 with their model of dna, which continued the changing paradigms while other disciplines stalled (okasha, 2002, pp. 3-12). mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 theory the philosophy of kuhn’s work on paradigms was in large part a response to the idea known as “positivism,” led by 20th century philosopher karl popper (sumner & tribe, 2009, p. 61). popper tried to clarify what exactly constitutes science and social science, arguing that an idea could not only be considered scientific if it could be proven true, but if it also could be proven false, or was falsifiable (okasha, 2002, p. 13). today, most social scientists conduct research, some statistical, in which it is believed that nothing in fact can be proven true, and that only the false can be rejected. many students today often miss this important point. thus, any survey evidence of the median or mean year or event of “modernity” in a survey other than hypothesized should be rejected. yet, this quantitative research should still be conducted after this paper. growing up, i heard the term “new era” constantly, but it was the positivists who started using math and empiricism in the social sciences, starting with auguste compte and a group of 19th-century economists. in the 1930s, a variated branch emerged of logical positivism, the vienna circle, which added to social sciences the concepts of deduction versus induction: deduction is thought from the general to the specific theories, while induction is the line of reasoning that moves from the specific theories to the general empiricism. while research at that time had been more deductive, it appears to have become more inductive as more research has been done. as the ideas in this paper are relatively new research, they are, thus, more “deductive” (sumner & tribe, 2009, pp. 54-61). students, often unaware, need to realize that in all academic disciplines, there is almost always a dichotomy of thought. “relativism,” the opposing view that sumner and tribe (2009) describe, which has arisen in the last two centuries in opposition to positivism, includes such thinkers as kuhn, nietzsche, and foucault. relativists would argue, somewhat similarly to how i do in this article, that no exact time may exist for “modernity”: it changes with generations; new students constantly have new views. relativists do not aim to prove a single truth or law, but rather provide a more informed understanding of a topic (sumner & tribe, 2009, pp. 58-60). more recently, pope benedict xvi of germany, a country known for its research on and applied to relativism, strongly spoke out against relativism from a moral perspective. this school has been redefined in recent years (the mid-20th century) into another school of philosophy known as “realism,” which is a middle ground between the two. however, sumner and tribe (2009) cite kanbur and shaffer as saying of these scholars, with pope benedict included, that “they distinguish between positivist/ empiricist mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 approaches at one extreme (based on observation which establishes knowledge claims) and relativist… approaches (based on discourse’ for the establishment of knowledge … (versus nonsubjectively) at the other” (p. 58). for interested students, the paramount theory in political-economy on the relationship between countries is “world systems theory,” created in the 1960s at the state university of new york (suny) by scholar immanuel wallerstein. world systems theory claimed that the globe could be divided into a core, a semi-periphery, and a periphery of countries. despite being controversial for not focusing on capitalism and communism, and while not technically analyzing world orders over time, it is technology, he argued, that is most important in needing to advance among the circles. there is no doubt that developing countries have benefitted from the technology of the west, whether legally or surreptitiously. wallerstein also posited that the world has consisted of two stages: from the 16th century when the european economy expanded until 1945, and 1945 to the present, because world war ii was so institutionally influential (so, 1990, pp. 176-193). world war ii changed the empirical rules for peace and conflict, particularly in that the united states continued a trait of demanding “unconditional surrender,” which had been a policy since the civil war. there may have been alternative ways of ending this war and the wars that followed. this american demand for a perfect outcome, such as to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons, then to be joined by the soviet union, may have created a sub-order within the post-wwii world order that wallerstein outlined, and may have affected the outcomes in the korean and vietnam wars. at that time, scholars from the “third world,” neither affiliated with the u.s. nor russia, began to lay out “dependency theory,” that developing countries “depended” on larger nations, especially those with troops nearby, in trading with them, which has of course changed with the emergence of such politically-economic independent states as the brics (brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa), for example. others point to neoliberalism and the spread of the idea of lower taxes and tariffs. when i was a young student, my mother spoke about world war ii being “old.” after this, haass (2017) picks up, writing on “nuclearization.” the nuclear non-proliferation treaty of 1968 reasoned that fewer nuclear states, five at the time, were acceptable (p. 60); haass (2017) writes that the treaty failed because joining was voluntary, it did not prevent obtaining production parts such as centrifuges, there were no protections against concealment, and there were no penalties for rule breaking (pp. 68-69). yet, latin america and africa have signed their own treaties (pp. 193-194). haass writes that the post-wwii idea of the european union (eu) was to link germany and france so as to avoid more war between them, and to help end colonialism (pp. 61-62). mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 current students, being ethnically diverse, might take interest in researching these other, lesscentral areas of the world. then came other “world orders,” which we shall call “sub-orders,” with world war ii being a suborder of westphalia, the former of which established the five most powerful countries of the u.n. security council, the north atlantic treaty organization (nato), and the soviet warsaw bloc. economically, british economist john maynard keynes, who, along with americans like economist h. b. white under president harry truman, devised the free-world, post-war “gold standard system” at bretton woods. then, after the containment trait of the cold war sub-order, in 1989, the berlin wall came down, and president george h. w. bush declared a new “world order,” which i remember hearing as the first time overtly applied, with a public scramble to understand its true meaning. government documents, though, showed that regional powers were expected to emerge, but under a highly u.s.-dominant world. by the year 2000, it was a halcyon instant, as the u.s. was the lone “superpower” in the world. scholars like francis fukuyama, a minor defense department official, was writing about the “end of history,” in which the world would remain forever situated. but history remakes itself, as students know. as a student, the world changed for me on september 11, 2001, with “terrorism” (another example of my term “sub-order,” yet others might point to powerful groups as “institutions”), then two poorly-planned wars, and an expanded u.s. budget and trade deficit, which contributed to globalization. “globalism” gave rise to the brics, consumer and business technology, the faang companies (facebook, amazon, apple, netflix, and google), and bats (baidu, alibaba, and tencent), which are the world of today’s students. technology has been used to provoke divisions in the country, and internationally, rising economic and political nations have created the most dangerous international system since the start of world war i, a tinderbox or powder keg ready to explode. my doctoral professors referred to yale’s samuel p. huntington (1968), who, in his “gap ratio theories,” created relationships between different types of power for individuals, that they demand change when their expectations of socio-economic power are not met. huntington’s ratios may apply to states in the world order as well, not just domestically. as states gain economic power, they may wreak havoc on the world order for political power, possibly developing nuclear weapons. an example of this is china; the u.s. can contain its economic power via fiscal soundness, but it may be changing politically. applicable for today’s students, haass (2017) writes that now there is a growing tension between larger and smaller states (p. 197), so-called, “dependency theory,” the continued threat of terrorists gaining nuclear weapons (p. 126), and an inner and outer core of the eu (p. 285), which mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 its moral leader, the united kingdom, has just left. there is a type of “ordered convergence” of the world’s economies, in which most of the west and the global south owe the east in financial debt. previous efforts during the cold war to leverage or link issues with other countries is declining in favor of smaller states having greater independence. haass (2017) argues that larger states have “sovereign obligation” to intervene on behalf of all citizens, across borders, not just on account of governments, whether it be through force or the use of non-governmental organizations and foreign aid, which demand an expanded role (pp. 220-227, 255). “authoritarianism” is expanding globally, but the west maintains strong universities, sound institutions, and a precedent-based, entrepreneurship-protecting legal system (pp. 290-291). urging students to feel patriotic about such american features in class is important as a country, but so is teaching about the international environment, which is also meaningful. methodology the following outlines show my detailing of the major changes in the world sub-orders since wwi, some 70 years prior to my birth, which can be used as an example to students for how to do such outlining. usually, wars or treaties lead to the next order, but sub-orders can build up to these wars of treaties, and the sub-orders strongly define the new order. as the world orders change, some sub-orders remain, and others are reformed or developed. the causes of war, as outlined by barry (2018), are conflicts over values, resources, and perceptions of power, but also fear and influence to control and protect one’s territorial boundaries, as well as possibly influence others’. these are directly or indirectly linked to sub-orders. some sub-order traits continue into new orders, unchanged, while others rise or decline in importance, which is certainly debatable. results students can see, in the results section, the current possible sub-order traits listed in order of geo-political significance, chiefly since wwi, and summarized in figure 2. of utmost importance, first, is 1648’s sovereignty, both internally, and externally for countries. next, as with serfaty (2012), would come geo-political strength (physical size, location, population). world political organizations/conferences would come after, created in the world war ii sub-order: the u.n., world bank, wto, imf, nato, eu, u.s.-mca [nafta], then asean, apec, mercosur, with “subtraits” being: a) role of treatiessecret/non-secret, b) rules for warpreemption, how wars are endedunconditional surrender, peace with honor, open/covert foreign policy, role of borders, and c) peaceful transfer of power. as with serfaty (2012), then come domestic economics: a) resources, b) capitalism vs. communism/socialism, c) debt, d) corruption (institutions [the law]), mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 e) media, f) manufacturing versus agriculture/services, g) consumption versus production, h) central banks, i) development, like: i) infrastructure, ii) urbanization, iii) clean water, iv) structure of companies, and v) monopolies. this differs from the cold war, whereas, due to alignment, capitalism/communism would rank much higher. from 9/11 onward comes terrorism, which was not a major trait of importance under communism, and perhaps was a dilemma going back to the arab encroachment on africa and europe in the 7th15th centuries; this consists of: a) the threat of terrorism at home, and b) fighting terrorism and rogue/failed states abroad. in the 1960s-1970s, u.s. presidents johnson and carter created the importance of the next trait in my wwii sub-order: human rights within countries and in foreign policy, and a) ethnic and racial equal rights, b) classes and income equality/inequality, c) women’s rights, social capital, d) nationalismstrength of countries internally (openness), and e) national unity. spheres of influence, world opinion (just wars), and international respect are more from another era, not our own. environmental conditions are having a huge impact on geo-politics, such as in the rainforests in the south, the wildfires and reefs in the east, and geo-politics in the arctic, and trying to keep temperatures globally from rising 2° c. especially pertinent for current students, in the age of globalization, next would come economic trade: a) manufacturing, exports/imports, institutions, b) currencies, c) supply chains, d) smaller trade rules, e) international corporations, f) outsourcing, g) intermediate trade, h) intra-industry trade (countries with mcdonalds do not go to war), and i) internal and external financial systems, which are more important in the past several decades than they have ever been. with modernity, comes technology: diffusion, social media for revolution-making, cyberspace/hacking, nuclear weapons, ai and robots (historically, the printing press, and machine guns in wwi), which are going to play an even more prominent role in the future, but, with recent events, it is questionable if a cyberattack could start a conventional war. however, in cyberspace, writes haass (2017), there are “billions of (possible) actors” (p. 141). in the 1970s, energy such as oil was important, but now the u.s. is nearly energy independent, and saudi arabia is diversifying, but russia has built many pipelines to secure its neighbors. following these traits might come non-governmental organizations and foreign aid, missionaries, refugees, religious connections and power, and education. while the chinese, by observation, are strong at math and engineering, there is wide-spread knowledge that their schools lack creativity, and, from personally being an educator, they lack of edification of other countries than the u.s. this would be followed by a) refugees, and b) religion, which are very different than mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 where they would have ranked directly post-wwii. finally, last but not least is culture: a) immigration, b) slavery in the mid-east and africa, c) assimilation, d) copying the west (china and japan) culturally, and e) trying to copy the east, which were important centuries ago. religion would have been higher prior to westphalia, and post-wwii to vatican ii, and terrorism, technology, energy, and economic trade (which was virtually non-existent until the 18th century) would have been much lower. in figure 2, one can see how the world has changed in sub-orders and the ranking of importance of sub-order traits simply since world war i, which shaped many international rules, but which were overshadowed and were replaced by many “rules” after world war ii. discussion: the future current students are growing up in a different world. when i was finishing college, the united states was, in the year 2000, the sole superpower in the world order, based on world war ii’s political-economic institutions, to which terrorism and preemption as world “sub-orders-traits,” both falling under the wwii paradigm, that were again amended by the cold war, and superimposed upon wwi, and going back to westphalia. today’s students need to be able to “map out” such changes. today’s students will need to analyze what the next “sub-order” will be—that is, if the pandemic, russia as a “rogue state,” or artificial intelligence (ai) and cyber-attacks will be the new suborders, or if a new nuclear arms race around the world will create new sub-orders. technology, such as that raising economic production or for consumer use, affected the economics of the last century; however, it had less impact than technology, whether through nuclear proliferation, drones, cyber or ai weapons, will in the future. or, the world order could more greatly be affected by climate change and energy geopolitics (for instance, how oil flows in pipelines from one country geographically to others, giving the former more power). much of this research will be done by students/scholars of the future. but this paper has shown that we are still living under the treaty of westphalia, wwi, wwii, the cold war, and terrorism, mostly in that order. new regional powers are emerging which, through technological diffusion, could become nuclear states. since wwi, the u.s. has led the world militarily, but this may be changing. already, ideas exist for how to preserve the ww ii political sub-order, but how will students and future leaders reconcile the inclusion of smaller stakeholders, whose economies will likely converge over the next 50 years, with the issue of nuclear weaponization? additionally, artificial intelligence (ai) should be feared not in the sense that the robots will “turn on us,” as in science mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 fiction, but in questions of whether we are ceding our power to other authorities electronically. through careful policies, future leaders and world countries need to reach an equilibrium of power with the machines, with policies that treat ai and human workers with parity. should we tax “capital,” if we shall call it that, and, along with this, create better laws for privacy and security? the u.n. and world institutions are unlikely to change anytime soon, although there have been calls to add more emerging market countries to the security council, so only a world war or sudden change in sub-order traits would alter it. kissinger (2014) lists four “traits” crucial for the future: humanitarian values around the globe, such as affecting democracy and failed states; the international economic system; the inability of the world leaders to affect smaller conflicts which often are byzantine from ethnic groups and regional organizations; and finally, the effect of u.s. internal divisions translating into foreign power. students and teachers may disagree, but the strongest traits may well be regarding cyberspace/nuclear weapons. also, there is the issue of a resurgent russia. this resurgence is similar to, with sanctions, the harsh treatment of germany after world war i, in the international reparation system, which led to the start of world war ii in europe. russian president putin follows a predictable strategy: when russia’s borders are involved, what he would call “coups,” such as with chechnya, georgia, or the ukraine, he orders a small force to usurp a piece of land. this was only after questioning the united states and trying to determine the response. former u.s. president trump came into office saying that the u.s. would “win an arms race,” though the u.s. withdrew from the inf (intermediate nuclear forces) arms treaty, before both states build more super-sonic missiles, non-radioactive nuclear bombs, advanced drones, or ai weapons. these treaties should include china if possible. of potential could be to agree to rules for defensive weapons, placed in turkey or azerbaijan, as the russians have suggested. election interference may, too, create a new order, because of russia’s response to presidential candidate clinton’s time as secretary of state, when she encouraged russian protests. former russian president medvedev warned in 2016 of a new cold war (haass, 2017, p. 100). classroom discussions might take on current political events, combined with history. the thucydides trap from ancient greece predicts that growing powers, such as the united states and china, will inevitably end in war, as a harvard study predicts because 12 out of 16 historical cases have (allison, 2015, pp. 1-17). but china is more of a competitor, and the united states, i believe, is simply jealous/fearful of its trading and financial power, and its rising power politically if china pursues it. the united states must tread carefully on taiwan. political scientist samuel p. mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 huntington (1993) claimed that that the world, from the 1990s onward, would witness a “clash of civilizations,” particularly between the west, the islamic nations, and the east, most notably the emerging power of china. the main causa belli might be the encroachment on fishing islands disputed with japan, a major u.s. ally, or taiwan, where the u.s. seems confused over its “one china policy” and “strategic ambiguity.” consequently, there is not really a clash of civilizations, a term former u.s. president obama took issue with, but more of a squeezing of civilizations into a smaller world. the world needs more treaties, and more efforts at multi-lateral containment of rogue states, like north korea and iran, the most dangerous kind. as serfaty (2012) writes, such states may feel that preemptive strikes may give them a surprise advantage (p. 30). or, rogue states could continue to develop nuclear weapons while the rest of the world tries to out-wait them with pressure. a treaty to consider, perhaps, for all nuclear states, and additional states if they wish to be part of it, would be that the development, or the process of it, of nuclear weapons by a state is a threat to all other current nuclear powers, and even non-nuclear powers; and, use of nuclear weapons by such a state, that has recently required them since the nuclear states signed the treaty, would be an attack on all treaty members. use of nuclear weapons by an established nuclear state upon a non-nuclear state would be an attack on all established nuclear states. this treaty would prevent spread of “nuclear weapons,” however defined. future students might write on technology and weapons, as haass (2017) ruminates on such a treaty for cyberspace, admitting that “these are still early days…” (p. 247). kissinger (2014) writes of the danger of nuclear weapons spreading from one state to others in the future, and also of, like haass, the danger of preemptive attacks, by any side. this danger is especially in-light of the preemption trait begun by u.s. president george w. bush for the iraq war. the figure below shows some of the major changes to sub-order traits following historical turning points. table 2: sub-order traits (an example for students) wwi (1914) + aftermath wwii (1941) + aftermath wilson-collective security u.n., nato, imf, world bank, gaat reparationsworld payment system u.s., france, u.k., and ussr, get nuclearized freedom of seas unconditional surrender becomes the norm no secret treaties u.s. becomes involved in southeast asia start of u.n. (league of nations) president nixon removes the gold standard mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 buffer states to contain russia u.s. starts importing more consumer goods cars and tanksoil becomes important israel/mid-east peace becomes an important issue ottomanssykes-picot pact, u.s. loses first war, in vietnam middle east divided berlin wall falls 1989 9/11: terrorism emerges (wwii institutions solid) world war ii institutions remain rise of terrorists and the threat of nuclearization regional powers/treaties replace ussr china hikes military spending and builds atolls unified germany preemptive attack used in iraq expanded nato iraq becomes a danger; iran gains power rise of economic brics arab spring china joins the wto isis causes syria, libya, and africa to crumble eu unification completed turkey takes in certain refugees among many start of computer use u.s. budget deficit soars; asia’s wealth increases (developed from war and space) russia gains oil; tries to start an eastern order chinaafrica development; digital yuan rises futurenukes return, and cyber security looms rush to discern the powers of ai mideast peace process stalls pandemic causes halts in world trade and travel bitcoin and monopolistic tech companies arise note: the top traits stay mainly the same: the sub-orders change in importance, just as how, when u.s. political leaders are asked the most “dangerous” foreign entity, the answers constantly vary and change. conclusion in the future, by using a college’s list of student alumni as a methodology, one could further conclude “what is modern,” or the “modern world order.” or, one could use as subjects those with graduate degrees compared to those who are undergraduates, and conduct a survey with carefully worded questions. one could ask respondents to identify a major event (order) they consider modern. or, perhaps, regressions could be run which assign values equating the beta of sub-orders to determine, at some threshold, when they have created a new world order. charles hill, writing in 2016 about the 2020s, predicted that there will be the “end of modernity” since u.s. power would dissipate, especially in the arab world, and that russia and china would become dominant (hill, 2016, pp. 1-2). china sees periodic downturns in its economy, and russia, from belarus to uzbekistan to azerbaijan, is witnessing upheaval near its vast territories. hill mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 (2019), who notes that fukuyama’s “end of history” came from hegel, the german philosopher, asserts that history is simply repeating itself. but it is more likely redefining itself in terms of modernity with a new generation of students, citizens, and leaders around the globe, i would argue. and mr. fukuyama is still writing. progressive students might be interested in fukuyama’s 2018 book identity: the demand for dignity and the politics of resentment, which argues that citizens of nations are now searching for recognition of their ethnic and racial identities, which he uses to explain everything from the rise of mr. putin in russia’s orthodox order, to migrants from various islands, to the black lives movement, to the metoo movement. fukuyama traces the need for worth to the greek concept of “thymos,” to hegel, to a student of hegel’s named kojeve, to a cornell classmate. but, as reviewer louis menand (2018) puts it, he is weak on explanation, such as, i might add, why this is happening now? perhaps it is due to social isolation from technological media, or the increasingly diversity of states from migration? this will be a subject for future students. as for me, when i was a student, i wish that had a better understanding of world orders. students and social scientists, in this fashion, will continue debating about the world in which we live, and how to conduct studies and define reality in conjunction with other disciplines. some fields, in which the term “modern” is firmly established, have created the term “post-modern.” philosophers will continue to question whether or not social science can answer everything, such as “what is modern,” which philosophy can certainly add to (okasha, 2002, pp. 54-55). william van orman quine, whom okasha (2002) calls the most important american philosopher of the 20th century, has challenged the notion of “scientism,” the trending belief of giving science such a high societal status, with an idea called “naturalism.” the latter theorizes that humans are part of the natural order. i would argue that humans are sovereign parts, still, of human-made world orders and sub-orders. physics has reemerged with such issues as string theory and what exactly is dark matter and dark energy in the universe’s expansion (okasha, 2002). along these lines, the debate over what is modern is such a profound question that it has nearly evenly divided americans on the question of the universe’s and humankind’s creation, between those who see humans as created by god along with the universe eons ago, to those believing in the big bang theory and evolution, ideas which developed in the early 20th century (okasha, 2002). pope francis even philosophizes that there was a long period before creation, a period of non-existence in which god purely loved the world, an “order” of sorts. mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 much scientific research is ongoing, and further examples, which are meant to be linked to history, are, for example, work on consciousness by linguists, following noam chomsky, which claims that children are born with parts of the brain that already understand language, genetically, which impacted the historical formation of nations. along the line of creation, biologists are debating whether to continue to classify organisms based on similarity of aspects, called pheneticists, or based on evolution, called cladists. these ideas will give rise to new theories of early humans, even further pushing back our ideas about world orders (okasha, 2002, pp. 54-55, 107-119). certainly, u.s. schools need greater education on international topics and world orders, both in the high school and college classrooms. moreover, “the greatest promise for progress in social science lies in an eclectic view of methodology that recognizes the potential contributions of diverse tools to meeting these shared standards” (brady & collier, 2010, p. 199). teachers need to continue using these new tools and methods to relate current events to students’ own lives, and prepare them to be future scholars in understanding history and the social sciences and to identify when and by how much changes occur. with hope, a firm grasp on sub-orders and suborder traits will create a new standard to study world orders, as a tool to both scholars and students to understand what is politically-economic modern for each generation. without doubt, the future will see a continued debate among educators, social scientists, and students alike on how to conduct research, and help how to define what is “modern,” that gives us greater meaning and viewpoints with which to categorize and compare changes in world events. as we have seen, this can be done at least in part by looking at and measuring changes to the world order in terms of sub-orders and traits in each of politics, history, economics, and even other disciplines. acknowledgement the author would like to thank rachel wendt for providing insights for this article. mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 references allison, g. (2015, september 24). the thucydides trap: are the u.s. and china headed for war? the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/unitedstates-china-war-thucydides-trap/406756/ barry, t. j. (2018). human vs. robot decision making on the battlefield: war and rational choice theory. philosophy for business, 84. https://melissaaho.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/06/todd_barry_human_vs_robot_decision_making_on_the_ba ttlefield-war_and_rational_choice_theory.pdf brady, h. e., & collier, d. (eds.). (2010). rethinking social inquiry: diverse tools, shared standards. united kingdom: rowman and littlefield. cnn. (2021, august 19). american generation fast facts. cnn.com. https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/index.html delanty, g. (2007). modernity. in g. ritzer (ed.), blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. malden, ma: blackwell publishing. haass, r. (2017). a world in disarray. new york, ny: penguin press. hill, c. (2016, january 7). the end of modernity. defining ideas: a hoover institution journal. https://www.hoover.org/research/end-modernity hill, c. (2019, may 14). on “forces of history”: easy as one-two-three? not exactly. governance in an emerging world, 719. hoover institution. https://www.hoover.org/research/forces-history-easy-one-two-three-not-exactly huntington, s. p. (1968). political order in changing societies. new haven, ct: yale university press. huntington, s. p. (1993). the clash of civilizations? foreign affairs, 72(3), 22-49. https://doi.org/10.2307/20045621 kissinger, h. (2014). world order. new york, ny: penguin books. menand, l. (2018, september 3). francis fukuyama postpones the end of history. the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/francis-fukuyamapostpones-the-end-of-history okasha, s. (2002). philosophy of science: a very short introduction. new york, ny: oxford university press. mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/united-states-china-war-thucydides-trap/406756/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/united-states-china-war-thucydides-trap/406756/ https://melissaaho.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/todd_barry_human_vs_robot_decision_making_on_the_battlefield-war_and_rational_choice_theory.pdf https://melissaaho.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/todd_barry_human_vs_robot_decision_making_on_the_battlefield-war_and_rational_choice_theory.pdf https://melissaaho.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/todd_barry_human_vs_robot_decision_making_on_the_battlefield-war_and_rational_choice_theory.pdf https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gerard_delanty https://www.hoover.org/research/end-modernity https://www.hoover.org/research/forces-history-easy-one-two-three-not-exactly https://doi.org/10.2307/20045621 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/francis-fukuyama-postpones-the-end-of-history https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/francis-fukuyama-postpones-the-end-of-history journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, pp. 38-58 corresponding author: tbarry@hccc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 pope pius ix. (1864). the syllabus of errors. papal encyclicals online. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9syll.htm serfaty, s. (2012). a world recast: an american moment in a post-western order. new york, ny: rowman and littlefield. so, a. y. (1990). social change and development: sage library of social research (vol. 178). newbury park, ca: sage publishers. statistica. (2019). u.s. population by generation 2019. https//www.statististica.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation sumner, a., & tribe, m. (2009). international development studies: theories and methods in research and practice. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications inc. about the author: todd j. barry holds a ba in history from quinnipiac university, an mba from bryant college, and a phd in international development from the university of southern mississippi, with a focus on economics and political science. he has published nearly twenty-five articles, on microand macroeconomics, international trade, political-economy, the history of economic thought, public finance, economic history, science and society, and international development, while having presented at three international conferences. he has also published three children’s books, and two books of religious music, while working on a book of military marches. dr. barry has participated in the council on foreign relations discussion series. he lives in connecticut, while teaching economics, currently as an adjunct professor with hudson country community college in new jersey, usa. mailto:tbarry@hccc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9syll.htm journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 203 school social studies as a vehicle for human rights education: caveats barend vlaardingerbroek american university of beirut, lebanon abstract: the social studies curriculum is the obvious “home” of school-level human rights education. as such, social studies as a school subject has the potential to contribute significantly to the empowering function of formal education. a right to human rights education is, however, dependent on the right to education as such. with universal primary education (upe) yet to be achieved, social science educators seeking to use the subject as a means of extending human rights education to children in the most underdeveloped countries need to focus their attention on the primary school curriculum. key words: human rights education, international law, primary schooling, basic education introduction a right to be educated about human rights is contingent upon the right to be educated at all. education is an “empowering right” (beiter, 2005, p. 20) that confers the ability to access other rights such as that of democratic participation. this requires a curricular niche for human rights education, ideally in the context of education about the law (vlaardingerbroek, traikovski, & hussain, 2014; vlaardingerbroek, 2015). the natural “home” of this aspect of school education is the social studies curriculum. social studies as a multidisciplinary subject is a ubiquitous component of the school curriculum. in the more developed countries, all youngsters attend school until the age of 16 or 17, and the inclusion of human rights education is a simple matter of writing it into the curriculum in the knowledge that all school learners will be exposed to it. the same cannot be said for developing countries. at this point in time, unesco holds that 1 in 11 children continue to miss out on mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 204 primary schooling, while 1 in 6 do not receive any post-primary education. those deprived children and adolescents are concentrated in the most underdeveloped societies where the benefits of the empowerment that schooling in general (and rights education in particular) confers are the most sorely needed. that the universal human right to education is by no means as yet universal poses the question of why this state of affairs continues to exist in the 21st century. the nature of the right to education access to education as a universal human right is enshrined in various instruments of international law. the universal declaration of human rights 1948 (being a unga resolution, not strictly “law” but widely regarded as customary law), convention against discrimination in education 1960 (described by unesco [2014] as the first international normative instrument regarding this right), international covenant on civil and political rights 1966, international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights 1966 (a non-justiciable framework convention), and convention on the rights of the child 1989 all make mention of the right to education. education also appears in various international pronouncements such as the jomtien declaration, millennium development goals, and agenda 2030. and yet universal primary education (upe) remains to be achieved. there are flies in the ointment. in the view of mccowan (2010), universal human rights such as the right to education are “moral rights” rather than “legal rights” (pp. 510-511). this ties in well with the lofty ideals that international declarations espouse (e.g., “education for all”). translating such grandiose platitudes into reality is, however, another story. human rights can also be categorized as “strong” or “weak” (legg, 2012). a “weak” right is one the interpretation or application of which allows for a wide “margin of appreciation,” the leeway sovereign nations have in applying rights that they have signed up to. the right to education is a weak right (legg, 2012, p. 215); therefore, it is not feasible to hold nation-states to specific common quantitative goals in the area of educational provision. as lamented by tomasevski (2008, p. 25), “global targets have been agreed upon and flouted precisely because there is no single or effective set of rules for making them and against breaking them.” this brings us to the critical question of how much education may be considered a “right” under international law. there is no blanket right to complete the school cycle even in most western jurisdictions. historically, there were examination filters in place at the end of primary schooling and halfway through the secondary school cycle in western systems—e.g., the psle and the omailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 205 levels in the british system, the certificat and the brevet in the french system. many countries outside the affluent west continue to impose restrictions, through examination systems or on the basis of school records, on young people intending to scale the educational ladder beyond lower levels of schooling. such measures do not violate international human rights law. a legitimate complementary point is raised by mccowan (2015): while “education” is usually tacitly equated with formal schooling, there is, on the surface at least, no reason why alternative approaches to educational provision such as non-formal education or vocational training should not satisfy this right (but cf. beiter, 2005, p. 19, who maintains that the right necessarily invokes conventional school attendance at the lower levels). the right to education in practice a right to universal access to primary education, and that this access should furthermore be both free of charge and compulsory, is stipulated by international law. a number of complicating factors are nonetheless invoked by this apparently firm right. one is the definition of “primary education.” in age cohort terms, primary schooling usually runs to about age 12; the primary school cycle usually spans 6 or 7 years, although it can range from 4 to 8 years. another is the definition of “free.” schooling involves the mandatory purchase of essentials such as exercise books, pens and rulers, and so on; these costs may be prohibitive for poor people, especially in developing countries. yet another is the insistence on compulsory attendance, which becomes a sham in the context of the absence of effective truancy controls—something most developing countries do not have, certainly not in rural areas. the notion that the right to education should extend beyond primary schooling has been gaining traction over the past quarter-century. it is now widely accepted that everyone has a right to a basic education. a basic education instils basic skills. this term, once associated with the “3 rs” (reading, writing, and arithmetic), has seen an expansion of its scope over the past decades to include, inter alia, citizenship education. this brings us back to the importance of the social studies curriculum into which citizenship education—and human rights education—would be tucked. the “post-3rs” mentality with regard to basic education requires a measure of postprimary education. hence, a “basic education” is generally construed as primary schooling followed by some form of lower secondary education—altogether, the first 8 or 9 years of the school cycle depending on the structure of the education system; in age cohort terms, to about age 15 (as per unesco’s international standard classification of education [isced]). this right is, however, watered down by making allowances for the margin of appreciation and the recurring mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 206 concession in international human rights instruments that the provision of secondary schooling may be achieved “progressively.” secondary schooling involves considerably higher unit costs than does primary schooling. betterqualified teachers are needed, and specialist amenities such as science laboratories are required. lewin (2001) cautioned that “costs at the secondary level are high and unsustainable if participation is to be increased” (p. 5). some poorer countries have difficulty financing the most rudimentary lower secondary schooling. international donors have not been overly keen on financing the expansion of secondary schooling; structural adjustment programs have often seen pressures on national governments from funding agencies such as the world bank to soft-peddle on the expansion of publicly funded education (tomasevski, 2008). however, domestic political pressures spurred by high social demand have been growing. in the rush to provide post-primary schooling to more youngsters, a quantity/quality trade-off becomes inevitable. one strategy is to add the lower secondary years (or some of them) to primary schools and try to upgrade their teachers to the level where they can teach the higher grades. the challenge here is that of trying to turn generalist teachers (which is what the overwhelming majority of primary teachers are) into subject-competent teachers of specialized disciplines such as science. it does not obviate the issue of the addition of expensive specialist teaching facilities to those upgraded primary schools, and it creates the temptation to proceed without them. with respect to educational provision, “more” is not necessarily “better” in terms of outcomes. poor-quality provision may even render those outcomes “positively harmful” (mccowan, 2010, p. 511). this can have negative social consequences. post-primary education raises expectations. many people in poor agrarian countries look to secondary schooling as a means of enabling educated youth to gain access to the formal employment sector, as the mass economy in such societies is informal, but increased post-primary educational provision stimulates the urban migration of semi-educated youngsters into cities where there is no employment for them, and exacerbates the social ills that arise in consequence. the un economic and social council asserted in 1999 that it “encourages ‘alternative’ educational programs which parallel regular secondary school systems” (unesco, 1999, p. 4). vocational training may be substituted for secondary schooling (unesco, 2014). however, while vocational education demonstrably confers benefits especially to the children of the very poor in developing societies by providing them with skills that enable them to enter employment or selfemployment, channeling young people into vocational education at an early age remains an mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 207 undesirable option as it represents a “band-aid” strategy to address serious inequalities and is resented by many people. quite frankly, the “right to education” is somewhat of a toothless tiger in international law from the point of view of potential enforcement by international courts. but on the positive side of the ledger, it is fair to say that the right to education has worked its way into the governmental psyche to the point where every nation wants to be seen to be delivering on promises made through conventions and international declarations. this is largely attributable to unesco, which has worked tirelessly over many years to enable the implementation of this right. however, the right to schooling, other than at primary level, remains a qualified one, despite efforts to extend it to encompass lower secondary education. there is certainly no universal human right in international law to upper secondary schooling, let alone tertiary education. conclusion social studies as a school subject has considerable potential as a vehicle for human rights education and to thereby add significantly to the potency of formal schooling as a means to empower people, particularly those in developing countries where that empowerment translates into improved democratic governance and the bolstering of human rights in those societies. however, the bottom line is that the provision of publicly-funded education remains within the sphere of national governments and hence subject to the vagaries of the “margin of appreciation.” education is just one of a number of competing public sectors that require funding. for a lower-income developing country, the carve-up of a severely limited fiscal cake creates serious dilemmas. between expanding access to post-primary schooling, modernizing the agricultural sector, eradicating common infectious diseases, upgrading infrastructure and communications, and a host of other pressing development activities, the right to schooling particularly beyond the primary level may, in the cases of the most cash-strapped developing countries, have to be relegated to a lower ranking on the list of priorities. social studies education specialists with an interest in promoting the subject as a means of strengthening human rights in developing countries need to focus their attention mostly on what happens at the primary school level. the right to human rights education starts there—and, for millions of youngsters in developing countries that need it most, stops there. mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 208 references: beiter, k. d. (2005). the protection of the right to education by international law. leiden: martinus nijhoff. legg, a. (2012). the margin of appreciation in international human rights law: deference and proportionality. oxford: oup. lewin, k. m. (2001). statement of the problem. in k. lewin & f. gaillods (eds.), financing secondary education in developing countries: strategies for sustainable growth (pp. 5-20). paris: unesco – iiep. mccowan, t. (2010). reframing the universal right to education. comparative education, 46(4), 509-525. tomasevski, k. (2008). the state of the right to education worldwide: free or fee? in s. a. moore & r. c. mitchell (eds.), power, pedagogy and practice: social justice in the globalized classroom (pp. 19-53). rotterdam: sense publishers. unesco. (1999). cescr general comment no. 13: the right to education (art. 13). available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/d)generalco mmentno13therighttoeducation(article13)(1999).aspx unesco. (2014). the right to education – law and policy review guidelines. paris. vlaardingerbroek, b. (2015). the shaky legal foundations of the global human rights education project. journal of international social studies, 5(1), 165-171. vlaardingerbroek, b., traikovski, l., & hussain, i. (2014). towards ‘law education for all’ – teaching school students about the law in australia and pakistan. journal of international social studies, 4(2), 109-117. mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/d)generalcommentno13therighttoeducation(article13)(1999).aspx https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/education/training/compilation/pages/d)generalcommentno13therighttoeducation(article13)(1999).aspx journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 203-209 corresponding author: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 209 about the author: barend vlaardingerbroek – associate professor, department of education, american university of beirut, lebanon. mailto:bv00@aub.edu.lb http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: what language is spoken in france? silly question—french, of course. in italy? italian. in argentina? spanish. if you ask residents of moldova the same question, however, the answer will be “the state language.” i recently returned from moldova, where i made a presentation at a conference and conducted workshops on student-centered teaching. the trip came with a caveat: five days before the departure, my host and co-author andrey borshevsky, director of the institute for democracy, told me that the workshop would be in transnistria, a separatist part of moldova not recognized by any un member state. oh-ho! i was concerned, anxious, and excited. the trip was fantastic (and adventurous), and i met many wonderful people and made many new friends. the “state language” trick at first bewildered me, but later i understood that it is a wise compromise that residents of both moldova proper and non-recognized transnistria agreed to follow in order to keep the dialogue going. (although the 1992 military conflict and partition of moldova was politically and ideologically motivated, the formal pretext was linguistic: ethnic moldovans in moldova proper argue that the language they speak is romanian using the latin alphabet, but residents of transnistria call this language in the cyrillic alphabet moldavian). this is only one of few compromises, however, and the small european nation (a third of the size of indiana) is still divided. the radical nationalism, separatism, and xenophobia that swarmed eastern and central europe in the 1990s have recently revived in the west. brexit in great britain, the radical shift to antiglobalism and isolationism in u.s. politics, the rise of radical nationalists in france, the most recent elections in austria, and the referenda in catalonia and two italian provinces are clear evidence that xenophobic fears, ultra-nationalist sentiments, and jingoism are on the rise. this new political trend presents a clear and present danger to education for democratic citizenship and an immediate and serious challenge to social studies educators. education, and social studies education in particular, is traditionally seen as having a twofold mission: on the one hand, school is an intermediary that socializes students in the idea of national exceptionality and unity, but on the other hand, schools have become a place to teach tolerance, appreciation of diversity, and critical comprehension of reality. is a kind of “state language” compromise a viable solution for school practitioners or teacher educators? i am not sure. after all, residents of moldova argue that their state language is romanian, and residents of transnistria, moldavian. mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 this volume includes a selection of articles and essays that will interest scholars and classroom teachers alike: effectively engaged civic leaders often have strong relationships with key stakeholders in their communities, but the nature of these relationships is not known among those with more typical levels of civic engagement. alison cohen of uc berkley and jason fitzgerald of wagner college in new york city surveyed residents of two neighboring french towns and found that people perceive their neighbors to be, on average, more engaged than they perceive themselves to be, and that few individuals can provide specific action steps for how they would tackle social issues in their community. their findings suggest that action civics curricula should engage students in relationship building, enabling them to construct instrumental, personal civic networks. in global citizenship education and the development of globally competent teacher candidates, michael kopish of ohio university presents findings from a reflective inquiry of one global educator’s attempt to develop globally competent teacher candidates in an elective general education course. the goals of the study were to make the elements of global education more explicit for practitioners and to demonstrate the extent to which teacher candidates learned and developed global competencies as a consequence of participation in the course. findings from this inquiry demonstrate the efficacy of global citizenship education practices and the power of collaboration. the study concludes that efforts to prepare teacher candidates for globalized contexts should be a coordinated approach integrated across disciplines and in courses and programs for prospective teachers. alon lazar of the center for academic studies in or yehuda, israel, and tal litvak hirsch of ben gurion university of the negev analyzed inputs of members of the yahoo! answers q&a online community following students’ questions about the differential treatment of japanese, german, and italian american citizens during world war ii, and whether the internment of japanese americans was justified. in online answers dealing with the internment of japanese americans during world war ii, the authors analyzed the responses of students who struggled with their coursework. the majority of responses to the first question justified the differential treatment, citing national security and presenting japanese americans as a threat. the dominant position in the case of the second question negates internment legitimacy and views it as a gross violation of justice and as a racially motivated act. mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 findings in perceptions of student teaching abroad: upon return and two years after by frans doppen and kristin diki of ohio university indicate that preservice teachers perceive their student teaching abroad experience as both advantageous and effective and that it enhances their global-mindedness. more than two years after student teaching abroad, the experiences continue to have a personal and professional impact as preservice teachers find themselves to be more global-minded and seeking opportunities to share their experiences. the function and influence of the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad in the discourse on citizenship in social studies education by marcus johnson of abraham baldwin agricultural college in tifton, georgia, explains how two named conceptual structures, along with standard citation practices in academic journal writing, function to sustain and regenerate a progressive perspective within social studies education scholarship. the final essay in this volume, the third world perspective on the cold war: making curriculum and pedagogy relevant in history classrooms by iftikhar ahmad of long island university, addresses the complex problem of an alternative interpretation of a historical period. it challenges the western perspective of the cold war usually presented in textbooks. the author argues that since the cold war impacted the lives of people in the third world as well, their stories deserve a place in the history curriculum. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ new book information the global education movement: narratives of distinguished global scholars edited by: toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, florida state university a volume in teaching and learning social studies series editor: william b. russell iii, university of central florida the pages of this book paint a portrait of thirteen scholars and their lifelong professional accomplishments in and contributions to teaching, service, and research in global international education around the world. their extraordinary work contributed extensively to the development, direction and growth of the global education movement in the united states initiated by james m. becker at indiana university, usa, in the early 1960s. these scholars were honored with the distinguished global scholar award presented by the international assembly of the national council for the social studies, the largest professional organization for social studies educators in the united states. their narratives comprise an intriguing mosaic of backgrounds, scholarship, and contexts from which their extraordinary work blossomed in building bridges—not walls—among peoples and nations. the publication is intended to honor the professional achievements in global international education of these scholars who have devoted their professional lives to creating a better world through their work. more importantly, this book exposes globally-minded individuals, educators, scholars, administrators, and policymakers around the world to empowering role models from africa, europe, and the united states and opportunity to learn about the multitude of professional activities, teachings, partnerships, exchange programs and research in which they might engage to promote a deeper understanding about the cultural, geographic, economic, social, and technological interconnectedness of the world and its people---the very purpose of global education. contents: acknowledgements. genesis of book. outline of narratives. introduction. preface: riders on the earth together, j.m. becker and l.f. anderson. civic education for a global nation: james m. becker, toni fuss kirkwood-tucker. global visionary: the life and work of jan l. tucker, bárbara c. cruz. developing global perspectives: his, mine, and ours, charlotte c. anderson for charlotte c. and lee. f. anderson. reflections of a global comparative educator, john j. cogan. crosscultural experiences in the making of a global educator, merry m. merryfield. rites of passage: nazi era, coming to “amerika”, global education, toni fuss kirkwoodtucker. journey of a lifetime: kenneth a. tye, barbara benham tye. my journey in global education through the decades, josiah tlou. pathways to global education: reflections on a 50+ year career, david l. grossman. bringing the world back home: peace corps experience and global education. angene h. wilson. from global education to comparative global citizenship education: one woman’s journey, carole l. hahn. five decades contributing to the research foundations for enhancing and assessing students' global awareness, judith torney-purta. epilogue: toni fuss kirkwood-tucker. the international assembly. distinguished global scholar award. jan l. tucker memorial lecture. in appreciation. editor and author. contributors. more titles in this series can be found at: http://www.infoagepub.com/series/teaching-and-learning-social-studies iap– information age publishing, inc. po box 79049 charlotte, nc 28271 phone: 704-752-9125 fax: 704-752-9113 www.infoagepub.com 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classrooms contemporary social studies: an essential reader *discounts applied to “list” price only standard shipping and handling for books: subtotal: _________________ $7.50 handling fee on u.s. orders; $9.00 for the rest of the world plus $3.00 shipping per book shipping: _________________ order total: _________________ online shopping available at www.infoagepub.com charge card number: _______________________________________________________________ exp. date: ___________ cvv2 code: ________________ name as it appears on card: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ signature: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ billing address (must match credit card billing info.): ______________________________________________________________________________________ shipping street address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ city: __________________________ state/province: __________________________ zip/postal code: __________ country: _________________________ phone number: ______________________________________ email address: ________________________________________________________________ iap– information age publishing, inc. po box 79049 charlotte, nc 28271 check credit card journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. lessons learned from two neighbors: how educators teach of united states policies timothy g. cashman university of texas at el paso ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study provides an analysis of data collected from chihuahua, mexico, and ontario, canada, educators on how united states (u. s.) policies are taught and discussed in their classrooms. teachers and administrators were interviewed with regard to their respective curricula and classroom discussions. the researcher sought to gain insight on how historical and current u. s. policies are addressed. participants responded to questions regarding how much time was devoted to u. s. policies in classroom discussions, how much open discourse exists in classrooms, what ideological differences are evident, and why americans should be informed of perspectives in another country’s social studies classrooms. the researcher uses border pedagogy and meliorism to analyze how educators present geographic, historic, socioeconomic, and political issues as they relate to u. s. classrooms. addressed are implications for integrating perspectives in u. s. classroom discussions and, in turn, broadening the social studies curriculum in american schools. moreover, this study seeks to provide additional insight for those who educate on common issues in u. s. classrooms. key words: social studies, curriculum and instruction, meliorism, transnational and comparative studies, border pedagogies, perspectives on politics __________________________________________________________________________ introduction this study compares the pedagogies of educators in chihuahua, mexico, and eastern ontario, canada, as they discuss the roles of united states (us) decision-making and policies in their respective mexican and canadian classrooms. this study serves as a follow-up to research conducted with teachers in malaysia at the onset of the iraq war. thus, my interests in how educators in other countries teach the impact of us policies developed from being in malaysia on march 20, 2003, when us bombs fell on baghdad, iraq. as a visitor to the east malaysian state of sabah i was concerned with the reactions of local citizens, and particularly educators in malaysia, a muslim majority country. ultimately, events during the onset of the war became a catalyst for me to seek insight on how the us invasion of iraq and other strategic decisions of the us government impacted teaching and learning in malaysia. the initial study in malaysia promoted a desire to compare the perspectives and classroom discussions of educators in other countries, including two neighboring countries of the us, mexico and canada. i proceeded to carry out research for the mexican component in chihuahua, chihuahua, less than four hours by automobile from the us and mexico border. eastern ontario, canada, served as a separate site for the investigation of how us policies are taught and discussed in canadian classrooms. the key objective of the investigations in mexico and canada was to uncover attitudes and pedagogical comparisons of educators regarding recent and current us policies, including the wars in iraq and afghanistan. what follows is a study draws upon the principles of both international and comparative investigations. according to wilson (2000), an operational definition for international education is “applications of descriptions, analyses, and insights learned in one or more nations to the problems of developing educational systems and institutions in other countries” (p. 116). phillips and corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 19 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. schweisfurth (2006) maintain individuals, to a certain extent, are innate comparativists. all of us, on some level, seek to compare situations in familiar settings with environs less recognizable. epstein (2008) argues international and comparative education provides opportunities for better comprehension and insightful consideration of our own education. in this sense, it is important for the comparativist in all of us to identify further with internationalist perspectives. at the heart of transnational, comparative, and international studies is the notion of meliorism, or an attempt by human to improve societal conditions. melioristic, transnational investigations are concerned with “the improvement of national educational systems by the addition of models, practices, innovations, and the like, borrowed or transferred from other national educational systems” (wilson, 2003). it should be noted that research was completed in chihuahua, mexico, during the george h. w. bush us presidency; whereas, the data were collected in ontario, canada within the first year of the obama administration. guiding the research in both cases was the desire to uncover comparative aspects of social studies educators who teach of us policies in their respective curricula. this study seeks to provide perspectives that have been lacking in the us school curriculum. my research sought to uncover the following: what points of view do educators in chihuahua, mexico, and eastern ontario, canada, bring to discussions of us policies, including recent us-led wars and antiterrorism measures? purpose of the study educators were interviewed and surveyed in mexico and canada to better understand differences in social studies discourses among schools in two countries bordering the us. this study seeks to provide additional comparative insight for those who educate on common issues in us classrooms. the problem that needed addressing was "how can the us social studies curriculum be enhanced through border pedagogy and transnational, comparative studies?" also, given the constraints placed on many social studies educators with demands of high stakes testing, how can i impress upon others the validity of perspectives from transnational and comparative studies? whereas, mexican and canadian educators have an immense amount of social studies knowledge and pedagogy that is noteworthy and should be shared, how can us social studies educators incorporate this knowledge into a highly prescriptive, standards-based curriculum, as in the scope-and-sequence approach to social studies? by carefully considering the perspectives of educators in our neighboring countries this research seeks to provide additional insight to impact of momentous us policies, such as the wars in iraq and afghanistan and the "war on terrorism." indeed, some of these perspectives fill the information and social studies knowledge void resulting from selective mainstream media censorship of war and terrorism perspectives presented to us audiences. the following questions guided research: 1. how much time is devoted to the discussion of us policies? 2. how much open discourse exists in classrooms? 3. what, if any, ideological differences are evident in classrooms during their discussions that included us policies? 4. how have discussions of us policies changed? 5. why should others, and particularly americans, be informed of perspectives in another country’s social studies classrooms? corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 20 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. theoretical framework border pedagogy provided lenses for the consideration of what occurs in classrooms in mexico and canada, not too far removed from the us border. according to reyes (2005), border pedagogy is defined "as a set of multifaceted, complex, and interactive factors; educational policies; curriculum; instructional practices; and a knowledge base that educators need to consider to increase the academic achievement of diverse students" (p. 149). giroux (1991) put forth assertions that border pedagogy utilizes diverse cultural resources that promote new identities within existing configurations of power. border pedagogy teaches students the skills of critical thinking, debating power, meaning, and identity. the goals of transformative education are embedded within the discourses of border pedagogy (garza, 2007; giroux, 1991; romo & chavez, 2006). according to romo and chavez (2006), border pedagogy "encourages tolerance, ethical sophistication, and openness" (p. 143). border pedagogy also engages students in multiple references to better consider different cultural codes, experiences, and languages. this engagement, in turn, assists students in constructing their own narratives and histories, reconsidering democracy through sociocultural negotiation. research that considers border pedagogy has implications for constructivist, critical engagement with social studies content. garza (2007) found, after considering border pedagogies, and specifically border experiences, the conversations of educators on the california and mexico border revealed an interconnectedness as educators in the borderlands. participants in the study learned how they could inform and strengthen each other's educational practices. educators reconsidered how mexican influences impacted local us schools (garza, 2007). border pedagogy overlaps with comparative and transnational approaches to understanding our own nature as it relates to other societies and cultures. zhao, lin, and hoge (2007) maintain there is a need for further comparative and transnational studies on how well students know each other and each other’s histories and cultures. american students and teachers alike are not well-prepared in global education, and it is critical more efforts be made to foster both american students’ and teachers’ knowledge of other nations. there is a need for promoting cultural and global understanding and awareness (zhao, lin, & hoge, 2007). education in mexico and canada educators from mexico and canada perform their responsibilities under unique conditions that are, in turn, influenced by each respective country’s historical background, sociocultural conditions, and government policies. these circumstances influence the present day curriculum, and, in some cases, place constraints on the discourses that take place in classrooms. in mexico, the secretary of education (sep) oversaw changes in the curriculum during the 1960s and 1970s so students could take a more active role in learning (erickson, 2003). pedagogy that promoted more creativity, scientific inquiry, and critical thinking was introduced. the government has continued to promote modernization in education, including educational technologies; yet many broad goals remain unattained and adequate funding is needed (rippberger & staudt, 2003). a key responsibility of the office of the sep was and is to promote a sense of national identity and patriotism (erickson, 2003). mexican basic education is intended to provide students with fundamental knowledge and intellectual abilities (sistema educativo de los estados unidos mexicanos, 2004). accordingly, a main goal of public schools is to promote a sense of conscience in social disciplines. in mexico, the process of nation-building and construction of national identity corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 21 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. remains a firm imperative, especially as the shadow of the powerful neighbor that is the us looms large (levinson, 1998). mexico considers itself as pluricultural because of its “distinct peoples, cultures, communities, and groups that share rights and obligations common to economic, political, and educational life, in spite of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic distinctions” (morales & caballero, 2002, p. 55). the indigenous population believes more than government rhetoric is needed. hence, there should be respect for cultural diversity that also eradicates various forms of discrimination and social inequality. there is a call for a new indigenous education that recognizes “universal philosophical and scientific principles, and at the same time, bases itself on its own historical traditions and knowledge, for example, teaching in the mother tongue” (morales & caballero, 2002, p. 56). for significant change to occur, education must serve the role of empowering, providing identity, and promoting indigenous cultures (diaz-couder, 1998). canadian and us relations, though intertwined, have always been multi-dimensional, ranging from, in some respects, supportive; to, in many cases, oppositional. sentiments vary from community to community and province to province. thompson (2009) posits that a majority of canadians think the us is canada’s best ally in the world and one in four canadians think both countries should eliminate the border. conservative canadian historian granatstein (2009, para. 3) argues to the contrary, maintaining, “if they could vote in u.s. elections canadians would be democrats. but that has never given democratic presidents a free ride.” for instance, john f. kennedy came under fire for his bay of pigs campaign, and bill clinton was under attack for his role in the approval of nafta [north american free trade agreement] (granatstein, 2009). accordingly, the author contends, “what this means is that canadian antiamericanism has never been a tap to be turned on and off. it’s not dead today; it’s only sleeping” (granatstein, 2009, para. 4). earl (2006) notes these divergent canadian perspectives in his writings. in the early 2000s canadian and us relations were the most strained since the war of 1812 and the pierre trudeau era, according to earl. trudeau had, himself, described the relationship between canada and the us as one of a mouse with an elephant. accordingly, in 1969 trudeau remarked: america should never underestimate the constant pressure on canada that the mere presence of the us has produced. we're different people from you and we're different people because of you. living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. no matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if i can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and groan (earl, 2004, para. 3). the bush administration was mistrusted and immensely unpopular among a majority of the canadian public (ek, 2009). barack obama’s election as us president in 2008 offered for a strengthening of us and canada relations (ek, 2009). canadian educational policy, according to davies and issitt (2005), is determined at the provincial level, resulting in diverse policies throughout canada. additionally, they refer to any social education in canada as being marginalized within the greater educational context. with regard to discussions of canadian relations with the us in classrooms, osborne (2003) makes the assertion that canadian students may comprehend more of us historical and political figures than they do of canadian figures. corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 22 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. thus, i considered the effects of distinct histories, sociocultural and socio-economic contexts, and the decisions of policymakers in chihuahua, mexico and eastern ontario, canada. i also examined the conditions for teaching and the extent to which us policies were taught in the social studies curricula of mexico and canada. method in chihuahua, mexico, face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 21 social studies teachers and 4 school administrators at two school sites. the research in ontario, canada, focused on 10 teacher participants at three sites and their reporting of classroom discussions (see table 1). research methodologies followed stake's (2000) model for a substantive case study. accordingly, i reflected on impressions, data, records, and salient elements at the observed site. open-ended questions were asked with regard to the research problem. data were subsequently collected, noted for frequency, and categorized. the next step was to develop interpretive explanations of observations, interviews, and archives (creswell, 2007). data analysis followed what glesne (2011) refers to as thematic analysis, whereby the data was read many times in search of emerging themes or categories and subcategories. this also corresponds with creswell’s (2007) description of the data analysis spiral, wherein the analysis process is iterative, including multiple coding phases. for analysis of the overall case study, i took into consideration the recommendations of yin (2003) for considering local meanings and foreshadowed meanings in their context. the work was highly reflective, with border pedagogy (giroux, 1991) as a framework for uncovering contextual conditions relevant to phenomena (yin, 2003). for trustworthiness, interpretations of the data were clarified by paraphrasing or restating what i believed to be the intended positions and replies. i also sought to verify the interpretations were reflective of the participants’ true sentiments in the responses, either orally with the interviewees or through online communications. finally, i tested counterexamples of major themes to ensure the researchers’ interpretations were trustworthy (maxwell, 2010). the key categories of data that emerged were as follows: 1) curriculum emphasis 2) us international policies, 3) war and terrorism, and 4) comparative perspectives of government and society corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 23 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. table 1: participants’ demographics or characteristics (n =number of participants) variable country of experience (m)=mexico (c)=canada number (n) % of total participants in either (m) or (c) school site upper elementary (m) secondary (m) secondary (c) 13 12 10 52 % 48 % 100 % professional role administrators (m) teachers (m) teachers (c) 4 21 10 16 % 84 % 100 % teacher gender male (m) female (m) male (c) female (c) 10 11 9 1 48 % 52 % 90 % 10 % administrator gender male (m) female (m) (c) 2 2 0 50 % 50 % 0 results curriculum emphasis in both mexico and canada instructional modes and time allotted to discussions of us policies varied in terms of pedagogy and how present and historical issues were discussed. mexican educators reported variable amounts of time spent on classrooms discussions of us international affairs. many participants pointed out that the national curriculum as it related to mexico had to be dealt with first. accordingly, dialogue on us policies took place after the formal curriculum had been addressed. teachers and administrators reported their classroom discussions centered on students’ feelings of family members residing and working in the us. many of the students, themselves, had lived in the us at some point. invariably, when democratic systems were discussed, students offered their perspectives on policies of the us, largely based on their own personal experiences or family members’ experiences and accounts. canadian participants maintained that the extent of discussions depended, in large part, on the provincial curriculum. nonetheless, it was pointed out that considerable time (20% or more) in courses such as geography, world issues, canadian and international law was devoted to dialogue corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 24 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. on us policies. in addition, a one semester elective course in us history was a popular elective and had a comparatively large student enrollment each time it was offered. as there was considerable room for comparisons between canada and the us in the ontario curriculum, many issues addressed by teachers included some discussion of us policies. accordingly, teachers were afforded opportunities to discuss us and international policies and the effects of those policies on the lives of canadian citizens (see table 2). table 2: total number of participants in each setting and the frequency of participants who contributed to the discussion of key themes chihuahua, mexico total respondents f =frequency 1. dialogue on us policies took place after the formal curriculum had been addressed. 25 17 2. classroom discussions centered on students’ feelings of family members in the us 25 25 3. learning was enhanced when students were engaged in the discussion of us policies. 25 25 4. most students wanted an end to violence and felt the war in iraq was a war of “expansion and imperialism”. 25 25 5. superstitions and fatalism were reported as part of students’ explanations for strife in the us 25 7 6. students’ generalized with regard to us policies. 25 3 ontario, canada total respondents f =frequency 1. the provincial curriculum determined the extent of discussions. 10 10 2. time was spent discussing differences between the us and canadian health care systems 10 9 3. there was a lack of support for the war in iraq; support for the war in afghanistan has waned. 10 9 4. the effects of international trade and nafta were discussed. 10 8 5. us and canada treaty issues were discussed. 10 9 6. students questioned the level of crime and violence in the us. 10 5 7. students questioned americans' lack of understanding of canadian history, geography, and economics. 10 10 8. educators discussed with students their concerns for “dirty” politics in the us and possible spill-over effects on canadian politics. 10 7 9. students questioned and often resented the portrayal of canadians in the us media and textbooks. 10 9 10. students revealed a strong awareness of the us media and pop culture. 10 10 11. canadian teachers were self critical of canadian policies, yet reserved the right to critique and contest us policies. 10 10 corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 25 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. us international policies classroom discussions centered around the us projecting itself as a model for racial equality to the rest of the world, a leader in addressing issues of pollution and global warming, and at the forefront in disaster preparedness and relief. however, educators readily noted that students perceived a wide scope of hypocrisies within american society, such as individuals of minority backgrounds being valued for their athleticism rather than other potential contributions to society, the us as a perpetrator of carboniferous emissions and its present refusal to abide by the kyoto accords, and the lack of assistance for the victims of hurricane katrina along with the questions of possible racism in the government’s slow response to the hurricane victims. there were concerns over discrimination in the us, which was something students, themselves, or family members had experienced firsthand while living in the us. teachers in chihuahua, mexico, remarked of some students' proclivities to make generalizations; for example, certain students simply stated that the us has oil-driven politics. yet, the same teachers noted that there were students who asked poignant questions during classroom discussions. accordingly, students sought answers to questions such as the following: ”what about the us and the killing of children and innocent people in iraq?” “why don’t they spend their money on other causes (besides war), such as hunger in africa?” “why are there such differences in pay from multinational corporations in mexico as compared to the us (for the same work)?” teachers in eastern ontario, canada, stated that students and members of their communities discuss the effects of international trade and nafta, specifically, and observe locally the local loss of assembly line and industrial employment, including numerous factory closings because of the decisions of us-based multinational mega-corporations. educators discussed recent us and canada treaty issues, such as the opening of the northwest passage in the arctic sea for petroleum exploration, which canada ardently opposes. war and terrorism chihuahuan educators noted students were heavily influenced by the events that unfolded on television after the september 11th attacks. they reported that students expressed their sorrow for the victims of the us terrorist attacks. at the time, most students had not yet contemplated historical events that led to the terrorist attacks. more recently, many of the same individuals’ attitudes have changed, as some view the american empire as “a modern-day rome,” with many of the same problems and pressures. more recently, students have expressed resentment because the economic demands of the us “affect everyone else in the world.” although most students expressed their disapproval of terrorism, many also put forth the argument that the us is in a position to have continuing terrorist problems because of its policies. students overwhelmingly expressed a desire for peace. the chihuahuan teachers and administrators stated most students wanted an end to violence and felt that the war in iraq was a war of “expansion and imperialism”. educators made note of students being leery of the long tradition of wars in the us, and most felt that the terrorism developed as a reaction to the us involvement throughout the world. classroom discussions centered on nationalism, religion, and power struggles as root causes of terrorism. corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 26 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. canadian perspectives and classroom discussions stood in contrast with the official us government positions. yet, canadian support, itself, has differed immensely from the iraq war to the afghanistan war. teachers offered that their classroom discussions revealed an overwhelming lack of support for the war in iraq, while support for the war in afghanistan was originally strong but waned as the death toll among canadian soldiers increased. comparative perspectives of government and society other key themes from the mexican educators regarded (a) discussions of us military engagement; (b) hypocrisies in us rhetoric and society, overall; and (c) fatalistic views of current us problems. participants asserted student learning was enhanced when students were engaged in the discussion of such issues. most teachers felt the discourse on us policies encouraged student leadership and responsibility. by incorporating such discussions into the school curriculum students learned to compare, analyze, and reflect. it was noted that part of students’ education should involve taking an “actitud propositiva” or a position, composing a strategy, and being prepared to take action. some teachers in chihuahua observed what they termed as superstitions and fatalism in students’ explanations for strife in the us. accordingly, there were contentions that the us is being punished for its past crimes. mexican educators reported that their students thought us society is suffering a breakdown in morality because of its past and present mistakes. due its close physical proximity to the us border, mexican students were reportedly influenced by the us media, economic shifts, and military decisions. their teachers and administrators reported the following: “(chihuahua) students are aware of us policies because of media coverage.” “they (the students in chihuahua) are personally concerned with us international decisions because of higher prices and other effects on the local standard of living.” “many students are interested (in us international policies) because they have family members in the united states military.” ontario teachers facilitated discussions that compared canadian domestic policies and laws with those of the us. also, the influences of the us media, pop culture, and domestic politics on canadian students were popular themes for classroom discourse. for example, teachers reported considerable time spent discussing the differences between the us and canadian health care systems. themes of globalization, comparisons and contrasts of canadian and us internal and domestic policies, and the roles of the us media and pop culture emerged during interviews with teachers from ontario, canada. teachers put forth that students ask questions about the level of crime and violence in the us, as compared to canada and other economically developed countries. discussions center on the history of the us versus other countries, and how cultural norms vary in the two countries. teachers and their students consider how a culture of violence has existed and developed within the us, particularly gun violence. furthermore, discussions take place on how that culture of violence affects canada. participants stated that canadian students are curious with regard to the level of understanding their american peers have of canadian history, geography, and economics. more specifically, a common question is “why is there such a lack of understanding of other countries among american students?” given the close proximity of eastern ontario to the us border, students base their corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 27 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. questions on observations made while travelling in the us and from us media reports of social studies assessments in american classrooms. there were open concerns among educators that the escalating and polarizing crescendo of “dirty” politics, including the apprehension that campaigns and elections may have a spill-over effect on canadian politics. some educators argued there was already plenty of evidence of copy-cat tactics being employed in the more historically reserved canadian version of politics. on another note, teachers and students engaged in debates on the differences between us multiculturalism versus canadian multiculturalism. educators were quick to point out that racism exists in both countries, but the different histories and laws of each country led to variances in racism that can be found in locales and regions of each country. teachers reported their students questioned and often resented the portrayal of canadians in the us media and textbooks. in particular, the portrayal of canada’s war contributions in us textbooks, both historically and in the present, drew the ire of educators and their students alike. educators noted a strong familiarity and awareness of us media and pop culture. teachers felt that there were almost predictable influences from us pop culture, both for their students and for canadian society, in general, given the close proximity to the us border. canadian teachers asked their students to reflect on the impact of us pop culture and the us media. time was devoted to the discussion of differences between the canadian and us health care systems. a commonly expressed sentiment was, “why is the current health care debate even taking place in the us?” participants put forth that while the canadian health care system has inherent problems, the shortcomings are not nearly as dire as portrayed in the us media and by opponents of government-supported health care. teachers offered that universal health care is considered a “given” in canada, and younger canadians take the system for granted. after all, the canadian broadcasting system conducted a national survey and named tommy douglas, the “father of the canadian health system,” the most famous citizen in canadian history based on the results of the survey. overall, canadian teachers were willing to be self critical of canadian policies while they reserved the right to critique and contest us government policies. moreover, the general pattern was to critique us government policies and not american people, as a whole (see table 3). common themes of concern emerged from participants in the two neighboring countries. in both cases discussions took place with regard to the necessity and legality of the us war in iraq. after 9/11 both countries supported counter-terrorist measures in afghanistan, but support for continuing us war efforts declined. educators in both countries discussed the treatment of immigrants and us immigration policies. in canada, discussions of immigration policies compared and contrasted canadian and us policies; whereas, discussions in mexican classrooms focused on the treatment of immigrants in the us. much attention was paid to the effects of the us media and pop culture on canadian society. conversely, mexican participants noted that their students offered historical and sometimes fatalistic perspectives on current us societal issues as presented in the us media or portrayed in us pop culture. corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 28 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. table 3. emergent key broad discussion topics and the numbers of participants who addressed such broad discussion topics in chihuahua and eastern ontario chihuahua, mexico total n = 25; f = frequency eastern ontario, canada total n = 10; f = frequency us international policies, f =25 1. iraq 2. afghanistan 3. changing views post-9/11 4. “war on terrorism” us international policies, f =10 1. iraq 2. afghanistan 3. other military engagement 4. treaty issues with canada 5. globalization us domestic policies, f =25 1. effects of us policies on friends and family 2. treatment of immigrants and minorities 3. lack of initiative on pollution and global warming us domestic policies, f =9 1. health care 2. crime and violence 3. immigration 4. education 5. religion in politics 6. racism 7. multiculturalism us rhetoric, f =7 1. fatalism 2. hypocrisies us media and cultural influences, f =10 1. media portrayal of canada 2. pop cultural influences on canada 3. smear politics corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 29 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. discussion social studies educators in the us can learn valuable lessons from their fellow educators in chihuahua, mexico, and eastern ontario, canada. it is important for us educators, in turn, to feel empowered to implement discussions on international law, immigration policies, comparative perspectives of societal issues, the culture of violence in the us, or the impact of the us media and pop culture. in this manner, the us social studies curriculum is enhanced and broader academic achievement, including in-depth understandings, can be promoted through transnational, comparative studies of social studies concepts. broader academic achievement implies successful life-long learning experiences and knowledge development that surpasses the achievement associated with doing well on a standardized test. there needs to be less emphasis on standardized test scores in us, and more emphasis on key domestic and international issues within the existing historical, political, social, and economic contexts. hahn (2001) recommends paying more attention to democratic discourse, decision making, and civic action. students should feel empowered to have a voice must as part of a democracy that is “continuously expanded into a world of new possibilities and opportunities for keeping justice and hope alive” (giroux, 2009, p. 18). students must be challenged by exploring transnational issues and making informed decisions with regard to those issues. hahn (2001) also encourages promoting dialogue with colleagues cross-nationally. moreover, social studies educators should better prepare students “for their roles as knowledgeable, caring, and effective civic actors in pluralistic democracies in a globally interdependent world” (hahn, 2001, p. 21). teachers and their students need to be engaged in effective dialogue on policy issues facing the us to better promote transnational understandings, the curriculum in us schools should possess significant and reasonable discussions on the effects of us actions globally. for example, on the basis of my findings in this study, students can engage in comparative discourses on the following topics: 1) the legality of wars 2) immigration policies 3) international perspectives of us society and societal issues 4) crime, including white collar corruption, and violence 5) critiques of the mainstream media and pop culture border pedagogy serves to situate comparative discourses in both local and international contexts. as giroux (1991) noted, border pedagogy works to "further create borderlands in which the diverse cultural resources allow for the fashioning of new identities within existing configurations of power (p. 28)." according to romo and chavez (2006) border pedagogy "works to decolonize and revitalize learning and teaching and engages students in multiple references that constitute different cultural codes, experiences, and languages to help them construct their own narratives and histories, and revise democracy through sociocultural negotiation" (p.143). in this study teachers and administrators expressed a desire to augment better understandings of life beyond their own domestic borders. they recommended more critical self-assessments of their own educational systems, and put forth the argument that all educational systems benefit from educational interchanges. some teachers observed their students learning about themselves by studying other cultures in depth. educators can assist students in the us, in turn, to reflect on their own knowledge bases and their own political system by drawing comparisons with other societal perspectives. research has indicated that without educational intervention adolescents tend to simply reflect opinions held by their own society (garatti & rudnitski, 2007). corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 30 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 19-33. to better promote transnational understandings, the curriculum in us schools should possess significant and reasonable discussions on the effects of us actions globally. moreover, times of war and conflict, such as the present, are phases when contemplating the perspectives of others, especially those not directly engaged in the violence, is a fundamental imperative (bender, 2002). america’s unilateral decision-making should be continually challenged (young, 2002). as bigelow (2006, p. 605) argues, “we need to have the courage to challenge our students to question the narrow nationalism so deeply embedded in the traditional curriculum.” indeed, political, historical, social, and educational narratives from outside of the us can provide enriched understandings of the us, itself. i maintain that educators should look critically at policies separating us, and understand more about the “wedges that educational and power systems push between children and quality educational experiences” (hampton, liguori, & rippberger, 2003, p. 9). border pedagogy can be used by decision makers, administrators, and classroom teachers to broaden perspectives and better understand and contemplate comparative social studies education. the findings of this study indicate that the us educators can learn from the narratives of educators in other countries and through meliorism, in turn, reflect on what should be preeminent among their personal goals as educators. references bender, t. 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(2002) the age of global power. in t. bender (ed.), rethinking american history in a global age (pp. 309-330). berkeley, ca: university of california press. zhao, y., lin, l., & hoge, j. d. (2007). establishing a need for cross-cultural and global issues research. international education journal 8(1), 139-150. corresponding author email: tcashman@utep.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 33 purpose of the study education in mexico and canada method references secondary (m) journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 what students want to learn? involving students in negotiating the social studies classroom curriculum jeroen g. bron slo, national institute for curriculum development, the netherlands _________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: students negotiate their social studies classroom curriculum, enhancing 21st century skills, citizenship education and human rights in the present study. curriculum negotiation augments student engagement, giving them opportunities to practice and so experience citizenship. in the process students develop abilities related to 21st century skills and skills for democratic citizenship while exercising their right to participate. students involved in curriculum design improve the quality of the curriculum by making it more relevant as they offer unique perspectives on topics to be later addressed in class. key words: student voice, curriculum design, democratic citizenship _________________________________________________________________________________ introduction this article explores the possibilities of giving students a voice in curriculum development in the social studies classroom. there are two reasons why we consider this important: 1. involving students in the design of their own curriculum can improve the relevance of the social studies curriculum; and 2. social studies share aims with citizenship and 21st century skills, in particular aims on developing participation of students. in this article we introduce the concept of student voice and its relationship to citizenship education and 21st century skills. when citizenship education is based on the rights of the child, it partly overlaps with student voice: in experiencing to have a voice and to participate in influencing decision making. when inviting students to discuss what is relevant, the regular curriculum can be used as a learning opportunity for student voice as well. to allow this kind of flexibility and responsiveness into curriculum design, the curriculum must be viewed as a process rather than a product. examples of this way of working with the curriculum are scarce in the literature. some examples found are “curriculum negotiation” as developed and practiced by boomer (1982) in australia and the examples of democratic schools as described by, for example, apple & beane (1995) and windschitl (2011). these examples have inspired us. next to the theoretical exploration of concepts, this article offers a case study of secondary education students negotiating the social studies curriculum for their future lessons. students’ activities are considered as citizenship and 21st century skills. experiences with this approach in geography and nature and health studies in two secondary schools in the netherlands are corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 3 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 presented. an instrument used in the research to enable students to produce learning questions is explained and experiences with this instrument are analyzed. exploring different concepts before looking at the methodology and the results of the case study, we introduce four related domains of educational studies that are essential in our research: student voice, citizenship education, 21st skills and curriculum development. student voice the term “student voice” has re-emerged over the last 20 years, especially in the united kingdom, united states, canada and australia, indicating a way of thinking that strives to reposition students in educational research and reform (bovill, 2012; cook-sather, 2006; fielding, 2004; rudduck & mcintyre, 2007; thiessen & cook-sather, 2007). cook-sather (2006) explains that "this way of thinking is premised on the following convictions: that young people have unique perspectives on learning, teaching and schooling; that their insights warrant not only the attention but also the responses of adults; and that they should be afforded opportunities to actively shape their education" (pp. 359–260). student participation and voice is a way of including democratic attitudes in education. at the same time, it is a follow up on article 12 of the united nations convention of the rights of the child (united nations general assembly, 1989), which states that children and young people have the right to express their views and to be heard, to take part in activities and decisions that affect them. citizenship as practice citizenship education is a broad domain within education that in the european context can according to the education, audio-visual and culture executive agency (eurydice) include, a knowledge of basic democratic concepts including an understanding of society and social and political movements; the european integration process and eu structures; and major social developments, both past and present; skills such as critical thinking and communication skills, and the ability and willingness to participate constructively in the public domain, including in decision-making through voting. finally, a sense of belonging to society at various levels, a respect for democratic values and diversity as well as support for sustainable development. (eurydice, 2012, p. 8) citizenship education can be considered an international movement (kerr & nelson, 2006; schulz, ainley, fraillon, kerr, & losito, 2010). according to a recent eurydice study on citizenship education (eurydice, 2012) that included 31 countries in europe, citizenship is somehow featured in all national curricula, either as a subject, cross curricular issue or by having the school function as a place where students learn citizenship from experience. in many cases, the countries seek to develop possibilities for promoting active and democratic citizenship by providing students with opportunities to experience civic responsibility (kerr & nelson, 2006). if we regard schools as a place to practice corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 4 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 citizenship skills, lawy and biesta (2006) have provided us with new insights into schools as a place of practice. they argue that citizenship is often largely understood as the outcome of an educational trajectory. conceptualizing citizenship as an outcome reveals a strong instrumental orientation. pupils are seen as not-yet-being-a-citizen. this “deficit approach” assumes that some knowledge and skills are missing, that they should be put in place by means of a distinctive subject. the focus is mainly on effective means to bring about “good citizenship.” lawy & biesta (2006) suggest that citizenship should primarily be understood as something that people continuously do: citizenship as a practice. to make the concept of citizenship as a practice successful, opportunities for practicing aspects of citizenship must be developed. embedding student voice and student participation in curriculum design is a way to provide opportunities for young people to experience and experiment with elements of citizenship, democracy and human rights. 21st century skills there seems to be a growing interest in the so called “21st century skills.” the term holds a number of educational objectives drawn up for the citizens of the future. for though the future is uncertain, nevertheless, schools should prepare their students for possible contingencies. definitions and classifications of what is considered to be 21st century skills differ. nikhil goyal (2012), who at the time of writing was seventeen years old, advocates for a different way of learning and teaching, promoting the often used 4cs by trilling & fadel (2009): critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication. however, goyal adds a few more: imagination and curiosity, taking risks and overcoming failure. his inclusion of curiosity seems especially worthwhile as an addition that enhances learning. at the same time, goyal (2012, p. 35) holds that schools "drum creativity out of kids" because students are only encouraged to seek answers to questions either posed by teachers and/or schoolbooks when all the while they should be encouraged to formulate good questions. on the other hand, the phrase "skills" in 21st century skills is somewhat deceiving for the concepts included are not just restricted to skills but includes subsets such as knowledge and attitudes as well, consider, for example, the knowledge skills, attitudes, values and ethics (ksave) model (binkley et al., 2010). whereas the focus of citizenship education and 21st century skills is on the participation of students in society now and in their later lives, citizenship education emphasizes in western societies democratic attitudes, social cohesion and coping with diversity. 21st century skills, on the other hand are especially concerned with participation in future job markets. the emphasis is on being creative thinking, problem solving, working together, communication, information and communication technology, and on world citizenship (voogt & pareja roblin, 2010). corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 5 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 despite the fact that citizenship education is not the same as 21st century skills, we found the discourses overlap somewhat. also, in some elaborations of 21st century skills, such as ksave, citizenship is included. the same goes for the relation between these skills and “voice.” the promethean education strategy group produced a research paper on the relation between learner voice and 21st century learning. they regard voice as a way to improve learner engagement by "bridging the gap between how students live and how they learn, thus making education more relevant to the learner's world and encouraging the development of skills needed to adapt to changing global conditions" (dykes, furdyk, hassan & corriero, 2013, p. 3). curriculum development curriculum decisions are made by different actors, depending on the level (class, school, state, nation, supranational) and political context (cras, 2010). students however are seldom seen as relevant contributors. over the years, curriculum theorists have pleaded for a stronger, more prominent role for students in curriculum development. this starts with the early 20th century pedagogical reformers such as dewey in the united states (dewey, 1938) or freinet in france (acker, 2007). the 70s of the last century saw some strong advocates for student participation, like eisner (1979) and goodlad (1979). in the 80s the australian garth boomer (1982) did ground-breaking work on students negotiating the curriculum with their teacher. since the turn of the century the emphasis seems to have shifted towards the school level emphasizing school reform and the role students ought to play in these reforms (fullan, 2001; hargreaves & shirley, 2009; levin, 2000). we argue that involving students into the process of curriculum design can increase the quality of the curriculum because one important stakeholder is involved. the netherlands institute for curriculum development distinguishes four quality criteria for the curriculum: relevance, consistency, practicality and effectiveness (nieveen, 2009). we hold that by adding students as important stakeholders in curriculum development, its relevance increases. to consider involving students in curriculum design, we need to see the curriculum not as a product or a fixed set of requirements, but as a process wherein external aims give direction but also where teacher and students influence what is actually experienced in class. different authors have emphasized the dynamic character of the “live” or “enacted” curriculum where teachers and students engage in meaningful activities (boomer, 1982; dewey, 1938; eisner, 1979; joseph, 2011). dewey (1938) opposed the idea that the curriculum is a prescription of what learners have to undergo. he argued that learning cannot happen by the external motivation of a prescribed curriculum. learning starts with the experiences of the learner, the "crude beginnings" and builds on that towards a more systematic growth of knowledge and insights. he considered personal contact between the teacher and child as crucial. eisner (1979), who regards curriculum development as a practical and artistic undertaking, goes so far as to claim that the quality of the curriculum can only be determined by watching the teacher and the students in the class. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 6 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 we consider the interaction between teacher and student, as well as students' interaction amongst themselves and student's interaction with teaching and learning materials to be the heart of the curriculum. around which is the whole context wherein these interactions that eventually lead to learning and development take place, such as the school, the expectations of the different actors, the testing regime, curriculum documents on different levels and ultimately culture in general. like a live performance on stage, the curriculum thus appears as itself in action, making it both situational and temporal. with that view we place ourselves in the tradition that considers the curriculum to be something that is constantly influenced and changed in the process. this does not mean that we regard curriculum documents as unimportant. they give direction and should inspire teachers to use their knowledge and ability to decide what and how to teach. methodology we investigated academic literature as well as handbooks and curriculum material on four concepts that comprise the focal point of our research: the concept of student voice, and its relation to citizenship education, to 21st century skills, and to curriculum theory. we will present an overview of these concepts and their relationships. the empirical case study explores the possibility of student voice in curriculum development in the social studies classroom. we consider this procedure as an example of student voice as well as active democratic citizenship. case study design case study design (yin, 2009) was employed to explore the potential of student voice in curriculum development in schools and classes. the motive for choosing the case-study design is that we found in the literature little to no studies on student voice in curriculum development focusing on adaptation of the curriculum itself. therefore there is a need to explore and to study the practice of this approach. explorative case studies can contribute to our understanding of curriculum negotiation processes in classes and schools. the case study took place in two schools for secondary education in the netherlands. both schools are located in middle sized cities (100.000 – 200.000 inhabitants) and have a somewhat mixed ethnical population with around 15% of migrant children. in the first school, four classes of a low level of pre-vocational secondary education participated. it is a government-funded christian school. the classes worked on a project on global warming in a subject called "nature and health.” the project was offered over a period of 6 weeks twice a week in a 60 minutes plus independent work in the school's "study-room" and/or at home. the 92 students who participated were 12 or 13 years of age. the teacher was a female, aged between 40 and 45 and her teaching normal style includes a lot of group-work, class discussions and group corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 7 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 presentations of students' work. the use of information and communication technologies (ict) was intensive: all students used school-purchased tablet computers that contained digital textbooks. the second secondary school is a public school. in this school the procedure was used by one teacher in two geography classes. the students were also 12 or 13 years old and in their 1st and 2nd year of the higher cognitive strands (called “havo/vwo”). the lessons were respectively covering the themes "africa" and "weather and climate.” one class was a bilingual class, which means that english is used as the language of instruction instead of dutch. the teacher was a male of age 35–40 and in his regular teaching practice, the lessons were for the most part textbook driven. group-work was not uncommon, but individual work on assignments was dominant. we will briefly describe the activities of these two teachers by looking at the way the procedure was conducted and present the data we collected with the different instruments. research questions this case study is part of a larger study consisting on a series of case studies in different subject areas. the general research question is: what can be the role of secondary education students in curriculum development? to further specify this general question, we have formulated four case study research questions. 1. do students bring new perspectives to the curriculum? 2. does “curriculum negotiation” contribute to the development of the following skills and attitudes? • students have a positive appreciation of learning as a life-enriching activity and develop an initiative to learn. • students want to promote a social climate in which everybody feels free to express themselves. • students show willingness to participate in democratic decision-making at all levels. 3. what influence does the context (school, class teacher) have? 4. how does the student worksheet function? in the first question, we inquire skills and attitudes we consider to be important aspects of voice, democratic citizenship and the 21st century skills. the skills and attitudes are derived from the dutch curriculum framework for citizenship education and from the ksave framework for 21st century skills (binkley et al., 2010). the second question inquires the contribution students can make to the curriculum. do students formulate other kind of content? question 3 focuses on the context in which the study takes place and how that can affect results. question 4 considers the use of the instrument and is in fact a formative evaluation of the worksheet, with the intention of improving it. this article is oriented in particular to curriculum issues, therefore the focuses is on question 1. in the forthcoming case studies, other research questions will be explored. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 8 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 research instruments in the larger study that explores the four research questions, five different methods for gathering data will be used. the instruments used in each of these methods are being designed specifically for our research questions but are based on existing instruments (rudduck & mcintyre, 2007, schulz, ainley, & fraillon, 2011). we will briefly introduce each of the instruments and go more into detail on the first instrument that provided the data for this specific case study. instrument a: student worksheet. we produced a worksheet that enables students to develop learning questions to function as input in the micro-curriculum like a lesson series or course. as the students fill out the worksheet individually, knowledge on a specific topic is awakened. the next step in the procedure is that small groups of students develop questions they would like to explore regarding a topic. once this stage is completed, the entire class meets and discusses the various perspectives in a conversation that can be regarded as "negotiating the curriculum" (boomer, 1982). the teacher is leading this dialogue. it is during this phase that the teacher puts forth the curriculum requirements as formulated in the formal curriculum. it is interesting to notice whether the teacher's input does or doesn't correspond with the students' questions. this results in a set of questions that form the core of the forthcoming lessons. table 1 describes the different steps that are taken. the instrument itself strongly focuses on producing content and conceptual understanding. the process the students go through involves numerous skills and attitudes related to citizenship education and 21st century skills. table 1: the four steps of the curriculum negotiating process steps activity skills 1. individual assignment list all items related to the general topic. list the questions you have regarding the topic. brainstorm, associate, awaken previous knowledge. 2. group assignment develop a word web around the topic, using the different lists from 1. decide on a set of questions your group finds most relevant and interesting about the topic. share, discuss, explain, convince, negotiate, decide. 3. class assignment groups of students share questions. the class decides on priorities and a distinction between mandatory and optional questions. teacher makes sure certain curriculum requirements are met. share, discuss, explain, convince, negotiate, decide. 4. distributing questions back to groups the selected questions are distributed amongst groups. groups plan how best to answer them. discuss, explain, convince, negotiate, decide. choose information collection method, locate sources. coding scheme. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 9 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 for analyzing the data produced with the worksheet and to answer the research question, we developed a coding scheme. the coding scheme focusses on the five aspects that reflect the essence of the procedure: helping students to identify prior knowledge, learn from each other, develop unique questions, democratically decide on the questions of most worth, and to use the questions in forthcoming lessons. the five aspects are: development: an increase in the quantity of concepts and questions raised by students throughout the process. our assumption is that quantity will increase during the process as students hear the responses of other students and negotiate the questions that are of most interest. negotiation: the use of questions generated by individual students in the small groups and whole class. our assumption is that negotiating can take place in the groups as well as in the whole class. uniqueness: examples of inspiring, unique questions raised by students that can provide new outlooks on a certain topic. our assumption is that students come up with "out of the box" questions when given time to think and talk about a certain topic. personalization: this allows students the option to isolate and answer a particular question, apart from and regardless of the group and class negotiation. our assumption is that students might want to answer a question individually even if others do not find the question interesting. instrument b: questionnaire. the questionnaire that is being developed consists of multiple choice questions about student perceptions of teacher characteristics and teaching style; experiences with and opinions about student participation in class and school; experiences with the worksheet; and skills and attitudes: how the students evaluate their own role in group work and negotiation process. instrument c and d. instruments c and d are interviews with the case study teachers, that are conducted individually before the teacher starts the intervention (instrument c), and after the lesson series (instrument d). the interviews mainly focus on the teacher's ideas on the curriculum and what the teacher intended to offer regarding the theme, the so-called “perceived curriculum” (goodlad, klein & tye, 1979, p. 61). the post-intervention interview reflects on the intervention, on the curriculum as it had developed during the process, that is, the “operational curriculum.” by comparing both interviews, conclusions can be made on similarities and differences between the “perceived curriculum” and “the operational curriculum,” and on influence of the students on the operational curriculum. instrument e: observation and reflection. instrument e consists of class observation. we have learned from initial initiatives that observations might contribute to our understanding of the way in which the student worksheet is employed as well as help us obtain an impression of the teacher's way of using the instrument. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 10 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 results in this section we present the outcomes of our case study based on our interpretation of the data from the research instrument a and finding an answer for our first case study research question: do students bring new perspectives to the curriculum? for answering this question, analyses of the student worksheets that we received back from the two schools have been made. we used a coding to analyze these worksheets. after retrieving the worksheets from the classes, the data from each worksheet was independently analyzed by two researchers. they employed a coding scheme devised to make generalizations possible while looking for certain trends, but at the same time, record the data that honors the uniqueness of each individual student. the results of the analyses were then compared. in some instances the worksheets were scored differently. when this happened, the original data were re-examined and a consensus was reached as to the best interpretation or application of the data. unique perspectives the worksheet produced numerous questions raised by students. one assumption of student voice is that students offer unique perspectives. some examples of questions on global warming that we consider somewhat unique in the sense that they can provide new insights on the topic are: • how long will it take for the world to recover? • why is an electric car so much more expensive the same price as a regular car? examples of student questions related to lessons on the africa are: • what do africans think of our lifestyle? • why do most people in africa earn so little for such heavy labor? • can africa ever get rich? • why are there different colored people? • how are white people treated in africa? • why are africans coming to the netherlands? • why are there still so many extraordinary animals in africa when they have disappeared in the netherlands? • why is education so poor in africa while we donate so much money? examples of student questions related to lessons on climate and weather are: • how can it hail at a temperature above freezing? • why can the climate be different in another country? • how is the weather news made? • how long is the voyage of a falling raindrop? • how can people change the climate? • how can you predict the weather by yourself? • is there weather on other planets? corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 11 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 the development process we will now present the results of the coding scheme in relation to the five aspects we introduced in the methodology section. in this section the focus is on the process that students went through while working with the instrument. development. the number of concepts named by students ranges from 1 to 8 with a mean of 3.98 (standard deviation 2.2). the number of questions raised by students ranges from 1 to 7 with a mean of 2.44 (standard deviation 1.7). the standard deviation implies that there are great differences between the number of questions that students came up with. we assumed that there would be an increase in concepts and questions and found that this assumption was correct in most cases. we noticed an increase in concepts after switching from individual work to the work in small groups among 66% of the students. if we look at the increase in questions, we found an increase with 76% of the students. negotiation. we assume that negotiation took place in small groups and class discussion. from the data we can only conclude whether the questions of the different students played a role in the negotiation. we cannot conclude anything about the quality of the negotiation. in future, observations and/or video recordings and interviews should be used for getting more insight in this negotiation process. however, we did find that one or more of the individual questions of 67.5% of the students were used in the small groups. the rest did not see their questions return in the selection made in the small groups. if we look at the questions from the different groups which have made it to the class selection, we see that of nearly three-fourths of the groups one or two questions were used. the rest of the groups saw more (3-5) of their questions return. uniqueness. we have listed some examples of questions that provide a unique perspective in 4.1. the assumption that students can provide new and original viewpoints on a topic generally turned out to be true. this was not the case for all students though; in one school a class of 21 students produced 17 questions that we considered worth mentioning. an observation made while taking a closer look at the data was that some of the student generated questions were quite original, but had not always made it through the negotiation process: they were not included in the final selection of the class. it can be that teacher and/or students tend to favor questions that are associated with the school context. personalization. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 12 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 we have added the option of isolating a specific individual question in the worksheet and 12.8% of the students used this option. this percentage is lower than we had expected. we will have to see what the outcomes on this aspect will be in future cases and emphasize with the teachers that is option is available for students. we also found that students develop a question of their own to answer regardless of the negotiation process in the group or whole class. the assumption was that this question would be raised at the beginning of the exercise, when students work individually. however, we have seen that this question was raised during the negotiation process instead. the individual question didn't appear until later in the process when the students were in their work groups, or during class discussions. apparently some questions developed during the conversation in groups or students were confronted with other student's questions that they found of interest to include in their “individual question box.” conclusions and discussion we consider the interaction between teacher and student, as well as the students' interaction among themselves at the heart of the curriculum. the curriculum thus displays itself in action, making it both situational and temporal. with that view we place ourselves among those who consider the curriculum to be constantly influenced and therefore, changing in the dialectics of both teaching and learning. this paper presents the results of a case study in which 12 and 13 year old students were invited to participate in a discussion of what is relevant curriculum content to learn given a certain topic or subject. this type of work is prominent in the philosophies of student voice, in citizenship as practice and in 21st century skills. we developed a worksheet to guide students through a series of steps, beginning with individual awakening, that is, a self-conscious awareness of insights acquired previously in life. the momentum from there leads to small group negotiations concerning relevant questions and finally negotiation between class and teacher as they selected and prioritized learning questions thought relevant to students and in line with curriculum requirements. our study shows that the results of this working method are positive: it enables students to build on prior knowledge to co-create questions that often reflect unique students' perspectives. this is in line with one of the characteristics of student voice as described by cook-sather (2006). however, we found that most of the non-traditional questions were not included in the final selection of the class, in the negotiation process by groups of students and the teacher these questions got filtered out. apparently at this stage questions associated more with the school context are preferred. future case studies will be conducted in schools that more often allow student initiative and participation and where a process curriculum is accepted and practiced. we can then compare the results in these schools with the results of the more traditional schools. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 13 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 if we relate the participation of students in curriculum design to student voice and the development of citizenship and 21st century skills, we can say that the students in the case study were given the opportunity to express their views and they were heard. they took part in the participatory activity to activate their prior knowledge and experience, formulate questions, negotiating these questions in small groups and class and in making decisions that affected them. in one school, students made a difference in the lessons that followed. our assumption is that students learn from the process of curriculum negotiation in terms of citizenship and 21st century skills. our research instrument functioned as a vehicle for this. in this case study we did not gather data that proves that the aforementioned skills were developed, but we can say that these skills have been practiced and this provides the fundament for the development of these skills. future studies will focus more on the development of skills as other research instruments are being used, providing us with new data on other qualities. the outcomes of our study are relevant for the social studies. involving students in making decisions on the content of their lessons provides opportunities to bring student out-of-school experiences into the classroom and raise engagement by making learning more relevant and related to their questions. the method we presented can be well integrated into project-based or issue-based learning in social studies lessons. references acker, v. 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(2009). the fourth way. the inspiring future for educational change. thousand oaks: corwin. joseph, p. b. (2011). cultures of curriculum (2nd ed.). new york and london: routledge. kerr, d., & nelson, j. (2006). active citizenship in inca countries: definitions, policies, practices and outcomes. london: qca / nfer. lawy, r., & biesta, g. (2006). citizenship-as-practice: the educational implications of an inclusive and relational understanding of citizenship. british journal of educational studies, 54(1), 34–50. levin, b. (2000). putting students at the centre in education reform. journal of educational change, 1, 155–172. nieveen, n. (2009). formative evaluation in educational design research. in t. plomp & n. nieveen (eds.), an introduction to educational design research (pp. 89–101). enschede: slo. rudduck, j., & mcintyre, d. (2007). improving learning through consulting pupils. london and new york: routledge. schulz, w., ainley, j., & fraillon, j. (2011). iccs 2009 technical report. amsterdam: international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea). corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 15 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 3-16 schulz, w., ainley, j., fraillon, j., kerr, d., & losito, b. (2010). initial findings from the iea international civic and citizenship education study. amsterdam: international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea). thiessen, d., & cook-sather, a. (eds.). (2007). international handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school. dordrecht: springer. trilling, b., & fadel, c. (2009). 21st century skills: learning in our times. san francisco: wiley & sons. united nations general assembly. (1989). united nations convention of the rights of the child. new york: un. voogt, j., & pareja roblin, n. (2010). 21st century skills, discussienota. enschede: universiteit twente. windschitl, m. a. (2011). constructing understanding. in p. b. joseph (ed.), cultures of curriculum (2nd ed., p. 81–101). new york and london: routledge. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks: sage. corresponding author email: j.bron@slo.nl ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 16 introduction exploring different concepts student voice citizenship as practice 21st century skills curriculum development methodology case study design research questions research instruments skills activity steps results unique perspectives the development process conclusions and discussion references journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 leaving time for modern history to facilitate a vibrant peace education in the u.s. classroom william david mccorkle college of charleston abstract: modern history, particularly the time frame from the 1960s to the present, is often either completed skipped or given a cursory overview in many k-12 classrooms. often, this is not done intentionally but is rather due to time constraints in the school schedule and inadequate planning for the disruptions of the typical school year. this contention of this article is that this is not only problematic from the aspects of historical knowledge and proper pedagogy, but particularly in the u.s. classroom this tends to reinforce ideas of militarism and the justifications of war by only focusing on more celebrated wars such as the war of independence or world war ii. by focusing on modern conflicts, teachers have an opportunity to integrate core ideas of peace education. examples are given on how this critical and peace education approach can be used regarding four primary areas in recent u.s. history: the war in vietnam, cia interventions during the cold war, the war in afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of iraq. key words: critical pedagogy, militarism, modern history, peace education introduction it is may, and the typical high school social studies teacher has to review for the final exam or standardized test. the problem is the class has just finished studying world war ii. the teacher has a week to cover the rest of the material, so monday and tuesday will be dedicated to the 1950s and 1960s, wednesday and thursday will cover the 1970s through 1990s, and then there will be one day for the 2000s. as a former high school teacher, situations like this are far too common even for those who are passionate about teaching more modern history. it is a problem that has become almost the norm in the history class-the teacher only gets to world war ii, or at the best the 1960s or 1970s. if they do cover more modern history at all, it is merely a cursory mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 overview. though there are many pedagogical problems with this practice, one that might often be overlooked is the issue of how skimming over modern history relates to students’ views on war and militarism in general. the last war teachers may cover in any depth is world war ii. mccorkle (2021) argues that the narratives of conflict around world war ii, particularly in the united states, often tend to create a more positive view of war. one of the ways to challenge this is to expand more deeply into other historical conflicts. theoretical framework this paper is based in the larger theoretical framework of peace education (harris, 2004; page, 2000; salomon, 2012). mccorkle (2017) describes why this is especially important in relation to how we view and teach history, particularly related to the problematization of historical wars. the author also explores how this is particularly relevant to wars that are often seen as sacrosanct in american thinking, such as the american revolution (2020) and the american civil war (2018). others scholars such as page (2000) argue how studying history in a critical way can lead to a more peace education-based approach. one crucial idea that page addresses is the need to demystify the notion that war is inevitable. rather, war is often due to the actions and poor decisions of leaders. page argues that the fear of not wanting to assign moral judgment for historical figures causes us to act as if no one bears the blame for violent historical actions. page also argues that history has often been told from the broader view like a chess match where the lived experiences of individuals, particularly those who suffer the most in war, are often minimized. this focus on using history to deconstruct militarism is perhaps best illustrated in the popular historian, howard zinn’s a people’s history of the united states (2003) where zinn seeks to not only critique the more controversial wars in u.s. history like the vietnam war and mexicanamerican war, but even the more sacrosanct wars like the american revolution and even world war ii. zinn in his book the bomb (2010) discusses his own experiences fighting in the u.s. army in world war ii and the needless lives that were taken by his own unit at the end of the war. he argues that even some of the myths of the good war need to be challenged. as zinn (2006) stated at a speech near the end of his life in reaction to the u.s. invasion of iraq, we don't want to have to struggle against this war and then against that war and then against the next war. we don't want to have an endless succession of antiwar movements. it gets tiring. and we need to think and talk and educate about the abolition of war itself, you see. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 harris (2004) argues that this approach of taking a critical view towards war is actually in line with the original goals of peace education. many of the roots of the ideas of the peace education movement came from europe after the napoleonic wars, and they were also present in the u.s. in the early 20th century with the school peace leagues. a movement for peace education was also present after the brutality of world war i. harris notes that at the end of the 20th century the broader focus on international peace was reduced and the focus on peace education became more on areas such as human rights, conflict resolution, and dealing with more inter-personal and local conflicts. it even went as far as dealing with themes such as environmental education. as salomon (2012) highlights, in some aspects the term peace education has become so broad in its scope that is difficult to define. mccorkle (2017) argues that history educators need to reemphasize these historical anti-war roots of peace education while not neglecting the other important aspects. militarism in american society the central problem that this paper seeks to address is the militarism at the heart of american society. in the united states there is vast spending on the military, which surpasses the spending of the next seven countries combined (mccarthy, 2018). there is also the continual us military presence in other nations and illegal international conflicts such as the war in iraq. there are also more subtle examples of militarism particularly related to the education system that perhaps few have truly considered, such as the presence of so many rotc programs in schools. in fact, the army is currently seeking to increase rotc programs in schools in order to increase lagging numbers of younger recruits (rempfer, 2019). there is also the issue of the militarization of many sporting events. astore (2018) describes how this trend became greater after september 11th. as he points out, what started as a post-9/11 drive to get an american public to “thank” the troops endlessly for their service in distant conflicts — stifling criticism of those wars by linking it to ingratitude — has morphed into a new form of national reverence. and much credit goes to professional sports for that transformation. this level of militarism can also be seen in the u.s. with the strong public support of troubling practices such as enhanced interrogation and pre-emptive strikes. for example, in 2017, a gallup poll found that 58% of americans would support war against north korea if peaceful solutions failed (saad, 2017). another gallup poll from 2002 found that 66% of americans supported a preemptive strike against iraq (saad, 2002). in a 2014 poll, nearly two thirds of americans supported mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 enhanced interrogation (torture) of terrorist suspects to obtain information on terrorism. only 15% of the respondents said that it should never be implemented (kahn, 2016). polling also shows that the u.s. public has the highest trust in the military compared to other institutions with 74% of individuals having a great deal of trust in the military compared to only 29% for public schools, 26% for organized labor, and 23% for newspapers (saad, 2018). as astore (2019) highlights, there are often also more understated forms of militarism that are present in the american society such as the obsession with entertainment related to police, crime, and the military. there is also the tendency of former military generals to become pundits and commentators on news outlets, thus regurgitating more militaristic talking points. in addition, there is little to no pushback from the extensive sale of u.s. weapons around the world. in this way, the u.s. is becoming a type of “merchant of death”. as astore highlights this “soft militarism” where “jackbooted troops may not be marching in our streets, but they increasingly seem to be marching unopposed through—and occupying —our minds.” lack of focus on modern history a second issue that this paper seeks to highlight is the lack of modern history within the social studies classroom. there are plenty of anecdotal examples that most students and teachers could reference.1 as the author of this article and a former high school social studies teacher, i will also confess that i have been guilty of this practice as well. it could be argued that much of this is not intentional. the original syllabus may include time to cover modern topics. however, often times earlier sections of history take longer than expected and then there are the unexpected fire drills, school assemblies, snow days, etc. this trend almost certainly was even more of an issue in the spring of 2020 as schools shut down because of the covid-19 pandemic. this lack of focus on modern history has numerous problems. what is the advantage for students to know all the details of the war of 1812 or of the royal line of the middle ages, when they do not know what happened in their own countries in the 1990s and 2000s? are perhaps many not even aware of the modern economic and political realities in the world? it also tends to make history seem like something very distant and irrelevant to students’ lives. some of the problem may also lie in the noble aspects of trying to broaden the curriculum to focus on social studies more broadly and even critical thinking within the classroom (ravitch, 1 from the initial exploration of the literature, there was little quantitative research that provides evidence for what percentage of teachers cover modern history. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 1985). in some aspects if the focus is more on learning critical thinking skills and applying issues to broader topics in social studies, it could be tempting to not necessarily worry about extensively covering modern history. so, for example, a teacher may do a good job comparing what happened in the american revolution to modern day issues of conflict and oppression. while this is very valuable, it could be possible that in the midst of going in depth on these historical issues, there is no time left to cover the more recent history, which would help to further clarify current events. as ravitch points out, unless historical-mindedness begins in the early years, in the home and the elementary grades, in the books that children read and the television they watch, even these small steps will not be enough. the free mind, as aldous huxley dramatically reminded us, needs to know its past, to debate and discuss how the world came to be as it is, in order to know what to defend and what to change and how to resist imposed orthodoxies (p.50). one option that teachers could consider is teaching history in reverse. atkins (2000) describes how she is implemented this method in her classroom with quite resounding success. she starts class with having the students examine 1960 to the present and then works her way backwards. though there could obviously be some logistical issues and needed rearrangements with teaching history in this way, it could be something considered to ensure that modern history is actually covered. relation between militarism and lack of focus on modern history the argument of this article is that militarism in the u.s. society and the lack of focus on modern history are linked. the problem is that far too often, especially in us history, there is a celebratory, uncritical view of historical wars. this is particularly true of the american revolution (mccorkle, 2020) and at least of the northern perspective of the civil war (mccorkle, 2018). the last war that students often cover in any depth is world war ii, which lends itself very heavily to the idea of war being justified given the peculiarities of that conflict (mccorkle, 2021). there are conflicts in earlier history, such as the mexican-american war, the filipino-american war, and world war i where a more critical approach to warfare could be easily used. however, the question is how much these wars are actually covered, and if so, how much of a critical lens is used? focusing on modern history can open up the possibility of a more critical lens to war and a more peace education-based approach. this paper focuses particularly on four areas of modern mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 history where this approach can be taken: the war in vietnam, us interventions during the cold war in general, the war in afghanistan, and the us war in iraq (2003). vietnam war the war in vietnam may be the most heavily critiqued war in us history. it was one of the few wars, or arguably the only, where the us actually lost. it led to a widespread peace movement and in many ways led to the end of the military draft (vandiver, 2014). it also exposed the dishonesty in regards to warfare by officials in the us government (ellsburg, 2001). having students truly engage with the history of the vietnam war, both the actual conflict and the peace movements and domestic rejection of the war, is important in creating a more peace educationbased approach. focusing on the vietnam war would be a great opportunity for students to engage with much of the protest music related to the war. there are many songs to choose from whether it be the critique on the class aspects of the war in clearance clearwater revival’s fortunate son (fogerty, 1969) or the more direct critique of militarism of war from edwin starr (whifield & strong, 1970). there can also be a look at the more direct opposition to the draft in a song such as i’m not marching anymore from phil ochs (1965) or to the war more broadly in tom paxton’s lyndon johnson told the nation (1965). liebefreld (2007) highlights the strong literature to draw from in relation to the vietnam war in the classroom especially novels such as the things they carried (o’brien, 2009). he also argues that it could be helpful for students to view and critique a film such as rambo: first blood, part ii from the 1980s to understand the distorted narratives that it is presenting about vietnam and the role of the u.s. government. the vietnam war is also a good topic in helping students understand the concepts of historiography in seeing how the vietnam war was viewed over time. there is the 1979 text from griffen and marciano that critically examines how textbooks treated the topic of vietnam at the time. this can then be compared to how more modern textbooks, particularly the textbook used inn the class, cover the topic of the war in vietnam and see possible change over time. this can lead into the broader issue for how the view on war often changes over time from a more positive and nationalistic perspective to a less embracing position. cia interventions likewise, students need gain awareness of an issue that is often not focused on at all in american history, the more clandestine us interventions during the cold war including ones that helped mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 depose democratically elected leaders. there are many examples that the students could analyze, but for a cursory overview, two of the most important may be the u.s. supported coups in iran and chile. in iran, students could read documents regarding the overthrowing of the socialist government in the 1950s and the re-empowerment of the shah for u.s. and british interests (mcglinchey, 2013). this in turn led to greater unrest, which eventually led to the iranian islamic government, the same government with which the us is currently engaged in conflict. without student understanding the historical context, it is very easy to see the us and iran conflict today in terms of good versus evil, freedom versus theocracy, instead of a much more nuanced conflict often shaped by the us imperialist ambitions. additionally, there can be an examination of how the us overthrew the government of salvador allende in chile and put in the dictatorship of augusto pinochet, who killed and tortured many of his political rivals (shenon, 1999). as has been widely discussed, how much of the instability in modern latin america may be due to the us actions from the cold war (borger, 2018)? the war in afghanistan another example that students could examine is the war in afghanistan. this is one of the most unique contemporary wars given the almost complete acceptance of the war at its outset, the initial sense of victory in ousting the taliban, but then the prolonged nature of the war with u.s. troops remain in the country almost two decades after the initial attack. teachers can analyze the early support for the war, when 93% of individuals said the war was not a mistake in 2002 compared to only 48% that had the same feeling in 2014 (newport, 2014). the war in afghanistan also gives the students a chance to consider how acting in a moment of anger and revenge can cause unwise decisions. for example, would it have been better to simply have entered negotiations with the taliban to turn over osama bin laden (gannon, 2001) instead of seeking to overturn the taliban government? (grenier, 2015). joel mathis’ (2020) article is a strong resource for students to consider as mathis lays out the fact that afghanistan was the one war he wholeheartedly supported, but that he was wrong in that assessment. he argues that the u.s. was wrong because it forgot the lessons it should have learned from vietnam. furthermore, he argues that, staying and trying to recreate afghanistan in something like our own image was the crucial error, both hubristic and well-intentioned — we thought we could be the conquerors who left the country better than we found it. we are not. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 he argues that more broadly we should not think we can fight a traditional war to stop terrorism as it is much more complicated than that. carroll (2019) argues that the war in afghanistan has so often been portrayed as the good war in comparison to the “bad war” in iraq, that we perhaps have not sufficiently critiqued it. he contends that one way that we can do this is by examining the afghanistan papers, which reveal both the dishonesty of the u.s. government and the lack of real understanding of what was occurring. he hopes that much like the vietnam papers, these papers may cause a “direct confrontation with the errors of the twenty-first century, might begin to repair them.” perhaps given the fact of afghanistan being considered the good war (caroll, 2019) or due to the soft militarism of american society (astore, 2019), there have not been a lot of films or music directly critiquing the war in afghanistan. however, there has been a recent documentary entitled combat obscura (lagoze, 2018), which contains actual footage from marines in afghanistan that strongly critiques some of the official narratives from the u.s. though some of the footage may be too graphic or inappropriate to show students at the k-12 level, certain clips could be used to show some of the realities of modern warfare beyond the patriotic narratives. the war in iraq finally, there is the example of the iraq war, which also initially had rather large support (though not as high as in afghanistan), but then dramatically decreased going from 72% support in 2003 to only 38% by 2008 (rosentiel, 2008). teachers can analyze the subsequent civil war and oppression of minorities that occurred after saddam hussein was overthrown (macdiarmid, 2018). they could also explore what many would see as the dishonest pretexts the u.s. had for entering the war (stein & dickenson, 2006). finally, the students could examine how some of the instability of the middle east, particularly related to the rise of isis (macdiarmid, 2018) and even the increased tension between the u.s. and iran is partially due to the war in iraq (vidon, 2020). there are many examples of literature, music, and films that relate to the iraq war that teachers could bring into the discussion and use as sources to help offer a more critical lens. an example of the traumatic stress that war causes can be seen in the film, in the valley of elah (wachsberger, samuels, caamaño loquet, haggis, & becsey 2007). a more recent film, the last flag flying (sledge & sloss, 2017), is based on a father who has to bury his soon after being killed in iraq. for the wars in iraq and afghanistan in particular, studies could consider interviewing a family member who may have served in the war and gain their perspectives on the conflict. students could also read and reflection collection of poignant letters from soldiers in iraq is put together in one resource (“soldiers stories,” 2006). mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 new conflicts if we do not have a clear view of our recent history and the deception and disaster that often defined our conflicts, it is easy to get drawn into the next war, which the media seems to always portray as both justified and inevitable (mccorkle, 2017). in just the last few years, there have been times we have come far too close to the edge of war with both north korea (johnson, 2018) and to a larger extent iran (dozeier & walcott, 2020). there has been even greater danger in the growing confrontations between the u.s. and russian governments (stent, 2020) and the u.s. and china (kristian, 2020). though for many these conflicts may seem like impossibilities, unless there is a deep commitment to peaceful resolution and a rejection of militarism, they may be more likely than anyone would like to believe. the next generation that will decide the course for the nation and global community has more access to information about both recent and older history than any other generation before, however, in the midst of this barrage of information it is important that they have a strong grip on the history over the last few decades to understand the forces, individuals, and decisions that have shaped the current world order and how they can play a role in making sure that they strive for a more just and peaceful future. conclusion merely teaching modern history will not guarantee a critical or peace education approach to history. modern history can also be discussed in such a way that merely reinforces more nationalistic and militaristic thinking. however, focusing on modern history does offer more opportunities for a greater critique of militarism and u.s. interventionism. to actually have a more peaceful society, it may not only be sufficient to teach a critical history of war (page, 2000). it might also mean restructuring the social studies classroom to make sure modern conflicts are actually covered. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 references astore, w.j. (2019, october 24). america’s military mania is hurting democracy. the nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/militarism-donald-trump-america/ astore, w.j. (2018). the militarization of sports and the redefinition of patriotism. truth dig. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-militarization-of-sports-and-the-redefinition-of patriotism/ atkins, a. (2000, march 1). a teaching strategy: teaching u.s. history backwards. perspectives on history. https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on history/march-2000/a-teaching-strategy-teaching-us-history-backwards borger, j. (2018, december 19). fleeing a hell the us helped create: why central americans journey north. the guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us news/2018/dec/19/central-america-migrants-us-foreign-policy carroll, j. (2019, december 12). lessons to be learned from the afghanistan papers. the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/lessons-to-be-learned-from the-afghanistan-papers dozier, k. & walcott, j. (2020, january 8). after retaliation, iran’s 40-year conflict with u.s. likely to return to the shadows. time. https://time.com/5761897/us-iran-conflict continues/ ellsburg, d. (2001, june 29). lying about vietnam. new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/29/opinion/lying-about-vietnam.html fogerty, j. (1969). fortunate son (song). (recorded by creedence clearwater revival). on willy and the poor boys. fantasy studios. gannon, k. (2001, october 14). bush rejects taliban bin laden offer. washington post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/aponline/20011014/aponline135016_000.htm grenier, r. l. (2015, february 1). what if america had never invaded afghanistan. the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/02/what-if-america had-never-invaded-afghanistan/385026/ mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/29/opinion/lying-about-vietnam.html journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 griffen, w. l., & marciano, j. d. (1979). teaching the vietnam war: a critical examination of school texts and an interpretive comparative history utilizing the pentagon papers and other documents. rowman & littlefield publishers. https://archive.org/details/teachingvietnamw00grif/mode/2up harris, i. m. (2004). peace education theory. journal of peace education, 1(1), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1740020032000178276 johnson, j. (2018, september 10). trump nearly sent tweet that could have sparked war with north korea, watergate journalist says. the japan times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/10/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia pacific/trump-nearly-sent-tweet-sparked-war-north-korea-watergate-journalist-says/ kahn, c. (2016, march 30). exclusive: most americans support torture against terror suspects reuters/ipsos poll. reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-torture exclusive-iduskcn0ww0y3 kristian, b. (2020, march 19). esper’s dark vision for us-china conflict makes war more likely. defense news https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/ commentary/2020/03/19/ esper-dark-vision-for-us-china-conflict-makes-war-more-likely lagoze, m. (2018). combat obscura (film-preview). oscilloscope laboratories. https://www.amazon.com/combat-obscura-miles-lagoze/dp/b07n8jzg1c lieberfeld, d. (2007). teaching about war through film and literature. ps: political science & politics, 40(3), 571-574. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049096507070837 macdiarmid, c. (2018, march 18). the us legacy in iraq: violence, sectarianism -and elections. al jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/legacy-iraq-violence sectarianism_elections-180318143521793.html mathis, j. (2020, march 2). i cheered the afghanistan invasion. i was wrong. the week. https://theweek.com/articles/899305/cheered-afghanistan-invasion-wrong mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/%20commentary/2020/03/19/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/legacy-iraq-violencejournal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 mccarthy, n. (2010, january 31). defense: the u.s. outspends these countries combined [infographic]. forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/31/ defense-the-u-s-outspends-these-countries-combined-infographic/#52e9964c79b6 mccorkle, w. (2021). expanding beyond world war ii to encourage peace education and deconstruct militarism. journal of peace education, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2021.1937086 mccorkle, w. (2020). applying a critical and peace education lens to the american revolution in the social studies classroom. the social studies, 111(3), 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2019.1709148 mccorkle, w. (2018). reexamining the american civil war through a peace education lens. social studies education review, 7(1), 25-43. mccorkle, w. (2017). problematizing war: reviving the historical focus of peace education. journal of peace education, 14(3), 261-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2017.1345727 mcglinchey, s. (2013, august 2). how the shah entangled america. national interest. https://nationalinterest.org/commentary/how-the-shah-entangled-america-8821 newport, f. (2014, february 19). more americans now view afghanistan war as a mistake. gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/167471/americans-view-afghanistan-war mistake.aspx o'brien, t. (2009). the things they carried. houghton mifflin harcourt. ochs, p. (1965). i ain’t marching anymore (song). on i ain’t marching anymore. elektra. page, j. s. (2000). can history teach us peace?. peace review, 12(3), 441-448. paxton, t. (1965). lyndon johnson told the nation. (song). on ain’t that news. sony. ravitch, d. (1985, nov. 17). decline and fall of teaching history. new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/17/magazine/decline-and-fall-of-teaching-history. html mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/31/ https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2021.1937086 https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2019.1709148 https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2017.1345727 https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/17/magazine/decline-and-fall-of-teaching-history journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 rempfer, k. (2019, november 7). army leaders weigh expanding jrotc in high schools. army times. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/11/07/how-increased footprint-in-high-schools-may-help-army-fix-recruiting-shortfall. rosentiel, t. (2008, march 19). public attitudes toward the war in iraq: 2003-2008. pew research. https://www.pewresearch.org/2008/03/19/public-attitudes-toward-the-war-i in-iraq-20032008/ saad, l. (2018, june 28). military, small business, police still stir most confidence. gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/236243/military-small-business-police-stir-confidence. aspx saad, l. (2017, september 15). more back u.s. military action vs. north korea than in 2003. gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/219134/back-military-action-north-korea-2003. aspx saad, l. (2002, october 8). top ten findings about public opinion and iraq. gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/6964/top-ten-findings-about-public-opinion-iraq.aspx salomon, g. (2012). the nature of peace education: not all programs are created equal. in g. salomon and b. nevo (eds). peace education: the concept, principles, and practices around the world. (pp 3-15). hove, uk: psychology press. shenon, p. (1999, july 1). u.s. releases files on abuses in pinochet era. new york times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/070199chile-u us-rights.html sledge, g., & sloss, j. (producers), & linklater, r. (2017). last flag standing [motion picture]. united states: amazon studios/lionsgate soldiers stories (2006, june 5). the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/12/soldiers-stories stein, j., & dickinson, t. (2006). lie by lie: a timeline of how we got into iraq. mother jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline/ mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://news.gallup.com/poll/236243/military-small-business-police-stir-confidence https://news.gallup.com/poll/219134/back-military-action-north-korea-2003 journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 64-77 corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 stent, a. (2020, april 27). why are us-russia relations so challenging? brookings institute. https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/why-are-us-russia-relations-so challenging/ vandiver, j. (2014, november 11). vietnam leads to the death of the draft and the rise of the professional soldier. stars and stripes. https://www.stripes.com/news/special reports/vietnam-stories/lasting/vietnam-leads-to-the-death-of-the-draft-and-the-rise-of of-the-professional-soldier-1.309709 vidon, t.s. (2020, august 1). iraq is at the centre of us-iran tug of war, and trump's re-election campaign. france 24. https://www.france24.com/en/20200108-iraq-is-at-the-centre-of us-iran-tug-of-war-and-trump-s-re-election-campaign wachsberger, p., samuels, s., caamaño loquet. d., haggis, p., & becsey, l. (producers), & haggis, p. (director) (2007). in the valley of elah [motion picture]. united states: warner independent pictures whitfield, n. & strong, b. (1970) war (song). (recorded by edwin starr). on war & peace. gordy zinn, h. (2010). the bomb. city lights books. zinn, h. (2006). howard zinn on the uses of history and the war on terrorism. the progressive. https://progresssive.org/op-eds/howard-zinn-uses-history-war-terrorism/ zinn, h. (2003). a people's history of the united states: 1492-present. routledge. about the author: william mccorkle is an assistant professor of education at college of charleston. his research focuses on the nexus of immigration, nationalism, and education with a particular focus on teachers’ attitudes. he also writes on pedagogy surrounding immigration in the social studies classroom. mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 rebuilding community connections through experiential professional development chris n. mcgrew christle miller indiana state university indiana state university john l. conant sandy huber indiana state university laporte community school corporation abstract: the authors argue that the narrowing of the k-12 curriculum in the past twenty years has changed the relationship between k-12 schoolteachers and the community. using an ecological perspective as the theoretical lens, the article describes these changes as well as an effort by an economic development organization in indiana to help rebuild those relationships through an experiential learning professional development activity. the article also includes sample teacher developed work plans for teaching economic concepts and skills through community based experiences. key words: ecological perspective, economic education, experiential learning, professional development introduction in-service teachers from indiana stared across lake michigan to the skyline of chicago some 20 miles away, as they listen to a presentation about the development of the lakefront in northern indiana and dodged the waves kicked up by the winds across the lake. this is a story about how social studies professional development has changed in indiana in the past 15 years. in 2002/03, the ten university centers in the indiana council on economic education network trained over 3000 k-12 teachers to teach the economic concepts and skills embedded in the indiana academic standards for the social studies. that number has dropped to around 475 for the 2017/18 program year (j. sanson, personal communication, june 5, 2018). the authors led a professional development program for a group of indiana in-service teachers that they hoped would mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 encourage the participants to teach more concepts in economics. the authors hoped that the approach might be one used in future programs offered by the indiana council on economic education to increase participation in experiential learning based professional development. the scholarship described the narrowing of the curriculum across the nation and policy makers’ focus on english-language arts, mathematics and science test score (chapman, 2007; heafner, & fitchett, 2012) and how this focus impacts instructional minutes teachers devoted to the teaching of social studies in indiana (vanfossen, 2005; vanfossen & mcgrew, 2008). in addition, fewer teachers are entering the field in indiana, (indiana business journal, 2018), and the teaching of social studies concepts and skills was generally not a priority of teachers (fitchett, heafner, & vanfossen, 2014). the changing attitudes toward teaching social studies concepts and skills is evident in the decreasing participation in social studies professional development programs in indiana. many indiana teachers have stopped attending workshops sponsored by indiana social studies professional organizations. the indiana department of education and indiana legislature took professional development in social studies away as an option for k-12 teachers to use to renew their licenses (indiana department of education, 1999, 2013, 2015). teacher and school accountability are now only directly tied to how well students in indiana do on the high stakes tests in mathematics, language arts, and science being administered in the state. teachers’ content knowledge or experience is no longer a factor in determining if an indiana in-service k-12 teacher gets a pay increase. making efficient use of scarce classroom (and professional development) time teachers’ agency may have been influenced by these policy changes. vongalis-macrow (2007) found that decision makers from outside of the classroom influenced what teachers taught inside the classroom. ketelaar, beijaard, boshuizen, and den brok (2012) argued that the environment in which a teacher operated influenced how much freedom and power they had over their own teaching. priestley, biesta, and robinson (2015) argued that agency was a changing phenomenon that was influenced by forces outside the classroom. was this a reason teachers stopped teaching social studies concepts and skills and therefore attending social studies professional development in indiana? if this is the case, how can social studies professional development organizations design and provide experiences for teachers to help them reengage more effectively with social studies concepts that are critical to the development of critical thinking and citizenship? mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 this article focused on a strategy employed by an indiana professional development organization to help teachers connect the concepts and skills they teach to the wider community. the authors described a professional development experience they designed to:  reconnect indiana teachers to their local community,  strengthen a place-based approach,  encourage them to teach more social studies concepts and skills, and  encourage more multidisciplinary lessons, especially social studies content embedded in the teaching of concepts that are more directly “tested”, environmental science and biological concepts in this particular case. the indiana council for economic education (icee) is an affiliate of the national council on economic education and has been training indiana k-12 teachers how to include the economics concepts embedded in the state curriculum for over 75 years. the icee has long advocated the development of multidisciplinary lesson plans, embedding economic concepts into other disciplinary lessons in order to “create” time for economic lessons that address both the academic standards in economics and other social sciences, and standards in language arts, mathematics and the natural sciences. the professional development experience described here takes this approach further by integrating place-based fieldwork (a specific type of experiential learning) still new in economics and other social and behavioral sciences. the approach also infuses community engagement into the multidisciplinary approach to the study of the tensions between environmental and economic development sustainability within the heavy manufacturing intense and environmentally sensitive michigan lake region of the indiana dunes. literature supporting this approach a focus of place-based learning scholarship has been on establishing a sense of place by recognizing the cultural, economic, and social elements of a location (resor, 2010). yilmax (2018) found that teacher education students learned geography concepts better in spatial context to local places, instead of in a classroom setting. ecological perspectives to human development gives insight into why this might be the case. bronfenbrenner (1979) described an ecological perspective to human development as concentric circles moving out from a person and the systematic relationships that person has either directly or indirectly providing a context for learning. the microsystems are the direct relationships influencing a person’s behavior. sallis, cervero, ascher, henderson, kraft, & kerr (2006) described a body of research linking mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 environmental factors such as those coming from the work place, the home, school and other social contexts that will influence a person’s ability to learn. sallis et al. (2006) found that prescriptive attitudes by economic and legal institutions could change a person’s learning behavior regarding active lifestyles in a community. could the same thing be happening in social studies education? bronfenbrenner (1979) described the outer bands of relationships that may influence the cognitive development of a person. these outer concentric circles while not directly involved in the classroom interaction that supports learning influence the effective instruction that takes place in a classroom between a learner and a teacher. the exosystems and microsystems include the legal, social, and economic frameworks that often regulate the relationships important to the learning that takes place. these structures, such as school funding, academic standards and large-scale high stakes testing, change the relationship that teacher and students have within and outside the classroom. these relationships are complex and include many interrelated sub-systems. bar-yam (2011) indicated that systemic behaviors at one level would have an impact with other levels of systems. the authors are arguing that philosophical changes taking place in the exosystemic or macrosystemic level change the relationships that take place with the learner in the microsystem level. the indiana council for economic education has developed a place based professional development program to help secondary social studies teachers build the connections they need to institutions within the community that may have been severed during the recent focus on school accountability. the essential list of characteristics for place-based education in an economic setting as an “area of studies as a curriculum explores local industry and sustainability…” (woodhouse & knapp, 2000, p. 4). beginning in 2007, the icee co-sponsored with indiana state university a series of graduate experiences for in-service science and social studies teachers and undergraduate experiences for science and social studies education majors at yellowstone national park. the experience explored the complex relationship between stakeholders and the united states government in managing the scare public resources at the park (conant & mcgrew, 2010). the level of complexity that yellowstone national park provided gave participants an opportunity to look at messy public policy decision making concerning a number of controversial policies of park management as part of the systematic relationship between a variety of stakeholders (conant & mcgrew, 2018). given the impact of these experiences, the authors believed that an example with a local focus could help teachers develop relationships with similar stakeholders and advocates within their local community. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 a summer experience on lake michigan in 2017, the indiana council for economic education and indiana state university collaborated again to develop a local example that teachers could use to develop the relationships within the community that they need to bring high quality social studies education back into their classroom. the result was a class offered to a network of indiana k-12 teachers. the class focused on the interrelationships between the two basic systems in operation in the indiana dunes area of northwest indiana; the fragile natural ecosystem of the lakeshore area and intense development of the economic systems that have grown in that same are over the past century. this region is the most intensely developed economic area in indiana, with a significant emphasis on heavy manufacturing. the idea of sustainable development is not a new one, but it is increasingly recognized as more important to the viability of an area; the states of its economy and its natural ecosystem. the designers of this professional development experience believed it is important for teachers to experience these two complex systems and how the existence of each affects the quality of the other. the authors argued that both complex systems are quite fragile and sensitive to events in the other. it may be easier to see how the structure and practices of the economic system of the area affects the natural system, but it is just as clear that the natural system partially determines the comparative advantages of the economic system, and hence its economic viability. both systems are sensitive to events in the other. if the ecosystem requires modifications to the economic system that are too expensive, the economy of the area will not be sustainable. if the industrial environment of the area is allowed to generate negative externalities that are too expensive to avoid or ameliorate, the area’s ecosystem will not be viable. only by experiencing the two systems firsthand and observing the interactions between the systems can the teachers gain an understanding deep enough to be able to teach their own students about the need for sustainability and how the two systems interact. understanding how the two systems interact is necessary for society to be able to design the man-made system (the economy of the area) in such a way as to ensure the continued sustainability of both the man-made and the natural systems. the authors expected that an emphasis on sustainability in this area would provide an interesting professional development experience for these teachers to see how the disciplines of the natural and social sciences come together. they hoped to answer two questions. would the examination of local environmental and economic policy in a way that enhanced critical thinking skills bring teachers into direct contact with stakeholders and decision-makers in their local communities? would doing this in a professional development setting give those teachers the agency to bring more social studies concepts into their teaching? mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 the participants in the 3-day professional development experience were able to visit a technologically advanced steel mill (a heavy industry production site), the port of indiana (the major distribution site of the industrial activity – both importing raw materials and exporting finished products), and the local, state and national protected lands of the indiana dunes along the lakefront. the participants also met with experts and advocates for economic development, heavy industrial production and distribution, and ecologists and public land use managers, as well as academics with expertise in each area. the instructors provided the background on the economic issues involved and help with constructing the lesson plans the participants were required to construct and take back to their own classrooms. (please see appendix a for the workshop product guidelines and appendix b for teacher-developed strategies.) the participants heard about the policy making process from the experts and advocates involved. although unable to witness the public meetings involved in the ongoing management of the area over a three-day workshop, the discussions held with the experts whom were active participants in the policy making process was the most effective pedagogy to enhance understanding of the public decision making process available. having the ability to speak with each of the participants in the process personally and then to experience the environment and the resources that were the subject of the resource use debates and policies was the best alternative available over the short time frame of the workshop. standing along the lakeshore at a swimming beach that is part of a public park and being able to see a part of a steel mill to the west and the chicago skyline to the northeast, knowing that large ships are bringing materials in to the industries and taking finished products out, just up the lakeshore proved to be a far more effective laboratory for learning about the sensitivity of the economic and natural systems interacting in that small area of northwest indiana. this classroom made the discussions of high-value added manufacturing within a fragile ecosystem far more effective than sitting in a classroom on campus. photographs, videos, and descriptions could help, but seeing the first-hand both the natural and economic landscapes adds to the power and effectiveness of the lesson. the thriving of a community requires sustainability in environmental, economic, political, and social realms. this three-day professional development experience attempted to combine social and natural science theories and systems in the most interesting and important ways to advance the understanding of complex real-world systems. the national science foundation (nsf) had been working for the past twenty-five years to bring ecological researchers together with social scientists (national science foundation, 2002). nsf’s long-term ecological research network has mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 been working on a model to show how social and ecological systems work together to inform more effective environmental public policy (redman, grove, and kuby, 2004). the project described here integrated expertise in biophysical and social science processes, and modeled that integration, as recommended by the nsf project, for secondary teachers. hearing first hand from stakeholders, advocates, and experts enhanced the critical thinking skills necessary for a thorough understanding of the processes involved in creating effective sustainability policies in these local communities. advantages of this approach to experiential learning there are a number of advantages to a multidisciplinary, complex systems approach to teaching social studies concepts and to connecting social studies instruction to the community and to real world experiences. from an administrative perspective. the multidisciplinary emphasis on combining social and natural science content should result in increased support from principals for the necessary fieldwork and time spent engaging students in the social sciences. standardized testing incentivizes principals. due to the significant environmental science component of deep lessons in sustainable local economic development, time spent on the social science aspects complement the teaching of the natural science concepts, making the natural science concepts easier for students to relate to and understand. the issues and ideas central to the lessons on the environmental and economic sustainability of local economic development within a community are all integrated into and illustrated by the complex social and natural systems that lie at the heart of these lessons. the nature of complex systems is such that student time spent grasping with the specific workings of a particular social system help them to grasp the nuances of the natural systems inherent in the lessons on sustainable economic development and vice versa. from a student perspective. when a faculty member advises a potential student unsure about a possible course of study, active demonstrations, displays and videos of fieldwork used by the natural sciences are often useful tools to grab student attention and interest. however, this often creates the unrealistic view for the student that the natural sciences get to "go out" to the field or the lab to "do" science, but that the work of the social scientist is accomplished in the library or at some desk behind a computer screen. perhaps the best way to show students the interesting realities of careers in the social sciences is to expose them to the kinds of work that social scientists do in collaboration with natural scientists "in the fields" of the local community. the interesting and important way to do this is to expose them to the collaborations mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 that social and natural scientists do in the important realm of enhancing the environmental and economic sustainability in their local communities. the intent of this professional development experience was to illustrate for the participating social studies and science teachers how practitioners work together in the multiple institutions of the local community to make their communities better places to live and work, both economically and environmentally. the authors believe that these aspects of life are ever more important to today's students. real world connections. connections with resources in the local community are vital in supplementing the scarce learning resources available to social science teachers today. again, the issue of environmentally and economically sustainable local economic development brings together in a collaborative way, local institutions from a variety of sub-sectors, including business, industry, economic development, government, environmental, and public land management. within a short field experience in the lakeshore region of northwest indiana, teachers were able to tour facilities and speak with experts on these topics from industry (a steel mill), and transportation (the indiana port). the educators also visited national and state public land management agencies and environmental advocacy groups. during these visits, participants heard from local university experts on the sustainability issues/difficulties inherent in the local economic development programs/efforts in a region that are both environmentally and economically important but also fragile. the production methods necessary to the area's main industries can place significant pressures on the sustainability of the fragile but critical ecological resources. the global competitiveness of the region's main heavy manufacturing industries (those to which the region has a comparative advantage due to locational and transportation factors) places significant pressures on the local economy as well as it is threatened by exogenous factors in its global market place. for these reasons, the authors believe that the concerns of environmental sustainability and economic vitality are central to the interests (and of interest to) this generation of learners and that understanding these complex environmental management issues provides teachers with an experience that they are able to bring into their classrooms and share with their students. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 references: bar-yam, y. (2011). dynamics of complex systems. cambridge, ma: new england complex systems institute. retrieved march 24, 2017 from http://www.necsi.edu/publications/dcs/index. html#fulltext. bronfenbrenner, urie. (1979). the ecology of human development. harvard university press. chapman, l. h. (2007). an update on no child left behind and national trends in education. arts education policy review, 109(1), 25-40. conant, j. l., & mcgrew, c. (2010). somewhere out there . . . : an experiential learning model for teachers. national social science journal, 34, 34–40. conant, j. l., & mcgrew, c. (2018). complex systems at work in america’s first national park. national social science journal, 50, 11-18. fitchett, p. g., heafner, t. l., & vanfossen, p. (2014). an analysis of time prioritization for social studies in elementary school classrooms. journal of curriculum & instruction, 8(2), 7-35. heafner, t. l., & fitchett, p. g. (2012). national trends in elementary instruction: exploring the role of social studies curricula. the social studies, 103(2), 67-72. indiana department of education (1999). indiana public law 221-1999. indiana department of education (2013, 2015). indiana public law 286-2013. amended 2015 (511 iac 6.210) johnson, c., & mcgrew, c. (2011). no child left in the museum. social studies research and practice, 6, 120. ketelaar, e., beijaard, d., boshuizen, h., & den brok, p. (2012). teachers’ positioning towards an educational innovation in the light of ownership, sense-making and agency. teaching and teacher education, 28, 273-82. national science foundation, (2002). long-term ecological research program: twenty-year review. retrieved january 18, 2017 from http://intranet2.lternet.edu/sites/intranet2.lternet.edu/files/ documents/lter history/review documents and reports/20_yr_review.pdf. priestley, m., biesta, g., & robinson, s. (2015). teacher agency: an ecological approach. bloomsbury publishing. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.necsi.edu/publications/dcs/index.%20html#fulltext http://www.necsi.edu/publications/dcs/index.%20html#fulltext http://intranet2.lternet.edu/sites/intranet2.lternet.edu/files/%20documents/lter%20history/review%20documents%20and%20reports/20_yr_review.pdf http://intranet2.lternet.edu/sites/intranet2.lternet.edu/files/%20documents/lter%20history/review%20documents%20and%20reports/20_yr_review.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 redman, c., grove, j., & kuby, l. (2004). integrating social science into the long-term ecological research (lter) network: social dimensions of ecological change and ecological dimensions of social change. ecosystems, 7 (2), 161-171. resor, c. (2010). place-based education: what is its place in the social studies classroom? the social studies, 101, 185-188. sallis, j. f., cervero, r. b., ascher, w., henderson, k. a., kraft, m. k., & kerr, j. (2006). an ecological approach to creating active living communities. annual review of public health, 27, 297-322. vanfossen, p. j. (2005). “reading and math take so much of the time…”: an overview of social studies instruction in elementary classrooms in indiana. theory & research in social education, 33(3), 376-403. vanfossen, p. j., & mcgrew, c. (2008). is the sky really falling?: an update on the status of social studies in the k–5 curriculum in indiana. international journal of social education, 23, 139–179. vongalis-macrow, a. (2007). re-territorialization of teachers’ multi-faceted agency in globalized education. british journal of sociology of education, 28, 425-39. woodhouse, j. l., & knapp, c. e. (2000). place-based curriculum and instruction: outdoor and environmental education approaches. eric digest. yilmaz, n. (2018). examining the effects of geography lessons taught with place based teaching to science process skills for classroom teacher candidates. journal of education and training studies, 7, 3645. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 appendix a work plan guidelines nw indiana: a fabric of culture, economics, and environmental sustainability a teacher professional development workshop iu northwest/fairfield inn, merrillville, in june 19-22, 2017 (all times are cdt) the indiana council for economic education (icee) is paying the hotel, transportation, staff, and food costs for this professional development workshop. the organizations and individuals who donate to the icee would like to know what kinds of activities related to this workshop you plan to bring into your teaching. please complete this outline indicating how you plan to use the knowledge, skills and dispositions you gain during the workshop with your students in the upcoming school year. the $100 deposit will be returned to you upon completion of a work plan. please let us know if you have any questions. work plan guidelines please describe the students with whom you expect to deliver the instruction. include the following: grade level content area the approximate number of students reached approximate dates of instruction (if you know them) please describe the concepts and academic standards you expect to cover in the instruction. please provide a summary / outline of your instructional plan. it should include a brief annotated bibliography of the resources you plan to use. you must include some examples of lessons or resources in which students learn economic concepts and/or skills. please describe the assessment you plan to use. if you expect to work in a team, please let us know with whom you plan to work. within your organization, school or district other local, regional or statewide organizations outside of your school, district or organization please list any assistance that you might require from your local center for economic education. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 please share any other details you would like others to know about your work plan. a draft work plan is due before you leave on thursday, june 22. appendix b sample lessons nw indiana: a fabric of culture, economics, and environmental sustainability teacher professional development workshop june 19-22, 2017 student population: 8th grade middle school special education students. possible collaboration with general education teachers in history, science, math, language arts and technology. dates of instruction are flexible with the expectation to use as a daily warm up discussion with ongoing critical thinking/research. concepts and standards: the effects of invasive species on your local environment 8.4.2 identify and explain the four types of economic systems (traditional, command, market, and mixed); evaluate how the characteristics of a market economy have affected the economic and labor development of the united states.  traditional economy: an economy in which resources are allocated based on custom and tradition  command economy: an economy in which resources are allocated by the government or other central authority  market economy: an economy in which resources are allocated by decisions of individuals and businesses  mixed economy: an economic system combining private and public enterprise 8.4.3 explain how federal, state, and local governments are involved in the economy of the united states. e.1.4 explain that voluntary exchange occurs when households, businesses, and governments expect to gain. e.2.4 identify factors that cause changes in market supply and demand and how these changes affect price and quantity in a competitive market. 6-8.lh.2.2: determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. 6-8.lh.6.2: use technology to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 summary of instructional plan: 1. prior knowledge and lessons in economics concepts to introduce the vocabulary (p. 29-51) from energy, economics, and the environment: case studies and teaching activities for elementary school by indiana department of education center for school improvement and performance 2006. 2. introduce the idea of invasive species as an “undesirable pest” based on lesson plans from the lake champlain maritime museum. have students make a list of undesirable pests around their home that they would like to get rid of. then determine the most effective way to rid the pest with the least amount of risk and cost. worksheets/templates are included in the lcmm website. 3. show video “above and below the waterline” which shows several aquatic invasive species and the harm they are causing to environments. 4. discuss the definition of an invasive species based on the information from the national ocean service.  invasive species damage native species, change native community structure and create serious economic problems.  invasive species threaten nearly half of the species currently protected under the endangered species act.  the cost of environmental damage, economic losses and control measures for invasive species average $138 billion per year, more than all other natural disasters combined.  natural resources increases labor resources which in turn create capital resources which are reinvested back in our community (case studies p. 8) 5. show video on wisconsin invasive species and begin discussion about eurasian milfoil in our local lakes. have students describe three problems associated with invasive species and what can be done about it. thought/discussion points: ● are lakes and fresh water a scarce resource? (p. 8) ● economic growth versus preserving the environment in its current state ● impact on fish and the local food chain? ● impact on the tourism and economy? (opportunity costs and trade offs p. 8) ● impact on property values? mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 ● impact on local jobs? ● impact on the local fresh water system? ● can it be “carried” from one body of water to the next? by people, animals, water flow? ● more weeds create more mosquitoes and foul smell ● chemical treatments versus natural treatment options ● who should pay for treatment -private, local government, federal government (cost/benefit analysis of treatment options) ● is it a problem for lakefront homeowners for the community as a whole? (property valuations and pricing, spillover p. 10) ● how should funds be raised? (incentives p. 12 6. higher level thinking options: have students use the primary source economic impact study from houghton, michigan to complete an in depth analysis of their findings of milfoil on their local economy. resources: http://www.lcmm.org/education/resource/on-water-ecology/invasive-species.html (76 page ecology educator resource with lesson plans and woksheets from the lake champlain maritime museum) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7iddwsjwku (wisconsin aquatic invasive species video) http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/classroom/lessons/06_coastal_alien.pdf (national ocean service lesson plans) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2fro0qwhi (aquatic invasive species above and below the waterline) http://www.sepro.com/documents/houg_eco_impact.pdf (economic impact study from houghton lake, michigan) energy, economics, and the environment: case studies and teaching activities for elementary school by indiana department of education center for school improvement and performance 2006. guest speaker options: local chemist from city wastewater department to discuss lake monitoring. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.lcmm.org/education/resource/on-water-ecology/invasive-species.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7iddwsjwku http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/classroom/lessons/06_coastal_alien.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2fro0qwhi http://www.sepro.com/documents/houg_eco_impact.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 local dnr officer to discuss impact of milfoil on local lakes and wildlife. local chamber of commerce director to discuss impact on tourism and economy assessment plan: assessment will be based on knowledge acquisition through daily group discussions. the end result will be to produce a final project of student choice (paper/slides/poster/brochure) or public service announcement (video) on research based findings of the negative impact of invasive species on your community and reasons to support your choice of action (no action or treatment/eradication of the species). project will be presented orally to rest of class. grading rubrics for psa: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=showrubric&rubric_id=1125164& http://teacherweb.com/tn/mcclainchristianacademy/ambercummings/public-service-announcementrubric.pdf grading rubric for project: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson961/rubric.pdf grading rubric for presentation: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/30700_rubric.pdf extra activities: tox town web games based on environmental health concerns and toxic chemicals in your local environments https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/educators.php grade level: 12th grade content area: economics standards e.1.1 define and identify each of the productive resources (natural, human, capital) and explain why each is necessary for the production of goods and services. e.1.5 define scarcity and explain how choices incur opportunity costs and tradeoffs. e.1.6 use a production possibilities curve to explain the concepts of choice, scarcity, opportunity cost, tradeoffs, unemployment, productivity, and growth. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=showrubric&rubric_id=1125164& http://teacherweb.com/tn/mcclainchristianacademy/ambercummings/public-service-announcement-rubric.pdf http://teacherweb.com/tn/mcclainchristianacademy/ambercummings/public-service-announcement-rubric.pdf http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson961/rubric.pdf http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/30700_rubric.pdf https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/educators.php journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 summary of plan this plan is designed to be utilized during a unit on scarcity and economic reasoning. this plan is a small portion of the overall unit. students will come to class having read the corresponding chapter. students will be introduced to the concept of productive resources (natural, human, capital) through the crash course economics video (#6) on productivity and growth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxn heo once this is complete we will discuss the resources needed for local establishments as well as more controversial (ex: steel mill). we will use worksheet that requires students to listen the establishments and the natural resources, human resources, and capital resources that are used. in order to complete this activity students will need to research the various establishments and gather information relevant to each resource this will be followed by discussion on why each particular resource is needed in regards to the production of goods and services made/produced by each establishment. from here we will move onto discussing scarcity, choices, tradeoffs, and opportunity costs. scarcity activity students will be introduced to scarcity through the playful economics lesson on scarcity (hands on http://www.econedlink.org/tool/398/scarcity-playful-economics-lesson-demo). this demonstration sufficiently illustrates the concept of scarcity in a way that all students can understand. choices and tradeoffs and opportunity costs since there are scarce resources we must make choices about how we use said resources. when we make a choice there is an opportunity costs and often times tradeoffs. we will go back to examples provided during the discussion on production resources and determine the tradeoffs and opportunity costs associated with each of the resources. students will break up into small groups and complete various activities focused on opportunity cost, tradeoff, and choices. students will take a virtual tour of jersey shore steel (http://www.jssteel.com/take-virtual-tour-jerseyshore-steel/) identify the concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, and tradeoff mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxnheo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxnheo journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 students will take a virtual tour of various national parks (https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/enus/national-parks-service/parks) students will have the opportunity to explore 4 different parks located across the u.s. identify the concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, and tradeoff once students have completed both activities we will come together and discuss opportunity cost, choice, and tradeoffs associated with jersey shore steel and the park that they chose. to further illustrate the concepts of choice, scarcity, opportunity costs and tradeoffs, we will use production possibilities curves/ppf we will watch acdc video on production possibilities curve (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6xl__2cdpu ) and discuss how companies that jersey shore steel can exist within the same space as a national park. to end the lesson we will review the information discussed and students will have to complete two questions. 1. why do people damage what they love? in parts of montana, british columbia, and west virginia we find some of the most beautiful mountains in north america. but we also find open-pit mines damaging the environment that most of the mine workers and mine owners love and use for their own recreation. why? (ecodetectives, lesson 4) 2. you are assistant to a mayor in a large metropolitan city. the northside of the city is forested and used recreationally by the individuals living in the city. a company is looking to expand but would need land in order to meet their needs. they have requested that you consider selling the northside land to them. the company manufacturers plastics and would add 1,000 jobs. how do you decide what to do? what recommendation do you make to the mayor? bibliography acdc economics. (2014). production possibilities curve. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6xl__2cdpu this video explains the concept of production possibility curves in an easy to understand manner. this video is helpful when discussing opportunity costs and tradeoffs. council for economic education. (2015). scarcity-playful economics, lesson demo. retrieved from http://www.econedlink.org/tool/398/scarcity-playful-economics-lesson-demo this video shows the implementation of the playful economics activity on scarcity. this activity can be modified to use legos or other building materials. mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6xl__2cdpu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6xl__2cdpu http://www.econedlink.org/tool/398/scarcity-playful-economics-lesson-demo journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110 corresponding author: chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 crash course economics. (2015). productivity and growth. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxn heo this video the factors of production by focusing on productivity and the wealth of nations. google arts and education. the hidden world of the national parks. retrieved from https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/parks this site allows students to explore a selection of national parks on a 3d tour. students can use vr headsets, ipads, or laptops to explore (headphones are required to tour). jersey shore steel. (2017). virtual tour of jersey shore steel. retrieved from http://www.jssteel.com/take-virtual-tour-jersey-shore-steel this video shows how steel is produced at jersey shore steel. and introduces students to the process. national council of economic education. (2005). economics and the environment: ecodetectives. lesson 4, visual 4.1 presents a question that requires students to think critically about why we allow companies to potential damage the spaces that we value. about the authors: chris mcgrew, ph.d. director of the center for global engagement, indiana state university, social science education instructor john conant, ph.d. director of center for economic education, chair of the department of economics, indiana state university christle miller indiana state university sandy huber laporte community school corporation, indiana mailto:chris.mcgrew@indstate.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxnheo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiuyj5ea0w&index=6&list=pl8dpuualjxtpnzwz5_o_5uirj8gqxnheo https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/parks http://www.jssteel.com/take-virtual-tour-jersey-shore-steel journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 global citizenship perceptions and practices within the international baccalaureate middle years programme andrea christoff kent state university abstract: this multi-case study investigated how teaching in an international baccalaureate (ib) middle years programme (myp) individuals and societies (i & s) classroom influenced teachers’ global citizenship (gc) perceptions and pedagogy. results demonstrate teachers were informed by their personal experiences and district expectations, utilizing a cosmopolitan global citizenship education (gce) that aligned with the ib myp philosophy. a disconnect sometimes existed as teachers’ rationales for global citizenship recognized the need for multiple perspectives and a critical view, but a reactive or proactive approach influenced instruction. this research effort furthers the discussion on the role an international education framework can have on a teacher’s pedagogy, where global citizenship education is situated in the curriculum, and what influences a teacher’s thinking and pedagogy. this can be helpful to us in understanding the role curriculum context can have in shaping a teacher’s ideas about global citizenship and how they enact those ideas. key words: global citizenship education, international baccalaureate, middle years programme, social studies, teacher perceptions, teacher practice introduction the purpose of my study was to investigate and understand how teaching in an ib myp individuals and societies (social studies in non ib schools) classroom can influence a teacher’s perceptions and global citizenship pedagogy. global citizenship education is understood as a broader view of citizenship education that looks beyond traditional nation-state borders, insisting on a shared set of human rights and democratic values for all, embracing diversity, and mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 seeking peaceful, cooperative, and equitable solutions across political boundaries (fernekes, 2016; merryfield & kasai, 2004; osler & starkey, 2010). with a preferred national view of citizenship education in the us, global citizenship education has struggled to find a place in the curriculum. however, events such as globalization have brought teaching about the world to the forefront, so it is important to examine places where it is supported. one of the providers and one which explicitly teaches for global citizenship (dill, 2013), is the international baccalaureate (ib). ib offers a curriculum framework which develops “international mindedness” in students and promotes as bill gaudelli calls, a global citizen model of “world justice and governance” (2009 p. 75 ). started in 1968, the ib has grown with over 7,000 schools internationally (ib, 2020a). it is a prek-12 framework with the middle years programme (myp) supporting grades 6-10. the number of ib schools in the u.s. has also been growing in recent years (bunnell, 2011) and today, us schools are the largest buyers of ib, with over 2,300 schools offering at least one of the programmes and over 650 of them in the myp (ib2020b). becoming an ib world school means incorporating their philosophy, especially international mindedness, into the school culture, and using the curriculum framework they created to teach for global citizenship. many schools choose ib because of its rigor and ability to improve student outcomes and preparation for college (bunnell, 2011; fox, 1998; santee siskin, weinstein, & sperling, 2010). spahn, 2001; wright, moosung, tang, & tsui, 2016). other schools choose ib because of how it supports certain affective traits, including international mindedness. although ib’s approach to curriculum and instruction has gained popularity for a variety of reasons, it has been chosen most notably to ready students for the 21st century and the demands of globalization. enthusiasm in ib schools has increased in recent years within the us, in part because of support from the us government in bringing ib into title one schools (santee siskin, weinstein, & sperling, 2010). the international education organization encourages the use of research-based best practices such as inquiry (swan, lee, & grant, 2015), backward design (wiggins & mctighe, 2005), conceptual learning (erickson, lanning, & french, 2014) and reflective practice (dewey, 1933). however, with the continued focus on accountability and standardized tests, the biggest reason schools in the u.s. tend to embrace ib is the opportunity for improving student outcomes (jones, miron, & kelaher-young, 2012; monreal, 2016; sperandio, 2010). the move to incorporate global citizenship is important because of globalization. all of us are being faced with a massive shift in the way we interact with, trade with, and communicate with people from other parts of the world. globalization has also had a tremendous impact on mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 education, our country and the world, forcing us to adjust how we live together, learn, and make decisions. this includes how we perceive what is a citizen and what citizenship means in different contexts (cogan & derricott, 2012; dill, 2013; gaudelli, 2009; myers, 2006; osler & starkey, 2003). our increasing interdependence and the advent of globalization, thornton (2005) argues, has made the need for global citizenship education a vital necessity. “global interdependence means we really don’t have a choice whether to educate for internationalism” (p. 81). the answer to globalization, by many, has been to alter how we teach for citizenship, and to purchase an international framework that effectively prepares students as global citizens. how teachers think about global citizenship, the ib, and practice global citizenship education may have a direct impact in how our students think about and respond to globalization. literature review the connections between teachers’ perceptions of their content and its pedagogy and their practice is supported in teacher education (britzman, 2003) and within citizenship education (knowles, 2018) scholarship. personally responsible citizenship has been the traditional mode of instruction in the u.s. (westheimer & kahne, 2004) and many social studies teachers align with a conservative and programmatic view of citizenship. “conservative civic education works for a social studies that promotes a sense of unified national identity and social order as well as pride and respect for constitutional republicanism and american exceptionalism” (knowles, 2018 p. 75). thus, the social studies field has struggled to move beyond traditional forms of instruction which feature the banking method (freire, 1970) and a patriotic and eurocentric focus. rapoport (2010) found teachers were hesitant to include the world in their curriculum if the community they worked in was not supportive. contributing to this unease is their biography. most social studies teachers are white and middle class, reflecting a population that has a more conservative and national approach to citizenship education. this view translates into pedagogy, creating a civic empowerment gap for students who are not white, belong to a lower social class, and are otherwise marginalized in society (hart & atkins, 2002; levinson, 2010; mcleod, shan, hess, & lee, 2010; sherrod, 2003). this also extends to global citizenship education which “removes the nationalistic filters” and “challenges assumptions of superiority and manifest destiny” (merryfield & subedi, 2006 p. 278) causing teachers, including those who teach in an ib school, to reexamine their views on citizenship and who is included in the narrative. quaynor (2015) found ib teachers who had a fixed orientation toward teaching for global citizenship were unwilling to include their students’ backgrounds into their instruction. teachers who had flexible mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 orientations were more willing to consider their students’ biographies and to include their experiences into how they learned about the world. britzman’s (2003) work with preservice teachers discovered what teachers believe and value impacts their classroom decisions. teachers are in a constant ‘struggle for voice’ meaning circumstances surrounding their biography, emotions, and the structures surrounding them in their life exert influence on their identity development and on their practice. moore’s (2017) study on ib myp teachers and their acceptance of ib supports britzman’s work on the structures surrounding teachers. without proper support and professional development, teachers are less accepting of curricular or instructional change. ib itself struggles to define its stance on global citizenship, referring to the conception as ‘international mindedness’. barrett hacking et al. (2018) found ib teachers across the globe interpreted the concept according to their own mindsets and those of the communities in which they taught. ib teachers in storz & hoffman’s (2018) study were more willing to incorporate global citizenship into their curriculum decisions with administrative support. while studies have examined the popular diploma programme and their success in teaching for global citizenship (saavedra, 2016), no studies have sought to understand how middle years programme social studies teachers think about global citizenship and practice global citizenship education. understanding these circumstances can help us understand the how and why of teacher global citizenship curriculum and instruction decisions. theoretical framework this study utilized andreotti’s (2006) soft and critical global citizenship to frame and analyze the data. soft (andreotti, 2006) and cosmopolitan (oxley & morris, 2013) global citizenship advance intercultural competence, human rights, and the idea that despite our differences, we are all in this together. critical (andreotti, 2006) global citizenship dismantle existing power structures and instead seek more equitable solutions. methods i used a multiple case study (merriam & tisdell, 2016) with three teachers from a midwest state participating. mr. davis and mr. anderson both taught 9th grade world history in an upper middle class inner ring suburban district and mrs. taylor taught 10th grade us government in a rural district. all three of the teachers had 5 or more years of experience teaching. both schools operated within k-12 ib continuum districts. all three teachers were solicited by their ib mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 coordinators and volunteered to join the study. i conducted 3 semi-structured interviews (rubin & rubin, 2012) with each of them, observed them in their classrooms, and collected documents from their lessons. the main limitation in the study was the advent of covid-19 which prevented me from finishing my observations of mrs. taylor’s class. she offset this by sharing a video of her teaching a lesson and assessment to her students online. to ensure triangulation, and to analyze the context under which these teachers may be guided in their teaching of gce, a content analysis of ib and teacher created materials (saldana, 2016) was also conducted. four ib created documents were analyzed: what is an ib education?, myp principles into practice, the individuals and societies guide, and global engagement best practices guide. the ib documents represent a summary of the organization’s position on global citizenship, from both a theoretical and practical stance. in addition, the participants offered their ib myp unit plans. the main research question was: what are the connections between what ib myp proposes for global citizenship education and how ib myp i&s teachers perceive and understand global citizenship and enact global citizenship education? findings the results of this study reflect a cross case analysis of the three teachers and the ib documents. i will discuss the findings from the documents, the teachers, then across both sources of data. a content analysis of the four ib materials showed they supported a soft (andreotti, 2006) and cosmopolitan (oxley & morris, 2016) form of global citizenship education. this aligns with andreotti’s (2006) view of soft global citizenship where a passive approach to understanding and appreciating others as the key to changing attitudes towards global cooperation and connections. this approach is meant to dissolve barriers allowing citizens to work together to improve global conditions and human rights. critical global citizenship education (andreotti, 2006), which calls on individuals to critically reflect on the legacy of colonialism, was only marginally referenced, either in specific words or references to matters of power and privilege. international mindedness (im) operated as the primary value promoted by ib (hill, 2012), and several of the intended transaction values (stake, 1967) leading to im being supported across all four documents, including intercultural understanding, student learning of a second language, and the inclusion of global contexts in the myp unit plan. however, little theoretical support was offered within the documents to structure how ib thought about international mindedness. for example, in what is an ib education international mindedness is defined as “a multifaceted and complex concept that captures a way of thinking, being, and acting that is characterized by an mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 openness to the world and a recognition of our deep interconnectedness to others” (ib, 2013, p. 2). this definition leaves room for a great amount of interpretation by each school and teacher (barrett hacking et al. 2018), but was also not adequately supported by theory within the documents. many of the references used within the four documents were presented without intext citations, or were offered at the end of documents not as references, but instead for additional reading. the teachers and ib documents were in alignment in their perceptions and understandings of a soft (andreotti, 2006) and cosmopolitan (oxley & morris, 2013) global citizenship education as all three teachers found connections within the affective traits listed in the ib learner profile. the learner profile is a set of personal standards intended to guide and shape the decisions and actions of all ib students. together, what ib myp proposed for global citizenship education and how ib myp individuals & societies teachers perceived global citizenship and practiced global citizenship education reflected a reactive or proactive approach by the teacher. in both approaches, where the teacher placed ib myp in their decision making was instrumental in how the teacher perceived and practiced education for global citizenship. results of a reactive form of global citizenship include a teacher who adheres to a transmission and dominant narrative style of teaching by working within the structures surrounding them and allowing those structures to limit their pedagogical decisions. with this stance, the teacher places ib either at the end of their pedagogical decisions, which is what mr. anderson did, or does not include them, which is what mr. davis did. this approach also aligns with the review of the ib created materials which supported the continuation of a western centered global citizenship education (andreotti, 2010) mindset and coloniality (tarc, 2012). neither of them preferred this approach, but cited institutional constraints as the reason for doing so. this finding aligns with moore’s (2017) study showing that myp teachers who viewed external regulations as a hindrance to their independent motivations were likely to comply with regulations but experienced higher levels of demoralization, resulting in a lack of dedication to the ib myp framework. a proactive form of global citizenship was used by a teacher who also worked within the structures surrounding them, but looked for and found the wiggle room (henderson, 2001), teaching a more student centered, democratic, dialogic, and at times critical form of global citizenship education. in this case, ib was placed at the front of the teacher’s decision making. mrs. taylor exemplified this approach. conversely, in moore’s (2017) study, myp teachers who were independently motivated were able to navigate external regulations, resist demoralization, and still engage in student-centered instruction. mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 all three teachers expressed an acceptance of critical global citizenship education (andreotti, 2006), but did not always translate these values into instruction, reflecting the reactive approach. in two of the cases, mr. davis and mr. anderson, a school culture of accountability and testing as well as an apathetic attitude towards ib was stronger than the teachers’ rationales (hawley, 2010). for example, although mr. anderson expressed a desire to teach from multiple perspectives in his global studies course, teaching from a western dominant narrative was the norm in his classroom (anderson field notes, march 4, 2020). in explaining this, mr. anderson said that although he had some latitude, his department and standardized tests guided many of his decisions, stating, “the curriculum has already been written and the midterm and final exam have been written.” this was not meant to suggest he agreed with the decisions, explaining, “the questions haven’t changed in a while. some are good with that, some aren’t. i’m like, guys, you could probably eliminate this” (anderson interview #3, march 12, 2020). mr. davis’ perceptions and understandings of global citizenship education also suggested he believed several pathways could lead to teaching about the world, but they were often hindered by forces inside his district and constraining his opportunities to teach the type of global citizenship education he wanted to practice. referring to the district’s standardized tests, he stated, all [administrators] are arguing about 21st-century skills they need to have is working with others. none of those tests do that. so everyone is talking out of both sides of their mouths. i’m here on the front lines saying, “i’ll do as much as i can towards this test because unfortunately it’s part of my life.” (davis interview #2, march 4, 2020) mr. anderson and davis acquiesced to their district’s testing and accountability demands and resisted the methods which supported ib myp and teaching a more critical global citizenship education. a proactive approach also had to manage administrative demands and ib philosophy; however, mrs. taylor, who exemplified this approach, still found ways to support her rationale for teaching a more critical or postcolonial global citizenship (andreotti, 2006). in her case, she had the support of her administration and was willing to place ib myp at the front of her decision making. mrs. taylor recognized the benefits of ib’s philosophy and accepted its cosmopolitan global citizenship ideals, while allowing space for criticality. she embraced these inherent tensions and possibilities by using what ib offered her through the myp unit plan to connect the content to students’ lives and to prioritize student choice and agency. explaining how she made the connections, she said: mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 you have to approach it by having them make a connection with themselves first. otherwise if you start at the global level, there becomes a disconnect because they don’t see themselves at the global level. so it’s almost like you make a connection first, when you start building. and then that’s your building block, your foundation, and then you build it to the global citizen. (taylor interview #1, february 12, 2020) in a unit on political parties, taylor provided students choices and agency in their summative assessment. she explained: once you get to the summative, it ended up them running for president, creating a platform, choosing five issues. there were five global issues, which were their choice, what they wanted to talk about. they could either focus on one issue they were passionate about or they could do a mudslinging commercial against one of their (fellow students) opponents. (taylor interview #2, march 25, 2020) giving students a choice in their learning as well as connecting the content to their lives is integral to transformative global citizenship education (banks, 2017). despite recognizing the potential ib offered her practice, mrs. taylor acknowledged that cooperation at all levels is important and that many in her district struggled to accept the international framework at first. over time this mindset had diminished. the difficulty, she said, was with administrative turnover: “they are worried about their state report card and their standards.” (taylor interview #3, april 10, 2020). what they’ve tried to do is find common ground, stating, “how can we make sure when teachers are teaching, they are teaching a key concept and they are meeting the standard?” (taylor interview #3, april 10, 2020). this has allowed both the teachers and the district feel their needs and the needs of their students were being met. district support for ib was crucial for all three of these teachers to take it seriously and to apply it to their global citizenship education pedagogy. this study also found being an educator in an ib myp school is not a guarantee rationales for teaching a critical or postcolonial (andreotti, 2006) global citizenship will translate into practice. district expectations exerted more influence. personal experiences and professional development also played a role in teachers accepting the ib philosophy and practice. for example, mr. anderson relied on his previous knowledge and experience as a financial analyst and teaching within the diploma programme to shape his beliefs about ib and the myp because he had not had any professional development with the myp. this is significant because research has shown engaging in ib professional development improves a mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 teacher’s practice and acceptance of the curriculum framework (storz & hoffman, 2018). as a teacher new to the myp, mr. davis had received no ib professional development, and instead relied on his perceptions about his district’s global practices and informal learning networks to inform his practice. mrs. taylor, on the other hand, had attended at least eight different ib professional development seminars over the last ten years, and acted as the diploma programme coordinator for her district. her knowledge and experience with ib professional development influenced her rationale and supported her student centered approach. discussion this study illustrates the continued dueling influences of personal rationales (hawley, 2010) for teaching global citizenship versus institutional structures and demands on teachers. despite working within an international school context, in two of the three cases, the teachers’ rationales for teaching global citizenship were reactive and did not overcome the pressures from their district to focus on a citizenship transmission (barr, barth, & shermis, 1978) practice. this supports quaynor’s (2015) study of ib myp teachers and their flexible vs. fixed mindsets. teaching in an international school setting does not guarantee a teacher’s rationale for global citizenship education will align with their pedagogical choices. future research is needed to analyze how a critical and postcolonial global citizenship education can be translated from rationales into instruction. the brand of global citizenship ib proposes in their documents has potential for teachers who want to teach for a critical (andreotti, 2006) global citizenship education, but first, ib must reconcile the conflicts inherent in where they place themselves in the global citizenship literature, dealing with the lack of empirical and theoretical support they offer for their conception of international mindedness. a lack of theory invites a passive approach to social justice and implicitly supports colonial structures (tarc, 2012). as the documents suggest ib’s intentions and outcomes supported a soft (andreotti, 2006) global citizenship education, research has also shown this form of global citizenship education reinforces a western hegemonic mindset and ignores the realities of globalization and the colonized world (andreotti, 2006; 2010). an element to this study, but part of the hidden curriculum, is ib’s continuing status as an elite school (bunnell, 2010; gardner-mctaggart, 2016). since its inception, ib has continued to be viewed by many as a school for select students who have money and privilege and will eventually live among many nation-states. it’s entry into us title one schools in 2003 (santee siskin, mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 weinstein, & sperling, 2010). was meant to dispel that myth, but the impression prevails. it is still unproven if ib has successfully altered its image. being an ib school carries a heavy price tag, and despite support from the federal government, financial costs are a large part of any district’s decision making. implications in this study, how teachers perceived and understood global citizenship and global citizenship education was instrumental in how they carried them out in practice (merryfield, 2000; quaynor, 2015; rapoport, 2010). teaching is a personal endeavor, and each teacher comes to their classroom with a history and approach to the world and are influenced by the structures that surround them (britzman, 2003). it is crucial for us to understand them, because it matters where a teacher places ib in their decisions. this study also speaks to the possibilities or problems in developing a teacher’s pedagogy. each of the teachers in this study showed promise in how they thought about or wanted to practice a more critical, democratic, or dialogical global citizenship education. how is this potential realized? helping teachers develop a rationale for why and how they teach for global citizenship could help. this study illustrates even teachers who teach within international schools struggle to prepare their increasingly diverse student bodies for the impacts of globalization (myers, 2006). this study also shows buying an international program is no guarantee teachers will effectively embrace the methods or philosophy. what it highlights is what has been found in other scholarship: teachers need time and professional development to think about and understand what it means to teach for global citizenship, and they need practice and support (korsmo et al., 2012; moore, 2017; storz & hoffman, 2018). they also need to understand the role globalization is having on their classrooms. ignoring this only leads to the continuation of a neocolonial approach, which ignores the diversity present in their classrooms. for social studies education, this study reflects the numerous constraints still present in our curriculum. instead, we need to also be proactive, advocating for our content, reminding decision makers what is at stake and why social studies education is so important to the continuation and flourishment of democracy (levinson, 2012). we must also wrestle with how globalization is impacting and altering the curriculum. the recent dramatic changes happening across our country have come about in part because of globalization and are highlighting the importance of effective civic action. mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 for the curriculum, this study illustrated how despite being an ib school, testing and accountability still reign in us schools (au, 2009). this mindset as well as putting neoliberal agendas at the front of our decision-making influences the system of education within the us and stops us from enacting meaningful reform. conclusion this research effort furthers discussion on the role an international education framework can have on a teacher’s pedagogy, where global citizenship education is situated in the curriculum, and what influences a teacher’s thinking and pedagogy. this study can be helpful to us in understanding the role curriculum context can have in shaping a teacher’s ideas about global citizenship and how they enact those ideas. understanding what can promote the teaching of a critical (andreotti, 2006) and democratic global citizenship education has the potential to alter the landscape of teacher education, social studies education, and global citizenship education. mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 references andreotti, v. 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(2012). how does global citizenship education construct its present? the crisis of international education. in v. andreotti & l. de souza (eds.) postcolonial perspectives on global citizenship education. new york: routledge. mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 1, 2021, pp. 103-118 corresponding author: amenger@kent.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 thornton, s. j. (2005). teaching social studies that matters: curriculum for active learning. new york: teachers college press. westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41(2), 237‒269. wiggins, g. & mctighe, j. (2005). understanding by design. alexandria, va: ascd. wright, e., moosung, l., tang, h., & tsui, g. c. p. (2016). why offer the international baccalaureate middle years programme? a comparison between schools in asia-pacific and other regions. journal of research in international education, 15(1), 3‒17. about the author: andrea christoff recently obtained her ph.d. in curriculum and instruction from kent state university after teaching middle school social studies for nine years. her research centers on global citizenship education and teacher identity development. mailto:amenger@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, p. 1 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: my twitter feed these days is a mixture of pictures: horrible scenes of death and destruction from ukraine’s bucha, mariupol, or odessa, where my family must hide in shelters during hours-long air-raids; horrible scenes of russian police forcibly dissolving crowds in st. petersburg, where my friends and former colleagues protest against putin’s war; and no-less-horrible scenes from some russian schools, where teachers have students draw the letter z, a new russian swastika, and recite poems glorifying the war in the neighboring country. or this one: a 55-year-old teacher from the russian city of penza was detained by police after two students recorded her and turned her in for making anti-war comments; she faces 10 years of prison time. this is what happens when civic/citizenship education is substituted with brainwashing and the militarization of consciousness. for more than two decades, one of the foci of the russian government has been military propaganda and mass mobilization campaigns thinly disguised as patriotic “education.” in 2001, putin’s government passed a state program, patriotic education of citizens of the russian federation, which has been renewed several times. using soviet-era terminology, the 2003 conception of patriotic education pointed out that military-patriotic education, the purpose of which is preparation for military service, is an inseparable part of patriotic education. this was followed by attacks on history education and successful attempts to cleanse national history that turned it into a powerful ideological tool. in june 2007, vladimir putin condemned the history textbooks, accusing them of falsifying history. he called texts about world war ii that included criticism of the political or military actions of the ussr inadmissible and insulting. the mythology preservation campaign logically continued in may 2009, when a presidential commission “to oppose attempts to falsify history to the detriment of russia’s history” was formed. as a result, only a couple of officially approved history textbooks with similar uncritical and glorifying interpretations of historical events are allowed to be used in schools. what happened to history education and citizenship education in russia should be a lesson to everyone. and a reminder to those who forgot – on november 2, 2020, on the eve of election day, donald trump signed an executive order that created a commission to promote patriotic “education” to combat critical views of american history. sapienti sat! anatoli rapoport mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 1, 2022, p. 1 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 210 lights, camera, student voice: using technology to address and explore economics within the c3 framework jennie m. carr bridgewater college john kruggel james madison university abstract: instructional technology has been found to have a positive impact on many aspects of the academic experience, including student engagement, interest, student voice, and achievement. the aim of this study was to explore an elementary teacher’s perceptions of the use of flipgrid when teaching economics concepts using the c3 framework. a qualitative methods approach was used to interview an elementary teacher to answer the following research questions on teaching economics in the elementary setting: 1) how does flipgrid promote student voice? 2) how does flipgrid assist teachers instructionally? 3) how does flipgrid impact student engagement and student learning? the findings indicate that when teaching economics in an elementary setting, flipgrid promotes student voice and positively impacts student engagement and learning. second, flipgrid’s intuitive platform was easy for both students and teachers to use. key words: economics education, c3 framework, 5cs, instructional technology, flipgrid introduction 3..2..1… recording! this countdown displays on 20 2nd-graders’ ipads during an economics social studies unit. the use of instructional technology has been found to have a positive impact on student engagement and achievement. throughout this project, each 2nd grade student used flipgrid to video record and express their daily personal understanding of economic concepts and vocabulary. mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 211 flipgrid flipgrid is a free social learning platform designed to promote student learning, motivation, and engagement. in using flipgrid, students respond by video to a teacher’s discussion-based prompts. utilized by over 10,000 teachers, flipgrid’s platform works with any internet-enabled device with a camera. a signature feature of the flipgrid platform is the video response. flipgrid promotes discussion and engagement by giving every student the opportunity to explain their understanding of the content. a distinctive feature of flipgrid is social interaction through stickers, giphys, and emojis. after the student submission, the teacher reviews video responses to gauge student understanding while visually seeing facial expressions and hearing voice intonation. research is limited on the interactive tool, so this project seeks to fill the gaps. reported strengths of flipgrid include access, convenience, participation, appeal, formative feedback, tracking, and compatibility. reported potential barriers include confidence, impression management, equipment, and competitiveness (stoszkowski, 2018). economics education young children often have misconceptions about economics, and many teachers report feeling uncomfortable teaching economics content. thus, they resort to implementing traditional learning exercises (schug, 1994). unfortunately, students may quickly become disengaged when economics instruction is limited to reading textbooks and responding to worksheets. instead, it is recommended that teachers integrate real-life experience-based exercises that provide students with ample opportunities to explore and practice economics content (kourilsky, 1987; laney, 1993). providing elementary students with a foundational understanding of economics (including financial literacy) can generate significant life-altering benefits (lusardi, 2015; white, mistry, & chow, 2013). in recent years, state curriculum writers have increasingly integrated economics, and all 50 states now include economics in k-12 standards (council for economic education, 2018). there is a clear recent recognition of the importance and benefits of economics education, but elementary teachers nationwide are facing challenges in social studies education such as reduced instructional time, heightened pressure from high-stakes testing, and limited resources. this puts teachers in a predicament. so, when teaching economics, how can teachers implement quality resources that strengthen student learning, motivation, and engagement? the answer to these questions began months prior to the economics flipgrid project. the purpose of this project was to identify teacher perceptions of using experience-based exercises mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 212 with flipgrid for teaching economics in a diverse elementary setting. this four-day project took place in an accredited public school classroom in the mid-atlantic region of the united states. the researchers designed four flipgrid resources including student facilitation guides aligned to 2nd grade curriculum on scarcity, goods and services, bartering, and resources as demonstrated in figure 1. each economics lesson was approximately 30-45 minutes in length. the students’ flipgrid video submission served as the formative assessment for each lesson. during an electronic interview, one 2nd grade teacher participant reflected on her experiences utilizing flipgrid as a pedagogical tool specifically used to learn about state economics standards. this project focused on national council for the social studies (2010) curriculum standard theme 7: production, distribution, and consumption. the reflections of this project serve as qualitative data for the purpose of this article. figure 1. examples of flipgrid facilitation guides mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 213 c3 framework application the use of flipgrid to teach economics pairs well with the c3 framework for social studies education. the c3 framework inquiry arc is “a set of interlocking and mutually reinforcing ideas that feature the four dimensions of informed inquiry in social studies” (national council for the social studies, 2013). using flipgrid as a method for teaching economics provides teachers with an easy means for satisfying each of the four dimensions while simultaneously offering experience-based learning. dimension 1: developing questions and planning inquiries. flipgrid provides a platform for teachers to engage students and help students create useful questions. the flipgrid platform gives students the opportunity to strengthen their voice by using a familiar recording process. dimension 2: connections to disciplinary tools and concepts. the c3 framework encourages students to identify concepts as well as describe, evaluate, explain, and analyze how concepts are connected to each other. flipgrid provides a platform for students to express their thoughts in an entertaining and impactful manner. dimension 3: evaluating sources using evidence. flipgrid gives students the freedom to make supporting arguments without the fear that sometimes accompanies speaking in front of peers. with secure privacy settings, teachers can create locked grids so only the student and teacher can view, which may encourage students to respond more freely. using attachments, teachers can also present evidence to enhance the learning experience. dimension 4: communicating conclusions and taking informed action. the recordings in flipgrid provide students with the opportunity to freely and creatively communicate their conclusions while providing a convenient means of formative assessment for teachers. dimension 1: developing and planning inquiries dimension 2: applying disciplinary tools and concepts dimension 3: evaluating sources and using evidence dimension 4: communicating conclusions and taking informed actions activities and subject areas class discussions civics, economics, history, geography gathering and evaluating sources; developing claims reflecting on the process and reporting results table 1. c3 framework mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 214 student learning one of the primary goals of a teacher is to assist and support students’ learning and development. as federal and state governments continue to push curricular standards, there has been increased emphasis nationwide on the 5cs life skills: communication, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and citizenship. when using flipgrid, students have the opportunity to practice and build upon these critical life skills. this is unlike a traditional learning exercise in which a teacher asks a question and one or two students respond. with flipgrid, every student has the opportunity to communicate and respond to the activity. thus, there is greater opportunity for experience-based student learning and stronger documentation of student learning for the teacher. according to the teacher participant, “flipgrid allowed my students to put the economic terms that they used into their own words,” thereby emphasizing each student’s communication skills. the student’s ability to restate academic vocabulary in their own words is part of the six steps to effectively teaching vocabulary (marzano, 2009). this strategy is effective for any grade level and content area. building a strong vocabulary requires learning a multitude of words, which can be challenging for students (graves, schneider, & ringstaff, 2018). particularly, students who are learning english as a second or third language in the elementary setting benefit from interdisciplinary teaching and balanced instruction when they learn english and economic content simultaneously (rodriguez-valls, 2012). the researchers found this as well; the teacher participant explained, “flipgrid has been wonderful for my ell learners! they are often hesitant to speak up in class and sometimes require longer think time... flipgrid allows them the time to prepare and… it is more comfortable to create a video than it is to speak on the spot in public.” a teacher’s instructional choices can promote a safe and supportive classroom environment where students feel comfortable. students are better able to focus on their learning and are more willing to take academic risks (guzman-ingram, 2017). using flipgrid to teach economics increases a student’s exposure to economics education without overwhelming the teacher participant’s valuable lesson planning and preparation time. the teacher participant noted, “it was great because the prep was pretty minimal, and once they finished, there weren’t any papers to collect, and then students stayed engaged by watching and commenting on their classmate’s videos,” providing the opportunity to practice their citizenship skills. the researchers found that technology like flipgrid complements the c3 framework by giving students the experience of voicing their understanding when recording their responses. mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 215 the teacher participant echoed these sentiments when discussing assessing student comprehension for the economics lessons: in the past, i have done multiple-choice assessments in order to check for understanding. this was a quick yes or no grade. they chose an answer and it was right or wrong. when using flipgrid, i was able to listen to each student explain their thought process and see what made sense and what they were still confused with. this made it a lot easier to go back and remediate with students because i knew exactly what they were thinking. the built-in assessment of flipgrid provides a formative assessment, and the creative social features maintain student attention and responsiveness. figure 2. student using flipgrid student engagement the loss of instructional time due to off-task behavior is clearly recognized by the field, and teachers at all levels are concerned about decreasing levels of student engagement (godwin et al., 2016). student engagement is pivotal in the classroom for teachers and students. using flipgrid to provide information to students and gauge their level of understanding provides teachers with a method for maintaining students’ attention. teachers frequently grumble about distracted students and seek avenues to keep students on task (barshay, 2018). as the teacher participant reflected, the students are “more engaged when they get to make a [flipgrid] video mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 216 over something else.” having previously used posters or presentations to teach economics, she continued, “these were good, but students often mumble, ramble, or get nervous. i think [when using flipgrid] the students were more confident.” flipgrid encourages student involvement and engagement through the use of social media formatting for student video recording as well as additional stickers, giphys, emojis and other graphic features. as the teacher participant noted, “my students love to make their videos unique... they love to show off their creativity! [and] pretend to be a famous youtube star.” the researchers observed that students were actively engaged and highly energetic when creating videos and viewing their classmates’ responses. in addition, students practiced their collaboration skills by assisting their classmates in taping using creative video angles and integrating fun stickers. using intrinsic interest is one way to engage students; if an activity is seen as intrinsically valuable to the students, it can enhance levels of motivation and engagement (augustyniak et al., 2016). it is significant to teachers that “what a student finds interesting often depends not simply upon the subjects of topics but upon the way the topics are presented” (newmann, 1989, p. 35). in this project, by differentiating through student interest in technology and interpersonal learning with flipgrid, the participating teacher reported students’ excitement to explain their bartering experiences using flipgrid. student interest is further enhanced when the learning task affords students a diverse form of talent and expression (gardner, 2000). when using flipgrid, students can pretend to be a famous youtuber or newscaster, explain their response using illustrations, or write a response and simply read it. flipgrid is highly versatile in allowing students to demonstrate content in a manner that supports their learning preferences. table 2 highlights reasons to utilize fliprgrid when teaching economics. promotes student voice x engages and motivates students x promotes digital citizenship x instructional tool for ell x critical thinking and problem solving x mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 217 deeper understanding of economic concepts x saves time x ability to differentiate and remediate x ingrates the c3 inquiry arc x table 2. reasons to use flipgrid to teach economics conclusion simply using flipgrid will not guarantee the results indicated in this article. chen, star, dede and tutwiler (2018) caution that there are more factors to consider prior to integrating technology that claims to engage, motivate, and enhance student learning. teachers should use professional judgement and their knowledge of individual and collective student needs prior to implementing any instructional or technological tool. the researchers found that attempting to use flipgrid in whole class instruction presented minor hurdles. flipgrid is not ideally suited for large groups or even several small groups. the engaging nature of this technology loses out to the cacophony of noise that is created when the whole class is recording at once. according to the teacher participant, “it is almost better to use flipgrid as a station.” the use of stations and small group instruction has repeatedly been found to increase student comprehension, engagement, and motivation, and could be implemented to teach economics (barshay, 2018; newmann, 1989; strong, amendum, & conradi smith, 2018). through this project, 2nd graders were able to voice their understanding of economics content. as they planned their responses, recorded, and watched their videos with their classmates, the 2nd graders engaged in meaningful learning. the teacher participant agreed and said that flipgrid is a “simple way for kids to share their ideas, as well as what they have learned. most of my students prefer sharing their ideas orally instead of writing. flipgrid allows them to share openly and with more description.” we encourage you to consider utilizing flipgrid as an instructional tool to support your students in their learning, interest, and engagement with economic concepts. mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 218 acknowledgments we would like to thank mrs. courtney french at mountain view elementary school with rockingham county public schools in harrisonburg, va, for her participation in this project. references: akinwale, a. r. (2013). yoruba traditional education system: a veritable tool for salvaging the crisis laden education system in nigeria. academic journal of interdisciplinary studies, 2(6), 141-145. augustyniak, r. a., ables, a. z., guilford, p., lujan, h. l., cortright, r. n., & dicarlo, s. e. (2016). intrinsic motivation: an overlooked component for student success. advances in physiology education, 40(4), 465-466. doi:10.1152/advan.00072.2016 bashay, j. (2018). teachers often ask youngsters to learn in ways that exceed even adult-sized attention spans. the hechinger report. retrieved from https://hechingerreport.org/ teachers-often-ask-youngsters-learn-ways-exceed-even-adult-sized-attention-spans/ chen, j. a., star, j. r., dede, c., & tutwiler, m. s. (2018). technology-rich activities: one type does not motivate all. contemporary educational psychology, 54, 153-170. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.06.011 gardner, h. (2000). intelligence reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. new york, ny: basic books. godwin, k. e., almeda, m. v., seltman, h., kai, s., skerbetz, m. d., baker, r. s., & fisher, a. v. (2016). off-task behavior in elementary school children. learning and instruction, 44, 128143. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.04.003 graves, m. f., schneider, s., & ringstaff, c. (2018). empowering students with word-learning strategies: teach a child to fish. reading teacher, 71(5), 533-543. https://doi-org. ezproxy. liberty.edu/10.1002/trtr.1644 guzman-ingram, l. (2017, september 14). a classroom full of risk takers. edutopia. retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/classroom-full-risk-takers kourilsky, m. l. (1987). children's learning of economics: the imperative and the hurdles. theory into practice, 26(3), 198-205. doi:10.1080/00405848709543274 mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://hechingerreport.org/%20teachers-often-ask-youngsters-learn-ways-exceed-even-adult-sized-attention-spans/ https://hechingerreport.org/%20teachers-often-ask-youngsters-learn-ways-exceed-even-adult-sized-attention-spans/ https://www.edutopia.org/article/classroom-full-risk-takers journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 219 laney, j. d. (1993). experiential versus experience-based learning and instruction. journal of educational research, 86(4), 228-236. lusardi, a. (2015). financial literacy skills for the 21st century: evidence from pisa. journal of consumer affairs, 49(3), 639-659. marzano, r. j. (2009). the art of science of teaching: six better steps to better vocabulary instruction. educational leadership, 67(1), 83-84. national council for the social studies. (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning, and assessment summary. retrieved from www.socialstudies.org/standards national council for the social studies. (2013). college, career and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. retrieved from https://www.socialstudies.org/c3 newmann, f. m. (1989). student engagement and high school reform. educational leadership, 46(5), 34-36. retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://searchproquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/224857484?accountid=12085 rodriguez-valls, f. (2012). interdisciplinary teaching in elementary schools: educating english language learner (ell) students with multidimensional practices. education 3-13, 40(2), 159-171. doi:10.1080/03004279.2010.501034 rupp, n. g. (2014). teaching economics with a bag of chocolate: a classroom experiment for elementary school students. international review of economics education, 16, 122-128. doi:10.1016/j.iree.2014.04.001 schug, m. c. (1994). how children learn economics. international journal of social studies education, 8(3), 25-34. stoszkowski, j. (2018). using flipgrid to develop social learning. compass: journal of learning and teaching, 11(2). doi:10.21100/compass.v11i2.786 strong, j. z., amendum, s. j., & conradi smith, k. (2018). supporting elementary students’ reading of difficult texts. the reading teacher, 72(2), 201-212. doi:10.1002/trtr.1702 white, e. s., mistry, r. s., & chow, k. a. (2013). how do teachers talk about economic inequality? the complexity of teaching at a socioeconomically integrated elementary mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.socialstudies.org/c3 http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquesthttp://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquestjournal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 210-220 corresponding author: jcarr@bridgewater.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 220 school. analyses of social issues & public policy, 13(1), 370-394. https://doiorg.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1111/asap.120 about the authors: jennie m. carr associate professor of education, elementary education program coordinator at bridgewater college, virginia. john kruggel associate director of the center for economics education, james madison university mailto:jcarr@bridgewater.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 use of current events in teacher education talip öztürk ordu university, turkey erhan yaylak ordu university, turkey filiz zayimoğlu öztürk ordu university, turkey abstract: the aim of the research is to investigate preservice teachers’ views about the inclusion of current events into teaching plans in the social studies teaching course included in an undergraduate elementary education program. the participants of the study were 53 preservice teachers in the social studies teaching course in the third year of the elementary education program. as a data collection tool, the opinion form about current events with nine open-ended questions was used. the study demonstrated that some preservice teachers who had not used current events before, thought the use of current events was beneficial in many areas from skill development to awareness development, and that appropriate topics included political, social, and economic topics, historical and military developments. the results showed that the most appropriate level for the use of current events is third and fourth grade, and the participants considered addressing current events at the beginning of lessons. the study also demonstrated the importance of the use of current events in teacher education for raising active democratic citizens. key words: civic engagement, current events, social studies, teacher education mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 introduction the duty of democratic and effective citizenship is a difficult process requiring active participation by individuals (worku, 2018). an educated population in relation to political and social topics is a basic component of this process; however, the citizenship knowledge levels and civic engagement rates of young adults are reducing every day (van camp & baugh, 2016). research about the electorate behavior of young people in the u.s., europe, and canada show that there are reductions in interest in politics among young people at increasing rates (bristow, 2004; milan, 2005). other research states that there was a continuous fall in voting participation among young adults from 18-29 years of age in the u.s. from 1972 to 2014 (center for information on civic learning). in turkey, a survey study of university students identified that 79% of young adults stated that they are not interest in politics (çavuşoğlu & pekkaya, 2016). as the 18thcentury philosopher rousseau proposed, civic apathy may result in the loss of democracy and the moral and social collapse of states (coley & sum, 2012). the decrease in civic participation has been reduced to the smallest degree due to the 20th century model of representative democracy (akın et al., 2016). in modern societies, civic participation should not be limited to voting conduct, and other civic engagement activities need to be encouraged (doğanay et al., 2007). true civic engagement goes beyond apolitical citizen interaction and actively encourages ways of democratic skill-building. university students should be prepared to be active citizens, but as a matter of fact, universities do not practice the idea of civic engagement in their environments at the expected level (smith & fritschler, 2009). there is empirical evidence that higher education influences the political participation of students (finley, 2011). on the other hand, individual student participation has not been seen enough in recent years, as it does not guarantee the institution's dedication to civic engagement (akın et al., 2016). studies have shown that the levels of political participation among young people are much lower than ideal (downs, 2012; sloam, 2014). çavuşoğlu and pekkaya (2016) confirmed that the situation is the same in turkey. the international youth foundation (2017) also stated that turkey has a lower level civic participation. the acquisition of civic engagement for teacher candidates through universities emerges as an important issue at this time. including the use of current events in educational environments is one of these mechanisms. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 literature review the use of current events in education, meaning integration of important events affecting society in the recent period, has a history of nearly 100 years (atkinson, 1903). in the literature, there is clear consensus about the importance of using current events in lessons, with researchers stubbornly emphasizing the importance of the use of current events in citizenship education (morrison, 2015). following and analyzing current events is one of the most important elements for the development of upper-level thinking skills at the local and sometimes global level. the ability to accurately read current events is required for everyone in society to have high conceptual levels related to important local, regional, national, and international events (ediger, 2001). although it is said that perceptually current events may appear to be topics of interest to more mature students and adults (haas & laughlin, 2000), findings obtained by mccullough (2006) show a connection between current events and student participation. in order to use current events in education, a precondition is that there are teachers fully trained in this who have adopted the use of current events. current events may be used by teachers for analysis and interpretation of news as reported in the media and may be used as tools for achieving the curriculum targets (martorella, 2001). current events may be used in teaching by articulating them to the curriculum. research in the u.s. showed that a curriculum designed to include newspapers in lesson plans was successful in increasing student interest in current events (holt, 1990). research based on activities where students regularly recorded current events in diaries stated that the majority of students very much enjoyed current event analysis (bahmani, 2016); the reason may be that when students share what they have learned about current events and analyze these events with their classmates, it significantly contributes to learning by involving productive and developmental discussions (hughes et al., 1997). current events in citizenship education and social studies when the features of current event use are investigated, this method is related most to citizenship education, while citizenship education is given within the scope of the social studies lesson in a general sense. one of the general aims of social studies lessons is to cultivate citizens who inquire and question and have adopted universal values (hablemitoğlu & özmete, 2012). social studies lessons use current events to understand the background of contemporary social mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 problems (pomykalski, 2015). activities that use current events in social studies lessons will ensure that topics are concretized for students and contribute to permanent learning. research findings by baugh and van camp (2015) showed that increases were experienced in the citizenship information perceived by students and that they paid more attention to social topics as a result of current event use. social studies teachers, responsible for raising students conscious of and sensitive to current events, use different resources in different periods and must bring current events to the classroom using a variety of methods and techniques (deveci, 2007). literature screening did not encounter any studies performed related to the application of current events within the scope of the social studies teaching lesson. from this aspect, the research was constructed as an application and it is considered that it will contribute to the literature in the sense of assessing opinions related to this implementation. in line with this, to cultivate qualified teachers at the expected level, it appears important to perform studies analyzing participant opinions related to current event implementation. the purpose of this study is to obtain student opinions about the use of current events integrated into the curriculum in one of the elementary education undergraduate program lessons of social studies teaching. for this reason, the main question of this research is: “what are the opinions of third-year preservice teachers in the elementary education department regarding the use of current events applied in the social studies teaching lesson?” method research model this research was completed within the framework of qualitative research methods. qualitative research involves using explanatory and inductive methods with the aim of revealing meaning from the perspective of participants (miles & huberman, 1994). in line with the aim of the research, the phenomenology pattern from qualitative research patterns was chosen to reveal opinions of preservice teachers regarding the use of current events in the social studies teaching lesson. study group the research used the targeted sampling method, in which the researcher uses their own judgement based on data obtained about the topic to choose the study group. thus, the most appropriate participants at the point of reflecting the aims of the research are included in the mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 sample (balcı, 2018). participants in the study comprised a total of 53 preservice teachers taking the social studies teaching lesson in their third year in the elementary education department in the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. participants were informed about the research in the first lesson and signed informed voluntary participation consent forms. participation was fully voluntary and all students were guaranteed that the implementation would have no effect on their grades. in line with this, all students who registered for the lesson accepted participation in the study. the participants were registered at the university by a central examination and placement system in turkey. the vast majority of teachers were ages 20-21, graduated from public high schools before coming to the university, and came from middle-income families. most of them aimed to be appointed as teachers in primary schools in different parts of the country, and a small number targeted different business sectors after graduation. the participants were suitable to the nature of the study on the use of current events. research procedure stages in this research, permission was granted by the social science and humanities research ethics committee of the university connected to the researchers. the researchers constructed the study based on additional teaching, the first current event teaching method. according to this method, current events were added to the curriculum for the social studies teaching lesson where the implementation would be performed. without requiring resources from students, each week they were requested to attend lessons monitoring current events occurring during that week. each week at the start of lessons, students were given five questions about random topics determined by the lecturer. responses were collected and recorded by the lecturer. data collection tools the data collection form used in the study was prepared by the researcher. the “current event use opinion form” comprising nine open-ended questions was used as a data collection device. a draft form comprising 12 questions was investigated by three experts separate from the research and the form was revised to its final version in line with recommendations. questions on this form were prepared with the aim of reflecting and making assessments about the use of current events implemented in the initial stages of each lesson during the spring semester. analysis of data mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 data obtained in the research were analyzed with the content analysis method. the procedure stages for content analysis in qualitative research are represented by preparation and organization of data, coding of data, reduction to themes associated with codes, presentation of findings, and interpretation (creswell, 2012). a code in qualitative research is mainly a word or short expression assigned as an attribute that summarizes, is noteworthy, gist-catching, and/or stimulating for a section of the language-based or visual data (saldaña, 2016). this procedure was followed by the researcher in the data analysis process. in the data preparation stage, the opinion forms collected from participants were investigated and classified by three expert lecturers; each lecturer analyzed the data at different times using the maxqda 2020 qualitative data analysis program. themes were initially determined according to question, with the themes and codes belonging to each question analyzed and interpreted in a suitable way for the aims of the research. sample statements presented in the findings are given using the pt (preservice teacher) nickname and numbers. different methods were used with the aim of ensuring validity and reliability for the data obtained in the research. researcher reliability was used to ensure reliability of content analysis in the study. for this reason, all data were coded independently by the researchers and the codes were compared. in this way, the reliability value was found to be nearly 91%. validity in qualitative research may be provided by data diversity, detailed explanation of the study group features, detailed reporting of data, and quoting from the data (creswell, 2014; johnson & christensen, 2014). for this reason, the student statements on which codes are based, code network, code matrix, and frequency of statements by preservice teachers are presented as figures. additionally, data codes are openly and clearly stated during the presentation of findings and supported by direct quotations in an attempt to increase the validity and reliability of the study. findings findings obtained from semi-structured interviews using previously determined codes were analyzed at the theme, code, and subcode level and presented visually. in order to better understand the figures presenting the research findings, explanations of visual symbols are given in table 1. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 table 1 expressions used for data visualization symbol indicating significant whole created by categories symbol indicating participant statements symbol indicating structures created by gathering codes symbol indicating formation of category, code, or subcodes together (strong) symbol indicating participant opinions comprising subcodes alone or combined symbol indicating formation of category, code, or subcodes together (weak) symbol for codes with subcodes symbol indicating category or code with subcodes encountering use of current events preservice teachers were asked whether or not they had encountered the use of current events in lessons during their educational lives and, if they had, at which class level they had encountered current event use. the data analyzed using the max-map co-occurrence model are given in figure 1. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 figure 1 opinions about encountering the use of current events the majority of preservice teachers encountered current event use for the first time within the scope of the implementation, while others had encountered current event use at different educational levels. based on the opinions of the preservice teachers, the use of current events was generally applied in social studies lessons. for example, sample statements from preservice teachers who encountered current event use in life science, social studies, and traffic lessons at the primary school level are as follows: i was introduced to current event use in lessons in primary school life science lessons. our teacher gave the example of the 17 august 1999 earthquake, which had occurred recently as an example of an earthquake in the topic of natural disasters in the life science lesson. later, we benefitted from current events in social studies lessons. (pt5) the statements of preservice teachers who encountered current event use in social studies lessons only at the middle school level included: yes, i encountered this topic in my previous experience. i encountered it in an 8th grade social studies lesson and now within the scope of the social studies teaching lesson in university. (pt31) mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 preservice teachers stated that they encountered the use of current events in history and geography lessons at the high school level. an example statement for this topic includes: i encountered it about earthquakes in geography lessons in high school. the van earthquake occurred in that period, and i was studying in van. in this way, the current event was transferred to the lesson, and we studied the topic of earthquakes. (pt3) in addition to preservice teachers stating that they had encountered the use of current events in history lessons at the university education level (pt1), one preservice teacher stated the opinion before coming to university (pt2). participants mainly stated that they encountered the use of current events for the first time in the social studies teaching lesson within the scope of the research. a preservice teacher used the following statement in relation to this situation: “i encountered it in a real sense in university. in fact, we can say i saw it in the social studies teaching lesson“ (pt33). however, preservice teachers stated that they remembered the use of events on the agenda, natural events, newspaper and news, etc., in relation to the use of current events in lessons. advantages of use of current events during interviews, preservice teachers were asked a question related to the advantages of current event use in lessons. data obtained about opinions were analyzed, and the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 2. figure 2 opinions about advantages of current event use mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 the preservice teachers stated that there were advantages for topics like following developments/creating awareness mainly, followed by acquiring skills, raising conscious and sensitive citizens, use in real life, making the teaching process active and entertaining, recalling knowledge, development of general culture and repeated events, etc. due to the use of current events, preservice teachers began to follow national and world news every day, as well as news related to the economy, politics, and general topics. they stated that following the agenda developed general culture and, additionally, the use of current events made lessons more active and entertaining. a sample statement from a participant about these topics is as follows: “it ensured we were aware of the agenda. it increased our knowledhe. it ensured lessons were more entertaining. both the lecturer and student were active” (pt7). preservice teachers also stated that they gained skills like researching, creative thinking, selfexpression/interpretation, critical thinking, and self-confidence with the process of using current events. a sample statement from a preservice teacher is as follows: “i think it definitely increased permanence in memory. the effect of the topic was increased and the student’s desire to research and curiosity was stimulated” (pt29). participants generally stated that they gained a variety of skills such as more closely following the agenda in the country and the world, being a conscious citizen, and awareness of events. limitations of use of current events the third theme within the scope of the research obtained opinions of preservice teachers regarding limitations to the use of current events. data were analyzed, and the max-maps cooccurrence model is given in figure 3. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 figure 3 opinions about limitations of use of current events the probable topics causing the greatest problems in using current events in turkey were political, religious, and national topics. in any community, there may be individuals with different political opinions, nationalities, beliefs, and belonging to different sects within the same faith. in schools, which are organizations reflecting the structure of society in large part, teachers should be objective to contribute to individual development in a positive sense. when using current events, care should be taken about the cultural, political, and belief structures of the students, the location of employment, and the use of some concepts when selecting topics. an opinion of a preservice teacher about this topic is as follows: it is necessary to take care with topics with political content. though our aim is to communicate current events with these types of topics, people may speak their own interpretations when talking. it is necessary to be objective about every topic; however, people may make inferences even from a single word. when giving current events care, should be taken with the sentences used. (pt1) in addition to this situation, topics selected as current events and the duration spent should be meaningful for students and they should respond. another element encountered requiring attention from the educator is the degree to which these current events affect the student. a preservice teacher made the following statement about this situation: firstly, care should be taken of timing, and the content of the topic in the current event encountered will be important. the opinions of students about the situation should be considered. (pt28) mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 general limitations emerging about the topic of using current events can be said to be the selection of current event topics by teachers for lessons, the duration spent on the topic, use of concepts, attention to the students’ interpretation and negative effects on students, the teacher knowing the cultural structure of their location of employment, etc. suitable topics for use as current events opinions of preservice teachers about which topics are more suitable for use as current events were analyzed. the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 4. figure 4 opinions about topics suitable for use as current events it appears that mainly topics about politics, economy, history, and military developments were observed. based on the strategic location of turkey, it is natural that preservice teachers want to use these topics as current events. in the opinion of a preservice teacher about topics suitable for current event use: without regard to different topics, politics, history, etc., all topics are currently important. for example, the dollar/euro exchange rate is continuously changing. just as we can’t get it by saying two years ago it was 2.5 lira, two years ago we may not have had the same relationship with our allies. we should know this as a duty of citizenship. (pt13) mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 turkey is a country where natural disasters are frequently experienced, led by earthquakes, landslides, floods, erosion, etc. during the teaching process, teachers frequently teach natural disaster topics. in addition to natural disasters, national days, and holidays, scientific and technological developments in our country and the world can be said to be topics used as current events not just by teachers in the social science area but by other branch teachers. an opinion of a preservice teacher about this situation is as follows: “i think the use of political, economic and geographical changes in our country and developing technology in the world are important” (pt2). in line with the opinions of preservice teachers, apart from these topics for use as current events, museums and museum trips, health, school and daily life, media, communication, and news topics were chosen for use less often. class level required for use of current events preservice teacher opinions about which class level is most appropriate for the use of current events were analyzed. the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 5. figure 5. opinions about appropriate class level for use of current events mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 preservice teachers participating in the research expressed a large variety of opinions about the reasons for using current events according to class level. preservice teachers who thought that current events could begin to be used in second grade accepted that students’ reading and writing was a preparation for learning; however, some preservice teachers stated that this was not sufficient. in the opinion of a preservice teacher: “it will be good after they learn to read and write in first grade. because both reading-writing will progress, and they will know the world is not just their neighborhood” (pt33). with the thought that students who knew how to read and write could conceptualize some topics, they stated that the use of current events would be more appropriate in the thirdand fourth-grade level. additionally, they emphasized that students should be able to use technology and follow the agenda. in the opinion of a preservice teacher: i think current events are more suitable for 3rd and 4th grade. because children in 1st and 2nd grade may not understand. because children in that period think concretely, they cannot think abstractly and may not be able to understand. (pt7) there were participants stating the need to apply current events at the primary school level in a general sense due to reasons such as creating awareness among students from a young age and gaining basic life skills, choosing local topics in line with the proximity to distance principle. the opinion of a preservice teacher is as follows: i think it should be applied from 1st grade to 4th grade. we give more importance to reading and writing in 1st grade. they acquire basic skills and additionally life skills, in other words critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, and analytic thinking skills are skills that should be given with basic skills. these skills can be acquired with current events. for this reason, i think it can begin in at least the second semester of 1st grade. (pt3) on the other hand, some preservice teachers thought it was appropriate to use current events at the middle school level based on the idea that students at that level may be able to conceptualize some topics better than at the primary school level. in the opinion of a preservice teacher: in middle school, it will be right to apply current events in an appropriate way for that level. primary school children may have difficulty with perception. it’s not appropriate for the age level. they may not be able to give meaning to events. (pt15) mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 as class level increases, it was observed that the reason for using current events changed. preservice teachers stated that the ideas of students mature and that they are on the way to becoming more conscious citizens. it appeared that the number of preservice teachers stating that current events should be used in general without mentioning class level was low. contribution of use of current events to learning the opinions of preservice teachers about the contribution of the use of current events to learning were analyzed. the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 6. figure 6 opinions about contribution of use of current events to learning the preservice teachers participating in the research mainly adopted views that the use of current events ensured permanent and active learning by students and increased motivation. fewer preservice teachers appeared to accept that it eased student learning, that they listened more carefully and effectively in lessons, and that it encouraged questioning of information and research. the opinion of a preservice teacher about this topic is as follows: “as it will ensure learning is more permanent, it will positively affect student success in lessons and thus increase their interest in the lesson” (pt16). thoughts about the use of current events in the profession mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 preservice teacher opinions about using current events when they start in the profession were analyzed. the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 7. figure 7 opinions about the use of current events in the profession nearly all preservice teachers thought that they would use current events in lessons according to class level when they began teaching. most of the preservice teachers thought that they would use current events, while some preservice teachers stated they would definitely use current events. the opinions of preservice teachers in relation to this topic are given below: “when i am a teacher, i think i will use current events in the name of raising good citizens who are interested in the country’s problems” [i think i will use them] (pt5). the use of current events will ensure the child is aware of the world they live in, criticize and question by seeing things from different channels, and differentiate right and wrong on their own. i definitely think i will use them. [i will definitely use them] (pt18) recommendations to improve use of current events the opinions of preservice teachers about recommendations to improve the use of current events were analyzed. the max-maps co-occurrence model is given in figure 8. figure 8 opinions about improving use of current events mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 most preservice teachers stated that they were satisfied with the implementation. some preservice teachers gave recommendations to improve the implementation. these included recommendations like increasing the current event test and question numbers used in the implementation, creating a discussion environment, arranging points, assessing student questions, ensuring a diversity of topics, preventing copying, and using the implementation more. based on the findings obtained, preservice teachers can be said to have found the current event implementation beneficial. according to three preservice teachers: i think it was applied as it should be. tests were given and answers and topics were discussed. perhaps noteworthy images related to the topics could be shown. [everything was good and sufficient, visualization of current events] (pt18) current events could be brought to class and made a topic of discussion among students. [discussion environment could be created] (pt25) i would increase the number of questions. i would mention more different topics. [test and question numbers may be increased, topic diversity may be ensured] (pt22) discussion, conclusion, and recommendations the research findings revealed that some preservice teachers had not encountered current events before. preservice teachers who had encountered the topic had seen it during life science, social studies, and traffic lessons at the primary school level, in social studies lessons at the middle school level, in history and geography lessons in high school, and in history lessons and in the social studies teaching lesson within the scope of this research in university. research about students encountering current events in lessons revealed that more than half of middle school mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 and high school students (anderman & johnston, 1994) and nearly half of students from 6th to 12th grade (chapman, nolin, & kline, 1997) had encountered current events use. in relation to the lessons where current events were used, in this research it was concluded that they were mainly encountered in social studies and other identity-determining lessons. bahmani (2016) proposed that the use of current events may be implemented in all lessons and areas; however, it should be especially used in economy lessons. deveci (2007) and dinç and acun (2017) stated that current event use could be implemented in social studies lessons, while değirmenci and i̇lter (2017) said that it may be applied in geography lessons. the findings obtained in this research largely overlap with the literature findings in this sense. however, research about science (kadıoğlu, 1996) and sport science teaching (oregon et al., 2019) is important in terms of showing the use of current events in these areas. among the results of this research in relation to the benefits of current event use, the greatest developments included elements like following/creating awareness, followed by acquiring skills, raising conscious and sensitive citizens, connections with real life, making the teaching process active and entertaining, recall of information, development of general culture and repeated events, etc. similar to these results, teachers stated that it prepared children for life and cultivated effective citizens who were sensitive to their surroundings and could make decisions and create connections between the past and present in terms of the benefits of current topics (memişoğlu & güçin, 2017). in addition to this, the use of current events is known to create curiosity among students (rose, 2009), is seen as an enjoyable learning path (arın & deveci, 2008), increases interest in social topics (baugh & van camp, 2015), activates learning experiences in university students (grise-owens, valade, & cambron, 2010), and supports teaching and learning outcomes (bahmani, 2016). similar results were concluded in this research within the scope of contribution to learning with the benefits of current event use. within the skill acquirement subtheme, gaining skills like decision-making, critical thinking, and research were stated by participants as both a benefit and contribution to learning. additionally, it was emphasized that current events contributed to learning due to the effects of easing learning for students, teaching them to listen more carefully and effectively in lessons, encouraging them to question information and research, and increasing motivation ensuring permanent and active learning. it is necessary to use current events in lessons to develop thinking and decision-making skills (deveci, 2005), increase academic success (arın & deveci, 2008), and develop critical thinking (bahmani, 2016; van camp & baugh, 2016). mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 the results of this research observed that most topics suitable for use as current events were political, of close interest to society, economy, history and military developments, etc. along with this, political, religious, and national topics were stated to be among topics where most problems would probably be experienced in turkey. in a study by memişoğlu and güçin (2017), participating teachers stated the need to include topics like coups, terror and anarchy, events experienced in our country, social assistance and solidarity, rights and duties, global warming and climate change, natural disasters, environment, and health. gedik (2010) stated that current events that should be considered most in social studies lessons were threat of drought and political topics. again, students were identified to have their interest in policies, administration, and national problems increased by a large rate with the use of current events (chapman, nolin, & kline, 1997). when choosing current events, teachers pay attention to criteria like topics involving society, connection to the topic of the lesson, and not being topics involving politics (memişoğlu & güçin, 2017). the uncertainty about whether or not topics with political content should be used as current events is noteworthy both in this study and in the literature. when choosing topics to be used as current events, it was assessed as important to pay attention to the use of some concepts along with factors like the cultural, political, and belief structures of the location and students. the topics that current events should encompass in the findings of this research are similar to the topics where most problems may be encountered, which may lead to the idea that participants experienced some hesitation. however, at this point it is necessary to remember that controversial issues should be taught during social studies teaching, and it should be considered that this conflict stems from the nature of teaching controversial issues. the most appropriate class level to begin using current events was stated to be primary school third and fourth grade. the main reason for stating these class levels is considered due to the importance of children achieving the skill of thinking abstractly after gaining basic skills like reading, writing, counting, and reading comprehension. moving from this finding, it is considered that it will be important to use current events in learning beginning from the first levels of children’s education. preservice teachers stated that they thought they would use current events appropriate to the class level of students when they began teaching. the available research shows that educational activities completed in school are only one of the factors ensuring acquirement of citizenship mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 topics (haas & laughlin, 2000). for this reason, the need to perform school and non-curriculum practices in order to be able to implement the understanding of raising effective citizens is clear. results of research suggests that most teachers followed current events and adopted a more traditional style when teaching current events (değirmenci & i̇lter, 2017). here, no matter how innovative the approach, the importance of how the current event is used comes to the foreground. in addition to all this, it was explained that the accuracy of current events brought to class and reliability of information is very important (gedik & altun, 2008). in terms of using accurate and reliable data, teachers having 21st-century skills about knowledge, digital issues, informationcommunication technologies, and media literacy, etc., is important. the importance of data being reliable increases in importance considering that the most frequent forms of current event use by teachers involve using newspaper and internet news and giving current examples from daily life or close surroundings (deveci, 2007; dinç & acun, 2017). additionally, there are studies stating that the teachers used multiple news-gathering methods but mainly the internet and that the aim was to access reliable news sources (sağlam, bozkan, & bozkan, 2016). the reason for this may be said to be the critical approach within the scope of media literacy, which has an important place in both individual life and the curriculum. the use of current events appears to be an important tool that will contribute to individuals feeling like they are part of society and the world, being able to be active, democratic, global, digital citizens with increased awareness and responsibility, and should definitely be included in teaching processes. recommendations the following recommendations are made for implementers and researchers: • this implemented model may be used by other lecturers in universities. • as current events are not an area specific to social studies education, it is necessary to ensure the use of current events for preservice teachers at all class levels, to introduce lessons related to topics that may be assessed for current event use or to use current events in available lessons. • it is necessary to teach preservice teachers how to approach current events and cases with a scientific viewpoint during undergraduate education. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 • an attitude scale related to the use of current events should be developed, more comprehensive research with qualitative studies may be designed, and the attitudes of preservice teachers about this topic may be investigated. references akın, s., çalışkan, ö., & engin-demir, c. 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(2016). the investigation of primary school teachers’ opinions related to the current events. international journal of psychology and educational studies, 3(3), 44–49. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 11, n. 2, 2021, pp. 11-35 corresponding author: ozturk_talip@hotmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 saldaña, j. (2016). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage publications. sloam, j. (2014). ‘the outraged young’: young europeans, civic engagement and the new media in a time of crisis. information, communication & society, 17(2), 217–231. smith, b. l. r., & fritschler, a. l. (2009). engagement in civic education remains weak. phi kappa phi forum, 89(3), 8–10. van camp, d., & baugh, s-a. (2016). encouraging civic knowledge and engagement: exploring current events through a psychological lens. journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning, 16(2), 14–28. doi: 10.14434/josotl.v16i2.19199 worku, m. y. (2018). perception of ethiopian students and educators on the responsibility for good citizenship, journal of international social studies, 8(2), 103–120. about the authors: talip öztürk is an associate professor at faculty of education at ordu university (turkey). he obtained his ph.d. in social studies education from gazi university. his research focuses on project-based learning, social studies teaching methods and civic education. erhan yaylak is an associate professor at faculty of education at ordu university (turkey). he obtained his ph.d. in social studies education from pamukkale university after teaching middle school social studies for twelve years. his research centers on technology use in social studies, social media in education, flipped learning and interactive worksheets. filiz zayimoğlu öztürk is an associate professor at faculty of education at ordu university (turkey). she obtained her ph.d. in social studies education from gazi university after teaching middle school social studies for three years and working as a project assistant for five years. her expertise is in social studies teaching and learning methods, teacher competencies and disadvantaged groups in social studies and global citizenship education. mailto:ozturk_talip@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 56 teacher as stranger: “releasing” imagination for teaching controversial public issues yu-han hung university of houston downtown abstract: this study utilized the term “teacher as stranger” from maxine greene’s (1973) teacher as stranger to explore how teachers teach contemporary controversial public issues in taiwan (e.g., national identity, sovereignty, and ethnic issues). using a case study design, this study documents how six social studies teachers make curricular decisions about teaching controversial public issues and create possibilities for their students to imaginatively engage with controversial public issues. findings illuminate that these teachers challenge the stereotype of asian teachers as always following a centralized curriculum; they instead collaborate authentic curricular resources and decenter the exam-centric and curriculum-centric classroom space. in sum, this study, refracted through the national context of taiwan, helps us understand the possibility of taiwanese teachers’ curricular-instructional decisions and increased autonomy and authority. key words: teacher as stranger, imaginative engagement, controversial public issues, taiwanese history curriculum, curricular-instructional decision introduction when encountering controversial public issues, teachers in taiwan are often hesitant to tackle such topics in classrooms; they are not completely unique in this situation. there are similarities, for example, to teachers in the u.s., where research has shown that teachers feel hesitant to teach polemical issues and have serious concerns about teaching such subjects. hess (2009) pointed out that teachers are hesitant to teach controversial public issues (such as abortion or same-sex marriage) because they worry about causing conflict in the classroom. in line with much corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 57 of the research on this topic, evan, avery, and pederson (1999) have shown that american teachers often avoid topics that are deemed too controversial because they worry about students’ comprehension, the administration’s response, and parents’ attitudes. choosing not to talk about controversial public issues in schools means that teachers are making choices about what to let into their classrooms; they choose “safe knowledge” to present to their students (king, 2012). yet research suggests that there is the necessity of having public discussions about issues in classrooms in order to develop students’ democratic values: civic engagement, problem solving abilities, and appreciating differences (hess, 2008, 2009; parker, 2003). in most asian countries, the centralized curriculum standards and guidelines employed in public schools mean that students and teachers have relatively limited space and freedom to engage with controversial public issues (ho, 2010; misco, 2013, 2016). taiwan also employs centralized curriculum guidelines at the k-12 level; national curriculum guidelines conducted by the ministry of education are applied in all subjects, including high school history and middle school social studies. the national curriculum guidelines have also developed textbook editions, university entry exams, and teachers’ handbooks, all of which have affected teachers’ teaching and students’ learning since compulsory education was initiated in taiwan in 1968 (chou, 2001). in other words, in asian contexts like taiwan’s, opportunities to explore controversial public issues in social studies classrooms are often limited by inherited school culture, social pressure, national and centralized curriculum, and teachers’ restricted freedom and space. teaching controversial public issues in taiwan has been a challenge both inside and outside the classroom. therefore, this paper, drawing data from a qualitative case study (yin, 1994), focuses on social studies teachers’ teaching of controversial public issues. its analysis is grounded in an understanding of the “teacher as stranger” (greene, 1973): teachers as agents releasing possibilities of imaginative teaching of controversial public issues within a context dominated by controversies (greene, 1995). this paper reflects on the broader educational challenges faced by teachers who work within the context of such social controversy. teaching controversial public issues in scholarship related to teaching controversial public issues in the u.s., most researchers have illustrated that democratic societies are built by citizens who are able to engage in reasoned discussion (hess, 2008; lockwood & harris, 1985; parker, 2003, 2010; parker & hess, 2001). some corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 58 research suggests that talking about controversial public issues helps to develop democratic values and political tolerance within and for a democratic society, including enhancing students’ ability to engage in higher order thinking and interpersonal skills (hess & mcavoy, 2014; mcavoy & hess, 2013). additionally, some researchers argue that classrooms should become political sites in order to develop students’ critical thinking skills required to build democratic and fundamental social values (hess, 2009). however, most research in the u.s. has indicated that teachers choose not to teach controversial public issues because teachers lack readiness and worry about conflicts created by discussing controversial public issues (avery, levy, & simmons, 2013; evan, avery, & pederson, 1999; hess, 2009; mcbee, 1996). in addition, some teachers tend to avoid raising controversial political issues because of the fear of community reprisal (hess, 2002, 2008) or lack of administrator support and assistance (mcavoy & hess, 2013). lastly, some teachers have concerns about students’ skills and knowledge for deliberation and keeping order in the classroom (hess, 2002; mcavoy & hess, 2013). the difficulties of teaching controversial public issues in classrooms are reflected in the way discussion, critical thinking, democratic values, and political tolerance are disregarded in classrooms rather than developed and encouraged. regarding the situation of teaching controversial public issues, other national contexts—for instance, northern ireland and england—face similar issues of attempting and failing to teach controversy-free history courses (barton & mccully, 2007). in estonia and latvia, one study illustrates that when teachers interact with controversial public issues, the complexity and multilayered nature of the challenges shape teachers’ choices and ways of coping with the various demands they perceive (kello, 2016). in other words, in the u.s. and other countries, teachers can bring powerful and authentic social studies content to their students through exploration of controversial public issues, but with certain concerns, limitations, and difficulties. teaching controversial public issues is further complicated through an asian lens. in asian contexts, different national contexts have influenced various approaches of teaching controversial public issues in social studies classrooms. for example, ho (2010) contended that k-12 teachers in singapore consciously avoided addressing controversial issues and intentionally did not contest the central narrative of racial harmony, meritocracy, and progress because of a climate of censorship and a regime of high-stakes tests that restrain democratic discourse within the classroom. in south korea, research illustrates that classrooms often have a dualistic corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 59 approach to problems, where controversial issues are treated as factual problems with two clearly delineated sides (jho, 2008; misco, 2016). china is quite similar to the united states, south korea, and japan, as one study found a lack of controversial issues confronted in classrooms and an uncritical stance toward government policy and action (misco, 2013). in taiwan, national curriculum makers have the authority to decide the curriculum that has employed teachers’ teaching and students’ learning for over half a century. teachers in taiwan who have relatively less curricular consciousness were not empowered to make the best use of what their classroom content has to offer (chan, 2008). in sum, in asian contexts, exploring controversial public issues in social studies classrooms is often limited by many factors, including national and centralized curricula, national test culture, and teachers’ restricted time and space. this paper seeks to show various forms of teaching that creates alternative pictures of classrooms (greene, 1973, 1995) in asia. it does not claim that practices contradicting these images are common in taiwan now, but it shows what is possible with experienced teachers working at the front lines of one of taiwan’s most elite schools, creating possibilities for themselves and their students. theoretical framework in this study, i pay special attention to the theme of “teacher as stranger” (greene, 1973), for its major premise is that teachers can create alternative views of controversial public issues and release the possibility of imaginative engagement (greene, 1995). the origin of “teacher as stranger” no matter which role we are playing, most of the time we preoccupy ourselves with the rules and standards of our daily lives and take much for granted without too much thinking or questioning. maxine greene wrote in 1973 of the “teacher as stranger” as a way of taking a stranger’s vantage point on everyday reality in order to look inquiringly and wonderingly at the world in which one lives (greene, 1973). the stranger’s vantage point is a different way of seeing the world, both inside and outside of a classroom; in particular, greene asserts, the “teacher as stranger” should know about both critical thinking and authentic choosing, about helping oneself and others see the world afresh. critical thinking is the ability of teachers to reflect on their own knowledge and values as a way to deconstruct the “ready-made standardized schemes” in corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 60 society. greene’s words allow us space to wander among these teachers’ worlds and to imagine how we might set aside what we think we know in order to learn. in addition, authentic choosing leads teachers’ curricular-instructional decisions up to the ethical stage from the surface level of any debate; it leads from surface-level concerns about content (as important as those factual aspects are) into the values that give knowledge its worth. furthermore, the concept of “teacher as stranger” is not only about teachers asking themselves to view the world with a stranger’s point of view; the teacher asks whether, through teaching, he or she may become vitally open to the students and their worlds (miller, 2015). that is, a “teacher as stranger” embraces his or her role as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper. additionally, by helping others see afresh, the “teacher as stranger” is kept fresh and open to new encounters, which maxine greene termed “the immediacy of the felt encounter,” and becomes concerned with whose immediacy is felt and whose possibilities are encountered (britzman, 2003). lastly, by using the stranger’s vantage point, the “teacher as stranger” views the teacher’s job as promoting the learning process for himself or herself as well as the student, learning to learn through learning to teach. to learn and to teach, one must have an awareness of leaving something behind while reaching toward something new, and this kind of awareness must be linked to imagination (greene, 1995). “learning to learn” happens when people can stand by their own choices in the high wind of thought (greene, 1973); people use imagination to move beyond the safe places to those outside of their comfort zones, where teachers intellectually, mentally, and physically become aware of the anxiety and desirability of learning. in other words, learning to teach is the process by which teachers view their work of knowing, exploring, negotiating, and interacting. the “teacher as stranger” for teaching controversial public issues for the “teacher as stranger,” the teacher, as a citizen, will want to take positions on issues that impact his or her life and community; that is, the teacher will be more vital if he or she becomes involved in the public world (greene, 1973). by the same token, for the “teacher as stranger” engaged in the teaching of controversial public issues as a teacher involved in the public world, teaching cannot escape public issues and public discussion, and a teacher cannot move away from being a citizen acting in particular social contexts, either. as greene (1973) mentioned, the “teacher as stranger” may even want to play a part in supporting what he or she conceives to be needed reforms. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 61 lastly, when considering the concept of “teacher as stranger,” teaching controversial public issues is not just a way of representing current issues or public events; instead, such teaching is a way of releasing the imagination, a moving beyond mere fact and the cultivation of dialogical community (greene, 2000). in particular, the imagination “permits us to give credence to alternative realities” (greene, 1995, p. 3). john dewey argued that imagination is the gateway through which meanings derived from past experiences find their way into the present; it is the conscious adjustment of the new and the old (dewey, 1934, p. 272). imagination “allows us to break with the taken for granted, and to set aside familiar distinctions and definitions” (greene, 1995, p. 3). indeed, when teaching controversial public issues, being imaginative is the key for deliberating. controversial public issues unearth questions of public policy that spark significant disagreement, in this way becoming a public problem. in other words, controversial public issues are open questions, meaning that there are multiple and often strikingly different answers that are seen as legitimate across the spectrum of a society (hess, 2009, p. 38). imaginative engagement requires reasoned discussion and deliberation while exploring different answers and alternative truths. indeed, democratic societies are built on citizens who are able to engage in reasoned discussion and deliberation (hess, 2008, 2009; lockwood & harris, 1985; parker, 2003). methodology given the tensions concerning the history curriculum in taiwan, and given that teaching history is necessarily a contentious task because of the political and ideological ruptures therein, the following research question guided my study: how do teachers create possibilities for imaginative engagement of teaching controversial public issues? two subsidiary questions frame my inquiry: (1) what guides teachers’ decision-making for teaching controversial public issues in social studies classrooms? (2) what are the created strategies of teaching controversial public issues that help teachers and students to see afresh? case study research is designed to focus on contemporary (as opposed to historical) phenomena and create insight into real world phenomena (yin, 1994). i see the case study as a means for understanding the unique everyday practice of teachers. i began the study with an interest in learning how teachers function in their ordinary pursuits and milieus and with a willingness to put aside as many presumptions as possible (stake, 1995). also, this study focused on teachers themselves, drawing attention to their subjective and lived lives. as stake (1995) mentioned, case corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 62 study research is not sampling research; it does not study a case primarily to understand other cases. my study focuses on history teachers in two public senior high schools in taiwan and seeks to gain an understanding of their curricular gatekeeping and teaching of controversial public issues. the case study framework allows for the examination of contemporary events in its ability to deal with a full variety of evidence including documents, artifacts, and interviews (yin, 1994). in the study, documents such as teachers’ lesson plans, textbooks, curriculum guidelines, and professional development records are examined to corroborate and augment evidence from other sources, providing specific details to corroborate information from interviews. artifacts such as facebook posts, teachers’ columns, and editorials are the main resources in this study. by examining the artifacts, i was able to develop a broader perspective concerning all of the participants and their life worlds, beyond that which could be directly captured in a short period of time (yin, 1994). setting, case selection, and participants the participants in this study consisted of six senior high school history teachers in two different public schools in taichung, taiwan. the selected teachers, three males and three females, were qualified teachers who held master’s degrees in social science fields and taught in the public schools between 10-27 years. in taiwan, all public senior high school teachers are required to take educational foundation courses, educational methodology courses, and a one-year internship in teacher education (teacher education act, 2001). four participants were from the middleton senior high school and two were from the middleton girls’ senior high school. the middleton senior high school and the middleton girls’ high school are top-ranked schools in taiwan. students in senior high school are 15-17 years old. the names used in the study to refer to the participants are pseudonyms. conducting case study research with multiple resources created a broad base and maintained a strong chain of evidence (yin, 1994). here, this study utilized four different strategies of data collection: non-participant observation, narrative interviews, artifacts, and document analysis. the data collection was conducted over three summers: may to july 2013, may to july 2015, and june 2016, 2018. all sets of data collection were approved by the international review board (irb). corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 63 findings this study of viewing asian social studies is at direct odds with how research has tended to portray the topic (chan, 2008; ho, 2010; jho, 2008; misco, 2011, 2013, 2016). greene asserts the importance of looking inquiringly and wonderingly at the world, and i argue that to do s requires both critical and authentic choosing. the teachers in this study demonstrate ways of critical thinking and authentic choosing, helping themselves and others see the world afresh. in particular, when teaching controversial issues as strangers, these teachers’ curricular instructional decisions create certain possibilities inside and outside of the classroom. these possibilities include: 1) teachers as citizens who are involved in the public world; 2) teachers who take responsibility for decision-making by choosing important curricular topics; and 3) teachers who seek practices that release the imagination, as the imagination is the one cognitive capacity that “permits us to give credence to alternative realities” (greene, 1995). in this study, i analyzed the data by putting the three themes of imaginative teaching into dialogue. the findings show that teachers in this study have tried to release the imagination for teaching social studies through two concrete strategies: 1) collaborating with authentic materials, and 2) decentering the exam-centric and curriculum-centric classroom space. collaborating with authentic curricular materials given the reality of the strained and divisive social, cultural, and historical contexts of taiwan, teaching history is a difficult but imperative task. based on the interview data and observation notes, this study found that teachers seek to collaborate with authentic materials as they teach history in their classrooms. teachers embody curriculum gatekeeping in their classroom. to do this, they often bring authentic materials and suggest the taiwanese comparison. in fact, using other historical events as comparison is not new for the social studies field (barton & mccully, 2005; jarman, 1998; mcbride, 1997; walker, 1996). the desire to provide narratives alternative to centralized curricular content about controversial issues is similarly present in taiwanese teachers. some participants chose to use other historical events as a comparison for teaching controversial public issues. for example, mr. w. talked about civic engagement and student movements using the history of student movements in the u.s. in the 1960s, later making the connection between corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 64 those student movements and civic action on the streets of taiwan, which safely brought up possibilities for students’ learning about their own national context. when i asked about his practice of teaching controversial public issues, he responded: [when i teach the 1960s], i let my students watch the documentary film the sixties. by talking about this, i connected to the 2014 sunflower student movement1 in taiwan. during the economic agreement with the prc last year, i was a teacher, but also an administrator. i used a film about the 1960s to talk about the responsibility of protest leaders. i asked students what their arguments and statements were for protesting the economic agreement with the prc. i asked them to think about what their responsibility is. in the film, there are some student movements and protests, and leaders have reflected on their own actions and responsibilities. in mr. w.’s examples, he indicated the connection between the content in the curriculum, the 1960s in america, and a current issue, the sunflower student movement in taiwan. these two historical events happened in different time periods and in different social and national contexts, but both were led by students (at least in part) and spread throughout the whole country. during the interviews, mr. w. shared how he made this comparison intentionally because he liked to remind students of the consequences of and responsibilities for advocating a movement. by using other historical events as a comparison, he crystallized opportunities for students’ learning by bringing together current issues and past historical events in two different contexts, which he felt allowed students to be less emotionally involved regarding their own personal backgrounds or emotions. this also allowed him to claim to be teaching one topic, the 1960s, while in reality teaching another: a current taiwanese social movement. 1 the sunflower student movement is a protest movement driven by a coalition of students and civic groups that came to a head on march 18 and april 10, 2014, in the legislative yuan. the activists protested the passing of the cross-strait service trade agreement (cssta) by the ruling party kuomintang (kmt) at the legislature without clause-by-clause review. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 65 later in the interview, mr. w. also shared with me his plans for the future and said he would like to spend more time on 2282, focusing on a humanities perspective on this event by not just repeating the sadness in the past. his examples for avoiding the “sadness in the past” were to examine the armenian and rwandan genocides. this might seem like an absurd choice, but it is clear that these events will most likely have a very different emotional resonance for his students, despite the obvious human suffering involved in these events. using other people’s eyes to read other people’s stories, the participants used other historical events to raise discussion points with their students to ask questions about the responsibilities of student protest leaders or to raise the question of intergenerational political conflict. this section shows how teachers use literature to invoke emotional and aesthetic responses that might lead students to become more sympathetic to competing perspectives on topics that the taiwanese curriculum has ignored or omitted. in the taiwanese history curriculum guidelines and textbooks, there is a general lack of reference to fictional or imaginative literature for students to develop their historical understanding and empathy through understanding people’s stories. throughout the course of the interviews, mr. w. and mr. hsu both revealed how they share literature with their students, especially when they are discussing controversial public issues with them. for example, when i asked mr. w. about whether his family stories impact his curricular-instructional decisions, he said, i focus on “small history”—from a humanities perspective—to talk about the 228 event. for example, i use the text a letter never sent out3 . i share this article with my students. we did not have any articles related to 228 in our textbooks and curriculum guidelines. narrative is a good way to let students imagine what happened through other people’s eyes. in addition, i try to mention both sides, chinese or taiwanese, not particularly focusing on one side but more on a humanities perspective. 2 the 228 incident, referring to february 28, was the prelude to the era of white terror from 1949 until martial law lifted in 1987, when dissidents and intellectuals were imprisoned or executed to assert kmt rule over the island. chiang kai-shek launched a crackdown on february 28, 1947, that lasted for weeks and resulted in up to 28,000 civilian casualties 3 a letter never sent out is a letter written by a victim killed during 228, in 1937. this artifact has been stored by the national government for 50 years and displayed in a public museum recently. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 66 especially when he talked about the history between taiwan and the prc since 1949, mr. w. avoided addressing conflicts between the taiwanese and chinese. he feels that this version of history—as rigidly competing or conflicting perspectives—is overly focused on in the curriculum. instead, he collaborates with literature. by utilizing literature, mr. w. created opportunities for students to understand the humanities by experiencing stories from other perspectives. the purpose of using alternative literature is, first of all, to address a topic that is omitted from the national curriculum. it is also designed to help students develop their empathy and imagination through narrative. indeed, literature creates a space for students to foster their thinking and understanding, which are essential for learning history but have been ignored in the curriculum in favor of merely addressing conflicts between the taiwanese and chinese. teachers in this study used alternative methods to teach history, using other historical events as comparison and using literature to help students see peoples’ stories through others’ eyes. collaborating with other national content and literature has become unexpectedly common in these teachers’ classrooms. for the participants in this study, these strategies helped them to not only be consistent with their rationale, to be relevant without being ideological, but also to create possibilities for the release of imagination as students learn about the past. decentering the exam-centric and curriculum-centric classroom space because social studies often describes historical events and because those events can sometimes be controversial, social studies, at least in the context of the taiwanese education system, exists within a cultural context that makes it difficult to escape from engaging difficult knowledge. as discussed in the last section, the teachers in this study exemplify and embody the implicit presence of controversial public issues in the classroom, and then make a specific effort at also exemplifying the implicit dynamism of social studies by attempting to cover controversial public issues beyond what often exists in textbooks. breaking classroom norms through after-school study groups and flipped classrooms a major struggle for these participants was the fact that they have less time to discuss and explore controversial public issues but more time for structured content to be taught in the curriculum— a common concern of social studies teachers in many countries across the globe. in this study, corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 67 mr. chen, mr. hsu, and mrs. yu all started to advocate another format of teaching: after-school study groups. mrs. yu is an example of a teacher who led a study group with her students. according to mrs. yu, she has been running a study group with her students for years, and she invited students to choose the topic for the study group for the first time during this study. she chose the topic of the study group—pop culture and history—with her students, and then they selected one book about baseball’s development in taiwan during japanese colonization (1985-1945), which not only explored the history of baseball in taiwan but also discussed the consequences (negative and positive) of japanese colonization. this topic seems like a pop culture focus, but indeed, it includes the discussion of a current controversial topic: unclear national identity and weak cultural identity in taiwan after 50 years of japanese colonization. mrs. yu uses an alternative topic, baseball, to address a controversial issue, breaking traditional modes of instruction that directly addresses a particular topic. mr. chen is another participant who has tried to de-center the typical classroom space. mr. chen has tried different formats like field-based learning, study groups, civic engagement activities, guest speeches, student workshops, and field trips. he has been working to develop different learning experiences for students, and flipping the classroom is one of them. in my observation of mr. chen’s classroom and through his reflections, i noted how he valued flipping the classroom, and how he has created space for unique learning experiences for students. using after-school study groups, author talks, and the flipped classroom model has formed possibilities for students’ learning: creating space beyond the centralized curriculum, reworking the classroom for teachers’ and students’ autonomy, and creating the possibility for the release of imagination and creativity for students’ learning about the past in taiwan. in this study, the findings show that teachers have awareness of the lack of imagination and possibilities for students’ learning under the centralized curriculum and schooling, so they made their own curricular-instructional decisions for generating chances for themselves and for their students in social studies classrooms. creating alternative projects for student learning developing independent projects or alternative assignments is another way teachers approach developing students’ learning about controversial public issues. for example, mr. chen started corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 68 an alternative assignment for freshman students: students’ life stories. mr. chen designed this assignment to develop his students’ own self-reflection and sense of self. he shared with me in a later interview that his former students have mentioned to him the importance of this assignment for them when they were in university because it gave them a chance to practice rethinking their self-identity. in sum, with alternative assignments, mr. chen has shaped the potential for his students to learn knowledge and values beyond the textbooks and curriculum by conducting research projects and self-reflection projects that not only generated alternative learning opportunities for students, but also created the possibilities for students to believe alternative truths and stories. these strategies have the potential to create a new perspective on what students have habitually considered real, so that controversial public issues teaching may make them people vitally open to their world (greene, 1973). discussion creating the possibility for imagination through creative curricular and instructional gatekeeping practices teachers seeking practices that release the imagination collaborated with authentic resources that direct students to discover the past through content not written in the official curriculum. in this study, the participants illustrated various strategies, collaborating with authentic resources that help students to see alternative realities in terms of historical events, understanding, knowledge, and value. as john dewey (1934) said, imagination is the gateway through which meanings, derived from past experiences, find their way into the present. the participants’ choices indicate that at least some taiwanese teachers wish to release imagination by providing stories and authentic resources that encourage students to understand the past from nuanced perspectives. in addition, as hess (2009) pointed out, teaching controversial public issues needs creative and novel forms of political talk and deliberation among a diverse public; indeed, being imaginative is the key for deliberating. in this study, participants have shown that teachers create numerous strategies for developing students’ dialogue building and discussion. in this study, teachers created imaginative engagement of controversial public issues with students by collaborating corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 69 with authentic resources and creating opportunities of deliberation. as greene (1995) mentioned, the imagination is the one cognitive capacity that “permits us to give credence to alternative realities.” indeed, through using other historical events as comparison, reading people’s stories, and creating alternative chances for students to encounter controversial public issues, releasing imagination of controversial public issues helps students to see an alternative side of the historical past and develop their own deliberation of issues. such a release of imagination encourages students to have not only a better understanding of controversial public issues but also to construct their own knowledge through dialogue. challenging the stereotype of asian teachers through breaking classroom norms and centralized curriculum when maxine greene (1973) argued for the teacher to become a stranger, she argued, at least in one sense, that teachers should make decisions as citizens. in this study, i have explored the boundaries that teachers face as they attempt to become influenced more by their position as citizens rather than simply as teachers. as greene (1973) illustrated, the teacher as a citizen will want to take positions on issues that impact his or her life and community; that is, the teacher will be a more vital teacher if he or she becomes involved in the public world. above, we saw mr. w., mr. chen, and mrs. yu encourage their students to put their knowledge into action and not be limited by constraints such as limited classroom space, structured time periods, and centralized curriculum standards. they created after-school study groups, alternative assignments like research projects that allowed students to interact with people outside of schools, to value people’s stories and to reflect on themselves, care for others, solve social issues, and become citizens in a democratic society involved in the public world. all of these possibilities, these teachers asserted, have been ignored in taiwanese schooling; civic engagement and citizenship have not been emphasized by the national curriculum and other teachers. however, the participants in this study challenge the stereotype of asian teachers, who have been identified as ones with limited power and autonomy in classrooms (chen, 2004). moreover, in this study, we saw how participants have worked through different formats in order to develop students’ learning about controversial public issues. each of these strategies reflects a reality where teachers cannot help but encounter controversial public issues. these teachers challenged the stereotype of asian teachers with limited autonomy and authority, limited space and time to interact with controversial public issues; however, these teachers are not corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 70 representative of all teachers in taiwan or in other asian contexts. by the same token, these teachers are exceptional, but they also represent the possibility of being a stranger in the classroom in order to release imagination about controversial public issues. conclusion in this study, given the teachers’ data, the findings show how participant teachers chose curriculum resources and developed instructional strategies that release a sense of collective imagination in their classrooms. i brought three themes of imaginative teaching into dialogue with two concrete strategies employed by the participants in this study: 1) collaborating with authentic materials, and 2) decentering the exam-centric and curriculum-centric classroom space. through maxine greene’s concept of the “teacher as stranger,” teachers in this study illustrated the difficulties and rewards of instructional practice, particularly as they relate to the possibility for releasing imagination through controversial public issues teaching. the teachers in this study show not only the possibilities for themselves to release imaginative engagement with controversial public issues, but also to create alternative possibilities for themselves to break the stereotype of asian social studies teachers. indeed, these teachers have revealed the moral imagination that unlocks us from the nation-state binary and provides new thinking about identity and the human community. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly 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(1994). case study research: design and methods (2nd ed.). newbury park, ca: sage publications. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 56-74 page 74 about the author: yu-han hung assistant professor, social studies education, department of urban education, college of public service, university of houston downtown. corresponding author: hungy@uhd.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:hungy@uhd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 35 spring/summer 2011 holocaust, genocide and human rights education: learning political competencies for 21 st century citizenship rosanna m. gatens florida atlantic university mary johnson facing history and ourselves this article explores the use of holocaust, genocide and human rights education to teach political competencies for american students in the 21st century. key words: social studies, global studies, holocaust and genocide studies, teacher education, democratic citizenship during the past decade, policy and research centers in europe and the united states have sponsored several major studies that seek to reform current approaches to education about and for democracy and human rights (council of europe, 2010; colby, 2003). both the council of europe charter on education for democratic citizenship and human rights education (2010) and the political engagement project of the carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching (2007), assume the critical role of teachers in preparing students to become citizens who are able to “exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life, with a view to the promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of law.” (council of europe, 2010, p. 7) just as important is teaching and learning how “to contribute to the building and defence [sic] of a universal culture of human rights in society, with a view to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”(council of europe, 2010, p. 7). though the core questions governing these studies are slightly different, they agree on three major points:  active citizenship is best learned by doing, not through being told about it . . . education for active citizenship is not just about the absorption of factual knowledge, but about practical understanding, skills and aptitudes, values and characters (gollob &weidinger, 2010, p. 9).  in teacher preparation, there is a significant gap between the official policy and rhetoric regarding democratic participation and commitment to human journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 36 spring/summer 2011 rights on the one hand, and curricular implementation at the school level, on the other (gollob & weidinger, 2010).  infusing citizenship and human rights education into existing curricula frequently is “stronger on paper than is evident in classroom realities” (brett, mompoint-galliard, & salema, 2009, p. 15). policy makers and teachers who are working toward the establishment of effective education for democracy and human rights recognize the challenges they face as they attempt to change the way in which civics education is done, especially challenges associated with fears about politicizing curricula. this challenge is highlighted in the 2003 carnegie foundation report, educating citizens: preparing america’s undergraduates for lives or moral and civic responsibility, in which researchers observed that in the united states one of the subjects most frequently neglected in secondary and higher education is educating students to become political actors who have developed the knowledge base and competencies to understand and to utilize political power for specific ends (colby, ehrlich, beaumont, & stephens, 2 0 0 3 ) . colby (2007) found that most faculty prefer the integration of apolitical community service into coursework and discourage student involvement in projects that are political in nature. colby (2007) points out this emphasis on apolitical civic learning reinforces cynicism about the processes necessary effectively to achieve justice for all and leaves students little or no exposure to opportunities to learn the skills that empower them to effect change. in fact, students and faculty “perceive very few opportunities to become politically involved with the result that most students are left unclear about „the route to becoming politically engaged‟ “ (colby, et al., 2007, p.1). thus, while specialists in the united states and europe agree that the survival of democratic institutions and respect for human rights requires curricula that empower young people by integrating “knowledge, action-based skills, and change-centered competence”(brett, mompoint-galliard, & salema, 2009, p. 13), strong pressures exist, even in democratic societies, to keep study about politics separated from developing the skills and the know-how to become citizens capable of political action. we believe that holocaust/genocide and human rights education offers educators an effective opportunity to overcome these obstacles precisely because genocide is perceived by most governments to be reprehensible as well as the most extreme example of human rights abuse. given the international framework presented by the universal declaration of human rights (1948), the united nations convention for the prevention of genocide (1948), and the emerging body of international law available to prosecute perpetrators of genocide; holocaust, genocide, and human rights study provide students with an appropriate context to develop a human rights ethos, acquire skill sets appropriate to democratic participation, and learn how to combine academic knowledge of what is taking place in the world with the ability to effect change. holocaust/genocide, human rights, and student engagement since the late 1970s, scores of holocaust curricula have led middle, high school and college students to become aware of the origins, implementation and legacy of state journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 37 spring/summer 2011 sponsored mass murder. these courses have heightened students‟ awareness of the role bystanders play in allowing brutality and mass persecution to occur as well as the ways in which perpetrators are able to take advantage of economic, social and political discontents to take power and introduce genocidal policies against “enemies” of the state. many of these curricula include sections on rescuers or upstanders who refused to go along with the perpetrators and sought to help the victims of oppression and mass murder. many of these curricula end by examining the legacy of the holocaust, not only for the purpose of remembering those who perished at the hands of the nazis, but in more recent years, for the purpose of preventing contemporary genocide. (florida department of education, 2000; new jersey holocaust commission, 2003). this trend may be traced to teachers and students who find it difficult to look at the past and ignore current instances of genocide and violations of human rights. organizations like facing history and ourselves and the center for holocaust and human rights education at florida atlantic university seek to combine information, emotional response and ethical reflection to enhance civic awareness as reflected in the following diagram. facing history and ourselves. (2009, july). agenda of the new england holocaust and human behavior seminar although some educators initially feared that this trend would diminish the importance of the holocaust, study of the holocaust has often been a critical catalyst in the further development of teaching and learning about human rights. as students and teachers understand the significance of knowing the pattern of the nazi genocide, they begin to think about methods for prevention before oppression reaches genocidal proportions in the present and future. moreover, these courses routinely stimulate greater effort on the part of students in middle school, high school and universities to involve themselves in campaigns to both stop and intervene against genocide and mass murder throughout the world. as gollob and weidinger (2010) argue: in order to be able to take part in the various political processes, it is not only necessary to have basic knowledge of political issues, constitutional and legal frameworks and decisionmaking processes, but also to have general competences that are acquired as part of other subjects (such as communication, co-operation, dealing with information, data and statistics). special abilities and skills, such as being able to argue for or against an issue, which are particularly important for taking part in political events, must be trained and promoted in education for democratic citizenship and human rights education (gollob & weidinger, 2010, p.12). based on our experience with students and teachers throughout the united states, we journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 38 spring/summer 2011 believe that holocaust and human rights education can and does prepare students to develop these competencies. with these reflections in mind we will discuss curricular considerations in the field of holocaust and human rights education that foster the connection between knowledge, skill and action. first, we will examine the origins, basic documents and organizations of the modern human rights movement that provide norms for active citizenship in the twenty first century. then, we will discuss two examples of holocaust/genocide and human rights curricula that incorporate the acquisition of academic knowledge, the development of skills necessary for working with local, national and international organizations and specific opportunities that allow students to learn these skills by taking action. academic learning: the building blocks of the modern human rights movement as human rights educators, we believe it is our role to help our students become world citizens who are cognizant of the web of relationships among people throughout the world, familiar with the founding documents and institutions of international human rights law and skilled at using these principles and institutions to uphold human dignity. indeed, american students should be as familiar with these international documents as they are with the united states constitution and the bill of rights, which provided the basis for movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that empowered disenfranchised americans. the abolition movement, the suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement were all campaigns for change based on the notions of human dignity and equality as articulated in the declaration of independence, the united states constitution and the bill of rights. through learning the concepts and mechanisms for achieving human rights, twenty first century americans can play a critical role in upholding the rights of individuals throughout the world. the creation of the united nations at the end of world war ii specified the need to preserve freedom for all peoples throughout the world. 1 early in its formation, the united nations supported the concept of an international tribunal at nuremberg to prosecute war criminals, the convention for the prevention of genocide, and the universal declaration of human rights. leaders of the international community were aware that these measures were essential to combat aggressive war and the mass brutality that characterized earlier generations. thus, the framers of the united nations charter laid the international cornerstone for justice, human respect, and genocide prevention. but, as eleanor roosevelt, chair of the committee that framed the udhr, observed, documents like the universal declaration of human rights, “carry no weight unless the people know them, unless the people understand 1 the preamble to the united nations charter states that we the peoples of the united nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours [sic], and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims…(u.n., 1945). journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 39 spring/summer 2011 them, unless the people demand that they be lived” (glendon, 2002, p. xix). thus, students need to become familiar with these post world war ii building blocks as part of their academic learning about genocide and human rights. the earliest of these international legal and institutional mechanisms for defending human rights were the nuremberg trials (1945-1949). these cases established the precedent that individual war criminals could be held accountable for war crimes, crimes against the peace, and crimes against humanity in any location, not just their respective homelands. thus, the defendants at the international military tribunal (19456) and the twelve subsequent trials (1946-9) were tried in nuremberg, germany, although many of their crimes took place outside of germany. justice robert jackson, the chief american prosecutor at the international military tribunal eloquently opened the proceedings explaining that the deeds of these war criminals must not be tolerated if the world community was to survive and the rule of law was to prevail. at the twelve subsequent trials, chief prosecutor telford taylor explained that nazi war criminals were similar to eighteenth century pirates who had no specific attachment to any particular country or state (taylor, 1985). this precedent of holding individuals accountable marked a major departure from international law in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in which states, not specific individuals, were to be held accountable for crimes against peace. another important nuremberg precedent was the new role established for the international community in prosecuting and punishing leaders of nation states that commit wars of aggression. just because germany had enacted laws permitting the persecution and murder of jews, german leaders were not protected from prosecution by the international military tribunal. from this perspective it is easy to understand why the photos and film footage of the defendants in the dock at nuremberg is so impressive. here were the once allpowerful nazi leaders now sitting as defendants in a court of justice and being held accountable according to the standards of international law. just as the newly created united nations had supported the implementation of the nuremberg trials, it also adopted a resolution on the convention for the prevention of genocide. quite unequivocally, the convention stated that acts against civilian populations whether during peacetime or war were to be treated as violations of international law. genocide, according to the united nations, is defined as “acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a. killing members of a group b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part d. imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group e. forcibly transferring children of a group to another group” (u.n., 1948, n.p.) not only are these documents important for students to learn, it is equally important to learn about the people who persevered in getting official, and international recognition for these documents. a case in point is the career of raphael lemkin, the international jurist who dedicated twenty years to developing a framework within international journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 40 spring/summer 2011 law to call attention to the crime of genocide, called by winston churchill, a “crime without a name” (churchill, 1941). responsible for coining the term “genocide,” lemkin was dedicated to finding a word that expressed the moral stain of planned mass murder so that when the term was used, the world community would immediately respond by seeking to stop it and punish the perpetrators. as power (2003) noted in her prize winning study, a problem from hell, lemkin was an extraordinary individual who focused his personal and professional life on making genocide the epitome of the greatest possible evil that a group or nations could commit. although genocide continues to occur in the twenty first century, lemkin provided a basis for treating it as an international crime, thus establishing a basis for prosecuting post-1945 government sponsored mass murder. on december 10, 1948, just one day after the u.n. adopted the genocide convention, the delegates passed the resolution for the universal declaration of human rights. this document contains thirty articles that framers believed constitute the rights of all human beings rights inherent in the fact of being human, and rights that the world community should be committed to protecting. eleanor roosevelt, who chaired the committee for drafting the universal declaration of human rights, did not want it to be a legal instrument—she envisioned a moral document that would have all individuals consider what should be done for all human beings (glendon, 2004). it was in 1948 and remains in the 21 st century an unfulfilled blueprint for humanity. but the significance is that the declaration exists as an ideal to which human beings of every nation should aspire to uphold and honor. linking academic learning to action the vivification of such documents requires specific, practical skills to make the principles they espouse effective shapers of political will. as glendon (2001) noted in her book about the framing of the universal declaration of human rights , a world made new, it was eleanor roosevelt‟s political skill that moved the diverse members of the framing committee to complete the document as we now know it. colby et al. (2007), of the carnegie foundation, similarly observed that frederick douglas, susan b. anthony, martin luther king, jr., and nelson mandela were consummate masters of a range of political skills, including “skills of political influence and action, skills of political analysis and judgment, skills of communication and leadership, and skills of teamwork and collaboration” (colby et. al., 2007, n.p.). without these skills, their ideas would have remained unrealized ideals. as we noted earlier, the authors of growing up in democracy (2010), argue that active citizenship is best learned through active learning strategies. “education for active citizenship is not just about the absorption of factual knowledge, but about practical understanding, skills and aptitudes, values and character. . . students can learn as much about democratic citizenship by the example they are set by teachers and the ways in which school life is organized [sic], as they can through formal methods of instruction” (gollob & weidinger, 2010, p.9). class-room based projects in two south florida high schools illustrate this point well. the first, a one-day human rights workshop, offers an impressive example of how students are introduced to the concept of human rights, the udhr itself, practice the skills necessary to formulate the key concepts in the documents and apply this knowledge and these skills to effect change journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 41 spring/summer 2011 in their own school. the second, an awareness raising campaign and funding drive that connects holocaust remembrance with raising humanitarian aid for victims of the darfur genocide is an excellent example of the effectiveness of connecting academic learning, the development of democratic skills and their application to real world issues. in march 2009, a group of language arts teachers formed a semester-long learning circle on democracy and service that brought together over one hundred students and culminated in specific student recommendations for improving the learning environment at their high school. the human rights day workshop on march 14 was one of two concluding activities for this semester-long program. prior to the workshop, the students had learned about the united states bill of rights, the united states constitution and the civil rights act of 1964. thus, they were well-versed in ideas and practices related to rights that are inherent in one‟s citizenship in the united states. the human rights day took them a step further to learn about rights inherent in the fact that one is a human being. the key components of the workshop were based on active learning strategies and critical pedagogy. in order to help students understand the connection between civil rights and human rights, the workshop opened with a warm-up activity based on the amnesty international human rights squares (flowers, 2010). all students were asked to move about the auditorium, seeking at least one specific example of each of the twenty topics listed in the squares. the topics included:  human right  a country where violations of human rights are occurring  a document that proclaims human rights  a country where people are denied human rights  organizations that seek to preserve human rights  film/video about rights  a singer who signs about rights  rights your parents have/had that you don‟t have  books about rights  human rights not available to everyone living in the united states  rights that all children should have everywhere in the world  the types of human rights violations that most disturb you following the gathering of specific information and learning each other‟s names, the facilitator moderated a lively discussion among students about six of the topics. by the end of the activity the students showed an understanding of the similarities and differences between civil liberties as articulated in the bill of rights and human rights as spelled out in the universal declaration of human rights. the facilitator then introduced the students to a facing history and ourselves activity designed to clarify the meaning of human rights that apply to all humans just because they are human. the activity, “human rights? where do you stand?” involved students in the process of determining what constitutes a universal human right (facing history and ourselves, 2011). students were divided into groups of seven, including one teacher and one college student facilitator. these groups then studied a set of cards listing many of the rights stated in the thirty articles of the universal declaration of human rights. the students were asked to determine if the right on each card should always be journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 42 spring/summer 2011 applicable, usually be applicable or sometimes be applicable. the students in each group discussed where they disagreed on the placement of each card. heated discussions centered on a number of placements. moreover, students discussed how the language used in each card was too vague or general and needed clarification. in essence, the students were going through a process similar to the one experienced by members of the original united nations human rights committee who were charged with framing a bill of rights for all human beings. only after this activity concluded, did students hear a short description of the difficult negotiations that characterized the meetings of the declaration‟s framers from glendon, author of a world made new: eleanor roosevelt and the universal declaration of human rights (2002). once the students learned about human rights and the complexity of defining them, they were introduced to a diverse group of student leaders from a local university who were engaged in a number of efforts to promote human rights. among the leaders were activists in statewide hispanic organizations, save darfur clubs, amnesty international, and migrant workers‟ rights. the student leaders explained how they became activists and why they felt such a commitment to their work. following the inspiring presentations of university student leaders, the high school students divided into groups of ten to identity three human rights improvements they would recommend for their school. this activity gave students an opportunity to engage in negotiation, collaboration and mobilization. and, in many cases the groups went beyond writing their recommendations to suggesting ways their recommendations could be implemented. at the end of the workshop, each group presented its recommendation. the students‟ evaluations of the workshop revealed how effective it had been for them to spend a day examining the universal declaration of human rights in this manner. there were three major positive responses from the majority of participants. first, they appreciated learning from college student activists and felt inspired to do something themselves. particularly effective was the hispanic immigrant who started college with minimal mastery of english to become the student government vice president. one student summed up what many thought of these presentations: they “helped open my eyes to what i can achieve” (south broward high school, 2009). another positive response reflected participants‟ enjoyment of sharing ideas in small groups. they were excited to hear colleagues expressing different opinions and considering how they could emulate the college student activists they had heard. one participant observed, “[b]ecoming involved is not too hard. [all i have to do] is talk to someone about joining or starting a club.” another student interested in forming a human rights club wanted to do so “because i‟ve realized i have strong opinions on human rights issues” (south broward high school, 2009). a third positive response was the participants‟ realization that they could take action. they began thinking about how they could implement recommendations they had made at the end of the workshop and were eager to share their information with students who had not attended (south broward high school, 2009). a minority of the participants were less positive. they were skeptical that an individual, no matter how well educated, could make a difference. they also doubted that individuals had the ability to “change journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 43 spring/summer 2011 people‟s prejudiced opinions” (south broward high school, 2009). fundamentally, the critics of the workshop did not believe that the experiences of one day could make people more tolerant and caring. yet, even these critics admitted that the experience had caused them to think more about issues dealing with human rights (south broward high school, 2009). remembering the holocaust and saving darfur: the triangles of truth project students at another south florida high school connected their knowledge of the holocaust, genocide and human rights to action by forming a club to raise funds to support humanitarian aid to victims of genocide in darfur, sudan. in learning about the lack of response from the world community to the plight of european jews during the holocaust, these students were equally frustrated to learn that the world community failed to respond to the plight of darfuris in the 21 st century. realizing that bystander behavior on the part of nations and individuals contributed to the holocaust, as well as the recent genocide in darfur, students felt the need to take action. not only did they link their academic understanding of genocide to political engagement, they also developed practical skills that enabled them to inform the public about genocide and raise funds needed for intervention in darfur (triangles of truth, 2011). with the guidance of a dedicated social studies teacher, they developed a strategic plan. they created a club, students for a better tomorrow, which researches the names of holocaust victims and prepared triangles to commemorate the victims. in addition to holocaust memorialization, the triangles explicitly link inaction during the holocaust with a call to help victims of genocide in darfur. these triangles are marketed locally, nationally and internationally. students have learned how to manage donors‟ funds and to connect with national and international organizations so that their donations would be funneled directly to aid the victims of violence and genocide in darfur. using the internet to expand the reach of their project, they created a website, www.microgiving.com/ profile/trianglesoftruth. triangles of truth began with five students in 2007. three years later, though the founders have graduated, their work is carried on by many more students at this high school and has spread to over thirty schools in the united states, israel and south africa. at participating schools, students display the triangles they sell in public places, including school cafeterias, libraries, hallways and classrooms. as stated on the project website: together we can and will stop the genocide occurring around the world, for the sake of those suffering and for the memories of the holocaust victims who perished when so few people chose to save them. we hope to prove that we have learned from the lessons of the holocaust and can use our knowledge to prevent present-day and future genocide (triangles of truth, 2011). what these examples demonstrate is that youth can marshal the energy, creativity and partners to make the public aware of injustices and suggest possible ways to create a better world once they learn not only what and why, but also how to do this. conclusion these examples suggest that the competencies that these students developed journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 44 spring/summer 2011 through the marriage of academic knowledge, skill acquisition, and opportunities for taking action, are essential elements in the education of rising generations to make democracy function well for all members of the society as well as in the international struggle to achieve human rights for all people. eleanor roosevelt (glendon, 2002) who was so instrumental in the creation of the universal declaration of human rights noted that learning about human rights close to home was a critical first step in becoming advocates for human rights around the world. she observed: where, after all, do universal human rights begin? in small places close to home --so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. yet they are the world of the individual person. the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world (black, 2000). it is equally clear that by linking academic learning about genocide and human rights to opportunities for action both at home and abroad, secondary and higher education have a critical role to play in preparing american students to engage with their counterparts throughout the world to advance respect for fundamental human rights, including opportunities to learn the political skills necessary to do this. preventing and stopping genocide, a profound violation of human rights, requires a large, informed and active constituency of people who know how to use the framework of national and international law. recent research by the young scholar rebecca hamilton (2011), strongly suggests the need for a profound paradigm shift away from national security concerns toward a concern for human security, the very essence of the universal declaration of human rights. without this paradigm shift, without this knowledge, and without these skills, demands for effective, timely global action will continue to be slowed down as each new generation of grass roots human rights activists and global citizens are faced with the equivalent of on-the-job training. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 45 spring/summer 2011 references black, a. (ed.) (2000). courage in a dangerous world: the political writings of eleanor roosevelt. new york, ny: columbia university press. brett, p. ,mompoint-galliard, p., & salema, m.h. (2009). how all teachers can support citizenship and human rights education: a framework for the development of competences. belgium: council of europe publishing. retrieved from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/e dc/ carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching. (2007). educating for democracy document supplement. retrieved from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/ sites/default/files/elibrary/html/ed ucating_for_democracy/docs/index.h tml. churchill, w.(1941, august 25). prime minister winston churchill‟s broadcast to the world about the meeting with president roosevelt. the new york times, p.4. retrieved from http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/timeline/ 410824awp.html colby, a. (2007). educating for democracy. retrieved from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/p erspectives/educating-democracy colby, a., beaumont, e., ehrlich, t., & corngold, j. (2007). educating for democracy: preparing undergraduates for responsible political engagement. new york, ny: jossey-bass/carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching. colby, a., ehrlich, t., beaumont, e., stephens, j. (2003). educating citizens: preparing america's undergraduates for lives of moral and civic responsibility. new york, ny: josseybass. council of europe. (2010). council of europe charter on education for democratic citizenship and human rights education: recommendation cm/rec(2010)7 and explanatory memorandum. retrieved from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/e dc/. educating citizens: questions for the introduction. (2011, may 23). new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/ collegespecial2/coll_aascu_ecintroq. html. facing history and ourselves. (2009, july). new england holocaust and human behavior seminar. retrieved from http://www.facinghistory.org/chicag o-holocaust-human-behaviorsummer-seminar-ev. facing history and ourselves. (2008, february 10). maryann glendon and the universal declaration of human rights. retrieved from http://www.facinghistory.org/video/ mary-ann-glendon-discussesuniversal-declara. facing history and ourselves. (2011, may 25). lesson plans. human rights: where do you stand? retrieved from http://facing.org/resources/lessons/hu man-rights-where-do-you-stand. florida department of education, commissioner‟s task force on holocaust education. (2000). state of florida resource manual on holocaust education, grades 9-12. retrieved from journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 46 spring/summer 2011 http://flholocausteducationtaskforce. org/default.aspx?section=resources& page=articledetail&articleid=b73b a642-f674-4bf7-92d29b7d19165331. flowers, n. (ed.). (2011, may 23). human rights here and now. activity 4: human rights squares. retrieved from http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edu mat/hreduseries /hereandnow/part-3/activity4.htm glendon, m. a. (2002). a world made new: eleanor roosevelt and the universal declaration of human rights. new york: random house trade paperbacks. gollob, r & weidinger, w. (2010). growing up in democracy, lesson plans for primary level on democratic citizenship and human rights. in r.gollob, p. krapf & w. weiidinger (eds.), education for democratic citizenship/human rights education,vol, ii. belgium: council of europe publishing. retrieved from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/e dc/ hamilton, r. (2011). fighting for darfur: public action and the struggle to stop genocide. new york: palgrave macmillan. new jersey holocaust commission. (2003). the holocaust and genocide: the betrayal of humanity, curriculum guide for grades 9-12. retrieved from http://www.state.nj.us/education/hol ocaust/curriculum. power, s. (2003). a problem from hell: america and the age of genocide. new york, ny: harper collins. roosevelt, e. (1948). in glendon, m. a. (2002). a world made new: eleanor roosevelt and the universal declaration of human rights. new york: random house trade paperbacks. roosevelt, e. (1948). in glendon, m. a. (2004). the rule of law in the universal declaration of human rights. northwestern journal of international human rights, 2, 1-19. south broward high school (2009, may 14). (student survey). unpublished raw data. taylor, t. (1985). the impact of nuremberg: today and the future. remarks presented to facing history and ourselves biannual conference, boston college, boston, ma. triangles of truth. (2011, may 23). a student anti-genocide project. retrieved from http://www.microgiving.com/profile/ trianglesoftruth. united nations general assembly. (1948). resolution 260 (iii): convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. retrieved from http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide .html. united nations. (1945). charter of the united nations and statute of international court of justice. retrieved from http://www.un.org/ en/documents/charter/index.shtml http://www.state.nj.us/education/holocaust/curriculum http://www.state.nj.us/education/holocaust/curriculum journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 47 spring/summer 2011 about the authors rosanna m. gatens is director of the center for holocaust and human rights education at florida atlantic university. she is a member of the department of curriculum, culture and educational inquiry at fau. her writing and research is in the field of 20th century german history, the holocaust and holocaust/genocide/human rights education. mary johnson is senior historian for the teacher training organization, facing history and ourselves. she is also an adjunct professor at the richard stockton college of new jersey and columbia college, s.c. her teaching career began in the peace corps, an experience that has influenced all her subsequent interests in social justice and human rights. journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 lessons we can learn today from world war ii: roosje glaser’s war story hans hooghoff netherlands institute for curriculum development frans h. doppen ohio university abstract: upholding democratic citizenship is an urgent priority for education systems around the world. there is an urgent need to equip young people with the skills to think, reflect, and act as responsible citizens in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. this article uses a specific context drawn from the netherlands during world war ii. it addresses the dilemmas faced and the choices made by a young woman named roosje glaser. roosje’s story engenders important questions that serve as the foundation for a series of lessons. the lessons challenge students to think critically about choices and dilemmas they may face in their own lives by addressing important issues related to freedom, human dignity, and democratic values. they provide a model for addressing existential dilemmas in a democratic society. the lessons engage students in a vivid interactive storytelling experience through compelling learning opportunities. keywords: democratic values, freedom, human dignity introduction during world war ii, about six million jews were killed in the nazis’ murder factories. among them were about 102,000 dutch jews. “never again auschwitz!” is justly called out, but at the same time, we live in a world in which the nightmares of the past seem to be looming again. we see global pressure on constitutional democracy and core values such as freedom, equality, and autonomy. the russian invasion of ukraine is an attack on safety, peace, and democracy, a conflict between democracy and tyranny. no one has the right to destroy another country. putin opened a door in europe that we thought we had closed after world war ii. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 very few people who can offer an eyewitness account of world war ii are still among us, but today this dark period remains a moral benchmark. while there is still major interest in that war, its focus is changing. as global conflicts continue to abound, there is all the more reason to reconsider multiple perspectives on the conflict. today, schools are asked to teach students more than knowledge. learning to think and reflect and using these skills to be able to choose how to behave are just as valuable. what can world war ii teach us today? the rationale for remembering can be linked to stories like roosje’s. her story teaches us that certain values and norms are the very foundation for our democratic constitutional state. who was roosje glaser? during a visit to auschwitz in 2002, paul glaser discovered a suitcase with his family’s name in one of the displays. this discovery was the beginning of a quest into the little-known life of his aunt, roosje glaser (1914-2000). the story he uncovered became his book dancing with the enemy: my family's holocaust secret (glaser, 2013), an exceptional and hard-to-believe story. the book describes the life and survival of jewish dance teacher roosje glaser. she was born in the netherlands and grew up in kleve, germany, because her father was the temporary director of a local factory. during her childhood, she was often excluded because she was jewish. after returning to the netherlands in 1930, she became the very successful owner of a dance studio. when the netherlands was occupied by germany in 1940, she tried to keep control of her life as much as possible. she refused to wear the yellow star of david and defied the antijewish discriminatory measures. roosje chose the path of resistance. roosje’s first act of defiance was to remove the letter j [jood] from her passport, which the authorities stamped on the documents of jews after the nazi takeover. she was betrayed first by her husband and once more by her ex-lover. after her arrest in 1942, she was sent to camp westerbork, a transit camp to concentration camps such as auschwitz and sobibor, which was known as “the gateway to hell.” during the next three years, roosje managed to survive seven concentration camps, including auschwitz. she refused to become a victim, and time and again she took the initiative in order to survive. she was confronted by her own moral boundaries and dilemmas. she became the mistress of two ss officers, first of the sub-commander in westerbork and then of her superior in auschwitz. the latter allowed her to teach ss officers, who were bored in the evenings, to http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 dance (hence the book’s title, dancing with the enemy). before she set out on this course of action, however, she suffered medical experiments that left her infertile. in january 1945, she was sent on a hellish death march in the freezing cold to berlin. on the swedish border, she was part of an exchange with german prisoners of war. she remained in sweden until her death. what makes people behave the way they do? this question has long been the focus of research in many fields of study. a person’s individual character—a combination of what a person wants, feels, thinks, and experiences—is highly influenced by the environment and the time period in which they live. as circumstances become increasingly extreme and social coherence is put under pressure, human nature—visible in individual behavior—is put to the ultimate test. roosje glaser’s story is an example of this test. under the ever more extreme circumstances of the german occupation, she was betrayed, as were so many other dutch jews. why would you betray another person? why would you join the resistance? why would you decide to collaborate with the enemy? how far are you willing to go if your life is at stake? to what social and moral dilemmas do your choices lead? why do people act the way they do? roosje glaser’s war story is a series of lessons developed based on dancing with the enemy. roosje glaser’s exceptional life can help today’s youth reflect on difficult moral questions. we want to challenge students to think critically about the choices people made during world war ii, and about the dilemmas they themselves face today. in close collaboration with classroom teachers, at the request of the roosje glaser foundation, a project team consisting of a history teacher trainer, a curriculum expert, and a deputy school director developed the lesson materials. the lessons present an unconventional approach to teaching about world war ii. the lessons challenge young people to think about the choices they may face in their own lives. aunt roosje, a vivacious, modern, young jewish woman, serves as a model for ageless existential dilemmas. how do you deal with friends and foes? do you welcome fugitives or would you want them to move on? do we still care about others, or do we feel people are responsible for their own lives? do we still stand up for human dignity or does a general indifference prevail? this means thinking carefully about the world then and now and asking yourself: “what would i do if someone appealed to me for help?” paul glaser based aunt roosje’s story on her diaries, notes, letters, photographs, and witness statements, and his conversations with her just before she passed away in stockholm in 2000. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 this material is available and well documented in the format of documents, diaries, photographs, and film. a collection of these materials—including, for example, a cinema news film from 1942 in which roosje demonstrates a new dance—is available in dutch, english, and german on the website of the roosje glaser foundation (www.roosjefoundation.org). why do people act the way they do? roosje glaser’s war story the online lessons have been developed for three grade levels (the upper years of primary education, ages 10-12; the junior years of secondary education, ages 12-15; and the senior years of secondary education, ages 15-18). they are intended for the social studies classroom and offer an excellent introduction to roosje’s true story. they include authentic audio and visual materials. figure 1 overview of the lessons for primary education lesson focus theme 1: 1940-1945 | world war ii why were the netherlands occupied in 1940? occupation and liberation 2: 1914-1930 | roosje’s youth in kleve (germany) what happened in roosje’s youth? bullying and exclusion 3: 1930-1940 | 1940-1942 | resistance and betrayal how did roosje resist the anti-jewish measures? resistance and betrayal 4: 1942 | hiding and betrayal why did roosje have to go into hiding? hiding and betrayal http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 5: 1942 | about life and survival in camp westerbork what was life like in westerbork and how could you survive there? living and survival 6: 1943-1945 | dancing with germans in auschwitz what choices did roosje make in order to survive? dancing with the enemy in managing to survive horrors while “dancing with the enemy,” roosje’s story connects well to new approaches to the teaching of remembrance and commemoration and serves as an outstanding resource for teaching about citizenship. an important aspect of developing citizenship is the development of values. at the core of citizenship education is the question: what is needed to co-exist in a constitutional state based on democratic principles, and how do we keep these core values alive as a shared responsibility (hooghoff, 2008)? the lessons raise student awareness of world war ii, what happens when freedom and human dignity are suppressed, and the importance of democratic values in today’s society. students learn to consider moral dilemmas and place roosje’s choices in a historical context. they learn to recognize themes such as exclusion, discrimination, and freedom as experienced by today’s refugees and immigrants (peschar et al., 2010). in each lesson, students are faced with dilemmas and choices experienced by the characters. they learn to be respectful of each other, listen to different opinions, and come to realize the importance of democratic values while working together, doing research, and developing a personal perspective. the lessons have a continuing thematic framework focused on occupation, freedom, exclusion, resistance, hiding, betrayal, and survival. each lesson starts with a reading text (including audiovisual material) for the teacher in order to provide additional information with which to help students acquire a basic knowledge of the historical context and the lesson’s theme. the lessons are interactive, include photographs and films, and encourage students to find answers, exchange points of view, and reach a conclusion individually, in a group, or as a class. especially when moral dilemmas are involved (see appendix: sample lessons), the lessons emphasize that http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 there is no single correct answer. students are encouraged to think about their personal values and understand that points of views from the past have to be understood in their historical context without condemning them (schuitema et al., 2018). all lessons, which can also be taught thematically, have a similar structure: the teacher starts with a reading text based on aunt roosje’s story; the teacher instructs the students for class or group assignments; the teacher asks questions and joins the students in their search for answers; the teacher stimulates the students to empathize and develop a personal perspective. all student assignments are presented in a powerpoint. in the role of a passionate storyteller who fascinates and challenges, the teacher actively guides the students through roosje’s history. this requires that the teacher has the ability to tell a story, which is an effective way to keep students interested and involved (karlsen & häggström, 2020). the final assignment in the series is intended for feedback and reflection and may consist of an exhibit on roosje, writing an essay, organizing a debate with parents about roosje’s choices or the exclusion of foreigners, a play about going into hiding, or a graphic novel. teachers’ experiences in order to reach a wide audience, paul glaser has presented many lectures on his aunt to teachers and students. he has shared authentic materials, even including a small piece of barbed wire from auschwitz. particularly impressive have been the stories of his personal meetings with aunt roosje and information beyond the book that he has added in his lectures. his lectures have convinced many teachers in the netherlands that roosje’s story offers an excellent way to investigate the past. the questions raised in the lessons are timeless. while they do not specifically address war violence, they encourage students to think about what is right and wrong under extreme circumstances. based on classroom observations and written comments by teachers who have taught the lessons, we believe that each of the six lessons is developmentally appropriate and easy to access on the foundation’s website. in addition, the lesson developers interviewed three experienced teachers about how these lessons differ from the usual approaches to teaching about world war ii (holthuis, hooghoff, & nijmeijer, 2021). the teachers especially appreciated the value the lessons added through a personal and narrative approach, an emphasis on standing up for freedom and human dignity, and the incentive for students to develop a personal perspective. other positive aspects they identified were the thematic structure of the lessons, the clear lesson goals, the similar layout across the lessons, and the clear powerpoints for the students with http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 questions, assignments, and photos. the teachers also thought the timeline of roosje’s life was very useful. they liked that they were able to add more background information and adapt each lesson to discuss roosje’s various dilemmas without having to go into too much detail about what actually happened. after having read the book, one of the teachers decided to test her ability to tell a compelling story. it became a fascinating storytelling experience in six parts that the students in her class looked forward to with excitement. in her lesson story, she included questions and assignments and ended each lesson with a cliffhanger. in summary, she stated, “by the power of the story, roosje was almost physically present in class for six weeks.” http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 references glaser, p. (2013). dancing with the enemy: my family’s holocaust secret. new york: random house llc. glaser, p. (2013, july 19). dancing with the enemy by paul glaser [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92royp9orzw hooghoff, h. (2008). education implies citizenship: developing a global dimension in dutch education. in m. a. peters, a. britton, & h. blee (eds.), global citizenship education: philosophy theory and pedagogy (pp. 445-458). rotterdam: sense publishers. hooghoff, h., holthuis, p., & nijmeijer, r. (2021). why do people act the way they do? roosje glaser’s war story. karlsen, k. h., & häggström, m. (eds.). (2020). teaching through stories: renewing the scottish storyline approach in teacher education. münster: waxmann. peschar, j., hooghoff, h., dijkstra, a. b., & ten dam, g. (eds.). (2010). scholen voor burgerschap: naar een kennisbasis burgerschapsonderwijs [schooling for citizenship: towards a knowledge base for education for citizenship]. antwerp/apeldoorn: garant. roosje glaser foundation. (2021). roosje’s true story. https://www.roosjefoundation.org/ schuitema, j., radstake, h., van de pol, j., & veugelers, w. (2018). guiding classroom discussions for democratic citizenship. educational studies, 44(4), 377-407. http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92royp9orzw journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 appendix sample lessons from lesson 5 1942-1943 | about life and survival in camp westerbork summary after their arrest, roosje and her mother are taken to camp westerbork. the jews are led to believe that they will be sent to labor camps in eastern europe. people are in permanent fear of being deported. roosje immediately understands that she has to become useful in order to avoid deportation. she befriends a dutch officer who is serving in the german army. she can work as a secretary and does everything to avoid ending up on a deportation list. assignment 3. how does roosje survive? the teacher tells the story: roosje and her mother have to find a way to survive in this new environment. roosje knows she has to make herself useful in order to avoid deportation to the east. roosje and her mother are punished for not reporting to westerbork voluntarily. this means they will end up on the deportation list soon. roosje manages to get a job as a nurse so she can stay with her sick mother in westerbork. reading text for students. the questions are answered individually or in pairs. october/november 1942 – roosje in the schreibstube (administration) it might seem impossible, but i managed to get a fantastic job. i’ve become the secretary to the highest ranking officer in the sicherheitsdienst (security service). he is a very young man and we work together all day long. the other inmates are madly jealous of me, yet they still chase me politely the entire day with a hundred-and-one requests. imagine, i sit behind a desk with a really nice young gentleman opposite me wearing a large swastika. and he’s very kind to me. as a result of the job i’m allowed to stay here on a permanent basis and can also keep my father and mother here. paul glaser, dancing with the enemy, p. 115. http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 explain whether you ... • can/cannot understand that roosje becomes the secretary for the highest ranking officer in the sicherheitsdienst. • can/cannot understand the other inmates’ responses. from lesson 6 1943-1944 | dancing with the enemy | about life and survival in auschwitz roosje arrives in auschwitz-birkenau, a big complex in poland, both an extermination and a labor camp, on september 16, 1943. she survives the gruesome circumstances by dancing with the enemy. roosje is there until december 1944. then the death march begins. how does roosje survive? dancing with the enemy: the dancer of auschwitz text to read to students: during one of our “planning discussions” i learned that the ss-officers met regularly in the evenings to pass the time. after all, they too were stuck in a camp far from home. the nights involved drinking and singing, but after a while that became a bit routine. one day i took the plunge and offered to play the piano and dance during their evening get-togethers. i knew a lot of german songs. kurt [the ss-officer roosje got involved with] responded evasively, but after a few days i was told i should come along one of the evenings. (...) prison uniforms weren’t exactly appropriate, so he arranged for me to have different clothes and more elegant shoes. (...) so there i was, spending an evening with the ss. (...) i was expected to dance to the music from the gramophone. i took a moment to decide what record to put on, then kurt raised his hand. silence fell as i introduced myself and the dance i was about to perform. it was a mazurka. first slow, then faster. i demonstrated three different dances, and after half an hour it was over. no one clapped but i was given a whole loaf of bread as a reward and was sent back to my barrack. paul glaser, dancing with the enemy, pp. 178, 179, 180 http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 assignment 3. statement/discussion. roosje has to dance with the enemy in order to survive. students write down their own arguments and then have a group discussion. being right is not the issue, but listening to each other’s opinions is important. • i can fully understand this because ….. • i cannot understand this because …… • i could never have done this because… • i could have done this as well because…. from lesson 4 from lesson 4 1942 | hiding and betrayal reading text for students assignment on august 26, 1942, roosje, her mother, and her brother are told to travel to westerbork. the only thing they can do is to go into hiding. roosje knows how difficult it is to find a hiding address. jews are often betrayed. roosje arranges false identification papers for her mother and herself. kees van meteren knows a hiding address in naarden. it is a boarding house led by a member of the nationaal socialistische bond [national socialist league], henk coljee, who sympathizes with the germans, and his german wife magda. roosje does not mention her jewish background. they are hiding with the enemy! was roosje clever or not to hide in plain sight with the coljee family? can you explain why/why not? roosje arranges false identification papers for her mother and herself. what do you think was false in these papers? why do you think the jews who went into hiding were betrayed during the occupation? and by whom were they betrayed? do people today betray each other? why would they do this? do you think you could betray someone? http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 52-63 corresponding author: h.hooghoff@planet.nl ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 about the authors: hans hooghoff served as president of the ncss international assembly in 1996-1998. until his retirement, he was program manager for social studies at the netherlands institute for curriculum development. for many years he was involved in the development and implementation of civic competences in school education, nationally and in a wider european context. frans h. doppen, past president of the ncss international assembly (2013-14), is currently a professor of social studies education in the department of teacher education in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. his research interests focus on glocal education, the connection between local and global events and issues. he can be reached at doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:doppen@ohio.edu journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: march 14, 2018 has become an important date in the history of activism in the united states. on that day, one month after 17 people were killed at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, thousands of students walked out of school to raise their voices against gun violence and statusquo gun policies. students from washington d.c. to hawaii left their classrooms for at least 17 minutes, one minute for every victim in the parkland shooting, to demonstrate that they are no longer citizens-inwaiting—they are the citizens to whom the future of this country belongs. as i watched broadcasts from all parts of the united states and around the world i, however, was bothered by an unfortunate and unflattering thought: where are the teachers? i am sure that many (if not the overwhelming majority) of my colleagues in academia and schools wholeheartedly supported the students’ protests; i saw teachers’ passionate interviews in the media and on tv. but where was our collective voice? where was our clear sign of support? social studies education is about good effective citizenship. on march 14, i saw tens of thousands of good citizens. that was the day when our students taught us a lesson. “what counts in life is not the mere fact that we lived. it is the difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” nelson mandela was a wise man… this volume of journal of international social studies includes articles from australia, canada, israel, nigeria, and the united states: the central focus of the study that lilach naishtat bornstein and eyal naveh from israel describe in their article from empathy to critical reflection: the use of testimonies in the training of holocaust educators is the examination of the ways israeli pre-service teachers interpret and teach holocaust testimonies, using a mixture of empathy and critical pedagogy. in israel, holocaust education through survivor testimony is marked by a dichotomy between formal, academic critical investigation and informal, personal-emotional experience. the authors explored this duality through an experimental course about holocaust testimonies, designed specifically to test whether these divergent approaches can be reconciled. they focused on critical responses in a pedagogical context, examining what takes place in practice as teachers are trained to teach the holocaust using survivor testimony. the study found that the initial predisposition of israeli students when discussing holocaust testimonies is to prefer personal knowledge and emotional investigation over a critical perspective and academic study. gregory hadley and david c. young from st. francis xavier university, canada, investigate how social studies teachers understand their personal ideologies as they relate to their teaching, navigate the prescriptions of the curriculum outcome model, and justify their respective positions on the political, economic, and social issues examined in their classrooms. their article a glimpse inside: considering the impact of curriculum outcomes and personal ideology on social studies pedagogy: a study summary demonstrates that social studies teachers value their autonomy, relish the opportunity to examine current events, make connections between topics, facilitate classes related to the interests of their mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 students and see the promotion of critical thinking as one of the most important aspects of good social studies teaching. in search of a more effective strategy: using the 5e instructional strategy to teach civic education in senior secondary schools in ilorin, nigeria analyzes the effects of the 5es instructional strategy on the literacy scores of students in civic education. the 5es instructional strategy (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate) evolved from the constructivist approach and allowed students to actively participate in the learning process. the authors, yusuf abdulraheem, muhinat bolanle bello, and adesegun olayide odutayo from university of ilorin, nigeria, demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest literacy scores of students taught civics using the 5es instructional strategy. they recommend that teachers should expose students to the 5es instructional strategy in the classroom to develop students' generic skills and civic competence. children as bushfire educators just be calm, and stuff like that by lisa gibbs, greg ireton, karen block, and emma taunt from australia contributes to research that provides insights into environmental citizenship education and children’s experiences of disaster education programs. the article reports on a study in victoria, australia, of the survive and thrive program, an environmental education program delivered by the local fire brigade and incorporated into the school curricula for upper primary school. the children demonstrated knowledge and skills gained in monitoring environmental risks, as well as a more nuanced understanding of the different civic roles of adults and children in responding to a bushfire in different contexts. debra donnelly from university of newcastle, australia, addresses the problem of multi-modal creations of the past that are often compromised by agendas and pressures beyond traditional historical evidence. history teachers must navigate the tension that arises from these historical representations to teach evidence-based, memorable history. this pedagogical dilemma was the focus of a research project analyzed in the article contemporary multi-modal historical representations and the teaching of disciplinary understandings in history. the research used survey, interview, and case study to investigate the utility of history-based contemporary representations in the teaching of disciplinary concepts in the history classroom. the australian curriculum and assessment authority has become a dominant narrative that frames what all young people should know, learn, and be able to do about knowledge and power. within this context, geography has been introduced from the foundational years to the end of compulsory schooling in australia. teachers have responded to the implementation of this new curriculum with fear, reticence, resistance, brave enthusiasm, and pedagogic creativity. kay carroll’s article mapping the hidden discourse of geographical inquiry and curriculum change – initial case study responses to geography education k-10 in australian schools analyzes these responses to geographical inquiry and mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 curriculum implementation in the early stages of this process and considers the rationale, context, and potential impact on learning. the immigration and immigration policy debates have long been in the center of political and national security discourses in the united states. unfortunately, the discussions on immigration often occur without proper historical context, which is detrimental to the understanding of causes and effects of immigration for the nation, particularly in social studies classrooms. the final article of this issue, using history to inform the modern immigration debate in the united states by william david mccorkle from clemson university addresses three themes educators can explore: the increasingly restrictive immigration system, the similarities between the past and present in relation to xenophobic and nativist beliefs and movements, and the changes immigrants have made to american society. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ a new type of immigration---challenges to democratic citizenship education journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 21 spring/summer 2011 global citizenship and global solidarity through study abroad: an exploratory case study of south korean students sohyun an kennesaw state university given the increasing numbers of pre-collegiate students who study abroad, this article seeks to answer the question of what kind of citizen young international students seek to become through study abroad and in what ways study abroad experiences challenge or reinforce their initial motives. drawing on in-depth interviews with korean high school students studying in the united states, this article suggests that while the core meaning of study abroad may be strategic interests within the global economy, the pragmatic instrumentalism and neoliberal ethos toward education and global citizenship can be challenged. the most significant factors identified in the article are: 1) social studies curriculum that challenges international students’ desires of strategic cosmopolitanism, and 2) a school culture that encourages young international students to mix with other races/cultures and reconsider their pre-migration views. the article offers a discussion of how both sending and receiving countries of young international students can support them so that they become citizens concerned, not only with their strategic positioning within the global economy, but also with building a moral sense of global solidarity. keywords: international education, citizenship education, social studies it has been argued that study abroad can develop a global citizenry that cherishes the right and duty to change the world by offering opportunities to meet new people with different cultural norms and to reconsider one‘s own cultural and national affiliations (szelenyi & rhoads, 2007; waters, 2009). it also has been noted that study abroad can give rise to largely instrumental notions of global citizenship that are disengaged from notions of a global public good with little concern for social justice on the local, national, and global levels (matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005). how and in what ways can study abroad develop citizens who are concerned not just with their strategic positioning within the global economy but also with building a moral sense of global solidarity? this study seeks to answer this critical question through an exploratory case study of young korean international students. south korea is one of the countries whose young citizens study abroad at a remarkable rate. in the past, only a few wealthy korean families sent their children to western countries for study abroad. these days, however, middle-class south korean families send their children abroad at an unprecedented rate, making for a veritable education exodus of the middle class (j. kim, 2010). this phenomenon offers a rich case for understanding the impacts of study journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 22 spring/summer 2011 abroad on citizenship education in an age of globalization. through the narratives of korean international high school students, this study examines: 1) what kind of citizens young koreans seek to become through study abroad and in what ways study abroad experiences challenge or reinforce their initial motives; and 2) in what ways (if at all) study abroad contributes to a formation of globally oriented subjectivities which are not just informed by strategic economic possibilities but also by civic dimensions of global interconnectivity. in the following sections, i first review previous studies on the relation of study abroad to global citizenship and provide a brief overview of the south korean education exodus. i then describe and discuss the methods and findings of the study. i conclude by considering the implications of the findings for citizenship education in a global age. study abroad and citizenship education most of the empirical work on study abroad (e.g.; al-sharideh & goe, 1998; bradley, 2000; volet & renshaw, 1996; zhao, kuh & carini, 2005) has concentrated on the tertiary education sector, and it is largely limited to examining cultural adaption, social adjustment, psychological well-being, or educational achievement of international students. there has been a lack of attention to international students as citizens who exercise their rights and duties in local, national, and global contexts (collins, 2008; matthews & sidhu, 2005; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads, 2007). because of declining domestic enrollments and public disinvestment in western higher education in this neoliberal global economy, international students are often viewed as overseas customers of education products rather than citizens in local, national, and global communities (collins, 2008; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads, 2007; waters, 2006). however, a more recent and expanding group of critical scholars has started to address this limitation with research that considers international students as citizens and looks at the relation of study abroad to global citizenship (e.g., matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads, 2007). this paper contributes to this emerging literature on study abroad by exploring why young students study abroad and what kind of citizens they become through overseas education. setting a precedent, matthews & sidhu‘s (2005) study is one of the few studies that investigated pre-collegiate international students‘ notions of global citizenship. most students in the study came from asia in order to attend australian high schools because they believed an english-based education would provide a comparative employment advantage in the global marketplace. the students‘ pragmatic instrumentalism, or tendency to find the value of study abroad only in how it prepares them for the job market, hardly changed, partly due to the lack of social interaction with local students. by remaining with other international students, they had little chance to reconsider their neoliberal ethos. according to the co-researchers, not only the cultural/linguistic barrier but also anglo-australian peers‘ indifference, fear, or ignorance of foreign ―others‖ led the international students to be separated and disconnected from local students. ong (2004) and rizvi (2005) also have discussed the kinds of citizenship emerging from study abroad, although their focus was on tertiary education. initial motives and meanings of study abroad to the international students in the united states journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 23 spring/summer 2011 (ong, 2004) and australian higher education (rizvi, 2005) could be described as a kind of global acceptance based on amassing western knowledge capital, rather than on sharing basic values of democratic citizenship; for example, democracy, equality, and pluralism. over the course of the study abroad, this initial motive was not challenged but was instead perpetuated. both researchers suggested that colleges and universities receiving international students should provide forms of education through which international students learn about themselves in relation to others, so that overseas education credentials do not contribute to the economic exploitation of others but open up genuine possibilities of cosmopolitan solidarity. while the almost exclusively instrumental notions of study abroad and global citizenship were also held by several international graduate students studying in the united states, szelenyi and rhoads (2007) found that for other international graduate students, their study abroad experiences did offer venues for broadening views, promoting the understanding of other cultures, and strengthening their ability for critique. szelenyi and rhoads (2007) suggested that this difference could be explained by multiple factors, including the international graduate students‘ home country contexts, areas of study, previous experiences with global citizenship, and/or intercultural encounters. these findings suggest that international students may venture to study abroad with almost exclusively strategic interests within the global economy, and their pragmatic instrumentalism and neoliberal ethos toward education, citizenship, and globalization can be reinforced or challenged by factors such as the school and university curriculum and cross-cultural interactions within and beyond the school and university. in the present paper, i develop these discussions through an empirical investigation of korean international high school students studying in the united states. given the increasing numbers of pre-collegiate students who study abroad, more studies on young international students and their ideas and experiences of study abroad would contribute to this emergent literature on the relation of international education and citizenship education. young international students from south korea the south korean education exodus offers a rich case for understanding the motives and meanings of study abroad for young students and the effects of study abroad experiences on these developing citizens in the contemporary age of globalization. the number of south korean students from elementary school through high school who study abroad increased to 27,350 in 2008 from 1,840 in 1999. a 2008 survey by south korea‘s national statistical office, found that 48.3 percent of south korean parents said they want to their children to study abroad, and more than 12 percent want them to study abroad as early as elementary school. the desires and ventures of south koreans so-called earlystudy-abroad (namely, study abroad prior to college) experiences reflect a complex confluence of factors. these include south korea‘s national globalization project initiated in the 1990s; the aggressive neoliberalization of the south korean economy in a response to the 1997 imf asian debt crisis; the adoption of english as a formal subject in elementary school in 1997; the symbolic and practical value of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 24 spring/summer 2011 english to achieve upward mobility in south korea; and south korea‘s highly competitive schooling, to name a few (cho, 2004; j. kim, 2010; koo, 2007; park & abelmann, 2004; song, 2010). many scholars explain this education exodus as the middle-class south koreans‘ response to the complex conditions on the local, national, and global levels. as south korea becomes more closely integrated into the global economy, english skills have become widely regarded as a measure of one‘s competence (koo, 2007). those with low english competency are regarded as outdated and lacking the proper sociocultural aptitude required for the globalizing world (j. kim, 2010; koo, 2007; park & abelmann, 2004; song, 2010). individual competence in english is closely linked to occupational success and social mobility in south korea (koo, 2007). besides supporting english skill acquisition, study abroad also functions as an alternative route for school success. particularly for the middle or high school students who struggle in the highly competitive korean schooling system, study abroad offers not only a chance to learn english skills but also an easier academic route to college. compared to a very competitive and highly stratified korean schooling, the united states and other western educational systems are often considered ―easier‖ or ―humane‖ by many koreans (koo, 2007). moreover, as with english proficiency, a ‗western university degree‘ has always been considered the mark of class and status in south korea as well as an express ticket to social mobility (park & abelmann, 2004; rhee, 2002). while western higher education was accessible for a small number of wealthy koreans in the past, it has become a popular and desired good for many koreans today due to the ascendance of the middle-class and the relative ease of international travel. encountering the ever-increasing numbers of korean youth who study abroad, researchers began to investigate the various effects of study abroad on young students. to date, academic attention has been primarily placed upon the students‘ academic achievement, english skill acquisition, cultural adjustment, or psychological well-being (m. kang, 2008; h. kim, 2009; j. kim, 2010; y. kim, choi & lee, 2006; d. lee, 2010). few studies have viewed the students as future citizens and examined what kinds of citizens they become through study abroad. in addition, previous studies investigated this phenomenon mostly from the angle of the parents who send their children abroad, ignoring how the students themselves make sense of changing local and global contexts and their study abroad experiences. thus, this study extends previous research by exploring the meanings, motives, and effects of study abroad from the angle of young korean international students as future citizens. the study data were collected in the academic year of 2006-2007 through in-depth interviews with twenty-seven korean international high school students in a united states city in the midwest. the research site has a population of 200,000 and is home to a large state university. the korean community in the area mainly consisted of pre-collegiate study abroad students, tertiary international students, visiting scholars and their family members, and a much smaller population of immigrants. in the era of transnational migration when people constantly move back and forth with an increase of people holding dual or multiple passports as well as a growing discrepancy between legal journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 25 spring/summer 2011 membership, national identity, and the territorial state (taylor, 1994), it is difficult to draw a clear line between the concept of ―immigrant students‖ and ―international students‖. in this study, i define korean international students as students of korean heritage who, regardless of their birthplace (south korea or the united states) or legal citizenship status, made a conscious decision to pursue education in a school in the united states and whose families are not in the process of immigration. during the research period, there were about forty korean international high school students in the area. using a snowball sampling method, i invited all students to join the study via email or telephone so as to understand korean international high school students in the area more fully and extensively. in the end, the total number of participants was twenty-seven. the students were between fifteen and eighteen years of age. they had been in the united states between one and five years. there were seventeen females and ten males. two went to private schools and twenty-five went to one of three public high schools in the area. fifteen were born in the united states during their parents‘ higher education study abroad and twelve were born in south korea. the majority (22) came to the united states right before or after finishing middle school in south korea, whereas two and three came as 6 th and 10 th graders, respectively. the majority (22) came with their mothers and/or siblings while their fathers lived in south korea to earn the money to finance these ventures. three stayed with their older siblings attending colleges/universities. two lived with legal guardians. the students came from middle-class families who could afford transnational living and their children‘s international education. i conducted face-to-face in-depth interviews with individual students and asked them to talk about their motives for studying abroad, experiences in united states schools, peer relationships, future plans, and overall evaluation of their study abroad experiences. particular attention was paid to their initial motives behind the decision to study abroad and how and why they have changed or remained the same. the individual interviews took one to two hours each, and were audio-recorded and transcribed. after transcription, i conducted a systemic content analysis of the interview data with inductive coding and constant comparison (miles & huberman, 1994; strauss & corbin, 1990), searching for similarities, differences, patterns, themes, discrepant evidences, and general categories of responses. findings why they study abroad: initial notions of global citizens the stories of how the participants came to the us were as diverse as their twentyseven unique faces and personalities. some students began their stories with, ―i didn‘t do well there, but in america getting good gpa and going to college is easy‖; others came because ―my brother was kind of failure and so he came first, then i joined him later‖; others came because ―my mom got accepted to a graduate program in the university here and so she brought me to learn english for free‖; some came because ―i was bullied by mean kids and i wasn‘t happy to go to school there‖; some came because ―i hated study study study all the times. i couldn‘t go to bed until 1 a.m. because of series of tutoring, cram school lessons, and homework.‖ almost ubiquitous among the varied contexts behind their decision to study journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 26 spring/summer 2011 abroad was a perceived necessity of english skills and/or a diploma from a united states university for socioeconomic success in the local/global setting. as kiyoung says below, being bullied caused her to start thinking about study abroad as an option, but the driving force behind her decision was the assumed benefit of study abroad for professional career success. i was bullied by mean kids. they bullied me because i didn‘t wear brand-name clothes or i wasn‘t looking ―cool‖. my parents were searching for an alternative school in korea for me… but then we thought why not study abroad in america? we are living in a global world! in america, i can learn english and go to college easily. then, whether i go back or get a job here, i would have a better chance to be successful. like kiyoung, most students viewed english proficiency and a united states college degree as necessary to get ahead in globalized south korea and the world or both. for them, study abroad meant a means to better position themselves within the changing structures of the local/global economy which increasingly prizes ―global skills‖ such as english proficiency and an american education (j. kim, 2010; matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005; waters, 2006). this was also strongly reflected in their initial plan of how long they would stay in the united states. the majority (22 out of 27) planned to go on to college in the united states and go back to south korea where a united states college education would give them a competitive advantage in the local job market. the remaining five students also planned to go on to college in the united states, but they left open whether or not they would get a job in south korea or in other countries. students‘ carefully planned migration for ―better education‖ reflects what ong (1999) calls ‗flexible citizenship.‘ this concept of citizenship signifies rights for individual advancement in the global capitalism over duties as citizens (szelenyi & rhoads, 2007). in their stories of initial decision-making to study abroad, most students exhibited a yearning for global acceptance based on amassing individual knowledge and cultural capital while they lacked interests in learning and participating in activities for equality and social justice. this suggests that international students including the students in the study participate in an economic exchange, and are likely to be concerned less with the moral civic dimensions of global citizenship than with its strategic economic possibilities (matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005). also revealing in students‘ decisions to study abroad were their perceptions of a ―globalizing world‖. many students interpreted globalization as an inevitable societal development to which they must adjust to survive or succeed. study abroad in the united states was their way to navigate the social change. the inevitability of globalization was rarely questioned, despite the fact that many were not happy with it. soobin recollects: i felt so sorry for my dad because he was going to live alone while all of us, me, my brother and mom, were coming to america. i was also very sad to leave my friends. but, you know… everybody knows journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 27 spring/summer 2011 english is important and the world is getting more and more globalized! companies like samsung or lg look for a person who can speak english well, graduated from a us elite college, to compete with other countries. to soobin and many others, globalization was, despite its financial, familial, and social cost, an unavoidable context they needed to align with. for them, a successful person in this age of globalization was a strategic economic player equipped with ―global skills‖ such as english mastery. it was not the one who questioned and resisted the sweeping changes that are underway by globalization, especially the symbolic/practical value of english and western education credentials in class reproduction and social exclusion at local and global levels. indeed, students‘ decisions to study abroad reflected the dominant discourse of globalization promoted by the south korean government (park & abelmann, 2004). for example, in the 1990s the government set the development of ―global individuals‖ as the nation‘s educational aim and adopted english as a formal subject in elementary school, which was offered in middle school for the first time (j. kim, 2010; koo, 2007; park & abelmann, 2004; song, 2010). as in many countries (myers, 2010), the south korean curriculum is framed by global perspectives that provide the rationale for english education rather than integrating globalization as a curriculum topic that students are encouraged to question and examine. for example, the questioning and examination of the contested, multiple dimensions of globalization, especially regarding the growing inequities between those who benefit from it and those who do not. this governmental project of globalization boosted the english education market in south korea. according to one estimate, south koreans spent over $3.3 billion per year for children‘s english education, and over $800 million per year for children‘s study abroad (park & abelmann, 2004). despite many students dislike over leaving their families, friends, and familiar world behind, they choose to go abroad to negotiate with the imperatives of globalization. by going abroad they wish to survive or succeed in a globalized era when an english based education will provide a comparative employment advantage. the changing meanings of study abroad through intercultural encounter the pragmatic instrumentalism evident in the students‘ motives to study abroad hardly changed over the course of study in the united states. looking back on their experiences as international students, many students focused primarily on the value of study abroad as an easy/effective route to academic success and later career success. for example, boyeon recounts: i am very glad that i decided to come! i recently got admission letters from several american universities! if i didn‘t come, i would end up going to just a soso college in korea, which would not get me into a high paying job. when probed to talk about different aspects of study abroad that she liked/disliked, boyeon shared, ―i miss my friends, miss all the fun stuff that we did together. here things are so boring. nothing to do!‖ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 28 spring/summer 2011 in contrast, a few, if not the majority, went beyond instrumental benefits of study abroad. for instance, jeesoo said: when i came here, i intentionally avoided korean kids. it won‘t do any good to improve my english if i just hang out with them. so i tried to be friends with others, and i got to know people who are very different from me. in fact, my best friend here is hema, she‘s from india. she‘s a very smart fun girl and i learned a lot from her. before then, i used to think india is like a poor country with weird culture as you often see in tv. jeesoo‘s story evidences a possibility of study abroad in broadening horizons through meaningful intercultural encounter. although it was pragmatic instrumentalism for her to socialize with non-koreans, jeesoo appreciated the opportunity to engage in mutual interactions and exchanges of different understandings, worldviews, and experiences. as jeesoo hinted above, most students in this study kept to themselves, rarely socializing with non-koreans. consistent with matthews and sidhu‘s (2005) findings, intercultural mixing of international students with the local youth was not the rule but the exception. changsoo explains: like everybody else, i wanted to have american friends when i first got here so that i could improve my english. but, you know, they aren‘t interested in us. why would they be? they have their own friends already… we can‘t speak english well. we are very different… it‘s a lot comfortable with us. like changsoo, many students pinpointed language/culture differences as the main reason for having few friendships outside of koreans. students also mentioned the institutional barriers such as social divisions along racial, cultural, and national lines in a united states school (s. lee, 2002, 2005; matthews & sidhu, 2005; olsen, 1997). indeed, it was very challenging for my participants, ―new faces‖ to the school, to initiate interracial/intercultural mixing. again, similar to matthews and sidhu‘s (2005) finding, lack of meaningful interaction with non-koreans limited a chance not only to improve english but also to examine premigration views on other races/cultures. when probed about what he meant by ―american,‖ when he said ―i tried to have american friends,‖ changsoo clarified: i mean whites. well… blacks and hispanics are also american. but … they are not original americans, aren‘t they?! plus they seemed not into study. some of them are quite mean and problem makers. hispanic kids don‘t even speak english. i came here to study, learn english! like changsoo, students who had little interracial/intercultural encounter had rare chances to reconsider their premigration view of other races as well as american identity, and some even formed new prejudices against others. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 29 spring/summer 2011 changing meanings of study abroad through school curriculum besides intercultural encounters through peer relationships, curriculum in a united states school may also provide a transformational learning opportunity in which students imagine themselves and the world in new ways, question and explore their own and other‘s values, and become active and informed citizens not only in their own local communities but also in making choices which might have an impact on people in other parts of the world. because social studies education is the curricular home of citizenship education, and because one of the important goals for today‘s citizenship education is to prepare students for the globalizing world (banks, 2004; merryfield & wilson, 2005 ; myers, 2006 ), i particularly focused on the impact of social studies courses on my participants. when i asked students to talk about their experience of learning social studies in united states schools, eunsoo described: i used to think america is the best county in the world. a country of democracy and american dream! that‘s what we learn in korea, right?! but here one day in a social studies class the teacher taught about racism and inequality in america today. it was shocking! but then it kind of made sense to me, because, whenever i look around, people working at mcdonald or low-paying jobs are mostly blacks or hispanics. i used to think they are just lazy, not smart, or they just don‘t bother to live better. i think people in korea and even my parents still think that way. we‘d better teach the truth. eunsoo‘s experience suggests a possibility of study abroad in challenging international students to examine their previous ideas, comparing and contrasting the state of things in their home and host countries, and further developing a sense of responsibility to be informed and tolerant. although the initial meaning of study abroad to eunsoo was a calculated strategy for class reproduction and social exclusion, eunsoo began to form civic awareness and take civic responsibilities through her learning experience in social studies classroom. when probed, eunsoo shared her dissatisfaction with the social studies class in united states history because ―teachers and students often talk about something that i never heard before. and they just assume that i would or should know. but this is my first time actually learn about united states history in-depth.‖ although eunsoo was more proficient in english than many other students in the study, her lack of background knowledge in american history and society created a challenge for her a social studies classroom, which is full of engaging and student-centered pedagogy, as well as academically rigorous content designed to develop critical thinking and multiple perspectives, can be irrelevant or ineffective for international students, if it does not take into account the possible lack of background knowledge of the international students. however, at least the social studies course indeed made a positive impact on eunsoo in terms of broadening her perspectives on race and racism, which is important for global citizens. taehee‘s story was also telling in this regard. when i asked her about social studies classes that she took in the united states, taehee said: journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 30 spring/summer 2011 one day, we were learning about vietnam war era. the teacher had students to discuss how they (american students) would feel about the war if they were the vietnamese at that time. it was ―wow‖ to me. it‘s like in korea a teacher asks us to think about japan‘s colonization of korea from japanese point of view! can you believe it? i never had a teacher who taught things that way. i never thought what we think about our history is just one way to look at! taehee‘s case evidences that social studies has the potential to challenge students to rethink nationalism in the age of globalization. especially in a classroom where international students are present, teaching a nation‘s history from comparative, international perspectives would help not only local students but also international students develop a better understanding of history and examine nation-centric views of the world. indeed, multiple perspectives are basic skills for citizens who live in interconnected worlds (banks, 2004; gaudelli, 2003; merryfield, 2001; noddings, 2005). unlike taehee and eunsoo, the majority of the participants in the study did not experience a social studies class in united states schools as ―eye-opening.‖ rather, it was one of their least favorites. in many students‘ words, ―like in korea, teachers in america also teach in a boring way—it‘s all about memorization, lecture, note-taking! well… they use powerpoint, or sometimes movies or discussion but… i can‘t relate to that.‖ a social studies class, which engages students in active learning of multicultural and global awareness, did not seem to be the rule, but rather the exception. in addition, several students disliked social studies classes because of their degree of fluency in english or the level of their background knowledge, as indicated by the following statements: ―my english is not great, and it‘s hard to understand what the teacher says‖ and ―i don‘t have background knowledge as much as american kids have.‖ discussion and conclusions findings of the study suggest both possibilities and limitations for study abroad in the development of globally oriented citizen. in a positive light, this study shows that although pre-collegiate international students may venture to study abroad for strategic interests within the global economy with little concern for global civility or solidarity, study abroad can provide a terrain for challenging motives driven by a neoliberal perspective of globalization, broadening their horizons, and developing locally/globally responsible citizenship (matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads,2007). a few students in this study appreciated their intercultural learning through meaningful interaction with students from different backgrounds. two students particularly shared an ―a-ha‖ moment in a social studies class that helped them to broaden their views and strengthen their ability for the critique of racism or nationalism. these skills and dispositions are essential for them to become more globally oriented citizens of an interconnected world (banks, 2004; gaudelli, 2003; merryfield, 2001; noddings, 2005). going abroad to study, however, does not automatically turn this possibility into reality (matthews & sidhu, 2005; ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads, 2007). due to a lack of english skills, cultural differences, or local students‘ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 31 spring/summer 2011 indifference or all three, most students in the study kept to themselves and their experience reflected little socialization with non-koreans, and thus, lessened opportunities for intercultural learning. many students struggled to fully engage and understand course content ,social studies in particular, due to lack of english skills and/or background knowledge. thus, even if the curriculum was designed to raise global understanding, they would not likely benefit from such courses. students‘ experiences in united states schools revealed that they rarely received support from teachers to comfortably engage in intercultural dialogue in and out of class. as previous research suggests (ong, 2004; rizvi, 2005; szelenyi & rhoads,2007) , conscious effort from the schools and teachers seem critical for international students to experience meaningful intercultural learning so that they would have a chance to reconsider their initial yearning for a neo-liberal variant of global citizenship. as rizvi (2005) suggests, international students are participating in economic exchange and are likely to be concerned less with moral civic dimensions of global citizenship than with its strategic economic possibilities. indeed, a global citizenship including global awareness and engagement for local, global justice must be developed and engaged in within a broader pedagogical framework (dolby, 2004; falk & kanach, 2000). although the increased arrival of international students might be a challenge to local teachers and school, it can be a great opportunity for teachers to teach about citizenship in this era of globalization. by inviting international students to share their stories of why they left their homes to study abroad, a teacher can help not only international students feel welcomed, but also both local and international students examine their desires for global citizenship, and investigate the complexities of globalization and the sweeping changes it has brought so far, such as growing inequities in local and global economies brought by a neoliberal globalization. as citizens living in a global age, both local and international students need to learn the civic skills necessary to direct globalization in ways that will protect and promote democracy in local and global systems (branson, 1999). after all, today‘s interconnected world and the increasing number of pre-collegiate international students call for a global citizenship education that would assist both local and international students in recognizing the interconnectedness of local and global intersections of power, discrimination, and identity, and in participating in action for local and global justice (banks, 2004; ho, 2009; merryfield, 2001; myers, 2006). references al-sharideh, k. & goe, w.r. 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(1996). chinese students at an australian university: adaptability and continuity. in d. watkins & j. b. biggs (eds.), the chinese learner: cultural, psychological, and contextual influences (pp. 205-220). hong kong / camberwell, melbourne, vic.: cerc/acer. waters, j. (2006). geographies of cultural capital: education, international journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 34 spring/summer 2011 migration and family strategies between hong kong and canada. transactions of the institute of british geographers, 31, 179 – 192. waters, j. (2009). immigration, transnationalism and flexible citizenship in canada: an examination of ong‘s thesis ten years on. tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 100(5), 635–45. zhao, c., kuh, g. & carini, r. (2005). a comparison of international student and american student engagement in effective educational practices. journal of higher education, 76 (2), 209–31 ______________________________________________________________________________ about the author sohyun an is currently an assistant professor in the elementary & early childhood education department of the bagwell college of education at kennesaw state university, kennesaw, georgia towards effective social studies journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 50 fall 2010 continuing the debates: towards effective social studies benson, p. & openshaw, r. (eds.). (2005). towards effective social studies. palmerston north, new zealand: kanuka grove press. 216 pp. isbn 1-877249-33-5 review by andrea milligan, victoria university of wellington building on earlier publications edited by these authors (openshaw, 1992; benson & openshaw, 1998), towards effective social studies is the latest and most comprehensive collection of writings about new zealand social studies education available, and represents a substantive contribution to the on going debates about the nature and purposes of the subject in this country. it comprises 10 chapters and a concluding section written by new zealand social studies educators and advocates, each of which examines a critical issue related to social studies and its implementation in this country. written amidst and in response to a period of curriculum revision, this book predates the publication of the new zealand curriculum (new zealand ministry of education, 2007). it therefore offers useful contextual detail about, and ideas that might be brought to a critical reading of, the most recent iteration of new zealand‟s social studies curriculum. the first three chapters explore new zealand social studies curriculum developments within their sociopolitical and historical milieu and highlight a number of challenges regarding curriculum design and professional learning. among other lines that might be drawn between all three chapters is the sense that such challenges have buffeted, and at times obscured, the transformative potential of new zealand social studies. the first chapter, by sandra cubitt, canvasses critiques of the previous social studies curriculum‟s structure and implementation (new zealand ministry of education, 1997). she urges that a whole social sciences community approach is central to addressing, in particular, a lack of shared understanding about the learning area; greater dialogue across traditional subject divides (such as history, geography and social studies) and teachers‟ active engagement in curriculum revision processes planned for 2004-2007. in the second chapter, john o‟neill examines getting started, a support document for the 1997 social studies curriculum. he argues that the approach to professional development carried through the ideological imprint of this document risks positioning social studies teachers‟ curriculum decision-making as an exercise in uncritical compliance; “getting done” perhaps. whether this risk has been averted by a more inclusive approach to the curriculum consultations of the early 2000s (described by sandra cubitt) will no doubt be evaluated in due course. however, roger openshaw‟s chapter highlights that some challenges, such as social studies teachers‟ difficulties with interpreting curriculum intent, are longstanding in new zealand. this chapter, which brings to light ray chapman-taylor‟s largely unknown, 1966 report on intermediate 1 social studies classrooms, 1 year 7 and 8 journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 51 fall 2010 might lead us to consider whether the new zealand curriculum and its implementation is any closer to capturing the hitherto “elusive spirit” of social studies education. a number of chapters examine key concepts used in new zealand social studies curricula, and would provide a useful basis for comparison with social studies and citizenship education literature in other school systems. in chapter 4, for example, hugh barr considers „understanding‟ and argues that this concept must extend well beyond recall of factual information – into a “network of connections”. he presents worked examples of what a more expansive conception of understanding could look like in assessment practices. chapter 10, by dale bailey, challenges universalist and essentialist conceptions of „national identity‟. using examples of questions, places, historical themes and “worthy” new zealand icons, he offers instead more fertile grounds for discussing this concept with social studies learners. in chapter 8, rowena taylor and rose atkins examine the difficulties teachers have faced with teaching „values exploration‟, partly (as john o‟neill points out in his chapter) as a result of its contested nature and lack of clarity about „values‟ in official documentation. echoing the thrust of chapters 4 and 10, the authors argue for complex readings of „values exploration‟ which permit critical thinking about the subjective nature of values, and leave room for students‟ affective responses. there is, they say, more to values exploration than the oft-used „continuum‟ strategy. two consecutive chapters (chapters 5 and 6), by carol mutch and graeme aitken, consider „citizenship‟ in new zealand social studies curricula, and explore this in comparison to international contexts. drawing on a new zealand primary classroom case study, carol mutch argues that citizenship education needs to be a much more explicit feature of new zealand social studies teaching and learning, given that it is central to the subject‟s aims. graeme aitken‟s chapter reiterates this call and, of the many valuable chapters in this book, his most significantly advances the conversation about future curriculum design. his distillation of the issues facing social studies curriculum developers focuses particularly on the lack of a “distinctive aim” for social studies and the “structural complexity” of the then current curriculum (new zealand ministry of education, 1997). he suggests that the aims of social studies could be more sharply focussed on, and balance participatory and knowledge dimensions of the goals of citizenship education. arguing for an issues-led approach, he offers an organisational framework for social studies which strongly aligns this citizenship focus with curriculum structure. for the reader interested in how this line of thinking has been developed through subsequent curriculum documentation, an examination of the „social inquiry‟ approach strongly advocated in the new zealand curriculum (ministry of education, 2007, 2008) is highly recommended. further, a number of chapters in towards effective social studies suggest ways in which the skills of social inquiry might be developed; for example, clinton golding‟s chapter (chapter 7) about the „philosophy for children‟ approach to social studies, and rowena taylor and rose atkin‟s previously mentioned chapter on values education. the editors conclude the book eagerly awaiting what became a onepage statement for the social sciences learning area, in which the interdisciplinary, integrated and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 52 fall 2010 foundational nature of social studies, recommended well over 60 years ago, continues to be a notable marker of the new zealand curriculum. despite the seemingly assured place of social studies, the title of towards effective social studies suggests an ongoing process of becoming. from the vantage point of 2010, the editors would no doubt argue for sustained debate about the challenges ahead. one possible challenge is pointed to in the chapter written by clinton golding and ruth millar (chapter 9): the contributions that disciplinary knowledge might make to the integrated nature of new zealand social studies. philosophy and history are explored respectively by these two authors, but discussion around intersections with other contributing disciplines (such as sociology and media studies) is notably absent. towards effective social studies is a somewhat eclectic text; nevertheless, its format is highly accessible. each chapter is introduced with a series of focussing questions, and ends with prompts for further reflection. the concluding section, written by pamela benson, makes helpful connections between each author‟s key themes. the bridge between curriculum challenges and practicable shifts in pedagogy is a particularly strong feature of this book; though not intended as a methods text, many chapters suggest a way through curriculum and implementation issues with useful pedagogical examples. towards effective social studies is chiefly suitable for new zealand preservice and in-service teachers yet there is also much that may be of interest to an international education audience, particularly in the fields of social studies and citizenship education. a number of the critical issues and challenges identified by the various authors will resonate with similar themes in the international literature. the chapters, though varied, represent some important axes for debate and discussion. those with an interest in comparative curriculum studies, curriculum design and implementation, and teaching controversial issues will all find chapters that are informative and thought-provoking. references benson, p., & openshaw, r. (eds.). (1998). new horizons for new zealand social studies. palmerston north, new zealand: erdc press. new zealand ministry of education. (1997). social studies in the new zealand curriculum. wellington, new zealand: learning media. new zealand ministry of education. (2007). the new zealand curriculum. wellington: learning media. http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/curriculumdocuments/the-new-zealand-curriculum. new zealand ministry of education. (2008). building conceptual understandings in the social sciences: approaches to social inquiry. wellington, new zealand: learning media. http://ssol.tki.org.nz/ openshaw, r. (ed.). (1992). new zealand social studies: past, present and future. palmerston north, new zealand: dunmore press. http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/curriculum-documents/the-new-zealand-curriculum http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/curriculum-documents/the-new-zealand-curriculum http://ssol.tki.org.nz/ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 53 fall 2010 andrea milligan is a lecturer in social sciences education at victoria university of wellington, new zealand. journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 75 rethinking belonging in western nations: theorizing the public commons as a shared pluralistic community catherine a broom university of british columbia abstract: western nations are becoming increasingly socially and ethnically diverse. national policies aim to address this diversity through policies such as multiculturalism in canada, which promotes appreciation for cultural pluralism. however, policy rhetoric can hide social issues related to increasing diversity. using canada as a case study discussion, this article begins by reviewing some of the issues associated with increasing social and ethnic diversity, including racism and conflict over values, and then discusses these issues in relation to contemporary political concepts which aim to build social harmony. it argues that we need to rethink how we understand diversity within a communitarian conception of community, theorized as that of the public commons. the article concludes with recommendations that aim to improve citizenship education, with a focus on increasing youth’s knowledge of civic life, particularly their understanding of this concept of the public commons. key words: commons, dewey and democracy, citizenship education rethinking belonging in western nations today a number of western nations, including canada, the united states, and england, are becoming increasingly ethnically diverse. increasing ethnic diversity, in the sense of one or even multiple cultural and/or ethnic identities (and not a biological or essentialized conception of race) brings a number of advantages to nations, including an increased array of perspectives, cultural enhancement, and the addition of skilled and talented individuals to the nation (brosseau & dewing, 2015; gulliver, 2011; government of canada, 2014; kymlicka, 2010; ministry of corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 76 education, 2008). these benefits have been celebrated by policymakers and theorists. however, current thinking about how individuals engage with each other in social spaces are generally framed within liberal concepts, which may augment related social and cultural issues. this paper begins by exploring some of these issues and then discusses how we can reconceptualize how we think about the kind of society we live in and how we engage with each other in order to address these issues, using canada as a case study example. it concludes with educational recommendations to address the challenges discussed. contemporary social issues a number of issues related to class, gender, and race exist in western nations. this section briefly reviews five. racism and exclusion much has been written about “white privilege” and racism (rothenberg, 2015). in western nations, ethnic minorities may face a number of social inequities, such as lower salaries and profiling (ornstein, 2000; reitz & banerjee, 2006). immigrants can end up in low-paying jobs that other citizens do not want to do. workers from other nations may even be brought in for unattractive, temporary work where they are paid less than local workers (perry, 2010). for example, in canada, international farm workers are brought in to farm for lower salaries and often work in difficult conditions (mcdonald & barnetson, 2016). most citizens, further, underestimate the amount of racism in their societies and in schools (reitz & banerjee, 2006). tensions between ethnic groups, for example, have been documented in surrey, british columbia (bascaramurty & friesen, 2012; oujla-chalmers, 2010), and there are stories of ethnic tensions between students at universities and issues between male and female students and professors (kantor, 2013; robeyns, 2003). social segregation and white flight the concept of “white flight” has been documented in the united states (see, e.g., zhang, 2008) and is occurring in some canadian cities as well (vancouver sun, 2013). two university of british columbia geographers found that vancouver neighborhoods are becoming increasingly segregated, with wealthier whites placing themselves in neighborhoods away from ethnic minorities: “growing inequality, growing polarization do not make for social stability, or even fairness” (mendleson, 2012). corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 77 extremism occasionally, social exclusion can lead to alienation with current structures and possibly to extremism (osler, 2010). youth in the united states, the united kingdom, and canada, for example, have been linked to terrorist activities both within their borders and overseas. examples include the dc five, the portland seven and the boston bombers, the london bombings, “john the beatle,” the rapper who killed an american journalist, and toronto 18. most recently in canada, racially motivated attacks have occurred in toronto, including verbal and physical attacks on muslims, jews, and sikhs. police report that hate crimes are rising yearly, and arguments have been made that institutions such as health care are biased against some groups (kong, 2018). conflicts over values canada’s multiculturalism policy is conceptualized under a liberal, “dual highway” model in which individuals can keep their values while adapting to some of those values found in canada. at the same time, canada itself is open to changes and adapts to the values of its varied ethnic populations. generally, this fluid and flexible process allows individuals to adapt to canada, and for canada to adapt and change (kymlicka, 2008, 2010). however, this fluidity can hide a tension in which individuals may hold values that conflict with those of other citizens, and these individuals may believe that it is acceptable to hold these values due to the policy of multiculturalism. for example, in kingston, ontario, 58-year-old mohammed shafia from afghanistan and his second wife in the polygamous family killed their daughters aged 19, 17, and 13, as well as the first wife, by drowning them in the family car. the father felt that the daughters were shaming him by not following the family’s cultural traditions. in a similar vein, in 2007, aqsa parvez was strangled by her brother at the age of 16 for refusing to wear the hijab. other examples include kaur sidhu, amandeep atwal, and khatera sadiqi, all killed by family members who felt they had dishonored the family (cbc, 2011). a research study conducted with youth in canada highlighted the importance of family backgrounds to youth civic attitudes.1 the study found that there were statistically significant connections between students’ civic attitudes and behaviors and their backgrounds. youth’s family backgrounds may influence how youth perceive citizenship and how they choose to participate civically (lenzi, 2014). 1 the full study’s findings are described in another article written by the author (broom, 2016). corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 78 theorizing ethnic pluralism the fifth issue related to social and cultural issues and pluralism lies in how it may be theorized. while government officials may over-emphasize the positive features of ethnic diversity in nations such as canada, academic discourse generally draws its lens, language, and approach from critical theory. pashby, ingram, and joshee (2014) describe three major ideologies through which multiculturalism can be understood: liberal social justice, neoliberal, and neoconservative. a review of academic work on multiculturalism (e.g., banks, 2007; fleming & morgan, 2011; levine, 2007; levine-rasky, 2014; peck, 2014; ricento, 2013; rinaldo, 2014; sears, 2009) finds that academic work is found largely within the social justice orientation. academics describe the social inequalities encompassed within, and maintained by, current multicultural discourse. they describe white privilege and the disadvantages that some might face, often drawing from derrida’s work. they criticize neoconservative ideology for supporting a narrow, traditionalist view of what it means to be canadian, presenting an overly positive narrative of the past focused on “great men” and downplaying or ignoring present and past social injustice in canada, based on racialization. for example, pashby, ingram, and joshee (2014) describe albertan and ontario curriculum documents and the canadian government’s citizenship guide and take a critical stance arguing that these guides focus on neoliberal and neoconservative ideologies, with insufficient attention to social justice ideology. they state: therefore, in policies related to citizenship education, neoliberal and neoconservative discourses each reframe or de-emphasize liberal social justice versions of diversity. one result is that members of groups viewed as diverse or different from the norm are, themselves, seen as the problem and as potential threats to social cohesion… while neoliberal discourses focus on social cohesion as getting along and building business skills, neoconservative discourses draw on ideas of the tolerant canadian of a golden past, a tradition of tolerance marred only by occasional lapses. (p. 7) however, there are more than these three lenses through which we can theorize and understand ethnically pluralistic societies, with implications for how education occurs. that is, calls for social cohesion may not necessarily be made at the expense of varied ethnic groups. stating that individuals in society ought to share some bridging capital (putnam, 1995, 2007) or values does not take away from the ability of individuals to also hold their own views and cultural traditions. the majority of citizens can consider sharing values that allow all individuals space to flourish (as corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 79 will be further discussed below), such as not using violence to solve problems or viewing women as subservient to men. by definition, being open-minded means understanding that people have different ideas and that we need to recognize and value this. it does not necessarily follow that, if we share some values in common, some people are “othered” and isolated. some common values, such as open-mindedness and respect for multiple points of view, may be ones that allow us to maintain and value varied social and ethnic backgrounds. this concept forms the basis for another way of theorizing how we connect to and relate to each other as diverse ethnic and social beings in pluralistic societies, which will be discussed after reviewing terms and language related to culture and democracy, as identity and belonging are understood as multilayered, complex, and diverse, yet also connected. this complexity is a necessary precondition for exploring western societies today in ways that do not essentialize or “other” some citizens. culture is understood to be alive: “culture is fluid, organic and ever changing, as it integrates new elements and repudiates others” (broom, 2011a). further, individuals acquire culture through their lived experiences from their earliest ages of language acquisition. this conception of culture has implications for considering belonging, for it implies that youth develop particular views shaped by their lived experiences with one or more than one culture. youth may hold complex, multiple identities. through discussions embedded in reflection (dewey, 1916), individuals can come to negotiate understandings of their multiple and possibly hybrid identities. democracy and community drawing from dewey’s (1916) work, democracy is understood to be relational and communal. that is, individuals have their own interests, but they also have connections to others that bond them as an “imagined” community (anderson, 2006). values that individuals may agree to hold in common include those necessary for providing the spaces and places within which all individuals in society can flourish, including: open-mindedness, respect for others, plurality, equality, openness to discussion and negotiation, and a connection to the nation within which individuals live. the strengths of these connections determine the strength of the nation: the two points selected by which to measure the worth of a form of social life are the extent in which the interests of a group are shared by all its members, and the fullness and freedom with which it interacts with other groups. (dewey, 1916) corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 80 rethinking belonging some liberal theorists (see, e.g., kymlicka, 2010) argue that autonomy and freedom are the key values of a society. individuals are free to do as they like in their spaces and to “tolerate” others. this conception may lead individuals to live siloed lives. social and ethnic groups may segregate socially and physically, having few connections and relations between each other. under a liberal conception, individuals may “tolerate” others not with a feeling of respect or community but because they follow a belief which allows individuals freedom to do what they would like to do in their lives, as long as it doesn’t affect them. this conception can be critiqued, as the foundation of society is not autonomy but rather community: humans are social beings and live in communities to share mutual advantages with each other and for survival (broom, 2011b; dewey, 1916). this is not to say that autonomy is not important—it is, but it is not the most important feature of society, for underlying autonomy is the need for community. community is understood in rousseau’s sense of a social contract: each of us gives up some of our autonomy in order to receive advantages and help from others in a society. community is a conceptual public “commons” in which each of us is given the advantages that come from living in a society (such as law, governance, order, protection from violence, security, specialization, and diverse services) in exchange for giving up some of our autonomy in the public space. that is, individuals are bounded in the public space. these boundaries begin where actions infringe on the ability of others to live well and have the opportunity to flourish in the public commons (broom, 2010). this focus on the public commons has implications for how we think of an inclusive society. as each of us has to give up some of our autonomy in order to nurture and sustain the public commons, the elements which we share in the public commons ought to be those ideas, values, traditions, and practices that enhance and protect the commons, which allow all others who use the public commons to benefit in spaces that allow for growth or flourishing (broom, 2010). practices that negatively affect the ability of others to flourish in the public commons or the social, political, and other benefits found within the commons (such as laws or governance) should be reviewed. an example would be practices that oppress women, or racist attitudes towards particular individuals or groups. practices that do not negatively influence the commons or that enhance it (such as diverse perspectives) should be encouraged, for we all benefit from rich and diverse perspectives and traditions. the public commons includes all individuals who are citizens of a nation, regardless of ethnic, social, economic, or cultural background. the nation is understood as a bounded legal and political space within which elements of culture, society, politics, and law are articulated through various means including education and media. corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 81 theorizing belonging as a public commons cultural and critical race theorists and social geographers theorize that land and space are not neutral variables. rather, they are inscribed with identity, power, belonging, exclusion, and social class in dynamic processes connected to political, social, legal, and other factors (edmonds, 2010). communities used to have (or still have) commons: land that was available to all community members to use. during the agricultural revolution in europe, these lands were taken over as “geographies of exclusion” emerged (sibley, 2015). in north america, indigenous lands were taken over, mapped, measured, and parceled off into “private property” as part of a global imperial ambition by european nations competing for access to markets, trade, and land, with devastating consequences for local indigenous peoples (edmonds, 2010). claiming land as private property was a process of exclusion and power embedded in western concepts of law and privilege, and enacted through social, political, economic, and legal means (edmonds, 2010; sibley, 2015). personal and social identity is also weaved into this process of taking “ownership,” signaling through social means who was included or excluded, why, and how (sibley, 2015). awareness of this process of exclusion opens up possibilities of new ways of thinking about how we engage with others. public space: owned by everyone and no one a public “space” open to all and from which we all benefit is our conceptual public commons today. this public commons is theorized to include social, economic, political, intellectual, digital, cultural, and other resources that belong to the community and that are managed by the community and in the interest of the community. the “tragedy of the commons” (lloyd, 1833; hardin, 1968) refers to damage done to the commons by individuals working in their own self interest rather than in the common interest. however, when community members have access to the commons, they can develop rules that are in the best interest of all and that are, for example, sustainable in both an economic and environmental manner (ostrom, 1990), that provide spaces for all to use the commons and to benefit from them. features for this to happen include: a clear definition of what the commons are and who is part of them that fits local conditions; collective, autonomous decision making; monitoring and consequences for infractions of/in the commons; conflict resolution processes and multiple, nested layers of organization if needed (ostrom, 2012). it is in everyone’s interest to take care of the commons: we take care of things that we value, for they bring us benefits and growth. corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 82 the commons are thus a conceptual and physical community that includes environmental, social, economic, political, intellectual, digital, cultural, and structural items both tangible and intangible, which all citizens of a nation are part of and from which they all benefit (nemeth, 2012). examples of factors included in our public commons are social features (such as relationships between people; social aid), environmental features (such as water and land), political rights and processes (such as democracy), legal rights (such as human rights), intellectual benefits (such as books, knowledge, schools, research), digital goods (such as the internet), cultural factors (such as stories, plays, music), and structural features (such as roads, parks, and public buildings such as libraries) (nemeth, 2012). many nations have rich public commons, but sometimes they can be taken for granted. the community overall (including smaller nested communities if needed) regulates how individuals participate and benefit from the commons. when conflicts emerge, these are settled through community discussion and negotiation. the main aim should be making decisions that are in the best interest of all users of the public commons, decisions that provide spaces and places where individuals can flourish. we can evaluate the “publicness” of the commons by considering factors such as who can access the commons (access), who controls how decisions are made (agency), in whose interest decisions are made (interest), and the interactions that are facilitated in the commons (intersectionality) (nemeth, 2012). in sum, the public commons are a set of structural, physical, and conceptual elements in interaction with relationships between people, underlain by an understanding of their common value to the community at large. ethnic, social, and cultural diversity is a component of the public commons. values and actions are explored in relation to the effects they have on both the commons and others within the commons. for example, if a person is engaging in racist behaviors, which hurt other members of the community and thus the public commons, they must be addressed through the communal processes of managing the commons described above. we are not just individual atoms going about our lives; we are intricately linked to others and to our communities through our public commons. distinguishing a public commons approach from a liberal one the model of ethnic relations which views individuals as atoms who go about their affairs leaving others to do the same, may have the unintended consequence of leading to a society that lacks community-mindedness. as a result, there may be no real drive to address racial or other social issues. each individual is an atom doing as he or she likes, and as long as he or she isn’t bothered corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 83 personally, there is no motivation to get involved. this paper’s community-focused model implies another sense of relationship between people, one in which we feel a sense of connection to others through a recognition of the commons that we all benefit from; we don’t just “tolerate” others. in the public commons, all citizens are welcome, and all citizens work to regulate behaviors or beliefs that harm or limit the ability of others to enjoy the commons. there is an understanding of the bonds that unite us and that we share through the benefits we all enjoy in the public commons, which builds connections between people that foster care and concern for others. social policies are established through complex discussions and negotiations in which all citizens are welcome to share their perspectives. all citizens should have the equal right to share their perspectives about the public commons, and decisions should be made based on complicated conversations (pinar, 2008) and overlapping consensuses (rawls, 1987). perspectives and ideas should be studied in relation to how they affect the ability of individuals to use and benefit from the public space to the best of their potential, and how they protect and nurture all citizens and provide spaces and places for flourishing (broom, 2010). this model implies that our education should pay more attention to making connections that bond us as a community and within the commons more explicit within schools. this model also implies that the ways in which the three discourses—liberal social justice, neoliberal, and neoconservative (pashby, ingram, & joshee, 2014)—are understood as opposites can be rethought. it is not that one is “right” and the other is “wrong” but that all three have elements of truth existing in dialectical tension (nelson, palonsky, & mccarthy, 2012). ethnic relations and education for diversity, in other words, require us to consider the need for social cohesion (supposedly a neoconservative feature), attention to individual rights (supposedly a neoliberal feature), and open-mindedness and respect for the positions of all individuals, no matter their social, gender, cultural, and economic backgrounds, as social inequities have existed and continue to exist in society today (supposedly a liberal social justice position). in other words, there are common values that our society—our public commons—should all embrace. these are the values that we need for our public commons to provide spaces for individuals to participate, benefit, and grow: open-mindedness, respect for pluralism, a humble acknowledgement of our situated perspectives that position us differently in society, and a feeling of connection to others and to our public commons. these values underlie and cross ideological and cultural positions and perspectives and are necessary for the building of rich pluralistic policies and practices; we can’t have democracy in spirit if we don’t have open-mindedness or are not willing to dialogue corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 84 with others. pashby, ingram, and joshee (2014), for example, argue that curriculum documents do not give sufficient attention to institutional inequalities. thus, the authors have a particular value that they believe we should all share in society: that we should pay attention to social inequalities. in other words, while pashby and others focus on criticizing neoconservatives for aiming to foster common values in canadians, these authors and other writers have values in their work that they believe we should encompass, presumably as a society—that is, common values. indeed, no perspective is value-free. to acknowledge the need for social cohesion does not mean that we have a simpleminded attachment to the nation. it entails both feeling a connection to the nation and to all citizens (our public commons) while at the same time recognizing how inequalities exist (and have existed) in the nation and should be addressed. if discussion focuses on critique and “deconstruction” and does not foster a sense of social cohesion, of community-mindedness, among youth, we are in danger of fragmenting into competing ethnic groups who “tolerate” others only in name. spaces are already dividing ethnically. we can educate our youth to be critical of current inequities and issues in our society and pay attention to developing our students’ appreciation of what we have using appreciative inquiry, for overemphasizing problem solving can limit social improvement (cooperrider & srivastva, 1987). putnam (1995) describes this as the need to increase “bridging capital,” the building of bonds or connections between individuals. his most recent research (putnam, 2007) has found that trust between and within ethnic groups declines as ethnic diversity increases. this appears to be happening in western nations as neighborhoods divide among ethnic lines (mendleson, 2012) and racist comments and attacks increase. howe (2010) found, for example, that young canadians vote less than other groups in society because they have less of a sense of social cohesion: youth may not realize the rich and vibrant public commons in which they participate, from which they benefit, and to which they can continue to add. we can build connections that bond groups in society as well as build increased trust across ethnic, social, and cultural groups. we should both appreciate and celebrate what we have (our current public commons) as well as critically discuss what we can improve (such as expanding our public commons). public commons: connecting to global and indigenous concepts considering individuals in a social space to be connected through the public commons links to work at the global level and to concepts in some indigenous traditions. at the global level, the corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 85 global commons refers to parts of ecosystems that humans and living creatures in general share together, including the atmosphere, biosphere, ecosphere, oceans, and space, and even newer areas such as the internet and radio frequencies (milun, 2016). issues related to their management relate to how international laws from roman times to the present have been developed through a western concept of land appropriation framed around the connect of terra nullis, rather than the concept of res communis, the roman law applied to objects that are held by all (milun, 2016). western colonial-like appropriations of global land have been shattered by indigenous court cases, which have successfully argued against western encroachment on indigenous lands, setting precedents for new ways of engaging in the commons. concepts and practices related to these global common spaces could be improved through connections to indigenous ways of thinking about how we use and engage with each other in space and place by comparing res communis to res nullius (empty land which can be taken), the latter concept of which has shaped western thinking regarding expropriation (proprietary ways of thinking) of these commons (milun, 2016). recently, united nations declarations have supported the role and rights of indigenous peoples in land and land management. this way of thinking about land and natural resources can be applied to thinking about all forms of “commonly” shared social, cultural, physical, conceptual, and other goods: our public commons. while indigenous people vary in their concepts, traditions, and practices, many tend to have a view of land ownership and resource use that connects to the view of the public commons theorized in this paper: natural resources are imbued with spiritual meaning, and humans and natural resources are seen to be interconnected (noisecat, 2017). indigenous people have taken colonial governments to court with some success in changing resource use. in new zealand and india, for example, rivers have been given the status of persons and their management is to be combined between indigenous and local peoples (noisecat, 2017). according to crowfoot, an indigenous chief: as long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land will be here to give life to men and animals. we cannot sell the lives of men and animals; therefore we cannot sell this land. it was put here for us by the great spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us. (quoted in various, herb, 2019). this concept of belonging is key: we don’t individually own elements of public commons, we share them as a community, and we manage them in the interest of the community overall. each of us comes into this world with nothing, and we all leave the world with nothing. the things we corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 86 use in this world are those that belong to all of us. we use objects and elements of our public commons only for the short span of time during which we live. our public commons should nurture the lives of all community members now and in the future. indigenous thought, further, significantly connects physical, social, and emotional features in holistic and harmonious ways of thinking: there are spiritual, ethical, and emotional dimensions to our thinking about the commons. on a final note related to how we think about and engage in public commons, hardison (2006) cautions us to consider how our own thinking limits our ability to understand indigenous concepts related to the commons. he describes the commons as local spaces in which members share and in which their management in the best interests of all occurs through a “guardianship” model, which may include reciprocity. hardison cautions us to consider who decides what is placed in the commons and who benefits from its use, to prevent western expropriation of indigenous knowledge or goods that may be considered sacred. educational implications educational programs can focus attention on specifically teaching youth to understand the meaning of living in a community, and the meaning and value of the public commons. youth should come to understand the many roles that people play in the community to allow them to live their lives and the benefits and responsibilities that come from being a community member. this should include attention to teaching students the common bonds that unite them and that citizens share in common: our public commons. youth can learn about the common values that we require for our public commons to flourish, such as appreciating the public commons, believing in the equality of all people regardless of race, gender, and class (while acknowledging and aiming to repair the social injustices found in the past and present), fostering open mindedness, building respect for people of diverse backgrounds, and developing youth’s appreciation and understanding of the responsibilities related to taking care of our public commons, and using conflict resolution processes to solve disagreements. these are the common values that help our community—our public commons—function. education can include developing an orientation towards society that involves care for others and a sense of connection/concern for the nation and for fellow citizens: an awareness of the rich public commons we have and how we can continue to foster and protect them. it can foster an appreciation and understanding of what values, attitudes, and practices the commons require in order to flourish. these are part of building students’ common connections or values. attention should also be given to allowing students to explore their values in order to understand their situated perspectives and reflect on them, as culture, personal experiences, and parents’ views corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 87 can shape youth’s views. educators can consider including community engagement experiences that build students’ sense of capacity/empowerment, for research has shown that students’ civic experiences and learning by doing are significant factors in learning (broom & bai, 2011). curriculum materials can interrogate the very concepts they aim to foster through the course of study. that is, the courses themselves can be self-reflective. they should also not be simplistic or present an overly ideological or ideal image of the nation’s public commons. the final section of this paper presents some lesson ideas: sample teaching ideas as youth often express political, cultural, and social views that are rooted in their backgrounds, lessons can have students explore what their values are and the roots of these beliefs. students can study various ethnic, social, cultural, and economic groups in order to understand them better and learn about values we share in common, the meaning of the public commons, and the relations between the commons and a flourishing community. they can learn about what connections bring us together as diverse people within one community with a shared public commons. they can explore what benefits we receive from our public commons (social, economic, political, intellectual, and digital benefits, for example) and how and why we should take care of it. class discussions can allow students to be introduced to their classmates’ varied perspectives and to have a chance to share their own perspectives and then reflect on these. experiential activities can involve the students in community activities that build their knowledge of and connections to local community. education can help students become conscious of their context and how the values and attitudes they hold interact with those that support the nation’s public commons. conclusion western nations are growing increasingly ethnically diverse. one reason is the attraction of a rich public commons—the many and diverse social, cultural, physical, legal, and other goods shared as a national community. the commons flourish in spaces and places of common shared values such as respect for others, equality, and open-mindedness, in dialogue with multiple, diverse perspectives rooted in varied ethnic, social, and economic experiences. education that spans ideological positions while being rooted in an understanding of the significance of a community with a rich public commons should not be indoctrination. it should include self-reflection and corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 75-93 page 88 dialectical thinking by all, including educators, to ensure that all citizens feel that they are part of the public commons and that they are given the respect and opportunities that they and all citizens can benefit from; this is itself a common value. education can reflect on the meaning and elements of living in a community, as 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(2008). white flight in the context of education: evidence from south carolina. journal of geography, 107(6), 236-245. about the author: catherine a. broom is an associate professor at the university of british columbia okanagan whose work explores the meaning and processes of citizenship education in the past and present, with a particular focus on community and ecological-mindedness. this paper is dedicated to her father, who died of cancer in 2017. corresponding author: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:catherine.broom@ubc.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 service-learning: international teachers' perspectives jean o'keefe * (georgia state university); joseph feinberg (georgia state university) __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: in this qualitative case study, we explored the knowledge and perceptions of servicelearning held by a diverse group of 22 international teachers. through focus group interviews, we found that the majority of participants desired to implement service-learning in their countries, and they supported the idea of mandatory service-learning. the results show that the majority of international teachers had no prior knowledge of service-learning before instruction in the united states. we highlight diverse interpretations and definitions of service-learning but also emphasize that service-learning design and implementation varies depending on the beliefs and goals of practitioners. key words: service-learning, mandatory service-learning, international teachers, global service learning __________________________________________________________________________________ background while advocates studying and researching the topic of service-learning argue that the field is growing in popularity (billig & waterman, 2001; welch & billig, 2004), our research study indicated that the concept remains vague and confusing. billig (2011) states, ‘service learning is an educational approach that uses community service as a way of helping students master academic content’ (p. 8). breaking from the more traditional definition and integrating the social studies, wade (2000) argues, ‘service learning should be about social change, not just filling a gap in services. it should be about questioning the conditions in society that create the need for service in the first place and seeking to alter those conditions’ (p. 6). similar to wade, other advocates for service-learning distinguish between traditional service-learning and critical service-learning approaches geared towards social justice (see kahne & westheimer, 1999; rosenberger, 2000). in this study, we explore the servicelearning perceptions of 22 diverse international teachers and conclude they adopted a definition similar to billig’s noted above. pre-service teachers, students, and educators mistakenly believe service-learning is a synonym for community service. unfortunately, community service can have a negative connotation when associated with court ordered community service required for legal violations. moreover, many educators question whether it is merely another fad or method advocated as the next best practice in education (see evans, 2004), particularly in the social studies (harkavy, 2004; wade, 2000). evans (2004) asserts ‘the history of social studies is a story of turf wars among competing camps, each with its own leaders, philosophy, beliefs, and pedagogical practices’ (p. 1). wade (2000) and harkavy (2004) believe service-learning as a pedagogical practice will enhance democratic society. wade (2000) advocated that working towards social justice was an essential characteristic of being a democratic citizen. she asserted there were benefits even if students do not completely succeed, because the process of serving enhances the values, skills, and knowledge needed to function as effective democratic citizens. harkavy (2004) emphasized that the service-learning process of engaging students in collaborative, action-oriented, reflective, and real-world problem solving is congruent to democratic ideals. renner (2011), who researched service-learning for a longitudinal study in jamaica, maintained that service-learning should go beyond charity work to instill a critical consciousness within students and the community. renner further argued that a critical journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 consciousness will equip those involved in the service-learning projects with the tools necessary to battle social injustices within society. researchers are still developing the purposes and processes of service-learning at the national and international levels, but teachers inevitably control the fate of service-learning. ultimately, teachers decide if they should incorporate service-learning into their classroom curriculum (mintz & abramovitz, 2004), although some of this curricular power is restricted by school district, government standards and/or community mandates (hart, 2011). therefore, teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of service-learning must be examined if we desire to truly understand servicelearning as a pedagogical tool to advance social justice. we focused our service-learning research on a group of international teachers involved in a u.s. state department sponsored exchange program called the teaching excellence and achievement program (tea). specifically, tea is a program of the bureau of educational and cultural affairs of the u.s. department of state. more information about this program can be found on the irex (international research & exchanges board) website: ‘irex is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally’ (‘about us,’ n.d., para. 1). a large urban research university in the south received a tea grant that enabled 22 secondary school teachers from diverse countries across the world to visit our campus and community in a six-week exchange program. the tea program aims to further develop expertise in subject areas, enhance teaching skills, and increase knowledge about the united states. the participants in the tea program participated in a service-learning workshops and it was imperative to learn how teachers in other countries were using service-learning. we were interested to learn if service-learning had democratic aims in other countries as well, especially within countries that did not support democratic values. the countries represented by the tea participants for this research study were argentina (1), cambodia (3), columbia (2), georgia (1), honduras (2), kazakhstan (4), morocco (2), nicaragua (2), poland (2), and uzbekistan (3). the international teachers participated in workshops and professional development at the university as well as local middle and secondary schools. they also attended metropolitan cultural events. one program of study the tea participants were exposed to at the university level was a service-learning workshop with a definition of service-learning loosely adapted 1 from national service-learning clearinghouse (2013) as follows: ‘service-learning is an organized, collaborative, reflective process that requires active participation, and must impact a community in a positive way with the goal of enhancing academics and citizenship’. we provided the preceding definition at the workshop to emphasize the academic connections and community partnerships embedded in service-learning. in addition to the workshop at the university, the international teachers also participated in a service-learning experience. the teachers visited a high need urban elementary school for one saturday to work with school leaders, parents, and teachers who were improving the physical aspects of the school. some worked on painting murals, some worked in gardens, and others worked on the playgrounds. all the participants spoke favorably about the hands-on activity with their american colleagues to help improve learning environments. as teachers and professionals, the international teachers appeared to appreciate working with american educators and they valued the importance of serving to help create a visually appealing and safe environment for work and learning. 1 we created this loosely adapted definition of service-learning using information that is no longer available from national service-learning clearinghouse. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 we acknowledge that the participants had limited exposure to service-learning in practice due to the short duration of their stay and busy schedules. the focus of our research was to learn what the participants perceived of service-learning before and after the workshop. thus, we documented their preand postworkshop knowledge and experience with service-learning. in addition, we detailed their views of facilitating service-learning in their home countries k-12 educational settings with a focus on the content and application of mandatory service-learning. the specific interview questions are included in the methods section. we also examined whether the international teachers’ various government systems showed any patterns regarding their perceptions of service-learning. the implications are discussed in the findings section and table 1 is provided below as a summary of statistical country information gathered from the central intelligence agency (cia) world fact book. table 1. country background information (country comparison is out of 227 countries) countries government type gdp per capita population below poverty line argentina republic $17,700 country comparison: 69 2011 est. 30% note: data based on private estimate 2010 cambodia multiple democracy under a constitutional monarchy $2,200 country comparison: 187 2011 est. 31% 2007 est. columbia republic; executive branch dominates government structure $10,400 country comparison: 109 2011 est. 37.2% 2010 est. georgia republic $5,600 country comparison: 146 2010 est. 9.7% 2010 est. honduras democratic constitutional republic $4,400 country comparison: 160 2011 est. 60% 2010 est. kazakhstan republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside of the executive branch $13,200 country comparison: 94 2011 est. 8.2% 2009 est. morocco constitutional monarchy $5,100 country comparison: 150 2011 est. 8.9% 2011 est. nicaragua republic $3,200 country comparison: 171 2011 est. 46.2% 2005 poland republic $20,600 country comparison: 60 2011 est. 17% 2003 est. uzbekistan republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch $3,300 country comparison: 169 2011 est. 26% 2008 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 theoretical framework in order to examine the tea participants’ perceptions of service-learning, we chose an interpretive theoretical framework according to patti lather’s research paradigms (2006). this unique study contributes to the field by enhancing and deepening the understanding and dialogue regarding international teachers’ perceptions of service-learning. we argue that the theoretical framework supporting service-learning is dependent on the type or level of service-learning. fertman, white, and white (1996) categorized service-learning into three areas of direct, indirect, and civic action. feinberg (2004) summarized these areas of service-learning and provided examples of each shown in table 2 below. table 2. descriptions of three types of service area/type of service explanation example direct server has personal contact with those being served visiting patients in nursing home indirect server channels resources or collects funds and/or goods for those being served organizing and participating in canned food drive civic action server actively works to eliminate or alleviate societal problem and inform the general public about the issue petitioning local government to fund homeless shelter and writing letters to the newspaper to promote public awareness the theoretical framework behind an act of indirect service could be very different than an act of service involving civic action. thus, the civic action approach provides greater opportunities to promote critical service-learning approach whereas the other two approaches qualify as traditional service-learning or simply community service depending on the extent they are connected to academic learning. in order to be clearly classified as service-learning, a service project must connect to a specific curriculum. many educators have undergone great efforts to distinguish between traditional service-learning and more critical service-learning approaches geared towards social justice (e.g., mitchell, 2008; wade, 2000; hannah, tinkler, & miller, 2011). critical service-learning (mitchell, 2007) derives from critical pedagogy most often credited to paulo freire. freire (1979) considers a critical pedagogy one that is liberating and humanizing and suggests a problem posing education model where students investigate societal problems: ‘liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it . . . liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information’ (p. 79). moreover, the foundation of critical pedagogy in education stems from critical theory (adorno & horkheimer, 1969). service-learning is critical in orientation because it promotes a critical consciousness that transforms learning as students work with a community towards eliminating social injustice through civic engagement. therefore, the theoretical framework behind service-learning itself is much more critical in orientation as it begins with critical inquiry. according to michael crotty (2003), critical inquiry questions power relationships in order to reveal hegemony and ultimately to take action for emancipation. we discuss in the findings section how the participants in this study did not necessarily understand the critical nature of service-learning. we note this could be because of the fact that service-learning was new for many and they only had limited exposure to service-learning in practice while visiting. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 methodology in this qualitative case study (stake, 1995; yin, 2009), we obtained institutional review board (irb) approval and conducted focus group interviews with 22 participants divided into five smaller groups containing three to six participants in each. we recorded and transcribed these semi-structured interviews for the purpose of analyzing them for common themes and discrepancies among answers (richardson, 2006). all participants were encouraged to answer each question but were not obligated, and all individuals participated voluntarily with their names and identity protected by pseudonyms and codes. the questions were designed to reveal what the participants knew about service-learning in their home countries prior to their visit, what they liked and disliked about service-learning through the tea program, and how they might implement service-learning when they returned home. the participants’ perceptions of mandatory service learning were also compiled. listed below are questions that we asked each group. 1. what did you know about service-learning prior to your visit here? 2. how does your country approach service-learning? 3. what did you learn about service-learning through the tea program? 4. what do you like and dislike about service-learning? 5. do you think service-learning changed your approach to teaching? if so, how? 6. what did you think of the service-learning experience through the tea program (specifically the saturday morning visit to the school)? 7. what are your thoughts about mandatory or required service-learning projects? the responses were compiled into spreadsheets where each question was delineated by a row and a column delineated each participant. both researchers reviewed the data separately looking for common themes among answers and then the researchers analyzed and cross-checked their findings together in order to discuss any discrepancies or varying perspectives on answers. some answers were clearly explicit. for example, most participants transparently stated that they had no previous knowledge of service-learning and had never heard the term. other answers were less distinguishable and required further analysis and discussion to reach a consensus. for example, a community service event described by participants would be evaluated to determine whether it qualified as a service-learning experience. we used the definition of service-learning supplied to the participants in their workshop as a guide in our decision making process: ‘service-learning is an organized, collaborative, reflective process that requires active participation, and must impact a community in a positive way with the goal of enhancing academics and citizenship’. some themes used in the analysis were: active, collaborative, community involvement, academic connection, and citizenship enhancement. dedoose computer assistive qualitative data analysis software (sociocultural research consultants, 2013) was used to help us visualize our data analysis and some of those diagrams are located within the findings section. we used grounded theory methods to perform our data analysis (glaser & strauss, 2012). charmaz, a constructive grounded theorist, explains, ‘coding distills data, sorts them, and gives us a handle for making comparisons with other segments of data’ (2006, p. 3). we began the coding process with a form of open coding where we read the participants’ answers to each question one by one and summarized what we thought each participant was saying. after reviewing all participants’ answers to a single question, we would then review the notes to see if any patterns were emerging. we would then create codes based on these emerging patterns or categories and attach them where applicable to participants’ answers/excerpts within dedoose. since we were journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 deciding which initial codes made the most analytic sense to categorize this data, we were conducting focused coding within dedoose. we also performed axial coding or the creation of subcategories from categories. most of the participants answered the questions about prior knowledge with service-learning and whether service-learning should be mandatory and dedoose automatically coded them by their question descriptor. however, we needed a more refined way to process what was happening within what the participants were saying about these topics. dedoose allows the researcher to put weights onto codes so that he or she can set up subcategories within the category. we created legends or keys for these weights and assigned them specific numbers. the axial coding process really helped us when conducting analysis and drawing findings. findings in this section, we synthesize the data to reveal the participants’ previous knowledge of servicelearning, beliefs surrounding the purposes of service-learning, desires to implement service-learning in their own classrooms, and opinions on the topic of mandatory service-learning. please note that participants’ gender is not revealed to protect the identity of the participants. prior knowledge the responses for all but one of the international teachers ranged from very limited knowledge of the concept to absolutely no knowledge prior to the program here in the united states. thus, only one of the 18 participants, who responded to the question regarding prior knowledge of servicelearning, claimed to know the concept and had prior experience before the workshop. a few participants had some previous knowledge of service-learning but did not know what it meant, and nine respondents confessed to confusing it with community service or comparable endeavors such as ‘social service’, ‘public good’, or simply,’helping others’. connecting service to curriculum and learning was entirely new for many of the respondents. billig (2011) noted that service-learning is sometimes confused with community service but reminds the reader that the only commonality between the two is the ‘action’ component. service-learning is unique because the action is tied to curriculum and the action is continually reflected on throughout the six phases of service learning discussed by billig (2011): investigation, planning, action, reflection, demonstration, and celebration. these findings expose a lack of knowledge relating to the concept of service-learning and provide justification for further professional development and increased exposure for international teacher education programs. figure 1 provides an example of the axial coding conducted during data analysis. we were able to create subcategories of ‘no knowledge’, ‘some knowledge but confused’, and ‘had prior experience’ for the category of ‘prior knowledge’ by creating weights for the code in dedoose. figure 2 shows that the average weight for the prior knowledge code was .64 on our scale from 0-2 justifying our claim that these international teachers had little knowledge/experience with the term servicelearning. figure 3 reveals a few excerpts from the participants’ transcribed focus group interviews. while one teacher discussed previous work with service-learning, the others confessed that they were not familiar with the term before coming to the united states. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 figure 1. weight description for prior knowledge code figure 2. prior knowledge of service-learning by country based on coded weight above (mean is .64) journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 figure 3. excerpts from participants discussing prior knowledge the one respondent who had prior experience explained that he participated in a pilot program at his school in uzbekistan in which they collaborated on a water pollution project with the united nations children fund (unicef). it was interesting to learn that a participant from a country with an authoritarian government was the only one with service-learning experience and that uzbekistan had collaborated with a world organization that has a purpose to ‘overcome . . . poverty, violence, disease and discrimination’ (‘about unicef’, 2012, para. 2). the uzbekistan participant spoke very passionately and proudly about the improvements gained through service-learning to overcome the environmental issue. he explained how his students researched water pollution and collaborated with students from neighboring local schools on this project. this service qualifies as service-learning because it was connected to the science curriculum and several communities/schools. we would argue that this service-learning experience would be an example of the civic action approach and could be classified as critical service-learning because the students were actively working towards alleviating a societal problem: water pollution. purposes of service-learning the international teachers’ beliefs surrounding the purposes of service-learning were more difficult to discern. questions relating to what they learned about service-learning from the program, what they liked and disliked about service-learning, and if service-learning had changed their approach to teaching were analyzed to evaluate how they perceived service-learning and its purpose(s). overall, the results show these international teachers held positive opinions about service-learning. a journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 respondent from morocco described it as beneficial and a respondent from honduras claimed it was ‘a great experience . . . we had fun’. we were pleased that the participants found the experience enjoyable but found it impossible to discern whether they saw the critical nature of the service from such casual statements. for example, another international teacher from honduras exclaimed, ‘it reminds me that i love teaching’. whether these international teachers thought service-learning was a method or something with a specific purpose that would enhance democracy, as harkavy (2004) desires, was not as distinguishable. we argue that most of the teachers did not understand the reciprocity of the endeavor as promoted by gains-hanks and grayman-simpson (2011) in which both the student and community benefit from the service-learning. the majority of the respondents discussed service-learning as a charitable act of helping others with many teachers noting the importance of helping those in need with the most popular being tutoring and school cleaning. a few participants emphasized learning about an academic connection involved with servicelearning as expressed by a columbian participant: ‘it [service-learning] is not like, ok let's just go help the community, and then you go and there is no learning. this is the most important thing i learned is to connect with pedagogy’. this quote shows promise that the participants were becoming aware of the difference between community service and service-learning through exposure at the workshop and service-learning experience. a participant from honduras also discussed how he/she learned of the academic connection but noted the difficulty of implementation: ‘i did know that it is important to help but now i am going back and i am going to try to make the connection of all the activities that we are doing in my institution and making the connection to academics. it is kind of hard.’ even when teachers understand the concept of service-learning, they also recognized the complexity of successful implementation. desire to implement the findings reveal that teachers overwhelmingly desired to implement service-learning and largely supported it being compulsory. a number of international teachers reported specific ways they planned to implement service-learning in their home countries that typically complemented their teaching expertise. an english language teacher from georgia discussed having his/her students perform marketing skills in order to promote tourism and enhance the economy and overall quality of life for the people of their particular country. a science teacher from nicaragua wanted to focus his/her efforts on environmental issues such as water pollution of major lakes in the country. another english teacher from kazakhstan spoke about how he/she would take his/her language arts classroom to the community by having students create bilingual signs for the markets. similarly, another english teacher from nicaragua described how academics would connect with service for his/her english language learners: for example, we now are going to learn songs in english and then we are going to visit a hospital where sick people are and we are going to sing to them in english and to service them in their sad moments. we are learning the content for a final task and they are going to service other people through this knowledge and i think this gives you more ideas about how to use your contents you are teaching to the students to do a task. this english language teacher seems to embrace the deweyian notion of learning through experience and thinks that service-learning will help students learn by doing. the overall enthusiasm for service-learning implementation is exemplified by this participant form morocco: ‘for sure service learning will change my approach, but i think it’s going to be a plus for sure. and on my part, i decided that it is a must. i have to do it’. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 figure 4 provides an example of the axial coding conducted during data analysis. we were able to create subcategories of ‘will not implement’, ‘will implement with some hesitations’, and ‘will implement with enthusiasm’ for the category of ‘classroom implementation’ by creating weights for the code in dedoose. figure 5 shows that the average weight for the classroom implementation code was 1.65 on our scale from 0-2 justifying our claim that these international teachers strongly desire to implement service-learning. figure 6 reveals a few excerpts from the participants’ transcribed focus group interviews. these excerpts highlight the participants’ positive feedback of their saturday service-learning experience, their understanding that service is connected to academics in service-learning, and how they would like to use service-learning in their home countries. figure 4. weight description for classroom implementation code figure 5. classroom implementation by country based on coded weight above (mean is 1.65) journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 figure 6. excerpts from participants discussing classroom implementation mandatory service-learning according to research by metz and youniss (2005), requiring or mandating service-learning did not negatively impact those predisposed to volunteer. more importantly, when those less inclined to volunteer were required or mandated to serve, they were more likely to participate in future voting and civic activities. in metz and youniss’ study, the researchers had one cohort who did not participate (n = 174) and two cohorts who served 40 hours in 12th grade (n = 312). the two participating cohorts were divided among those who volunteered and those who were mandated. this research shows how required service-learning increases civic engagement and knowledge for students not inclined to volunteer. in our study, about two-thirds (n = 13) of the teacher respondents, who answered the mandatory service-learning question, supported the implementation of mandatory service-learning. of the 18 participants who responded, only 6 (33%) stated that they did not think service-learning should be mandatory. moreover, five of these six respondents who opposed mandatory service-learning were from countries with authoritarian governments. there were a total of 12 participants from authoritarian governments in the study. thus, we observed an interesting paradox where teachers who are intimately familiar with government mandates would clearly voice opposition to mandating service-learning. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 it is important to note that one of the focus groups requested a definition for the word mandatory when we asked the question. the interviewer explained, ‘mandatory meant that service-learning would be required in school’ and ‘children would be obligated to participate in service-learning.’ thus, there was some confusion over the term for some of the international teacher participants with limited english language. coincidentally, none of the five participants who were from authoritarian governments and opposed mandatory service-learning were in the particular group that requested the definition for mandatory. of the six respondents who opposed mandatory service-learning, five of them stated in a previous answer that they desired to implement service-learning when they returned home. thus, these particular international teachers supported and planned to implement service-learning but did not support requiring it for everyone. moreover, six of the international teachers discussed the difficulties they would encounter because their colleagues at home would be resistant to implementation of service-learning due to lack of time and training. service-learning requires extraordinary levels of preparation from teachers (wade, 2000) so the reservations expressed by the international teachers are natural and expected. however, the teachers’ declaration and resolve to try service-learning in their own classrooms despite the resistance they expected to face by colleagues and administration was noteworthy. these teachers could potentially encourage other teachers to take part in their service-learning programs in order to help them understand the process. mintz and abramovitz (2004) showed a statistically significant correlation between servicelearning recruitment and actual project implementation. of the 169 teachers they surveyed, 50.9% actually implemented a service-learning project, and 75.7% assisted a colleague with a servicelearning project (mintz & abramovitz, 2004). therefore, teachers who practiced service-learning positively influenced the participation of their colleagues and consequently the growth of servicelearning. figure 7 provides an example of the axial coding conducted during data analysis. we were able to create subcategories of ‘no’ and ‘yes’ for the category of ‘mandatory service-learning’ by creating weights for the code in dedoose. figure 8 shows that the average weight for the mandatory servicelearning code was .70 on our scale from 0-1 justifying our claim that these international teachers mostly approved of mandatory service-learning. figure 9 reveals a few excerpts from the participants transcribed focus group interviews. the first two participants emphasize students exposed to mandatory service-learning would eventually realize its benefits and be happy about their involvement where as the last participant counters saying that students will only benefit if it something they want to do and that service-learning cannot be forced. the last participant discusses the service as an act of kindness through the example of the movie pay it forward. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 figure 7. weight description for mandatory service-learning code figure 8. mandatory service-learning by country based on coded weight above (the mean is .70) journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 figure 9. excerpts from participants discussing mandatory service-learning five of the six respondents who stated that service-learning should not be mandatory came from countries with authoritarian style governments. both participants from morocco, two of the four participants from kazakhstan, and one of three participants from cambodia all opposed mandatory service-learning. as noted earlier, some of these respondents actually confirmed that they would be willing to implement service-learning within their own classrooms, but they did not believe that the government should mandate it. for example, the participants from morocco disagreed with mandatory service-learning because they saw service-learning as an authentic act of kindness that simply cannot be required. one of the participants from morocco claimed that service-learning should not be mandatory based on the premise that people do not want to participate in mandated curriculum. the participant stated, ‘they (teachers) should do it because they want it, because they love it’. the other participant from morocco seemed to agree with the first maintaining that service-learning should be optional. this participant compared service-learning to the movie pay it forward and lamented that mandated service-learning would not be as effective because people would be obligated rather than doing it out of the kindness of their heart with the purpose to help others. it is evident that the participants disliked mandatory initiatives and feared that teachers would dislike service-learning if it was mandatory. as researchers/educators we should consider the purpose of service-learning and determine whether it is appropriate to mandate it. the participants from morocco suggest that journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 mandatory service-learning would result in a diluted version of service-learning that would not be as powerful or rewarding. conclusion our study reveals the international teacher participants had little to no knowledge of servicelearning prior to their professional development in the united states through the tea/irex program. our research also shows that the majority of international teachers expressed an affirmative desire to implement service-learning in their countries and overall approved of it being mandatory. recent research indicates that requiring service-learning actually increases civic engagement and knowledge for students who are not inclined to volunteer (metz & youniss, 2005). in the united states and japan, mandating service-learning is embraced and does not appear unprecedented or controversial. for example, the entire state of maryland and large urban school districts, such as atlanta, chicago, and detroit, require service-learning for students to graduate from high school (national servicelearning clearinghouse, 2007). in japan, the centralized educational system mandated that all students complete service-learning projects (feinberg, 2002). unfortunately, little research examines the impact of mandating this pedagogy on the students and teachers and it is unclear what significance the service-learning has on those being served. overall, there needs to be more research on the effects of mandatory service-learning for students and an even greater need for research that examines how service-learning impacts those being served. a thorough data analysis using dedoose allowed us to code data and view results easily. the figures that reveal an average mean for weighted descriptions helped to strengthen our arguments. for example, the weight description revealed that 70% of teachers agree with mandatory servicelearning. numbers are often comforting to readers who feel uneasy with qualitative research. dedoose also allowed us to quickly access excerpts from the participants on a certain topic. providing these figures with the quotes also strengthens our study as it makes the data more transparent to the reader. the results from this research are limited and not generalizable. thus, a larger data collection and analysis of international teachers’ perceptions on service-learning would be appropriate to strengthen the findings from this research. the construct validity of this case study would be enhanced if we had an opportunity for the informants to review the draft of the report (yin, 2009), but contacting participants in their home countries is complicated and they have limited access to technology. we also acknowledge that the results might be skewed due to power influences. as with any study where the researcher holds power or authority over the participants, it is possible our participants responded positively to interview questions because they wanted to appear supportive. although the coding process provides an element of transparency, a statement of bias is necessary. both researchers in this study are proponents of service-learning and have been active in servicelearning projects. one of the researchers has published other studies on service-learning as well. as with any research, it is possible our subjectivities influenced our data analysis. the purpose of this study was to interpret our sample of international teachers’ perspectives on service-learning and share this information in an effort to build on the existing literature and promote additional research. our findings highlight that service-learning is not well known by our participants who represent a broad geopolitical range of countries. findings also reveal that researchers and teacher educators need to be clear in communication with the purpose and definition of service-learning. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 unfortunately, it is impossible to infer from the focus group interviews if the international teachers realized the critical nature of service-learning or if they envisioned a more traditional model of service-learning discussed by mitchell (2008). many critical service-learning advocates warn of the dangers of a traditional service-learning approach because of the implications to further inequities and the status quo without a critical perspective (doerr, 2011; gains-hanks & grayman-simpson, 2011; renner, 2011). mitchell (2008) refers to this phenomenon as the ‘us-them’ dichotomy in which the server has superiority over those being served. there is a clear need for more critical studies similar to hannah et al. (2011) who investigate whether students are developing a critical consciousness through service-learning work. additional research should focus on whether teachers can recognize the critical component of service-learning and whether they can create service-learning projects that will alleviate social injustices rather than perpetuate them. moreover, additional studies should evaluate the impact service-learning work has on the communities they are serving to see if these efforts are worthwhile and beneficial in alleviating social inequities. further research needs to be conducted at the university level to reveal what pre-service teachers are being taught about service-learning and whether or not they are experiencing service-learning opportunities themselves. as we previously argued, the purpose of service-learning needs additional clarification. researchers and educators should also evaluate the current training and professional development practices for servicelearning. in particular, they should explore how service-learning can be practiced in each content area and supply instruction and training for teachers wishing to implement it. similarly, future research should collect follow-up data to see if and how the participants implement service-learning initiatives. in addition, it would be interesting to examine the impact of different political systems on mandatory service-learning and whether service-learning fosters greater civic participation and awareness of social justice. finally, research needs to evaluate teachers’ perceptions of servicelearning since they ultimately decide if and how it will be implemented into their classroom. references adorno, t. w., & horkheimer, m. (1969). dialectic of enlightenment (1st ed.). new york, ny: continuum. billig, s. h. (2011). making the most of your time: implementing the k-12 service-learning standards for quality practice. the prevention researcher, 18(1), 8–13. billig, s. h., & waterman, a. s. (2001). studying service-learning: innovations in education research methodology. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. charmaz, k. (2006). constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. los angeles, ca: sage. claus c. & ogden (eds.), service learning for youth empowerment and social change (pp. 25–42). new york: peter lang. crotty, m. (2003). the foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in the research process. thousand oaks, ca: sage. doerr, e. (2011). cognitive dissonance in international service-learning: possibilities and challenges for service-learning pedagogy. in b. porfilio & h. hickman (eds.), critical service-learning as revolutionary pedagogy: a project of student agency in action (pp. 71–93). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 evans, r. w. (2004). the social studies wars : what should we teach the children? new york: teachers college press. fertman, c. i., white, g. p., & white, l. j. (1996). service learning in the middle school: building a culture of service. columbus: national middle school association. feinberg, j. r. (2002). service learning in contemporary japan and america. social education, 66(6), 368–371. feinberg, j. r. (2004). connecting students to their communities through service. in j. hoge, s. l. field, s. foster, & p. nickell (eds.), real world investigations for middle and high school social studies (pp. 225–253). columbus, oh: merrill education/prentice hall. friere, p. (1979). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. gains-hanks, n., & grayman-simpson, n. (2011). intercultural tensions within international servicelearning: reflections on barbados. in t. stewart & n. webster (eds.), exploring cultural dynamics and tensions within service-learning (pp. 323–337). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (2012). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. new brunswick, nj: aldine transaction. hannah, l., tinkler, b., & miller, e. (2011). helping teacher candidates develop a critical perspective in a foundations course: a freirian look at how teacher candidates interpret their servicelearning experience. in b. porfilio & h. hickman (eds.), critical service-learning as revolutionary pedagogy: a project of student agency in action (pp. 203–222). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. harkavy, i. (2004). service-learning and the development of democratic universities, democratic schools, and democratic good societies in the 21st century. in m. welch & s. billig (eds.), new perspectives in service-learning: research to advance the field (pp. 3–22). greenwich, ct: information age publishing. hart, s. (2011). critical openings and possibilities: navigating challenges for change. in b. j. porfilio & h. hickman (eds.), critical service-learning as revolutionary pedagogy: a project of student agency and action (pp. 251–271). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. irex. (n.d.). about us. retrieved march 13, 2013, from http://www.irex.org/about-us kahne, j., & westheimer, j. (1999). in the service of what? the politics of service learning. in j. lather, p. (2006). paradigm proliferation as a good thing to think with: teaching research in education as a wild profusion. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 19(1), 35–57. metz, e. c., & youniss, j. (2005). longitudinal gains in civic development through school-based required service. political psychology, 26(3), 413–437. http://www.irex.org/about-us journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 53-70. corresponding author email: jokeefe1@student.gsu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 mintz, p. j., & abramovitz, a. j. (2004). teacher perceptions on implementing schoolwide servicelearning. in m. welch & s. billig (eds.), new perspectives in service-learning: research to advance the field (pp. 151–167). greenwich, ct: information age publishing. mitchell, t. d. (2007). critical service-learning as social justice education: a case study of the citizen scholars program. equity & excellence in education, 40(2), 101–112. doi:10.1080/10665680701228797 mitchell, t. d. (2008). traditional vs. critical service learning: engaging the literature to differentiate two models. michigan journal of community service learning, 14(2), 50–65. national service-learning clearinghouse. (2007). policy: k-12 service-learning. retrieved august 9, 2013, from http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/policy national service-learning clearinghouse. (2013). what are the characteristics of service-learning? retrieved november 6, 2013, from http://www.servicelearning.org/what_is_servicelearning/characteristics/index.php renner, a. (2011). to build a sustainable international service-learning partnership: pushing servicelearning beyond the boundaries toward a revolutionary project of community and consciousness in jamaica. in b. porfilio & h. hickman (eds.), critical service-learning as revolutionary pedagogy: a project of student agency in action (pp. 95–113). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. richardson, w. k. (2006). combining cognitive interviews and social science surveys: strengthening interpretation and design. in k. barton (ed.), research methods in social studies education: contemporary issues and perspectives (pp. 159–181). greenwich, ct: information age publishing. rosenberger, c. (2000). beyond empathy: developing critical consciousness through service learning. in c. r. o’grady (ed.), integrating service learning and multicultural education in colleges and universities. mahwah, n.j.: l. erlbaum associates. sociocultural research consultants. (2013). qualitative research data analysis software from dedoose. retrieved november 6, 2013, from http://www.dedoose.com/ stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks: sage. unicef. (2012). about unicef: who we are. retrieved october 24, 2012, from http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html welch, m., & billig, s. h. (eds.). (2004). new perspectives in service-learning: research to advance the field. greenwich, ct: information age publishing. wade, r. c. (2000). beyond charity: service learning for social justice. social studies and the young learner, 12(4), 6–9. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publication, inc. http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/policy http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 2 fall 2010 dear readers, the editorial staff of the journal of international social studies is pleased to present this inaugural issue of our new electronic journal, the official publication of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies. the publication is a team effort and could not have succeeded without the support of the executive board of the international assembly and all of those individuals, both within and outside of the international assembly, who volunteered as reviewers and have submitted manuscripts as authors. in particular i would like to thank the jiss editorial team of gloria alter, carolyn o’mahony, michelle fraboni and marcia baghban. the first edition of this journal would simply not have been possible without them. we welcome three research manuscripts to our inaugural issue. each paper echoes the themes that form the basis of our journal’s mission and purpose to create “a forum for social studies scholars from around the world to present and discuss common concerns. the journal’s mission is to heighten awareness of the international, global, and transnational nature of issues in social education”. each manuscript addresses the issue of national identity in a multicultural society with its international, global and transnational implications. frans doppen’s manuscript explores national identity in a global context for his american students, who are student teaching overseas. li-ching ho and theresa alviar-martin consider the concept of nationality in the nation state of singapore and how practicing teachers view this concept. jeffrey m. hawkins and mike buckendorf view national identity in the historical context of japanese-americans who were interned by other americans during world war ii. each manuscript situates its discussion of national identity in multicultural societies in the world of today and in the past. the editors of the journal of international social studies welcome the contributions of these scholars to the international conversation on issues of importance to social studies scholars and educators around the world. the media review section of the journal with editor carolyn o’mahony contains three perspectives on methods texts from three different international locations: canada, new zealand and australia. also the section contains o’mahony’s review of toni fuss kirkwood-tucker’s new book on global education. in the final section on international assembly perspectives, margit mcguire offers her memories of the formation and beginnings of the ia. we look forward to continued biannual issues of the journal of international social studies and welcome the input of readers and the continued submission of scholarly manuscripts. beverly milner (lee) bisland, editor journal of international social studies journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 overseas student teachers’ reflections on american national identity: a longitudinal study frans h. doppen ohio university bahman shahri ohio university abstract: this study draws on narratives submitted between summer 2008 – summer 2018 by 78 student teachers across all grade bands [k-12] and content areas (language arts, social studies, science, mathematics) who completed three months of student teaching in an overseas country through the consortium for overseas student teaching (cost) during their final undergraduate senior year. all student teachers were in their early 20s. upon completing their student teaching each student submitted a written reflection in response to the following prompt: now that you have finished your student teaching abroad experience, what did you learn about yourself as an american? what did you learn about others’ perspectives of what it is that makes someone american? in other words, how do you answer crevecoeur’s question, “what is an american?” our findings include 12 major themes categorized into three major categories, i.e. socialization, hegemony and individuation key words: national identity, social studies, global studies, education. introduction until recently, civic education has been predominantly focused on national citizenship. however, globalization has called into question many long-held beliefs about a narrow allegiance to one’s nation of birth. the call for globalizing the curriculum challenges beliefs about concepts such as national identity. amidst calls for internationalizing teacher education (anderson & landman, 2003; colville-hall & adamowicz-hariasz, 2010; doppen & diki, 2017; merryfield & wilson, 2005; mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 shaklee & baily, 2016; sharma, phillion, rahatzad, & sasser, 2014), cushner (2012) has argued that immersive experiences such as student teaching overseas provide an opportunity for “meaningful disorientation, reflection, and transformation” (p. 50). similarly, ames (2017) posits that in today’s world, we must focus on worldwide forces that transcend national boundaries and find advocates among those who embrace a modern and transformative worldview. most citizens never question the assumptions that underlie the use of the pronoun we, and in whose “world” we live. selwyn and maher (2003) remind us that, most notably, social studies has historically been presented from a narrow western perspective. they contend that pronouns raise questions such as: “are you part of us? does we include me?” they warn us of “the quiet threat and danger in pronouns” that underlies their usage (p. 1). beyond our daily lives, they argue that the use of we extends to notions of national identity. more recently, larguèche (2016) has argued that the use of we has historically served to organize human communities and been a “remarkably effective way” for creating a sense of national identity. furthermore, he suggests that “creating or asserting a ‘we’ seems to be a necessary step toward ensuring political allegiance and participation in a political unit” (pp. 26-28). today, as ethnic diversity continues to increase in the united states, future teachers must be prepared to avoid a “them vs. us” perspective (verdugo & milne, 2016) and become advocates for an inclusive notion of american national identity. teachers must have a future orientation, not only for their students but for themselves as well, to be “citizens of the world” (cushner, 2018, p. 3). or, in the recent words of sophie, a 15-year old student from australia, “it will not matter what nationality any of us have because our world is smaller, people move about, and most workplaces will be internationalized. our world is likely to be borderless” (tudball, 2012, p. 98). literature review historically, the united states has been “a promised land for immigrants” and embraced a national identity grounded in concepts, among others, such as a new world, manifest destiny, and the american dream (larguèche, 2016, p. 27). however, the recent movement to “make america great again” has been accompanied by a narrowing of the concept of american national identity as manifested in restrictions on immigration from iran, north korea, syria, libya, yemen, somalia, and venezuela, a travel ban upheld by the supreme court in june, 2018. this narrowing of national identity is not limited to the united states but is also evident in western europe (amira & doppen, 2019; larguèche, 2016, p. 26-28) and is premised on the idea that increased mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 diversity constitutes a threat to national identity. thus, there has been a shift from “thin citizenship” to “thick citizenship” as immigrants are expected to fit “a communitarian notion of citizenship” grounded in “a single, drastically simplified group identity that is “the property of the dominant group” in society (luong, 2016, p. 64; milne, 2016, p. 247). according to verdugo and milne (2016), “the research surrounding national identity [has been] clouded in debate and disagreement. [however,] scholars do agree that national identity serves to give citizens a sense of ‘belonging’ to a nation or state” (pp. 1-2). this debate can be made less clouded by clarifying definitions. it is important to understand that nation is a construct in which belonging is based on essentialist notions of shared “blood, ethnicity, history, ancestry, common values, kinship and language.” a state is a construct in which belonging is based on “shared civic values about citizenship” in which dominant groups define national identity for their own benefit. thus, a nation-state is a construct in which civic identity refers to belonging to a system of political governance in which citizens legitimize their government’s sovereignty (p. 3). as such, it is important to understand that a nation and state may or may not be the same. scholars of national identity can generally be divided into two schools of thought. whereas essentialist scholars view national identity as “primordial attachment” that is “fixed, based on ancestry, a common language, history, ethnicity, and world views,” constructivist scholars posit that “dominant groups create, manipulate, and dismantle identities for their specific gains” (verdugo & milne, 2016, pp. 4-5, 26-28; van kerckem, 2016, p. 282). some, however, identify a third school of thought, labeled “civic identity,” in which “membership in a geopolitical entity is unfettered by ethnicity or culture [and] is based on a set of shared values about rights and the legitimacy of state institutions to govern” (martin & verdugo, 2016, p. 215). verdugo and milne (2016, pp. 6-16) offer four lenses through which to analyze national identity at both national and individual levels. social demography considers factors related to demographic changes and migration patterns, most notably in western countries. economics refers to the impact of economic performance. the better an economy performs, the more positive national identity is perceived. national hegemony refers to a framework of governance that provides stability. a drastic change in hegemony leads to changing social roles and statutes, thus calling the current concept of national identity into question. finally, politics refers to its impact on social demographic factors such as ethnicity, race, social class, and religious composition. national identity is deeply personal and subjective, for it represents an individual feeling of being part of a large community and can also be analyzed based on five dimensions identified by guibernau (2007) as psychological, cultural, territorial, historical, and political. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 in a study of turks living in belgium, van kerckem (2016) explored three “different ways in which the established population draws boundaries” (p. 277) by “homogeniz[ing] and essentializ[ing] the muslim population” (p. 279). first, body language, expressed in fearful or negative looks, often sends a message of exclusion. secondly, discourse may range from subtle to overt racism and “othering” immigrants by the use of ethnic jokes and exclusionary words, such as allochtoon, to label immigrants, signifying that someone is from somewhere else (pp. 287-290). finally, discrimination in the labor force, the housing market, and in social establishments constitutes a third way in which immigrants are excluded from national identity (pp. 291-293). as a result, immigrants in belgium often live in a parallel society while maintaining multiple or hyphenated identities. putnam (2007) argues that diversity brings out the turtle in all of us. the greater the ethnic diversity, he argues, the more people tend to withdraw from collective life and distrust their neighbors. he suggests that successful immigrant societies create new forms of social solidarity and that modern, diversifying societies are challenged to create a new, broader sense of we (pp. 138-139). consequently, he argues that civic education can serve to move students from bonding social capital—developing ties with people who are like you—to bridging social capital— developing ties with people who differ from you in some important way. while research has generally been based on the notion that by immersing themselves in another culture, student teachers may for the first time move beyond a blind “infantile citizenship” to actively identify their national identity and encounter the world and themselves in a transformative way that they would not if they were to stay at home (dolby, 2004; doppen, 2010; trilokekar & kukar, 2011), some have begun to call into question the extent of their learning (vande berg, paige, & lou, 2012). some research has found that at the end of their sojourn, study abroad students’ perception of national identity had been disturbed (savicki, 2012, pp. 229), but other research suggests that study abroad students may in fact more strongly identify with their home culture at the end than at the beginning of their experience. in addition, there is evidence that identifying with the home culture was significantly higher in study abroad students at the end of their experience than among those who stayed at home (savicki & cooley, 2011). methodology this study draws on reflective narratives submitted by 78 teacher candidates across all pk-12 grade bands and content areas [language arts, social studies, science, mathematics, special education] who completed three months of student teaching in an overseas country through the mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 consortium for overseas student teaching (cost) during their final undergraduate senior year. all teacher candidates were from the same institution and in their early 20s during their overseas student teaching. established in 1972, cost is a collaboration of 16 colleges and universities in the united states that provides opportunities for its students to have quality student teaching experiences in overseas settings. cost works closely with university and school representatives from the united states and around the world to promote global understanding, intercultural communication, and a meaningful educational experience (cost, 2018). participants the reflections are based on the experiences of 67 female and 11 male student teachers who participated in the cost program from summer 2008-2018. they include 63 white females, 10 white males, one african american male, two african american females, and two hispanic females. these participants completed their student teaching in australia, costa rica, ecuador, germany, greece, india, ireland, mexico, new zealand, netherlands, south africa, and spain. research question based on a framework for thematic analysis suggested by wilson, flournoy, brennan, and cleary (cushner & brennan, 2007, pp. 39-40, 163-164), the reflections document how each teacher candidate experienced his or her overseas student teaching. in their reflections, they addressed their experiences during the honeymoon stage, new learning experiences and personal insights they gained in their overseas school community, and how the cost experience impacted their global awareness. in their final reflection, they were asked to address what “being american” meant to them by answering crèvecoeur’s question: “what is an american?” in 1782, the french-american writer crèvecoeur, naturalized as john hector st. john, published letters from an american farmer. in letter iii, he addressed the question, “what is an american?” the first to describe life on the frontier in the new world to a european audience, he heralded the american dream, portraying america as an “asylum” and “land of opportunity animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained.” “we are the most perfect society now existing in the world,” he wrote. “here man is free as he ought to be.” “he is an american, who leav[es] behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners … here individuals are melted into a new race of men … here the rewards of his industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor … the american is a new man.” maintaining that “religious indifference [had become] prevalent,” he believed that “as christians, religion curbs them not in their opinion” and that mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 everyone lived side by side in harmony. he further posited that “[t]here is [living] room for everybody in america,” where the government is grounded in popular sovereignty. data collection spending an extensive period of time immersed in another country’s culture often leads one to question prior assumptions of we and they and re-conceptualize one’s national identity. the reflections by these student teachers offer an insight into their evolving perceptions of american national identity over a period of 10 years since the summer of 2008. as such, their narratives span the final months of george w. bush’s presidency, the two presidential terms of barack obama, and the first year and half of donald trump’s presidency, each of which has had its own global impact. data analysis this qualitative study seeks to thematically assess how these 78 participants [re]conceptualized their american identity after completing their student teaching in an overseas country. research has suggested that this method is especially appropriate when studying a contemporary phenomenon to describe the meaning of a lived experience from the perspective of a group of individuals (creswell & poth, 2017; merriam, 2016; stake, 1995; yin, 2002). to protect their identities, all participants have been assigned a pseudonym. we chose to use braun and clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis for inquiry to analyze our findings. first, we separately read each participant’s narrative to familiarize ourselves with the data. secondly, we began the sense-making process in which we developed mutually agreed-upon categories that described aspects of national identity. next, we undertook an interpretation of the categories by developing themes to synthesize the participants’ perspectives on national identity. throughout the second and third stages of our analysis, we used the constant comparative method to determine common themes within and between the narratives. limitations while the findings in this study are based on self-reports and are therefore limited in the scope of their generalizability, the cost program includes a developmental intention through a required pre-departure semester course and, while overseas, structured supervision by receiving site coordinators and mentor teachers as well as assignments, including the narratives in this study, submitted to the sending site coordinator. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 findings guided by the interpretive research question in this study—“what is an american?”—our findings suggest 12 major themes. after reviewing the themes through an “ongoing reflexive dialogue,” we took a “semantic approach” to categorize the themes into three major categories: socialization, hegemony, and individuation (figure 1) (braun & clarke, 2006). using a thematic analysis approach, “themes are identified within the explicit meanings of the data [and an] analytic process [that] involves a progression from description to show patterns in semantic content, and summarized, to interpretation” (braun & clarke, 2006, p. 90). table 1. categories and themes categories themes socialization lifestyle freedom diversity social justice issues wellness patriotism hegemony media politics economics geography individuation global awareness language mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 socialization according to cromdal (2006), socialization refers to “an indefinite array of social events taking place in ordinary life surroundings as well as in institutional settings, representing events through which people become skilled in the ways of society” (p. 462). socialization is an important concept in explaining how individuals develop forms of social identity. our findings demonstrate that participants accentuated such concepts as social norms, values, customs, attitudes, and issues with regard to their understanding of national identity. we identified the following themes as elements of this category: lifestyle. a predominant theme in our findings is the acknowledgement of different forms of lifestyle and the privileged status americans enjoy in their daily lives. from “easy access to large grocery stores” to the “availability of advanced technology,” these student teachers came to recognize that they enjoy advantages, opportunities, and privileges their host nations often do not have. for example, while naomi wrote about her “american passport” as a privilege that enables americans to travel to many countries without a visa, mila wrote: my time abroad taught me a lot about myself as an american. in terms of everyday practices, i realized that i have taken for granted all of the conveniences we have as americans. even living in a wealthy home in south africa, i went without many things that i am accustomed to using or having back home. in america, i can go out to the store and get whatever i need at any time of the day (in most places). in south africa, i have to go to the store before dark, and then remember to get what i need before the stores close at 1:00 on the weekends. as an american, i take for granted being able to access these things, and use fast and reliable technology any time. according to anthropological research, appearance and clothing affect the development of one’s notion of identity (anderson-fye, 2012). wearing casual clothes and paying attention to brands were suggested by madelyn and lily as american features. several student teachers noted that fast-paced living and consumerism are a significant aspect of lifestyle in america. they especially recognized these american features after experiencing slower-paced societies and urged their fellow americans to slow down as the faster pace of life in america causes more stress. for example, kayle wrote, “another thing i have learned is that americans tend to rush things. we are so determined to do as much as we can in as little of time that we forget to slow down and enjoy our lives.” likewise, lily noted, “i’ve noticed the irish teachers are extremely laid back and mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 have the attitude about them that ‘they’ll get to it when they get to it’ while american teachers are constantly running around stressing about everything.” being “hardworking,” “independent,” “generous,” and “punctual” were also listed as american traits. amelia wrote, “in america, time is money. we value punctuality and efficiency of use of time. i think both of those qualities are good ones to have.” maria added: being an american also means being generous. i have become more generous as i have realized just how good i have got it. i am generous both personally and professionally. i am generous in the sense that i am excited to share my knowledge with others and absorb what they have to give. dylan further pointed out the idea of the bigger size of everything in the u.s. by stating, “i think being an american means you believe ‘the bigger the better.’ in america everything seems to be bigger. this includes things such as our streets, cars, houses, stores, and brand names.” freedom. freedom provided a basis for these student teachers to define american national identity. some heralded america as a “land of freedom” or the “american dream” and as such highlighted freedom of speech, expression, and religion as defining characteristics of american identity. to illustrate, stella wrote, “the freedoms and rights that i’m privileged to because of what the founders of our country fought for, and exercising those rights and participating in the workings of my country is what makes me an american.” similarly, scarlett wrote, “being an american means practicing many different faiths or even no faith at all, without worrying about being judged because you choose to practice something other than what everyone else believes.” on the other hand, a few student teachers, such as carter and daniel, thought of the u.s. as a more restricted country in comparison to their host countries. for example, carter elaborated: one instance where i particularly felt uncomfortable and recognized my american view on things was when i accompanied a fellow teacher and his class on a friday night to the movies. i was shocked and uncomfortable the entire time, because we took a group of 12-year-olds to see a movie that is rated r, and it wasn’t a big deal at all. i asked my teacher if he knew that the movie was going to be so vulgar and he told me that it was no problem at all. even though i knew this was acceptable to do in holland with a class, i still felt like it was inappropriate, and i recognized my difference in opinion based on my nationality and the culture that i grew up in. i always felt like an american, but over time mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 i became much more comfortable with my surroundings and new experiences, and the people that i formed relationships with. daniel also talked about some differences regarding lgbtq rights in america and holland: in holland, it is not possible to lose one’s job for being part of the lgbtq+ community; in my home state of ohio, it is. when voting for their representative in government, you have so many parties to choose from that you are actually represented in your government. diversity. diversity was another recurring theme. several student teachers viewed diversity as a positive aspect of american identity. they used such terms as “salad bowl” and “melting pot” in referring to their society. in their view, diversity distinguishes the u.s. from their host countries. madelyn wrote: even though i have many differences with people in germany, i learned that because i am an american i share many forms of different cultures. america is a country that has a little bit of every culture and because of that i share cultural ideas with people all over the world. being an american to me is being a part of many different cultures. social justice. after immersing themselves in another country, several student teachers critically assessed their society for social justice issues, mainly racism, poverty, and gender equality. for example, abigail mentioned, “being in south africa has put issues of racism and poverty into perspective back home. while racism seems somewhat apparent when i first got here, it took me three months to realize that rampant racism is deeply rooted and in existence back home.” wellness. referring to health and diet, some student teachers blamed american society for food inequity and obesity. they considered the american diet to be a negative feature in comparison to their host countries. madison pointed out that americans are relatively unconcerned for their health in relation to other cultures. the average american eats many more carbohydrates and processed foods than the people in australia. in the us, the grocery stores would be made up of 80 percent packaged foods and 20 percent fresh foods whereas in australia it is almost the complete opposite. americans live a fast-pace life. patriotism. patriotism was regarded as an important element of u.s. society by several student teachers. some highlighted their viewpoint as part of “a proud nation.” on the other hand, some mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 complained about over-patriotism by referring to such practices as the pledge of allegiance as unnecessary in education and at sporting events. hazel wrote: americans are all together a very proud nation. at an early age you are taught what each star and stripe on old glory stands for, your grade-school teacher will praise francis scott key as an idol for his rhyming abilities, and soon after you master the abc’s, you’re on to the pledge of allegiance. patriotism is something you are born with as an american. hegemony national hegemony as a “framework of dominance” plays a major role in how citizens perceive their national identity (verdugo & milne, 2016, pp. 6-7). three major themes fall under this group: media, politics, and economics. media. realizing the pervasive power of cultural imperialism, numerous student teachers became aware of the global impact of american media on people’s perspectives in their host countries. for instance, millie wrote, “i was astonished by how much u.s. news was aired in new zealand on the popular news programs every evening. i can’t remember the last time i watched the news in the states and saw news stories from countries other than the one i was living in.” similarly, sienna wrote, “i was amazed when i got here to realize that the people here kept up with the kardashians more than america does.” some student teachers also argued that the hegemony of american media has contributed to a number of “false stereotypes.” in their interactions with others, they stressed that “americans are different from what the media portrays.” for example, maya wrote: the most meaningful learning experience has been in the classroom, where students have often brought up questions about life in america that show a view of americans saturated by the media. this has been the most challenging for me to overcome, specifically when attempting to bridge the gap between cultures to engage in meaningful conversations with my students. there seems to be a disconnect between the understanding of what it means to be an american as informed by popular culture and the reality of american life. as another example, madison wrote: so much of australia’s economy and lifestyle is directly connected with the american economy, that they are very concerned with the happenings in america. they get a lot of our television shows and radio programs; therefore, they actually are very up-to-speed mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 with the pop culture in america. pop culture is just as important in australia, and there is more of it. not only do aussies follow american pop culture, but also their own as well as europe’s pop culture. lily and melody emphasized that “regional and cultural differences must be acknowledged.” these students also described the influence of american media, and hence its pop culture, on the host culture. some even provided examples about the detailed knowledge their hosts had regarding american news, politics, and culture, details they themselves were often unaware of. their description of the global impact of american culture implies cultural imperialism. jade wrote: my ignorance became painfully obvious in ecuador, where i had a student—a political buff—who staunchly supported republican values. he attempted to talk politics with me and made references to american political television programs, but i was hesitant to express my beliefs because i feared that he knew more about my own country than i did, and i’m pretty sure i was right in that assumption. politics. reference to politics was nearly universal across all student teachers’ reflections. “acquisition and maintenance of power” is a key factor in citizens’ perception of national identity (verdugo & milne, 2016. p. 7). american political hegemony was evident in their commentary on incidents in their host countries that highlighted the role of america as superpower. for example, governments and american presidents were frequent themes. nearly all students referred to these themes at some point in their reflections. being asked about presidents, several student teachers posited that americans are reluctant to talk about politics. however, by listening to comments by their hosts about presidents obama and trump, they concluded that presidential elections are a key aspect of american identity. mia wrote: our new president was all the rage! in cape town i saw a sign outside of a barber shop for an obama haircut. i saw people wearing obama shirts all the time. it was kind of bizarre. i am excited about all the prospects that come with a new person in office, especially someone for whom i voted, but the man was like a celebrity there! the whole experience was a lot of fun. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 kimberly also wrote: president trump was brought up almost every time i was revealed as an american. the kiwis here honestly watch much more news about trump than i ever have. it was important to me to be honest with how i felt about trump, and that a lot of americans would also feel the same way. if i was questioned, “how could people vote for him?” i was clear to explain the two sides to political parties, and the electoral college. i think hearing some of this explanation from an american helped people to understand how an “insider” actually felt about their president. snyder mentioned a racial slur she heard about president obama and wrote: depending on whom you ask in ireland, you will get some very interesting answers of what an american is. if you ask one of my third class students about what an american is they will go on about barack obama (or as one of my students called him black obama) and donald trump. likewise, adalynn wrote: we would constantly be asked about trump’s policies. while some people just asked whether or not we liked trump, others actually got deep into some of his political issues with me. i was surprised at how much they knew. i know a lot of it is in the media, but some of the smaller issues and societal problems were also brought up. this made me realize that i was a lot more globally unaware than i thought i was. economics. economic hegemony is another aspect of american national identity. according to verdugo and milne (2016), “the better the economic situation, the more positive national identity is perceived” (p. 6). the student teachers demonstrated ambivalent feelings about a number of economic issues. for example, some student teachers who were placed in new zealand and ireland argued that america is behind their host countries with regard to sustainable economic policies. they provided examples of policies and practices resulting in conservation and preservation of planet earth and natural resources. jasmine wrote: upon arriving in new zealand, i realized that they are much more aware of the impact that we, as humans, have on the environment. in the education system, they teach students about pollution and the amount of trash we create and how to minimize it. they give out awards for having waste-free lunches and give out rewards for picking up litter. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 the students study topics such as nature and learn about how to help save endangered species and make our world a better place to live. on the other hand, a few student teachers identified the dependence of others on the u.s. economy and highlighted the influence and power of the american economy by describing their strong purchasing power due the high value of the u.s. dollar. mia, for example, wrote that, “our economy is in a downward spiral and the rest of the world is following. so often i would hear south africans commenting that they hoped our new president would start to turn things around.” mason also pointed out the high value of the u.s dollar: i noticed how easy it was for me to spend money in south africa and that my dollar went much further than the local currency, the rand. some teachers here are earning the equivalent of $15,000 usd a year, and while the cost of living is certainly lower, it also means that it is much easier for me to travel to south africa and spend money than it would be for a south african to travel to america and spend money. geography. geopolitical entity affects national identity (verdugo & milne, 2016). several student teachers lauded america for its size and location. they perceived its unique geographic location as a contributing factor to american hegemony as it is sheltered and isolated and hence has a lesser risk of war and is in better position to assert dominance. for example, bella wrote, “after coming to greece i realize how geographically isolated the unites states of america is to other countries. the united states of america is not geographically close to other countries and does not feel threatened by neighboring countries.” millie, mason, and avery questioned the use of “american” to refer to someone from the united states; in their perspective, such demonym ambiguity “overlooks those who live in other parts of the american continent.” individuation some student teachers centered their reflections on their personal development. they defined themselves in terms of attributes not commonly ascribed to national identity. self-discovery requires understanding others’ perspectives. therefore, in describing their individual identity, they often outlined and attributed certain features to americans. this category includes two major themes: global awareness. many student teachers suggested that they had developed a global perspective. they highlighted the importance of global awareness for americans and distanced themselves from american society when it comes to understanding the world and its current mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 affairs. they urged their fellow americans to develop global awareness and criticized american society for lacking a global perspective. some argued that americans need to travel more and step out of their comfort zone in order to gain hands-on experiences in the world beyond. for example, hannah wrote, “i believe that in order to live in a melting pot like america, you cannot confine yourself so much to a social structure that you begin to ignore the world of cultures all around you.” language. language is perhaps the best tool in understanding identity and ideology (shahri, 2012). several student teachers realized the importance of learning other languages. they argued that american education has failed to address the need to offer foreign language courses. for example, sophia wrote: as a culture, americans can also be arrogant in the sense that we often do not realize the importance of learning another language as much as other nations realize the importance of english. in the city of quito alone, there are at least six english immersion schools, and there are several other schools that teach english as a required subject from kindergarten on. however, in the u.s., immersion schools are few and far between, foreign language instruction typically doesn’t start until at least 7th grade, and even then, it is treated as an elective. we expect people from non-english-speaking cultures to learn how to communicate with us but we don’t meet them halfway. the american accent was another notable relevant topic. some student teachers came to realize that their accent is generally seen as an identifying factor. although they were placed in englishspeaking countries, they offered examples of the semantic and pragmatic variations of american english. for example, ava wrote: my accent most definitely set me apart from the rest; i could get by as a local until i opened my mouth. in the beginning i was quite an intrigue to my students, everything i said they wanted to hear twice and much time was spent saying words for them, just so that they could hear it in my accent and marvel or laugh at it, whichever suited them at the time. as time went on, the novelty of my accent withered and seldom would i hear comments about it. it was not until they did not want to do something that they would inform me that suddenly they could not understand what i was saying. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 discussion and conclusion according to smith (1993), national identity as a modern concept is rooted in “pre-modern ethnic identities.” it may not be possible to analyze the emergence and development of national identity “without exploring its social and cultural matrix.” nationalism affects national identity and vice versa. both depend on “earlier motifs, visions and ideals” of any given society (p. 71). understanding american national identity is important due to its global impact. future educators will play a key role in shaping the collective ideals of a society. this study set out with the aim of understanding the perspective of teacher candidates on american national identity. its findings contribute to the ongoing discussion of national identity in education. our findings suggest that by living and working in another country, even for a short period, teacher candidates begin to develop their global awareness through a comparative analysis with their host communities. this is a positive development because “teachers must themselves be citizens of the world if they are to guide their students in this direction” (cushner, 2018, p. 3). a prevalent theme in our findings is that teacher candidates who have taught overseas believe that their fellow americans need to travel more and seek hands-on experiences in the wider world. to the question what is an american? nearly all participants referred to their individual lives in one way or another. from their preferred lifestyles to how they perceive the ideals and values of american society, it is evident that socialization and individuation contribute greatly to one’s perspective on national identity. based on our findings, american national identity is constructed based on collective values such as lifestyle privileges, freedom, diversity, social justice issues, wellness, and patriotism. on the other hand, some aspects of national identity are based on fixed criteria such as language and history, which has contributed to the formation of national symbols (smith, 1993). for example, our findings indicate that american english is associated with national identity. this finding confirms the notion of “linguistic nationism,” in which “one variety of language is selected as an indicator of differences between insiders and outsiders” (kramsch, 1998, p. 75). this binary distinction is reinforced through the education system. national identity is also a form of civic identity based on “the legitimacy of state to govern.” the legitimacy of any state is defined within “a framework of governance or dominance” (verdugo & milne, 2016, p. 5). our results strongly suggest that american national identity is associated with u.s. hegemony in different forms and on different platforms such as media, politics, economics, mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 and geography. our data provide a significant cluster of statements with reference to the u.s. influence and power in participants’ host countries. a possible explanation for this might be constant questions about american elections and presidents that often came as surprise to most of these teacher candidates. many unanswered questions remain about how and why such associations take form. further research should be undertaken to investigate the formation of national identity among teachers and teacher educators alike. for example, future research may ask student teachers to specifically comment on the areas identified by this study. the findings of such research might also help teacher educators in helping future student teachers begin to understand and address national identity during their overseas experience. furthermore, social studies educators in other countries may conduct similar studies. in closing, our findings lead us to conclude that an american is a person who enjoys a privileged lifestyle in a free and diverse society and feels proud of his or her country. however, there is room for addressing issues related to social justice such as racism, public health, and food insecurity. despite u.s. worldwide hegemony, our findings suggest that americans should develop their global awareness and learn other languages. whether these conclusions ring true for crèvecoeur’s question shall be left to history. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 references: american association of colleges for teacher education (aacte). 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(pp. 93-111). lanham, md: rowan & littlefield publishers, inc. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.nafsa.org/_/file/_/studyabroad_statebystate_2012-2013.pdf http://www.nafsa.org/_/file/_/studyabroad_statebystate_2012-2013.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 72-92 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 vande berg, m., paige, r. m., & lou, k. h. (2012). student learning abroad: paradigms and assumptions. in m. vande berg, r. m. paige, & k. h. lou (eds.), student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 3-28). sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. van kerckem, k. (2016). “how can i feel belgian if belgians don’t accept me?” ethnic boundary perception and national identity among turkish belgians. in r. r. verdugo & a. milne (eds.), national identity: theory and research (pp. 273-310). charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. verdugo, r. r., & milne, a. (eds.). (2016). national identity: theory and research. charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. yin, r. k. (2002). case study research. beverly hills, ca: sage publications. about the authors: frans h. doppen is a professor of social studies education and chair of the department of teacher education in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. his research interests include global education, civic education, place-based learning and service learning. bahman shahri is a doctoral student at the department of curriculum and instruction at ohio university. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 global education in neoliberal times: a comparative case study of two schools in new york melissa c. mitchem yeji kim teachers college, columbia university teachers college, columbia university hanadi shatara william gaudelli university of wisconsin-la crosse lehigh university abstract: preparing students to live in an interconnected world is of central importance in 21st century education. neoliberal educational contexts, however, thwart efforts to implement more humanistic and critical versions of global education (ge). this comparative case study examines how teachers and administrators enact ge at two schools—one public, the other private—in the new york city metropolitan area. findings demonstrate the constraints and possibilities of engaging ge in neoliberal educational contexts. implications for ge scholars and practitioners include the study of how wider contextual factors shape ge’s enactment in a neoliberal era. key words: global education, neoliberalism, teaching and learning, global inequity introduction preparing students to live in a diverse, mobile, interconnected, polyglot, and troubled world is of central importance in 21st century education. whereas the 20th century witnessed the development of modern school systems that were nationally focused, a need arose in the latter half of the past century to educate about the world, recognizing the limits and perils of nationcentric learning. the drivers of this change include increasing economic globalization, changing patterns in consumption and tourism, dramatic increases in migratory flows, and regular reminders of the biosphere’s beleaguered state. global education (ge), a curricular approach that aims broadly to expand students’ global awareness and develop skills to participate in an mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 interconnected world (hicks, 2003), has become a significant dimension of school curricula in many countries (engel, 2014; schweisfurth, 2006). scholars from various disciplinary perspectives conceive of and enact ge differently. some (e.g., gaudelli, 2016) engage a humanistic ge that posits universal values coupled with an embrace of diversity. others (e.g., andreotti, 2010, 2014) recommend that ge be rooted in a foundational critique of capitalism with an eye towards upending and replacing this system. policymakers and the private sector proffer ge as a way of learning-to-earn, or a means of increasing one’s marketability in a globally networked context (engel & siczek, 2018). ge, therefore, is subject to ideological perspectives that inform and direct intentions, implementation, materials, and activities that are themselves rooted in different ideas about the role of schools in society and the place of pedagogy in those same formulations (apple, 2001). one prominent ideological perspective that influences ge is a neoliberal educational context. while aspects of neoliberalism are not new phenomena in the u.s. education system, current state and federal policies emphasize accountability, standardized testing, evaluation, assessment, and strict testing cultures. at least two elements of these policies are neoliberal, including the aims and means of enactment. first, regarding aims, the focus on career marketready graduates is the overarching rationale for this cocktail of educational policies (as compared to an environment-ready or a peace-ready focus). secondly, regarding means, the policies embed neoliberal principles including competition, scarcity of resources and measurability/accountability, among others—as the tools by which implementation occurs. mitchell (2003) notes this neoliberal shift in education in many western countries, which transitioned from promoting multiculturalism in order to achieve national unity to using diversity to further global competitiveness. neoliberal assumptions about education run counter to many tenets of the critical and humanistic visions of ge. few studies have examined, however, the ways in which the social milieu of neoliberal contexts influence the enactment of ge (gaudelli & wylie, 2012). bridging this gap, this qualitative comparative case study explores the role of contexts in ge implementation. we examine how ge is conceptualized and practiced in one public high school and one independent k-12 school, both of which had well-regarded global programs, located in the new york city area. in light of the city’s infamous social and economic inequities and its significance in global capital (sassen, 1994), we framed the study with critical ge. through our focus on these two case study schools, we illuminate the challenges and possibilities that emerge mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 when teachers and administrators in two schools develop and implement ge by focusing on the distinctive situation of the new york metro area. literature review in the past decade, ge scholars (e.g., gaudelli, 2003; rapoport, 2009, 2010) have greatly expanded the literature on the development of ge and global citizenship education (gce) in schools in the u.s. in this section, we explore the literature on the successes and challenges of engaging ge in the u.s., given this study’s research site. we also examine how teachers and schools have conceptualized and implemented ge. ge1 in the u.s. numerous scholars have demonstrated how different national contexts, such as those of israel, canada, and the u.k., shape ge practice (goren & yemini, 2016; marshall, 2007; schweisfurth, 2006), with each setting offering particular limitations given its history, geopolitical positioning, and economic and social concerns. gaudelli and wylie (2012) contend that three main challenges plague ge in the u.s.: a national curriculum, particularly within social studies (loewen, 2008); the complexity of global issues, which seem daunting to teachers and students; and federal and state policies promoting the standardization of curriculum and assessment of students’ knowledge and skills in mathematics and english. although a standardized curriculum could offer opportunities for ge, rapoport (2009) argues that ge and gce have a minimal presence in state standards and curricula. he conducted a conceptual content analysis of state standards to find terms such as global, globalization, and global citizenship, and found limited inclusion of these terms in state social studies standards. thus, public schools confined by standards and testing may not have the option to include ge, and independent schools without these constraints and public schools that successfully manage standards and testing are better positioned to incorporate ge, fostering its elitism. additionally, some attempts to include global perspectives in u.s. education are motivated by national economic and political concerns rather than aspirations to create an equitable global community or protect the planet. for example, engel and sizcek (2017, 2018) point out that the 1 for the purpose of this review, we draw upon literature in global education (ge) and global citizenship education (gce). the decision to include both while focusing on ge as the frame of the paper is due to the shift from ge to gce in scholarship that has occurred over the past decade, contributing to a robust research base in gce from which to draw. yet, we wish to honor the way that the educators at both case-study schools named and conceptualized their efforts as ge. mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 u.s. department of education’s 2012 publication of an international strategy was more focused on improving students’ skills that would better enable them to compete with peers globally and that were “necessary for full participation in the global economy” (engel & sizcek, 2017, p. 761). while engel and sizcek noted similar economic concerns in other western countries, their analysis pertaining to the u.s. underscores how a national agenda shapes and at times prohibits ge, particularly its more critical dimensions. however, teachers exercise agency in their classrooms and negotiate their priorities in education along with policy mandates, offering openings for ge. teachers’ ge conceptions and instruction despite the constraints on curriculum and other challenges in engaging ge in the u.s., some teachers have managed to bring global perspectives into their classroom. rapoport (2010) describes teachers’ understandings of ge and gce and their successful translation into classroom instruction. he conducted research on teachers’ conceptualizations of global citizenship in the u.s. (indiana) through interviews with six secondary teachers teaching social studies and language arts, and found that the teachers employed various frameworks and devices in both their curricular and extracurricular activities to encourage greater student awareness of global issues and a better understanding of the meaning of interdependence for globalization. however, other studies have revealed the tensions between and within teachers’ philosophies and goals—which are mostly aligned with ge and gce—and their eventual practice in the u.s. framing the actions around cross-cultural awareness, mangram and watson (2011) observed only one teacher who empathized with english language learners’ perspectives among many teachers who implemented ge in their classrooms. during their interviews, other teachers expressed frustration with these students due to their “language and cultural dissonance” (mangram & watson, 2011, p. 109), suggesting that while teachers express an excitement for ge, they struggle in negotiating difference in their practice. findings from other studies show how teachers have goals to engage students in global topics by emphasizing tolerance and acceptance of others; however, after teaching, student outcomes differ (hong & halvorsen, 2010). overall, these studies on teachers’ perceptions and implementations of ge/gce in the u.s. contexts suggest that many teachers are willing to engage ge despite the challenges outlined by gaudelli and wylie (2012) and are motivated by concerns to involve students in their global community rather than develop global competitors. however, more research is needed to understand teachers’ conceptions of ge, their resulting pedagogical practices, and their mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 negotiation with the neoliberal social and institutional contexts in which ge teaching occurs. the current qualitative comparative case study, framed by critical ge, aims to contribute to school efforts to incorporate global curricular dimensions by examining conceptions and instruction of ge in the neoliberal educational context of two schools in new york. theoretical framework ge scholarship provides a framework for how schools and teachers can incorporate global perspectives into curriculum. themes of the world’s interconnectivity, multiple perspectives, global citizenship, connections to the local contexts, and awareness of self and others are predominant throughout ge scholarship (kirkwood, 2001). despite these various themes, ge is often attacked for its ambiguity while other scholars contend that ge fails to meaningfully address issues of power and global inequity (merryfield & subedi, 2001). thus, the current study is conceptually framed by critical ge. scholars of critical ge call for raising awareness around the power dynamics and privileges produced by the colonial and imperial past and present (merryfield & subedi, 2001), decolonizing curriculum and teaching (subedi, 2013), and approaching global citizenship with ethical and informed actions (andreotti, 2010, 2014). critical ge centers global inequity by attending to ongoing colonial influences. merryfield and subedi’s (2001) strategies for decolonizing curriculum include critical and questioning elements that look “beyond the blinders of american-centrism” and “set aside the baggage of colonialist assumptions” about the world (p. 284). they suggest three ways to reduce the pervasive eurocentrism in ge and social studies curriculum and instruction: developing students’ perspective consciousness, including contrapuntal narratives, and recentering ge to avoid eurocentrism. andreotti (2010, 2014) shifts ge’s outcomes of students’ global awareness to their ability to develop solutions for global issues through ethical and informed action using purposeful language. criticizing less critical solutions for global issues, she reframed problems such as poverty and helplessness as injustice and inequity. andreotti (2014) also recommends that action develop from within communities rather than outside communities imposing aid on what they deem to be problems. while many critical ge scholars focus on the continuing influences of imperialism and colonialism, neoliberalism warrants attention as well by reproducing hierarchal binaries and relationships and affirming discourses that impose norms around work, education, and leisure. harvey (2007) describes neoliberalism as government-sponsored free market and free trade policies. neoliberal discourses encourage privatization, individualism, efficiency, and measurability while deriding mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 social welfare and the state. a neoliberal subject is “turned into an entrepreneur of oneself, urged to adopt competitive behavior in every domain of life and extremely cautious about the profitability of each of its investments” (pinsel & journel, 2017, p. 5). neoliberalism is thus fitting for critical ge scholars to deconstruct as it marginalizes particular groups and complicates global inequities through its language of consumption, profit, and rationality. methods in order to answer our overarching research question (how do teachers and administrators at two nyc schools conceptualize and enact ge in a neoliberal climate?), we interviewed teachers and administrators at two nyc schools with ge programs and observed teachers’ instruction over the course of two years. we also collected and analyzed relevant school documents, including mission statements and recruitment brochures. background of research sites in this qualitative comparative case study, we focused on renew global education academy (rgea), a public high school, and world preparatory school (wps), an independent k-12 school, at which we engaged primarily with high school teachers and administrators. bogdan and biklen (2003) describe a case study as “a detailed examination of one setting, or a single subject, a single depository of documents, or one particular event” (p. 54), and a comparative case study is a research design in which researchers compare and contrast two or more case studies. this study aims to describe how each school case conceptualized and enacted ge and to further develop a comparative analysis of concepts, practice, and policy with regards to ge between two schools. rgea and wps represent significantly different school types within the context of the u.s. and specifically the nyc metropolitan area, offering us the opportunity to understand how neoliberalism shapes both private and public schools in similar and contrasting ways. nyc has one of the most segregated public school systems in the country (shapiro, 2019), a challenge further compounded by the prevalence of independent schools that attract wealthy and primarily white families (domanico, n.d.). recent developments to improve students’ schooling experiences include mayor michael bloomberg’s decision to break up large public high schools into smaller, more community-focused high schools (barnum, 2019). nyc students apply to public high schools in any of the five city boroughs, offering families a choice in their child’s schooling experience (new york city department of education, 2019). mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 rgea is a relatively small public school serving secondary grades with approximately 55 students in each grade cohort. during the time of our study, students were predominantly latinx or asian. rgea was designated as a title i school, a federal mandate that provides financial assistance to schools with a high percentage of students coming from low-income backgrounds. most students lived in the local community while others traveled significant distance by public transit to attend, given students’ ability to apply to high schools anywhere in nyc. high school students were required to take and pass five new york state regents examinations in four different subject areas, including social studies, to graduate, which had particular implications for our study given that these exams required teachers to draw upon prescriptive curriculum and help students prepare for testing. our second site, wps, is an independent school with approximately the same number of high school students as rgea. details about students’ demographics were difficult to locate, but during our research, the student body appeared predominantly white. most students lived in the affluent area surrounding the school. to be accepted into high school grades, students submitted teacher recommendations and test scores and were interviewed by admissions staff. students and their families paid over $40,000 a year for tuition, comparable to other independent schools in the area, and families were asked to contribute more during a separate annual giving event. approximately 15 percent of students received financial aid, and decisions for financial aid were based on a family’s financial status; if there were not sufficient funds to support all accepted students, those who were seen by wps as most able to positively contribute to the school were given priority. high school students did not take the regents exams, but many enrolled in ap classes and took standardized exams for these courses; these ap classes were outside of the ge program and thus at times conflicted with aims to promote global learning. data collection and analysis after institutional review board approval, we collected data at the schools over the 2015-2017 school years. at each school, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with two social studies teachers twice, two non social studies teachers once, and one administrator once. we also observed all teachers’ instruction twice and invited all participating teachers and administrators to a focus group held at each school. teachers and administrators were invited to participate based on their involvement in the school’s ge program. at rgea, more than two non social studies teachers were willing to participate because they taught a class in the ge program; thus, we observed these five additional teachers’ instruction twice and interviewed each teacher once. similarly, two additional administrators at wps had key insights into the school’s ge mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 program and were also willing to participate in an interview. teachers and administrators at both schools (see table 1) had diverse backgrounds—as revealed in their interviews—although there were more white participating faculty members at wps, constituting more than half of our wps participants. participants were asked about their conceptions, experiences, and other institutional and societal contextual factors of ge during their interviews. during our classroom observations of teachers, we focused on the global connections in their teaching. at each school, we conducted a focus group interview at the end of the school year with most participants and asked them to assess the strengths and challenges of engaging students in ge at their school. finally, we gathered and analyzed school documents/artifacts such as school mission statements and student work throughout the two years. all of the data sources provided insight into how teachers and administrators conceptualized and enacted ge. table 1 research participants in the study name (pseudonym) position school jorge high school social studies teacher rgea paul middle and high school special education teacher rgea lindsey paraprofessional teacher rgea yani high school geography and science teacher rgea rory school administrator rgea corey paraprofessional teacher rgea gabriela paraprofessional teacher rgea mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 randy elementary and high school art teacher rgea riadha high school science teacher rgea doug middle school science teacher rgea miranda high school english teacher wps will assistant director of worldviews program wps valory world languages chair wps john high school science teacher wps vincent director of worldviews program wps karen social studies intern wps ivan high school social studies teacher wps jillian school director wps analysis of the data was recurring during and after data collection. the research team first individually read through the collected data from the two sites and highlighted certain words, phrases, and patterns to be potentially developed as coding categories (bogdan & biklen, 2003). we also met monthly to collectively review data and discuss, identify, and modify preliminary coding categories. these categories helped us determine three themes around ge at each school: the ambiguity and situated quality of ge, external pressures felt by teachers and administrators, and divergent practices of ge at each school site. we also conducted member checks with each school, asking for review and comments on identified themes. finally, for the purpose of mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 comparative case analysis, we compared and contrasted similarities and differences of themes across the two school cases (bogdan & biklen, 2003). these three themes of each case and comparative analysis of two case studies are discussed in the following findings and discussion and conclusion section. findings the ambiguity and situated quality of ge teachers and administrators at wps and rgea defined and envisioned ge differently. several scholars (kirkwood, 2001; pike, 2000) have described the conceptual leeway ge offers practitioners, allowing the schools to each create a unique bricolage of ge that reflected the needs and perspectives of school community members. at wps, most teachers believed that ge was a means of understanding how people around the world live based on different, but not inferior, values. when asked about her conceptions of ge, karen offered: “the first thing that comes to mind is the word empathy—trying to understand other cultures in their contexts and being able to think from other perspectives.” her remark suggests one of hanvey’s (1982) dimensions of a global perspective: cross-cultural awareness. he argued, “if we are to admit the humanness of those others, then the strangeness of their ways must become less strange” (p. 165). this cross-cultural awareness was central to wps teachers’ conception of ge and a means of encouraging students to see others as agents of their lives. seeing beyond their immediate environment was a particular concern for most teachers. they underscored the importance of developing students’ global awareness particularly because of their economic privilege. teachers tended to focus more on class, although students also occupied other privileged positions in terms of race (predominantly white) and nationality (predominantly u.s.). valory, for instance, shared, there’s a lot of privilege here. we’ve got some very lucky students who get to travel for pleasure, and so their perspective is different. they’re great and smart kids, but they have limited experiences. some have never ridden the subway—their lifestyle doesn’t require it. valory explored how students engaged with some aspects of ge by sharing that students were, on the one hand, able to develop some sense of global awareness through travel because of their affluence; however, their wealth also precluded them from partaking in routine experiences for most new yorkers. mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 several teachers cautioned that students’ ability to travel internationally might facilitate a superficial rather than critical global perspective. karen offered, “they’ve traveled to africa, they’ve gone to paris [with their families], but they only understand a tourist version of things.” her comment contrasts with teachers in goren and yemini’s (2017) study who considered international travel with family as paramount for students’ global citizenship. karen further explained that wps’s international travel programs offered a more meaningful global perspective by having students learn more about local cultures by visiting local schools, for example. while these travel programs intended to challenge students’ superficial perspectives, the assumption that students need to see different cultures abroad suggests the privilege of choosing to see others who have not given their consent or cannot afford the same opportunity (gaudelli, 2011). the preference for understanding other cultures was further evidenced by the content of wps’s international travel programs. several teachers emphasized that students were not engaging in community service abroad. vincent explained, “they don’t come to these [international settings] to save anybody. they go there to understand how people see the world from their point of view.” his comment suggests an awareness of a larger discourse critiquing development and ngos in less-developed countries (e.g., ferguson, 2006) and his efforts to prevent students from being seen as western saviors. in contrast, teachers at rgea held conceptions of ge that often diverged. some teachers, jorge in particular, conceptualized ge as situated in power discourses; jorge frequently invoked freirean dialogue (freire, 2000) as an important tool in helping students understand how power operates, particularly within global systems. part of understanding power within global systems, for him, meant prioritizing the voices of marginalized groups, which contrasted with wps teachers’ less critical call for multiple perspectives (andreotti, 2014). he offered his thinking on ge: “if we’re going to talk about global citizenship and global education, it’s important to start completing the picture and amplify the voices of indigenous cultures in our classrooms.” for jorge, an awareness of different cultures needed to include recognition of how power operates and privileges some at the expense of others. other teachers sought to amplify the causes and challenges of poverty, an issue shaping many students’ lives given the school’s title i status, to connect students with global issues. lindsey explained, “we do a lot of community service work with a focus on the environment and poverty” as a way to integrate practices with the school’s broader mission. she shared that one of her classes cleaned a nearby beach, and through this project students learned of the cultural mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 dissonance between a local hindu community’s practice of religion and city officials around the creation of beach pollution. finally, rgea teachers frequently cited the students’ diversity as an asset in developing their global awareness. paul suggested that the neighborhood context was more influential on the school’s ge orientation than its location in new york city: “it’s not even new york— it’s being located in our neighborhood. it’s been one of the most diverse areas in the world for many years. because of that ethnic diversity, it puts us at a different standpoint.” rather than providing students opportunities for international travel, rgea teachers used their students to cultivate a greater sense of global awareness. highlighting student diversity as an asset, however, may reinforce that students are different from the normative conception of students in the u.s.— namely, white, native english speakers who have grown up in the u.s. similarly, it may encourage teachers to believe that student diversity inherently leads to multiple and critical perspectives in the classroom, but teachers still need to intentionally cultivate such an environment. external pressures and ge external pressures from community members and standardized curricula shaped how teachers perceived they could teach their version of ge, despite teachers and administrators at wps and rgea envisioning ge manifesting in various ways in their settings. these pressures stem from an increasingly neoliberal and accountability-driven education system in the u.s. at wps, competition with other independent schools vaulted global programing to a high-profile position in the school’s marketing. according to the school’s director, jillian, the global program at wps was “very well received” by parents. she described the program as being unique compared to other independent schools with a global focus because the global connections were more ingrained in the curriculum and had been in place for several years. vincent mentioned that some of the school’s trustees, whose children participated in the school’s international travel programs, were particularly invested in ge. simultaneously, wps faculty felt pressured by parents and other independent schools to offer a robust curriculum that would impress universities. ivan shared that the presence of competitors was intrinsically related to curricular offerings, such as wps’s decision to include ap courses. additionally, students often selected ap courses over the world perspectives program for a more competitive college application. thus, while parents and students may have committed to wps because of its global program, they retreated from their initial excitement when college acceptance became their primary concern. mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 at rgea, required state content exams created pressure that conflicted with ge teaching and learning. the current educational system requires teachers to manage the pressure of state exams while their professional judgment is increasingly undermined. this offers a unique set of challenges for educators intent on developing ge, even in a situation where there were factors to promote it. teachers at rgea said that the system and structure of school promoted extreme isolation of content and severe constraints on time. the end result of this condition was that class time mostly consisted of forms of direct instruction, or lectures, with little time devoted to discussion, inquiry, and projects designed to promote student engagement in course material often encouraged in ge (gaudelli, 2003). despite the fact that the school gave teachers autonomy to incorporate an array of content into curriculum, teachers were constrained by standardized tests and pressure to prepare students for these tests. these struggles were identified in teachers’ interviews. for instance, gabriela offered the following: there’s a lot of emphasis on test prep and a lot of stress and anxiety around the regents exams, which narrows the scope of teaching and learning significantly. there’s a lot more direct teaching than time to actually develop critical thinking and voice. within the restrictions of the current educational climate, teachers tried to create a balance in which students developed their global-oriented attitudes while engaging in preparation for the exams, as revealed by their practice of ge. divergent ge practices the practice of ge combines both conceptions of ge and external pressures at each school. both schools addressed the external pressures by offering programs within the school day in addition to their traditional global social studies courses and used in extracurricular activities to promote global learning. while wps and rgea tackled ge through their practice and implementation, their approaches varied depending on their external pressures and how they defined ge for their school communities. at wps, the attention to college preparation resulted in instructional practices that mirrored university activities. in numerous classroom observations, students sat at their desks in a circle with the teacher, suggesting a socratic seminar structure to classes. additionally, the kinds of work students completed to demonstrate their global learning seemed reminiscent of collegelevel research. for example, on global day, students presented their research around a topic mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 with an international dimension, namely, a topic involving another country, suggesting an approach to ge that was “over there” rather than local and everywhere (gaudelli, 2016). between presentations, the coordinators of global day had organized guest speakers from different countries, and students ate their lunch productively, listening to one invited speaker. wps students could also follow a particular “concentration” or track through high school similar to a college major or minor including a global track or other topics such as sustainability and steam. the consistent effort by teachers to create opportunities for college-like experiences suggests that college preparation was of paramount importance for parents as well as teachers. outside of the classroom, wps offered numerous international travel programs designed to cultivate cross-cultural learning. both middle school and high school students were invited to participate while some elementary teachers joined trips in order to enhance their teaching of global topics. vincent explained that a kindergarten teacher traveled to kenya and spent “one month with a masai village and then came back with a wealth of materials to explore differences in culture between a life of a child in the masai community and the life of a child here.” the travel programs were designed for students to understand diverse perspectives that may not be as evident to students during their family travel abroad. teachers described these programs enthusiastically and noted how they were possible because of students’ affluence. rgea similarly expanded its curricular offerings and extracurricular activities. the administration and teachers decided to implement new courses—namely, global studies and global explorations—to improve student engagement and raise scores while fostering a global perspective, in response to low scores in world history on the regents exams. rgea responded to students’ below average aggregate performance by providing an enriched infusion of content for their students in addition to social studies classes. rory, an administrator, felt the “content [of the exam] is so massive that teaching it within two years does a better service to our kids and we get to do things like the global explorations.” this content-intensive program evolved into the various courses of global explorations, including apartheid in south africa, world conflicts, iranian and chinese cultural revolution, and global climate change. in an informal conversation, lindsey mentioned that students could use the information they learned in her global explorations on the essay portion of the regents exam. additionally, rgea offered an abundance of extracurricular offerings for students. these were opportunities for teachers to engage students in global learning outside of the regularly-held classes with limited global content given their prescribed curricula for the regents exams. teachers frequently cited examples of these extracurricular programs rather than their own mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 classroom practice when asked for examples of ge. these numerous initiatives included fighting for equality day, a leadership program, a global humanities program, global explorations, a rooftop garden, and a project involving a local ecosystem. while these numerous extracurricular options allowed students to think about and take action on global issues in their local community, illustrative of the pedagogical intention to draw critical perspectives into ge (andreotti, 2010, 2014), they demonstrate how rgea teachers first concentrated on how to teach the mandated curriculum and then considered ge as an add-on. they also reflect apple’s (1986) concern of adding responsibilities for teachers rather than recognizing that schooling may need to be reconfigured entirely for meaningful ge. discussion and conclusion wps and rgea’s distinct enactments of ge reveal the extent of teachers and administrators’ agency within neoliberal frames—while teachers at both schools were pressured to ensure students’ satisfactory performance, they devised opportunities for ge that varied in their criticality. though saddled with prescribed curricula and high-stakes testing, rgea engaged ge to support students through these requirements and prepare them for critical social action in the world (andreotti, 2014). rgea was community-focused in its efforts, seeing the extraordinarily diverse community as a significant asset in executing their strategy and recognizing how the local is not separate from the global (gaudelli, 2016). select teachers at rgea, such as jorge, fervently incorporated marginalized perspectives into their teaching to challenge the eurocentric curricula, heeding merryfield and subedi’s (2001) call for contrapuntal narratives. while wps enacted means that were less community-focused and more academically oriented, teachers and administrators grappled with students’ privilege and offered students experiences that began the work of removing students’ blinders around issues of inequity (merryfield & subedi, 2001). although further disruption of the privileges involved in students’ affluence and ability to travel may be more congruent with tenets of critical ge (andreotti, 2014), this effort was well-received by students, evidenced by the popularity of the programs, and therefore possibly an effective means of expanding students’ worldviews. despite these moments of thoughtful ge engagement, pressures normalized in the neoliberal era largely eclipsed teachers and administrators’ efforts towards critical ge at both schools, though the constraints manifested differently. rgea was compelled to prepare students, particularly secondary students, for state-level evaluations that measure student progress and thereby school performance, whereas wps was a tuition-dependent institution that relied upon a steady mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 flow of prospective families to support the school, requiring that their curricular and co-curricular offerings were attractive in comparison to their private school peer group. rgea had to account for student/school performance as measured by external tests and metrics while wps was compelled to appeal to demanding parents who may not necessarily see the value in ge over university preparation. lastly, the pedagogical orientations of the schools diverged. the market forces of the wider system are evident in both of these cases, although they appeared differently in those contexts. at rgea, teachers attempted to reorient existing curriculum to infuse global learning to meet the expectations for state testing while promoting a global view of topics such as world history. they designed a push-in program to inquire more deeply into global topics across age groups and created an annual two-week activity with this focus. at wps, they similarly created a push-in learning opportunity through the academic conference, though this was more hierarchical in that only certain students created/presented projects while others were audience members. both moves suggest to some degree what apple (1986) has called intensification, or adding more to teachers’ workloads to the extent that they cannot perform many of their tasks well at all. both schools attempted to conceptualize and enact ge in ways that build on existing curriculum while providing additional learning venues within and beyond school for those purposes. they saw students, parents, and community-members as a strength of developing ge and looked for formal and informal means of incorporating the community of stakeholders. these similarities and differences suggest that enacting a ge as espoused by ge scholars (e.g., gaudelli, 2003, 2016) necessitates adaptation and, at times, less criticality in order to mitigate other demands on teachers and administrators. based on our analysis of ge implementation and practice at wps and rgea, we offer recommendations for practitioners and researchers, not as a means of undermining their efforts but rather as acknowledging the difficult terrain that is the neoliberal educational landscape. for practitioners, neoliberalism can become an important component of a critical ge curriculum. instead of allowing it to be a force silently shaping schooling, teachers could engage students in conversations about how neoliberalism is increasingly affecting their lives and becoming common sense (wilson, 2018). gaudelli (2013) recommends having students and teachers consider how standardized tests have become evidence of teacher effectiveness as well as how these tests are a means of comparing schools internationally and nations themselves. such practices reflect tenets of critical ge by encouraging students to recognize the economic motivations of policymakers that reinforce rather than disrupt the nation-state system. administrators advocating for increased ge should be mindful of adding ge components if this means that teachers’ workload will increase without other responsibilities and tasks being mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 removed, per apple’s (1986) caution of the dangers of intensification. both wps and rgea understood ge as an add-on to the traditional curriculum, but it is important to explore what this means for teachers as well as students who are increasingly bombarded with extracurricular activities to strengthen their college applications. based on our study, integrating ge into the foundation of curriculum and school culture continues to be a challenge for administrators and teachers. finally, we recommend that ge scholars further examine the implications of neoliberalism on critical ge theory and practice. other areas of education such as education policy and teacher education have more fully analyzed the consequences of neoliberalism, but this could be further explored in ge research. given that neoliberalism is increasingly a global force, and arguably a new form of colonialism as it forces low-income countries to adopt its tenets to participate in the global economy, this work would support critical ge scholars’ aim to understand how power moves globally, producing inequities. this could involve further theorizing on neoliberalism and critical ge or studying critical ge in schools in other countries where neoliberalism is not the only dominant discourse, unlike in the u.s. such research would contribute not only to the literature on critical ge but also help illuminate how and why we educate in the 21st century. mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 references: andreotti, v. o. 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(2003). qualitative research for education: an introduction to theories and methods. boston: allyn & bacon. domanico, r. (n.d.). how many students attend nonpublic k-12 schools in new york city? new york city independent budget office. https://ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/printnycbtn27.pdf engel, l. c. (2014). global citizenship and national (re) formations: analysis of citizenship education reform in spain. education, citizenship and social justice, 9(3), 239-254. engel, l. c., & siczek, m. (2018). a cross-national comparison of international strategies: global citizenship and the advancement of national competitiveness. compare: a journal of comparative and international education, 48(5), 749-767. ferguson, j. (2006). global shadows: africa in the neoliberal world order. duke university press. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). new york: continuum. mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2019/04/10/new-york-city-small-schools-research-mdrc/ https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2019/04/10/new-york-city-small-schools-research-mdrc/ https://ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/printnycbtn27.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 gaudelli, w. (2003). world class: teaching and learning in global times. lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. gaudelli, w. (2011). global seeing. teachers college record, 113(6), 1237–1254. gaudelli, w. (2013). critically theorizing the global. theory and research in social education, 41(4), 552–565. gaudelli, w. (2016). global citizenship education: everyday transcendence. routledge. gaudelli, w., & wylie, s. (2012). global education and issues-centered education. in s. totten & j.e. pedersen (eds.), educating about social issues in the 20th and 21st centuries (pp. 293–320). information age publishing. goren, h., & yemini, m. (2016). global citizenship education in context: teacher perceptions at an international school and a local israeli school. compare: a journal of comparative and international education, 46(5), 832-853. goren, h., & yemini, m. (2017). the global citizenship education gap: teacher perceptions of the relationship between global citizenship education and students’ socio-economic status. teaching and teacher education, 67, 9-22. hanvey, r. g. (1982). an attainable global perspective. theory into practice, 21(3), 162-167. harvey, d. (2007). a brief history of neoliberalism. oxford university press. hicks, d. (2003). thirty years of global education: a reminder of key principles and precedents. educational review, 55(3), 265-275. hong, w. p., & halvorsen, a. l. (2010). teaching asia in us secondary school classrooms: a curriculum of othering. journal of curriculum studies, 42(3), 371-393. kirkwood, t. f. (2001). our global age requires global education: clarifying definitional ambiguities. the social studies, 92(1), 10-15. loewen, j. (2008). lies my teacher told me: everything your american history textbook got mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 wrong. the new press. mangram, j., & watson, a. (2011). us and them: social studies teachers' talk about global education. journal of social studies research, 35(1), 95-116. marshall, h. (2007). global education in perspective: fostering a global dimension in an english secondary school. cambridge journal of education, 37(3), 355-374. merryfield, m. m., & subedi, b. (2001). decolonizing the mind for world-centered global education. in e. w. ross (ed.), the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems, and possibilities (2nd ed.) (pp. 283-294). albany, ny: state university of new york press. mitchell, k. (2003). educating the national citizen in neoliberal times: from the multicultural self to the strategic cosmopolitan. transactions of the institute of british geographers, 28(4), 387-403. new york city department of education. (2019). nyc high school admissions guide. retrieved from https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/highschool/nyc-high-school-admissions-guide pike, g. (2000). global education and national identity: in pursuit of meaning. theory into practice, 39(2), 64-73. pinson, g., & journel, c. m. (2017). introduction: debating the neoliberal city thesis. in g. pinson & c. m. journel (eds.), debating the neoliberal city (pp. 1-38). taylor & francis. rapoport, a. (2009). a forgotten concept: global citizenship education and state social studies standards. journal of social studies research, 33(1), 91. rapoport, a. (2010). we cannot teach what we don’t know: indiana teachers talk about global citizenship education. education, citizenship and social justice, 5(3), 179-190. sassen, s. (1994). global city. new york: princeton university press. schweisfurth, m. (2006). education for global citizenship: teacher agency and curricular structure in ontario schools. educational review, 58(1), 41-50. shapiro, e. (2019, march 26). segregation has been the story of new york city’s schools mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/high-school/nyc-high-school-admissions-guide https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/high-school/nyc-high-school-admissions-guide journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 92-112 corresponding author: mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 for 50 years: low black and hispanic enrollment at stuyvesant high school has reignited a debate about how to finally integrate the city’s schools. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/nyregion/school-segregation-new-york.html subedi, b. (2013). decolonizing the curriculum for global perspectives. educational theory, 63(6), 621-638. wilson, j. (2018). neoliberalism. new york: routledge. [1] http://www.nysedregents.org/ acknowledgement: this study was funded by the research grants council of hong kong, reference grf #18602115 about the authors: melissa c mitchem doctoral candidate in social studies education, teachers college, columbia university hanadi shatara – lecturer, university of wisconsin – la crosse yeji kim doctoral candidate in social studies education, teachers college, columbia university william gaudelli – dean and professor, college of education, lehigh university . mailto:mcm2267@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/nyregion/school-segregation-new-york.html journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 rebuilding the past through dusty stuff: how turkish students respond to primary source-based social studies education1 melisa akbulut i̇stanbul university-cerrahpaşa, turkey mehmet açıkalın i̇stanbul university-cerrahpaşa, turkey abstract: while the use of primary sources in education has long been an object of interest, their adoption is still lacking in social studies courses in turkey. this work presents the results of a qualitative study conducted with the participation of 37 students and a social studies teacher with the aim to reveal seventh-grade students’ and teachers’ opinions on primary source-based activities used to teach a social studies unit. semi-structured interviews, field observation notes, and primary source analysis handouts were used. we find that primary source-based activities helped participants to better understand the lessons, increased interest, motivation, and participation in the course, supported empathy development, and gave students the opportunity to express themselves. some of the issues that emerged in the use of primary sources were the difficult readability of some of the sources, challenges in managing time effectively, and difficulties experienced by some of the students working in groups. key words: primary source, social studies, social studies education in turkey introduction the use of primary source-based teaching in social studies and history education has been advocated by many educators (ata, 2011; eamon, 2006; ensminger & fry, 2012; mason bolick, 1 this article is based on the master’s thesis of the first author. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 2006). the main underlying reason for this strong support is that it has potentially far-reaching benefits in terms of the learning development of students when applied effectively (ata, 2002; stanton, 2012; torres, 2016). many studies have indicated that primary source-based teaching enhances the development of students' critical and analytical thinking skills (akbaba, 2005; ata, 2002; barton & levstik, 2011; çencen, 2017; doğan & dinç, 2007; eamon, 2006; morgan & rasinski, 2012; seyhan, 2018; stanton, 2012; van fossen & shiveley, 2000; yılmaz, 2008) and enables them to visualize historical events from various angles (yılmaz, 2008), which provides insight into the perspectives of people who lived in the past (ata, 2002; barton & levstik, 2011; çencen, 2017; van sledright, 2004). in addition, primary source-based teaching may help to implement an interdisciplinary teaching approach (patterson, weaver, fletcher, connor, thomas, & ross, 2017) in which students’ various skills and abilities, gained from other courses, can also be activated (rulli, 2003). not surprisingly, educators have pointed out that this integrative approach may make social studies and history courses more engaging (açıkalın, 2018; cooper & dilek, 2004; çencen, 2017; kızıl, 2018; lawlor, 2003; sandwell, 2008; ünlüer & yaşar, 2012; yılmaz, 2008) and motivate the learners to do further research about the studied topics (kızıl, 2018; morris, 2002). primary sources reflect the everyday lives of ordinary people via personal accounts such as letters, diaries, and photographs and help students to view history with a more holistic and comprehensive understanding rather than as the chronicling of the lives of great men. as barton (2018) notes, if educators want pupils to understand a period, it is essential to show them what that period looked like. original historical sources, particularly personal accounts, have the potential to enable students to have at least a general impression of the period under investigation. such sources can help captivate the interests of the students and enhance their understanding of the relevance of historical events for everyone. moreover, primary sourcebased teaching may help to overcome the issues caused by traditional history teaching (osborne, 1986), including low levels of classroom participation and engagement. according to foster and padgett (1999), due to the dominance of teacher-centered lectures, recitation, memorization of facts and dates, and the general reliance on a single textual source (mostly textbooks) in social studies and history courses, students on the whole find such courses irrelevant, tedious, and boring. on the other hand, primary source-based activities can encourage students to actively participate in class (kızıl, 2018) and assist them in developing their thoughts by discovering different perspectives, observing, and comparing evidence (doğan & dinç, 2007). this also helps students to grasp how social scientists work with a variety of primary materials (barton, 2018; coppersmith & song, 2017; wineburg, 2010); this consequently allows learners to comprehend mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 the importance of data analysis and to base their ideas on evidence (safran & köksal, 1998; van fossen & shiveley, 2000). the advantages of the integration of primary sources into social studies education are also in compliance with the principles of constructivist pedagogy. constructivism promotes the active participation of learners during the process of knowledge acquisition, as advocates of this approach claim that knowledge building generally occurs as a result of socially and/or individually active processes (doolittle & hicks, 2003; hendry, 1996; prawat & floden, 1994; scheurman, 1998). likewise, primary source-based instruction provides various opportunities for students to work on a diverse array of sources either individually or with their peers. primary sources such as letters, diaries, pictures, and even official documents can play an integral role in offering different perspectives, beliefs, ideas, and experiences for those studying history, humanities, and the social sciences. therefore, primary sources are essential materials that include multiple perspectives, which also is one of the main principals of constructivist pedagogy (doolittle & hicks, 2003; jonassen, 1992). engaging with multiple viewpoints provides opportunities for the individual to investigate various beliefs, ideas, and perspectives that may help them to construct their own knowledge. consistent with doolittle and hicks (2003), teachers should create learning tasks to engage students with different perspectives; the following study maintains that primary source-based instruction is among the best ways to accomplish this. due to these benefits, many educational organizations support the use of primary sources for educational purposes: the american historical association (aha), the national center for history in the schools (nchs), the national council for the social studies (ncss), and the australian curriculum assessment and reporting authority are educational organizations that encourage the use of primary sources in their criteria and standards (açıkalın, 2018; ata, 2002; hicks, lee, berson, bolick, & diem, 2014). most states in the u.s. support the use of primary sources in social studies, english language and literature, arts, and science lessons (cairn, 2012; ensminger & fry, 2012). to encourage the use of primary sources in the united states, state libraries have designed educational programs through the use of archival materials (ata, 2011; coppersmith & song, 2017), provide scholarships, organize summer schools, and support the development of primary source activities in line with state curricula by bringing together archivists and educators. in addition, the development of computer and internet technology has made it easier than ever to access primary sources (coppersmith & song, 2017; mason bolick, 2006). for instance, the library of congress added 1.3 million pieces of work to its collection in 2018 alone and has transferred 30 new collections to its website (loc, 2019), while the national archives and mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 records administration provided public access to 92.6 million pages of digitized records in 2019 (nara, n.d.). on the other hand, despite the increasing availability of sources, research shows that the integration of primary sources into social studies and history education courses is not at the expected level in terms of frequency of use and effectiveness (açıkalın, 2018; ensminger & fry, 2012; hicks, doolittle, & lee, 2004; patterson, lucas, & kithinji, 2012). many educators still use textbooks as the main (or only) teaching material and tend to disregard other teaching materials (tangülü, tosun, & kocabıyık, 2014). textbooks are often inadequate in terms of providing primary sources in different formats, giving place to activities that enable the pupils to use their high level of thinking skills, capturing the imagination of students (barton, 2018; doğan & torun, 2018 ), and encouraging them to participate in classroom activities (tangülü et al., 2014). moreover, teachers who help their students gain critical thinking skills while working on evidence are still in the minority (hicks et al., 2004). research shows that even those who integrate these sources into the curriculum tend to employ them at low levels. patterson et al. (2012), who evaluated teachers' lesson plans according to bloom's taxonomy, found that when teachers use primary source documents in their lesson planning, they usually do not go beyond recalling and understanding phases. in their research on 21 social studies teachers whose lesson plans included primary source documents, they defined 52 percent of the lesson activities as low order, and among high order activities only two reached the creation phase. the underlying reasons for the limited integration of primary sources into social studies instruction can be summarized as follows: (a) teachers' lack of familiarity with historical interpretation and questioning (dilek & yapıcı, 2008; dönmez & altıkulaç, 2014; gillilandswetland, kafai, & landis, 1999; kızıl, 2018); (b) national social studies and history textbooks not placing enough importance on thinking skills (doğan & torun, 2018; şahin, 2012); (c) the mainstream belief that most students are reluctant or not capable of analyzing historical primary sources (ensminger & fry, 2012; hicks et al., 2004; van sledright, 2004); d) educators' preconceptions that studying primary sources would fail to capture the imagination of learners (eamon, 2006; hutchinson, 2005); and (e) teachers’ concerns about time constraints and covering all objectives in social studies curricula (çelikkaya & kuş, 2009; kuş & çelikkaya, 2010; ulusoy & gülüm, 2009). these biased perspectives and aforementioned factors may prevent a high level of adoption of primary resources in education and lead to a general lack of engagement among pupils. despite this, we believe that it is possible to apply primary source-based teaching successfully in various school settings and overcome all barriers and issues reported. thus, the main purpose of mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 this study is the application of primary source-based teaching in one middle school in a metropolitan city in turkey and sharing the experiences and evaluations of the students and their teacher. first, we will acknowledge the present literature explaining the current situation for social studies and primary source-based teaching in turkey. social studies and primary source-based education in turkey the content and the names of social studies courses have changed many times throughout the history of modern turkey. initially, these courses were taught as discipline-based courses under the name of history, geography, and civics (safran & ata, 2003). in 1968, these discipline-based courses were unified under the name of social studies in primary school curricula, and a few years later it was also included in the middle school curricula as the integrative approach became more prevalent. currently, the content and name of social studies lessons change from grade to grade. in elementary school, from first through fourth grade, it is named life studies, while in middle school, from fourth to seventh grade, it is named social studies. in the senior year of middle school and during high school, social studies courses are separately taught as disciplinebased courses such as history, geography, sociology, and psychology. since the curriculum reform movement in 2005, the ministry of national education has been trying to transform the social studies curriculum into one based on an approach to constructivist education that encourages the use of teaching activities that engage students in critical thinking and analysis and which nourishes their conceptions of time, change, and continuity (açıkalın, 2018; tangülü & çıtacı, 2016). primary source-based instruction can be considered to support the aforementioned skills and conceptions that are components of constructivist pedagogy. accordingly, the recent national social studies education curricula in turkey promotes the use of historical evidence of different periods and places. it suggests that the connection between the past, present, and the future should be established both in the curricula and textbooks, and students should be familiarized with the research methods used by social scientists as they explore primary sources (ministry of national education [mne], 2018). despite the strong support of primary source-based teaching provided by the ministry of national education, applications of primary source-based teaching activities in social studies and history classrooms have not met expected levels (yılmaz, 2008). while there could be several reasons for that, three main reasons have emerged from the literature: (a) issues related to teacher training, (b) issues that in-service teachers encounter, and (c) textbook-related issues. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 practice-based education requires the use of different evidence and materials complimented by active student participation. this in turn has the potential to bolster skill development among students. unfortunately, despite being expected to conduct a practical lesson, social studies teachers are still struggling to apply student-centered teaching activities (altınyelken, 2011; yılmaz, 2008). this could be explained by the dominance of theoretical courses within the social studies teacher education program in turkey. although the social studies teacher education program has been revised several times in the last two decades, practice-based courses are extremely limited in the program. in the current social studies teacher education program, which was modified again in 2018, theory-based teaching comprises 90.9 percent of courses, while only 9.1 percent is devoted to practice-based teaching (tokcan & tangülü, 2019). the new teacher education program offers practice-based courses in only three out of a total of eight semesters. this shows that the teacher education program in turkey is mostly focused on theory-based knowledge rather than teaching practice. moreover, the courses titled historical evidence in social studies teaching, local and oral history, and material design in social studies teaching are offered as elective courses rather than as core courses (council of higher education in turkey [cohe], 2018). although it is an optimistic development for nourishing primary source-based teaching in the social studies teacher education program, these courses were added to the program a year prior to the publishing of this article; therefore, any tangible influences of this implementation, if any, may take some time. accordingly, it can be concluded that social studies teachers are not familiar enough or have insufficient experience using primary sources in their classrooms (dönmez & altıkulaç, 2014; kızıl, 2018), even though the use of these sources is promoted in the turkish social studies curricula. according to research conducted by dönmez and altukulaç (2014), preservice social studies teachers do not consider themselves adequate in terms of using primary sources. similarly, turan and aslan (2015) state that preservice social studies and history teachers are not able to analyze visual historical evidence. in their research with 48 preservice teachers, they pointed out that even the definition of historical visuals is challenging for teacher candidates, and they tend to misevaluate the evidence/primary sources provided to them. likewise, dilek and yapıcı (2008) in their research with preservice history teachers found that the teacher candidates do not understand the historical texts they read adequately, and hence cannot use their previous knowledge and historical inquiry skills. this research shows that both social studies and history preservice teachers are not very familiar with primary sources and have a lack of expertise in terms of employing them pedagogically. as a natural consequence, teachers have been unable to go beyond applying traditional teaching methods and materials (çelikkaya & kuş, 2009; kızıl, mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/council%20of%20higher%20education journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 2018; safran & ata, 2003; ulusoy, 2009) and do not even consider integrating primary sources when they start to teach (yılmaz, 2008). therefore, as expected, research studies focusing on teaching and instruction in social studies education in turkey generally reveal an immense predominance of lecture-based traditional teaching methods over other student-centered teaching methods, such as primary source-based teaching, which are largely marginal in the classroom. the study of tangülü et al. (2014) indicated that in-service social studies teachers do not use different course sources and materials other than textbooks, whereby their teaching is mostly based on direct instruction and questionanswer methods. other studies show that in-service social studies teachers mostly exhibit repeated reliance on traditional classroom aids such as blackboards, maps, and/or globe models of the earth as instructional materials to supplement textbooks (çelikkaya, 2013; çoban & i̇leri, 2013; güven & taşyürek, 2013). it seems that social studies teachers in turkey do not go beyond using traditional teaching materials, and integrating primary sources as teaching material is almost unknown to them. considering the reasons that prevent teachers from using different materials like primary sources in their classrooms, it is seen that in addition to teachers’ lack of knowledge and experience, deficiencies with in-service training (çoban & i̇leri, 2013), overcrowded classrooms, and worries about not being able to cover all topics required by the curriculum are also among the issues that in-service teachers face (çelikkaya & kuş, 2009; kuş & çelikkaya, 2010; ulusoy & gülüm, 2009). these problems often lead teachers to use textbooks instead of integrating primary sources into the lesson. furthermore, research has identified how tedious and inefficient social studies and history textbooks are in regard to spurring students to think independently and carry out their own research (doğan & torun, 2018; safran & ata, 2003). social studies textbooks are mostly focused on visual primary sources and are inadequate in the sense of providing alternative forms of evidence such as oral, audio, and community primary sources (çakır, 2016; yılmaz, 2008); however, the textbook visuals have been criticized. in a recent study, polat and özkaral (2020) indicated that some visual sources do not go beyond being ornamental elements, while the number of primary sources such as letters and posters have decreased even in the most recent editions of social studies textbooks. the same problems exist in digital textbooks in turkey, presented online at the ministry of national education website: the digital textbooks are pdf copies of printed textbooks and have no interactive features. the multiple difficulties and issues prevalent within the social studies teaching program, such as the over-reliance on textbooks, can contribute significantly to a general lack of motivation in mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 class, whereby teachers negate the benefits of utilizing primary sources and thus eventually revert back to and reinforce rote learning during lessons (akbaba, 2005). more work should be done in social studies and history education courses to encourage the use of primary sources and demonstrate how they can be included in the course to achieve the benefits that can be gained from their use. in this light, the purpose of this study is to reveal students' and teachers' opinions on primary source-based activities used to teach a seventhgrade social studies unit called people, places, and environments. the research questions for this study are: (1) how do students interpret their experiences about the activities they have done with primary sources in the course (in terms of positive and negative opinions and recommendations to prevent negative situations encountered during the activities)? (2) how does the teacher interpret her experiences about the activities she has done with primary sources in the course (in terms of positive and negative opinions and recommendations to prevent negative situations encountered during the activities)? method research model this study is based on qualitative research with the aim of revealing participants' views and experiences of working with primary source material. the goal of qualitative research is to reveal how people interpret and ascribe meaning to their experiences, and researchers try to understand what the participants experience during a study and provide a more comprehensive evaluation instead of generating numeric data (glesne, 2011; merriam, 2009). qualitative research has many different forms that can be employed to investigate various research questions. according to patton (2015), qualitative research could also be used to evaluate the implementation of a program so that a researcher can evaluate how his/her planned application may or may not work in practice; thus, we have adopted “implementation evaluation” (patton, 2015) as the research design in this study in order to reveal how the practices were organized, what the participants experienced, how they interpreted their experiences, the role of the practitioner, and how our planned instructional design worked in practice. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 settings and study group the study was conducted in a lowand middle-income neighborhood school in istanbul, turkey, with a class of 37 seventh-grade students and their social studies teacher. this school and class were purposefully selected because they reflected the general school and classroom standards in istanbul. we preferred to observe the implementation of primary source-based activities in a crowded public middle school because we wanted to challenge the mainstream belief that it is not possible to successfully apply these types of activities in public schools in turkey. our main reason for selecting the middle school level was the middle school social studies curriculum’s greater variety of topic selections and flexibility to apply such types of interactive instruction, compared to high school discipline-based courses. this selection also gave us the chance to prove the possibility of the implementation of primary source-based teaching with relatively younger students, who in this case are 12-13 years old. twenty-one of the 37 students were female and 16 were male. most of the students came from families who migrated to i̇stanbul from different regions in turkey. three of the participants were inclusive students, children who are physically healthy but have learning difficulties; the diagnosis of inclusive students in turkey is approved by counseling and research centers. apart from turkish students, there were also five syrian students in the classroom, and two of them did not speak turkish very well. therefore, it is clear that while the study group is diverse, a majority of the students have migrant experiences. the social studies teacher was a 26-year-old female with four years of teaching experience. she reported that she was not familiar with primary sourcebased teaching and that this study is her first real experience of applying primary sources in her teaching. primary source-based activities were applied to all 37 students in the classroom; however, we only interviewed 18 selected students due to time constraints. the students who were interviewed were selected to be heterogeneous in terms of academic success level, to represent different genders and cultural diversity, and were volunteers. the participant teacher helped the researcher with the selection process of the students for the interview; she recommended them as she is more knowledgeable about their background. although the male to female ratio was also considered during the selection process, eventually 12 female and 6 male students were interviewed due to the class having a female majority. to increase the heterogeneity of the group, one of the inclusive students also was included in the interviews. therefore, almost half of the class population were interviewed for this study. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 access to primary sources and creation of activities the study was applied in the 2018-2019 academic year; the activities were created in 2017-2018. we began by finding suitable primary sources that could be integrated into social studies instruction. however, this process proved to be difficult and very time-consuming as there are no organizations in turkey that archive primary sources related to curricula. primary sources were gathered over a number of months by exploring various collections in libraries, personal archives, public institutions, and the internet. an instructional unit related to emigrant issues was selected for this study, as it is a suitable unit for primary source inclusion. thus, based on the collected primary sources, a number of teaching activities were developed and applied to the teaching unit population in our country, which included migration as one of the main topics. a total of 10 activities were planned and implemented throughout the study. we focused on a series of primary sources that reflect the characteristics of the migration period from different angles. the various formats of primary sources included maps, official statistics data, photos, newspapers, letters, postcards, and videos. to analyze the primary sources, students were randomly assigned to one of six groups, which remained the same until the end of the study. these students were unfamiliar with studying primary sources and, in general, did not have any experiences working on such activities that require more focus, skill, and engagement. rather, they were only used to lecture and q&a based instruction. another reason for the creation of these study groups is that the class was too crowded for such types of activities, and we thought this strategy would mitigate the workload of the teacher, as it would have been difficult for her to pay attention to all the students individually. we also thought that the study groups would enable students to help and interact with each other and that this might help them overcome the possible intensity that they might have felt during the activities. to mirror how the implementation phase was conducted, two activities that most captured the students’ attention (postcards and letters) will be touched upon. implementation phase of postcards and letter activities postcards (see figures 1-2) sent by turkish people—who migrated abroad for various reasons— to their families received great attention from the pupils. for this activity, six original postcards, which we found in a flea market, were distributed to the students. to avoid problems that might occur due to handwriting, printed copies of texts were also given to students. first, we wanted them to look at the postcard as a whole. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 figure 1 postcard from switzerland that gives information about the life of a migrant worker then, they were asked to analyze the postcards’ visual and verbal content by using primary source analysis handouts. these handouts were used to help students follow a framework in the analysis process and consisted of questions that changed according to the format of the source. while students were working on the postcards, the smartboard was also used to project all the postcards of the six groups. at the end of the analysis, each group discussed their answers and mentioned different reasons for migration. figure 2 postcard from the u.s. about the life of a student who migrated to michigan mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 figure 3 letter from a young academician from belgrade, serbia another activity that received great attention involved letters focusing on a different type of migration: brain drain. two letters reflecting brain drain from turkey to western countries were analyzed by the students. one was the letter of an engineer who migrated to germany to work; he talked about his life, his work, and the difficulties he faced in germany. the second letter (see figure 3) was written by a young academician who went to belgrade, former yugoslavia, to get a postdoctoral education; he compared the two countries in terms of living standards. after the students explored and analyzed this letter, they discussed the consequences of brain drain from turkey, such as losing highly qualified people, and why welleducated people would migrate to other countries, along with solutions and recommendations to fix the issues. data collecting tools semi-structured interviews, field observation notes, and the primary source analysis handouts were data collection tools for this study. data collecting tools were created after thorough examination of the literature. primary source analysis handouts were mostly created based on library of congress guidelines (loc, n.d). interview questions were created based on research questions and were discussed and modified several times by the authors. finally, a turkish language expert provided assistance in terms of ensuring the clarity of the interview questions and the analysis handouts. semi-structured interviews semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection tool due to their general flexibility allowing the participants to express themselves more clearly than in structured interviews. in addition to this, semi-structured interviews make it easier for the researcher to generate new questions during the interview (merriam, 2009). interview questions were prepared separately for both the participant teacher and the students. the interviews were also mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 conducted after the instructional plan was applied in the classroom and were recorded using a digital voice recorder. interviews with all participants were held in january 2019; to uncover more in-depth perspectives regarding some issues that had been raised during the data analysis, a second interview was held with the participant teacher in december 2019. primary source analysis handouts during the implementation of activities, students were given handouts to analyze the primary sources. these handouts were used in most of the activities and were generated by examining the literature on primary sources. questions on handouts were designed from easy to difficult. the first questions were focused on analyzing the physical features of the primary sources, followed by questions that enabled students to make inferences from the primary source and make comments about it. field observation notes one of the researchers was physically present in the classroom during the five weeks in which the activities were implemented and took observational field notes when following the process. at the end of each day, researchers documented various issues such as the performance of the class during the activities, questions posed by the students, problems encountered related to the applications of activities, and how problems were solved. data analysis content analysis was performed on the data collected. the rationale for using this technique is to explore the data more closely by adopting an approach from piece to general (merriam, 2009). in this process, the nvivo 12 pro qualitative analysis software was used. interview sessions were transcribed verbatim and separate computer files were created for the teacher and each student as ms word documents. audio files obtained from students and teachers were added to these files, and these recordings were transcribed. pseudonyms were given to each participant. all files were uploaded into the nvivo 12 pro software; the same process was done for the field notes as well. agar (1996) suggests reading the transcripts several times to get a general sense of interviews before breaking them into parts. through this process, writing memos in the margins of the field notes and/or transcripts is helpful to explore the data (creswell, 2014). accordingly, classroom observation notes and interview transcriptions were read as a first step in the beginning data analysis. following this, the interviews of the students were analyzed. in this process, the lines in the interview file of each student were read and mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 analyzed one by one, and codes were issued. for each code, reference files were created by using excerpts obtained from the interviews of the students. after that, repetitive codes were edited, sub-codes were built, similar codes were edited, some codes were divided, and some were deleted. then, the relationships between the codes were examined and the headings were formed. during this process, both researchers negotiated constantly over the codes and categories to reach the most refined version of codes. the data was repeatedly used for the analysis of student handouts and field notes. the nvivo program was utilized for the analysis of field notes as in the interviews. as a result of the analysis, the codes obtained from the data were combined with the codes that emerged from the interviews and, eventually, the code tree was revised accordingly. when interpreting the findings of the study, excerpts from all data sources and key quotes were also included to increase the clarity of the meaning for the audience. findings how do students interpret their experiences about the activities they have done with primary sources in the course? evaluation of students’ positive opinions on the use of primary source-based activities within the social studies course making the course more understandable: the data analysis clearly shows that the majority of the interviewed students tended to believe that primary source-based activities made the course more understandable in terms of solving the issues caused by using the textbook as the only teaching source; in particular, the use of primary sources helped students contextualize past events. as a result, most of the interviewed participants stated that the teaching unit was much more understandable compared to other units taught using only textbooks. if we had learned the topic via textbook, as usual, i would not have understood [the lesson that much], but i understood it better with these activities. when we use the textbook, i feel sleepy sometimes. with these activities, [i think] i comprehended the lesson [better]. i [even] started to study harder [for the course]. (mehmet) similar opinions were expressed by one of the inclusive students, too: i understood it better through the way you taught [this lesson]. i think learning in this way is better because i cannot understand when we use just the textbook. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 these findings show that, compared to textbook-based teaching, activities based on primary sources can increase the level of understanding of the subjects covered for students regardless of their individual level of success. this is also reflected in the results of the exam for the teaching unit. even those of lower academic standing were able to make an interpretation of the topic, as the teacher pointed out in the second interview: i saw that even students who show low academic success were able to do those questions [on the exam]. our inclusive students who did not show interest in social studies lessons before the study were also successful. although i asked them interpretation questions, they remembered the reasons for the migration [while answering the exam questions] because they already have found that while they were studying the primary sources. in the exam, i had questions about the stories in the letters or the difficulties that people had there. when you look at the examples they gave, you can be sure that they remembered and wrote from there [primary sources]. (second interview, dec. 2019) furthermore, we found that the possibility of establishing physical contact with primary sources is another point that makes the course more understandable. for instance, you brought old letters. i would not have understood or believed that the letters were old if you directly taught us. but you handed over the letters and i examined [them]. after that, i think i understood the [teaching unit] better. i think there would not be a question left in my mind if the other units had worked like this. (ezgi) other students’ responses point out that primary sources used in these lessons reflected the characteristics of the period in which they were produced and helped them to connect with the past more easily and to better understand the period studied as these sources reflect the stories, emotions, and thoughts of ordinary people who usually do not have a place in textbooks, their use makes the topics more appealing for students, which also leads them to connect with the past on a more personal level. the participant teacher also stressed the importance of focusing on real people’s lives through primary sources. especially reviewing old newspapers, the 3 generation activity, and the postcard analysis… i think these activities should be included in the curriculum because they were much more effective for the student to see that period directly, to see and understand the [common] words and writing styles used in that period, and students can get to know [an ordinary] worker or the emigrant of that period (first interview, jan. 2019) … i think this is the most important side of using primary sources for the students. they [students] mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 feel they are touching the past. before [the study] they were not capable of imagining the difficulties that immigrants faced. (second interview, dec. 2019) including real stories of ordinary people in the course can help students comprehend the studied period. since the evidence reflects the conditions of the period, the students can evaluate the period on their own and thus both understand the subject and empathize with the personalities under historical investigation. increasing students’ interest in the course: study findings show that 72.2 percent of the interviewed participants stated that primary source-based activities activated their curiosity and made the course livelier as students engaged in multiple actions such as reading, analyzing, and discussion. in particular, the primary sources used in the activities were open to interpretation, and their authenticity and physical characteristics captured the attention of the students. i was intrigued by the photos; [actually] finding the hidden details in those photos. i was very interested in what the kid [in the photo] was doing. in fact, the mysteriousness in the photo caught my attention because we could not see what that kid was doing there. (mete) by analyzing the sources, students could find new information that could not be seen at first glance; this stimulated the students’ curiosity, thus transforming the course into processing, investigation, and discovery of the unknown. some features of the primary sources such as physical characteristics, the language used, the style of the handwriting, or the stamps on the envelopes and the postcards were also objects of attention and interest for the students in general. the letter had handwriting. they [the authors] actually wrote it themselves. it was pretty old. it was the letter that caught my attention the most. (ada) in addition, participants highlighted the authenticity of sources. using these sources, experiences on the subject are explained through the words of the persons themselves. these sources allowed students to work with real evidence instead of creating an artificial classroom atmosphere. thus, the course became more interesting. this can also be traced in the field notes: then the postcard activity was run. different postcards and source analysis handouts were distributed to each group. the students asked me where i found them. there was a lot of interest. students were surprised by the authenticity of the document. they were excited and rushed to look and touch the postcards as soon as they could. they also mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 wanted to see the postcards of the students in other groups. (third-week observation notes) the fact that students asked questions about the source of the documents is an indication of their curiosity. furthermore, these resources were physically given to them instead of being projected on a computer. giving students the opportunity to physically hold these resources was met with interest. i loved those documents. after all, we had the paper, the documents that people wrote [in the past]. it was very nice. … people wrote on that paper, took it into their own hands, and [now] we also touched and examined the [very] same paper! i enjoyed this very much. (deniz) thus, reviewing students’ responses and classroom observation notes, findings show that the students were very excited and curious to interact with primary sources, which led to them to carefully investigate the documents provided. similarly, the course teacher highlighted student engagement via the comparison of the different classrooms that were taught the same topic. i would say that the attention span of students was different. when i talked about the topic to class 7c, they became distracted faster because i continued with my usual method. my usual method: i talk about the topic, then we continue through the textbook, then if we have time, we watch the slides and the videos from morpa2 and eba3. then we do the activities both in the book and in eba and morpa. of course, the class started to lose attention gradually; but i did not encounter anything like that in the class 7g [study group] because they worked with primary sources. let us say there are 30 minutes of our review time, they [7g] were with me for 30 minutes. this is the most obvious difference. (second interview, dec. 2019) the teacher’s statements show that primary source-based activities not only increased the students’ interest in the course but also extended their attention span. data shows that this has a positive influence on student motivation and participation. 2 a platform for supporting primary and middle school students and teachers in lessons, with thousands of contents in accordance with the national curriculum. 3 educational informatics network established by the ministry of education of the republic of turkey. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 increasing student participation and increasing motivation: more than half of the interviewed participants stated that their participation increased due to the activities. even students who did not engage much in the coursework before said that the activities positively affected the in-class participation of both themselves and their friends. before you came here, the social studies course was a little boring, there was nothing [interesting], we were just following the textbook. we started having more fun after you came. there was a lot of participation [after you came to the classroom]. even those who did not participate in the class before started to participate from time to time. like uraz [inclusive student]. (zeynep) this comment shows that even less-motivated students can be successfully engaged when primary sources are used. the increased participation of students through primary source-based activities was visible to the students themselves. in addition, students appeared to be eager to share their ideas, thus confirming the beneficial effect of the use of primary sources on the pupils’ self-expression. in this context, the use of primary sources appeared to generate increased active participation, one of the goals of constructivist education. this is also reflected in the views of the teacher: all of the activities were activities where the teacher was only a guide and the student found [the details] through his or her own effort. that is the way you set up the activities, i guess. i mean, they were totally discovering it themselves. we were just leading [the students] with questions. they were not very used to it. [nevertheless], doing this became a factor that increased their participation [in the class]. the more they felt they had achieved it, the more they began to participate. i'd say their participation increased day by day. it even increased from the first activity through the second one. (first interview, jan. 2019) we observed that students can discover the information contained in the primary sources themselves and that this causes them to experience a sense of achievement while increasing their motivation for actively engaging in the course. the teacher, on the other hand, becomes a guide leading them in this process when necessary, in line with the constructivist educational approach and with the social studies curriculum that adopts this educational method. the increase in participation in the course also found its place in the field notes: the newspaper was presented on the smartboard. there is high participation. both boys and girls are participating in the class equally. inclusive students are also actively mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 participating. the teacher asks questions about the document. when the teacher asks the students whether they could leave their families and go to work in another country, participation increases even more. (observation notes third week) data also shows that the upward trend in student participation positively affected the students’ opinions of the course. some participants stated that after the activities they liked the lesson more. we were learning [the lesson] better with activities. we were learning while having fun, doing group work together, taking responsibility. it was so nice. this made me love the lesson. we could talk, say what we wanted, ask questions, learn things, have fun. (utku) when we were taught only based on the textbook, not only did we not understand the subject very much but also the lesson got boring. for example, when we did these activities, i liked the lesson more and tried to understand it. social studies was the least favorite subject of mine. i did not understand the lesson because i never understand history [very much]. but after these activities, i liked it more. (berna) based on these comments, we can say that primary sources have the potential to motivate students who do not like social studies. thanks to the activities, as participation increases, students find a place to express their opinions and history becomes more comprehensible; therefore, students develop a more positive attitude toward social studies. fostering and nurturing empathy skills of students: research shows that primary sources that reflect the true stories and emotions of ordinary people, especially those not featured much in textbooks, make it easier for students to feel empathy as they explore the primary sources that portray them (hutchinson, 2005; gilliland-swetland et al., 1999; yılmaz, 2008). both the students and the course teacher expressed this point in the interviews: through the activities, students could understand the feelings of people who lived in the past. the human emotions reflected by these individuals reciprocated and facilitated the establishment of empathy in the students. the social studies teacher's comments also show that the activities indeed allowed students to empathize: [they] listened to the stories from the mouths of those people. i think the fact that the kids [in the classroom] listened to the stories [directly from those people and with their own words], which included messages that they wanted to convey to their families, maybe to their teachers, or whoever they had sent them, made the children develop a mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 little bit of empathy. in the next part of the lesson, during the discussion over [the activity], [the students] would begin [their sentences]: “if it was me…” (first interview, jan. 2019) much greater change in empathic behavior was reported by the teacher in the final interview: the students empathized with the children who had an immigrational background in their own classrooms. we did not have too many problems in that class, like teasing syrian students or freezing them out, but there were a few students who did that. they stopped doing that [afterwards]. remember funda, who was moved to tears in our class? our syrian student. she had a hard migration story. after she was moved to tears, kids stopped teasing the syrian students; i mean in that class, we never again observed any syrian students being exposed to discrimination related to their migration process or not being from turkey. (second interview, dec. 2019) as we can see, the primary source-based activities helped students to empathize not only with people in historical documents but also with their classmates. learning real stories of ordinary people, listening to them, and hearing the sorrows they had to endure created empathy that spread from individuals to the entire classroom. issues raised during the application of these activities and solution recommendations the vast majority of the issues raised regarding the usage of primary source-based activities for teaching related to working in study groups. fifteen out of 18 interviewed participants expressed negative opinions about the study groups, mostly relating to the uneven distribution of tasks and workload and the lack of coordination among group members. for example, the friends in our group were not connected to each other. everyone was doing it their own way. one of them said that i will do it myself, the other said that you cannot do it ... there were problems. (mehmet) my friends [in the study group] argued a lot. for example, when we needed to read something, they argued, saying, “i will read that, i want to do this task.” they argued about little problems, but we did not want to solve them with our teacher, we wanted to solve them ourselves. (ada) the teacher also recognized the need to improve how group-work was assigned and distributed: mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 i could have identified the groups better. i kept the groups fixed for each activity, but i could change the groups from activity to activity. these groups were suitable for the map activity, maybe, but they had to be changed for others. so, i made a mistake there. i do not think i was able to create [the study groups] heterogeneously. some of the groups happened to be homogeneous. some groups were made up of students from the lower achievement levels. i think i could not arrange it [the study group] very well. (second interview, dec. 2019) in this study, task distribution within the groups was not made by the researcher, and students were left to figure that out by themselves. the number of participants in the groups was determined as five people on average, due to the class being so crowded, and some sources had a limited number of originals; however, the data indicates that group arrangements should have been made more carefully. it is remarkable that even though 15 out of the 18 participants expressed negative opinions about the study groups, only three suggested rearranging the groups. we observed that despite conflicts in the groups, most of the students were able to overcome the problems using one of three main ways: (a) trying to solve it within the group by talking with each other; (b) asking for support from the teacher; or (c) asking for support from the researcher. the first author was present in the classroom from the beginning to the end of the implementation phase. this might have led the pupils to view the researcher as a teacher, and so some of the students directed questions to her. the teacher herself indicated that she tried to solve the problems by negotiating and changing the place of the students, while the researcher tried to solve it only by negotiating. i argued with one of my group friends on the answers to the questions. she said the answers were correct and i said the opposite. i told her that i did not trust her answers. she was offended and we argued. then, we talked to each other and calmed down. we solved the problem by talking. (deniz) my groupmates argued a lot. for instance, when they needed to read something on the handout, they competed against each other. they argued about little things. they got angry with each other, but we did not want to solve it through the teacher. we wanted to solve it within the group, so we tried to understand each other, and we eventually solved the problem. (ada) student statements show that even though they are not used to working in groups, they were able to settle conflicts. another problem that participants faced was time. some of the students mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 stated that they wanted to spend more time with the documents and that the duration given for some of the activities was not enough. on the other hand, one of the students stated that the time issue was not caused by activities but from group friends: we had two syrian friends in our group. we were running late because we could not explain it [the activity and group task to them]. we did not have enough time. (gizem) during the research, students who did not speak turkish were distributed into groups that had students who could translate; however, this led to time issues due to the time required for all the necessary translations. the time issue was further mentioned by the teacher: my biggest problem was time because they were all having fun and they all wanted to have a say. especially when we were sharing thoughts at the end of the activities, they all wanted to have a say. so, i had trouble with the time. (first interview, jan. 2019) these issues highlight the necessity of achieving a balance between promoting student participation and allowing everyone to have a say while also conducting the activities in their entirety within the limited time available. another issue raised during the activities was that participants had problems with the readability of certain images. one complaint was related to the font size of the texts and another was about the low resolution of some of the primary sources, suggesting that an arrangement should be made to improve visuals. this was specifically aimed at the size of the text in the map activity. this concern was shared by the students and the teacher. while examining negative opinions, four of the 18 students involved in the primary source-based activities found the map activity too easy and evaluated it as inadequate. this highlights that different levels of achievement among students might result in alternative evaluations of the effectiveness of the activities. another issue raised by some of the participants was that the number of visual sources used for the activities was insufficient. this may be related to some students needing more visuals to be able to learn. additionally, a student expressed a negative opinion on the format of the questions, which lacked uniqueness: the questions could have been a little more original. some of the questions seemed clichéd. for example, there were questions of emotion, what feelings did you feel, how would you feel, etc.; these are questions that could come up anywhere. questions i have seen a lot before. so, it sounds a little cliché to me. (nehir) mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 each analysis form contained questions that varied according to the source, but students’ opinions can be interpreted as a better way to develop these questions. among the suggestions that students made to make the activities more effective was the use of other formats such as animations of the period covered (three participants) or jigsaw puzzles (one student). how does the teacher interpret her experiences about the activities she did with primary sources in the course? the teacher's views on primary source-based activities mostly match the students' views. from an educational perspective, the teacher also claimed that primary source-based activities made the course easier to teach. it is worth noting that the teacher's attitude toward using primary sources was initially negative before the research and that she avoided using them due to various concerns: i was not using primary sources in my classes. i could not do any extra work because of the anxiety of completing the subjects in the curriculum. i was just using the textbook, morpa campus and the eba. the textbook contains only news as a primary source. maybe i can count the maps for geography. morpa and eba usually do not even have newspaper coverage. i did not see it quite possible to get a primary source and examine it, you know. honestly, it did not seem like much i could do. i was thinking that it would be a lot of work to do for me. i did not believe that i could bring primary sources to the class, so i was not going to do it at all, but i am going to try it right now, frankly. i am thinking of trying it in other units after that. (first interview, jan. 2019) these statements indicate that the teacher's willingness to use these sources prior to activities was quite limited and that she did not attempt to use them unless they were readily provided in the textbook. prior to the activities, the teacher did not believe that these sources could be used in the courses, mostly due to time constraints and the work of preparing the activities. however, after the activities applied in her classroom, the teacher realized that the use of these resources were not as challenging as she initially thought; rather, these resources could indeed be useful and could make the course easier to teach. the teacher's subsequent statements reflect this situation better: normally, when i was lecturing, i was talking about the subject, then i was getting the answer. but in the activities, the answers were already embedded. the students found answers to all the questions in their mind because they could visualize everything by examining the source firsthand. as a teacher, this has taken off some of my workload. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 what made it easier besides that? i did not make an effort to write on the board, then repeat through the textbook, then go through the slide; but with primary source-based activities, the students had already comprehended the topic [right away by exploring the primary sources]. i think this is the magic of primary sources. (second interview, dec. 2019) when we interviewed the teacher for the second time, she stated that after our study she tried to continue to use primary sources in her lessons. while teaching about first scripts/writing, i used a website called www.arkeofili.com. i showed the students the first written love letter, the first written commercial treaty and the first rental contract… for instance, when we covered computers as a course topic, i showed them eniac [the first computer] and the technological development of laptops using the apple website. i utilized [primary sources] a lot while teaching these [topics]. i would not have even imagined [using them]. to be honest, if i would have taught these units before getting involved in your study, i would have probably gone through the topics summarily since they do not contain challenging information. i would have done a few little activities by using morpa. but afterwards, since i had discovered primary sources grab students’ attention, i used a lot of different examples from different websites. (second interview, dec. 2019) the teacher’s statements show that after this study, she tried to use online primary sources. her earlier negative opinions had changed, and she voluntarily included these sources in her lessons. these comments are important to see that primary source-based activities might break down the prejudices of educators who think that these sources are tedious and difficult to use in lessons. discussion our study illustrates that the use of primary sources in the social studies course was considered as a positive experience by the participants in many different aspects. a significant portion of the interviewed participants (72.2%) stated that they understood the lesson better thanks to primary source-based activities. the activities performed using primary sources were more understandable, and the monotonous classroom atmosphere created by using a single resource (i.e., textbook) was lifted. similar results were reported in other studies that support our conclusion (dilek, 2009; eamon, 2006; lawlor, 2003). likewise, barton (2005) points out that lessons should be taught using multiple sources. in this way, the different primary sources can complement textbooks and may provide additional data that textbooks lack; they may also help mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 the students to better visualize the period they are working on. as a result, students have a better understanding of the period being studied. as wooden (2008) stated, “the past is more like a foreign country than a familiar place, the only way to come close to understanding the thoughts and actions of people in the past is to reconstruct the time in which they lived” (p. 23). this is possible with primary sources because these sources reflect the period in which they were created, so students can more easily visualize the historical period in question in their minds (açıkalın, 2018; van fossen & shiveley, 2000). in addition, primary sources help students establish a physical and personal connection between the present and the past, as they are created by people who have lived (barton, 2005). this makes history more concrete for students (hatcher, 1992). the research participants made this clear in their views and stated that the sources provided a greater understanding of historical events. this study revealed that through activities based on primary sources, participants were able to appreciate the characteristics of the time under investigation with a greater degree of empathy toward both those who created the original source and the period when it was created. the teacher also stated that learning the events directly from the people who experienced them made it easier for students to comprehend the studied period. primary source-based activities made the course more interesting for the participants. physical characteristics such as the fact that the sources were real, old, and handwritten appeared to be very interesting for the participants. this has been pointed out by both students and the course teacher. many studies on the subject also support that if primary sources are used appropriately, they build a sense of curiosity in the participants (açıkalın, 2018; lawlor, 2003; sandwell, 2008; ünlüer & yaşar, 2012). the primary source-based activities used in this study increased the level of participation in the course. many students expressed in the interviews that both their individual and classmates’ participation increased. the social studies teacher also confirmed that student participation increased; she was merely a guide during the activities, and the students reached their own judgments as a result of their analysis. this is important to show that students can become more active in courses through primary sources and move from a passive position of receiving knowledge to an active position of producing knowledge, which is in line with the basic philosophy of constructivism. increased participation is an indication that students can express themselves. research conducted by ensminger and fry (2012) also showed that students can form their own ideas and express themselves throughout their studies with primary sources. similar results were also reached in studies by hutchinson (2005) and ünlüer and yaşar (2012). mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 the findings indicate that thoughts about social studies subjects have positively changed and that even students who had low motivation in the course began to like it. thanks to primary sources, the students' motivation for the lesson increased. that primary sources can potentially boost the motivation of students in class and make the lesson more enjoyable has also been reflected in various studies (gilliland-swetland et al., 1999; morris, 2002; patterson et al., 2017). studies have illustrated that integrating primary sources into lessons can be fruitful and can provide rich learning experiences while simultaneously making the lessons more enjoyable for the students. the fact that activities centered on analyzing primary source material enhances empathy among learners is another positive feature reflected in the feedback of the participants. sources in which people reflected their feelings, such as letters and postcards, impressed participants and made it easier for them to empathize with the people of the era under historical analysis. the literature also shows that these sources can help students understand the political, social, and cultural realities of a time period and the ideas, assumptions, and attitudes of the people who produced them (hatcher, 1992). conclusions on how these sources can improve empathy skills have also been put forward by hutchinson (2005). in his research, using letters from the american civil war, he eventually found that students could see the realities of the war, put themselves in the place of the soldiers who lived at the time, and better understand the period. these sources illuminate the lives of ordinary people not frequently included in textbooks, presenting a bottomup view of history where students can appreciate the past not just as the story of great men (eamon, 2006). similarly, other studies in the field have also shown that primary sources support the development of empathy in students (gilliland-swetland et al., 1999; yılmaz, 2008). given the emphasis placed on gaining empathy skills in the social studies curriculum, our study supports the notion that progress can be made in achieving the objectives of the syllabus with these sources. the study demonstrates that primary source-based activities positively changed the teacher’s preconceptions about their usefulness in the classroom. the participating teacher stated that she had known about primary sources before the research, but she did not consider or believe it possible to use these resources in her lessons. teachers' opinions and beliefs about what and how students should learn determine the materials and methods they will use in education (gilliland-swetland et al., 1999). however, the teachers who lead students to think through evidence are in the minority (hicks et al., 2004). teachers’ lack of special training on how to use these resources (ensminger & fry, 2012) lead them to view the use of primary sources with a degree of skepticism and to disregard the many educational benefits that these resources can mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 provide. in our case, the participant teacher was an appropriate example of this commonly held belief regarding primary source-based teaching. nevertheless, we observed toward the end of this study that the prejudices held by the teacher in terms of the adoption of primary sources in teaching started to dissipate, and she even started to integrate primary sources in her lesson plans after our study. a similar result was also revealed in the studies by alarcon, holmes, and bybee (2015) and ensminger and fry (2012). looking at the shortcomings of using primary sources in this study, we found that the most negative views were attributed to workflow and the distribution of workloads when the students studied together in groups. a more careful consideration of group formation and the distribution of tasks, as pointed out by both the teacher and the students, should be observed in future activities. suggestions from participants, such as working with groups of fewer people (potter, 2004), an added focus on individual studies, and changing group members according to the activities, can all be used in subsequent research in the field. another issue related to the use of primary sources in teaching involves the effective use of time. research has shown that students' ability to study these sources extensively may be more useful in answering analysis questions. hatcher (1992) similarly mentioned the time required to study the resources in detail by the students. the increase in the participation of the students and the teacher's attempts to give every student the right to have a say was a contributing factor to the timing issues. in light of this, the teacher will have to take time management into account when planning future lessons. there is evidence of this in the suggestions made by teachers and students regarding the time problem. the participants stated the time could have been handled better and that they should have been given more time to study some of the sources. conclusion the students and the teacher in this study had limited experience with primary sources. the teacher had preconceptions and worries about integrating these sources into the curriculum. however, after participating in this study, both the teacher and the students developed mostly positive opinions towards primary source-based social studies education. contrary to the initial skepticism of the teacher, this study has demonstrated that primary source-based activities can be easily applied in social studies education. despite the lack of experience and a crowded classroom, students were able to comprehend, examine, and analyze the sources. thus, while this study shows that primary source-based social studies education is possible, it also indicates that more attention to such studies is needed to extend the use of these sources. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 there are some drawbacks of this study. the study was conducted with a small group of seventh graders. similar studies could be done with larger groups and different ages to gather more data in order to compare the findings from different school levels and settings. another limitation was that primary source-based instruction was only applied within one teaching unit in this study. we hope that more studies investigating the use of primary source-based instruction on various topics and different grade levels can be done in the future so that this might help to make the use of primary sources in education more prevalent in turkey. acknowledgements the authors wish to thank mattia mancini, funda savaşcı-açıkalın, and nancy c. patterson for their valuable comments on the paper. mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 references açıkalın, m. 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(2008). “i had always heard lincoln was a good person, but …”: a study of sixth graders’ reading of lincoln’s views on black-white relations. the social studies, 99(1), 23-32. https://doi.org/10.3200/tsss.99.1.23-32 mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/articles/yl_2901164.pdf https://doi.org/10.17497/tuhed.185638 https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/50521 http://kefad.ahievran.edu.tr/kefad/archiveissues/pdf/692b8237-e654-e711-80ef-00224d68272d http://kefad.ahievran.edu.tr/kefad/archiveissues/pdf/692b8237-e654-e711-80ef-00224d68272d https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ogusbd/issue/11001/131640 https://doi.org/10.1080/00377990009602473 https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/documents/historical_thinking.pdf https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/documents/historical_thinking.pdf https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/documents/historical_thinking.pdf https://doi.org/10.3200/tsss.99.1.23-32 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 3, 2020, pp. 3-39 corresponding author: melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 yilmaz, a. (2008). use of primary sources in the sixth-grade social studies course books. world applied sciences journal, 3(6), 956-962. retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed503683.pdf yüksek öğrenim kurulu [council of higher education in turkey]. (2018). sosyal bilgiler öğretmenliği lisans programı [social studies teacher undergraduate program]. https://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/kurumsal/egitim_ogretim_dairesi/yeni-ogretmenyetistirme-lisansprogramlari/sosyal_bilgileri_ogretmenligi_lisans_programi09042019.pdf about the authors: melisa akbulut graduated from the department of social studies education at istanbul university – cerrahpaşa, turkey in 2019 with a master’s degree. she has bachelor’s degrees in social studies (istanbul university, 2015) and she is studying english translation and interpreting (istanbul university). currently she works as a teacher at a private school in istanbul-turkey dr. mehmet açikalin is a professor in the department of social studies education at i̇stanbul university -cerrahpaşa. he received his master’s degree from the university of missouri columbia in 2002 and his ph.d. from the ohio state university in 2006. his dissertation is entitled “the influence of computer-supported instruction (csi) on the principles of constructivist pedagogy.” his research interests are computer-supported instruction in social studies, global education, and social studies teacher education. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9861-5024 mailto:melisa.akbulut@ogr.iu.edu.tr http://www.iajiss.org/ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed503683.pdf https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/council%20of%20higher%20education https://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/kurumsal/egitim_ogretim_dairesi/yeni-ogretmen-yetistirme-lisans-programlari/sosyal_bilgileri_ogretmenligi_lisans_programi09042019.pdf https://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/kurumsal/egitim_ogretim_dairesi/yeni-ogretmen-yetistirme-lisans-programlari/sosyal_bilgileri_ogretmenligi_lisans_programi09042019.pdf https://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/kurumsal/egitim_ogretim_dairesi/yeni-ogretmen-yetistirme-lisans-programlari/sosyal_bilgileri_ogretmenligi_lisans_programi09042019.pdf https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9861-5024 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. “you can’t vote, right?”: when language proficiency is a proxy for citizenship in a civics classroom dafney blanca dabach university of washington ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this article raises questions at the intersection of immigration, citizenship, and formal civics education. drawing from positioning theory and critical discourse analysis, this article contrasts episodes in two twelfth-grade classrooms taught by the same teacher. in the general education government class, the teacher registered students to vote, while in her english learner (el) government class she positioned youth as non-citizens. students’ language status appeared to serve as a proxy for citizenship status. this article serves as an existence proof that teachers may conflate students’ language status with their citizenship status. additionally, the article highlights the need for understanding more about how teachers navigate citizenship status when there are real or imagined discontinuities between teachers’ citizenship rights and students’. the episodes also raise questions about the implications of teaching in settings where youth may potentially have a variety of citizenship statuses (including official citizenship by birth or naturalization, temporary or permanent “legal” resident status, or undocumented status). ultimately this work contributes to conceptualizing what a more inclusive and equitable civics education would look like for all students, regardless of citizenship status. key words: civics education, immigration, citizenship, linguistic profiling, english language learners, social studies. ___________________________________________________________________________ “obama won the democratic nomination . . . [but] you can’t vote . . . right?” –ms. wilson,1 twelfth-grade civics teacher of english learner students, june 4, 2008 normative assumptions hold that schools—and civics classrooms in particular—are places for socializing future national citizens who will become voters (e.g., levine, 2007). yet, given the intersections of historic and contemporary debates that position racialized groups as non-citizens (e.g., chávez, 2008; ladson-billings, 2004; ngai, 2004; nguyen, 2012) and us public schools’ admittance of students who are not guaranteed citizenship rights (plyler v. doe, 1982),2 questions remain about how teachers navigate citizenship status when there are real or imagined discontinuities between teachers’ rights and those of their students.3 as ms. wilson, quoted above, faced her immigrant-origin english learners (els), she bumped up against some of these very issues.4 addressing her students during a moment of national importance, she wondered: could they vote? were they citizens? although it was obvious that students were still corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 37 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. learning to speak english, what was not clear was their citizenship status. in this article, i examine ms. wilson’s case to initiate a conversation that has been largely hidden within the realm of teachers’ practice, particularly civics teachers who teach state-mandated civics classes like the ones ms. wilson taught (u.s. government) in contexts where youth are foreign-born or come from immigrant families. on the one hand, increasing attention has been directed to linguistic barriers with the presence of els in social studies classrooms (e.g., schleppegrell, greer & taylor, 2008; short, 2005; short, vogt, echevarría, 2011). on the other, conceptual and theoretical discussions have grappled with what civics education should look like in light of immigration and globalization (e.g., banks, 2004, 2008; castles, 2004; gutmann, 2004; nussbaum, 2002; parker, 2004; raley & preyer, 2010). however, neither area of scholarship has actually examined how teachers navigate through citizenship issues on the ground. still missing are discussions which bring situated accounts of social studies teachers’ work with immigrantorigin youth in dialog with citizenship status. overview the aim of this article is to raise questions about the intersections of civics education, immigrant youth, and teacher practice within u.s. secondary schools by examining contrasting episodes within two twelfth-grade civics classrooms taught by the same teacher. both episodes occurred during the 2008 presidential elections—a time that raised the salience of voting and citizenship rights. in the first episode, the teacher demonstrated her assumption that youth were citizens by distributing voter registration forms. during the second focal episode, ms. wilson assumed immigrant-origin youth lacked citizenship rights, and positioned them as non-citizen outsiders. i use these contrasting episodes as a springboard from which to raise questions about teachers’ practice in civics education within a society where individuals have differential citizenship rights. before examining ms. wilson’s classroom interactions, i provide additional conceptual framing in the next section in order to better contextualize the classroom episodes i present. conceptual frame: citizenship, difference, and conditional membership historically, immigrants and members of racialized groups have been excluded from political participation and have suffered from a lack of inclusion as full members of society (haney-lópez, 2006; ladson-billings, 2004; rosaldo, 1997). historically whiteness has been a condition of citizenship (haneylópez, 2006). and the citizenship, allegiance, and belonging of non-whites continues to be interrogated (hughey, 2012, ladson-billings, 2004). some scholars have emphasized the need for accounting for how those who have official citizenship rights are excluded from full participation (e.g., ladson-billings, 2004). rosaldo (1997), for example, calls for “distinguish[ing] the formal level of theoretical universality (of citizenship) from the substantive level of exclusionary and marginalizing practices” (1997, p. 27). outlining how those with citizenship rights fail to be treated equally is of paramount importance. alongside this critical work is the need to also interrogate how the boundaries of official citizenship are constructed to begin with, particularly in the ways in which it excludes particular classes of immigrants (ngai, 2004). also important is examining how immigrants’ belonging may be continually contested and undermined (nguyen, 2012; ríos-rojas, 2011; yuval-davis, 2006). corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 38 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. within this broader framing of citizenship and difference, i focus on the role of the schools in creating a space where relationships between citizenship and difference have historically been reinforced, contested, and negotiated (pak, 2002; sung 2013; tyack, 2001). schools continue to be important in shaping youth’s civic development, especially for immigrant-origin youth (callahan & muller, 2013). here i focus on school spaces where immigrant-origin youth who are identified as english learners are placed into separate courses to address their language needs. subsequently, i focus on how teachers of immigrant youth face a great deal of ambiguity given the multiple ways in which immigrants are framed within the larger society in comparison with how they are framed in school settings. immigrant status as hidden in schools yet hyper-visible in public debates teaching immigrant and immigrant-origin youth is framed by many competing layers that raise the salience of some aspects of difference while obscuring others. within the sphere of school bureaucracies, language proficiency labels (“english learner,” “fluent english proficient”) become salient and serve as the official basis for sorting students into separate programmatic tracks (callahan, 2005; sung 2008; callahan, wilkenson & muller, 2010), while legal status tends to remain hidden, except in cases where overt political action seeks to identify undocumented youth in schools.5 yet even as schools reify immigrant-origin youth by their english proficiency labels, larger societal debates on immigration persist, at times rising to a deafening roar (chávez, 2008; jefferies, 2009; mehan, 1997; orellana & johnson, 2012). in essence there is a fragmented discourse on immigrant people: a silenced one of omission in official school discourse, the other hyper-visible, focusing especially on the presence of undocumented immigrants (rather than, for example, on naturalized, documented, or temporarily documented immigrants). this contrast (between the typical invisibility of immigration status in schools and its hypervisibility within general public discourse), creates multiple frames within which to interpret immigrantorigin students’ presence in classrooms. in other words, documented students may be confounded with undocumented students and vice-versa. moreover, the variety of legal statuses (temporary visas, permanent residence, etc.) is likely to be less understood.6 teachers may not know how (or if) to address citizenship differences, even as these differences are amplified and hyper-visible in the public sphere and simultaneously linked to racialized groups (jefferies & dabach, in press). the resulting terrain is especially unclear for civics teachers, the content of whose courses—more than of any others in the school— explicitly takes up issues of nation and citizenship, as nearly-adult students are presumed to be making the shift toward voting. we have yet to understand how teachers broach citizenship in classrooms where immigrant-origin youth predominate, or how that intersects with other bureaucratic labels and sorting mechanisms, such as english proficiency, which often serves as the primary organizational grouping mechanism in areas of high-to-moderate immigration. although an emerging body of work specifically focuses on immigrant and immigrant-origin youth social studies education in secondary schools (e.g., callahan & muller, 2013; callahan & obenchain, 2012, 2013; salinas, 2006; salinas, fránquiz &reidel, 2008), this article contributes a specific focus on the contours of teaching civics in light of citizenship status discrepancies, both real and imagined. in order to make these issues more concrete, i use the case of ms. wilson to illustrate aspects of these dynamics. in what follows i contextualize the larger study and methods from corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 39 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. which ms. wilson’s case emerged. subsequently, i present an overview of ms. wilson and her school context, the two episodes from her two distinct classes, and following that, questions for the field. methods this article draws upon data from the teacher adaptation study (tas, 2007–2009). the tas was designed to follow the same teachers across distinct institutional tracks—one intended for general education students, the other intended for immigrant-origin students who were identified as english learners. the principal research objective was to gain a better understanding of how teachers were responding and adapting to immigrant-origin el students, given prior research (mclaughlin, 1993; stodolsky & grossman, 2000) that has shown that, in the context of demographic shifts, some teachers were adapting to their student populations but not always in ways that would benefit youth, for example by watering down content. i operationalized “adaptations” by comparing how the same teachers talked about and enacted instruction when content matter was held constant and the principal difference between classes was between the “mainstream” and the “el” designation. within tas schools, el students were assigned to separate content-area courses for el students (often called “sheltered instruction” [si] or “specially designed academic instruction in english” [sdaie]), while general education students were assigned to “mainstream” classrooms. ideally, sheltered classes are designed to provide english learners with access to academic subjects through linguistic and other modifications that make content more comprehensible (echevarría, vogt, & short, 2004). in practice, these courses often carry lower status than mainstream, honors, or advanced placement courses (olsen, 1997) and may function as a tracking mechanism that limits english learners’ opportunities to learn (callahan, 2005). the overall tas study findings focused on teachers’ preferences to teach el content classes, patterns of teacher placement into el tracks, and teacher perceptions of stigma within these courses (dabach, 2009, 2011, 2014a). a central part of the study’s findings were focused on social studies teachers’ adaptations of text between el and general education courses (dabach, 2009, pp. 77–111). this article explores an episode in which teacher adaptation occurred in another domain—that of differentiating talk about politics to distinct groups of students. these contrasting (mainstream versus el) classroom episodes occurred during the primary season of the 2008 us presidential elections. sampling the sample consisted of 10 social studies and 10 mathematics and science teachers who were recruited from seven urban comprehensive california high schools where el populations ranged between 12–30% and rates of free and reduced meals ranged from 26–75%. all teachers who participated (a) held valid credentials, (b) had at least one year of prior k–12 teaching experience, and (c) were assigned to teach at least one el and one mainstream classroom in the exact same content area (i.e., “sheltered world history,” “world history”). case selection and data of 10 participating social studies teachers, ms. wilson was one of seven who agreed to be observed during the study after being interviewed. she was the only observed teacher who taught u.s. government during the 2008 electoral season, in which issues of citizenship are most directly addressed corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 40 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. in the curriculum. (the other social studies teachers predominantly taught world history.) i observed each of the seven teachers in order to make informed choices for case study selection to probe the study’s three dimensions: institutional opportunities and constraints, teacher disposition, and teacher repertoire. while two other teachers were ultimately selected for in-depth case study analysis that involved multiple observations and interviews, i conducted two formal observations in ms. wilson’s classrooms on the same day: one in her us government general education class and one in her el us government class. both sessions were audio-recorded and lasted a total of two hours (including preclass passing periods). additional pertinent data that inform ms. wilson’s case are multiple school-site observations at henderson high that yielded field notes, photographs, and artifacts over the course of 18 months, along with interviews with other school personnel at the same site. my interview with ms. wilson lasted 1 hour and 52 minutes and was transcribed in its entirety. i drew from critical discourse analysis (fairclough, 1992, 2013, van dijk, 1993) and positioning theory (davies & harré, 1990; harré & moghaddam, 2003) when analyzing classroom episodes. discourse(s) can be thought of as “an institutionalized use of language and language-like sign-systems” (davies & harré, 1990, cited in menard-warwick, 2007, p. 268). critical discourse analysis (cda) raises questions about the relationship between discourse(s) and power asymmetries. through cda, identity construction, relationship construction, and knowledge construction become more visible (fairclough, 1992; menard-warwick, 2007). positioning theory focuses on how subjects position themselves (reflexive positioning) and others (interactive positioning), and how the process of positioning occurs through social interactions as well as more broadly in society. it is a corrective to approaches that rely solely on social psychology laboratory experiments to reveal self–other relations; instead the focus is on dynamic social encounters (harré & moghaddam, 2003, pp. 1–7). social positioning can also be described as “an event of identification, in which a recognizable category of identity gets explicitly or implicitly applied to an individual” (wortham, 2004, p. 166). these identity categories may be institutionalized (e.g., “english learner”) or informal (e.g., “disruptive student”). over time, these subject positions influence participation in social settings (wortham, 2006). when analyzing the classroom discourse, both cda and positioning theory led me to identify two linguistic forms as especially important: pronouns (i.e., “you,” “they,” “our”) and conditionals (i.e., “if”). attention to these forms helped in identifying the teachers’ positioning moves. additionally, the larger study design (contrasting “mainstream” and “el” classrooms) aided in providing a conceptual orientation that facilitated comparison of the two classes. comparisons across mainstream and el courses allowed differences in self–other relations to become more visible—each class was institutionally positioned distinctly, even though they shared the purpose of educating youth about citizenship. limitations these data and analyses have limitations. first, the inclusion of student interviews would have contributed to the analyses, but the original intent of the study was to trace teachers’ processes and adaptations across contexts and thus focused on this. future work can incorporate student perspectives. second, the case of ms. wilson is not generalizable to populations, but rather to theory (yin, 2009). this case contributes to conceptualizing issues in teacher practice as it intersects with citizenship and difference. difference becomes highlighted in this case though the analysis of positioning. corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 41 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. the data sample represents limited time spent in this particular teacher’s classroom. importantly, i do not make claims about the pervasiveness of the phenomena i observed, but rather point to their emergence as an existence proof. additionally, there is a danger that the selection of these particular instructional episodes may potentially contribute to the reification of teachers (for example, as categorically “bad”). the purpose is not to hold up an example of less-than-desirable teacher practice for its own sake, but rather to understand the contours of tensions that are deeply embedded within society as well as to more fully represent the complexities of teaching, beyond those regularly addressed. also of concern is that by raising the salience of citizenship status, i may be inadvertently contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes about immigrant-origin youth and english learners as “non-citizens,” even though a majority of els are in fact citizens by virtue of being born in the u.s. (whatley & batalova, 2014). despite these limitations, the episodes provide a valuable opportunity to discuss a topic on which there is little extant research: the intersection of social studies teacher practice, difference, and citizenship status. it is not surprising that the data are limited on this topic, considering how citizenship status tends to be hidden (as noted earlier). the value here lies in the ability to examine the intersection of key concepts that manifested in grounded contexts at a particular moment during an electoral campaign that raised the salience of the issue of who could vote and who could not—presenting a unique opportunity for analysis. ms. lucille wilson: an overview ms. wilson was white and american-born, and thus afforded official us citizenship. appearing to be in her mid to late sixties, she entered the teaching profession after having pursued a career in business. she self-identified as a democrat and loved teaching us government because “i’m just passionate about politics . . . and i know a lot” (interview, 3/17/08). in addition to her social studies teaching credential, she also held a master’s degree in business administration. she was also authorized to teach el students in the state of california and had over five years of teaching experience.7 she enjoyed planning interactive lessons that included full-blown congressional simulations, trials, and games that embodied complex concepts. she also valued using media such as films from various countries in her classrooms to enhance students’ deepening conceptual development regarding the topics they were studying. ms. wilson wanted to participate in the study largely to voice the difficulties she was experiencing when instructing el students and point to the systematic lack of resources she experienced as a social studies el teacher. the teaching context: henderson high and ms. wilson’s classrooms ms. wilson’s classroom was situated in a multiethnic comprehensive high school within an urban metropolitan area of california.8 despite its large size and its extremely high poverty levels, the school had a welcoming atmosphere, with large student-designed banners in common areas that invited students to participate in a wide range of extra-curricular events. the school’s overall student body was composed of large numbers of latinos, asians, and african americans, while white students were a rarity. approximately 20% of the student body was officially el-designated. corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 42 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. programmatically, the school made accommodations for el students by placing them into a separate stream of classes designed to facilitate their language learning. in addition to english as a second language (esl) classes, students were placed into specialized content-area courses (“sheltered instruction”). in her context, sheltered classes functioned much like separate special education courses, despite their official content titles that were similar to those of other traditional course offerings (e.g., “sheltered u.s. history,” “sheltered world history”). ms. wilson was assigned to teach matching pairs of civics classes (“u.s. government/economics”/ “sheltered u.s. government/economics”) during the 20072008 academic year. at henderson, spanish-speaking students predominated within the school’s el population, followed by chinese and vietnamese speakers. however, within ms. wilson’s el sheltered government/economics class, chinese speakers predominated, with only two spanish speakers in the classroom. while many el content-area courses enrolled el students at the intermediate stages of english proficiency, ms. wilson’s sixth-period classroom was populated mostly by recent immigrants who were at the beginning and early intermediate levels of english proficiency, levels 1 and 2 on the 5-point california english language development test (celdt) scale. meanwhile, students in ms. wilson’s second-period government class were fluent english speakers and this particular class was identified by ms. wilson as the “good kids” who often shared the same courses (interview, 3/17/18). students in ms. wilson’s mainstream class were predominantly chinese and vietnamese, with a few latino students. in this sense, they largely matched the racial composition of students in ms. wilson’s afternoon class. despite this similarity in racial composition, deep differences between the classes remained, as described by ms. wilson. she characterized her mainstream class as “college-bound” and evinced detailed knowledge of where students had applied to college and where they had been accepted (interview, 3/17/18). this contrasted with how she described her el content-based class as her “noisiest” and predominantly non-college bound: of all of her el students, she thought perhaps one would go to college, and was uncertain if the other students would meet graduation requirements. she also had a great deal of difficulty communicating with her el students: “[e]very other thing is: ‘do you understand what i’m saying?’ it’s like, oh. . . . it’s just like, it’s like, oh. . . . that’s how you feel sometimes when you’re in this class. . .” (interview, 3/17/08). to summarize, ms. wilson described the classes as having two distinct student populations in terms of english language proficiency and academic trajectories, despite their similar racial status. during the spring of 2008, ms. wilson departed from the standard curriculum in both classes in order to focus on the elections because of current political developments that were deemed to be historic (zeleny, 2008). the day before the observation (june 3, 2008), then-senator barack obama had won decisive democratic primaries in montana and south dakota, securing enough delegates to become the first african american presidential candidate to lead a major party ticket in a closely contested race with then-senator hilary clinton (who would have been the first woman to lead a major party ticket as president). the morning mainstream class: registering students to vote before ms. wilson’s second-period class began, she showed me voter registration forms she had picked up and had planned on distributing to her second-period class. although it was only june, she shared with me that she realized that some of her students might be eligible to vote by the time of the corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 43 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. november elections. she stated that registering students to vote would probably be the single most important thing she could do in her classes. on the morning of the observation, she used the beginning portion of class to find out which students were already registered to vote, with a show of hands, and which students would be 18 years of age by the election. she distributed forms to those who had raised their hands as eligible and had not yet registered: teacher:9 all right, let’s start. put away all yearbooks and memorabilia. . . . who is going to be 1 18 by november? 2 students: [xxxxxx] (raising hands) 3 teacher: okay, who is going to be 18 by november and hasn’t registered to vote? 4 students: [xxxxxx] (raising hands) 5 teacher: all right, so [at] this point [xxxxx] {you should register to} vote. [xxxx] (passing out 6 voter registration forms to students whose hands are raised). okay, 7 everybody stop on this side. i only have 1 left, sorry. 8 student 1: do you want us to fill them out right now? 9 teacher: yes. how many don’t have one? one, two, three, four. . . (counting hands). does 10 [xxx] have some? so fill that out. right here. all right, here you go. wait a second. 11 who else needs one? brian? [xxxx] so you want to change. . . . [xxx] (circulating 12 around classroom, distributing forms, assisting students to fill out forms) all right. 13 everyone else has got one. okay! you have to be a citizen, you have to be a 14 resident, you have to be 18. 15 student 2: aww! 16 teacher: all right. all yearbooks are tucked away. [xxxxxxxx] you can listen to me and fill out 17 the voter registration card. . . . [xxxx] if i were you i would designate a party. . . . 18 ….[xxxx] if you don’t register for a party . . . they give you a different ballot, ok. 19 [xxxxx] my friend registered as an independent and he got a weird ballot . . . you 20 don’t get the mainstream candidates for whatever that’s worth. [it] may not be 21 worth it for you [xxxxxx]—janine has a question. 22 janine: are we going to mail these? 23 teacher: no, i’m going to mail them. all i’m going to do is drop them off, pre-postage. [xxxxxx] 24 (to a student) fill out one of these. if you filled one out [xxxx]. when is your 25 birthday? 26 student 3: march. 27 teacher: [xxxxxxx]. (addressing the whole class) all right! listen up! let’s get to this. ok, listen 28 up. . . . the final on monday is only on chapter 13 . . . 29 in this episode, ms. wilson created a space that acknowledged students as future u.s. voters, and hence as u.s. citizens. although she suggested that students register for a party, she qualified her suggestion with hedging language (“may not be worth it for you,” line 22) which reinforced a sense that students could choose from the options available to them. while she briefly alluded to the voter registration form’s citizenship requirement (line 14), this requirement was embedded within other comments that stipulated age and residency requirements, and was not central in her presentation. by bringing forms to the classroom and distributing them while predominantly addressing the class as a whole, the corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 44 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. classroom space became one in which students’ potential to vote was salient. also, addressing the class as a whole meant that even students who were not eligible at the time became exposed to the process of voter registration. when the class was over i asked ms. wilson if she had planned on distributing the forms in her afternoon el sheltered class. her facial expression was one of confusion. she had not planned on it and did not bring enough forms. besides, she stated succinctly, “they [students in the afternoon el class] can’t vote” (fieldnotes, 6/4/2008). however, in the episode that follows, the topic of voting emerged anyway when she attempted to discuss the prior night’s events with students in her afternoon el civics course. the afternoon el sheltered class: “you can’t vote…right?” students: (chatter in their native languages, predominately chinese) 1 teacher: when we finished reading- 2 students: (still chattering) 3 teacher: okay! 4 students: (still chattering) 5 teacher: all right! everybody! (teacher blows a physical education-type whistle loudly) 6 shsshh! (teacher claps loudly twice to get students’ attention) 7 shhhhh! sit down! obama won the democratic nomination. that means that obama 8 leads –shhhhh!—in the amount of votes he has. so technically he is our candidate. but 9 hilary clinton has not yet conceded—she has not yet said, “okay, you win”—she’s still 10 out there, so i don’t know what’s going to happen, but mr. obama’s our guy. 11 student: do you {hope he will win}? 12 teacher: i hope. 13 teacher: you can’t vote though, right? (to the whole class) 14 students: no. 15 teacher: {what are you} talking about! get out of here if you can’t vote! 16 students: (laughing loudly, speaking in native languages) 17 teacher: i don’t want to talk to you if you can’t vote! get out if you can’t vote! get out! 18 (teacher laughs to herself.)19 corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 45 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. during this focal episode, ms. wilson began with multiple attempts to capture students’ attention. she followed her attempts by informing students of the prior night’s political events, and in the process linguistically modified her input to students, paraphrasing the word “conceded” by supplying a simpler definition: “okay, you win” (line 10). in this way she adapted to students’ proficiency levels to provide access to ideas—in this case the process of political victories, concessions, and outcomes. next, she described obama as “our” candidate twice (lines 9, 11), not merely conveying her personal choice from a field of contenders, but simultaneously addressing students as part of an imagined community of u.s. democratic-voting obama supporters. at this point in the episode, her repeated use of “our” included the youth in her class in this imagined community. moreover, it differed from her approach in the mainstream class where, although she suggested that students register for a political party, she emphasized students’ autonomy and evaluation of their choices. however, a shift occurred after one student’s query (line 12). ms. wilson moved from a transmission mode to a questioning mode, asking about students’ (in)ability to vote. her comment “you can’t vote though” simultaneously made her assumption of el sheltered students as non-citizens explicit and students’ outsider status even more visible, especially in relation to her own status as a us citizen with voting rights. this discursive move implicated aspects of identity construction (fairclough, 1992), focusing on what she thought students could not do and the status they lacked as non-citizens (outsiders), whereas previously her use of “our” indicated a common group identity. when some (but not all) of her students confirmed her assumption about their non-voting status, her response marked an even bigger shift; her vocal volume increased to a shout and her voice took on a new timbre. she appeared to shift into a joking mode, projecting her voice for emphasis (rather than in anger). her repeated use of “if” (lines 16 and 18) signaled that students’ membership within the classroom space was contingent upon their having voting rights (or future voting rights). the teacher’s use of contingent language is important; it links to larger patterns within the united states and other societies where immigrants who are racialized as “non-white” have often experienced contingencies of belonging and barriers to complete social and political membership;full rights and inclusion have been historically contingent upon race, class, and gender (haney-lópez, 2006; ladson-billings, 2004; rosaldo, 1994; ríos-rojas, 2011; yuval-davis, 2006; yuval-davis, anthias & kofman, 2005). ms. wilson’s discourse of contingency also reveals links to recent patterns in the u.s. political landscape whereby ethno-racial groups are to be courted if they can vote (garcía bedolla, 2014). additionally, this episode suggests a transmission approach rather than one of deliberation (parker, 2003). yet even ms. wilson’s transmission approach appeared to be disrupted by her own assumption, that students could not vote. and if they could not vote, what was their place in a civics classroom? perhaps for ms. wilson, the shift in tone and her subsequent laughter marked this tension for her explicitly. the purported aim of a nationally defined civics class and the presence of immigrant-origin el youth that, to her, invoked non-citizenship appeared to be challenging for ms. wilson to navigate, despite her dual certification to teach social studies and english learners and more than five years of teaching experience. in summary, students in ms. wilson’s mainstream class were positioned as potential voters, while students in her el sheltered class were positioned as non-citizens who could not vote. ms. wilson’s linguistic adaptations for access co-existed with a conditional rejection of students’ presence in the classroom connected to their assumed voting status. importantly, both the mainstream and el classes had the same ethno-racial composition: predominantly east asian, with some latino youth. and yet, el students’ voting status was contentious in ways that mainstream asian and latino students’ status was not, despite the historically problematic relationship between race and citizenship and the on-going racialization, especially of asians, as “perpetually foreign” (lee, 2005; corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 46 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. nguyen, 2012; takaki, 1993; tuan, 1998). perhaps because ms. wilson perceived her mainstream students as “good kids” who were predominantly college-bound, they were afforded an “honorary” white status (tuan, 1998), where their citizenship was not questioned in the same ways el students’ citizenship was. discussion: language status as a proxy for citizenship how did ms. wilson come to articulate (and therefore position) the el students as non-voting and, ultimately, as non-citizens? through what processes did ms. wilson construct and assign these meanings? these contrasting episodes, along with my interactions with ms. wilson immediately before class (when she remarked that she did not bring enough forms for her afternoon class) and over the course of the academic year (during which she displayed little knowledge of her el students’ lives as compared with her detailed knowledge of her mainstream students), suggest that in the place of specific information about each of her el students’ citizenship status, she made a generalization about the citizenship status of the class as a whole. insofar as the major difference between the two classes was their language status, i argue that students’ language status became a marker of non-citizenship status, effectively acting as a proxy for actual information. language status was expressed through two signifiers: (a) students’ beginningand intermediate-level english language proficiency and (b) students’ institutional placement in el sheltered courses. these contrasting episodes raise two kinds of issues, one about teachers, the other about institutional contexts. the first issue concerns what notions social studies teachers may hold about students’ immigration status, and how their notions about students’ status inform their political socialization of youth. in other words, if teachers either assume or discover immigrant youth’s nonnormative citizenship status, how might this affect the ways in which they teach them about civics? what kinds of opportunities for political participation do teachers communicate to youth if they think or know students are not citizens? second, how do institutional spaces set the context for who may be perceived as a citizen, and who may not be? that is, when immigrant-origin youth are grouped together institutionally (due to language status or other systematic grouping practices), how does the process of student sorting mediate both the kinds of perceptions that teachers develop about their students’ status as well as the learning opportunities available within these institutionally differentiated settings? while the episodes presented here are limited in scope, the nature of the concerns raised is similar to that of concerns raised in scholarship that addresses differentiated opportunities for civic learning and civic empowerment (ho, 2012; kahn & middaugh, 2010; kahn & sporte, 2008; levinson, 2010; pace, 2008). what the episodes from contrasting institutional contexts add to previous conversations on inequality in civic education is a focus on how language sorting systems designed to aid students by enhancing access to content could potentially serve as a mechanism through which other forms of differentiation occur that are less beneficial, particularly if institutional groupings play into teachers’ pre-conceived notions of who citizens are, and who they are not. while ms. wilson’s case illustrates how a teacher’s assumptions about citizenship status may potentially play out in classrooms, equally possible are cases in which teachers may be acutely aware of students’ undocumented status due to students’ self-disclosure and help-seeking (dabach, 2014b; jefferies & dabach, in press). in these cases, another issue emerges: how do educators foster students’ sense of civic agency and societal belonging if their students have to contend with undocumented status?10 within the context of discussing differentiated citizenship status, it is also critical to acknowledge the possibilities for future legal status changes because students’ status at a given point in time might not necessarily reflect their future status. as historian mae ngai notes (2004): corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 47 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. [i]llegal alienage is not a natural or fixed condition but the product of positive law; it is contingent and at times it is unstable. the line between legal and illegal status can be crossed in both directions. an illegal alien can, under certain conditions, adjust his or her status and become legal and hence eligible for citizenship. and legal aliens who violate certain laws can become illegal and hence expelled and, in some cases, forever barred from reentry and from the possibility of citizenship. . . . [s]hifts in the boundary between legal and illegal status might tell us a lot about how the nation has imagined and constructed itself over time (6). although undocumented people’s status can change, ngai also notes that the boundaries that circumscribe undocumented people’s status can be caste-like, even as some may belong to mixedstatus families (2004, p. 2). however, the polarizing line between “legal” and “illegal” may leave little room for understanding processes of regularization, or differential statuses. polarizing lines also leave little room for understanding teachers’ and schools’ roles within a citizenship education paradigm that, despite connections to an immigrant past (tyack, 2001), are still enacted within nationalist frameworks that have yet to seriously incorporate not just transnational formations (abowitz & harnish, 2006; abu el-haj, 2007), but undocumented and temporarily documented immigrants within social education. this account is in part about how immigrant-origin el youth may potentially be positioned in ways that further exclude them from opportunities to integrate into society through learning about electoral processes. yet, there is another aspect to this account. it is about a teacher’s uncertainty and tension in addressing issues that are hidden within official school spaces for good reasons, yet are hyper-visible in society at large.11 i argue that this case warrants critical consideration because the tensions that surfaced raise larger questions about the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion within a multicultural democracy (banks, 2007; parker, 2003; yuval-davis, 2006) and also have implications for teacher practice that have yet to be grappled with. implications: questions of teacher practice, difference, and citizenship status as noted earlier, the current predominant bureaucratic framing of immigrant-origin youth in u.s. educational systems as “english learners” emphasizes language gaps. although ms. wilson was able to linguistically modify input, navigating the political aspects of citizenship with immigrant-origin students was more challenging. this episode demonstrates the ways in which teachers navigate more than language and culture when teaching immigrant-origin youth. this episode also highlights the potential for el students to be positioned and linguistically profiled as non-citizens, undermining their inclusion. the issue at hand is not merely whether or not students were correctly identified as citizens. the contentiousness of the politics of immigration underscores the need for educational theorists, teachers, and others to stake out an inclusive and progressive pedagogy in citizenship education. the episodes reveal a genuine need to address gaps that are not merely cultural and linguistic, as substantive as those are, but which also bar access to participation in the very practices that are imagined as important in civics education (e.g., voting). there is also a need to understand what it means to educate undocumented, “legal” resident, refugee, naturalized, citizen children of mixed– legal status families and others, in deliberations about what constitutes “good” teaching within civics education and beyond. this is not only a project of concern to educators in immigrant-origin contexts, as the boundaries of citizenship affect the health of a liberal democracy (ngai, 2004). corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 48 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. if one of the purported aims of civics classes is to prepare future voters, what is the role of civics teachers in immigrant youth contexts where students may or may not have u.s. voting rights? while over-emphasizing voting is out of line with some current thinking within civics education (parker, 2003; levinson, 2010; westheimer & kahn, 2004), voting issues are perennial and are likely to emerge in classrooms anyway. the point here is to transform topics that can be exclusionary for those who cannot vote and to imagine ways of meaningfully participating, for example by campaigning for candidates that align with the political commitments of youth. in light of differential citizenship rights—and how these intersect with immigrant youth and civics education—i pose the following additional questions: 1. how can we mitigate processes of non-citizenship attribution? in other words, in cases where educators have not had opportunities to examine their assumptions about who is and is not a citizen, what might facilitate this process? and what approaches would enable deeper understandings about who has and does not have access to legal citizenship? 2. how can teachers approach the subject of citizenship in ways that are inclusive of students’ (and their families’) varied political statuses? and, what can we learn from cases where this is already occurring? 3. is there a conceptual terrain that needs to be better developed in the area of teaching immigrant youth about voting, citizenship, and civic engagement? if so, what might be key features of this terrain? 4. what resources can teachers and youth draw from to understand a process in which some will eventually be permitted to engage while others will not? even the orientation of adult immigrant civics education presupposes eventual citizenship (i.e., naturalization). how do we approach civics education while acknowledging the discrepancy of rights that exists for undocumented people? although it is beyond the scope of this paper to answer these questions, we might begin with hybridizing classroom spaces, integrating the study of politically active immigrant youth and their families who engage with civic action despite (and because of) formal barriers to citizenship (e.g., bloemraad & trost, 2008; gonzáles, 2008). moreover, other groups (such as african americans and women) took civic action despite de jur exclusions from suffrage; making this explicit in relation to immigrant exclusions could serve to deepen connections across groups. at the same time, there are risks in making these issues more visible. it is possible that if greater attention is brought to citizenship rights discrepancies, immigrant-origin students of color within classrooms may be profiled as undocumented. however, as the focal episode illustrates, issues that are often hidden within official school discourse may well emerge in any case. without collective conversations about how issues of potential citizenship disparities are best addressed, such disparities are likely to be left to teachers’ own idiosyncratic efforts, or not at all. while increasingly, teacher preparation includes coursework on “diverse” learners, including “english learners,” this episode suggests the need for teacher education to account for more than linguistic and cultural differences in teaching, by incorporating citizenship differences as well. future work can begin to investigate what kinds of approaches would best serve teacher candidates and their students. conclusion there is a great need to understand how teachers navigate through issues of citizenship in immigrant youth contexts in light of academic subject-area teachers’ expanding placements into classrooms with immigrant-origin youth (lucas, 2011) and current discourses that frame immigrantorigin students’ access to social studies in predominantly linguistic terms (e.g., short, vogt, corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 49 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. echevarría, 2011). while linguistic gaps certainly exist, less noticed are the ways in which the curriculum itself intersects with aspects of immigrants’ citizenship status, formation, and rights. this article’s focus on ms. wilson’s case serves as an existence proof that teachers may use students’ language status as a proxy for their citizenship status. in other words, in the absence of in-depth knowledge of students’ actual citizenship status, youth may be linguistically profiled. in this particular case, el students were positioned as non-citizen outsiders, rather than as “citizens in the making.” this conflation of language status with citizenship status raises questions about the potential for immigrant-origin youth to be differentially exposed to curriculum in cases where immigrant-origin’s citizenship status is interrogated by their teachers. this article contributes to raising questions about the nature of citizenship education in classrooms that are not only ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse, but may also be diverse in terms of citizenship status. moreover, because legal status tends to be hidden, we must grapple with actual difference as well as perceptions of difference. narrow visions of who is a citizen (and who is not) are constructed in dialogue with other discourses about what it means to belong to the nation-state (beaman, 2014; jaffe-walter, 2013; nguyen, 2012; ríos-rojas, 2011; rosaldo, 1994). as theorists imagine curricula that integrate immigration and transnational citizenship within a deeper and broader civics (e.g., parker, 2004), and others argue for expanded and engaged notions of citizenship (e.g., abu el-haj, 2007; banks, 2008; westheimer & kahn, 2004), teachers’ daily practice with immigrant-origin youth may be quite disconnected from these ideals. alternatively, some teachers may be breaking new ground in formulating a civics education that transcends the traditional boundaries of citizenship. research is needed that examines how teachers and youth navigate this terrain, in these times, and to what effects. examining these issues serves a larger project of addressing political socialization processes that may potentially exclude youth, exacerbating existing tensions surrounding who belongs and who does not. what is at stake is not only the inclusion or exclusion of youth, but the health of a liberal democracy. notes 1 all names of people and schools are pseudonyms. 2 the plyler v. doe supreme court decision established educational rights for all minors to have access to k–12 public schooling, regardless of their legal immigration status. for an insightful analysis of the rise of immigration restriction which necessitates the plyler case for rights, see ngai (2004). she historically situates the production of “illegal” subjects as well as the relationship between legal restriction and racial hierarchies. i argue for a distinction between legality and justice (benhabib, 2004; king, 1964), given the ways in which citizenship has been bound with racial dilemmas in u.s. society (king, 2000; haney-lópez, 2006; ngai, 2004) as well as larger processes of inequality and globalization. 3 all public school teachers have legal status in order to be state employees, but they may not all be u.s. citizens. a small but growing number of teachers are being recruited abroad in order to fill teacher shortages (bartlett, 2014), and thus may have temporary worker status rather than u.s. citizenship. 4 i use the term immigrant to mean those born abroad (first-generation immigrants) and immigrantorigin to refer to both firstand second-generation youth whose parents were born abroad, similar corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 50 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. to suárez-orozco and suárez-orozco’s (2001) usage. us-born children of immigrants have citizenship according to the 14th amendment to the us constitution, and their parents may or may not have citizenship, depending on a variety of factors. the term “immigrant-origin” has some limitations. by focusing on more recent immigrants, the use of the term may downplay the fact that, with the exception of indigenous people, everyone is of immigrant origins, particularly in the u.s., canada, australia, and other immigrant societies—whether migration was forced or marked by various degrees of choice. some may contend that the term may lead to essentializing immigrant-origin people who may not necessarily wish to be positioned as immigrants, with its connotations of “foreignness” (cf. talmy, 2004). acknowledging these limitations, i use this term and argue for its necessity. the term allows a particular focus that other terms do not completely capture. it is important to have a way of indexing phenomena related to immigration and immigrant-origin experiences, trajectories, and social constructs, which intersect with other social systems such as race and language (malsbary, dabach & martinez-wenzl, 2014). a note on an additional term i use: english learners are students who arrive at school speaking other languages who have yet to become fluent in english. other names used to identify this population include english language learners, emergent bilinguals, second language learners, and english speakers of other languages. bilingual or multilingual terminology is more accurate in reflecting students’ language assets, yet i use “el” as it is most commonly recognized in policy school settings at the time of writing. 5 while federal law currently protects the rights of all students, including undocumented students, state challenges recur (a case being alabama’s h.b. 56, which seeks to identify undocumented youth at school sites). these state challenges place schools at the center of national immigration debates. (for example, see the new york times: “room for debate: should schools help catch illegal immigrants?” oct. 4, 2011). 6 not all els are immigrants, and not all immigrants are undocumented. in fact, most el students (over 74%) are us-born with citizenship status (whatley & batalova, 2014), although the percentage of foreign-born el students rises in high school. many immigrants become citizens, obtain resident status (a.k.a., “green cards”), or have parents who possess work visas. additionally, some migrants, such as those from puerto rico, have citizenship rights due to us military interventions and subsequent annexations. although the popular media tends to conflate immigration with “illegal” status (chávez, 2008), in reality, “immigrant” is not synonymous with “undocumented.” furthermore, issues of documentation are complex: citizen children may have undocumented parents and some families are mixed-status where some siblings have citizen rights and others do not (mangual figueroa, 2011, 2012; suárez-orozco, yoshikawa, teranishi & suárez-orozco, 2011; yoshikawa, 2011). and, many undocumented youth are indistinguishable from their citizen peers as they have migrated as young children and are native english speakers or fully bilingual. to make matters more complex, current status may not be an indicator of future status. even though youth may be undocumented at one point in time, their status could change in the future with proposed legislation such as the development, relief, and education for alien minors (dream) act (pérez, 2012). 7in the state of california, credentialing programs incorporate authorization to teach els within singleand multiple-subject credentials; however, the nature of what individual teacher education programs do to satisfy state standards varies widely, with some programs offering substantive and integrated coursework and practicum experiences in el settings, while others may have one isolated course within a credential program. for more on el teacher preparation, see lucas (2011). 8exact demographic percentages and other details are omitted to protect human subjects. corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 51 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. 9the following are notations used in the transcripts: xxxxx unintelligible { } words that are assumed, but not 100% certain in the transcript [ ] words added for clarification ( ) describe actions, gestures, and provide additional non-verbal context caps – denotes high volume 10 for more about the possibilities of formal civic education in contexts that include undocumented students, see dabach (2014b). 11 there are important reasons for not explicitly asking youth about their actual citizenship status within a national climate of threat to undocumented people (ngai, 2004; orellana & johnson, 2012) and the historical and contemporary suspicious questioning of citizens’ loyalties if they are members of racialized groups (abu el-haj, 2007, 2009; ladson-billings, 2004; pak, 2002). acknowledgements this research was supported by grants from the university of california all campus consortium on research for diversity (uc accord), the uc linguistic minority research institute (lmri), the center for latino policy research (clpr), and the spencer foundation’s research training grant program. opinions reflect those of the author and not necessarily those of the grant agencies. i would also like to thank those who provided insightful comments on analyses, drafts, or both, including the anonymous reviewers of this journal, and keith barton, terrie epstein, heather hebard, ann ishimaru, joshua meidav, julia menard-warwick, deborah palmer, and kenzo sung. i thank aliza fones for research assistance. all oversights and errors are my own. corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 52 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 37-56. references cited abu el-haj, t. 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(2008, june 4). obama clinches nomination; first black candidate to lead a major party ticket. retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04elect.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 corresponding author email: dbd1@uw.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 56 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2sw8v9bf journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 26 spring/summer 2012 textbook coverage of the destruction of the armenians david h. lindquist indiana university/purdue university ______________________________________________________________________________ despite its importance as the event establishing that the 20 th century would be known as “the age of genocide,” the destruction of the armenians that occurred between the mid-1890s and 1923 is given marginal coverage in contemporary u. s. high school history textbooks. this article critiques that coverage and identifies the overall flow of the information that is presented while noting several instances in which information is presented in an underdeveloped, confusing, or contradictory manner. it then makes several suggestions about topics that should be included in an expanded coverage of the armenian situation, thus ensuring that students develop accurate perspectives about this critical event. keywords: history, study and teaching, genocide, ethnic conflict, textbooks and teaching history. ______________________________________________________________________________ in the burning tigris, balakian (2003) contends that the metaphor “the unremembered genocide” does not acknowledge “how large the massacres of the armenians in the 1890s and the genocide of the armenians in 1915 loomed in american (as well as european) consciousness and social and political life during a span of four decades” (p. xiii). taking a long-term view, power (2002) outlines how armenia set the stage for both “the age of genocide” that defines the 20 th century and for america’s response to the genocides that have occurred and continue to occur. given the armenian situation’s profound effect on american thought during the early 20 th century in particular and on that century’s history in general, it is problematic that most history courses taught in contemporary american high schools devote little, if any, attention to the destruction of the armenians. after providing a brief overview of the history of the armenian situation, this article examines how current high school history textbooks portray the destruction of the armenians that occurred before, during, and shortly after world war i. historical context a detailed discussion of the destruction of the armenians is beyond the scope of this article. however, a general overview of that situation will provide a context into which textbook coverage of it can be placed. the rise of ethnic nationalism threatened the existence of the ottoman empire during the last decades of the 19 th century as minority groups living within the empire demanded increasing levels of autonomy, if not independence. in addition, the treaties of san stefano and berlin (1878) obligated the empire to institute reforms designed to improve the status of those groups. however, the empire was emboldened and the armenians disappointed when european powers failed to force the ottomans to institute changes required by the treaties (hovannisian, 1986). sultan abdul hamid ii viewed the armenians as the most dangerous minority group in his empire. in fact, he was so convinced that the armenians’ influence in the empire had to be journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 27 spring/summer 2012 eliminated, if his regime were to survive, that he blamed all of the empire’s ills on “the armenian question” (balakian, 2003, p 5). as a result, abdul’s government staged a series of massacres during the mid-1890s, thus initiating a process of destruction that would span three decades. at least 200,000 armenians are believed to have been murdered during the 1890s, and the armenian situation quickly became a humanitarian cause celebré in europe and the united states (balakian, 2003). responding to the empire’s ongoing disintegration, the committee of union and progress (cup) forced the sultan to relinquish power in 1908, although he was allowed to keep his title until the following year. enver bey, one of the young turks and a cup leader, promised that the empire’s ethnic groups would share the country’s future but, as balakian (2003) notes, “the word ‘armenian’ was conspicuously absent” from the list of the peoples whom bey identified as being part of the new turkey (p. 144). a massacre of armenians occurred in 1909 as the government attempted to eradicate nonmuslim influences in the empire. soon thereafter, bulgaria declared its independence, and the austro-hungarian empire annexed bosnia and herzegovina (balakian, 2003). ousted in a 1912 coup, the young turks regained power in january, 1913. one result of these events was a deepening polarization of turkish-armenian relations (bloxham, 2009) because the young turks saw these developments as “another dramatic sign of their empire’s dissolution, and it [the loss of territory] fueled their distrust and dislike of their christian subjects, in particular their christian subjects inside turkey–notably the armenians” (balakian, 2003, p. 145). the stage for the armenian genocide had thus been set. beginning in 1915 and using the cover provided by world war i, the government’s bureaucratic apparatus staged “the first genocide of the past century or even the first of its kind in history” (smith, 2000, p. 149). the genocide continued after the war ended in 1918, and it is estimated that well over one million armenians were either murdered outright or died as a result of the conditions they faced during deportations and death marches. the role of textbooks in social studies instruction textbooks have long been the primary determiner of social studies curricula. saxe (1991) notes that that committee of seven recognized this fact in 1896 and, in doing so, identified some of the strengths (e.g,. unity, continuity) and weaknesses (e.g., overgeneralization, an undo focus on factual accumulation) of textbooks that continue to affect instruction today. ravitch (2004) contends that at least 80% of all social studies students read a textbook at least once a week, and chapin (2011) believes that that figure may be low, noting that “almost all homework and much classroom activity [in social studies classrooms] are textbook driven” (p. 23). in this regard, zevin (2007) notes that many teachers establish a routine in which students read the textbook and answer end-of-the-chapter questions repeatedly throughout a course. when this occurs, students miss the richness of investigation and evaluation that can result from examining diverse sources and participating in varied activities. thus, it can be argued that textbooks do not simply support history curricula; rather, they are the curricula in many classrooms, a reality that has a pervasive impact on instruction. rather than engaging students in the examination of complex, contradictory, and controversial themes at multiple levels and through nuanced perspectives, textbook-driven instruction leads students to believe that the textbook is “an authoritative and unproblematic source of information” (barton and levstik, 2009, p. 249). as such, what students learn about most historical topics can be journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 28 spring/summer 2012 gauged accurately by how textbooks cover those subjects. selection of textbooks to be reviewed this article reviews the armenian situation as it is portrayed in several of the most frequently used recent editions (2009/2010 copyrights) of high school world history textbooks published by glencoe, holt mcdougal, and pearson [prentice hall]), the companies that dominate the high school history textbook market (american textbook council, 2011). given that textbooks direct most contemporary high school history instruction (beal, bolick, and martorella, 2009), it may be held that a majority of american high school students gain their primary information about world history from textbooks produced by the companies identified above. through this review, the content about the armenian situation that is presented to students may be identified, analyzed, and strengthened. the most frequently used u.s. history textbooks published by the three companies noted above were also reviewed. none of those textbooks discusses the destruction of the armenians. methodology of the study the textbooks were read, coded, and analyzed in order to evaluate their coverage of the destruction of the armenians, the ottoman empire, middle east nationalism during the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, the young turks, and world war i. several pertinent topics were noted, including: 1) a general overview of coverage of the armenian situation in world history textbooks; 2) definition of the word genocide; 3) pre-world war i contextualization; 4) world war i contextualization; 5) motivations for the persecution of the armenians; and 6) scope of the persecutions. the textbooks’ indices were also studied in order to cross-check for completeness of the review process. a content matrix chart for each topic was prepared so that information from the textbooks could be analyzed efficiently. detailed data were recorded as the textbooks were studied, and several critical topics that were not discussed or that were mentioned tangentially were identified as the study progressed. these topics are discussed in the section: unreported or underreported critical aspects of the armenian situation. definition of terms this article uses the terms “narrative” and “text” in referring to information provided in regular paragraph form. the term “ancillary” refers to information located in side and bottom panels and end-of-chapter review sections. general overview of coverage in world history textbooks coverage of the armenian situation varies considerably from textbook to textbook. glencoe’s narrative, which is placed in a chapter titled “nationalism around the world, 1919-1939,” includes three short paragraphs and a brief primary source passage. located on the same page as the last part of the narrative, an ancillary panel provides additional information. located in a chapter titled “world war i, 1914-1919,” holt’s coverage appears on one page. its narrative provides two short paragraphs, while a picture of a deportation in progress and a journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 29 spring/summer 2012 chart depicting various fates suffered by the armenians (i.e., escaped, deported, died while being deported) provide ancillary information. pearson’s narrative is located in chapters titled “the new imperialism” and “world war i and the russian revolution.” in the first chapter, two brief paragraphs consider events from the 1890s, and one paragraph in the latter discusses the wartime genocide. ancillary information is included in these two chapters and two later ones entitled“world war ii and its aftermath” and “the cold war”. definition of the word genocide each textbook includes a brief definition of genocide in its narrative about the armenian situation with each definition referring to deliberate actions against racial, political, and cultural groups. these actions are labeled “mass murder” (glencoe, p. 823), “destruction” (holt, p. 788), and “attempt to destroy” (pearson, p.764). glossary definitions are also provided. glencoe adds “physical extinction” (p. r70) to its narrative, while holt shortens its definition to “the killing of an entire people” (p. r103). pearson retains the phrase “deliberate attempt to destroy” but substitutes “an entire religious or ethnic group” (p. 1183) for “racial, political, and cultural groups.” as such, a diminution or altering of the word’s meaning occurs in holt and pearson, respectively. the textbooks do not reference the five-part definition of genocide as enacted by united nations resolution 260 (united nations, n.d.), nor do they mention that many contemporary historians and experts in international law have proposed an expanded use of the word (totten and parsons, 2009). pre-world war i contextualization most coverage of the armenian situation refers to what occurred during world war i. as was noted earlier, however, a critical part of the armenian story involves persecutions that were staged during the 1890s. although glencoe states that tensions had been building between the ottoman empire and the armenians for many years, neither that book nor holt refers to the atrocities that occurred before 1915. as such, students are presented with an incomplete account of the overall framework of the destruction of the armenians. in “the new imperialism,” pearson accurately identifies nationalistic tensions between turks and minority groups who wanted either increased autonomy within the empire or their own national states and notes that the armenians were accused of supporting russian aims in the region. however, its presentation is confusing. in discussing events that occurred during the 1890s, pearson says, “the tensions triggered a brutal genocide of the armenians … over the next 25 years, between 600,000 and 1.5 million armenians were killed or died from disease and starvation” (p. 764). later, its world war i chapter states that “the ottoman government used this cooperation [between armenians and the russian army] as a reason to deport the entire armenian population south to syria and mesopotamia. during the deportation, between 600,000 and 1.5 million armenians died” (p. 827). as such, the two accounts contradict each other, leading to the possibility that students might be confused about the overall scope of what happened during the extended time frame in question. several additional problems exist with this account. for example, the 1890s situation is usually labeled as the massacre of the armenians, with the word genocide being reserved for world war i era events (balakian, 2003). this distinction is critical to students’ understanding of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 30 spring/summer 2012 armenia in specific and genocide in general because “the earlier massacres were episodic and affected selected communities. the genocide [from 1915] was systematic, comprehensive, and directed practically against everyone [of the armenians]” (adalian, 2009, p. 74) [italics added for emphasis]. pearson’s initial reference to armenia does not mention the war, thus decontextualizing that aspect of the situation until a later chapter that focuses on the war; however, this connection is never stated. the term “the armenian genocide” is commonly used to refer to events from the world war i era, but pearson does not use the word genocide in that context. an ancillary section placed at the end of the chapter does so, however. finally, the world war i narrative states that 600,000 to 1.5 million armenians died in 1915-1918. the two chapters thus contradict or, at least, overlap each other. this chapter includes an ancillary section titled “the forgotten genocide,” an important term that suggests a powerful inference that can be proposed about the event. four primary source documents and related questions that lead students to consider varying aspects of the situation are included. the section states that the genocide occurred from 1895-1923. as noted above, the term genocide is usually reserved for world war i era events. it also states that the perpetrators of the genocide were not punished after the war despite allied pledges to do so. however, no explanation regarding the allies’ failure to pursue war crimes trials is given, nor are the longterm ramifications of that failure identified. while the information given in this section is relevant, mixing information from the 1890s and the world war i era without providing clearly stated distinctions between the two phases of the armenian situation could be confusing to students. world war i contextualization glencoe uses the title “the armenian genocide” to introduce its narrative and defines the word genocide in the text. it also states that the allies labeled turkish actions as “crimes against humanity” as the genocide was in progress. two problems exist regarding the narrative as it relates to world war i era events. first, it includes only an oblique reference to the fact that the genocide occurred during world war i, ending its coverage by stating “because of the war, however, the killings continued” (p. 824). second, the armenian genocide is discussed in a chapter titled “nationalism around the world, 1919-1939”; as such, the time frame in which the bulk of the genocide occurred does not align with the years in which the chapter is set. glencoe’s ancillary panel does mention that the genocide was implemented “under the cover of war” (p. 824) and continued until 1919. the date actually should be 1923 (balakian, 2003). a quotation from a leader of the young turks’ acknowledges that his regime had targeted the armenians for destruction, thus supporting the text’s contention that the new regime was seeking to build “a purely turkish state” (p. 824). a lithograph titled “the massacre of the armenians” is also included. this image, which appeared in a french magazine in december, 1915, is referenced in two document-based questions, thus establishing contemporaneous international knowledge of the event. this circumstance is not stated explicitly, however, and is not developed. the ongoing refusal of the turkish government to admit that the genocide occurred is noted, as is the diaspora that occurred after 1918. however, the diaspora’s effect on armenian culture (adalian, 1989) is not discussed. beginning its narrative by stating “as the gallipoli campaign went on ...,” holt sets the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 31 spring/summer 2012 genocide within the war’s framework and uses the word genocide in that description (p. 788). an ancillary panel on the same page includes a photograph of victims arriving at a refugee camp and a chart that shows various fates that befell the armenians (e.g., escaped, deported, or died while being deported). located in the chapter “world war i and the russian revolution,” pearson’s narrative of the wartime situation begins by outlining turkey’s war with russia, weaving the armenian situation into that discussion and, again, notes the russian-armenian connection. however, the word genocide is not used in this context, having been applied earlier to events from the 1890s. the text again sets the number of victims at 600,000 to 1.5 million and this time states that that toll occurred during the wartime deportations. while the number given is consistent with most established historical accounts, its presentation contradicts statements made in the earlier chapter (see above). a photograph of armenian refugees awaiting the delivery of food accompanies the text, and a review section notes the ongoing refusal of turkey’s government to acknowledge that the genocide occurred. neither holt nor pearson discusses the post-war killings, a critical omission because the fact that the genocide continued after 1918 impugns the young turks’ contention that destroying the armenians was a defensive measure necessitated by the war. in addition, neither of these textbooks mentions the post-1918 armenian diaspora. motivations for the persecution of the armenians each textbook proposes that the russian-armenian connection was the dominant reason for the genocide, although glencoe does mention the armenians’ desire for independence or, at least, autonomy within the ottoman empire as a parallel reason for the atrocities that occurred. however, valentino (2004) states that “the leaders of the new (turkish) regime were convinced that the empire’s precipitous decline over the previous century had been the direct result of its multinational character. … the leaders of the new regime believed that the armenian minority represented the most critical threat to the creation of this new, more harmonious turkish state” (pp. 161-162). thus, an ethnically-based nationalism was the primary reason for genocide (adalian, 2009) (italics added for emphasis). while the idea that agitation rooted in the russianarmenian connection led to the genocide has some ancillary validity, that factor was subsumed by the young turks’ desire to create an ethnically and religiously homogeneous state (adalian, 2009), a critical point that is not evident in any of the textbooks’ coverage. scope of the persecutions balakian (2003) places the death toll from the 1890s massacres at between 200,000 and 250,000 and states that one million to 1.5 million people died during the genocide of 1915-1923, figures that align closely with those given by glencoe and pearson. holt, however, sets the death toll at 600,000, a number that departs substantially from the total given in most historical accounts. relating the scope of genocidal events in purely numerical terms, however, diminishes the human story that is involved. for this reason, the united states holocaust memorial museum (n.d.) has established a guideline for teaching the holocaust that states “translate statistics into people” (n.p.), proposing that students see people “in the fullness of their lives and not just as victims” (n.p.) when this approach is taken. the museum suggests that a similar approach be journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 32 spring/summer 2012 used when other genocides are studied. in an ancillary section that focuses on document-based assessments, pearson approaches this aspect of the event by including accounts given by an armenian survivor and an american consular official who witnessed events that occurred in 1915. as noted above, pearson also includes a photograph of refugees awaiting the arrival of food, and glencoe provides a brief eyewitness account of a deportation. holt makes no reference to the personal tragedy that was involved, although the textbook includes without comment a photograph showing people arriving at a refugee camp. in general, all three textbooks present sterile who, what, when, where accounts that are devoid of the human tragedy that was central to the destruction of the armenians. linking the destruction of the armenians to other genocidal events glencoe’s only reference to other genocidal events occurs when it states that “a similar practice would be called ethnic cleansing in the bosnian war of 1993-1996” (p. 824) (boldfaced in original). holt does not connect the armenian situation to later genocidal events. pearson establishes several such connections, which appear in ancillary sections of later chapters. the first reference in the chapter “world war ii and its aftermath” is introduced by the question: what factors have led groups of people or governments to commit genocide? pictures from the holocaust, cambodia, and rwanda and a map of armenia are included, and events that occurred in armenia, cambodia, and rwanda are aligned to each other. students are then asked to compare and contrast these genocides. while this assignment is worthwhile, the fact that this section precedes pearson’s narratives about cambodia and rwanda means that students are asked to analyze events that they have yet to study, a situation that is historically and pedagogically disingenuous. a chapter review item linking armenia to the holocaust follows and is contextualized by the holocaust narrative that appears earlier in the same chapter. students are asked to discuss several important issues (e.g., nation-building and nationalism, murder of minority leaders, large-scale deportations, systematic torture and murder, and the use of concentration camps). however, students may find it difficult to evaluate these issues because pearson’s earlier coverage of armenia does not provide information about these aspects of that situation. a final review item connecting armenia and the holocaust to the cambodian genocide appears in a chapter titled “the cold war” and follows a brief mention of what occurred in cambodia. students are asked to evaluate the role of ideology and racial, religious, and ethnic prejudices and how these factors affected those situations. once again, pearson does not provide the information that would allow students to develop adequate responses in their evaluation. unreported or underreported critical aspects of the armenian situation genocide as state policy several critical aspects of the destruction of the armenians are either not discussed or are mentioned only in passing. for example, genocide was a matter of state policy at the highest level of government (power, 2002); as such, it was neither spontaneous nor accidental. instead, it involved a detailed plan designed to achieve maximum efficiency (waller, 2007; adalian, 2009). the only mention of this critical fact occurs in a primary source document included in one of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 33 spring/summer 2012 pearson’s ancillary sections. an understanding of this fact is necessary if students are to understand that most genocides are neither accidental nor spontaneous, and that they are often used to implement governmental policies. german complicity in the genocide and connections to the holocaust an ancillary section in glencoe mentions that the ottoman empire was allied to the central powers during world war i, and pearson notes that german military leaders stationed in the ottoman empire during that war “… may have applied what they observed there to their persecution of the jewish people during world war ii” (p. 957). however, neither text addresses the complex debate regarding germany’s complicity in the armenian genocide (dadrian, 1996). in addition, many similarities between the armenia genocide and the holocaust are not identified (power, 2002; balakian, 2003; valentino, 2004; bergen, 2009); as such, the thesis that armenia became “the template for most of the genocide that followed in the twentieth century” (balakian, 2003, p. xiv) is neither proposed nor developed. international reaction to the armenian situation and postwar culpability the international community had extensive contemporaneous knowledge of the genocide (power, 2002; kloian, 1987), and considerable public opinion focused on what could and should be done to stop the genocide as the armenians’ fate became a major news story in europe and the united states. in fact, balakian (2003) contends that the “response to the armenian crisis, which began in the 1890s and continued into the 1920s, was the first international human rights movement in american history and helped to define the nation’s global identity” (p. xiii), thus establishing a vital connection between armenia and the united states. little tangible support for the armenians resulted from this interest, however. unwilling to involve the united states in world war i, at least until 1917; president wilson ignored the demands of many groups and individuals, notably theodore roosevelt, for direct american intervention in armenia (power, 2002). after 1918, political conflicts between wilson and an isolationist congress constrained america’s international role and the british and french focused their attention on recovery and on preserving their empires. as a result, little pressure regarding the genocide was directed toward the turkish government, resulting in a situation in which the international community “legitimatized” turkey’s policies (adalian, 2009, p. 77). neither holt nor pearson mentions the international response to the armenian genocide, while glencoe makes two brief references to it without amplification. because this issue is avoided, therefore, an opportunity to “address[es] issues of personal and societal responsibility both from a historical as well as a contemporary perspective” (totten and parsons, 2009, p. 11) is lost. conversely, implementing the totten/parsons approach, which would allow content knowledge to evolve into a study of one of the most critical challenges inherent in living in a democratic society, is not established. postwar political manipulations regarding war crimes trials are not discussed in any of the textbooks. given the current interest in bringing war criminals to justice, as shown by the arrest of ratko mladic in may, 2011; the introduction of this topic as it affected the armenian situation would establish an important theme to be considered in contemporary world history classrooms. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 34 spring/summer 2012 denial of the armenian genocide the turkish government began a campaign designed to deny the genocide even as the event itself was ending. over the course of ninety years, this approach has intensified as public interest in and scholarly work about the genocide has expanded (adalian, 2009). however, holt does not mention the ongoing refusal of the current turkish government to acknowledge the reality of the genocide, and glencoe and pearson include only brief, neutral references to that controversial, politically charged circumstance. given the pervasive nature of genocide denial, the implications of this omission are critical because “denial of genocide strives to reshape history in order to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators. denial of genocide is the final stage of genocide” (lipstadt, 2000, n.p.). students must be aware that the acknowledged historical record can be subverted for various purposes, and that this subversion affects their world because the denial of historical genocides makes the denial or diminution of similar contemporary events plausible and even acceptable. in addition, the reluctance of democratic governments both past and present, to acknowledge genocides when they occur provides teachers with a lens through which they can incorporate the discussion of controversial issues into their curricula. this approach is fundamental to the development of meaningful social studies instruction (hess, 2008). summary: unreported and underreported aspects of the armenian situation including these unreported or underreported topics in textbook coverage of the armenian situation would provide opportunities for students to engage in substantive study of controversial issues, thus meeting the imperative to include the discussion of such matters in social studies classrooms (chapin, 2011). in doing so, to approach the concept that “the primary purpose of the social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (national council for the social studies, 2010, p. 3) would be promoted. correlation to textbook coverage of other genocides using the same textbooks, the author has conducted similar studies of the coverage of the holocaust (lindquist, 2009) and the bosnian genocide (lindquist, 2012). while each situation involves unique dynamics, several similarities in their treatment in the textbooks may be noted. for example, comprehensive definitions of key terms (e.g., holocaust, genocide) are not given, contextualization linking critical events preceding the genocides to the genocides themselves is limited, and the related issues of collaboration and complicity are generally absent from the coverage that is provided. both the holocaust and the bosnian situation are given considerable coverage in the united states history textbooks that were reviewed; however, the armenian situation is not discussed in those publications. in addition, the contemporary significance of each situation is generally overlooked in the treatment of all three events. discussion given the necessity to cover large amounts of content efficiently, to provide readings that can be accessed by students whose reading abilities vary greatly, and the perceived need to be journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 35 spring/summer 2012 politically “safe,” the typical high school history textbook presents: … a narrative that is so bland, so agreeable, and so monotonous that students cannot stay awake reading it. … by obscuring the way conclusions were developed, condensing vast subjects into brief capsules, asking largely didactic questions, and offering students little or no involvement in the investigative process, textbooks discourage the growth of student reasoning and thinking skills and offer an oversimplified vision of the historical record and its meaning. (zevin, 2007, p.306) because textbooks continue to provide the basic outline for high school history education in the united states, these factors exert a profound effect on students’ interest in and learning of history. this study describes how textbook coverage of the destruction of the armenians validates these concerns. the textbooks’ narratives are presented in a surface-level manner that does not invite students to participate in the investigative process that is central to understanding and appreciating history. in addition, the contemporary relevance of the study of the armenian situation is neither suggested nor developed. a specific example should be noted in this regard. while it may be argued that the destruction of the armenians is not directly related to united states history, balakian’s (2003) thesis regarding how america’s response to that event defined the nation internationally and preoccupied its thoughts regarding human rights for many years is worthy of discussion in american classrooms. the u.s. government’s inaction contrasted with the desire of individuals and private organizations to intervene directly on behalf of the armenians was, in many ways, the initial example of the nation’s ongoing dualistic and often contentious approach to human rights situations around the world. an approach described as evolving from non-intervention to non-recognition in several more recent cases (bloxham, 2005). students who are coming of age in the early years of the 21 st century should be aware of that history so that they can develop informed perspectives about how america can and should react when similar challenges present themselves in the future. both the rights and the responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society can accept nothing less than an awareness of this history. the absence of any such discussion limits the ability of students to judge contemporary human rights issues because, as proposed in the null theory of education, “what schools do not teach may be just as important as what they do teach. i argue this because ignorance is not simply a void, it has important effects on the kinds of options one is able to consider” (eisner, 1979, p. 83). the absence of coverage of the destruction of the armenians in u.s. history textbooks and the superficiality and lack of sophistication that characterizes that coverage in world history textbooks contributes to that void. the absence limits the perspectives that students develop as they study the history that has created the world in which they live. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 36 spring/summer 2012 references adalian, r. p. (1989). the historical evolution of the armenian diasporas. journal of modern hellenism, 6, 81-114. adalian, r. p. (2009). the armenian genocide. in s. totten and w. s. parsons (eds.), century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts (3 rd ed.) (pp. 54-92). new york: routledge. american textbook council (2011). widely adopted history textbooks. retrieved from http://www.historytextbooks.org/adopted.htm. balakian, p. (2003). the burning tigris: a history of international human rights and forgotten heroes. new york: harper collins. barton, k. c., and levstik, l. s. (2009). teaching history for the common good. new york: routledge. beal, c., bolick, c. m., and martorella, p. (2009). teaching social studies in middle and secondary schools (5 th ed.). boston: allyn and bacon. bergen, d. l. (2009). the holocaust: a concise history. lanham, md: rowman and littlefield. bloxham, d. (2005). the great game of genocide: imperialism, nationalism, and the destruction of the ottoman armenians. oxford, uk: oxford university press. chapin, j. (2011). a practical guide to middle and secondary school social studies (3 rd ed.). boston: pearson. dadrian, v. (1996). german responsibility for the armenian genocide: a review of the historical evidence of german culpability. cambridge, ma: blue crane books. eisner, e. (1979). the educational imagination: on the design and evaluation of school programs. new york: macmillan. hess, d. (2008). how schools can foster a new intellectual freedom: preventing tyranny by nurturing controversy. new york: routledge. hovannisian, r. (1986). the historical dimensions of the armenian question, 1878-1923. in r. hovannisian (ed.), the armenian genocide in perspective (pp. 19-41). brunswick, nj: transaction books. kloian, r. d. (1988) (ed.). the armenian genocide: news accounts from the american press, 1915-1922 (3 rd ed.). berkeley, ca: anto publishing. lindquist, d. h. (2012, under review). ethnic cleansing, yes; genocide no: textbook coverage of ethnic violence in the former yugoslavia. the clearing house. _____ (2009). the coverage of the holocaust in high school history textbooks. social education 73(6), 298-304. lipstadt, d. (2000, september 12). letter to the honorable chris smith. retrieved from http://chrissmith.house.gov/uploadedfiles/armeniangenocideresolution hearing2009-2000.pdf. national council for the social studies (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. silver spring, md: national council for the social studies. power, s. (2002). a problem from hell: america in the age of genocide. new york: basic books. ravitch,, d. (2004). a consumer's guide to high school history textbooks. washington, dc: journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 37 spring/summer 2012 thomas b. fordham institute. saxe, d.w. (1991). social studies in the schools: a history of the early years. new york: state university of new york press. smith, h. w. (2000). the holocaust and other genocides: history, representation, ethics. nashville, tn: vanderbilt university press. totten, s., and parsons, w. s. (2009). introduction. in s. totten and w. s. parsons (eds.), century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts (3 rd ed.) (pp. 1-14). new york: routledge. united states holocaust memorial museum (n.d.). guidelines for teaching about the holocaust. retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/guideline. united nations (n.d). resolution 260. retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenium/law/iv1.htm. valentino, b. a. (2004). final solutions: mass killing and genocide in the 20 th century. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. waller, j. (2007). becoming evil: how ordinary people commit genocide and mass killing (2 nd ed). oxford, uk: oxford university press. zevin, j. (2007). social studies for the twenty-first century: methods and materials for teaching in middle and secondary schools (3 rd ed.). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. united states history textbooks reviewed appleby, j., brinkley, a., broussard, a. s., mcpherson, j. m., and ritchie, d. a. (2010). the american vision: modern times. columbus, oh: glencoe. ayers, e. l., de la teja, j. f., white, d. g., and schulzinger, r. d. (2010). american anthem: reconstruction to the present. austin, tx: holt mcdougal. lapansky-werner, e. j., levy, p b., roberts, r., and taylor, a. (2009). united states history: reconstruction to the present. boston: pearson. world history textbooks reviewed ellis, e. g., and esler, a. (2010). world history. boston: pearson. ramirez, s. a., stearns, p., and wineburg, s. (2010). world history: human legacy. austin, tx: holt mcdougal. spielvogel, j. j. (2010). world history. columbus, oh: glencoe. ______________________________________________________________________________ about the author david h. lindquist, ph.d., is an associate professor and coordinator of the secondary education program in the college of education and public policy, indiana university purdue university fort wayne. he is also a regional museum educator for the united states holocaust memorial museum. http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/guideline journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: congratulations to frans h. doppen and laura f. wentworth from ohio university who won the ncss international assembly best paper award. their paper the belize project: a host school perspective will be published in in the next issue of journal of international social studies. this volume includes articles and an essay that will be interesting to scholars and social studies teachers. developing globally competent teacher candidates through cross-cultural experiential learning is a study by michael a. kopish, bahman shahri, and mohamed amira from ohio university. the authors analyzed data from asia society’s global competencies survey, critical reflection journals, course assignments, and field notes of 124 undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in two teacher preparation courses. this study explores whether teacher candidates develop global competencies as a result of participation in courses that employ the gce framework to engage candidates in multiple cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities. findings demonstrate the efficacy of collaborative efforts to create transformative global experiences toward the development of global competencies among teacher candidates. powerful social studies teaching and learning incorporate lessons that teach students to consider moral dimensions of controversial social issues. teachers should move beyond lower-order questions, and pay more attention to normative and evaluative elements. the article exploring controversial issues in elementary social studies presented in this issue by danielle linowes from fairfield central elementary school, thomas misco from miami university, li-ching ho from university of wisconsin, and megan stahlsmith from interexchange explores the underlying elements of justice within controversial issue. using an example of a third-grade classroom, the authors demonstrate the way in which teachers might explore procedural justice within an elementary classroom. despite a number of obstacles, the authors conclude, the justice approach to the teaching of controversial issues in elementary schools, provides a useful tool to foster informed and reasoned decision making in students. the article includes a lesson plan and examples of hand-outs. teaching controversial issues is also explored in the article entitled teacher as stranger: “releasing” imagination for teaching controversial public issues by yu-han hung from university of houston downtown. the study investigates how six social studies teachers in taiwan make curricular decisions about teaching controversial issues and create possibilities for their students to imaginatively engage with such issues. the author uses maxine green’s concept mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 “teacher as stranger” to demonstrate how teachers can create alternative views of controversial public issues and release the possibility of imaginative engagement. autonomy and individual freedom are the key values in a liberal democracy. in diverse societies, however, these principles may lead social or ethnic groups to social and physical segregation and fewer connections and relations between them. using canada as a case study, catherine broom from the university of british columbia reviews some issues associated with increasing social and ethnic diversity. in her article rethinking belonging in western nations: theorizing the public commons as a shared pluralistic community, the author addresses the concept of public commons and argues that we need to rethink how we understand diversity within a communitarian conception of community. the questions of multiculturalism and citizenship education is also raised in the article multicultural education based in the local wisdom of indonesia for elementary schools in the 21st century by ady ferdian noor and sugito from yogyakarta state university, indonesia. the authors argue that multicultural education based on local knowledge and wisdom can serve as a viable option for citizenship education in communities and nations suffering from internal ethnic, cultural, or social conflicts. local wisdom is a part of human capital and should be integrated in curricula to educate tolerant citizens of the 21st century. immigration has become one of the most contentious and divisive issues in the united states and around the world. considering current political environment, it is not surprising why social studies teachers are looking for advice how to teach about immigration. the essay reframing immigration as an issue of freedom within the u.s. classroom by william mccorkle from college of charleston provides an new look at one of the dimensions of immigration arguing that the idea of freedom is the most transformative framework for a more inclusive immigration system. the author explores the theoretical basis for reframing immigration as an issue of freedom and provides suggestions for how teachers can introduce this perspective to their students. i would like to thank all authors and reviewers who contributed to this issue of jiss and wish all our readers happy holidays and successful new semester. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 preservice teachers’ challenges in teacher-becoming and teaching social education: a sociocultural perspective adaobiagu obiagu university of nigeria abstract: this study explores the challenges preservice teachers encounter (a) in their teacherbecoming trajectory, and (b) with the implementation of social education contents in nigeria. understanding these is important for effective social education reforms. narrative and observation methods were used for the study. the study drew on (a) the stories of 37 social education preservice (sep) teachers about their teacher-becoming trajectory and teaching practice exercise, and (b) a three-year observation of 110 sep teachers’ teaching practicum fieldworks in 12 schools to realize its objectives. findings show professional harassment and a lack of standard learning materials as challenges social education preservice teachers encounter in their teacher-becoming. on teaching practicum, sep teachers noted some benefits (e.g., exposure to different worldviews and nurturing of the younger generation) derived from teaching practicum; they emphasized stress, anxiety, and students’ misbehaviors as challenges. sep teachers had challenges with teaching contemporary social contents: they were oblivious of how their classroom discussions impact global issues, disregarded the sociocultural relevance of their instruction, and reproduced social issues, including political and gender problems, through their classroom practices. guided by a sociocultural theory perspective, the study concludes with a discussion of social educators’ knowledge and competency skill needs in a changing world. keywords: social education, preservice teachers, teacher-becoming, teaching practice, sociocultural theory mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 introduction in contemporary society, social education programs focus on preparing social education teachers to teach or practice from decolonial and critical global perspectives and empower learners for active and justice-oriented citizenship important for sustainable development. teacher education curricular have generally been reformed across the globe to include contents (e.g., global issues such as gender, racism, conflicts, human rights, peace, equality, and political participation) and practices reflecting these dynamic complex goals (obiagu, 2022; tibbitts & fernekes, 2011). following these reforms, social education research has so far investigated teachers’ understanding and consciousness about global issues in their classroom practices (lastrapes & negishi, 2011-2012; stevens & martell, 2018; ukpokodu, 2002). little evidence exists on how teachers or preservice teachers implement contemporary social education contents, especially the strengths and limitations of their teaching of the contents. it is important to make sense of this and draw on findings to inform policies around the teaching practice of contemporary topics. related to this is the need to understand the experiences of social science trainee teachers, which could either promote or hamper their preparation and readiness to effectively implement these complex and dynamic goals associated with contemporary topics of social science education disciplines. no study exists on the challenges social science education preservice teachers encounter in their journey (on-campus and with clinical placement) of becoming a social educator. yet these are important factors to explore in contexts where the teaching profession is underrated. understanding these factors is important for effective social education teacher training practices, including the implementation of the reforms introduced into social science education programs and identification of areas needing reforms or improvements. therefore, the specific purposes of this study are to explore (a) the challenges preservice teachers encounter in their teacherbecoming trajectory, and (b) the challenges preservice teachers encounter with implementing contemporary social education contents. while this study is focused on nigeria, its findings could offer insights into social education practices in countries with similar dynamics such as sociopolitical problems, low teaching workforce, and high teacher attrition. previous research on the challenges of preservice teachers in teacher-becoming and teaching practice understanding challenges encountered by preservice teachers in teaching practice as well as in their overall teacher-becoming trajectory is important for teacher-education reforms and more mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 effective practice. the outcome of the study exploring this issue might reveal training needs and gaps in teacher education programs. few studies have explored the challenges preservice teachers encounter during teaching practice. these studies point to a theory-practice gap as the main challenge faced by preservice teachers in almost all contexts (foncha et al., 2015; hamdan, 2015). other studies found that preservice teachers (during teaching practice) and new teachers experience a range of challenges such as poor time management, deficiency in content knowledge, short length of the teaching practice period, disregard by teachers in the field school, and difficulties in applying innovative methods (boakye & ampiah, 2017; foncha et al., 2015; hourani, 2013; mahmood & iqbal, 2018; okobia et al., 2013). these findings are general to all subjects and not peculiar to any specific subject. the present study is focused on preservice social education teachers with particular attention paid to challenges that may be peculiar to the practice of social education and challenges that could apply to preservice teachers of other programs. the reviewed studies are also limited to the challenges preservice teachers face during a teaching practice exercise. less attention has been placed on the challenges preservice teachers face in their teacher-becoming trajectory. the negative or poor representation of teaching by the media and society requires education researchers to begin looking into the challenges preservice teachers face in their teacher-becoming trajectory if the need to increase teacher recruitment is to be met. exploring this is particularly important to strengthen educational intervention programs that may be provided for preservice teachers who choose to teach on grounds of fallback career, social influences, and mercenary motivations, since it is most likely that uncovered challenges may hinder the effectiveness of intervention programs and serve to reinforce, consolidate, and promote amotivation and poor professional teaching identity among preservice teachers. this study additionally covers this gap. theoretical framework this study’s theoretical lens is sociocultural theory developed by lev vygotsky (1978). the theory holds that individuals’ cognitive functioning and psychological development are influenced or shaped by their experiences that result from their interactions within a social and cultural context composed of people, objects, tools, and activities. people form their beliefs, cognition, and behavior from the resulting experiences of their interactions with the social and cultural environment. these social relations, from which experiences develop, are mediated by cultural tools and artefacts such as language, signs, symbols, diagrams, maps, works of art, and various systems for counting (vygotsky, 1981). for teacher-practice research, sociocultural theory is mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 particularly relevant because teachers as a community of practice are viewed uniquely and ascribed some identity by the society in which they practice; the ascribed identity may influence their practice of and commitment to teaching. also, a sociocultural context could influence teachers’ worldview and classroom diction and communication style. sociocultural contexts and needs heavily inform social education contents and practices. from these perspectives, and as this study did not set out to test an existing theory, relying on sociocultural theory for making sense of the findings of this study was helpful. this theory allows one to assess what sociocultural dimensions (local, national, or global) are emphasized by teachers as well as whether teachers are open to sociocultural changes, that is, whether their practices are relevant to the sociocultural needs of the society or whether they deconstruct or reproduce social issues through their classroom practices. for this study, specifically, this theory helped understand how sociocultural factors undergird the challenges with teacher-becoming and teaching practicum reported by preservice teachers and the challenges with teaching social education contents, especially social issues, observed by their teaching practicum supervisor. method this study centers qualitative research, specifically narrative and observation methods based on the principle of reflective practice. narrative research focuses on how individuals experience the world and assign meaning to their experiences via the stories they tell (moen, 2006) while reflective practice involves a practitioner analyzing their practice to identify purpose and areas of strength, weaknesses, and improvements that could be useful for self and others (leitch & day, 2000; thompson & pascal, 2012). existing studies (leitch & day, 2000) portray reflective practice as an integrative aspect of action research. however, beyond research, reflective practice can be engaged in as part of educators’ professional practice, especially as “a self-aware, self-reflexive teaching population, capable of producing the highest quality learning situations for pupils, is a laudable and necessary aim in a world characterized by social transformation, increasing economic competition and personnel turbulence” (leitch & day, 2000, p. 186). against this backdrop, this study considers narrative research, premised on reflective practice, as appropriate since the paper is based on reflections on the narrative and observation data collected in the course of the author’s professional practice: supervision of a nigerian university’s social science education undergraduate preservice teachers’ teaching practicum [tp]. relying on narrative and observation data for this research provides room for capturing unique voices and experiences. using the collected data, i explore social science education preservice teachers’ mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 encountered challenges in their teaching trajectory and problems with implementing contemporary social education contents. specifically, the following research questions are addressed in the study: 1. what are the challenges encountered by sse preservice teachers in their teaching trajectory? 2. what are preservice teachers’ challenges with teaching practice fieldwork? 3. what are preservice teachers’ challenges with teaching social education contents? sample in all, the sample of the study comprised 110 social science education preservice teachers (comprising 40, 53, and 17 preservice teachers supervised by the author in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively). narrative data were collected from 37 out of the 40 (22 females and 18 males; see table 1 for participant profile) preservice teachers supervised by the author in four schools during the 2018–2019 session, with their informed consent. observation data were drawn from the author’s professional reports and field notes on her preservice teachers’ practice in three sessions: 2018–2019 (40 students distributed or attached to four schools), 2019–2020 (53 students distributed or attached to six schools), and 2020–2021 (17 students distributed or attached to two schools). the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 teaching practice exercises took place from september to november of each session while the 2020–2021 session’s teaching practice took place from march to april 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. consent was received from the department to use the reports and field notes for this research. table 1 profile of narrative study sample – preservice teachers for 2018–2019 session sn gender specific course program program level school subject taught class taught preservice teacher [pt] 1 male (m) – 300 1 government sss3 pt 2 m – 300 1 civic edu sss2 pt 3 m – 400 1 government mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 pt 4 m – 400 1 government sss2 pt 5 female (f) – 400 1 social studies jss3 pt 6 m – 400 1 civic edu sss3 pt 7 f – 300 1 economics sss3 pt 8 f – 400 1 economics sss2 pt 9 f – 300 2 crs* sss1 pt 10 f – 400 2 economics sss1 pt 11 f – 300 2 economics sss2 pt 12 f – 300 2 civic edu sss1 pt 13 m – 300 2 social studies jss2 pt 14 m – 400 2 government sss2 pt 15 f – 400 2 civic edu jss2 pt 16 m – 300 2 civic edu jss2 pt 17 m – 300 2 government sss1 pt 18 m – 300 3 civic edu sss1 pt 19 m – 300 3 civic edu sss3 pt 20 f – 300 3 civic edu jss1 pt 21 m – 400 3 government sss3 pt 22 f – 300 3 social studies jss2 pt 23 f – 400 3 civic edu jss3 pt 24 m – 400 3 government sss1 mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 pt 25 f – 400 3 social studies jss1 pt 26 f – 300 3 economics sss1 pt 27 f – 400 4 government sss2 pt 28 m – 300 4 social studies jss2 pt 29 f – 400 4 economics sss2 pt 30 f – 300 4 economics sss1 pt 31 m – 300 4 civic edu jss2 pt 32 f – 400 4 civic edu jss1 pt 33 f – 300 4 government sss1 pt 34 f – 300 4 social studies jss3 pt 35 f – 400 4 social studies jss2 pt 36 f – 400 4 social studies jss1 pt 37 m – 300 1 civic edu sss1 note: *crs denotes christian religious studies. specific course programs (education/economics: 8 students; education/ political science: 12 students; education/social studies: 13 students; and guidance & counselling: 4 students; the only education/geography student in the group did not participate) of the students are removed to further conceal the identities of the participants. procedure for narrative data collection narrative data were collected using the “supervisee’s teaching program motivations, experiences, and practice inquiry template” developed by the author for a pre-teaching interactive conference where certain information is elicited from tp supervisees (e.g., stories of their teaching trajectory or teacher-becoming) on any day prior to their actual instructional and mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 classroom practice supervisions. the inquiry template helped the supervisor identify her students’ needs and improve her practice concerning meaningfully impacting the professional growth of her students. the inquiry template comprises of the following five questions: • tell us your motivation for choosing the program you are studying; • tell us the challenges you have so far encountered in your journey in this program; • tell us what you enjoy about teaching; • share with us your difficulties in your teaching practice exercise; • where do you see yourself in the future? do you intend to teach after graduation? through these questions, the supervisor allows herself into her students’ minds and explores ways of helping them improve their practice. she also uses the forum to create opportunities for preservice “teachers to map and understand the patterns of their lived experience, both in their personal and professional lives, so that they may better understand their current purposes and practices” (leitch & day, 2000, p. 188). preservice teachers were informed that participation in the pre-teaching conference does not carry any reward and will not influence their tp assessment, that the conference is aimed at understanding their idiosyncrasies and challenges with teaching, and that their stories will be used for research purposes in the future. they were informed of their right to choose not to share their stories: three elected not to share their stories while 37 shared their stories. these data were used with the approval of the department and in answering all research questions. the nature of field notes from which observational data were drawn in nigeria, most education departments, faculties, and colleges have a standardized teaching practice manual and assessment form containing (a) qualities of emphasis, and (b) sections where supervisors enter scores, make comments on students’ performance on each assessed quality, and note their observations on the areas of weaknesses, strengths, and need for improvement for each assessed student. lecturers can also make individual-specific and general comments on separate pages; this is mainly important for use during a debriefing session with students after supervision. reports on the qualities measured via the teaching manual provide rich data for understanding the strengths and challenges preservice teachers face implementing contemporary social education contents. for this study, the observational data obtained from the supervisor’s reports on the teaching practice exercise of social education preservice students mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 – comprising students of economics education program, geography education program, political science education program, and social studies education program – were used to further investigate preservice teachers’ challenges. the data were used with the approval of the department. data analysis the collected narrative data on each study participant and the researcher’s handwritten observational notes and reports on students were thematically analyzed using the analytical coding method (strauss & corbin, 1990) to identify themes. the narratives and observational reports of individual participants (for narratives) or supervisees (for observations) were compared for similar and divergent views or contents and discussion themes are formulated from them. these themes are presented in this paper as subheads under the examined factors: general on-campus challenges (teacher-becoming trajectory challenges); preservice teachers’ selfreported challenges with teaching practice exercise; supervisor-observed challenges of social education preservice teachers in teaching (challenges with teaching contemporary social education contents). the generated themes were harmonized and interpreted. a peer researcher reviewed the themes to ensure that they adequately represent the information contained in the field reports and notes. results the results show that social science education preservice teachers encounter some challenges that teacher-educators could contribute to solving; the challenges are connected to sociocultural experiences. the challenges sse preservice teachers face are discussed below under three subheadings (as illustrated in figure 1): teacher-becoming everyday challenges (general oncampus challenges), teaching-practice related self-reported challenges, and teaching-practice supervisor-observed challenges. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 figure 1 social education preservice teachers’ challenges teacher-becoming everyday challenges the sources of the challenges they encounter in their everyday teacher-becoming as highlighted in their stories include friends and family, fellow students from non-educational departments, lecturers (especially those of non-educational departments), and course materials. these encountered challenges are their course lecturers’ personalities, lecturers’ knowledge of the subject matter, lack of quality and standard study materials, and intimidation and harassment by friends and family, students, and lecturers from other faculties and sometimes lecturers from the education faculty. social education preservice teachers note that most of their education lecturers lack current and relevant knowledge of the courses they teach; lack teacher voice; care less if their students learn and use outdated materials; some of the lecturers destroy their students’ enthusiasm about teaching; many of the lecturers discourage critical thinking among students; and some violate the professional esteem of their students. they said that their “lecturers tell them that teachers are poor and education is cheap”; they were further discouraged by their lecturers’ lack of innovative ideas, use of outdated materials, teaching of “everyday stuff” and “everyday practices of denying them opportunities to think critically” (pts 14 and 24). teacher-becoming everyday challenges intimidations and harassments lecturers’ personality lack of standard learning materials lecturers’ subject matter knowledge tp self-reported challenges excess workload and coursework distractions first-time class anxiety disrespect by senior students students’ challenging questions language barrier senior students’ refusal to take or copy notes instructional time management challenge tp supervisor-observed challenges disregard of sociocultural relevance of contents lack of contemporary issues consciousness difficulty relating learning to students’ experiences reproduction of social injustice difficulty managing lessons from simple to complex terms mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 beyond dissatisfaction with the program materials and lecturers’ personalities, student-teachers question the impact of education research, as seen in the statement below: i don’t understand what our lecturers do. we do not have standard textbooks in our department. they will say they are doing research … like the one you are doing now. you see them share questionnaires with us to fill in for them. they use the paper they write with the questionnaire... [journal articles] to seek promotion. they will not teach. ... i don’t understand why they waste time writing things that are not useful to the society… (pt21) results also show that students encounter harassment, verbal abuse and intimidation from students and lecturers of other faculties, and they consider this a challenge in their teacherbecoming. they said that lecturers from outside the education faculty indict them as “unintelligent and caution us not to write like primary school students in their classes”; students from other faculties ridicule them and label them “lousy and unwise” (pts 14, 10, 8, and 26). their defense mechanism to these professional harassments include to “deny their discipline and identify with their minor courses (non-education programs)”; remind their bullies that “the future of their children is in our hands”; argue that their “interest is to be an academic” (pts 8, 10, and 26). their defense mechanisms indicate that preservice teachers in nigeria suffer low professional esteem induced by their harassment by professional others, and they grapple with strategies to deal with their esteem, with some overcoming the low professional self-esteem and some still apologetically defensive of their career choice. preservice teachers’ self-reported challenges with teaching practice exercise social education preservice teachers note their teaching placement method to be challenging to them. faculties of education in nigerian universities adopt the disintegrated placement method involving two teaching attachments (the first in the penultimate year and the second in the final year) of 6–8 weeks each and usually in the first term. the teaching practice placement usually encroaches on their first semester lectures. this contrasts with the block-placement method, adopted by colleges of education in nigeria, involving 3–8 months of non-interrupted placement in schools, which affords students the privilege of choosing their placement location and focusing solely on their tp. in their words, “combining tp with our coursework is very stressful; we wish our faculty to do like colleges of education” (pts 21 and 5). mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 first-time class teaching anxiety was also noted in their stories. some were worried about writing on the chalkboard due to their bad handwriting, some experienced pressure and anxiety about teaching students (pts 18, 3, and 12), and some even shivered out of fear. difficulty in effectively managing their instructional time was also noted as a challenge by preservice teachers. pt27 said, “my time is hardly enough to cover my contents. before i could finish, my students will tell me that my time is up. government is voluminous.” students’ challenging and difficult questions were complained of by one preservice teacher. pt8 narrates: i love my students. they understand me, but sometimes they ask challenging questions. for example, when i taught them “development of petroleum and oil exploration in nigeria,” i mentioned the first british company that got licensed for oil exploration in nigeria. they refused and insisted that i tell them the name of the person. they said it can’t be a company, that there must be a human being. ... i didn’t know what to do. i had to divert their minds to the fact that we didn’t know what oil was but white men did. the above story reveals that preservice teachers address challenging questions asked by their students through avoidance and distractive methods. beyond this, it reveals inadequate practical knowledge (e.g., legal aspects) of their instructional contents and a lack of skills (e.g., recommending it as a reading task for both the instructor and students to be briefly discussed in another class) for managing unpredicted challenging questions. a deeper analysis reveals a lack of training or consciousness in higher-order cognitive questions and a misconception that a teacher must know everything or what they do not know stands to be incorrect. students’ disrespectful behaviors towards preservice teachers were noted. this complaint was common among female preservice teachers in senior classes. they said that “students did not greet them on their first day of placement but were stubborn and noisy” (pts 12 and 7). refusal of senior students to copy or take notes was noted by the majority of the preservice teachers attached to senior classes (14 out of the 25). this indicates that senior students no longer find factual knowledge interesting and want engaging and challenging tasks. consider pt8’s statement, which her colleagues unanimously agreed to, below: our problem is that the students don’t like writing notes. they will always say they have the contents in their textbooks. we don’t even copy from textbooks; we get [contents] from online, too. our head and supervising teachers complain about that, too. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 language barriers were a problem to preservice teachers of ethnic or cultural backgrounds different from the context of their placement schools. pt23 said, my first teaching practice was not too bad because i had addressed a large audience [before]. i had challenges with language. i am not igbo [an ethnic identity]. i can’t speak igbo [language], but students reply with igbo [language]. that was a challenge. i told the head teacher, who goes back to repeat what i teach. some other students complained of experiencing the same issue. this indicates a problem with the education in a context where students taught in english (the language of instruction at upper primary and secondary school levels in nigeria) could not communicate in english. the learning difficulty of some students was identified as a challenge by some preservice teachers. supervisor-observed challenges of social education preservice (sep) teachers with teaching social education in this section, drawing on three years of observations of social education preservice teachers teaching practice exercise, i document the challenges social preservice teachers face with the implementation of classroom instruction. they had areas of strength, but this paper focuses on their weaknesses. the observed challenges are discussed below. sep teachers disregard the sociocultural relevance of their instructional contents findings show that preservice teachers neglect the relevance of their instruction to their sociocultural environment. sociocultural relevance of instruction can be found in answers to questions like: what is it about my context that this content can help promote or disrupt? how do i approach the content to realize the anticipated promotion or disruption? why do my students need to learn this content? how will learning it shape or benefit them? none of the preservice teachers raised any of these concerns in their lesson notes, lesson plans, or classroom instruction. they focused mainly on inculcating factual and superficial knowledge of concepts. for example, pt38 (group 2018), who taught “tools of economic analysis (tables, charts, and graphs),” neither defined it nor related it to students’ experiences, nor did he challenge his students to understand how its knowledge and skills could impact administrative decisions or are important for effective leadership and development planning. another preservice teacher (pt25; female; jss 1; group 2018), who taught the social studies topic “cultural similarities and differences,” failed to disrupt the perception of her students about why they learn culture similarities and differences; despite that, some of her students said mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 that they learn culture differences to understand bad cultures and avoid people with such cultures or travelling to such places. the preservice teacher missed drawing on the opportunity presented by the concept of “bad cultures” and the idea of avoiding them (discrimination) to address issues of cultural and ethnic intolerance common in nigeria and preparing students for agency in transforming obnoxious and “unjust” cultures. sep teachers do not show consciousness of contemporary issues but reproduce them in their classroom instruction and discussions this challenge interconnects with poor knowledge of the subject matter and disregard of sociocultural context, which also involves pressing social problems in a given context. preservice teachers were observed to not consider the implications of classroom discussions on global issues such as gender inequality, cultural intolerance, poor governance, and citizenship. instead, they affirm and reproduce contemporary social problems through presenting injustice as an immutable social reality or failing to challenge students’ misconceptions or beliefs that threaten social education goals, especially justice and human rights promotion, albeit unintentionally and unconsciously. the following instance provides a clear picture of how poor leadership and passive citizenship as well as human rights violations are reproduced in the classroom: pt1a (male; ss2; group 2019), who taught the government topic “separation of power,” while explaining veto power of the executive arm of the government, stated, “…the say of the executive is final and veto power once evoked is final. it cannot be challenged.” to illustrate his point, he told his students that “president buhari or even the governor has the power to sack a worker working in nigeria or his state and the person cannot do anything about it. in fact, gburugburu [the governor’s nickname] can wake up today and decide to use his veto power. he can sack a teacher or principal and the person cannot do anything about it.” surprisingly, the students laughed and failed to challenge the position until the supervisor interjected. while the preservice teacher was being corrected, he raised a defense that he was teaching reality and not ideals. while the above instance seems to point more to a lack of adequate knowledge of the subject matter, the supervisee’s defense also indicates a lack of preservice teachers’ consciousness of the social educator’s role in disrupting the unwanted status quo and injustice through challenging them in the classroom and empowering citizens who would disrupt social problems using their present or future position or status as leaders or citizens. this finding is similar to that found among in-service nigerian teachers who avoid and excuse sociopolitical questions in their multicultural classes (salmon-letelier, 2019). mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 the following is another example where a preservice teacher presented corruption and abuse of the rule of law as nigeria’s norms. pt1b (female; ss1; group 2020), teaching the government topic “the rule of law,” explained, “rule of law is the supremacy of the law over everybody in a political system. this is not the practice in nigeria because in nigeria today, if you are rich you can do what you want. but let’s not go into that.” explaining impartiality as a basic principle of the rule of law, she illustrated, let us use nne and ugo as example. nne stole ₦10,000 and she is from a rich home; ugo stole ₦10 but is from a poor home. the rule of law is that they should be judged impartially and punished for their crimes, hence nne should receive higher punishment because she stole a higher amount. but you know this is nigeria; the judge will be bribed by the rich home and nne will go free while ugo will be imprisoned. it may even be that ugo stole to not go hungry that day. this is impartiality. evident in the above lesson is the preservice teacher’s resignation of faith and hope in nigeria’s justice institution and system and doubt about the need for the topic “the rule of law” in the nigerian context. instead of drawing on the topic to empower learners to be agents of the rule of law, she disempowered them further by presenting the issue of abuse of the rule of law as an immutable “social norm.” how do we prepare social education teachers to share and promote socio-political hope in contexts where they themselves lack hope? how gender issues are reproduced in classroom instruction, aside from traditional practices such as denying girls headship of schools and stereotyping school activities such as sweeping, was observed. some snapshots of these practices are presented below. pt9 (female; ss1; group 2018), who taught the crs topic “the value of virginity before and after marriage,” emphasized virginity as the virtue of a woman, just as is traditionally conceived, and further gave instance to justify the value and importance of virginity: i have seen a woman who married as a virgin. because of her virginity, her husband showed appreciation to her family by buying her parents an suv. the woman, because she married as a virgin, will be respected by her husband’s family and society. while nothing is wrong in teaching children and individuals to abstain from having preor extramarital sexual affairs, objectifying or materializing the importance of abstinence is wrong. even though this is taught within the context of religious studies, it is also worrisome when virginity is taught as the virtue of women and not that of men, especially in a context where research has shown extramarital affairs of husbands to be high and the highest cause of hiv mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 among married women (van klinken & chitando, 2015). pt2a (female; jss2; group 2019), teaching the social studies topic “readiness for marriage,” explained to her students: the man is the head and breadwinner of the family. but women of this generation are encouraged to empower themselves and have something doing. this is because there may be times when the man will not have money. when that happens, the family will depend on her own money to survive until the man regains himself. the above position indicates the treatment of women’s economic empowerment as a family’s alternative and the presentation of the woman as a person whose life decisions are dependent on the fate and prospects of a man, thereby minimizing the agency and independence of women. the objectification of women and belittling of women’s efforts are also strong factors behind increasing hegemonic masculinity and violence against women. pt2b (female; jss3; group 2020), teaching the crs topic “the family,” emphasized the division of roles and behaviors as stipulated in colossians 3:18-22. she then admonished the women: many women these days do not submit to their husbands. they disobey their husbands. this bible instruction is not kept. broken homes produce vagabonds. to achieve a healthy family, everybody should play their roles and perform their duties. wives cook, children wash, and husbands break firewood, as shown in this chart. when asked what submission means, she answered, “submission means to lower yourself; don’t raise your shoulder above your husband. your husband is your superior and has authority over you.” while the male students were happily laughing, a female student asked, “what if the father is a drunkard and the wife takes up the responsibilities of the husband, is it disrespectful?” the teacher answered, “it is not a deviation on the part of the woman because the man is irresponsible.” just like the first instance, the view championed in the second instance is capable of reproducing gender and domestic violence since the teacher failed to disrupt the ugly understanding of the term “submission” held by many nigerians. it is either that preservice teachers lack knowledge of how these factors interconnect or lack critical consciousness of how these contemporary issues are reproduced through classroom discussions. sep teachers had challenges managing instruction from simple to complex terms this challenge was most common among economics education preservice students who taught statistical components of economics. for example, pt29 (group 2018), who taught “theory of mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 revenue,” skipped explaining the principles of revenue, how each type of revenue was ideologically arrived at, and simple mathematical solutions, jumping to teaching the solving of high-level statistical problems he lifted from west african examination economics questions, which he said was informed by his interest in helping students do well in their exams. this cognitively driven approach, however, left students confused and begging for repetition of concluded sessions. sep teachers had challenges implementing the continuity principle of learning taught topics were mostly linked to previous topics only by asking students what the last topic they learned was. preservice teachers fail to establish a connection between the new content and the previously taught content. this can be explained by the structure of curriculum organizing that does not flow chronologically and by preservice teachers’ inability to be creative in connecting ideas and ensuring continuity of learning (i.e., connecting the present topic to the previous topic). sep teachers had challenges in selecting contextualized and critical instructional materials while preservice teachers are creative in improvising relevant instructional materials for implementing their instruction, they had challenges contextualizing their learning materials. the adoption of learning materials, especially in civics and social studies classes, served to reproduce stereotypes. for example, pt15 (female; jss2; group 2018), who taught “contentment,” used a chart depicting a white family happily sitting around their dining table as an illustration of contentment. this is in a world where happiness, comfort, and contentment are represented as white, with hardship, materialism, and sorrow represented as african or black. this is also in a context where all students are black. pt2b (refer above), who taught “family,” used a chart depicting the wife cooking, the father axing wood, and children washing. this occurred in a world where gender equality is a goal, and gender-based violence, now a health crisis, is sustained by gender stereotypes. sep teachers’ subject matter knowledge and language-related challenges although preservice teachers are not expected to have deep content knowledge since they are still trainees, they exhibited very limited and poor knowledge of the contents they teach. this happened even in situations where they teach the courses they are studying. (refer to pt1a and other referenced preservice teachers above for illustrations.) another example is pt13, who taught “drug abuse” and used a very limited definition of drug abuse as “intake of drugs or mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 substance without doctor’s prescription.” language-related issues can be found in his explanation of consequences of drug abuse where he stated that “drug abuse makes someone to feel somehow” without providing an explanation of what the “somehow” means. discussion this study explores social education preservice (sep) teachers’ challenges in social education teacher-becoming trajectories and challenges with teaching practice and teaching social education contents. each challenge is individually discussed below. social education preservice teachers’ challenges in teacher-becoming trajectory the result shows that social education preservice teachers face harassment from professional others and are dissatisfied with their lecturers’ subject matter knowledge and the learning materials they use as well as question the impact of (social) education research. substandard learning materials many social education preservice teachers think that their education-related course materials and evaluations are too elementary and do not challenge them to think critically or be creative. their higher education expectations are not met with materials that sometimes emphasize their pre-higher education contents, though in a more detailed manner. they worry also that their education lecturers are unwilling to embrace change and development. this threatens their interest to continue with the profession and further suggests that this generation of preservice teachers is yearning for practical, critical, and transformative knowledge and lessons. the elementary nature of their course materials could be blamed on nigeria’s institutional weaknesses including poor educational research funding. it may not be that education lecturers are unwilling to embrace change and development. it is more likely that they do not access research funding for conducting impact research and do not access opportunities for professional training to keep up with recent development in the field. it could also be explained by the lack of incentives for these lecturers to engage in individual professional development and impactoriented research. another cause might be that teacher-educators themselves lack intrinsic and altruistic motivations for choosing their career path, which invariably affects their commitment to the profession. all these are explainable by the sociocultural status of teaching in nigeria, which is generally dissatisfactory. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 lecturers’ preoccupation with “non-impact and irrelevant” research students reported dissatisfaction with their lecturers’ neglect of teaching and preoccupation with research that they do not feel impacts their programs or society. this is not just the frustration of students but of many research participants across africa (see andrews & bawa, 2019). however, the problem can be explained from a sociocultural perspective; research is more valued in nigerian higher institutions due to the need to increase african global recognition. it has been found, by englund et al. (2018) in the swedish context, that departments emphasizing greater research and intellectual visibility and competitive edge, rather than improving students’ learning, undervalue teaching. in my research’s context, lecturers devote more time to research than teaching, to the detriment of students. even though some nigerian universities adopt students’ assessment of lecturers’ expertise and behaviors, and lecturers’ engagement in research, administrative, and community services as promotion measures, greater emphasis is placed on research. this scenario could explain social education lecturers’ neglect of teaching and preoccupation with “publish-or-perish” research, albeit without considering the impact the research will have on their students’ learning and in their area of expertise or society. this problem hinders effective curriculum reform since superficial teaching of concepts runs the risk of not identifying curriculum gaps and challenges that need to be addressed. professional harassment the finding that social preservice teachers are professionally harassed, verbally abused, and bullied by their schoolmates and lecturers can be explained from a sociocultural perspective. there is a poor social representation of the teaching profession and program in nigeria (egwu, 2015). social education preservice teachers’ challenges with teaching practice fieldwork while preservice teachers noted deriving some benefits (knowledge increment, nurturing the younger generation, broadening social networks, and exposure to different worldviews) from teaching practice, this study focused on the challenges and difficulties they encountered. they are discussed below. anxiety the study found anxiety about first-time class during teaching practice among preservice teachers. sources of their anxieties include lack of confidence about handwriting, fear of poor ratings from their students, lack of confidence about their english proficiency, and uncertainty mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 about their teaching and classroom management abilities. this is not dissimilar to previous findings (danner, 2014; han & tulgar, 2019). the anxiety was mainly experienced during the first teaching practice experience, indicating that lack of exposure to microteaching could be a contributing factor. students’ challenging questions it is also found that students’ challenging and difficult questions are among the challenges encountered by some preservice teachers. sep teachers reported tackling this challenge through avoidance or distraction, drawing the attention of students away from contentious questions and to other discussions outside the raised question. there appears to be no study explaining how teachers receive students’ difficult questions. studies have, however, investigated the application of lower-order and higher-order questions by teachers or students in school (khan & inamullah, 2011; renaud & murray, 2007). while studies find higher education and schools to be grounds where critical thinking skills are developed through applying higher-order questionings (renaud & murray, 2007), this study found that the lectures, assessments, and learning materials available to preservice teachers in nigeria are dominated by lower-order cognitive activities. and this could explain preservice teachers’ unpreparedness to manage difficult and challenging questions, which are usually of a higher-order thinking level. social education teacher training programs in nigeria hardly apply higher-order thinking questions because of the misleading assumption that their students are intellectually weak and, hence, will not be able to cope with such questions. this affects students’ questioning and feedback strategies in actual teaching. students’ misbehavior it is noted that classroom “behavior problems appear to be the most difficult task for both experienced and newly qualified teachers” (atici, 2007, p. 15). the findings of this study illustrate that preservice teachers feel the same way. classroom misbehaviors encountered by preservice teachers in this study, especially female preservice teachers, include disrespect of preservice teachers, making noise while the teacher is still talking, playing while teaching is ongoing, and refusing to write or take notes. female teachers mostly reported disruptive behaviors such as noise-making and disrespect. this finding is consistent with chaplain’s (2008) study, which shows that female trainee teachers reported students’ disruptive and aggressive behaviors as a challenge. preservice teachers managed these challenges differently: some threatened to report misbehaving students to head teachers or the school head for disciplinary action, some threatened using students’ notes as continuous assessment, some ignored their noise and hoped mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 that they will get better with time, and some called on an in-service teacher to calm the class for them. decline in note-taking and copying among students this is a challenge to social education preservice teachers. they reported that their students, especially those in senior classes, do not copy or take notes during instruction. the importance of note-taking, including improving critical thinking, comprehension, and academic performance, as evidenced by literature (chang & ku, 2015; chen, 2013), makes this problem worthy of attention. what could explain students’ habit of not writing notes? evans, pellam, and grudberg (1995) found that the quality of note-taking relates to the quality of instruction and that unorganized and non-detailed instruction affected students’ note-taking exercise. this suggests that the quality of instruction presented by preservice teachers could be a contributory factor to students’ attitude of not taking notes during or after instruction. as shown in this study, preservice teachers draw their notes mainly from prescribed textbooks and google but fail to provide students with original or new ideas that could motivate them to take notes. the contributions of technological advancement should not be ignored. increased access of students to technological devices that make it easier to access similar contents online, take snapshots of their peers’ notes and some recommended learning materials, and record instruction could be a contributory factor to this challenge. stress preservice teachers reported much stress resulting from their teaching practice exercise. stress is a reoccurring issue with teaching practice across contexts (caires, almeida, & vieira, 2012). however, the majority of this study’s participants attributed their teaching stress not to content development or implementation but to the combination of their teaching practice with their semester course work and, sometimes, project writing; the reluctance of field schools to accept and provide them with full support or integrate them into their school activities or management; and their financial commitments to the practicum, especially concerning transportation costs and the cost of procurement of teaching materials. they feel that teaching itself is an easy job. social education preservice teachers’ challenges with teaching social education, especially contemporary social issues challenges that preservice teachers face with teaching social education revealed in this study include disregard of sociocultural relevance of instruction, lack of contemporary issues mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 consciousness, and difficulty managing instruction from simple to complex. these factors are individually discussed below. disregard for the sociocultural relevance of instruction social preservice teachers do not consider the socio-cultural implications or needs of their instruction but approach instruction from a quantitative perspective (test scores). they were found to reproduce social problems that their contents seek to address and to present crude and dictatorial solutions (e.g., violence and human rights violations) to everyday problems (e.g., conflicts) as societal ideals instead of disrupting social issues alongside the dictatorial approaches to solving them. they failed to identify and pay attention to perspectives and statements shared in the classroom that enable social issues such as dictatorial leadership, ethnic and cultural intolerance, and gender issues. this finding is similar to that of salmon-letelier (2019), which shows that nigerian teachers avoid challenging social issues, such as corruption and conflict, beyond surface-level definitions and lists. lack of consideration of the sociocultural relevance of topics leads to a disconnection between classroom instruction and learners’ and society’s needs; it results in the treatment of topics, with potential to address social issues, from a cognitive and market-driven approach devoid of sociocultural, behavioral, and affective gains. the outcome of this is ineffective learning since students are left ill-equipped to impact their sociocultural contexts, including family, community, and cultural and religious backgrounds, that influence their worldviews. this challenge is, in part, the consequence of a social education curriculum organization that does not state the sociocultural relevance of its emphasized contents. although the curriculum highlights the objectives of the contents, these objectives are mainly cognitive-oriented and do not practically relate to students’ experiences or societal needs. poor teacher training can also be blamed for this problem. for example, it is argued that nigerian social science education teacher training programs are inefficient and do not emphasize the ideological and pedagogical uniqueness of social education that distinguishes them from core social science disciplines (obiagu, 2019, p. 13). difficulty managing instruction from simple to complex it was observed that social preservice teachers who taught statistical components of social education were largely unable to present their instruction from simple to complex terms. due to great interest in students’ academic performance, simple problems were skipped in statistical topics in favor of complex problems drawn from past external exam questions. this approach mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 was counterproductive as students struggled to understand instruction and lost track of the lesson. statistical components were found to be treated from a mathematical perspective, despite the leadership problems that embroil african countries. poor leadership problems raise the demand for economic educators in nigeria to take economic contents, like revenue and income, beyond personal levels and connect them to policymaking and economic planning. social education (economics) preservice teachers’ challenge to effectively handle statistical components of economics from a social perspective can be explained by the non-emphasis of statistical pedagogy in economics education programs. this leaves many economics educators disempowered to effectively implement the statistical contents of the subject. lack of contemporary issues consciousness and the reproduction of global issues related to the disregard of the sociocultural relevance of instruction is the lack of contemporary issues consciousness among social education preservice teachers. although this study did not explicitly explore students’ cultural, gender, and leadership issues consciousness in their classroom practices, this study’s findings featured preservice teachers as not culturally, gender, or leadership-responsive and conscious. results suggest that social education preservice teachers lack consciousness of the implications of their instruction and classroom discussions on contemporary social issues such as gender violence, poor leadership, social and interpersonal conflicts, and cultural intolerance. the students who taught gender-related topics largely reproduced existing gender stereotypes through their classroom practices and failed to draw on gender-related contents to disrupt gender stereotypes and beliefs that undergird gender violence or to challenge their students to question them. powerful opportunities to empower learners to question and challenge cultural stereotypes and abuse of rule of law and violations of human rights by political office holders were also ignored by preservice teachers. this is similar to the findings of a study that found in-service nigerian teachers to dominate the teaching of social topics, which have the potential for opening deep, complex discussions that could challenge and reshape the status quo, with bulleted lists and simple definitions (salmon-letelier, 2019). a similar situation where preservice social education teachers failed to show an integration of global perspectives in their teaching is documented in the united states (ukpokodu, 2020). preservice teachers’ challenge of not engaging with classroom discussions that facilitate social problems illustrates their lack of awareness of how systemic social and structural issues are related to or sustained by the contents they teach and their approach to the contents. unlike the mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 united states, a country that shares similar multicultural characteristics as nigeria, where social education teacher programs now emphasize the implications of elections, multicultural diversity, racism, and gender on classroom practices and the controversies, including academic and intellectual debates, surrounding these and similar issues (gay, 2002; stevens & martell, 2018; ukpokudu, 2002), nigeria’s sse programs and intellectuals are yet to begin discussing, debating, or considering how these issues are approached and addressed in educational and school policies, curricula, textbooks, and classroom practices, and how the adopted educational approaches and practices reproduce or disrupt social problems. instead, social education research in nigeria is dominated by experimentation of teaching methods, blaming of social problems for the non-realization of social education goals, exploring curriculum for inclusion of social issues contents, and exploring teachers’ and students’ awareness of social issues. the study’s findings point to the question of what knowledge and competency skills social education teachers need to be efficient and effective in a changing world. conclusion this study explored nigerian social education preservice (sep) teachers’ challenges in teacherbecoming and with teaching social education contents. knowledge of these is important for reforming social education to meet its sustainable development goals. findings of the study revealed that sep teachers encounter stress, dissatisfactions with their program, and professional harassments and intimidations in their teacher-becoming trajectory. sep teachers were also found to disregard the sociocultural relevance of their classroom instruction and to reproduce social structures and global issues through their classroom practices. these findings suggest socioemotional, sustainable development knowledge and capacity building needs for both teacher educators and preservice social educators. recommendations there is a need to train teacher-educators and empower them with professional self-esteem. this will inhibit their tendency of discouraging and verbally abusing their students’ intellectual abilities and prospects. it will equip them with a sense of purpose to professionalize their discipline and produce a generation of powerful educators that will challenge, through their practices and agency, the ugly narratives about nigerian teachers today. teacher-educators should be able to give their students hope, comfort and support, and build resilience in them in the face of the professional harassment and neglect they encounter in society. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 professional development opportunities, especially training on social education research skills, should be provided for social education teacher-educators. this is to prepare them to conduct impact research that will benefit their students as well as equip them with what is required to produce standard study materials for preservice teacher training. social education programs should further target empowering teachers with consciousness of how local, national, and global social problems are enabled, reproduced, or disrupted through classroom practices. social educators require knowledge of the interconnectedness between education systems and practices and the sociopolitical realities of their immediate and global contexts. the current emphasis of these programs on knowledge of values, citizenship duties, human rights, and other contemporary issues is not enough for social educators’ efficiency and effectiveness in today’s changing world. to be relevant in today’s society, social education teacher training programs should emphasize what it is about social education praxis (contents, theory, and practice) that threatens the realization of their goals. debates on how social education policies, curriculum, and practices obstruct or promote sustainable development goals should be emphasized for teachers to develop meaningful knowledge of how social education is deeply connected to sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts. importantly, it should be the task of social education teacher training departments to decipher how instruction could be presented to make individuals understand social problems as their concerns and to help preservice teachers overcome their mistrust and loss of faith in nigeria (or their pessimistic attitude towards nigeria’s development plans) that hamper their effective implementation of social contents. since knowledge is not enough and activism is the hallmark of contemporary social education programs, consciousness of how social education practices impact global issues is not the only needed competency skill for social teachers. social education programs should additionally emphasize teacher agency, create supportive learning (formal and non-formal) opportunities that empower students for activism, and engage student-teachers in service-learning. these opportunities will prepare teachers for vigilance in their classroom practices/discussions and constant recognition of their agency in promoting social education goals: peace, justice, active citizenship, and gender equality. it is important to equip teachers with higher-order questioning skills in nigeria. a suggestion would be to apply this type of questioning in teacher education classroom discussions and assessment. teaching it in a curriculum course that is generally offered at the faculty level is not enough. it should be practiced in everyday school activities for it to be meaningful to students. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 future studies should expressly explore, using qualitative methods, social education teachers’ gender, culture, and leadership issue consciousness in their classroom practices. acknowledgements i thank my preservice teaching practice students for participating in this study and my department for granting approval for use of the data for research. i am also grateful to the teaching practice committee of the department for their innovations and efforts at improving the quality of the teaching practice experiences of students. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 12, n. 2, 2022, pp. 22-51 corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 references andrews, n., & bawa, s. 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(1981). the instrumental method in psychology. in j. v. wertsch (ed.), the concept of activity in soviet psychology (pp. 134–143). armonk, ny: m.e. sharpe. about the author: adaobiagu nnemdi obiagu trained as an educator and a lawyer. prior to her services in higher education, she taught social studies, government and civic education in secondary schools in nigeria. currently, she is a lecturer in the department of social science education, the university of nigeria where she also obtained her m.ed. in 2015. she teaches and researches themes of citizenship, human rights, gender, and peace education. she has authored and coauthored papers in these research areas. mailto:adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.proquest.com/docview/216309385 https://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/view/433 journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 84 international perspectives from the international perspectives editor the journal of international social studies welcomes you to a new international section. social studies, unlike other areas of education, is unique in the sense that we still debate its many aspects, including its goals and content. one aspect of social studies that is particularly elusive is its internationality. we routinely use the term international social studies—we even have a journal of international social studies—but it is still not clear what the term connotes. the lack of a clear definition is normally harmful: it disorients researchers, shifts the focus of the problem, taints the rationale of research in a given area, and may eventually result in a vague and amorphous result. on the other hand, the lack of a clear definition is sometimes beneficial: scholars are free in their conceptualizations and interpretations of a phenomenon. i believe we need at least an operational definition or definitions so that we spend less time deconstructing the phenomenon of international social studies and more time studying it. it seems the term international social studies has several dimensions. the first is its global dimension or the ways in which social studies is taught around the world and positioned in various national or local systems of education. the greatest challenge within this dimension is the acknowledged institutionalized status of social studies in some educational systems and the lack thereof in others. this challenge is further exacerbated by well-documented “social studies wars” within national systems. the second dimension, which can be called internal, is the ways in which social studies content addresses the array of topics that are normally referred to as international. there is little doubt that social studies or social science education is one of the most—if not the most—politically and ideologically determined and driven areas of education. consequently, social studies is particularly vulnerable to changes in our fast-changing world. the examples of disconnect between changes, sometimes radical, in various nations and outdated social studies or social science curricula are abundant. the third dimension in international social studies can be called methodological, and it concerns pedagogies. social studies and social science education professionals have gained immense experience in teaching in various environments. it is impossible to overestimate the impact of these experiences on educators’ professional development and growth. we hope that the journal of international social studies will serve as a reliable platform for the exchange of such experiences and a vibrant forum for the discussion of all aspects of international social studies. in this issue, we asked scholars from australia, canada, japan, norway, and russia to share the challenges that social studies education faces in their respective countries and to recommend topics our journal should cover. we also welcome an article from takeshi miyazaki who explores the issues of introduction of service learning in teacher education in japan. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 85 about the international perspectives editor anatoli rapoport is associate professor of curriculum and instruction at purdue university college of education. before he received ph. d. in social studies education, he had worked as classroom teacher and school administrator. since 1999 he has actively participated in international programs for educators. dr. rapoport is the past chair of citizenship and democratic education special interest group (cande sig) of comparative and international education society. his research interests include: comparative aspects of education, influence of culture and ideology on education, and global and international perspectives in citizenship education. challenges of social studies education: views from around the world. what problems do social studies or social science education face in different countries? i asked this question our guests: dr. david zyngier (monash university, australia), dr. alan sears (university of new brunswick, canada), dr. takeshi myazaki (soka university, japan), dr. heidi biseth (buskerud university college, norway), and dr. andrey ioffe (russian academy of education). i also asked our guests to recommend topics that will make the journal of international social studies more attractive for international readership. dr. david zyngier senior lecturer in curriculum & pedagogy, monash university, australia what challenges does social studies education face in australia? now more than ever before, young people need and deserve a social education that will allow them to develop understandings of the varied dimensions of their world; the past, present, future; local, national, regional and global perspectives, and most importantly, opportunities to develop critical perspectives on the issues of our times. social studies in australia is under attack from neo-liberal reconfiguration of curriculum with an emphasis on australian (white, male and mains-stream) history and the parliamentary procedures of civics as distinct from teaching about society. we need a thorough and carefully considered debate about the place of sose [studies of society and environment] in schooling. while australian history is important for all young australians, achieving a balanced curriculum is what is critical. the curriculum for the future should not be fragmented into separate disciplines. it is especially important for students to see the connections and interdictions between all parts of their social world and the environment. students need practice in considering topics through these multi-disciplinary lenses, and indeed, this is integral to the federal government's current commitment to education for sustainability. such multi-perspective practice can only occur through sose, where it is expected that all discipline perspectives would be considered with integrity. it is much easier for sose than for separate discipline subjects to take on board initiatives in journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 86 education such as has been the case with civics and citizenship education (cce), education for sustainability, global education, asian studies, values education and futures studies, as all of these are holistic and multidisciplinary in nature. if cultural studies and civics (and it is assumed. education for sustainability, and whatever else comes along) are tacked onto separate history and geography, students might just as well be doing an integrated subject. however, with an integrated subject, the intention would be for those perspectives to be coherently planned and not simply appendages. however, it needs to be reiterated that the basis for focused learning in sose still involves the content, concepts and skills from the main social science disciplines. what topics, issues, or problems should jiss address to attract international readership? comparative analysis of attacks on studies of society; new innovations and curricula design; teaching innovations about studies of society at university and especially in teacher preparation courses. dr. alan sears – professor of social studies education, university of new brunswick, canada. what are the main challenges to social studies education in canada? there are several significant challenges to social studies education in canada. one is the lack of a national scholarly and professional community in the field. responsibility for education in canada lies with the provinces and there is no federal department or office of education. consequently, curricula vary from province to province and there is no national organization of social studies professional and academics analogous to ncss. there is a journal titled canadian social studies but it has struggled to maintain its existence. social studies in canada would be strengthened by more opportunities for social studies educators from across the country to meet together and collaborate. another implication for social studies of the absence of federal presence in education is the lack of any national discussion of the goals or purposes of social studies education in general or its constituent parts (i.e. history education, citizenship education). australia, england, and the united states, for example, have all had national initiatives related to standards for several areas related to social studies but that kind of discussion has never taken place in canada. a second challenge for social studies in canada is its low status as a curricular priority. across the country there is an overweening focus on subjects considered to be more practical or relevant to the economy. standardized tests, for example, focus on literacy, math, and science with only one province having a regular assessment program related to social studies. a third challenge that leads from the second is a significant lack of capacity in canada for meeting the stated outcomes of social studies curricula. some key areas where capacity is lacking include: both pre and in service teacher education in social studies (especially for elementary teachers); the development of exemplary teaching resources to support current journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 87 curricular approaches to teaching social studies, and support for research about and assessment of social studies programs. one article comparing canada’s capacity in this area to that of other countries was titled, “citizenship education: canada dabbles while the world plays on.” [ hughes and sears, 2006, http://www.cea-ace.ca/educationcanada/article/citizenship-education-canada-dabbles-while-world-plays] what topics, issues, or problems should be addressed in ijss to make it more interesting for an international audience? the journal might consider some special theme issues around how key areas of social studies are dealt with in jurisdictions around the world. some themes might include: history education, citizenship education, multicultural or diversity education, the place of religion in social education (i would love to guest edit an issue on this topic). authors could be asked to address common questions and a set of commentators might seek to respond highlighting areas of agreement, controversy, and possible directions for new work. the best of comparative work provides an opportunity for dialogue and learning from each other about common problems and issues and the journal might seek to foster that kind of work. dr. takeshi myazaki – associate professor, graduate school of teacher education, soka university, japan what are the main challenges to social studies education in japan? despite the efforts of social studies educators, the social studies being taught in the field is based on memorization. this is especially obvious in secondary education. students are required to understand the information and efficiently memorize and retain facts. some of the reasons are as follows: the need for information or study material to correspond with material on entrance exams; social studies, for secondary education, is a combination of civics, history and geography. students need to master all these topics for high school and university entrance exam. for this reason teachers often develop their lessons based on what expect students to know for the exam. the pursuit of objective assessment; the reality is that, while methods of multifaceted assessment are being adopted, teachers can’t help but depend on paper tests. the paper tests are required because of the objectivity and accountability that they offer. the amount of content that needs to be taught has increased; as a result teachers are not covering all of the material in the textbook. due to the limited time, teachers mostly teach facts instead of teaching critical thinking. a second challenge is the need to nurture citizens who participate in society. social studies is a subject that teaches people to be aware of the workings of democracy. students should learn about political decisions not only by words, but also through real experience, though most of the time this is not the case. in practice, japanese youth lack interest in politics, and journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 88 the desire to volunteer to solve social problems. voter turnout among young voters is extremely low. a third challenge is the need to foster global citizenship. the sequence for social studies starts with the study of the development of a small political unit, for example, a ward or a town. gradually this expands to the level of the country. this nurtures a sense of understandings, and love for a country. our efforts to bring a global perspective in order to create global citizens have been insufficient. what topics, issues, or problems should be addressed in ijss to make it more interesting for an international audience? how do we foster the capability of students to participate in society? what is the best way to teach social studies and civics with a global perspective? what are the limits and restrictions that the national standards system has in each country and how are social studies teachers restricted by such limits? for example, what are some conflicts that can arise when minority groups assimilate into another culture? dr. heidi biseth associate professor, buskerud university college, senior advisor education, save the children norway what are the main challenges to social studies education in norway? social studies education in norway post-july 20 2011. norway is considered a wellestablished democracy. more than 95 percent of the students attend the public school system and all schools have to comply with the national curricula. this provides a rather cohesive national education which has to, according to educational act, promote democracy, human rights, equality, and respect for the individual’s convictions. an act of terror took place in norway on the 22nd of july 2011, something that has had a major impact on norwegian society. 77 people were killed based on the acts of one man, anders behring breivik. a car bomb was planted at the government buildings downtown oslo and the perpetrator went on a killing spray at a political youth camp. he was convinced that immigrants in norway are a threat to social, economic and political cohesion and that politicians are not handling the situation appropriately. during the first six months of 2012 his court case took place. one of the cores issues discussed both in court and in the media was whether behring breivik could be counted as sane or insane at the time of his acts. the reluctance to understand his far-right military ideology and political conviction as belonging to a sane person was obviously demanding. the norwegian society is characterized by its focus on equality as meaning “sameness”, implying that what is considered not belonging to societal mainstream is a topic difficult to discuss. diversity in religion, life-style, and extreme political views (cf. behring breivik) are subjects challenging to discuss in school in general and in social studies in particular. making diversity the normal state of affairs in a democracy is a huge task for social studies education, particularly post-july 20 2012. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 89 what topics, issues, or problems should be addressed in ijss to make it more interesting for an international audience? based on the above, it is highly appreciated if jiss could address how it is possible for education to handle deviating ideologies in society, what can we expect in of diversity in a democratic society, and practical examples on how social science teachers deal with these complex topics. dr. andrey ioffe – senior researcher, russian academy of education, russian academy of teacher professional development what are the main challenges to social studies education in russia? there is an interdisciplinary course study of society (obshchestvoznaniye) that is a part of a national social science curriculum along with history and geography. these courses are taught separately in secondary school. new academic standards were adopted in 20102012. their implementation will be completed in 2020. according to the new standards, a number of new subjects will be introduced in the high school: economics, law, and russia in the world. the latter is planned as an integrated course that will include topics from history, geography, and sociology. however, it is still not clear how this course will function. in the 4th grade, students will take the course basics of religious culture and secular ethics. within this course, the students select one of six possible modules, four of which cover fundamentals of russia’s traditional (i.e. officially supported) religions (orthodoxy, islam, judaism, and buddhism) while the other two teach about basic nondenominational religious ideas and secular ethics. although there is no nationally required course in civics, there are debates on how to improve citizenship education. currently, a new state program and conception of citizenship education in russia are being discussed. the following are the challenges that the social science curriculum faces in russia: what sciences should be included into social science curriculum, and into study of society in particular? many complain that currently this subject is overloaded with philosophy, social psychology and sociology. how does study of society correlate with citizenship education? one can point to the topics of politics, economy, or law that bridge the former and the latter but those topics are usually overly theoretical rather than practical. what is most important in teaching study of society: social theories, skills, or broadmindedness? there is still no consensus among specialists. how to make social science curriculum more relevant to everyday needs? there are a lot of contradictions: between the theory of democratic development and day-to-day practice in russia; between what we teach in schools and what students see around them; generation gap and as a consequence a tension between young people’s needs and outdated curricula. what topics, issues, or problems should be addressed in ijss to make it more interesting for an international audience? journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 84-90. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 90 innovative methods (e. g. projects, research-based learning, work with primary documents, games) in the social science classroom: methods, techniques, and evaluation of results. the latest research in the use of the internet and educational and instructional technologies in social science education. learning styles and student motivation in social science subject areas. reflective teaching methods. comparative research and analysis of social science standards, models of teaching, or content in various countries journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 1 from the editor welcome to the fall edition of the journal of international social studies and our new editing team. i am dr ruth reynolds from the university of newcastle in australia and i am fortunate enough to be the new editor of this wonderful journal and have the privilege to follow in the footsteps of our previous editor beverley (lee) bisland. no one should underestimate the challenge associated with setting up a new journal and so our new team need to acknowledge that we ‘are standing on the shoulders of giants’ with much of what we take for granted with the journal painstakingly thought through and carefully established by the previous team; lee bisland, gloria alter, carolyn o’mahony, and michelle frabroni. fortunately we continue to have the services of gloria and carolyn as well as our new editors anatoli rapoport and deborah hutton. we would like to elicit readers’ feedback about the direction of our journal and be responsive to our readers, so let us know when we are doing well and if you have suggestions please share. remember we are always looking for new research and ideas associated with international social studies. as anatoli’s section on international perspectives indicated there are also some important themes we could pursue in special editions and if you have special edition ideas and special edition editors you think could provide guidance let us know. i met many of you in person at the ncss conference in seattle and hope to meet more of our readers electronically in the future. i have asked all the editorial team to write a little about themselves in their sections so our readers can get to know them better so the following is a little about myself and deb hutton, our assistant editor. about the editors dr ruth reynolds i was a primary /elementary school teacher for many years before i became a teacher education at the university of newcastle in australia where i am currently a senior lecturer. i have been involved in innovative teaching in social studies (called studies of society and environment until very recently in australia) in schools and at university and my latest love (and sometimes hate) is the pedagogy of i pads. i have conducted research in various aspects of social studies including curriculum history, geographic place knowledge, teaching global education in preservice courses and teaching using historical fiction. i have published five books in teacher education and primary teaching pedagogy, and ten books for teachers who are teaching social education as well as numerous refereed articles, chapters in books and conference papers in the areas of pedagogy, social science curriculum, peace education and social justice issues. i have over aus$100,000 in research grants for projects associated with teacher education including $56,000 for examination of professional experience practices. i currently supervise ten higher degree research students. additionally i have held journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 2 a number of administrative positions in the school of education including assistant dean teacher education, have been involved in state and national curriculum development advisory boards and was a past president of the social educators’ association of australia. you can find more about me on: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/staff/researchprofile/ruth_reynolds/publications.html deborah hutton deborah hutton is the assistant director of indiana university's (iu) center for the study of global change (csgc). she is the flas fellowship coordinator, co-director of its annual institute for curriculum and campus internationalization, director of the new tech global issues all-school project, and project director of the newly released internationalizing the academic standards: indiana. for multiple international/global outreach projects under her direction, the csgc received the goldman sachs foundation & asia society's excellence in international education prize for higher education (2005) and was highlighted in the american council on education's promising practices: spotlighting excellence in comprehensive internationalization (2002). she was the contributing editor of the globalization issue of faces: people, places, and cultures (2006). her teaching experience includes secondary geography and history, as well as undergraduate and graduate university courses in social studies and global education. in the past, she has worked on projects to promote global education in russian schools, strengthen social studies education in africa, and internationalize iu preservice teacher education, as well as facilitated an iu overseas study experience in the people's republic of china. hutton has been a member of the ncss since the early 1980s and was on the international activities committee, led by jan tucker, when it first started lobbying the ncss for recognition of international social studies educators, now realized in the international assembly. editorial social studies, democracy and global service we have some very rich choices for readers of our journal in this edition with a variety of viewpoints around some important concerns for international social studies. catherine broom from the university of british colombia in canada has provided us with some interesting comparisons between students’ views of what they are taught in social studies and their teachers views in ‘understanding social studies: student and teacher voices in relation to theoretical orientations’. when there is a disconnect between teacher and student as regards their understanding of the purpose of social studies student tend to dislike the school subject more. as broom noted, ‘this study thus supports the importance of exploring the philosophies undergirding a subject’s conception as this will influence how it is understood, taught, learned, and valued’ (p.21). pat avery, sara levy, annette simmons and michael scarlett, in their paper ‘adolescents’ conceptions of democracy in central/eastern journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 3 europe and the united states’ provided insights into how students in some of the new democracies of europe view democracy as a concept. they found most students described democracy in terms of freedoms and rights and were least likely to mention civic equality. this conception of democracy will obviously have implications for these nations as these adolescents become the voting citizens. it provides food for thought for us all as members of longstanding democracies – to what extent is equality of citizens seen by us as an imperative? neo liberal rhetoric surrounds us everywhere at the moment. how equal are we within that democratic dialogue? both of these papers allow us to rethink some of our basic understandings of what social studies may be and provide an international perspective on that. the third of our peer reviewed articles examined the impact of a service learning project in malawi could have on pre service teachers’ global awareness. frans doppen and jennifer tesar in ‘the mwanje project: engaging preservice teachers in global service learning’ explores the extent to which we can implement service learning from afar in a global context. they engaged the local community to assist the more distant community in malawi, learning about the wider world and how they can participate in it for a more socially just world along the way. while wary of engendering neocolonial attitudes and charity approaches the authors found their approach, which involved community building at many levels, had a positive impact on both students and community members. what these articles have in common is the notion that it is vital that we, as international social studies teachers, investigate the message we are trying to convey at the point at which it is received. we as expert social studies teachers have sophisticated views of the major issues of our teaching area. we must ensure we are eliciting some comprehension of the ideas of the students we teach. these three articles do just that and provide some guidance for the rest of us in monitoring our impact on teaching practice. robert g. hanvey, author of 'an attainable global perspective’ (1976): a farewell tribute robert hanvey passed away on october 18th, 2012. reading his obituary in the herald times (10/23/12, a2) of bloomington, indiana, it was obvious he was an eclectic person with a multitude of interests and skills (sailor, pilot, visual artist, photographer, poet and storyteller). there was, however, little there about his contribution to the area that interests us, his contribution to global education and global perspectives, including peace education in our curriculum. he made a seminal contribution to our thinking about global education. in his highly influential article, 'an attainable global perspective,’ he devised a model of global awareness and consciousness that incorporated five dimensions. i paraphrase these dimensions below: perspective consciousness – appreciation of the fact that one’s own view of the world is not necessarily the same as that of someone else. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 4 state of the planet awareness – exploration of world conditions and developments, including conflicts, resources and environmental issues. cross-cultural awareness awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices to be found in human societies around the world and how such ideas and practices compare and contrast. knowledge of global dynamics knowledge of key traits and mechanisms of global systems (economic, ecological, political, technological, etc.), which directly impact how the world constantly changes. awareness of human choices awareness of one’s own cultural perspective. heater (2003) argued that hanvey provided the basis for the later work of pike and selby (1988) in the united kingdom, who added social and action skills at local and global levels to his widely modelled perspective of global education. kirkwood (2001) also built on hanvey’s dimensions in her essential elements of global education: multiples perspectives, comprehension and appreciation of cultures, knowledge of global issues and the world as interrelated systems (zhong, wilson and quashiga, 2008). acknowledging the increased sophistication of our views of global education with reference to increased critical analysis of the flaws of globalisation along with its opportunities (hicks, 2003; merryfield and duty, 2008; myers, 2010; ukpokodu, 2010), does not reduce our debt to hanvey’s earlier contribution. howard mehlinger kindly gave deborah and me permission to use some of his words from his tribute at robert hanvey’s memorial service: in 1976, the center for global perspectives published his essay, an attainable global perspective that seems likely to be remembered as his most significant contribution to education. global studies as an idea for curriculum study had been around for at least a decade, but many find the idea to be complex and difficult to implement. bob’s essay is a good example of his ability to take a complex topic and make it clear to the reader. according to google, the essay has been cited 361 times in articles relating to international and global studies. the center for global perspectives published five editions and then a revision in 1982. it was also reprinted countless times for use in classes and teacher workshops. i don’t know anyone who aspires to leadership in the field of global studies who has not studied an attainable global perspective. in 1986, teachers college press published global geography, a geography textbook designed for use with middle school and junior high students. the book was coauthored by alan backler and robert hanvey. it is a further example of the way that his ideas from an attainable global perspective reached students. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org page 5 hail and farewell, robert hanvey. references hanvey, r. g. (1976). an attainable global perspective. new york: center for global perspectives in education. heater, d. (2004). a history of education for citizenship. london: routledge falmer 2004. hicks, d. (2006). lessons for the future: the missing dimension in education. victoria, bc: trafford publishing. kirkwood, t. f. (2001). our global age requires global education: clarifying definitional ambiguities. the social studies, 92, 10-15. merryfield, m. and l. duty (2008). globalisation. in j. arthur, i. davies and c. l. hahn (eds), the sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy, 80-91. london: sage. myers, j. p. (2010). the curriculum of globalisation. in b.subedi, (ed.), critical global perspectives, 103-120. charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. pike, g. and d. selby, (1988). global teacher, global learner. london: hodder and stoughton. ukpokodu, o. (2010). teacher preparation for global perspectives pedagogy. in b.subedi, (ed.), critical global perspectives, 121-142. charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. zong, g., a. h. wilson and a. y. quashiga (2008). global education. in l. s. levstik and c. a. tyson (eds), handbook of research in social studies education, 197-216. new york and london: routledge. journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 149 using history to inform the modern immigration debate in the united states william david mccorkle clemson university abstract: the contentious modern immigration debate in the united states is often void of historical context and thus filled with fallacious narratives. to confront this trend, social studies educators should place the issues of modern immigration within their proper historical framework. this paper looks at three primary themes educators can explore: the increasingly restrictive immigration system, the similarities between the past and present in relation to xenophobic and nativist beliefs and movements, and the changes immigrants have continuously brought to american society. by exploring both the historical continuity and contrasts, students can begin to obtain a more nuanced and embracive view of immigration. history is a powerful tool that educators can employ to undermine increasingly popular xenophobic rhetoric and policies and help lead students towards a vision of social justice. key words: immigration; immigrant rights; nativism; social justice. introduction the current discussion on immigration is often vitriolic and filled with misinformation. this is especially true in politics, where candidates and representatives often use anti-immigrant rhetoric for political gain (ball, 2016). in the social studies classroom, it may be easier for teachers not to address immigration. however, for the sake of the immigrant student population and the direction of the national discourses on immigration, it is imperative for teachers to expose students to the issues surrounding this contentious debate. unfortunately, the discussions on immigration often occur without proper historical context. this lack of understanding can lead “native-born” students to the conclusion that their ancestors immigrated the “correct” way, while the undocumented immigrant population today is simply refusing to come to the country legally. there is often not the recognition of how the immigration system has become more restrictive over time. by not understanding the history of immigration, students can also fail to mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 150 see how modern stereotypes and contempt towards immigrants are often the recycled fears and hatred of past generations. failing to understand the history of immigration also prohibits students from seeing how every generation of immigrants has significantly changed the fabric of society and how these societal and cultural changes often benefit the overall population. the contribution of this article during the trump era is to help students explore current similarities to historical fears and discrimination while simultaneously exploring our society, which is both increasingly diverse and has some of the most restrictive immigration policies in our national history. although there is scholarship within social studies that explores the issue of the changes modern immigration is bringing to society (banks, 2004; rong, 1998) and similarities of past and present immigrant experiences (keiper & garcia, 2009; mcbee, bone, mossop, & owens, 1998), this article focuses on the nuance of how, despite our increasing diversity, we have become more restrictive. it seeks not only to understand education in a more multicultural united states but to use history to problematize the current restrictive system, which is often culturally accepted as normal and necessary. theoretical framework this article is based in the theoretical framework of social justice, which rejects the idea of “valuefree” research and instead is willing to engage with “issues of power and how we treat each other, both in the sense of micro face-to-face interactions and in the sense of macro social and economic relations” (gewirtz, 1998, p. 471). banks (2004) ties the concept of social justice to the ideal of a more global view of citizenship, which is essential for students seeking to “make their communities, the nation, and the world more just and humane” (p. 304). villegas (2007) argues that the ethical and moral aspects of education make the idea of social justice central and that it is a type of focus that teacher educators should seek to instill in their students. the issue of immigration policy is deeply connected to the larger concept of social justice. rutger bregman (2016) argues that one’s national status is the greatest form of discrimination today, even more than other factors such as race or gender. carens (1987) compares the injustice of restrictive immigration policies to the feudalism of the middle ages, contending that “like feudal birthright privileges, restrictive citizenship is hard to justify when one thinks about it closely” (p. 254). fortier (2006) and schulze-wessell (2015) highlight how modern immigration restrictions are mainly implemented to stop the movement of poorer populations, as many of the wealthy are less inhibited by restrictive border policies. in this sense, stances towards immigration are not just about economics or national interests, but about fairness, equality, and human dignity. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 151 history of open immigration in the history classroom, teachers may frequently discuss past immigrants entering the country through ellis island and angel island and the process of becoming citizens. this is vital to understanding how immigration has always been a central aspect of the history of the united states. however, there should also be a greater recognition of how open the system was, at least when it came to legal entrance into the country. the u.s. government allowed the majority of immigrants to enter the country unless there was visible sickness or suspicion of illicit activity. for example, between 1880 and world war i, less than 1% of the 25 million individuals from europe were denied entrance into the united states (ngai, 2014). the mexican-american border was also largely open, and the u.s. government put few restrictions on migrants crossing into the united states (ettinger, 2009). this can be a vital point for educators to discuss, as the idea of policing the mexican-american border is a relatively new phenomenon. in the modern context, we are missing a large aspect of the story by simply focusing on immigrants coming in illegally without addressing the changing system that makes the act illegal. the united states had an almost de facto open immigration system for a large portion of its history (lemay, 1987). educators can discuss with students whether this was related to the ideals of liberty taken from the enlightenment, which were crucial to the formation of the nation. philosophers such as jean-jacques rousseau (1754) seemed to undermine the notion of sovereign borders with his writings on property and inequality. as he stated, “you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody” (rousseau, 1754, p. 64). thomas jefferson (1774) also alluded to this right of migration in his arguments for self-rule, talking about “a right, which nature has given to all men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice has placed them, of going in quest of new habitations” (p. 121). george washington (1778) also had poignant words regarding immigration: “i had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” one could argue that a more open position towards immigration is central to the whole idea of the founding of the united states: leaving one’s native country and starting anew. with all the inconsistencies and racism inherent in the founder’s worldviews, was the idea of a more open immigration system seen as foundational to american values? in modern society, nation-states have becoming increasingly stringent regarding immigration, and the debate has devolved to the point of arguing over how strict immigration policies should be. what policy makers do not often discuss is the idea of migration being a human right. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 152 although the economic and social situations were different in the 19th century, there seemed to be an idea among many in the u.s. at the time that individuals had the right to migrate to another country without being unfairly barred by the nation-state. this is exemplified by emma lazarus’ (1883) famous poem engraved on the statue of liberty portraying the united states as the “mother of exiles” and imploring the old world to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” movement towards restrictive policies educators can help lead students to understand the racial motivations of the earliest immigration restrictions. the first large-scale restrictions of immigrants came with the chinese exclusion act of 1882 (railton, 2013). teachers can examine how this first overriding immigration restriction demonstrates the relationship between immigration policy and racial fears. in the 1920s, the u.s. passed a series of restrictions and immigration quotas largely based on race (daniels, 2004). by examining the countries with greater quota restrictions, students can understand the immigration privileges given to northern and western european nations. however, it is also important to point out how latin america was largely exempt from the immigration restrictions and quotas, largely due to the dependence on mexican labor in the american southwest (ngai, 2014). the immigration system became even more restrictive in the 1930s during the great depression. students can look at the timeline of immigration restrictions to more fully understand the link between economic anxiety and immigration restrictions. this nexus also adds a greater nuance to the issue, as reasons for greater restrictions towards immigrants are often complex and multifaceted; for instance, while some anti-immigrant arguments are based on economic concerns (even if misguided) and others are based on cultural and racial fears, a mixture of conscious and unconscious fear is common. during world war ii, the u.s. once again opened immigration from latin america to meet the need of greater labor. this is when the u.s. government implemented the bracero program. while the program allowed for a temporary legal status to stay and work, many of the workers stayed indefinitely (drisicoll de alvarado, 1998). after the war, the u.s. government systematically deported about one million mexican migrants under president eisenhower’s “operation wetback” (peralata, 2015). due to the inhumane treatment, some immigrants died as a result of these deportations. according to mae ngai, “some 88 braceros died of sun stroke as a result of a round-up that had taken place in 112-degree heat… a mexican labor leader mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 153 reported that ‘wetbacks’ were ‘brought [into mexico] like cows’ on trucks and unloaded fifteen miles down the highway from the border, in the desert” (cited in peralata, 2015). the u.s. government allowed immigrants to enter freely when the u.s. needed their labor, but these same immigrants were treated like criminals when society no longer needed their services. this created a strange phenomenon: immigrants continued to enter the country even after the u.s. government implemented greater restrictions. additionally, sectors of u.s. industry remained dependent on immigrant labor. according to ettinger (2009), mexican families dependent on remittances from the north could hardly reinvent their economic strategies overnight. and american farmers addicted to cheap labor were happy to accommodate them. through the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond, the tradition of undocumented entry persisted. once primed, the pump could not so simply be turned off. (p. 171) in 1965, president johnson signed the immigration act, which did away with the racially based quota system and provided more equal opportunity to individuals of different national origins who wanted to come to the united states. however, a consequence of this was a greater restriction of latin american immigration. this was problematic because of the historically large influx of immigrants from latin america, particularly from mexico. to overlook that historical reality in the name of greater equality in immigration led to detrimental consequences and a greater occurrence of illegal immigration (waters & ueda, 2007). possible class discussion on increasingly restrictive system when students see immigration from this perspective, it may change some of the conceptions they have about undocumented or illegal immigration. from a historical perspective, immigrants, especially those from poorer and working class backgrounds, have always come to the united states. however, when the u.s. began creating more stringent immigrant standards, it forced these immigrants to enter in a clandestine fashion. perhaps this can lead to discussions on whether the onus of illegal immigration should be placed more on the national government that has changed policy rather than on the immigrants seeking better economic opportunities and societal stability. this idea is so foreign to the modern framework of immigration that many students may never have considered it. such a discussion might lead to deeper analysis of the overemphasis placed on national citizenship rather than global citizenship. this could also be an opportunity for teachers to discuss who is allowed to immigrate to the united states. for example, when i brought an undocumented student to my teacher education class to tell her story, one of my students earnestly asked why she could not simply get her papers mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 154 from mexico and apply for legal status. there appears to be much misunderstanding about how the contemporary immigration system actually works. many early arrivals to the united states were from the poor and working classes employed in agriculture or factories (kozak, 2000; tsu, 2013), but this has changed in the modern era. today, most visas are reserved for immediate family members of skilled workers in specific fields. permanent legal status for “unskilled” workers is limited to 5,000 per year (american immigration center, 2014). this unskilled demographic made up the majority of immigrants coming into the country during the 19th and early 20th centuries (sadowsk-smith, 2008). recognizing these changes can lead to a discussion about whether our current immigration system fails to meet the demand for immigrant labor that has been present throughout the national history. students might discuss the role that working class immigrants play in keeping production costs lower and the possible economic outcomes of a sudden mass exodus of working class immigrants; however, economic arguments should always be discussed within the larger context of human rights and justice. the history of discrimination and prejudice when discussing this history with students, teachers can explain that even when the u.s. had a largely open immigration system, it did not mean that the u.s. population treated immigrants in a respectful or just manner. malicious treatment was present both in the attitudes of the general public and government officials, particularly within the criminal justice system, and such treatment is a significant point for teachers to emphasize when analyzing the similarities between past and present immigrant experiences of scapegoating and injustice. although there may have been easier legal access to the country, past immigrants did not always have equal rights. the united states has often failed to live up to its enlightenment ideals in issues of race, ethnicity, and equality. groups such as the irish, italians, and chinese faced harsh treatment from many native-born americans who loathed the new immigrants because of economic concerns, cultural differences, and racial fears (higham, 1965). when students understand the exaggerated fears of past generations, it may allow them to look at modern anxieties in a more critical light. students can examine the motivations behind the individuals, particularly politicians and media figures, who have pushed these fearful narratives. giving students historical examples of discrimination or xenophobia can often create some emotional distance and a greater chance of understanding that may not be possible with a current contentious issue regarding immigration. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 155 stereotypes teachers can point out the derogatory stereotypes of past immigrants and relate them to stereotypes today. for example, 19th century immigrants were often labeled as dangerous and unruly, blamed for taking jobs away from americans, and accused of undermining the cultural heritage of the united states. though they were allowed to immigrate to the country, they were not always allowed a sense of true membership and belonging. one way to introduce a discussion about these past stereotypes is examining cartoons of the past and comparing them to modern anti-immigrant cartoons. this can be a helpful strategy in continuing to identify the faulty narratives and stereotypes present in the immigration debate, such as the caricature of the drunken irish rabble-rouser (nash, 1867) or the conspiring, untrustworthy chinese immigrant (keller, 1878). immigrants were portrayed as a threat to the american way of life, especially at the turn of the century as eastern and southern european immigrants were associated with revolution and anarchy (bencivinni, 2014). in addition to cartoons, students might examine historic political statements and writings illustrative of antiimmigrant attitudes. examples of such documents include the know nothing party platform (1856) and the writings of nativist and anti-catholic 19th century writers such as maria monk (1836), samuel morse (1835), and lyman beecher (1866). anti-immigrant organizations there are also continuous historical examples of anti-immigrant organizations that have appealed to people’s fears of immigrants. the know-nothing party’s political rise in the mid-19th century was directly tied to their xenophobic stance, particularly against catholic immigrants (abinder, 1992). the ku klux klan’s resurrection in the 1920s was associated with anti-immigrant fervor, especially towards religious minorities like jews and catholics (maclean, 1994). most students have probably heard of the rise of the kkk and the hatred and violence directed at african-americans, but they may not be as aware of the anti-immigrant aspects of such groups. this antagonism is present today in the harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric that often defines modern hate groups (campbell, 2015). immigrants can be an easier target since prejudice towards them can be framed in legal terms. teachers might discuss why antagonism based on nationalism is often seen as more justified than direct racism. teachers can introduce primary sources to help show the nationalistic and xenophobic elements of groups like the klan. some of the strongest sources are the publications produced by different klan organizations. in an article in one of these publications, the watcher on the tower, the mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 156 author states that he is a klansman “because this is my country, my native country, and its flag is my flag” and because he supports “restricted immigration” and “americanism” (bower, 1923, p. 2). when discussing historical attitudes towards immigrants, students can explore the incidents in which fears and stereotypes led to mob violence and murder. one of the most heinous examples was the massacre of chinese workers in rock springs, wyoming, in 1885. due to racial animosity and labor tensions, 150 white miners killed 28 chinese coworkers (“memorial of chinese laborers,” 1885). similar violence against the chinese took place in los angeles (zesch, 2012) and seattle (daniels, 1978). teachers might also explore the violence carried out against the japanese after pearl harbor. studying these events may help students recognize that appealing to a population’s basest instincts and fears can have far reaching consequences and that xenophobic rhetoric can result in actual violent acts. modern parallels for discussion teachers might use modern examples of targeted attacks on immigrants due to their nationality or religious background such as, for instance, the beating of a hispanic man in boston by two white men shouting the praises of donald trump (rappeport, 2015). students can also explore the “spike” in anti-muslim violence after terrorist attacks, including cases of harassment of hijabwearing students, shootings and death threats at islamic owned businesses, and the burning of mosques (lichtblau, 2015). additionally, students might discuss the rise of extremism in the wake of the election of donald trump. exposing students to the extreme xenophobia of the past can help illuminate current xenophobic attitudes and their unsavory foundations. indeed, the ku klux klan’s rhetoric of the 1920s aligns on many fronts with modern nationalist and xenophobic movements in the u.s., which have a strong focus on the flag, americanism, endangered constitutional rights, and fears of a changing country (schrag, 2010). teachers might highlight the increased modern xenophobic rhetoric of politicians like donald trump and the scapegoating of immigrants for criminal activity. a strong example would be the 2018 state of the union address in which trump highlighted individuals killed by undocumented immigrants and marginalized those on family visas by pointing to a failed terrorist attack by an individual on a family visa (trump, 2018). he stressed these anecdotal examples without noting that native-born americans statistically commit more crimes than immigrants (bersani, 2014). xenophobic rhetoric is often present in modern day media, especially in certain right-leaning mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 157 political outlets such as fox news and breitbart. teachers might explore the emotions and fears that certain news stories or commentaries inflame and the possible link to past fears and misconceptions about immigrant communities. immigrants and the criminal justice system educators can also explore how, both historically and contemporarily, the justice system has tended to work against the interests of the immigrant population. perhaps the most famous historical example is the case of sacco and vanzetti, two italian men executed for murder; many suspected that their conviction was due to their radical political beliefs and ethnic background rather than actual proof of the crime (temkin, 2011). this was not a solitary case: violence and legal discrimination against italian americans and other immigrants were rampant. one of the worst cases occurred in 1891 when a mob of over 20,000 people lynched 11 italian american prisoners in new orleans, an attack secretly arranged by the louisiana establishment (rimanelli & postman, 1992). revealing past injustices carried out against immigrants can help students examine discrimination towards minorities and poor communities in the current criminal justice system. exploring historical cases like that of sacco and vanzetti is crucial because it is often easier to see and admit fault in hindsight. when similar injustices happen today, there are many who are quick to justify them for political, social, and racial reasons; indeed, as provine (2013) points out, due to the increased focus on immigration enforcement, mexicans and central americans often face “profiling, hyper-surveillance, abusive stops, problematic searches, and unwarranted detention.” modern cases of racial and ethnic discrimination in the justice system such as acts by individuals like former sheriff joe arpaio of phoenix, arizona (santos, 2016), the war on drugs, police brutality, incarceration rates among minority groups, and the often inhumane treatment of immigrants at largely for-profit prisons across the nation are important topics for examination and critique in the classroom. immigrants and the changing fabric of the nation another facet of immigration history that many students may fail to understand is how substantially past immigration impacted the “fabric” of the nation and the fear that this often wrought. today, these fears center around groups with different cultures and religions, particularly those of the islamic faith, and resistance to large-scale language changes like the increasing use of spanish in the united states. there can be a tendency to exaggerate the differences between current immigrants and modern american society while downplaying the mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 158 differences of past immigrants and american society, but past immigrants did not merely assimilate into the dominant culture—they helped change that culture. religious concerns it is critical to point out that the fear of religious differences is not a new phenomenon in the united states. in the 19th century, protestants feared the catholicism of groups such as the italians and irish, worrying that catholics would blindly follow the pope in rome and thus undermine the ideals of a republic founded on freedom of religion (oxx, 2013). many americans also felt extensive animosity towards the jewish immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, discriminating against jews in housing and education, stereotyping them in derogatory ways, and even accusing them of being responsible for the great depression (gerber, 1986). an intriguing way to illustrate the fears of different religions is to point out that critics of sitting presidents often accused them of being part of religions with which they were not associated. some of abraham lincoln’s critics accused him of being a catholic when irish immigration and anti-catholicism were at high levels, and franklin d. roosevelt was accused of being a jew while anti-semitism and hostility towards jewish immigrants were on the rise. in the modern context, critics labeled president obama as a muslim during a time of rampant fear and hatred of islam (parlett, 2014). in hindsight, fear of papal rule and judaism seems nonsensical. this may help students understand our current irrational, overblown fear of muslims. teachers can explore the multifaceted elements of terrorist activity in the united states which does not merely or even primarily entail islamic extremist groups (scott, 2015). language concerns both contemporarily and historically, there has been a resistance to change in language. in the 19th century, german was the second most spoken language in the united states (baron, 2014) and an “official alternative language of instruction” in schools in ohio and pennsylvania (zagofsky, 2011). however, in the 1880s, some states became fearful of the growing use of german, and the state of wisconsin banned catholic schools from continuing to use german as the primary language of instruction (leibowitz, 1969). the fear and animosity towards the german language and culture reached their highest levels around world war i when several states banned immigrants from speaking german on the phone, in the streets, and in religious services (crawford, 1990). mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 159 today, the second most spoken language is spanish, and there is once again resistance to a multilingual society. even in much of our education system, the choice of how we educate second language learners is often not so much about the top research, quality of education, or creating the best life prospects for students (stritikus, 2002), but about keeping the united states a primarily english-speaking nation. another example of resistance and fear regarding becoming a multi-lingual society is the move toward making english the “official language” in certain states (liu & sohkey, 2014). teachers can discuss the current resistance to more diversity in language, both in society and the school setting, and the underlying cultural anxieties that may drive this resistance. the “melting pot” fallacy the standard narrative that past immigrants abandoned their cultures, jumped into the “melting pot” of the united states, and quickly adopted american values is an oversimplification, as it often took generations for immigrants to “assimilate” into american society. in large cities, specific ethnic neighborhoods retained their cultures, foodways, languages, and traditions; these enclaves were often segregated by racist zoning policies (roediger, 2005). the fallacy of complete assimilation also overlooks the fact that immigrants changed the fabric of society (glazer & moynihan, 1963). not only did they change the culture in areas such as food, holidays, and cultural customs, they also helped both change and refine the ideals of american society. as immigrants from catholic and jewish faiths entered the public arena, they began to slowly alter the hegemony of protestantism in areas such as education (schultz, 2013). although the nation was founded on the ideals of freedom of religion and a separation of church and state, many of these ideals did not become solidified until the large-scale immigration of individuals from different religious backgrounds forced the nation to address religious issues in the civic arena. the immigrant populations also changed american society politically and economically. some immigrants embraced capitalism, but many sought to change the system and make it more just. immigrants were vital to the strength and success of the labor movement and ultimately to progressive social reforms (begston, 1999; michels, 2014). classroom application while immigration does change the fabric of the nation, we can see from the past how these are often necessary changes. a country can become so ethnocentric in its outlook that it loses all recognition of its faults and discrepancies. with immigrants coming into the country, the ideals of the american society are refined and helped shaped into a more perfect union. when students mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 160 understand that past immigration did lead to a changed society, but those changes were often beneficial, it can help frame the current immigrant debate in a different way. this can lead to a class discussion on how modern immigration is changing the country for the better. how are immigrants helping us to re-examine our values? what positive insights do immigrants bring to society? a rational and research-based discussion on the issue may lead students to see the often positive changes in american society that immigration can bring. some practical activities may help students understand this concept. for instance, students might investigate aspects of american culture that came from a specific ethnic group or several different ethnic groups, whether something as simple as food, sports, music, or technology, or something more nuanced like a specific philosophy, ideology, or element of our democratic system of government. alternatively, students might choose a specific ethnic group and explore the positive changes it contributed to american society. on a more personal level, students might interview a local immigrant and report on specific ways that the individual is contributing to the american society, not merely on an economic level but on a social and cultural level, with a special emphasis on how they may be assisting the united states in becoming a more just society. students can also explore the multi-faceted nature of what citizenship means to an immigrant in the context of the larger ideal of global identity (karlberg, 2008). conclusion as students begin to understand the history of immigration, the current immigration debate comes into clearer focus. the narrative that one’s ancestors came in “legally” or the “right way” is problematized with the realization that unlike in the past, modern working and middle class families often have little chance to immigrate legally to the country (american immigration center, 2014). by understanding the increasingly restrictive immigration policies, students may able to see what has led to the rise of undocumented immigration. this historical framework can shift the blame away from those immigrating illegally to a government that has created few legal options for certain populations. by understanding the discrimination and animosity that past immigrant groups faced, modern xenophobia can be exposed for what it is—a tool for demagogues to gain political power. as historian alan kraut (2016) puts it, “nativism is old wine in new bottles that perennially quenches the thirst of america’s fearful and suspicious.” perhaps students will begin to see the commonalities between “irish need not apply” signs of the 19th century and modern hateful rhetoric towards undocumented immigrants, refugees, and muslims. there can also be a greater mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 161 recognition of how differences in religion, language, and culture can lead to unwarranted and exaggerated fears and how these fears can lead to violence. in line with the goal of teaching for social justice, educators can use the history of immigration to help students understand how they can reform the current society. history helps reveal the great gaps and faulty reasoning in our modern immigration debate. it is difficult for students to deeply study the nation’s history of immigration and come away with strong xenophobic attitudes. when one studies u.s. history, it becomes clear that we have always been a nation of immigrants. for a more rational and compassionate outlook on modern immigration, students must truly explore u.s. history. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 162 references american immigration center (2014). how the united states immigration system works. immigration policy center. retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-statesimmigration-system-works anbinder, t. (1992). nativism and slavery: the northern know nothings and the politics of the 1850's. new york, ny: oxford university press. ball, m. (2016, september 2). donald trump and the politics of fear. the atlantic. retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trump-and-the-politicsof-fear/498116/ banks, j. a. (2004, december). teaching for social justice, diversity, and citizenship in a global world. the educational forum, 68 (4), 296-305. baron, d. (2014, september 3). america’s war on language. the web of language. retrieved from https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/116243 beecher, c. (1866). autobiography, correspondence, etc., of lyman beecher. vol. 1. new york ny: harper & brothers. bencivenni, m. (2014). italian immigrant radical culture: the idealism of the sovversivi in the united states, 1890-1940. new york, ny: nyu press. bengston, h. (1999). on the left in america: memoirs of the scandinavian-american labor movement. carbondale, il; southern illinois university press. bersani, b. e. (2014). an examination of first and second generation immigrant offending trajectories. justice quarterly, 31(2), 315-343. bower, h.h. (1923, august 4). why i am a klansman. the watcher on the tower. bregman, r. (2016). utopia for realists. amsterdam: the correspondent. campbell, k.m. (2015). a dry hate: white supremacy and anti-immigrant rhetoric in the humanitarian crisis on the u.s.-mexico border. west virginia law review 1081 (spring 2015). mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trump-and-the-politics-of-fear/498116/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trump-and-the-politics-of-fear/498116/ https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/116243 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 163 carens, j. h. (1987). aliens and citizens: the case for open borders. the review of politics, 49(02), 251-273. crawford, j. (1990). language freedom and restriction: a historical approach to the official language controversy. in effective language education practices & native language survival., ed. john reyner, 9-22. choctaw, ok: native american language issues. daniels, r. (2004). guarding the golden door: american immigration policy and immigrants since 1882. 1st ed. new york, ny: hill and wang. daniels, r. (1978). anti-chinese violence in north america. in the asian experience in north america: chinese and japanese. new york, ny: arno press. driscoll de alvarado, b. (1998). the tracks north: the railroad bracero program of world war ii. 1st ed. austin, tx: cmas books. ettinger, p.w. (2009). imaginary lines: border enforcement and the origins of undocumented immigration, 1882-1930. 1st ed. ed. austin, tx: university of texas press. fortier, a. (2006). the politics of scaling, timing and embodying: rethinking the 'new europe'. mobilities, 1(3), 313-331. gerber, d.a. 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(2008). discourse, identity, and global citizenship. peace review, 20(3), 310-320. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 164 keiper, t., & garcia, j. (2009). crossing borders: contemporary immigrant stories in historical context. social studies and the young learner, 22(2), 4-7. keller, g.f. (1878, may 11). the chinese must go. san francisco illustrated wasp. know-nothing party. (1856). party platform-1856. new york. retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-pressreleases/american-party-platform-1856 kozak, h. (2000). cultures of opposition: jewish immigrant workers, new york city, 1881-1905 (suny series, american labor history). albany, ny: suny press. kraut, a. 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(2015, june 24). homegrown extremists tied to deadlier toll than jihadists in u.s. since 9/11. the new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/tally-of-attacks-in-us-challengesperceptions-of-top-terror-threat.html mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/20/a-beating-in-boston-said-to-be-inspired-by-donald-trumps-immigrantcomments/?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=14679ea62e7aa7bd7ded2199828d5cb6&gwt=pay https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/20/a-beating-in-boston-said-to-be-inspired-by-donald-trumps-immigrantcomments/?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=14679ea62e7aa7bd7ded2199828d5cb6&gwt=pay https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/14/us/arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio-ruling.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/14/us/arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio-ruling.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/tally-of-attacks-in-us-challenges-perceptions-of-top-terror-threat.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/tally-of-attacks-in-us-challenges-perceptions-of-top-terror-threat.html journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 149-167 corresponding author: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 167 stritikus, t. 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(2012). the chinatown wars: chinese los angeles and the massacre of 1871. new york, ny: oxford university press. about the author: william david mccorkle is a doctoral student in social studies education at clemson university. mailto:wmccork@clemson.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 perception of ethiopian students and educators on the responsibility for good citizenship mulugeta yayeh worku bahir dar university, ethiopia abstract: the purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of ethiopian students and school practitioners as to whose responsibility it is to foster good citizenship. to achieve this purpose, a descriptive survey design was used. through different sampling techniques, 42 civic and ethical education teachers, 410 students, 157 non-civic and ethical education teachers, and 29 school leaders were selected from 20 schools. a questionnaire was used to gather data concerning participants’ perceptions on the responsibility of the three major stakeholders of good citizenship: traditional institutions (the family, community, and religious institutions), educational institutions, and nonacademic institutions (ngos, mass media, and political parties). results of the study revealed that the perceptions of ethiopian students and educators regarding the responsibility for good citizenship were narrow and incomplete. it is also understood that there has been much reliance on schools and their civic and ethical education teachers for the preparation of good citizens. in the article, the implications of these findings, both for policymaking and classroom practice, are indicated. key words: citizenship education, ethiopia, good citizenship, perception. introduction many scholars believe that education for good citizenship plays an important role in the process of preparing competent and responsible citizens. westheimer and kahne (2003), for example, contend that citizenship education has a paramount significance in preparing good citizens, citizens who are personally responsible, participative, and social justice-oriented individuals. parker and jarolimek (1997) also indicate that the teaching of citizenship education is decisive in preparing citizens who appreciate democracy and democratic living. for these scholars, failure mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 to educate children with the major ideas of democracy, through citizenship education, could lead to various undemocratic practices and mass sufferings. as parker (2014, p. 17) showed, “democratic citizens are not born with the knowledge, skills, and characters they need” to possess. this is the major reason that necessitates public education in general and citizenship education in particular. citizenship educators unanimously contend that the building up of democratic systems and democratic citizenship is unthinkable without the proper teaching of citizenship education (parker, 2014; parker & jarolimek, 1997; undp, 2004). thus, good citizenship and citizenship education, with much emphasis on student empowerment with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions, has become the central mission of schooling in many countries. in ethiopia, too, the issue of good citizenship has been given attention, particularly starting in the early 1990s. in fact, before the 1990s, there were some attempts to teach citizenship education through different school subjects. for instance, during the 1960s and early 1970s, ethiopian schools had been teaching their students some citizenship values through a school subject called moral education. the purpose of this subject, according to some sources (e.g., girma, 2006; moe, 2007), was to shape the character of students in line with the ethiopian orthodox christian faith and to instill obedience and a sense of subservience in the younger generation so that they would remain docile to the political, social, and economic order of the day. this nature of moral education prevailed in the country until the demise of the government of haile selassie i (19301974). likewise, during the military regime (1974-1991), a sort of citizenship education called political education was introduced to the ethiopian school curriculum (akalewold, 2005; solomon, 2008). however, since that government was a socialist-affiliated military government, it had no place for the teaching of major citizenship values and democratic ideals. its curriculum overemphasized the marxist-leninist ideology that the government was advocating (akalewold, 2005). due to this, political education of that period did not significantly contribute to making students understand and exercise their citizenship rights and responsibilities. despite these “efforts” to teach citizenship education before the 1990s, some ethiopian educators believe that the subjects taught prior to the 1990s could not be considered citizenship education. meron (2006, p. 251), for instance, arrived at the following conclusion: “both the imperial period's moral education and the dergue's political education cannot be taken as civic education, for both of them did not fundamentally deal with the rights, freedoms, and duties of ethiopian citizens.” mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 as stated earlier, the 1990s was a formative period for citizenship education in ethiopia. this was due to some socio-political developments that took place in the country (akalewold, 2005; girma, 2006). for instance, in may 1991, after protracted guerrilla fighting, the present ruling party, the ethiopian people’s revolutionary democratic front (eprdf), controlled political power by ousting the pro-socialist military government that ruled the country for 17 years. this political group then established a transitional government guided by the transitional period charter.1 in 1994, the new government introduced its education and training policy (etp) (solomon, 2008; tge, 1994). many analysts of the country’s education system consider this event as a milestone for the renewed interest in citizenship education in ethiopia. in 2007, the blueprint of civic and ethical education2 (cee), the policy document for citizenship education in ethiopia, was introduced. in this policy document, the involvement of major cee stakeholders, that is, the family, local community, religious institutions, schools, cee teachers, non-cee teachers, students, principals, supervisors, district education offices, various governmental institutions, the mass media, non-governmental organizations, and others, is recognized to be decisive in materializing the notion of good citizenship (moe, 2007). though much attention has been given to cee in ethiopia, the desire for good citizenship has not been successful. some local studies conducted on the implementation of cee reported that the subject has been in a process of implementation without the meaningful support of individuals and institutions that were responsible for good citizenship (moe, 2007; mulugeta, 2011; mulugeta, animaw, desalegn, & belay, 2011). due to this, the need to have good citizens who can play important roles in alleviating national and global problems seems unsuccessful. some studies (e.g., moe, 2007; mulugeta et al., 2011) and popular discourse indicate that cee in ethiopia has not been preparing citizens who can actively participate in all developmental issues of the country. this study aims to investigate the perceptions of ethiopian students and educators as to who is responsible for fostering good citizenship. specifically, it sought to understand their perceptions concerning the role of the three major stakeholders of cee, that is, traditional institutions (family, community, and religious institutions), educational institutions (and their professionals), and non-academic institutions (non-governmental organizations, political parties, and the media), in 1 this was the major legal instrument of the country that served as a constitution before the promulgation of the 1995 constitution. 2 this is the official name of citizenship education in ethiopia. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 preparing good citizenship. to that end, the present study is organized under the following three research questions: how do students and educators perceive the role of traditional institutions in preparing good citizenship? how do students and educators understand the responsibility of educational institutions and their professionals in preparing good citizenship? how do students and educators conceptualize non-academic institutions’ role in preparing good citizenship? needless to say, without a proper perception/attitude towards a certain issue, we are less likely to properly practice that issue. the present study, therefore, is expected to be significant in understanding the school community’s perception on the responsibility of good citizenship, as it will have direct implications for policymaking and classroom practices. for instance, based on the findings of the study, school practitioners, educational managers at different levels, and educational policymakers will have a better understanding of the topic under discussion. this in turn will help them to devise strategies that will meaningfully contribute to realizing the agenda of good citizenship in ethiopia. this study is also expected to be important to the international reader, as it has tried to illuminate the issue of good citizenship in the non-western world with no/little research account. in this regard, the findings of the study could serve as one source of discussion on citizenship education in the developing world in general and the sub-saharan region in particular. as far as the limitation of the present study is concerned, it is better to be aware of the following issues. first of all, the study was delimited geographically to four districts, 20 schools, and a limited number of research participants. besides, it was delimited to the investigation of only students’ and school practitioners’ perceptions on the responsibilities of good citizenship. the study did not examine the reasons behind participants’ perceptions and the actual involvement of stakeholders in the process of good citizenship. hence, the conclusions and generalizations of the study should be used cautiously. who is responsible for good citizenship? a brief look at the literature the task for democratic good citizenship is a formidable process that requires the active participation of different stakeholders. stated another way, the involvement of different individuals, groups, and institutions is decisive for the success of any citizenship education program (davies et al., 1999; gardner, et al., 2000; moe, 2007; parker, 1990; sharma, 2006; taneja, 1990). many citizenship educators (e.g., parker, 2014; quisumbing, 2002; sharma, 2006; taneja, 1990) contend that the family is the first important institution responsible for the teaching of major mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 citizenship values. taneja (1990), for instance, believes that the family is the first school where the first instructions of citizenship are acquired. as indicated by this educator, the child learns the first lessons about how to live with others, belongingness, personality, courtesy, cooperation, and responsibility in her/his home. supporting this idea, quisumbing (2002) indicates that the family is the first agency for socialization that enables the young individual to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills necessary for good citizenship. these ideas imply that the family, as the first social institution for children, plays a pivotal role in the teaching of various citizenship values. this, in turn, implies that failure to involve this institution could lead to poor achievements in citizenship education. similarly, many citizenship educators contend that the community is another important social organization with much responsibility for good citizenship. cook and westheimer (2006), for example, showed that the community is the best site for the teaching of democratic citizenship though many institutions are responsible for good citizenship, the role that schools play is unique and decisive. according to parker (2005), schools are the best places for the teaching of democratic citizenship education. for him, the diversity that schools demonstrate is less likely to be found in other social institutions such as the home, the church, the temple, or the mosque. berlach (1996) and branson (1998) also believe that schools are the most appropriate institutions for the teaching of citizenship education. the effectiveness of any school-based citizenship education program, however, largely depends on what is going on in each classroom. in this regard, teachers, as the ultimate curriculum implementers, play a decisive role in realizing the vision of citizenship education (gardner, et al., 2000; parker, 2005, 2014). it is the successful implementation of the curriculum by each individual teacher that culminates in the success of school missions. from this idea, therefore, one can understand that the role of teachers is critical to realize the mission of citizenship education. however, the question “should citizenship education be taught by a specialist or a generalist teacher?” has been one important issue in the field of citizenship education (kerr, 1999; taneja, 1990). nevertheless, many educators insist that the teaching of citizenship education should not be left only for some groups of teachers. in line with this, taneja (1990) has the following to say: the responsibility for such education [civic education] devolves upon every subject and every teacher on the staff. each subject contains its own disciplines and thus contributes to the development of character and intellect, which is essential for a thorough mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 understanding of the concepts of citizens….the teachers of language, mathematics, science, art, music, etc. have the supreme responsibility of inculcating among the children the values, ideas, and skills of good citizenship. (taneja, 1990, p. 231) the experience of many countries in teaching citizenship education is also consistent with the idea of taneja (1990). for instance, as kerr (1999) reported, in most of the countries he investigated there was no specific initial and in-service training for civics teachers. for this educator, the general trend was using generalist teachers in teaching the subject. national governments are not and should not be the only stakeholders in the process of citizenship education. instead, many other institutions need to be involved (davies, et al., 1999; mccowan, 2009; parker, 2014; undp, 2004; yishaq, 2007). for instance, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (ngos) are considered as strong partners of citizenship education. as yishaq (2007) argued, ngos are more effective than public institutions in the field of citizenship education due to their innovative practices, flexible approaches, utilization of diverse methods, and their proximity to the grassroots level. according to the undp (2004), civil society organizations could play a significant role in the process of citizenship teaching. their role in advocating for human rights, motivating people to participate in political processes, training for effective leadership, and promoting a favorable legal environment is reported to be important. institutions such as the media, political parties, and religious institutions also play important roles in realizing the vision for good citizenship (branson, 1998; cook & westheimer, 2006; davies, et al., 1999; sharma, 2006; undp, 2004). for instance, according to the undp (2004), an independent, neutral, pluralist, professional, and socially responsible media plays a significant role in the process of citizenship education. cook and westheimer (2006) also contend that the media, if properly approached, contributes a lot in realizing the mission of citizenship education. to sum up, the agenda for good citizenship needs the wholehearted participation of many stakeholders. though the stakeholders for good citizenship are many in number, in this study, they are classified as traditional institutions (family, community, and religious institutions), educational institutions and their professionals, and non-academic institutions outside schools. hence, the present study attempts to investigate the perceptions of ethiopian students and educators on the responsibility of these major stakeholders of good citizenship. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 methodology design of the study as indicated earlier, the purpose of this study was to investigate the school community's perception on the responsibility of major stakeholders for good citizenship. to achieve this purpose, a descriptive survey design using quantitative data gathering and analysis methods was employed. research participants the participants of this study were students, teachers, and school leaders selected from four districts and 20 schools located in east gojjam administrative zone of the amhara regional state, ethiopia. the study area is inhabited by the amhara people who speak the amharic language; the overwhelming majority of the people in this area are orthodox christians. due to this, the research participants who took part in this study were from these linguistic and religious backgrounds. during data gathering, there were 18 districts in east gojjam administrative zone. from these districts, four of them were selected using a purposive sampling technique. from the four districts, 14 upper primary (5-8), 4 general secondary (9-10), and 2 preparatory (11-12) schools were selected using the same sampling technique. half (7) of the upper primary and all of the general secondary and preparatory schools were located in small towns. the remaining 7 upper primary schools, however, were found in rural areas. geographical convenience and staff size were the criteria that the researcher used to select the sample districts and schools. from the schools selected, all cee teachers and school leaders (principals, vice principals, and supervisors) were selected using a comprehensive sampling technique. this is because their number was not large enough to be sampled through probability sampling. in this regard, a total of 42 cee teachers (89%), and 29 school leaders (76%) who were on duty during data gathering were selected as the sample of the study. as far as the number of students is concerned, a total of 410 students from the upper grades of each cycle (grades 8, 10, and 12) were selected using a stratified sampling technique. the reason for selecting students at the upper-grade levels of each cycle is due to the fact that students at these grade levels are more mature and experienced than students at the lower grades and would provide better information on the issue under investigation. in terms of sex, the majority of students (56%) were males while the remaining 44% were females. residence-wise, 39% of mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 the students were from rural schools while the remaining 61% were from urban schools. in terms of school level, 56%, 28%, and 16% of the students were from the upper primary, general secondary, and preparatory schools, respectively. students were between 14 and 18 years old. like the student participants, non-cee teachers were selected by using a stratified sampling technique. in this regard, 157 (30%) non-cee teachers, out of 523 teachers from the sample schools, were selected. overall, a total of 410 students, 42 cee teachers, 157 non-cee teachers, and 29 school leaders were selected as samples of this study. procedures and methods of data gathering as a descriptive survey, this study relies on quantitative data collected through a questionnaire. the questionnaire was prepared in amharic language. the major duties and responsibilities of cee stakeholders in ethiopia were referred while preparing this instrument. the instrument had 62 likert-type closed-ended items ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). in order to check the reliability of the questionnaire, pilot testing was conducted in two schools (one primary and one secondary) that were not selected for the main study. with the help of a colleague, an attempt was also made to check the content and face validity of the instrument. after getting the permission of concerned bodies and the consent of participants, the researcher proceeded to the actual data gathering process. the questionnaires were administered by the researcher himself, and attempts were made to briefly orient the research participants, particularly the students, on the purposes and procedures of filling out the questionnaire. students filled out the questionnaires in their classrooms in the presence of the researcher. all of the questionnaires distributed to the participants were returned to the researcher. data analysis the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using quantitative data analysis techniques. two descriptive statistical tools, mean and standard deviation, were used. finally, in this study, unreserved efforts were made to strictly observe the major ethical principles of research. in this regard, the duty of a researcher to respect the rights, needs, values, and desires of participants during the data gathering and analysis processes were given due attention. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 findings participants’ perception on the role of traditional institutions as indicated earlier, the first research question of this study is: “how do students and educators perceive the role of traditional institutions in preparing good citizenship?” for this purpose, respondents (i.e., students, cee teachers, non-cee teachers, and school leaders) were asked to rate, using 14 survey items, the role that these institutions could play. their responses are presented in table 1. table 1 respondents’ ratings on the responsibility of traditional institutions respondent traditional institution family local community religious institutions m sd m sd m sd students (n=410) 3.0 .80 2.7 .55 3.2 .69 cee teachers (n=42) 3.2 .76 2.7 .45 3.4 .49 non-cee teachers (n=157) 2.8 .75 2.5 .62 3.5 .73 school leaders (n=29) 3.3 .78 2.7 .63 3.3 .49 grand mean 3.0 .77 2.6 .56 3.3 .6 as shown in table 1, the grand means of the three groups of participants concerning the responsibility of family and religious institutions are around the expected mean (3). this result implies that these two institutions were perceived as having a modest (medium) role in the development of good citizenship. however, the grand mean of the three respondents regarding the responsibility of the local community is below the expected mean. from this result, it is possible to understand that the responsibilities of these institutions on the issue under consideration were not perceived as very crucial. overall, the results obtained from table 1 suggest that, in the eyes of ethiopian students mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 and educators, the responsibilities of the three traditional institutions in the process of preparing good citizenship were not decisive. participants’ perception on the role of educational institutions and their professionals understanding students' and educators' perception on the responsibility of educational institutions (i.e., schools, district education offices, and their professionals) in relation to good citizenship was another concern of this study. using 35 survey items, participants were asked to rate their responsibility for good citizenship. their responses are presented in tables 2, 3, 4, and 5. table 2 respondents’ ratings on the responsibility of schools and district education offices respondent schools district education offices m sd m sd students (n=410) 4.20 .81 1.80 .92 cee teachers (n=42) 4.10 .95 1.80 .76 non-cee teachers (n=157) 4.00 .90 2.10 .94 school leaders (n=29) 4.63 .49 2.36 .49 grand mean 4.23 .78 2.01 .77 as indicated in table 2, students, cee teachers, non-cee teachers, and school leaders rated the responsibility of schools vis-à-vis good citizenship more than the expected mean (3). the grand mean, in particular, suggests that the perception of ethiopian students and educators concerning the responsibility of school institutions was very high. this, in turn, implies that there has been much reliance on schools in the process of good citizenship. however, as can be seen in the same table, district education offices’ responsibility in the process of good citizenship was not well acknowledged. this is because all of the respondents rated their responsibility below the expected mean. the result implies that these institutions have not been visible to the school community in discharging their responsibility for good citizenship. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 table 3 respondents’ ratings on the responsibility of teachers and school leaders respondent cee teachers non-cee teachers principals supervisors m sd m sd m sd m sd students (n=410) 4.25 .88 2.29 .43 2.50 .74 2.10 .76 cee teachers (n=42) 4.70 .46 2.01 .21 2.90 .54 2.76 .50 non-cee teachers (n=157) 4.50 .81 2.18 .23 2.80 .60 2.30 .78 school leaders (n=29) 4.54 .50 2.31 .03 3.63 .80 3.00 .61 grand mean 4.49 .66 2.19 .22 2.95 .67 2.54 .66 table 3 presents respondents’ ratings concerning the responsibility of teachers (both cee and non-cee teachers) and school leaders (principals and supervisors) in the preparation of good citizenship. all of the respondents rated the responsibility of cee teachers for good citizenship highly, as the grand mean of all respondents was more than 4. respondents’ ratings on the role of non-cee teachers, however, were below the expected mean. this implies that students and educators did not recognize the role that these teachers play in the process of good citizenship as decisive. as can be seen in the same table, except the mean of schools leaders, all of the respondents rated the responsibility of principals and supervisors below the expected mean. this result implies that the role of school leaders in the process of good citizenship was somewhat low. participants’ perception on the role of non-academic institutions in order to answer the third basic research question (“how do students and educators conceptualize non-academic institutions’ role in preparing good citizenship?”), 13 survey items were presented to the research participants. their ratings are presented in table 4. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 table 4 respondents’ ratings on the responsibility of non-academic institutions respondent non-academic institution ngos mass media political parties m sd m sd m sd students (n=410) 2.10 .53 2.10 .53 1.65 .65 cee teachers (n=42) 2.50 .50 2.60 .67 2.06 .59 non-cee teachers (n=157) 2.63 .49 2.90 .68 2.54 .50 school leaders (n=29) 2.30 .46 2.40 .66 1.90 .70 grand mean 2.38 .49 2.5 .63 2.03 .61 table 4 shows the means and grand means of students,’ cee teachers,’ non-cee teachers,’ and school leaders’ ratings concerning the responsibility of ngos, mass media, and political parties in preparing good citizenship. however, as can be seen in this table, their ratings were below the expected mean. from the grand mean of the respondents, it is also possible to understand that among the three institutions, political parties were perceived to have the least responsibility. the second from the bottom are ngos. generally, this result suggests that the responsibility of the three nonacademic institutions in building good citizenship was not adequately acknowledged by the ethiopian school communities. discussion as already stated, for the success of any citizenship education program, the responsibility for good citizenship must be shared among its major stakeholders. it was in line with this idea that the present study has attempted to assess the perception of ethiopian students and educators as to who is responsible for good citizenship. however, the findings of the study suggest that most of the ethiopian stakeholders for good citizenship were not satisfactorily recognized. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 for instance, traditional institutions such as the family, local community, and religious institutions were perceived by ethiopian students and educators as having only a modest role. the findings of the study also revealed that there has been much reliance on schools and their cee teachers for the preparation of good citizenship. besides, from the present study it was understood that other powerful stakeholders of citizenship education within the education system (e.g., nonceec teachers, school principals, and supervisors) were not considered important in the process of good citizenship. the study also revealed that members of school communities did not adequately recognize the role that non-academic institutions play in preparing good citizenship. most of the findings of the present study are consistent with some research findings and ideas of renowned citizenship educators. for instance, the finding related to the traditional stakeholders of citizenship education is found to be similar to that of the unesco (2003). in that study, the participation of the traditional upholders of ethical and citizenship values was reported to be declining. the present finding on the same issue is also similar to the positions of some famous social studies educators. for instance, it is in line with the ideas of parker (2014), who showed that the involvement of parents in the process of democratic citizenship was unsatisfactory. this study also strengthens the conclusion of cook and westheimer (2004), who reported inadequate participation of the community in the process of good citizenship. although further studies are necessary to better understand the reason(s) behind the inadequate involvement of traditional institutions, it is possible to reflect on one of the possible factors. the author, based on his personal experience and observations, believes that one of the possible reasons for the rhetoric-reality gap on the participation of traditional institutions is related to the general demographic characteristics of the ethiopian population. ethiopia, as one of the least developed sub-saharan african countries, is inhabited by more than 80 million people. of these, about 80% live in the rural areas engaged in traditional farming and pastoralism. this part of the population is also illiterate and unfamiliar with the basics of democratic good citizenship. in this social context, therefore, expecting parents, the local community, and religious institutions to discharge their responsibilities for good citizenship seems illogical. hence, this general social context of ethiopia, the researcher contends, could be the major reason why these traditional institutions were perceived to be insignificant in preparing good citizenship. some citizenship education scholars (e.g., parker, 1990) contend that the social studies curriculum and its teachers are more responsible than any other stakeholder in the preparation mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 of democratic good citizenship. the present study is also found to be consistent with this idea. this is because its finding on the issue under discussion showed that cee teachers in ethiopia were perceived to be more responsible than any other professional and institution in the process of good citizenship. this perception of the participants implies that cee teachers were discharging their responsibility of good citizenship better than any other stakeholder. the present study’s finding on the role of non-academic institutions was also somewhat consistent with some previous studies. for instance, it supports the position of mccowan (2009), who concludes that the involvement of ngos in citizenship education was unsatisfactory. it is also in line with the finding of cook and westheimer (2006). in that study, the authors reported that the involvement of the media in the process of democratic citizenship was insufficient. from the above discussion, therefore, it is possible to understand that the major challenges of citizenship education, particularly those related to its stakeholder participation, are somewhat pervasive in all parts of the world. this study confirms that most of the problems of citizenship education identified by many scholars globally are also challenges for cee in ethiopia. conclusions and implications based on the findings of the present study, the following conclusions are made. first, students and educators in ethiopian schools perceived traditional institutions as less important in building good citizens. in other words, traditional institutions’ ability in bringing up good citizens was not given much credence. second, in this study it was understood that there has been much reliance on schools and their cee teachers for the preparation of good citizenship. other in-school stakeholders of citizenship education such as non-cee teachers, principals, and supervisors were not considered strong partners for good citizenship. finally, in this study, the role of some nonacademic institutions (e.g., ngos, political parties, and the media), in building good citizenship was not perceived to be decisive. overall, the perception of ethiopian students and educators as to whose responsibility is good citizenship was found to be narrow, incomplete, and unsatisfactory. the findings of this study have far-reaching implications requiring much work in the future. this work needs to focus on the following areas: first, all concerned bodies need to exert unreserved efforts to create awareness on the responsibility of good citizenship. to be specific, government bodies need to conduct recurrent discussions with school practitioners focusing on their roles and responsibilities for fostering good citizenship. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 second is the need to conduct big nation-wide research projects on the issue under consideration. the research projects need to aim at exploring the reasons behind students’ and educators’ narrow, incomplete, and unsatisfactory perceptions on the responsibilities of many stakeholders of good citizenship. furthermore, through more advanced research methods, they need to explore the actual involvement of stakeholders in the process of good citizenship. finally, it is always important to remember that the preparation of democratic good citizenship and the building up of a democratic system are formidable tasks that require the wholehearted participation and passionate commitment of all its stakeholders. as davies, gregory, and riley (1999, p. 156) convincingly indicated, “in a participative democracy, everyone is a teacher.” this idea needs to be considered as the best answer to the question, “who is responsible for good citizenship?” the noble aim of citizenship education and the preparation of democratic good citizenship cannot remain a dream in developing countries like ethiopia, provided that an enabling environment that allows the active participation of all its stakeholders is created. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 references: akalewold, e. (2005). civics and ethics education curriculum policy: recent government’s interest and subsequent development. ier flambeau, 13(2), 39-56. berlach, r. g. (1996). citizenship education: australian and singaporean perspectives. australian journal of teacher education, 21(2), 1-15. branson, m. s. (1998). the role of civic education. washington, dc: center for civic education. cogan, j. j., & derricott, r. (2000). citizenship for the 21st century: an international perspective on education. london, england: kogan page limited. cook, s., & westheimer, j. (2006). introduction: education and democracy. canadian journal of education, 29(2), 347-358. davies, i., gregory, i., & riley, s. c. (1999).good citizenship and educational provision. london, england: falmer press. gardner, r., cairns, j., & lawton, d. (2000).education for values: moral, ethics, and citizenship in contemporary teaching. london, england: kogan page limited. girma, a. (2006). the implementation of grade 8 civic and ethical education: the case of addis ababa city administration. unpublished ma thesis, aau. kerr, d. (1999). citizenship education: an international comparison. retrieved on november 4, 2010 from http://www.inca.org.uk/pdf/citizenship-nointro.pdf mccowan, t. (2009). rethinking citizenship education: a curriculum for participatory democracy. london, england: continuum. meron, t. (2006). civic education and students of higher learning: a case study. proceedings of the 4th national conference on private higher education in ethiopia. addis ababa: st. mary’s university college. moe – ministry of education. (2002). the federal democratic republic of ethiopia education sector development program ii: program action plan. addis ababa: ministry of education moe – ministry of education. (2005). the federal democratic republic of ethiopia education sector development program iii: program action plan. addis ababa: ministry of education, moe – ministry of education. (2007). blueprint of civic and ethical education. addis ababa: empda. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.inca.org.uk/pdf/citizenship-no-%20%20          intro.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 mulugeta, y. (2011). fostering societal values through appropriate strategies: the case of some selected schools in east gojjam administrative zone. journal of teacher education, 2(1), 31-61. mulugeta, y., animaw, t., desalegn, b., & belay, t. (2011). evaluative research on the effectiveness of civic and ethical education program: with particular reference to schools in east gojjam administrative zone. journal of educational research, 1(1), 2756. parker, w. c. (1990). assessing citizenship. the association for supervision and curriculum development. retrieved on october 1, 2017, from http://www.ascd.org/ ascd/ pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199011_parker.pdf parker, w. c. (2005). teaching against idiocy. phi delta kappan, 86(5), 344-351. parker, w. c. (2014). citizenship education in the united states: regime type, foundational issues, and classroom practice. in l. p. nucci, d. narvaez, & t. krettenauer (eds.), the handbook of moral and character education (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. parker, w. c., & jarolimek, j. (1997). social studies in elementary education (10th ed.). toronto, canada: prentice-hall, inc. pritchard, m. s. (1996). responsible children. kansas: university press of kansas. quisumbing, l. r. (2002). citizenship education for better world societies: a holistic approach. retrieved january 23, 2017, from http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents /%20quisumbingcitizenship.pdf sharma, y. k. (2006). sociological philosophy of education. new delhi, india: kanishka publishers. solomon, a. (2008). policy formulation, curriculum development and implementation in ethiopia. addis ababa: the book center, addis ababa university. taneja, v. r. (1990). educational thought and practice. new delhi, india: sterling publishers. tge – transitional government of ethiopia. (1994). education and training policy. addis ababa: empda. undp – united nations development program. (2004). civic education: practical guidance note. retrieved on october 17, 2010, from http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/docs 04/ civic%20educatio.pdf unesco – united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. (2003). report of the working group on the teaching of ethics. paris, france: comest. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.ascd.org/%20ascd/%20pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199011_parker.pdf http://www.ascd.org/%20ascd/%20pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199011_parker.pdf http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents%20/%20quisumbingcitizenship.pdf http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents%20/%20quisumbingcitizenship.pdf http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/docs%2004/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 103-120 corresponding author: gashu65@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41(2), 237-269. about the author: mulugeta yayeh worku is an instructor at the department of teacher education and curriculum studies, bahir dar university, ethiopia. he teaches courses of teacher education and curriculum studies. his research interest includes teacher education, action research and citizenship education. currently, he is finalizing his phd dissertation focusing on the role of education in social reconstruction. mailto:gashu65@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: this issue opens with the article by brad maguth (the university of akron) and huiyong yang (henan university, china) the united nation’s sustainable development goals as a global content framework? that received the 2019 ncss international assembly best paper award. congratulations, brad and huiyong! in this article, the authors consider the use of the united nation’s sustainable development goals (sdg) as a prospective global content knowledge framework to impart global learning in social studies. middle-grades ancient world history content standards from two countries, china and the u.s., were reviewed to evaluate the degree of their alignment to the united nations’ sustainable development goals, particularly goal 5: gender equality. the authors found little direct content alignment between content presented in the sdg and the reviewed content standards. the authors also discuss how to prepare learners to live up to the expectations of the sustainable development goals in social studies classrooms. australia’s involvement in world war i continues to capture the public’s imagination in a way that surpasses many other historical events in australia’s history. this is particularly due to popular culture representations, children’s literature, popular and academic history publications, and educational resources at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. as a result, by the time high school students study the unit on australia’s involvement in wwi, they are already familiar with the common tropes of narratives surrounding australia’s first major military campaign, gallipoli, however inaccurate they may be. australian high school students on commemorating the gallipoli campaign: “it baffles me” and “it’s a bit weird” by heather sharp and melanie innes from university of newcastle, australia reports on research conducted in three australian high schools that provided students with a collection of five sources and a series of questions to answer about the gallipoli campaign as a historical and commemorative event. the research is interested in understanding how the gallipoli campaign is perceived at the time of its 100-year anniversary and to see whether or how students reflect collective memory and official history in their own narratives of the nation. in search of a more effective strategy: using simulation games instructional strategy for the teaching and learning of social studies in secondary school by clifford edore ogheneakoke, sunday obro, and joseph benike from delta state university, abraka, nigeria investigates the effect of simulation game instructional strategy on academic performance of students in secondary school social studies. the authors used 50-items multiple-choice social studies achievement test (ssat) to collect data. the result of the study showed that simulation games instructional strategy enhanced students’ performance in the social studies classroom. based on mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 the findings the authors recommended among that simulation games strategy should be used in teaching social studies. in their article overseas student teachers’ reflections on american national identity: a longitudinal study, frans doppen and bahman shahri from ohio university analyzed written reflections of 78 student teachers across all grade bands [k-12] and content areas who completed three months of student teaching in an overseas country through the consortium for overseas student teaching (cost) during their final undergraduate senior year between summer 2008 – summer 2018. each student submitted a written reflection in response to the questions: what did you learn about yourself as an american? what did you learn about others’ perspectives of what it is that makes someone american? the findings include 12 major themes combined into three major categories: socialization, hegemony and individuation. using an ecological perspective, chris mcgrew, john conant, cristle miller from indiana state university and sandy huber from laporte community school corporation address the problem of the narrowing of the k-12 curriculum and how it changed the relationship between teachers and the community. their article rebuilding community connections through experiential professional development describes an effort by the economic development organization in indiana to help rebuild those relationships through an experiential learning professional development activity. the authors conclude that the concerns of environmental sustainability and economic vitality are central to this generation of learners and that understanding these complex environmental management issues provides teachers with an experience that they are able to bring into their classrooms and share with their students. the article also includes sample teacher developed work plans for teaching economic concepts and skills through community based experiences. how do we explain the disintegration of a super power? what theories of change may be valid in a case that has no precedent? the essay titled using social science inquiry for explaining major events in global history: the disintegration of the soviet union as a case study by iftikhar ahmad (long inland university) seeks to explore the causes of the disintegration of the soviet union through the formulation and testing of a correlative hypothesis: a strong correlation exists between the break-up of the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) and the disintegration of the soviet state. the author is convinced that this hypothesis is specific, testable, verifiable, and it is supported by historical evidence and events examined in the paper. anatoli rapoport mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 investigating the cultural competence of preservice teachers: comparisons and considerations suzanne elizabeth macqueen university of newcastle, australia ruth reynolds university of newcastle, australia kate ferguson-patrick university of newcastle, australia abstract: cultural competence is an important skill for 21st century teaching and learning, and as such, it features in various international teacher standards and accreditation documents. teachers must be culturally competent so they can cater for diversity in their classrooms and prepare their students to live and work in a global economy/environment. preparing preservice teachers for this role is not a particularly easy task, made more difficult given that diversity among teachers does not always match diversity of students in schools; furthermore, cultural competence is a contested concept. in this paper, we consider issues in the assessment of cultural competence from the research literature and focus on findings from one survey with preservice teachers at a regional university in australia. comparing these data with findings from an earlier study of american preservice teachers, we discuss significant differences from the two cohorts in responses to some survey items. some findings raise issues around the suitability of cultural competence instruments across different contexts. key words: cultural competence, assessment, preservice teachers, diversity, teacher education mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 introduction there are essentially two reasons why scrutiny of teachers’ ability to develop cultural competence in their students has been seen as a 21st century educational necessity. the first reason is that classrooms (that is, teaching environments) are increasingly becoming more diverse in terms of teachers and students in a time of unprecedented mass diaspora internationally. the second reason is because we are increasingly engaged in global connections where what happens in one part of the world directly affects other parts of the world, and so to be unaware of (and uninvolved in) these connections is to be unprepared for the problems and opportunities they afford (reynolds & vinterek, 2013). as teacher educators, we wanted to determine answers to the following research questions: • how culturally competent are our preservice teachers? • how does the cultural competence of our preservice teachers compare to preservice teachers elsewhere? defining cultural competence there is a multitude of different terms associated with global competence and especially with education designed to develop global competence. most recently, the asia society and oecd joint publication teaching for global competence in a changing world (2018) and the oecd/pisa global competence framework global competency for an inclusive world (2018) are indicative of the increased use of the term global competence. this is in contrast to terms such as intercultural understanding (australian curriculum assessment and reporting authority [acara], 2017), intercultural sensitivity (bennett, 1993), culturally responsive teaching (gay, 2010; villegas & lucas, 2002), culturally relevant teaching (ladson-billings, 1995), global education (tye & kniep, 1991), intercultural education (united nations educational, 2006), and, broadly speaking, multicultural education (banks, 1993). these terms offer slightly different perspectives on the issue of addressing classroom diversity and diverse worldviews locally, as well as the need for a global worldview. this highlights the fact that there are substantial issues associated with assessing such a complex concept as cultural competence. deardorff (2006) coined the definition of intercultural competence most often cited: “the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations” (p. 247). diller and moule (2005) explain cultural competence as the ability to self-reflect on professional beliefs and expectations of minority cultures and translate this reflection into actions that ameliorate social mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 injustices. cultural (often termed “intercultural”) competence requires “…an openness, a willingness, and an ability to collaborate with those people who [are] different from oneself, which is underscored by enhanced intercultural skills and competence” (cushner, 2011, p. 612). it involves the ability to “interact effectively and appropriately with people from other cultures” (perry & southwell, 2011, p. 455). the goal of cultural competence is to reduce prejudice and discrimination against oppressed groups, to work toward an equitable distribution of power among the stakeholders in education, and to enrich equal opportunity and social justice for all groups (grant & sleeter, 2006). a useful summary definition of teacher cultural competence comes from he (2013): teachers need abilities to recognize their own world views, to understand and embrace the cultural diversity of their students, and to confront their potential biases and assumptions in their interactions with diverse students and their families. (p. 56) cultural competency is acknowledged as a vital skill (cushner & mahon, 2009) and is evident in australian and international curriculum documents and teaching standards (australian curriculum assessment and reporting authority [acara], 2015; australian institute for teaching and school leadership, 2011; council for the accreditation of educator preparation [caep], 2013; department for education, 2013; ministerial council on education employment training & youth affairs [mceetya], 2008). despite this, it seems to be destined to remain at the margins in teacher education programs unless more consistent programs of planning and assessment are instigated. diversity in classrooms school students represent an increasingly diverse groups of cultures, languages, and beliefs (keengwe, 2010). in australia, for example, there has been an 11.8% increase in the number of foreign students enrolling into schools (nsw department of education, 2016), while young people report that two-thirds of negative intercultural interactions occur in schools (mansouri & jenkins, 2010). figures from the organisation for economic cooperation and development (oecd, 2013) indicate that internationally, the number of students who might experience being the cultural minority in the classroom is rising due to a steady increase in migration. the percentage of non-white children in u.s. classrooms is expected to reach 54% by 2024 (kena et al., 2016). figures from the australian bureau of statistics (2017) showed that 49% of australians either had been born overseas (first generation australian) or one or both parents had been born overseas (second generation australian). after english, the next most common languages spoken mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 at home in australia were mandarin, arabic, cantonese, and vietnamese, while the percentage of people identifying as being of aboriginal or torres strait islander origin was also rising. in australia, 2017 data for the state of new south wales (population over 7.5 million) showed that just over a third of government school students came from homes where languages other than english were spoken, with that figure having increased since the previous year (nsw department of education, 2018). the statistics quoted here relate primarily to macrocultural elements of diversity and not to other aspects such as socioeconomic status or range of literacy standards, which also require differentiated approaches from teachers. preparing preservice teachers for cultural competence the increased diversity of cultures in our classrooms (santoro, 2015; vass, 2017) means that there is an increased need for teachers of the future to understand how to work with diverse groups of cultures, languages, and beliefs that may be present in any classroom (keengwe, 2010). when a teacher displays cultural competence, they demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and take action accordingly. educators therefore require skills in a number of areas in order to truly teach for cultural competence. as an initial step, preservice teachers require a heightened awareness of the diverse cultures they will be teaching and a disposition that demonstrates they are aware of, sensitive to, and able to respond to these diverse students. certainly, a local cultural competence as well as a global cultural competence is required to “examine local, global and intercultural issues, understand and appreciate different perspectives and world views, interact successfully and respectfully with others, and take responsible action toward sustainability and collective well-being” (oecd, 2018, p. 4). the increased diversity in classrooms makes it vital that cultural competence is incorporated in teacher education (te) courses internationally, particularly because diversity in schools is not mirrored in the teaching population or te cohorts of countries including the u.s., u.k., canada, australia, and in europe (causey, thomas, & armento, 2000). despite the evident diversity in school students, the teaching population has been overwhelmingly anglo-australian and mostly middle-class (allard & santoro, 2004, 2006). cushner, mcclelland, and safford (2000) noted that in the u.s., teacher education students also tend to be cross-culturally inexperienced and spend most of their time with people of their own ethnic and racial group. cushner (2015) states that in england, between 90-95% of teachers are white, and in new zealand, about 80% are european/pakeha. even in international schools, where there is often a more diverse group of nationalities represented, the teachers have often been trained in the norms and practices of their own national—often western—culture (pearce, 2013). when serious attempts to increase mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 diversity in the teaching profession are undertaken, for example as suggested by the new u.s. standards for teacher preparation (council for the accreditation of educator preparation [caep], 2015), many of the targeted preservice teachers are first-in-family (fif) to attend university. fif students are often limited in opportunities to develop their own intercultural experiences through travel (including overseas study opportunities), field trips, or professional experiences in varied locations due to lack of funds, paid work, or family commitments (macqueen & fergusonpatrick, 2015). mills and ballantyne (2010), noting that dispositions for increasing multicultural awareness develop in a sequential fashion, argued for the provision of appropriate instruction about diversity over a period of time. we cannot simply recruit diverse groups of teachers and assume they will be good at developing cultural competence, particularly when it is obvious that cultural competence is a complex notion. preparation of preservice teachers in a structured manner to be culturally competent is needed to adequately address the student diversity in our schools and reduce prejudice and discrimination. programming for and assessing preservice teachers’ cultural competence there are many different facets to developing cultural competence. in order to display cultural competence within the teaching profession, pedagogical tools and methods must be adapted to accommodate and enhance the learning styles of individual students within the classroom. developing cultural competence is difficult with teachers who may have “very limited experiences with people and cultures different from their own” and who also often “lack a sense of personal connectedness with global issues and others in the world” (cushner, 2015, p. 9). many research studies come from a perspective that assumes that most teachers entering teacher preparation programs believe that society is just and schools are fair and equitable. a key starting point for teacher educators in programs for primarily white, monocultural preservice teachers is to clarify some of the inequity in the “system” and develop critical awareness of the privilege they have in racially, ethnically, and linguistically dominant cultural groups. challenging the cultural deficit mindset in preservice teachers, school students, and teachers is also essential (ladson-billings, 2014; sleeter, 2018). preservice teachers can then hopefully learn to value diversity and look for assets in such diversity (cochran-smith et al., 2015; knight et al., 2015). bustamante, skidmore, nelson, and jones (2016) argued that intentional planning and assessment is required to equip preservice teachers with the requisite skills to respond appropriately with the diversity in their classrooms. however, as vass (2017) notes, assessing school students, preservice teachers, and teachers as to the extent to which they are culturally mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 competent is a demanding business. as well as limited curriculum opportunities for teachers to address issues of value for developing cultural competence (he, 2013; macqueen & fergusonpatrick, 2015), there is also the problem of establishing the need to do so. teaching pedagogies need to be responsive and relevant to the cultural experiences and practices of young people, but they must also “support young people in sustaining the cultural and linguistic competence of their communities while simultaneously offering access to dominant cultural competence” (paris, 2012, p. 95). thus, teachers must “foster cultural competence, emotional awareness, and leadership skills to facilitate not just interactions, but meaningful interactions and relationships” (kereluik, mishra, fahnoe, & terry, 2013, p. 133). once a program of work is developed, the question of assessment emerges. currently, there is a plethora of instruments and approaches that can be used to assess cultural competence in teaching. intercultural competence is generally related to four dimensions: knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors (perry & southwell, 2011). there is a need to teach and display these four factors when immersed in “appropriate and effective interaction in a variety of contexts” (cushner, 2015, p. 12), including in instances associated with racial prejudice and stereotyping. thus, appropriate assessment for cultural competence must encompass these factors. popular tools to assess cultural competence include tests of teacher self-efficacy, tests to clarify empathy, and interview or observational data to clarify values and beliefs and cross-cultural interactional capacities. many tests of self-efficacy—mainly survey-based—for teachers and preservice teachers have been developed with a view that if teachers feel capable of culturally responsive teaching, they are more likely to enact this teaching (siwatu, 2007). empathy developed from a systematic process of perspective-taking has also been seen as a useful tool to build culturally responsive teachers. this involves field experience, critical classroom discourse, and exposure to literature that addresses cultural issues and social justice (warren, 2018). empathy requires some degree of sensitivity and may possibly be assessed through quantitative instruments such as the intercultural development inventory (hammer, bennett, & wiseman, 2003). the idi, often used to assess the impact of study abroad experiences, provides a ranking of how culturally sensitive participants are and then provides ideas for educators to address the educational needs of these learners. it is a developmental tool focusing on the idea that there is a sequence involved in developing these skills. this has implications for the sequence provided in teacher education programs, which may be quite disjunctive (darling-hammond, 2006). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 thorough assessment, however, would also ideally include some self-reflective journals or group discussions (chiu et al., 2017; siwatu et al., 2016). primarily qualitative methodologies have been used to assess changes in values and beliefs of teachers and preservice teachers, but cochransmith et al. (2015) argue that few of these have clarified useful pedagogies to affirm diversity and/or to enable beliefs to be put into practice to ensure better learning outcomes for students. it is also rare to find powerful cognitive approaches to teacher education which address beliefs and dispositions with reflection on the ensuing action/practice and then link that to student outcomes in terms of developing cultural competence (cochran smith et al., 2015). in this research, we were trying to find useful tools to assess the progress of our programs of cultural competence, and we made the decision to use the survey devised by liang and zhang (2009) and scrutinized by bustamante et al. (2016) as a starting point for considering our preservice teachers’ cultural competence. bustamante et al. (2016), along with other researchers, stressed the need to test instruments as well as develop them in order to “assess preservice teacher program effectiveness and make evidence-based program improvements” (p. 308). liang and zhang (2009) drew on many studies when establishing their initial model, with garmon’s (2004) work appearing to be particularly influential. garmon (2004) emphasized the importance of self-reflection on beliefs and intercultural practices of cultural sensitivity and then positive interaction with students to focus on social justice. we felt that this would be a suitable tool to clarify the success of at least some of our interventions to promote the cultural competence of our preservice teacher cohort. method the authors work at a regional australian university (for the purposes of this paper, we will refer to it as regional university) with a history of equity initiatives, which is a large provider of te programs. one of our goals has been to develop the cultural competence of our preservice teachers, who we hope will utilize their skills in their future classes, thereby also developing the cultural competence of their own students. much of our focus has been on qualitative research clarifying beliefs and critically scrutinizing practices students have used and seen during their professional experience sessions along with some use of the intercultural development inventory (idi) (hammer et al., 2003) in study abroad programs. regional university’s te program cohorts include a high percentage of students who are first in family (fif) to attend university and students from low ses backgrounds. there is little cultural diversity among the te cohort, as is the case with many teacher education programs in australia (allard & santoro, 2004, 2006) and mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 elsewhere (causey, thomas, & armento, 2000). this makes it an interesting setting in which to assess preservice teacher cultural competence. to determine our preservice teachers’ levels of cultural competence, the researchers invited preservice teachers enrolled in courses we taught to complete a minor adaptation of liang and zhang’s (2009) cultural competence quantitative survey at the conclusion of their courses. liang and zhang’s (2009) 17 item survey, a reduction from their original 49 questions, is based on item analysis and evaluation by an expert panel. the remaining 17 items cover four factors deemed by liang and zhang to be important for teachers in teaching for intercultural competence: (a) believing that all students can learn; (b) self-reflective and critical examination of one’s own behaviours working with students of diverse background; (c) setting up high standards and communicating these high teacher expectations to students; and (d) standing up to challenge and ameliorating prejudice and discrimination. (p. 19) the survey authors established reliability and validity within their own research context—a large regional university in the u.s. with similarities to our australian context—and the instrument has been used by others (bustamante et al., 2016). our adaptation replaced a reference to “u.s. public schools” with “australian public schools.” all other items were unchanged from the original. anonymous surveys were completed voluntarily by 597 preservice teachers in the second, third, or fourth years of their four-year primary and early childhood undergraduate degrees. participants rated their agreement or disagreement to each of 17 statements with a likert scale type response, from 1=strongly disagree through to 7=strongly agree. as per liang and zhang (2009), certain items in the instrument are reverse coded, so that for all items, after coding, a higher number indicates higher cultural awareness. the survey items were grouped into four scales, being related to: professional belief, self-reflection, teacher expectation, and action to challenge. liang and zhang (2009) suggested that preservice teachers’ cultural competence evolved from understanding to feeling before reaching the point where they would take action. the survey incorporated the broad definitions including various sociocultural categories of cultural competence used by the national council for accreditation of teacher education (ncate, 2002, cited in liang & zhang, 2009, p. 17) as described above. it should be noted that there are additional dimensions of cultural competence that are not measured by this instrument, as indicated below. liang and zhang (2009) acknowledge that results attained through use of this survey are: mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 …constrained by the narrow focus of the instrument developed … the 17 items were designed to measure only four dimensions of cultural competence. other important dimensions of cultural competence discussed in the current multicultural education theory such as personal experience, intercultural experience and teaching experiences in diverse classrooms, etc., were not embedded in the original instrument design, thus could not be included in the model specification and testing in this study. (p. 28) data were uploaded and analyzed using spss. mean results for each survey item were determined, and means for our cohort were compared with those from liang and zhang’s (2009) u.s. study. further details about their participants are available in that paper. participant information for both cohorts is presented in table 1. table 1. participant details midwestern usa regional nsw, australia number of participants 489 598 female 369 (74.5%) 456 (76.3%) male 120 (24.2%) 141 (23.6%) age under 25: 359 (73.2%) under 24: 411 (68.7%) analysis and discussion there were similarities between the two samples on most survey items across the u.s. and australian cohorts, as shown by the mean results presented in table 2. we have noted in the table below, by shading, the areas where means for the australian cohort differed significantly from those of the original u.s. cohort in research by liang and zhang (2009). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 table 2. cultural competence survey results mean (u.s.) std. deviation (u.s.) mean (australia) std. deviation (australia) teacher beliefs *(u.s.) australian public schools provide an equal education to all students regardless of their economic level 3.44 1.93 3.53 1.595 *schools should treat gender putdowns as a normal and acceptable part of childhood 3.80 2.16 6.39 .989 first language other than english should be included in school, not just at home 5.09 1.39 5.04 1.313 religious differences should be acknowledged at school, not just at home 4.52 1.45 5.67 1.341 self-reflections i must examine own cultural beliefs and attitudes to determine how they might impact my interactions with students 5.84 1.13 6.15 .957 my lack of knowledge of students with different religious background from mine may negatively impact their learning experience 4.63 1.88 4.97 1.713 i know i will treat all children equally despite their race, culture, and language differences 3.20 2.34 6.61 .844 *i don’t need to learn about diversity because i will treat all people the same 2.93 1.69 5.19 1.628 mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 as a teacher, i must consider the advantages or disadvantages i have experienced because of my race 5.35 1.26 5.32 1.373 teacher expectations *i realize that i can't expect high achievement in students from low economic backgrounds 5.62 1.78 6.32 1.101 achievement among minority students is related to the teacher’s academic expectations of these students 4.90 1.52 4.59 1.607 achievement among female students in science is related to teacher expectations 4.48 1.54 3.73 1.743 achievement among students with disabilities is linked to teacher expectation 5.18 1.28 4.70 1.589 actions to challenge social injustice i will address stereotypes of males and females when they occur in instructional materials or educational settings 5.23 1.57 5.49 1.521 i will challenge my students' treatment of children who do not speak good english 5.43 1.25 5.71 1.381 *students will not be permitted to use poor english to communicate in my classroom 4.30 1.47 4.59 1.734 i must challenge stereotypes of gays and lesbians when they occur in educational settings 5.57 1.10 5.40 1.741 *denotes items that were reverse coded (as in liang & zhang, 2009). mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 education and other social systems across the two western nations are similar, and the specific contexts (predominantly caucasian te students in two non-elite universities) are also quite similar. there are, however, significant differences for three items, which cannot be accounted for by the standard deviations. the three items, indicated by shading in table 2, will now be discussed in turn. they are: • schools should treat gender putdowns as a normal and acceptable part of childhood (6.39 aus in comparison with 3.80 u.s.) • i know i will treat all children equally despite their race, culture, and language differences (6.61 aus in comparison with 3.20 u.s.) • i don’t need to learn about diversity because i will treat all people the same (5.10 aus in comparison with 2.93 u.s.) there is an additional item which draws interest (shown in bold in table 2) despite providing similar responses across the two contexts and which will also be discussed: • students will not be permitted to use poor english to communicate in my classroom (4.59 aus in comparison with 4.30 u.s.) the results indicate that the preservice teachers generally understood the importance of teacher expectation for student outcomes and had strong intentions to take action within school settings to challenge stereotypes and discrimination. we discuss some of these themes below, but before we do so, we should also point out that a paper by bustamante, skidmore, nelson, and jones (2016) also scrutinized this survey tool. they, like us, found that the 17 items were sufficient to assess some level of cultural competence and, like us, they found that some items were poorly worded. for example, some were asked from first person and then later from third person perspectives, colloquial and then non-colloquial, and thus were confusing and in need of adjustment. the latter research group, however, provided a different interpretation of the meaning of the loaded factors tested even though they, too, identified four factors. the factors they found were instructional strategies, teacher attitudes toward student learning, stereotypes, and organizational cultural competence, and while some items were common to the factors identified by liang and zhang, others were not. once again, issues associated with the complexity of the theme under scrutiny are evident. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 gender put-downs australian preservice teachers agreed substantially less than their u.s. counterparts that “schools should treat gender putdowns as a normal and acceptable part of childhood.” this demonstrates a notably different approach to gender differences, which may emanate from cultural differences across the two research sites. the two contexts may have different tolerance levels for gender discrimination (as for gun laws): midwest u.s. to regional australian city. the “convention on the elimination of discrimination against women” (cedaw) was adopted by the united nations in 1979, with the u.s. one of the member nations that has still not ratified this. seen as an “international bill of rights for women” (bunch, 1990), it argues to end discrimination, establish equality, and fight against violence. nearly all 193 member states of the united nations have ratified it, including the united kingdom and australia. this demonstrated variance in societal values might explain the discrepancy in the gender differences, even though teaching standards in the u.s. and australia mention the importance of catering for the needs of all students and for catering for diversity, which would also assume equitable or fair representation among genders. according to the australian sex discrimination commissioner (australian human rights commission, 2017) the “australian community continues to hold onto gender stereotypes and accepts the impact of inappropriate behaviour as a norm. speaking out can mean facing abuse and backlash” (p. 12), so australia is certainly not free of negative stereotypes, suggesting that there is more that can be done to overcome these stereotypes in schools by teachers. the response from australian preservice teachers in our survey is thus most welcome. equal treatment of people two items in the self-reflection scale of the instrument received significantly different means across the u.s. and australian cohorts. both related to treatment of students/people. australian preservice teachers agreed much more strongly than u.s. counterparts that they would “treat all children equally despite their race, culture, and language differences.” according to the instrument design, this suggests a stronger commitment by the australian students to principles of equity and social justice. australian preservice teachers agreed substantially less than their u.s. counterparts that they “don’t need to learn about diversity because i will treat all people the same.” in the case of this item, the australian preservice teacher participants appear to have a better understanding that catering for diversity requires different approaches. certainly, it is promising that the australian cohort indicated an awareness that they need to learn about diversity, and we concur. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 a number of factors may have contributed to the difference in responses to these two items across the two cohorts. as noted earlier, the australian curriculum is founded on values of equity and excellence for all (mceetya, 2008). through this emphasis, the australian curriculum requires that intercultural understanding is integrated as a general capability throughout learning in all subject areas of the content that our preservice teachers are learning how to teach (australian curriculum assessment and reporting authority [acara], 2014). likewise, the aitsl professional teacher standards, against which australian preservice teachers are assessed during their in-school professional experiences, require them to demonstrate that they will be “responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds” (nsw institute of teachers, 2012, p. 8). there are, however, similar inclusions in relevant u.s. accreditation documents. caep standard 1 states that teachers should be prepared to develop inclusive learning environments, and standard 2 requires teachers to use “understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards” (council for the accreditation of educator preparation [caep], 2015). another possible influence on the australian students is the nsw quality teaching (qt) model (nsw department of education and training, 2003b). a research-based pedagogical model aimed at informing teacher practice and thereby improving student outcomes at all levels of schooling, the qt model was designed by nsw researchers but built on other models including authentic pedagogy from newman and associates in the u.s. (nsw department of education and training, 2003a). the qt model has been widely used in nsw schools since its inception; because of this, it is incorporated into many te courses at regional university. the model recommends the design of teaching around three dimensions, each consisting of eight elements, including problematic knowledge (in the dimension of intellectual quality) and cultural knowledge (in the dimension of significance) (nsw department of education and training, 2003b). the literature underpinning these two elements in particular acknowledges the social construction of knowledge, which may therefore change across time, culture, and context, and encourages the inclusion of knowledge specific to a wide range of sociocultural groups. the two survey items discussed here include similar terms of wording and approach, yet one is reverse coded, indicating that agreement with one suggests high cultural competence, but agreement with the other suggests low cultural competence. treating “children equally” is coded positively, while treating “all people the same” is coded negatively, although there is more to each statement. while maintaining that preservice teachers’ intentions to treat all students mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 equally is a positive indicator of acceptance of difference, it should be noted that equal treatment may not equate to equitable treatment (fraser, 1997, 2009). indeed, children from diverse backgrounds may have different requirements that need to be met in classroom contexts in order to have the same opportunities for success as their dominant-culture peers. we posit that this is a weakness in the language choice in the survey rather than a negative indicator of cultural competence. this thesis is supported by the fact that the following question in the survey, also about treating “all people the same,” is reverse coded. wording along the lines of “i will consider all children as equal” might be more appropriate. likewise, the second item under discussion here could, as one option, simply omit the second part of the statement, leaving “i don’t need to learn about diversity.” in any case, the wording and coding of these two items requires revision. use of poor english a fourth item showed no significant difference between the cohorts but is nevertheless worthy of consideration given that it presented difficulty for some of our australian respondents. the item is: • students will not be permitted to use poor english to communicate in my classroom (4.59 aus in comparison with 4.30 u.s.) all but one measure on the action to challenge scale had a mean result greater than five on a scale of one to seven. the remaining item, about students being permitted to use poor english in classrooms, had a mean of 4.59, indicating a more ambivalent response. in the australian data, but not the u.s. data, this item had one of the highest standard deviations in the survey data, indicating a wider range of responses from australian preservice teachers than for many other items. while this could be considered to show a wide range of attitudes, another conclusion is possible. we know that some of our australian respondents found this a difficult item to respond to, as there were some written comments on the surveys about this question, and also oral comments to research assistants collecting the surveys. it appears that the wording of the question raised issues for some respondents. comments suggested that poor language use was a complex issue with no universal answer, as it would depend on individual factors related to students’ backgrounds and the context. for example, one respondent wrote, “depends if it is based on their background or because of laziness.” another wrote, “define poor my standard may culturally differ from my students,” and another, “could be because they have english as a second language.” these responses demonstrate problematic thinking by the preservice teachers, which is a positive attribute demonstrating their critical approach to developing cultural mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 understandings. rewording the item in future surveys may alleviate this difficulty and provide more definitive results. it is evident that this item is problematic, at least in our context, and we intend to hold focus groups in the future to better illuminate the arising considerations. conclusion overall, we are pleased with the cultural competence levels demonstrated by our preservice teachers in this survey. there remains room for improvement, and we will continue to investigate pedagogies and experiences that might enhance this during their teacher education programs. it is apparent from analysis of the survey used in this study that assessment of cultural competence itself is a cross-cultural issue, and this must be considered before we even begin to try to assess in which aspects teachers need to improve cultural competence and how teacher educators can implement effective programs to develop such competence. agreement on the definition of cultural competence is important, yet consensus on that issue does not ensure the transferability of instrument reliability. even an instrument with proven validity such as that designed by liang and zhang may not be transferable across contexts and can therefore be problematic (bustamante et al., 2016). cultural competence itself can be seen as being contextually based. a quantitative instrument such as the one used in this study does not allow for detailed examination of the nuances and problematic nature of the “complex construct” (deardorff, 2006, p. 259) that is cultural competence. a recent study investigating the perceptions of preservice teachers’ intercultural responsiveness (jones, mixon, henry, & butcher, 2017) used literature previously developed in 2015 by jones and mixon which argued that as one moves along the cultural continuum, the goal of being interculturally responsive is achieved. this idea of moving along a continuum is evident in the work of liang and zhang (2009) as well as the idi literature (hammer et al., 2003), and in line with findings from mills and ballantyne (2010) about the development of dispositions for social justice. this provides an indication that teacher educators should be working developmentally toward cultural competence with preservice teachers as they progress through their degrees. this might make assessment more manageable, as increments could be addressed each year, but it has implications for the development of teacher education programs that allow for such progressions (darling-hammond, 2006). in tandem with assessment, we concur with morettini, brown, and viator (2019) that teacher educators must also continually reflect on their own cultural competence and determine effective pedagogical strategies to use in te courses to improve preservice teachers’ cultural competence. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129 it is likely that, in order to make a valid and reliable assessment of preservice teacher cultural competence, and acknowledging that this is impotent unless it leads to teacher action in the classroom and in the wider community, more than one type of assessment must be conducted. surveys may be useful in indicating areas which need to be addressed in te programs, but additional evidence through authentic assessment is necessary to determine the level of cultural competence at the end of a te program. we need to go further than liang and zhang’s (2009) “propensity to act” in a culturally competent way so that we have evidence of such action. qualitative studies are needed in order to fully understand the mind-set of preservice teachers. assessment of cultural competence may benefit from observation of teaching practice during professional experiences (siwatu et al., 2016) as well as self-analysis by teachers, preservice teachers, and school students. anecdotal evidence such as reflective diaries can be a guide to attitudes and beliefs about cultural competence and student perceived capacities in culturally challenging situations (chiu et al., 2017). it will be time-consuming, onerous, and costly, but valuable and manageable if integrated with assessment for additional outcomes, if we are serious about having culturally competent teachers, students, and citizens. limitations and future directions the current study, like the original study by liang and zhang (2009) on which it was based, included participants from a single university. further studies are needed in a variety of contexts to determine whether findings are generalizable, although our findings suggest that that is unlikely for reasons explicated throughout the paper. future research intentions of the authors are to explore this survey (with amendments based on our findings about the survey) in other teacher education programs in a number of different contexts, including additional countries, to explore differences in responses from students in these cohorts. a limitation of this research, as liang and zhang also acknowledge, is that the instrument is narrow. it does not allow for oral / written responses from students (although, as we stated in the results, some of our students did provide written responses to confusing questions). our further research, using this instrument, will be strengthened by including focus group interviews with preservice teachers to discuss their responses and allow for exploration and elaboration about their own personal experiences, intercultural experiences, and teaching experiences in diverse classrooms. it is also necessary to study the pedagogies used in te programs and schools to determine effective approaches to developing cultural competence. longitudinal studies would be valuable in tracking the development of cultural competence as mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 130 preservice teachers progress through their university courses, professional experiences in schools, and life experiences during their university studies. “educators must therefore move beyond thinking ‘about’ the cultural backgrounds of their students, to think deeply about the implications of teaching and learning taking place in and through culture, and recognize that caring ‘for’ students requires being responsive to the cultures that students arrive at school with” (vass, 2017, p. 10). for teacher educators, this means considering carefully the teaching and learning taking place in our te programs. mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 131 references: allard, a., & santoro, n. 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(2011). developing intercultural understanding and skills: models and approaches. intercultural education, 22(6), 453-466. doi:10.1080/14675986.2011.644948 mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.racismnoway.com.au/about-racism/population/ https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/pdf/2017_lbote_bulletin_aa.pdf http://202.148.138.218/main-professional-teaching-standards.html http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264289024-en journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 136 reynolds, r., & vinterek, m. (2013). globalization and classroom practice: insights on learning about the world in swedish and australian schools. nordidactica, 3(1), 104-130. santoro, n. (2015). the drive to diversify the teaching profession: narrow assumptions, hidden complexities. race ethnicity and education, 18(6), 858-876. doi:10.1080/13613324.2012.759934 siwatu, k. (2007). preservice teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs. teaching and teacher education, 23, 1086-1101. sleeter, c. e. (2018). multicultural education past, present, and future: struggles for dialog and power-sharing. international journal of multicultural education, 20(1), 5-20. tye, k., & kniep, w. (1991). global education around the world. united nations educational, s. a. c. o. u. (2006). guidelines on intercultural education. paris: unesco. vass, g. (2017). preparing for culturally responsive schooling: initial teacher educators into the fray. journal of teacher education, 68(5), 451-462. villegas, a., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. albany: state university of new york. warren, c. a. (2018). empathy, teacher dispositions, and preparation for culturally responsive pedagogy. journal of teacher education, 69(2), 169-183. doi:10.1177/0022487117712487 about the authors: suzanne macqueen is a senior lecturer in education at the university of newcastle, australia. her research focuses on issues of social justice in education. she is a member of the global education research and teaching (gert) team, focusing on the promotion of and research into teaching for the development of global citizenship. she has published several journal articles and book chapters from her work with gert as well as her own individual research into equity in education. dr. ruth reynolds is an associate professor in the faculty of education and arts at the university of newcastle, australia where she has been a program convenor in social education in early mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 113-137 corresponding author: suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 137 childhood, primary and secondary teacher education for twenty years. she has 118 officially certified academic publications to date including nine books in teacher education and primary teaching pedagogy, and eleven books for teachers in teaching social education as well as numerous refereed articles, chapters in books and conference papers in the areas of pedagogy, humanities and social science curriculum and pedagogy, peace education and social justice issues. she is team leader of the global education research and teaching group (gert) at the university of newcastle, a group which focuses on teaching global education across disciplinary areas and on researching the success of their various initiatives. kate ferguson-patrick is a senior lecturer in education at the university of newcastle, australia. her research focuses on cooperative learning as a culturally responsive pedagogy and democracy classrooms in an intercultural world. she is a member of the global education research and teaching (gert) team, focusing on the promotion of and research into teaching for the development of global citizenship. the team’s latest research focus is on the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge integration in preservice teacher programs. she has published numerous journal articles and book chapters from her work with gert as well as her own individual research. her latest book published for routledge in 2018 was ‘cooperative learning for intercultural classrooms: case studies for inclusive pedagogy.’ mailto:suzanne.macqueen@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ keeping up with international children’s literature journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 52 spring/summer 2011 lehman, b. a., freeman, e. b., & scharer, p. l. (2010). reading globally, k-8: connecting students to the world through literature. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. 147 pp. isbn 978-1-4129-7392-2 (paper w/cd) reviewed by myra zarnowski, queens college, city university of new york keeping up with international children’s literature since world war ii, efforts to promote the use of international children’s literature as a way of advancing peace and understanding have gained steady momentum. beginning with jella lepman’s exceptional work in first founding the international youth library in munich in 1949 and later founding the international board on books for young people (ibby) in 1953, the movement has continued to grow, supported by several significant books sponsored by ibby. these books, which serve as guides for educators, provide annotated bibliographies of recommended international books for children and brief essays by educators and publishers. children’s books from other countries (tomlinson, 1998) deals with international books written between 1950-1996; the world through children’s books (stan, 2002) provides annotations for books written between 1997-2000; crossing boundaries with children’s books (gebel, 2006) annotates books written between 2000-2004. the book reviewed here, reading globally, k-8: connecting students to the world through literature, by barbara a. lehman, evelyn b. freeman and patricia l. scharer further extends these efforts. written by three widely published scholars in children’s literature, who were also editors of ibby’s journal bookbird: a journal of international children’s literature, this book provides background information about global literature, practical information for teachers, and suggestions for further reading. however, what distinguishes this book from the others is that the authors show how to align international children’s literature with national standards, how to integrate these books across all curriculum areas, and how to address concerns frequently voiced by teachers. in addition, a cd included with the book provides a list of recommended readings for teachers, resources for locating and learning about global children’s literature, and an annotated list of the 431 children’s books cited within the book. taken together, this is both an informative and highly practical resource. the book begins with an introductory chapter and then consists of three parts. the introductory chapter discusses the need for global literature and how it contributes to children’s cognitive, emotional, moral, and social development. the authors also distinguish between global literature, which extends beyond u.s. boundaries, and multicultural literature which deals with the “parallel cultures” inside the u.s. part one, “infusing global literature throughout the curriculum” consists of five separate chapters showing how international literature can be a significant part of every curriculum area. separate chapters are devoted to teaching theme studies, language arts, social studies, science and mathematics, journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 53 spring/summer 2011 and the arts. each chapter shows how international children’s literature can be used to meet content area standards while, at the same time, broadening children’s global perspectives. for example, chapter 5, “science and mathematics,” illustrates how the recently articulated stem goals—goals for teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics —can be addressed using international children’s books. when teaching topics such as habitats around the world or environmental change, for instance, the literature helps place topics and issues within an international setting. as the authors state, “global books broaden students’ awareness of these topics’ problem-solving applications to international contexts and strengthen appreciation for other cultures’ significant contributions to the fields” (p. 84). chapter 4, “social studies,” will be of particular interest to readers of this journal. here the authors show how international children’s literature promotes ncss standards. as examples, they discuss literature dealing with a primary grade topic and an upper elementary/middle school topic. when discussing the primary topic, “wake up world,” the authors show how the literature enables readers to see the similarities shared by children around the world as well as their cultural differences. when discussing the elementary/middle school topic of the world war ii and the holocaust, they show how literature can support several curriculum strands such as “time, continuity, and change,” “power, authority and governance,” and “global connections.” throughout the chapter, the authors illustrate ways to connect international children’s literature both by the topic and by ncss standards. the illustrations are clear and could be put to use immediately. part two, “issues teachers face,” contains a useful chapter on evaluating international children’s literature. it includes a guide for evaluating global literature that raises questions about such criteria as authenticity and literary merit as well as questions designed for evaluating nonfiction and translated books. this is a helpful guide for teachers seeking appropriate books for the classroom. a separate chapter, “frequently asked questions about global literature,” raises persistent questions all teachers face. a sample includes the following: what’s the best way to handle sensitive topics like war, prejudice, human injustices, and cultural taboos like bodily functions or practices? how should i respond if parents object to a book? how can i help my students relate to places, people, times, and events they have never seen, heard, or experienced? by confronting the everyday obstacles and opportunities teachers deal with, reading globally, k-8 responds to today’s world of teaching and learning. while this book—like the previous titles sponsored by ibby—clearly succeeds in identifying and providing sound arguments for the place of international children’s literature in schools, the field of children’s literature has yet to supply convincing studies of the impact of this literature on children’s reading, writing, and thinking. simply put, how does international children’s literature influence children’s thinking about world peace and international understanding? such work would truly provide support for the vision of jella lepman and those who continue to pursue her ideals. as we anticipate these much needed studies, the sobering reality is that journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ volume 1 number 2 54 spring/summer 2011 international children’s literature makes up only a small percentage of the children’s literature available in this country (marcus, 2010). it is estimated that no more than 1% of children’s books published in the u.s. are translated books imported from abroad, and that figure has remained steady for at least 20 years. given this situation, reading globally, k-8 is an extremely useful resource for finding the best of what is available in order to extend the global perspectives of today’s youth. that is a major contribution. references gebel, d. (ed.) (2006). crossing boundaries with children’s books. lanham, md: scarecrow press. marcus, l. s. (2010). outside over where?: foreign picture books and the dream of global awareness. the horn book magazine, 86(6), 45-50. stan, s. (ed.) (2002). the world through children’s books. lanham, md: scarecrow press. tomlinson, c. m. (ed.) children’s books from other countries. lanham, md: scarecrow press. ______________________________________________________________________________ about the author myra zarnowski is a professor in the department of elementary and early childhood education at queens college, city university of new york. journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 social studies curricula: interpreting and using african primary source documents oluseyi matthew odebiyi the university of alabama cynthia s. sunal the university of alabama abstract: while many u.s. residents like listening to african stories, hearing african stories is difficult because designing effective curricula and teaching about african contexts appear to be a major challenge in u.s. social studies education. drawing on postcolonial theory, we analyzed the discourses of two contemporaneous historical documents to demonstrate the complexities in meaning-making processes inherent in the indigenous yoruba social practices in the southwestern part of nigeria. differential complex perspectives on yoruba social practices are evident in both colonialistand nativeauthored historical documents from the same time period, when colonialist authority had been established but indigenous cultural practices were evident and continuing. the colonialist-authored historical document indicates misunderstanding of the meaning of some yoruba social practices. the native-authored historical document provides underlying meanings for social practices and ties portrayal of social practices to indigenous ways of being. the discussion calls attention to how colonial legacies influence meaning-making, meaning made from and knowledge made available by historical documents, as well as ways forward in addressing contemporary discourse on africa in u.s. social studies curricula. key words: primary sources, historical documents, african contexts, indigenous yoruba, postcolonialism, social studies curricula, social practices mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 introduction in 2017, one of the authors—a nigerian—was in a third grade classroom in the usa to facilitate a social studies lesson set. the theme to be examined for a couple of weeks according to the school’s curriculum was culture and diversity. as the class began, he asked an exploratory question: “who among you know my home country?” many students responded: “africa.” he followed up by asking if any of the students would like to tell th e class what they know about africa. some of the students’ responses included: “africa has lots of animals.” other students also mentioned that it has “snakes and cows,” and one student responded, “africa has somebody who don’t have clothes on.” following these responses, a student opened his bag and handed out a booklet used for social studies. about two weeks earlier, the state’s adopted social studies textbook world communities (american legacy publishing, 2017) was distributed to the students at the school. the book included a segment titled “culture and diversity: a look at africa.” it was then that the co-author realized that this text likely was a source of the ideas the students had expressed about african contexts. a similar discourse unfolded at a recent summer camp held in 2019 for upper elementary to middle school students aimed at promoting cultural understanding of non-western nations at which one co-author volunteered. students in one of the sessions analyzed cultural artifacts from the yoruba ethnic group, including a talking drum, artworks, currency, and indigenous beads. as the activities were about to start, a student asked, “is wakanda real in africa?” following the activities, another student approached the co-author and asked, “do you have houses in nigeria as here [in alabama]?” house and family pictures the co-author had recently taken in nigeria were shown to the students as a response to their inquiries. a student responded, “ooh, wow! i thought africa was in an island or something.” the above discussions represent first-hand experiences of evolving evidence indicating that the content of u.s. world history/culture and geography texts largely misrepresents non-western people, places, and cultures in african contexts (allimadi, 2005; blakley, rogers, watson-currie, & jung, 2019; kunihira, 2007). scholars have noted an ideation about a particular entity – africa in this case – that students may construct depends on the language-in-use, discourses and larger social dynamics, also known as discourse. (gee, 2012; rymes, 2016; snow, richford, worden, & benford, 1986). on one hand, small “d” discourse involves “language-in-use,” as rymes (2016, p. 5) puts it. it describes how both concrete and abstract forms of language (e.g., written, visual, spoken, and symbolic signs) are constructed and enacted about issues on africa, for example, in mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 curricular materials to which u.s. students are exposed. on the other hand, gee (2012) describes capital “d” discourse as: ways of behaving, interacting, valuing, thinking, believing, speaking, and often reading, writing, that are accepted as instantiations of particular identities (or “kind of people”) by specific groups… discourses are ways of being “people like us.” they are “ways of being in the world.” they are socially situated identities. (p. 3) the ideas students take into their mind are socially constructed, and the internalized ideas guide their actions instead of reality (goffman, 1974; snow et al., 1984). african contexts are, therefore, conceived here as both distinct and collective discourse and discourse (hereafter referred to as d/discourses) in any form as they relate to indigenous african people, places, environments, sociocultural practices, political arrangements, and economic structures as well as ways of being. it is in social studies that students are expected to methodologically pursue knowledge to learn about people, traditions, places, and views different from their own (national council for social studies [ncss], 2013; ukpokodu, 2010). an exciting development is the inclusion of themes on african contexts in the u.s. k-12 social studies curriculum and an emphasis on using primary sources (cleary & neumann, 2009; eamon, 2006). the misrepresentation, however, of african contexts in u.s. social studies curricula today is in no way different from myths about african contexts reported by scholars (e.g., deshazer & toler, 1998; ukpokodu, 1996). designing effective curricula and teaching about african contexts appears to be a major challenge in u.s. social studies education. publishers of u.s. social studies curriculum materials, like the one referenced above, claim to align their textbooks’ content about african contexts to the wishes of the states to promote adoption of their curriculum materials. operational efficiency may be considered more important than content accuracy (marmer, marmer, hitomi & sow, 2010; odebiyi & sunal, 2020; seker & ilhan, 2015; tarman & kuran, 2015). in introductory sections, publishers often also claim to base the curriculum text in primary source material. overemphasizing primary sources in social studies, however, may be one of the key factors generating u.s. students’ miseducation about african contexts. for instance, medina and colleagues’ (2000) and cleary and neumann’s (2009) studies of teachers’ and students’ interactions with primary sources on u.s. history indicate that achieving the teaching of critical reasoning in social studies does not occur in a vacuum; it requires the capacity to situate historical interpretations in contexts. many teachers and students in the u.s. may lack the capacity to situate historical interpretation in context, as the study indicates further; hence, overemphasizing primary sources could cause teachers and students to mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 inappropriately read primary source documents and reach superficial and subjective conclusions about historical events and processes (cleary & neumann, 2009; medina, pollard, schneider, & leonhardt, 2000). if so, then the misrepresentations of themes related to african contexts may partly be due to those primary source materials. teachers and scholars have criticized social studies curriculum materials such as textbooks for inaccurate and insufficient content in meeting students’ needs to develop historical thinking and global competence (brown & hughes, 2018). based on such criticism, it has been concluded that misrepresentations found in some social studies textbooks have led to teachers’ use of primary sources as either a main source of information or as a supplementary curriculum material to augment textbook contents (brown & hughes, 2018). scholars have advocated for the use and reiteration of primary sources in social studies education to promote historical critical thinking, to enhance inquiry for multidimensional perspectives, to uncover personal misconceptions of social events, and to question historical knowledge (cleary & neumann, 2009; morowski & mccormick, 2017; stanton, 2012). curriculum developers, teachers, and scholars share a key epistemological and pedagogical value: incorporating primary sources is necessary to promote inclusive accounts in social studies education. unfortunately, available evidence indicates that the use of curriculum resources presumably developed using primary sources or the direct use of primary sources as a supplementary curriculum material to teach about indigenous contexts may be counterproductive. as scholars have argued, the uncritical use of primary sources may inhibit the development of students’ historical thinking if their content is misinterpreted, because the interpretation of primary sources about indigenous contexts in u.s. classrooms may lack the complexities in knowledge structure exhibited in indigenous communities (kincheloe, 2001; stanton, 2012; wineburg, 2001). teachers, scholars, and curriculum publishers in the u.s. may (un)consciously use a dominant historical narrative lens to interpret primary sources on african contexts. it is imperative to demonstrate how teachers, publishers, or scholars’ epistemic repertoire may influence meaning in historical inquiry through primary sources and how misinterpretation may reinforce the unsatisfactory portrayal of african contexts in social studies curricula. there is an increased interest in listening to african stories rather than hearing them, as stanton (2012) puts it. although valuable research has been undertaken with primary historical sources and their immense value has been advocated by scholars in social studies, less has been done to make visible the colonial legacy existing in the meanings conveyed by these historical documents. more exploration is needed of the nature of the primary historical sources upon which u.s. publishers and educators draw to craft narratives and teach about complex african contexts, mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 which possesses inter/intra group uniqueness. the purpose of this work is to draw the attention of social studies educators and curriculum developers to the dynamics found in the discourses of two contemporaneous historical documents. examining how primary source discourses may be misinterpreted and how such examination might guide evaluation of primary sources and promote careful and critical use of curriculum materials on themes related to african contexts. we analyze two historical documents, one authored by a british colonialist and the other by a nigerian native from the yoruba ethnic group in about 1920. in 1901, the british protectorate was established; by 1920, british colonial authority had been established over yoruba lands, but indigenous culture and practices were evident and not strongly effected by british cultural practices. here, we consider the yoruba ethnic group in west africa, primarily nigeria, in terms of social practices. to create a direction for this work, we asked two questions: 1. within the study’s two contemporaneous historical primary source documents, how were yoruba identity and social practices portrayed? 2. what are the implications of the two primary source documents’ demonstrated meanings for social studies curricula? theoretical framework this study is situated within postcolonial theory, demonstrating the influence of historical antecedents in the interpretation of historical sources on african contexts in social studies education. the notions around postcolonial theory or postcolonialism are highly contested in the literature. its central tenet in education, however, focuses on the advancement of critical discussion and reflection on, and resistance to, colonial legacies in practices within the field of education as they relate to who authors knowledge and social identity and for whom they are authored (rizvi, lingard, & lavia, 2006; shahjahan, 2014; takayama, sriprakash, & connell, 2017). postcolonialism in education is well discussed in comparative and international education, as well as in emerging works in indigenous studies. the theory draws attention to collective colonial formation, positing that contemporary knowledge, social identity performance, and meaningmaking have european colonialist legacies related to colonized experiences of slavery, migration, representations, race, and differences (rizvi, lingard, & lavia, 2006; tikly, 1999). the reflections of edward said (1978, 1993) on the connections between western practices of patronizing representation of non-western culture suggests that western systems of cultural description are contaminated with ideologies of appropriation, projection, and domination. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 the growing evidence from studies in indigenous, non-western contexts reveals complexities and challenges. there is a crisis of meaning-making within primary source interpretation reinforced by inherent power hierarchies. stanton’s (2012) demonstration of how primary sources in social studies represent indigenous discourses gave an example of such taken-forgranted hierarchies of power influencing primary source interpretations in k-12 social studies education. the study describes how educational practices such as interactions with primary sources in social studies teaching and research often perpetuate colonial antecedents. such educational practices overgeneralize misunderstanding, promote misinterpretations, and promote historical inaccuracies to make the historical narratives favor the dominant group (battiste, bell, & findlay, 2002; krueger, 2019; shear & krutka, 2019; stanton, 2012). many students and teachers have difficulty with the appropriate use of historical evidence and with researching historical documents on africa. diversity and dynamic historical and cultural knowledge expression are characteristics of africa, yet popular external ideas and school curriculum materials about the continent are stereotypic and inaccurate (kunihira, 2007; myers, 2001; odebiyi, keles, mansouri, & papaleo, 2018). a postcolonial perspective is needed allowing for radical rethinking, resistance, and critical responses to understand social studies educators’ interactions with those d/discourses in primary sources reinforcing colonial legacies (krueger, 2019; seker & ilhan, 2015; shahjahan, 2014; tarman & kuran, 2015). as a theoretical framework, postcolonial theory is relevant to our study as it makes visible the inherent cognitive structure created by colonialists about african contexts found in contemporary texts and discourses. the theory provides a lens with which to evaluate social identities in african contexts, to engage with complexities involved in suppressed indigenous interpretation of social practices, and to rethink social studies education for global social justice in an era when the achievement of such appears more difficult than ever (hickling-hudson, 2006; roy, 2016; tikly, 1999). postcolonial theory represents one of the critical theories with which to challenge and disrupt the colonial narrative in u.s. social studies curricula that reifies the normative othering of african people, places, and social practices (krueger, 2019; odebiyi et al., 2020; shear, 2016; shear, knowles, soden, & castro, 2015; shear & krutka, 2019). methodologically, postcolonial theory was valuable as we sought to analytically demonstrate the dimensions in meaning-making from, and meaning made of, indigenous yoruba social practices presented in both the colonialist and native historical documents. borrowing from subedi and daza (2008), postcolonial theory represents a praxis providing the analytical framework we use to highlight the centrality of including and contemplating both older colonial and anti-colonial mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 perspectives in the examination of texts. the evaluation of primary historical documents via a praxis lens may create a pathway to thoroughly decolonize, re-narrate, and reconceptualize curriculum materials used to teach about african contexts in u.s. classrooms (battiste et al., 2002; crossley & tikly, 2004). we analyzed and interpreted the two selected historical documents with a critical perspective to demonstrate how contemporary educational practices may be legitimizing the colonial ideology of african contexts. we considered how colonialists’ perspectives on africa may be found in u.s. social studies curricula when historical documents or curriculum materials developed with uncritical interpretation are employed. african contextual representations and social studies education the development of adequate and accurate knowledge of the world and of the ability to use such knowledge is central to improving democratic ways of life and participating as a member of a global community (ncss, 2010; sunal & haas, 2011). there is a pressing need for educators to help students develop the knowledge needed to navigate the world of civic life as well as the ability to separate evidence-based claims from parochial opinions (allimadi, 2005; deshazer & toler, 1998; harushimana & awokoya, 2011; ncss, 2013). the extent to which these aims have been achieved in social studies research, teaching, and learning is questionable, most especially as it relates to the teaching of african social practices. africa is the second largest continent in the world, but many americans—including students and teachers—think africa is a country (kunihira, 2007). such an example of the misconception of africa as a country rather than a continent was also evident in the third-grade students’ response to one of the author’s questions at the beginning of this article. olujobi (2005) estimated that there are around 2,000 languages and dialects spoken in africa; examples include afrikaans, french, arabic, edo, english, kiswahili, yoruba, hausa, malagasy, spanish, and xhosa. the existence of multiple languages reflects the complexity involved in understanding and teaching about african contexts, showcasing how her inhabitants have allowed western/colonialist elements of culture to co-exist with indigenous ones to advance daily life endeavors. these languages may be adopted for public official business. there are also varieties of spiritual beliefs and sub-cultures. instead of using diversities in different subcultures to help students make historical connections, the continent is often characterized as forbidding, ferocious, diseased, isolated from the rest of the world, and simply “a dark continent,” as mccarthy (1983) put it. the complexities of the african continent are not considered in common and often erroneous popular perceptions. instead, popular representation favors western countries under the pretense of objectivity in historical inquiry (allimadi, 2005; odebiyi et al., 2020; odebiyi, keles, mansouri, & mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 papaleo, 201; stanton, 2012). these perceptions have the tendency to veil teaching, learning, and research about issues related to africa. the study of history-related topics, research on analysis of documents, and acquainting students in the u.s. with historical evidence on african cultures has never been more important. there is ample evidence that western discussion up until this century overlooked important issues such as complexities in various social, cultural, and philosophical capitals, progress, and achievements among african nations. one example is the strong correlation between people’s culture, adaptations, and interpretations of what constitutes development (blakley et al., 2019; fafunwa, 1974). the deriding of african people and people of african ancestry is rooted in colonialists’ lack of understanding of the complex culture, trade, and written documents of african origin and government structure (allimadi, 2005). contemporary writers, journalists and reporters perpetuate the image of africa created by the colonialists, making it hard for americans to understand african history from african perspectives (hawk, 1992; wallace, 2005). worse still, research reports (e.g., al-kaleem, 2001; allimadi, 2005; chavis, 1998; ken-foxworth, 1985) reveal that the most prevalent ways people learn about africa are through oral stories from people who visit periodically, as well as news from various media. more often than not, the stories are prejudiced and lend support to a eurocentric perspective. evolving evidence suggest that most international travelers and popular guidebooks perceive african regions as dangerous locations to be avoided, asian regions as equally risky locations but exotic and worth experiencing, and europe and north america as safe (e.g., carter, 1998). this kind of one-dimensional representation and stereotypical imaging can cause an internalization of a negative conception of people, places, and social practices in african contexts. in some cases, african history is aggregated. in spite of the historical and cultural diversities of african culture and the increase in african-born immigrants, little is taught or learned about african cultures in u.s. schools (hamza, 2005; harushimana & awokoya, 2011). little is also researched about africa. it has been argued that african history is not taught in american schools because most of it is oral, which is subject to the death of the authority telling it and thus becomes unknown (shelden, 2015). little is known about african histories, cultures, and achievements because they have been absorbed in the larger context of black race in america (arthur, 2000; harushimana & awokoya, 2011). these insights raise concerns about how well u.s. or other western educated individuals would be able to align differences in western and african ideologies and practices and promote meaningful learning for students from both sides. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 gross misrepresentation of indigenous meanings in western educational materials, including u.s. textbooks, is evident (battiste et al., 2002; eraqi, 2015; krueger, 2019; myers, 2001; odebiyi et al., 2020; shear et al., 2015; stanton, 2012). a recent content analysis by odebiyi and colleagues (2018) of the state of alabama’s ninth-grade history textbooks reveals that people, practices, and products of three non-western nations—nigeria, iran, and turkey—are misrepresented. the textbooks perpetuated the imperialist stereotypic ideologies about nigeria in the classrooms. nigeria was misrepresented in the same set of alabama history/culture and geography textbooks from the three most popular u.s. curriculum publishers. they portray nigeria and nigerians’ lived experiences mostly within deficit narratives of poverty, conflicts, and environmental degradation. a follow-up visual and textual analysis (odebiyi et al., 2020) indicates that when nigerians’ efforts to provide for their families, such as in street vending, are mentioned in u.s. history/culture and geography textbooks, for instance, the visual and textual narratives convey a representation of nigerians as struggling and somewhat desperate individuals rather than hardworking entrepreneurs. these visuals and texts also aggregate nigerian lived experiences and trivialize indigenous cultural practices. such curriculum material may be detrimental to students’ development in global competence. this becomes a concern about the sources upon which social studies education curricula materials are developed, about what is taught and learned in western classrooms, and about its implications. since teachers and learners use a conventional repertoire to interpret and make sense of educational documents, historical documents become socially situated products that hold power for teaching, learning, and perspective formation (coffey, 2014). evidence suggests that teachers and students rely on curriculum materials produced by business establishments and interest groups (e.g., publishers, foundations, etc.). publishers, in turn, rely on archival documents, popular conceptions, and adulterated research findings suiting their motives instead of using scholarly research to produce educational materials used in schools (myers, 2001; odebiyi et al., 2020). social studies educators support teaching students with primary historical sources as early as at the elementary school level. advocates have supported teaching with primary historical sources for a variety of reasons including enhancing students’ understanding of history, providing students with direct access to historical participants’ experiences, and helping students construct history and construct/confront their own knowledge from their interaction with primary historical sources as part of the curriculum (brown & hughes, 2018; cleary & neumann, 2009; eamon, 2006; sunal et al., 2011; stanton, 2012). mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 there are concerns that teachers are struggling with their own critical reflection on moral and ethical decisions relating to primary sources and to understand the construction of historical narratives in the classroom (brown & hughes, 2018; morowski & mccormick, 2017). teachers may also have limited knowledge of how to help students give value to the voices of different people, demonstrate respect for differences, combat inequality, and exercise global citizenship (da silva & fonseca, 2010). these challenges may be more pronounced when it comes to teaching about african nations (allimadi, 2005; blakley et al., 2019; myers, 2001). it is this concern that prompted us to interrogate the two selected documents, one written by a colonialist and the other by a native author, for insights on constructed meanings that form the basis for various d/discourses on people, places, and cultures in curriculum materials with the yoruba as a case. method a brief description of the yoruba ethnic group the southwestern part of nigeria is the homeland of the yoruba ethnic group. the group has a population of approximately 40 million, an equivalent of 21 percent of nigeria’s population by ethnic grouping, which makes it one of the largest ethnicities in africa (central intelligence agency, 2018). the ethnic group also spreads to parts of the benin republic and togo in africa. as a result of the trans-atlantic slave trade, this ethnic group's descendants are now found in places such as trinidad and tobago, cuba, and brazil. given the strength and spread of this ethnic group, our study addresses issues around a cross-cultural misunderstanding, confusion, and contradiction about the group in terms of identity and social practices. methods of inquiry this study is a text and problem-based qualitative content analysis (krippendorff, 2004) of two historical documents to explore yoruba social categories such as identity, indigenous and spiritual education, and cultural orientations. as noted, there are many languages and cultures in africa, so it is not possible to investigate all of them. one ethnic group (the yoruba) was selected because of familiarity with it and also because of its historical prominence across centuries in the history of africa. to answer the research questions, we identified two contemporaneous historical documents. one of the documents was written by a native of the yoruba ethnic group, samuel johnson, and published in the year 1921 (hereafter referred as the native document) while the second document was authored by g. w. prothero for the british colonial authority in the year 1920 mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 (hereafter referred as the british document). we selected the two historical documents because while colonial authority was established, it was still fairly recent. we purposively selected primary documents that speak to the overall themes of identity and social practices in an african context from different perspectives. the documents were retrieved from the united states library of congress archive. we choose the u.s. library of congress as the archival source of our documents in consultation with university research librarians. it is an internationally referred archival source of a large number of documents for students, teachers, researchers, curriculum materials publishers, and media, among others. we designed a code dictionary through a combination of inductive and deductive approaches, to identify a set of important elements to look for in the primary documents with respect to the chosen concepts and categories for analysis, which are the social practices. we specifically mined the construed meaning of each document on the related issues and selectively coded for them. we modified the code dimensions to accommodate variation in the ways each document reported on these issues. the document written by the native was examined in terms of how the native conceived of the social categories and of how they were practiced. our choice of the term “native” to refer to the nigerian author is informed by the notion that the author is indigenous to the yoruba ethnic group who occupied a portion of nigeria before the arrival of colonialists. we refer to the british colonialists by their nationality, as “british nationals,” as they hold permanent allegiance to britain of which they were colonial stewards. therefore, the yoruba author is described by his indigeneity and the british colonialist author by his allegiance as a british national. the british colonialist document was analyzed in terms of how it perceived the concepts vis-à-vis the practices of the indigenes. we sought to understand the documents’ inherent social power and implications for meaning-making in teaching, learning, and social d/discourses. we established the reliability of the coding by applying a percentage of accuracy inter-coder reliability technique on 20 percent of each document. we examined the historical documents through paragraph-by-paragraph, unit analyses and open and axial-cross coding approaches (hsieh & shannon, 2005; krippendorff, 2004; zhang & wildemuth, 2017). we independently coded the documents, then cross-examined until 100 percent agreement was reached, systematically classified, and assigned codes to each historical document’s text/content features that portray the concepts and categories under investigation. emerging patterns from each document were noted as well as what is included or excluded and variations by primarily looking for the ideas representing social practices representing the metacodes. the same process was repeated for both the pilot and the main content analysis. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 overarching themes used for the discussions were generated based on the meta-codes. the discussions of our findings follow coffey's (2014) analytical strategies considering: 1) language and form; what do the documents say? 2) purpose and function; what do they do? and 3) intertextuality and authority; how are the documents related? this framework helped us put in context the meaning-making process from the documents as a curricular resource and their implications for teaching and learning. discussion: complexities underlining indigenous yoruba social practices based on the content analysis, as guided by the research questions, the findings indicated complexities and variations in representations of the yoruba ethnic group based on the identified social capitals. our analysis revealed that aspects of the indigenous yoruba identity and social practices interweave many cultural repertoires. as depicted in the native document, it is the collection of these aspects that informs practice and behavior, cultural product, and a sense of purpose for the indigenous yoruba community. for example, consider the following excerpt: the ori (head) is the universal household deity worshipped by both sexes, it is the god of fate… good or ill fortune attends one, according to the will or decree of this god; and hence it is propitiated in order that good luck might be the share of its votary. (native document, p. 27) the indigenous document incorporates the view that teaching and learning within an indigenous yoruba context involves a systematic understanding of existing ideology, the notions of existence and essence, and their connections to daily lived experiences, as well as views on the life beyond, the metaphysical state, and transmigration. this complexity is further explained in the native document thusly: [yoruba] also believe in a future state, hence the worship of the dead, and invocation of spirits as observed in egungun (translate as masquerade) festival. a festival in which masked individuals impersonate dead relatives… they also believe in the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, hence they affirm that after a period of time, deceased parents are born again into the family of their surviving children. (native document, p. 26, emphasis added) this quotation showcases indigenous identity and the repertoire of associated social practices, highlighting ideology, spirituality, and existence and essence. however, the western document minimizes and does not understand this complexity and reports that “the people of the southern mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 provinces are pagans” (british document, p. 20) and “similar institutions have been created among the pagan tribes” (p. 22). the danger apparent in this kind of british documentation is that the content may mislead readers such as curriculum publishers, students, and teachers who rely on authority-sanctioned documents to conclude that the indigenous group had no preexisting belief systems. as wallace (2005) noted, contemporary writers and reporters perpetuate the image of africa created by colonialists. although the colonialists are now dead, the impact of their writing (such as that examined in this study) lingers. this situation has created a structural and ideological colonialism perpetuating a stereotype, causing miseducation in schools, and limiting various possibilities for providing accurate contextual meanings (myers, 2001). the identity of an individual member of the yoruba ethnic group is viewed in the society from within the larger communal ideology, not as a distinct individualistic entity who acts in a compartmentalized form as in a society with a western orientation. the native document displays communal norms and the understanding of meaning-making as ideologically diverse from that found in western nations, as described in the following: …letters are not known and the language not reduced to writing, the aged are the repositories of wisdom and knowledge, hence the younger generation regard their seniors as guides and prophets, and their vast stores of experience serve as keys to unlock many a doubtful point in the affairs of the young. (native document, p. 37) this shared understanding explains why the young have high regard for elders and attribute extraordinary role power to them. it also indicates that real education includes interconnectedness between holistic meaning-making and the communal norm (al-kaleem, 2001; chavis, 1998; odebiyi, sunal, & ogodo, 2018). our analysis shows that the native document portrays social practice organized such that every member of the community will be functional within his or her ability and contribute according to his or her position within a communal pyramid and sustained role identity, a form of shared leadership found among indigenous communities in the americas (e.g. stanton, 2012). the yoruba ethnic group uses this shared understanding as a means to develop a skilled, cooperative, and morally upright individual who will conform yet not be subservient to the order of the society. the nurturing of the young to become omoluabi—a responsible person in the society—is the overall underlying dimension of yoruba social practices (akinwale, 2013; fafunwa, 1974). when this underlying dimension is missed, a deficit appears, as is evident in the u.s. public’s (including students’ and teachers’) understanding of social practices in african contexts. such a deficit has been identified as stemming from the evasion or denial of indigenous frames of meaning-making in the use of mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 primary sources (battiste et al., 2002). historical antecedents thus become a fundamental component of historical texts that cannot be abstracted from the purported understanding we want to help students create from the primary source. beyond the surface: identifications in social practices and knowledge suppression our analysis reveals contradictory perspectives of indigenous people’s social practices in terms of meaning made in the native and british documents. the understanding of yoruba social practice varies by experience in the documents. the document written by the native ties social practices to cultural meanings and motivations beyond the surface while the british document interprets the same as a convention. consider this statement: “great regard… has always been paid to personal cleanliness, and this tribe [yoruba] is especially remarkable. the men are always shaved and hence when appearing unshaven, unwashed, and with filthy garments on, you may safely conclude that they are mourning” (native document, p. 101, emphasis added). among the indigenous yoruba, beliefs are tied to identity performance beyond the immediate meaning. such a connection is found in the instance of mourning. a person who is mourning may appear unclean as a symbolic expression of grief. in addition, the death of an individual is considered a loss for the whole community. the yoruba exhibit strong communal identities as a way of being (fafunwa, 1974; mazrui, 1987). drawing from our lived experience in nigeria, especially among the yoruba, as a practice, it is common to see immediate family members of the deceased, neighbors, and even local passersby sympathize by weeping uncontrollably in public and forgoing key daily activities such as dressing up. every member of the community would typically make the house of the deceased their new home, supporting the family day and night as a form of solidarity. such social practice is more intense especially when the deceased is considered a young person. in this instance, immediate family members hardly eat, sleep or change clothes, to the extent that playing music or making any form of noise might be forbidden within the period; as the loss is collective, so is the mourning. it is considered a big loss with conversations attributing the death to a punishment from the superior being. members, therefore, humbly appeal to the superior being for such a sad occurrence not to befall the community anymore. in its description of nigeria’s “geography, physical and political conditions” (british document, pp. 1-13) focusing on the general sanitary conditions (pp. 8-9) of the yoruba in the southwest, the british document’s narratives missed the social conditions such as mourning that may result in lack of cleanliness among the yoruba at certain points in time. instead, the document portrays lack of cleanliness as a norm among the yoruba populace. due to a lack of understanding of this deeply-held cultural meaning, the british interpretation of such mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 appearance as social practice was instead narrated within a broader public health assumption. the narrative reads: partly owing to the neglect of necessary sanitary precautions, the native death-rate is high…yellow fever and plague sometimes occur in the south…the native population has been encouraged to adopt better methods of sanitation… over so large an area… and with a population varying in civilization, progress must necessarily be slow. (british document, pp. 8-9) lack of cleanliness can be found among some yorubas, and indeed in nigerian society. so also has environmental sanitation been a historical issue in major cities in parts of asia, europe, and the americas. this lack of sanitation observable among some people in these societies does not reflect the general practice of the whole society. the native document clarified why appearance in dirty garments may be observed among the yoruba as a social practice of mourning, which is both relative to a community and also temporal. the british document’s narratives, although not a direct reflection on specifically observing a person or a community that is mourning, portray a lack of cleanliness as the norm among all the yoruba and essentially a cause of high death rate. yoruba were judged by extraneous consideration of foreign yardsticks that failed to situate behaviors and appearance within underlying cultural beliefs and social contexts. the instances of support and provision of solace for the family of the deceased were not emphasized in the colonialist’s account. rather, a generic narrative was offered, and core indigenous social practices were veiled by an interpretation of them as a neglect of sanitary precaution. this misconception is dangerous to the teacher, to learning, and to educational writing about people, places, and culture because inaccurate meaning is being made and reported to inform readers’ knowledge construction. there is also a conflicting portrayal of administrative structures and preservation of cultural uniqueness. the native documents portray indigenous identity and social practices as characterized by being with the community, a form of social and collective identification (brubaker, 2004; cheek, smith, & tropp, 2002). our analysis indicates that members of the indigenous community focus on continuity of communal pre-existing bonds, common interests, and preservation of uniqueness. indigenous social practices cover a wide range of thoughts, such as functionalism, integrated knowledge, culture and personality, evolution and ethnoscience. the british document acknowledges the same, but it appears that the author of the british document wanted these practices to be associated with a western style. as insightful as the underlying meaning of the indigenous social practices and identity performances are, this shared mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 understanding was understood in part, yet misconceived, and its importance erased in another part of the western document analyzed. consider the following british view: the large area and population… render native administration of highest importance…with a view to supplying in some measure the lack of a legislature for the whole area… the native government is assisted in carrying out the function of governing …the former independence as had to be curtailed, as the native government failed to avoid internal disorder. (british document, pp. 21-22). our analysis showed that indigenous practices are mostly relational in arrangement and collective in performance (cheek & bridges, 1982; cheek et al., 2002), but the british documents considered the indigenous governing structure unorganized. the reason for this western document’s differential view is arguably that it results from the lack of understanding by the colonialists of how indigenous society works and of the symbolic importance of practices within the society. it may, however, be a blatant attempt to wield power and misrepresent other world regions (seker & ilhan, 2015; tarman & kuran, 2015). we observed that the meaning of social practices in africa may have suffered suppression because works related to african themes experienced suppression. the original manuscript written by the native examined in this study was withheld from publication by colonialists. the document was not made available to the public until after the death of the native writer. the following is an excerpt from the forward of the native document: a singular misfortune, which happily is not of everyday occurrence, befell the original manuscripts of this history, in consequence of which the author never lived to see in print his more than 20 years of labour... the manuscript was forwarded to a well-known english publisher through one of the missionary societies in 1899 and—mirabile dictum—nothing more was heard of them! (native document, ix) the availability of the native document provides a counter-narrative and a form of resistance to the account of the dominant colonial culture distortion of indigenous social practices (rizvi, lingard, & lavia, 2006). as the native document expressed, “this seemed … so strange that one could not help thinking that there was more in it [indigenous document] than appeared on the surface, especially because of other circumstances connected with the so-called loss of the manuscript …” the publisher expressed “he was prepared to pay for them!” (ix). these quotations indicate that the historical document is political, as it suppresses native knowledge as represented by yoruba social practices. such political underpinnings imply a concern for what mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 historical documents are available if educators are to craft narrative through historical inquiry for african contexts. in addition, the nuance of misconstruing meanings and suppression of documents speaks to sustaining the colonial legacy, as it appears the dominant cultural norms may be threatened (nieto, 2004). putting it all together: the emergent curriculum and indigenous approaches to meeting societal needs the findings from our analysis revealed that understanding the ways in which the yoruba ethnic group—and, perhaps, other indigenous groups—meet the needs of their society would require a high degree of openness to inquiry, development of historical thinking, and native-based analyses for meaning. we found from our analysis that the ways the yoruba meet their needs are associated with 1) ideology, essence, and existence; 2) spirituality and deification; 3) status, respect, hierarchy, and recognition; 4) role assignment, familial duties, and civic responsibilities; and 5) communal affinity and life as embodiment of physical and metaphysical entities. these cultural elements exemplify the uniqueness of local practices as the yoruba ethnic group ascribes symbols to what they value and nurtures deeply held beliefs that are more complex than our contemporary view of such practices (akinwale, 2013; fafunwa, 1974; odebiyi, sunal, & ogodo, 2018). combining our lived experience with the ethnic group and research insights, we maintain that the combination of the cultural elements stated above still forms the basis for which the indigenous yoruba ethnic group meets the needs of the society in contemporary times. therefore, any contemporary educational intervention, reports, research, or attempts to make sense of the indigenous yoruba and other indigenous african groups would need to pay attention to these themes and others from literature to ensure social justice and counter the dominant inaccurate account for the common good. conclusion this study demonstrated how the interactions of the power hierarchy with reality may shape the content and interpretation of primary source documents. as curriculum publishers claim to develop content on africa using primary sources, problems and limitations arise that may not be acknowledged. primary sources, as we found in our study, may well be a potential source promoting colonialist thinking about african contexts. as the analysis demonstrated, indigenous peoples’ identity and social practices might be misconstrued if used directly and without deep consideration of other source materials, particularly those by indigenous contemporary authors. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 stubert and ayers (1994) talked about young children who run ahead of their parents while constantly looking back because, essentially, they are following. sometimes, the most useful knowledge about indigenous african contexts is already there, and we must follow ahead to tap into this complex knowledge of ways of being in african contexts and make it public to inform our practice. the same analogy may apply to scholars, teachers, and curriculum developers in social studies, encouraging them to follow ahead to learn an enduring way to lead us into the future of postcolonial discourse in research and teaching about africa. educators must engage in deep reflection and learn from complex epistemology underlining the meanings of events documented in historical primary sources as they interact with social studies curriculum on african contexts. one of the major challenges of historical inquiry on indigenous communities is assuming that most primary source documents represent neutral knowledge for all indigenous communities (battiste et al., 2002; krueger, 2019; roy, 2016; tikly, 1999). most basic forms of african educational practices and systems have their origin in the colonial era. emerging evidence on primary historical sources used to teach indigenous themes in u.s. social studies indicates unsatisfactory narratives and monolithic interpretations of history (crossley & tikly, 2004; stanton, 2012). these concerns are reasons to suspect primary historical sources used in teaching themes on african nations in u.s. social studies. considering today’s classroom diversities across the globe, it is important that educators and researchers strengthen their analytical knowledge of groups’ distinct dynamics. the need to bridge cultural traditions to educate a socially and globally competent individual, especially in an era of global interdependence, alerts educators to the need to dissect the source(s) of some curriculum materials used in classrooms. a comparative examination of meaning-making and meaning made from primary historical documents may promote adaptive teaching that helps students construct distinctive knowledge, since curriculum materials are integral drivers of educational agendas. many more curriculum materials may contain inaccuracies. there is a need to pay attention to the source(s) used for constructing curriculum materials for students. there also is a need for teacher professional development, enabling them to learn and teach about regions beyond their own. the study provides insights and a starting point for educators in regard to the source of misconceptions in the curriculum materials they use in their classrooms. it also highlights the importance of leveraging the cultural capital of natives as a foundation to improve students’ civic competence in understanding culture, change, and continuity (ncss, 2010). through comparisons, this study clarified cultural misrepresentations and misperceptions about a case ethnic group. this analysis provides a basis for teachers to become educational researchers mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 in their own classrooms questioning the authority of curriculum content. we challenge educators and curriculum publishers to confront misrepresentation, stereotypes, and confusion about people, places, and cultures beyond their own geographical boundaries. educators need to critically re-examine the ways in which indigenous examples are utilized to teach fundamentals of subjects in schools (myers, 2001). we hope that demonstrating how colonialist versus indigenous historical primary sources differentially represent the meanings of social practices may inspire careful consideration of similar sources in social studies research, curriculum implementation, and advance critical theorization (gaudelli, 2013; hickling-hudson, 2006). rather than telling a cute story about african contexts in social studies classrooms, effort should be on the critical examination of historical primary source documents and leveraging indigenes as consultants. through such a lens, historical narrative may create potential for teaching with primary sources that is sensitive to and responsive to the meaning the sources convey as well as to multiple alternative understandings of the meanings of social practices. the complexities in meanings conveyed by primary documents may afford students the opportunity to think through history from multiple perspectives and develop critical reasoning (medina et al., 2000). the different world regions are so complex and vast that no one teacher can do it all well. there is a need for awareness among teachers and a follow-up on it if possible. discussion about reconceptualizing the selection and use of primary historical sources thus becomes essential. some questions arise from this study warranting further research: how accessible are african social practices to educators, students, and publishers? how might k-12, especially young learners, construct colonialists’ thinking or lack thereof when they interact with u.s. social studies curricula addressing african contexts? how sophisticated is western authors’ knowledge about african social practices if teachers and publishers are to write about it such that different perspectives would be entertained? what efforts would be neccessary for a teacher to become more aware of african social practices and then work on different perpectives in practice? how much of what is known now is taught and researched? our study considered just one group within africa, so readers are cautioned to avoid applying all findings to all groups. based on insights from this study, whether in teaching, learning, or educational research, none of the above cultural repertoires is more or less important than another. they should be considered holistically if successful curriculum design, effective teaching and meaningful learning, and responsive research are goals. in order to avoid the risk of producing world citizens without adequate knowledge of the world itself, researchers have to mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 pick up the challenge and schools must acquaint students with reality by studying different groups and allowing for different perspectives on the same narrative. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 references: akinwale, a. r. 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(2017). qualitative analysis of content. in b. m. wildemuth (ed.), applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (pp. 318-329). santa barbara, ca: abc-clio, llc. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.hollerafrica.com/showarticle.php journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 35-61 corresponding author: omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 about the authors: o. matthew odebiyi – doctoral candidate, department of curriculum and instruction, the university of alabama. dr. cynthia sunal – professor, department of curriculum and instruction, the university of alabama. mailto:omodebiyi@crimson.ua.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 1-3. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 1-3. from the editor globalization and international social studies classroom practice i thought in this editorial for the journal of international social studies i would share some of my observations from a conference i attended in karlstad in sweden and some of the research focuses i learned about from my scandanavian fellows. the papers from the conference (globalization and school subjects – challenges for civics, history, geography and religious education) have only recently been published in the electronic nordic journal nordidactica and i include the link here in case you are interested in some of them. this edition of the journal is in english but you can chase previous copies of their journal and use the web translator to convert them into english: http://www.kau.se/nordidactica/samtliga-nummer/nordidactica-20131. skills for acting as global citizens and skills needed in a global world were obviously to the fore as themes of interest and the contexts for the use of these skills reflected current key global concerns environmental issues, rebuilding societies after wars and conflict, intercultural skills and a concern with youth political engagement. it was obvious that a key issue for social educators at this conference was the educational response to the massacre in norway in july 2011 when anders behring breivik killed 77 people. he delivered an internet compendium, shortly before the attacks, the official title of which was 2083 a european declaration of independence, also known as breivik's manifesto. this manifesto included right wing extremist literature from internet sources including anti-multicultural, anti feminist and anti islamic discourses. von brömssen’s (2013) article in the journal is very helpful in understanding the sources of breivik’s thinking. she calls him an internet shopper of radical perspectives, radicalised via the internet, and argues that schools must take a stronger stand in assisting young people to sift the messages now freely available to them. von brömssen points out that the internet is often portrayed as free, democratic, equal access and enabling multiple educational providers to enter the educational market but breivik’s education from the internet demonstrates a different perspective one of extremist, narrow thinking reducing democratic skills. my own article in the same journal (reynolds and vinterek, 2013) also partly picks up this theme of globalization, the internet and the classroom pointing to the need for strong issues based teaching to be evident in our classrooms to provide the tools for our young people to weight arguments and to make ‘fair’ decisions. christenson (2013) argues for the need for students of civic education to develop competencies of working across disciplines and to be self-reflective-as-citizen as the key tools for analyzing societal problems and to act democratically on them. how do social studies teachers help build a ‘fair’ society and how do we assist our students to weigh up multiple and often contradictory claims about events occurring around us? this is obviously a global concern and we can learn by listening to other global educators’ ideas about this. this issue provides many examples. christenson, t. (2013) interdisciplinarity and self-reflection in civic education. available from: http://kau.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:623616/fulltext02.pdf reynolds, r & vinterek, m. (2013). globalization and classroom practice: insights on learning about the world in swedish and australian schools. available from: http://kau.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:627559/fulltext01.pdf von brömssen, k. (2013). 2083 – a european declaration of independence – an analysis of discourse from the extreme. available from: http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:623531/fulltext02.pdf corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 http://www.kau.se/nordidactica/samtliga-nummer/nordidactica-20131 http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:623616/fulltext02.pdf http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:623616/fulltext02.pdf http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:627559/fulltext01.pdf http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:627559/fulltext01.pdf http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:623531/fulltext02.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 1-3. this edition of the journal of international social studies once again provides some exciting reading for social studies teachers and researchers. fully refereed blind reviewed articles once again i received some very interesting articles from many areas of the globe and thanks to our very capable reviewers i was able to bring some very competent research to your attention. kenneth carano’s study (global educators’ personal attribution of a global perspective) of why and how people develop global perspectives provided much food for thought. it developed a schema for examining what global education and ‘globality’ itself actually was – a very fraught area of concern for us global educators. he then interviewed educators who maintained that they had a global perspective to try to establish how they perceived they developed this. his findings, that some aspects of global education were better enhanced by certain experiences than others, helps clarify the quandary we experience when trying to work out how best to teach for global education. global education is complex and needs to be addressed in its complexity. tim cashman’s article (lessons learned from two neighbors: how educators teach of united states policies) reminds us that educators in different parts of the world use different forms of pedagogy and emphasize different aspects of history, geography, economics and politics than ourselves. examining ourselves through others’ eyes is very instructional and creates great themes for discussion in our social studies classrooms. as cashman used examples from educators in canada and mexico this was quite literally an examination of border pedagogy and curriculum and hopefully a guide to ways in which to meet across these borders in our social studies classrooms. the final article in this issue is by suh, yurita, lin and metzger (collective memories of the second world war in history textbooks from china, japan and south korea) and clarifies in some detail issues that have contributed to a lack of a single cohesive memory of the second world war from this area of asia. this is a longer article which i accepted after recommendation from reviewers on the basis of the importance of the study and the necessity for the detail provided. there has been an upsurge of interest in research in school textbooks in recent years with the emphasis being on how school curriculum, and textbooks that represent this curriculum, influence national stories and national aspirations. history as a school discipline has been singled out for special attention in texts such as foster, & crawford (2006), which has been quite influential in highlighting the influence such textbooks have on national identity and international linkages and our current worldviews. this study of three largely contested history traditions allows us a fascinating perspective on the ways in which context influences historical perspective and national pride and augments arguments for the importance of the role of the historian and historical thinking in social studies classrooms. this is quite an important article because it carefully portrays the examples that help establish the practices and the influences that come to bear on school textbooks and subsequent cohesive national narratives of historical events. foster, s. & crawford, k. (2006). what shall we tell the children? international perspectives on school history textbooks. greenwich, ct: information age. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 1-3. media review dr carolyn o’mahony once again introduces us to some interesting books. martusewicz, edmundson, and lupinacci’s, ecojustice education toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities, jared diamond’s, the world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies?, and carl hobert’s raising global iq: preparing our students for a shrinking planet are reviewed. all appear to offer great hope for us to teach our student for a sustainable future and i certainly will be promoting them here in my teacher education programs. i am particularly enamoured with the examples of ways we can learn from traditional societies. it certainly appears to me that it is our 21st century lifestyle that is ruining our grandchildren’s sustainable future and some acknowledgement of how earlier generations managed their lifestyle may help us to manage our own. social justice perspectives dr gloria alter reveals two communities that are not highly evident in the general community in the u.s.a. firstly by supporting j.b. mayo, jr. to write about the hmong community in st paul in minnesota we learn of this vibrant and thriving culture and their history, and some of their challenges as they immigrate to the u.s.a., primarily coming from laos. then as part of this hmong community, we learn of a group of lgbtq (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) members of our community and the issues they face as they live their lives in american cities within their traditional community. it is an inspiring story of tenacity and perseverance as these primarily young lgbtq people work with family and community to enable their multiple personal identities to emerge. as mayo points out, for us as social studies teachers, the need for teaching about multiple diverse perspectives and having an inclusive classroom, is crucial if we are to help them, and others like them, build their lives as useful and well accepted members of society. international perspectives dr anatoli rappaport presents us with an historical overview of study abroad programs and some of the various ways in which these programs have been viewed over time. he points out that for many social studies teachers short term international visiting programs made a huge impact on their personal and professional lives. however he also notes that substantial research has not been undertaken into long term impact and change to either curriculum or pedagogy. most research is descriptive and anecdotal. to develop global citizens the learning processes of these experiences and their sustainability need to be researched much more seriously. about the editor associate professor ruth reynolds is the leader of the global education research and teaching group at the university of newcastle, australia and currently teaches courses in teacher education in social studies (called studies of society and environment until very recently in australia and now is called humanities and social sciences), civics and citizenship and environmental sustainability. her research interests include curriculum history, geographic place knowledge, teaching global education in preservice courses, environmental education and teaching using historical fiction. check her profile on: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/staff/research-profile/ruth_reynolds/publications.html corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 reynolds, r & vinterek, m. (2013). globalization and classroom practice: insights on learning about the world in swedish and australian schools. available from: http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:627559/fulltext01.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 77-78 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 77-78 social justice perspectives from the social justice perspectives editor gloria t. alter a call to education and action raising awareness of lgbtq issues in global perspective is a worthy goal. j. b. mayo does it well, immersing himself in the lives of those he studies. in this column, he shares a case study of lgbtq hmong, members of shades of yellow (soy), the only hmong lgbtq organization in existence, based in st. paul, minnesota. given that the largest population of hmong, apart from those in asia, is found in the united states, it is important for social educators to recognize this group in the curriculum. and given that we do not typically include the lgbtq population in the social studies curriculum, it is doubly important that we address the history and diverse lives of these hmong people. mayo explores the intersection between lgbtq issues and hmong identities, educating and inspiring us to learn more. further, we are challenged to show compassion for those whose lives may be extremely difficult, not only at school but also at home, at work, and in the community. for social studies educators in particular, the message is clear— building inclusive curriculum and accepting classrooms must be a priority! historic decisions are being made about many lgbtq issues around the world today. as the united states supreme court deliberates over the issue of gay marriage, some commentators are saying that the trend data on public opinion in this matter is going in only one direction, in favor of gay marriage. globally, france may become the 12th country to allow gay marriage (most of the first 11 countries who approved gay marriage did so within the past decade). many leaders have expressed concerns for the safety and protection of the human rights of gay populations around the world. united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon addressed the u. n. human rights council just last year (2012) in a powerful message of solidarity. the high commissioner’s report documents disturbing abuses in all regions with a pattern of violence and discrimination directed at people just because they are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender. there is a widespread bias at jobs, schools, and hospitals. and appalling violent attacks, including sexual assault. people have been imprisoned, tortured, even killed. this is a monumental tragedy for those affected and a stain on our collective conscience. and it is also a violation of international law. to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, let me say, you corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 77 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 77-78 are not alone. your struggle for an end to violence and discrimination is a shared struggle. any attack on you is an attack on the universal values the united nations and i have sworn to defend and uphold. i stand with you and i call upon all countries and people to stand with you, too. a historic shift is underway. . . . the secretary-general then said that we must end discrimination and the criminalization of lgbt relationships, and educate the public. i count on this council and all people of conscience to make this happen. the time has come. this message was an impressive step toward the recognition of lgbtq rights worldwide. how can social educators of conscience respond to this call? reference united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon. (2012, march). message to the un human rights council: on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. retrieved from <http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/un-head-support-lgbt equality?utm_source=convio&utm_medium=email&utm_term=news-link4&utm_campaign=hrcnews-march-2012> editor’s note a great source for further study about the hmong is the hmong bookstore <http://www.hmongabc.com/> however, it does not appear to provide information about lgtbq issues. about the social justice editor dr gloria alter is visiting associate professor at depaul university chicago. her research interests include elementary social studies curriculum design and reform, textbook analysis, social studies and social justice, and social studies in local and global perspective. she teaches courses in elementary social studies methods. dr. alter was the editor of social studies and the young learner, president of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies, and president of the illinois council for the social studies. corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 78 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. global educators’ personal attribution of a global perspective kenneth thomas carano western oregon university, monmouth, oregon ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this case study of self-identifying global educators investigated factors that they attributed to the development of their global perspective and how it influenced curricular decision-making. analysis resulted in seven themes identified by the participants as having attributed to the development of a global perspective: (a) family, (b) exposure to diversity, (c) minority status, (d) global education courses, (e) international travel, (f) having a mentor, and (g) professional service. additionally, the themes were perceived to influence curricular decision-making by providing strategies and resources. the participants’ perspectives have implications for social studies teacher education programs and future research. these implications include the types of instructional methods, themes, and global dimensions that should be addressed in teacher education programs. future research should focus on issues underlying the nature of global education courses being taught in social studies teacher education programs, the teaching methods being used by graduates of those programs, and further analysis on emerging themes perceived to be critical in developing a global perspective. key words: global education, global perspectives, social studies, teacher education __________________________________________________________________________ for two years my wife and i lived in suriname, south america, as peace corps volunteers. during our time in suriname, we resided in the rain forest village of tapoeripa, which was inhabited by descendents of runaway african slaves who still held onto many of their traditional customs and beliefs. oftentimes, it had the look and feel of the old exotic africa of my mind. tall walls of pristine jungle flora guarded either side of the river while local women washed clothes and dishes on rocks at the river’s edge. the information age had not yet made it to the surinamese interior and phone lines were nonexistent, except for the one cell phone at the police station that worked only occasionally and was about a five kilometer walk away from the village. in 2000, after two years away, i returned to the united states with what i perceived to be a heightened awareness of other cultures, a greater tolerance of others, and an interest in world events. soon after, i began teaching high school social studies and these new perspectives had a profound influence on my curricular decision-making. in 2004, i started a doctoral program in social science education and was introduced to an area of study, global education, that provided me with a title to a perspective i felt was important to develop in students. i have been introduced to invaluable teaching methods for incorporating global education in the classroom, but ultimately reflecting upon what brought me to this study, i find that i come back to my time in suriname. although not formally introduced to global education, my time as a peace corps volunteer was a major influence on how i attempt to instil in my students the skills necessary to thrive in a globalized world. clearly, i agree with lincoln (2005) that personal experiences have a major influence on to what one attributes her or his beliefs and values. yet, this is an area of study that has not been widely explored in global education. the research described herein is a case study exploring factors to which self-identifying global educators attribute their global perspective. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 4 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. purpose of the study the globalization of economic, political, technological, and environmental systems has permanently altered the knowledge and skills young people need to become effective citizens (merryfield, 2000). the scale with which these systems are transforming through many modern societies is unprecedented (kennedy, 2007); therefore, globalization has the possibility of expanding the critical, imaginative, and ethical dimensions of education (heilman, 2009). students need to understand these global interconnections if they are going to attain their full potential and develop the skills enabling them to interact effectively with people different from themselves (tye, 2009). unfortunately, global issues are not well integrated into most teacher preparation programs (zong, 2009). although there have been several important studies examining global perspectives in teachers (see, for example, gaudelli, 2003; duckworth, levy, & levy, 2005; merryfield, 2007; k. a. tye, 1999), there appears to be little research conducted on how these teachers perceive they developed their global perspective despite research indicating the decisions teachers make are based on personal perceptions and thinking (ukpokodu, 2006). this case study explored this gap in the research. the research questions are as follows: 1. to what do self-identified globally minded teachers attribute the development of a global perspective? 2. how do teachers perceive their curricular decision-making is influenced by that to which they attribute their constructed global perspective? research framework based upon the overview of the global education literature and the underlying components of the dominant pedagogy, i have identified five dimensions of a global perspective (see table 1) as necessary components to be applied in the classroom. table 1: five dimensions of a global perspective dimension descriptions 1. intercultural awareness: understanding the uniqueness of the individual and culture. 2. globality: aware of world conditions, trends, interconnections, and unanticipated consequences of human actions. 3. service-learning: process of learning and developing through participation in organized service experiences that meet local or global community needs. 4. global literacy: skills needed to successfully interact with others in a globalized world. 5. social justice: analyzing the issues of power structure arrangements and the fair distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all society members. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 5 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. the intercultural awareness dimension consists of four categories. the first two categories, perspective consciousness and cross-cultural awareness, come from the work of hanvey (1976). the former is the awareness that one’s world view is unique, often shaped by individual events in one’s subconscious and an understanding that each individual goes through this process. the latter is the ability to perceive one’s culture from other vantage points. fluidity of culture refers to recognizing the dynamics of a culture are in a constant state of fluctuation (imbert, 2004; markowitz, 2004). finally, cosmopolitanism is predicated on the principles of the existence of mutual respect and understanding among the world’s people (appiah, 2006). the second dimension, globality, consists of four categories. within the first category, state of the planet awareness, issues identified as being pertinent include the awareness of different global belief systems, political systems, economic systems, and population issues, such as illegal immigration (collins, czarra, & smith, 2003; hanvey, 1976; merryfield & wilson, 2005). knowledge of global dynamics is the awareness that events in a world system are interconnected and have unanticipated consequences that often influence local and global endeavors (hanvey, 1976); merryfield & wilson, 2005). another concept originally identified by hanvey (1976), awareness of human choices, is the ability to realize the problems of choice from multiple perspectives and their long-range implications. the last category, spatial-temporal awareness involves looking at the shrinking of space and time and how it has fostered global interconnections (pike & selby, 2000) and changed the nature of social space (scholte, 2000). service-learning has two categories. the first, community service refers to being actively involved in improving the human condition through participation at the local or global level (kirkwood, 2001). the second, category builds of the previous category by encouraging this active involvement to strive towards sustainable development, which pertains to the type of economic growth enabling the present generation to meet its needs, while limiting its use of nonrenewable sources in order to benefit future generations (banks et al., 2005). global literacy is the fourth dimension. the first category, digital technology, encompasses becoming digitally literate and gaining critical technological skills that enable students to have an enhanced personal life and learn about the world (merryfield & wilson, 2005; nordgren, 2002). research and thinking skills include analytical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are increasingly more important in an interconnected world to be able to compete economically (joftus, 2004) and become globally competent citizens (kirkwood, 2001; lamy, 1990). these skills also entail the ability to detect bias and unstated assumptions to acquire the decision-making skills students need as citizens living in a democratic society (merryfield & wilson, 2005). the last category, conflict resolution skills, involves developing communication, advocacy, negotiation, compromise, and collaboration skills (martin-kniep, 1997). the final global dimension, social justice, has four categories. legacy of colonialism examines the origins and assumptions underlying a eurocentric framework and analyzes alternative frameworks for understanding history (merryfield, 2001). the category of capitalism refers to the misguided understanding of democracy becoming interwoven with capitalism, which can lead to economic inequality appearing to be an expected consequence of living in a democratic society (ladsonbillings, 2004). universal human rights are a foundation to gaining a global perspective (myers, 2006). while human rights first gained traction in the western world, there is no consensus as to whose human rights are the correct ones (goodhart, 2003) and this lack of consensus should be corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 6 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. explored in global education (gaudelli & fernekes, 2004). power/influence of the media refers to the necessity of students unlearning the often exaggerated information promulgated because of media stereotypes (cortes, 2000; seikaly, 2001) and the media’s influence on policy making (wanta, golan, & lee, 2004). for a complete listing of the global dimension categories see table 2. table 2: five dimensions of a global perspective and categories global dimensions categories 1. intercultural awareness a. perspective consciousness b. cross-cultural awareness c. fluidity of culture d. cosmopolitanism 2. globality a. state of the planet awareness b. knowledge of global dynamics c. awareness of human choices d. spatial-temporal awareness 3. service-learning a. community service b. sustainable development 4. global literacy a. digital technology b. research and thinking skills c. conflict resolution skills 5. social justice a. legacy of colonialism b. capitalism c. human rights d. power/influence of the media overview of study merriam (1988) stated purposeful sampling is used when the researcher is attempting to gain insight from a specific group, such as global educators. i employed this method by inviting six high school social studies instructors to participate. the instructors identified themselves as global educators and were involved in a global education project, which was a partnership between a southeastern university and nearby public schools. participating teachers examined global issues and applied this content to secondary school teaching and curriculum development. while not personally involved in the global education project, i had been introduced to the participants through a colleague, affiliated with the project, who was aware of my research focus. the colleague was not one of this study’s participants. the research questions were answered using data collected from semi-structured interviews. participants were each interviewed twice. while analyzing the data, i used the framework developed by miles and huberman (1994) to describe the major phases of data analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. research question 1: to what do self-identified globally minded teachers attribute the development of a global perspective? answers were divided into two categories: initial development and intensification of global perspective. the initial development category had two sections: perceptions of self and perceptions corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 7 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. of others. three themes emerged from the perceptions of self section. the themes were family, exposure to diversity, and minority status. two themes emerged in the perceptions of others section: exposure to diversity and global education courses. the intensification of global perspective category had the following four themes: international travel, global education courses, mentor, and professional service. for a summary of the groups, themes, and subthemes see table 3. table 3: groups, themes, and subthemes grouping theme(s) subtheme(s) perception of self initial development family intercultural awareness, globality exposure to diversity intercultural awareness, globality minority status social justice, intercultural awareness perception of others initial development exposure to diversity intercultural awareness, globality global education courses intercultural awareness, globality intensification of global perspective international travel globality, intercultural awareness, social justice global education courses provided terminology, provided resources, globality, intercultural awareness intensification of global perspective mentor support system professional service globality family. four interview participants chose family in the development of a global perspective. some participants referred to the influence of their parents, whereas others talked about the impact of grandparents or siblings. additionally, there were a couple of salient differences in their perspectives of how family aided in the development of a global perspective. these differences emerged as the subthemes globality and intercultural awareness. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 8 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. tye and tye (1998) found that teachers were more likely to be attracted to global education if they followed world news early in life and had parents who discussed current events with them while growing up. those studies did not focus on perceptions; therefore, this is the first study in which teachers who are attracted to global education explicitly cited family as a factor in the initial development of a global perspective. for the purposes of teacher preparation programs, this finding demonstrates that some preservice teachers believe a global perspective may be developed prior to entering teacher education programs. additionally, the subthemes were limited to only two of the five global dimensions. the same two global dimensions were overwhelmingly focused on throughout the themes of this study, suggesting that globality and intercultural awareness are the global dimensions most likely to be learned by students prior to entering teacher education programs. exposure to diversity. this theme emerged in both sections of the initial development category. three participants cited its influence on the development of their own global perspective and five participants perceived it was beneficial in the development of a global perspective in others. additionally, the subthemes intercultural awareness and globality emerged. past research suggests that being exposed to people from different races, ethnicities, and cultures is correlated to global-mindedness and an increased intercultural awareness (see, for example, mapp et al., 2007; merryfield, 2000). perhaps, what is most beneficial for teacher education programs is that the subthemes differed based on the types of exposure. when addressing an exposure to diversity that entailed more detailed interaction with people from other cultures, each interview participant talked about the subtheme of intercultural awareness. for example, mn, op, and st¹ talked about growing up in a multicultural environment and how this led to having friends from different cultures who opened their eyes to multiple perspectives by exposing them to different elements of outside cultures such as parties, foods popular in their friends’ households, music, and the traditions practiced by their friends from various cultures. on the other hand, when discussing exposure to diversity at a more superficial level, in which they were around diverse groups but either did not interact or had limited interaction, the subtheme addressed was globality. for instance, when st traveled to hawaii and japan as a tourist and did not spend much time interacting with the locals, she talked about how this provided her with a new awareness of the areas’ cultural landscapes. minority status. three interviewees identified minority status as an important component to the initial development of their global perspective. minority status refers to being the part of a sociological group that is not a part of the dominant group, leading to a perception that s/he has experienced oppression due to the group association. social justice and intercultural awareness emerged as the subthemes. the results of merryfield’s (2000) study of teacher educators, in which she found that experiences of discrimination, injustice, and being identified as an outsider were influential factors in a commitment to global education, correlate with the interviewees who identified the minority status theme being an influencer on the development of a global perspective. the previous research also appeared to correlate with the subtheme of social justice. this study demonstrates the ironic advantage of encountering life as a minority and the suffering of oppression and discrimination that often go along with the experience in developing a global perspective. cd expressed the reasons for the experience of oppression being such a powerful corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 9 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. facilitator towards acquiring a global perspective when he said, “that firsthand knowledge makes you keenly aware of oppression that exists across the planet and the need to try to do something about it. i think that’s the prime area as to where i draw my global perspective from” (cd, personal communication, march 11, 2010). these outcomes could have implications for teacher education programs in both the recruitment process and the types of activities in which students should receive exposure to gain a global perspective. for example, if teacher education programs are able to provide the experience of being a minority and the feelings of discrimination or oppression that goes along with this theme, it may help students acquire the global dimensions of intercultural awareness and social justice. global education courses. global education courses emerged as a theme in both the initial development and intensification of a global perspective. it was discussed by three interview participants when identifying how others could initially develop a global perspective, and four interview participants pointed to global education courses intensifying their personal global perspectives. interview participants pointed to four areas in which this theme aided the development of a global perspective. the areas included providing terminology, providing resources, intercultural awareness, and globality. the results are consistent with previous research indicating global education courses and social studies methods courses focusing on world issues can attribute to an increased global-mindedness and a greater likelihood of infusing global education themes in teachers’ lesson plans (barnes & curlette, 1985; kirkwood-tucker, 2004; wilson, 1997). international travel. four interviewees named the theme of international travel as an intensifier of a global perspective. differences emerged on what types of international travel experiences were beneficial and how these travel experiences benefited the intensification of a global perspective. subthemes included intercultural awareness, globality, and social justice. these result mirrored studies (i.e., kambutu & nganga, 2008; kehl & morris, 2008; mapp et al., 2007) that international travel experiences can lead to an expanded global perspective and an increased intercultural awareness. perhaps the most useful information from this theme was the global dimensions that participants perceived the international travel helped to intensify. the two global dimensions perceived to be most frequently affected by international travel were globality and intercultural awareness. the locales of where the participants traveled did not seem to influence which dimension was addressed, but, similar to exposure to diversity, the interactions participants had on their travels did have an influence on the addressed global dimension. when the interview participants talked about international travel experiences in which they had significant contact with citizens living in the country they were visiting, intercultural awareness was mentioned most frequently. cd’s response to living in zambia was an example of this connection when he said, “living there certainly changed my perspective. the friends i made were no longer merely africans clumped together with millions of others. instead, they were individuals with rich personal histories who challenged my previous held stereotypes” (cd, personal communication, march 11, 2010). when the interview participants talked about international travel experiences involving less interaction with locals, globality was the focus. st provided an example of this distinction when talking about a trip to western europe, which was not a travel experience in which she did any significant mingling with the locals. “it was just neat to see how cities operate abroad. the eco-friendliness, even back then, that was amazing to me. the transportation system. how easy it was to go from one country to another” (st, personal communication, march 8, 2010). corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 10 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. the third global dimension addressed, social justice, was mentioned by two participants. both participants talked about international travel becoming a contrast to previous information they were given about the area. st talked about going on a cruise with a class when she was younger and docking at the bahamas where she and her classmates were taken on a guided tour. it was two years before she discovered there was poverty in that area, as she said, “it makes you realize things when people go out of their way to hide things and not tell you about them” (st, personal communication, march 8, 2010). cd talked about the power of the media to influence the perception of an issue when he discussed how, prior to going on a trip to vancouver, british columbia, he had listened to the united states media vilify the canadian health care system. “so while i was there for a week, i spoke with a lot of canadians and i deliberately addressed this issue. none of them have a problem with it; it works fine. they’re all happy with the program” (cd, personal communication, march 11, 2010). the significance of this third global dimension seemed to be in how international travel can be used in combination with a critique of how cultures, nations, and issues are addressed in the media. mentor. three interview participants credited a mentor for aiding in the intensification of a global perspective. each participant specifically referred to a university professor who has provided them with a deeper understanding of global education and had been a support system in the intensification of their global perspective. although research has demonstrated that mentors can play an important role in influencing a new teacher’s values, content knowledge, and how they teach (see, for example, gilles, wilson, & elias, 2010; saye, kohlmeier, brush, mitchell, & farmer, 2009), the mentor’s role has not been a focus of global education research. each interview participant who attributed this theme as a factor in the intensification of her/his global perspective talked about the mentor as a support system. this finding may be most significant for educators who are already in the k-12 classroom since participants’ comments were geared towards the mentor being a support system within preexisting classrooms. professional service. two interview participants talked about the theme of professional service when discussing how their global perspective was intensified. the professional service included attendance at social studies conferences, as well as participation in model united nations and the aforementioned global education program. when addressing how professional service had intensified their global perspective, both interviewees touched on aspects of globality. previous research suggests that membership in professional organizations is significantly correlated to globalmindedness (kirkwood-tucker, 2006). the results of this research went a step further by suggesting global educators’ perceived professional service may also intensify an individual’s globalmindedness. for example, ab talked about how attending model united nations conferences had provided her with new information from different perspectives on issues such as women’s rights in kazakhstan. research question 2: how do teachers perceive their curricular decision-making is influenced by that to which they attribute their constructed global perspective? access to resources and gaining teaching strategies emerged as themes when discussing how the seven themes identified in research question 1 influenced curricular decision-making. the following discussion includes an overview of the themes, an exploration of the subthemes, how the themes tie into the global education literature, and possible implications on global education teacher development programs. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 11 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. resources. this was the most cited theme. every theme attributed to the development or intensification of a global perspective was perceived to provide classroom resources. kirkwood’s (2002) study demonstrated how the availability of teaching materials may influence the global content that is taught. she found that the teachers used a great deal of information to teach about japan because they had easy access to teaching materials involving global perspectives. this study appeared to correlate with kirkwood’s findings because each of the areas in which the interview participants had attributed to the development of a global perspective implied having had exposure and access to experiences that would provide access to teaching materials. for example, international travel experiences had been stated by multiple participants as providing resources to teach students about topics that fall under the globality global dimension by being able to share firsthand experiences of a country’s cultural landscape, life in an ldc, and the realities of a country’s health care system. additionally, exposure to family members’ travel experiences provided rich stories to share with students. another example was minority status providing one of the participants the resources to be able to relate to english as a second language (esl) students by sharing in their excitements and frustrations during the classroom experience and being able to explain to other students what the esl students were going through while encouraging them to look beyond the physical appearance of the esl students. global education courses provided an example of participants being provided exposure to literature and terminology that aided in putting together activities in the classroom. two participants perceived that exposure to diversity provided resources that aid in the intercultural awareness global dimension to draw upon to give students stories through the eyes of a person in another culture. one of the participants credited her mentor for providing handouts that she could use in the classroom. finally, professional service has provided exposure to speakers and other likeminded global educators who have enabled them to become well versed on various international topics. just like the majority of the themes in research question 1, the most frequently addressed global dimensions were globality and intercultural awareness. resources addressing service-learning and global literacy were not addressed. strategies. although research suggested that areas such as teacher education programs can make a difference in the attitudes of teacher candidates, little is known about how, or even whether, these expressed attitudes are influencing classroom curricula (zong, 2009). the findings from this research suggested teachers believe that what they perceived to have attributed to the development of a personal global perspective had an influence on their curricula. not only was this belief addressed in the resources findings, but also by five of the seven themes attributed to the development or intensification of a global perspective being perceived to provide classroom strategies. exposure to diversity and international travel were the only attributes not associated with providing strategies. the strategies touched on four of the five global dimensions. the only one not addressed was global literacy. again, the strategies were overwhelmingly focused on globality and intercultural awareness. when discussing strategies used in the classroom, each theme from research question 1 that was perceived to aid in the development of a global perspective focused on globality. for example, mn perceived that her family helped attribute to strategies in the classroom by instilling her with the skills necessary to provide her students an awareness of the world. when discussing how minority status had provided strategies to teach global education, cd talked about how experiencing and observing his family’s economic struggles has influenced his curricular decision making by saying, “i pose an open-ended question where my students can consider the advantages and disadvantages of corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 12 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. unbridled capitalism versus a communist state versus a socialist government” (cd, personal communication, march 11, 2010). op provided an example of how global education courses provided her with classroom strategies when she said, “it especially helped give me strategies for teaching about the interconnectedness of the global economy” (op, personal communication, february 13, 2010). cd credited his mentor with providing him the strategies to demonstrate to his students how their actions could have unanticipated outcomes. professional services was the fifth theme from research question 1 in which participants focused on globality when discussing how strategies were influenced. when discussing professional service, op credited the global schools project with providing her specific ideas to use in her classroom that can bring the world’s interconnectedness to life. four of the themes from research question 1 perceived to aid in the development of a global perspective focused on intercultural awareness. op was blunt about her family’s influence on an aspect of this global dimension when she said, “i teach many perspectives just because of my family” (op, personal communication, march 13, 2010). mn used her experiences of being discriminated against as examples to share with her students, so they can gain an understanding of the perspectives of minorities. op and cd credited global education courses when mentioning receiving specific strategies and ways of incorporating primary source documents in their curricula to teach aspects of intercultural awareness. the global dimensions of service-learning and social justice received very limited attention during the discussion of strategies. service-learning was mentioned by only one of the participants. when referring to minority status, cd discussed how these experiences had inspired him to get students actively involved in the lives of the downtrodden by facilitating service-learning projects, such as raising money for a local homeless shelter. recommendations teacher education programs should produce teacher candidates who can teach the skills and awareness to thrive in a globalized world and recruit teacher candidates who are more likely to come with skill sets that makes it easier to mold them into global educators. since immigrants are more likely to come in with a global perspective, raising the enrolment rates of immigrants, especially from ldc countries, may be beneficial. additionally, prospective candidates who have been exposed to diverse cultures may be more likely to enter a program with a global perspective. teacher education programs should provide experiences that put students in contact with people from other cultures, ethnicities, and races. the curricula should also provide teacher candidates coming from the majority culture with opportunities to undergo life as a minority and the feelings of discrimination or oppression often experienced by minority groups. providing international study abroad opportunities for students would also be beneficial. additionally, teacher education programs should develop mentors and incorporate professional service opportunities in the courses. globality and intercultural awareness were the most mentioned global dimensions and were the most likely to be learned by students prior to entering university. while globality and intercultural awareness should be taught, since the other three dimensions were not focused on as frequently, teacher education programs should provide a clear theoretical and application focus to expose many teacher candidates to these remaining global education aspects. because interview participants largely identified the globality and intercultural awareness dimensions when discussing the factors they attributed to the development of a global perspective, there is a solid argument for making corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 13 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. these dimensions the initial dimensions to which to expose the teacher candidates. globality and intercultural awareness may be foundational before the intensification of a global perspective can occur. teacher candidates should also be exposed to diverse groups in the teacher education programs. the dimensions perceived to be addressed by exposure to diversity were globality and intercultural awareness. if programs want to focus on globality, then superficial exposure to diversity would suffice. for example, providing international travel experience that carried limited interaction with other cultures and focused more on aspects such as the cultural landscape of the country would be beneficial. international travel can also be a powerful means for helping teacher candidates learn the intercultural awareness global dimension. providing study abroad opportunities during which students have meaningful interaction with citizens of that country could provide similar benefits if the study abroad course offered the structure that allowed the candidate to engage in meaningful, ongoing reflective discourse during the experience. international travel experiences could also be incorporated into a course and combined with a critique of how cultures, nations, and global issues are addressed in the news media or by textbooks to provide an awareness of the social justice global dimension. putting students who are accustomed to being a part of the majority group in the role of the minority can also educate candidates on the global dimensions of intercultural awareness and social justice. for example, both of these global dimensions could be explored through simulations, such as a class divided, which illustrated aspects of prejudice and persecution. family background and types of beliefs that participants held had a prominent position in this study; therefore, future research should continue to look at the influence these factors have on developing a global perspective or specific dimensions of a global perspective and to what degree do these backgrounds possibly limit or enhance the influence of social studies teacher education programs in the development of a global perspective. global education courses in teacher education programs should also be evaluated to see on what global dimensions they focus. this evaluation should be followed with studies seeking to discover whether teachers who had taken those global education courses teach from a global perspective and use the strategies they were taught and, if so, what global dimensions are addressed in their curricula. this information will aid social studies teacher education programs in determining useful methods for providing resources and strategies in each of the global dimensions. references appiah, k. a. 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(2000). in the global classroom—2. toronto, on, canada: pippin. saye, j., kohlmeier, j., brush, t., mitchell, l., & farmer, c. (2009). using mentoring to develop professional teaching knowledge for problem-based historical inquiry. theory and research in social education, 37, 6-41. scholte, j. a. (2000). globalization: a critical introduction. new york, ny: st. martin’s press. seikaly, z. a. (2001). at risk of prejudice: the arab american community. social education, 65, 349351. tye, b. b., & tye, k. a. (1998). global education: a study of school change. orange, ca: interdependence press. tye, k. a. (1999). global education as a worldwide movement. orange, ca: interdependence press. tye, k. a. (2009). a history of the global education movement in the united states. in t. f. kirkwoodtucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 3-24). new york, ny: peter lang. ukpokodu, o. n. (2006). the effect of 9/11 on preservice teachers’ perspectives and dispositions toward global concerns. social studies research and practice, 1, 179-200. retrieved august 7, 2008 from http://www.socstrp.org/issues/pdf/1.2.3.pdf wanta, w., golan, g., & lee, c. (2004). agenda setting and international news: media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations. journalism & mass communication quarterly 81, 2, 364-377. wilson, a. h. (1997). infusing global perspectives throughout a secondary social studies program. in m. m. merryfield, e. jarchow, & s. pickert (eds.), preparing teachers to teach global perspectives. a handbook for teacher education (pp. 143-167). thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 17 http://www.socialstudies.org/cufa/trse journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 4-18. zong, g. (2009). global perspectives in teacher education research and practice. in t. f. kirkwoodtucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 71-89) new york, ny: peter lang. corresponding author email: caranok@wou.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 18 overview of study journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 14 spring/summer 2012 addressing hiv/aids education: a look at teacher preparedness in ghana jim martin weiler university of education, winneba cassandra j. martin-weiler university of education, winneba ______________________________________________________________________________ our research shows that social science university trained ghanaian student/teachers do have the knowledge, confidence, and willingness to address hiv/aids issues in their teaching, yet they do not. the reason, we argue, is that teachers have little incentive to address contentious issues in the classroom. questionnaires were administered to 382 university of education, winneba students, 61 of whom were just returning from year-long placements. we conclude with the argument that the rethinking of the current dominant approach to curriculum is necessary and that a curriculum that will better support teachers in addressing controversial issues such as hiv/aids in the classroom should be considered. keywords: teacher preparation; hiv/aids education; addressing social issues; critical pedagogy ______________________________________________________________________________ according to the united nations millennium development goals (mdg) report (2010), knowledge and understanding are the first steps in combating the spread of hiv, but success has not been as great as hoped. they state: though some progress has been made, comprehensive and correct knowledge of hiv among young people is still unacceptably low in most countries. less than one third of young men and less than one fifth of young women in developing countries claim such knowledge about hiv” (p. 41). in many cases, education is seen as the panacea to solve the world’s problems (e.g. sex education to combat high birth rates, health education to combat malnutrition, drivers’ education to combat automobile accidents). we too believe in the value of education. however, if education is going to be effective in addressing these social problems, including hiv/aids, a critical examination of its role is necessary. simply imposing more knowledge on students and teachers has not been sufficient in bringing the desired changes. in the real world, the rational decision made by organizations like the united nations are not implemented simply by a decree from a nation’s ministry of education. lipsky (1980) argues journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 15 spring/summer 2012 that teachers, as well as social workers and police officers, have great autonomy in implementing policy. if goals are ambiguous and/or conflicting, clients have little discretion over the services that are rendered. if resources are lacking, the street level bureaucrat (lipsky, 1980), i.e. the teacher, will greatly determine what happens to the policy. this perspective directly challenges the notion that if teachers are informed about what to do that they will do it. being knowledgeable about what to teach is only one part of how prepared a teacher is to address hiv/aids as an issue for the classroom. another aspect is how willing and confident teachers are to undertake such an endeavor. studies (ahmed, flisher, mathews, mukoma & jansen, 2009; helleve, flisher, onya, kaaya, mukoma, swai & klepp, 2009; helleve, flisher, onya, mukoma & klepp, 2011; mathews, boon, flisher & schaalma, 2006, peltzer & promtussananon, 2003) have examined what factors influence teachers’ confidence in an african context. they found training and attitudes to be key factors. the teachers in these studies were responsible for teaching hiv/aids education. in the study conducted by mathews et al. (2006), only 70% of those teachers had reported implementing hiv/aids education. our study relates to the larger population of teachers who do not have a mandate to specifically teach hiv/aids education. our question was focused on how issues relating hiv/aids enter the classrooms of core subject areas, namely social sciences? a need exists to critically examine the context in which hiv/aids is conceptualized as a curricular issue. for instance, instruction can be a tool to increase students’ consciousness in responding to social problems. whether the idea becomes reality or merely rhetoric depends on how we approach the curriculum. silin (1995) articulated how the curricular approach to hiv/aids influences the impact it will have. in defining hiv/aids as a biomedical event that can be addressed only by those trained in science and health education, we attempt to make it safe contained within a specific discipline, so that it will not contaminate other areas of study. when the topic of hiv/aids is sanitized, teachers and students are protected from the truly unhealthy aspects of society that might otherwise be revealed; the status quo is ensured. (p. 229) the argument is to treat contentious issues not in a purely academic manner. what makes hiv/aids not just a health issue, but also a social science issue, is that its implication reaches into the realms of values and politics. how we treat the most vulnerable people, what resources are dedicated to treatment and prevention, how we behave in personal relationships, and how we view the disease are strong statements about a society. other researchers (ahmed et al., 2009; deutschlander, 2010; helleve et al., 2009, 2011; mathews et al., 2006; mwebi, 2007) have argued that addressing an issue like hiv/aids is different from most other issues. rather than focusing primarily on the cognitive domain (e.g. knowing the ways to contract the virus), there is a strong need to emphasize the affective domain (e.g. examining personal values) and change behaviors (e.g. making good decisions). clearly, preparing teachers to address hiv/aids in the classroom is complex. our research examined how prepared university of education, winneba (uew) students are to respond to the social problem of hiv/aids. we wanted to know how knowledgeable, willing, and confident they are to address such issues in the classroom. also we wanted to know if the interns in the classroom addressed hiv/aids issues. we decided to ask them their views and knowledge about a host of related issues. hiv/aids is not the only social issue that requires teachers’ attention, but we believe that it is a good proxy for contentious issues that will not go journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 16 spring/summer 2012 away no matter how deliberately they are ignored. as far as the mdgs are concerned, nations and education reformers need to decide how we want to continue treating contentious social issues. do we want to treat them as abstract and theoretical topics that can be tested easily or do we want to delve into complex issues that are perceived as risky? background to hiv/aids education in ghana the first identified cases of hiv infection in ghana occurred in 1986. in response, the national aids control programme was established. a 1995 department for international development study (barnett, konign, & francis, 1995) looked at hiv/aids education in four countries in africa and asia. ghana was one of the countries included. they found that efforts towards hiv/aids education in schools were minimal with teacher preparation non-existent at that time. it referred to a survey conducted in 1990 that was to guide school health policy in ghana. they found that, “results indicated poor environmental conditions in schools, and minimal time developed to teaching around health issues” (p. 96). even with this low standard, the consequences were not catastrophic. according to unaids, the rate of hiv infection in ghana was 1.9% (2008a). this statistic appears to be a fairly low one in africa. however, if we look at the world health organization’s statistics for ghana (2005), the percentages of adults with the infection show an increase from 2.3% to 3.4% from 2000 to 2002. also, the most affected age group in 2004 was 25-29 year olds with a 4.5% prevalent rate of infection. during this same period, funding of hiv/aids activities also increased to reach over $32 million in 2006. however, between 2005 and 2006, spending on prevention programs decreased by $3.8 million (unaids, 2008a). in terms of reaching universal access to hiv prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010; the unaids fact sheet on ghana states, “persistently low levels of knowledge underscore the need to improve basic knowledge levels to help reduce stigma and discrimination” (2008b, p. 1). there is evidence of a decline in knowledge from 2005 to 2007. according to ghana’s aids commission (2010), awareness of hiv/aids remains very high (98% for men and 99% for women), but comprehensive knowledge (e.g. identifying ways of transmission) remains low (under 35%). while ghana is facing the above situation, what is the response of social science educators? those of us, who believe that the social sciences have a responsibility to address the social issues of the day, hope that university-trained students are prepared to take up the challenge as teachers to address hiv/aids. this work examines how pre-service and in-service teachers perceive hiv/aids and their role in addressing it. related literature it is the authors’ view that addressing hiv/aids in teaching and learning is more than a cognitive, academic exercise. it requires a teachers’ full commitment in terms of encouraging personal values and experiences as part of the learning process. studies (helleve et al., 2009, 2011; mwebi, 2007) show that teachers had to find different approaches in their teaching about hiv/aids including using role-play methods. their teaching focus turned toward creating an open and safe environment while crossing cultural, gender, and age barriers. helleve et al. (2009) acknowledged that “it is less challenging to provide knowledge for educators than to address affective aspects, values, and attitudes” (p. 56). in many african cultures, children are journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 17 spring/summer 2012 not comfortable openly discussing issues relating to sexuality with an adult who may be of a different gender. as for the teachers’ perspective, some were uncomfortable when asked about their own personal experiences (i.e. has that ever happened to you?). there is another level beyond the affective domain of sharing values related to the virus and the people who have it. in this regard, researchers discuss the need for teachers to take a critical approach towards the topic. mwebi (2007) articulated the ideals of the kenyan child-to-child hiv/aids curriculum approach. the approach was based on ideas of dewey (1929) and freire (1970) that support and challenge students to connect the issues to their lives, examine the larger social/political contexts and implications, and then to take action to bring about change. in this view, students are no longer innocent bystanders or possible victims; rather, they are agents of change. this critical approach is reflected in giroux’s (1988) teachers as intellectuals. he advocated that teachers take responsibility to make changes in the classroom. he argued that teachers are capable and they are in the best position to help students critically examine their realities in order to be able to change them. he argues that knowledge is not an end in itself for students to passively absorb. rather, the teachers are to collaborate with students to problematize knowledge. thus, knowledge becomes real, authentic, and contextualized in the sense that it demands a response. it is not easy for teachers to engage in this critical process. clandinin and connelly (1992) point out that, historically, teachers have not been viewed in the way that giroux advocates. they show that teachers were viewed as the “conduit” that transmits the curriculum to the students. “teachers were generally told what to do and, at least in canada, supervised to make sure they did it” (p. 367). clandinin and connelly also argue for teachers to have a more active role with the curriculum (i.e. “teacher as curriculum maker”). in their view, building from realities of society and students’ interests, teachers are to develop rigorous and thoughtful learning experiences and opportunities. mccutcheon (1988) creates a similar dichotomy between the “traditional” and the “deliberatist” role of teachers in curriculum. a teacher of the former perspective passively implements what is handed down to her or him, and the deliberatist teacher is a critical, reflective practitioner who takes an active role in constructing meaningful learning experiences. when discussing teachers as reflective and active practitioners, it is difficult not to call on dewey. he was the first great advocate for this role of the teacher. dewey (1900) made strong pleas for teachers to connect the reality of students’ lives to the ideas of the classroom. silin (1995) builds on dewey’s concept in his belief that, “the role of teachers is to help their students make sense of the world” (p. 230). while many educational theorists advocate such a paradigm, it is clear that it is not the dominant approach practiced in classrooms. in his experiences assisting schools in addressing hiv/aids, silin (1995) observes, “almost always, teachers had felt unprepared to take advantage of the moment to begin a dialogue that could lead to more structured learning” (p. 231). a south african study (hattingh & de kock, 2008) showed similar findings. when they examined teachers’ perception of their role prior to and after their internship, they found that the university students did focus on issues of hiv/aids as a part of their role. however, rather than seeing themselves as agents of change, they saw themselves in the maternal role of caretaker. interestingly, the dominance of that role minimized once they completed their teaching practice. reluctance to address hiv/aids as an integral part of the role of the teacher is nothing new in most countries, ghana included. the barnett et al. (1995) study indicated that the efforts journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 18 spring/summer 2012 made focused on health education or media campaigns aimed at “out-of-school youth”. the study also pointed out the importance of the teacher, yet it acknowledged the complexities involved in getting teachers to address hiv/aids issues. it states, “teachers stress the importance of hygiene education and express embarrassment and some reluctance about teaching sex education – but agree that is should be in the curriculum” (p. 105). this view concurs with our thinking that teachers believe that hiv/aids is an important issue to address, but having such a belief is not the only factor involved. their study continued with, “teachers accept that sexual aspects of aids must be addressed – but feel they need help on this (and prefer to involve health workers)” (barnett et al., 1995, p. 105). it is important to note that our study did not attempt to answer the question of whether addressing hiv/aids in class is effective. this is an important issue which others have addressed for example a study in south africa (james et al., 2006) pointed to mixed results. the authors found that in the short term, a life skills program can be effective in promoting knowledge and behavior change, but the long-term effects are less well known. while it is our hope that the outcomes are effective, our research focuses on teachers attempting to address the issue. methods the researchers used two sets of questionnaires for this study. the first set was given to students studying on the three winneba campuses of the university of education at winneba (uew) in ghana. three hundred twenty students from 18 departments were convenience sampled, representing 7-9 percent of the population of uew students on campus. eighty-nine (27.8%) of the respondents came from the faculty of social sciences education (fsse), which constituted approximately 10 percent of fsse students who were on campus. in addition to eliciting background information, the questionnaire included fifty different question items. various formats of likert scales and multiple choice options were used. the questionnaire was aimed at discovering students’ self-reported knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards hiv/aids and addressing it in the classroom. in may of 2009 the second set of questionnaires was distributed to 61 returning interns of a social science education cohort of 202 following a year-long placement. respondents came from the four areas of history, economics, geography, and political science. convenience sampling was used in both cases. the first page of the interns’ questionnaire focused on the general internship experience. the second page, which was used for this study, focused on experience, behaviors, and attitudes toward hiv/aids. the questions included some of those from the first set of questionnaires with one additional question: “have issues regarding hiv/aids come up during the teaching of your internship?” with possible responses of: “never”, “one time”, “2-3 times”, “4 or more times”. it should be noted that this question simply asked if such issues arose, not if they planned or taught a lesson on it. the means of respondents’ replies to some were combined to give a composite of the general area. the issues are identified in table 1 below. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 19 spring/summer 2012 table 3 cross tabulation of knowledge and responding to hiv issues issue number of items sample item response format concern about hiv/aids 7 how concerned are you about the issues below… that a friend may have hiv/aids likert scale (not at all, slightly, generally, greatly) knowledge (self-identified) 9 in terms of being knowledgeable of hiv/aids, rate how well you know… how to lead a discussion on hiv/aids as a classroom teacher likert scale (do not know, know little, know generally, know deeply) confidence 6 i feel awkward talking about hiv/aids likert scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree) willingness 2 as a teacher, i should find a way to teach about hiv/aids (either as a part of my subject area or separately) likert scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree) predictive analytics software (pasw) statistics 17.0 was used for compiling the frequencies and cross-tabulations. the findings the findings of the study are presented first by the knowledge reported by the respondents from both questionnaires. the purpose is to show the general level of self-reported knowledge of hiv/aids and how to address it in the classroom. then, we took the data from the returning interns and compared their knowledge with the number of times hiv/aids issues came up in their teaching. we continued the process by looking at issues of willingness and confidence to teach about hiv/aids. with both issues, we presented the general results from the two questionnaires and then we used cross-tabs to compare each issue with the number of times hiv/aids was addressed in the classroom. knowledge in general, the respondents reported being knowledgeable about hiv/aids and how to respond to it. with a possible range of 1 (knowing nothing of any of the aspects) to 4 (knowing deeply about all the aspects), table 2 below shows how the respondents self reported. respondents of the first questionnaire were separated between those from social sciences and those from other subject areas. the means for each group were over 3 (knows generally), with social studies and social sciences students having the highest at 3.23. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 20 spring/summer 2012 table 2 means of knowledge of various groups n minimum maximum mean std. deviation social science 87 1.57 4.00 3.23 .51 other areas 233 1.14 4.00 3.07 .56 interns (social sciences) 61 2.00 4.00 3.15 .50 the mean scores were consistent with peltzer and promtussananon (2003) survey results of south african secondary school teachers where they found, “generally, teachers felt they had knowledge and ability to teach about hiv/aids” (p. 353). durojaiye (2011) had similar results in nigeria. it is also understandable that social science student responses tended to be higher than others. the social sciences are based on social issues, and the students should be aware of those issues, and prepared to address them in the classroom. the slightly lower means of social science interns (3.15 as compared to 3.23) might reflect a conclusion of a south african study (hattingh & de kock, 2008) where students become less certain of their content knowledge as they progress through their teaching practice. in the next step, we looked to see how strong the correlation was with having knowledge of hiv/aids issues and how to address it in the classroom, and the interns actually addressing such issues in the classroom. in other words, are those with knowledge more likely to respond to hiv/aids issues in the classroom? the assumption is that that these two variables would have a positive correlation. mathews et al. (2006) found, “one of the strongest predictors of the implementation of hiv/aids education was teacher training.” (p. 392). our results concur as shown in table 3. what is striking is that so few interns indicated that issues regarding hiv/aids ever arose in the classroom. even with those who rated themselves as deeply knowledgeable, 75% indicated that such issues rarely (never or one time) were mentioned inside the classroom. of course, we are dealing with small numbers. for instance, only eight out of the sample of 60 (13.33%) indicated that these issues were at least mentioned four or more times during their eight-month internship. it seems to these researchers that social science teachers would typically use examples, illustrations, and applications of real issues. four or more times for a current social issue to be mentioned over the course of a year do not necessitate a thorough investigation. table 3 cross tabulation of knowledge and responding to hiv issues hiv/aids issues came up total never once 2-3 times 4 or more know little 2.00 1 (50%) 1 (50%) 0 0 2 (100%) 2.50 8 (80%) 1 (10%) 1 (10%) 0 10 (100%) know generally 3.00 7 (43.75%) 7 (43.75%) 1 (6.25%) 1 (6.25%) 16 (100%) 3.50 10 (41.66%) 4 (16.66%) 5 (20.83%) 5 (20.83%) 24 (100%) know deeply 4.00 5 (62.5%) 1 (12.5%) 0 2 (25%) 8 (100%) total 31 (51.66%) 14 (23.33%) 7 (11.66%) 8 (13.33%) 60 (100%) willingness in general, all groups tend to indicate that they are willing to teach about hiv/aids even if it journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 21 spring/summer 2012 is not a part of the syllabus. table 4 shows that the average respondent falls between “strongly agreeing (1)” and “agreeing (2)” for both groups of the first questionnaire. the interns showed less agreement with a mean of 2.11, but it still clearly indicated agreement. table 4 means of willingness to address hiv issues n minimum maximum mean std. deviation social sciences 88 1.00 5.00 1.87 .82 all other areas 219 1.00 5.00 1.89 .78 interns (social sciences) 61 1.00 5.00 2.11 1.00 as mentioned with the issue of knowledge, interns may be more skeptical of teaching issues after they have returned from the field. the reality of the difficulty of teaching particular issues was most likely still fresh in their minds. again, we compared the variable willingness with what the interns reported actually happening during their placement. again we see the familiar correlation that we would expect to see. those who indicated that hiv/aids should be taught in their classrooms claimed that such issues did come up more than those who did not indicate that it should be taught. the trend continues. it would make sense for interns who state that they should teach hiv/aids issues to actually have those issues addressed in their classrooms. and, yes, it is more likely that the issues will come up in their classes; but what is striking is how many who claimed they should teach it (18 agreed and an additional 26 strongly agreed) did not do so. half (22 out or 44) of these interns who stated that they should “find a way to teach about hiv/aids” admitted that the issue never came up in a planned or spontaneous way. table 5 cross tabulation of willingness and responding to hiv issues hiv/aids issues came up total never one time 2-3 times 4 or more times strongly agree 1-1.5 12(46.15%) 4(15.38%) 5(19.23%) 5(19.23%) 26(100%) agree 2-2.5 10(55.55%) 5(27.77%) 2(11.11%) 1(5.55%) 18(100%) undecided 3-3.5 8(57.14%) 4(28.57%) 0 2(14.29%) 14(100%) disagree 4-4.5 1(100%) 0 0 0 1(100%) strongly disagree 5 0 1(100%) 0 0 1(100%) total 31 14 7 8 60 confidence perhaps university students have the knowledge to teach about the topic and the willingness to do so, but what about the confidence in being able to address such a contentious issue? the data is not as one-sided as in the other two areas. in general, confidence levels cannot be rated as high or as low. the middle between showing confidence and not showing confidence would be indicated by 3.0. in this case, the higher numbers (closer to 5) would suggest greater confidence and lower ones (closer to 1) would suggest less. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 22 spring/summer 2012 table 6 means of confidence in addressing hiv/aids issues n minimum maximum mean std. deviation social science 89 1.50 4.33 3.14 .66 other areas 219 1.50 5.00 3.10 .72 interns (social sciences) 61 1.83 4.50 3.21 .73 interestingly, the social science education interns reported a higher level of confidence (3.21) than other students on campus (social studies / social sciences at 3.14 or other departments at 3.1), which is a departure from the other factors discussed above. following the same trend as the first two factors, having confidence in thinking about, talking about, and responding to hiv/aids is positively correlated with the issues coming up in the classroom. those interns who indicated higher levels of confidence also showed greater likelihood of bringing up these issues in the classroom. table 7 cross tabulation of confidence and responding to hiv issues hiv/aids issues came up total never one time 2-3 times 4 or more times low levels of confidence 1.83-2.83 12(54.54%) 6(27.27%) 2(9.09%) 2(9.09%) 22(100%) mid levels of confidence 3.00 2(66.66%) 1(33.33%) 0 0 3(100%) high levels of confidence 3.17-3.83 12(57.14%) 5(23.81%) 1(4.76%) 3(14.29%) 21(100%) very high confidence 4.0-4.50 5(38.46%) 2(15.38%) 3(23.08%) 3(23.08%) 13(100%) totals 31 14 6 8 59 while those with more confidence regarding hiv/aids issues are more likely to address such issues in the classroom, the difference is marginal between those with low levels of confidence (1.83-2.83) and those with high levels of confidence (3.17-3.83). it is only when regarding those with very high levels of confidence (4.0-4.5) that there is a significant difference. still, the numbers are not impressive. of those thirteen most confident interns, only three indicated that the hiv/aids issues arose four or more times. discussion the message is clear that university-trained interns are not taking up the call to respond to the social problem of hiv/aids in the classroom despite their knowledge, despite their willingness, and despite their confidence. we believe that the inadequacy does not lie with the student but in the curriculum’s approach to the study of the social sciences. hiv/aids could easily be placed as a topic in various social science curricula. however, the result would most likely be an ineffective, sanitized, and academic approach. the senior high school social science curricula are not structured in a way that supports and challenges teachers to meaningfully address current, sensitive social issues. the curriculum does journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 23 spring/summer 2012 not promote teachers as intellectual. instead it promotes teachers as conduits of the curriculum. as a result, controversial social issues, such as hiv/aids, are avoided. when teachers are faced with contentious issues that are not in the curriculum, they take great risks such as the risk of making students uncomfortable, the risk of offending parents and administrators, and the risk of being viewed as zealots or worse. these risks are real. educational theorists (cohen, 1988; sedlak, 1986; jackson, 1990) have pointed out that when students are uncomfortable, they can make teaching very difficult. teaching careers are ruined over saying the wrong thing or being misunderstood much more easily than by poor teaching. while the risks are great, the reward is ambiguous and in the distant future. perhaps lessons will be more interesting when the topic relates to current social issues, but that does not mean students will pass exams with higher marks. hopefully, students will become more conscious citizens prepared to respond to social ills, but that reward is further down the road than most teachers can see. westheimer and kahne (2004) examined programs that were promoting democratic education. they argued that programs that focused only on one aspect (i.e. personal responsibility) failed to encourage students to connect their individual knowledge and behavior with that of the larger society in order to make change. on the other hand, they argued that a social/political change (the justice oriented approach) that does not examine individual behavior or supports collective action is also ineffective. their perspective is important for hiv/aids programs to take note of because it is relatively easy to teach the knowledge elements, which appears to be done effectively. as noted previously, bringing about a change in behaviors and attitudes is a larger challenge to teachers. an even greater challenge is to lead students to be agents of change. we believe that the curricula should follow westheimer and kahne’s (2004) suggestions. the curriculum must support and challenge teachers to focus on three levels:  students being knowledgeable of and sensitive to hiv/aids issues,  students taking action to address the ignorance/fear/stigma revolving around the pandemic, and  students examining how these issues relate to a larger political/social/economic context. so what is the consequence of a curriculum where teachers do not respond to controversial issues in the classroom? teachers will continue to treat the social sciences as academic subjects that are void of the complexities that reflect the contentious real world. social sciences will continue to gain legitimacy as an academic endeavor with theories expounded and exams passed, but at what cost? unfortunately, this sacrifice means that teachers are not using the classroom as a laboratory to examine and act upon complex social issues. education, in general, and social sciences in particular forfeit their role as an active agent in equipping students to critically assess, debate, and respond to real social problems. if students are not engaged in dialogue and debate over the difficult issues of the day, they will hardly be prepared to address them once they leave school. in the end, social science further removes itself from the realities of the people of the country. thus, the time has come for education reformers to rethink the subjects’ approach to the curriculum. if we wish to promote teachers as intellectuals who engage their students in thinking about and responding to the reality that faces them, we need a paradigm shift. we need to find ways to make the curricula more problem-based, responsive to social issues, and more dynamic. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org ______________________________________________________________________________ volume 2 number 1 24 spring/summer 2012 first and foremost, our focus has to be on preparing students for conscious citizenship through action rather than preparation for exams through passivity. if social science does not take up this challenge, it risks losing its credibility, and its high ideals will be merely rhetoric. references ahmed, n., flisher, a., mathews, c., mukoma, w., & jansen, s. (2009). hiv education in south african schools: the dilemma and conflict of educators. scandinavian journal of public health, 37(suppl 2), 48-54. barnett, e., de konign, k., & francis, v. (1995). health & hiv/aids education in primary & secondary schools in africa & asia. policies, practices & potential: case studies from pakistan, india, uganda, ghana (serial no. 14). education resource group, liverpool school of tropical medicine: department for international development study. clandinin, d. & connelly, f. (1992). teacher as curriculum maker. in p. w. jackson (ed.), handbook of research on curriculum. aera (pp. 363-461). new york: macmillan publishing. cohen, d. (1988). teaching practice: plus ça change. in p. w. jackson (ed.), contributing to educational change: perspectives on research and practice (pp. 27-84). berkeley: mccutchan. deutschlander, s. 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(2010, march). ghana’s progress report on the united nations general assembly special session (ungass) declaration of commitment on hiv and aids. reporting period january 2008 – december 2009. technical assistance from unaids. retrieved from http://www.unaids.org/fr/dataanalysis/monitoringcountryprogress/2010progressreportssu bmittedbycountries/file,33663,fr..pdf giroux, h. (1988). teachers as intellectuals. new york: bergin & garvey. hattingh, a & de kock, d. (2008). perceptions of teacher roles in an experience-rich teacher education programme. innovations in education and teaching international, 45(4), 321–332. helleve, a., flisher, a. j., onya, h., kaaya, s., mukoma, w., swai, c., & klepp, k. (2009). teachers’ confidence in teaching hiv/aids and sexuality in south african and tanzanian schools. scandinavian journal of public health, 37(suppl 2), 55-64. helleve, a., flisher, a. j., onya, h., mukoma, w., & klepp, k. 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(2010). millennium development goals report 2010. new york. unaids, joint united nations programme on hiv/aids. (2008a). country situation: ghana july 2008. retrieved september 2009, from http://data.unaids.org/pub/factsheet/2008/sa08_gh_en.pdf unaids, joint united nations programme on hiv/aids. (2008b). progress towards universal access: ghana. retrieved from http://data.unaids.org/pub/factsheet/2008/ua08_gh_en.pdf westheimer, j. & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 4(2), 237-269. world health organization. (2005). summary country profile for hiv/aids treatment scale-up: ghana. retrieved from http://www.who.int/liv/hivcp_gha.pdf ______________________________________________________________________________ about the author jim martin weiler is a senior lecturer in the department of social sciences and the coordinator of post-graduate programmes in the department of social studies at the university of education, winneba, ghana cassandra juanita martin-weiler is a social worker in the counseling center at the university of education, winneba, ghana http://www.who.int/liv/hivcp_gha.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 94 multicultural education based in the local wisdom of indonesia for elementary schools in the 21st century ady ferdian noor yogyakarta state university, indonesia sugito yogyakarta state university, indonesia abstract: indonesia consists of a variety of tribes, religions, races, and groups that exist on islands that spread from sabang to merauke. the wealth of ethnic diversity in indonesia should be an advantage to unite the nation, but the reality in the field of cultural gatherings raises new conflicts, based on increasing social conflict in the community. in 2013, there were 92 total conflicts, in 2014 here were 83 conflicts; and in 2015 in the middle quarter, social conflicts originating from ideology, politics, economics, and social culture amounted to 20 cases. local wisdom in each community is a reflection of an integrated (holistic) philosophy of life. citizenship learning models depend on teachers, who develop materials by integrating contexts with the values of the philosophy of local wisdom. these models can be interpreted as multicultural education based on local wisdom. key words:multicultural education, local wisdom, elementary school introduction indonesia consists of 34 provinces and various tribes. there are more than 300 ethnic groups or tribes in indonesia, or 1,340 ethnic groups. the javanese are the largest tribe in indonesia, accounting for 40 percent of the total population. other tribes such as the sundanese, the batak, and the madurese are the next largest groups in the country. the existing tribes that inhabit corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 95 indonesia are spread on several islands, and these include the betawi tribe, the baduy, the minangkabau, the bugis, the malay, the banten, the banjar, the balinese, the sasak, the dayak, the makasar, the cirebon, arabic, chinese, and others. the indonesian nation is a nation whose society is very plural. the plurality of the indonesian nation can be seen from two perspectives, horizontal and vertical. in a horizontal perspective, the diversity of our nation can be seen from differences in religion, ethnicity, regional language, geography, clothing, food, and culture. in a vertical perspective, our nation's pluralism can be seen from differences in education, economic, residential, occupational, and socio-cultural levels (maksum, 2004). indonesia has become a multi-ethnic, cultural, and religious country. this diversity becomes wealth, and property itself is also a danger. differences will create a dynamic and complicated human life. on the other hand, they can also create the potential for radicalization and conflict that will explode at any time because their meanings and perceptions are different. lim (2011) argues that a negative stigma is on pesantren (islamic boarding school) as the home for grooming of terrorism after a series of international and national violence since 2001. the image of pesantren is further worsened by overseas media by providing and representing the discourse of the relationship between pesantren and radicalism and fundamentalism (rohadi, 2017). the universal principle that needs to be remembered and implemented by migrants, namely, “where the earth has staked on there heaven is honored,” means that if we come to a new place, we must respect the local culture and wisdom so that there is no conflict. culture is “the totality of all abilities and conventions obtained by members of society such as knowledge, religion, art, social institutions, morality, cultural traditions, and so on,” and includes a variety of diversity between individuals and groups. therefore, different cultural meetings are accompanied by conflicts arising from exchanges, conflicts, and their propagation (tylor, 1871). based on the definition of “culture,” “multicultural” is explained as a culture that arises from a combination of different races, genders, cultures, religions, and behaviors/lifestyles (huh, choi, & jun, 2015). the lack of ethnic diversity in indonesia should be an advantage to unite the nation because the indonesian nation can grow and develop harmoniously even though there are differences in religion, language, and culture. however, in indonesia, this is not the case, as there is an increase in horizontal conflicts and conflicts related to ethnicity, religion, race, and between groups, like the riots in sampit in 1996, 1997, and 2001, conflicts between the dayak and madura tribes, sambas riots in 1999, conflicts between the malay and dayak tribes with madura, riots in ambon in 1999, conflicts between christian and muslim communities, riots in sampang in 2012, and corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 96 attacks on shiite citizens. the riots triggered by the sara factor resulted in significant loss of life and material (baderi, 2016). in the period between 1997-2004, there were 3,600 times of conflict with the number of victims of at least 10,700, not including the conflict in aceh, maluk, and papua. based on the grouping of issues and patterns of social conflict in 2013, 2014, and 2015 (mid-quarter january to april), in 2013, there were 92 total conflict events; in 2014, there were 83 conflicts; and in 2015 in the middle quarter, social conflicts originating from ideology, politics, economics, and social culture amounted to 20 cases. on the other hand, based on sources of conflict (law no. 7/2012) in 2013, 2014, and 2015 (mid-quarter january to april), the recapitulation of events of social conflict that occurred in 2013 included the most dominant problem of ipoleksosbud with a total of 71 cases, ethnic, religious, racial and inter-group feuds amounted to 8 cases, as well as 13 natural resource and land disputes; in 2014, conflict problems originating from ideology, politics, economy, socio culture amounted to 68 cases, ethnic, religious, racial, and inter-group feuds amounted to 1 case, and natural resource/land disputes amounted to 14 cases; in 2015 in the middle quarter, social conflicts originating from ideology, politics, economics, socio-culture amounted to 20 cases, and natural resource/land disputes totaled 6 cases. the data shows that there are problems arising from the post-reform era, namely, the lack of new social and cultural patterns and the integration of a sense of nationalism (andreas, 2017). social and cultural conflicts will continue in indonesia if differences of opinion in resolving problems can lead to the ongoing turmoil in various regions. horizontal conflicts that occur in indonesia are enlarged because they are triggered by differences. sampit and sambas conflicts are enlarged because there are ethnic differences. the ambon conflict grew due to religious differences. the sampang conflict grew because of differences in schools. if studied, the triggers of these conflicts are minor matters, which can be categorized as ordinary criminal cases, however, because of sara's sentiments, small matters were exaggerated, and the difference between sara became a catalyst (baderi, 2016). differences in views in making decisions result in many material and non-material losses. security can be created if there is a harmonious combination of multicultural differences. achieving diversity from a harmonious blend is derived from multicultural development through education in schools, especially elementary schools. banks (1977, 1979) put forward multiculturalism in schools and communities, taking a new dimension of complexity and practicality because of changing demographics, social conditions, and political conditions. unprecedented domestic and immigration diversity has created a blend of dynamic experiences of cultural, ethnic, and language plurality (gay, 2004). corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 97 multiculturalism is a philosophy that is interpreted as a view of life that wants to unite cultures in harmony with the same political rights and socio-economic status in civil society (suryana & rusdiana, 2015). the similarityin rights and status will lead to justice and equality of treatment. this is supported by article 27 paragraph 1 of the state constitution of the republic of indonesia of 1945, which states that all citizens are at the same time in law and government and are obliged to uphold the law and government with no exceptions, and chapter iii part three of articles 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 of law no. 39 of 1999 concerning human rights. multiculturalism is the foundation of unity to live together, a diversity of cultures. human multicultural life is a potential conflict in various ways, both between individuals and between groups, as a result of differences in the perspectives, interests, and goals of life between them. conflicts can be caused by very simple or small problems up to complex or significant problems. conflicts in several parts of indonesia have reached a very worrying stage, which is characterized by the existence of 1) groups of people who use conflict as a mode to shed all their resentment and disappointment, and 2) other community groups that use conflict as a weapon to resolve the problem. one effort to prevent conflict is creating multicultural education, because the conflict that occurs at this time is no longer just a phenomenon but has become a reality in everyday life (somantrie, 2011). multicultural education is the process of developing all human potential that respects plurality and heterogeneity as a consequence of cultural, ethnic, religious, economic, social, and political diversity. as one of the largest multicultural countries in the world, indonesia should develop multicultural education as an alternative to prevent socio-cultural conflicts that often occur in indonesia. the development of indonesia's multicultural society cannot be taken for granted; on the contrary, it must be pursued systematically, programmatically, integrated, and sustainably. this is because the multicultural reality that exists in indonesia is cultural wealth and strength which should be preserved (adhani, 2014). the paradigm of multicultural education in the 21st century the concept of education is inseparable from the law of the republic of indonesia number 20 of 2003 concerning national education system chapter i article 1: education is a conscious and planned effort to realize the learning atmosphere and learning process so that students actively develop their potential to have religious-spiritual power, self-control, personality, intelligence, noble character, and skills needed by the students, society, nation, and state. multiculturalism is a diversity of cultures. multicultural education is the foundation of schools, especially elementary corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 98 schools. primary school is the formal level of basic education. in elementary school, students have different cultural backgrounds. multicultural education is a progressive approach to transforming education that holistically provides criticism and shows weaknesses, failures, and discrimination in the world of education. multicultural education as a social engineering instrument encourages schools to play a role in instilling awareness in a multicultural society and developing tolerant attitudes to realize the needs and abilities to cooperate with all the differences. the praxis of multicultural education in indonesia can be implemented flexibly, not necessarily in the form of separate or monolithic subjects. the implementation of multicultural education is based on five dimensions: (1) integration of content, (2) the process of compiling knowledge, (3) reducing prejudice, (4) equitable pedagogy, and (5) empowering school culture and school structures (wiyono, 2014). conflict occurs because there are differences in views, attitudes, actions, actions, treatments, habits, judgments, character, morals, and character, because each person has their characteristics and uniqueness. the implementation of multicultural education is an elaboration of the slogan of our country, unity in diversity, which means that one is still different. unity in diversity can be the context of the generic concept of multiculturalism or multiculturalism. this concept accepts absolutely that the nkri and the opening of the 1945 constitution of the republic of indonesia are the fixed prices embodied in pancasila which implicitly have an insight into the archipelago that unites all indonesian regions. this means that there are no differences that cannot be resolved. learning must be balanced to teach all aspects of the realm of education. but it is unfortunate in reality that education now only teaches up to understanding the sentence and reading its meaning, not the meaning of that meaning and how to do it well in school life as a laboratory of life for children aged 7-12 years to occur between three domains of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor education (winataputra, 2008). multicultural education is important to prepare the majority ethnicity to obtain multicultural knowledge and cross-cultural teaching competencies to improve education that is ethnically diverse, rural, migrant, and globalized. it also broadens the understanding of how mainstream and educational programs in urban areas can be more responsive to and effective for a diverse ethnic, racial, cultural, and economic population (yuan, 2018). multicultural learning carried out in schools is also expected to be able to invite community leaders and heroes in the region to participate in developing the context of regional cultural wisdom so that they can be understood, interpreted, implemented, and create harmony in community relations. harmony means that corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 99 there is no more racism and disparity in treatment so that self-esteem and valued identity eventually belong to everyone. in essence, multicultural education can play a role in increasing understanding of conflict situations and awareness to immediately resolve them, increasing the closeness of cultural groups so that if conflicts occur, they can be resolved effectively based on mutual respect together, and refining one's knowledge to study deeper and closer so that it can help to provide understanding and sharpen the focus on all problems that initiate conflict and increase effectiveness in overcoming a conflict (soemantrie, 2011). multicultural education is a politically popular concept because we often perceive it as a problem uniting ethnic minorities, women, and other groups simultaneously. public policy and school based mainly on the incorporation of issues of various groups together will prove to be ineffective and may be detrimental to all the groups concerned (banks, 1977). the goal of multicultural education is to reform the total school environment so that students from diverse cultural groups will be able to experience equal educational opportunities (banks, 1979). multicultural education development focuses on the ability to respect culture so that it needs to be built through holistic education which is to teach students to develop concepts of thinking, analytical thinking, and collaborating with friends to equate views associated with culture. harmonization of local wisdom in the 21st century in elementary school multicultural education in indonesia local wisdom in the 21st century is a guide to thinking in developing multicultural education in elementary schools. if local wisdom exists in everyday life, the indonesian people have carved out the beauty of behaving in civilization itself. the local wisdom began with values, rules in the family, and then developed in the community. the positive value of local wisdom is the introduction of civilized communities and the need to preserve indonesia (kartika, 2016). local wisdom is the human mind, the unification of words, feelings, and actions, which means our thinking must be in harmony and holistic overall. the human mind needs continuous coaching and guidance so that it can become a doctrine for humans, especially students, teachers, administrative staff, vice principals, and principals. the development of 21st century local wisdom must be trained continuously for multicultural education in elementary schools through holistic education. holistic education is education that develops all students' potential in harmony, including intellectual, emotional, physical, social, aesthetic, and spiritual potential corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 100 100 (widyastono, 2012). the learning process integrates local wisdom into the subjects of local content because local content subjects are loaded with the local potential of the area concerned (kaltsum, 2015). students can start to learn about their knowledge and interrelated race, gender, class, and sexual identity (dei, 2001). an example of learning about local wisdom is the prambanan temple, which is located between klaten district, central java and sleman regency, yogyakarta. the design of the learning of local wisdom in teaching material serves to support character building. the teacher asks students to observe an iconic place around them and write a descriptive text about it. observing an iconic place can increase students’ environmental awareness. it aims to teach them to be honest, responsible, and disciplined. the teacher shares the descriptive text of the prambanan temple and asks students to read the text first to stimulate students’ reading interest. then they can discuss together the content of the text. after discussing the text, the teacher cannot forget about grammar. the teacher should explain the generic structure of a descriptive text and the language feature. next, the teacher asks students to identify the generic structure of the text about prambanan temple. the students might be asked to work in a group and present the result to encourage their democratic value, responsibility value, and communicative value (anggraini & kusniarti, 2017; shaleha & purbani, 2019; sultoni & hilmi, 2015). education based on local wisdom is an educational model or strategy that has high relevance for the development of life skills with a focus on empowering skills and economic potential in each region. learning materials have meaning and high relevance to society empowerment based on the reality they face in daily life. the education based on the local wisdom is education that teaches learners to embrace the concrete situation that they face in their daily life. one of the results of the education based on the local wisdom could be in the form of the knowledge that describes attitudes and behavior that reflect the local-original culture. in the case of surakarta, the local-original culture is the javanese culture. the wisdom values of javanese culture such as going royong or cooperation, temposenior or tolerance, and solidarity are good values which should be imparted to the students in the school. javanese culture is a source of the moral of citizenship. in a nation-state, the strong-binding rule in the form of the moral of citizenship is needed, besides the basic rights of citizens. the moral of citizenship is a life guideline of citizens, which could help the citizens to judge right or wrong actions (sumardjoko & musyiam, 2018). culturally responsive pedagogy (crp) for multicultural learning is not enough for students because it needs to be integrated into a curriculum that is relevant to multiculturalism itself. educators are responsive to one of the multicultural identities of students; for example, corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 101 101 spirituality through formal, symbolic, and procedural curricula gives permission to replace spiritual binaries from a secular western way. in talks, curricula that represent a variety of ways to understand students will create a safe environment for critical thinking and enhance students' ability to become agents of social change (gambrell, 2017). nation-states need to build new ideas about multicultural education that accommodate this local wisdom to foster national unity. multicultural nation-states need to balance unity and diversity. the challenge for citizens caused by diversity causes education to be changed to help humans develop cultural, national, and global reflective identification and commitment to take civilian actions that will make their communities, nations, and the world more democratic and cosmopolitan (banks, 2009). the major contemporary curriculum discourses—the political, the racial, the autobiographical, the theological, the aesthetic, the poststructural, the phenomenological, and the gender-focused—can all be linked in a curriculum theory of “place.” the belief that just as meaning cannot be separated from context and the knower cannot be separated from the known, so, too, does the process of understanding curriculum occur within the context of “place” (kincheloe, pinar, & slattery, 1994). a 21st-century mindset that needs to be anticipated is whether ethnic groups have clear or obscure boundaries and whether the group can enter the boundaries of other groups so that there is a mixture/acculturation. this makes communication and collaboration between groups increasingly tight (noor & supardi, 2016). the multicultural education utilizing experiential learning is characterized by creative experiential activities, its association with the overall curriculum, and the connection with local communities. there is significance of multicultural education based on experiential learning (yun & zhang, 2017). the development of multicultural education starts from the most basic level of formal education, namely, primary school. elementary school is one of the structures of education that is expected to be able to make good citizens with multicultural character. elementary schools want students, when finished with their schooling, to be able to fully implement the results of multicultural education through harmonization of 21st-century local wisdom. the national education standard needs to be adapted to the development of local, national, and global life in the 21st century. local wisdom in the development of 21st-century life, namely, the character of positive local culture, open thinking, being dynamic, and good and regular verbal communication, can produce harmony in multicultural education in school life and society based on bhinneka tunggal ika (baedhowi, 2010). the local wisdom values such as tolerance, cooperation, and traditional herbs are the glue to maintain the unity of the national difference corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 102 102 and variety. such local wisdom values should be integrated into the national curriculum so that the classroom can contribute towards the embedment of local values to students (yamin, 2017). the school literacy movement is an effort of the ministry of education and culture to achieve one of the nine priority agendas (nawacita) to carry out a character revolution in the nation. the school literature movement is based on the minister of education, and culture regulation number 23 of 2015 aims to foster interest in reading and improving skills so that students have a better mastery of knowledge and develop ethical values (oktavianti, zuliana, & ratnasari, 2013). conclusion in the 21st century, a new paradigm of education is ready to face the conditions of indonesian social and cultural diversity. the paradigm is intended to integrate local wisdom in multicultural education. local wisdom is needed because indonesia is a country full of diversity, which is a cultural capital born of a wealth of local knowledge (local wisdom). through multicultural education based on local wisdom, children's awareness of the importance of respecting others and different cultures will be fostered. local wisdom in each community is a reflection from an integrated (holistic) philosophy of life, which in its historical vortex succeeded in realizing human harmony with others and the environment. teachers must teach learning material by integrating contexts with the values of regional wisdom, such as java, temple of prambanan. the learning model of citizenship education based on local wisdom can improve harmony and national identity and mastery of learning. the government, in this case, must be supported to make national policies that can be accommodated by the region. the policy of multicultural education whose learning adopts the concept of early adaptation (hybridization) integrates with the harmonization of local wisdom in the 21st century. corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 103 103 references adhani, y. 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(2015). pembelajaran sastra berbasis kearifan lokal sebagai upaya optimalisasi pendidikan karakter kebangsaan menuju masyarakat ekonomi asean (mea). seminar nasional pendidikan bahasa indonesia 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11617/6357 corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 https://publikasiilmiah.ums.ac.id/handle/11617/6011?show=full http://dx.doi.org/10.21512/lc.v10i2.1424 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1179951 http://pgsd.umk.ac.id/files/prosiding/2017/%205%20ika%20umk.pdf https://doi.org/10.24090/ijtimaiyya.v2i1.1050 https://knepublishing.com/index.php/kne-social/article/view/3910/8077 http://dx.doi.org/10.24832%2fjpnk.v17i6.57 http://hdl.handle.net/11617/6357 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 105 105 sumardjoko, b., & musyiam, m. (2018). model of civic education learning based on the local wisdom for revitalizing values of pancasila. jurnal cakrawala pendidikan, 37(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v37i2.18037 suryana, y., & rusdiana, h. a. (2015). multicultural education: an effort to strengthen the national self (implementation-principles). bandung: loyal library. the state constitution of the republic of indonesia in 1945. tylor, e. b. (1871). handout in class: hcw tylor's definition of culture session 2. https: // ocw.mit.edu/courses/.../21a...culture.../mit21a_01f12_sir_edwrd_ cul.pdf winataputra, u. s. (2008). multiculturalism-unity in diversity in the citizenship education perspective as a vehicle for the development of indonesian national character. journal of education and culture, 14(75), 1009-1027. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24832%2fjpnk.v14i75.364 widyastono, h. (2012). the content of holistic education in the basic and secondary education curriculum. journal of education and culture, 18(4), 467-476. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24832%2fjpnk.v18i4.102 wiyono, t. (2014). implementation of multicultural education in the praxis of education in indonesia. journal articles published at http://www.pendidikan diy.go.id/dinas_v4/?view=v_artikel&id=35 yamin, m. (2017). integrating the local wisdom values into the national curriculum to create the nationalism strength. journal of education and practice, 8(33). http://eprints.ulm.ac.id/3276/1/integrating%20the%20local%20wisdom%20values%20 into%20the%20national%20curriculum%20to%20create%20the%20nationalism%20str ength.pdf yuan, h. (2018). educating culturally responsive han teachers: case study of a teacher education program in china. international journal of multicultural education, 20(2), 42 57. retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1184981 yun, h., & zhang, j. (2017). the significance of the multicultural education based on the experiential learning of alocal community. european journal of social sciences education and research, 4(4), 248-252. retrieved from http://journals.euser.org/files/articles/ejser_may_august_17_nr_2/heejin.pdf corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v37i2.18037 http://dx.doi.org/10.24832%2fjpnk.v14i75.364 http://dx.doi.org/10.24832%2fjpnk.v18i4.102 http://www.pendidikan-diy.go.id/dinas_v4/?view=v_artikel&id=35 http://www.pendidikan-diy.go.id/dinas_v4/?view=v_artikel&id=35 http://eprints.ulm.ac.id/3276/1/integrating%20the%20local%20wisdom%20values%20into%20the%20national%20curriculum%20to%20create%20the%20nationalism%20strength.pdf http://eprints.ulm.ac.id/3276/1/integrating%20the%20local%20wisdom%20values%20into%20the%20national%20curriculum%20to%20create%20the%20nationalism%20strength.pdf http://eprints.ulm.ac.id/3276/1/integrating%20the%20local%20wisdom%20values%20into%20the%20national%20curriculum%20to%20create%20the%20nationalism%20strength.pdf https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1184981 http://journals.euser.org/files/articles/ejser_may_august_17_nr_2/heejin.pdf mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 94-106 page 106 106 about the authors: ady ferdian noor doctoral program of primary educations department, postgraduate program, yogyakarta state university, indonesia and primary school teacher education department, the faculty of teacher training and education, palangkaraya muhammadiyah university, indonesia sugito postgraduate program, yogyakarta state university, indonesia corresponding author: ady_noor@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:ady_noor@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 64-66. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 64-66. media review mcmahan, k. should we all move to new guinea? the benefits of traditional societies: a review of j. diamond, j. (2012), the world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies? the world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies? jared diamond. new york: penguin group, 2012. (isbn 978-0-6700-2481-0) the purpose of jared diamond’s book, the world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies?, is to shed light on the way in which traditional people live in contrast to the weird (western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) world, and how some of those traditional societal practices could be of benefit to modern society. diamond is a professor of geography at ucla and an avid traveler to new guinea, where he has lived among the people of those traditional societies while studying birds. he is also the author of several other books, including guns, germs, and steel, a pulitzer prize winner. although he acknowledges that there are many practices of traditional societies which are not desirable, such as infanticide, revenge killing, constant war, and famine, he does argue that traditional societies offer various ways of life that could benefit those of us in modern societies. through looking at research conducted through the study of many traditional societies around the world, diamond recommends modern societal changes in such practices as childrearing, eating, language, dispute resolution, and social behavior. diamond uses his own experience among new guinea highlanders, along with experiences of other researchers among the inuit, amazonian indians, kalahara san people, and more, to reveal what life was like in our past, and continues to be like for some present traditional societies. using interesting, and often surprising, anecdotes, he explains the different ways in which traditional peoples live, and how it differs so much from our modern societies. diamond discusses many topics, including social ties and trade, peace and war, how conflicts are resolved, childrearing, treatment of the elderly, paranoia and its benefits, religion, health, eating habits, and language. his book is an exhaustive review of the contrast between modern and traditional societies, in order to demonstrate the benefits that our modern societies offer (such as state governments and laws protecting people, providing ample food, jobs, health care, and education, and preventing war) and also to urge readers to consider returning to some of our past practices in order to have a higher quality of life. there are several areas of traditional life that diamond suggests modern societies consider for a higher quality of life. one area modern societies could learn from is childrearing. through anecdotes, diamond reveals the benefits of physical contact between mothers and children, allo-parenting (where many in the community work together to help raise a successful, good person), transporting children upright and facing forward (instead of in strollers leaning back and far from the mother’s touch), and multi-age playgroups and teaching children to learn to entertain themselves (instead of being entertained constantly by technology). on the other side of the lifespan, diamond also discusses better ways to treat our elderly as learned from traditional societies. healthy eating and lifestyles are another benefit of traditional societies that diamond brings to light. he drives his point home by showing how our most common diseases and causes of death in the modern world are virtually nonexistent in traditional society (cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes). he stresses the importance of physical exercise to maintain a healthy weight, along with the benefits of eating complex carbohydrates and fresh fruits and vegetables, corresponding author email: mcmahankd@mps.k12.mi.us ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 64 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 64-66. instead of packaged and processed foods. also cited are the dangers of salt and sugar in our modern diet. another clear benefit of traditional societies that is so absent from the modern world is bilingualism/multilingualism. diamond goes into great detail about the results of the modern world’s insistence on one language (english) to the detriment of all others, and how this affects non-native speakers of a language. they lose their culture not just their language. he explains how many languages are becoming, or have already become, extinct, yet how we place more importance on saving endangered animals from extinction rather than languages. the enhanced brain connections and social advantages of multilingualism in traditional societies are made quite clear, including the ease with which young children learn language, often without accents. the case he makes for learning and knowing more than one language is a poignant one. diamond urges members of modern society to adopt many practices of traditional society too numerous to mention, but one final practice worth mentioning here is that of conflict resolution. one of the most interesting anecdotes in diamond’s book is about a man who accidently kills a young boy by hitting him with a car as the boy crosses the street. although in modern society, the issue would have been dealt with through lawyers and third parties and courts, in new guinea society, the communities of both the boy and the driver were involved. there was help by the family and community of the driver (including his boss), and there was a “say sorry” ceremony and a chance to talk things out and apologize. the mediation that took place, instead of a horrible court drama, was a lovely change, especially since the driver was not at fault, yet still expressed his deep sorrow to the family of the boy through payment of food and ceremony. diamond acknowledges that such reform could only be accomplished through state intervention, but he does say that one “may be able to utilize by yourself the new guinea emphasis on informal mediation, emotional clearance, and reestablishment of relationships (or non-relationships) in disputes the next time that you find yourself in a private dispute where tempers are rising” (p. 466). the world until yesterday is a dense and scholarly book, but well worth the read. the book is organized around topics in which modern and traditional societies differ, and numerous societal examples are offered for each topic (across many traditional groups). the book is a thick 466 pages long, but the wealth of knowledge and insight into a beneficial future makes the girth worth every word. although some sections get quite academic (such as the section on salt and sugar, with much medical explanation), others are more readable. regardless of the topic, though, the many anecdotes allow the message to come across clearly. one of the most powerful parts of the book is the pictures diamond includes, which are enough to incite excellent debate all on their own. he not only provides pictures of the many people of traditional societies who are represented in the book, but he also shows pictures that directly contrast modern and traditional life. a memorable one is of traditional society children playing with cars they made themselves, thus learning about science and more, while the modern society child is alone with a ridiculous wealth of pre-packaged toys that take no creativity or wit. as a teacher in an international baccalaureate pyp school, this book was highly applicable. personally, it helped me to open my mind and rethink what is truly important—family and personal connections and ingenuity, as opposed to what we tend to value in my community, such as material wealth and prestige. the anecdotes and examples are perfect for helping students to think and debate about which practices are truly more worthy—those of modern society, or those of traditional societies. the pictures diamond includes are alone enough to make the book worth the purchase, as they can be used to generate discussion and deep thinking for students interested in corresponding author email: mcmahankd@mps.k12.mi.us ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 65 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 64-66. opening their minds and learning about the rest of the world in order to develop a more global perspective. this book is potentially life changing in helping teachers and students to re-evaluate those things that are truly important. it is a must read. author note: kimberli mcmahan has taught elementary spanish for 16 years and is the founder and director of the adams elementary 5th grade culture club, an extra-curricular group whose members strive to be better world citizens by studying and learning about other cultures through presentations, research, field trips and philanthropy. mcmahan is a member of the study group that brought the international baccalaureate primary years program to midland public schools and is passionate about internationalism. she loves to travel and in doing so has enjoyed learning the cultures of spain, guatemala and south korea. she can be contacted at mcmahankd@mps.k12.mi.us corresponding author email: mcmahankd@mps.k12.mi.us ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 66 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 67-68. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 67-68. media review lipovsky, m. what’s your global iq?: a review of hobert, c.f. (2013), raising global iq: preparing our students for a shrinking planet. raising global iq: preparing our students for a shrinking planet. carl f. hobert. boston, ma: beacon press, 2013. (isbn 978-0-8070-3288-6) technology has changed how people learn, think, create, and communicate. you can travel to the other side of the world to observe the weather, make friends, communicate face-to-face with someone on a different continent, read the news from the perspective of different cultures, countries, and religions, all in your own home. according to carl f. hobert, the planet is shrinking and we need to prepare students to be able to succeed in a global society. hobert is a professor of education at boston university where he directs the axis for hope center. this non-profit center focuses on teaching middle school and high school students about conflict resolution through simulation workshops. conflict resolution is one of hobert’s key strategies for building a student’s global intelligence (iq), along with language and cultural fluency, technology and media literacy, extracurricular activities, foreign travel, and service learning. students need opportunities to think globally, but service learning allows students to put what they have learned into action locally, regionally, and nationally. grounding his work in the theories of howard gardner, jean piaget, maria montessori, john dewey, and paulo freire, hobert concludes that “these theories describe, in essence, how we can best help our children develop the intellectual flexibility, cross-cultural skills, and moral and ethical grounding to become responsible global citizens” (p. xxv). becoming global citizens is not a new idea, and it is not going to take educational reform to build it into our official curriculum. it is through more purposeful teaching with a global focus that students can learn to problem solve, to be empathetic, and to have an international sense of the world. professor hobert focuses on five areas to build international-mindedness in students. these areas are language and cultural fluency, technology and media, exchange programs and cross-cultural engagement, problem solving and conflict management, and service learning. it is through these areas of focus that students learn about cultures around the world. along with becoming fluent in language they become “fluent” in culture. this is best achieved by cultural immersion and interacting directly with people of other cultures through international exchange programs and relationships fostered by technology. participating in such programs allows students opportunities to exchange ideas and thoughts with people whose cultural backgrounds are different from theirs. technology and media are utilized, so students have opportunities to observe, interact, and research the world even if they cannot travel. once students begin to embrace other cultures teachers can begin the action work. this simply starts with building conflict resolution skills. instead of waiting until students leave school to begin applying problem-solving skills, they begin practicing them in the classroom. hobert calls this preventative diplomacy. in preventative diplomacy activities students utilize their “fluencies” in language, culture, technology and media. these conflict resolution activities include putting yourself in the shoes of people with other perspectives. understanding both sides of a conflict will not only help students with negotiating. it builds understanding of the concept of conflict and compassion corresponding author email: lipovskyym@mps.k12.mi.us ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 67 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 67-68. for people whose positions differ from each other. another activity is learning to separate the people from the problem. look at the facts and be hard with the facts, but stay compassionate towards the faces you look at as you try to resolve conflicts. focus on interests, not just positions. focus on the interests of the groups; for instance, what are their goals? what do they want to have as a result? this may help avoiding the “i say yes” and “you say no” wall. observe and evaluate body language. knowing how everyone feels can help you determine how to react. this leads to learning to speak to others in a way they will listen. yelling and arguing back and forth will not lead to a resolution. your goal is not to get your point across and win. your goal is to negotiate in order to obtain a resolution. knowing how to speak to others can get you further in the game. keep in mind your tone and word choice, and know when to be quiet and listen. when you respect the perspectives of others, you can go for the win-win. try to find a solution that will allow both parties to win in some way. this may involve knowing the batna (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) of all sides. everyone cannot always have everything they want. know what your alternative or plan b is before you begin discussions. finally, do not forget that peace is a process. it does not just happen in a day or after a discussion. it is a process with steps and obstacles that never end. it is a continual process of communication and interaction. the final step to building global iq is to allow students opportunities to apply what they have learned. we can read, write, and think all we want in the classroom, but it is through the application of skills that we truly show understanding. to those naysayers that feel it is a waste of time to think outside of a student’s immediate world, service learning gives students opportunities to apply what they have learned to their own world. students may travel to help build homes in a south pacific country devastated by a tsunami, or they can work in their neighborhood food pantry. solving problems can be done locally, regionally, nationally, or globally. the same background of knowledge will be helpful in all situations. professor hobert has created an informational guide to help any educator enhance his or her curriculum with a focus on global awareness. his clear text and the book’s sections make it easy to use. he also incorporates examples and stories to give you a better understanding of how you can raise your school’s global iq. although the concepts of this book are not new, it is an important topic to revisit. hobert himself states that these ideas are all seen in classrooms today but not often enough. teachers, parents, and administrators all want students who have knowledgeable minds and empathic hearts. we want our students to learn to solve problems, resolve conflicts, and negotiate in life. we give them opportunities to practice and apply what we teach them to be good citizens of the world. we just may lack the consistency and deliberateness necessary to make it successful. raising global iq: preparing our students for a shrinking planet is a great tool to remind, or to inform, teachers of the importance of creating a learning environment that nurtures international-mindedness. author note: maryanne lipovsky is currently a teacher of fourth and fifth graders at adams school in midland, michigan. growing up an “army brat” she has traveled around the world and feels it is important to cultivate international-mindedness in all students. she is currently enrolled in the graduate certificate in international baccalaureate education program at oakland university and is on the committee to facilitate implementation of the international baccalaureate primary years programme for midland public schools. she can be contacted at lipovskyym@mps.k12.mi.us. corresponding author email: lipovskyym@mps.k12.mi.us ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 68 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 160 banal and fetishized evil: implicating ordinary folk in genocide education cathryn van kessel university of alberta, canada abstract: genocide education would benefit from a renewed focus on how ordinary people perpetuate atrocities more so than villains. ordinary evil is often understood via hannah arendt’s political theory, which explains how people can contribute thoughtlessly to genocide. this “banality of evil” explains an important aspect of human behavior, especially when understood in conjunction with elizabeth minnich’s work on intensive and extensive evil, as well as with stanley milgram’s research on obedience. yet arendt, minnich, and milgram do not explain ordinary people who become eager killers. thus, the addition of ernest becker’s idea of the fetishization of evil is important. students would benefit from engaging with arendt and becker’s theories in tandem, as well as from learning about disobedience and ways to expand fetishized perceptions of others key words: hannah arendt, ernest becker, genocide, social studies, terror management theory introduction how might we teach about genocide with a view toward a less violent future? a common rationale for engaging with the topic of genocide, particularly the holocaust, is that students will then work to prevent future genocides (marks, 2017). we have cried out “never again!” over and over, however, and atrocities continue to happen while teachers seek ways to teach about these horrors. this essay offers one way for educators to open up thinking about human-driven atrocities by shifting the focus from singular villains or mindless drones to the processes that shape ordinary folks like ourselves into killers. this focus entails pairing hannah arendt’s sense of the banality of evil with insights from cultural anthropologist ernest becker, particularly his observations about the human capacity to fetishize evil. becker’s theoretical work has morphed into terror management theory (tmt; solomon, greenberg, & pyszczynski, 2015), an area of experimental social psychology with hundreds of mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 161 studies in multiple cultural contexts (pyszczynski, greenberg, solomon, & maxfield, 2006). through becker and tmt, we can understand how ordinary people perpetuate evil intentionally. by combining the ideas of arendt and becker, educators can focus on how we are all capable not only of thoughtlessly contributing to atrocities but also of killing others out of heroic joy. although this framing is somewhat gloomy, it might give both teachers and students hope for understanding and thus preventing further violence. hannah arendt, stanley milgram, and the banality of evil arendt has given us much insight into a process of evil. specifically, evil intent is not required to do an evil deed. what, then, begins the process of evil? for arendt (1963/2006), this evil is a form of thoughtlessness—the “banality of evil.” as arendt (1977) stated more than a decade after her initial exploration of mundane evil, “the sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or to do either evil or good” (p. 180). in some contexts, this situation is interpreted as our socialization to follow orders, as in stanley milgram’s (in)famous experiments on destructive obedience. in the early 1960s at yale, milgram conducted a study in which participants were told to administer increasingly powerful electric shocks as a teaching tool on another participant (who was not a participant, but a confederate of the experimenter). also unbeknownst to the participants was that no shocks were actually administered. milgram (1963) sought to understand why people followed orders to harm and kill during the holocaust: gas chambers were built, death camps were guarded, daily quotas of corpses were produced with the same efficiency as the manufacture of appliances. these inhumane policies may have originated in the mind of a single person, but they could only be carried out on a massive scale if a very large number of persons obeyed orders. (p. 371) milgram’s study and further experiments inspired by it have prompted fruitful discussion about obedience to authority. some people act as if they have no choice but to obey (hamachek, 1976). participants in milgram’s study who completed the experiment and issued the maximum levels of electric shocks seemed to deflect responsibility to the experimenter: “you [the experimenter] want me to keep going?” “you accept all responsibility?” “you’re going to keep giving him, what, 450 volts?” (matt, 2013). such sentiments stand in contrast with participants who disobeyed orders: “take the cheque back. i’m not going to hurt the guy!” “yes, i have a choice!” (matt, 2013). hamachek (1976) noted that “the most disturbing phenomenon is that so many of us seem to behave as if we are robbed of free will once a directive is issued from a sufficiently mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 162 powerful authority source” (p. 444). those who disobeyed saw that they had a choice, while those who obeyed often did so reluctantly but did not take control of their actions. in other contexts (and not necessarily mutually exclusively), thoughtlessness can be interpreted as a lack of critical thought about how ordinary individuals can affect others (den heyer & van kessel, 2015; van kessel & crowley, 2017). from arendt we know that ordinary people can contribute to great harm simply by going about their business and failing to consider how they are part of a harmful system. she illustrated this idea with adolf eichmann, who we now know was not the best choice for her theory (stangneth, 2015); however, there are countless others who could serve as exemplars of banal evil, such as the members of the reserve police battalion that played a central role in carrying out the final solution against jews in poland (browning, 1993). extensive and intensive evil elizabeth minnich, a student of arendt, refined and expanded upon arendt’s original formulation. minnich (2014) considered evil to be in two categories: extensive and intensive. extensive evil is a reformulation of arendt’s “banality of evil”: … the massive and monstrous harms carried out by many, many people for significant periods of times—months, years, decades, and more (slavery and sexualized violence: when has humanity been without these and others?). they are the evils of which we would not speak, of which we so often say, “unthinkable.” (minnich, 2014, p. 170) ordinary and otherwise decent people partake in extensive evil, and the systemic level of the evil requires that sustaining it “be conventional to do its work as one’s job, daily, day after day after day after day, with supper at home and picnics on the weekends” (p. 170). this situation is what concerned arendt, but there are also those who deliberately inflict massive harm. this type of evil is what minnich (2014) called intensive. intensive evils are perpetuated by a limited number of people who “stand in shuddering contrast with the lives others are leading around them in their times [and w]hen they burst into our lives, we are genuinely spectators, not participants, not enablers, and not perpetrators” (p. 169). these are people like serial killers—individuals who cause intense harm. are these our villains of history? perhaps some, but certainly not all. again, like arendt, minnich provides a helpful framing for thinking about evil, but all evildoers are not counted in her framework. we have records that some otherwise ordinary people (i.e., not psychopaths) can delight in killing instead mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 163 of simply following orders or thoughtlessly contributing to harm. we know, for example, that during the rwandan genocide, despite some participants needing to be coaxed or coerced, others became eager killers (hatzfeld, 2006). ernest becker: fetishizing evil evil as worldview threats while arendt revealed how we can perpetuate evil without intending it, becker (1975) explained why sometimes ordinary people can indeed purposely do evil deeds. firstly, how did becker define evil? evil is that which threatens our existence (literal or symbolic). all organisms have a self-preservation instinct and thus they lash out against any opposing power that threatens them. because humans can anticipate future outcomes and are aware that death is eventually coming, we can fear death even in the absence of an immediate threat. to manage that anxiety, humans have to devise ways of “transcending the world of flesh and blood, which was a perishable one. this [we] did by fixing on a world which is not perishable, by devising an ‘invisible project’ that would assure [our] immortality” (becker, 1975, p. 63). we can cultivate a variety of personal immortality projects to leave an enduring imprint on the world such as having children, building monuments, or accumulating academic citations, but our cultural worldview plays a prominent role. cultural worldviews are humanly created, shared, symbolic conceptions of reality, and serve as a powerful form of protection from impermanence. our ideologies and symbols will live on: “societies can be seen as structures of immortality power” (becker, 1975, p. 63). consequently, a threat to our worldview is akin to a threat to our very lives (schimel, hayes, williams, & jahrig, 2007). worldview threat as difficult knowledge alice pitt and deborah britzman (2003) have been examining questions such as “what makes knowledge difficult, and what is it to represent and narrate ‘difficult knowledge’?” (p. 755). through the lens of ernest becker, a particular form of difficult knowledge could be linked to challenges to our worldview. indeed, the “force of an event is felt before it can be understood” (pitt & britzman, 2003, p. 758) and there can be “a cascade of responses” (garrett, 2017, p. 19). because humans are consciously aware of death, we have the intellectual capacity to see evil (death) in all that threatens us, which can be anything at any time. it would be impossible to function while experiencing constant existential terror, so we develop coping mechanisms. defensive behavior can be somewhat banal, such as decreased reading comprehension of mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 164 worldview disconfirming information (williams, schimel, hayes, & faucher, 2012): we can avoid difficult knowledge without even knowing it. fetishizing evil defensive behavior can also be destructive. those who threaten our worldview are evils that must be eradicated. people “use one another to assure their personal victory over death” (becker, 1975, p. 108). becker talks about fetishizing fear by localizing all of one’s fear and anxiety into a single, manageable source. we often scapegoat marginalized groups, but we can fetishize any group as the embodiment of evil. we take all that threatens to overwhelm us and confine it to a particular group of people, cause, ideology, or, in some cases, a specific person, which is then labelled as evil. our heroic quest, then, is to annihilate it. one’s own group is “pure and good” and others “are the real animals, are spoiling everything for you, contaminating your purity and bringing disease and weakness into your vitality” (becker, 1975, p. 93). we have seen this in the nazis conceptualizing jews as infectious vermin and the hutus labelling the tutsis as cockroaches. a disturbing tmt study found that a worldview threat is buffered if worldview violators have been killed (hayes, schimel, & williams, 2008). there are countless examples of this process throughout history: one group demonizes another group, often by labeling them as evil. in 1979, the iranian leader ruhollah khomeini called the united states “the great satan” due to the u.s. government’s imperialistic (and threatening) behavior (al-balaghah, 1969); in the united states in 2002, george w. bush called iraq, north korea, and iran the “axis of evil,” which has associated muslims with evil (bush, 2002; semmerling, 2008; van kessel, 2017). such fetishization is not a thing of the past; for example, u.s. president donald trump (2017) tweeted, “we must keep ‘evil’ out of our country!” in reference to the refugees he sought to suspend from entering the united states (e.g., syrians) as well as the barred visa applications from seven muslim-majority countries. why do people fetishize evil? it is ultimately a way of dealing with our own sense of vulnerability and death. fetishizing evil is a way of confining our fear to a specific, manageable object. it is a way of making our fear concrete and controllable. then, by coming against the evil, lashing out against it and in some cases eradicating it, we assert our own purity, specialness, and our own status as heroes. thus, from becker’s perspective, many forms of aggression aimed at annihilating others with a “lust for killing” is a result of the fetishization of evil. mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 165 fetishizing evil and shrinking perspective in order to deal with our sense of vulnerability in life and to go on living and expanding, we may shrink our perception to fetishize our fears. as we seek to defend our worldview, we narrow our focus, and our tolerance and understanding are reduced. this process is destructive because when our perception narrows, we become blind to the consequences of our actions. and here is a link back to arendtian thoughtlessness: when we operate with a narrow outlook as heroes blindly fighting evil, we fail to think about the harm we are inflicting upon others. thus, otherwise ordinary people seem to have a lust for killing (e.g., genocide) in an attempt to eradicate evil. furthermore, as we attempt to destroy the evil ones, our actions can arouse the same desire in them to annihilate us, which leads to an endless cycle of violence. by seeking to eliminate evil, we cause it: the thing that makes man [sic] the most devastating animal that ever stuck his neck up into the sky is that he wants an earth that is not an earth but a heaven, and the price for this kind of fantastic ambition is to make the earth an even more eager graveyard than it naturally is. (becker, 1975, p. 96) the fetishization of evil and its intensely destructive consequences have repercussions for how we might teach about the atrocities of historical and contemporary times. implications for education it is all too easy to name a single villain as the face of systemic harm, and thus let ordinary individuals off the hook, so to speak (van kessel & crowley, 2017). instead, we need to arrange our curriculum in ways that encourage the study of ordinary people like ourselves. in this paper, let us focus on three interrelated strategies: teaching arendt and becker in tandem, teaching disobedience, and expanding fetishized perceptions. teaching arendt and becker from arendt and becker, we have come to understand how people like ourselves can perpetuate extraordinary death and destruction, both intentionally and unintentionally. teaching both thinkers in tandem has powerful explanatory power because it explains both intentional and unintentional evil acts done by ordinary folk. it broadens our understanding of evil doers. although becker has been largely ignored in the field of education, scholars have engaged with arendt’s “banality of evil” in helpful ways. for example, spector (2017) discussed maxine mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 166 greene’s engagement with the banal evils that threaten public education, particularly “technocratic thoughtlessness” (p. 42) and judgments enforced by “general codes or best practices” (p. 45), both of which are in opposition to meaningful engagements with imagination. in a different context, lange (2012) discussed the “thoughtlessness” that is part of the banality of evil in the context of preventing it through education for action (p. 6), and the utica city school district (1976) in new york issued a curriculum redesign and teacher in-service document, “the nature of good and evil,” which engages with arendt’s concept of the banality of evil directly. as part of project search for an interdisciplinary humanistic curriculum, the authors of the document called for students to define good and evil for themselves and accept responsibility for their actions (utica city school district, 1976). through literature, film, and other media, grade 10 students would develop an understanding of how their own (in)actions impact the world around them. the utica curriculum provided a reading list for teachers, reading/viewing lists for students, and classroom activities and assignments. such excellent work can be updated in terms of historical context as well as with a complementary engagement with the work of becker. future work needs to be done developing specific resources for teachers to present arendt and becker’s work to students, notably in history, literature, psychology, and social studies. teaching disobedience blind obedience has been revealed again and again as an incredibly harmful situation. although it is tempting to ascribe obedience to either a personality trait or a particular situation, psychological studies show that both are in play (blass, 1991). obedience is learned, but the process is complex: “different individuals are motivated in different degrees to be more or less obedient because of a complex socialization mix of learning to live up to expectations and of learning to trust and/or fear authority” (hamachek, 1976, p. 445). students need to learn that those in power (e.g., governments) are “not always ethical or moral” (marks, 2017, p. 131) and can enact (and have enacted) perfectly legal but horrific deeds. the study of these instances (e.g., in nazi germany our during the rwandan genocide) can be paired with discussions of personal tendencies toward authoritarian submission, defined as a “submissive, uncritical attitude toward idealized moral authorities of the ingroup” (adorno, frenkel-brunswik, levinson, & sanford, 1950, p. 228). the hope here is that educators will encourage the sort of critical thinking that is independent of authority. as we know from milgram’s (1965) work, the presence of others who show disobedience heightens our capabilities to stand up for what we know is right. in terms of curriculum, we need to address the issue of obedience. some students may assume that, for example, nazi soldiers were simply following orders and, if willing participants, they mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 167 were merely products of their education and background—there is little room for individual responsibility (lang, 1990). salzman (2000) has taught a course on the psychology of the holocaust, where personal and social factors are considered regarding those who participated in genocide. after beginning with historical context, the class considers “dispositional explanations for perpetrator behavior” that include milgram’s work, as well as psychiatric research on the nuremberg war crimes defendants (borofsky & brand, 1980; zilmer, harrower, ritzler, & archer, 1995) and adorno, frenkel-brunswik, levinson, and sanford’s (1950) work on the authoritarian personality, among other works. we also need to be careful to avoid unintentionally teaching blind obedience through our daily classroom activities. gordon (1999) discussed the banality of evil in terms of day-to-day pedagogy. he calls for educators to avoid indicators of thoughtlessness in their teaching practice such as using “clichés and stock phrases” as responses to student input, encouraging students’ “blind devotion and admiration” to the teacher, and creating climates of “falsehood and selfdeception” (gordon, 1999, pp. 26-28). we can encourage reasonable, not unconditional, obedience. drawing from hamachek (1976), there are many interrelated strategies, including teachers providing opportunities for students to: disagree with any intimidation or penalty, see authority figures as capable of mistakes, discuss reasons for rules and regulations, and explore examples of when it is acceptable or even desirable to be disobedient. expanding fetishized perception a certain amount of personal and collective growth needs to happen in order to counter humans’ propensity for fetishizing evil. to borrow from den heyer (2017), it is not about motivating students (or ourselves), it is about animating “intention and willfulness” (p. 4). in the context of this article, i call for us to attend to our defensive compensatory actions to find helpful rather than harmful ways to reduce worldview threats: “the best defense would be one that reduces the threat without escalating conflict and that allows for positive relations among people of different worldviews” (hayes, schimel, & williams, 2008, p. 506). such a task involves relatively easy components such as attending to how we talk about others (e.g., avoiding labelling other individuals and groups as evil), as well as more complex tasks such as seeking helpful rather than harmful immortality projects. for this latter task, however, there are no easy, universal solutions; thus, further research and thought is needed. mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 168 concluding thoughts thinking about genocide in and out of the classroom is a complicated task. the framing of arendt’s concept of banal evil is helpful because it explains the behavior of many ordinary people, but it is incomplete without the addition of becker’s concept of the fetishization of evil because banality does not account for those who come to delight in their harmful work. categorizing otherwise normal people who contribute to atrocities through multiple lenses can at least somewhat help. there are some who perpetuate genocide in very banal ways, others who feel compelled to be obedient and deflect responsibility to the authority figure, and those who fetishize evil and participate in the killing with glee. for some, more than one of these dispositions might be operating in the same person, more or less, over time. the combination of arendt (informed by the work of minnich and milgram) and becker can help us comprehend why genocides continue to occur. mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly 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(1965). liberating effects of group pressure. journal of personality and social psychology, 1, 127–134. minnich, e. (2014). the evil of banality: arendt revisited. arts & humanities in higher education, 13, 158– 179. doi:10.1177/1474022213513543 pitt, a., & britzman, d. (2003). speculations on qualities of difficult knowledge in teaching and learning: an experiment in psychoanalytic research. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 16(6), 755–776. doi: 10.1080/09518390310001632135 pyszczynski, t., greenberg, j., solomon, s., & maxfield, m. (2006). on the unique psychological import of the human awareness of mortality: theme and variations. psychological inquiry, 17, 328–356. saltzman, a. l. (2000). the role of obedience experiments in holocaust studies: the case for renewed visibility. in t. blass (ed.), obedience to authority: current perspectives on the milgram paradigm (pp. 125–144). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. schimel, j., hayes, j., williams, t., & jahrig, j. (2007). is death really the worm at the core? converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. journal of personality and social psychology, 92, 789–803. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.789 semmerling, t. j. (2008). those “evil” muslims! orientalist fears in the narratives of the war on terror. journal of muslim minority affairs, 28, 207–233. doi:10.1080/13602000802303144 mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduu3u9web4 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 160-171 corresponding author: vankesse@ualberta.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 171 solomon, s., greenberg, j., & pyszczynski, t. (2015). the worm at the core: on the role of death in life. new york, ny: random house. spector, h. (2017). cultivating the ethical imagination in education: perspectives from three public intellectuals. review of education, pedagogy, and cultural studies, 39, 39–59. doi:10.1080/10714413.2017.1262157 stangneth, b. (2015). eichmann before jerusalem: the unexamined life of a mass murderer. new york, ny: penguin random house. trump, d. j. [realdonaldtrump]. (2017, february 3). we must keep “evil” out of our country! [tweet]. retrieved from https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/827655062835052544 utica city school district. (1976). nature of good and evil. washington, dc: office of education. van kessel, c. (2017). a phenomenographic study of youth conceptualizations of evil: order-words and the politics of evil. canadian journal of education, 40, 576–602. retrieve from http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3105/2464 van kessel, c., & crowley, r. m. (2017). villainification and evil in social studies education. theory & research in social education, 95(4), 427–455. doi:10.1080/00933104.2017.1285734 williams, t. j., schimel, j., hayes, j., & faucher, e. h. (2012). the effects of existential threat on reading comprehension of worldview affirming and disconfirming information. european journal of social psychology, 42, 602–616. doi:10.1002/ejsp.1849 zilmer, e. a., harrower, m., ritzler, b. a., & archer, r. p. (1995). the lea series in personality and clinical psychology. the quest for the nazi personality: a psychological investigation of nazi war criminals. hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum. acknowledgement: this work was supported by the social science & humanities research council of canada [grant number 430-2018-00257, 2018] about the author: cathryn van kessel is an assistant professor in the department of secondary education at the university of alberta mailto:vankesse@ualberta.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/827655062835052544 http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3105/2464 journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 what if people judge me unfairly: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation on the relationship between perceived autonomy support and academic risk-taking behavior in social studies courses servet üztemur gaziantep university, turkey abstract: this paper aims to investigate the mediation role of fear of negative evaluation (fne) in the relationship between perceived autonomy support (pas) and academic risk-taking (art) in the context of social studies courses. a total of 339 middle school students from turkey participated in the study. data were collected through the learning climate scale, fear of negative evaluation in academic environments scale, and social studies-oriented academic risk-taking scale. correlation results showed that pas was negatively correlated with fne and positively with art. there was a negative correlation between fne and art. structural equation model analyses showed that pas predicted fne negatively and art positively. in addition, fne predicted art negatively. the partial mediation effect of fne on the relationship between pas and art was significant. these results provide empirical evidence for the effect of self-determination theory (sdt) on affective characteristics such as art and fne. key words: self-determination theory, perceived autonomy support, academic risktaking, fear of negative evaluation, social studies, mediation introduction academic risk-taking is a concept that helps to determine the structural features of the learning environment. it is often stated by many teachers that some students are reluctant to participate in class discussions, take initiative, and engage in pair or group work. the main reason for this is the motivational characteristics of students (hagger & hamilton, 2018). self-determination theory (sdt) posits that human behaviors are driven by three psychological needs: autonomy, mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 competence, and relatedness. sdt also argues that these psychological needs are universal (ryan & deci, 2000). these three basic needs of students should be met in the school environment. this study aimed to investigate the effects of autonomy support given within the scope of sdt on students’ fear of negative evaluation (fne) and academic risk-taking (art) in the context of social studies courses. in the study, a structural model was constructed: middle school students with higher levels of perceived autonomy support (pas) would have lower levels of fne and would be more willing to engage in art behavior. sdt has the potential to develop an insight into affective features such as art and fne. however, to the best of our knowledge, no empirical study has been conducted on the relevant variables. therefore, the findings of this study are considered important in terms of extending the impact of sdt. perceived autonomy support autonomy is the ability to make choices and to take initiative according to one’s own free will. autonomous individuals are aware of their wishes and the ways to realize them. sdt posits that individuals’ three psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—need to be met; otherwise, individuals may be passive and have difficulty adapting to social environments (deci & ryan, 2000; vansteenkiste & ryan, 2013). in order for autonomous behavior patterns to emerge as a reflection of intrinsic motivation, autonomy-supportive extrinsic motivation must be met by the social environment (parents, teachers, and friends) of the individual (ryan & deci, 2000). autonomy support can be defined as providing meaningful choices to students, supporting their behaviors by trying to understand their perspectives, nurturing students’ motivation resources in decision-making processes, and providing appropriate opportunities by minimizing external pressures (black & deci, 2000). sdt posits that teachers’ teaching styles can vary on the two ends of the spectrum: controloriented and autonomy-oriented (ryan & deci, 2000). teachers who adopt control-oriented teaching styles control the behavior of students in the classroom, create an agenda for learning processes, and give instructions for students to follow this agenda. in a teacher-centered classroom, students who comply with predetermined rules are rewarded while sanctions are applied to those who do not obey them (reeve, 2006). such teachers do not care about students’ criticism of the lesson and even prevent students from expressing their thoughts. they want their students to think like them. besides, they prepare activities without considering their students' interests and wishes and force them to participate in these activities (reeve, 2009). mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 on the other hand, teachers who support their students’ autonomy nurture students’ intrinsic motivation sources and design classroom activities according to their interests, preferences, and values (reeve, 2006). they motivate their students by explaining to them why the lesson to be taught is important for them. thus, students, seeing that their interests and needs are taken into consideration, adapt more easily to the learning environment (assor, kaplan, & roth, 2002). in a learning environment where students’ autonomy is supported, the teacher does not threaten students with low grades. the teacher uses constructive language, avoids giving orders to the students, and shares some of his/her authority with them. he/she provides students with options and supports their active participation in the lesson. he/she respects the students’ criticism of the lesson and himself/herself (mouratidis et al., 2018). related studies show that autonomy-supportive teaching approaches positively increase students’ intrinsic motivation and intrinsic goal orientations (garcia & pintrich, 1996; griffin, 2016) as well as their autonomous motivation and participation in classroom activities (raufelder et al., 2016; schiefele, 2017). on the other hand, teachers who adopt a control-oriented teaching style hinder their students’ autonomy and use extrinsic motivation resources rather than intrinsic motivation resources (gutierrez & tomas, 2019). also, it has been reported that students who experience an oppressive learning environment and who are not actively involved in the learning process cannot easily adapt to the learning environment (haerens et al., 2015), have difficulties in learning concepts (benware & deci, 1984), suffer from learning difficulties and emotional disorders (grolnick et al., 2000), and have lower academic achievement (grolnick & ryan, 1987). academic risk-taking clifford (1988) defines art as the extent to which students are tolerant of their own failures if they are given a chance to choose in the learning process and the extent to which they tend to prefer trying new and challenging things even if there is a possibility of failure. also, taylor (2010) defines art behavior as making decisions that support learning, although there is some degree of uncertainty. beghetto (2009) evaluates students’ willingness to express answers about which they are not sure, to try new and different solutions, and to ask questions in the learning process within the context of art behaviors. as a common point of the above definitions, art has two main components: to make choices in challenging situations and to risk possible failures. in student-centered learning environments, students are given the opportunity to choose their academic tasks. for example, when selecting courses from the list of elective courses, when selecting the appropriate project task from a list of project tasks, or when sharing their guesses about the solution of a problem, students need to make decisions. such decisions are directly mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 influenced by students’ art levels (tan, lim, & manalo, 2017) because students who are willing to engage in art regard situations that are not fully predictable as an opportunity for learning (gezer, ilhan, & sahin, 2014). when they face difficulties in learning activities, they do not give up easily (clifford & chou, 1991). they are also eager to participate in classroom activities (strum, 1971). according to tan et al. (2017), students who are willing to engage in art behaviors and who have had this behavioral pattern for a long time will have increased levels of intrinsic motivation (deci & porac, 1978) and self-efficacy (bandura, 1977). tay, ozkan, and tay (2009) reported a significant and positive relationship between art behaviors and the problem-solving skills of students. in a study conducted by uztemur, dinc, and acun (2020) with middle school students, art was reported to have a significant positive relationship with epistemic beliefs, deep learning approaches, and academic achievement, and a significant negative relationship with superficial learning. due to the aforementioned properties, art behavior, unlike other types of risk-taking behaviors, can be considered an affective feature that contributes positively to the learning process (beghetto, 2009; skaar, 2009). fear of negative evaluation the term social phobia was coined in 1903 by pierre janet to describe individuals experiencing fear of being observed by others while talking, writing, playing the piano, etc. (caballo, salazar, & hofmann, 2019; heckelman & schneier, 1995). the dsm-5 defines social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, as “persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others” (apa, 2013). fne is at the core of behaviors such as embarrassment, anxiety, and fear that restrict the social performance of social phobic individuals, adversely affect their eating habits, reduce their selfconfidence, and hinder interpersonal communication skills (carleton, collimore, & asmundson, 2007; heimberg, brozovich, & rapee, 2010). fne was first introduced by watson and friend (1969) as feeling anxious about other people’s evaluations, feeling distressed over their negative evaluations, and fearing that others would make negative comments about oneself to others. leary (1983), on the other hand, described fne as a state of anxiety, distress, and fear resulting from one’s consideration of others’ (real or imagined) negative evaluations about his/her abilities, performance, and behaviors, and trying to avoid such social settings. individuals with a high level of fne usually perceive themselves as more worthless than others; therefore, they attach great importance to other people’s views, which is also an indicator of low self-confidence (utschig et al., 2010). they therefore constantly motivate themselves in order to receive the approval of other people and not to be excluded from social environments (leary & mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 kowalski, 1995; weeks et al., 2009). they feel that others hold the same negative evaluations as they hold against themselves. as a result of this cognitive distortion, they often accept feeling humiliated and being humiliated as similar things (turkcapar, 1999). because they are excessively shy and afraid to make mistakes, they avoid talking publicly and building social relationships (moore & gee, 2003). even though they are very eager, they are afraid to help someone in need of help because they are afraid of being negatively evaluated and ridiculed (alkan, 2015). for individuals with high levels of fne, the easiest way to avoid feeling like this is to stay away from places where they may be evaluated negatively (weeks, heimberg, & rodebaugh, 2008). if they fail to do so, they may develop important problems such as communication disorders, anxiety, and depression (moeeni & nejhad, 2014; teachman & allen, 2007). considering the evaluation process, which has become an indispensable part of the learning environment, fne is an important affective feature that shapes students’ behavioral patterns (ilhan & guler, 2018). this is because students are constantly evaluated positively or negatively by their peers and teachers. when the related literature is analyzed, there is a positive correlation between fne and anxiety (cam, sevimli, & yerlikaya, 2010), academic procrastination (celik & odaci, 2015), and academic expectation stress (kelecioglu & bilge, 2009). considering the research results given above, it can be concluded that fne is an important affective feature affecting teaching-learning processes. relationships between pas and art autonomy-supportive teachers listen to and care about their students' views. in order to enable their students to participate more actively in the learning process, they approach their students in a less directive manner and avoid telling the answers to the questions immediately (reeve, bolt, & cai, 1999). thus, students who feel valued and are aware of the importance of their views develop higher levels of self-confidence (bonneville-roussy, vallerand, & bouffard, 2013; sheldon, abad, & omoile, 2009). it has been reported that students who feel more competent and freer participate more actively, put in more effort, and take responsibility in the learning process (gillet et al., 2012). although empirical studies examining the relationship between pas and art have not been encountered in the relevant literature, it is expected that students who know that the learning environment is designed according to their own interests and preferences, who are given choices, who show autonomous behavioral patterns and take initiative in the learning process, whose opinions are sought in the decision-making and planning process, who are encouraged to participate actively in the lesson, who know that they will not be subjected to negative evaluations (being ridiculed, humiliation, etc.) when they express their mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 views, and who feel psychologically safe will have higher levels of art (beghetto, 2009; kalchman & koedinger, 2005; nickerson, 1999). considering that risk-taking behaviors are affected by psychosocial and affective factors, it can be said that autonomy-supportive practices of teachers are of key importance in order to reveal the hidden skills and abilities of their students and to increase their art levels (beghetto, 2009; miller & byrnes, 1997; trimpop, 1994). a classroom culture that promotes art is tolerant of students’ unconventional ideas. such classes are different from those in which students’ unorthodox views are ignored and rejected (kennedy, 2005). beghetto (2009) argues that students whose views are respected by their teachers and who receive positive feedback on their competences will have increased self-efficacy, which, in turn, will result in them being more eager to engage in art behavior. in a classroom managed by a teacher with a controlling teaching style, students are given neither choices nor the right to speak when determining the agenda of the lesson (reeve, 2009). since the behaviors of the students are controlled by the teacher in such classrooms, active participation cannot usually be expected from the students (stroet, opdenakker, & minnaert, 2013; vansteenkiste et al., 2012). students who are given no choices and who cannot act autonomously will most likely be hesitant to take initiative, to try new and different solutions, to prefer challenging operations, and to share their views (minstrell & kraus, 2005). according to beghetto (2009), it is very difficult for students to develop art behavior unless they are provided with a learning environment in which they can demonstrate their creative skills. in classrooms managed by teachers with a controlling teaching style, students do not have the opportunity to discuss different ideas because the focus is on the outcome rather than on the process (reeve, 2009). as a result, it is very likely that students will hesitate to share their views and offer solutions (minstrell & kraus, 2005). related studies show that, like pas, art behaviors are also related to intrinsic motivation (mendler, 2000). compared to those with extrinsic motivation, students with intrinsic motivation do not give up easily while learning a subject and are willing to overcome difficulties (pintrich et al., 1991). this situation is directly linked to “resilience after failure” and “tendency to prefer challenging operations,” which are the two sub-dimensions of art behavior (korkmaz, 2002). besides, a positive correlation has been reported between students’ interest in the subject and their art behavior (renninger, 2000). from this point of view, it is possible that students who can select subjects according to their interests, preferences, and values, who work autonomously, and who take responsibility for their behaviors are likely to have higher levels of intrinsic motivation (jang, kim, & reeve, 2012) as well as art. these students do not hesitate to decide on their own and take risks because their teachers encourage them to participate actively mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 in the lesson, give them constructive feedback, offer them options, and support them in developing autonomous motivation (jang, reeve, & deci, 2010; lietaert et al., 2015). mediating role of fne on the relationship between pas and art fne levels of students play a decisive role in the relationship between pas and art behavior. theoretically, students’ art levels are expected to be high in a learning environment that supports autonomy (bransford & donovan, 2005). on the other hand, the study conducted by cetin et al. (2014) with university students found an inverse correlation between fne and art. it has been reported that students with higher levels of fne had high performance-avoidance tendencies and higher levels of fear of failure and, as a result, were reluctant to participate in classroom discussions and did not express their views or ask questions for fear of being ridiculed by their peers (mckinney, 2003; vandewalle, 1997). these students tend to become perfectionists, thinking that the people around them expect perfect performance from them. they also have a prejudice that they will not be approved by their social circles if they fail to show a perfect performance (clark & mcmanus, 2002). therefore, when working on a job, they focus on themselves intensively, not paying attention to external stimuli. normally, focusing should make a positive contribution to performance; however, these individuals focus more on the approval of others than on the work itself, which in turn leads to a decline in their performance. as a result, they begin to doubt their own performance and abilities (leary & kowalski, 1995; rapee & heimberg, 1997). since the above-mentioned situation is caused by the individuals’ own psychological (intrinsic) traits, it can be concluded that art behaviors of students whose autonomy is supported in the learning environment are affected positively or negatively by their fne levels. in other words, since students' art behaviors are affected by their fne levels, it can be said that fne has a mediation role in the relationship between pas and art behavior. on the other hand, fne levels of students are influenced by the learning environment as well as their psychological traits. for example, in courses where the traditional method of teaching and control-oriented motivating style are adopted, students will hesitate to express their views and participate actively in the lesson. for, in such classes, the absolute authority belongs to the teacher, and the students are passive receptors of the knowledge which they do not construct themselves. moreover, cooperation among students is not considered important, nor is autonomous motivation support given to them (acikgoz, 2003; chan & elliot, 2004). in such learning environments, teachers may ignore students’ prior knowledge and prevent them from expressing their views. the use of an all-knowing authoritarian teaching method and aggressive attitudes will most likely negatively affect students’ art levels (beghetto, 2009; chin, 2007). in a mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 performance-oriented classroom environment where exam grades are announced in the classroom and where students are grouped according to their grades, students will also be performance-oriented, and because they are afraid of being evaluated negatively, they will probably avoid art behaviors like trying different solutions, preferring challenging operations, and sharing their views (boyer, 2006; ozgungor, 2006). social phobic individuals with a high level of fne feel the need to attract attention and receive the approval of the people around them; therefore, their fne levels will be influenced by the characteristics of the learning environment (autonomy-oriented or control-oriented). students who feel humiliated and embarrassed when they believe that their attempts are not approved tend to avoid situations and environments in which they will be subject to criticism (alkan, 2015; durmus, 2008). on the other hand, in an autonomy-oriented learning environment where the focus is on the process rather than the outcome and where mutual trust is established, students are not threatened with low grades, are encouraged to participate actively, are encouraged to make efforts, and are given a chance to choose; also, their criticism and negative opinions about the course are respected, and their mistakes are seen as part of the learning process; therefore, they also focus on the learning itself and have lower levels of fne (ames, 1992; ozgungor, 2006; zhou, adesope, winne, & nesbit, 2019). current study in the current study, the hypothesis that students would be willing to engage in art behavior in autonomy-supportive learning environments and fne would have a mediation role in the relationship between these two variables is tried to be supported theoretically in light of related studies. a thorough search of the relevant literature yielded no empirical study examining the relationship among these three variables, except for the study that reported an inverse correlation between art and fne (cetin, ilhan, & yilmaz, 2014). in that study, fne was reported to have a significant negative relationship with “resilience after failure” and “a tendency to prefer challenging operations,” the two sub-dimensions of art behavior (cetin et al., 2014). it is a matter of curiosity as to how autonomy-supportive learning environments, proved by empirical studies (stroet, opdenakker, & minnaert, 2015) to increase students’ self-confidence and intrinsic and autonomous motivation will affect turkish students’ fne, which is known to have a negative impact on art (cetin et al., 2014), and art. in addition, pas, fne, and art behaviors of middle school students are expected to differ due to the nature of the subject area. for example, since mathematics and social studies courses differ in content, students’ art behaviors in these courses will also probably differ. considering that autonomy-supportive teaching is generally mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 associated with foreign language teaching (balcikanli, 2008; ozcelik, 2015), it is also a matter of curiosity whether social studies teachers can create autonomy-supportive learning environments or whether middle school students perceive their social studies teachers as autonomysupportive. although turkey adopted an education system based on the constructivist teachinglearning approach in 2004, empirical research shows that it is not easy to abandon traditional teacher-centered teaching methods in social studies courses (dinc & uztemur, 2017; safran & ata, 2016). besides, in light of the arguments that autonomy is a concept that is identified with western culture and that asian and african students fail to acquire autonomous learning skills effectively as a result of the dominance of collective culture in asian and african societies (can, 2012), it is important to determine whether autonomy-supportive motivational strategies are used in social studies courses. from this point of view, there has emerged a need to investigate the reflections of the relationships among these three variables in turkish culture in the context of social studies teaching. based on the relevant literature, a hypothetical model (figure 1) has been proposed in this study showing the relationships among pas, fne, and art behavior of middle school students in social studies courses. figure 1. the hypothetical model. in accordance with the model presented in figure 1, an answer to the following research question was sought, and then the following hypotheses were tested: research question: what are the students' pas, fne, and art levels, and how are these three variables correlated with each other? hypothesis 1 (h1): pas predicts art positively (path c). hypothesis 2 (h2): pas predicts fne negatively (path a). mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 hypothesis 3 (h3): fne predicts art negatively (path b). hypothesis 4 (h4): in the model tested, fne has a mediating effect between the predictor (pas) and the predicted (art). method participants and procedure the study was conducted with 329 volunteering middle school students (female: 49%, male: 51%) selected by convenience sampling from public middle schools in the city center of manisa in the west of turkey. the age range of the participants, who take compulsory social studies lessons, is between 12 and 15, and their grades vary between 5th and 8th grades (5th graders: 15.6%, 6th graders: 24.2%, 7th graders: 24.8%, 8th graders: 35.4%). with the help of the researcher, as well as the instructions on the scale, all participants completed the scales. measures middle school students’ perceptions of their teachers’ autonomy support were measured through the 15-item learning climate scale developed by williams and deci (1996). the original one-dimensional structure of the scale, which was adapted to turkish culture by kanadli and bagceci (2016), was preserved. the responses given to the scale items were ranked between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). except for the reverse coded 13th item, high scores from the scale are interpreted as high levels of perceived autonomy support. in the present study, the items were adapted to the social studies course (sample item: i think my social studies teacher gives me choices and the right to choose). according to the results of the confirmatory factor analysis (cfa), it was found that the scale retained its original structure and the fit indices were acceptable: χ2 = 110.367, df =75, p < .001, χ2/df = 1.472, rmsea = .03, ifi = .97, srmr = .05, tli= .97, cfi=.95 (schumacker & lomax, 2010). factor loads of the scale ranged from .34 to .72, and the alpha internal consistency coefficient was calculated as .88. fne levels of the students in the social studies course were measured through the fear of negative evaluation in academic environments scale developed by alkan (2015) for middle school students. the items of the scale consisting of the behavioral effects of fne (first dimension-12 items) and cognitive effects of fne (second dimension-10 items) were graded between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). high scores indicate a high level of fne. an instruction added to the scale form enabled students to fill out the scale considering only their social studies courses. according to the results of cfa, it was found that the scale retained its mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 original structure and the fit indices were acceptable: χ2 = 243.441, df =162, p < .000, χ2/df = 1.503, rmsea = .04, ifi = .93, srmr = .11, tli= .92, cfi=.93. factor loads of fne’s behavioral effects (sample item: even if i do not understand the subjects taught, i avoid asking questions so that others do not think i am unsuccessful) dimension ranged from .41 to .61, and factor loads of fne’s cognitive effects (sample item: i worry that i won’t be able to show the success my teachers expect from me) dimension ranged from .33 to .65. internal consistency alpha coefficients of fne’s behavioral effects and fne’s cognitive effects dimensions were .79 and .71, respectively. in order to measure students’ art levels in social studies courses, we utilized the social studiesoriented academic risk-taking scale developed by gezer et al. (2014) for middle school students. the scale consists of two sub-scales: “taking academic risks” (16 items) and “avoiding academic risks” (5 items). the items of the scale are 5-point likert items (1=strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree). higher scores from each sub-scale indicate higher or lower levels of academic risk-taking. in the present study, five items that constitute the sub-scale of “avoiding academic risks” were reverse coded; thus, higher scores were interpreted as higher levels of academic risk-taking behavior. the results of the cfa applied to the final version of the one-dimensional scale showed that the fit indices were acceptable: χ2 = 241.737, df =143, p < .000, χ2/df = 1.690, rmsea = .04, ifi = .91, srmr = .10, tli= .90, cfi=.91. factor loads of the scale ranged from .38 to .74, and the internal consistency alpha coefficient was calculated as .80. data analysis first, exploratory factor analysis was applied to 58 items in three scales, and harman’s single factor test was used to determine whether there was a common method bias problem. as a result of unrotated principal component factor analysis, a total of 16 factors with eigenvalues higher than 1 were obtained. based on the fact that the variance of the first factor (16.64%) is less than 40% in the data set where 59.62% of the total variance is explained, it can be said that the common method bias is not a significant problem among the related variables (podsakoff et al., 2003). then, in order to determine the relationships among all variables, bivariate correlation and descriptive statistics were used through the spss program. in the third stage, multivariate normality tests were first performed in the amos program, and it was confirmed that the variables in the data set were distributed normally. then, structural equality modeling (sem) analyses were performed to reveal the mediation role of fne in the relationship between pas and art. in the related literature, significant relationships were reported between gender and autonomy support (lietaert et al., 2015; oelsner, lippold, & greenberg, 2011), fne (aydin & sutcu, 2007; subasi, 2007), and art behavior (bozpolat & koc, 2017). similarly, grade level was mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 found to have significant relationships with art behavior (avci & ozenir, 2016) and fne (cetinkaya-yildiz & toprak, 2016). therefore, in sem analysis, categorical variables (gender and grade level) were assigned as control variables. in the fourth step, the bias-corrected bootstrapping method proposed by hayes (2018) was used in amos to test the statistical significance of the indirect effect of pas on art via fne. in order to obtain a 95% confidence interval, the number of samples was increased to 10,000 by random sampling. the fact that there is no zero value between the confidence intervals shows that the moderation effect tested in the model is statistically significant (hayes, 2018). statistical significance was set at p <. 05. results descriptive statistics and correlation table 1 presents descriptive statistics and correlation values of related variables (pas, fne’s behavioral effects, fne’s cognitive effects, art). table 1. descriptive statistics and correlations (n = 339) variable m sd skewness kurtosis (1) (2) (3) (4) 1 pas 3.76 .76 -.70 .40 2 behavioral effects of fne 2.52 .85 .49 -.31 -.37** 3 cognitive effects of fne 3.73 .87 .86 .25 -.35** .49** 4 art 3.67 .64 .63 .78 .53** .62** -.41** note: **p < .01, when the skewness and kurtosis values in table 1 are examined, it can be said that the related variables show normal distribution. as expected, pas has a significant negative correlation with the sub-scales of fne. the same applies to the correlation values between art and the subdimensions of fne. there is a significant correlation between the sub-scales of fne. a significant positive correlation was found between pas and art. mediation analyses in order to test whether fne has a mediating role in the relationship between pas and art, sem analyses were performed. gender and grade levels were controlled in all analyses. in order to mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 meet the mediation analysis conditions proposed by baron and kenny (1986), a direct path was established between pas and art (h1), and the independent variable (pas) predicted the dependent variable (art) in a significant and positive direction (β =.55, se = .06, t = -6.391, p < .001). in the next step, h2, h3, and h4 were tested by adding fne as a mediator variable to the model (figure 2). figure 2. standardized beta coefficients for the mediating effect of fne in the relationship between pas and art, n = 339. ***p < .001 as shown in figure 2, pas predicted fne significantly and negatively; so, h2 was confirmed (β = .48, se = .06, t = -6.970, p < .001). also, fne predicted art significantly and negatively; so, h3 was confirmed (β = -.60, se = .07, t = -7.321, p < .001). after the inclusion of the mediator variable (fne), pas significantly predicted art, but there was a decrease in its effect coefficient (β = .25, se = .04, t = 4.236, p < .001). according to these findings, fne has a partial mediating role in the relationship between pas and art. the indirect effect of pas on art via fne (0.48 x 0.60 = 0.28) corresponds to 52% (0.28 / 0.53 = 0.52) of the total effect (0.28 + 0.25 = 0.53). the bios-corrected bootstrapping method was used in amos to test the significance of the mediation effect of fne. direct and indirect effect coefficients and 95% confidence intervals are given in table 2. mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 table 2. the bootstrapping for the partial mediation model (n = 339) %95 ci model paths spc se lower upper standardized direct pas→fne -.48** .07 -.61 -.35 fne →art -60** .05 -.73 -.48 pas→art .25** .07 .11 .38 standardized indirect pas→fne→art .29** .05 .19 .42 note: pas = perceived autonomy-support, fne = fear of negative evaluation, art = academic risk-taking, spc= standardized path coefficient, ci = confidence interval, se. = standard error, **p < .01. according to table 2, all the direct path coefficients are significant. after 10,000 bootstrap operations, it was found that the indirect path coefficient was significant and there was not zero between confidence intervals (bootstrap coefficient = .29, 95% ci = .19, .42). according to these findings, h4, which suggests that fne has a mediation role in the relationship between pas and art, was confirmed. in addition, pas, fne, and two control variables (gender and grade levels) explain 58% of the total variance in art. when the mediator variable fne is not included in the model, this rate decreases to 31%. the indices of the final model are excellent: χ2 = 182.049, df = 141, p <.01, χ2/df = 1.291, rmsea = .03, ifi = .97, srmr = .10, tli= .97, cfi=.97. general discussion the results of the research showed that there was a positive relationship between pas and art and a negative relationship between fne and the other two variables. autonomy-supportive learning environments (pas) in social studies lessons positively predicted middle school students’ art behaviors and negatively predicted their fne levels. accordingly, as the pas level increases, the fne level decreases, but the art level increases. these results are consistent with those of the studies reporting that students’ art behavior will increase in learning environments where a positive learning climate based on mutual trust is provided (beghetto, 2009; kalchman & koedinger, 2005; nickerson, 1999). in an autonomy-supportive learning environment, students are intrinsically motivated to participate in classroom activities (griffin, 2016; zhou et al., 2019). mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 kalchman and koedinger (2005) pointed out the importance of the establishment of a positive classroom climate in which students can experiment, explore, and take risks in learning and problem-solving processes in order to increase their tendency to take academic risks in mathematics classes. similarly, kennedy (2005) argued that students who are ignored or discouraged by their teachers when they express their views in classroom discussions would probably hesitate to take risks and avoid sharing their views, even if they regard them as very important. contemporary approaches in psychology, especially sdt, emphasize the importance of autonomous motivation, suggesting that individuals should not be passive, obedient, or dependent on others, but, on the contrary, they should be active and sociable (ryan & deci, 2017; zhou et al., 2019). it is also underlined that high performance, success, and creativity do not depend on biological motives or the reward-punishment paradigm but on the inherent desire to develop one’s own skills, to manage one’s own life, and to live one’s ideal life. the richest experiences in life are often experienced not with extrinsic motivation (e.g., while waiting for the approval of others) but with intrinsic motivation (calp, 2013). students whose intrinsic and autonomous motivations are supported and who feel competent do not easily give up in the learning process, are not afraid of making mistakes, prefer challenging operations to improve themselves, build resilience after failures, and share their opinions and views; in short, they easily engage in art behavior (beghetto, 2009). bransford and donovan (2005) stated that the culture of respecting, asking questions, and risk-taking thrived in learning environments where different thoughts about problems and phenomena are easily expressed and uncertainty and multiple perspectives are accepted as part of participation in scientific research. this is because such behavioral patterns do not stem from extrinsic motivation but from intrinsic motivation. in a result-oriented learning environment where objective learning outcomes (high grades) are valued rather than students’ efforts in the learning process, students will most likely not opt for challenging operations in order to get better grades and will hesitate to share their views in the classroom; in other words, they will avoid taking risks. considering that the relevant literature lacks an empirical study examining the relationship between pas and art, it can be stated that the present study provides precious insight into the subject. these results are valuable in that they provide empirical evidence for the positive effects of sdt in learning environments and form the basis for further studies. from this point of view and considering both the empirical evidence and theoretical background of this research, it can be said that increasing students’ pas levels will increase their art levels. another important result of the study is the significant partial mediation effect of fne in the relationship of pas with art. these results are consistent with the results of the study by cetin mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 et al. (2014), which showed the inverse relationship between fne and art. accordingly, we can say that it is difficult to increase students’ art levels unless their fne levels decrease. the potential of autonomous support within the scope of sdt, assigned as the independent variable, to suppress and reduce the level of fne is important in this respect (β = -.48, p < .001). considering that fne negatively affects art (β = -.60, p < .001), students who are encouraged to participate actively in classroom discussions, who are not criticized as a result of their mistakes, whose personal preferences and opinions are valued, and who are not threatened with low grades are expected to have lower levels of fne, which, in turn, are reflected in higher levels of art. in other words, autonomy support directly and positively affects art behavior while indirectly reducing the fne level (β= -.29, p < .001). the role of fne as a key mediator between the predictor and the predicted variables can be addressed in two items. first, the indirect effect of the predictor (pas) variable on the variable predicted via fne (art) corresponds to 52% of the total effect. second, pas, fne, and control variables (gender and grade levels) all together account for 58% of the variance in art assigned as the dependent variable in the model. when fne is removed from the model, this rate decreases to 31%. all of these results indicate that all hypotheses are supported and that the theoretical model is consistent with the data set. the autonomy support within the scope of sdt does not mean offering students unlimited freedom. on the contrary, this freedom is limited and entails certain conditions. moreover, autonomy support does not mean that the student should assume full responsibility in the learning process (holec, 1981; vansteenkiste et al., 2012). autonomy support, according to sdt, requires teachers to be tolerant toward their students, respect their autonomy, avoid judging them, and guide and observe their learning process to enable students to successfully perform goal setting, planned work, self-evaluation, and challenging tasks (little, 2004; reeve, 2006). sdt also underlines the importance of social support from teachers for students to feel safe in the school environment and thus participate actively in activities (roorda et al., 2011; schuitema et al., 2016). also, the learning environment needs to be well structured. however, in order for the learning environment to be well structured, teachers need to set clear rules and expectations, explain the reasons for these rules, demonstrate consistent behavior, and ensure that students embrace the rules. in this way, the students are provided with a “roadmap” on how to follow their goals (mouratidis et al., 2018). such autonomy-oriented teaching styles will be effective in reducing the fne levels of students, which, in turn, will increase their art levels. on the other hand, in a learning environment where students assume full responsibility, they will feel alone as they will not be receiving any support from their teachers and will not have a “roadmap.” in such mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 a learning environment, it is very difficult to reduce students’ fne levels or increase their art levels. implications, limitations, and future direction the obtained data set supported the predictive model suggesting that middle school students who receive autonomy support from their teachers in social studies lessons are expected to have lower levels of fne and higher levels of art and that fne has a mediation role in the relationship between pas and art. these findings prove that the fundamental principles of sdt are built on solid foundations and are adaptable to real life. it is hoped that the results of this research will draw the attention of the relevant stakeholders to the individual psychological traits of students in the learning environment. on the other hand, the research has several limitations. the evidence obtained in this study using a cross-sectional research model is not strong enough to confirm the causal relationships among pas, fne, and art. in order to establish a clear cause and effect relationship among these variables, experimental studies are needed. another limitation of the study is that the data for all the variables were obtained through self-report measures. collecting data for multiple variables through self-report measures may lead to a common method bias risk, although this was not the case in this study. to avoid this problem, data can be collected at different times. in addition, with the triangulation technique (using more than one method such as observation, interviews, questionnaires to collect data on the same topic), stronger findings can be obtained (patton, 2014). on the other hand, ryan and deci (2017) emphasized that the use of self-report measures would be more helpful in studies on sdt. for example, the most important indicator of whether a teacher supports students’ autonomy is students’ reports and perceptions rather than the teacher’s self-reports or the scores of neutral observers (jang et al., 2010; ryan & deci, 2017). no matter how autonomy-supportive the teacher thinks he/she is, his/her autonomy support is meaningful only when it is reflected in his/her students’ views and perceptions. the divergence in students’ and teachers’ views concerning autonomy support may be interpreted as teachers and students differently understanding the concept of autonomy support. further studies can examine the causes of this divergence in-depth and, by considering the views of teachers and students, reveal concrete behavioral patterns that form the components of the concept of autonomy support. considering that the relevant literature does not have empirical studies examining the relationships among related variables, it is important to conduct similar studies with a sample with different cultural traits to test the generalizability of the present study. supporting the obtained results with qualitative research is important in order to better understand the mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 behavioral patterns of teachers and students in the learning environment. in the relevant literature, there are clear behavioral expressions for teachers’ autonomy support (assor et al., 2002; reeve, 2006); however, it is difficult to say the same for fne and art. through in-class observations, students’ fne and art behavior can be clearly demonstrated. further research is needed to reveal the situations when students are hesitant to take risks and to uncover concrete indicators of fne. conclusion in this study, a structural model for the relationships among pas, art, and fne under sdt has been proposed. the empirical findings supported the theoretical model. pas predicted fne negatively and art positively. in addition, fne predicted art negatively. fne has a significant partial mediation effect on the relationship between pas and art. according to the results of the research, it can be said that the use of autonomy-supportive learning practices in social studies lessons have an important role in reducing middle school students’ fne levels and in increasing their art levels. mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 62-91 corresponding author: servetuztemur@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 references: acikgoz, k. u. 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(2019). relations of multivariate goal profiles to motivation, epistemic beliefs and achievement. journal of pacific rim psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.1017/prp.2018.28 about the author: servet üztemur – assistant professor of social studies education, gaziantep university faculty of nizip education, turkey mailto:servetuztemur@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.05.001 https://doi.org/10.1017/prp.2018.28 microsoft word visions global education review carolyn final.doc journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 54 fall 2010 kirkwood-tucker, toni fuss (2009). visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: perspectives from canada, russia, and the united states. new york: peter lang publishing. isbn 978-14331-0309-4 reviewed by carolyn o’mahony, oakland university in his foreword to visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools, james becker suggests that this collection of essays provides readers with a “basis for reviewing the status of the [global education] movement and offers some rich resources for updating, revising, and developing new approaches.” the variety of topics and writing styles in this book attest to the dynamic nature of the field of global education and the people writing in it and about it. visions is a labor of love by its editor, toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, who has inhabited the field of global education in the united states since the 1960s. “advance praise” from six notable names in social studies education, a foreword by a seventh, a dedication to jan tucker, the editor’s late husband, and her acknowledgements, reveal kirkwood-tucker’s “insider status’ within the field of global education. they are followed by a brief autobiography, in which kirkwoodtucker explains that her experiences as a child in nazi germany and subsequent immigration to the southern united states in the 1960s resulted in what w.e.b. dubois called “double consciousness,” compelling her to work for social change through curriculum and instruction on “a hard journey of golden opportunities” as a social studies educator and administrator in miamidade’s public schools, and as a graduate student at florida international university. many authors of the thirteen chapters of visions share kirkwood-tucker’s academic genealogy: pedro bermúdez, bárbara cruz, and guichun zong also studied with jan l. tucker at florida international university, while hilary landorf is currently a fiu faculty member. other contributors to the collection include kenneth tye, elizabeth heilman, john cogan, david grossman, and merry merryfield from the usa; jacob kolker, irina sheina, elena ustinova and lena lenskaya from russia, and kathy bickmore from canada. the thirteen chapters of the book are grouped into three sections: historical and theoretical foundations, from theory to practice, and pedagogy and possibilities in the postmodern world. in the first section tye’s history of global education programs is a useful guide to acronyms of long-term us-based programs. as a peripheral participant in the field it was fascinating for me to read the origins of programs such as spice and ctir. heilman compares and contrasts global education and multicultural education and suggests that policy-making regarding multicultural education is more public because it is about local socio-political structures and has been led by members of oppressed groups, whereas, because international issues are beyond the influence of single groups of policy-makers in any one country, global education has been the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 55 fall 2010 interest and purview of the elite, looking to enhance their individual prospects in a global economy. she argues for broader awareness and participation in international conversations. landorf provides an alternative to heilman’s analysis of the field of global education, proposing that advocating for international human rights has often been, and should be, the purpose behind efforts to offer global education. from theory to practice provides an overview of the literature on globalizing teacher education and reflections of the authors who worked as graduate students in the global awareness program (gap) at florida international university, where the professional development model was directly derived from hanvey’s (1976) conceptualizations of global education. in her review of the literature zong uses merryfield’s (1991) framework for analyzing teacher education to write a chapter that endeavors to fill the gap in recent handbooks of the field, where little has been written on either globalizing teacher education or professional development. what this chapter makes clear is the paucity of long term or large scale studies on the effect of global education initiatives. the section also includes chapters describing a long-term collaboration between florida international university and miamidade county public schools, and chapters addressing educational reform in russia in the time of perestroika. fuss kirkwood-tucker and lenskaya illustrate how global education was the umbrella under which reforms of general classroom curriculum and instruction in miami and russia could be introduced. the cases illustrate the need for institutional support for reform efforts in public schools in terms of funding, policies, and leadership. lenskaya’s case illustrates how building relationships with international colleagues, specifically jan tucker and the educators in florida, and how seeing a successful model of professional development based on global education in the miami-dade school district, helped lenskaya and her colleagues envision such a system in russia. chapters in pedagogy and possibilities in the postmodern world complement from theory to practice. zong structured her review of research on globalized teacher education in merryfield’s analytical framework from the early 1990s. however, in her chapter, reprinted with permission from critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century (stanley, 2001), merryfield demonstrates how her understanding of the global context has changed. she urges current social studies educators to reconsider how they are defining global education. she uses postcolonial theories to frame her comments as she explains how imperialism has shaped academic knowledge. she posits that this legacy needs to be addressed as a primary tenet of global education if we are to teach children to thrive in an intricately connected world that has no imperial center. whereas zong reviewed research on global education in teacher education specifically, cogan and grossman define global education somewhat differently. this enables them to offer empirical studies of citizenship education, the citizenship education policy studies i and ceps ii, as the basis for their list of eight “research-derived key approaches to nurture and support globally minded teachers”. as they reflect upon their time as graduate students, cruz and burmúdez share the characteristics and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 56 fall 2010 influence of a globally minded professor and mentor, jan tucker. appropriately, as the final chapter of the book written for scholars and teachers, bickmore’s contribution provides classroom-ready strategies for k-16 educators looking to globalize their own instruction. drawing on feminist theories, bickmore points out that if conversations about global education remain about identity, we will continue to be tied up in generalizations and expectations based on beliefs and values about particular roles and identities. when educators encourage informed conversations about actions based on human rights and awareness of the interconnectedness of the world, there is a way to move forward. a better title for the book might have been “visions in global education: jan tucker and the global education movement”. the mélange of styles and perspectives of the chapters form a welldeserved festschrift for jan tucker of florida international university. they provide an elegant collective memoir of a particular period in the development of globally oriented education in the united states and russia. a critique of professional development efforts has often been that participants have not documented and disseminated their efforts. descriptions of the miami-dade global awareness program by participants who were at different times teachers, administrators and graduate students provide an excellent case study for educators interested in effecting positive change in their own schools through global education. they point to the perennial need for thoughtful leadership in both school administration and educational policy-making when trying to reform traditional systems and practices. chapters on reform efforts in russia are moving, informative, and sobering in that they illustrate the importance of addressing context when adopting ideas from other communities. they also provide an example of building relationships across national boundaries when problem-solving in education. these chapters, and heilman’s, bring to mind boulding’s classic book building a global civic culture: education for an interdependent world, in which individuals are encouraged to consider how they can use their membership in non-governmental agencies to foster relationships, influence local and national policies, and effect positive change at a global level. although the majority of contributors to visions are us academics who have had similar work published elsewhere this does not diminish the value of this edited work. teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in the field of global education will find it extremely useful to have these essays available in a single volume. references boulding, e. (1990). building a global civic culture: education for an interdependent world. syracuse, ny: syracuse university press. stanley, w.b. (2001). critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century. information age publishing. journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 in search of a more effective strategy: using simulation games instructional strategy for the teaching and learning of social studies in secondary school clifford edore ogheneakoke delta state university, abraka, nigeria sunday obro delta state university, abraka, nigeria joseph benike delta state university, abraka, nigeria abstract: this study investigated the effect of simulation game instructional strategy on academic performance of students in secondary school social studies. the quasi-experimental design was employed. one hundred and sixteen (116) upper basic 2 students from six schools constituted the study sample. 50-items multiple-choice social studies achievement test (ssat) was used to collect data. the ssat was tested for reliability, and a value of 0.79 was obtained. means, standard deviation, and analysis of covariance were used to analyze and interpret data obtained. the result of the study showed that simulation games instructional strategy enhanced students’ performance in the social studies classroom; gender did not influence students’ academic performance. based on the findings, it was recommended among others that simulation games strategy should be used in teaching social studies. social studies educators and curriculum planners should incorporate innovative, problem and activity-based instructional strategy like simulation games in all institutions where teachers are trained. key words: simulation games; instructional strategy; social studies; academic performance; secondary school. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 introduction in today’s world, the conventional approaches towards finding solutions to problems is becoming increasingly inefficient in the face of complex and dynamic daily experiences. this underscores the need to evolve and derive germane, innovative, and constructive solutions to life’s challenges (hassan & ogunyemi, 2008). social studies, one of the fundamental and compulsory subjects offered at the secondary school level, is seen as an instrument for national development and building a strong nigeria irrespective of ethnic and cultural differences. adeyemi & ajibade (2011) opined that the issues of desirable values, associations, and interactions can be addressed through social studies. even though the inclusion of social studies in our school programme could be of great benefit, few gains have been made because of poor handling of the subject (adekunle, 2011). research such as that carried out by akpochafo (2001), arisi (2002), and oganwu (2004) revealed that despite more than three decades of developing theories describing exactly how people learn, the majority of teachers still dispense facts using lectures without regard for students’ learning abilities. in other words, the lecture strategy, which has no enduring outcome on the learners, still dominates our classrooms (oganwu, 2004). social studies as a discipline needs constructivist teaching strategies that identify problems, encourage learning by investigation, and produce possible solutions. efforts have been made to solve the problem of poor performance in the internal and external examinations in social studies by different stakeholders in the education industry, but evidence shows that the problems are still prevalent in our schools (oganwu, 2004). adeyemi & ajibade (2011) asserted that the uninspiring performance of students in examinations reveals that an innovative teaching strategy that is interesting to teachers and helps students achieve their goals should be adopted in nigerian secondary schools. researchers have indicated that innovative and productive instructional strategies of teaching such as simulation games, brainstorming, inquiry strategies, concept mapping, and modelling improve students’ performance (okonkwo, 2012). furthermore, innovative instructional strategies and activity-based learning are useful instructional options to replace conventional lecturing (zagona, willis, & mackinnon, 1996). it is an approach to instruction that uses the ill-structured problem as a context for students to acquire problem-solving skills and basic knowledge (santanen, briggs, & de vreede, 2004). indeed, the activity-based learning strategy goes beyond teaching students to acquire problemmailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 solving skills, helping to increase understanding and knowledge through solving real life problems. simulation games are activities that involve rules, competition, and players. the result of the game is decided less by chance and more by judgments made by the players. as asserted by adeyemi & ajibade (2011), simulation games are board games or other types of games made by teachers that employ selected aspects of a real-life situation, usually focusing on the sociopolitical, religious, and economic facets of the society. checkers, chess, monopoly, ludo, snakes and ladders, and ayo are cited as examples of games that can be used for teaching purposes. not only do simulation games permit students to discuss, deliberate, and make decisions, they facilitate the development of imagination. generally, teaching students using the lecture strategy may not be enough to accomplish the required understanding and comprehension of the subject matter (adelakun, 1997). several studies (adeyemi & ajibade, 2011, al-zaytoonah, 2016, sulaiman, ibi & bukar, 2016 and vlachopoulos, & makri, 2017) have highlighted the advantages and usefulness of simulation games, but none have addressed the challenges of matching the games to the standards-based curriculum and the varying needs of individuals, given reasons for use during extra-instructional time, or related the activity to topic understanding. problem statement notwithstanding the increasing research interest on teaching strategies, it is obvious that a clear distinction is yet to be made about the specific teaching strategy that would address the challenges of unsatisfactory performance of students in social studies courses. studies have revealed over the years that student-centred and participatory approaches to teaching and learning social studies were more effective due to the critical thinking and value-laden nature of the subject. however, there is hardly any consensus regarding the practicality and effectiveness of the various student-centred strategies in social studies classrooms. social studies performance in nigerian secondary schools has not been encouraging (arisi, 2002). adeyemi & ajibade (2011) opined that if the concepts of social studies education are taught in secondary schools using innovative and productive strategies, it is expected that this will aid students to perform well and develop desirable attitudes. this study investigates the effect of simulation games on students’ academic performance secondary school in delta state and asks whether simulation games will improve the teaching of social studies, particularly at the secondary school level. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 research questions this study was guided by the following research questions: 1. is there a significant effect of simulation games on students’ academic performance? 2. is there a significant effect of students’ gender on academic performance using simulation games? hypotheses the following hypotheses were tested: 1. there is no significant effect of simulation game instructional strategy on students’ academic performance. 2. there is no significant effect of gender on students’ academic performance when exposed to the two strategies. literature review the nature and concept of social studies the subject of social studies is defined in various ways. the national teachers institute (nti) (2000) stated that social studies is the process of education that emphasizes the connection of human beings with their physical and social worlds; social studies can cultivate a sense of national cohesion, loyalty, and obligation to the nation. mafuyae (1992) perceived that social studies touches the very core of our society. the subject deals with the important problems of national unity, economic development, and ethnic tolerance and international understanding. a broad view of social studies was presented by shiundu & ali (2000) when they described social studies as that aspect of school activity that includes the teaching of socially significant problems, questions, and topics believed to be relevant to the well-being of society. it is the development in the learner of the social and reflective thinking skills that would enable one to actively participate and effectively survive in the world through the rational collection, sorting, interpretation, analysis, and application of ideas (mezieobi & domike, 1996). simulation game instructional strategy a simulation game is a teaching activity designed to imitate a real situation in an interactive manner guided by rules and procedures. a simulation game, according to angelides & paul mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 (1999), is often defined as a strategy of using an artificially initiated setting that copies chosen traits or characteristics of real states and situations and allows the participants to observe the outcomes of their decisions and take action accordingly. it is a methodology that endeavours to uncover certain fundamental structures in the environment by streamlining them so that attention can be paid to them. according to rieber (1996), gaming components have a relationship with enjoyable activities that enable the flow stage. thus, gaming activities have the ability to engage the learner to the flow stage and bring about better learning (prensky, 2001), which, according to rosas et al. (2003), increases students’ motivation and achievement. however, in spite of the positive educational benefits, this strategy still has shortcomings. although promising, the utilization of simulation games presents several challenges. squire (2004), in his investigation on the usefulness of simulation games in teaching, revealed that, although useful, it led to several contradictions owing to the complex character of the game, the long time required to play, students having difficulty learning how to use the game, and different levels of personal motivation. concept of academic performance according to david (2007), academic performance denotes the performance by individuals’ objectives as identified with different sorts of learning and skills varying based on individual education, socialization, capability, and qualification. in the same manner, bourne (2004) opined that academic performance largely refers to a child’s performance in academic areas such as reading or language arts, science, and history. further, emphasis is customarily on the skills the student is expected to master in each major subject: reading and language arts, writing, mathematics, science, history, etc. academic performance is posited by grobe & bishop (2001) as something one does or achieves at school, college or university, in class, in a laboratory, library, or field work. additionally, according to broussard (2002), academic performance is assessed by the utilization of instructors' evaluations, tests, and examinations. one may deduce that academic performance is the measurement of progress and success that one is able to attain as a student after years of varying learning experiences. simulation games and academic performance noted by anikweze (1992), the use of the simulation game as a teaching strategy challenges learners, adds interest, boosts activity, and adds uniqueness and innovation to the lesson. it makes possible the development of students’ creative ability and allows students to discuss and make realistic judgements or decisions. it is seen to be highly exciting and motivating to students. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 hursen & asiksoy (2015) examined effects of the simulation game method on students’ academic outcome in physics. seventy students participated in the study, and the instrument for the study was instructional transaction. the study discovered that simulation methods improved students’ academic success. ogosi (2015) investigated the effect of games on pupils’ achievement in reading. sixty young pupils participated in the quasi-experimental study; the result showed that teaching through games enhanced achievement. interestingly, the pupils’ genders influenced their achievement. soomro (2016) examined the usage of educational games on students’ knowledge and mastery of clinical skills in health sciences. the results suggested that educational games and simulations increased students’ knowledge and skills. sulaiman, ibi & bukar (2016) studied the effect of simulation methods on students’ academic performance using a quasiexperimental design. a sample of 90 students took an achievement test to generate data for the study. the study revealed that simulation methods significantly enhanced students’ performance. gruss (2016) determined that games enhanced the teaching of vocabulary. alzaytoonah (2016) examined the effectiveness of educational games on students’ performance in science. results indicated that educational games significantly improved students’ performance in science and that gender did not influence performance. iwuanyanwu (2016) determined the efficacy of simulation games on students’ performance in biology in zaria, nigeria, through a quasi-experimental study of 153 students. the findings demonstrated that simulation games improved students’ performance when compared with the lecture method; gender was not a significant factor. fatokun, egya & uzoechi (2016) investigated the effect of games on chemistry students’ achievement on the periodicity achievement test (pat). the results indicated that game strategy enhanced students’ performance; gender had no effect on achievement. vlachopoulos & makri (2017) focused on the impact of games and simulation on achieving specific learning tasks/objectives. the results indicated that games and simulations were of positive effect on learning goals. kornak-bozza (2017) looked at effects of computer simulation on students’ self-efficacy. the result of the study demonstrated that computer simulation impacted the students’ abilities in chemistry. however, other researchers have established that students’ performance does not necessarily improve when simulation games are used. akinyemi (1997), in his study to ascertain the efficacy of scientific games in chemistry, discovered that there was no effect of games on students’ performance compared with the lecture method. the control group and experimental group performed similarly preand post-experimentation. studies also pointed out that while skillsoriented games can be useful and effective in promoting learning, findings are either not conclusive (randel et al., 1992) or mixed (cruickshank & telfer, 1980). mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 theoretical framework this research work is anchored on the attribution theory of heider (1958). the theory integrates self-efficacy and cognitive theory. the theory proposes individual attempts to explain success (good performance) or failure (bad or unsatisfactory performance) of others and self by advancing certain attributions that are either external (outside) or internal (inside) and may or may not be under one’s control. while some students seem enthusiastic or passionate about learning, many need and expect their instructors/teachers to invigorate and inspire them. effective and productive classroom learning, according to the theory, is determined by the teacher's capacity to maintain or sustain the interest that first led students to the discipline. according to heider (1958), the level of motivation or enthusiasm students bring into the learning environment will be transformed for better (satisfactory performance) or worse (unsatisfactory performance) by whatever transpires in the classroom. furthermore, the theory postulates that when learners perform better at an academic task, they attribute this success to their own determinations and capabilities, but when they fail or have difficulty, they blame factors that they are unable to control such as ineffective or bad teaching. it is important for teachers to use the most productive strategies or pedagogies for all students. this theory is strongly linked to the present study in that students learn best as they actively construct knowledge through their interactions with different social studies teachers, which team teaching readily provides. most students respond positively to a subject taught by a passionate teacher with genuine concern for students and the substance of learning. thus, the activities undertaken and the instructional strategy used for learning will also improve students’ learning and motivation. methodology research design the study employed the quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test control group, 2 x 2 factorial design. the instructional modes include simulation games (sg) as a treatment, while the lecture strategy was used as the control group. the design of the study means that there were the following: 1. a pre-testing of all groups 2. treatment administered on the experimental group only mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 3. observation of differences (if any) the design is spelled out below: experimental group o1 x1 o2 control group o3 – o4 as specified earlier, treatment was administered to the experimental group while there was no treatment of the control group. consequently, differences noticed in post-test performance were credited to the effect of treatment. population of the study the targeted population of the study included all upper basic 2 (jss ii) students in delta state, nigeria. in making up the population of this study, a simple random technique was utilized to select four public secondary schools with a sample size of 451 upper basic 2 students in delta state. it is from the targeted population that the sample was drawn. table 1 school demographic composition s/n schools # of students male female total 1 westend mixed secondary school, asaba 61 70 131 2 oreki secondary school, oghareki 43 62 105 3 ubeji secondary school, ubeji 41 52 93 4 okpe grammar school, sapele 53 69 122 total 198 253 451 sample and sampling techniques the sample for the study comprised of 116 upper basic 2 students were drawn from the four selected schools. first, the schools were stratified by school type (mixed schools, all-girls and allmailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 boys). only co-educational schools were considered suitable for the study because students’ gender was a variable under investigation. in other words, all single schools were eliminated from the study. then, using the simple random balloting technique, four schools were selected from the 321 mixed secondary schools for the study. two schools each were apportioned to the experimental groups and control groups through the balloting method. from each selected school, one intact or regular class was selected for the study and assigned to treatment groups or control groups. the intact classes were categorized a, b, c, and d. classes a and b were the experimental groups taught using the experimental strategy (simulation games) and classes c and d were the control groups taught using the lecture strategy. table 2 sample demographic composition s/n schools participants treatment male female 1 westend mixed secondary school, asaba 15 15 control 2 oreki secondary school, oghareki 13 14 simulation game 3 ubeji secondary school, ubeji 14 15 control 4 okpe grammar school, sapele 13 17 simulation game total 55 61 research instrument the instrument used in the study was an achievement instrument, the social studies achievement test. the test comprised of 50 multiple-choice items selected from past upper basic school certificate examination questions and was based on the upper basic 2 social studies syllabus on three content areas: drug abuse, drug trafficking and health issues, and harmful substances. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 validation of social studies achievement test (ssat) the validity was based on expert judgment and table of specification. validity was done to confirm the suitability of the items with the table of specification and to ensure that the items dealt with the subject matter content. reliability of the instrument to establish the reliability of the instrument, 30 students from a secondary school were used for the first and second administration. the test-retest method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument. the pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) was employed to test for the reliability and a value of 0.79 was obtained, which showed a high consistency value and therefore suitable for this study. administration of the instrument after the selection of the students for the study and assigning methods, the social studies achievement test (ssat) was administered as a pre-test. this was followed by the teaching of the topics as contained in the syllabus using the designated instructional treatments over a period of six weeks. the experimental groups and control groups were taught by research assistants. in this regard, social studies teachers of the various schools were involved in the experimentation. treatment/intervention procedure the experimental group students attended the social studies classes three days a week with each session lasting about 120 minutes. participants were pre-tested (ssat) to ascertain the level of students’ performance in social studies before treatment. after the pre-test, simulation games were experienced with the students for six weeks. the post-test was used to ascertain the level of students’ performance after six weeks of experimentation. the students in the control groups were taught with the lecture strategy only and were given preand post-tests. teaching and test administration took place concurrently in the four schools. to monitor the experimentation, the researchers went to the schools for supervision. the simulation game in the board game used for the study, the students threw the dice on the surface of the board one after the other. each number that falls on the ladder is an automatic step to move forward mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 to the direction of the ladder. each number that falls on the arrow will follow the direction of the arrow either to move up or down. game time for each set of players is 15-20 minutes. the players take turns throwing the dice. one of the players put the scoring tablets at the appropriate cell space until one of the two parties enters the gold space. the winner is the player who first enters the gold space with the highest score. after the game, students work on a quiz to assess the different learning objectives. students reflect on their experiences through group discussion or as a written assignment. data analysis the data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for all research questions while analysis of covariance (ancova) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. results research question 1 is there a significant effect of simulation games on students’ academic performance? table 3 descriptive statistics of pre-test and post-test scores of students taught with simulation game strategy. teaching methods/treatment pre-test post-test mean gain n x̅ sd n x̅ sd simulation games (e) 57 53.43 12.05 57 70.79 11.95 17.36 lecture method (control) 59 46.50 12.18 59 54.27 10.81 7.77 total 116 49.97 12.12 116 62.53 11.46 12.57 table 3 shows that at pre-test, the mean performance scores of the students in the experimental (treatment) groups and control group were 53.43 for e and 46.50 for the control group with standard deviations of 12.05 and 12.18, respectively. there were not many differences in the variability of their scores judging from the closeness of their standard deviations. however, at post-test, the treatment group had mean achievement scores of 70.79 and standard deviations of 11.95, while the control group had an overall achievement mean score of 54.27 and a standard mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 deviation of 10.81. this result indicates that the experimental group achieved higher than the control group. in effect, the simulation games instructional strategy proved superior to the lecture method in enhancing students’ achievement in social studies. hypothesis 1 there is no significant’ effect of simulation games instructional strategy on students’ academic performance. table 4 summary of ancova on effect of simulation-games on students’ academic performance. source type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. corrected model 5475.024 1 5475.024 34.244 .000 intercept 692315.024 1 692315.024 4330.149 .000 simulation 5475.024 1 5475.024 34.244 .000 error 28459.087 114 159.883 total 754668.000 116 corrected total 33934.111 115 table 4 shows that simulation games had a significant effect on students’ performance. data revealed that the effect of simulation games on students’ performance was significant (f (1,114) = 34.244, p = 0.000). therefore, the null hypothesis of no effect of simulation games on students’ performance was rejected. research question 2 is there significant effect of students’ gender on academic performance using simulation games? mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 table 5 descriptive statistics of pre-test and post-test scores by gender. strategies gender pre-test post-test mean gain n x̅ sd n x̅ sd simulation game male female 25 32 50.27 53.50 12.971 0.8 25 32 71.89 69.69 10.94 12.97 21.62 16.19 lecture (control) male 30 45.13 9.55 30 54.90 13.89 9.77 female 29 49.13 13.3 29 53.64 11.47 4.51 total male female 55 61 47.70 51.32 11.26 12.05 55 61 63.40 61.67 12.42 12.22 15.70 10.35 total 116 49.51 11.66 116 62.54 12.32 13.03 table 5 shows that male students had a mean of 47.70 and a standard deviation of 11.26 in the pre-test and a mean score of 63.40 and standard deviation of 12.42 in the post-test, a gain of 15.70. the female students had a mean score of 51.32 and a standard deviation of 12.05 in the pre-test and a mean of 61.67 and standard deviation of 12.22 in the post-test, a gain of 10.35. the result, therefore, revealed that at post-test, male students performed better in simulation games, with mean scores of 71.89 greater than the grand mean scores (62.54) and a mean gain score of 21.62 better than the grand mean gain of 13.03. the result also revealed that male students with mean scores of 63.40 and mean gain of 15.70, which is better than the grand mean scores and grand mean gain of 62.54 and 13.03, respectively, performed better than the female students with mean scores of 61.67 and mean gain of 10.35, which is lower than grand mean scores and grand mean gain of 62.54 and 13.03. hypothesis 2: there is no significant effect of gender on students’ academic performance when exposed to the two strategies. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 table 6 ancova of effect of students’ achievement score by gender when exposed to the two strategies. source type iii sums of squares df mean square f sig. corrected model 300.188a 1 300.188 1.589 .209 intercept 720616.988 1 720616.988 3813.704 .000 gender 300.188 1 300.188 1.589 .209 error 33633.923 114 188.955 total 754668.000 116 corrected total 33934.111 115 table 6 shows that the effect of gender on students’ academic performance when exposed to the strategies was not statistically significant (f (1,114) = 1.589, p= .209). boys and girls did not perform differently. thus, the hypothesis was accepted with a decision of no effect of gender on students’ academic performance when exposed to the two strategies. discussion of results instructional strategies and academic performance simulation games were found to be more effective than lectures. students taught using simulation games improved more than those taught with the lecture strategy (control group students). this means that simulation games are most likely of equal usefulness and effectiveness, but significantly better than the lecture instructional strategy in enhancing performance. this result, therefore, gives further credence to ogosi (2015), al-zaytoonah (2016), sulaiman, ibi & bukar (2016), vlachopoulos & makri (2017), and kornak-bozza (2017) on the effectiveness of simulation games on academic performance. furthermore, the results of this study support hursen & asiksoy (2015), fatokun, egya, & uzoechi (2016), and iwuanyanwu (2016), who reported that students exposed to simulation games performed better than those exposed to the lecture instructional strategy; however, the results are at variance with akinyemi mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 (1997), umo (2001), and cruickshank and telfer (1980), who reported that simulation games are of no effect on the academic performance of students. gender and students’ academic performance results from data collected showed that there was no significant effect of gender on students’ academic performance. this result is consistent with the findings of fatokun, egya & uzoechi (2016), iwuanyanwu (2016), and al-zaytoonah (2016), who reported that gender does not have any significant effect on students’ performance. this result is at variance with adeyemi & ajibade (2011), okonkwo (2012), and ogosi (2015), who reported a significant effect of gender on students’ performance. male and female students’ performance was equally enhanced in this study because simulation games and brainstorming instructional strategies are not sexstereotyped. therefore, a gender-balanced atmosphere accounted for the superiority of these two experimental strategies in enhancing performance over the lecture strategy. conclusion the study established the effectiveness of the simulation game in improving students’ academic performance. the study concluded that simulation games significantly enhanced students’ performance in social studies when compared with the lecture strategy. if simulation games are utilized in the teaching of social studies, teachers could be aided in providing a stimulating learning environment and students are likely to improve in their academic performance. as long as simulation games provide equal opportunities for the students irrespective of gender, students’ academic performance is likely to be the same. recommendations 1. educational authorities in nigeria should reconsider the instructional strategies used in social studies teaching and learning. 2. social studies educators and curriculum planners should incorporate innovative problem and activity-based instructional strategies like simulation games in institutions preparing teachers. 3. since gender had no significant influence on students’ academic performance, school administrators should be conscious of other factors that can improve the students’ academic performance. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social 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(1996). seriously considering play: designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of micro-worlds, simulations, and games. educational technology research and development, 44(2), 43-58. doi:10.1007/bf02300540 rosas, r., nussbaum, m., cumsille, p., marianov, v., correa, m., flores, p., grau, v., lagos, f., lópez, x., lópez, v., rodriguez, p. & salinas, m. (2003). beyond nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students. computers & education, 40, 71-94. doi:10.1016/s0360-1315(02)00099-4 santanen, e., briggs, r. o. & de vreede, g-j. (2004). causal relationships in creative problem solving: comparing facilitation interventions for ideation. journal of management information systems, 20(4), 167-198. shiundu, j. o. & ali, m. (2000). issues in social studies teacher education in africa. african social studies forum. nairobi, kenya: assp. soomro, f. r. (2016). use of educational gaming and simulation as teaching tools in health sciences. unpublished master’s dissertation, university of ontario institute of technology. squire, k. d. (2004). replaying history: learning world history through playing civilization iii. unpublished doctoral dissertation, indiana university, bloomington, in. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131502000994?via%3dihub#! https://doi.org/10.1016/s0360-1315(02)00099-4 journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 53-71 corresponding author: sundayobro@yahoo.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 sulaiman, b., ibi, m. b. & bukar, i. b. (2016). effect of simulation techniques and lecture method on students’ academic performance in mafoni day secondary school maiduguri, borno state, nigeria. journal of education and practice, 7(24), 54-58. umo, u c. (2001). effect of games on the achievement and interest of jss students in igbo grammar. unpublished ph.d. thesis, university of nigeria, nsukka. vlachopoulos, d. & makri, a. (2017). the effect of games and simulations on higher education: a systematic literature review. international journal of educational technology in higher education, 14(22), 1-33. doi:10.1186/s41239-017-0062-1 zagona, s. v., willis, j. e. & mackinnon, w. j. (1996). group effectiveness in creative problemsolving tasks: an examination of relevant variables. the journal of psychology, 62, 111137. about the authors: dr. clifford edore ogheneakoke is a senior lecturer in the department of social science education, delta state university, abraka, nigeria. he is currently the head of the department ofsocial science education. his research interests are in social studies education, environmental education, curriculum development and teacher education, civics, and citizenship education. email: drogheneakokeclifford@gmail.com dr. sunday obro was doctoral student of the department of social science education, delta state university, abraka, nigeria. he currently teaches courses in social studies at the college of education, warri, koko study centre, koko, nigeria. his interests include social studies, instructional strategies, educational technology, curriculum and instruction, educational research, civics, and citizenship education. email: sundayobro@yahoo.com joseph benike is a ph.d. candidate at the university of nigeria, nsukka, and a social studies lecturer in the department of social science education, delta state university, abraka. his research interests are in social studies teaching and learning, civics and citizenship education, environmental education, curriculum implementation and instruction, and school leadership. e-mail: benike.joseph@gmail.com. mailto:sundayobro@yahoo.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies http:/www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 57 fall 2010 international assembly perspectives editor’s message this feature of the journal of international social studies will highlight people, activities, and perspectives related to the work of the international assembly(ia), past, present, and future. in this issue, margit mcguire, past president of the national council for the social studies, recounts the history of the ia. in recent years the ia initiated a global scholar award. it was the vision of eleanor goldstein. the egeg family foundation sponsors the award, provides a recognition luncheon, and publishes a booklet describing the contributions of the scholar. through the foundation, eleanor also generously sponsors the jan l. tucker memorial lecture. in addition, ia began the adopt-a-school project, created an ia-fasse grant for international understanding, and developed a new electronic scholarly journal. josiah tlou worked with ia to make the adopt-a-school project a reality. his involvement with international education and his connections in many african countries is impressive. in our next column josiah will be interviewed by editor, lee bisland. his work is inspirational. terry trimble, fasse, approached ia about developing a joint grant, and with his help, we conceptualized our new grant for international understanding. the very talented carolyn o’mahony, ia, took responsibility for the grant’s final design and made it happen. another notable development in ia is the creation of our first scholarly journal. lee bisland was selected as the editor through a national search. she not only edited the journal, but developed it, assisted by a carefully selected staff. she is to be congratulated for her commitment to ia and to international social studies scholars. an active ia board supported all of these initiatives and provides leadership for them. toni f. kirkwood-tucker is the ia liaison to the egeg family foundation; lin lin, masato ogawa, and mary johnson work with josiah and his colleagues on the adopta-school project; carolyn o’mahony is our grant administrator; and journal editors are beverly milner (lee) bisland (editor), gloria alter (associate editor, perspectives editor), carolyn o’mahony (editor, media review), michelle fraboni (technology editor), and marcia baghban (copy editor). through the international assembly, we hope to continue to foster international connections and understanding that will ultimately impact the well-being of many of our global citizens. this column will highlight some of that work. gloria alter, associate editor and international assembly perspectives editor past president, international assembly of ncss journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 contemporary multi-modal historical representations and the teaching of disciplinary understandings in history debra j. donnelly university of newcastle, australia abstract: traditional privileging of the printed text has been considerably eroded by rapid technological advancement and in australia, as elsewhere, many history teaching programs feature an array of multi-modal historical representations. research suggests that engagement with the visual and multi-modal constructs has the potential to enrich the pedagogy and make the classroom encounters significant and relevant to students’ world life outside and beyond school. however, these multi-modal creations of the past are often compromised with agendas and pressures beyond traditional historical evidence, research and writing. this leaves the history teacher to navigate the tension that arises from the cognitive, affective and “beyonds the classroom” appeal of these historical representations and the quest to teach evidence-based, memorable history. this pedagogical dilemma was the focus of an australian research project that used survey, interview and case study to investigate the utility of these historical-based contemporary representations in the teaching of disciplinary concepts in the history classroom. this paper presents a synoptic model of the broad research findings and uses case studies to provide examples of effective pedagogies. the unit plans from the case studies are also appended. key words: history, historical concepts, contemporary historical representations, historical understanding introduction acknowledging that the traditional privileging of the printed text has been considerably eroded by rapid technological advancement, engaging history teacher practice in australia, as elsewhere, sees an array of multi-modal sources peppered throughout history teaching programs. research suggests that engagement with the visual and multi-modal constructs has the potential to enrich the pedagogy and make the classroom encounters significant and relevant mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 to students’ world life outside and beyond school (kalantzis et al, 2016; grushka & donnelly, 2010; walsh 2010; anstey & bull, 2006; kalantzis & cope, 2005). yet these multi-modal creations of the past are flawed with agendas and pressures beyond traditional historical evidence, research and writing. the history teacher must navigate the tension that arises from the cognitive, affective and “beyond the classroom” appeal of these historical representations and the quest to teach evidence-based, memorable history. this pedagogical dilemma was the focus of an australia-wide research project that used survey, interview and case study to investigate the utility of these historical-based representations in the teaching of school history and aimed to assess their effectiveness as sites for teaching conceptual understandings about the nature of history. “contemporary historical representations” is the term used in this paper for the varied array of recent creations that are set in or based on the past times, objects, people or events, and so create a version of history. these range from: printed works such as historical fiction novels, and picture books and graphic novels which integrate image and text; to filmic representations that feature multiple modalities (sound, movement and narrative); and to forms that allow for an embodied experience and interactivity such as museums, computer games and simulations. the findings from the research project demonstrate that by presenting “experiences” in history, these representations can be used to teach rich lessons about the nature of historical inquiry and the subversion and redrafting of history in contemporary media but that much of this impressive potential is lost without the expert guidance of the teacher. this paper presents a synoptic model of the broad research findings and uses case studies to illustrate the recommendations for effective pedagogies. the unit plans from the case studies are also appended. critical literacy and contemporary historical representation texts the basic concept of literacy has been deepened and broadened in response to an educational shift, from traditional notions of teaching and learning as knowledge transmission and reception, to a more learner-centred model that positions the learner as actively constructing knowledge and understandings (spooner, 2015; killen, 2007; twomey fosnot & perry, 2005). instead of simply reading and writing, being literate today encompasses multiple literacies and various skills and capabilities. in addition to skills with printed text, a literate person is increasingly required to master some degree of visual, media, digital and internet literacy and the ability to move with fluidity between communication platforms and devices. it is these capabilities which allow individuals to act and participate fully as citizens in their own culture and society (landsberg, 2015; virta, 2007). mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 similarly in history, the term “historical literacy” has moved beyond the memorisation of names, events and dates and is commonly used for higher-order capacities related to historical thinking, understanding and research (metzger, 2007; seixas, 2006; van drie & van boxtel, 2004; taylor & young, 2003; wineburg, 2001). lee (2005) interprets historical literacy in the context of historical understanding linking to the development of historical consciousness, which he defines, following rűsen (1993), as an instrument with which individuals can create their own frameworks for understanding the past. for history educators critical analysis of sources provides insights into agenda and the problematic nature of knowledge in history. critical literacy is one of the basic tools for studying history as it facilitates an appreciation of the power and hidden ideological messages underlying the texts (apple, 2000) and allows the reader to move to the sophisticated levels of understanding. it is argued that the students’ lifeworlds are populated with representations of the past and they need to be skilled in critical historical literacy to evaluate their validity and trustworthiness. constructivist history student the teacher-centred historical narrative grounded in the “resilient encyclopaedic epistemology” (vansledright, 2002, p.144) needs to be relegated if historical understanding is the aim of history education. in its stead, a more constructionist paradigm with an emphasis on historical inquiry seeks to give students experience in creating historical interpretation using their historical imaginations and a complex web of evaluation and synthesis skills. the task is not a simple one. historical inquiry is a complex process involving analysing and interrogating individual sources of evidence; synthesizing their meaning and interrelationships; while simultaneously constructing and integrating this new knowledge into existing narratives. to inquire historically is to engage in purposeful and reflective mental activities that focus on the strategic exploration of multiple perspectives through evaluation of reliability and perspective and the generation of interpretations and understandings (barton & levstik, 2004; wineburg, 2001). it has been shown that, with sustained classroom instruction and experience, students are capable of developing a more sophisticated understanding of how history constructed by focusing on factors that influence creation such as intention, purpose and audience (kohlmeier, 2005; hoodless, 2004; ashby, 2004; barton 2001; foster & yeager, 1999). vansledright argues that these historical skills produce educated citizens “who can detect snake-oil spin and reveal a disguised agenda” (vansledright, 2002, p.144), a valuable skill in modern democracies. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 research design and analysis this paper reports on an australian research project that examined the use of contemporary historical representations in the teaching of history and if and how the use of these enhanced learning outcomes as regards to historical understanding. the project built on the findings of an earlier project that focused on the applications of feature films in history teaching (donnelly, 2014). the project was designed in three phases. the majority of participants were from the most populous australian state of new south wales with smaller contributions from queensland, tasmania and victoria. initial data was gathered from a survey focused on teacher practice (n = 205). the teacher practice survey investigated the use of historical representations in the history classroom in terms of use, implementation strategies and the conceptual frameworks underpinning pedagogical decision-making. the second phase of data gathering took the form of thirty semi-structured teacher interviews. the selected group volunteered from the surveys and were from a variety of teaching contexts, and had a diverse range of experiences and attitudes with using historical representations in their teaching of history. case studies formed the last phase of the project (n = 10). these were selected from the teacher interviewees’ group on the basis of exemplifying distinctive approaches in their use of a variety of historical representations. the case studies took the form of classroom observation, document analysis and in-depth interviews. the data was coded and, using nvivo software, analysis was undertaken by the development of “trees” of inter-related ideas and themes. the findings discussed here are drawn from the three phases of the project. the sample of volunteer practising history teachers was drawn from a range of contexts with participants from government (53%) and non-government sectors (47%) and from all of states of australia. the participants taught in schools ranging from small (12%), medium (38%) and large (50%), and with varied teaching experience. 56% of the teachers reported that they were highly experienced (over 10 years teaching experience) while 25% described themselves as “midcareer” and 18% having up to 5 years’ experience. while the researcher acknowledges that history teachers who volunteer to be involved in a project researching historical representations are likely to be those interested in the area and that some will be enthusiasts, it is claimed that the sample is representative of a group of motivated practitioners. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 after a brief description of some general findings, this paper presents a model that epitomises the findings and illustrates the modes of “experiences” that were found to be used by some teachers to teach understandings about the nature of history. two of the case studies are described in this paper with reference to one the “experiences” (see figure 1) and brief teaching programs are appended to this article to illustrate how the learning sequences were implemented. the featured case studies are mr green’s encounter with the post-modern picture book the rabbits (marsden & tan, 1998), and mr hunter’s use of the ancient egyptian exhibition at the nicholson museum at the university of sydney. findings and discussion the findings reveal that film is the most commonly used historical representation in history classroom, with youtube clips and documentaries reported by most as weekly selections. real and virtual museum exhibitions were reported to be used less frequently but were popular inclusions in teaching programs once or twice a term (there are four term in the school year in australia). historical fiction and graphic novels were less frequently used with time restrictions cited as a negative. several teachers commented that were able to integrate their work in english classes with teaching history to enable to incorporation of historical fiction. 30% of teachers reported using computer games, most often in their exploration of battle tactics. all but one of the history teachers (n= 205) agreed that historical representations help students learn in history. as participant 55 explains, “they [historical representations] help to consolidate their learning by providing multiple mediums... this really assists students to become critical thinkers and [they] learn to question information that they are consuming.” and from participant 4, “not only are these [historical representations] more engaging for some students but they show the lasting legacy and importance of remembering history.” the notion of historical representations being a memorable and engaging learning event developed as primary rationales for usage. this comment from a phase two interview talking about film illustrates the point, “film gives students, who are part of a world filled with visual stimuli, a visual hook on which to hang often complex concepts. they remember what they see better than what they read and film gives the class a basis for discussion.” four lines of explanation for historical representations being a memorable and engaging emerged from the synthesis of the three phases of the data. these four dimensions, dubbed “experiences”, were categorized as multi-sensory, embodied, entertaining and narrative. the flow diagram (see figure 1) illustrates how each “experience” dimension was most often linked to the development mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 of a particular element of historical understanding, although it needs to be noted that in practice the “experiences” are simultaneous, and propel and inform each other. each of the experience continua culminate in the historical understanding which has been highlighted in bold type on the diagram. figure 1: synopsis of research findings concerning the use of contemporary historical representations and the teaching of disciplinary understanding in history. the multi-sensory experience. many historical representations are memorable in that they cater to a preference for visual forms of knowledge and combine appeals to the senses. contemporary society has become ocularcentric, privileging predominantly visual texts on electronic platforms (grushka and donnelly, 2010). young people are immersed in visual representations of the past seen in movie theatres, mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 on television, on computer screens and on portable entertainment and communication devices. many of these are designed to be powerful multi-sensory experiences for the audience with production techniques that combine the visual and aural to create another world within which the audience is briefly captured. many filmic representations as well as computer games are an integral part of youth culture and it is understandable that history teachers wishing to enliven their classes would use these now-accessible sources. as one teacher from the phase one survey commented on the appeal of film, “most students watch movies regularly and therefore would find watching a film more accessible and relevant than reading a book or a set of primary written sources.” contemporary historical representations are texts and as such require analysis and evaluation as do other sources used in history teaching (marcus et al, 2010, marcus et al, 2012, metzger & paxton, 2016). however, most of the teachers in this research tended to use the narrative and/or information provided by the historical representation, rather than analyse the text as a primary or secondary source. several of the interviewees were surprised by the suggestion of applying source analysis techniques to contemporary historical representations. clearly in their minds historical sources were written texts, not multi-modal experiences. significantly, it appears that the majority teachers in the study did not delve into the mechanisms of persuasion and manipulation used in these historical representations. one of the major recommendation of this study is that teachers need to spend time examining the semiotics of the form before using the representation in class. there were teachers who were exceptions to this trend, as the case study exemplars demonstrate. for example in mr hunt’s museum visit, he examined the multi-sensory experience of the museum visit, discussing issues of artefact selection and display choices such as lighting, colour and music, the use of labels and interactive options available to the museum visitors. another issue that emerged from the data was the link between historical significance and historical representations as contemporary historical sources. why are some topics popular with film-makers, authors and illustrators, computer game designers, museum curators and not others? there were some indications from the participants in this research of the importance of contemporary historical representations in lending significance to different events, people and eras. several interviewees lamented the lack of australian voices in historical representations. as one case study participant complained, “our story is going to get lost, that’s the sad thing, that’s where you’ve got to have the national film industry for our own story. computer games are set in exotic locations and our ancient times interests centre in europe, not australia. ” mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 mr hunter’s visit to the nicholson museum as can be seen from mr hunter’s unit plan in appendix a, before going to the museum his year 7 (first year of high school) class was well prepared. his students knew the where and when of ancient egypt and had presented small group assignments on ancient egypt burial customs. they had explored the issues around object analysis and considered how museums re-construct facets of the past, considering the elements and limitations of design and presentation in museum settings. while on the visit, the students worked with a partner to collect resources for their alphabet book assignment, which involved the developing an illustrated book about death in ancient egypt integrating the prior learning with the museum experience. the search of the displays for appropriate items for inclusion, enhanced student engagement and activity during the visit as well as fostering collaborative discussion amongst the group. these alphabet books of death in ancient egypt were displayed in the school library and presented at a parent visit night. figure 2: photographs of egyptian gallery, nicholson museum, sydney. directly after the visit, mr hunt had his class evaluate the excursion using a swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis tool. then he led a discussion centred on the questions: “how was the visit different to looking the topic up on the internet or textbook?”; “what elements of display did you notice and what was their impact?”; and “what was the exhibition trying to say about death in ancient egypt? did it succeed?” mr hunt was also interested in addressing the issue of historical significance. questions such as “these people died a long time ago and far away, do they matter to us?”, “did the visit to the museum add to our mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 understanding of the topic?” and “should we care about ancient egypt?” were posed to the class in a lesson designed to conclude the unit and generated spirited debate. these questions asked his students to step back from the topic under study and reflect on its importance and relevance. it was noted in the project that although there were some exceptions such as mr hunt, many teachers neglected to directly address the issue of historical significance of the topic under study. the affective experience. many contemporary historical representations are designed to be empathetic and emotional experiences. the capacity of these historical representations to bring history to life and elicit emotional responses and involvement was widely reported by teachers. however, when asked about empathy and history, many of the interviewed history teachers admitted that this was a difficult area to navigate. a source of concern for history teachers appeared to be their idea that history is supposed to be an objective study and so the role of emotion is problematic and, as one survey respondent put it, “empathy can get in the way of analysis.” but despite this uncertainly, 75% of the teacher survey respondents cited “encourages empathy” and “brings history to life and stimulates historical imagination” as the main reasons for including contemporary historical representations in their teaching. this project found that the affective experience was understood by many teachers to be important for engagement but that many were not sure on the best way to use it. the entertaining experience. most teachers in this project rejected the notion of contemporary historical representations being used to entertain their classes. it is an interesting phenomenon that most teachers did not see themselves as entertainers and claimed they did not seek to use entertaining resources for the presentation of history. this reluctance on the part of the teachers to label contemporary historical representations as entertaining inclusions the classroom, points to an important issue that emerged from the survey data, that being, the disapproval of some forms of historical representations, as a teaching tool from the outside community, and from within the school system. teachers spoke of their use of some historical representations being viewed with suspicion by the school administration and sometimes by other teachers. a few teachers worried that the parents would dislike their use of computer games in class and a number of teachers reported that some parents viewed the use of film as an indication of time-wasting and so the use of film was discouraged by senior managers. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 this controversy appears to stem from the nexus between history, fiction and entertainment and almost certainly has been intensified by the misuse by some teachers using some historical representations to fill in time and neglecting to critically analyse them as sources. this research project found a lag between contemporary teaching and learning resources, and teacher understanding of how to best to integrate visual and multi-modal formats into history. a rapid proliferation of these kinds of resources has caught many unprepared with little or no training included in training courses. the training reported by most teachers in this project concentrated on the work of the historian as an explorer of printed text, and many have found it difficult to expand these techniques to encompass other platforms. teachers did agree on the value of using historical representations, such as film and museum visits, as a shared attention event which was inclusive and accessible for their classes. the use of class discussion during and after the viewing of the historical feature film was strongly endorsed by the teacher practice surveys. discussions were viewed as opportunities to practise group discussion protocols, like listening and respecting others, while at the same time debating the issues. these findings agree with those of anna clark (2008) who concluded in her australia-wide investigation of history education, history’s children: history wars in the classroom that students wanted to discuss issues and debate historical questions, not simply be presented with a version of history. the narrative experience. for decades, scholars have argued that storytelling is a powerful mode for contemporary meaning-making (rusen, 2005; carr, 1986; ricoeur, 1983). memory is enhanced by the storyform and it is through storytelling that disparate historical facts are given coherence. another consistent finding in research is the marginalisation of historical sources in the development of student understanding of the past and the tendency to rely on narrative for understanding. barton (1997) suggests that the failure to meaningfully engage with historical sources may be due to the primarily narrative form with which people are exposed to history outside of academic contexts. the use of contemporary historical representations brings into the history classroom the structural familiarity of the narrative form and the opportunity to critically analyse the presentation of the past and test it against other sources. a major finding of the project was that the majority of teachers (57%) did not use contemporary historical representations as sources of history. these teachers tended to use these texts for motivation or to begin or conclude a study, rather than integrating and interrogating them, as mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 they would other sources (donnelly, 2014). this response was typical of this group, “i don’t ever really encourage them [the students] to use it [the film] as a source or anything like that, i don’t... i never would let them refer to a film in a written piece of text.” the nature of many historical representations, such as feature films, graphic novels or computer games, as products designed for popular consumption means that veracity is often sacrifice. there is a strong temptation for the creators of these texts to use the historical theme as a starting point and then manipulate it for public appeal and resulting profit. as a consequence, many of these historical representations look deceptively authentic but are fictionalized representations of the past (marcus et al., 2010; landsberg, 2015) and do not conform to an evidence-based interpretation. a few teachers took the attitude that the fictionalised elements inherent in many contemporary historical representations were an opportunity to explore the interpretative nature of history with their students. these few had made the connection between the study of these representations, issues of historiography and the constructive nature of historical representations. however, these teachers were a small minority. one of them was mr green. mr green’s use of the rabbits (1998). as can be seen in his unit plan in appendix b, mr green used the rabbits for his investigation of contact history between european and indigenous peoples in australia. this well-known australian picture book uses analogy to tell the story of the invasion and dispossession of the aboriginal peoples, and was even made into a rock opera a few years ago. the rabbits is a postmodern picture book, which is a term used to describe picture books that manipulate the visual and words of the text to create interplay and irony and use multiple allusions and meanings to provide opportunities for critical analysis and call the reader to engage in an independent and often challenging discourse with the work. in australia this new literacy subgenre has found a place in english studies at secondary level, but few examples have been reported in history. the book uses the analogy of rabbits in australia, an exotic species that have infested the continent since the early days of european settlement and has displaced many native animals, and european invasion of australia. mr green initially uses the book to develop investigative lines for his class. he then leads the class to discuss the narrative as a product of 1998, rather than 2017, and asks is the portrayal dated and has recent history moved the story forward. the ending of the book asks “who will save us from the rabbits?” and this passive and powerlessness can be viewed as running counter to mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 contemporary struggles self-determination and recognition. mr green then has the class research aboriginal resistance, create a timeline of aboriginal land rights and resistance, and create an alternate ending to the book. mr green spent some time discussing with the class issues of source analysis and the changing nature of history. he posed a sequence of questions and comments to his class: “the rabbits is a secondary source, who would agree?”; “in what way can it be seen as giving first-hand information to us”, “yes, it provides us with an example of an attitude about aboriginal people from the late 20th century, sympathetic but perhaps a little superior. remember that this does not mean that everyone thought like this in the 1990’s, but as the rabbits has been so popular, we can say that the attitude was still around” as he explained in a post-lesson de-brief, “i want my students to understand that how we read the past changes over time, and that today we are hopefully much more aware of aboriginal resistance to invasion and the survival of their culture.” conclusion this research project found that by presenting “experiences” in history contemporary historical representations can teach rich lessons about the nature of historical inquiry and the subversion and redrafting of history in contemporary media. their appeal to the cognitive and emotional endows them with an enduring impact that can be exploited by teachers in epistemological and ethical investigations and lead to the development of metacognitive frameworks of historical understanding and consciousness. many of the history teachers interviewed and observed found that engagement with these visual and multi-modal constructs enriched their pedagogy and made the classroom encounters more significant and relevant to students’ world life, outside and beyond school. but none of this impressive potential can be achieved without expert guidance from history educators and this has serious implications for pre-service and in-service history teacher training agendas. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 references: anstey, m. & bull, g. (2006). teaching and learning multiliteracies: changing times, changing literacies. kensington gardens, sa: australian literacy educators. apple, m. (2000). official knowledge: democratic education in a conservative age (2nd ed.). new york: routledge. ashby, r. (2004). developing a concept of historical evidence: students’ ideas about testing singular factual claims. international journal of historical learning, teaching and research, 4 (2). barton, k. (1997). i just kinda know: elementary students’ ideas about historical evidence. theory and research in social education, 25 (4), 407-430. barton, k. (2001). you’d be wanting to know about the past: social contexts of children’s historical understanding in northern ireland and the usa. comparative education, 37(1), 89-100. barton, k. & levstik, l. (2004). teaching history for the common good. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. board of studies nsw (2012). history k-10 syllabus. sydney: board of studies nsw. carr, d. (1986). narrative and the real world: an argument for continuity. history and theory 25 (2) 117-113. clark, a. (2008). history’s children: history wars in the classroom. sydney: university of new south wales press. donnelly, d. j. (2014). using feature film in the teaching of history: the practitioner decisionmaking dynamic. journal of international social studies, 4 (1), 17-27. foster, s. & yeager, e. (1999). you’ve got to put together the pieces: 12-year-olds encounter and learn from historical evidence, journal of curriculum supervision, 14 (4), 286-317. grushka, k. & donnelly, d. (2010). digital technologies and performative pedagogies: repositioning the visual. digital culture & education, 2 (1), 83-102. hoodless, p. a. (2004). spotting the adult agenda: investigating children’s historical awareness using stories written for children in the past. international journal of historical learning, teaching and research, 4 (2). mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 kalantzis, m, cope, b., chan, e & dalley-trim, l. (2016). literacies (2nd ed.) melbourne: cambridge university press. kalantzis, m., & cope, b. (2005). learning by design. melbourne, vic: victorian schools innovation commission and common ground. killen, r. (2007). effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice. melbourne: thomson. kohlmeier, j. (2005). the impact of having ninth graders “do history.” the history teacher, 38, 499-524. landsberg, a, (2015). engaging the past: mass culture and the production of historical knowledge, new york: columbia university press. lee, p. (2005). historical literacy: theory and research. international journal of historical learning, teaching and research, 5(1), 1-12. marcus, a. s., metzger s.a., paxton, r.j., and stoddard, j.d. (2010). teaching history with film. new york: routledge. marcus, a. s., stoddard, j.d. & woodward, w. (2012). teaching history with museums: strategies for k-12 social studies. new york: routledge. marsden, j. & tan, s. (1998). the rabbits. sydney: hachette livre australia pty ltd. metzger, s. (2007). pedagogy and the historical feature film: toward historical literacy. film and history 37, (2), pp.69-76. metzger, s. & paxton, r. (2016). gaming history: a framework of what video games tell about the past, theory and research in social education, 44 4 532-564. ricoeur, p. (1983). action, story and history: on re-reading the human condition, salmagundi, 60, 60-72. rusen, j. (1993). the development of narrative competence in historical learning: an ontogenetic hypothesis concerning moral consciousness. in j.rusen (ed.) studies in metahistory. pretoria: human sciences council. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 rusen, j. (2005). historical memory and democracy: setting the scene in u. van beek (ed.) democracy under construction: patterns from four continents. (351-376). bloomfield hills: barbara budrich publsihers. seixas, p. (2006). benchmarks of historical thinking: a framework for assessment in canada, centre for the study of historical consciousness, university of british columbia. spooner, e. (2015). interactive student centred learning: a co-operative approach to learning, rowman & littlefield, lanham, maryland. taylor, t., & young, c. (2003). making history: a guide for the teaching and learning of history in australian schools. retrieved 2 march, 2015, from: http://www.hyperhistory.org/images/assets/pdf/complete.pdf twomey fosnot, c., & perry, r. s. (2005). constructivism: a psychological theory of learning. in c. twomey fosnot (ed.), constructivism: theories, perspectives, and practice (pp. 8–38). new york: teachers college press. van drie, j. & van boxtel, c. (2004). enhancing collaborative historical reasoning by providing representational guidance. international journal of historical learning, teaching and research, 4 (2). vansledright, b.a. (2002). fifth graders investigating history in the classroom: results from a researcher-practitioner design experiment. elementary school journal, 103, 131-160. virta, a. (2007). historical literacy: thinking, reading and understanding history. journal of research in teacher education, 14 (4), 11-25. walsh, m. (2010). multimodal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice? australian journal of language and literacy, 33 (3), 211–239. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts: charting the future of teaching the past. philadelphia, usa: temple university press. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.hyperhistory.org/images/assets/pdf/complete.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 appendix a stage 4 year 7 (11 to 12 year olds) the ancient world depth study 2: the mediterranean world egypt (nsw history k-10 syllabus, 42-43), integrating visit to nicholson museum, sydney. week activity goal 1 slide show of tombs, cemeteries and memorials – class discussion brainstorm about burial customs from across culture and time. why do societies have customs and rituals surrounding death? think, pair, share – why is ancient egypt so famous? what do you know about ancient egyptian burial customs? what might this tell us about their belief system? make a class list of information about burial customs in ancient egypt students clarify ideas around burial customs and belief systems. collaborate to focus on egyptian burial customs and hypothesise about belief system 2 mapping: where in the world is egypt? what did it look like in ancient times? illustrated teacher exposition: the very long history of ancient egypt and the high point of achievement groups create illuminated timeline – wall display locate geographical setting. overview of history of ancient egypt create group timelines 3 mini investigations:  mummification and funerary practices  the gods and death in ancient egypt  pyramids  the valley of the kings develop and enhance research skills and share mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129  tutankhamun’s tomb  ordinary burials in ancient egypt students work in groups of 2 or 3 and present findings to class class activity: summary of interesting information discoveries with peers 4 analysing an object: cognitive apprenticeship model explore the advantages and limitations of object analysis 5 the role of museums in public history and in our understanding of the ancient world in australia. how do museums represent history? www.nma.gov.au/__data/.../museums_represent_full_colour.pdf observation template: display formats, lighting, music, positioning, grouping, labelling examine museum as the form of historical representations. understand limitations and benefits 6 visit to nicholson museum, university of sydney – ancient egypt fill in observation template and gather images, information and material for alphabet book. alphabet book pair assignment death in ancient egypt research: students develop projectexamine online and library resources experience and observe an ancient history museum. produce research 7 evaluation of museum experience – swot analysis and class discussion. “what was the exhibition trying to say about death in ancient egypt? how did it do this?” develop and publish books reflection on role of museum visit in understanding topic mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.nma.gov.au/__data/.../museums_represent_full_colour.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 130 8 present books to class and wider audience organise display in library or similar public location explain, present and display 9 individual task design and curate an exhibition with at least 6 items of interest from your book. desk presentations. what were the decision making processes involved in creating your exhibition? experience the work of curating an exhibition and nature of museum display. learning reflection 10 class test – ancient egypt: knowledge and understanding, skills of source analysis and evaluation. class discussion: issues of historical significance “these people died a long time ago and far away, do they matter to us? if so, why?” in class test testing outcomes. consideration of historical significance appendix b stage 5 year 9 (13 to 14 year olds) depth study 2: australia and asia. 2a: making a nation (nsw history k-10 syllabus, 74), integrating the post-modern picture book, the rabbits (1998). week activity goal 1 close examination of the rabbits. see, think, wonder and word, phrase, sentence protocols is this book different from a story book? why rabbits? students develop features of post-modern picture books does analogy deepen this presentation? 2 identify areas of research – group work topics: exotic animals in australia; initial contact between europeans and aboriginal peoples; differences in world group research and presentation mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 131 views; differences in technologies; process of dispossession; indigenous resistance; stolen generations; land rights and reconciliation. via report and performance verification of narrative against other sources. 3 research and presentations written and illuminated summaries class explores topic collaboratively develop class display 4 class discussion: how are europeans and aboriginal peoples depicted in the book? spider diagram. this book was produced in 1998. do you find it dated in 2017? if so, in what ways? draw conclusions about depiction in book. examine changing representations of aboriginal history 5 video clip “midnight oil” at the sydney olympics “bed are burning” sorry clip can we “give it back”? do we want to? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbrymdivzu summarise arguments. deepen understanding, multiperspectives 6 class discussion: should australia be ashamed of our colonial history? sorry for what? summarise arguments 7 can we write a more 21st century ending? students construct and present “revised” last double page of the rabbits. student research. what other sources can you find about indigenous resistance? what do they add to the argument? introduce an alternate view of the narrative. constructive nature of history and the media. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 113-132 corresponding author: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 132 8 diamond ranking exercise: what were the steps indigenous resistance? citing sources of information, class constructs a synoptic ranking. clarification of issue. preparation for assessment item. 9 in class essay: using your own research, class work and the diamond ranking scaffold, write an essay answering: how have indigenous peoples of australia resisted the european colonisation of australia? refer to evidence to support your arguments. essay to summarise research discoveries and conclusions. learning is tested and assessed. about the author: dr. debra donnelly is a history educator in the school of education at the university of newcastle, australia, lecturing and co-ordinating undergraduate and postgraduate programs. she has a secondary school background with extensive classroom, school administration and welfare experience across a range of educational settings in australia and internationally. debra’s research interests centre on the role of the visual and media in the development of historical and global consciousness in an age of ever-increasing access through modern technology. her research explores, and seeks to clarify, the relationship between teacher conceptual frameworks of understanding and problematic knowledge, multi-modality, and pedagogical practice. address for correspondence: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 98 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 98 corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 social justice perspectives from the social justice perspectives editor gloria t. alter as social studies education undergoes profound changes in the united states with the need to adhere to yet another set of standards, it will be more important than ever to clarify the roles of global education, multicultural education, and social justice in the curriculum. in this column, dr. hilary landorf provides a compelling case for addressing tensions in the ‘construct of social justice’, using the dynamic of social justice ‘to enliven and advance the dialogue between multicultural and global education’. dr. landorf draws upon her extensive experience in global education and her role as the director of the university-wide office of global learning initiatives at florida international university to advance our understanding of these complexities. hilary’s work continues the conversation that began with the first column of social justice perspectives, volume 2, number 2, ‘challenging ourselves to take social justice education seriously’. we greatly appreciate her contribution. about the social justice editor dr gloria alter is visiting associate professor at depaul university chicago. her research interests include elementary social studies curriculum design and reform, textbook analysis, social studies and social justice, and social studies in local and global perspective. she teaches courses in elementary social studies methods. dr. alter was the editor of social studies and the young learner, president of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies, and president of the illinois council for the social studies. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 87-89 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 87-89 corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 media review from the media review editor editor carolyn o’mahony citizenship education in the age of connected imagination recently, messages on my computer have reminded me of nelson mandela’s passing and have put names to the faces of people suffering in the philippines and syria. the death of one of the world’s most notable political activists and civil rights leaders, and the two degrees of separation i have between a comfortable academic life and news of celebration or tragedy around the globe, fit with gregory soden’s timely review of sarah m. stitzlein’s teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism. soden has thought deeply about the role of music and literature in enabling the voice of multiple groups to be heard and studied in the classroom. stizlein advocates for giving young people opportunities and tools to become informed civic participants and political actors outside the classroom. the tragedies around the world have sent me back to re-read three books that have their own particular positions on my bookshelf, (i.e. it is obvious when they have been borrowed.) over recent years the ideas in harm de blij’s the power of place: geography, destiny and globalization’s rough landscape (reviewed here by shannon dodt), thomas friedman’s hot flat and crowded: why we need a green revolution and how it can renew america, release 2.0, and elise boulding’s building a global civic culture: education for an interdependent world, have helped me make sense of life on our rapidly changing planet. dodt’s review of de blij’s book will bring to mind any biography of nelson mandela you might have read as the author reflects on living in 1950’s south africa. de blij also makes us think about the reality of life for billions of people on the planet: they are destined to live within miles or kilometers of where they were born, regardless of how “inexpensive” international flights become or how devastated their land is by natural or manmade disasters. friedman’s book, hot flat and crowded: why we need a green revolution and how it can renew america, release 2.0, offers a disturbing message. friedman points out that the rising level of consumption around the world since the mid-1900s means that those of us enjoying our ‘middle class’ lifestyles are changing the planet. he predicts that the headline news of the future will not be so much about wars and the like, but about the weather and the devastation it is wreaking. since reading this book i have been watching the news with different eyes. whenever i hear news and see images of natural fury, such as sandstorms and wildfires in australia, floods in china, tornadoes in oklahoma, hurricanes off the atlantic coast, or cyclones in the philippines, i cannot help but wonder how (a) my lifestyle is contributing to the problem, and (b) what i can do to compensate or ameliorate the situation, given that i am just one person. i keep telling myself that i need to think beyond this, because anyone we read about in our history books was ‘just one person’, albeit collaborating with many others of like mind. students who are seeing the same news of devastation need adults around who will help them journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 87-89 corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 become informed and engaged in their social and political communities, to move from hopelessness to informed and cooperative action. in terms of the environment, friedman suggests that we all need to have this awareness and sense of urgency so that we can not only consume more mindfully, but also advocate for legislation that will foster the development of a ‘green’ economy that is environmentally sustainable for the long term. as i think about my role in making the world a better place for those who cannot escape the wrath of nature or mankind, the writing of elise boulding becomes extremely helpful. a pacifist quaker like her husband, influential economist kenneth boulding, elise boulding was a sociologist who was one of the founders of peace and conflict studies as a discipline. she believed that beyond governments, individuals, especially women, shape the values and beliefs of society, and that people are able to help each other through non-governmental agencies such as voluntary organizations and religious groups. written in 1988, the basic premise of building a global civic culture: education for an interdependent world has even more relevance today when the internet enables people to communicate with each other, both in groups but also on a person-to-person basis. we are living in a time when, in addition to non-governmental agencies, social media is enabling crowdsourcing and crowdfunding of aid efforts, where ever and whenever they might be needed. de blij’s ‘global nomads’, people not living in the country of their birth, are staying connected with their homelands in ways that were not possible in the past. they are building bridges of understanding across languages, cultures, and places. my colleague, judette, who has multiple syrian relatives now living with her in south east michigan, made my son’s collecting for unicef while trick or treating at halloween more than just a tradition. tracey alvarezmartin, our international assembly colleague, posted information on our list serve to help us support communities in the philippines that were devastated by hurricane haiyan. judette, tracey and millions of our neighbors are enabling the rest of us to connect across great physical distances, and to use our imagination collectively as we think and act locally and globally. as social studies teachers in democratic nations, our purpose is to help students become aware that they, like we adults, have multiple roles to play as global citizens. engagement in humanitarian assistance is important. however, we also need reminding and help in understanding that sociallyoriented triage, such as responding to disasters with funds earned from well-intentioned bake-sales and canned food drives, needs to be accompanied by engagement in policy-making and/or educational efforts that can help minimize the impact of such events on the planet’s most vulnerable populations. an inspiring example of such educational endeavors comes from japan. after the horrifying indian ocean tsunami of 2004, professor toshitaka katada and his colleagues at gunma university graduate school began giving emergency disaster lessons to students at elementary and junior high schools in the kamaishi school district. when the tohoku tsunami of 2011 struck, all of the students who were in these schools survived (parker, 2012). please consider sharing your thoughts and endeavors with the international assembly by writing an article or review for the journal of international social studies, or by participating in our annual conference. carolyn o’mahony december, 2013 http://www.trickortreatforunicef.org/ mailto:theresa.alviar@gmail.com mailto:theresa.alviar@gmail.com journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 87-89 corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 references boulding, e. (1988). building a global civic culture: education for an interdependent world. new york, ny: teachers college press. de blij, h. (2009). the power of place: geography, destiny and globalization’s rough landscape. new york: oxford university press. friedman, t. (2009). hot, flat, and crowded: why we need a green revolution and how it can renew america, release 2.0. new york: picador. parker, b. (2012). why did the 2011 japan tsunami kill so many people? retrieved on november 4, 2013 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-parker/japan-tsunami_b_1335737.html. stitzlein, s.m. (2012). teaching for dissent: citizenship education and political activism. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. about the editor carolyn o’mahony is associate professor of social studies education at oakland university in rochester, michigan. she teaches undergraduate k-8 social studies methods courses and graduate classes in comparative education, and international-mindedness in the international baccalaureate teacher development program. her current research focuses on how teachers develop global awareness and global pedagogical content knowledge. she can be reached at omahony@oakland.edu http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-parker/japan-tsunami_b_1335737.html journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 transformation through teacher education: a case study of one social studies/history methods course in kenya michelle dawn cude james madison university, united states florence kisirkoi maasai mara university, kenya abstract: how do we equip future teachers to create a more sustainable world? this study follows one teacher educator from the us seeking to bring change and support new pedagogical ideologies within kenya. the research question is, can one class on transformative teacher education make a difference in training future teachers? key words: comparative education, teacher education, africa, kenya, social studies. introduction recently, headlines in the kenyan newspapers announced the massive failure of thousands of form four (high school senior) students on national exams, ostensibly linked with internal corruption and inadequate preparation. so, who failed—the students or the system? the woes of kenya’s bumpy road to democracy frequent the front pages (daily nation, 2018). certainly, the need for the next generation of engaged young citizens, capable of implementing positive change, is well understood (aguayo & eames, 2017; unesco, 2014; vavrus, thomas, & bartlett, 2011; wilmot, 2004) but how do we equip our students as future citizens with the knowledge, skills, and values to create a more sustainable world? this question is echoed around the globe. most academics agree that education is the obvious answer, but how to manage the sea change is less obvious. many agree that it must start by training the teachers to grow the habits of mind and skill sets in our students that promote the vision and values of a sustainable future (aguayo & eames, 2017; tomas, girgenti, & jackson, 2017; unesco, 2014; westheimer & kahne, 2004). mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 the phrase education for sustainable development (esd), and many variations of this term, have come to echo a common call for education that supports sustainability, meaning-making, equality, peace, and social justice (bamber, bullivant, glover, king, & mccann, 2016; payyappallimana & fadeeva, 2018; teise & le roux, 2016; vavrus, thomas, & bartlett, 2011). in 2015, unesco defined esd as including the “skills, values and attitudes that enable citizens to lead healthy and fulfilled lives, make informed decisions, and respond to local and global challenges through education for sustainable development and global citizenship education (esd/gc)” (unesco, 2015). clearly, esd/gc cannot be taught in the same old lecture methodologies of the past. research question therefore, the question becomes, how can we train new teachers on the pedagogy which enables the message of global citizenship and sustainability to thrive? to do so, schools of education and teacher colleges must embrace a new way of training future teachers, especially the social studies/history teachers who prepare future global citizens (adler, 2008; hess, 2008; noddings, 2005; parker, 2008). this research study proposes one approach to training preservice teachers in new methodologies and attitudes as a case study model. it seeks to examine what can be learned from one semester’s methods course that attempted to change the traditional lecture approach. the research question that guides our study is: how can one class on transformative teacher education make a difference in training future teachers? what can be learned from the case of this class taught at a kenyan university in september-december, 2017? review of the literature a review of the research grounds this study in the greater global initiative toward education for transformation: student engagement, active learning, social justice, global-mindedness, and sustainability. it also echoes the calls for more research on examples of implementation of learner-centered/esd-focused teacher training. there appears to be a relative dearth of studies demonstrating how a particular model is effective in implementing those facets of change (payyappallimana & fadeeva, 2018). concern for the current status of education and the need for transformation is certainly not limited to kenya, but is rather a global reality. in the words of a south african scholar, “educational change in south africa, as elsewhere, is both global and local.” many studies document crises in education across the globe. for example, scholars in the united states are deeply concerned that schools are sacrificing depth for breadth, leaving students with a mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 superficial coverage of much content that lacks meaning for them personally. according to saye, “contemporary schooling has been broadly criticized for failing to engage students and nurture meaningful learning (saye, 2013, p. 90).” this three-year study by researchers (saye, 2013) identified that transformational, impactful teaching was occurring in only 20 percent of the classrooms in the six states they studied. on the other side of the atlantic, researchers in england warn that their country is slipping backward due to the new governmental policies of decentralization and “knowledge-based education” which, they say, conflicts with an emphasis on global citizenship and values-based education (bamber et al., 2016; westheimer & kahne, 2004). these studies frequently call for reform in teacher education to address these concerns (see also biesta, priestley, & robinson, 2015). the broad-based study in the four nations of the united kingdom specifically suggested “more pedagogical approaches that support education for sustainable development/global citizenship (esd/gc) within teacher education” (bamber et al., 2016, p. 6). countries on the african continent are in similar crises in education where well-meaning reforms fail to translate into new practices in the classroom. while the millennium development goals (mdg) had high hopes for eradicating poverty and inequity in education, the realities on the ground fell short in many places, especially in african countries (graetz & friedman, 2018; united nations, 2015). for example, in botswana, a study published last year described the “tension between learner-centered approaches mandated by policy and the reality of teacher-centered practices” (chadwick, 2017, p. 755). mcdermott and allen (2015) report on the similar conditions and challenges in the education system of sierra leone in their study of a teacher training program. though this training program yielded a more informed set of literacy teachers, they were limited by health and economic constraints in the rural areas of sierra leone. research in south africa finds that although the constitution supports interdisciplinary learning about environmental sustainability, knowledge and values, it is missing in many classrooms across south africa (teise & le roux, 2016). these studies demonstrate broadly that teacher training needs to address these new methodologies to create education for transformation. according to the literature reviewed, even when esd/gc initiatives are supported generally, many countries still struggle to obtain documented results demonstrating successful implementation of global citizenship literacy in schools (chadwick, 2017). state of the educational system in kenya education in kenya is similarly in crisis. reform of the current 8-4-4 system of education has been long overdue. it had been developed to prepare a learner who would be self-reliant; however, mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 the summative evaluation by kenya institute of education in 2009 revealed that the curriculum and its implementation were teacher-centered with the main purpose of preparing learners for examinations and not for the purpose of learning (republic of kenya, 2017). furthermore, teachers were ill-prepared to implement curriculum in a manner that would lead to a self-reliant learner (kie, 2009). research revealed that learners were not even learning. the uwezo (2013) assessment report indicated that only half of the children in standards 1-8 (aged 6-16 years) acquired the highest numeracy competency expected of standard 2 learners. assessment was limited to summative assessment for examination preparation, and the majority of teachers rarely used formative assessment for purposes of learning, but rather drilled learners for high marks in national examinations. there was fierce competition in the learning environment. no attention was paid to learners’ individual differences and different learning styles. it was reported that more than 350,000 out of 611,952 students who sat for the exam in 2017 scored a “d” grade or below (aduda & wanzala, 2017). the country celebrates the high scores, while those who score “d” or below are soon forgotten. this contributes to high unemployment, idleness, and an increased crime in the country. education reform in kenya: learner-centered curriculum and methods against this background, the basic education curriculum framework was introduced in 2017. the new curriculum emphases development of the following core competencies: communication and collaboration, self-efficacy, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and imagination, citizenship, digital literacy, and learning to learn (republic of kenya, 2017). values will be emphasized, and learners will be provided the opportunity to develop and apply their skills and knowledge. learner-centered, active teaching approaches are central in the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, two of the essential skills of the social studies classroom (frayha, 2013; hess, 2008; ncss, 2010; waring & robinson, 2010). learners encounter multiple perspectives to explore, rather than a rigid simple recall of information. such skills and values constitute the necessary training for future global citizens (noddings, 2005; parker, 2008; tibbitts & weldon, 2017; united nations, 2015; westheimer & kahne, 2004). critical thinking and problem solving are useful for learners in all the subjects, but especially history and social studies where values clarification, multiple points of view, skills of respectful debate and consensusbuilding, and critical analysis of sources play a central role in the development of a skillful future democratic citizen (cude, 2012; hess, 2008; parker, 2008; republic of kenya, 2017; teise & le roux, 2016; tibbitts & weldon, 2017). mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 in the new learner-centered approach, the learners take charge of their own education. they are assisted by their teachers to make sense of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes gathered and to construct their own knowledge, as the constructivism model proposes (taber, 2011; unesco, 2008; vavrus, thomas, & bartlett, 2011). the learners’ voices are heard as the classroom is filled with collaboration, creativity, and communication. teachers act as facilitators who provide appropriate activities and support pupils’ learning, rather than being the disseminators of knowledge, pouring knowledge into the learners’ heads, only to be emptied out during examination time.in the new competency-based curriculum model, teachers take more time to prepare their lessons before classes, even developing teaching-learning resources that engage learners in activities.despite the richness of this competency-based curriculum, teachers in kenya feel ill-prepared to implement it, especially having taught and been immersed in the traditional “transmission approach” to teaching (tang, lee, & chun, 2012). weeklong governmentsponsored training modules have proved insufficient to promote a full change in behaviors. it appears that the major challenge in kenya’s education, beyond resources and curriculum, is teacher education and training. within this context, the researchers of this study sought to address the problem of teacher preparation for learner-centered curriculum implementation by identifying and documenting the impact of one preservice methodology class in a university in kenya. purpose of the study according to the current literature, there is a need for more research on specific interventions which aim to change the future teachers’ beliefs and transform their future classrooms (tang, lee, & chun, 2012; tibbitts & weldon, 2017; westbrook et al., 2013). additionally, scholars (e.g., buckler, 2011) call for more research in the “remote rural schools, with large classes and the uncertainties of teacher and student presence” (westbrook et al., 2013, p. 4), which is the rural context of this research study. within this context, the researchers attempt to answer the following research questions: how can one class on transformative teacher education make a difference in training future teachers? what can be learned from the case of this class taught at a kenyan university in september-december, 2017? methods theoretical framework: constructivism the research is grounded upon the authors’ underlying belief in the broad definition of constructivism, which university of cambridge professor k.s. taber calls “optimally guided mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 instruction” built upon prior knowledge, and best accomplished through social interaction, active learning, and “authentic” tasks related to the students’ lives (taber, 2011). one of the leading constructivists, von glasersfeld, explained that "knowledge is not passively received but built up by the cognizing subject" (von glasersfeld, 1995, as quoted in jones & brader-araje, 2002). in other words, students are ideally constructing their own knowledge rather than being inactive receptors in the process. this defies the current reliance on largely lecture-based methodologies, yet the teacher is still intimately involved in guiding the process (bodner, 1986; booyse & chetty, 2016; westbrook et al., 2013). recent research warns about over-reliance on pure constructivist models; here we are envisioning the big picture ideal contrasting to a didactic, authoritarian view of education (kirschner, sweller, & clark, 2006; krahenbuhl, 2016). in teacher education, the same applies. preservice teachers deserve to be taught in the manner they will be asked to teach; therefore, they ought to be involved in the creation of their own knowledge and understanding of the art and science of teaching, hence the highly interactive and inquiry-based nature of the methods course being studied. a community of learners, including the professor, embarks on a journey of discovery (berg & shaw, 2014; noddings, 2004). this journey is intended to be carried all the way into their own future classrooms. the significance of the pedagogical approach of critical thinking and engaging learners supports a broader pan-african initiative toward greater democratization and citizenship education (hardman, ackers, abrishamian, & o’sullivan, 2011; namphande, clarke, farren, & mccully, 2017; republic of kenya, 2017; westbrook et al., 2013). paulo friere’s work (1970) is referenced frequently in teacher education in kenya by those favoring a “problem-posing education” with respectful but critical conversations addressing social problems (bickmore & parker, 2014; hess, 2008). in this study, we have used the terms learner-centered and education for sustainable development (esd) due to their contextual familiarity in kenyan education; however, by learnercentered and esd, we mean these many qualities implicit in a broad definition of constructivist theory. context of the study this research grew organically out of a collaboration between two like-minded professors: one a local lecturer/professor with a passion for cutting-edge methodology, and the other an american teacher-educator/professor with a passion for education as transformation. the american was a fulbright scholar posted to this university for a year of research, teaching, and international partnership-building. her local colleague generously agreed to collaborate on this research that mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 coincided with her interests in learner-centered teaching methods. their shared passion of envisioning a brighter future for teacher training in kenya persuaded them to collaborate in research projects like this to bring the potential into practice. [see cornbleth’s introduction to an invitation to research in social education (1986) for more on how passion fuels research.] the fulbright professor taught the special methods of teaching history and government (cim 312) class over the course of the fall semester (september to december) of 2017. this class fluctuated from 16 to 27 students, all third-year university students within an age range of 20-28 years old, the majority aged 22-25 years. these students were studying to become secondary teachers in two fields, one of which was history. the course examined the pedagogical approaches and methods appropriate for future secondary-level history and government teachers. the university, a relatively young institution but with a rich history of prior teacher training, is located several hours outside of nairobi in a rural area of kenya dominated mainly by the maasai community, who are proud of their pastoralist culture, keeping herds of sheep, goats, and cows. the special methods of teaching history and government course was based upon a merging of two models of pedagogical training—the current curricular model at the university melded with the aims and objectives of the social studies teacher educator from the united states. together, it was hoped, the goals would both meet the needs of the students’ training in the university broader curriculum as well as expand their exposure and experience with active teaching methodology (a specific aim of the fulbright grant). therefore, new objectives were added to the standard course, such as (emphasis added):  students will know/understand (cognitive): the importance of teaching thinking skills, including critical thinking, problem solving, and conflict resolution, enabling their students to become independent thinkers and compassionate citizens of the 21st century . . .  students will be able to (skills): develop strategies for effective, engaging social studies instruction, including presentation skills and the use of a variety of instructional methodologies to ensure high quality, engaging, transformational instruction.  students will value: the use of social studies as a tool for social justice. mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 the course was taught by the professor two days a week throughout the semester. as was explained to the students in the opening session, the methods of teaching this course were intended as a model for how they should teach (adler, 2008; westbrook, durrani, brown, orr, pryor, boddy, & salvi, 2013). in other words, there was minimal lecture, maximum group and whole class discussion, frequent inquiry-based activities that could be adapted to use in their own classrooms, hands-on experiences, discussion of controversial issues, a guest speaker, a field trip, and class presentations. throughout the semester, students participated actively, though they were skeptical at first. they also created their own textbooks illustrating the methods of teaching history and government (or other subjects) in learner-centered ways. research methods due to the nature of the study (short-term, focused on one particular class), a qualitative case study approach seemed the best way to capture the essence of this phenomenon (miles and huberman, 1994; yin, 2009). qualitative research effectively uncovers the layers and nuances of lived experiences (creswell, 2007; marimba, 2014; mugenda & mugenda, 2003). case study approach is useful when we are asking “how” and “why” questions and examining the context of the real-life phenomenon “up close and personal” (yin, 2009). this personal involvement of the researcher with the researched is also described by lincoln and guba (1985) as a naturalistic paradigm where the researcher is a natural part of the study, living out an interaction between the “knower and the known” which perfectly describes this research study. data collection. as the professor of the class being studied, the first author-researcher was a participant observer, while the second author conducted the focus group interviews in order to allow the students to speak freely without concern for the relationship established with their professor. such interviews were conducted after the final exams were marked and recorded. students gave informed consent to participate and willingly came to a focus group interview. the second author additionally assisted throughout by interpreting the cultural context and current educational milieu for the american first author. research to assess the outcomes of the preservice social studies methods class was conducted over the course of one semester, at which points the pre-and the post-assessments were given. data from these two bookended assessments documented the impact of the class in changing perceptions, skills, and knowledge. pre-assessments were given in the first week of the class to set a baseline for demonstrating growth. the pre-assessment questions were matched to similar mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129 questions on the final exam for comparison. results were matched to individuals in order to chart the changes in perceptions, skills, knowledge, and attitudes. additional data took the form of course assessments and field notes, as well as focus group interviews. these interviews were conducted by the second author, who had no previous interaction with the students and no former or future relationship. data analysis. the notes from the interviews were triangulated to demonstrate a high consistency in tone, language, and reported statements. pre-assessments, final exam, and course assignments were coded with common themes such as professionalism, history content knowledge, self-confidence as a teacher, and the various values expressed such as honesty and ethics. these themes were then grouped to arrive at the conclusions from the data itself. what follows below are the findings from this data interpretation that illuminate the outcomes for this one interactive history methods course taught in kenya. these findings are not transferable in that they represent a single case in one complex context; however, the authors hope that these findings may inspire further research and application in other contexts to add to the field of research, as well as inform practice in the training of future teachers in kenya and elsewhere. findings & discussion three outcomes emerged in the analysis once the data was coded and compared. changes occurred in the three areas of knowledge, skills, and attitudes: 1. knowledge of new approach to teaching. 2. skill level of teaching and thinking skills. 3. attitudes and values expressed. each of these will be considered in turn, with relevant quotations from the participants to illustrate the changes. 1. knowledge of new approach to teaching increased familiarity with learner-centered teaching. according to the interviews (which were held two months after the course concluded), students retained knowledge about the learnercentered approach to teaching. when asked to describe what a learner-centered classroom mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 130 would look like, how it would be different from a traditional one, their descriptions included most of the primary attributes of learner-centered education: -there will be interaction between the teacher and the learner. -the teacher will just be a facilitator…. -learners’ ability will be identified easily. -learners will be exchanging ideas more. -slow learners will be able to learn from the fast learners. (interview, 2 feb 2018) the focus on the interaction among students and between the teacher and the students in the methods classroom represents the most important difference, as cited by the interviewees. this was one of the attributes of the methods class that students appreciated the most, calling it “lively;” “i liked the [class] because… time was given to us to interact with different objectives [perspectives] from the members;” “what i liked mostly in class is how professor grouped us in groups [so we could] have discussions.” others stated: “i like the way you interacted with us in class;” “what i liked most is… i can get involved in the class discussions.” additionally, most students concluded that learner-centered teaching would be “better,” an “improvement” over the current style of learning in both schools of education and secondary schools. they expressed appreciation for the way “learners solved problems by themselves” as opposed to the more traditional directive approach. one misconception was expressed, stating that the “teacher will have less work since students will be involved.” while not an accurate reflection of the size of the workload, it does point out the shared leadership of the classroom, as the teacher is no longer the only source of information, seemingly a relief to that future teacher. knowledge of variety of actual teaching methods. one of the chief intended outcomes for a methods class is the familiarity with multiple pedagogical methods of engagement which create meaning and allow students to develop life skills (adler, 2008; price and nelson, 2007). students felt that the course was influential in teaching them the methods of student-centered teaching. they reflected on the evaluation at the end of the course: “at the end of the semester, i was more educated by the lecturer’s teaching method;” “what i liked most is the way you imparted special method[s] of teaching history. they will help me most in my future.” referring to the course instructor as “lecturer” is the terminology used and represents well the type of pedagogy mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 131 employed most commonly by university instructors. recognizing and appreciating the difference in this particular course signifies a changing mindset. in order to assess their initial exposure to multiple methods of active teaching and learning, the pre-assessment asked: “how does a teacher engage the students in a lesson?” given that there were 16 pre-assessments completed, only four students (25%) reported intended means of engaging students in class through the use of “discussions,” “group work,” or “experiments.” all others reported that the means of engaging students in the lesson is limited to the traditional question-and-answer format of lectures. some also included less appropriate means such as giving tests (3 responses-19%), homework (3 responses-19%), or telling jokes (1 response-6%). however, two students included getting to know your students as one way to engage them in the lesson, which is on par with learner-centered objectives. so, in analyzing the pre-assessment, it appears that some members of the class had an initial impression of the need to move from a solely lecture-driven model of education. this could have been influenced by the course syllabus overview, which stressed such a potential objective, or it could be a knowledge gained from prior courses or their own reading. building upon this foundation, though, the methods course introduced no fewer than 19 specific methods to create a learner-centered history class. while no students demonstrated a full mastery of the full array of methods, data from the final exam included a far greater diversity of strategies and a deeper understanding of the need to engage the learners. on the post-assessment, no question directly asked the students to recall the methods, but throughout the exam, they were asked to give examples from class. these were cataloged and tallied to determine which specific strategies were retained and discussed. certain ones were mentioned by many students repeatedly as having been impactful in their development as an effective teacher. the following were named/described among the 18 post-assessments: table 1. results from post-assessment. course component/experience number of times cited by students as impactful field trip (to nasaruni academy for maasai girls, a local primary school) 5 mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 132 microteaching/student presentations (in class) 4 bloom’s taxonomy (levels of thinking) 3 demonstration (guests came to demonstrate organization/planning) 1 hands-on simulation (trash experiment/ archeology activity) 1 use of essential questions to guide instruction 1 in comparing the data from the pre-assessment to the data on the post-assessment, there is gain in the number and description of strategies reported, as well as the self-reported growth in their teaching ability, described in the next section. if we consider that teaching involves a set of skills that must be learned and mastered as a student teacher, then this outcome is central to the goal of creating learner-centered educators who can teach for transformation. 2. skill level increased teaching skills. no comparative data is available tracking improvement in their actual teaching skill; therefore, reliance on their self-reported levels of competence and confidence are necessary. future research could follow up the student teachers to trace the longevity of the effect. considering that before this class they had never had the opportunity to teach, the microteaching to their peers in class and the authentic teaching experience at nasaruni academy on the service learning trip represented areas for potential growth. these two occasions were most frequently cited as instrumental in gaining skills (see table 1). one student elaborated on the effect of the class presentation (microteaching) on his own growth in teaching skills: “the class presentation during class session also helped us in teaching and learning. it enabled us to have courage, [dress] smart, to maintain eye contact when addressing the learners.” another elaborated further: this lesson has made me to improve in learning and teaching. i was just fearful at first, i could not be able to stand before my fellow students and lecture to them. but through this course, i was able to lecture and every student appreciated my lecture because they mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 133 were able to understand what i taught. this course has promoted me especially in language speaking and being confident in microteaching lesson. it has equipped me with different and special skills like remembering, understanding, creativity and others. at first it seemed to be hard, but as the time goes by i gained confidence through the teacher. when i went to field trip, i was able to teach and ask questions to my students and able to interact with my students or learners in an orderly way. therefore, teaching and learning has actually changed my life... (post-assessment response, december, 2017) self-reflection skills. written responses also illuminate the development in thinking skills over the course of the semester, specifically self-reflection. field notes confirm that the skill of reflection was unfamiliar to students at the onset of the course. yet, teacher educators agree that being a reflective practitioner is a significant means of continual growth and impact of a teacher to bring change (adler, 2008; marzano, 2006, 2009; tibbitts & weldon, 2017). hence, one of the objectives for the course was for students to know their “roles as reflective decisionmakers.” considering language issues and a cultural norm that does not necessarily encourage self-reflective thinking, there was a palpable nervousness and an uneasy laughter whenever the topic initially arose. over the course of the semester, however, this diminished, and students slowly began to welcome the idea of thinking about their own learning process as well as vocalizing their emotional responses to topics and experiences in class. self-reported growth also demonstrates an increased level of self-reflection. this was highly emphasized during the semester with two written assignments specifically targeted at improving skills of introspection and self-reflection. one student mentioned the act of reflective writing as a change agent for him in the course: “the writing of the reflection after the microteaching at nasaruni also changed [me].” several students acted upon their self-reflective realization by revising those assignments when their superficial reflections yielded lower marks than they desired. critical thinking skills. beyond self-reflection, other specific thinking skills mentioned in the final assessment include critical thinking skills. critical thinking skills in social studies were emphasized. field notes demonstrated that students grasped the importance of this set of democratic skills in light of training future citizens to be problem-solvers in kenya,. one student appreciated his/her own application of the skills: “in the bloom’s taxonomy i achieved a lot. the levels of thinking helped me to tackle difficult situations and solve them effectively.” another commented that he/she developed a “critical mind,” while another respondent indicated new skills practiced and mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 134 developed in this area: “she (the professor) has helped me think critically in answering questions during and after class.” still, thinking skills was one area which yielded some misconceptions reflected on the postassessment. some students missed certain classes, and this could account for such gross discrepancies in understanding. one student reported that “the learners should be taught memorization. this is effectively done through repetition of some words. this will improve the thinking skills of learners.” another included this misconceived idea: “how should a history teacher teach thinking skills? by giving the learners a speed test which they will be required to answer very fast.” being a post-assessment, there was no opportunity to address these misconceptions; one hopes that they will be corrected in the future coursework at the university. 4. values and attitudinal changes improved attitude toward their profession. initially, in the pre-assessment, the students responded to the prompt asking them why they wanted to be history/government teachers with predominantly disengaged comments such as “it’s an interesting subject” and “to study the past.” three students reported only that this was their “career subject,” and 10 students noted that they will benefit from knowing their country’s past. only one student acknowledged any greater purpose or application to life: “to equip students with knowledge and skills for future lives.” contrasting the dispassionate answers at the beginning of the course with those from the final exam, one notes the gain in perception of the nobility of their career choice, the professionalism of the job of teacher, and an increased passion for the greater purposes of teaching beyond the classroom. in the words of one student, “the course has changed me from an ordinary person to a professional teacher.” the student went on to explain further the dimensions of professionalism, including the hard work of planning and impacting the students’ “daily lives” beyond simply academics. another student captured this growth in her response on the final exam: i have learnt that my work as a teacher is to impact skills and knowledge to the learners and not dumping facts into their heads as i thought before. before this course i have been think[ing] that the purpose of a teacher is to get a job and earn money, but through learning this course, i came to understand that teaching is a long life learning process and therefore my duty as a teacher is not to get a job or earn money but to help learners acquire skills and help them to achieve their goals in life. mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 135 her initial response from the pre-assessment highlights the depth of her change: “i want to teach history and government because it is an interesting subject that makes me to understand more about the past and it is also my career subject.” seen in contrast to the later comment from her final exam (above), the change in her perception of teaching is significant. another student echoed a similar change in perception of the job of teaching: i always thought that teaching students in a secondary school is as easy as possible. it was just after i started taking this course that i realized teaching is all about sacrifice. i just know … that i have got a long journey to go through. i realized the life of a student in on my hands as a teacher. therefore, i should do anything possible to make that student i teach successful. this student gained a new perspective of the importance of the job of a teacher, which can only make her teaching more sincere, more invested, and more impactful. altogether, eight students specifically noted changes in their view of the role of a professional educator, with two naming the nobility of the profession and two others claiming the empowering impact this change of view has on their own outlook. teacher agency and self-efficacy. teachers need agency to effect change. this is a crucial component of transformative teaching (zygmunt & clark, 2016). as stenhouse stated, “classrooms cannot be bettered except through the agency of teachers: teachers must be the critics of work in curriculum, not docile agents.” (stenhouse, 1975, p. 75, as quoted in chadwick, 2017). self-efficacy is the personal quality that allows them to experience the agency that empowers a teacher. this is necessary if they are to impact learning, engage students effectively, and work to bring transformation where they teach. according to fitchett, starker, and salyers (2012), “within the field of teaching, desire to engage students, instructional practice, and willingness to work in challenging environments are outcomes of teacher self-efficacy” (fitchett et al., 2012). one student summed up his growth in self-efficacy thusly: “the course has helped to change me in decision making. through this course i have known how to make decisions in my class… because before, other people were the one who made decisions for me.” if future teachers can begin to see their career as noble and valuable, this will empower them to become changeagents. attitudes toward new ideas in education. professional growth was also evidenced in changing attitudes toward the new approach to teaching: learner-centered teaching. attitudes were changed to the point that some students became advocates for the wider dispersal of the learnermailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 136 centered method, claiming, “we need to suggest that the methods can be used country-wide.” another said it needed to be taught to other content areas because “it’s the best.” what contributed to their changed minds? when asked this, they responded with these ideas: greater “understanding,” “[it] became interesting and good,” and “we adapted to it.” this process of learning the benefits, though, took apparently nearly the full semester, as comments included “at the end it became good,” “became interesting and good,” “we developed a positive attitude; we became adapted to it.” all suggest a process over time which gradually made the method more approachable and comprehensible. discussions in the interview session revealed a real original hesitancy to believe in the new ideas. this was described as “nervous” or “at the beginning there was anxiety, but it disappeared at the end.” yet another said, “i thought it won’t work, but at end it was the best.” still, even as they came to embrace or “adapt to it,” they still recognize that it goes against the grain of current practice. thus, some worried that it may not be a successful reform due to lack of teacher training. “lecturers have not been taught effectively,” he reasoned, “but i believe it can work after several years.” students, even when convinced of the value of this type of pedagogy, remain skeptical of the impact due to the lack of widespread acceptance and support. they see themselves as having had a unique but limited exposure due to the obscurity of the practice. however, they did suggest that more students be exposed to the “truth” as they were, thus spreading the movement. values as a vital part of social studies/history teaching. a content analysis of the postassessment yielded the following results, values which they mention as having learned in the course either directly or indirectly: table 2. values learned. values of the self: honesty 6 self-reliance, self-confidence, dignity 6 hard work, perseverance, responsibility, selfmotivation 5 moral life, avoid corruption 9 mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 137 understand themselves, self-knowledge 2 values of interaction with others: tolerance, cooperation, equality 8 love, sharing, generosity, helping 6 leadership 2 values of community/state: patriotism 5 freedom, equality 3 active citizens, help community 6 problem-solvers, change-makers 4 conserve environment 4 compliance, following rules, obedience 7 while the pre-assessment did not specifically ask about any values in teaching, the presence of values in the students’ responses in the post-assessment clearly indicates their understanding that values are a vital part of the learning environment and process of training future global citizens. in the methods course lesson plan format, they had to identify the values being taught and why in the lesson they proposed. at first this proved quite perplexing, but very quickly the students embraced the idea, interestingly more willingly and enthusiastically than students in the united states when the researcher teaches this part of the lesson plan format. the inclusion of values as an integral part of their teaching was an entirely new concept for these future teachers and one that further highlights the impact that one methods course can make. conclusion and implications for practice thus, overall, the students grew in their knowledge of learner-centered methodology, their skills of teaching and reflection, and their attitudes about their career and coming changes on the national educational horizon. two conclusions can be drawn from this case study that might mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 138 inform future iterations. first, change can occur through one single course. the one semester course does seem to create an impetus for change and a means to do it. however, it is also clear that the revolutionary nature of this change of teaching style would benefit from multiple exposures in multiple contexts in order to increase the sustainability of the change. second, students will come away with some attitudinal shifts which lay the groundwork for the change in practice. these foundational attitudinal shifts were unexpected and contextual, yet important. changing their perceptions of their career was not a stated intention of the course, yet raising their sense of the nobility of the career raises their investment and dedication to the field. it may also increase their tenure as teachers. as one student reported, in their eyes, this might have been the most significant impact: “my teaching and learning has been changed by this course. … she has made a great impact in me more so in the philosophy of thinking” (emphasis added). implications for future research and practice implications for practice include that more emphasis needs to be placed upon building a network, developing a support system, and a vision that is more broadly supported than just one methods class. even the students themselves pointed out in their final exams that more emphasis is needed on embedding the revolutionary change to a learner-centered, esd model of teaching into the whole teacher training curriculum more visibly, more intentionally, and more comprehensibly. more exposure will give them the confidence to teach in this manner. length of time is a considerable factor in adopting change, as it is based in the personal relationship and trust-building. the class took the entire semester to become comfortable enough to adopt and adapt to the new ways. in the future, it may be wise to have the instructor for methods continue with the students into some teaching practice placements, in order to keep emphasizing the value and need for the new approach to teaching. pressure to succumb to the status quo is always intense in the field of teaching. future research while the interviews demonstrated that the new knowledge and attitudes lasted at least two months past the post-assessment, changes to practice will occur thereafter, and require further research to document. future research should follow the student teachers into their placements and beginning teaching jobs to see if they are able to retain a commitment to the new methodologies, the skills of student-centered teaching, and a positive attitude toward their profession. further research should consider: what is the longevity of the impact? where in the curriculum and teacher training can further experiences with active learning strategies be mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 139 integrated? on a systemic level, how can the curriculum of teacher training institutes and universities embrace a more progressive approach toward supporting this type of training? in conclusion, this case study sought to answer the research question: can one class on transformative teacher education make a difference in training future teachers? what can be learned from this one case? in answer, this study demonstrates that one methods course might indeed be able to spark some changes, if not ignite a full fire. time will tell if those sparks grow and warm the next generation. mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 140 references: adler, s. 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(2008). the scholarship of educational change: concepts, contours, and contexts. in e. weber (ed.), educational change in south africa: reflections on local realities, practices, and reforms (pp. 3-23). rotterdam, the netherlands: sense publishers. mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_mdg_report/pdf/mdg%202015%20pr%20overview.pdf http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_mdg_report/pdf/mdg%202015%20pr%20overview.pdf http://www.twaweza.org/index.php?t=1374734700 http://www.twaweza.org/go/uwezo-kenya-2012ala http://www.twaweza.org/go/uwezo-kenya-2012ala http://www.uwezo.net/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 121-145 corresponding author: cudemd@jmu.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 145 westbrook, j., durrani, n., brown, r., orr, d., pryor, j., boddy, j., & salvi, f. (2013). pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries. final report. education rigorous literature review. department for international development. retrieved from http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). educating the “good” citizen: political choices and pedagogical goals. ps: political science & politics, 37(2), 241-247. doi:10.1017/s1049096504004160 wilmot, d. (2004). emerging models of teacher training: the case of south africa. international research in geographical and environmental education, 13(2). yin, r. (2009). case study research: design and methods, 4th ed., los angeles, ca: sage publications. zygmunt, e., & clark, p. (2016). transforming teacher education for social justice. new york, ny: teachers college press. about the authors: michelle dawn cude is professor at james madison university, department of middle, secondary, and math education. her research interests include: globalizing our future teachers, social justice, girls education internationally, service learning, and teacher education. florence kisirkoi is sr. lecturer at maasai mara university, school of education, department of curriculum, instruction, and education management. her areas of expertise are: teacher education, curriculum, values-based education, and learner-centered education. mailto:cudemd@jmu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 61. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 61. reading to teach for global understanding media review editor carolyn o’mahony in this issue of the journal of international social studies, alison trinowski, kimberli mcmahan, and maryanne lipovski review books that colleagues might enjoy reading as background to teaching for global understanding. trinowski reviews ecojustice education toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities which was co-written by teacher educators in the united states but will resonate with teachers around the world who are dealing with issues of sustainability education in their own settings. a teacher and world traveler, mcmahan found the latest offering from bestselling science author and ucla geographer jared diamond, the world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies?, gripping reading. lipovski was reassured of the value of her quest to develop a truly global classroom by the words of carl hobert, author of raising global iq: preparing our students for a shrinking planet and director of the axis for hope center at boston university. such books as these can provide teachers with intellectual and practical resources for encouraging students to think about how they live on our planet. for example, teachers need help in convincing students who choose to spend their time in virtual communities and worlds that it is in their best interests to be concerned about their natural environment also. while wanting to teach for human dignity across societies, in a situation where resources tend to emphasize the joys and benefits of progress, teachers will appreciate examples of what people living in “developed” societies can learn from traditional societies. they need help in raising students’ awareness that it is not only biodiversity that is being lost at an unprecedented rate but also cultural and linguistic diversity and the actual and potential benefits these diversities offer humanity. students need to learn that globalizing organizations, institutions, and corporations profit from homogenizing technological advances that reduce linguistic diversity and the range of perspectives people may hold. in the 1970s, with the rise of multicultural conversations, a decades old metaphor of the usa as a cultural melting pot was challenged. instead, a cultural salad bowl or mosaic metaphor for american naturalization was suggested. read as a group, these three books point to this kind of global identity for young people around the world. books such as these remind teachers that they have a responsibility to help students, literally, smell the roses, to respect how the food they eat arrived in their bowl or on their plate, to be aware that there are people who do not share their world view, and that the choices that they make, or conversations in which they choose to participate, can change the lives of us all. carolyn o’mahony july, 2013 about the editor carolyn o’mahony is associate professor of social studies education at oakland university in rochester, michigan. she teaches undergraduate k-8 social studies methods courses and graduate classes in comparative education, and international-mindedness in the international baccalaureate teacher development program. her current research focuses on how teachers develop global awareness and global pedagogical content knowledge. she can be reached at omahony@oakland.edu corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 154 social studies teachers’ readiness to teach the security education theme in the reviewed edition of nigeria’s basic education curriculum moshood babatunde lawal adeniran ogunsanya college of education lagos, nigeria abstract: this study analyzed social studies teachers’ readiness to teach security education. we administered a structured questionnaire to 720 practicing social studies teachers drawn from 72 junior secondary schools in south western nigeria. the data collected were analyzed using percentage, means, and standard deviations to test the three null hypotheses. findings of this study showed that practicing social studies teachers have a significantly low knowledge and awareness of the components of security education. however, the teachers’ readiness to acquire additional useful knowledge and skills required for handling security education alongside their area of specialization (social studies) was found to be significantly high. the teachers perceived the inclusion of security education in the reviewed curriculum as a development that will create a significantly higher workload for them. nevertheless, their response showed a relatively high degree of negative disposition toward the handling of the newly introduced security education theme in religion and national values class. based on these findings, necessary recommendations focusing on the need for training and organizing workshops for curriculum implementers were suggested. key words: social studies, security education, teacher readiness, nigeria, basic education curriculum mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 155 background to the study the nigerian educational system has continued to witness conscious and concrete efforts aimed at improving the content of what is delivered as curriculum, from the 1969 curriculum review conference until a recent effort that reduced the number of subjects that can be offered at the basic education level. one of the major outcomes of this recent curriculum review is the introduction of religion and national values (rnv), which has reduced standalone subjects like social studies, civic education, islamic studies, and christian religious studies to themes, with an addition of a new theme called security education. even though this latest review has been shrouded in controversy, particularly the feasibility of expecting only one teacher to handle three of the five themes and leaving the remaining two themes to specialist religious studies teachers, there is still the need to raise a major implementation constraint. this is concerned with the preparedness of the social studies teachers who are now charged with the handling of security education alongside social studies and civic education during their training. coupled with this is the erroneous assumption by the curriculum designer/development agency that any teacher trained in social studies should be competent enough to teach the newly introduced theme, security education. nigeria’s basic education curriculum as part of its statutory responsibilities, the nigerian educational research and development council (nerdc) restructured the existing primary and junior secondary school curricula into a nine-year basic education curriculum (bec) in line with the ube. the bec, which became operational in 2008 beginning from year 1 of primary school and year 1 of junior secondary school, was therefore developed to facilitate the implementation of the ube. by this arrangement, the old primary and junior secondary school curricula were to be systematically phased out in two cycles: primary school in 2014 and junior secondary school in 2011. however, this reviewed curriculum was not allowed to complete its implementation cycle before another call for review was initiated, and the exercise culminated in a revised nine-year basic education curriculum comprising 10 subjects instead of the old curriculum with 20 subjects mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 156 studied at the basic education level. according to nerdc (2012), this development allowed for relevant subjects to be grouped, and social studies was grouped alongside civic education, islamic studies, christian religious studies, and the new security education under the name “religion and national values.” the new curriculum arrangement meant to address the issue of topic, content, and subject overload as well as repetitions within subjects without any reduction in the depth, appropriateness, and interconnectedness of the curricula as part the education sector’s role in the facilitation of achievement of the core objectives of national economic empowerment and development strategies (needs), education for all (efa), and the millennium development goals (mdgs). it also came in response to the ever-changing needs, challenges, and aspirations of the nigerian society. the social studies teacher is expected to teach about three (social studies, civic education and security education) out of the five themes in his or her class. the question is: how has the training institution and the corresponding teacher education curriculum prepared him or her for this new role? this is the major focus of this paper. it is therefore pertinent at this juncture to raise a major statement of problem, which is: how competent are the practicing social studies teachers in the handling of the security education theme while teaching the subject of religion and national values? research questions the following research questions were therefore addressed in the study: 1. do practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education as a theme in religion and national values? 2. has the preparation of practicing social studies teachers significantly prepared them for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values? mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 157 3. are practicing junior secondary social studies teachers significantly competent to teach the topics suggested under the theme security education in a religion and national values class? 4. do the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers perceive the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more work from them? 5. do practicing junior secondary social studies teachers possess a significantly high positive attitude toward the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum? hypotheses ho1 practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education as a theme in religion and national values. ho2 the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values. ho3 practicing junior secondary social studies teachers are not significantly competent to teach each of the topics suggested under the theme of security education in a religion and national values class. ho4 the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not perceive the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more work from them. ho5 the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high positive attitude toward the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum. mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 158 concept of security education security education in a democracy is education aimed at building resilience. it is the ability of children, communities, and systems to anticipate, prevent, withstand, adapt to and recover from stresses and shocks, advancing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged. it is an education about what it takes to be in the state of being or feeling secure: freedom from fear, anxiety, danger, doubt, and a state or sense of safety or certainty. the concept is known to have been interchangeably used with “security awareness” and “security consciousness.” in a simple form, fabinu, ogunleye, and salau (2016) described security education as the type of education designed to promote the level of security consciousness among the citizenry of a particular country for them to be able to protect their immediate environment, nation, and the world at large. furthermore, they see it as an education that helps to enrich people’s knowledge against any form of threatening actions to lives and properties, be it at home, in school, in a place of work, or in the country. trendsinstitution.org (2018), quoting buzan, remarks that security is taken to be about “the pursuit of freedom from threat and the ability of states and societies to maintain their independent identity, and their functional integrity against forces of change, which they see as hostile. the bottom line of security is survival, but it also reasonably includes a substantial range of concerns about the conditions of existence.” an effective security education brings communities together, gives children and communities aspirations for a better life, and creates communities that are more resilient for overcoming conflict. security education and teachers’ receptivity to curriculum change in an attempt to introduce any curriculum change, the implementers are known to be wary of the demands of such change. hence, they tend to exhibit some signs of receptivity. the case of the security education theme in the new religion and national values curriculum is not likely to be an exemption. although extant literature on security education is relatively sparse, there are cases in other subjects that can be cited to confirm this teacher receptivity to curriculum change. for instance, mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 159 lee (2010), while examining teacher receptivity to curriculum change in implementation guidelines for environmental education in hong kong, reported that variables such as perceived non-monetary cost-benefit of the implementation guidelines, perceived practicality, perceived school and other support, and other issues of concern were predictors for teacher behavioral intentions toward active involvement and promotion of the curriculum change. rationale for the introduction of security education in the new basic education curriculum there is an undeniable increasing prevalence of emergency situations in nigerian schools in particular and the larger society in general. a typical recent example is the kidnapping of over 100 secondary school students from dapchi, a community in yobe state, north eastern nigeria. the increasing severity of this pathetic security situation makes the necessity of introducing security education in the nigerian primary and secondary schools very germane. the rapid increase in the crime rate, security breaches, and a continued increase in security threats are reflected in the increasing incidences of insecurity across the different geo-political zones of nigeria: militia insurgency resulting in uncontrolled loss of lives, a high rate of kidnapping, armed robbery, incessant cult clashes and killings, etc. children and youth need security and safety. they need someone to turn to, someone who has the experience and training to handle a potentially dangerous situation and who can properly guide them toward living a safer and more secure life as they operate within and outside the school. with the right combination of determination, strength, training, and a desire to do what is right, it is possible for such individuals to promote better school safety and security in the community. the challenge, however, is the capability of a trained social studies teacher to muster enough knowledge and skill to achieve this. essential components of security education in the revised basic education curriculum this curriculum is organized using the thematic approach around which the topics and contents are built. it is spiral in nature, with each learning experience at one level built upon another with increasing levels of difficulty and depth. mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 160 the sub-themes and corresponding topics for primary 1-6 are: level sub-theme corresponding topics units primary 1 elements of security concept of security meaning of security of life and property. some sources of danger and insecurity primary 2 sources of danger and insecurity sources of insecurity in our community how to keep away from dangers identification of security agencies and their primary duties examples of security agencies in nigeria duties of some security agencies in our community primary 3 identification of security agencies and their primary duties security agencies and duties. identification of which security agency to report to when in danger elements of criminal behaviour some examples of criminal behaviours ways to avoid criminal behaviours primary 4 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities introduction to neigbourhood security meaning of neigbourhood watch ways of reporting movements that we don’t trust dangers of not reporting suspicious movement and people in our community mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 161 primary 5 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities introduction to personal security meaning of personal security actions and behaviours that can make us to be personally secured duties and responsibilities for personal security duties and responsibilities of a child for personal security primary 6 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities personal security management meaning of personal security management punishment for various crimes how to act appropriately when in danger the sub-themes and corresponding topics for junior secondary 1 -3 are contained in table 2. js 1themecommon crimes and security management i, js 2 themecommon crimes and security management ii js 3 themecommon crimes and security management iii topics topic topics common crimes, causes and effects emergency management common crimes and associated punishments cooperation with security agents, school and neighbourhood authorities in crime prevention observing and reporting common crimes crimes and national security mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 162 this curriculum stresses learner-centered approaches. the learner-centered approach involves the consideration of the learners’ conditions, including how to develop in them the interest to pursue security education as contained in our curriculum. it treats the learners as people who have the capacity to think and behave rightly through a learning process in which they are active players. the teaching methodology of the security education theme in the curriculum is dynamic and promotes interaction. hence, the teaching-learning experiences do not support forcing some values on the learners. rather, it encourages a kind of teaching that touches on the learners’ daily lives. the methodology therefore involves active learning/participative strategies, experiential learning, partnerships in learning with learners’ participation, dialogue, self-expression, storytelling and response to stories, and project work focused on identifying questions and researching answers. it also encourages exchange with children from other cultures using their own medium, creative teaching, and learning. another special feature of the security education curriculum is in the values and attitudes which need to be addressed through the curriculum and the whole school. through effective teaching of the theme, learners are expected to become more alert, patriotic, sensitive to strange objects and people, and be more security-conscious in and around their environment. methods the study employed a quantitative approach in obtaining data. this was done through the use of a five-part questionnaire. a total of 720 practicing social studies teachers drawn from 72 junior secondary schools in south western nigeria were used as the sample for this study using the cluster and stratified random sampling techniques. one hundred and twenty (120) social studies teachers were randomly selected from 10 schools in each of the six south west states (lagos, oyo, ogun, osun, ondo, and ekiti state). a five-part questionnaire was designed with a five-point likert scale of strongly disagreed, disagreed, not sure, strongly agreed, and agreed for collecting data for the study. section a of the questionnaire demanded demographic information about the respondents; section b dealt mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 163 with teachers’ levels of awareness and knowledge of the demands of security education as a theme in religion and national values; section c focused on the relationship between the level of preparation of practicing social studies teachers during training and effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme; section d dealt with teachers’ levels of competency to teach the topics suggested under the theme of security education in a religion and national values class; and section e dealt with the level of teachers’ perception of the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more work from them. the questionnaire was given to experts in instrument design to examine its face and content validity. in the process, some items were modified, some removed, and others added. to determine the reliability of the questionnaire, it was administered to 60 social studies teachers’ from 20 schools used for the pilot study. a split half method was used. thereafter, cronbach’s alpha was conducted and the coefficient was found to be 0.76. research assistants were deployed to the sampled schools in each of the six states used for this study in south western nigeria. they explained the content of the questionnaire and necessary clarifications were also made to the respondents. the questionnaires were physically administered and collected by the research assistants on the spot to enable them to have a high rate of return and reduce the incidence of loss or damage of the instrument, as they had earlier been informed of the intended visits. results data collected were collated and subjected to analysis in order to determine the mean scores obtainable for each of the tested hypotheses. the mean response was used to analyze data collected in order to determine the degree of agreement and disagreement with each of the scaling statements in the questionnaire. nominal values were assigned to the items as follows: from 5 through 4, 3, 2, and 1 for “strongly agree” (sa), “agree” (a), “undecided” (ud), “disagree” (d), and “strongly disagree” (sd); to determine the partitioning value of items, the maximum of each of the nominal values was divided by n. for purposes of data interpretation, mean values of 3.00 and above were considered for agreement; mean values below 3.00 were taken to mean mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 164 disagreement with respect to items on the attitudes and practices of the respondents. a standard deviation greater than 1.00 was taken to indicate high variability among respondents. h01: practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education. analysis of the data for hypothesis one is presented in table 1. the mean score ranged from 2.59 to 3.37. the overall mean score is 3.25 with sd 1.17, which is slightly above the middle limit of 3.00. based on the mean scores, it can be inferred that practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education. table 1: junior secondary social studies teachers’ awareness and knowledge of the demands of security education s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean sd 1 security education theme is now included in the revised basic education curriculum. 250 (38.9) 130 (18.0) 32 (4.4) 199 (27.6) 79 (11.0) 3.37 1.49 2 effective handling of the theme of security education demands an additional knowledge acquisition in that area of study. 172 (23.9) 31 (4.3) 16 (2.2) 379 (52.7) 122 (16.9) 2.72 1.75 3 high degree of the knowledge of the subject matter of security education by social studies teachers in schools is presently lacking. 149 (20.7) 51 (7.1) 17 (2.4) 360 (50.0) 143 (19.9) 2.60 1.42 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 165 4 sub-themes like elements of security, person/neighborhood security, common crimes, and security management are part of the content to be taught by the social studies teacher handling security education in his/her class. 252 (35.0) 157 (21.8) 41 (5.7) 205 (28.6) 64 (8.9) 2.59 1.422 5 the demands of the methodology recommended for teaching the topics listed under the security education theme at the basic education level are quite similar to those of social studies. 162 (22.5) 123 (17.1) 28 (3.9) 307 (42.7) 100 (13.8) 2.92 1.43 total 985 492 1171 1450 508 3.24 1.172 of the five items used to measure the knowledge and awareness, only the statement “security education theme is now included in the revised basic education religion and national values curriculum” was given the highest rating with a mean of 3.37. all the other four items have mean scores below 3.00. the deduction from these responses is that practicing social studies teachers do not possess high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education. the result also revealed that 69.6% of the practicing social studies teachers agreed with the statement that “effective handling of the theme of security education demands an additional knowledge acquisition in that area of study.” almost 70% of the teachers agreed with the statement that “high degree of the knowledge of the subject matter of security education by mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 166 social studies teachers on schools is presently lacking.” this could be attributed to the training packages in terms of curricula and curricular materials that were used for preparing these teachers while in the college of education or the faculty of education as pre-service teachers. h02: the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values. the respondents were asked to rate statements relating to the effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values. the results are presented in table 2. seven items were used in measuring the effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values. the mean scores of the statements ranged from 1.91 to 3.93. three of the items had mean scores above 3.00 while four items had mean scores below 3.00. the deduction from these responses and the overall mean score is that practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national values. table 2: junior secondary social studies teachers’ level of preparation for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean 1 the content of the teacher education curriculum at both the nigeria certificate in education (nce) and undergraduate levels does not have any subtheme or topics relevant to the security 287 (39.9) 264 (36.6) 18 (2.5) 96 (13.3) 55 (7.6) 3.87 1.276 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 167 s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean education theme of the revised basic education curriculum. 2. pre-service social studies teachers are already familiar with most of the suggested security education themes and topics while in training either at nce or the undergraduate level. 281 (39.0) 290 (40.3) 27 (3.7) 64 (8.9) 58 (8.1) 3.93 1.23 3. the recommended foundation and content courses used in preparing social studies during training are not capable of grooming them effectively for teaching the security education theme and topics in the religion and national values classroom. 73 (10.1) 60 (8.3) 30 (4.2) 280 (38.9) 277 (38.5) 3.82 1.36 4 the social studies teacher preparation program at both the nce and undergraduate levels is not full enough to empower the 70 (11.9) 64 (10.3) 26 (3.6) 291 (40.4) 269 (37.4 2.131 1.273 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 168 s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean trainees for the realization of the ideals of security education as demanded in the religion and national values (rnv) curriculum. 5 the structures and recommended activities/methodologies that are embedded in the training materials of social studies teachers are either inadequate or lack effective skills and background knowledge required for handling security education in the rnv curriculum. 76 (10.6) 82 (11.4) 33 (4.6) 417 (58.0) 112 (15.6) 2.434 1.190 6 the handling of security education topics by a social studies teacher requires background training in the field, which they presently lack. 60 (8.3) 42 (5.8) 21 (2.9) 499 (69.3) 98 (13.6) 2.26 1.04 7 effective teaching of security education by a social studies teacher who has not been 46 (6.4) 17 (2.4) 16 387 (53.8) 254 (35.3) 1.908 1.02 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 169 s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean properly groomed in that sensitive area of study is a difficult goal to attain. total 893 817 171 2034 1123 3.15 1.272 h03: practicing junior secondary social studies teachers are not significantly competent to teach each of the topics suggested under the theme of security education in religion and national values. in table 3, the mean ranged from a mean score of 2.13 (sd=1.35) to 2.99 (sd=.85). all 10 items had mean scores lower than 3.00, indicating that teachers have low competence to teach the suggested topics. only 9.5% of the practicing teachers expressed a position that they effectively teach the listed 10 topics drawn from the security education theme contained in religion and national values. a percentage as high as 52.4% said that they cannot teach the topics, although about 35.8% of them still reported that they can manage to teach the same set of topics. the low depth of content enrichment concerning the new focus of security education at the basic education level might have been responsible for this pattern of results. table 3: percentages, means, and standard deviations for junior secondary social studies teachers’ competence to teach selected security education topics s/n items/statements teach well manage to cannot not sure mean sd 1 emergency management 50 (6.9) 256 (35.6) 403 (56.0) 11 (1.5) 2.479 0.647 2 strategies for observing and reporting common crimes 45 (6.3) 261 (36.3) 379 (52.6) 35 (4.9) 2.438 0.684 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 170 s/n items/statements teach well manage to cannot not sure mean sd 3 common crimes and associated punishments 15 (2.1) 300 (41.6) 395 (54.8) 10 (1.4) 2.446 0.565 4 crimes and national security 12 (1.7) 282 (39.2) 410 (56.9) 16 (2.2) 2.424 0.565 5 our roles in promoting safety in our community 14 (1.9) 255 (35.4) 412 (57.2) 14 (1.9) 2.387 0.563 6 personal security management 24 (3.3) 292 (40.5) 392 (54.4) 12 (1.7) 2.445 0.598 7 introduction to personal security 21 (2.9) 289 (40.1) 394 (54.7) 16 (2.2) 2.436 0.590 8 introduction to neighborhood security 61 (8.5) 272 (37.7) 366 (50.8) 21 (2.9) 2.518 0.691 9 concept of security 254 (35.3) 211 (29.3) 250 (34.7) 5 (0.7) 2.99 0.852 10 sources of danger and insecurity 186 (25.8) 147 (20.4) 361 (50.1) 26 (3.6) 2.133 1.347 total 682 (9.5) 2565 (35.8) 3762 (52.4) 166 (2.3) 2.56 0.664 ho4 : the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not perceive the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more work from them. in table 4, the mean ranged from 2.37 to 3.69. the overall mean is 3.41, indicating that practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do perceive the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more work from them. an item-by-item analysis further showed that 60.7% of the teachers disagreed with the statement that “i don't think i need any library search to effectively handle the security education theme and topics in rnv as a social studies teacher,” while 66.6% of them disagreed with the statement that “the inclusion of the security education theme in the basic education rnv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from me in the rnv classroom.” also, 65.9% mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 171 of the teachers disagreed with the statement, “the fact that religion and national values has subsumed the previously autonomous subjects like social studies and civic education does not make the teaching of security education an extra workload for me.” about 72.2% of the respondents agreed that asking a social studies teacher to teach security education in the basic education rnv class is a potential stressor, as he/she lacks the required foundation training in security education. table 4: junior secondary social studies teachers’ perception on the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more work s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean sd 1. i don't think i need any library search to effectively handle the security education theme and topics in rnv as a social studies teacher. 286 (39.7) 151 (21) 27 (3.8) 144 (20) 112 (15.5) 3.49 1.541 2. the inclusion of the security education theme in the basic education rnv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from me in the rnv classroom. 289 (40.1) 162 (22.5) 12 (1.7) 136 (18.9) 123 (17.1) 3.45 1.565 3. the fact that religion and national values has subsumed the previously autonomous subjects like social studies and civic education does not make the teaching of security 300 (41.7) 174 (24.2) 15 (2.1) 189 (26.3) 42 (5.7) 3.69 1.385 mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 172 s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean sd education an extra workload for me. 4. to teach security education in the rnv classroom, i need extra hours assigned on the school time table. 109 (15.1) 99 (13.7) 09 (1.7) 371 (51.3) 132 (18.2) 2.55 1.340 5. asking a social studies teacher to teach security education in the basic education rnv class is a potential stressor as he/she lacks the required foundation training in security education. 92 (12.8) 102 (14.2) 06 (0.8) 377 (52.4) 143 (19.8) 2.47 1.302 6. getting the social studies teacher to teach all the themes in rnv except islamic studies and christian religious studies will require developing new assessment procedures and it is an additional responsibility for collating and processing of assessment data. 97 (13.5) 58 (8.1) 13 (1.8) 401 (55.7) 151 (20.9) 2.37 1.273 total 1173 746 82 1618 703 3.41 1.33 ho5: the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high positive attitude toward the inclusion of the security education theme in the new basic education curriculum. mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 173 an attempt to examine some of the patterns of responses in table 4 revealed that a large percentage of the respondents do not have a significantly high positive attitude that can confirm their readiness to teach the security education theme in the new basic education religion and national values curriculum. a percentage as high as 60.7% felt they do not need any extra library search to effectively handle security education topics in rnv class. likewise, 62.8% of them felt that the inclusion of security education theme in the rnv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from them in their classrooms. this is probably the reason for a low percentage of 28.8% response to the item that tried to elicit from the respondents whether they would need extra hours assigned on the school time table to effectively ensure the integration of security education theme. conclusion and recommendations a majority of the respondents expressed the feelings that social studies teachers are not prepared enough to teach security education in schools. hence, they were of the opinion that for social studies teachers to effectively teach security education, they will require special training in order to be efficient in teaching the subject. this is a reflection of the fact that a majority of the respondents felt that as social studies teachers, they cannot teach security education content effectively. furthermore, the inclusion of security education in the new curriculum has posed a serious challenge to practicing social studies teachers. again, a majority of the practicing social studies teachers believe that it will be difficult for them to embrace the inclusion of security education in the curriculum because the workload and the expectation is high and demanding. according to azebanwan (2010), since there is no graduate in security education course yet, the available personnel—social studies teachers—cannot help but be seen as belonging to the group that can best fit into the shoe. this, however, has serious implications for teaching their own subject alongside security education, as it will be cumbersome and can pose a serious challenge to practicing social studies teachers. the fact that the social studies program and standards are not congruent with the content of the security education theme makes it quite challenging, particularly when we consider the need for a deliberate teacher re-orientation policy and mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 174 program that was never part of the initial implementation plan of the agency charged with curriculum review in nigeria. furthermore, the study revealed that a majority of the respondents did not demonstrate a significantly high positive attitude toward the teaching of the security education theme in their rnv class, and this could have a serious implication for the effective handling of the theme during implementation. this is evident in the demonstration of signs of non-commitment to go extra miles in promoting effective teaching of the theme. based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are suggested as part of the measures that can help promote effective implementation of the revised basic education curriculum and meaningful coverage of all the themes, security education in particular: 1. immediate incorporation of the components of security education in the nigeria certificate in education (nce) minimum academic standards for teacher preparation, so that the pre-service teachers can become better equipped for effective delivery of the theme while teaching religion and national values at the basic education level on graduation; 2. social studies in-service teachers handling security education alongside other themes in rnv should be motivated via promotion and other incentives in order to achieve maximum results during implementation; 3. programs aimed at integrating security experts into the teaching of security education as resource persons at the basic education level would need to be explored by the managers of the education sector at this level. such programs should deliberately promote the production of relevant textbooks and instructional materials on the content areas of the security education theme as prescribed in the rnv curriculum; 4. re-training of practicing social studies teachers on the skills for better content acquisition and pedagogy of handling the security education theme in their respective classrooms, so that they become better equipped to deliver; mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 175 5. quality assurance officers at the different levels of education management in the country would need to do more in promoting a shared vision and ownership of the security education theme among social studies teachers, providing them with empirical and inspirational examples that will enhance their understanding and teaching of the theme. mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, 1. 2, 2020, pp. 154-176 corresponding author: teemlawal@gmail.com ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 176 references: adenipekun, o. (2010, april). government drives tertiary institutions to develop new teacher education programmes. vanguard. azebanwan, c. (2010, october 16). integrating civic education in schools and strategy for implementation. nigerian observers online. expertsecuritytips.com. (2018). 10 reasons why employees need security and awareness training. retrieved from https://www.expertsecuritytips.com/employeessecurityeducation-awareness-training/ fabinu, f. a., ogunleye, t. o., & salau, a. t. (2016). the inclusion of security education in the basic education curriculum: a means for preventing child abuse. asian journal of education and e-learning, 4(2). lee, j. (2010). teacher receptivity to curriculum change in the implementation stage: the case of environmental education in hong kong. journal of curriculum studies, 22(1), 95-115. nerdc. (2012). religion and national values (primary 1-6). abuja: nerdc. nerdc. (2012). religion and national values (jss 1-3). abuja: nerdc. singh, t. k. r., & chan, s. (2014). teacher readiness on ict integration in teaching: a malaysian case study. international journal of asian social science, 4(7) 874-885. trendsinstitution.org. (2018). “new patterns of global security in the twenty-first century.” international affairs (royal institute of international affairs), 431-451. about the authors: moshood babatunde lawal chief lecturer, department of social studies, adeniran ogunsanya college of education, lagos nigeria. mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.expertsecuritytips.com/employeessecurity-education-awareness-training/ https://www.expertsecuritytips.com/employeessecurity-education-awareness-training/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 107 reframing immigration as an issue of freedom within the u.s. classroom william david mccorkle college of charleston abstract: immigration is currently one of the most contentious issues in both the united states and in much of the world. in order to confront powerful xenophobic narratives, there have been theoretical arguments for a more open and inclusive immigration system. most of the arguments for this more inclusive system are based in the ideas of compassion and justice. though these ideas can be helpful in certain contexts, the contention of this article is that the idea of freedom is the most transformative framework for a more inclusive immigration system, particularly in the united states with its historical focus on individualism and liberty. this idea of immigration as a form of freedom is especially pertinent to introduce into the social studies classroom in the midst of the contentious debate on immigration. this articles both looks at the theoretical basis for reframing immigration as an issue of freedom and suggestions for how teachers can introduce this perspective to their students. key words: immigration, natural rights, liberty, xenophobia introduction some people in the united states may feel compassion for certain immigrant groups, particularly dreamers (quinnipiac, 2017) and refugees (connor, 2018), but there is still a restrictive mindset in terms of actual migrant entrance into the country (connor & krogstad, 2018). the framing around more inclusive immigration has often been based around ideals of compassion and, to a lesser extent, justice. these ideals can be very powerful and convincing to certain segments of the population, but the main ideal at the heart of u.s. society is that of freedom, which may resonate deeper than the ideals of justice or compassion. it is essential to understand this dynamic at the center of u.s. society (and, to a lesser extent, other western nations) and re corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 108 frame the discussion about migration as one not solely about justice, human rights, or even compassion. those areas are vitally important, but there needs to be a restructuring of the discussion so that immigration also becomes about the freedom of individuals to cross borders in order to pursue their basic rights as human beings. conversely, restricting individuals to the man-made borders that they were assigned at birth needs to be seen as a form of bondage and oppression. this reframing is especially pertinent to introduce into the larger discussion in the social studies classroom as students begin to form their own ideas about immigration and perhaps start to question xenophobic narratives from the larger culture. compassion many of the modern arguments for more inclusive immigration policies have been grounded in two different ideological positions. one of these positions, perhaps the most common, is compassion: people in the developed world should feel a sense of care and mercy for those who are escaping horrific situations and allow the most desperate to come into their countries. there is not necessarily an innate right to come to the developed world, but these nations should act compassionately and take a more inclusive approach when possible. this framing is preferable to the approach that simply maligns any sort of compassion or human empathy. when arguing for more inclusive immigration policies, this is the approach that many humanitarian organizations, religious groups, and more liberal politicians take. the framework of looking at immigration through the lens of compassion can be seen in the field of education. arnot, pinson, and candappa (2009) argue that values of compassion can lead teachers to take a more caring stance towards groups such as asylum seekers. in some aspects, the argument for inclusive immigration based in compassion may be best illustrated in emma lazarus’ (1883) poem on the statute of liberty: “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, i lift my lamp beside the golden door!” there is still an idea that the united states is the merciful refuge for those who need help. it could be argued that this idea is part of the american psyche, even if in many ways this is no longer the case in american society, as the u.s. is highly restrictive to immigrants from more impoverished backgrounds and has recently dramatically reduced the number of refugees allowed (ingraham, 2017). american political leadership, particularly in the democratic party, has largely used this stance of compassion to advocate for more inclusive immigration positions. for example, democratic corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 109 speaker of the house nancy pelosi (2017) called for “championing comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform our nation needs.” former secretary of state hillary clinton perhaps best summed up the limitations of the compassion framework, simultaneously stating that she appreciated the more “generous and compassionate approaches” of germany’s immigration policies while stating, “but i think it is fair to say europe has done its part and must send a very clear message—we are not going to be able to continue [to] provide refuge and support” (elder, 2018). this compassionate viewpoint has been critiqued by some, particularly on the left, as insufficient (lee, 2014; ticktin, 2011). if compassion is the argument for more inclusive immigration policies, then it is in many ways optional. it also places too much emphasis on the compassion of the developed nation (lee, 2014) without understanding the economic and global injustices that have led to the need for migration to the developed world (borger, 2018). this view has also been critiqued by those who see this compassion model as taking agency away from marginalized immigrant groups (sostaita, 2017). immigrants have become recipients of mercy and compassion rather than sovereign actors who are able to create their own paths. it can inadvertently create a type of paternalistic paradigm that glorifies developed nations that may actually be largely responsible for immigration crises. this perspective also has the tendency to convert immigration into an issue of those who “deserve” compassion versus those who do not. this issue has been problematic when it comes to daca recipients or dreamers. one of the unfortunate narratives that has developed is that the young people deserve compassion because they were brought into the country against their will, but their parents do not deserve that compassion since they decided to break the law (sostaita, 2017). compassion becomes an arbitrary tool for those who have the power and privilege to grant that compassion. unfortunately, at times this can even cause tension between immigrant parents and children: “pro-youth, anti-family narratives are so ingrained in our culture that even immigrant children often buy into them. convinced that we are trapped in this impossible situation because mami y papi brought us here, we internalize these discourses and start to believe them” (sostaita, 2017). another argument about the danger of using compassion as the primary framework for immigration is made by ticktin (2011) in the context of french society. she argues that when the framework of compassion is used, only those individuals who are seen to have suffered severely are eligible to immigrate, and thus it naturally excludes other immigrants, including those who are laborers in certain specific fields. she highlights the problem of this approach in determining corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 110 who has suffered most, and that poverty itself is usually not enough to include one in this group of the most vulnerable who deserve protection. it can serve to undermine the plight of economic migrants. while there are certainly problems with the compassionate argument for inclusive immigration policies, compassion can be a helpful paradigm to help individuals at least begin embracing more inclusive immigration policies. it may be one of the few ways to break through to individuals who would otherwise have more restrictive points of view. for example, when the trump administration began its policy of separating children from their parents at the u.s. border in the summer of 2018, it was largely the pictures and stories of children crying for their parents that stirred the compassion of americans and caused public outrage (carson, 2018). compassion has also been the catalyst for change for other marginalized groups like refugees and dreamers.1 especially when trying to reach more conservative audiences, the best strategy might be to appeal to this sense of compassion, even if at times it may arguably be disempowering. many individuals may not understand the idea of immigration as an issue of justice or freedom without first viewing it through the lens of care or compassion. sirriyeh (2018) gives examples of how dreamers used this framework of compassion in order to appeal to the general population, highlighting how “this was problematic for undocumented young people who had to repress or alter aspects of their identity and experiences,” especially as it pertained to giving credence to the flawed framework of the “desirable” versus “undesirable” immigrant. daca was largely enacted due to the constant appeals to compassion of these young people, and even after trump sought to end the program, there was still widespread support for dreamers, with 82 percent of americans supporting a pathway to citizenship (quinnipiac, 2017). though the compassion framework can certainly have its advantages, the need to appeal to the mercy of the powerful can have its innate costs as well. justice understanding immigration through the lens of justice is a more prominent approach among activists and critical scholars. the core idea behind this position is that it unfair or unjust to keep 1 more information on daca and dreamers can be found through the american immigration council at https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/dream-act-daca-and-other-policies-designed-protect dreamers corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/dream-act-daca-and-other-policies-designed-protect-dreamers https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/dream-act-daca-and-other-policies-designed-protect-dreamers mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 111 individuals in inhumane situations due to their inability to migrate. much of this perspective also examines the culpability of developed nations as one of the core reasons for increased immigration; for example, the legacy of european colonialism in africa left many nations on an unsteady foundation and in turn caused greater african immigration to europe. bhamba (2015) argues that europe must account for the common history it shares with african nations due to the history of colonialism, stating that europe would not be the prosperous and attractive area it currently is without the gains from colonialism: “we need to acknowledge the imperial past as the very condition of possibility of europe and european countries today—with all the rights, duties, and obligations to reparatory justice that that entails.” in the united states, this framing could center around the u.s. drug war in central america, which has led to an increase in violence and poverty and thus an increase in immigration to the united states. others may focus on the u.s. interventions in latin america throughout its history, which has prevented these nations from obtaining greater prosperity and stability. as borger (2018) states, many central american migrants are “fleeing a hell the u.s. helped create.” borger highlights that this u.s. intervention does not just pertain to the u.s.-led coups during the cold war; it is also about the recent u.s. push for militarization of central american governments. this view also acknowledges that modern immigration restrictions are largely based on economic status. schulze-wessel (2015) describes how affluent populations are often allowed to freely cross national borders while poor populations are the victims of strict controls. fortier (2006) describes how this ability for wealthy individuals to cross borders freely is seen as a sign of their status. however, for the poor, immigration is often the opposite; it is a sign of their desperation and poverty when they are forced to flee to a more prosperous nation. villalon (2015) highlights the way that restrictive immigration is especially related to the oppression women face; women with marginalized immigration statuses may be less likely to seek assistance if they are facing abuse or other threats due to the vulnerable position they are in. bregman (2016) lays out an intriguing argument based on the theme of justice, stating that national origin is actually the greatest form of inequality. there is no other form of discrimination—sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, etc.—that has more of an effect on life prospects than nation of origin. therefore, forcing individuals to stay in their land of birth is inherently unjust. basik (2012) asks: “why, unlike race, sexual orientation, physical handicaps, and iq, is national origin still deemed a permissible basis for political discrimination?” (p. 411). bregman (2016) ties more open migration to justice, as migrants are often able to send money corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 112 back to their families in the developing world. he argues that this would deal with world poverty more effectively than the current international aid programs to third-world nations. bregman (2016) also lays out the argument that those in the developed world are morally liable for the suffering of those in the undeveloped world if they refuse to allow a more open immigration system. he gives this poignant example in order to highlight his point: say john from texas is dying of hunger. he asks me for food, but i refuse. if john dies, is it my fault? arguably, i merely allowed him to die, which while not exactly benevolent, isn’t exactly murder either. now imagine that john doesn’t ask for food, but goes off to the market, where he’ll find plenty of people willing to exchange their goods for work that he can do in return. this time though, i hire a couple of heavily armed baddies to block his way. john dies of starvation. can i still claim innocence? (loc. 2381) this perspective of immigrant rights as a form of social justice has also been propagated by many activists. this is the approach taken by groups such as united we dream, which has sought to reframe immigration less in terms of compassion than of justice. many politicians are less willing to take this position, as its logical end is an immigration system that is more open. as rennix (2019) highlights in regard to the u.s. political context, many democrats are willing to offer more embracive positions for those who are already in the country with an undocumented status, but they are not necessarily willing to embrace more open immigration policies overall. the integration of arguments based in the themes of justice have some significant advantages over a framework solely based in compassion. for instance, having a more open immigration system is no longer optional. a more inclusive system is not an additional act of goodwill but an absolute, moral necessity. it also more fully empowers immigrant communities instead of making them mere benefactors of the compassion of more privileged populations. as lee (2014) states, immigration reform and open borders are not about making life better for a special, deserving class of people. they are about abolishing systems of injustice which unjustly oppress ordinary people. the woman who loses her deported husband does not need our compassion; she does not need a special exemption from our irrational laws. what she needs, what millions of others like her need, is justice. while justice can be a helpful perspective to deconstruct popular notions of immigration, this position is not without its pitfalls. many in the developed world may simply not accept the premise that more open immigration is an issue of justice. injustice is so built into the fabric of corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 http://openborders.info/blog/some-absurdities-of-immigration-policy/ http://openborders.info/blog/open-borders-is-a-radical-proposal/ mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 113 the society that place of birth, even within the same first-world country, has large implications for the life prospects of an individual (owens-young, 2018). there is also a natural acceptance that life is unjust; we cannot resolve all of the world’s wrongs. this is more the case in the united states than in other nations, as there is a tendency in the united states to be somewhat accepting of an increasingly economically unjust society (manza & brooks, 2016). manza and brooks argue that part of this acceptance of economic inequality is due to the belief in economic mobility in american society. a prime example of this inequality is in our public education system. the u.s., turkey, and israel are alone among developed nations in giving more public education funding to wealthier children than to poorer children (porter, 2013). justice is also an easy frame to deflect to the nations that immigrants are coming from. the ultimate injustice could be seen as the way that leaders and a corrupt elite in these third-world nations are treating their people, and therefore, the injustice in these nations is where the full focus should be instead of worrying about the responses of the developed world to immigration (rahn, 2018). the idea of justice could also be undermined by arguing that more open immigration is unjust to workers in the developed world. though many of these economic arguments are faulty, they have been successfully used in the united states and western europe to argue for less immigration. freedom though compassion and justice can be used in the discussion of immigration, there should be another framework for more open and inclusive immigration policies: freedom. essentially, immigration within a nation or between nations should be the natural right of all individuals. to deny the individual the right to move his or her family to a place with more security, economic opportunities, and personal safety is to deny the very essence of liberty. some philosophers of the enlightenment hinted at this idea. the most famous, perhaps, was rousseau (1754), who critiqued the idea of personal ownership of land in general: the first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said “this is mine,” and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. from how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody. (p. 5) rousseau made the radical argument that the earth belongs to the whole of humanity. if this is true, there is no ethical or moral argument for more restrictive immigration. others who were corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 114 influenced by the enlightenment, such as thomas jefferson, also appealed to this ideal of freedom. jefferson (1774) believed that there was “a right, which nature has given to all men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice has placed them, of going in quest of new habitations.” jefferson was of course referencing the future independence of the colonies from great britain; however, this idea can certainly be applied to the issue of immigration more broadly. nature has given humanity a right to depart from its place of birth and start anew. one could argue that essential to the enlighternment ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that jefferson espoused in the declaration of independence is the right to migrate (mccorkle, 2018a). if a family is living in a place of insecurity, war, famine, or poverty, their very lives could be at stake if they are not able to move to a new location. if they are in a nation where their political, social, economic, or religious freedoms are being attacked, then they do not have liberty. finally, the last aspect of the pursuit of happiness more generally gives an even broader ethical rationale for the rights to migration. if the pursuit of happiness is a natural right, immigration is not just a right for those facing extreme and possibly life-threatening situations but for those who feel that their lives would be improved by moving to a new country. if we take jefferson’s words from the declaration seriously, then the reasons for immigration do not have to be dire; the right to migrate is itself at the core of the idea of freedom. kukathas (2013) argues that restrictive immigration is not just problematic for the liberty of those seeking to enter the country but also the residents and citizens of the receiving country, as the liberty of citizens and the freedom of migration are intrinsically linked. this dynamic is especially seen in the way it can limit the extent of relationships, business partnerships, and organizational pursuits, as restrictive immigration limits the movement of those coming in. as he states, what the advocates of immigration control are after, in the end, is control not over immigration but over society. if one values a free society, i have tried to argue in this lecture, immigration controls should be resisted because we should resist those whose efforts end up exercising ever greater control over society as a whole, and over our own lives in particular. (kukathas, 2013) napolitano (2013) makes a similar argument: “if the government can restrain the freedom to travel on the basis of an immutable characteristic of birth, there is no limit to the restraints it can impose.” he posits that immigration is a natural right for which jefferson and other past philosophers advocated. napolitano argues for the freedom of movement from a more libertarian perspective, which is quite intriguing: more open immigration is often considered to be a policy of the political left, but it is also aligned with more conservative, libertarian ideas. corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 115 carens (1987) offers the analogy of restrictive immigration being similar to the feudal system in medieval europe. just like the serfs in the feudal system, many individuals in the modern world are told that they must stay on the land on which they were born, no matter the circumstances. most nations do not necessarily say that individuals cannot leave the country, but if there are no countries that will receive them, they are in essence forced to stay on that land. carens asks why, if we see the feudal system as unjust, do we not see restrictive immigration systems in the same way.2 rennix (2019), arguing that the american left should not simply create a slightly more humane restrictive system but instead completely change the restrictive system, gives the example of how we view migration within our borders: if such things were happening to u.s. citizens who migrated within the country—if people who tried to move from poor towns to prosperous cities were rounded up in the night and forced back to the countryside—the entire nation would be outraged. the ugly racist and nationalist dimensions of our present immigration system are not detachable features: they are fundamental to the premise of punishing people for their birthplace. (p. 27) a similar argument could be made for those within a country needing to evacuate due to a natural disaster such as a hurricane. the large influx of people into inland cities and nearby states is temporarily burdensome, but there is no doubt in the national consciousness that neighboring cities and states should allow individuals to seek shelter. what right do these jurisdictions have to restrict the free movement of individuals from the coast? an argument against this movement could not be made on a national scale and would seem inhumane, but it is made in regard to international immigration often without any real critique. although the perspective of justice may be seen as the most aligned with critical theory, freedom may actually be the most radical and far-reaching of the frameworks in regard to immigration. even with the justice perspective, there is often an idea that more inclusive immigration policies are about granting justice to those who are economically oppressed or are migrating because of the actions of the developed nations. the framework of freedom extends beyond this as it not 2 the work of a portion of these theorists as well as others related to deconstructing nationalist ideals of immigration can be found in the upcoming (2020) article from the author on “critical border and migration studies.” corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 116 only applies to certain populations that need to migrate but would apply to all of humanity. it would be as expansive as the ideas of freedom of speech, religion, or assembly. there are some important caveats that should be considered when arguing from the framework of freedom, however. free borders are not borders without security. this is not an argument that those who have committed crimes should be able to escape to another country. there should still be appropriate border controls, restricting immigration in only the most extreme circumstances. just like there are certain limits to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, there would have to be some basic exceptions to the freedom of movement. for example, if there were a health crisis with a type of contagion, there would need to be health checks at borders to keep it from rapidly spreading. there would also be a need for basic background checks to screen out individuals who may seek to cause harm. there would certainly need to be restrictions, but those restrictions would be the exception, not the rule. the default position would be that of more open immigration, as that is the only ethical position to take in the context of immigration as freedom. effectiveness in the u.s. setting there are some definitive advantages to using this framework for liberty, particularly within the united states. although the pledge of allegiance calls for both liberty and justice for all, the idea of freedom or liberty is in some aspects more at the heart of the american self-consciousness. even the mythology surrounding the founding of the nation is more about breaking free of the rule of great britain than about justice for all. inequality is very much part of the american psyche, so appeals to the ideal of justice may not be sufficient. fears (2007) argues that the united states was unique from most other nations in the fact that its original founding was based upon ideals rather than primarily ethnicity. he argues that this ideal centered around freedom. he also argues that the united states is unique from most nations in history and even the modern world with its strong focus on national, individual, and political freedom. there has been critique that in some ways, the u.s. ideal of freedom can actually at times be detrimental (liptak, 2003). a strong belief in freedom of speech may increase the chances of hate groups arising in the united states more than in other nations with more restrictive policies on hate speech. this issue has also caused the supreme court, in its infamous decision in citizens united v. fec (2010), to rule that corporations can spend essentially limitless amounts of money on political campaigns in the name of freedom of speech. likewise, despite continual mass shootings in the united states, there have been almost no changes made to gun corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 117 laws, largely because some people (and wealthy donors to pro-gun causes) claim that this is part of the freedom declared in the second amendment of the bill of rights. this strong focus on freedom is also linked to american individualism, which is a strong component of the u.s. psyche. wike (2016) found that when given the choice between the government ensuring that everyone’s needs were met versus having the freedom to pursue goals without state interference, 58 percent of americans chose the latter. this was in fairly strong contrast to other western nations such as germany, where 36 percent answered that the freedom to purse one’s goals were most important, or spain, where the number was 30 percent. though it could be argued that individualism has always been a more central tenant of western societies compared to more communal asian societies, the u.s. focus on individualism is unique even compared to other western nations. likewise, with strong feelings of nationalism, many may be unaware or unwilling to accept the idea that their nation is partially responsible for the injustices in other nations. this nationalism is especially strong in the united states. a 2016 poll showed that among 19 of the leading economic nations, people in the united states were the most likely to say that their country is the greatest, with 41 percent of respondents holding this view compared to 5 percent of german and french respondents (colson, 2016). at times, it is also difficult to directly make the link between the responsibility of the developed world and increasing immigration, and in certain cases it simply cannot be applied. this cause and effect is fairly clear with iraqi refugees coming to the united states or indian migrants going to great britain, but it is less clear with congolese refugees coming to the united states. an appeal for immigration as justice in this situation does not work. in these types of situations, freedom is the most powerful framework. relationship to the classroom as social studies teachers, it is necessary to understand the ways that we can introduce the discussion of immigration within the larger theme of freedom. there are three primary ways this can be achieved. the first is truly considering immigration within the context of natural rights. the second is examining if this idea of freedom was something that was once considered natural in american history. finally, students can engage in hypothetical activities where they fully consider the implications of freedom and immigration from the perspective of a marginalized group. as napolitano (2013) highlights, the idea of natural rights that jefferson and madison advocated cannot be separated from the rights of migration. in the u.s. history section on the american corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 118 revolution or the world history section on the enlightenment, teachers might consider ways to integrate the discussion of immigration with the idea of natural freedoms or rights in the context of historical events. they could also find ways to relate these broader ideas to the modern immigration debate. students could consider a current issue like the asylum seekers at the southern u.s. border and discuss how their situation relates to jefferson’s ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.3 teachers should also help students understand how the freedom to migrate has become increasingly restrictive over time, both in the united states and worldwide. mccorkle (2018a) lays out how this can be done within the history classroom in more depth. as he highlights, although immigrants may have not been treated well throughout u.s. history, until the 20th century they largely had the right to freely migrate to the country. ngai (2013) shows that at times at ellis island, over 99 percent of those seeking to enter the country were granted access. ettinger (2009) discusses how the southern border was largely open to those from latin america until the 20th century. students could discuss why the united states did not restrict immigration heavily in the united states in the 18th and 19th centuries, even in the midst of racist and xenophobic attitudes. part of this lack of restrictions may have been the difficulty of implementing an overly restrictive border, but it may have also been the ideals from the revolution that individuals should be allowed to choose under which government they lived (mccorkle, 2018b). finally, it could be helpful for social studies teachers to help students consider situations from literature where they would have to seek refuge in another country and how this could affect the way they view immigration and freedom. one of the best examples of this role reversal in relation to immigration is the handmaid’s tale (atwood, 1985): in the story, the u.s. has become an authoritarian theocracy, and many individuals who resist this theocracy seek shelter in canada. teachers could have students watch a small clip from the tv adaptation or read a section of the book and then imagine the ideas they would have about freedom and immigration if they were in that precarious position. having students imagine themselves as the ones needing refuge may open up new perspectives. using popular literature such as the handmaid’s tale can make the 3 significant attention can and should be spent on the irony of jefferson espousing these ideals while owning slaves. however, while maintaining this critical perspective, it is important not to overlook how these seminal beliefs in american history helped set the groundwork for what we understand as our basic freedoms and rights and how they apply to an issue such as immigration. corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 119 themes of freedom and immigration tangible. similarly, students might read portions of the diary of anne frank, discuss how anne frank’s family had been unable to obtain refugee status in the united states, and consider whether anne and her family should have had the freedom to seek refuge. oftentimes, immigration is explored from a bird’s-eye view, where restrictive views can often be more justified, but when it is explored on the individual level as an issue of freedom, that restrictive view may lose some of its power. conclusion reframing immigration as an issue of freedom in the classroom, the academy, and the larger culture may be met with resistance. immigration has become seen as an issue where there should be some basic level of compassion towards immigrants while simultaneously having strict immigration policies (rennix, 2019). placing the issue of immigration within the context of freedom changes it from a controversial and debated topic (dabach, merchant, & fones, 2018) to one of basic human rights. in an age of xenophobia, particularly under president trump, that type of position may be seen as radical. however, if we are going to move beyond the strong xenophobia both in the united states and globally, it will not be achieved by simply upholding a slightly more compassionate version of restrictive immigration. true change will only come by questioning and reconstructing the whole paradigm. understanding immigration as an issue of compassion and justice can certainly be helpful, but for a true transformation in the public thinking, particularly in the united states, immigration must be understood as an issue of freedom. corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 120 references arnot, m., pinson, h., & candappa, m. 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(2011). casualties of care: immigration and the politics of humanitarianism in france. university of california press. corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 107-123 page 123 villalon, r. (2015). violence against immigrants in a context of crisis: a critical migration feminist of color analysis. journal of social distress and the homeless, 24(3), 116-139. wike, r. (2016, april 19). 5 ways americans and europeans are different. pew research center. about the author: william david mccorkle is an assistant professor of education at the college of charleston. his primary area of research is the intersection of immigration and education in the american southeast. corresponding author: mccorklewd@cofc.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:mccorklewd@cofc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 62-63. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 62-63. media review trinowski, a. a teacher’s perspective on ecojustice education: a review of martusewicz, r.a., edmundson, j., & lupinacci, j. (2011), ecojustice education toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities. ecojustice education toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities. rebecca a. martusewicz, jeff edmundson, & john lupinacci. new york: routledge publishing, 2011. (isbn 978-0-4158-7251-5). winner of the 2011 critics choice book award of the american educational studies association, ecojustice education toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities explains how cultural foundations affect our ecological system and our pedagogical responsibility. the overall goal of the book is to combine fundamentals in philosophy, economics, environmental education, and social theories with classroom practices for teachers so that we can prepare our students to become citizens who are ready to create change on our planet. the three authors are teacher educators who are active in ecojustice education, an international organization that focuses on providing teachers with the tools they need to begin working on improving their own classrooms and communities. the authors stipulate that we have a moral and ethical responsibility to educate ourselves, our students, and our communities, about becoming a more democratic and ecologically sustainable society. after a very brief review of the depressing state of our world, the book shifts into an analysis of our current social norms and the purpose of our education system. the authors remind us that the purpose of education is to “help develop citizens who are prepared to support and achieve diverse, democratic and sustainable societies” (p. 8), and that our survival depends on our ability to change the course we are currently on. they suggest that those of us in western cultures tend to forget that the ecological crisis is really a cultural crisis. we have learned to behave with each other and our environment in a way that is detrimental to our future. the book continues on to describe what ecojustice education consists of, including elements based on the understanding that we are all interrelated in our diverse human cultures and are a part of a complex system of life on this planet. ecojustice education stresses that we humans are not separate from our environment; we are one ecosystem. earth is “more than a human” planet. this thinking goes beyond environmental education. our cultural behaviors and beliefs need to change. the authors describe our current public school system as having political, social, and economic goals. public schools have been teaching our students to become citizens who obey laws, to be “good” people, and to be good workers in an industrial workforce. one of the key expectations of our public schools is to “teach students to continue the society in pretty much the same way is has always been” (p. 17). the authors argue that the purpose of education is to create citizens who can actively work toward a better society, a sustainable society, and to value cultural diversity for its role in improving our living systems. in very basic terms, sustainable communities “do not interfere with the ability of natural systems to renew themselves” (p. 22). professors martusewicz, edmundson, and lupinacci discuss in detail how humans have differences in their views of the world and of their particular culture. our mindset is created by our experiences in our community, and this shapes the way we think about the world. ecojustice education stipulates that “what we ‘know’ is always a matter of what we can say about the world – that is, the particular metaphors that we use to describe it” (p. 55-56). these learned concepts affect our western corresponding author email: alisontrinowski@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 62 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 62-63. modernist culture and our system of beliefs or discourses. these discourses of modernity, which are discussed at length in the book, include serious issues of individualism, mechanism, progress, commodification, consumerism, anthropocentrism, androcentrism, and ethnocentrism. sustainable societies, however, shift this thinking to a more holistic and ecocentric view focused on how our progress will affect our community as a whole in the future. the book also examines our own common-based practices, as they still are a factor in our culture. sometimes they can cause irreparable damage. ecojustice education states, “it is important to remember that the commons – our shared beliefs, practices and rituals – also includes many traditions and ways of living that undermine community and hasten environmental destruction” (p. 283). this book calls for educators not only to be aware of these, but to strive for change in our perceptions and thinking. teachers are challenged to address how our mindset has come about, how it is maintained, and how to change it to better prepare our students. this book is well organized, stays consistent in its overall message, and gives the reader a detailed and in-depth analysis of the authors’ view on ecojustice education and the role it plays in the pedagogy of educators. the conversational tone of the writing makes you feel like you are in a classroom, learning from the authors. there are concepts discussed that really open up other areas of discovery and thought. included with the text are diagrams, charts, and additional textboxes with key points to help illustrate what the authors are saying. at the end of each chapter there are activities listed for teachers to use in their own classrooms to help develop these concepts with their students. there is even a website to engage the reader in further research and educational possibilities (http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415872515/). this book shifted my preconceived idea of fixing our problems simply by adopting conventional environmentalism. recycling and reusing are not enough. there are many challenges to examining the cultural roots of these social and ecological problems. however, the authors show how we need to dig deeper into the heart of the destructive aspects of our culture, the serious nature of these issues, and how they are directly related to environmental issues. changes to our educational practices cannot happen overnight but ecojustice education is an excellent book to use as a tool for furthering educational pedagogy and ethical responsibility in this area. with this book there is opportunity to expand beyond reading, to engage in actual activities in the classroom and community. this approach makes it more relevant and relatable to teachers by getting us involved with our students in ongoing efforts to improve our shared future on this planet. author note: alison trinowski has the best job ever, as art teacher at delta kelly elementary in rochester, michigan. her interests include art and art history, biking, kayaking, and reading. she can be reached at alisontrinowski@gmail.com corresponding author email: alisontrinowski@gmail.com ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 63 journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 35 exploring controversial issues in elementary social studies danielle linowes fairfield central elementary school li-ching ho university of wisconsin thomas misco miami university megan stahlsmith interexchange abstract: this article addresses the importance of teaching controversial issues, especially within elementary school contexts. in particular, the article explores the underlying elements of justice within controversies and demonstrates the way in which teachers might explore procedural justice within an elementary classroom. key words: controversial issues; justice; elementary social studies introduction value controversies, including disagreements concerning normative and moral issues, are appropriate for elementary school students (parker, 2011). controversial issue discussion in early grades can increase student engagement and provide an authentic and engaging springboard to relevant individual, community, and societal issues (bolgatz, 2005). elementary students who engage in controversial discussion will have exposure to different and sometimes conflicting perspectives, and learn how to carefully evaluate legitimate alternatives, participate respectfully in group discussions, and ultimately decide the best course of action. powerful elementary social studies teaching and learning should incorporate lessons that teach students how to consider ethical and value-based dimensions of controversial social issues (brophy, alleman, & halvorsen, 2013). this is because the inclusion of controversial issues in the curriculum may help improve critical thinking, prepare students to participate fully and corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 36 effectively in democratic societies, encourage political engagement, and develop commitment to democratic values (hess, 2008). exploring topics of this kind in elementary grades is “the clear obligation of schools” in order to “promote full and free study and deliberation of controversial issues and to foster appreciation of the role of controversy as an instrument of progress in a democracy” (parker, 2011, p. 214). teachers should move beyond lower-order how, what, and why questions, and pay more attention to normative and evaluative elements whereby students are asked or ask a question involving “should.” this line of questioning challenges students to go beyond simply encountering knowledge and instead emphasizes the goal of relevant decision-making, the central purpose of democratic citizenship education (national council for the social studies, 2010). literature review controversial issues belong in elementary education. the reality is that elementary students face controversy every day at school and outside of school (mcbee, 1996). when social studies is taught meaningfully, it is connected to real-world issues students can relate to (bolgatz, 2006). avoiding controversial issues is a detriment to elementary students because it leads to banal content that does not motivate students, who will not have a space to learn peaceful conflict resolutions (mcbee, 1996). elementary students will not become citizens capable of making informed and reasoned decisions without learning controversial issues and being able to discuss the diverse view points that come with these issues (mcbee, 1996). yet, many elementary teachers avoid raising substantive controversial topics with their students (bolgatz, 2005). emotional discomfort, lack of confidence, parental concerns, fear of “getting into trouble,” resistance from students, thinking students are not intellectually or emotionally mature enough, and lack of professional development are too often responses to this most fundamental educative charge (zembylas & kambani, 2012). there is concern from teachers about having time to teach controversial issues, and teachers are concerned that while discussing controversial issues they will lose control over classroom behavior (mcbee, 1996). teachers’ perceptions of students being unable to justify their own opinions and the notion that students just accept the opinions of parents and close relatives as their own affects teachers’ willingness to use controversial topics in their classroom (byford, lennon, & russell, 2009). another concern teachers have is their ability to remain neutral in controversial discussions (mcbee, 1996). in addition, the inherent unknown outcomes of normative discussions and deliberations provoke corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 37 many stakeholders to avoid the topics of race, class, gender, and immigration in evaluative and problem-oriented ways. teaching controversy in elementary classrooms can take several forms. controversial issues are best discussed in democratic, student-centered classrooms (misco, 2011). students need to be able to take on multiple perspectives through discussions of controversies (misco, 2011). discussions of controversial issues can be powerful learning tools when teachers are prepared and prepare students for discussion (hess, 2009). teachers need to be intentional in teaching for discussion and teaching with discussion (hess, 2009). both are necessary, as the former is designed to teach students to effectively participate in controversial discussions, a skill they will need as democratic citizens. the latter uses discussion as a tool to teach content and critical thinking skills (hess, 2009). additional instructional strategies teachers can use to teach controversial issues include documentaries, socratic seminars, and deliberation (misco, 2011). the teacher’s role is to challenge students’ assumptions, create a classroom environment based on mutual respect and trust, and prepare students for the discussion and debrief them afterwards (misco, 2011). immigration is one example of a controversial topic that can be taught in elementary social studies classes. teachers need to teach about immigration through a historical lens, as well as through a contemporary lens. (hossain, 2014). while many states require that immigration be taught, it is being taught mostly from a historical perspective. there will always be immigration in the united states; therefore, teachers need to understand the issues surrounding immigration today to teach immigration in a way that is meaningful and relevant to students (hossain, 2014). when immigration is taught from a historical perspective, it should be taught with multiple perspectives and a social justice bent, which helps elementary students develop skills to look at history and current events from multiple angles (ciardiello, 2012). young students are perceptive about what is fair and what is not fair, and they have an interest in learning about issues that address fairness and their rights, such as immigration (ciardiello, 2012). teaching elementary students about immigration in a way that makes them question the fairness of immigration laws is a controversial justice-oriented topic that allows students to develop critical thinking skills by examining the world from multiple perspectives. teaching distributive and procedural justice justice-oriented topics are extremely controversial. all concepts of justice are normative, focusing on what should or ought to happen, and, when they involve people, are moral as well. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 38 while young students will already be familiar with controversial situations that they deem to be “fair” or “unfair,” it is important for students to reflect upon different forms of justice and recognize that each form requires them to ask different questions. we suggest that elementary teachers consciously focus on the forms of justice embedded in each question or topic, ranging from distributive and procedural (the focus of this article), as well as punitive, restorative, corrective, retributive, and social justice. distributive justice concerns the fairness of the distribution of benefits (e.g., money, medical care) or burdens (e.g., taxes). students might naturally be inclined to be more egalitarian or “fair” in their outlook and argue that identical amounts should be distributed to each person. a more productive approach would be to position students to consider other criteria, including needs, wants, merit, and worth (holmes, 1993). teachers, for instance, can ask students to examine how people or groups have different or similar needs, such as economic needs (e.g., money) or physical needs (e.g., hunger or illness) and then consider how benefits should be distributed (center for civic education, 2005). in order to further complicate students’ thinking about how they should decide, teachers can also pose questions about equal treatment or distribution of benefits. in early grades, teachers can begin this conversation by employing a scenario involving injuries and the treatment of injuries. a select group of students are assigned an injury at random, ranging from a paper cut to a broken arm. the teacher then poses the question, “what if i gave everyone a band-aid?” this very literal scenario can then be made more complex as the students grasp the principles behind distributive justice. the discussions move from issues directly related to the classroom, like distribution of ipads when there are not enough for every student, to issues of inequality that persist throughout the world currently and in history, e.g., access to fresh food across the united states. for more advanced elementary students, teachers can introduce the example of a government having a tax surplus and offering rebates (e.g., $300). the teacher can use the following guiding questions:  should each person receive the rebate? or should this be limited to those who paid taxes?  should the government consider a person’s “need” (e.g., how rich or poor the person is) when distributing the rebate? if so, how should the government decide?  what other factors or variables should be considered? why? corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 39 while these discussions are purposeful in that they give students the opportunity to think critically and develop a sense of justice, they also fulfill multiple speaking and listening common core standards. students can also reflect on the scenarios in writing by explaining their opinions and citing evidence to support their reasoning, which is writing standard 3.1 in the common core standards. these types of lessons also fulfill several national council for the social studies (ncss) standards, specifically within the categories of power, authority, and governance and civil ideas and practices. for example, discussion of distributive justice allows students to “examine issues involving the rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in relation to the broader society” (national council for the social studies, 2010, p. 80) while also exploring how democratic ideals affect our views on those issues. procedural justice speaks to the fairness of processes by which decisions are made. for example, how do elementary students decide who is able to select which country to focus on for a geography project? this can potentially be a complex controversial topic. most procedures of this kind are enacted randomly, but is that fair? while some students might not care, for others it might be a more significant outcome. at the school level, how do we determine classroom rules, student responsibilities, and procedures for allocating resources? subsequently, teachers can highlight the importance of procedural justice in courts and in the executive and legislative branches of government (e.g., the bill of rights). for example, how should courts decide the guilt or innocence of a person who is accused of a crime? why is procedural justice important in this example? elementary teachers can incite curiosity and reflection through the use of a process called “moral negotiation” (mccarthy, 2003). moral negotiation provides a structure to ensure that the issue, rather than teacher or student beliefs or preferences, is at the center of instruction. this also helps students and teachers determine the conditions under which certain responses to a controversial justice-oriented question are permissible, forbidden, and obligatory. lesson plans in action in a third-grade classroom in ohio, a teacher (one of the authors of this article) gave her students the opportunity to develop an understanding of procedural justice, utilizing the exploration of an issue relevant to her classroom. she developed the following lesson plan. during this lesson, the students were very engaged. giving them the opportunity to discuss issues authentic to their classroom experience was an effective way to introduce procedural justice and get them excited about the topic. this type of lesson is most effective when preceded and/or followed by more corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 40 debate about issues in the classroom, as well as discussions of how they relate to broader topics in current and historical events. title of lesson procedural justice in our classroom standards addressed  ncss early grade standard: learners will understand how the rules and norms of groups to which they belong impact their lives.  ncss early grade standard: learners will be able to ask and find answers to questions about power, authority, and governance in the school, community, and state.  ncss early grade standard: learners will be able to develop a position on a school or local issue, and defend it with evidence.  ccss.ela-literacy.sl.3.1 engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.  ccss.ela-literacy.w.3.1 write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. objective students will be able to identify and explain conditions under which taking an item is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory and defend their responses with justice-oriented reasons. key vocabulary justice, forbidden, permissible, obligatory materials chart paper, pencils, worksheet (see appendix a) lesson opener  ask students for their definitions of justice and record their answers on chart paper. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 41  correct any misconceptions and pose the following scenario: “a person finds something in a shared area that does not belong to him or her. should the person take it?” o you may pose an alternative scenario that is relevant to your classroom. (this was chosen because there were many occurrences in this particular classroom of students picking up items from the floor and keeping them, even if they did not belong to them.)  explain the definitions of forbidden (can never do), permissible (may do), and obligatory (must do).  go back to the original scenario and model a scenario in which it is forbidden to take someone else’s property. then solicit student input for a scenario when it is permissible. small group discussion  split students up into groups of 3-4. have students find a spot in the room and discuss scenarios in which it is forbidden, permissible, and obligatory to take something from a shared space that is not his/hers.  circulate the room and ask questions to facilitate deeper discussion. whole group discussion  bring the students back together in a shared area.  have at least one person from each group explain the conditions they came up with.  give students the chance to respond to their classmates with questions and/or agreements/disagreements.  record responses on chart paper. check for understanding  allow students to choose one condition related to the scenario and respond in writing as to why it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to take the item in that situation. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 42 extension  link the discussion to a relevant current event, such as china seizing a u.s. government-owned drone from the south china sea.  many procedural justice scenarios in the classroom also relate to historical events, which can be explored in a later discussion. related children’s literature  the youngest marcher: the story of audrey faye hendricks, a young civil rights activist by cynthia levinson o this book explains the experience of nine-year-old audrey fay hendricks, who went to jail after protesting during the civil rights era. students can use this text to debate instances when it is forbidden, permissible, and obligatory to go against the law in order to do what one believes is just.  seeds of change by jen cullerton johnson o this book takes place in kenya and addresses the life of wangari maathai, a renowned environmentalist. students can use this text to discuss the procedural justice involved in access to education for girls as well as environmental justice.  si, se puede! / yes, we can!: janitor strike in l.a. by diana cohn and paul mirocha o this book examines the janitor strike in los angeles in 2000 from the perspective of a janitor’s child. this text better lends itself to discussions related to distributive justice, as students explore the fight for fair wages. as the teacher circulated the room, she noticed some students discussing the idea of stealing. she challenged her students to define stealing. some students immediately defined corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 43 stealing as “taking something that isn’t yours,” while another student specified that it is only stealing “when [the item] is important to somebody.” the second student expanded by saying it would be permissible to take something if you know whose it is, “but you don’t want to give it to [him/her].” in contrast, one student noted that it would be obligatory to take something if you don’t know the person, further complicating the concept of stealing (see appendix c). these differing definitions provoked moral negotiation and gave students an opportunity to develop a critical perspective of stealing. the teacher also noticed that students grappled with scenarios in which it is obligatory to pick up something that is not yours. many students cited “gum on the floor” as an instance when you must take it. when the teacher probed further and asked if it was their responsibility, one student replied, “no, but it is doing the right thing.” the students’ black-and-white ideas of what is right and wrong were challenged when they brought up an instance of another student moving away (see appendix c). is it forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to keep that student’s things? most students decided it was either permissible or obligatory, but had a difficult time coming to a complete consensus as a group. these discussions provoked the students’ ability to think openly and view differing perspectives while discussing a familiar topic. now that the students had experience with moral negotiation on a familiar topic, the teacher challenged the students with the task of discussing conditions in which it is forbidden, permissible, and obligatory to come to the united states illegally. undocumented immigration is a relevant and highly debated topic, and through this lesson, the teacher hoped that students would recognize the complexity of the issue while developing their own beliefs. title of lesson undocumented immigration: justice in a current events context standards addressed  ncss early grade standard: learners will understand the theme of people, places, and environments involves the study of location, place, and the interactions of people with their surroundings.  ncss early grade standard: learners will be able to describe interactions between and among individuals, groups, and institutions. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 44  ncss early grade standard: learners will understand fundamental values of democracy: the common good, liberty, justice, equality, and individual dignity.  ncss early grade standard: learners will be able to examine issues involving the rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in relation to the broader society.  ncss early grade standard: learners will be able to analyze how specific polities or citizen behaviors reflect ideals and practices consistent or inconsistent with democratic ideals.  ccss.ela-literacy.sl.3.1 engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.  ccss.ela-literacy.w.3.1 write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. objective students will be able to classify and explain scenarios in which it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to enter the united states illegally, as well as when it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to be deported, and defend their arguments with justice-oriented reasoning. key vocabulary forbidden, permissible, obligatory, immigration, citizen, undocumented, legal, illegal materials computer, projector, pencils, worksheets (see appendix b) lesson opener  introduce the concept of immigration and citizenship to students by showing students the following videos: https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernment/citizenship/ and https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/immigration/ . if the teacher does not have a brainpop account, any similar introduction to immigration and citizenship is effective. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernment/citizenship/ https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernment/citizenship/ https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/immigration/ mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 45  develop a class definition of immigrant and citizen together and record the definitions on the board. discuss the terms legal, illegal, and undocumented with students.  explain to students that they will be discussing instances when people come into the united states without going through the process of becoming citizens.  show students the sort and discuss the first scenario together. explain that not all members of the group have to agree, but they must have a discussion and present their arguments. sort/small group discussion  split students up into groups of 3-4. have students find a spot in the room to complete the first sort on when it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to enter the united states illegally. students may add relevant scenarios that they come up with on their own.  circulate the room and ask questions to facilitate deeper discussion. whole group discussion  bring the students back together in a shared area.  have at least one person from each group explain one of the scenarios they sorted and why they listed it as forbidden, permissible, or obligatory.  give students the chance to respond to their classmates with questions and/or agreements/disagreements. sort/small group discussion part 2  have students break up into their small groups again and find a spot in the room to complete the second sort on when it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory to be deported if you are in the united states illegally. students may add relevant scenarios that they come up with on their own.  circulate the room and ask questions to facilitate deeper discussion. whole group discussion  bring the students back together in a shared area. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 46  have at least one person from each group explain one of the scenarios they sorted and why they listed it under forbidden, permissible, or obligatory.  give students the chance to respond to their classmates with questions and/or agreements/disagreements. make sure that students understand that there are no right or wrong answers. extensions  write a persuasive letter to your member of congress explaining what you believe he or she should do about undocumented immigrants. use evidence from the discussion and sort to support your argument.  with older students, teachers can introduce current immigration policy such as deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). students can then discuss this policy or other similar policies in small groups or as a whole class. it is important to note that this lesson is not meant to be a comprehensive examination of immigration. the topic is utilized in a way that allows students to examine their beliefs about an issue on a societal scale. during this lesson, the teacher observed students aiming to justify their reasoning and developing their own moral code in the process. for example, one student noted that it would be obligatory to come to the united states illegally if there was violence in the home country because the person’s “home might be destroyed,” signifying that he sees shelter as a fundamental right. however, the same student classified an undocumented immigrant coming to the u.s. for religious reasons as forbidden, signifying that he may not see religious freedom as a fundamental right. a student in the same group disagreed, stating that if a person could not practice his or her religion in his or her home country, it should be obligatory that he or she come to the united states (see appendix d). throughout the activity, some students looked to the teacher for the correct answer, missing the purpose of moral negotiation. many students are programmed to see the teacher as all-knowing, but justice-oriented teaching pushes students further. instead, students are forced to look at themselves for the answers and often discover that one right answer does not exist. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 47 global connections these lessons were created for u.s. elementary classrooms, but they can be adapted to address the same issues in other countries. immigration is a controversial issue experienced and discussed in many nations; it is not an issue limited to the united states. according to a un report in 2017, although the united states has the largest number of international migrants, about 80 million international migrants live in asia compared to 58 million international migrants living in the united states. the big ideas and vocabulary terms of the lessons—justice, illegal/legal, immigration, and citizenship—are universal. the content of the lessons can easily be exchanged with content relating to immigration in specific countries. the lessons can also be expanded to compare immigration between different countries. a continuation of these lessons could focus on the countries immigrants are coming from and look more closely at why people immigrate. immigration is a global issue and there are ample opportunities in the lessons to adjust and expand instruction to incorporate immigration content related to different countries. conclusions we recognize that elementary teachers may feel uncomfortable introducing controversial topics with their students (bolgatz, 2005). teachers, for instance, may face resistance from students and parents, lack confidence and institutional support, and/or think that their students are not intellectually or emotionally mature enough. nevertheless, we echo parker’s (2011) assertion that schools have a clear obligation to “promote full and free study and deliberation of controversial issues and to foster appreciation of the role of controversy as an instrument of progress in a democracy.” this justice approach to the teaching of controversial issues in elementary schools, therefore, provides a useful tool for teachers to help foster informed and reasoned decision making in their students, skills that are central to democratic societies. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 48 references bolgatz, j. 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(2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. new york: routledge. holmes, r. l. (1993). basic moral philosophy. belmont, ca: wadsworth. hossain, k. i. (2014). immigration beyond ellis island: suggestions for teaching about immigration in the now. multicultural education, 22(1), 56-59. mcbee, r. h. (1997). can controversial issues be taught in the early grades? the answer is yes! in m. e. haas & m. a. laughlin (eds.), meeting the standards: social studies readings for k-6 educators (pp. 158-162). washington, dc: national council for the social studies. mccarthy, c. l. (2003). moral negotiation and john dewey [lecture]. iowa city, ia. misco, t. (2011). teaching about controversial issues: rationale, practice, and need for inquiry. european journal for education law & policy, 7(1), 7-18. national council for the social studies. (2010). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. silver spring, md: ncss. parker, w. c. (2011). social studies in elementary education (14th ed.). boston: pearson. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 49 united nations, department of economic and social affairs, population division (2017). international migration report 2017: highlights (st/esa/ser.a/404). new york, ny: united nations. zembylas, m., & kambani, f. (2012). the teaching of controversial issues during elementary level history instruction: greek-cypriot teachers’ perceptions and emotions. theory and research in social education, 40(2), 107-133. about the authors: danielle linowes is a fifth grade language arts teacher at fairfield central elementary school in fairfield, ohio. she graduated from miami university summa cum laude with a b.s. in early childhood education in 2016. she is currently pursuing master’s degrees in transformative education and literacy and language from miami university. thomas misco is a professor of social studies education at miami university. his research focuses on citizenship education and the discussion of controversial issues in cross-cultural contexts. li-ching ho is an associate professor in the department of curriculum and instruction at the university of wisconsin-madison. her research, conducted primarily in east and southeast asia, focuses on global issues of diversity in civic education, differentiated access to citizenship education, and environmental citizenship. megan stahlsmith graduated from miami university in 2018 with a b.s. in social studies education. in 2019, she received her m.ed. in transformative education from miami university. she is currently working through a program called interexchange as a language assistant in la immaculada school in vilassar de dalt, catalonia, spain corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 50 appendix a name # you find something on the ground and it is not yours. you take it for yourself. when is it... forbidden (cannot be done)? permissible (allowed to be done)? obligatory (must be done)? 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 3. on your own, choose one situation when it is permissible to keep something that you find on the ground. why is it permissible? use at least 2 reasons. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 51 appendix b name # immigration directions: cut out the scenarios at the bottom of the page. discuss each scenario with your table and decide if it is forbidden, permissible, or obligatory. you can write in your own scenarios at the end. an undocumented immigrant comes into the united states. when is it… forbidden (cannot be done)? permissible (allowed to be done)? obligatory (must be done)? his/her parents live in the u.s. and are legal citizens. his/her parents brought him/her when he/she was too young to know. he/she was very poor in his/her home country. his/her parents live in the u.s. and are illegal citizens. there was a lot of violence and war in his/her home country. he/she was not allowed to practice his/her religion in his/her home country. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 52 an undocumented immigrant is deported (must leave) the united states. when is it… forbidden (cannot be done)? permissible (allowed to be done)? obligatory (must be done)? he/she pays taxes and has a job. he/she wants to help make the community a better place to live and work. he/she commits a crime. her/she does not pay taxes. he/she does not have a job. he/she has a family legally living in the united states. corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 appendix c page 53 corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 54 appendix d corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 35-55 page 55 corresponding author: miscotj@miamioh.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:miscotj@miamioh.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 172-175 corresponding author: jing.williams@usd.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 172 book review kirkwood-tucker, t. f. (ed.). (2018). the global education movement: narratives of distinguished global scholars. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. jing williams university of south dakota the global education movement beautifully chronicles the life-long professional accomplishments of 13 distinguished global scholars, selected by the international assembly [ia] of the national council for the social studies [ncss] between 2005 and 2016, with two awardees (a husband-wife team) in 2007. among the 13 scholars, one is originally from germany, one is originally from zimbabwe, and the rest are all u.s.-born scholars. these 13 scholars’ biographical and autobiographical narratives highlight their accomplishments and insights on global education and reveal how their personal life experiences influenced their teaching and scholarship and formed the foundation of their commitment to global education. this book honors the contributions of these 13 scholars, endows globally minded individuals with a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and its people, introduces social studies/global educators and others interested in the field to the accomplishments of these global education role models, and celebrates the distinguished global scholar program of the ia of the ncss. the chapters are arranged chronologically by the year in which each individual received the distinguished global scholar award. instead of reviewing chapter by chapter, this book review focuses on three overarching themes: social impact on personal growth, mentorship from university professors, and a life-long commitment to global education. although most of the scholars in this book grew up in relatively small towns, the national and world events at the time overcame the small town parochialism to expand their outlook on the world. merry merryfield, who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in tennessee, witnessed racism and civil rights protests and concluded that “no matter how parochial or racist a person’s background may be, our backgrounds do not prevent us from becoming anti-racist global educators” (p. 123). world war ii convinced several scholars of the importance of a global perspective in education. charlotte anderson witnessed prisoners of war working in the fields and japanese americans interned in the minidoka relocation center near her small idaho town. kenneth a. tye developed a life-long love for geography and an interest in world events by mailto:jing.williams@usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 172-175 corresponding author: jing.williams@usd.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 173 following the war news on the radio and checking the world map tacked above his bed. toni fuss kirkwood-tucker, growing up in germany under the nazi regime, learned about the significance of democracy in her childhood. the mentorship from university professors indirectly guided many of the scholars to set their career path on global education. while studying at manchester college in indiana, jan l. tucker was influenced by his history and geography professor neal merritt, who encouraged him to study world history and international studies. john cogan expressed that the courses he took with gerald read, professor of comparative education at kent state university, were “lifechanging experiences” and had “profoundly impacted [him]” (p. 102). merry merryfield was inspired by jim becker who challenged her to conceptualize global perspectives and by robert hanvey, author of an attainable global perspective, a timeless classic on global education published in 1976. kenneth a. tye owed his gratitude to harl brown who encouraged him to work with teacher-trainees in rural liberia for a summer and john goodlad who “was responsible for [his] involvement in global education” (p. 205). david grossman was influenced by three professors: mikiso hane who offered him an opportunity to spend a year studying in india; harvard dean of education ted sizer who recommended that he gain some classroom teaching experiences before pursuing a doctoral degree; and victor hao li who persuaded him to direct the bay area china project in 1973 and invited him to launch an educational program about asia and the pacific at the east-west center in hawaii in 1987. one characteristic that these scholars share is their life-long commitment to global education, believing deeply in the interconnectedness of the world and its people. this belief is well condensed in one african concept, ubuntu, which, according to josiah tlou, “addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity and the responsibility to each other that flows from our connection” (p. 226). it is the same concept that has guided tlou to devote his entire life to african education. each scholar contributed to global education in his or her own way. james becker, the father of global education, set the foundation and pointed the direction for global education in the united states in the second half of the 20th century. jan tucker gave up a prestigious working environment at stanford university and went to the newly established florida international university, where he created the global social studies education program. lee anderson established the undergraduate interdisciplinary international studies program at northwestern university, and charlotte anderson advocated for “community-global connections” (p. 90). john cogan’s numerous empirical comparative studies in asia, europe, and north america have made significant contributions to global citizenship education. likewise, carole hahn conducted mailto:jing.williams@usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 172-175 corresponding author: jing.williams@usd.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 174 extensive comparative research studies on civic education in multiple european countries for over 30 years. merry merryfield and angene wilson both served in africa with the peace corps and incorporated the african perspective and voice in their teaching and research. toni fuss kirkwood-tucker trained hundreds of teachers and administrators in the miami public schools how to teach from a global perspective through multiple programs and study trips abroad. kenneth tye, even after retirement, never stopped writing or researching on global education. david grossman’s extensive network in the asia-pacific region helped countless teachers and educators in the u.s. better understand asian and pacific societies. judith torney-purta has been leading seminal international civic education assessments on a global scale for the international association for the evaluation of education achievement since the 1970s. in the final section of the book, the editor presents a comprehensive overview of the history of the ia and two key components of its annual meetings: the distinguished global scholar award and the jan l. tucker memorial lecture. although this section is not the focal point of this book, it might be more helpful as an introduction than as a conclusion as it provides readers, especially those with limited knowledge of the ia, with essential background knowledge of this professional organization before they delve into reading about the 13 scholars’ accomplishments in social studies/global education. these global scholars have clearly predicted in their writings that a new renaissance is emerging in international global education in public schools and teacher education programs in the united states and numerous countries around the world as policy makers are acknowledging the increasing interconnectivity of humankind. the global education movement is a must-read masterpiece for all global educators, especially for the current and future members of the ia of the ncss. if the ia is a big global family, this book is the family genealogy. we need to learn about our family history and understand how our predecessors overcame barricades and roadblocks on their way to champion international global education, so we can carry on this legacy and better function as bridges among peoples and across nations. about the author: jing williams is assistant professor of social studies education at the university of south dakota. she currently serves as the vice president and program chair (2016-2018) of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies. her research interests mailto:jing.williams@usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 172-175 corresponding author: jing.williams@usd.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 175 include alternative social studies methods, global education, interdisciplinary studies, and community-based research. mailto:jing.williams@usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ educating citizens: a cross-cultural conversation journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 2 educating citizens: a cross-cultural conversation susan a. adler national institute of education, singapore kho ee moi national institute of education, singapore this study explores pre-service teachers’ beliefs about citizenship across two nations, the united states and singapore; the nature of their conversation about those beliefs; and the impact of their cross-cultural dialog on their reflections about the citizenship goal of social studies. data is based on a black board-based threaded dialog, over two different semesters, between preservice social studies teachers in the two countries. the discussions focused on the meanings each group held about what it means to be an effective citizen. data was analyzed around themes of knowledge, skills, and values. the conversations provided some insight into the similarities and differences in conceptions of citizenship held by these two groups of preservice teachers. across both groups and both years, the dominant view of the “good citizen” expressed by participants was that of the “personally responsible citizen.” while many similarities were evident, there were also clear differences which the facilitators attributed to differences in disciplinary grounding and cultural contexts. participants reported that the cross-cultural dialog had encouraged them to think more deeply about the concept of citizenship and the goals of social studies. keywords: social studies, citizenship, cross cultural social studies educators in democratic countries generally agree that an important goal of the social studies curriculum is the development of the skills and knowledge necessary for active citizenship in a democratic society (see hahn, 2002; nelson, 2001; ochoa-becker, 2007). however, this apparent consensus on the purposes of social studies is fraught with ambiguity and conflict. what are the skills and knowledge essential to the education of citizens in democracies? what, for that matter, does it mean to be a citizen in the twenty-first century? how can and should social studies education contribute to the development of effective citizens? given the varying concepts of citizenship and citizen education found in the literature (evans, 2004; nelson, 2001), what conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education are held by social journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 3 studies teachers who are charged, ultimately, with enacting this social studies goal? this study explores pre-service teachers‟ beliefs about citizenship across two nations, the united states and singapore, and the nature of their conversation about those beliefs. the intention of this research is to illuminate prospective social studies teachers‟ beliefs about citizenship and social studies across two very different cultures. as will be described below, it was hoped that an exploration of the idea of citizenship across two cultures might push the participants toward more thoughtful reflection about this important topic. in addition, the instructors hoped that such a discussion regarding the meaning of citizenship might prompt the participants to push their thinking about civic responsibilities beyond national borders. educating citizens there are conflicting views about the nature of the knowledge and skills necessary for effective citizens. the literature in the field is replete with debates about what it means to be an effective citizen and the sort of curriculum necessary to prepare young people for citizenship. concepts of citizenship range from being socialized to the norms and expectations of society on the one hand and to the development of the skills, dispositions, and knowledge to question those norms and expectations on the other hand (stanley, 2005). as will be described below, in the united states and singapore, social studies is seen as an important component of citizenship education in schools (ministry of education, 2010; national council for the social studies, 2010). hence debates about what it means to be an “effective citizen” impact debates about the nature and implementation of social studies (evans, 2004). should social studies promote citizenship focused on socializing young people to the status quo or should it aim at transforming and reconstructing society? social studies as both socialization and counter-socialization (ochoa-becker, 2007) may send contradictory messages, yet those very contradictions may be necessary to education in a democratic society. debates about the many and contradictory concepts of citizenship education are heightened when looking across national and cultural contexts (hahn, 1998). finally, what do social studies and citizenship education mean in an increasingly connected world in which national borders have become porous and global connections more significant? educating citizens in singapore and the united states in considering questions around the education of citizens, national context is important. singapore and the united states share, at least on the surface, some similarities. the modern history of both nations began with colonization by great britain. both nations have been built by immigrants and today both have racially and culturally diverse societies. of course there are significant differences. the united states is a western nation grounded in western ideals of individualism and freedom. the united states has long claimed, although not always practiced, the value of civic participation and citizen decision-making. very early in united states history, schools became important partners in building the new nation and preparing immigrants to become american citizens (herbst, 1996). the primacy of public schooling as a means to educate future citizens was reflected in the words and proposals of founding leaders. for example, thomas jefferson‟s proposal for journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 4 three years of free public schooling for all children was intended to establish a mechanism for democratically selecting future leaders. horace mann, considered by many as the “father of public education” in the united states, looked to public schooling as a way to socialize citizens to a shared set of political values. for much of its history, citizenship education in the united states embraced an assimilationist ideology (banks, 2002). from the early days of the nation, americanizing the diverse population, and especially arriving immigrants, meant teaching newcomers to conform to the language, values, beliefs and behaviors of the white anglo-saxon protestants who held power in the new nation (pai, adler, & shadiow, 2006). many young people did lose their language, cultures and ethnic identities, even at times becoming alienated from families and communities. the 1960s and 1970s brought a rising demand for the recognition of group rights as well as individual rights (banks, 2008). the belief that citizens could maintain their connections to their cultural communities while at the same time participating in the shared, national culture was growing. despite fears that continued allegiance to culture groups would balkanize the nation (see schlesinger, 1991) the commitment to unity with diversity continued to grow, as culture groups held the mainstream accountable for living up to american ideals. singapore, too, is a “nation of immigrants,” a multiracial society built by immigrants who came primarily from china, malaysia, and india. singapore gained selfrule in 1959 and became part of the newly independent malaysian confederation in 1963. singapore and malaysia went their separate ways in 1965. at the time of independence, singapore was threatened by communists and had an undeveloped economy with high unemployment, few natural resources, and many social problems. the japanese occupation had ended just twenty years earlier and the racial riots in the early years of independence led political leaders to believe that for singapore to survive emphasis would need to be placed on developing a shared national identity, as well as building an infrastructure and modernizing the economy (chua & kuo, 1991). the peoples action party (pap) looked to schools as an important ally in developing national identity as well as economic strength. since self-rule was achieved in 1959, there have been a variety of initiatives to address the need for citizenship education. indeed, schools have been seen as the natural place for formal citizenship education slanted toward the development of a united, stable nation (chew, 1998; turnbull, 2009). citizenship education focused on cultivating patriotism, a sense of belonging and a shared commitment to national development. developing racial harmony has been a core goal of modern singapore. singapore‟s efforts at balancing unity and diversity have focused on strategies enabling singaporeans to feel a sense of belonging to the nation while at the same time retaining roots in particular racial groups. racial harmony is stressed through public policies and messages of racial harmony are embedded throughout society. this is certainly the case with social studies textbooks which are permeated with the theme of racial harmony. however, it has been argued (adler & sim, 2008) that these themes of racial harmony are superficially dealt with in the syllabus and in textbooks. racial harmony appears to be stressed as a means to socialize students into the set of core societal values, rather than to promote in-depth understanding of diversity and of others. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 5 issues of diversity are not presented in a way that encourages students to question and discuss them openly. the knowledge of and values surrounding diversity are not regarded as problematic, but fixed and to be transmitted to the students. social studies and the education of citizens in the united states, the term social studies first emerged in the early twentieth century and has been contested ever since (evans, 2004). although generally taught as a collection of separate courses, such as history, government and economics, an alternative conception of social studies as an interdisciplinary social issues oriented study has persisted (evans, 2004; thornton, 2005). however defined and organized, the rationale of “citizenship education” continues to dominate the literature, notwith-standing the fact that there are a variety of influences, both in school and out, that contribute to citizen education. the national council for the social studies captures this commitment in its definition of social studies which asserts that “[t]he primary purpose of social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (ncss, 2010, p.3). this apparent consensus, however, masks the ambiguity of the term and profound disagreements about what it means to educate citizens, as well as about the classroom goals of social studies. westheimer and kahne (2004), for example, report finding a range of perspectives about the notion of the “good citizen” in their study of ten programs explicitly aimed at citizen education. these perspectives ranged from that of the “personally responsible citizen,” to the “participatory citizen,” to the “justiceoriented citizen.” the first perspective, personally responsible citizen, was defined as a largely individualistic, service oriented conception. the second, the participatory citizen, was defined as having the goal of being an informed participant in public life, a notion defined as transcending particular community issues and problems. the perspective of the justice-oriented citizen was defined by its attention to the pursuit of social justice goals. this typology of perspectives toward citizenship mirrors, to some extent, the debates about citizenship goals of social studies. stanley (2005), evans (2004), and others have described an array of perspectives toward social studies. in their now classic study, barr, barth and shermis (1977) identified three orientations toward the goals of social studies: citizenship transmission, social studies as social science, and reflective inquiry. those who maintain the citizenship transmission orientation see the major purpose of social studies as transmitting the values, history, and traditions of a society to the young. those who hold to the social science tradition see the role of social studies as equipping young people with the knowledge and skills of the social sciences in the development of informed citizens. within the reflective inquiry tradition the emphasis is less on specific social science knowledge and more on exploring issues in the social world which directly affect the students involved. research suggests that the dominant perspective continues to be the “citizenship transmission model” which emphasizes preparing good citizens who obey laws, vote and behave responsibly toward others (thornton, 2008). however, there are also those who advocate social reconstructivist notions with an emphasis on working to effect social change in the interest of greater justice and equity. many journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 6 social studies educators hold views that may be seen as somewhere on a continuum between these two notions. in the united states, this diversity of perspectives toward social studies has been found over time and across the various states (evans, 2004). in singapore, the aim of social studies is to “develop our students into well informed, responsible citizens with a sense of national identity and a global perspective”(singapore examinations and assessment board, 2011, p.3). social studies in singapore is an integrated subject that is taught in both primary and secondary schools. from its introduction, it was intended to have a clear citizen education function. first introduced in primary schools in 1981, the purpose of social studies was to “enable pupils to understand their social world and to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to participate effectively in the society and environment in which they live” (moe social studies primary syllabus, 1999, p. 1). at the secondary level, social studies was developed in the context of national education (ne). ne is aimed at developing and shaping positive knowledge, values, and attitudes of its younger citizenry towards the community and the nation, with the purpose of developing national cohesion, the instinct for survival, and confidence in the future (moe national education, 2011). the intended outcomes of ne at the time of this study were “love singapore” at the primary school level, “know singapore” at the secondary school level, and “lead singapore” at the pre-university level. the concept of citizenship in singapore has been characterized as “passive”; that is, a good citizen is one who behaves responsibly, treats others well, and cooperates with the government to create prosperity for all singaporeans (sim & print, 2009). this is consistent with the government‟s goal of using education as part of the important goal of nation building. thus in singapore there is little debate about the goals of social studies, or the broader goal of citizenship education. furthermore, the curriculum is centrally controlled and high stakes exams in social studies at the secondary level help to assure some fidelity between the intended and the planned curriculum. nonetheless, conceptions of social studies and the good citizen vary among social studies teachers themselves. in her study of teachers‟ perspective toward citizenship, sim (2009) found that the preservice teachers in singapore who participated in the study held diverse views about the nature of social studies and citizenship. these views included social studies as citizenship transmission; social studies as social education, enabling young people to engage in the life of the community; social studies as personal, rather than civic, development; and finally, social studies as general education, enabling people to participate more knowledgeably in civic life. further, the government‟s increasing emphasis on the development of critical thinking skills has challenged an unquestioning acceptance of one point of view (koh, 2004). in singapore today, as in the united states, social studies is more and more contested ground. teacher beliefs and reflection given these trends, what, then, is the role of teachers in educating citizens? a body of research now exists which supports the premise that good teachers matter (national commission of teaching and america‟s future, 1996; sanders & horn, 1998). this research points to the difference an effective teacher can make, even in very challenging circumstances. teachers are far more than mere conduits of information or of curriculum developed by “experts.” journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 7 teachers are the key to what happens in classrooms (thornton, 1991, 2005). ultimately, it is the teacher who makes the decisions about what actually is taught in the classroom, and how it is taught. to use thornton‟s (1991, 2005) term, teachers are the “curricular-instructional gatekeepers.” thus it can be argued that what matters at the level of classroom practice in social studies mirrors, to a large extent, the classroom teacher‟s conception of the nature and purpose of social studies in a particular context. the curriculum can be taught in a variety of ways. as thornton notes, “teachers may tend the gate well or poorly, consciously or unconsciously, but their gatekeeping is unavoidable” (2005, p. 5). each individual teacher's behavior is heavily influenced by his or her worldview, that is, by a set of often largely unexamined beliefs about how the world works (yero, 2002). what teachers believe to be the nature of citizenship and of social studies teaching and learning makes a real difference. and in both the united states and singapore, teachers have choices and enact the curriculum in a variety of ways. although the construct of “teacher beliefs” has been used in a variety of ways, this study adopted richardson‟s (2003) broad definition of beliefs as “psychologically held understandings, premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true” (p.2). several decades of research in the area of teacher beliefs has suggested that teachers‟ beliefs about schooling, curriculum, and pedagogy have developed over the years of life experiences both in and out of school (richardson,1996, 2003). a good deal of research points to the notion that preservice coursework is filtered through preservice teachers‟ prior beliefs. individuals play an active role in negotiating the meaning of the experiences in their teacher preparation programs (adler, 2008). an interest in teacher thinking and beliefs has led teacher educators to examine practices which engage preservice and inservice teachers in reflecting on their beliefs and practices. beginning in the 1980s, teacher education programs have become increasingly focused on “educating the reflective practitioner.” originally grounded in the work of donald schön (1983, 1987) this program emphasis is consistent with a view of teachers as decision-makers. given this concern, teacher educators began to ask what experiences would promote reflective inquiry among preservice teachers and how teacher beliefs might be developed and clarified. there is some research which suggests that facilitating teacher reflection on their beliefs and understandings regarding the curriculum and subject matter to be taught can impact beliefs (adler, 2008). it was this assumption that prompted our effort to engage social studies preservice teachers in a cross-cultural reflective inquiry intended to encourage them to make explicit their notions of citizenship and social studies. setting up the conversation this study falls into an increasingly popular approach to research in teacher education, that of the “self-study.” selfstudy is the intentional and systematic inquiry into one‟s own practice by those who prepare teachers (dinkelman, 2003). advocates of the self-study approach point out that such research models the reflective practice that many hope preservice teachers will learn (dinkelman, 2003; hamilton & pinnegar, 2000). furthermore, self-study could, argue its proponents, provide the potential for developing a deeper journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 8 understanding of the practices of teacher education by making the tacit theories of teacher education practitioners public and explicit and by subjecting those beliefs and practices to careful study, data collection and reflection (adler, 2008). we were very much aware, however, that self studies are by their very nature a limited form of research. while we hoped to add to a body of literature regarding effective practices in teacher education, our main goal was to determine if this strategy was an effective one for our particular groups of students. to encourage our preservice social studies teachers to explore and expand their conceptions of “effective citizens” in a democracy, we engaged our social studies methods classes, during two different semesters, in a blackboard-based, asynchronous threaded dialog which included discussion about what it means to be an effective citizen. this dialog occurred at the start of the semester for each class and was not intended to reflect readings and activities in the methods courses themselves. rather, we each saw this dialog as a way to encourage participants to unpack and explore their beliefs about social studies and citizenship at the start of the course. the goals for this discussion included learning about education, especially social studies, in one another‟s country; engaging the preservice teachers in conversation about what it means to be an effective citizen; and encouraging these preservice teachers to think about citizenship beyond their national boundaries. cultural contexts young people growing up in singapore and the united states have very different school experiences, as well as different political experiences. schooling in singapore is very competitive and the curriculum is largely shaped by high stakes examinations. furthermore, in the lifetimes of the participants in this study, singapore politics has been dominated by one party and has been focused on the pragmatic goal of economic development. most of these preservice teachers grew up in a prosperous, affluent singapore and have had little personal connection to the struggles and turmoil of the early days of self-rule and independence. their experience with history and social studies in school, on the other hand, focused on how far singapore had come in forty years. racial harmony is stressed both in school and throughout society. but generally there is scant focus on understanding different groups and little analysis of differences and tensions. while the curriculum has long focused on programs designed to foster citizenship, singapore students do not take a course in government, commonly found in the american curriculum. schooling in the united states is far less centrally controlled. nonetheless curriculum is remarkably similar across the united states. some have attributed that similarity to the role of textbooks in shaping the curriculum and, more recently, to the rise of content standards (thornton, 2008). the social studies curriculum in the united states focuses on united states history, which students typically encounter at three different grade levels, and on an approach to history which focuses on knowledge rather than the modes of inquiry of the discipline (barton & levstik, 2003). united states students are likely to take a government course in high school. such courses generally focus on the forms and structures of government and less on the role of the citizen (kahne & middaugh, 2008). that schooling should help to build a shared set of civic values undergirds the development of public education. but in addition, the value of civic engagement is a theme that recurs throughout united states history and is echoed in much of the social studies literature. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 9 participants and institutional contexts the classes chosen to participate in this cross-cultural dialog were selected based, in part, on the fact that they were preparing to teach social studies and in part on convenience. the element of convenience meant the singapore group was preparing to teach primary grades while the american group was preparing to teach secondary grades. although all groups were preparing to teach social studies, those preparing to teach at the secondary level brought a deeper content background to the conversation. furthermore, we were aware that educating citizens might mean something different to those teaching grades 1 to 6 than to those teaching grades 7 to12. in singapore the role of primary social studies in national education at the time of this dialogue was to promote love of country and feelings of attachment: “love singapore.” not until the secondary level did the emphasis on “knowing singapore” appear. in the united states, elementary school teachers are more likely to stress love of country, patriotism and socialization, while secondary teachers may believe it to be more appropriate to emphasize questioning and critical thinking (ochoabecker, 2007). nonetheless, in both countries knowledge and values permeate all levels of social studies teaching. furthermore, the discussion of the nature of citizenship would be relevant to preservice teachers at both levels. finally, we believed that our goals around promoting crosscultural dialog, particularly our desire to stimulate reflection and to cross national boundaries in our discussions, could be accomplished despite this difference between the groups. the students in singapore were preservice teachers enrolled in a full-time oneyear postgraduate diploma in education program that prepares preservice teachers for teaching in primary schools. in the first cross cultural dialog, there were 45 participants, 8 men and 37 women. in the second, there were 15 participants, of which 2 were men and 13 women. both groups were predominantly women and predominantly from singapore‟s majority (chinese) culture. about half of these students had chosen teaching as their second or third careers while the rest were recent university graduates. a number of them were graduates from business, engineering or other technical faculties and thus did not have much academic background in the social sciences. they did not have to undertake additional coursework to give them grounding in subject matter knowledge, but were expected to read up and research on their own to fill in their own gaps in knowledge. as a result, for many, a grasp of disciplinary knowledge was shallow. the students in the united states were enrolled in a teacher preparation program at an urban state university in the midwest. during the first semester, 25 students participated in the cross-cultural dialog, 18 men and 7 women. in the second, there were 20 participants, 13 men and 7 women. the students were predominantly male and caucasian, still the dominant group in the united states. students in the united states classes were both graduates and undergraduates seeking initial certification in social studies. as is typical at this institution, many of the undergraduate, as well as graduate, students were “nontraditional” or over 25 years old. like the singaporean group, many were entering teaching as a second career. most held a ba in history or one of the social sciences or were earning a ba in secondary education with a minor in history. all would meet the state mandated requirement of 38 hours of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 10 content course work in history and the social sciences. the social studies methods course is taken the semester prior to student teaching. the assignment for all groups, the cross-cultural conversation was the first assignment in the course and took place at the very start of the semester following introductory class sessions on the goals of social studies in each country. both instructors had asked class participants to consider what is meant by social studies as citizenship education and shared with course participants the various conceptions of citizenship found in the research literature. although the specific discussion forums differed somewhat from the first year to the second, both groups were asked to discuss their understandings of the concept of citizenship and what being a good citizen meant to them. participants were expected to make at least two substantive postings per topic and to show evidence of discussions and readings they had completed in class. their participation in the discussion was a graded assignment worth approximately 15% of the semester grade for the americans and 20% for the singaporeans. criteria for assessment included: timely submissions; well-organized and clearly written submissions; writing which demonstrated an awareness that the submission is being read by people from another country; evidence of having read submissions of others; and evidence of reflection on class and online discussions, readings and field experiences. upon reading the students‟ submissions, the course instructors agreed that a careful review and analysis of their postings might shed some light on the students‟ conceptions of citizenship and how this might impact their teaching. we wondered if asking students to clarify their thinking about citizenship to one another and across cultures would help them think more reflectively about this key aim of social studies education, particularly in a global context. with permission of the students who participated in this assignment, we decided to analyze their responses with a particular focus on their understandings of citizenship and any possible cultural differences we might find. methodology each of the researchers read and coded the submissions of all the students around the question of “what is an effective citizen.” reading separately, we each sought to categorize the preservice teachers‟ responses into major themes and looked for cross-cultural differences and similarities within those themes. we then discussed our coding. this process enabled us to establish some reliability in developing the analysis of the student work. a postassignment survey was carried out to obtain participants‟ responses to the assignment. what is a good citizen? the preservice teachers‟ responses were first sorted into the broad categories of knowledge, skills and dispositions or attitudes, although there was overlap even across these broad categories. within these broad categories, we found that several dominant themes emerged across both groups and both years. often, the broad theme was similar, but would be explained and supported differently. that is, american and singaporean preservice teachers held similar views of the “good” citizen, but expressed and explained these within the contexts of their particular cultural experiences. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 11 knowledge: the informed citizen the american preservice teachers placed heavy emphasis on the importance of content knowledge. it should be recalled that the american groups were preparing to be secondary teachers and had strong content backgrounds in the fields that make up social studies in the united states many of the american participants noted that learners should learn about united states history, about the united states constitution and laws, and about current events. this belief seems to reflect their own experiences studying social studies in school. the americans argued that to be good citizens people must be informed and must develop an understanding of the political system and democratic principles. the implication of their emphasis on the importance of developing a strong knowledge base in the content of the disciplines of social studies is that such knowledge would provide the foundation for the skills and attitudes of effective citizens: ..."a good citizen is one that is informed regarding the history, culture, current events and legalities of one's culture (28 aug, year 1)." several of the americans were a bit more explicit about the role of the disciplines of history and social science in building the knowledge for effective citizenship and spoke of the need to study “enduring dilemmas” or problems of society. singaporeans, who were preparing to be primary teachers, were less likely to put knowledge at the top of the list of what it means to be a good citizen. an emphasis on values and emotions is consistent with the primary social studies syllabus in singapore at that time. nonetheless, several participants did emphasize the importance of knowledge. a particular emphasis was on the study of history to understand past decisions, to understand singapore today, and to understand the pain and efforts of the past. like the americans, singaporeans made reference to the study of current problems and events. values both groups spoke extensively of the values of good citizens. behaving as a cooperative, caring member of society was important to both groups. the americans were most likely to express this as paying taxes, obeying the law and voting. these were not common characterizations among singaporeans. as one put it, “it never crossed my mind to equate citizenship to voting and the paying of taxes (5 sept, year 2).” singaporeans were more likely to describe the responsibilities of citizens in terms of “moral values and right conduct,” a phrase never used by the americans. the singaporeans tended to reflect the mental model of a confucian society that focused on right behavior and relationships inculcated through years of moral education in the school, a subject that continues to be taught throughout the primary to the secondary grades. both groups also articulated that being fair, responsible and lawful was important in their conception of the good citizen. upholding or safeguarding democratic ideals or values featured quite strongly in the discourse of the americans but was not apparent in that of the singaporeans. the singaporeans focused on obeying the law, being considerate of others and volunteerism as important values in good citizenship. consistent with the primary social studies syllabus, singaporeans were more likely to speak in terms of a love of country, a sense of loyalty to the nation, and a sense of belonging to and having pride in one‟s country. while there was at least one reference to love of country among the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 12 americans, this did not emerge as even a minor theme. americans appear more likely to take pride and belonging for granted, or perhaps to assume that that is an issue for elementary school classrooms. compassion, empathy, respect and openmindedness were important to both groups. singaporeans were more likely to refer directly to “tolerance” of or respect for other racial groups. this featured strongly in their conversation, perhaps because of the internalization of the persistent message about the need for racial harmony in singapore‟s multiracial society and is, in part, a reflection of the success of the government‟s socialization effort. although one of the americans spoke explicitly of the importance of respecting cultural diversity, the americans were more likely to speak about the need to respect diverse opinions and points of view than about the need to respect diverse cultures. a concern for the common good was a recurring theme. both americans and singaporeans worried that the citizens of their respective countries were so caught up with financial gain and economic security that citizens are losing sight of respect and concern for others. one american noted that a focus on economic gain produces apathy toward government and civic action. another american bemoaned that “apathy kills the soul (6 sep, year 1).” both americans and singaporeans felt that it is important for good citizens to constantly balance individual rights and responsibilities within a context of public good. both groups talked about the good citizen asking not only what government should do, but what citizens can and should do for their society. both groups said that while loyalty to the nation and government is important, such loyalty should never be blind. the americans talked about looking critically at the problems of their country and speaking out in constructive ways. singaporeans were likely to describe this as not being a “blind supporter” of whatever the government says. good citizens, noted one of the singaporeans, know when to speak and when not to. skills both groups also talked about the skills of citizenship, with a focus on problem solving. singaporeans were most likely to use the term “decision-making” when describing one of the key skills of effective citizens. while the americans were unlikely to use that term they frequently spoke of the need to develop the ability to make, defend and act on informed positions. both groups spoke of the need to stay informed, to think critically and to listen openly to the views of others. one of the singaporeans, and none of the americans, spoke of the need to fight for social justice and against racial discrimination. the americans on the other hand, showed greater belief in the power of the people in checking the government and emphasized that citizens "are aware of their power and know how to use it. they have a voice that does more than whine when things are not the way we like them (6 sep, year 2).” this belief in the power of the citizen in checking the government was not evident in the singaporeans' discourse. questions raised the groups tended to raise somewhat philosophical questions with one another. one group discussed whether or not one can define a good citizen in the context of an oppressive government while another group discussed whether those who are not wellserved by their society should be expected to be good citizens. the first group made frequent reference to the response of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 13 americans to hurricane katrina, raising the question of whether people who are without food, shelter and water should be expected to act lawfully if, by breaking the law, they can help their families and themselves survive. singaporeans often spoke of national pride, a sense of belonging, and of pulling together in times of crisis. these themes did not come up among the americans except by implication in the discussion of hurricane katrina. discussion research on teacher beliefs consistently points to the importance of prior experiences on the development of beliefs related to teaching and learning (adler, 2008; richardson, 2003; ross, 1987). thus the participants in this study brought not only their individual differences, but their different cultural and schooling experiences as well. the two groups who participated in this study did share some similarities. most were non-traditional students who came to teaching from other careers. most were members of the dominant culture in their respective nations. nonetheless, as described above, the two groups came to this “conversation” with diverse experiences in and out of school. in addition to the different cultural contexts it should be remembered that the singapore group was preparing to teach primary school, in which social studies would only be a small part of what they would teach. they were not expected to have had a great amount of history and social science course work. furthermore, the singaporean groups were made up predominantly of women. the united states students were predominantly men preparing to teach secondary school and they expected that they would be teaching one or more of the disciplines that typically are included under the umbrella of social studies. given the different backgrounds, experiences, cultures and future directions of participants in each group, it was not surprising that there would be differences in their beliefs about citizenship education. interestingly, the similarities in their beliefs were, in some ways, more striking than the differences. both groups expressed the belief that compassion, respect and empathy are an important part of being good citizens. indeed, this appeared to be the most important characteristic of the “good citizen.” for both groups, good citizenship was less about one‟s relationship with the nation-state and more about the ways in which people get along with one another. rules and laws are not simply expressions of the powerful; rather, they allow for social stability. across both cultures there was a strong emphasis on what westheimer and kahne (2004) describe as the “personally responsible” citizen. from this perspective, good citizens are seen as people who are honest, law-abiding and responsible. this would include contributing to civic causes and volunteering in the community. westheimer and kahne distinguish such behavior from the participatory perspective by noting that the personally responsible citizen will donate to a food drive, while a participatory citizen will organize the food drive. both singaporeans and americans tended to see good citizenship in this personal, individualistic manner. there were americans who spoke about “checking the power of the government” and singaporeans who referred to the dangers of following blindly. both singaporeans and americans spoke of “thinking critically” and being “decision-makers.” there were threads of discussion about the apathy of their affluent societies. there was agreement that diverse viewpoints need to be heard and respected. the conversation journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 14 on both sides suggested that in times of great need, such as hurricane katrina, or in contexts of oppression, some laws might be broken without breaking the bond of caring and concern that is owed to others. while neither group explicitly discussed civil disobedience, the comments of both groups suggested that they believed that civil disobedience would not necessarily be a violation of good citizenship. the focus of these concerns was on the behavior of individuals and the need for a stable society. no one in either group spoke of joining with others to assure their voice was heard. no one talked of joining advocacy groups to seek social justice for the underserved. although singaporeans spoke of “pulling together in times of crisis,” no one shared an actual experience of working with others through a crisis. indeed, neither americans nor singaporeans shared an experience of being active in civic affairs. most of the participants in both groups expressed a view of citizenship that was predominantly conforming to the status quo. despite differences of culture, education and experience, the focus of citizenship was on the responsibilities of the individual and the stability of society. another similarity across both groups and both years was a relative silence on issues of diversity. although there was a strong emphasis on respecting others and listening to diverse viewpoints, there was no substantive discussion about the value or challenges of ethnic diversity within a nation. this issue of diversity is relevant in both nations; both are racially and ethnically diverse. the social studies curriculum in the united states is still struggling with the balance between a story of history which stresses unity and homogeneity and a story of history which tells of differences and struggles. the americans in these discussions did not take a stand on this dilemma, even while acknowledging that open-mindedness and diverse view-points are important. in singapore, on the other hand, the social studies curriculum is very explicit about including the four major races, even if superficially, and emphasizes the importance of unity in the face of this diversity lest racial violence break out once again. consistent with this explicit focus on diversity in singapore, the singapore participants commented on the need for respect, or at least tolerance, of other racial groups. there was also some discussion of the need to broaden the definition of multiracial singapore to go beyond the statedefined four major racial categories of chinese, malays, indians and others. although the discussion raised questions about whether those less well-served should be expected to be loyal, neither group really explored what that question might mean in their own or other societies. neither group suggested that there might be people who felt marginalized by society, who lacked that sense of belonging which seems to come with being a citizen. nor did either group discuss the impact of globalization, increasing multiculturalism, and the possible tensions between the concept of national citizenship and that of global citizenship. this is an important issue for the united states and singapore since both countries have become increasingly multicultural as a result of globalization. singaporeans struggle with the issue of imported „foreign talent‟ who are given citizenship on the basis of specific talents that they bring to the nation. while this is a hotly debated issue in singapore, the preservice teachers were strangely silent on this topic. of course, one does not „air the dirty laundry” in front of visitors. both singaporeans and americans wanted to be respectful of others; but they also wanted to be respectful of themselves and their own journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 15 nations. it‟s not clear whether cultural diversity simply was not an issue to these preservice teachers or whether the tensions and contradictions of one‟s own nation were not considered appropriate in this discussion venue. given the growing challenge in both nations to balance cultural, national and global identities (banks & nyugen, 2008), this silence was disturbing and suggested an area of possible program modification in both contexts. despite these powerful and, to us, surprising similarities, important differences reflected the different cultural and institutional contexts. one difference was that the singaporean participants put a greater emphasis on the development of love of country. this may have been due to the grade level differences for which they were being prepared. it also reflects the ministry of education focus on developing “national identity (ministry of education, 2010). in addition, singapore still grapples with the issue of what it means to be singaporean because they are still building a national identity. thus, it is not surprising that for singaporeans, this issue was a specific focus of discussions. americans appear to take for granted that citizens have a sense of belonging to their nation. the american student teachers did not question how increasing immigration and cultural diversity might affect this feeling of belonging. the americans reflected their academic backgrounds and their conceptions of their roles as future secondary teachers with their very explicit focus on content knowledge. the singaporeans, preparing to be primary school teachers, reflected an understanding of the social studies goals at that level by placing greater emphasis on empathy and moral behavior. both groups emphasized the importance of the skills and knowledge of democratic citizenship and no areas of major disagreement emerged. the american discourses occasionally suggested a more critical and reflective conception of citizenship while the singaporeans generally reflected a more conforming one, but the difference was not great. dialog as reflection did this threaded discussion across two cultures achieve the goals we had set? our first goal was simply to have the participants express and share their conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education. at the very least, we wanted their taken-for-granted conceptions of these ideas to be expressed and examined. but we also hoped that in the process of sharing ideas and responding to others, the participants would question and clarify their own conceptions. we hoped that the cross national nature of the conversations might, at the very least, raise questions and deepen the thinking of these preservice teachers. the survey the participants completed at the end of this assignment showed that most students found the assignment to be worthwhile. for the americans, this was an opportunity to learn more about a country they knew little about and they felt as though they had become more knowledgeable as a result. the singaporeans, already somewhat knowledgeable about the united states, did not indicate that they had learned more about this nation whose culture is felt worldwide. some of the singaporean participants indicated in the survey that they had problems with the assignment as they lacked a good grounding in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of citizenship education to carry on an in-depth discussion of the topic. they also expressed frustration with technical and other difficulties journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 16 encountered at the start of the dialog. it is worth noting that these conversations were not conducted in real time. the singapore semester began earlier than the american semester and the singaporeans were on the discussion board before the americans had a chance to think about the assignment. this frustration continued even after the americans had signed on and a few singaporeans were impatient with the initial slow response from the americans in spite of being told repeatedly by the instructor that the time difference with the midwestern united states was 13 hours. in spite of initial problems, the singaporeans too felt that the assignment had enabled them to clarify their own thinking about citizenship and that, furthermore, they had gained new insights into the nature of citizenship. in the post-assignment survey, the participants reported that they had become more reflective about the concept of citizenship and educating citizens. however, as is the case with much research on teacher beliefs and reflective practices, there was little evidence beyond this self report that these discussions had made a difference. neither the units they developed in their methods classes nor the lessons they taught during student teaching reflected any impact from these discussions. no followup was done a semester or year later to once again ask the participants about the impact of the discussion board experience. according to their self-reports, it would appear that the preservice teachers did, in fact, think more deeply about citizenship when put in a position of discussing the concept with far away others. but once undertaking the work of teaching, there is no evidence that this, in fact, made a difference. conclusions this assignment was intended to provide a platform for preservice social studies teachers to explore their beliefs about what is meant by “the good citizen.” it was hoped that by articulating and explaining their beliefs to people in another country, they would further clarify their own thoughts. there is some research (dinkleman, 2003) that suggests that such opportunity for reflection in preservice teacher education can, at the very least, provide prospective teachers the focus and vocabulary to more deeply explore their teaching. furthermore, several studies suggest that technology can be a powerful tool to encourage collaborative reflection. a few studies specifically suggest that web-based dialog can be used to promote thoughtful and insightful discussion (mason, 2000; mason, 2000/2001; merryfield, 2000.) surveys completed by the participants suggest that these asynchronous, web-based discussions were useful reflection tools. participants indicated that the assignment was interesting and did cause them to clarify their thinking about citizenship and the role of social studies in the education of citizens. however, the tendency toward easy consensus calls this into question. were the participants really so alike in their notions of good citizenship? perhaps there was a sense of needing to be polite to far-away, unknown others who live in a different culture. we accept the participants‟ reports that it was an interesting and engaging assignment; but we wonder about their willingness to explore differences or sensitive issues. as an inquiry into preservice teachers‟ journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 17 beliefs about citizenship, interesting insights emerged. the emphasis both groups placed on personal responsibility was striking. on the one hand, literature on conceptions of social studies, conducted primarily in the united states, does suggest that personal responsibility and values transmission are dominant perspectives toward citizenship and toward the role of social studies. on the other hand, given the different educational and cultural experiences of the two national groups, we were surprised by the dominance of this theme. nonetheless, it is important to note that while this common theme was evident, there were also clear differences which the facilitators attributed to differences in disciplinary grounding and cultural contexts. we concluded that as an assignment, this approach was a reasonable and interesting strategy of reflection for the participants. we wondered, however, whether a synchronous discussion would have allowed the participants to feel more comfortable with one another and perhaps have felt comfortable to disagree about ideas. unfortunately, conducting a discussion in real time when there is a thirteen hour time difference is a major obstacle. as an inquiry, we became aware of the need for greater analysis of the differences in sociocultural, educational and political contexts before any conclusions could reasonably be drawn about the conceptions of citizenship held by preservice teachers in the united states and singapore. there is also a need for more structured follow-up studies to examine the impact of such cross-cultural conversations on the participants. references adler, s. 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(2005). teaching social studies that matters: curriculum for active learning. ny: teachers college press. thornton, s.j. (2008). continuity and change in social studies. in levstik, l. & tyson, c. (eds.), handbook on research in social studies teaching and learning (2nd ed.) (pp.15-32). new york: macmillan co. turnbull, c. m. (2009). a modern history of singapore: 1819-2005. singapore: nus press. united states census bureau news (august 14, 2008). older and more diverse by mid-century. http://www.census.gov/pressrelease/www/releases/archives/popu lation/012496.html. retrieved january 20, 2010. walkington, h. & wilkins, c. (2000). education for critical citizenship: the impact of teachers' world view on classroom practice in the teaching of values. the school field, 11(1/2), 59-78. wertheimer, j. & kahne, j. (2004). educating the “good” citizen: political choices and pedagogical goals. ps: political science and politics,37(2), 241-247. yero, j. l. (2002). teaching in mind. how teacher thinking shapes education. hamilton, mt: mindflight publishing. http://www.seab.gov.sg/olevel/2012syllabus/2192_2012.pdf http://www.seab.gov.sg/olevel/2012syllabus/2192_2012.pdf http://www.census.gov/press-release/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html http://www.census.gov/press-release/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html http://www.census.gov/press-release/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 2 spring/summer 2011 20 about the authors __________________________________________________________________ kho ee moi is currently an assistant professor in humanities and social studies education at the national institute of education, singapore susan adler is professor emeritus of the university of missouri-kansas city. she is presently a visiting professor at the national institute of education, singapore. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 150-152 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 150-152 corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 150 media review exploring challenging, controversial and confronting topics in social studies teaching: editor’s message editor dr kate ferguson-patrick i would like to introduce myself as the new media editor for the journal of international social studies. i hope to bring a perspective to the journal from outside the united states as i was born and grew up in the uk and completed my teaching degree at nottingham trent university and now work at the university of newcastle, australia. after a period of teaching in the uk, i moved to australia where i worked in primary (elementary) schools for 13 years before embarking on an academic career at the university of newcastle as a teacher educator with primary education specialisation. my teaching includes primary maths, social studies and integrated curriculum as my main specialist areas. i have recently completed a long term study of cooperative learning with early career teachers and how this classroom approach leads to democracy classrooms using an action research approach. i developed professional development programs for early career teachers to assist them in implementing cooperative strategies and democratic processes in busy and ever increasingly accountable primary classrooms leading to my doctorate degree. my research strengths lie particularly in this area of globally valuable strategies to build cohesive classrooms. the media review section of the journal of international social studies offers a framework for readers interested in sharing resources they have discovered so please participate in discussions with the reviewers and feel free to submit your own reviews of appropriate texts. this edition reviews include three interesting reviews of texts that social educators can use in their teaching, particularly educators of older students (what we would term secondary school students in australia and elsewhere may be called senior high school students). the first is a review of a reputable social studies methods text in its 4th edition by dr debra donnelly (australia). the text edited by ross (2014) “the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems and possibilities” is, as donnelly mentions, a text that uses a successful formula with chapters from leading scholars, theorists and educators from the social studies area and includes 12 new contributions from previous editions. donnelly mentions the progressive nature of the contributions and also the various lenses used to examine the social studies curriculum in practice. this “progressively oriented collection” will be a “welcome addition” to the libraries of all social studies scholars, policy makers and teachers. tensions and challenges within social studies education are examined as well as chapters which highlight the irony of transmission models on citizenship education and a calling for participatory democratic classrooms. two chapters in the second part of the book look at the gap between equality and inclusion and the “reality of racism, prejudice and heteronormativity in u.s. society”. the chapters in the last section contain topics such as islamophobia which is topical at the present time in australia with the rise of people gathering in racist and proto-fascist groups like the the ‘reclaim australia’ groups to protest against islam and its people living in australia. other people (thankfully) have gathered in protest against these groups arguing that the current mailto:kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 150-152 corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 151 government’s ambiguous leadership that did not seem committed to questions around social cohesion and the importance of having civil conversations has led to the rise of such groups. donnelly mentions that this chapter discusses the stark and timely reminder of the power of the media and the impact of racial and religious stereotyping on students and teachers alike and how the social studies classroom is “fertile ground in which to redress misinformation and injustice and bring about social transformation”. the recent sbs documentary i watched this week http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/go-back-to-where-you-came-from/about-series reminded me too of the importance of the need for such texts that helps social studies teachers promote the teaching of democracy and social justice issues at a time when the world is seeing the rise of such groups. the final two reviews have a nice synergy. the first by dr heather sharp (australia) examines a new text, “as the witnesses fall silent: 21st century holocaust education in curriculum policy and practice” and the second is a text about using film as a tool for teaching and discussing genocide by lisa pennington (usa) titled “through a lens darkly: films of genocide, ethnic cleansing and atrocities”. the first text reviewed by sharp examines the approaches to the holocaust in curriculum, policy and practice and has been listed as the most comprehensive collection of empirical research on the holocaust ever produced. sharp mentions the chapter about the importance of textbooks as texts as providing a “fascinating insight into the state of contemporary history curricula, on a global scale” and she notes the interesting point about the way the holocaust is named in the textbook, with some nations avoiding the term. this lengthy text is a “valuable handbook” and resource for educators with a range or perspectives and approaches provided to teach such a complex historical topic. the text allows educators to sensitively approach the topic but approach it applying historical principles; allowing them to treat the topics with some degree of accuracy with the range of contributors from various backgrounds allowing a comprehensive understanding from across the globe. pennington’s review of the text which examines film as a tool for teaching “through a lens darkly” also covers a large section about the holocaust (the longest section of the text) with eleven holocaust films providing historical contexts and brief useful synopsis. the introductory chapter in this section however by michalczyk also focuses on the importance of film and the holocaust. pennington argues that the films listed would not be necessarily on an educators list and she claims that they help to examine alternative angles to present to students with the films allowing discussions about cultural genocide, the role of the bystander and accounts that allow students to make connections to the victims such as the last letter which is described as a film that could be used as an alternative to the more commonly used diary of anne frank. this text however provides a more global account of atrocities highlighting marginalized groups often overlooked in schools. such accounts as the genocide of native americans in north america; the armenian genocide; bosnia and ethnic cleansing; africa and the genocide in rwanda and finally the conflict in sudan and the congo are included in the text. pennington mentions that some of the films would not be suitable for showing for various reasons including horrific scenes not suitable for student viewing, but overall the essays are useful providing a good synopsis, allowing teachers to explore key concepts, leading to discussion of interesting and difficult topics. mailto:kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/go-back-to-where-you-came-from/about-series journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 150-152 corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 152 references: e.d. stevick and z. gross (eds.) (2015). as the witnesses fall silent: 21st century holocaust education in curriculum, policy and practice. switzerland: springer international publishing. michalczyk, john j. and raymond g. helmick, (eds.) (2013). through a lens darkly: films of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities. new york, ny: peter lang publishing, inc. ross, e.w. (ed.) (2014). the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems and possibilities (4th ed.) albany, ny: university of new york press. http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/go-back-to-where-you-came-from/about-series retrieved on 31/7/15 corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au mailto:kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/go-back-to-where-you-came-from/about-series mailto:kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 221 supporting an inquiry mindset: resisting the lack of curiosity by design model juan manuel walker augusta university, georgia, usa cody cruse harlem high school, georgia, usa kim barker augusta university, georgia, usa abstract: as we work with students within teacher education and secondary contexts, we face an ever-growing disconnect over what should be taught or valued in the learning environment: is it the memorization of content or the acquisition of skills related to being better citizens? as professors of social studies and literacy education and a teacher of secondary science, we introduce our students to our respective fields and task them with applying content within real-world contexts. this is not an easy task for teachers in any content area, political and social forces complicate this task. they must strike a balance between competing approaches to content implementation. in social studies these approaches can be as varied as teaching a hero narrative versus a more complex inquirybased approach to understanding people in historical settings. with this context in mind, the purpose of this article is to advocate for an inquiry approach to teaching social studies and other disciplines in all grades through research and personal experiences. key words: teacher education, inquiry, student-driven design, field experience introduction teacher candidates’ ability to ask questions has practical application for everyday use as a person and as a teacher. what questions should teacher candidates ask about political and community matters, about mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 222 materials they are suggesting for self-selected reading, and about reliable sources for scientific knowledge? for starters, they should identify gaps in knowledge and information deficits where there is space for growth and learning. therrien et al. (2009) propose that the question development process itself is key to learning. the more engaging the question, the more involved students will be in the learning process. questions are critical to social studies for understanding the relevance of the past to the future of the learner (fischer, 1971) and for reading comprehension in general as readers use internal questioning to propel them through texts (harvey & goudvis, 2017). within our teacher education program, we expect that teacher candidates’ questions be demanding enough to engage their students throughout the lesson. for example, questions that have been used in our courses are: does andrew jackson deserve to be treated as a hero? did abraham lincoln free the slaves for political or moral reasons? how can we use picture books that are typically thought of as “children’s books” to spark inquiry into historical events? as we have worked together with students in our teacher preparation courses and in field experiences, we have learned from one another about the ways in which we foster inquiry differently but with similar challenges and ultimately the same goal in mind: to instill in our students a value for curiosity that leads to a mindset of inquiry. conceptual framework the first step in the process of inquiry—in which students develop questions, evaluate evidence, and develop conclusions—is a tool widely advocated but seldom used effectively (barton & levstik, 2004). memorization of names, dates, and places is often the first tactic of history teachers, and there is a need to remember important facts, and likewise, educators in other disciplines may be focus first on basic knowledge. but how do we convince educational stakeholders that while memorization is important, it has limited long-term educational value? experiences and perspectives from the history classroom have much to offer educators in all disciplines. within any learning context, the value of questioning should be emphasized for all learners, and historical inquiry should be the cornerstone of history teaching. however, the truth of the matter is that “both academic research and our own classroom experiences suggest that teachers and students have enormous difficulty carrying out some of the key components of historical inquiry” (barton & levstik, 2004, p. 185). this fact is not only limited to students; this is also true of teachers. the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards has supported and provided a context for addressing inquiry. barton and levstik (2004) believe that educators may benefit from considering more principal reasons. when teacher candidates are prompted to provide questions for their lessons, the instructor is usually given questions that seem short-sighted or poorly developed. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 223 a renewed justification for inquiry during field experience a teacher candidate taught a 2nd grade class an inquiry lesson about the regions of georgia. at no point did she ask any questions or ask the students to develop their own questions. when asked about which inquiry format she was attempting to address, she simply said, “i don’t get inquiry.” later that day, another teacher candidate in a 4th grade classroom shared a similar response. for her lesson, “we are going to use inquiry for an inquiry assignment.” neither of these responses conveyed a sense of understanding inquiry. inquiry-based education our current educational climate puts an increased focus on 21st century skills, asking social studies teachers to build proficiency in historical thinking and problem-solving related to civics among their students. this is reflected in the current state standards, which use language asking students to perform tasks such as “identify,” “distinguish,” “integrate,” and “describe” (common core). contrasting with earlier standards, which emphasized content knowledge, these standards suggest a move towards the advancement of critical thinking in the curriculum, something which has always been of concern in education. a need for a more student-driven design was recognized even before the implementation of common core in our program, and it is still something with which our teacher candidates struggle. lasley (1998) saw an incoming paradigm shift away from the instruction-driven focus on teaching styles and making sure students look busy with assigned work, asserting instead that the best teachers are those who see learning as “less linear and as nested in student’s experiences” (p. 85) and who are more concerned with posing interesting questions and getting out of the way, so students can answer them. carpenter and pease (2012) recognize that a quality education can only be achieved when the responsibility of learning is shared and includes student-centered questions that allow students to construct knowledge for themselves with facilitation from the instructor. what does good inquiry look like? research and the personal experiences of a number of educators provide many examples of what quality inquiry should look like. for examples, whitlock and brugar (2017) present the practices of two effective elementary social studies teachers to demonstrate how each utilizes student questioning to drive the content of their lessons. the most important practice they observed is that these teachers leave space in their curriculum to investigate students’ questions the moment they emerge. this shows appreciation for their students’ curiosity and builds an inquisitive environment in the classroom. it also encourages students to seek answers for themselves by modelling investigative practices. hutner and sampson (2015), while speaking specifically of science education, provide several indicators of good inquiry-based education that one could argue are applicable across various curricula, social studies included. they stress mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 224 the teachers’ role in creating a desire to learn. is there an important question to answer or a puzzling problem to solve? student thinking should be visible as they express their thoughts orally or in writing and provide evidence and reasoning for the claims and decisions they make. before diving into content, students should gather their own data and build their own interpretations of events. in the case of social studies, this typically takes the form of primary literature sources such as diary entries, first-hand accounts, transcripts of historically significant speeches, etc. hutner and sampson (2015) also stress that discourse should be involved, a sentiment shared by many advocates of inquiry-based education (grooms, enderle, & sampson, 2015; llewellyn & rajesh, 2011; lombardi, sibley, & carrol, 2013; reiser, berland, & kenyon, 2012). students should work collaboratively to derive logical conclusions about the information they have gathered, using it to make claims or provide solutions to problems posed within the class. following are some real-word examples of the development of inquiry-based learning in one social studies classroom that teachers in all disciplines may find applicable. authentic practice why is the cafeteria such a horrible place? during my tenure as a 7th grade geography teacher in 2002, my class embarked by accident on our first inquiry experience with no training or clue of the possible outcome for the project. the experience presented itself in an unlikely fashion: early in the fall, a number of students in my fourth period class asked if we could stay in our classroom for lunch. the request did not seem unusual, but when the request was sent to the administrator, the response was a resounding, “no!” reasons given included the extra cleaning for custodial staff, safety issues, and accountability. when i shared the administrator’s answer with the disheartened students, the students expressed a collective outcry of concerns about the safety of the cafeteria, such as the small space and fighting; indeed, these conditions also struck me as unsafe. one student asked if they could come up with a better plan for the cafeteria. all the students agreed that something had to be done about the unsafe space. i asked the administration if they would consider a cafeteria plan that worked within the confines of the lunch period and kept students in the cafeteria. reluctantly, the administration agreed to listen to the proposed plan. the challenge was offered to all classes. our 7th grade geography classes moved swiftly in groups of four to five students to develop appropriate plans for the cafeteria. all classes spent a week observing the norms and the system of the cafeteria. beginning with a unifying question (how can we make the cafeteria a safe place for all students?), they interviewed students, teachers, and the cafeteria staff about concerns and suggestions for improvement. they read journal articles about unsafe spaces and their psychological impacts on individuals and communities. the students were no longer trying to avoid the cafeteria; now, they were trying to improve it. after a week, the first period class had shared their entire proposal and selected a version that they thought best served the needs of our school. at this point, my only role was that of facilitator, providing mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 225 resources from the library or answering questions about district policies. one student was so underwhelmed with my district policy responses that he printed the school district policy on these matters and shared them with his peers. they consolidated ideas and developed one proposal upon which the group agreed. all classes requested to present their proposal to the administration. first period presented to the administration; after their 10-minute presentation, the administration team agreed to the plan. this was a great success for our students, but the administration had five more presentations to hear. sadly, they felt that the plan presented made the most sense, and they saw no need to listen to the other classes. i and a few other teachers throughout the day agreed to listen to the other class proposals, so that they would not be denied the opportunity to present their plans. after careful consideration, the plan was presented to the students as a collective plan, since most aspects of all plans were considered in the new cafeteria system. no time for play the following year, my middle school students were introduced to our second school improvement plan. this time, the school improvement plan was designed to incorporate recess into our school day. the same free inquiry system from the year before was also used for this project. however, this was a more challenging exercise for my students, because they were advocating for a form of recess. our school had discontinued recess two years earlier, and we knew that the administration had no desire to bring recess back into the school day. despite this fact, the students assembled documents that supported their view of a healthy learning environment and that advocated for exercise to help address obesity and stress during the average school day. this time, all plans were heard by the administration, and all plans were collectively rejected. it was difficult for the students to accept the administration’s view about time restraints and losing class time for what they viewed as free time. i, however, felt that their arguments were sound. i shared with the students that i was so moved by their efforts that i incorporated a recess time during my classes for two days out of the week: if we finished early, we could go to the courts and have recess on wednesday and friday for 15 minutes. this was not only a great incentive for my students, it was also based on current research (barton & levstik, 2004). the administration found this distressing and promised to discontinue the outside playtime if students’ test performance decreased, creating yet another opportunity to incentivize the students. the gift of giving during my third year of teaching, i understood the inquiry process enough to create a more ambitious assignment. this time the inquiry question was based on unmet needs of people in our community who were homeless. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 226 after each group formulated their questions, we agreed as a class on the most important question to pursue: “what can we do to help?” based on our class dialog, i brought nine articles addressing this very question for the students to analyze in groups. the students, in teams of four to five, went to a starting station. each station had three articles addressing ways to help the people in our community who were homeless. the first approach to helping people who were homeless was through canned food donations. the research in this area is very clear: this is an ineffective way of helping; not only is it expensive for a shelter to process these donations, it is time consuming. another approach was through clothing drives, but the research indicated that this approach was also limited. in fact, many people who donate give clothes that do not meet the needs of those who need them (e.g., summer clothes during winter months), and in some cases, the clothing is either damaged or unusable. the last station had articles that concluded that financial donations were the best approach. as a team, each class had to come to their own conclusion regarding what to do with this information. most classes agreed that a school fundraiser to donate funds to a shelter would be the best option. each class used different methods of fundraising. one class held a dance-a-thon, and other classes provided raffle tickets with prizes ranging from a donated game system to being principal for a day. as a collective, we raised over $2,000. each class had class officers who went to the local shelter we had agreed to support with our funds. conclusion by allowing students to learn in authentic environments emerging from questions that are relevant to their lives, we are developing necessary skills for an ever-changing society. now, more than ever, including opportunities to discuss real-world problems throughout the social studies curriculum is necessary to prepare students for civic life. the students in these examples learned about geography, about making their schools and communities better by being actively involved, and about choosing how best to follow research-backed methods. these practices offered some powerful and yet feasible strategies and approaches for pursuing inquiry aims. the most misguided assumption made by many teacher candidates is that inquiry is a simple process. in order to provide sound inquiry experiences, classroom teachers must be knowledgeable about content and confident about the process of inquiry. they also have to give away ownership of the learning experience to those who most vitally need and will benefit from the learning experience. as current and former elementary, middle, and high school teachers, and as a current university faculty members teaching social studies and literacy methods courses to our future teachers, we feel it is imperative that we help our students to see themselves as learners and teachers of inquiry not only in social studies, but in all disciplines. like any great lesson, it all starts with an engaging essential question: “what kind of learner/teacher do you want to be?” mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 227 references: adams, p., & findlay c. (2015). transforming pedagogy and practice through inquiry based curricula: a study of high school social studies. one world in dialogue, 3(2), 28-36. barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (2004). teaching history for the common good. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. carpenter, j. p., & pease, j. s. (2012). sharing the learning. phi delta kappan, 94(2), 36-41. circle. (2013). civic learning through action: the case of generation citizen. the center for information and research on civic learning and engagement (circle): tufts university. college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards. (2015). the c3 framework for social studies state standards: implications for history education. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/c3 daly, j. a., kreiser, p. o., & roghaar, l. a. (1994). question-asking comfort: explorations of the demography of communication in the eighth grade classroom. communication education, 43(1), 27-41. feynman, r. p., robbins, j., sturman, h., & löhnberg, a. (2005). the pleasure of finding things out. amsterdam: new amsterdam. fischer, d. h. (1971). historians' fallacies: toward a logic of historical thought. london, england: routledge and k. paul. good, t. l., slavings, r. l, khazrel, k. h., & emerson, h. (1987). student passivity: a study of question asking in k-12 classrooms. sociology of education, 60(3), 181-99. grooms, j., enderle, p., & sampson, v. (2015). coordinating scientific argumentation and the next generation science standards through argument driven inquiry. science educator, 24(1), 45-50. harris, p. l. (2012). trusting what you're told: how children learn from others. next generation science standards. www.nextgenscience.org mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.socialstudies.org/c3 http://www.nextgenscience.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 228 harvey, s., & goudvis, a. (2017). strategies that work: teaching comprehension for understanding, engagement, and building knowledge, k-8. stenhouse publishers. hutner, t. l., & sampson, v. (2015). new ways of teaching and observing science class. phi delta kappan, 96(8), 52-56. kujawski, d. j. (2015). present, critique, reflect, and refine: supporting evidence-based argumentation through conceptual modeling. science scope, 39(4), 29-34. lasley ii, t. j. (1998). paradigm shifts in the classroom. phi delta kappan, 80(1), 84-86. lombardi, d., sibley, b., & carroll, k. (2013). what’s the alternative? using model-evidence link diagrams to weigh alternative models in argumentation. the science teacher, 80 (5), 5055. lecompte, k., & blevins, b. (2015). building civic bridges: community-centered action civics. the social studies, 106, 209-217. llewellyn, d., & rajesh, h. (2011). fostering argumentation skills: doing what real scientists really do. science scope, 35(1), 22-28. perkins, d. (2014). future wise: educating our children for a changing world. new york, ny: john wiley & sons. reiser, b., berland, l. k., & kenyon, l. o. (2012). engaging students in the scientific practices of explanation and argumentation: understanding a framework for science education. science and children, 49(8), 8-13. rothstein, d., & santana, l. (2014). make just one change: teach students to ask their own questions. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. rothstein, d., santana, l., & minigan, a. p. (2015). making questions flow. educational leadership, 73(1), 70-75. therrien, w. j., hughes, c., kapelski, c., & mokhtari, k. (2009). effectiveness of a test-taking strategy on achievement in essay tests for students with learning disabilities. journal of learning disabilities, 42(1), 14-23. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 221-229 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 229 tizard, b., hughes, m., carmichael, h., & pinkerton, g. (1983). children’s questions and adults’ answers. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 24(2), 269-281. whitlock, a. m. m., & brugar, k. a. (2017). how does a cowboy make money? using student curiosities to further elementary school inquiries. social studies, 108(3), 79-86. about the authors: juan manuel walker assistant professor, secondary program coordinator, college of education, augusta university. cody cruse – chemistry teacher, harlem high school, harlem, ga kim barker assistant professor, department of teaching and leading, augusta university. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 90-91 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 90-91 corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 uneven and unfair: a book review of the power of place by shannon m. dodt de blij, h. j. (2008). the power of place: geography, destiny and globalization’s rough landscape. new york: oxford university press. harm de blij does not believe the world is flat, and not just because he is an expert geographer. although he lets thomas friedman, author of the bestselling book the world is flat, off the hook in the preface of his book the power of place, de blij (2008) attacks the idea from cover to cover (p. 11). when he lived in south africa during the 1950's, he saw that geography and local attitudes affected the manifestation of apartheid throughout the country, where whites-only rules were ignored in some areas and strictly enforced in others. although the nation’s laws were meant for all south africans, it was the places that determined the power of its people. the differences in the places where people are born continue to drastically affect the lives people lead. as de blij (2008) sees it, ‘ours is a divided world whose obstacles and barriers constrain countless wouldbe mobals who, as poverty-stricken and powerless locals, have no chance of escape and who cannot influence those who determine their fate’ (p. 45). the global core, which de blij reports has been defined by the world bank as containing ‘approximately 15 percent of the global population but records nearly 75 percent of the world's annual income’, is contrasted throughout the book with life in its periphery (p. 30). in the periphery, concerns about disease, violence, and natural disasters are part of everyday life. de blij suggests that it is place that fundamentally limits inhabitants of the periphery. popular beliefs about globalization and ‘flatness’ come from nations within the core itself, where the standard of living is higher overall, and where international cities host wealthy tourists and multinational corporations. nevertheless, for every success story of globalization, de blij has a contrasting example. some nations are promoting medical tourism to attract these global travelers, while their own local people live without adequate access to medical care. english appears to be on its way to world language status, especially in the business world, and those who learn to speak it have greater access to opportunities. however, among residents of japan, ‘one of the most powerful forces of globalization’, only 1% claim to be fluent in english, exemplifying that not all people want to give up their nationalism for a global identity (de blij, 2008, p. 66). the information presented in the power of place, through chapters on migration, language, religion, health, geography, gender, urbanization, and political concerns, clarify many of the complicated factors causing disparities among people. as such, i would definitely recommend the book, despite the following few criticisms i have. first, i found it to be lengthy, mostly in part due to the extensiveness of information, but also because parts of the book were overly detailed to the point of getting off-topic. also, i felt the book assumed i was familiar with, and knowledgeable of, the idea of a flattening world. since the book does not sufficiently establish that background information or a clear definition for flatness in the beginning, i felt unsure and skeptical of de blij's passionate assertions. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 90-91 corresponding author email: omahony@oakland.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 one thing i took from the book is that great suffering and injustice are as prominent now as they ever were in some parts of the world, and because population growth is highest in those places, the issues are not flattening at all. i have always found the complexity of the world's problems perplexing. from this book, i gained much-needed geographic and historical context for understanding compelling problems like endemic diseases, religious fundamentalism, and national versus cultural boundaries. those who say that the world is flat are presenting a picture that people today are standing on an equal footing, in front of a wide-open world. it is this assertion which professor de blij strongly, and successfully, repudiates in the power of place. author note shannon dodt teaches fifth grade at oxford elementary school in oxford, michigan. oxford elementary is an authorized ib world school. her pedagogical mission is to guide and support her students in their learning while challenging them to achieve great things! shannon.dodt@oxfordschools.org mailto:shannon.dodt@oxfordschools.org journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 153-154. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 153-154. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 153 review ross, e.w. (ed.) (2014). the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems and possibilities (4th ed.) albany, ny: university of new york press. by dr debra donnelly, university of newcastle, australia. this offering is the 4th edition of a successful formula that presents chapters from leading social studies scholars, theorists and educators coalescing them around the central themes of purposes, issues and pedagogical application. this edition has twelve new contributions with current cache, such as ecological democracy, patriotism and islamophobia in the classroom, while repeat appearances from 3rd edition have undergone revision and updating. the aim of the collection “to challenge readers to reconsider their assumptions and understandings of the origins, purposes, nature, and possibilities of the social studies curriculum” (ross, 2014:xi) is explicit and remains constant since the first iteration in 1997. the target market for this book is educators from all sectors, with the overarching assumption of the vital role of the teacher in curriculum development and change but the appeal of this, at times, provocative edition extends to a general reader interested in the uses, challenges and potential of social studies education. it is organized into four parts. the first, "the purposes of the social studies curriculum," examines some of the tensions and challenges within social studies education. c. gregg jorgensen begins the section with an historical overview of the field that uses the focus questions, "what are the origin of social studies?", “what is the purpose, theory and practice of social studies as we enter the 21st century?, and “how can social studies be vibrant and in the emerging era of social media?” for jorgensen, the answer lies in the evolution and adaptive nature of the discipline. “social studies …has been refined and redefined to encompass aspects of human rights education, multicultural education, global education, issues-centred education, holocaust education – disciplines posed to embrace the 21st century” (jorgensen, 2014:3) while remaining true to the deweyan philosophy of engagement, relevance and societal value. e.wayne ross, sandra mathison and kevin vinson examine the interconnected facets of social studies curriculum and decry the limitations imposed on teacher autonomy and reflectivity, as well as and student engagement and understanding, by high-stake testing and stateimposed accountability regimes. they call for a central re-positioning and empowering of teachers and their students. likewise the contributions of christopher leahy and abraham deleon call for emancipatory action, for “ambitious teaching” (leahey, 2014, 63) with a utopian transformative vision. “once we release our imaginations by embodying an insurgent approach to social studies, we can theorise and act toward possible potentials that emerge, and fear will dissipate toward hope”(deleon, 2014:86). the second part, "social issues and the social studies curriculum," contains seven chapters drawn together by their progressive tone and critical pedagogy propositions for re-assessment of the status quo and call for reform. the first two chapters, one by e.wayne ross and kevin vinson and the other by joel westheimer, highlight the mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 153-154. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 154 irony of transmission models in citizenship education and call for participatory democratic classrooms, which are bold in their disruption of prescribed agendas. the chapters of neil houser on ecological democracy and four arrows on indigenous wisdom and teaching, call for a return to ancient understandings in the treatment of the education, and ultimately planet. curry stephenson malott and marc pruyn, who argue that a marxist lens on western capitalism in a social studies curriculum would serve to foster deep questioning of the inherent power dynamics so revealing the negative impacts on social justice, sustain the case for radical change. the last two chapters of this section point to the gap between the rhetoric of equality and inclusion with the reality of racism, prejudice and heteronormativity in u.s. society. jack nelson and valerie ooka pang focus on strategies for social studies education to address issues of racism and prejudice, while lisa loutzenheiser’s chapter criticises many current practices which try to address issues of gender, sexuality and homophobia as tokenistic and lacking contextualisation. she advocates for integrated community-based programs, which critical examine of issues of gender and sexuality. the third section, "the social studies curriculum in practice," utilises various lenses to examine classroom praxis and practice in social studies education. sandra mathison presents a revision of assessment beyond standardised testing and suggests performance assessment as a suitable vehicle for assessment for and of learning. along a similar line, doug selwyn provides a convincing rationale and a staged “how-to” guide for teachers wishing to engage their students in real world inquiry. as selwyn concludes, “we can best serve them [the students] by introducing them to skills that they can bring to whatever they encounter in the future. they will learn by doing, by reflecting, by sharing…”(selwyn, 2014: 287). the next three chapters are centred on emancipatory discourses freedom from: religious bigotry (ozlem sensoy); class division and inequity (gregory queen); and media manipulation and acquiescence (paul orlowski). sensoy’s chapter on islamophobia is a stark and timely reminder of the power of the media and impact of racial and religious stereotyping on students and teachers alike. sensoy envisions school, and more particularly the social science classroom, as fertile ground in which to redress misinformation and injustice and bring about social transformation. both the queen and orlowski contributions call for a progressive educators and a critical social studies agenda with the goal of deconstructing and countering hegemonic discourses. the last chapter in this section from joseph kahne and joel westheimer presents a rationale and strategy for promoting the teaching of democracy and presents useful best practice principles as a guide for teachers. in the "conclusion," e. wayne ross (2014) seeks to bring together the diverse strands of thought, the “variety pathways” (ross, 2014:385), presented in this progressively orientated collection. this book may be criticised by some as utopian in its belief in the power of insightful teachers and students to change society for the better, but this volume provides scholarly analysis of current trends and issues and speaks to the idealist in us all, and as such should be a welcome addition to the libraries of teachers, scholars, policy makers and interested citizens. ross and his contributors make a convincing case for the possibilities of social studies to foster “broad participation in a democratic community of inquirers” (ross, 2014, 385) examining the present with a critical eye and enacting a more just and generous future. mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. the use of postcolonial theory in social studies education some implications najwan lleeb saada michigan state university ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: in this essay i explain the basic tenets of postcolonial theory and its possible implications for teaching social studies and global issues in american high schools. the use of this theory is becoming increasingly significant, given the growing islamophobia and orientalism in the united states, the ongoing uprisings in the middle east, and the divide between east and west at the political levels. also, it recognizes the right of the other for appropriate representation, self-determination, and justice. the essay allows scholars, teachers, and educators to enrich their strategies of critique, and their pedagogical repertoire, and to prepare critically and globally informed citizens. key words: orientalism, othering, postcolonial theory, pedagogy of critique ___________________________________________________________________________ postcolonialism is an interdisciplinary field which encompasses the fields of anthropology, political science, linguistics, history, comparative literature, and cultural studies (ashcrof, griffiths, & tiffin, 2007). a review of the literature indicates that very few scholars have tried to make the connection between postcolonial theory and educational critique (andreotti, 2011; burney, 2012; merryfield, 2001). in this essay, i join efforts to clarify the meaning of this critical theory (asher & crocco, 2001; merryfield & subedi 2001; rizvi & lingard, 2006; subedi & daza, 2008; willinsky, 1998), and i focus on its possible implications for teaching social studies at the high school level. what is postcolonial theory? postcolonialism is a contested term, and it is used by different scholars to denote different cultural, economic, and political circumstances of countries which share history of european colonialism (mcewan, 2009). for the purpose of this essay, i adopt the definition suggested by schwarz (2005), which sees post-colonialism as “a radical philosophy that interrogates both the past history and ongoing legacies of european colonialism [and american imperialism] in order to undo them” (p. 4). other scholars have used the terms imperialism (said, 1993), or neocolonialism (ashcrof et al., 2007 loomba, 1998), when they talk about postcolonialism, and to describe the asymmetrical relationships between the west and east. these scholars show that neo-colonialism, or imperialism, can function without formal colonies or without direct colonial rule, because “the economic [and social] relations of dependency and control ensure both captive labour as well as markets for corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 103 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. european industry as well as goods” (loomba, 1998). it is assumed that the end of colonialism and the european invasion of other people’s lands and resources (ashcroft, griffiths, & tiffin, 2007), led to “a relatively minor move from direct to indirect rule, a shift from colonial rule and domination to a position not so much of independence as of being in-dependence” (young, 2003, p. 3). said (1993) suggested the distinction between colonialism and imperialism, in which colonialism refers to the expansion of european countries to include and build up real colonies in distant lands and territories, and imperialism connotes the power of colonialism as a political ideology. young (2003) added that even when many former colonies got their independence in the last century, they continued to be informally controlled by local elites, who served the interests of western countries. in this regard, i use the theory of postcolonialism in order to refer to people’s resistance to colonialism, or to colonial discourses (said, 1978) produced within western societies. the idea of discourse analysis from the knowledge/power perspective was developed by foucault (1977; 1985) and was later used by edward said (1978), in order to describe the practices, methods, and strategies used by western scholars, ethnographers, explorers, and travelers in order to define, control, and exploit the “east.” colonial discourse works to maintain and to justify the superiority of the west compared to the east, through viewing the west as advanced, modern, rational, and developed, and the east as primitive, barbaric, inferior, and childlike. according to rizvi and lingard (2006), “by knowing the orient, the western metropolitan centre came to learn how it could dominate distant territories and cultures not only militarily, economically, and politically, but also culturally in a range of hegemonic ways” (p. 296). it is worth clarifying that the east in oriental discourse refers to middle eastern and east asian cultures. but i use the east here to indicate the relationship between the united states and middle eastern and islamic countries. colonial discourses such as orientalism, eurocentrism, and ethnocentrism serve the imperial agenda of western countries, and this may lead to processes of othering not only against people in the middle east but also against immigrants who come from this region and establish their own diasporas in western societies (burney, 2012; spivak, 1991; young, 1990). i believe that social studies teachers and global educators in the united states can work with their students in order to bring to light the discourses of colonialism, and to use postcolonial theory in order to understand global issues, particularly the complicated relationship between the united states and the middle east. in addition, social studies teachers can discuss and analyze issues of marginalization, subalternity, and othering as they are manifested in the curriculum, the media, pop culture, and historical texts. edward said (1978) introduced this line of thinking in his seminal book orientalism, through which he clarified that orientalism is the representation of the east in the eyes of the west through the “social construction of the orient, as the ultimate other in history, literature, art, music, and popular culture” (p. 23). in addition, according to said (1978), orientalism is a colonial discourse which supports the self-representation and self-definition of the west through the othering of the east. in the rest of this essay i bring some examples of using postcolonial theory in social studies and global education. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 104 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. implications of postcolonial theory in social studies and global education the ambivalent relationship towards democracy in the middle east social studies and global educators can use egypt as a case study in order to explain the historical relationships between the united states and the middle east, and how american foreign policy is influenced by the desire to construct and control the orient. for instance, barack obama announced that he is “deeply concerned” about the military coup in egypt, the suspension of the constitution, and the house arrest of the president muhammad mursi. these events evoke many questions regarding u.s. policy in the middle east, its commitment towards democratic principles and values, the future of u.s. aid to egypt, and how obama’s administration will interpret/apply the american law1 which prevents the united states from financially supporting countries after a military coup. i argue that the recent uprising in egypt is a great opportunity for global educators and social studies teachers to discuss with their students the historical role of the united states at the international level and its ambivalent relationship toward the recent uprisings in middle eastern countries. samuel huntington (1996) argued that since the collapse of the soviet union and its communist ideology in 1991, there has been a new clash, between western civilization and the values and ideals of the islamic world. huntington’s work and the work of the orientalist bernard lewis (2003) were adopted by neoconservative politicians, the media, and right-wing parties in order to justify american foreign policies and american’s military intervention in countries such as iraq and afghanistan (kincheloe, steinberg, & stonebanks, 2010). however, a careful review of these policies shows that the american public has been misled to believe that the world is divided between “us” and “them,” and that the war in iraq is part of the global campaign against terrorism. in addition, a historical analysis will show that the united states was in fact active in producing “its future enemies,” such as supporting the dictatorship of saddam hussein before the first gulf war, and osama bin laden in the afghan war against the soviets (kincheloe et al., 2010). studying history from critical and postcolonial perspectives will help students become aware of the politics of knowledge in their society and how the intersection between the media, politics, and capitalism produced and reproduced u.s. imperial policies through discursive and institutional practices. some social studies teachers may argue that the situation in egypt is not clear yet, and that they cannot therefore take a stance with regard to american foreign policy in the classroom. my point is not to direct students toward specific answers, but to let them investigate and understand the unequal power-relationships between the united states and arab countries in the middle east, and to establish a critical understanding of orientalism and how they might be engaged to achieve peace and democracy for people in this part of the world. when students investigate the dynamic relationships between the united states and middle eastern countries, they will learn how oriental discourses are produced through the media, politics, culture, 1 see section 7008 of the fy2012 consolidated appropriations act (p.l. 112-74). corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 105 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. and the cinema industry, and how they may challenge or understand critically the imperial agenda of the united states in the middle east. social studies teachers and students may analyze with their students different resources, such as primary documents, political speeches, historical artifacts, maps, and the media, in order to learn about the politics of knowledge and how it has served western imperial agendas (willinsky, 1998). applying postcolonial theory in social studies education will encourage students and teachers to challenge the dichotomy between east and west, and to understand, for instance, that democracy, with free and fair elections, which gives real representation for all citizens, can be produced in middle eastern countries as well. i believe that democracy is context-based, and each society may develop its own understanding of democratic values, processes, and culture. in the case of egypt, the success of the muslim brotherhood in the last election may promote students to question the role of religion in non-western societies and to ponder if the separation between church and state, which is a basic characteristic of many western democracies, fits the evolution of democracy in islamic societies. in fact, there are some scholars today who believe that political islam has its own weight in islamic and arab societies, and therefore it should not be excluded from the deliberative process of defining arab democracies (bishara, 2012; roy, 2013). the media and producing the other students may discuss the growing fear of islam, or islamophobia, after september 11 (esposito & kalin, 2011), its roots, and how it is constructed through ideological stereotyping and demonizing muslims in order to justify the war against iraq and afghanistan (kincheloe et al., 2010). in addition, when students, for instance, watch the movie reel bad arabs, which is available in youtube, they get a better sense of how the cinema industry in the united states is used to produce an image of arabs as “irrational, menacing, violent, untrustworthy, anti-western, and dishonest” (rizvi & lingard, 2006, p. 296) people. learning about the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of islam and muslims in american society may help students to develop informed perspectives and to become more responsible as american and global citizens. the biased view of islam as the source of terror in the world (said, 1997) is a very narrow-minded and deterministic approach towards this religion, and it serves the politics of hostility between the east and the west. that is, it presents the ideological production of dichotomy between europe and the united states as modern, liberal, and democratic, and the middle east or, more accurately, islamic societies, as pre-modern, under-developed, and non-democratic. this kind of eurocentric thinking feeds united states and european imperialism, which has supported arab dictators for many years, and this, i assume, has limited the development of democracy in the middle east. at the local level, the discourses of othering and islamophobia in american society, which have increased since september 11 (esposito & kalin, 2011), may lead to a further focus on national security and patriotism, and this may affect a school’s efforts to educate for critical thinking and a better understanding of ideological stereotyping, cultural politics, representation of the other, and america’s role in international conflicts. if schools aim to prepare students to become citizens of the corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 106 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. world, then they need to see how discourses of power and misrepresentation are produced within their own country, and how they promote injustice at the local and the global levels. it is important that american students develop critical and global awareness, through which they can question american foreign policy and understand that their country can be not only part of the problem in international conflicts but also part of the solution to these conflicts. for instance, not taking a clear and assertive decision against the israeli illegal settlements in the west bank leads to the continuity of the israeli occupation and the everyday suffering of thousands of palestinians in this region of the world. the argument of the united states right-wing parties about israeli security does not justify the israeli illegal settlement; in fact, these settlements and the israeli occupation of the palestinian land since 1967 are the source for palestinian’s resistance and their request for freedom and justice. capitalism, worlding, and the myth of cultural binarism when western powers impose their own definition of democracy and morality on other states and societies, they in fact are engaged in a process of “worlding” (spivak, 1990), which means putting western culture, values, and standards at the center of understanding and appreciating human development, by ignoring “the history of imperialism and the unequal balance of power between the ‘first’ and ‘third’ worlds2 in the global capitalist system” (andreotti, 2006, p. 44). according to dobson (2005, p. 261), the global does not represent the universal human interest; it represents a particular local and parochial interest which has been globalized through the scope of its reach. the seven most powerful countries, the g7, dictate global affairs, but the interests that guide them remain narrow, local and parochial. when students start to see the dynamic relationships between the local and the global, and how they are influenced by the myth of “civilizing” the other, or how the north or the west claim responsibility for developing the south or the east, then they become critical global citizens. students who study international events from a postcolonial perspective will be able to refute the dichotomies of “us” versus “them,” which have been produced for many years through colonial, historical, and political discourses in western societies. they will learn how power relationships work at the international level to produce inequalities among nations and cultures, and they will know that the divide between the east and the west serves the idea of imperialism and the expansion of western culture and its capitalist system. as argued by loomba (1998), “colonialism was the midwife that assisted the birth of european capitalism, or that without colonial expansion the transition to capitalism could not have taken place in europe” (p. 4). 2 although some scholars use the terms first, second, and third world countries in their analysis, i think this terminology is part of the discursive discourses of “making the other,” and i prefer using terms such as developing and developed countries. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 107 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. it is worth noting that it is not appropriate to homogenize either the western or eastern cultures, because they are all diverse in terms of language, ethnicity, race, and religion. according to said (1993), all cultures are “hybrid, heterogeneous, extraordinarily differentiated, and unmonolithic” (p. xxix). in addition, historically there are mutual influences between east and west in many fields and across history. for instance, “it is important to remember that during the middle ages, the judeochristian west borrowed heavily and learned a great deal from muslims, both in the appreciation of arts and the humanities as well as in scientific and technological innovation, just as muslims had done earlier from athens and rome” (rizvi, 2005, p. 175). also, the patterns of global immigration between the east and the west, the establishment of diasporic communities in western countries (knott & macloughlin, 2010), as well as the increased use of advanced technologies, such as the internet, smart phones, and social media, have produced citizens with transnational and hybrid identities. the success of the american girl jennifer grout to reach the finals of arabs got talent, and the inspiration that the occupy wall street movement got from the protests in the middle east, are two more examples of the mutual and the dynamic relationships between east and west. when students learn to appreciate other cultures and nations and to realize that there are multiple epistemologies and perceptions of life in the world, they may become more tolerant because they will appreciate the richness of the world and the colorfulness of human experiences. by so doing, students may become more critical about the clash of civilizations described by huntington (1996), or between islam and the west, which was emphasized by the media and right-wing parties after the terror attack of september 11, 2001. adopting “the clash of civilizations” theme has led, i think, to demonizing arabs and muslims, and it contributes to the continuity of misunderstanding between west and east. epistemic violence versus listening to the other learning about the other from his/her own perspective may eliminate what spivak (1994) named as “epistemic violence.” this means not to apply western standards and values on the way people in the non-western cultures understand and interpret their lives. epistemic violence is an act of oppression through which some elites in western societies may judge and interpret the other based on their colonial desire and their eurocentric perspective. epistemic violence legitimizes the supremacy of western culture, compared to other modes of living, and it stems from universalizing western values, beliefs, and traditions, and from putting them at the center of evaluating concepts of modernity, progress, and development. for instance, people in western societies may consider wearing the hijab or the islamic headscarf as an indication of males’ control over females in islamic societies. this is an example of epistemic violence because it ignores the inner voices of females who decide to do so on their own, based on their own understanding of religious practice and piety. in addition, the western support of secular elites in the middle east before the recent uprisings took place can be interpreted as silencing the orient and people’s desire for freedom, justice, and democracy. the ambivalent attitudes of western countries towards the possibility of arab corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 108 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. democracy do not recognize the likelihood that islam, which is the major religion in the arab world, can be used as a mechanism for postcolonial resistance. i am not arguing that islamic democracy is the appropriate way to achieve justice and freedom in egypt or the middle east, but arabs and muslims have the right to produce their own democracy based on their own history, culture, and priorities. one possible method of bringing the voices of the other is what said (1993) called “contrapuntal3 analysis.” this allows teachers and students to figure out the implicit meanings of the text, its social and political context, the author’s intentions, and what is excluded from it (ashcroft et al., 2007; burney, 2012). it assumes that each cultural, historical, and educational text has an embedded ideology that contributes to processes of othering and orientalism in the larger society. thereby, american and european history should be read “in relation to its spatial and political relations to empire, as well as in counterpoint to the works that colonized people themselves produced in response to colonial domination” (rizvi & lingard, 2006, p. 301). this kind of geographical and geopolitical sensitivity may help students to question the implicit meaning of historical and political events, how they are related to the historical construction of the orient, and how they validate the exercise of imperial power. in supporting the need of contrapuntal pedagogy, merryfield and subedi (2001) added that “it is not surprising that social studies texts frequently use terms, such as ‘third world,’ that teach students to reduce 85% of people on the planet to a single category whose only shared characteristic is that they are not of european heritage” (p. 282). contrapuntal analysis, according to burney (2012), has the potential of interrupting the representation of the “east as exotic or remote, or timeless, lost in time and space, but sees it in terms of present worldly reality” (burney, 2012, p. 140). in addition, listening to the orient’s real voice may challenge its representation as alien, barbaric, uncivilized, and sensual (said, 1978) in western cultures. for instance, teachers may encourage their students to investigate how the social studies curriculum, popular culture, media, and historical documents produce the image of the dark and poor africa, the “mysterious orient,” or the “terrorist muslim” (nealon & giroux, 2012; said, 1978). in order to challenge these images of the other, social studies educators may include in their teaching stories and experiences of people from previously colonized nations and societies, in order to bring in the voices of these people, how they understand their identities, and to recognize their struggles against colonialism. the inclusion of literature from other cultures and nations will help students to recognize “the relationship across culture, power, and knowledge construction” (merryfield & subedi, 2001. p. 285). for instance, students may read and discuss some of the work by mahmoud darwish about the palestinian resistance, ngugi’s book the river between (1965), rushdie’s midnight’s children (2006), things fall apart (1958) by chinua achebe, and salih’s season’s of migration to the north (2009). these books help to re-present the other’s “culture and 3 a word used by said (1978) which is related to music but it means here the expression of counterpoints in history and literature which creates a new understanding and knowledge. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 109 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chinua_achebe journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. identity through its own voice and vision” (burney, 2012, p. 112), and they show the tensions between colonialism and traditional cultures in different places in the world. also, these books may challenge narratives of colonialism in western societies, and they move the voices of the colonized from the margins to the mainstream of knowledge production. challenging the empire within citizenship education from a postcolonial perspective requires a broader understanding of othering, which is not limited to interpreting the power relationships between the west and the east but also includes achieving more justice in democratic and western countries (young, 1990). in other words, each society has its own regime of truth which defines what is normal, and acceptable, and who is the other or the subaltern who is not allowed to speak or to express his/her own needs. the concept of subalternity, which was produced by gramsci (1999) and advanced later by postcolonial scholars (guha, 1982; spivak, 1994), refers to marginalized groups who are silenced by discourses of power in their societies. social studies teachers in american schools can promote their students to conduct discourse analysis in order to see how minorities and ethnic groups have been marginalized throughout the different periods of american history. furthermore, they can investigate how discourses of othering have been produced against african-americans, jewish, chinese, and women, and how these discourses were changed through minorities’ struggles for equality and equity. deconstructing discourses of othering and how they function through the media, popular culture, literature, history, and politics is pivotal in developing students’ critical thinking and their justice-oriented citizenship. social studies education, which encourages students to analyze discourses of othering at the local/social level, may allow students to become more informed, critical, responsible, and sensitive to the voices of marginalized groups, and perhaps to develop more empathy towards other cultures and nations. other resources i would like to recommend some useful books for social studies teachers and global educators who might be interested to expand their knowledge of postcolonial theory in general and its possible implications for education. for instance, the book post-colonial studies: the key concept gives a great introduction to the major postcolonial concepts, their meaning, and their historical roots. the book pedagogy of the other: edward said, postcolonial theory, and strategies for critique focuses on the major contributions of edward said and other postcolonial scholars and the possible implications of this theory to educational critique. the book actionable postcolonial theory in education, which received the aera (american educational research association) award in curriculum studies-2012, shows how a postcolonial framework may inform research and educational practices. for teachers who would like to learn more about the current uprisings in the middle east, i recommend reading the books the invisible arab: the promise and peril of the arab revolution, which has in-depth sociopolitical analysis of the causes of arab upheavals and their possible consequences, and the book the arab springs: what everyone needs to know, which answers basic questions about the arab uprisings in the middle east. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 110 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. conclusion the purpose of this essay is to encourage social studies and global educators to use postcolonial methods in their teaching, and to help american students recognize the asymmetrical power relations between western powers and the middle east (andreotti, 2006). also, i encourage both teachers and students to think critically about the structures of orientalism, how they function and are reproduced in the larger society, with the hope to create a just ground for equal dialogue between the north and the south. listening to the voices of the other while discussing local and global issues has the potential of empowering students so that they reflect critically on their own cultures and the epistemological and ontological assumptions behind their actions. in other words, it may allow them to realize how they are positioned, and how they position others, and to realize the complex relationships between power and knowledge at historical, social, and international levels (foucault & gordon, 1980). this is with the hope that students will understand better their status as global citizens, and will take more responsibility for their decisions in the future. references achebe, c. (2008). things fall apart. oxford: heinemann. andreotti, v. (2006). soft versus critical global citizenship education. policy and practice: a development education review, 3, 40–51. retrieved from http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue3-focus4 andreotti, v. (2011). actionable postcolonial theory in education. new york: palgrave macmillan. ashcroft, b., griffiths, g., & tiffin, h. (2007). post-colonial studies: the key concepts. new york: routledge. asher, n., & crocco, m. s. (2001). (en)gendering multicultural identities and representations in education. theory & research in social education, 29(1), 129–149. doi: 10.1080/00933104.2001.10505932 bishārah, m. (2012). the invisible arab: the promise and peril of the arab revolution. new york, ny: nation books. burney, s. (2012). pedagogy of the other: edward said, postcolonial theory, and strategies for critique. new york: peter lang. dobson, a. (2005). globalization, cosmopolitanism and the environment. international relations, 19, 259–273. esposito, j. l., & kalin, i. (2011). islamophobia: the challenge of pluralism in the 21st century. oxford: oxford university press. foucault, m. (1977). discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. london: penguin. foucault, m. (1985). the use of pleasure: the history of sexuality. new york: vintage. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 111 http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue3-focus4 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. foucault, m., & gordon, c. (1980). power-knowledge: selected interviews and other writings, 1972– 1977. new york: pantheon books. gramsci, a. (1999). history of the subaltern classes: methodological criteria (q. hoar & g. smith trans.). in q. hoar & g. smith (eds.), selections from the prison notebooks of antonio gramsci (pp. 196–202). london: lawrence and wishart. guha, r. (1982). subaltern studies: writings on south asian history and society. delhi: oxford university press. huntington, s. p. (1996). the clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. new york: simon & schuster. kincheloe, j. l., steinberg, s. r., & stonebanks, c. d. (2010). teaching against islamophobia. new york: peter lang. knott, k., & macloughlin, s. (2010). diasporas: concepts, identities, intersections. london: zed books. lewis, b. (2003). what went wrong? the clash between islam and modernity in the middle east. new york: perennial. loomba, a. (1998). colonialism-postcolonialism. london: routledge. mcewan, c. (2009). postcolonialism and development. london: routledge. merryfield, m. m. (2001). moving the center of global education: from imperial world views that divide the world to double consciousness, contrapuntal pedagogy, hybridity, and crosscultural competence. in w. b. stanley (ed.), critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century (pp. 179–208). greenwich, ct: information age. merryfield, m. m., & subedi, b. (2001). decolonizing the mind for world-centered global education. in e. w. ross. (ed.), the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems, and possibilities (pp. 283–297). albany: state university of new york press. nealon, j., & giroux, s. s. (2012). the theory toolbox: critical concepts for the humanities, arts, and social sciences. united kingdom: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. ngugi, wa t. (1965). the river between. new york. longman. rizvi, f. (2005). representations of islam and education for justice. in c. mccarthy, w. crichlow, g. dimitriadis, & n. dolby (eds.), race, identity and representation in education (pp. 167–179). new york: routledge. rizvi, f., & lingard, b. (2006). edward said and the cultural politics of education. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 27(3), 293–308. doi: 10.1080/01596300600838744 roy, o. (2013). there will be no islamist revolution. journal of democracy, 24 (1), 14–19. rushdie, s. (2006). midnight’s children. new york: random house. said, e. w. (1978). orientalism. new york: pantheon books. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 112 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 103-113. said, e. w. (1993). culture and imperialism. new york: knopf. said, e. w. (1997). covering islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world. new york: vintage books. salih, t. (2009). season of migrations to the north. new york: new york review of books classics. spivak, g. (1990). the postcolonial critic: interviews, strategies, dialogues. new york & london: routledge. spivak, g. (1991). identity and alterity: an interview. arena, 97, 65–76. spivak, g. (1994). can the subaltern speak? in p. williams & l. chrisman (eds.), colonial discourse and post-colonial theory: a reader (pp. 66–111). new york: columbia university press. schwarz, h. (2005). mission impossible: introducing post-colonial studies in the u.s. academy. in h. shwarz & s. ray (eds.), a companion to post-colonial studies (pp.1–20). blackwell publishing ltd. subedi, b., & daza, l. (2008). the possibilities of postcolonial praxis in education. race ethnicity and education, 11(1), 1–10. doi: 10.1080/13613320701845731 willinsky, j. (1998). learning to divide the world: education at empire's end. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. young, r. (1990). white mythologies: writing history and the west. new york: routledge. young, r. (2003). post-colonialism: a very short introduction. new york: oxford university press. corresponding author email: saada.najwan@gmail.com ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 113 what is postcolonial theory? implications of postcolonial theory in social studies and global education the ambivalent relationship towards democracy in the middle east the media and producing the other capitalism, worlding, and the myth of cultural binarism epistemic violence versus listening to the other challenging the empire within other resources conclusion references journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. collective memories of the second world war in history textbooks from china, japan and south korea yonghee suh * (old dominion university, norfolk, va); makito yurita (shimane university, japan); lin lin (suny at cortland, ny): scott metzger (the pennsylvania state university). ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: informed by recurring international controversies, this study explores representations of the second world war as official history in chinese, japanese, and korean secondary-level textbooks and theorizes about how they influence and function as collective memories about this time period. using grounded theory, it finds that the examined japanese textbooks tend to present the second world war in chronological order with a passive voice and avoid discussing why the war occurred and how it ended. the examined chinese textbooks develop narratives in chronological order as well, but thematic units are structured to highlight the coalition of mao’s communist party and chang kai-shek’s nationalists as the decisive factor in the victory against japanese imperialists contributing to the worldwide fight against fascism. the examined korean textbooks tend toward a single, patriotic perspective of a people that overcame japanese colonialism and developed as an independent nation, often ignoring issues that complicated the relationship between the two nations. key words: history education, history textbooks, the role of education, comparative study, curriculum research, grounded theory. history as a school subject can be an influential tool in shaping national identity (barton & mccully 2005; clark 2004, 2009; epstein 2009; seixas 2004; wertsch 2002). for this reason, history textbooks can be seen as a vehicle for teaching an ‘official’ history of a nation to its youth (foster & crawford 2006; hein & selden 2000; su, 2007). history textbooks are meant to inculcate in young people not only knowledge of their national history but awareness or acceptance of contemporary dominant/mainstream ideologies. textbooks do this by showing how nations evolved from ‘good’ past policies or principles (e.g., the usa and narratives of ‘freedom’ or ‘democracy’) or how the contemporary polity has been redeemed from a lamentable past (e.g., the contemporary japanese state has been transformed from an aggressor nation to a peace-loving and democratic nation after the 1940s). overall, officially sanctioned history textbooks tend to promote patriotism or loyalty to the nation or national community, even if doing so at times leads them to portray historical periods, events, and experiences in ways which create controversy. during the last several decades, international controversies have surrounded the teaching of the second world war among east asian nations – especially japan, the aggressor nation during the war, and two targets of japanese aggression, china and koreai. studies have been conducted on the issues of history textbook controversy in japan, china, and korea (cho 2002; fiji 2005). however, these studies mostly focus on which ‘facts’ should be included, or how details are represented in japanese history textbooks, rather than generating conversations about meaningful curriculum about the second world war. more importantly, these studies do not necessarily consider social, cultural, or political contexts in japan, china, and korea where the textbook controversies took place corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 34 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. and how contexts outside of schools influence what and how to teach about the second world war. this study aims to fill this gap in research and address the following question: how are the events of the second world war and the asian nations and people that participated in it framed and represented in a representative sample of history textbooks from japan, korea, and china in terms of collective memory? our goal is to connect this analysis to further discussion in a global academic community on the purpose of history curriculum in public schools. research on history textbook controversies in china, japan, and korea the existing body of research on history textbook controversies in japan, korea, and china is largely descriptive and evaluative. researchers in history education have investigated chapters on the second world war in japanese history textbooks and identified patterns of content coverage (barnard 2000, 2001; cave 2002; crawford 2006, heiden & seldon 2000; nicholls 2006; zhao & hoge 2006) suggesting that japanese history textbooks tend to avoid explicitly discussing the causes and consequences of the war and certain historical events during the war. in the analysis of a chapter on the 1937 nanjing massacre in 88 japanese high school history textbooks, barnard (2000, 2001) argued that japanese history textbooks tend to vaguely gloss over details of the event and take the position that the japanese people in the homeland were not aware of what was happening; he believes this position is problematic because it may give students the impression that japanese people at that time and in modern japan had and have no basis to respond to the nanjing massacre in a critical way. similarly, nicholls (2006) compared japanese history textbook chapters on the second world war with those from five other nations which played different roles during the war, such as germany, sweden, britain, and the usa. he found that japanese history textbooks portray the origins of the pacific war as an inevitable decision for the security and well-being of a nation under threat. nicholls also pointed out that compared to germany, which confronted conflicts over legacies of the holocaust and explicitly addressed not only national but also transnational identities and responsibilities, japanese history textbooks have avoided discussing japan’s responsibility for the war. these findings are indeed informative and meaningful to understanding japanese history textbooks in how they represent the nation’s past. however, there are limitations. first, most of the history textbook research on this issue relies on content analysis and highlights what is missing/misrepresented in japanese history textbooks only. the critiques of history textbooks use language such as ‘distorted’, ‘misrepresented’, ‘restricted’, ‘ignored’, or ‘slighted’. there are competing and contested stories about any national past, and judging them only in terms of essentialist claims of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ can lead to a reductionist view of national history (conrad, 2000) and easily miss capturing the contested and constructed nature of historical inquiry. second, with the exception of very few studies (dirlik, 1991; hamada, 2002, 2003; kamijima 2000; soh, 2003), researchers tend not to ask questions about how countries like china and korea that often assume the historical role of ‘victim’ of the war depict their wartime experiences in their textbooks. most of all, researchers rarely consider these controversies as domestic and international struggles over war memory in each nation (seaton, 2005, 2007). considering the limitations of the previous studies, this study purposely does not put japanese history textbooks at the center in order to criticize them for misrepresenting/missing what they did wrong in representing the second world war. such an approach, we feel, would be based in problematic assumptions: (1) that a history textbook could exist that neutrally and ‘correctly’ represents all events in history, and (2) that history textbooks from other countries better represent the war without political and/or national biases. instead, assuming that all national history corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 35 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. textbooks carry national and ideological perspectives, we will review history textbooks from japan, china and korea to analyze both the differences and functional similarities in how they represent the second world war. theoretical framework this study builds on theories of nationalism and collective memory across disciplines – including political science, history, and educational psychology. during the last several decades, nationalism and collective memory were heated fields of research in political science and history. scholars in both fields have argued that nation-states (particularly outside of western europe) are relatively modern phenomena, which some define (anderson, 1983/2006; conversi, 1995; hobsbawm, 1992; smith, 1994) as “an imagined community” where common accounts and narratives of the past are widely shared. they argue sustaining this “imagined community” consistently depends on longstanding myths, memories, values, and symbols such as family photographs and artifacts (bodnar, 1993), museums, historical sites, and public sculpture (gillis, 1996), and libraries, festivals, and museums (nora, 1998). in thinking about collective memory and official history for this study, we also draw on james wertsch’s conceptualization of narratives as ‘cultural tools’ that are transmitted, both officially and informally, among individuals and are employed by them to construct identities within various communities, both official and implicit (wertsch, 2002). in wertsch’s view, official accounts of the past; seldom fall neatly under the heading of analytic history or collective memory. on the one hand, states usually claim that the account they produce is based on objective historical scholarship, and to some degree this is the case. on the other hand, states have a strong interest in seeing their version of official history being accepted by citizens in such a way that they become a loyal imagined community. the intent is not simply for students to know the official history, but to believe it, to take ownership of it as a usable past (wertsch, 2002, p.85) collective memory emerges from a multivocal and contested distribution of narratives and cannot be neatly separated from history. state-approved or official history curricula are one contributing stream to the construction of collective memory about a society and the past. we believe they serve as an example of what wertsch calls ‘schematic narrative templates’—abstract, generalizable themes that underlie the construction of specific narratives and function as basic building blocks in a cultural tool kit (wertsch, 2004). collective memories in schools educational research on historical consciousness adds insights to explain the dynamics of how collective memories are created, circulated, and consumed. seixas (2004) contends that in order to make sense of our understanding of the past, it is necessary to understand the complex relationship between academic history, which claims to advance historical knowledge, and popular history, where the past is constructed for the purpose of creating identities, justifying policies, teaching the young in public schools, and creating entertainment for profit. this means, even though official history may represent nation-states’ efforts to inform collective memory in a way that is consonant with their dominant ideology, this influence exists alongside other socio-cultural forces, such as academic history and popular culture. individuals mediate all of these influences in how they corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 36 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. construct historical narratives through mastery, appropriation, and resistance (barton & levstik, 1998; epstein, 2009; hahn, 2001; porat, 2004; wertch, 2002; wineburg, mosborg, porat, & duncan, 2007). remembering the past occurs in multiple forms in schools. they include history tests (reich, 2010), state standards (van hoover, 2010; grant, 2002), history textbooks (loewen, 1996/2007; vansledright, 2008), national monuments visited for field trips (seixas & clark, 2004), and historical feature films (like hollywood movies) that teachers show in the classroom (marcus, metzger, paxton, & stoddard, 2010; wineburg, mosborg, porat, & duncan, 2007). among these, history textbooks are considered a main source for conveying “official” history, especially in relatively centralized systems such as china, south korea and japan. in such systems student are required to read and study textbooks authored and authorized by official institutions. textbooks are also mandatory reading for the centralized exams – including college entrance exams – and, therefore, the historical narratives in the textbooks are deployed in an enforced official context (goldberg, porat, & schwartz, 2006). grammars of history textbook narratives white (1990) notes that both form and content in history writing are significant in the creation of meanings, and how a story is told is as important as what is told in that story. barthes (1970) also argues that historians use “devices” to make their writing sound “factual” and “truthful.” similarly, researchers in history education report that there are patterns of narratives in history instruction, in particular when national history is being told. barton and levstik (2004) argue that history is commonly taught in schools as a form of national narrative. this common approach highlights the cause-effect relationships among events and in a way that tends to be moralistic (or self-righteous) and humanistic, and by doing so often ends up depicting the nation or people as victimized (searlewhite, 2001). as a consequence, this approach tends to overlook events and perspectives of “others” that do not fit comfortably with the dominant narrative (nodding, 1992; loewen, 1996/2007). research by educational psychologists has also found that there are two critical features of history textbook narrative that makes a narrative sound “true” or at least neutral: subjects in the narrative are vague and abstract (typically national entities or peoples), and authors of the narrative are invisible to the reader (nolen, 1995; nolen, johneson-crowley, & wineburg, 1994; paxton, 1997; shanahan, 1991; wineburg, 1991). as a result, textbooks tend to come off as dispassionate, voiceless, or at least neutral – telling “the truth” about the past without revealing authors’ intentions or reflecting on their positionality. methodology this study builds on previous work using a similar approach—in particular su’s study (2007) of ideological representations of taiwanese history in elementary social studies curriculum and torsti’s (2007) analysis of representations of ‘‘the other” national-ethnic groups in the 8th grade history textbooks used in bosnia and herzegovina. through purposeful sampling (patton, 2001), the most recent available and widely used editions of secondary history textbooks were selected in china, japan, and korea: one from middle school (or junior high school) and another from high school. however, considering the differences in the certification system and number of versions of history textbooks available in each country, we added two more textbooks in each country for a comprehensive representation of textbook accounts on the second world war (see the appendix for the textbooks that were selected for this study). this study focuses exclusively on asian experiences and perspectives on the second world war, and for that reason intentionally does not include corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 37 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. german, american, or any western textbooks. in china's case, multiple publishing companies published history textbooks since 2001, though the interpretation of history in school textbooks has traditionally been a function of the national government and the responsibility and authority for producing collective accounts of the nation’s past lie with ministry of education (formerly known as the national education commission). there are currently five different versions of history textbooks used in middle and high schools. for this study, the two most widely used history textbooks published by the people’s education press in 2009 – one at the middle school level and one at the high school level – were selected. a different version of high school history textbook published by people’s education press in 2009 (people’s education press, 2009), and another by people’s press in 2007 (zhu & ma, 2007) were added. these versions are the most widely adopted textbooks in chinese schools (chen, 2007; duan, 2010). in korea’s case, the current history textbook certification system was put into place under the seventh curriculum guidelines in korea (2002). highlighting the significance of contemporary history, the guidelines by the ministry of educational science and technology state that students will be able to develop the capabilities to solve the problems that they encounter now by understanding what happened in the near past. thus contemporary korean history textbooks covers the 17th century to the present and as a total six versions are available. kumsung, the most widely used high school history textbook, and two additional high school history textbooks published by jungang and doosan, were selected based on their wide use in high schools (the ministry of educational sciences and technology, 2004). at the middle school level, only one version of the textbook, kuksa [national history], which is published by the national institute of korean history, exists. it covers the beginning of korean history (2,000 years ago). we reviewed kuksa for the study. in japan’s case, yamakawa, the most widely used history textbook at the high school level, and tokyo shoseki at the junior high school were selected for the study. in addition, the least widely adopted texts for junior high and high school levels were also reviewed to illustrate a wide range of historical accounts in japan’s history textbooks, since they were the focus of recent history textbook controversies. the least widely adopted history textbooks at both school levels were drafted by the japanese society for history textbook reform (tsukurukai). tsukurukai was founded in 1997 to challenge ‘masochistic (or self-defeatism view of history)’ in japanese schools (tsukurukai, 1997). the organization aimed to introduce counter-narratives that emphasize national identity and a sense of pride to the nation’s past to its children. the organization’s efforts to draft a new history textbook attracted controversy; 0.039% of junior high schools chose to use this book when it was first adopted (kimijima, 2000). similar to china and korea, the ministry of education sets national curriculum guidelines in japan. independent publishers draft school textbooks, but the textbooks must go through the ministry’s rigorous certification process before they can be used in schools. the guideline sets topical divisions of history and provides minimum content requirements. for the second world war the guideline states that textbooks must introduce the nation’s political and diplomatic actions that led japan into the war and relations with china and other asian neighbors as well as europe and the usa. textbooks also must convey understandings about how the war led to atrocities for all of human society (ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology, 1998). tables that outline the three nations’ textbooks selected for the study and pages that are allotted for the second world war era are attached in appendix a. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 38 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. data collection and analysis this study looked at the written narrative text in the textbooks as the main data sources. not every textbook in each country provided every kind of material, and for some textbooks the visual or supplemental materials received more emphasis than for other textbooks. therefore, the narrative text was the largest body of material directly comparable between the countries’ textbooks. each textbook’s content is analyzed in its original language. notes about the texts were written in english to be exchanged among the researchers involved in this study. furthermore, necessary textbook excerpts were translated in english by the researchers of this study. our analysis took place in multiple stages. first, we examined how the second world war began, proceeded, and ended as presented in each textbook, roughly guided by the following questions (werner, 2000): • how much and where is the war represented in the textbook? o how many pages are devoted to chapters on the second world war? o what are the chapters before and after those on the second world war (i.e., how is the second world war “framed” in the wider topical organization)? • what is the storyline of each chapter on the second world war, including how the war began, proceeded and ended? • how are key wartime events positioned and framed? these questions were addressed both quantitatively and qualitatively, considering each country’s own context. for instance, neither chinese nor korean history textbooks have separate chapters on the second world war itself. chinese history textbooks situate the second world war as a part of the war of resistance against japan that began in 1931. similarly, korean history textbooks position the war as a history of their resistance against japanese colonialism since 1910. thus, instead of singling out the page numbers or sections of the chapter that discuss the second world war specifically, we included the chapters on the war of resistance against japan – in china’s case – and resistance against japanese colonialism – in korea’s case. we compared and contrasted the holistic summary of storylines in each chapter qualitatively (glaser & strauss, 1967) to look for the patterns and themes across those chapters. once the narrative of each case was written, we exchanged the case analyses and discussed the findings until the researchers all agreed. findings in this section we describe and explain the ways textbooks from china, korea, and japan convey an ‘official story’ of the second world war and the relationship to national identity1. we begin by analyzing patterns of organization and content in the examined chinese, korean, and japanese textbooks. then we present our analysis of the chinese, korean, and japanese textbooks structured around three thematic patterns that we observed – positioning the nation as a war victim, contributing to national progress, and establishing a singular interpretive narrative overview of chinese, korean, and japanese textbook accounts of world war ii all the high school textbooks in china – both old and new – refer to the war as the resistance war 1 a table that overview the historical events in three nations’ textbooks are attached as appendix b. this table is only a descriptive table of what contents are in most textbooks. it aims to give readers only an indication of which topics tend to be included. the historical events that are marked in the table are noted in at least three of the four textbooks from each nation. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 39 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. against japan. all mention that the invasion of china is the consequence of japan’s long-term policy to colonize asia. in doing so, they examine the impact of economic depression on japan’s foreign policy and its decision to create the puppet state in northeastern china. all textbooks also describe how japan was responsible for the liutiaogou incident (also known as marco polo bridge incident and ‘9.18 incident’)ii, which marked the beginning of the nationwide war of resistance against japan and the beginning of the second world war in china. the second chapter of the high school history textbook published by the people’s education press starts with an overview: the japanese imperialists launched the full-fledged war to invade china as an inevitable result of its long-prescribed plan to usurp china, dominate asia, and become a world superpower. (zhongguo jindai xiandai shi (2) 2005, p. 28) such an overview is included in all the high school history textbooks selected for this study. chapter organization also follows this pattern. commonly, chapters of high school history textbooks on the war start with the ‘9.18 incident’iii in 1931 that led to a limited occupation of china’s northeastern province by japan as the beginning of the japanese invasion. the chapters on the war continue to describe the establishment of the united front between the nationalists and communists to resist the japanese invasion. the chapters discuss the significance of the communist party-led wayaobao meetingiv, the citizen-led 12.9 movementv, and finally the xi’an incident,vi which pressured chiang kai-shek to adopt a resistance policy against japan. middle school history textbooks published by people’s education press cover the second world war in a similar way. the unit on the chinese resistance war against japan has three sub-sections: 1) the unforgettable 9.18 incident; 2) ‘rather die in the fight against japan than live as a slave without a homeland’; and 3) the great wall built with blood and flesh. this unit features three maps, sixteen photos/pictures, and four other types of primary documents. while the middle school text offers less detail than the high school versions, it uses more primary sources featuring personal and emotionally charged accounts of each event, such as a description of the nanjing massacre, testimony of a japanese military officer in his postwar memoir stating that the japanese were responsible for the explosion as a pretext for invasion, and the lyrics of a popular song known as ‘september 18’ expressing the indignation and sorrow of the chinese against the japanese invaders who occupied manchuria. similarly, all four textbooks in korea situate the second world war as a global context of japanese colonialism by placing it in the first or second page of the unit that discusses japanese annexation of the korean peninsula in 1910. kumsung, the most widely adopted high school history textbook in korea, describes the beginning of the war this way: the great depression in 1929 created a significant impact on the international atmosphere, which led to nazism, fascism, and militarism. japan’s imperialism built a foundation to invade china by provoking the manchurian incident in 1931. through the sino-japanese war and pacific war, japan entered the world war. this war caused our nation as well as people in asian nations tremendous suffering and sacrifices (kumsung, 2002/2009, p.142). a similar description of the beginning of the war is found in the other three textbooks, although kuksa, middle school textbook, provides a much shorter description. instead of giving lengthy details of why and how the war happened, all the textbooks situate the second world war in a series of wars such as the first sino-japanese war (1894-1895), the russo-japanese war (19041905), and the second sino-japanese war (1931-1945) – in other words, the series of conflicts that corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 40 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. resulted in japan occupying korea as a colony. among those events, the second world war, which is labeled the pacific war (1941-1945), is depicted as a historical event that set up the last stage of japanese colonialist policies in the korean peninsula. this pattern is more evident in how the chapters are organized in the unit on japanese colonization (titled “korean people’s resistance unfolds.” this unit is structured by dividing the occupation period roughly by decade, and each chapter emphasizes how koreans resisted particular policies. for instance, the first chapter covers the 1910s when japanese soldiers and police ruled over koreans, while the second chapter covers the 1920s, after the march 1st independence movement, when the japanese government allowed koreans limited freedom to create their own newspaper and schools. the third and fourth chapters – respectively – cover the 1930s and 1940s when japan went to war with china and later the usa and britain. the close relationship between korea and japan is highlighted, as korea became a military and resource base for japan’s war effort. each japanese war from the late 1800s to the 1940s is interpreted as a trigger to a change in japanese colonialist policy in korea. although japanese history textbooks need to follow the national curriculum guidelines set by the ministry of education (as in china and korea), we note that japan has more diverse publishers drafting and printing history textbooks since the japanese history textbooks became the target of controversy and criticisms; and japan has more experience of market control in publishing textbooks than korea and china. in contrast to china and korea that cover the war as part of their resistance war against japan, japanese history textbooks have separate chapters on the second world war and slightly differ in tone, description of events, and supplemental information provided. the most and least widely used textbooks frame the nation’s war experience slightly differently from one another. for the high school level, yamakawa publishes the most widely adopted history textbook and at the junior high school level, tokyo shoseki publishes the most widely adopted history textbook (used by about half of all schools in japan). meiseisha at the high school and fusosha at the junior high school level publish the least widely adopted textbook (no more than 2% of schools). the most prominent difference between these most and least popular textbooks is the way they name the second world war. when japan started the war against the us and other allied nations, the japanese government officially called the war the great east asia war. the least widely adopted textbooks use the great east asia war to differentiate the second world war from the series of wars and conflicts that were ongoing before japan launched its war against the allied nations. the most widely adopted textbooks, on the other hand, do not mention how the war was officially named in japan and only use the “second world war” to identify the conflict. how the textbooks position the nation as war victim the first pattern we found across the three nations’ history textbooks is that every country positions itself or its people as victims of the war. this is especially evident in chinese and korean history textbooks. the korean and chinese textbooks position the second world war to complement their narratives of national identity through their struggles against japanese military aggression. the nanjing massacre, indiscriminant bombing, depopulating the countryside, human experimentation, and germ and chemical warfare, in china’s case, and colonialism, mobilization of war materials including labor mobilization, and the japanese military’s sexual violence, in korea’s case, are concrete examples to exhibit the kinds of violence both the state and its people faced during the second world war. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 41 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. all chinese textbook versions – for both middle and high schools -highlight the brutality of the japanese during the war and the suffering of the chinese people. all textbooks present the nanking massacre based on the presentation and analysis of the primary sources, which were news coverage of the time and the eyewitness accounts. all textbook versions describe the suffering of the chinese people, who were severely affected by the war and who were forced to leave their homes and lived in grief after they lost their family members. all textbooks remind history learners of the unprecedented disaster and great loss as a result of the japanese invasion of china. texts representing such destructive results of japanese invasion of china are multiple in all textbooks. lishi published by people’s press, described the consequences of the war as such, “in the eight years fighting against the japanese, the number of wounded and dead chinese civilians and soldiers was above 35 million with direct losses as high as 100 billion dollars and indirect losses as high as 500 billion dollars.” (lishi, p.47). the high school textbook published by the people’s education press confirmed such statistics with estimated chinese casualties during the war as high as at least 35,000,000 people either killed or injured during the war, with a total of 560 billion dollars of property damage and war expenditures (zhongguo lishi, 2006). the middle school version is not as in depth as the high school versions as far as coverage of these events is concerned. all four korean textbooks, on the other hand, accentuate the japanese government’s cultural assimilation policy by devoting one of the five chapters to this period. the cultural assimilation policy included requiring koreans to speak japanese and to change their names to japanese forms. this policy is emphasized both in the main text and the supplementary information, featuring the theories japanese used to highlight the relationship between japan and korea. kuksa notes that the japanese cultural assimilation policy was based on il-sun-dong-jo-rhon, the idea that japanese and koreans come from the same ancestors (kuksa ,2002, p. 261). kumsung elaborates the historical controversy over imnail as a theoretical basis for il-sun-dong-jo-rhon., explaining that some japanese scholars claimed there existed a japanese colony, imnail (minami), in the southern part of korean peninsula which the japanese yamato rulers controlled from the fourth to sixth centuries. all the textbooks also feature the materials including human resources that were exploited for the second world war. kumsung describes, japan’s aggressive war expanded across asia once the pacific war began. for the continuation of reckless war, the national mobilization law was ordered. most of all, young people in chosun were drafted through the volunteer system by japanese empire due to the shortage of the military forces…. in 1943, even students were drafted as soldiers through the student volunteer system. finally in 1944, the compulsory military system was ordered and approximately 20,000 young people had been conscripted until japan surrendered (kumsung, p. 162). the other three textbooks emphasize the economic exploitation by the japanese empire during the colonialist occupation. they explain that korean peninsula became a military base for japanese military involvement with china, and the japanese empire built armaments factories in korea and pushed to increase the production of natural resources such as iron, coal, and tungsten. one noticeable pattern here in both chinese and korean history textbooks is that violence emphasized in the textbooks was not always against the state per se, but the acts are consistently represented as violence against human beings and even humanity as a whole. when chinese and korean history textbooks set a narrative tone of victimization, they virtually anthropomorphize japan-the-foreign-state as a kind of single, collectivized perpetrator of violence. in this respect, corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 42 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. wartime violence serves as a humanitarian perspective to draw a clear line between victims and aggressors in history and represent japan as a single and monolithic actor without mentioning casualties or victims due to the constant domestic conflicts in both countries. the violence, then, offers a framework to give a common experience through which both the state and its people are grouped together to share a common sense of national history. the japanese history textbooks, on the other hand, victimize japan by distinguishing the state and the people when interpreting what happened in the second world war. for japan, the war results in defeat: tokyo tribunal of war criminals and other postwar penalties marked japan as the culpable party responsible for the war and its violence. in this respect, representing the war through a perspective that emphasizes a nationally shared experience between the state and its people would necessarily situate both japan and the japanese people as the aggressor in history. our analysis, however, identifies that japanese history textbooks also take a humanitarian perspective of history when looking at japan’s defeat at the end of the war. the most widely adopted textbooks in tone situate the japanese people primarily as passive victims of war and of the military that dominated the nation-state. for instance, in comparing supplementary reading materials, tokyo-shoseki highlights war atrocities by japan and the allies and also the perspective of victims from japan and other countries that were colonized by japan such as korea and taiwan. the textbook provides the information about the japanese children being separated from their parents to be evacuated to the countryside, about the people in japanese-occupied southeast asia being mobilized to support japan’s war efforts, and about the number of casualties in the war reaching over 20 million throughout asia to highlight japan’s causing war damages and losses in other nations throughout asia. then, the textbook provides a photograph of us forces using bombing in the battle of okinawa as well as a large photograph of hiroshima after the atomic bombing to depict the atrocities and horrors of the war brought by the allied forces. highlighting war victims and atrocities from both sides of the war can be said to bring a challenge to national or ideological perspectives in history. however, it also works to neutralize the narrative tone in national history by sharing the blame for inflicting such atrocities on humanity. while fusosha focuses on japan’s humanitarian experiences in the second world war and seems to challenge the exclusive castigation of japan’s wartime past; yamakawa and tokyo-shoseki also neutralize the narrative by condemning war atrocities in general while avoiding serious inquiry into the nation’s wartime conduct and its people’s active involvement in it. yamakawa and tokyoshoseki both employ passive voice when explaining the war’s events. when covering pearl harbor, for example, tokyo-shoseki states, the usa exercised caution about japanese aggression. the usa put restrictions on the sale of war materials and stopped exporting oil to japan when japan occupied french indochina. this usa trade embargo was made to pressure japan to negotiate a resolution to the japanese-chinese war, and thus japan decided to wage war against the usa. on december 8, 1941, japan launched a surprise attack against pearl harbor in hawai’i, and the pacific war began. with the entrance of the usa, the second world war became a conflict between the axis powers—japan, germany, italy and others—and the allied powers—the usa, united kingdom, soviet union, and others (tokyo-shoseki 2006/2009, p.192). corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 43 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. tokyo-shoseki presents factual information about the pearl harbor attack like a neutral chronicle. it avoids representation of any sense of agency at the time and presents the decision to attack pearl harbor as a passive, almost automatic outcome. the above excerpt also shows that it was not only japan but also the usa involved in the pacific war’s opening. it could be said that this kind of representation is an attempt to be balanced, but this narrative also works to avoid identifying the party chiefly responsible for causing the war. this historical interpretation represents the japanese people collectively as victims of the war but without any clear responsibility for it. yamakawa and tokyo-shoseki clearly hold the japanese nation-state responsible for its wartime aggression, but the passive chronicle-like tone downplays popular support for japanese militarism. meiseisha and fusosha offer a historical interpretation of the war in which the japanese nation’s singular culpability is subtly questioned through the emphasized wartime experiences and perspectives of the japanese people. all of these textbooks, in a sense, reinforce a collective memory of victimization – though the memory is contested between a variant in which the japanese people are exonerated from the past culpability of the nation-state through its postwar democratic transformation and a variant in which the japanese nation, too, is a wartime victim and yet the past culpability does not undermine the continuity or validity of the nation-state. thus, the defeat gave a birth to a new democratic state, and the japanese people are translated from a position of war aggressors to occupied subjects in a defeated nation and unique historical victims as the only nation ever to suffer atomic bomb attacks. the japanese people were victimized by their state, which had wrongfully led them into the war of aggression. the defeat, therefore, marks the beginning of a new democratic state, and its introduction has liberated the people from the oppression of the old tyrannical state that had misled them. in this respect, the japanese history textbooks also employ a humanitarian perspective of history that absolves wartime violence against humanity through a narrative of linear progress. this humanitarian perspective, in the case of japan, builds a narrative to offer a collectively shared experience that situates the japanese people as the victims of their state’s violence. how the textbooks describe national progress the second pattern we identified is that every country defines national progress differently. however, each country’s textbooks do basically the same thing intellectually. all these textbook accounts are inherently reductionist, deterministic, and represent national development as linear and progressive. they all presume the way that things turned out today are normal and natural, which fits comfortably in the current global system that emerged after (and arguably because of) the second world war. in doing so, all the textbooks downplay the historical contexts underlying the events that happened and the confusing, at times contradictory, diversity of perspectives and roles that historical actors and groups played during the period. chinese textbooks strain to reinforce a collective memory in which nationalists and communists, ultimately, are chiefly partners in the national story. all textbook versions, both middle and high school textbooks, describe the construction of a unified front as the leading factor to the success of the war against japan. a common theme is found in all versions: chinese people fought undauntedly in the war against japan under the leadership of a nation-wide unified anti-japan frontline to defend china against the invaders. under the leadership of the unified front to resist the japanese, the nationalist and communist parties collaborated to fight against japan. while the nationalist party launched corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 44 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. multiple campaigns at the front battlefield, the communist party collaborated with their efforts to fight against the japanese invasion by establishing battle fields at the rear of the enemy (lishi, 2007, p. 44). all the chinese textbooks describe both the war’s front battlefields and rear battlefields. the nationalist government led by chiang kai-shek was half-hearted in its resistance against japan. the government was more interested in suppressing the growth of the communist party, which was still in its infancy and considered an unofficial bandit opposition. the nationalist government was divided within itself over the consequences of a broader war. thanks to the high spirits and undaunted resistance efforts of chinese soldiers and civilians, the national government eventually agreed to form a coalition with the communists and lead the whole nation to fight against japan. all textbooks published by people’s education press, offer a chapter or lesson on the people’s liberation war led by the communist party immediately following the chapter on the war of resistance against japan, chronologically describing the liberation war as an inevitable civil war as a result of chiang kai-shek launching a nationwide war against the communist armies. using a thematic approach to organize its content, lishi places the historical narrative of the war against japan within its thematic unit titled “struggles for defending national sovereignty in contemporary china.” the same unit offers accounts of multiple imperialist invasions of china from as early as the opium war in the 1840s to the war of resistance against japan (1937-1945). this unit was followed by a unit with narratives about three major revolutions: the taiping revolution (1850-1864), the xinhai revolution (1911), and the new democratic revolution (the may 4th movement of 1919) to argue that, despite the great impact of the taiping and xinhai revolutions, it was the communist party that eventually led the whole nation towards victory and peace in 1949. while chinese textbook chapters on the war seek to legitimize the leadership status of the communist party through its efforts in fighting against the japanese aggressors in a time of national crisis, korean history textbooks emphasize the role of national government in the political independence from japan, leading to the establishment of south korean government. in korean textbooks the war is found both at the end of the chapter on japanese colonialism and in the next chapter on the birth of the republic of korea. at the end of the chapter on japanese colonialism, jungang states that the “korean liberation army declared war against japan and was about to advance into the korean peninsula but it did not happen because of japan’s sudden surrender” (jungang, 2002/2009, p. 215). none of the textbooks explains how the war ended or what happened in japan. only one textbook, kumsung, mentions the atomic bombs. instead, the end of the war is described mainly as the time when korea gained its independence from japan. kuksa makes no comment on the end of the war and jumps straight to the birth of the republic of korea. in the next chapter on the birth of republic of korea, each textbook tells a slightly different but similar story. according to the chapter goals, all four textbooks aim to explain the global contexts after the second world war and how the end of that conflict led to the cold war and the korean war. most importantly, the four textbooks want students to understand how koreans made efforts to create their own governments under the political sway of the soviet union in north korea and the usa in south korea. kumsung states that the provisional government of the republic of korea created the korean liberation army and declared war on japan and germany in 1941. the liberation army participated in military action in china and southeast asia and also, along with the us military, planned to attack japanese forces in korea but did not have the opportunity to do so before the japanese surrender in august 1945. three of the four textbooks mention that the provisional government of korea, the official predecessor of the current south korean government, corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 45 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. declared war against the japanese empire in 1941 from exile in shanghai. one of the noticeable patterns across the korean history textbooks is that there is no substantial explanation of why or how the war ended. the focus is more on what happened after the second world war and how consequences of the conflict influenced the global contexts of the cold war, which led to the establishment of the two koreas. possibly this cursory and vague coverage of the broader second world war and emphasis on koreans’ resistance against japanese colonialism reflects the war’s limited stake in south korea’s collective memory of the era. as an annexed colony with little power or resources, korea could not be a decisive factor in the war’s outcome compared to the usa or china. perhaps because of that, korean textbooks, with considerable uniformity, reinforce a collective memory of the second world war in which koreans are central to their own liberation and definition of their identity in the postwar world. while chinese and korean history textbooks found the legitimacy of the current political systems by highlighting their roles during the war, japanese textbooks do the same by occluding from the collective memory popular support for the war effort. when examining how the second world war is positioned, yamakawa (the most widely adopted high school textbook) and tokyo-shoseki (the most widely adopted junior high school textbook) put the war in the second-to-the-last chapter, with the final chapter covering postwar and contemporary japan. this clearly indicates the second world war period for japan as a distinct precursor of japan’s contemporary period. both yamakawa and tokyo-shoseki mark japan’s defeat in the second world war as the end of the old, militaristic japanese society. the empire of japan that had waged war against other nations as a way to resolve international disputes is abandoned, and the historical narrative in the textbooks establishes a clean break with the past for postwar japan. the final chapter stresses the notion of peace and democratization of japan. while yamakawa gives a more detailed description than tokyo-shoseki, the chapter structure of both textbooks exhibits a hegelian notion of history as linear progress. the division between war and peace clearly juxtaposes the disconnection between the chapters that illustrate prewar and the postwar japan. the present peace emphasized in the final chapter, however, appears merely an attainment that was brought by the nation's defeat and the war's conclusion. the least-adopted textbooks, meiseisha and fusosha, convey the same framework for positioning the war. however, a notable difference is that the textbooks published by meiseisha and fusosha have sections on “the war of the twentieth century and victim of totalitarianism” and “inquiry into the tokyo tribunal court.” these sections cover japanese war crimes while still emphasizing that atrocities were committed by both sides. in the section on tokyo tribunal court, the textbook contains a photograph of newspaper articles that were censored by the general head quarters of allied occupation force, illustrating allied censorship in the postwar japan. fusosha also contains a two-sentence statement about allied censorship: [the allied occupation force] built an understanding of the injustice of japan’s war effort through mass media. such propaganda has contributed in building among the japanese a sense of guilt about the nation’s activities in the war, and it made impact on the historical consciousness of the japanese people in postwar japan (fusosha, 2007: 215). only these few sentences subtly challenge the positivism of japan’s postwar reforms. all japanese textbooks convey that imperial japan was defeated and that the allied occupation introduced a new and present japan. the textbooks emphasize the nation’s postwar peace and de-militarization as a natural, linear historical process without causal explanation or detailed elaboration on how the corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 46 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. nation had departed from its wartime past. in the chapter following the war, both the most and least widely adopted textbooks illustrate the series of structural changes brought to japan by the allied occupation. these changes include the dissolution of zaibatsu corporate conglomerates, the establishment of antimonopoly law, agrarian reform, labor reforms, and the enfranchisement of all adult males and females. most notable is the introduction of a new constitution in which japan renounced the nation’s sovereign right to declare wars as means of settling international disputes. these reforms are symbolically represented to illustrate a new postwar democratic japan. the way that humanitarian perspectives are deployed in these textbooks, perhaps not surprisingly, remains uncritical of the contemporary state, if not necessarily its historical role or condition. humanitarian narratives of victimization tend to construct contemporary problems and difficulties as the historical fault of others – even if those ‘others’ may be a previous generation or a particular group within the nation (as in the japanese textbooks that attribute national culpability for the war to a regime of militarists rather than the people as a whole). each country’s textbooks, on the whole, position the contemporary condition as the necessary, natural, or inevitable product of past struggles. thus, history in these official textbooks is presented as a linear path of progress. even though these textbooks come from countries with far more strongly centralized curricula than the us, this historical orientation may not be altogether different from the sanitized narratives of national unity and progress that some american scholars see in us textbooks and common approaches to teaching history (barton & mccully, 2005; levstik, 2000, vansledright, 2011; wertsch, 2002, 2004). establishing a singular interpretative narrative our analysis of these textbooks illustrates how the three nation-states deploy history curricula to try to shape collective memories and national identities consonant with the current world system. in the case of china, the textbooks selected in this study have a clear focus on the role played by the communist party in the national crisis. the communists’ establishment of resistance bases and whole-hearted effort to fight are considered key factors in japan’s defeat in china and, therefore, contributing to the allied victory in the world war. this perspective can be seen as reflecting the interests and needs of the current communist government, which helps to explain the selective interpretations of china’s social, political, and military situation at the time. all textbooks reviewed in this study depict a china going through an “old” and a “new” democratic and nationalist revolution. the old revolution, namely the taiping and xinhai revolutions led by the peasants and the bourgeois classes, ended in failure despite its great impact and merit. the new revolution (the may 4th movement, the establishment of the communist party, the nationalist revolution, the communist “rural surrounding urban” strategy, and the people’s revolutionary war, led by the proletarians) ultimately made china a unified country under the leadership of the communist party. as seen in lish, one of the high school textbooks: the contemporary experiences of the chinese revolutions prove that it is historical necessity that the chinese people choose the leadership of the communist party to lead them from the path of the new democratic revolution to the new path of the socialist revolution (lishi, people’s press, 2007, p. 67). it is therefore not hard to notice that the chinese history for public schools is written to reinforce a collective memory of the chinese people united under a coalition between communists and nationalists during a national crisis. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 47 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. similarly, scholarship in both japan and korea (bae, 1987; lee, 1993; mizoguchi, 1988; ogihara, 1991) contends that korea had shown economic development under japanese occupation, as there had been enormous japanese investment to change – or “modernize” -korean agriculture and industry. textbook accounts in japan and korea, however, rarely take much notice of this. all the three korean high school history textbooks note that the japanese empire enforced a plan to increase the yield of rice in korea and solve food shortages in japan. once japan invaded china, it “forcefully took over a huge amount of rice that was produced in korea to supply food to the military” (doosan, p. 217). responding to the food shortage in korea, the japanese empire conducted food rationing and imported grains from manchuria. the korean textbooks also note that many korean farmers lost their land as a result of the japanese government’s survey of land ownership right after the annexation. on the other hand, the most widely adopted japanese textbooks, tokyo-shoseki and yamakawa, have only a few lines about the japanese role in economic changes in the korean peninsula. both tokyo-shoseki and yamakawa discuss the japanese government survey of land ownership in korean after annexation through which japan seized korean land that was of unclaimed ownership. the least widely adopted textbooks, fusosha and meiseisha, also discuss japan’s taking of korean land as a result of the japanese government survey. however, they add that it was japan’s failure to provide sufficient time for korean landowners to claim their land had that caused koreans to lose their property ownership. furthermore, fusosha offers a single line that “a part of colonial governance policies, the government-general of choson (the colonial headquarters) had carried out the constructions of railroads, irrigation, and such when it started the survey of land ownership in korea” (pp.170-171). however, in all four textbooks, japanese responsibility for bringing or causing economic changes in korea is almost non-existent. discussing such ‘possibly beneficial’ outcomes of the war and colonialism has been taboo in japan because it can be considered as an act of justifying the war and annexation of korea. likewise, it is a taboo in korea because an emphasis on such outcomes undermines the national narrative that korea became a politically and economically independent modern country on its own. thus, japanese history textbooks do not mention these socio-economic changes in korea due to japanese investment, and korean history textbooks only highlight that resources in korea were exploited by japan without noting how japanese investments possibly helped modernize korea’s agricultural system. discussion this study confirms what at first glance appears to be a simple truth: different countries—china, japan, and south korea—tell official histories (as reflected in approved textbooks) that differ. although this study does not tell us how teachers use these textbooks in their classrooms, given the fact that these three countries are highly centralized in terms of their educational systems, we suggest that in china, japan, and south korea textbooks represent a kind of mediated space through which the state seeks to influence or shape what students learn in schools through a controllable mechanism (curriculum guidelines and textbook approval). in that regard, this study identifies a common practice in the ways all of these countries position the past in school curricula. it is in this common practice where we find an important implication for history educators, textbook writers, and policy makers on the inclusion of history as a part of school curriculum within a globalized context today. broadly, we find an underlying humanitarian perspective of history as the master narrative of how corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 48 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. the second world war is portrayed in prominent approved history textbooks from china, japan, and south korea. in our interpretation, this master narrative has the following three functions: (1) it empowers people in the present to evaluate the past outside of its historical contexts; (2) it constructs a vision of historical justice (global humanitarianism) in which the contemporary society is absolved of the past and the past is reconciled with the society’s place in the world system today; (3) it fosters a sense of national identity and homogeneity (or ubiquity) of historical-cultural experience in an effort to influence the contemporary society’s collective memory through positioning present and past conditions in particular ways. these official deployments of the past compete with other uses of the past, such as popular history and academic history (seixas, 2004). popular histories in each country often tell different stories than official history. in contrast to schools that do not want to use history textbooks that contain extreme perspectives (such as the tsukurukai textbook), history trade books that are unapologetically nationalistic are sometimes bestsellers in japan. in china it is well known that certain history is not taught in schools but often circulated and whispered among its people – the 1989 tian an men square protest, for instance. in south korea there are stories that have been rarely taught in schools but that are found in popular tales or family lore, such as korea studentsoldiers who truly believed that they were japanese and volunteered to fight for the emperor during the japanese colonial period. this tension is discernible in how all three nations’ textbooks in this study offer strongly singular national narratives in which official history is reinforced, academic history is carefully employed as a selective evidentiary support, and popular history is incorporated only so far as it illustrates the national story. all the textbooks in this study—chinese, japanese, and south korean—avoid opening up school history as an interpretive space that would invite students to do authentic historical inquiry, an issue with history textbooks that has been observed in prior studies (clark, 2009; suh, yurita, & metzger, 2008). none of the international controversies over remembering the second world war seem to be articulated in these history textbooks in a way that positions students to deliberate on or participate in these socio-historical debates. values and meanings of historical events in the past and present are not compared and contrasted, and only one meaning of an event is presented. in her analysis of national history curriculum debates in australia and later canada, clark (2004, 2007) argues that these intense arguments over how to teach ‘our national history’ to ‘our children’ often ended up emphasizing the memorization of basic facts instead of critical historical engagement. building on that argument, our study suggests that the misplaced sense of historical authenticity deployed in history textbooks can result in historical reductionism that mystifies critical thinking and the complexities of agency in history. in other words, the heated controversies about history, collective memories, and social identities that play out in the ‘adult world’ of international politics and global media are kept distinct from the ‘school world’ of students, for whom history is to remain a safely sanitized and largely academic experience. as a consequence, interpretive historical orientations that may be advocated by educational reformers and researchers may conflict with nation-states’ perceived need to use history curriculum to transmit unifying narratives of unity and progress across generations. this need may not be limited just to countries with centralized curricula like china, japan, and south korea, considering similar critiques brought against history teaching and textbooks in the more decentralized australia, canada, and the us. given its centrality in creating the context of the globalized world system today, the second world war is a particularly potent example of a historical topic important to corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 49 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. nation-state efforts to influence collective memory about the national past. references anderson, b. 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(2004). specific narratives and schematic narrative templates. in p. seixas (ed), theorizing historical consciousness (49-62). toronto: university of toronto press. white, h. (1990). the content of the form: narrative discourse and historical representation. baltimore, md: the johns hopkins university press. zhao, y. & hoge, j. d. (2006). countering textbook distortion: war atrocities in asia, 19371945. social education, 70, 424-430. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 54 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. appendix a table 1: chinese textbooks selected for the study and coverage of world war ii book title pages allotted to wwii era numbers publisher year zhongguo lishi (8th grade volume i & ii) [chinese history] 17 out of 243 total renmin jiaoyu chubanshe [people's education press] 2006 zhongguo jindai xiandai shi [chinese contemporary & modern history] 28 out of 310 total renmin jiaoyu chubanshe [people's education press] 2004/2009 lishi (volume 1 & ii) [history] 11 out of 399 total renmin jiaoyu chubanshe [people's education press] 2009 lishi [history] 4 out of 242 total zhu, h. & ma, l., renmin chubanshe [people's press] 2007 table 2: korean textbooks selected for the study and coverage of world war ii book title pages allotted to wwii era publisher year kuksa [korean history] 42 out of 359 total national institute of korean history 2009 hankuk gunhyundaesa [korean contemporary history] 106 out of 368 total kumsung 2006/2009 hanguk gunyhyundaesa [korean contemporary history] 112 out of 399 total chungang 2006/2009 hanguk gunhyundaesa [korean contemporary history] 113 out of 384 total doosan 2006/2009 corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 55 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. table 3: japanese textbooks selected for the study and coverage of world war ii book title page numbers publisher year shousetsu nihonshi [revised edition for detailed japanese history] 25/411 yamakawa 2006/2007 shinpen atarashii shakai: rekishi [new society (new edition): history] 12/229 tokyo-shoseki 2007 kohtogakko saishin nihonshi [history for high school (most updated)] 18/283 meiseisha 2007 atarashii rekishi kyokasho [new history textbook]. 20/245 fusoshsa 2007 appendix b list of historical events in chinese, korean and japanese textbooks chinese textbooks korean textbooks japanese textbooks japanese imperialism in east asia in the early 1900s 1. the three nations after world war i a japanese annexation of korea in 1910 and koreans’ resistance x x b. japanese annexation of taiwan x x c. xinhai revolution and the republic of china established x x d. rise of japanese militarism x x x 2. japan strengthens the occupation of korea a. rule by the military police x x x b. the realities of cultural politics x x c. economic policies and exploitation x x x d. educational and cultural policies x x corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 56 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. chinese textbooks korean textbooks japanese textbooks 3. national and social movements a. march 1st movement x x b. may 4th movement x x c. social movements in the three nations x x x d. the great kanto earthquake and massacre of koreans and chinese in japan x x 4. social and cultural changes a. socio-cultural changes in korea x b. socio-cultural changes in china x c. socio-cultural changes in japan x japanese invasion of east asia and the pacific war, 19311945 1. japan’s invasion on china’s north eastern region x a. the manchurian incident x x b. manchukuo (manchu state) appears x x c. society and economy of manchukuo x x d. resistance against manchukuo and japan in north eastern region x x 2. japan’s conquests in asia a. sino-japanese war x x x b. asia pacific war x x x c. constructing ‘greater east asia co-prosperity sphere’ x x d. total war against china, britain, u.s. x corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 57 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. chinese textbooks korean textbooks japanese textbooks 3. japanese atrocities against the chinese people a. people and refugees in the battlefields x x b. nanjing massacre x x c. indiscriminating bombing, full scale invasion of china, depopulating the countryside x x d. germ warfare, gas warfare, and human experimentation x x e. japanese military’s sexual violence x 4. japanese military policies in korea and exploitation of korean people and resources a. japanese assimilation policies x x b. war industry during the war x x c. mobilization of war materials x x d. labor mobilization x x e. korean women who were taken to be ‘comfort women’ for japanese army x x 5. strategic events a. pearl harbor and u.s. entry into the war x b. fall of singapore and the philippines to japan x c. japanese invasion of southeast asia and burma x d. battle of midway x e. u.s retaking of the philippines and "island hopping" campaign to threaten japan's home islands x corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 58 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. chinese textbooks korean textbooks japanese textbooks 6. japan’s defeat and war damages a. china’s war against japan x x b. koreans’ resistance and preparation for building a new nation x x c. people’s resistance in japan’s occupied territories in southeast asia x d. atomic bombs and japan's surrender, 1945 x x x east asia after wwii 1. the three nation in the post-war period a. japan’s defeat and reforms after the war x b. korea’s independence and the division of north and south korea x x c. establishment of people’s republic of china, 1949 x x 2. challenges after wwii a. tokyo trial x b. the treaty of san francisco and war compensation x c. colonial rule and social problems after the war x x 3. cold war in east asia and normalization of the diplomatic relations a. cold war in east asia and korean war x x b. establishment of diplomatic relation between korean and japan x partially x c. normalization of diplomatic relation between china and japan x x d. establishment of diplomatic relation between china and korea x note: the “x” marking indicates that a majority of the reviewed textbooks from that country covers that topic to some direct extent. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 59 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 34-60. footnote i in this article, unless otherwise noted, ‘korea’ is used interchangeably with the republic of korea (south korea) as well as the united ethnic nation that existed prior to 1945. ii on the night of july 7, 1937, a japanese unit operating near the marco polo bridge demanded entry to the town of wanping in order to search for a missing soldier. the chinese garrison refused, and shooting broke out between the two sides. in the face of growing antijapanese sentiment among the chinese public, the chinese government refused to make any concessions and the japanese forces maintained their position inside chinese territory. iii 9.18 incident of 1931 is also known as the manchuria incident or liutiaohu incident. on september 18, 1931, a small quantity of dynamite was detonated by japanese soldiers close to a railroad owned by japan's south manchuria railway near liutiaohu, mukden (now shenyang, china). the imperial japanese army accused the chinese of the act and responded with a full invasion that led to the occupation of manchuria, in which japan established its puppet state of manchukuo six months later. the ruse was soon exposed to the international community, leading to japan’s diplomatic isolation and withdrawal from the league of nations. iv at the wayaobao meeting in december, 1935, the communist leadership including mao zedong and zhou enlai adopted a resolution of military strategy under which the civil war would be combined with a nationalist war against japanese occupation. v 12.9 movement of 1935 was a student-led resistance movement to demonstrate the desire of the chinese people to defend their homeland after the japanese army occupied northeast china. it started with students in beijing staging protests to call for the nationalist government to end the civil war against the communists and fight against japan. eventually, the movement spread all over china. not only students marched to call for the government to fight against japan, but also workers held strikes to support the student movement. vi the xi’an incident of 1936 took place in the city of xi'an during the chinese civil war between the ruling kuomintang (kmt) military government and the chinese communist party, just before the war of resistance against japan. on 12 december 1936, generalissimo chiang kai-shek, the leader of the kuomintang, was suddenly arrested by general zhang xueliang, who used to be governor of japanese-occupied manchukuo. the incident led the nationalists and the communists to make peace so that the two could form a united front against the increasing threat posed by japan. many details about the incident still remain unclear even today, as most of the parties involved died without revealing exactly what happened during those chaotic few weeks. corresponding author email: ysuh@odu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 60 theoretical framework methodology data collection and analysis findings in this section we describe and explain the ways textbooks from china, korea, and japan convey an ‘official story’ of the second world war and the relationship to national identity0f . we begin by analyzing patterns of organization and content in the... overview of chinese, korean, and japanese textbook accounts of world war ii how the textbooks position the nation as war victim how the textbooks describe national progress while chinese textbook chapters on the war seek to legitimize the leadership status of the communist party through its efforts in fighting against the japanese aggressors in a time of national crisis, korean history textbooks emphasize the role of nat... establishing a singular interpretative narrative discussion this study confirms what at first glance appears to be a simple truth: different countries—china, japan, and south korea—tell official histories (as reflected in approved textbooks) that differ. although this study does not tell us how teachers use t... broadly, we find an underlying humanitarian perspective of history as the master narrative of how the second world war is portrayed in prominent approved history textbooks from china, japan, and south korea. in our interpretation, this master narrati... references journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. international perspectives from the international perspectives editor editor anatoli rapoport teacher exchange as a means of social studies curriculum internationalization since the term social studies appeared in the early 1900s, citizenship has always been its focal point. citizenship has been perceived as a nation-related concept that assumes commitment to a particular state. as a result, social studies curricula include materials focused primarily on the knowledge about a specific nation or region. recent attempts to internationalize social studies curricula, sometimes successful and sometimes not very successful, have been limited to introducing a set of courses that provided students with historical, geographical, or cultural information about the world beyond the students' respective nations. the percentage of high school students in the usa who are taking world history and world geography has risen faster than enrollment in any of social studies classes over the last 15 years (cavanagh, 2007). the 2005 national assessment for academic progress data demonstrated that 77 percent of high school graduates had taken world history and 31 percent had taken world geography, compared to 21 percent in 1990 (standish, 2012). the continuing debates about the need for curriculum internationalization and globalization concentrate on the curriculum development and sometimes on pedagogies necessary for implementing international or global themed curricula rather than the abilities of social studies teachers to teach these curricula. yet, social studies teachers’ international experience becomes a critical factor in the debates about global citizenship education and the need for students' resocialization. lack or complete neglect of international experiences among social studies teachers leads to superficial understanding of the importance of the development of global competences among students, neglect to very important themes in citizenship education, or even informal taboo on some critical controversial topics that address sensitive questions of national domestic or international policies and politics. however, research demonstrates that teachers with international experiences make connections across cultures and civilizations and across global issues instead of teaching them separately; international experience encourages social studies teachers to teach more accurately, enthusiastically, and creatively; teachers with international experience in general are committed to passing on their knowledge to students and community (merryfield, 1998; wilson, 1984; 1986). one of the means of gaining international experience is participation in international exchange and training programs. any international educational exchange program is a complex multicomponential phenomenon that has various social, political and educational aspects. problems of interpersonal relations within a group, ability to adjust to a new environment, intercultural communication, personal perception of a foreign culture, as well as the ability to introduce your own culture to foreigners, make far from exhaustive list of social issues that educators face if they choose to participate in international exchange programs. the political aspect is traditionally connected with an attitude toward the host country and images and stereotypes that participants have. it also includes a political agenda, i.e. less visible but not less important political motivations and goals, both short-term and long-term, pursued by program developers and organizers. this in turn makes international program participants look like providers of a political agenda in the eyes of their counterparts, although in most cases this perception is erroneous. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 69 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. basically, any educational exchange or training program is a school in miniature with its curriculum, students, instructors, learning and teaching processes and, consequently, a number of inevitable problems related to any educational process. however, international exchange and training programs for educators carry out a very specific function and have to possess a feature that other programs can easily ignore. such programs that are specifically designed for education practitioners have to be designed with a perspective that the alumni will use the acquired knowledge and skills in direct interaction with other people. thus the final results in international exchange programs in social studies education are much less predictable then in international programs for say engineers or farmers. will new methods and strategies, however progressive they are in one nation, be applicable in the classroom in another nation? will the exposure of a participant to another culture be beneficial to his or her students and colleagues? or his or her stay in a foreign system will only make him or her more convinced in the righteousness of the previously obtained stereotypes and prejudices and as a result, will be multiplied through class instruction? will the program alumni have enough time, patience, resources, and shrewdness to promote the new ideas and experiences in a usually vulnerable and change-resistant school environment? or the often reported disinterest from the part of colleagues or administration, regardless of the nature of this disinterest, will strengthen ever existing skepticism? the idea of promoting american interests, values, and ways of life to foreign elite and later to broader circles of general public through exchanges and educational exchanges in particular, has always enjoyed a variety of interpretations. until 1948 when the information and education act (the smith mundt act) passed the senate, the terms educational exchange and cultural relations had been used interchangeably. the first examples of such cultural education were missionaries in the 19th century who believed that by spreading evangelical protestantism they were bringing progress to asia, africa, and latin america. those first missions can be considered prototypes of present day educational exchanges because not only did they built schools, offered vocational training, or preached but they also sent representatives of indigenous youth to the united states in the hope that the latter would become providers of american christian values and democratic ideas upon return to their homelands. (thompson & laves, 1963; bu, 2003). according to the u.s. bureau of education, 2, 673 students from 74 countries were enrolled in american universities in 1904 (bu 2003, p. 18). the 1930s marked an important step in the development of international educational exchanges. thompson and laves (1963) contended that three major factors influenced the advance of international exchanges in the world: (a) advance of science, democracy, and education which accompanied the industrial revolution; (b) the growing importance of the support of “common people” to enhance the extension of political democracy; and (c) a pressing popular demand of more open international policy. the additional factor that made the united states government act more aggressively was the reassessment of the role of the united states. a cultural colony had already become a cultural metropolis and had to act accordingly. the involvement of the government revived discussions about the role and place of exchange programs. there were two divergent views on the place of the governmental programs of cultural and educational relations in the foreign policy of the united states. one camp argued that all programs should be valid in their own right independent of political or economic interests of the government. this tendency was based on the approach used previously by private and religious funds. as it was stated in the resolution of the general advisory committee in 1944, “no program of international cultural relations should be an instrument by means of which one people attempts to corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 70 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. impose its ideas or conceptions upon another, or to achieve cultural ascendancy, or to accomplish non-cultural objectives” (minutes of general advisory committee, june 28-29, 1944, pp. 49, 50 quoted in thomson & laves, 1963, p. 44). the other side argued that since cultural relations are a part of the nation’s foreign policy there was no conceivable way to develop and promote cultural programs that would not be related to general foreign policy. however, the both sides agreed that cultural programs must be mutually acceptable and reciprocally carried out. passage of the smith-mundt act revived the pre-war u.s. efforts and established a foundation to promote cultural and educational exchanges abroad. it was in the text of the act that the term “educational exchange” was first mentioned and used separately from cultural exchange. george v. allen, assistant secretary of state in 1948, called the smith-mundt act “revolutionary,” adding that “the real significance of the change which was made in the conduct of our foreign policy is not yet appreciated or even understood by many people” (quoted in hixson, 1997, p. 11). philip coombs (1964) called it “ironical” that though the objective stated in the smith-mundt act was “to increase mutual understanding between the people of the united states and the people of other countries,” it owed its passage to the new cold war situation. the situation required more actions aimed at conveying american point of view on various events. when faced with the dilemma of where to direct more money, to educational exchange programs or to information service, the government did not hesitate to leave the former behind (coombs, 1964). in the wake of president truman’s campaign of truth to combat soviet propaganda, the earlier information policy of giving people a full and fair view of the united states, became more aggressive and hard-hitting. with the cold war dominance on international scene, educational exchanges were reduced and massively overshadowed by information programs (thomson & laves, 1963). although demands for the exchange program were expanding steadily in the 1950s and early 1960s due to the proliferation of new nations in africa and asia, the financial resources did not expand and emphasis shifted to grants and exchanges which could have a quick impact (coombs, 1964). educational exchanges suffered not only from curtailed funding but also from bureaucratic changes in the state department. as a result, dollar appropriations for the exchange program declined from $16 million in 1951 to less than $10 million by 1953 and did not recover until 1959.the total of american and foreign grantees fell from more than 7,200 in 1951 to fewer than 4,900 in 1954. although the number of countries participating in exchange programs rose from 62 (1951) to 97 (1959), they faced a progressively thinner spreading of the limited resources (coombs, 1964, p. 36). nevertheless, the number of educators, particularly social studies teachers, who traveled abroad with exchange missions grew rapidly. the increase of international programs and overseas contacts was caused by continuing attempts to promote values of american democracy on the one hand, and growing understanding of the necessity to educate citizens of the future global community, on the other. the improvement of international understanding in an increasingly interdependent world after the cold war that had been predicted by many (freeman butts, 1963; graham, 1984) clearly became one of educational imperatives. the exchange of educators and educational practices was one of the most important and effective means for achieving that goal, both in the short run and through its multiplier effect in the long run (burn, 1980; 1990; leestma, 1973). describing the dramatic impact of short-term international travel on social studies teachers researchers reported that “cross-cultural experience made difference in their teaching” (wilson, 1983, p. 84), teachers with international experiences make connections across cultures and civilizations and across global issues instead of teaching them separately; they identify historical antecedents to current world issues and problems and link global content to the lives of their students; they also teach tolerance and appreciation of cultural differences (merryfield, 1994, 2000). corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 71 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. however, the share of international exchange and training programs for teachers in the whole volume of exchange programs grew slowly. even the term “educational exchange” implied academic exchange of professors or college level students, leaving secondary education mostly outside of the process (alsup & egginton, 2000; burn, 1990; richmond & hawkins, 1988). nevertheless, the dramatic political changes in the 1980s in the soviet union and other countries of eastern europe resulted in intensifying secondary school exchange programs and training programs that involved social studies educators. new conditions and new leaders needed new approaches to education in general and civic education in particular (quigley & hoar, 1997). in new democracies where new educational goals and objectives were inconsistent with outdated approaches, methods and content, the majority of social studies teachers belonged to the “old” generation and could hardly learn to teach differently (polozhevets, schechter, & perlemuter, 1997). both educators and government officials in the countries of the former soviet union and eastern europe “have increasingly sought the assistance of american civic education organizations in creating educational programs conductive to the development of responsible and effective citizens in free society” (quigly & hoar, 1997). the mid – and late 1990s witnessed an outburst of numerous curricula developed by various centers and universities in the united states specifically for the new democracies (creddock & harf, 2004; hamot, 2003; leming & vontz, 1997; patrick, 1994a, 1994b; patrick, vontz, & metcalf, 2002-2003; polechova, valkova, dostalova, bahmueller, & farnbach, 1997; polozhevets, schechter, & perelmutter, 1997; remy & strzemieczny, 1997; ridley, hidveghi, & pitts, 1997; shinew & fisher, 1997). the implementation of these curricula required exchange visits to observe methods and classrooms, professional development workshops, and training sessions. such visits, workshops, programs and seminars eventually resulted in new curricula, new curriculum materials, instructional practices, lessons, units, sustainable partnerships, and publications (lupoyadov, 2005; pakhomov & schechter, 2003; shinew & fisher, 1997; zelentsova, spensly & schechter, 2005). the overall positive effect of new programs and curricula on civic knowledge, civic skills and civic dispositions of students was recorded by a number of evaluative and descriptive research (craddock & harf, 2004; kupchan, 2000; pakhomov, 2002; patrick, vontz, & metcalf, 2002-2003). it should be admitted that a more skeptical perception of international assistance during the “enchanted era” of the 1990’s (quigley, 2000; wedel, 1998) reflected dissatisfaction of the results of exchange programs, disbelief in their sustainability and longevity. “these efforts to assist civil society in eastern europe, [wrote kevin quigley, 2000], fell far short of their lofty goals” (p. 191). despite a number of descriptive evidence of teacher exchange programs' benefits for both visitors and hosts, there is still substantial skepticism among scholars in regard to the goals and potential results of such programs, particularly when social science teachers participate. an attempt to change or implement a new curriculum in a foreign classroom is challenging. the “natural” skepticism caused by teachers’ values and school cultures is complicated by disbelief in the ability of foreign system to help, pride of success and achievements of participants’ educational system, regardless of whether these achievements are real or imaginary, suspicion of hidden self-interests, and, as in the case of the former soviet republics, “inherited” political and propagandistic prejudices (burton, 1997; burton & robinson, 1999; muckle & prozorov, 1996; stones, 1996). yet, after decades of exchange programs in social studies education and thousands of alumni of such programs we do not know much beyond descriptive articles about programs or online success stories. what are the curricular and instructional effects of these programs? how did the program impact social studies teacher’s professional or social position? how often is educational success translated into personal professional success? how sustainable are the outcomes of international corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 72 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. programs for educators? do programs need to provide opportunities for reciprocal changes? in 1973 leestma wrote about the lack of understanding of the value of international teacher exchange. eight years later hayden (1981) complained that “very little is systematically known about the immediate let alone longer-term educational and personal impact of an international exchange experience” (p. 2). quite recently, craddock and harf (2004) contended that “without research and assessment, those who are involved in both the support and practice of promoting democratic education [through international programs] rely on anecdotal and intuitive analysis to inform their activities and planning” (p. 2). the interest in international and global education in the united states is on the rise and student population becomes increasingly diverse. learning opportunities, such as international teacher programs, teaching abroad and the perceptions of ‘otherness’ this creates, lead to new perspectives regarding human differences and growing global interdependence and cooperation (walters, gardii, & walters, 2009). such experiences can rectify misconceptions, reverse stereotypes and significantly contribute to the internationalization of social studies curricula. due to their origin and development, international exchange and training programs for social studies teachers manifest the multifaceted nature of social studies, serving in many instances as a magnifying glass that enables observers to see success and failures in such aspects of education as international education, intercultural communication, educational reform, to name a few. new goals and new visions of civic education, growing emphasis on global competences in regard to civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, reconceptualization of the idea of citizenship and its expansion beyond the framework of an individual nation, the ideas of perspective consciousness and multiple loyalties require in-depth internationalization of the whole field of social studies education rather than formal introduction of new courses. gaining international experience will help social studies teachers develop their own unique reflective understanding of these new challenges. an honest and open discussion about social studies teachers’ participation in international exchanges and intensification of such exchanges will result in the nominal institutionalized internationalization of teacher training to the end of creating globally aware and culturally sensitive social studies educators and students. references alsup, r. & egginton, e. (2001). major obstacles and best practices in international educational exchanges. washington, dc: national association of state universities and land grant colleges bu, l. (2003). making the world like us: education, cultural expansion, and the american century. westport, ct: praeger burn, b. b. (1980). new directions in international education. annals of the american academy of political and social science, 449, 129-140. burton, d. (1997). the myth of “expertness”: cultural and pedagogical obstacles to restructuring east european curricula. british journal of in-service education, 23(2), 219-229. burton, d., & robinson, j. (1999). cultural interference – clashes of ideology and pedagogy in internationalizing education. international education, 28(2), 5-30. burn, b. b. 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(1963). cultural relations and u.s. foreign policy. bloomington: indiana university press. walters, l,, garii, b., & walters, t. (2009). learning globally, teaching locally: incorporating international exchange and intercultural learning into pre-service teacher training. intercultural education, 20(1), 151-158. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 75 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 69-76. wedel, j. r. (1998). collision and collusion: the strange case of western aid to eastern europe 19891998. new york: st. martin’s press. wilson, a. h. (1983). a case study of two teachers with cross-cultural experience: they know more. educational research quarterly, 8(1), 78-85. wilson, a. h. (1984). teachers as short-term international sojourners: opening windows on the world. the social studies 75(4), 153-157. wilson, a. h. (1986). returned peace corps volunteers who teach social studies. the social studies, 77(3), 100-106. zelentsova, a., spensly, k, & schechter, s.(eds.). (2005). aktivnaya shkola: teoria, praktika, perspektivy [active school: theory, practice, perspectives]. moscow: civitas@russia. about the international perspectives editor anatoli rapoport is associate professor of curriculum and instruction at purdue university college of education. before he received ph. d. in social studies education, he had worked as classroom teacher and school administrator. since 1999 he has actively participated in international programs for educators. dr. rapoport is the past chair of citizenship and democratic education special interest group (cande sig) of comparative and international education society. his research interests include: comparative aspects of education, influence of culture and ideology on education, and global and international perspectives in citizenship education. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 76 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 146 slaying the dragon: junior model united nations curriculum designing for middle school teacher candidates juan manuel walker stacie k pettit craig douglas albert laura rychly augusta university, united states abstract: the process of teaching curriculum design to pre-service teachers is a complex process. to address this issue, teacher candidates were asked to integrate an inquirybased approach while considering their own curriculum chapter for a junior model united nations (jmun) program. the findings of this study suggest that teacher candidates can benefit from inquiry-based methods in planning and teaching jmun curriculum. in the process, teacher candidates become aware of their own biases and pedagogical needs while teaching their future students. this is accomplished through cause and effect teaching since the teacher candidates are simultaneously building and teaching. the further removed teacher candidates are from curriculum development, the less likely they are to understand the significance of curriculum development and its applications. key words: global mindedness, inquiry learning process, engagement, simulation, application of knowledge. introduction piaget’s (1954) theory of development and vygotsky's (1978) constructivism theory combine prior experience and active learning that leads the child to develop new capacities. within this framework, simulations provide a context for real-world interaction (de freitas, 2007; dorn, 1989). by providing middle school students with a simulation experience, the students can work toward how knowledge is structured and what biases or misconceptions should be addressed. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 147 in 2011, our university established a model united nations (mun) within the department of political science. the program flourished quickly. after several years, the director of the model united nations program noticed significant results related to student success, specifically regarding social and academic integration. consequently, the primary investigator (pi) wanted to see if the same effects were measurable for middle school students. thus, the pi (also the mun director) started a junior model united nations (jmun) for middle school students. after running a successful pilot program of about 50 middle school students from five schools in 2014, the pi asked for direct feedback from teachers and students who participated. the primary suggestion from middle school teachers made it clear that a full curriculum on how to prepare students for the conference was needed. at this point, the pi asked the college of education to get involved, and several professors agreed. the jmun now evolved into a collaborative effort between the political science and teacher education departments. the political science department focused on the details, facts, process, procedures, and details of the jmun, while the teacher education department focused on designing an education curriculum appropriate for the middle grades. specifically, the curriculum was designed as a capstone assignment through a graduate level class within the teacher education department. students were asked to select one topic provided to them by the director of the model united nations (from political science), and they designed teacher resources, sample lesson plans, and topic/lesson descriptions that would be useful for teachers implementing a jmun program at their middle schools. most chapters had more than one student working on the initiative. thus, the best out of all teacher candidates’ submitted work was chosen to be officially included in the jmun curriculum. the final version was proofed, edited, and added to by the director of the model united nations program, the instructor of record of the graduate level course in teacher education, as well as several other professors from the college of education. becoming global citizens many educational organizations have begun referencing the creation of global citizens, or global citizenship, as an intended learning outcome of their work. for example, in a publication by the international baccalaureate organization (2013) that explains the program, the concept of preparing school-aged children to think and act “globally” is heavily emphasized. one description of what it means to act as a global citizen is: “globally engaged people critically consider power and privilege, and recognize that they hold the earth and its resources in trust for future generations” (ibo, 2013, p. 7). in the context of the model un, it is appropriate to reference the inclusion of global citizenship in the united nations’ education efforts. in september 2012, the mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 148 united nations secretary-general, ban ki-moon, announced plans for the “global education first initiative,” a project designed to help make the u.n.’s goal of education for all a reality. the third of three priorities for the project is “fostering global citizenship,” which is important and is explained on the global education first initiative's website: the world faces global challenges, which require global solutions…it is not enough for education to produce individuals who can read, write, and count… education must be transformative and bring shared values to life... it must give people the understanding, skills and values they need to cooperate in resolving the interconnected challenges of the 21st century. (global education first initiative priority #3, n.d., para. 1) a classroom should be a place supported by the “this we believe” framework where students can have a call to action. this is also supported by establishing a culturally responsive classroom environment (nmsa, 2010). within student-centered curriculum design, a focus on students’ emotional wellbeing and knowledge is always intertwined. a case for a jmun curriculum our framework is grounded in global theories of teaching and learning. ayers (1998) captured the potential and necessity of teaching for social justice as he identified the value to students of enriching their learning and their lives as global citizens. cochran-smith (2001), sleeter (2008), villegas & lucas (2002), and zeichner (2006) speak to the importance of a democratic education and social justice that encourages teachers and students to question systems of oppression. many university education programs have global studies themes scattered throughout courses, but often teacher candidates are not sure how to apply the ideas they have learned in their classroom practice (walker, 2012). further, some teachers fear that teaching students to critique and question those in power will position them as activists challenging the status quo. some teachers fear repercussions from parents and administration (bender-slack & raupach, 2008). for the investigators’ academic program, a junior model united nations (jmun) curriculum guide for teachers and students was designed with the concept of meeting the demands of globalized citizens. when planning lessons, activities, and assessments, the needs of middle school students should always be at the forefront of teachers’ thinking. substantial research exists reifying the characteristics and needs of children ages 10-14. for example, young adolescents are constantly asking why, how, and what can be done (nesin & brazee, 2013). according to edwards (2014), “the adolescent brain is developing in areas of reasoning/problem solving, decision mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 149 making/hypothetical situations, processing information/efficiency, expertise/use of experience, and moral reasoning/social cognition” (p. 5). these are the very skills and areas that are supported in a jmun program. the jmun discussions, experiences, and research allow students to understand what being socially responsible means on a deep level. multiple domains of development that are unique to young adolescents (brighton, 2007), such as intellectual, social, moral and character development, are appropriately addressed simultaneously through the jmun. according to the national middle school association (2010), several characteristics of effective middle schools are met through both jmun design and implementation. teacher candidates are simultaneously experiencing best practices for middle school students while creating future exemplary lessons. becoming an expert on a un member state is active learning for middle schoolers because the knowledge is necessary for role-play at the jmun conference. designing the curriculum is purposeful for teacher candidates because it meets a vital need for curriculum requested by in-service teachers. additionally, the jmun curriculum is relevant to students because it is centered around real issues and current events. it is integrative because it incorporates the social sciences with the four strands of language arts (speaking, writing, reading, and listening), and depending on the topic, it can include mathematics and/or science. middle school students are challenged to make formal speeches in front of their peers and are guided through the mystery of how the jmun conference might progress. finally, educators who implement jmun curriculum embody the use of multiple learning and teaching approaches endorsed by nsma. specifically, major learning activities should culminate with a knowledge performance that can include presentations, debate, or simulations, three skills integral to jmun (amle, 2012). jmun curriculum implementation implementing a new and unfamiliar curriculum can be nerve-wracking for teachers. therefore, the goals of this section are to illustrate how teachers have implemented the curriculum for our jmun conference. it should be noted that some middle schools used the curriculum for their specific social studies or elective class. first, teachers usually provided an overview of the history, purpose, and organizational structure of the united nations. afterwards, teachers usually had students research their individual member states using different interactive techniques to familiarize the students with their selected countries. some teachers provided similar types of information on the united states to mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 150 use as a point of reference for students to compare and contrast political and social views. next, students typically gave short presentations to the class/club about their member states based on the information learned from the activities. several of the teachers encouraged their students to regularly research current events in their member states and share the news in class. students are encouraged to keep a portfolio or daily diary of their member states. after this, teachers typically get more specific for their particular jmun. this starts with teachers having students read through the first topic of discussion background guide. for every topic discussed, a complete topic “brief,” or background guide, is prepared by the conference administration and is included as part of the registration packet. later, there is a question and answer period about the topic between teacher and students; for instance, one of our conversation topics from last year dealt with child soldiers. next, the same process was followed for the provided resolutions and supporting documents of those resolutions, which were also given to teachers by the conference organizers. the class/clubs usually discussed each member state’s probable stance on the resolution (based on their independent research) and prepared policy speeches regarding child soldiers. speeches were then practiced in front of the class with lessons on how to give good speeches. although this was the pro forma pattern, several teachers devised their own approach for the jmun. for instance, many invited the director of the specific jmun conference into their classroom, either physically or via google hangout, to discuss conference proceedings, watch and listen to class activities to provide constructive feedback, and to generally give advice. in some instances, teachers had their students provide the overview of the united nations through the use of “powtoons.” additionally, some teachers had dedicated days to “impromptu” speeches on “silly” topics such as favorite foods to prepare them for impromptu speeches required at the jmun. despite the numerous successes of the first jmun conference, middle school teachers asked about implementing a formal curriculum. the political science department reached out to teacher education about how to best pursue a jmun curriculum. during the fall of 2014, a plan was devised. the goals for the curriculum design process would mainly rest with the teacher candidates. slaying the dragon the investigators’ teacher preparation program now strives to be innovative in designing curriculum. with extensive training in curriculum design, its teacher candidates are asked to act mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 151 as designers for a social studies curriculum. the spring of 2015 was the pilot for the process. the teacher education department and the department of political science worked collaboratively to mentor middle school teacher candidates during the curriculum development process. the teacher candidates were told that they would each be responsible for writing a chapter about the jmun process. they were also told that only the best submissions would be accepted for the online curriculum guide for middle school teachers and students. a few teacher candidates initially complained about being asked to develop social studies curricula as teacher candidates. the future teachers mentioned a lack of experience in development and formal training in writing a textbook chapter. one teacher candidate stated, “you are asking us to slay the dragon.” this statement implied that the request to build an online jmun curriculum guide was a monumental undertaking for the future teachers. as a starting point, the teacher candidates were provided an overview of the project and resources for the project that were also available to in-service teachers. during the curriculum development process, faculty from the department of political science acted as content experts, answering questions about the jmun process. the teacher education department faculty provided support in methodology development as well as advanced writing strategies for new writers. these different supports will be described in the following sections. college of education support strategies in addition to the social studies methods course in which the jmun curriculum is written, multiple opportunities to make connections to the jmun model exist throughout middle school teacher candidates’ coursework. as stated at the beginning, at least three “this we believe” characteristics are addressed through jmun. teacher candidates explore the 16 characteristics in a course titled theory into practice in middle grades education. during course discussions, jmun serves as an example of students and teachers being engaged in active, purposeful learning; a curriculum that is challenging, integrative, and relevant; as well as an example of educators using multiple learning and teaching approaches (nmsa, 2010). additionally, the various subject contents addressed through jmun make the model an exemplar of interdisciplinary instruction. the course objectives for nature and needs of the middle grades learner also align with the tenets of jmun. according to jackson and davis (2000), the main purpose of middle grades education is to “enable every student to think creatively, to identify and solve meaningful problems, and to communicate and work with others.” as the various domains (e.g., physical, mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 152 social, intellectual, moral) of adolescent development are investigated in this course, the instructor can integrate jmun aspects of active learning, cooperative learning, and social justice. teacher candidates have even made their own connections by bringing up jmun as an example in class discussions. during a reading and writing across the curriculum class discussion, a student shared that jmun is a meaningful way to integrate writing into middle school social studies classes. finally, due to the global nature of jmun, the model provides an authentic example of multicultural education in action, linking it to another course offered in the department. political science support strategies awareness of teacher candidate concerns is integral to guiding them through the process of jmun curriculum building. the main concern when building a model un experience is that for most individuals, the “muniverse” is an unknown entity. most questions from teacher candidates involve not knowing precisely what a mun conference looks like. therefore, it is important to provide this information to the best of one’s ability. before doing this, however, it is important to detail the main organs and functions of the united nations itself. a good rule to follow in the classroom is to teach the actual body before teaching how to simulate that body. after receiving a general explanation of the united nations, most teacher candidates started to understand how it fits into a social studies curriculum. consequently, it was much easier to focus on how to target a curriculum geared toward middle school students. the emphasis at this point should be on the outcome of a junior model united nations conference. this is always the central question of teacher candidates: what is the purpose of a model un, especially for middle school students? generally, model un conferences are based around writing and voting upon resolutions on precise topics provided by the organization administering the conference. once this is understood, most teacher candidates know to base their classroom design around the central theme of resolution building. it is necessary then to teach the process of resolution building in addition to the structure of an international resolution. this serves both to teach the workings of an international organization and to teach the necessary skill of technical writing. we are dedicated to the growth mindset concept and recognize that all learners can grow from novices to experts with proper support and time commitment from the learner and the facilitator. the facilitator needs to stay patient and focus on the main tools of a jmun experience, which are international negotiation at a model un: formal caucusing (speeches) and informal caucusing (peer to peer negotiation). mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 153 next, questions revolve around what exactly speeches and negotiations should focus upon. the answer depends on how a student’s assigned member state might approach a specific topic. here, a teacher's job is to instruct students to retain the character of the country they represent, to research policies a country has issued domestically on the topic at hand, and how, if at all, the representative country has handled the topic via foreign policy. once a student understands a member state’s stance, it is their job to create speeches and develop negotiation strategies to convince other delegates representing different un member states to side with them and their policy recommendation in a resolution. after this is explained, most questions by teacher candidates are answered, and the candidates understand how to provide their middle school students with the necessary tools to research a member state’s policy and to direct that policy toward creating representative resolutions. a broader audience: implementing a jmun curriculum during a jmun preparatory middle school class, a teacher candidate in the program was faced with a middle school student who questioned the design of her curriculum. in addition to designing the curriculum, the teacher candidate’s response came from material she had created for the curriculum project. while learning about current events related to global issues, a student asked about the value of current events in a history class: “if we are learning about history, why are current events covered?” the investigator was excited to see how the teacher candidate responded based on beliefs on the effectiveness of the jmun curriculum program and middle school theory. the teacher candidate replied, “good question. i have an assignment that i developed that can really help us explore your question.” the teacher candidate brought up modern child rights in the congo. she asked the students to refer to a passage they read earlier about the jungle by upton sinclair and asked the students about similarities. a few students discussed how the politicians acted during these events and how the victims were portrayed in the book, and many of the students started to answer the question organically. one student said, “we know what cruelty looks like. just because we are looking back it does not mean that we have overcome cruelty.” the teacher candidate asked the student to expand on her thoughts, and the middle school student said, “we now understand what unfair treatment for children looks like. sometimes we use news programs or newspaper articles to examine mistreatment.” the teacher candidate responded: you talked about how media outlets supported slavery and were against women’s suffrage. it is up to us to decide what it means when children are working in factories or mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 154 being forced to work in factories overseas. if child labor is wrong, why do we have companies who employ international children in unsafe work conditions? the teacher candidate asked the students to think-pair-share their thoughts on the topic of discussion and returned to the original student question about current events. according to beineke (2011), “if the book is picked up by a middle school student who enjoys history, then what it contains will do no harm and probably a great deal of good. and actually, teachers will need to make similar decisions about the content they chose to include in their courses” (p. 177). within this case, the teacher candidate made decisions to explain her stance on global issues instead of selecting a textbook definition for the experience. the designer experience the teacher candidates who had their chapters selected for the curriculum guide were asked to share their thoughts on the program. an undergraduate teacher candidate shared this information about her experience: in response to the curriculum aspect, i tried to compress the information into bite-size chunks that would be easily understood by the students. the sheer volume of information on the background of the united nations was very extensive and a little daunting. therefore, i wanted my chapter to highlight key, important information in a way that a general understanding could be accomplished easily without compromising the completeness of the necessary information. one of the main tenets for our course is that curriculum design should be focused. we insist that their first questions are: who is your audience? who are you writing for? what are their needs? one of the challenges was to write curriculum that both teachers and students could understand. each audience has different needs. the teachers need a framework to complement their knowledge base, and the students need content knowledge and foundational support. this can range from simple definitions to activities that better help the learner understand the role of the united nations. to illustrate this, one teacher candidate discussed what her daughter gained from the jmun experience: as a parent watching my child go through the jmun process, i found it very interesting and exciting. i am always on the lookout for experiences that will enhance my child's knowledge base and her awareness as a global citizen and the international issues that we are facing today. through her experience in model un, i think that not only was she mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 155 exposed to information that she was heretofore unaware of, but i think it also helped her to become a more engaged participant in the world around her. she had to challenge herself, as a representative of south africa, to participate in the activity as someone from south africa, instead of from the mindset of an american. she had to be open-minded and creative. furthermore, she had to employ diplomatic skills in dealing with the other participants when passing resolutions or trying to establish “allies.” additionally, the development of speeches and resolutions, and the exercise of delivering those speeches publicly, was practice in a very useful and necessary life skills for her. giving pre-adolescents a voice in global matters gives middle school students a better understanding of the challenges they will face in the future. it prepares them to examine and to participate in the world around them. and it can give them a new perspective on their everyday lives. the teacher candidate tied her experience and her daughter’s experience together thusly: through her experience and then subsequently through my own (in your class) i really began to gain a better understanding and appreciation for what jmun is. the writing of the curriculum also helped me to understand the process that she went through better and likewise her experience affected the process of my curriculum designing. i knew the students she had participated with and the teachers who had helped her, so when designing i looked at it as if they were the ones using and reading it. i like to think this enhanced rather than hurt the end product. to address “this we believe” characteristics, the curriculum includes multiple types of learning and teaching approaches and challenges the students to think critically about the problems that a specific country faces. it integrates history, political science, communications, ethics, and diplomacy, as well as the sciences to address environmental challenges and resource allotment. in order to become actively aware of the larger world, jmun asks students to understand global issues from different perspectives. the middle school students have to ask significant and relevant questions about the world, ranging from questions about the usage of modern warfare to the ethical consideration of using child soldiers. they are also asked to answer questions that do not have one right response, ethical questions that adults cannot always answer. finally, they are asked to respect people as global citizens. teachers will not be able to prepare middle school students successfully for a jmun conference without active learning and knowledge of our modern world. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 156 the teacher candidate who had expressed concerns about curriculum design process (and coined the phrase “slaying the dragon”) had a chapter submission accepted. the following year, he asked to have his class participate in the jmun program. the jmun program is currently at full capacity. this speaks to how often we misunderstand curriculum design and how important it is to help our teacher candidates understand the discipline. according to beineke’s (2011) stance, “what is called subject matter is often defined, some may think narrowly, as synonymous with curriculum. it is commonly understood, though, that curriculum cannot be divorced from instruction. and that curriculum is more than the subject matter being taught” (p. 174). from our perspective, this translates to acting as designers. we are really impressed that many of our teacher candidates refused to use a textbook and are developing their own curriculum to meet the needs of their students. good teachers do not just retell content—they develop best practices for learning. future projects the success of the jmun online curriculum has opened the door for the jmun projects to be considered as possible course requirements by community members. in fact, faculty and teachers have volunteered to either submit their own chapters or serve as editors for future social studies curriculum projects. one faculty member asked if the present authors could build a peace curriculum. we have also included other schools from other states for the jmun project. we are working to develop curriculum guides for elementary and high school versions based on the middle school jmun curriculum. all this is to serve our belief that teacher candidates should not be passive in the learning process. instead, they must think as designers who can elicit purposeful learning from their students. conclusion in the interest of promoting learning in middle schools, there is a need to re-imagine teacher candidates as curriculum makers in order to inspire future teachers to become agents of change. to have positive effects, teachers need to think of curriculum not as fixed but as dynamic in a way that is fundamental to student learning. in this jmun framework, it is important for teacher candidates to consider their life experiences both outside and inside classrooms as “texts” containing knowledge and understanding of themselves, their situation, their students, and their subject areas and pedagogy—all of which are constantly modified to accommodate new experiences across time and space. thus, global issues become a valuable resource to draw upon to make authentic decisions about classroom curriculum. in support of “this we believe” mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 157 characteristics, “our schools mirror our society. by honoring and celebrating the diversity in our classrooms, we are offering our nation’s young people the best opportunity to become contributing members of their communities, the nation, and the world” (nmsa, 2012, p. 59). in this practitioner piece, teacher candidates brought together their personal and professional experiences, providing insights into how to devise and revise a jmun curriculum in a way that is thought-provoking for middle school students. in this iteration, curriculum is focused on what is “worth experiencing, doing and being” (schubert, 1996, p. 169). however, that which is worth knowing is always changing and evolving for both teachers and learners. to encapsulate the dynamic nature of knowing, curriculum must also be fluid. therefore, the process of curriculummaking should be situated “autobiographically” (schubert, 1996, p.169). in a sense, curriculummaking is about who the teacher candidate is, whom the future teacher chooses to grow and become, and what the self-actualized teacher does. it is the entire range of experiences, both direct and indirect, that affects thinking, approach, and decision-making. thus, curriculum, experience, learning, and teaching are seamlessly intertwined in a jmun program for teacher candidates. and the dragon? slayed for all the world to see. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 158 references: beineke, j. a. (2011). teaching history to adolescents: a quest for relevance. new york, ny: peter lang. bender-slack, d. & raupach, m. (2008). negotiating standards and social justice in the social studies: educators’ perspectives. the social studies, 99(6), 255-259. brighton, k. (2007). coming of age: the education and development of young adolescents. westerville, oh: national middle school association. cochran-smith, m. (2001). learning to teach against the (new) grain. journal of teacher education, 52(1), 3-4. edwards, s. (2014). getting them to talk: a guide to leading discussions in middle grades classrooms. westerville, oh: association for middle level education. global education first initiative priority #3. (n.d.). retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/ new/en/gefi/ priorities/global-citizenship holt, t. c., & wolf, d. (1990). thinking historically: narrative, imagination, and understanding. new york, ny: college entrance examination board. international baccalaureate organization. (2013). what is an ib education? cardiff, wales: pearson house. jackson, a. w., & davis, g. a. (2000). turning points 2000: educating adolescents in the 21st century. new york, ny: teachers college press. knight, m. (2011). it's already happening: learning from civically engaged transnational immigrant youth. teachers college record, 113(6), 1275-1292. myers, j. p., & zaman, h. a. (2009). negotiating the global and national: immigrant and dominant-culture adolescents' vocabularies of citizenship in a transnational world. teachers college record, 111(11), 2560-2588. nmsa research committee. (2003). research and resources in support of this we believe. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.unesco.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 146-159 corresponding author: juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 159 westerville, oh: national middle school association. national middle school association. (2010). this we believe: keys to educating young adolescents. westerville, oh: national middle school association. nesin, g., & brazee, e. n. (2013). developmentally responsive middle grades schools: needed now more than ever. in andrews, p. g. (ed.), research to guide practice in middle grades education. westerville, oh: association for middle level education. schubert, w. h. (1996). perspectives on four curriculum traditions. educational horizons, 74(4), 169-176. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. albany, ny: state university of new york press. walker, j. (2012). theoretical cognitive principles applied in the social studies classroom. the georgia social studies journal, 2(1), 20-27. about the authors: dr. juan walker is an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction (social studies) at augusta university. he teaches social studies methods and curriculum, and serves as the secondary program coordinator. dr. stacie pettit is an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction (english) at augusta university. she teaches middle grades methods and curriculum, and serves as the middle grades program coordinator. dr. albert is the director of the master of arts in intelligence and security studies and an assistant professor of political science at augusta university. he received his phd in international relations and american politics from the university of connecticut in 2009. dr. laura rychly is an assistant professor of advanced studies and innovations at augusta university. she teaches foundations courses. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 165 the shaky legal foundations of the global human rights education project barend vlaardingerbroek american university of beirut abstract: school students should be taught about the law and this includes rights education. the global human rights education (hre) project focuses on universal human rights and has a strongly utopian orientation, drawing as it does on international declarations and principles of human rights law. international human rights law is, however, at best a fragile edifice, characterised by legally non-binding declarations, treaties that are subject to the vagaries of jus voluntarium, and mostly impotent international tribunals. hre appears to rely more on its own interpretations of international human rights law, which may include reading (and writing) into texts what is simply not there. far from being a form of law education, hre is a form of social-transformative activism. same-sex marriage advocacy is used as an example of the excesses to which hre is prone. school-based rights education should be within the context of a comprehensive curricular package of law education using students’ domestic legal frameworks as the principal point of reference. introduction teaching school students about their rights within the context of an educational programme about the law that they live under is part and parcel of law education. as was recently argued in this journal, “if schooling is a preparation for adult life in one’s society, it seems axiomatic that school curricula should contain topics about the law of relevance to any citizen” (vlaardingerbroek, traikovski & hussain, 2014, p. 109). within this context, rights education can be delivered with reference to the legal framework that is in operation within a given jurisdiction. students can be introduced to the relevant statutes and cases that illustrate how the courts interpret those statutes (in common law jurisdictions, add case law). thus students come to realise that rights do not occur in a vacuum and are not ‘stringless’ entitlements. they also come to realise that rights are not absolute dicta ‘from on high’ akin to the mythical ten commandments but are products of human reasoning and are underpinned by value structures that vary in time and space. human rights education (hre) goes well beyond the parameters set by national jurisdictions. in the words of ramirez, suárez and meyer (2007), “current emphasis on human rights education reflects a growing understanding of the individual person as a member of a global society rather than as mainly a national citizen” (p. 35). tibbitts (2002) notes that the ‘values and awareness’ model of hre that applies to formal schooling has a marked international orientation in that it targets global human rights issues and the international court system. amnesty international (ai), a major actor in hre, describes human rights education on its website (http://www.amnesty.org/en/human-rightseducation ) as “a deliberate, participatory practice aimed at empowering individuals, groups and communities through fostering knowledge, skills and attitudes consistent with internationally recognized human rights principles.” but a “member of a global society” remains within the jurisdiction of a national legal system. in dualist legal systems in particular (those in which domestic and international law are regarded as occupying different spheres), an internationally declared right is not justiciable unless it has been incorporated into domestic law. to ‘educate’ young people about their rights must surely take domestic and not international law as its starting point. this paper adopts a critical approach to hre as a form of law education in schools. it examines the basis of hre’s claim to legal legitimacy in international law and finds it severely deficient, exemplifying its shortcomings through an in-depth analysis of same-sex marriage advocacy by hre. http://www.amnesty.org/en/human-rights-education http://www.amnesty.org/en/human-rights-education journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 166 the paper comes to the conclusion that hre in its global, utopian form is not ‘law education’ at all but rather a facet of a social-transformative activist movement and that school-based rights education would be far better situated in a comprehensive law education curricular package. what/whose ‘internationally recognised human rights principles’? art. 4 of the un declaration on human rights education and training 2011(dhret) states that hre “should be based on the principles of the universal declaration of human rights and relevant treaties and instruments.” this was a general assembly (unga) declaration and as such has no legal force (only security council resolutions do). indeed the universal declaration (udhr), likewise a unga declaration, has no legal force, although it is so widely accepted that it may be regarded as customary international law. customary law being a rather fickle entity relying on uniform state practice as well as opinio juris – the view that the practice invokes legal obligations – the udhr’s real legal effects come through in treaties that it gave rise to. one would be expected to be on firmer ground with respect to treaties (usually referred to as ‘conventions’ or ‘covenants’ in international human rights law) but there are caveats. some conventions are not intended to be enforceable, the prime example here being the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights 1966 (icescr) which, unlike its sister treaty the international covenant on civil and political rights 1966 (iccpr), is non-justiciable. the principle of jus voluntarium (the freedom of states to decide whether to be bound by a treaty) remains a pillar of international law and means that states can refuse to enter into a treaty altogether, or enter reservations with respect to given treaty articles (where the treaty so allows). in the human rights field, a striking example of this was the convention on the elimination of discrimination against women 1979 (cedaw) which numerous muslim states either did not sign up to or entered reservations towards. the principle of jus cogens supposedly overrides states’ reticence to be bound, but there is little consensus on the ‘peremptory norms’ that are invoked by this maxim other than those relating to slavery, genocide, colonialism and apartheid, and the prohibition on torture. interpretations of these vary; the dismissal by the icj of mutual charges of genocide by croatia and serbia last year suggests that proving a case of genocide can be very difficult even where the facts seem straight-forward. the right of self-determination is a contentious addition despite its appearance in the un charter, the iccpr and the icescr and can still not be considered either customary law – the un declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples 2007 was voted against by, inter alia, the us, canada and australia – or a peremptory norm. the ‘principle of non-discrimination’ that has such a high profile in hre does not make it onto the list at all. the principle of jus cogens invokes the notion of there being absolute rights, and indeed there are numerous rights designated as ‘absolute’ in international law. however, the term ‘absolute’ in international law means that no reservation may be entered to that particular article and that no derogation is ever permitted from it; this is very different from what the word means in non-legal english (‘unqualified’ being one synonym). a good example of this nuance of usage is art. 2 of the convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms 1950 (the european convention on human rights – echr) which declares the existence of the ‘right to life’ but qualifies it by making an allowance for the application of the death penalty (an issue later covered by an optional protocol). with the exception of the european court of human rights (ecthr), international human rights courts and tribunals tend to be toothless tigers with no enforcement capabilities. the political shenanigans surrounding both un human rights commissions (unchr/unhrc) are a matter of public record. the founding statute of the inter-american court of human rights was signed by neither the u.s. nor canada. the use of the word ‘principles’ by the dhret and ai introduces a creative element involving the extrication of meta-rules supposedly underlying human rights declarations and conventions and journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 167 using those to create rights de novo. there is nothing new about this endeavour. the past half century has seen a mushrooming of ‘rights’, alston back in 1984 referring to much new human rights law being created by the unga and the un human rights commission “as though by magic” as illicit. this is a debatable proposition, but what appears less debatable is that the legal basis claimed by hre proponents is at best a fragile one. the following case study exposes the soft underbelly of hre’s claim to legal legitimacy. case study: same-sex marriage (ssm) advocacy through hre upon entering the amnesty international uk website’s hre resources page, one encounters a set of dialogue boxes with the phrases “i am a teacher” [looking for] “teaching resources” pre-filled in. upon proceeding, a list of resources appears headed by an ‘lgbti activity pack” (http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/files/lgbti_rights_activity_pack_february_2015_0.pdf) the stated aim of which is to “enable teachers to explore the human rights of sexual and gender minority groups with children and young people.” the first activity involves 5to 8-year-olds coming to the realisation that a family may have two dads or two mums. the activity pack boldly asserts that “international law recognises that sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person’s identity and humanity” (p. 22). a perusal of other resources reveals an older lbgt rights activity guide that specifically mentions same-sex marriage (http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/files/activities_lgbt_rights_0.pdf) and a ‘simplified’ version of the udhr (http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/default/udhr_simplified_0.pdf) that audaciously ‘simplifies’ art. 16 to read “every grown up [sic] has the right to marry and have a family if they [sic] want to.” setting aside the qualms that any parents of primary-school age children may have about exposing pre-pubescents to lgbti issues let alone the same-sex marriage controversy, these assertions are simply erroneous and represent, at best, wishful thinking and, at worst, wilful distortions of international human rights law. the ai position on ssm is succinctly put by ai (usa) (http://www.amnestyusa.org/ourwork/issues/lgbt-rights/marriage-equality) as follows: the right of adults to enter into consensual marriage is enshrined in international human rights standards. article 16, universal declaration of human rights (udhr): men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. they are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. for more than a decade, this non-discrimination principle has been interpreted by un treaty bodies and numerous inter-governmental human rights bodies as prohibiting discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation has therefore become an internationally recognized principle and many countries have responded by bringing their domestic laws into line with this principle ... indeed, the right to marry and found a family is encountered not only in the udhr but also in the echr, iccpr, american convention of human rights 1969 (achr) and the echr. the right to marry is one aspect of a compound right (somerville, 2007). the verb ‘found’ in this context is of significance, thesaurus entries including ‘originate’, ‘create’ and ‘bring into existence’. (the achr uses the weaker term ‘raise’.) the family reappears in the udhr, iccpr, icescr, achr and the african charter of human and people’s rights 1981 all of which define it as the “natural” base unit of http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/files/lgbti_rights_activity_pack_february_2015_0.pdf http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/files/activities_lgbt_rights_0.pdf http://www.amnesy.org.uk/sites/default/udhr_simplified_0.pdf http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/lgbt-rights/marriage-equality http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/lgbt-rights/marriage-equality journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 168 society. it is clearly the case that these authoritative sources envisage marriage as occurring between persons who form an inherently fertile unit that is capable of producing a natural family, i.e. a man and a woman. this view was shared by the un human rights committee in joslin v new zealand 2002 when it held that use of the term ‘men and women’, rather than the general terms used elsewhere in part iii of the covenant, has been consistently and uniformly understood as indicating that the treaty obligation of states parties … is to recognize as marriage only the union between a man and a woman wishing to marry each other… the ecthr in schalk and kopf v austria 2010 likewise held that the choice of words in echr art. 12 – ‘men and women’ as opposed to ‘everyone’ or similar – had been deliberate and that the article clearly targeted male-female marriage. the court subsequently came down firmly against the proposition that there is a right to ssm embedded in the echr, asserting in gas and dubois v france 2012 that the court observes at the outset that it has already ruled, in examining the case of schalk and kopf … that article 12 of the convention does not impose an obligation on the governments of the contracting states to grant same-sex couples access to marriage… nor can a right to same-sex marriage be derived from article 14 taken in conjunction with article 8. this is not to say that ssm contravenes european law, but rather that the right of jurisdictions to strike their own balance in relation to the issue of same-sex relationships in law is upheld – the ‘margin of appreciation’. this resonates with the european union charter of fundamental rights 2000 (eucfr) art. 9 of which states that “the right to marry and the right to found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of these rights”. the african charter also declares this to be the case. ironically, the earlier case of goodwin v uk 2002 at the ecthr had reinforced the hetero-exclusivity of marriage: while the court held that the inability of a given couple to produce children did not annul the right to marry, the upshot once translated into domestic law was that a transsexual could marry, but only after having the sex on the birth certificate changed to that opposite to the sex of the intended spouse. the ‘traditional’ view of the family was challenged by the 2007 yogyakarta principles on the application of human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, art. 24(b) of which calls for a recognition of “the diversity of family forms”. however, while requiring states to treat same-sex partnerships the same as their hetero-equivalents, the yogyakarta principles stop short of demanding a right to ssm. the ‘simplification’ by ai of ‘men and women’ to ‘every grown-up’ is supported by neither international human rights law pertaining to marriage, nor by international human rights courts commenting thereupon. on the contrary, the ai position is diametrically opposed to international human rights law which explicitly defines marriage in hetero-exclusive terms with a view to the establishment of nuclei for natural family formation. it will be noted, though, that the ai position statement quoted above does not dwell on the niceties of international human rights law pertaining to the nature of marriage but homes in on the principle of non-discrimination which it appears to regard as a matter of jus cogens. in reality, it would be an understatement to say that sexual orientation issues in general have not been enthusiastically pursued at the international level. art. 21 of the eu charter of fundamental rights prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. however, the principle of non-discrimination is by no means universally accepted in the context of sexual orientation. saiz (2004) commented on the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 169 ideological impasse between traditional and ‘modernising’ forces both within and between cultures which had effectively polarised the un. tahmindjis (2008) mused that it has been suggested that to expand international human rights law to expressly include glbt issues would involve a broad interpretation of human rights norms by national and international bodies, or the adoption of separate protocols or of a new specific convention. there is considerable antipathy to this course, however. much of that antipathy emerged in the course of the 2011 unga and un human rights council splits over lgbt rights. to claim that the unga passed a resolution against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is to ignore the counter-resolution that was backed by numerous countries (for details see zebley, 2011). this is hardly surprising given that, despite changes in social attitudes in western societies over the past decades, numerous countries continue to criminalise homosexuality, with some continuing to invoke the death penalty. widespread state practice and opinio juris do not bear out any claim to the effect that freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a ‘recognised principle of international law’. more pointedly, it is a quantum leap in reasoning to extrapolate from non-discrimination against homosexuals as a general principle to allowing same-sex couples to marry. it is a quantum leap that many appear to have made, as the ssm campaign successfully turned the issue into one of the right to freedom from discrimination by restrictions on marital choice (for background see gross, 2008; kollman, 2007). the appeal to non-discrimination as a basis for demanding a right to ssm in the context of international law is at best an instance of the application of lex generalis – and one which flies in the face of the lex specialis regarding the nature of marriage furnished by international human rights law. the right to marry has moreover never been unqualified – all jurisdictions qualify the right, consanguinity restrictions representing a ubiquitous example of conditions that may be imposed. these vary between jurisdictions, and fall under the margin of appreciation inherent in ‘according to their national laws’ clauses. depending on one’s point of view, barring a brother/sister couple from marrying is either not discriminatory at all or is an instance of lawful discrimination. given the explicit heteronormativity of international human rights law in its view of marriage and its functions, restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples does not constitute unlawful discrimination. it must be emphasised at this juncture that the aforegoing comments apply to international human rights law. a number of national jurisdictions have amended their marriage acts to accommodate ssm, thereby making ssm a right in those jurisdictions. the uk’s adoption of ssm made goodwin redundant; that did not, however, change anything at the level of european human rights law or at the ecthr. ssm advocates have taken heart from recent us supreme court pronouncements on ssm. however, the us supreme court makes law for the us and not for the world, and does not furnish ai’s specious claim of drawing on ‘principles of international law’ with any measure of legitimacy. advocacy and activism vs. rights education as an aspect of law education hre is, by its own criteria, largely a form of social activism. few of its practitioners – in the context of this paper, school teachers – possess any qualifications in law (tibbitts, 2002; vlaardingerbroek, traikovski & hussain, 2014). it calls upon children as young as 7 to become ‘activists’ (see numerous teaching resources on ai-uk website targeting 7 to 11-year-old ‘activists’). hre is one of the tentacles of a worldwide ideological movement (tibbitts [2002] refers to it in relation to ‘social movements’) that has been remarkably successful in infiltrating western education systems and influencing educational policies and practices, including curricula (ramírez, suárez & meyer, 2007, p. 53). typical of ideological movements, it operates with missionary zeal, its operatives spurred on by the perceived rightness of their cause. and as is also typical of ideological movements, it pays scant journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 170 regard to niceties such as academic rigour (and intellectual honesty) in promoting its cause. its proponents cite documentary authorities with the same absolutism as that with which the religious fundamentalist cites scripture – and in so doing may impose an interpretation that is far from selfevident to the detached analyst and may even be at odds with the reality. hre in schools raises many ethical questions that are long overdue for serious reappraisal. the ethics of teachers getting 5-year-olds to ‘understand’ that a family can have two dads or two mums, the ethics of activist teachers recruiting 7-year-olds to their social-transformative cause, the ethics of riding rough-shod over the rights of parents to inculcate their values and morals in their own children – these and more support the view that hre is in the business of indoctrination rather than education. one thing that hre definitely is not is law education. it plays fast and loose with international human rights law, reading into it whatever it chooses regardless of the purport of the pronouncements in question, and disregarding those articles and international court decisions that do not add weight to its claims. more importantly from an educational perspective, it fails to adequately contextualise human rights within the legal frameworks within which they operate at national level. by ‘legal framework’ is meant more than just allusions to legislation that conveniently upholds a particular human right, but rather the whole legal machinery of governance that encompasses how laws are made, how they are administered, and how they are interpreted and enforced. one needs to be able to do a great deal more than thump the table and declare, “it’s my right!” – especially in instances where one’s country has either not signed up to a treaty or has entered reservations against the article in question, or has not incorporated that right into its domestic law. these are not subtle academic nuances but are fundamental to an understanding of the workings of the law in relation to rights, including ‘universal’ or ‘global’ rights. hre is supposed to be a form of ‘empowerment’ but to ignore these aspects of human rights is actually to disempower as it consigns rights to the realm of rhetoric. the writer of this paper is not ‘against human rights’ or ‘against human rights education’. the author is an active advocate of law education in schools from primary school level up, and considers rights to be an important aspect of such a programme. what does concern the author is the harnessing of the human rights education project to a social engineering agenda and the receptivity of some education authorities to the trojan horse that is hre. if there is to be hre in schools, it should be as part of a holistic law education programme devised and delivered by professionals with academic qualifications in law – not by often barely legally literate social-activist zealots doubling as educators. references alston, p. (1984). conjuring up new human rights: a proposal for quality control. american journal of international law, 78(3), 607-621. gross, a.m. (2008). sex, love, and marriage: questioning gender and sexuality rights in international law. leiden journal of international law, 21, 235-253. kollman, k. (2007). same-sex unions: the globalization of an idea. international studies quarterly, 51, 329-357. ramírez, f.o., suárez. d. & meyer. j.w. (2007). the worldwide rise of human rights education. in school knowledge in comparative and historical perspective, a. benavot & c. braslavsky (eds), amsterdam: springer. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 165-171. corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 171 saiz, i. (2004). bracketing sexuality: human rights and sexual orientation: a decade of development and denial at the un. health and human rights 7: 48-80. somerville, m. (2007). children’ rights and unlinking child-parent biological binds with adoption, same-sex marriage and new reproductive technologies. journal of family studies, 13(1), 179-201. tahmindjis, p. (2008). sexuality and human rights law. journal of homosexuality, 48, 9-29. tibbitts. f. (2002). understanding what we do: emerging models for human rights education. international review of education, 48(3-4), 159-171. vlaardingerbroek, b., traikovski, l. & hussain, i. (2014). towards ‘law education for all’ –teaching school students about the law in australia and pakistan. journal of international social studies, 4(2), 109-117. zebley, j. (2011). un rights council passes first gay rights resolution. jurist 17 june 2011. retrieved from http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/06/un-rights-council-passes-first-gay-rights-resolution.php http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/06/un-rights-council-passes-first-gay-rights-resolution.php journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 philosophy for children: a deliberative pedagogy for teaching social studies in japan and the usa amber strong makaiau university of hawaii at manoa, united states noboru tanaka gifu university, japan abstract: two international social studies teacher educators and researchers (from japan and the usa) use qualitative methods to systematically examine the impact of the philosophy for children hawai'i (p4chi) approach to deliberative pedagogy on social studies teaching and learning in two countries. the study’s participants are two secondary level social studies teachers (from japan and the usa) and their students. data comes from class sessions that were video recorded in each country and transcribed. collaborative analysis of the data produced three major themes: inquiry stance, inquiry topics, and the nature of the inquiry. at the study’s conclusion, the researchers share what they learned about implementing the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy in two countries and how it can be used to prepare japanese and american students for global citizenship in the 21st century. key words: social studies, citizenship education, global citizenship, comparative education, philosophy for children, deliberative pedagogy. introduction/purpose this paper describes how two international social studies teacher educators/researchers use qualitative methods (creswell, 2007; patton, 2002) to systematically examine the impact of philosophy for children hawai'i (p4chi) on social studies teaching and learning in two countries. from the united states and japan, respectively, drs. amber strong makaiau and noboru tanaka began their collaborative study in the spring of 2017. tanaka is an associate professor at gifu university who is also helping to re-write the national curriculum of politics and economics in social studies education for the ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology in mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 japan (mext). he met makaiau in 2015 when she traveled to japan to give a series of public lectures about the relationship between p4chi and deliberative pedagogy (carcasson, 2013; longo, 2013; manosevitch, 2013; molnar-main & kingseed, 2013). makaiau is an associate specialist at the university of hawai'i, manoa (uhm) and also the director of curriculum and research at the uhm uehiro academy for philosophy and ethics in education. in each of their home countries, p4chi is being explored as a viable means for school improvement (oakes, quartz, ryan, & lipton, 2000), and together they wanted to learn more about the ways in which this particular approach to deliberative pedagogy (makaiau, 2017) might be used to prepare japanese and american students for life in a democratic society. to structure their investigation, the two researchers: 1. collaborated with teachers who use the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy to teach secondary level social studies classes in japan and the usa; 2. video recorded one social studies teacher in japan and one in the usa as they used p4chi to teach the same high school civics lesson with students in two countries; 3. transcribed and analyzed the video recorded lessons; 4. drew conclusions about the impact of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy on the japanese and american students in the classrooms that they observed. in this paper, the authors frame their study by explaining the connection between deliberative pedagogy, p4chi, and contemporary social studies movements in japan and the united states. next, they describe the design and methods of the study, including the two diverse contexts in which the research took place. they explain how they collected and analyzed data from video recorded lessons to learn more about the similarities and differences of p4chi’s impact on the students and teachers observed in japan and the united states. then the study’s findings are reported. these findings narrow in on the three main themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis of the data that compare and contrast inquiry stance, inquiry topics, and the nature of the inquiry in each country. at the paper’s conclusion, the authors explore the potential role that the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy can play in promoting democratic global citizens in diverse national contexts. theoretical framework deliberative pedagogy is an emergent field of research and practice that aims to identify meaningful approaches to democratic education (carcasson, 2013; longo, 2013; manosevitch, 2013; molnar-main & kingseed, 2013). “the primary goal isn’t civic education per se, but for students to develop commitment, knowledge, and skills necessary for creating and maintaining mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 equitable, diverse and democratic spaces, whether it be in the local community, the workplace, the nation, or world” (doherty, 2012, p. 25). deliberative pedagogies work to prepare citizens for life in a democratic society by engaging students and teachers in the practice of “considering perspectives, evaluating views, and treating each other as political equals” as they think collectively about the larger question, “how should we live together?” (hess & mcavoy, 2015, p. 5). the worldwide philosophy for children (p4c) movement has much to offer this new area of scholarship. started in 1969 by matthew lipman, a colombia university philosophy professor who observed that children did not think as well as they could or should in a democratic society, p4c aims to provide individuals with the “experience of dialoguing with others as equals, [and] participating in shared public inquiry [so] that they [are] able to eventually take an active role in the shaping of a democratic society” (sharp, 1993, p. 343). as both an educational theory and a set of classroom practices, p4c is a form of deliberative pedagogy (makaiau, 2017a) that gives life to dewey’s (1916) assertion that in order for democracy to function as it should, students and teachers must have opportunities to experience democracy in schools. sensitive to context and rarely, if ever, enacted in the exact same way across diverse national, cultural, and institutional settings, the translation of the p4c approach to deliberative pedagogy—from theory to practice—depends on the professionalism and values of practitioners who must adapt it to meet the needs of their particular context. for the purpose of this study, we are specifically interested in exploring the impact of philosophy for children hawai'i (p4chi) and the ways in which this unique approach to deliberative pedagogy can be used to create democratic schooling experiences in the context of social studies education. an outgrowth of lipman’s original p4c program, p4chi is organized around four conceptual pillars (community, inquiry, philosophy, and reflection) and the following key classroom practices (jackson, 2001):  creating intellectual safety (p. 460) to make sure that all participants in the community feel like they can ask any question or state any point of view as long as they are being respectful of everyone in the group.  making a community ball (p. 461) to help mediate turn-taking during democratic classroom dialogue and inquiry.  using the language of the good thinker’s tool kit (p.463) to stimulate inquiry, articulate questions, claims, and thinking in general. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32  participating in plain vanilla (p. 462) discussion-based inquiries that use the following structure: question, vote, inquiry, and reflect.  using magic words (p. 461) to support student facilitation during the plain vanilla inquiries.  reflecting on the community of inquiry (p. 464) with a set of evaluation questions to help measure progress. described extensively in a number of other articles and book chapters (makaiau, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b; makaiau & miller, 2012), the application of p4chi to social studies teaching and learning in the united states has been shown to cultivate and nurture: (1) respectful and ethical civic relationships, (2) shifts in the distribution of power and access to multiple perspectives, and (3) dialogue, deliberation, inquiry, and action (makaiau, 2017a). to build on these findings and contribute to the growing interest in investigating the role of p4chi in japanese social studies education, the authors of this paper collaborated on an international comparative study. directly related to contemporary social studies reform movements in japan and the united states, this study narrows in on the ways in which p4chi could be used to teach civics in both countries. in japan, the social studies curriculum guidelines issued by the ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology will change significantly in 2020. in the new requirements, emphasis will be placed on students: generating questions, exploring and inquiring about important social studies topics, analyzing social problems, and engaging in philosophical and deliberative dialogue. in the united states, a similar transformation is taking place. with the introduction of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards (2013), the national council for the social studies (ncss) has given new direction to k12 social studies education in the united states. among the notable changes is an emphasis on inquiry, taking informed action, and deliberative dialogue and civic discourse. while these advancements in both japan and the united states are excellent news for advocates of democratic education (apple & beane, 1995; dewey, 1916; freire, 1970; gutman, 1987; hess & mcavoy, 2015; parker, 2010; campaign for the civic mission of schools, 2011; vinson, 2006), they present new challenges for social studies educators and researchers, many of whom did not have the opportunity to experience a deliberative pedagogy as part of their own k-12 schooling. it is for these reasons and more that the authors of this paper set out to investigate, compare, and contrast the impact of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy in japan and the united states. they, like many other social studies educators and researchers, are looking for proven mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 strategies for strengthening the role of social studies education in promoting a deliberative democracy both nationally and internationally—that is, both within countries and between them. through the dissemination and mobilization of knowledge relating to the impact of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy, they are aiming to reimagine citizenship and citizenship education from a global perspective (partnership for 21st century schools, 2014). additionally, very little research has been done to both document and examine the ways in which p4chi can be used to teach social studies in japan, and there are no previous studies that compare and contrast the implementation of p4chi in social studies classrooms in japan and the united states. the study presented in this paper aims to address some of these gaps in the literature and more. design/method the methods used for this case study (creswell, 2007; patton, 2002) were qualitative because of the need to “obtain the intricate details about phenomena such as feelings, thought processes, and emotions” (strauss & corbin, 1998) of the students and teachers who participated in the classrooms that we were researching. additional methods and guidelines for “collecting and analyzing visual data materials” (pp. 717-732) were based on the work of denis harper (2000). research questions. the following research questions were used to guide this study: what is the impact of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy on social studies teaching and learning in japan and the usa? what are the similarities and differences when implementing p4chi in japan and the usa? what is the role of p4chi in promoting a deliberative democracy nationally (within a country), internationally (between countries), and how does it help social studies educators reimagine global citizenship education? participants and context. the participants in this study include one middle school social studies teacher and his 40 students from japan and one high school social studies teacher and her six students from the usa. to follow is a more detailed description of the two groups of participants and their contexts. gifu school, japan. gifu school is a junior high school affiliated with the faculty of education at gifu university. it is located in gifu prefecture, a rural area of the country that has a total population of 2,007,468. geographically, gifu’s beautiful forests and hot springs characterize the region. as a result, energy production, manufacturing, and tourism are the prefecture’s top industries. compared to other parts of the country, the residents of gifu are considered more mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 affluent, but as in the rest of japan, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is increasing while the number of children is decreasing. in total, there are 499 students who attend gifu school. these students are in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. admissions to the school are selected via a lottery system. the school is wellknown for its high academic achievement and club activities, especially its choral program. in general, the curriculum at gifu school follows the national guidelines. in some cases (like the classroom presented in this study), teachers at the school experiment with innovative practices like p4chi. for the study presented in this chapter, the 40 gifu school student participants are all in the ninth grade. they have one social studies teacher, and with the help of tanaka, this teacher is voluntarily incorporating p4chi into his junior high school level civics lessons. of these 40 students, half are male and the other half female. they are between 14 and 15 years old. kailua high school, usa. hawai'i is the 50th state to be incorporated into the united states of america. geographically unique, it is comprised of an island chain located in the middle of the pacific ocean. in hawai'i, public high school students are required to take four credits of social studies. out of these four credits, the students must select two half-credit social studies elective courses. in 2012, makaiau worked with the hawai'i state department of education office of curriculum, instruction and student support and a small public high school on the windward side of the hawaiian island of oahu to write standards, benchmarks, and curriculum for a half-credit philosophical inquiry social studies elective that is grounded in the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy. the purpose of this initiative was to use p4chi to dramatically shift the narrow, western-oriented, test-driven, and teacher-centered emphasis of traditional social studies coursework to a newer paradigm of social studies education that values global perspectives, multicultural views, “practicing” democratic citizenship, theme/issue-based studies, depth of understanding, experience and interaction, students constructing their own meaning from multiple resources, integration, an emphasis on connecting the past with the present, collaboration, and alternative forms of assessment (hidoe, 2008). the school that agreed to take part in this innovative initiative is kailua high school (khs). in general, the students who attend khs come from two main communities: waimanalo and kailua. although these two towns are close in proximity, they do not share a common intermediate or middle school. it is at khs that students from the more affluent community of kailua meet students from the more rural community of waimanalo for the first time. together, mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 these students attend the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades, and for the most part their admissions to the school are based on the students’ residential zip code. the khs students who participated in the study presented in this chapter were selected on the basis of their enrolment in the philosophical inquiry social studies elective that was offered at the school during the 2014-15 school year. all of the participants were between 14 and 18 years old, five boys and one girl, heterogeneously grouped in regards to their academic ability, the majority qualified for free or reduced lunch; two percent were multilingual learners, and they mainly identified as hawaiian/part-hawaiian (50%), white (12%), japanese (11%), or filipino (7%). their social studies teacher, who also agreed to participate in this study, was selected because of her ongoing commitment to practicing p4chi and her role in co-creating the brand new philosophical inquiry course. data sources and collection. the primary sources of data for this study are the two video recorded p4chi social studies classroom inquiries, one collected in japan (filmed in summer 2017 and transcribed in fall 2017) and the other in the usa (filmed in spring 2015 and transcribed in summer 2017). in both countries, the teachers used the same group of readings (translated from english into japanese) to stimulate student questions. these readings are: what if there were no governments? (kaye & thomson, 2006), letter from the birmingham jail (king, 1963), war, no more trouble (marley, 1986), appeal to the league of nations (selassie, 1936), and color blindness: the new racism? (scruggs, 2009). additionally, the same p4chi deliberative inquiry procedure—plain vanilla (jackson, 2001)—was used to organize the discussion-based inquiry. the steps of this plain vanilla process are: (1) read, (2) generate questions, (3) vote, (4) inquiry, (5) reflect. each of the two recorded plain vanilla sessions are approximately one hour long. the japanese session totaled seven pages of transcribed dialogue and the american session totaled 11 pages. secondary sources of data are: classroom curriculum, student work, and the researchers’ qualitative memos. important note: it is critical to acknowledge that the two teachers who participated in this study have unique perceptions, philosophies of education, cultural and historical backgrounds, and different sets of institutional circumstances that most likely impacted the data collected in this study. in acknowledgement of the influence of these variables on the data sources and collection, the authors of this study collaborated with the teachers in each country to ensure that they did their best to carry out the exact same teaching practice and lesson in both japan and the usa. while this was not meant to be a perfectly controlled research experiment, our collective attempt to implement the same p4chi classroom practices and resources should be noted. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 analysis of the data. to analyze the data, the researchers drew from the methods of constant comparison (glaser & strauss, 1967). this occurred in three phases. in phase one, we each worked alone and engaged in the analytic process of open coding (charmaz, 2006). this included placing “names” on the themes that emerged from our back-and-forth comparison of the data (charmaz, 2006, pp. 47-57). then, in phase two, we came together (tanaka flew to hawai'i to meet in person with makaiau) and worked as critical friends (miles & huberman, 1994). we shared our open codes and collectively refined, collapsed, and organized our individual findings. we used the methods of axial (charmaz, 2006, pp. 60-63) and theoretical coding (charmaz, 2006, pp. 63-67) to bring together our initial open codes and created a composite set of analytic themes. for each of these themes we specified their “properties and dimensions,” and related each theme (charmaz, 2006, p. 60). this culminated in the development of three main themes. in phase three, we wrote our findings and collaborated further to revise and refine our thinking. findings collaborative analysis of the japanese and american plain vanilla transcripts produced three major themes: inquiry stance, inquiry topics, and the nature of the inquiry. general and overarching, the three themes shed light on the similarities and differences that emerged when implementing the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy in japan and the usa. they also help to draw attention to the important role that inquiry plays in the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy (makaiau, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b; makaiau & miller, 2012) and in the overall health of a democracy (dewey, 1916). in the following sections, each theme is explained further. inquiry stance. the first major theme to emerge from the analysis of the data is inquiry stance. inquiry-based teaching and learning, like the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy, is rarely framed as a prescribed practice, but rather by the positions that teachers take toward knowledge and its relationship to pedagogy. as a result, teachers who practice inquiry-based teaching and learning can best be described as developing an inquiry stance (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999, 2009/2015), or an overall approach to doing inquiry in the classroom. in this study, the data revealed differences in inquiry stance when comparing the implementation of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy in the two classrooms observed in this study. these differences are observed in three main areas: how the question for inquiry is selected, the role of the teacher, and the cadence (or pace) of the inquiry. the first difference in inquiry stance relates to how the main question to focus the inquiry is selected. in japan, there was much classroom discussion and consensus building that went into the students’ selection of their plain vanilla inquiry question. this started with a student saying, mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 “let’s build questions together” and then each student was invited to share their questions. after all the students had been given a turn to say their question out loud, the group began to discuss the similarities and differences between each question. this is seen in the transcript: student: are there similar questions? student: all the questions about discrimination are similar. student: i think that it could be connected with the question about political systems. student: when i divide the questions into issues of discrimination and issues of the government, which theme is best suited for us? [break in transcript—omitted dialogue] student: i want to argue about the government, too. student: i want to argue about discrimination. student: the same as above. student: then let's vote. student: the results center on governmental issues. so what issues of the government do we discuss…“does one fundamentally need the government?’ or “should we have the government?” student: a problem of the political system may be revealed while i argue whether the government exists. so we should argue whether the government fundamentally exists. student: then let's discuss “is the government necessary?” for the students observed in japan, it is not until page three of the transcript, after much backand-forth dialogue and consensus building that they co-create the question that will be the focus of their inquiry. this is a very different approach than is taken by the students observed in the usa. in the classroom observed in the usa, the teacher asks students to develop a question on their own. next, students read their questions out loud. then, students have two votes and they are asked to vote on the question that they want to talk about. in the case of the plain vanilla inquiry transcribed for this study, the students all vote and select, “is it harder to have war, or is it much harder to make peace in the world, and what are the reasons?” when compared to the transcript from japan, it is clear to see that the students observed in the usa do not spend time coconstructing an inquiry question. instead, they work as individuals to develop a question, and then employ a democratic voting process to select the question for inquiry. this is the first way that inquiry stance is observed to be different in the two classrooms compared for this study. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 the second difference in inquiry stance to emerge from the analysis of the data relates to the role of the teacher. the analysis of the transcript from japan revealed very little teacher participation during the students’ inquiry. out of seven pages of transcript, the teacher observed in japan only spoke four times. this is very different than the teacher observed in the usa, who spoke 16 times. additionally, the comparison between transcripts revealed differences in the ways in which the teachers participated. the teacher observed in japan did not talk much. instead, he let the students facilitate the inquiry on their own. when he did enter the dialogue, he mostly gave instructions. here is an example from the beginning of the inquiry: teacher (japan): so let’s start the discussion. when you talk in your groups, please use community-ball… let's talk while using all the documents at hand. in addition, please continue your discussion using the worksheet if there are a claim and an argument while you talk while putting it down. you have approximately 30 minutes. then please go back to your groups and begin your discussion. after this first set of instructions, the teacher observed in japan did not speak again until the end of the inquiry. at this time he asked the students to share their “impressions of today’s lesson.” mostly engaged in giving directions, the teacher from japan took on a very different role in the inquiry when compared to the teacher observed in the usa. in the usa transcript, the teacher, in addition to giving instructions like the teacher observed in japan, also took on the role of a co-inquirer throughout the inquiry. as a co-inquirer, she asked questions, solicited her own original ideas, made connections between student comments, helped to clarify ambiguous statements, and generally worked to co-construct knowledge alongside her students. here is one example: teacher: that makes me wonder. in psychology there is thing called the “availability heuristic”… so i wonder if we are being exposed to more instances of war when there is actually more peace in the world? [i wonder] are we having that much war or does it just seem like we are. i don’t really know how to explain it… i don’t know what i’m talking about. this excerpt is the teacher’s response to a student that spoke before her. in the short clip it is clear that she is asking questions, offering her knowledge of psychology, and she is allowing herself to be vulnerable in her thinking. rather than just presenting herself as an authority figure mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 in the classroom, she is willing to admit that she too may not know the answer to the inquiry question and that she is willing to think through possible answers alongside her students. in these ways, her overall stance and role in the inquiry seems to be different than the teacher observed in japan. a third difference in inquiry stance relates to the cadence or rhythm of the inquiry. in the transcript from japan, the students were observed doing a lot of individual sharing that did not build or connect to what had been previously stated. here is an example of typical exchange: student: i think that i cannot live freely when the government restricts everything. only certain people can behave freely and they think that other people cannot do so. student: i think that the government has to perform only “to a minimum.” the government that cannot perform minimum politics is weak and is in trouble. if the government is weak, it cannot deal with problems. student: the worst thing about having a monarchy was that the opinion of the nation was not reflected. when politics is carried out to bind the nation, the politics only of people trained and educated is reflected. therefore, i think that the power of the government should be kept to a minimum. although all of the students are engaged in thinking about the role of government, it is not clear that they are crafting their responses in relationship to what the person before them has said. instead, the students’ comments all seem to be separate from one another and their dialogue is made up of disparate/unconnected ideas. in the transcript from the usa, the cadence of the inquiry is different. instead of offering isolated thoughts, the students and teacher did their best to build on what the person before them had said. this is an example from the transcript: student: my initial response is i think that war is easier than peace because i think it is simpler than peace. war does not need compromise with people, but peace does and i think it goes against human nature to compromise with others. teacher: i’m speaking after you because you brought up the idea of human nature…it reminds me of the book lord of the flies. have you guys read the book lord of the flies? the question is, are humans inherently good or inherently evil or bad?... i want to think that humans are inherently good but i’m starting to question that. student: personally i think that humans aren’t inherently good. not to be a downer or anything, but i think it has to do with what we actually are… i think of the quote, “some men just want to see the world burn.” i just think that people are born not nice. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 student: i think we shouldn’t look at us not being able to achieve world peace as a bad thing. i don’t think that is a healthy idea because even in the animal kingdom they are not peaceful but that is how it works… i think we need to learn to accept that that is the way it is for humans as well. in this exchange of ideas, it is clear how the inquiry flows from one person to the next. speakers explicitly reference the person that spoke before them, and they all make sure to focus their comments on the common theme of human nature. this examination of the rhythm or cadence of the two transcripts illustrates the final difference in inquiry stance when comparing observations of the implementation of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy in japan and the usa. inquiry topics. the second major theme to emerge from the analysis of the data relates to the topics explored during inquiry. in the plain vanilla inquiry process, students are often provided with a stimulus (e.g., a text, video, artifact from the natural world, etc.) and they are asked to use this stimulus as a starting point for generating questions that they want to think about with the community of inquiry. this instructional move aims to alter the “center or gravity” from the texts to the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the students in the classroom community. this shift is not simply employed so that students can discuss the feelings and ideas of students, devoid of subject matter. instead, the texts are still relevant and are used as a catalyst to initiate meaningful philosophical inquiry. the sensitivity of the teacher towards the beliefs of the students provides the incentive to engage in the stimulus and begin a conversation about its meaning. in both japan and the usa, the same set of five texts (described in the data sources section above) were provided to the students as a stimulus for their inquiry. in each country, a different inquiry question was chosen.  is government necessary? (japan)  is it harder to have war, or is it much harder to make peace in the world, and what are the reasons? (usa) although both questions pertain to the readings, it is clear that the students observed in japan and the usa were interested in exploring unique inquiry topics. analysis of the data also revealed how the underlying themes explored in each country were different. in the inquiry observed in japan, the students mostly talked about imperialism, safety, mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 freedom, and sovereignty, and they consistently questioned why the question they selected for their inquiry was worth thinking about. in the inquiry observed in the usa, different themes emerged. the students talked about the relationship between war and power and whether or not people truly have free choice (i.e., differences between things that people have to do verses something they choose to do). also related to inquiry topics, a closer look at the dialogue revealed that many of the students’ comments (in both countries) are connected to the country’s history. for example, the topic of imperialism was brought up a number of times in the transcript from japan. here is an excerpt from their inquiry: student: …people with the right to vote make up the nation. further, sovereignty is a right of the people in the nation in spite of imperialism. student: the government was chosen by the people. the government shows power for the whole nation uniformly. student: when a king has power, power centers on the king. the government is necessary to maintain a state to break up this power. [break in transcript—omitted dialogue] student: the worst thing about monarchism was that the opinion of the nation was not reflected… i think that the power of the government should be kept to a minimum. it is evident in this exchange (and others) that the students observed in japan are not in favor of imperialist forms of government and that they see centralized imperial power as infringing on the rights of citizens. perhaps this thinking is shaped by japan’s imperialist history that existed from the meiji restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution? in the inquiry observed in the usa, the students did not discuss the topic of imperialism. instead, they discussed the inevitability of militarism. student: so, my initial response to the question is it not really that i think [peace] is easier, i just think it is more like a way of life if you have war…is making the world peaceful, everyone living in peace, is that even real? is making peace in the world even possible to even do? and people are asking for that, but would it really change our world for the better or would it change it for the worse? student: i think it depends on the situation. there are countries with which peace is no issue for us. and there are countries that give us no choice but war. say, like, saddam mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 hussein and osama bin laden back in the days, along with the terrorists in the middle east—we had no choice about whether to have war with them because they attacked us first. so, basically it depends on the situation. from this excerpt, it is clear that the students observed in the usa believe in the power of military force, including the belief that the american military should be used aggressively to defend or promote national interests. with references to american-led wars in iraq and afghanistan, there are clear connections between what the students observed in the usa are thinking about and the history of their country. much like the students observed in japan, the students from the usa draw on recent events in their nation’s history to make claims and provide examples during their inquiries. this link between student thinking and the history of their country is the final subtheme related to inquiry topics that emerged from the analysis of the data. nature of inquiry. the final theme to emerge from the analysis of the data relates to the nature of the inquiry. in p4chi, inquiry is often characterized as a shared activity between teacher and student. based on the theories of social constructivism, this conceptualization of inquiry “rejects the notion of objective knowledge and argues instead that knowledge develops as one engages in dialogue with others” (palincsar, 1998, p. 347). the dialogue is characterized by mutual thinking and shared communication between teachers and students. collectively, they work to create what lipman (1991) calls a classroom community of inquiry where students and teachers “listen to one another with respect, build on one another’s ideas, challenge one another to supply reasons for otherwise unsupported opinions, assist each other in drawing inferences from what has been said, and seek to identify one another’s assumptions” (lipman, 1991, p. 15). in general, the transcribed inquiries from both japan and the usa took on many of these characteristics. however, there were three differences observed between the nature of the inquiry in japan and the usa: purpose, complexity, and tendency towards generalization. in regards to purpose, the analysis of the data revealed how the purpose of the inquiry observed in japan was framed as a method for thinking through arguments. this is first seen in an exchange between students observed in japan as they select their inquiry question. student: i want to argue against the government, because there was a document showing that the government pressured the people. [break in transcript—omitted dialogue] student: i want to argue about the government, too. student: i want to argue about discrimination. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 [break in transcript—omitted dialogue] student: a problem of the political system may be revealed while i argue whether the government exists. so we should argue whether the government fundamentally exists. the teacher then reinforced this belief in the p4chi style of deliberative inquiry as a forum for making arguments. he said, “if there [is] a claim and an argument while you talk, put it down” (referring to the worksheet provided). this overall purpose of the inquiry was framed differently in the inquiry observed in the usa. in the usa transcript, the teacher was observed starting off the plain vanilla process with the following statement: teacher: so, everyone developed a question for our discussion based on the readings we did in this unit, race and politics. and, one student’s question was chosen... now what i would like people to do is to write and initial response to this question on their inquiry memos… [address] questions that you have in regards to the question…[this] will give us a starting place for how we are going to tackle and dig deep into the questions. although both teachers instructed the students to use writing as a tool for thinking during the inquiry, the nature of what they were being asked to do was very different. in the transcript from japan, the students were focused on making arguments and supporting their arguments with evidence. in the transcript from the usa, the students were encouraged to ask more questions, use the tools of good thinking to scratch beneath the surface of the topic, and collaborate with their peers to think through possible answers to their questions. this was the first difference in the nature of the inquiry to emerge from the data. another difference between the natures of the inquiry observed in each country relates to complexity. analysis of the two transcripts revealed that the students observed in japan made many claims throughout their inquiry and they gave reasons to support those claims, but they did not investigate the deeper meanings of the words embedded in their claims. here is an example from the beginning of their inquiry: student: i think that the government is necessary. because i think that it is necessary for the government to get rid of discrimination and war to change the consciousness of the nation. student: i think the government is necessary, too. discrimination may disappear depending on correspondence from the government, and the existence of the mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 government limits freedom, however security is guaranteed in it, and i think that security is important for society. student: the government is necessary. one role of the government is to provide better conditions for the nation. in addition, the government assists when a disaster happens. it is clear in this exchange of ideas that the students observed in japan are focused on answering the inquiry question they selected, but they do not take the time to unpack additional philosophical questions related to their inquiry. in comparison, the transcript of the inquiry from the usa reveals a number of instances in which the students begin to dive deeper into the meaning of the complex topics that they are exploring. one example of this is when one of the students questions what truly constitutes peace. teacher: i think that is kind of interesting because when you talk about answers to the past then a lot of people say that war doesn’t lead to peace but a counter-example, no an example of war leading to peace would be king kamehameha. he unified the islands through war and was able to have peace, well until it erupted into war again… [break in transcript—omitted dialogue] student: i like the idea of kamehameha and bringing peace, but i just wanted to ask a question. is peace through war, is it true peace? what is true peace? if you just conquer everyone around you…is that actually peaceful just because you are on top? how would they feel because they are oppressed? does that make them just agree with it? is stepping in line really peaceful? or is just bad because if enough people are angry enough then they can just revolt and have a revolution. so i was just wondering. in this exchange, the students observed in the usa are taking the initiative to question the teacher, carefully examine their collective understanding of the concept they are inquiring about, and they exhibit an overall willingness to accept that there may be more than one answer to their question. this openness to see a spectrum of answers contrasts with the transcript from japan, which illustrates students in search of a definitive answer to their inquiry question. the final difference between the nature of the inquiries observed in japan and the usa relates to students’ tendency towards using generalizations verses personal examples. analysis of the data revealed that the students observed in japan tended not to use personal examples to support their claims. instead, they used generalizations. here is one example: mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 student: i think that everybody thinks that the government is necessary for reasons of security and peace, which are thought more important than the ideal of freedom. absolute imperial rule came out in a discussion some time ago, but what form of government is ideal? this student response was typical of the dialogue found in the transcript from japan. the student makes statements like “everybody thinks” and does not use any sort of personal or specific example to support his claim. this is quite different compared to the transcript from the usa. the students from the usa were found making connections between the larger concepts they were discussing and their personal lives. here is one example: student: my first response is i feel like war isn’t the “easier,” depending on the word and how we are going to define it…. an example of this in my life would be last year when i ran for prom queen. the other girl i was running against was my friend, and we were peaceful between each other. i really liked her so i voted for her. so i feel like we don’t choose peace and we just choose war… this sort of response was typical of the students observed in the usa. they would often make a claim and then support the claim with an example from history or from their personal lives. nowhere in the transcript from japan did the students provide evidence from their lives outside the classroom. discussion differences in inquiry stance, inquiry topics, and the nature of the inquiry are three important findings to emerge from this systematic examination of p4chi’s impact on teaching and learning in the classrooms observed in japan and the usa. lipman (1993), founder of the worldwide philosophy for children (p4c) movement, defined inquiry as learning by “investigation,” where students and teachers are “self-correcting” in their practice (lipman, 1993, p. 522). when carried out in a social context, lipman (1991) explained, the classroom can become a “community of inquiry in which students listen to one another with respect, build on one another’s ideas, [and] challenge one another” by using their good thinking (lipman, 1991, p. 15). organized around an “openness that lecture cannot have” he characterized inquiry-based teaching and learning as the practice of “discovery” for both the student and teacher (buchler in lipman, 1993, p. 522). jackson (2001), in an effort to expand on lipman’s original definition, characterized philosophy for children hawai'i (p4chi) as a form of “gently socratic inquiry” (jackson, 2001, p. 459) in which mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 “members of the classroom community… place much more emphasis on listening, thoughtfulness, silence, and care and respect for the thoughts of others… above all, the classroom [becomes] an intellectually safe place that is not in a rush to get somewhere.” in relationship to social studies education and deliberative pedagogy, inquiry as it is practiced in p4chi is a form of democratic praxis (freire, 1970). it provides teachers with both a theoretical framework (the four conceptual pillars) and an actual set of flexible classroom strategies that can assist students and teachers in incorporating “deliberative decision making with teaching and learning” (longo, 2013, p. 49) across the social studies curriculum. as the results from this study demonstrate, the translation of the p4c/p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy from theory to practice can differ depending on the country that p4c/p4chi is implemented in. some of these differences might be attributed to culture. for example, in relationship to the nature of the inquiry, findings from this study illustrate how the students in gifu tended to think in binary fashion—they were less likely than their american counter-parts to be willing to explore “variables, conditions, nuance, and contexts in which there would exist more than just the two possible” answers (van der borne, 2018). directly in line with the observations of toyoda (2012), a p4chi practitioner in both japan and the usa, this could be a consequence of the cultural context of schooling in japan. i witnessed a critical gap between p4c[hi] and japanese moral education when i observed a first grade classroom lesson at a japanese elementary school. in the class, students read a story about a girl massaging her grandmother’s shoulders that had become stiff from her everyday domestic duties. the grandmother, being happy with this girl’s kindness, promises her a small tip. but the girl says that she does not want a tip and keeps massaging her grandmother’s shoulders even after her arms start to hurt. students exchanged ideas about the grandmother’s feelings—why she wanted to give a tip to the girl, and the girl’s feelings—why she said she wanted no tip and why she did not stop massaging her grandmother’s shoulders after her arms started to hurt. students considered these points from various angles and broadened their interpretations of this story. since i observed the children actively participating in the exchange of ideas, i was surprised to hear the teacher say, “the class was not successful. it was supposed to be about filial piety. but most children’s ideas had different foci such as familial love, kindness, and self-renunciation.” from a prevailing view of moral education in japan, the evaluation of the class often depends upon whether students could obtain a shared understanding about a particular moral value. (toyoda, 2012, p. 21). while toyoda’s observation of the teacher’s aims (even though it is a reference to moral education rather than civics) corroborates much of what was observed in this mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 study, in addition to cultural differences, careful consideration should also be given to the length of time that p4chi has been practiced in both of the classrooms we observed. in hawai'i, students and teachers have had access to p4chi since 1984, and experimentation with p4chi in the context of social studies education has been taking place since 2001 (makaiau, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017). plus, the hawai'i-based kailua high school students who participated in this study are at a p4chi “model school” (makaiau & lukey, 2013, p. 9) in which students are exposed to p4chi in most of their classes during each of their four years of high school. this is quite a contrast to the students in gifu, who experimented with p4chi for the first time during the 2017-18 school year. jackson (2013) characterizes this difference in exposure to p4chi by offering the idea of beginning, emerging, and mature p4chi communities of inquiry: …as the community matures, the student members will internalize the roles, vocabulary, and protocols (social and cognitive) that are the hallmarks of an intellectually safe philosophical inquiry community…at the outset it is important to be mindful of the nature of your community…depending on the school experiences to that point, students may resist the idea of sitting in a circle, taking turns, speaking out in front of their peers, or responding to questions to which they may not know the answers. the very idea of an inquiry where no one knows in advance where the discourse may go can be confusing, frustrating, even threatening for some students [and teachers]. (p. 100) perhaps, when comparing the students in gifu to those in hawai'i, it was not the japanese culture that made it less likely for them to dive deeper into meanings of the complex topics that they are exploring, but the students’ opportunities to practice and mature their p4chi community of inquiry over time. this discussion about the reasons for differences in inquiry stance, inquiry topics, and the nature of the inquiry in japan and the usa is critical to the evolution of p4c as a worldwide movement. it is especially relevant to the growth of p4chi, which has made efforts to evolve lipman’s original p4c curriculum into a culturally responsive approach to social justice education (makaiau, 2017c). positioned as an approach to teaching and learning, rather than a curricular program, p4chi’s culturally responsive conceptual framework and flexible classroom practices “allows students to succeed academically by building on background knowledge and experiences gained in the home and community” (au, 2009, p. 179). with that said, and in light of the study presented in this chapter, if the aims of p4chi in the context of social studies education are to build a more mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 deliberative democracy, both within countries and between them, then the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy must be more than just responsive to the diversity of cultures found across the globe. instead, it needs to be what django paris (2012) refers to as a culturally sustaining education. it must “support young people in sustaining the cultural and linguistic competence of their communities while simultaneously offering access to dominant cultural competence” (paris, 2012, p. 95), and in this case, the dominant competencies include those required of global democratic citizenship. in a recent report, the partnership for 21st century learning (2018) concluded: an increasingly international, interdependent and diverse world has fundamentally altered our civic, economic and social lives. this environment rewards people with global competencies, such as the ability to make local-to-global connections, recognize divergent perspectives, think critically and creatively to solve global challenges, and collaborate respectfully in different types of social forums. (p. 6) as the research in this paper shows, inquiry-based approaches to deliberative pedagogy like p4chi have much to offer social studies educators who are looking to prepare students for the demands of 21st century global citizenship as it is outlined above. now, the challenge is to ensure that students are able to adopt the global democratic competencies that p4chi cultivates and at the same time stay true to the cultural assets of their home cultures. strengths, limitations, and directions for future research. the strength of the research presented in this paper is that it offers the first comparative case study to examine the impact of the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy on social studies teaching and learning in japan and the usa. until now, social studies educators/researchers have not had the opportunity to implement the exact same p4chi lesson in japan and the usa, video record student and teacher participation in each country, analyze transcripts, and present findings to an international audience. therefore, this study should serve as a jumping-off point for similar studies in the future. one limitation of the study is that it offers a single case. the results are not generalizable and the researchers’ own subjective feelings may have influenced the findings (creswell, 2007; patton, 2002). another limitation is the small class size from the usa when compared to the japanese sample. this could be regarded as more critical feature or variable, which either permits or prohibits the type of inquiry that can occur during a p4chi session. in an effort to overcome some of these mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 shortcomings, this study should be replicated in additional contexts (in both japan and the usa), and quantitative methods could be employed to provide additional empirical data. contribution to international social studies education and professional collaboration in conclusion, the research presented in this paper has significance for the authors as well as other social studies educators and researchers. first, as an outgrowth of the scholarship and research being produced by the international p4c community (gregory, haynes, & murris, 2017), this study presents new findings on the ways in which p4chi can be used to teach social studies in japan, the usa, and perhaps other countries where colleagues have similar interests. it provides both a conceptual framework and the empirical data to illustrate p4chi’s potential flexibility, transformability, and wider impact on social studies education across the globe. second, as increasing numbers of social studies educators and researchers make the decision to go beyond their organizations and transcend the geographic boundaries of their national networks, they must have examples of successful international partnerships from the field. this study did just that: it exemplified the type of collaborative inquiry that is needed if we want to work together to “overcome taken-for-granted beliefs and values in our individual institutions” and become more open to new “ways of thinking [that will] help us recognize our own cognitive distortions and reinterpret our beliefs and practices” (elliott-johns et al., 2010, p. 81). as our world becomes more globalized, international approaches to social studies education and research are imperative. if we are going to provide today’s students with the knowledge and skills to become the informed and engaged global citizens that our future so desperately needs, then we—social studies educators and researchers—must model what it means to be globalized citizens ourselves. collaborative research with international partners can help us make these aspirations real. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 references: apple, m. w., & beane, j. 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(2012). practicing philosophy for children in the search of a better society. educational perspectives, 44, 20-22. van der borne, j. (2008). shades of gray or black-and-white: why the color of your thinking matters. jake’s health solutions. retrieved from: http://www.jakeshealthsolutions.com/ shades-of-gray-or-black-and-white-why-the-color-of-your-thinking-matters-4518 vinson, k. d. (2006). oppression, anti-oppression, and citizenship education. in e. w. ross (ed.), the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems and possibilities (pp. 51-76). albany, ny: state university of new york press. mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.tolerance.org/print/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/feature/colorblindness%20-new-racism http://www.tolerance.org/print/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/feature/colorblindness%20-new-racism https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/selassie.htm http://www.jakeshealthsolutions.com/%20shades-of-gray-or-black-and-white-why-the-color-of-your-thinking-matters-4518 http://www.jakeshealthsolutions.com/%20shades-of-gray-or-black-and-white-why-the-color-of-your-thinking-matters-4518 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 29-54 corresponding author: nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 about the authors: amber strong makaiau associate specialist, secondary department, institute for teacher education, college of education university of hawai‘i, manoa, director of curriculum and research uehiro academy for philosophy & ethics in education university of hawai‘i, manoa. noboru tanaka associate professor, graduate school of education, gifu university, japan mailto:nobol@gifu-u.ac.jp http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 social justice perspectives using the dialectic of social justice to enliven the dialogue between global education and multicultural education hilary landorf florida international university __________________________________________________________________________________ in 2002, during my first year of teaching global education at florida international university (fiu), one of the articles i assigned to my students was ‘multiculturalism vs. globalism’ (ukpokodu, 1999). in this article, nelly ukpokodu, associate professor of education at the university of missouri, defined multicultural education and global education, and delineated the differences she saw between the goals of the two fields of study. the goal of multicultural education, according to ukpokodu, is transforming the curriculum so that students attain the ability to view issues, concepts, and events from multiple perspectives that “reflect the diversity within our society,” (p. 298), while the goal of global education is developing students’ knowledge and understanding of peoples and cultures of other lands. ukpokodu ended this article by highlighting the shared purposes of multicultural education and global education, articulating the pressing need for both areas of study in the k-16 curriculum, and calling for dialogue between faculty and administrators who identify with these academic fields. fast forward 10 years, and i find myself directing a university-wide global education initiative at fiu, the seventh largest institution of higher education in the u.s. global learning for global citizenship is a 10year program that provides every undergraduate at fiu with multiple educational opportunities to achieve the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to become informed and engaged citizens of the world. through my work with global learning at fiu i have come to view global education very much as an action-oriented field. for me, the goals of global education encompass not only knowledge and understanding of the interconnectedness of the world, but also the ability to analyze global issues from multiple perspectives, and, most importantly, a willingness to use one’s knowledge and skills to solve problems, both near and afar. regardless of the differences in our definitions of global education, i wholeheartedly agree with ukpokodu that global education and multicultural education are distinct disciplines, and that these distinctions need to be acknowledged and understood. i also agree with her that the two fields share common purposes, and that they are two important areas of teaching and learning, research, and action. what surprises me today is not that the two fields are separate or that the separation between them has not narrowed with time, but that, by and large, the discussion in higher education among faculty, staff, and administrators representing multicultural education and those representing global education has not moved. we are continually asking how to link or synthesize or connect or merge these two dynamic fields. given our increasingly globalized and multicultural world, i would advocate for a positive mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 ongoing dialogue between the two disciplines, a dialogue that recognizes differences and tensions, and reinforces the value and complementary implementation of both disciplines in k-16 education. similar tensions exist within the construct of social justice. social justice is often linked with global or multicultural education, particularly in a rights-based context. social justice also has varying definitions, underlying philosophies and usages, some in apparent opposition to others. by examining the tensions inherent in this complex construct, i propose that the dynamic of social justice be used as a model to enliven and advance the dialogue between multicultural education and global education. multicultural education and global education the most comprehensive definition of multicultural education is that of james banks. for banks (2004), multicultural education is a field of teaching and learning that has the following dimensions: content integration; the process of knowledge construction; pedagogical strategies focusing on equity; the goals of prejudice reduction and an empowering school culture and social structure (p. 5). as for global education, it has been characterized as a field of study, a movement, a curriculum, and an approach to learning (landorf, 2009). merry merryfield’s (1996) definition is, as toni kirkwood-tucker has put it, ‘all-inclusive’ (kirkwood, 2001). for merryfield (1996), global education is a curriculum that includes eight elements: the study of human beliefs and values, global systems, global issues and problems, cross-cultural understanding, awareness of human choices, global history, acquisition of indigenous knowledge, and development of analytical, evaluative, and participatory skills. defined by banks and merryfield and applied by higher education practitioners, multicultural education and global education both address human diversity and perspective consciousness, advance the goals of justice, equity, and peace, and point to a process of institutional transformation. beside the overlapping goals of the two fields, multicultural education and global education exhibit several differences. their origins and historical contexts, justifications, institutional structures, and motivations of the faculty and students who participate in their programs diverge (heilman, 2009; olson, evans, & schoenberg, 2007). these differences can help explain tensions or potential flashpoints between the two fields. the origins of multicultural education can be found in the emergence of the black, ethnic, and multiethnic studies movements of the early 20th century, the intergroup education movement in the mid-20th century, and the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. in its examinations of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, and exceptionality, multicultural education draws on theories in ethnic and women’s studies, history, and the social sciences. the impetus for establishing multicultural education as a field of study and a curriculum was to expand the canon of these studies to include people whose voices had long been neglected. in addition, it was established as an educational and social action movement seeking to gain equality and equity for the silenced and oppressed. global education had different origins. as a field of study, it emerged in the post-world war ii era from the need for institutions to address the growing interrelatedness of peoples around the world (cortes, 1998). as heilman notes (2009), global education drew on four interrelated contexts: (1) foreign policy issues that dominated the american political landscape; (2) global economic systems that came in the wake of wwii; (3) the environmental education movement; and (4) the influence of a global focus in mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 academic fields ranging from anthropology to political science and history. a major distinction between multicultural education and global education that springs from their different historical roots is the fact that multicultural education policies, such as disability or gender rights, are often mandated by law, whereas global education lacks this legal grounding, and therefore must continually lobby to justify its goals and outcomes. however, the existence of legal guarantees in multicultural education sometimes leads to its isolation in higher education. to ensure that institutions of higher education effectuate the legal guarantees to equality of education, they often have an office of multicultural education. however, the existence of an office which focuses on enforcement of legal guarantees to an equal education may detract from the content and value of a multicultural education curriculum. this isolation may occur in global education as well, particularly when global education is perceived as synonymous with internationalization. just as the purview of the office of multicultural education is to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to education, internationalization efforts are focused on the student experience rather than on the curriculum per se, and internationalization offices are scattered throughout the university. for example, the office of international student scholar services may be housed in student affairs, whereas the study abroad office may be housed in academic affairs. faculty doing global education may be dispersed throughout the curriculum as well, in such fields as social studies education, international affairs, area studies, and foreign languages. with this dispersion, establishing a discussion to get multicultural education and global education to coordinate on strategic plans, policies, and curriculum becomes quite an endeavor. given the divergent histories and administrative structures of multicultural education and global education, it is not surprising that the motivations of faculty who pursue these fields often differ. whereas multicultural educators are often motivated by giving voice to the lives, needs, and concerns of minorities within a society, global educators often come to the field committed to heightening intercultural understanding, awareness of the interconnectedness of global issues, and a desire to make the world a better place (bennett & bennett, 1994). bridging the separations between multicultural and global education many teacher educators have written about ways in which to bridge the separations between multicultural and global education. one of the most comprehensive of these writings is making connections between multicultural and global education: teacher educators and teacher programs (merryfield, 1996). edited by merry merryfield, this is a rich collection of short essays by leaders in the fields of global and multicultural education throughout north america. these leaders articulate their rationales for making connections between multicultural and global education, and give examples of strategies and readings they have used to effectively bridge the gap between the two educational endeavors. dr. graham pike, currently the dean of international education at vancouver island university, summarized most, if not all of the educators’ stances on linking the two fields. when asked, why make connections between multicultural and global education? pike replied, “i would rather rephrase the question: in an interdependent world system, can there be a coherent and profound rationale that argues for their separateness as fields of education? (pike, 1996, p. 18). much more recently, elizabeth heilman (2009) advocated for “a creative synthesis of multicultural and global education” (p. 43). mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 in 2011, the american council on education (ace) selected eight institutions of different sizes and demographic make-up to participate in a three-year project called at home in the world: educating for global connections and local commitments. as the title suggests, and the ace at home in the world website states, the aim of this three-year project is to examine “the collaboration potential between diversity/multicultural education and internationalization” (ace, 2013, about the initiative section, para. 1). rather than continuing to look for ways to link or merge multicultural and global education, i would submit that we turn to the dialogue surrounding the dialectic of social justice as a model educators can use to engage in an ongoing and purposeful discussion between multicultural and global education, one that focuses on common objectives and moves both disciplines forward. social justice and its inherent tensions social justice is a complex concept that is rooted in philosophical discourse that can be traced from plato and aristotle to hobbes, hume, rousseau, kant, hegel, marx, mills and rawls (jost & kay, 2008). social justice may be defined as a moral virtue, in which case it is ascribed only to the reflective and deliberate acts of individuals rather than to a social system. alternatively, social justice may be defined as a societal right, based on the idea of a society which gives fair treatment and a just share of its benefits to all individuals and groups. (landorf & nevin, 2007). a shift in the meaning occurs, however, when social justice describes a goal or ideal rather than a right. in that case, the ‘social’ in ‘social justice’ refers to something that does not emerge organically from rule-abiding citizens, but rather from an abstract ideal of justice, imposed from above (novak, 2000). when american educational philosopher maxine greene (1998) speaks of social justice, she embraces an interpretation that is concerned with equity rather than equality: ‘equitable or fair treatment . . . does not mean equal treatment – certainly when that means treating people with widely disparate needs in the same way’ (green, 1998, p. xxxviii). in many corners of higher education, practitioners use the term today with the assumption that it has one definition known to all. for example, a google search of the combined terms ‘social justice’ and ‘fiu’ yielded over 90,000 entries. social justice is included in the mission statements of 5 of our 12 colleges; as one of the goals for student clubs as varied as ‘cru: a caring community connecting fiu, miami, and the world to jesus christ’, and ‘students for social justice’, as part of the title of on-campus events that range from ‘the death penalty and social justice’, to ‘how soon is too soon to teach for social justice’; and public relations videos such as one in the college of business administration that features an alumnus speaking about the connection between surfboards and social justice. social justice is a complex, multilayered construct that presents interlocking tensions (north, 2006). one of these tensions centers on social justice as concerned with the politics of redistribution and, on the other hand, with the politics of recognition. the relationship between redistribution and recognition is complicated. a focus on recognition may distract from the ongoing exploitation of workers and the marginalization of the impoverished. by the same token, a focus on redistribution may neglect underlying social structures that help to perpetuate unequal power relations. in its usage, an assertion of recognition may legitimatize an unequal division of labor, as when feminists make a claim to ‘caring’ or ‘nurturing’ and in so doing, reinforce power relations in the workforce. a second tension concerns the emphasis of social justice on equality as sameness and an emphasis on mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 equality as difference. consider the issue of racial preference quotas. when public institutions of higher education implement programs to achieve racial diversity by giving preference to minorities in order to establish a racial balance, they are using the concept of social justice as difference. when a student who is denied admission to that institution appeals to the u.s. supreme court claiming that such programs are discriminatory, she is using the concept of social justice as equality. i although these and other tensions present apparent friction in social justice discussions, these frictions themselves can serve to enlarge the possibilities for productive dialogue on the role of social justice. understanding and recognizing these tensions serves key purposes in social justice discussions. first, they highlight issues and factors to be taken into account in reaching conclusions or solutions to social justice problems. as young (1990) says, ‘where social group differences exist and some groups are privileged while others are oppressed, social justice requires explicitly acknowledging and attending to those group differences in order to undermine oppression’ (p. 3). far from having a negative quality these seemingly opposed interests afford opportunities for discussion and resolution in reaching the ultimate goal of protecting human rights and equality. in the example of racial quotas the needs of both parties are framed in different terms of social justice and the perspectives of both parties must be considered in order to achieve a structure which acknowledges the rights of all. secondly, acknowledging different or competing interests serves as an opportunity for advancing, expanding and strengthening the general cause of social justice. these different perspectives are opportunities to promote and examine values, motivations and ideas for the various causes under the umbrella of social justice. finally, the presentation of these various perspectives and competing interests gives a more realistic and nuanced presentation of the complex societal issues and challenges facing our world today. understanding and valuing difference is one of the overarching goals of both multicultural education and global education. it is by adopting the dialectic model of social justice, in which educators openly acknowledge, examine, and draw on differences, that both fields may be strengthened. references american council on education. (2013). at home in the world: educating for global connections and local commitments. retrieved from http://www.acenet.edu/about-ace/special-initiatives/pages/athome-in-the-world.aspx banks, j. a. (2004). multicultural education: historical development, dimensions, and practice. in j. a. banks & c. a. mcgee banks (eds.), handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 3–49). san francisco: jossey-bass. bennett, j. m., & bennett, m. j. (1994). multiculturalism and international education: domestic and international differences. in g. althen (ed.), learning across cultures (pp. 145–165). washington, dc: national association of international educators. cortes, c. (ed.). (1998). global education and multicultural education: toward a 21st century intersection. in l. swartz, l. warner, & d. l. grossman (eds.), intersections: a professional development project in multicultural education and global education, asian and american studies (pp. 114–133). boston: the children’s museum. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.acenet.edu/about-ace/special-initiatives/pages/at-home-in-the-world.aspx http://www.acenet.edu/about-ace/special-initiatives/pages/at-home-in-the-world.aspx journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 greene, m. (1998). introduction: teaching for social justice. in w. ayers, j. a. hunt, & t. quinn (eds.), teaching for social justice (pp. xxvii–xlvi). new york: teachers college press. jost, j. t., & kay, a. c. (2008). social justice: history, theory, and research. in s. t. fiske, d. t. gilbert, & l. gardner (eds.), handbook of social psychology (5th ed., pp. 1122–1165). maiden, ma: john wiley & sons. hielman, e. e. (2009). terrains of global and multicultural education: what is distinctive, contested and shared? in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: perspectives from canada, russia, and the united states (pp. 25–47). new york: peter lang. kirkwood, t. f. (2001). our global age requires global education: clarifying definitional ambiguities. the social studies, 92(1), 10–15. landorf, h. (2009). toward a philosophy of global education. in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: perspectives from canada, russia, and the united states (pp. 47–71). new york: peter lang. landorf, h., & nevin, a. (2007). social justice as a disposition for teacher education programs: why is it such a problem? in s. m. nielsen & m. s. plakhotnik (eds.), proceedings of the sixth annual college of education research conference: urban and international education section (pp. 49– 53). miami: florida international university. merryfield, m. m. (ed.) (1996). making connections between multicultural and global education: teacher educators and teacher education programs. washington, dc: american association of colleges for teacher education. merryfield, m. m., jarchow, e., & pickert, s. (eds.) (1997). a framework for teacher education. preparing teachers to teach global perspectives: a handbook for teacher educators. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. north, c. e. (2006). more than words? delving into the substantive meaning(s) of ‘social justice’ in education. review of educational research, 76(4), 507–535. novak, m. (2000). defining social justice. first things. retrieved from: http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0012/opinion/novak/html olson, c. l., evans, r., & shoenberg, r. e. (2007). at home in the world: bridging the gap between internationalization and multicultural education. washington, dc: american council on education. pike, g. (1996). profiles of teacher educators and teacher education programs: graham pike, university of toronto. in m. m. merryfield (ed.), making connections between multicultural and global education: teacher educators and teacher education programs (pp. 18–19). washington, dc: american association of colleges for teacher education. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0012/opinion/novak/html journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 99-105. corresponding author email: landorfh@fiu.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 ukpokodu, n. (1999). multiculturalism vs. globalism. social education, 63(5), 298–300. young, i. m. (1990). justice and the politics of difference. princeton, nj: princeton university press. zajda, j., majhanovich, s., & rust, j. (eds.) (2006). education and social justice. dordrecht: springer. i see the 2013 u.s. supreme court case of abigail noel fisher v. university of texas at austin. mailto:landorfh@fiu.edu journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 exploring the relationship between constructivist learning environments, attitudes, academic delay of gratification, and teaching efficacy beliefs in a social studies teaching course şahin dündar trakya university, turkey abstract: this study aimed to investigate relations between perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course in consideration of attitudes toward the course, academic delay of gratification, and students’ social studies teaching self-efficacy beliefs. a total of 295 preservice elementary school teachers participated in the study. the data were collected over three academic years during a social studies teaching course in the faculty of education at a state university in turkey. results showed positive and significant correlations between the variables. the study found that perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course positively and significantly predicted the preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward the social studies teaching course, their academic delay of gratification in the course, and their social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. attitudes toward the social studies teaching course positively and significantly predicted both the academic delay of gratification in the course and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. however, the direct effect of academic delay of gratification on social studies teaching efficacy beliefs was not significant. moreover, some indirect effects of perceived constructivist learning environments were found. key words: social studies teaching course, constructivist learning environments, attitudes, academic delay of gratification, social studies teaching self-efficacy 1. introduction social studies is a course taught in elementary and middle schools in which children learn basic citizenship knowledge and develop a variety of skills such as research, critical thinking, empathy, mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 and problem solving. they also gain values such as a sense of justice, independence, honesty, freedom, and patriotism so they become responsible and effective citizens in society (turkish ministry of national education [mone/meb], 2018). in their elementary years, although all courses contribute to raising children with civic competence, it is a central aim that social studies educate students to become committed to democracy and its values (national council for social studies [ncss], 1994). however, the multiand interdisciplinary nature of social studies, lack of knowledge by teachers about social sciences, and the content and aims of social studies prevent teachers from teaching it effectively (gallavan, 2001/2002). this makes training qualified teachers in social studies education during their preservice education years critical, so that elementary school students reach the objectives aimed for in this course. moreover, teaching self-efficacy beliefs built in methods courses is also of great importance during students’ preservice and later in-service years (giles, byrd, & bendolph, 2016). in turkey, the social studies teaching course offered in faculties of education helps preservice elementary school teachers learn the social studies curriculum in depth and develop their knowledge and skills related to teaching social studies to elementary students (turkish council of higher education [cohe/yök], 2007). however, some studies that have assessed elementary school teacher education programs have reported problems both with the overall program and the social studies teaching courses in particular. studies showed that preservice elementary school teachers (kılıç & acat, 2007; süral, 2015) and graduated elementary school teachers (çoban, 2011) did not have positive perceptions about the necessity and/or usefulness of the social studies teaching course. in addition, some studies reported that lecture is the most-used method while problem-based and project-based instruction were the least-used methods in the social studies teaching course in elementary school teacher training programs (erol çalışır, 2008). still others (akdoğdu & uşun, 2017; baştürk, 2015) reported that preservice elementary school teachers did not have positive perceptions about the methods used by teacher trainers and the teaching-learning process in their programs. these reports support the arguments of elkind (2004), who claimed that if teachers are not implementing or adopting constructivist principles in schools, the main reason is the teacher training, not the teachers themselves. needless to say, in order for social studies education to be effective in elementary schools, the social studies teaching courses in education faculties need to be effective. examining social studies teaching efficacy beliefs, attitudes, and academic delay of gratification of the preservice elementary school teachers in a social studies teaching course in relation to constructivist learning environments, and developing suggestions based on the findings, might accordingly lead teacher trainers to question and form their social studies mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 teaching courses. for this reason, the present study investigated the relations between perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course, students’ attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and social studies teaching selfefficacy beliefs. 1.1. constructivist learning theory according to this theory, learning is an active process positing that when learners encounter a new situation, learning occurs by linking new information to information that they already know. during the learning process, learners form their own meaning by kneading new knowledge with information they have already acquired (ellis & fouts, 1996; loyens & gijbels, 2008). although it is not a pedagogy or a specific teaching method, constructivist theory in education has led to the formation of particular classroom teaching practices (boghossian, 2006; harris & alexander, 1998; maypole & davies, 2001). a constructivist learning environment, which is “a general term to describe teaching and learning situations which are explicitly based on constructivist epistemology and are designed to support learners’ knowledge construction processes” (tynjälä, 1999, p. 365), differs in many aspects from traditional classrooms (grennon brooks & brooks, 1993). in traditional classrooms, teachers usually use lecture-based instruction as a teaching method and textbooks as a source of information. students memorize topics and are expected to repeat the topic content when asked. on the other hand, in constructivist learning environments, teachers mostly use teaching methods such as discovery learning, inquiry learning, problem-based learning, and cooperative learning that help students construct their own knowledge through active participation. students develop their own understanding, usually working on primary sources under the guidance of the teacher, and gain a deeper understanding of the subject studied; in turn, this active involvement makes learning more meaningful and it becomes possible to transfer knowledge into daily life (grennon brooks & brooks, 1993; harris & alexander, 1998; kim, 2005; krahenbuhl, 2016; loyens & gijbels, 2008; loyens, rikers, & schmidt, 2008; tynjälä, 1999). as constructivism has become a popular learning theory in the field of psychology in recent decades, research into the effects of constructivist learning environments on students has also gained momentum. as a result of such an effort, studies have suggested that students’ perceptions of constructivism in their classrooms have an impact on their affective and cognitive learning outcomes (alt, 2015; krahenbuhl, 2016), as well as psychological outcomes such as subjective well-being (chen, fan, & jury, 2017). as variables in the current study, attitudes, mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 academic delay of gratification, and self-efficacy beliefs are defined and their importance and possible relations to constructivist learning environments discussed in the following sections. 1.2. student attitudes and constructivist learning environments attitude can be defined as “mind-sets toward certain persons, places, and things” (moore, 2009, p. 336) or “an individual’s inclinations, prejudices, ideas, fears and convictions concerning any topic. it has an evaluative aspect, a disposition and tendency to react positively or negatively to something. it is, in short, the way someone thinks or behaves” (ghazali, setia, muthusamy, & jusoff, 2009, p. 51). a student having positive attitudes shows more interest and is more willing to participate in courses (ghazali et al., 2009; moore, 2009). moreover, singh, granville, and dika (2002) revealed that the attitude of students is a significant predictor of achievement and academic time. celik and yesilyurt (2013) also found significant and positive relations between attitude and self-efficacy. since the characteristics of a learning environment have a pivotal role in the attitudes of students (osborne, simon, & collins, 2003), the impact of constructivist learning environments on the attitudes of students has become an area of interest for researchers. for example, in a phenomenological qualitative study, maypole and davies (2001) found that constructivist learning in a community college caused students to develop positive attitudes toward the course. they also found that these courses were perceived as enjoyable and encouraged students to work harder. in an experimental research study, tynjälä (1999) found that constructivist instruction promoted students’ attitudes more than traditional classes. müller and louw (2004) found positive correlations between constructivist learning environment perceptions and both student motivation to learn and student interest in a university psychology course. fraser and kahle (2007) found that constructivist learning environments contributed to student achievement and attitudes more than peer and home environments, suggesting that providing constructivist learning environments could neutralize the negative effects of peers and home environments (fraser & kahle, 2007). altun and yücel-toy (2015) conducted an action research in a method course with preservice biology, physics, and chemistry teachers using the constructivist learning approach and found that the constructivist-based method course developed positive attitudes toward the course and increased interest in the topics. in their comprehensive meta-analysis study into the effect of constructivist applications on attitude, toraman and demir (2016) asserted that constructivist teaching had a significant and positive impact on student attitudes toward courses. it was also reported that constructivist learning environments changed preservice teachers’ attitudes toward teaching (ochagavia, 2017). according to moore (2009), stimulating student interest is another way to develop positive mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 attitudes. research by müller and louw (2004) showed that the more constructivist the students perceived their learning environment to be, the higher their interest. 1.3. academic delay of gratification and constructivist learning environments delay of gratification is defined as “individuals’ intentions to postpone immediate available rewards in order to obtain larger rewards temporally distant” (bembenutty, 2004, p.3). narrowing the delay of gratification to the academic context, bembenutty and karabenick (2003) defined academic delay of gratification as “students’ postponement of immediately available opportunities to satisfy impulses in favor of pursuing academic goals that are temporally remote but ostensibly more valuable” (p. 8). studies have consistently showed a positive correlation between academic delay of gratification and motivation and learning strategies (bembenutty & karabenick, 1996, 1998a, 1998b; zhang, karabenick, maruno, & lauermann, 2011) and academic achievement (avcı, 2008; bembenutty & karabenick, 1996, 1998a, 1998b). research also reported positive relations between academic delay of gratification and an appreciation (liking, interest, etc.) of the value of academic work and expectancy of academic success (bembenutty, 1999; bembenutty & karabenick, 1998b; karabenick & bembenutty, 1998). it was also found that liking and value were significant and positive predictors of academic delay of gratification (bembenutty & karabenick, 1998b; karabenick & bembenutty, 1998). consistent with these studies, abd-el-fattah and al-nabhani (2012) found positive correlations between academic delay of gratification and students’ mastery-approach goal orientation. teacher self-efficacy is another variable related to academic delay of gratification (aydın, ömür, & argon, 2014; bembenutty & chen, 2005). for example, bembenutty and chen (2005) found positive correlations between academic delay of gratification and academic self-efficacy, intrinsic interest in the course, academic self-regulation, and teacher self-efficacy. similarly, aydın et al. (2014) found a positive correlation between academic delay of gratification and teacher selfefficacy beliefs, suggesting that the higher the academic delay of gratification among preservice teachers, the greater teacher self-efficacy beliefs they possess. studies showed that constructivist learning environments promote student motivation (kim, 2005; müller & louw, 2004; tynjälä, 1999), self-regulation (loyens et al., 2008), and interest (müller & louw, 2004), which are some of the determinants of academic delay of gratification (bembenutty & karabenick, 1998a, 2003). students with higher interest and motivation focus more on their academic studies and delay their immediate gratification; therefore, increasing mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 these variables increases academic delay of gratification (bembenutty & karabenick, 1998a, 2003). 1.4. self-efficacy belief and constructivist learning environments perceived self-efficacy (self-efficacy beliefs), theorized by bandura (1977), is “one’s beliefs concerning what one is capable of doing” (hergenhahn & olson, 2005, p. 350) or “the specific beliefs people have in their ability to complete tasks or achieve goals (personal efficacy), and their expectations that certain behaviors will produce desirable outcomes (outcome expectancy)” (wang, tsai, & wei, 2015, p. 2265). based on self-efficacy definitions, teacher selfefficacy belief is defined as the teachers’ own beliefs in their capabilities or skills to achieve educational goals (dellinger, bobbett, olivier, & ellett, 2008; skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). since teacher self-efficacy beliefs are a teacher’s own evaluation of his/her capabilities or skills, they do not reflect actual capabilities or skills (evers, brouwers, & tomic, 2002). therefore, people with the same background may perform and get results differently depending on their selfefficacy beliefs (bandura, 1993). as argued by tschannen-moran and woolfolk hoy (2001), teacher self-efficacy appears to be a simple idea; however, to what extent a teacher has teacher self-efficacy beliefs makes a great difference when its impacts on educational outcomes are considered. compared to teachers with low teaching efficacy beliefs, teachers with high teaching self-efficacy beliefs have a more positive attitude toward the implementation of instructional innovation (ghaith & yaghi, 1997), tend to use a greater variety of teaching methods and studentcentered/active learning methods (bray-clark & bates, 2003; gibson & dembo, 1984; giles et al., 2016), are more likely to transfer what they have learned to their instruction and to participate in teacher development programs (bray-clark & bates, 2003), and are more likely to have positive attitudes toward teaching (van aalderen-smeets & walma van der molen, 2013). they also tend to show more organizational citizenship behavior, namely, altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, civic virtue, and sportsmanship (dussault, 2006), to empathize with students (goroshit & hen, 2016), to persist in student failure situations (gibson & dembo, 1984), to have greater job satisfaction (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010, 2014), and higher work engagement (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2014, 2016). furthermore, they are less likely to suffer from teacher burnout (evers et al., 2002; skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010, 2014, 2016), stress (helms-lorenz & maulana, 2016; skaalvik & skaalvik, 2016), motivation to quit the teaching profession (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2016), anxiety in teaching (van aalderen-smeets & walma van der molen, 2013), and the use of criticism (gibson & dembo, 1984). mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 teacher self-efficacy beliefs were also found to be related to attitude. for example, tunkler, ercan, beskirli, and sahin (2016) found a positive and significant correlation between preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their attitude toward an instructional technologies and material development course. similarly, wang et al. (2015) found positive and significant correlations between attitudes toward internet-based instruction and science teaching efficacy beliefs. they also found attitudes to be a positive and significant predictor of science teaching efficacy beliefs. it was well-established that how the learning environment is perceived by students affects their self-efficacy beliefs (alt, 2015). for instance, alt (2014) conducted a study with college students and examined the relationship between constructivist learning environment perceptions and academic self-efficacy. it was found that constructivist learning environment perceptions were a significant and positive predictor of academic self-efficacy, suggesting that the more constructivist they perceived their classrooms to be, the higher academic self-efficacy they had. similarly, dorman and adams (2004) found positive correlations between constructivist learning environment perceptions and academic efficacy beliefs. in their study, altun and yücel-toy (2015) found that the constructivist-based method course helped preservice teachers improve skills such as thinking, research, problem solving, discussion, and self-regulation. moreover, the constructivist approach provided active and meaningful learning and supported self-efficacy development. in a post-test experimental research study examining the impact of a constructivist-based elementary mathematics methods course on elementary preservice teachers’ mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs, giles et al. (2016) found that the constructivistbased methods course positively affected their mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs. in a quasiexperimental study with preservice elementary teachers, deehan, danaia, and mckinnon (2017) found that practices aligned with constructivism in two science courses increased preservice teachers’ science teaching efficacy beliefs. they also revealed that preservice teachers’ gains in science teaching efficacy beliefs continued for two years without any science courses. bleicher and lindgren (2005) examined how a constructivist-oriented methods class affected preservice teachers’ conceptual understanding and science teaching efficacy beliefs. they found that such a constructivist-oriented class where preservice teachers engaged in hands-on, minds-on activities and discussion improved their conceptual understanding and efficacy beliefs in science teaching. 1.5. research questions the research questions of the study were determined as follows: mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 1. do perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course significantly and positively predict preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward this course, their academic delay of gratification in this course, and their efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching? 2. do preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward a social studies teaching course significantly and positively predict their academic delay of gratification in this course and their efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching? 3. does preservice elementary school teachers’ academic delay of gratification in a social studies teaching course significantly and positively predict their efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching? 2. method 2.1. research design since the aim of the study was to examine how perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course, attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and self-efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching were related to and how they affected each other, this study used a correlational design (creswell, 2008). 2.2. participants and procedure a total of 295 preservice elementary school teachers participated in the study with a mean age of 21.40 (sd = 1.13). of the participants, 233 (79%) were female and 62 (21%) were male. the data were collected over three academic years (2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017) in a social studies teaching course in the faculty of education at a state university in turkey. the social studies teaching course is a three-credit compulsory course for elementary school teacher majors and is offered in the sixth semester of the program, which lasts four years with two semesters each year (cohe/yök, 2007). up to the sixth semester, preservice elementary school teachers receive basic pedagogical courses such as introduction to educational sciences, psychology of education, teaching principles and methods, teaching technologies and material design, measurement and evaluation, classroom management, and other methods courses such as physical education and play teaching, science and technology teaching, primary reading and writing teaching, and mathematics teaching. in the sixth semester, the preservice elementary school teachers also take a school experience course (cohe/yök, 2007). mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 2.3. instruments in the study, four scales were used to collect the data. to measure to what extent social studies teaching courses were perceived as constructivist, the scale on assessing constructivist learning environments (sacle) developed by arkün and aşkar (2010) was used. the sacle consists of 28 items and six factors, namely, student-centered, thought provoking, collaborative, life relevant, concurrent learning and assessing, and different viewpoints. participants indicate their opinions on a 7-point likert scale (7 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree), and higher scores mean that learning environments are more constructivist (arkün & aşkar, 2010). in the current study, cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were found to range from .62 (student-centered subscale) to .84 (life relevant subscale). to measure the participants’ attitudes toward the social studies teaching course, the attitude scale about the lesson of the teaching of primary reading and writing developed by arslan and aytaç (2010) was used with modifications. to make this scale appropriate for social studies, the term teaching of primary reading and writing course in the original scale (arslan & aytaç, 2010) was replaced with the term of social studies teaching course. for example, the item i find the teaching of primary reading and writing course fun (arslan & aytaç, 2010, p. 850) was changed to i find the social studies teaching course fun. this scale consists of three factors: willingness (12 items), interest (5 items), and necessity (2 items). participants respond to the items on a 5-point likert scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree), and higher scores mean more positive attitudes toward the course (arslan & aytaç, 2010). in the current study, cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the subscales were found to be .91 for willingness, .74 for interest, and .58 for necessity. to measure academic delay of gratification in the social studies teaching course, the academic delay of gratification scale developed by bembenutty and karabenick (1996) and adapted into turkish by avcı (2008) was used. this scale consists of 10 items and uses a four-category response scale (1 = definitely choose a, 2 = probably choose a, 3 = probably choose b, and 4 = definitely choose b). higher scores on this scale indicate that students prefer academic work/success more than immediate gratification (avcı, 2008; bembenutty & karabenick, 1996). in the current study, cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was.79. to measure efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching, the science teaching efficacy belief instrument form-b (stebi-b) developed by enochs and riggs (1990) and adapted into turkish by bıkmaz (2002) was used with modifications in accordance with the study of wingfield, nath, mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 freeman, and cohen (2000) as reported by dündar (2015). stebi-b includes two subscales: personal science teaching efficacy belief (13 items) and science teaching outcome expectancy (10 items). although stebi-b was developed for the science domain, it has been utilized for different fields in many studies with various modifications (bleicher, 2004; deehan, 2017). modifications in the current study included replacement of the term science with social studies and two sciencespecific items in stebi-b (bıkmaz, 2002; enochs & riggs, 1990) with new items from wingfield et al. (2000) (see dündar, 2015 for details). the turkish version of stebi-b contains 21 items (13 items in the personal science teaching efficacy belief subscale and 8 items in the science teaching outcome expectancy subscale) (bıkmaz, 2002). participants respond to the items on a 5-point likert scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree); higher scores indicate higher levels of selfefficacy beliefs (bıkmaz, 2002; enochs & riggs, 1990). in the current study, cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were found to be .74 for personal social studies teaching efficacy belief and .60 for social studies teaching outcome expectancy subscales. 2.4. data analysis in this study, descriptive statistics, correlations, and path analysis were used. while cronbach’s alpha coefficients, descriptive statistics and correlations were performed using spss 11.5, path analysis was conducted with amos 16.0. to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of the path model, chisquare (x2) test, goodness-of-fit index (gfi), incremental fit index (ifi), tucker-lewis index (tli), comparative fit index (cfi), root mean square error of approximation (rmsea), and standardized root mean square residual (srmr) were used. to assess whether the model fits the data well, a ratio of x2 to df less than 2 or 3; gfi, ifi, tli, cfi values greater than .95; rmsea less than .06; and srmr less than .08 were used as the cutoff criteria (byrne, 2001; hu & bentler, 1999; schreiber, nora, stage, barlow, & king, 2006). 3. findings 3. 1. descriptive statistics and correlations between study variables results in terms of the means, standard deviations, and correlation matrix for the variables (perceived constructivist learning environments in the social studies teaching course, attitudes toward the course, academic delay of gratification in the course, and efficacy belief in social studies teaching) researched in the social studies teaching course are shown in table 1. mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 table 1 zero-order correlations and descriptive statistics for study variables variables m sd 1 2 3 4 1. constructivism in social studies teaching course 5.26 .79 – 2. attitudes toward social studies teaching course 3.91 .58 .52 – 3. academic delay of gratification in social studies teaching course 2.81 .66 .29 .31 – 4. social studies teaching efficacy belief 3.76 .37 .39 .48 .20 – note. all correlations are significant at p < .01. as observed in table 1, perceived constructivist learning environments in the course were positively and significantly correlated with attitudes (r = .52, p < .01), academic delay of gratification (r = .29, p < .01), and efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching (r = .39, p < .01). in addition, attitudes toward the course were positively and significantly correlated with academic delay of gratification (r = .31, p < .01) and efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching (r = .48, p < .01). academic delay of gratification in the course was also positively and significantly correlated with efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching (r = .20, p < .01). 3.2. path model of relations between study variables the path model, constructed based on the literature presented in the introduction, is given in figure 1. it reflects relations between perceived constructivist learning environments in the social studies teaching course, attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. detailed information, including unstandardized regression weights and significance levels, is presented in table 2. mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 figure 1. path model the path model presented in figure 1 resulted in a x2(49) value of 107.26 and x2 / df = 2.19. it also yielded gfi = .95, ifi = .96, tli = .95, cfi = .96, rmsea = .06, and srmr = .04, which indicated that the model fitted the data well (byrne, 2001; hu & bentler, 1999; schreiber et al., 2006). constructivsim in social studies teaching course .13 academic delay of gratification in social studies teaching course .66 different viewpointse6 .81 .51 concurrent learning and assessment e5 .71 .62 life relevante4 .79 .24 collaborativee3 .49 .73 thought provokinge2 .86 .50 student-centerede1 .71 .35 attitudes toward social studies teaching course .93 willingness e7 .51 interest e8 .46 necessity e9 .96 .68 .42 social studies teaching efficacy belief .77 personal social studies teaching efficacy e10 .16 social studies teaching outcome expectancy e11 .88 .39 e13 .19 .03 e12 e14 .21 .72 .21 .59 .49 mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 table 2 standardized and unstandardized regression weights of exogenous and endogenous variables in path model exogenous variables endogenous variables β b se c.r. p constructivism in social studies teaching course → attitudes toward social studies teaching course .59 .478 .048 9.993 < .001 constructivism in social studies teaching course → academic delay of gratification in social studies teaching course .19 .171 .066 2.583 .010 attitudes toward social studies teaching course → academic delay of gratification in social studies teaching course .21 .225 .080 2.804 .005 academic delay of gratification in social studies teaching course → social studies teaching efficacy belief .03 .018 .034 .515 .607 constructivism in social studies teaching course → social studies teaching efficacy belief .21 .107 .039 2.727 .006 attitudes toward social studies teaching course → social studies teaching efficacy belief .49 .304 .050 6.119 < .001 as seen in figure 1 and table 2, perceived constructivist learning environments in the social studies teaching course positively and significantly predicted preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward the course (β = .59, p < .001), their academic delay of gratification in this course (β = .19, p < .05) and their efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching (β = .21, p < .01). attitudes toward the social studies teaching course positively and significantly predicted mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 academic delay of gratification in this course (β = .21, p < .01) and efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching (β = .49, p < .001). however, the direct effect of academic delay of gratification on efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching was not significant (β = .03, p > .05). regarding indirect effects, there seems to be a mediating effect on attitudes toward the course between perceived constructivist learning environments and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs, and also between perceived constructivist learning environments and academic delay of gratification according to guidelines suggested by baron and kenny (1986). these possible indirect effects were tested by means of the sobel test (baron & kenny, 1986; sobel, 1982) using an interactive calculation tool for mediation tests developed by preacher and leonardelli (20102018). the sobel test for determining the influence of perceived constructivist learning environments on academic delay of gratification through attitudes toward the course yielded a value of 2.71 (p < .01), which indicates that the perceived constructivist learning environments were also positively and indirectly related to academic delay of gratification through attitudes toward the course. the sobel test for determining influence of perceived constructivist learning environments on teaching efficacy beliefs through attitudes toward the course yielded a value of 5.19 (p < .001), which indicates that the perceived constructivist learning environments were also positively and indirectly related to teaching efficacy beliefs through attitudes toward the course. 4. discussion the purpose of this study was to determine the relations between perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course, attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs of preservice elementary school teachers. the results of the current study highlight the importance of perceived constructivist learning environments in social studies teaching courses. findings indicated that perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course have a direct effect on attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. in addition, perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course also have an indirect and positive effect on academic delay of gratification in this course and on social studies teaching efficacy beliefs through attitudes toward this course, which indicates that perceived constructivist learning environments positively increase preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward the course. in return, it results in higher academic delay of gratification and efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching. mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 it has been well established that characteristics of learning environments such as instructional methods used, support, etc. have significant effects on the cognitive and affective outcomes of students (dorman & adams, 2004; osborne et al., 2003). the findings of the current study are not surprising when previous studies are taken into consideration. a study by önal (2008) found that preservice teachers exposed to constructivist teaching preferred constructivist-based courses more. similarly, a study by sander, stevenson, king, and coates (2000) with undergraduate students found that the students preferred more group-based learning activities. it was also found that undergraduate students preferred constructivist learning environments where personal relevance, collaboration, negotiation, and autonomy are encouraged (mensah, 2015). more importantly and related to attitudes, undergraduate students prefer to learn in constructivist learning environments (önal, 2008; sander et al., 2000). therefore, when these environments are provided to students, they develop positive attitudes toward the course and they delay immediate gratification for academic study on the course and develop a higher level of social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. supporting this finding, an experimental research by tynjälä (1999) found that constructivist learning environments promoted critical thinking, cooperation, deep learning, meaningful learning, learning by having fun, and intrinsic motivation. a study by dündar (2015) found that deep learning in social studies teaching courses promote preservice teachers’ social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. therefore, constructivist learning environments, by providing deep learning (loyens et al., 2008; tynjälä, 1999), could increase preservice elementary school teachers’ efficacy beliefs in social studies teaching. based on constructivist principles (arkün & aşkar, 2010; grennon brooks & brooks, 1993; tenenbaum, naidu, jegede, & austin, 2001; woolley, benjamin, & woolley, 2004), in constructivist social studies teaching courses, preservice teachers would have the opportunity to observe other preservice teachers’ teaching, to see other preservice teachers’ lesson plans and discuss their lesson plans and real-life examples of social studies teaching, and to see different perspectives on the topics covered, which could all contribute to self-efficacy development (alt, 2014, 2015; bandura, 1977; bray-clark & bates, 2003). the current study showed that attitudes toward social studies teaching course have positive and direct effects on academic delay of gratification in this course and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. since students with positive attitudes show more interest and become more willing to participate in courses (ghazali et al., 2009; moore, 2009), this finding is not surprising. because students who are more willing show more interest in the social studies teaching course and consider this course more necessary, it is expected that they are more likely to delay immediate gratification, study and focus on the course, fulfill their responsibilities on time (bembenutty & mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 karabenick, 1998a), and have a higher level of self-efficacy beliefs (celik and yesilyurt, 2013; tunkler et al., 2016; wang et al., 2015). in line with the findings of bembenutty and chen (2005), the study also found that academic delay of gratification in a social studies teaching course was positively correlated with social studies teaching efficacy beliefs; however, it was not a significant predictor of social studies teaching efficacy beliefs, indicating that preservice elementary school teachers’ procrastination of immediate gratification in the interests of their social studies teaching course related-work does not necessarily result in a higher level of social studies teaching beliefs. to sum up, the findings of the current study illustrate that if teacher trainers want preservice elementary school teachers to develop positive attitudes toward social studies teaching courses, to give priority to academic work, and to promote social studies teaching efficacy, they should design their social studies teaching courses in line with the constructivist approach. designing social studies teaching courses based on constructivism may also provide other advantages in addition to these benefits. these advantages might include the following: (1) in teacher training programs, teacher candidates are encouraged to design courses that align with constructivism when they become teachers (woolley et al., 2004); however, they have few opportunities to observe social studies teaching methods emphasized in their training (owens, 1997). therefore, if teacher trainers adopt constructivist principles in their methods courses, preservice teachers will have opportunity to observe methods/approaches that they are encouraged to implement. (2) as argued by yilmaz (2011) “… professionalism in teacher education and development demands that teachers have not only a disciplinary knowledge base related to their subject but also a strong command of learning theories and their applications for instructional practices in the classroom” (p. 204). research (tynjälä, 1997, 1999) has showed that when students learn in constructivist learning environments, they develop constructivist perceptions about the nature of learning. applying constructivist principles in social studies teaching courses may increase the possibility of preservice teachers adopting constructivist principles in their own classrooms through helping them internalize the theory and influencing their conceptions about learning (tynjälä, 1997, 1999). (3) it increases the possibility of reaching the goals of social studies teaching courses for preservice teachers since constructivist learning environments in social studies teaching courses mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 cause preservice teachers to be occupied with course responsibilities rather than “many attractive non-academic sources of gratification” (bembenutty & chen, 2005, p. 80). although the current study successfully revealed the relationship between perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course, attitudes toward this course, academic delay of gratification in this course, and social studies teaching efficacy beliefs of preservice elementary school teachers, several limitations need to be considered. first, the study used convenience sampling and was carried out with data from only one faculty of education. second, some of the scales in the current study had lower cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients. thus, the findings should be interpreted cautiously. third, although there were direct and indirect effects on dependent variables, relationships between variables could not be considered as cause-and-effect relations since this study used a correlational design. therefore, experimental research designs are recommended for taking constructivist learning environments and traditional classrooms in social studies teaching courses as the independent variables (causes) and attitudes, academic delay of gratification, and teaching efficacy beliefs as the dependent variables in order to determine actual cause-and-effect relations (chen et al., 2017; creswell, 2008). mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: sahindundar@hotmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 references: abd-el-fattah, s. m., & al-nabhani, h. z. 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(2011). academic delay of gratification and children’s study time allocation as a function of proximity to consequential academic goals. learning and i about the authors: dr. şahin dündar works in the department of turkish and social sciences education at trakya university, faculty of education, edirne, turkey. his research interests include social studies teaching and teacher education. mailto:sahindundar@hotmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.755576 overseas student teaching and national identity: journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 3 overseas student teaching and national identity: why go somewhere you feel completely comfortable? frans h. doppen, associate professor ohio university journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 4 fall 2010 background one of the major goals of teacher education programs is to prepare globally competent teachers who hold inspiring dreams for the future and who contribute to the betterment of our world and planet (cushner & brennan, 2007). this study presents the emerging perceptions of national identity held by preservice teachers who completed their student teaching overseas. to help them become better global citizens and teachers in this constantly changing and increasingly diverse world, each preservice teacher in a unique international setting reflected on what it means to be an american by answering crèvecoeur‟s question, “what is an american?” in addition, each preservice teacher was asked to define the national identity of the host country. national identity has become a hotly debated issue in many countries, especially in the west where many nations now include large populations that do not share a common historical experience. as stuurman and grever (2007) suggest, teachers in these nations will have to deal with the heterogeneous culture their students bring to school (pp. 10-11). and, as putnam (2007) has suggested, it is one of the most important challenges, yet also one of the most significant opportunities that modern societies face. an increase in ethnic heterogeneity is perhaps “the most certain prediction we can make about almost any modern society” (p. 137). in many countries, increased globalization is shifting the balance of power away from the nation-state. many argue that confining students to a national framework is no longer adequate (golmohamad, 2009; grever & stuurman, 2007; henrichs, 2007; merry, 2009; rosenau, 2002; tutiaux-guillon, 2007). instead they suggest that education should foster independent thinking and that teachers should use an inclusive deliberative process rather than promote unquestioning loyalty (hand & pearce, 2009). especially in the western world, as immigrant nations such as england, france, germany, the netherlands, ireland, australia, and new zealand include increasingly diverse populations, fear of the “other” has led many countries to reach back into the past to emphasize a common ancestry as they struggle to maintain a national identity (andrews, mcglynn, & mycock, 2009; devine, kenny, & macneela, 2008; english, hayton, & kenny, 2009; haynes, 2009; kunovich, 2009; parvin, 2009; roberts, 2009). many believe that national identity continues to be a significant phenomenon and challenges the very notion of an emerging global citizenship. they argue that the nation state is not disappearing but rather is reshaped as nations seek to redefine their past in order to create a new identity for the future (english, hayton, & kenny, 2009; giddens, 2000). antonich (2009) argues that quantitative evidence suggests that national identity remains the primary form of territorial identity and that globalization does not “water down” the sentiment of national belonging but rather serves to strengthen it. he believes that international mobility reinforces the idea of distinctive national identity (p. 292). distinguishing between a “thin” cosmopolitan and a “thick” national identity, he suggests that the latter can become either “regressive”, i.e. inward-looking and reactionary, or “progressive” as rootedness allows for communication with the “other”, not based on fear but rather on a strong journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 5 sense of self (p. 294). global engagement can well enhance local participation. therefore, nationalism and cosmopolitanism need not to be in conflict. they can complement each other (golmohamad, 2009; mayo, gaventa, & rooke, 2009; noddings, 2005). much of the debate about national identity in the western world resembles the culture wars that have been fought in the united states about who should decide what is taught in the schools. some have argued in favor of a core curriculum for all students while others have suggested the need for a more open-ended approach (doppen & yeager, 1998; hirsch, 1996; journell, 2009; nash, crabtree, & dunn, 1997). the ongoing debates about national identity, however, are not confined to the western world. for example, an increasingly multicultural germany seeks to redefine its identity in light of its troubled past and reunification (henrichs, 2007) and south africa faces similar issues as it seeks to overcome a history of apartheid through reconciliation and a focus on democratic citizenship education based on the ideals of democracy and social justice (rassool, 2007; waghid, 2009). likewise japan, which has a relatively homogeneous population, faces a troubled past. having sought to redefine its post-war national identity as an international society committed to preserving peace, it continues to be divided between “anti-nationalists” and “patriotic enthusiasts” (ide, 2009). similarly, china has embarked upon a campaign to redefine its national identity from a “victor narrative” to that of a “victimization narrative” that blames the west for its history of suffering (wang, 2008). overseas student teaching kushner (2004) has observed that increased globalization has led to a homogenization of the travel experience of many people as they venture only into rather similar and familiar environments. as such, many travellers never deeply engage in the culture of the country they visit nor do they experience its national identity, let alone their own. however, kushner also reminds us that overseas student teaching mirrors the original concept of travel as a learning experience, not unlike the “grand tour” of europe many wealthy travellers undertook in previous centuries. because overseas student teaching typically involves an extended period of time, these “travellers” become immersed in intercultural learning. bennett (1993) developed a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity that provides a framework for understanding individual development and awareness along a continuum of six stages from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism. the denial stage, which refers to the inability to see cultural differences, is followed by the defense stage which is characterized by the ability to recognize differences but adhering to the superiority of one‟s own culture. next is the minimization stage in which people tend to minimize differences by believing that all humans are essentially the same. in the acceptance stage individuals begin to analyse cultural differences which lead them into the adaptation stage when they become competent in communicating across cultures. in the final integration stage they have multiple frames of reference and are able to move relatively easily between different cultural groups. another model that is helpful in understanding the experiences of journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 6 overseas student teachers is the u-curve hypothesis which suggests that people experience four phases throughout their adjustment (see kushner, 2004). in the honeymoon phase everything is new and exciting. in the next phase, hostility, people often become frustrated or angry with aspects of the different culture. in the humor phase they learn more culturally appropriate behaviours and are able to laugh at some of own behaviors. finally, in the home stage they become well adjusted to the new culture and are able to comfortably move back and forth between their own and new culture. participants to determine the impact of an overseas student teaching experience on preservice teachers‟ perceptions of national identity, this study analysed the experiences of 11 undergraduate education majors from a mid-size university in the mid-west who student taught overseas between june 2008 and march 2009. to protect student anonymity, each participant and the school at which he or she student taught was assigned a pseudonym (see appendix a). each preservice teacher in this study participated in the consortium for overseas student teaching [cost] program. the cost program is limited to 15 member universities that serve as sending sites. since its inception in 1973, each year cost has placed preservice teachers overseas in american-sponsored schools. the program provides its participants with the opportunity to student teach in american classroom settings within the context of a new country, a new culture and a new way of life. most students who participate in the program live in the homes of local families, often with children, gaining a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of the country in which they student teach. while they regularly communicate with the cost program coordinator at their sending site, it is the overseas university supervisors, school directors and cooperating teachers who are the key elements of the cost program. to prepare for their overseas student teaching, each participant was required to complete both a five-week practicum in an american classroom working with students and a course in non-western cultures. in addition, they were required to attend several meetings in which they studied the history, culture, political structure, educational systems and media of the country in which they hoped to receive their placements. as part of this preparation, they were encouraged to explore their own notions of national identity. to promote reflection during their overseas student teaching experience, each participant was required to submit five reflective essays to the program coordinator at the sending site (see appendix b). in the first four reflections the participants answered a series of questions focused on their arrival, the community in which the school was located, the classroom setting and curriculum, and intercultural adjustment (questions were based on wilson and flournoy, 2007). the final culminating reflection asked them to answer crèvecoeur‟s question “what‟s an american?” and to answer that same question for the inhabitants of the country in which they student taught. all 11 participants were caucasian, in their early twenties and, except for one, female. only one of the participants was an elementary preservice teacher. five participants were middle school preservice teachers who each had two journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 7 subject area concentrations, with the exception of one who completed coursework in all four areas of concentration. three participants were preparing to teach high school, respectively in social studies, math and science. finally, two participants were spanish education majors preparing to teach k-12. three participants student taught in south africa, three in ireland, two in australia, and one each in mexico, costa rica and ecuador. data analysis data sources for this study consisted of the five reflective essays each cost participant submitted to the program coordinator at the sending site. to analyze the essays, i chose to use dana and silva’s (2003) four steps for inquiry. first, i read each participant’s essays to form a detailed description. secondly, i began the sense-making process in which i developed a number of categories that described aspects of national identity. i then undertook an interpretation of the data that showed more directly how the participants viewed various aspects of national identity. throughout the second and third stage of my analysis, i used the constant comparative method to determine common themes within and between the essays. finally, i looked at the implications of this study for future practice and research. findings several significant thematic findings related to the participants‟ perception of national identity emerged from analyzing the reflective essays. these themes included observations about lifestyle, socioeconomic disparity, diversity, politics, religion, patriotism and perspectives on american and host country identities. lifestyle the perception of a different pace of life in the host country stood out immediately and intensely. seven of the 11 student teachers used the same “laid back” language to describe the slower pace of life they encountered. although this characterization notably applied to ireland, it did to australia, south africa and costa rica as well. shannon described irish culture as “more laidback and friendly than that of the united states.” while the “laid back ways of the irish drove [her] crazy a great deal of time,” molly asserted, “there is a great deal to be said for relaxing and not getting so stressed about every aspect of teaching.” shannon observed that the laid back lifestyle also translated to her school experience as the “teachers come and go freely throughout the day, whereas back home the teacher is expected to be at school at all times, even before and after the day starts.” not only are the irish “more laid back than people in the united states,” according to marissa, they “are also a lot warmer and more welcoming.” jessie posited that “australians are in general a laidback, easy-going people who simply love to enjoy life, whereas connor asserted that life in tasmania was even “a little more laid back” than that on the mainland. in south africa “everything is so laid back” that kendall and nicole learned quickly what is was like to be “on „african‟ time.” likewise, liz argued that costa ricans embrace a similar laid back “pura vida” lifestyle. several times the student teachers contrasted this laid back lifestyle with the fast pace of life in america. for example, according to marissa, “americans … are always rushing. even when we are in a hurry we need to go journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 8 faster in order to feel that we have accomplished something. there are not enough hours in the day to complete everything that needs to be done.” likewise, shannon admitted that she “never realized how punctual and dependable [she was]” and “how stressed americans tend to be [as] we are constantly rushing from place to place, making sure we are caught up with the new technology, or being so competitive to make a good impression that we tend to lose sight of what is really important in life.” disparity seven of the 11 student teachers made direct observations about disparate economic conditions in their host country. four student teachers reported personal experiences with economic disparity. candace found the “disparity in the lifestyle of black and white people [in south africa] astounding.” noting “a lot of wealth among the white population” she lamented that “black people live in „townships‟ … where there usually is no electricity or running water” and the “shacks are … built out of scraps of metal , wood and cardboard [that] seem barely able to stand.” contemplating whether such disparities exist in the united states as well, she realized that just as there are “haves and have-nots in third world countries … there are people as bad off at home.” rosalie made a similar observation in mexico noting that her “large school that continues to expand” was built less than a decade ago in a part of the city that was “fairly poor economically” and that “driving to [the] school [was] difficult because you‟re forced to pass through a pueblo that lacks money, high standing, and where people sell food on the streets for a living.” she thought that people who found out that she was from america would “just think that [she had] it all,” which made her feel bad and challenged her “to be thankful for what [she had] rather than [feel] guilt over [her privilege]. in costa rica, liz found herself in a school in a part of the city that is home to many foreign embassies. hence “many incredibly wealthy and well travelled” students who toted around personal computers came back after the beginning of the school year because they had attended the olympics in beijing, and were transported to school by personal drivers.” thinking back to her field experience in a school at home where “some students could not even pull together enough clean clothes for a week,” liz hoped to get the opportunity to visit a “local” school because “everyone says that they are so incredibly poor and ill equipped to educate in this day and age and that all families that can afford to send their children to this for profit school do.” in ecuador, marla found that “one interesting part of [her] host culture” is that “the socioeconomic class system … is extremely defined, and a lot of classism seems to persist. walking around the city her “host grandma” pointed out “a lower class” indigenous woman walking on all fours with shoes on both her hands and feet.” witnessing this “disparity between the upper-class [blancos] in the city and the indigenous people really gave [her] a new understanding of global poverty.” diversity only four student teachers explicitly reported their thoughts about race and ethnicity. jessie observed that her host city was a residence for immigrants with “many cultures ... from indigenous journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 9 people to europeans, to asians, to south africans, to north and south americans, to australians.” connor found teaching a “maths for life” class to recent, mostly african, immigrants a cultural experience he much enjoyed because “from time to time we talk about our different countries we are from and what the daily norms are”. describing south africa‟s culture as “extremely interesting,” candace explained that, based on skin color, there are three races: whites, blacks and coloreds or “what we in the us would call „mixed‟”. she also noted that while white south africans refer to “the black people as „blacks‟ or „africans‟, they don‟t refer to themselves as „africans‟ even though most of them have lived in africa their entire lives with generations before them. shannon noted that america, unlike ireland, is “full of different cultures, races and opinions” and that, although she never particularly thought of herself as from america, rather than from a specific geographic area, she now had come to see all of america “as home.” marla noted similar racial and ethnic distinctions in ecuador between “blancos, or white people [of] mixed european/latin american descent,” and “the indigenous [who] have pure heritage from the native tribes.” in her observations, however, about racial and ethnic diversity, candace moved beyond mere observation and articulated a strong personal perspective. she was especially troubled by the position of blacks in south africa. she noted that they “have all the low-paying jobs that generally serve the white people. she struggled with having a domestic worker, by the name of virginia, who “came in everyday to clean and do all our laundry” and whose “real african name was too difficult to pronounce.” she was surprised by the “ingrained racism”. while she thought her “host family [was] lovely and [went] out of its way to make sure [her] experience [was] worthwhile [she] often saw glimmers of past prejudices.” she particularly felt that the united states had “made great strides in the right direction” and that “america has come a long way” in comparison to south africa. however, contrary to candace, rosalie, who had a similar experience with a domestic worker in the home of her host family, suggested that this woman “still managed to be filled with joy in the midst of her struggles ... of never knowing where her next meal would come from ... when [in the past] she [used to] sell items on the streets of mexico city to support herself and her daughter. fortunately, she now “lived a very comfortable life.” politics especially during the presidential election season in united states, the student teachers found students and adults in their host country extremely eager to talk about politics in america. however, these discussions were a mixture of pain and pleasure. while people in the host country were often very interested in american politics they were also often quick to criticize the united states. the student teachers often encountered perspectives of america based on stereotypes acquired through media such as television, movies, and newspapers. molly suggested that her irish “students feel like america is this fabulous land where you can see plenty of celebrities just walking down the street.” similarly, candace reported that “the biggest misconception” her students journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 10 in south africa had was that “we walk down the street and see celebrities every day” and that they don‟t understand how vast the us is” and that she would “have to drive for two straight days to get to hollywood.” likewise, in australia jessie found her students thought she “knew every american celebrity because [she] live[d] there.” she argued that, “it is unbelievable how much u.s. media [australians] get and how much the schools teach about the u.s.” and that her “students [knew] more about america than [she did]. yet, their “views of americans are distorted.” molly was astounded that the “irish people have no filter on what to say or ask,” including about “whom i voted for in the last election.” interestingly, marissa observed that the irish were quick to discuss american politics but “the second you bring up theirs you may face a very uncomfortable silence” as “few are willing to talk about it,” except in “whispers when everyone else is distracted.” six of the eight student teachers were in their host country during the american fall election cycle and obama‟s inauguration. like jessie in australia, shannon was impressed with the level of “interest in american politics [among] young irish children.” as the election grew closer, the irish were “becoming more vocal.” she was “surprised” by how supportive they were of obama, reporting that “after the election it seemed that most of europe was happy” with the election results and that it was “interesting how many different teachers came up to [her] and started conversations.” the entire experience gave her “a greater respect and newfound pride in [her] country.” marissa reported that whenever an irish person identified her as american, “the first thing they [told] her [was] how wonderful obama is” and “how he is going to bring everyone out of this recession.” jessie reported that “she had been consistently asked whether or not [she] voted for obama” and that the “australians think he‟s just the greatest thing that‟s happened to america.” marla reported that while some believe americans should get out, ¡gringos fuera!, she had “yet to meet an ecuadorian who ... expressed anything negative about our current president or government.” in south africa, candace found that “some parts of being american have been fun.” wearing her obama shirt all day on inauguration day, she got “many compliments about the shirt.” people were “excited to talk to her about it,” and the obama stickers she handed out to people were such “a huge hit all the teachers at the school have them now and ... just love them.” obama was “all the rage,” people were “wearing obama shirts all the time,” and there was even a barbershop with a sign advertising “an obama haircut.” religion religion was also part of the cultural experience for some of the student teachers. when kendall and nicole went to church in south africa they found that unlike church “at home start[ing] and end[ing] within the hour ... at a precise time” it “started late and lasted two hours with no thought of time.” in australia, jessie was struck to be in a “culture that is not highly religious [which] made [her] realize how important religion is to [her].” rosalie found that mexicans are “united in their [catholic] beliefs” but that “there is a lot more tolerance in the united states for religious differences because people simply assume that you believe in journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 11 christianity.” in ireland, molly found that public schools have a “catholic ethos,” offer religion classes and have “occasional masses throughout the year.” she found this interesting but was “pleased to see that ... while the class is focused on catholicism, [the students] are learning about other religions as well. perhaps marissa became most immersed in the experience as “each day ... started off with the students saying a morning prayer” and even though she did “not know much about teaching religion” her cooperating teacher put her “in charge of working with the students [to create] art projects to decorate the church for the students‟ communion ceremony.” patriotism nearly all student teachers reported evidence of patriotism in their host country, predominantly focused on national pride and history. according to rosalie, her school “still value[d] mexican pride and lessons that directly relate to their culture.” each wednesday the school held “honors”, a flag ceremony in which all 5 th grade students saluted the flag, and sang the national anthem and school song, which was “done with a lot more seriousness and … respect [than] when we all rise for the pledge of allegiance.” in ecuador, marla likewise noted “a strong sense of national pride and solidarity despite a history of corruption and conquest, political instability and frequent dissatisfaction with the government.” she particularly noted the día del civismo, a national holiday, when during a “huge school ceremony” the students “parade the ecuadorian flag and each member of the senior class kneels to kiss the flag.” liz was amazed by the fact that although her costa rican students came from all over the world, they perceived “being a native „tico‟ … a matter of pride.” as one student told her, “my mom is from nicaragua and my dad is from guatemala but i‟m 100% tico.” molly perceived a similar “strong sense of irish pride” in her host country, “they seem to love this country, and all of its history [of which] there is so much everywhere.” similarly, marissa was amazed that “most people in ireland can trace their family‟s history back at least 300 years and probably own the same land now as back then, [whereas she could] not go back more than two generations without counting at least four different countries [her] family had come from.” finally, candace alluded to south africa‟s years of turmoil and its “rich history of oppression and victory over it” in shaping its national identity. american identity although, according to jessie, australians perceive america as “very patriotic country,” the only student teacher to express personal pride in america was shannon. “seeing the [presidential] election from an outsider‟s perspective gave [her] a greater respect and newfound pride.” interestingly, the student teachers almost exclusively reported negative stereotypes that focused on americans as being ignorant about the world, arrogant, superficial, loud, and materialistic. while there were times when these stereotypes were “understandable,” there were other times when they were “hurtful” and made them feel “sad.” jessie thought that “most australians respect americans as being equals in the global society.” rosalie found that mexicans “value american culture and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 12 all that our country offers” and that she “actually connect[ed] better with the people here than the majority of people in my country.” however, there were also times when “she didn‟t enjoy the negative stereotypes.” reflecting on attitudes towards women in their host country and comparing these to those in the united states, several student teachers expressed an appreciation of the status of women in america. in ecuador, marla found that people like american women because they are “promiscuous.” candace found that sexism was “still prevalent” in south africa as “women are expected to be at home with dinner on the table when the man gets home from work.” at her all-boys school in ireland, shannon came to realize that part of the reason she struggled with discipline was because “the boys tend to respect their male teachers more than their female ones, both in and outside of the classroom.” echoing others, marla found that american women are perceived as independent, which “is an indicator of the progressive nature of our country [and] its vastly less chauvinistic attitude.” in several instances the student teachers admitted they themselves knew little about the world. kendall admitted that she was “guilty” of being an “example of the common stereotypical american.” according to jessie, australian “students and adults … are concerned with the whole world [and] very aware of global news” and that “it is a shame that americans are not the same way about the rest of the world.” in other instances they were shocked, as shannon was, when a television show featured “a stereotyped irish fellow dancing on the burning world trade center” after the 9/11 attacks. reflecting on the causes of these negative stereotypes the student teachers offered several explanations. for example, while jessie wrote that, “people in australia know probably more about the united states than i do, it‟s unbelievable how much u.s. media they get and how much the schools teach about the u.s.” yet, when the time came to return to the u.s., she wrote that she had become so “comfortable with the australian way of doing things that … it was a shame … she [had] to turn around, and become an american again.” shannon found that the media, and therefore the teachers, often are the culprits of american stereotypes. she felt that the irish “tend to forget that america is rather large … they do not understand our diversity and think all americans are the same [and] that we all think and act the same.” while they struggled with the many negative american stereotypes they encountered, some also suggested they found it difficult to define the national identity of their host country. jessie thought that “australians don‟t truly understand what it‟s like to be an american, but equally so, she [did] not truly understand what it‟s like to be an australian.” she wrote that “being an “american” [was] still unclear to her [as] people in ireland often told [her] how lucky [she] was to be an american,” yet at the same time “put [her] down for it.” rosalie “struggled to come up with an educated opinion of what [she] believe[d] an american to be based upon [her] experience in [mexico] because the extent to which she immersed herself in its culture made her “lose [her] perception of [her own] nationality quite a bit …making it difficult … to continually take [her] american nationality into account each journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 13 and every day.” molly was “not sure that [she was] comfortable defining an american as that concept alone can be a very broad definition.” host country identity the student teachers typically described the identity of the inhabitants of their host country in terms of the people they personally encountered. they used terms such as “warm” and “friendly” to describe people as diverse as the irish, mexicans, ecuadorians, australians and south africans. shannon, molly and marissa all suggested the irish were a proud people, religious, and family oriented. marissa specifically observed that “their heritage is the most important thing to them. whether it‟s their religion, their families, or simply traditional irish music or folklore, irish people know their country‟s story.” in addition, molly found that the irish “do love their alcohol,” with which marissa appeared to agree when she wrote that “drinking is an extracurricular activity the irish people like to practice.” rosalie described mexicans as “always filled with joy” and extremely loyal to their family, community and country. she also found, however, that they were very “united in their religious beliefs,” and that they were less accepting of “personal life decisions” than people in the united states on issues such as gender orientation. marla suggested that ecuadorians have an “unabashedly deep sense of pride” that is rooted in their “exquisite and unparalleled natural environment, the preservation of the indigenous culture, and [their] ability to overcome oppression and adversity throughout history.” she described them as a “very resilient, happy, triumphant, and passionate people who are strengthened not only by victory but also by defeat, and this [sic] is what they celebrate.” jessie acknowledged that although she “would generally assume that someone over here is atheist unless they told me otherwise,” the australians she met were some of the “nicest, warmest and most outgoing people” that she ever met. although australians are “incredibly active and healthy,” ... in the end though ... they have many of the same things and customs as americans.” in south africa, candace likewise found herself “so welcomed” that when it was time to return to the united states, “it broke [her] heart to have to leave.” she described south africans as “genuine, caring and invested in their country, regardless of how frustrated they feel about it at times.” realizing that she “was around white people during most of [her] experience,” she nonetheless described south africans as a beautiful people with a diverse makeup ... a rich history of oppression and victory over it.” conclusions the overseas student teaching experience took these preservice teachers out of the “u.s. bubble where all [they] knew or heard about was what was going on in [their] own country, [and] rarely [ever heard anything] about what was going on in the rest of the world unless there was a war or major terrorist attack.” many were surprised, like shannon and jessie, at how interested “the rest of the world was in america” and that there were times when it seemed like their “students knew more about america than [they themselves] did.” although, they unanimously wrote that this experience broadened their global awareness, the question remains journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 14 to what extent these “travellers” became immersed in intercultural learning. what were their perceptions of national identity? as they reflected on what it meant to be american and what characterized the national identity of their host country, did they become better global citizens and teachers? the most significant conclusion that can be drawn from the findings is that these student teachers were immersed in an intercultural experience to such an extent that they failed to articulate a clear perspective on american national identity. while, for example, jessie wrote that she “learned more about others and [her]self as an american living in australia than [she had] learned in [her] whole life,” none of the student teachers articulated what being american meant to him or her personally. clearly, the intensity of context in which they found themselves absorbed, prevented them from articulating a clear sense of american national identity. when attempting to do so, they did so largely in response to the often negative american stereotypes they encountered in their host country their descriptions of the national identity of their host country likewise lacked depth and, despite occasional allusions to negative attributes, focused on positive surface attributes such as laid back, friendly and patriotic. in addition, when reporting on issues related to socioeconomic disparity, diversity, politics and religion, their comments were observational rather than analytical. the only notable exception was candace. her dissonant experience, “being in another culture with political, racial and socioeconomic issues, [gave her] even greater inspiration for social justice education.” although the preservice teachers in this study were encouraged to study the history, culture, political structure, educational systems and media of their host country, their reflective essays focused narrowly on personal encounters and surface culture. reconsidering bennett‟s (1993) developmental model of intercultural sensitivity suggests nonetheless that the preservice teachers in this study began to analyze cultural differences [acceptance stage] and started to become competent in communicating across cultures [adaptation stage]. based on the u-curve hypothesis (kushner, 2004), the findings also suggest that these student teachers typically experienced the excitement of a honeymoon along with some of the characteristic frustrations of the hostility stage. in summary, the overseas student teaching experience helped these preservice teachers expand their personal horizons on issues of national identity and increase their awareness of a global world beyond that of their own country. global intercultural understanding must be an integral part of preparing teachers for the world of the 21 st century. consequently, we must continue to strive for finding better ways to prepare tomorrow‟s teachers by engaging them in new and global environments in which they might not feel completely comfortable. improving tomorrow‟s teachers global awareness will hopefully better prepare them to locally “help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (ncss, 1994). journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 15 appendix a participants term name program concentration city country school summer 2008 kendall ms language arts, math port elizabeth south africa mandela hs nicole ms math, social studies port elizabeth south africa zuma hs connor hs social studies hobart, tasmania australia cook hs fall 2008 shannon hs math killarney ireland st. patrick hs winter 2009 candace ms language arts, math, science, social studies port elizabeth south africa cape hs rosalie k-12 spanish querétaro mexico juárez school marla k-12 spanish quito ecuador bolivar school jessie ms math, science perth australia wallaby primary bryn hs science dublin ireland dublin school liz ms math, science escazú costa rica arias school spring 2009 marissa es all sneem ireland st. brendan primary journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 16 appendix b reflection assignment week 1-3 1. what have you learned so far about your host culture? 2. how does this relate to your expectations about the culture before your arrival? 3. in what ways is the school different from schools where you completed your field placements and practicum at home? week 4-6 1. what are you learning from your cooperating teacher that is helping you grow professionally? 2. what are you learning about “being american” as you view it from another vantage point? 3. what are you learning from your host family or other living arrangements you may have made? 4. what are you learning from your participation in the community in which you are teaching? week 7-8 1. what have you done (or are you doing) to introduce your students and others to your “home culture”? 2. are you teaching any content that relates specifically to the host culture? if so, what? 3. how is the curriculum that is being offered at your school different from that at home? 4. how do the teachers and students, classroom discipline, teacher-student relationships, and school culture differ from that at home? week 9-10 1. what aspects of teaching in the foreign culture are proving to be the most challenging? 2. how are you addressing these challenges? 3. how have you grown personally and professionally from completing this experience? 4. has the experience broadened your global awareness? if so, how? 5. how are you going to apply what you have learned from teaching in another culture in your practice? 6. did you find the support and guidance you received during the experience helpful? in what ways? final reflection in 1782, michel guillaume jean de crèvecœur, naturalized as john hector st. john, published a volume of narrative essays entitled letters from an american farmer in which he posed the question, “what‟s an american?” no later than one week after you finish your student teaching abroad, please submit a thoughtful response, 5-6 pages in length, to the following two questions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/letters_from_an_american_farmer journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 17  now that you have finished your student teaching abroad experience, what did you learn about yourself as an american? what did you learn about others‟ perspectives of what it is that makes someone american? in other words, how do you answer crèvecoeur‟s question, “what is an american?”  now that you have finished your student teaching abroad experience, what did you learn about the people and culture of the country in which you student taught? how do you answer crèvecoeur‟s question for its inhabitants? in other words, how do you answer crèvecoeur‟s question, “what is a[n] ______ [e.g. irishman, costa rican, mexican, ecuadorian, australian, south african]? references andrews, r., mcglynn, c., & mycock, a. (2009). students‟ attitudes towards history: does self-identity matter? educational research, 51(3), 365-377. antonich, m. (2009). national identities in the age of globalization: the case of western europe. national identities, 11(3), 281-299. bennett, m. (1993). towards ethnorelativism: a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. in m. paige (ed.), cross-cultural orientation (pp. 27-69). lanham, md: university press of america. cushner, k. (2004). beyond tourism: a practical guide to meaningful educational travel. lanham, md: scarecrow education. cushner, k., & brennan, s. (eds.). (2007). intercultural student teaching: a bridge to global competence. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield education. dana, f.d., & yendol-silva, d. (2003). the reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: learning to teach and teaching through practitioner inquiry. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. devine, d., kenny, m., & macneela, e. (2008). naming the „other‟: children‟s construction of racisms in irish primary schools. race, ethnicity and education, 11(4), 369-385. doppen, f.h., & yeager, e.a. (1998). national versus state curriculum standards for history in the united states: where will the debate lead us? the curriculum journal, 9, 165-175. english, r., hayton, r., & kenny, m. (2009). englishness and the union in contemporary conservative thought. government and opposition, 44(4), 343-365. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 18 giddens, a. (2000). citizenship education in the global era. in n. pearce & j. hallgarten (eds.), tomorrow’s citizens (pp. 19-25). london: institute for public policy research. grever, m., & stuurman, s. (eds.). (2007). beyond the canon: history for the twenty-first century. new york, ny: palgrave mcmillan. golmohamad, m. (2009). education for world citizenship: beyond national allegiance. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 466-486. hand, m., & pearce, j. (2009). patriotism in british schools: principles, practices and press hysteria. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 453-465. haynes, b. (2009). history teaching for patriotic citizenship in australia. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 424-440. henrichs, h. (2007). truth, power and beauty: rethinking the nation in german historical museums. in m. grever & s. stuurman (eds.), beyond the canon: history for the twenty-first century (pp. 110-127). new york, ny: palgrave mcmillan. hirsch, e.d., jr. (1996). the schools we need: why we don’t have them. new york, ny: doubleday. ide, k. (2009). the debate on patriotic education in post-world war ii japan. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 441-452. journell, w. 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(2005). place-based education to preserve the earth and its people. in n. noddings (ed.), educating citizens for global awareness, (pp. 57-58). new york, ny: teachers college press. parvin, p. (2009). integration and identity in an international context: problems and ambiguities in the new politics of multiculturalism. political studies review, 7(3), 351-363. putnam, r. (2007). e pluribus unum: diversity and community in the twenty-first century. scandinavian political studies, 30(2), 134-174. rassool, c. (2007). museums, heritage and the transformation of south african memory. in m. grever & s. stuurman (eds.), beyond the canon: history for the twentyfirst century (pp. 145-159). new york, ny: palgrave mcmillan. roberts, p. (2009). a new patriotism? neoliberalism, citizenship and tertiary education in new zealand. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 410-423. rosenau, j. (2002). governance in the twenty-first century. in r. wilkinson (ed.), the global governance reader (pp. 45-67). london: routledge. tutiaux-guillon, n. (2007). french school history confronts the multicultural. in m. grever & s. stuurman (eds.), beyond the canon: history for the twenty-first century (pp. 173-187). new york, ny: palgrave mcmillan. waghid, y. (2009). patriotism and democratic citizenship education in south africa: on the (im)possibility of reconciliation and nation building. educational philosophy and theory, 41(4), 399-409. wang, z. (2008). national humiliation, history education, and the politics of historical memory: the patriotic education campaign in china. international studies quarterly, 52, 783-806. wilson, a., & flournoy, m.a. (2007). in k. cushner & s. brennan, s. (eds.). intercultural student teaching: a bridge to global competence (pp. 34-56). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield education. frans h. doppen is an associate professor of social studies education and assistant chair in the department of teacher education at ohio university, athens, ohio, where he also serves as program coordinator for the consortium for overseas student teaching. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 195. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 195. corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 195 jiss social justice perspectives editor, gloria t. alter (galter9@comcast.net) social studies for social responsibility the article for this column of social justice perspectives is written by jamie campbell naidoo and miriam e. sweeney. they stretch the boundaries of social education by integrating library and information science to address international social justice issues. library studies are often untapped by social educators, although our most critical issues are addressed in both fields. the authors suggest alternatives to privileging and reproducing the dominant culture through “targeted justice-oriented curricular collaborations between social studies educators and librarians.” and they discuss the creation of a social justice framework that extends beyond cross-cultural education and media literacy as commonly practiced, to cross-cultural competency “embedded in critiques of structural power in order to connect individual experience and identity formation to systems of oppression and domination.” the formal structures and informal norms of these systems are directed by “white supremacy and features of whiteness . . . “ [a] benchmark of the status quo.” we are encouraged to examine the assumptions underlying pedagogical paradigms that are presented as neutral. paradigms reflecting the status quo hide the unequal/immoral distribution of knowledge, a deficit-based perspective of the digital divide, and an unwillingness to acknowledge the effects of social exclusion on education and wealth/well-being. these issues are highlighted in the article with supporting scholarship and focused questions that lead to understanding, and hopefully to action. strategies for moving forward include using authentic literature, digital media, and relevancy in materials and activities, because students need to connect injustice in their lives with broader social injustices, and become involved in solutions. multiple resources and multiple literacies can be incorporated in the service of international social justice, and many examples of how to do this are provided. i was especially touched by the very impressive speech of malala yousafzai (see youtube website) in the suggested lessons. it reminded me that student activities can be life-changing events. i hope that the materials shared here will be integrated into the work of all ia members and readers of the journal of international social studies. thank you jamie and miriam for sharing your expertise, your commitment to social justice, and your exemplary pedagogical practice. mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. towards ‘law education for all’: teaching school students about the law in australia and pakistan barend vlaardingerbroek, american university of beirut louie traikovski, australian educator irshad hussain, the islamia university of bahawalpur, pakistan __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: law-related topics arise in the school curricula of both developed and developing countries. civics/citizenship education and social studies tend to be the curricular mediums into which law topics are inserted. this paper details law education at school level in australia (state of victoria) and pakistan. the main challenge facing the law-education-for-all project in the context of schooling is the competence of teachers entrusted to teach children and adolescents about the law, particularly with reference to their own background knowledge. there are roles for curriculum developers, government ministries, pre-service and in-service teacher education providers, and professional associations to play for the ideal to be turned into reality. key words: law education, civics education, citizenship education, pre-service teacher education, continuing professional development ________________________________________________________________________________ introduction in a comparative study conducted by the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea) involving school students in 28 democracies, obedience to the law was rated highly as an attribute of good citizenship by 14-year-olds (torney-purta, oswald & schultz, 2001). but how much do children and adolescents generally know about the law? if schooling is a preparation for adult life in one’s society, it seems axiomatic that school curricula should contain topics about the law of relevance to any citizen. law is an emerging theme in the school curricula of various counties, both developed and developing. the curricular niche for lawrelated topics tends to be within civics/citizenship education, with social studies also providing opportunities for inclusion. in the uk, it is incorporated mainly into citizenship education. at the primary level, it remains non-statutory, but some guidelines are offered for schools that wish to incorporate it into their curriculum. at secondary school level, it is statutory and concepts to be covered include “laws, justice and democracy”. specific foci include the rule of law, the workings of parliamentary democracies, the cabinet system of government, political and legal rights, and the structure of the justice system, including the police and courts, and the distinction between civil and criminal justice. as well as government mechanisms and democratic participation at both the local and national levels, the curriculum also draws attention to the eu, the un and the commonwealth of nations as contexts (department for education, 2013). law is a complex field requiring specialised subject knowledge, which raises the issue of teacher competence to teach young students about the law. of the various aspects of citizenship education presented to teachers in the iea study, the one they generally felt the least confident about teaching was the judicial system. in this paper, we shall look at developments in a developed country (australia) and a developing country (pakistan) towards educating all school learners about the law. both australian and pakistani law are derived from the common law via their colonial heritage. 109 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. australia the australian legal system has been independent since 1986 when appeals to the privy council of britain were abolished and the high court of australia became the final court of appeal. the australian constitution of 1901 is atypical of national constitutions in that it does not contain a bill of rights. education is a state or territory responsibility in australia, and each entity has its own education system complete with terminating qualifications. however, the new civics curriculum is a federal initiative. the australian draft civics and citizenship education plan draws on a 1994 civics expert group definition of the subject as encompassing “government, public administration and [the] judicial system” (acara, 2012, p.7). mandatory curricular inclusion is envisaged for years 3-8, with opportunities to continue in the field thereafter. specific foci include the australian constitution, the intricacies of parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, legal rights, and the workings of the courts. at the upper secondary level, the curriculum moves to “more advanced topics of politics and law” and engages with international relations and law particularly in the context of asia. responsibility for implementing the australian curriculum remains with the states and territories. accordingly, we shall restrict ourselves to the state of victoria when describing developments in this area and some comments may only apply to that state. law in the current victorian school curriculum law topics are embedded in the subject civics and citizenship. this is typically taught by primary school teachers whereas in years 7 to 10 commerce, social education, humanities, history and geography teachers, and years 11 and 12 legal studies teachers implement law topics and themes. it is up to each individual school to decide how civics and citizenship will be delivered – it can be integrated into history, geography, humanities, economics or commerce or taught as a stand-alone unit or subject. generally speaking, knowledge of the legal system is subservient to involvement in the political system in the civics and citizenship strand of australian victorian essential learning standards (ausvels) which covers foundation year to year 10. future citizens are told that they “need knowledge of political and legal systems” in australia and are expected to “develop knowledge and understanding of the origins and key features of the australian political, government and legal systems”, the underlying belief being that students’ “knowledge of rules and laws of governance” will enable them to “participate in processes associated with citizenship”. likewise, students are meant to “discuss examples in the media of .... laws (that illuminate) features of democracy” (vcaa, 2013, pp. 3, 16). the legislative aspect of government is referred to quite frequently in the civics and citizenship section of ausvels. at levels 3 and 4 (ages 8 and 9), students indirectly learn about the legislative function of government by learning about the purpose of government and “(looking) at the roles of leaders and representatives such as prime minister and mayor”. levels 5 and 6 (ages 10 and 11) refer more directly to legislation and government. at these levels, students learn “how parliament makes laws”, providing specific examples of law-making at federal, state and local government levels, including “currency, defence (federal), education, health (state), parks and libraries (local)”. again, alluding to their differing legislative tasks, levels 7 and 8 (ages 12 and 13) ask students to “consider the separate responsibilities of the three levels of government” including consideration of “the origins of .... statute law” and their purposes and “examples of the process of making and changing” such law(vcaa, 2013, pp. 10, 13, 16). more specific reference to government and law-making occurs at levels 9 and 10 (ages 14 and 15). here, students learn about “the division of federal and state powers”. debates over “the inclusion of a bill of rights in the australian constitution” and 110 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. “aboriginal and torres strait islander (atsi) recognition in the australian constitution” are also examined (vcaa, p. 19). thus from levels 3 to 10, students are exposed to the study of law-making by government in a progressively more challenging manner with increasingly sophisticated concepts and issues being introduced at the higher levels. very little mention is made of law and public administration in the civics and citizenship component of ausvels. indeed, it is only referred to once. this happens at levels 5 and 6 where the role of the police is studied. no mention is made anywhere of prisons or correctional services; and international law and human rights law is not mentioned. . clearly, there is much more scope for coverage of lawrelated aspects of public administration at the various levels. coverage of the judicial system in the civics and citizenship strand of ausvels is fair. it is not included at all in levels 3 and 4 though it could be argued that some study of it at a very basic level is feasible. at levels 5 and 6, students learn about judicial independence. at levels 7 and 8, a vague reference is made to “develop(ing) understanding of aspects of .... the courts” (vcaa, p. 16). levels 9 and 10 are more focused as here students examine “state and commonwealth courts and the high court of australia” and look at key court cases such as mabo (native title) and the franklin dam (international obligation to protect the environment). thus, by the end of year 10, students will have been given an overview of various australian courts, learned about their independent nature, and studied some landmark judicial cases. it is only at levels 9 and 10 that students learn about the judicial system in any great depth. senior secondary school legal studies (ls) courses are available as part of the victorian certificate of education (vce). vce legal studies explicitly “examines the processes of law-making, dispute resolution and the administration of justice in australia” (vcaa, 2010, p.7). the curriculum is divided into four units: criminal law in action, issues in civil law, law-making and resolution and justice. for an optional subject at upper secondary level, ls is reasonably popular. in 2012, ls had a total number of 10,312 students enrolled in unit 1, 9,935 students enrolled in unit 2, 903students enrolled in unit 3 and 8,746 students enrolled in unit 4. taking into account the total number of student enrolments in all units, ls is slightly less popular than business management but significantly more popular than accounting and much more popular than economics. widely perceived as the most difficult of the vce commerce subjects, ls attracts many bright and capable students. many of them wish to study law or other courses with substantial legal content at university. training and support for teachers practising teachers of law topics have different levels of expertise at different year levels. generalist primary school teachers are mostly unlikely to have studied law or legal studies at university. the victorian commercial teachers association (vcta) is the key body representing teachers of senior school legal studies and teachers of junior and middle secondary school commerce, business management, economics and accounting in victoria. the vcta represents a significant number of all teachers who teach civics and citizenship but not all of them. many social education, history and geography teachers who teach civics and citizenship would not belong to the vcta but to their relevant state subject association instead. civics and citizenship, and the law topics contained in it, feature significantly in social education, legal studies and commerce teaching methods in teacher training programmes conducted at victorian universities. however, the focus in these teaching methods is on how to teach civics and citizenship rather than on gaining knowledge of the disciplines underlying it. civics and citizenship content is taught in various undergraduate law and arts subjects, but not all pre-service teachers would have studied these subjects. thus, future teachers are taught how to teach something they are sometimes incorrectly presumed to already know about. 111 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. with regard to resources for teachers, the discovering democracy teaching units, are still available although produced by the now defunct federal department of education, science and training in 1998, provide the most comprehensive coverage of law-related topics in civics and citizenship for teachers of years 3 to 10 students. the laws and rights theme contains units on rules and laws, the law rules (operation of the law), law (sources of law), and human rights. the vcta also provides resources for teachers to improve their knowledge and teaching of lawrelated topics in ‘civics and citizenship’. some of these resources are specifically targeted towards these topics whilst others are generalist in nature. independent schools victoria also provides professional development with some coverage of civics and citizenship. teachers who are members of the vcta can access compak, the online journal of the vcta. compak has a section exclusively for years 7 to 10 commerce teachers and has previously published articles with ideas and materials for teaching law-related topics. it also operates an email discussion group, ‘comchat’, for teachers of years 11 and 12 legal studies, business management, economics and accounting. extending comchat to include years 9 and 10 commerce teachers would enable them to ask questions, participate in discussions and share curriculum resources and teaching strategies. progress towards the ideal of ‘law education for all ’in victoria the australian curriculum improves on ausvels as a curricular vehicle for delivering civics and citizenship education. the already quite thoroughly covered legislative aspect of government in ausvels is expanded even more in the australian curriculum. the virtual absence of law and public administration in ausvels is rectified to some degree in the australian curriculum. the reasonable coverage of the judicial system in ausvels becomes more comprehensive in the australian curriculum. pleasingly, law education within civics and citizenship at years 9 and 10 levels of the australian curriculum focuses on law both within and outside australia. as well as learning about australia’s courts, students examine australia’s international legal obligations. law education in civics and citizenship at these levels also covers mainstream australian as well as indigenous law with students learning about both “legal governance and customary law” (acara, 2013, p.12). vce legal studies will be unaffected by the new australian curriculum, impacting as it does only the primary and lower secondary levels. those who only teach vce legal studies may be happy with the fact that curriculum change is aimed at more junior year levels and therefore does not entail extra work on their part. however, whether reformed middle secondary school law topics provide a smooth transition into unreformed vce legal studies units remains to be seen. pakistan pakistan is an islamic republic and all laws need to be consistent with islamic (sharia) law. an objectives resolution was passed in 1949 which provided a framework to formulate the constitution of pakistan according to islamic principles. 1 the current constitution came into being in 1973 and refers to various civil and political rights including the right to education. 1 the issue of the sharia is a very delicate one but in pakistan, polls indicate that most people want the sharia to form the basis of the national legal system. the sharia represents the values and norms that most people there abide by. all laws passed in pakistan have to 'be consistent with' the sharia but this does not mean that they have to ignore contemporary circumstances. the people of pakistan in exercising their self-determination have opted for a legal system in which the sharia is a focal point. this does not mean they are subjected to ‘extreme’ forms of punishment, but aim to correct. 112 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. the provision of school education to the masses is a provincial responsibility; however, the federal ministry of education (fmoe) formulates educational policies and provides guidelines to maintain educational standards. hence, the various public and private actors that animate school education in pakistan abide by the principal objectives underlying education at all levels – national integration and preservation of the national ideology. the ministry supervises curricula and textbooks through the national bureau of curriculum and textbooks (nbct). the nbct conceives and drafts objectives for each of the subjects and circulates these to provincial education authorities who translate them into specific teaching objectives. every province has a provincial curriculum centre for ensuring provincial collaboration by engagement in all activities falling within the purview of the federation. the respective provinces bodies have their own provincial textbook boards (pttbs) responsible for preparation, publishing, stocking, distribution and marketing of the textbooks. fmoe provides guidelines whereas the provincial authorities select the actual contents for the teaching of law at different levels of school education. the teaching of and/or about law at school level is intended to be one of the transformational steps towards the establishment of an informed democratic society in pakistan (dean, 2007; government of pakistan, 2009). the teaching of law at school level being integrated with civics and social studies, its objectives can be derived from the curricula for those subjects and associated documents such as the national education policy 2009, pakistan in the 21st century: vision 2030, and the national curriculum objectives 2002. these curricular statements underpin textbooks for civics and social studies prepared and/or recommended by the punjab textbook board and agha khan university examination board. the basic purpose of teaching law at primary and lower secondary level is to create awareness about legally binding rules and regulations and their benefits to individuals and society. it also aims at developing democratic thinking and attitudes among students for making pakistan a vibrant and progressive country in the 21st century. students are prepared for coping with their civic needs by inculcating democratic thinking among them. in pakistan, teaching about the law is considered necessary for development and importance is given to it and its teaching from early years of schooling. teaching of law promotes civic sense among school students to become responsible citizens. they become aware of human rights to observe in their personal lives – living and letting the other live peacefully (punjab textbook board, 2013; government of pakistan, 2007; government of pakistan, 2002; aga khan university, 2009). law in the current pakistani school curriculum law concepts and topics are embedded in the subjects of general knowledge (grades 1 to 3), social studies (grades 4 to 8), pakistan studies and civics (grades 9 to 12), and history of pakistan (grades 11 and 12). some topics which reflect the nature and significance of law are also embedded in the subjects of english, urdu, islamic studies (islamyat) and ethics (for non-muslim students). social studies and civics are optional subjects for students of the ‘arts group’ from grade 9 up, but students of the ‘science group’ do not opt for these subjects at all. basic concepts of law are taught to primary school children through activities aligned with daily life such as games, following traffic rules, and living with other people in society. these aim at making even very young children capable of identifying rules and recognising the importance of following them. the general knowledge textbook for grade 2 demonstrates examples of good character, respecting others and being just to one another with the objectives of promoting qualities of a good citizen among them. the concept of governance is explained through examples of home and school. the concepts of law and justice are demonstrated in the grade 3 general knowledge textbook by means of a chapter called “working out disagreements” that emphasises following the rules for conflict resolution to live peacefully and letting others live their lives likewise. 113 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. teaching about law at grade 4 level is integrated with the subject of social studies for developing understanding of and/or about society, democracy, law, government and the constitution. it charts out the functions of law and the role of a judge in both civil and criminal matters. role play is recommended as a teaching method. in grade 5 social studies, constitutional development and the law-making process are included in the textbook. it aims at making learners aware of the basis of pakistani law and its history, enables them to identify the steps in the law-making process, and the relationship between different courts, including the authority of the supreme court. there is a focus on key developmental events since the emergence of pakistan as a nation from the first constitutional assembly of 1947 to the constitutions of pakistan of 1956, 1962 and 1973. as martial law has been proclaimed and enforced from time to time, the martial laws of 1958, 1977 and 1999 are briefly presented in order to help students appreciate the difference between martial law and democratically-made law. in the chapter “government – leader, community and citizen”, the functions of the federal and the provincial governments, and the workings of parliament provide students with an insight into the political system of the country. the election process for the president and the prime minister is presented, with their constitutional responsibilities. moreover, the judicial structure – the district and session court, high court, supreme court and supreme judicial council – also make an appearance in the textbook. law appears again as a topic in grade 8 with a focus on developing understanding about constitutional institutions and the process of law-making including constitutional development in pakistan. the court system is explained from the supreme court, federal sharia court and high court down to the subordinate courts such as the criminal courts, civil courts and family courts. constitutional tribunals are also included. students are introduced to the united nations – the general assembly and the security council, and its agencies the international court of justice, economic and social council, trusteeship council, unicef, unesco,who, fao, ilo and the world bank. the subject of civics in grades 9 and 10 elaborates on political and constitutional processes in pakistan. topics covered include duties of the state and the nature of the islamic state which includes commitment to the welfare of citizens, ensuring justice and the rule of law without any discrimination, guaranteeing basic rights including safety and security, food and education to all individuals, and providing equal opportunities to all citizens according to their capacities and abilities. attention at this level returns to the theme of constitutional development in pakistan including the national ideology and the various constitutions pakistan has had. under “functions of government” are presented legislation, law-making and the constitutional amendment processes. this section also charts out the judiciary and functions of the judicial system including the dispensing of justice, the interpretation of the constitution, interpretation of law and the role of precedent, and judicial review. other themes include forms and roles of government (including local), and good governance from an islamic perspective; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens (social, political, legal and moral rights) in the light of the various constitutions.. secondary school students are also taught law in pakistan studies including the consolidation of the pakistani state and search for a constitution since1947, the enforcement of martial law and the legal framework order, and the muslim family laws ordinance 1961 with an emphasis on women’s rights as pertaining to marriage and divorce, succession and inheritance. it generates awareness particularly among female students about their legal rights as a family member – daughter, sister, mother and wife. 114 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. training and support for teachers competent teachers are required for social transformation through education. general knowledge, social studies and civics teachers are charged with teaching school students about the law. these teachers have usually qualified with a bachelor’s or master’s degree with majors in arts or humanities along with a certificate, diploma or degree in education. in practice, ‘lecturing’ is a main vehicle of instructional delivery in pakistani classrooms. generally, teachers directly teach from the textbook. so-called ‘helping books’ or students’ guides are also used for the teaching of social studies and civics in schools. students are expected to memorise content in the form of answers to questions given at the end of each chapter as ‘exercises’. they are prepared to reproduce memorised content in the examination in order to attain higher scores. teaching of law is a specialised task but teachers who are currently imparting law education in schools do not have any pre-service grounding in the teaching of law. refresher courses and workshops are organised for general and subject-specific further training of school teachers by various provincial bodies including provincial institutes for teacher education (pites). the general inservice training workshops usually target significant themes such as population education, traffic education, citizenship education, women’s rights, and awareness about child labour. subject-specific in-service training aims at refreshing the contents and inculcating pedagogical skills among teachers. however, english and science subjects are targeted more than social sciences or arts/humanities by in-service training workshops. there is a need for a greater focus on topics related to law. progress towards the ideal of ‘law education for all’ in pakistan law education for all has become imperative in pakistan for ensuring human rights. it needs to be disseminated from basic to higher levels of education. formally, it can be imparted through curricula and school instruction while informal education channels involve the media and information technology. being citizens of pakistan, all students have their rights and responsibilities but very few school students have much information about their rights. pakistan as a signatory of the un declaration of human rights needs to guarantee those rights for its citizens. and yet, basic human rights are constantly encroached upon through practices such as child labour and violence against women. human rights are seldom discussed in classrooms with students. at this point in time, although the education system needs to play a leadership role in society, it seems to be lagging behind society as a whole. reform is needed in school curricula and pedagogy. as noted earlier, the didactic, textbookbased, memorisation-intensive style of instruction that characterises teaching in pakistan militates strongly against a more open, inclusive approach to the teaching of law (or any other) topics. the teaching of law to all in pakistani schools seems to be in its nascent stage and innovative steps need to be taken by government and non-government agencies. the challenge of ‘law education for all’ both australian and pakistani education authorities recognise the importance of teaching all school students about the law. common curricular themes include the system of governance, the processes by which laws come about, the courts, citizens’ obligations and rights, and aspects of international law. in australia, upper secondary students have the option of legal studies as an examinable subject. the focus of this paper is, however, on ‘law education for all’ during the basic education cycle (primary and lower secondary). as noted in the introduction, a major stumbling block to the effective teaching of law at the lower levels is teacher competence. the issue is not whether teachers are qualified to teach as such, or 115 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. even whether they are qualified to teach civics or social studies; out-of-field teaching is a universal problem particularly in multidisciplinary fields such as social studies where even fully qualified teachers may find themselves having to deliver specific material with which they are not familiar (ingersoll, 2001, 2003). university law courses seldom appear on the transcripts of primary and junior secondary teaching graduates, and teacher preparation courses tend to emphasise teaching methodology rather than academic content. but teachers need adequate subject-matter knowledge to effectively deliver the curriculum together with the requisite pedagogical skills (ingvarson and rowe 2008). in the absence of this background knowledge, teachers tend to be tied to the textbook (russell and mcpherson 2001) – evidently very much the situation in pakistan. teachers who are confined to the content of the textbook are moreover unlikely to engage in open discussion in their classrooms – essential aspects of teaching young people about democracy and rights. there is clearly a need for teacher pre-service programmes to ensure that teachers who may be teaching school students about the law ‘know their stuff’. as recently argued by vlaardingerbroek (2014), legal savvy is fast becoming a ‘must’ for all teachers in the light of their increasing exposure to the risk of litigation for breaches of the duty of care. the role of legal education in pre-service teacher education is set to increase, and this may necessitate higher levels of collaboration between faculties/schools of law and education. one of the forms this could take could be joint courses in law for student teachers whose professional portfolios will include subjects that contain law-related topics. what is more urgently needed is in-service continuing professional development (cpd) for teachers who are already in the system and teaching law-related topics. effective cpd – that which leads to permanent changes in teacher practice – involves sustained, subject-specific, classroom practiceoriented, collaborative cpd programmes, with inputs from external expertise, that are based on the learning needs of both teachers and students (whitehouse, 2011). this formula demands full commitment from education authorities backed by an adequate supply of the necessary resources. additional teaching resources can be valuable, but are effective only when teachers have been rendered both competent and confident through the upgrading of their own knowledge base. professional associations also can play a leading role in the implementation and enabling process, as the victorian case demonstrates. ‘law education for all’ through the national school system is a major undertaking for any society, whatever its development status. it requires a concerted effort on the part of government authorities, curriculum developers, university and college teacher pre-service and in-service education and training providers, and professional bodies including teacher associations. if the promise of a law-cognisant populace is kept, the returns will make the investment worthwhile. acknowledgments: our thanks to dr libby tudball, senior lecturer, faculty of education, monash university, clayton campus, for information about teacher pre-service programmes. references acara 2012. civics and citizenship draft shape paper. sydney: acara. acara 2013. draft years 3 – 10 australian curriculum: civics and citizenship. sydney: acara. aga khan university (2009). higher secondary school certificate examination syllabus civics classes xi-xii (based on national curriculum 2002). karachi, aga khan university examination board. dean, b. l. (2007). the state of civic education in pakistan. research report submitted to civil society programme, aga khan foundation (pakistan). department for education (schools). 2013. citizenship education. retrieved from http://www.educ.govt.uk/schools. 116 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 http://www.educ.govt.uk/schools journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 109-117. government of pakistan (2002). national curriculum; civics elective grade 9 & 10. islamabad, ministry of education (curriculum wing). government of pakistan (2007). pakistan in the 21st century: vision 2030, islamabad: planning commission. government of pakistan (2009).national education policy 2009.islamabad; ministry of education. ingersoll, r.m. 2001.the realities of out-of-field teaching.educational leadership 58(8), 42-45. ingersoll, r.m. 2003.out-of-field teaching and the limits of teacher policy. university of washington: center for the study of teaching and policy. ingvarson, l., rowe, k. 2008. conceptualising and evaluating teacher quality: substantive and methodological issues. australian journal of education 52(1), 5-35. russell, t. & mcpherson, s. 2001. indicators of success in teacher education. 2001 pan-canadian research agenda symposium – teacher education/educatortraining: current trends and future directions. retrieved from: http://www.cesc.ca/pceradocs/2001/papers/01russell_mcpherson_e.pdf torney-purta, j., oswald, h., schultz, w. 2001.citizenship and education in twenty-eight countries. amsterdam: international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea). vcaa 2010. legal studies victorian certificate of education study design. melbourne: vcaa. vcaa 2013. the ausvels curriculum. melbourne: vcaa. vlaardingerbroek, b. (2014). “can i be sued for my students flunking?” teachers’ duty of care and the role of professional standards. australian educational leader 36(3), 47-50. whitehouse, c. 2011. effective continuing professional development for teachers. aqa: centre for educational research and policy. 117 | p a g e corresponding author email: bv00@aub.edu.lb ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 http://www.cesc.ca/pceradocs/2001/papers/01russell_mcpherson_e.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: in the first article in this issue exploring the relationship between constructivist learning environments, attitudes, academic delay of gratification, and teaching efficacy beliefs in a social studies teaching course, şahin dündar from trakya university, turkey demonstrated that perceived constructivist learning environments in a social studies teaching course positively and significantly predicted the preservice elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward the course, their academic delay of gratification in the course, and their social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. thus, the author concluded if teacher trainers want future elementary school teachers to develop positive attitudes toward social studies teaching courses, to give priority to academic work, and to promote social studies teaching efficacy, they should design their teaching courses in line with the constructivist approach. in philosophy for children: a deliberative pedagogy for teaching social studies in japan and the usa, amber strong makaiau from university of hawaii at manoa and noboru tanaka from gifu university examined the impact of philosophy for children hawai'i (p4chi) on social studies teaching and learning in two countries. the authors framed their study by explaining the connection between deliberative pedagogy, p4chi, and contemporary social studies movements in japan and the united states. they also explored the potential role that the p4chi approach to deliberative pedagogy can play in promoting democratic global citizens in diverse national contexts. high school study abroad: what do world history students really learn? by carmen newstreet from university of dallas and jacqueline rackar from broward county public schools details how a large, urban, public high school implemented a study abroad program to enrich its advanced placement world history course. the study demonstrates that study abroad, as a global education enrichment, extended comprehension and enriched classroom learning and could be integrated into many disciplines. matthew s. hollstein from kent state university presented two case studies from korea, one of a classroom teacher and the other of a teacher educator. in the article social studies in south korea: examining teacher and teacher educator’s views, hollstein provided a thorough evaluation of the history, purpose, and trajectory of social studies and geography education. the detailed examination of the two case studies from korea raises the question of whether or not the united states should undergo a cultural shift with respect to the value of education. mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 1-2 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 who is responsible for educating good citizens? the purpose of the study conducted by mulugeta yayeh worku from bahir dar university in ethiopia was to understand the perceptions of ethiopian students and school practitioners as to whose responsibility it is to foster good citizenship. the results demonstrated that there has been much reliance on schools and teachers for the preparation of good citizenship. overall, however, the perception of ethiopian students and educators as to who is responsible for educating good citizens was found to be narrow, incomplete, and unsatisfactory. michelle dawn cude from james madison university and florence kisirkoi from maasai mara university in kenya investigated whether one class on transformative teacher education could make a difference in training future teachers. in the article transformation through teacher education: a case study of one social studies/history methods course in kenya, cude and kisirkoi described the experience of one teacher educator from the us seeking to bring change and support new pedagogical ideologies in kenya. the study concludes that change can occur through one single course but the revolutionary nature of this change of teaching style would benefit from multiple exposures in multiple contexts in order to increase the sustainability of the change. in their essay slaying the dragon: junior model united nations curriculum designing for middle school teacher candidates, juan manuel walker, stacie k pettit, craig douglas albert, and laura rychly from augusta university demonstrated that there is a need to re-imagine teacher candidates as curriculum makers in order to inspire future teachers to become agents of change. to have positive effects, teachers need to think of curriculum not as fixed but as dynamic in a way that is fundamental to student learning. the second essay banal and fetishized evil: implicating ordinary folk in genocide education by cathryn van kessel from university of alberta addresses the problems of holocaust and genocide education that would benefit from a renewed focus on how ordinary people perpetuate atrocities more so than villains. van kessel asserted that fetishization of evil has repercussions for how we might teach about atrocities and offered three interrelated strategies: teaching arendt’s “banality of evil” theory and ernest becker’s idea of the fetishization of evil in tandem, teaching disobedience, and expanding fetishized perceptions. readers will also enjoy jing williams’ (university of south dakota) review of the newly published book by tony fuss kirkwood-tucker the global education movement: narratives of distinguished global educators. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 162-164 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 162-164 corresponding author email: heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 162 review e.d. stevick and z. gross (eds.) (2015). as the witnesses fall silent: 21st century holocaust education in curriculum, policy and practice. switzerland: springer international publishing. examining approaches to the holocaust in curriculum, policy and practice. heather sharp, phd heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au “whatever the new century holds in store, and we desperately want to have hope for the new century and its new generation, auschwitz will continue to force men to explore the deepest recesses of his and her being so as to confront their fragile truth.” (elie wiesel, p. 24) including the famous german parliament address by elie wiesel in 2000, the collection of essays found in this book provides insights into the way the holocaust is taught, the way it is included in the curriculum, and policy practices surrounding it in contemporary society. thus, “as the witnesses fall silent: 21st century holocaust education in curriculum, policy and practice” provides readers with knowledge to approach this very important topic in education settings. the holocaust, that occurred under the authority of the nazi regime, continues to be one of the most (if not the most) terrifying episodes in modern human history. some 70 years after the liberation of auschwitz, that enduring symbol of humankind’s inhumanity to itself, it still resonates with students, educators, historians, politicians, the public in general. trials are still being held to prosecute alleged perpetrators of war crimes during the nazi era. for example, the ‘bookkeeper’ of auschwitz, now-94 year old oskar groening has recently been sentenced to four years’ jail for facilitating mass murder. what is it about the holocaust that captivates people, even “as the witnesses fall silent” in a way that other human atrocities have not? perhaps it is, as asserted by rosengarten in his chapter “why does the way of the wicked prosper?: teaching the holocaust in the land of jim crow”, a way for jewish people to “…remember the holocaust and teach it as a way to defend our [jewish] humanity and to give the gift of vigilance to a conflict-ridden world” (p. 49) that makes the atrocities of the third reich a topic that resonates with many people even now. or, perhaps this period of history is filled with such trauma, violence, violations of human rights, and catastrophes that it necessitates remembering and being taught to current generations of students. the importance of textbooks as texts that represent the past in particular ways is incorporated in this book, with an important chapter included from the internationally recognised textbook research institution, the georg eckert institut, coauthored by peter carrier, eckhardt fuchs and torben messinger. in this chapter, an analysis takes place of how the holocaust is represented in nations from every continent and region in the world and what types of references textbooks from these nations include. this provides a fascinating insight into the state of contemporary history curricula, mailto:heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au mailto:heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 162-164 corresponding author email: heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 163 on a global scale, and reinforces the importance placed on this topic by governments and education authorities from a range of political persuasions. what is interesting about their findings, as reported in this chapter, is how the holocaust is named in the textbooks (as reflections of the official knowledge of the curriculum for each nation), and how this might reflect contemporary relationships between the nation any particular textbook originates towards the governments of israel, germany, europe in general. in a section of the chapter titled, interpretive paradigms, the reader is introduced to various terms used to name the topic most commonly referred to as the holocaust (in western liberal democracies, in any case). for example, the textbooks of some nations avoid the term holocaust, instead “…the holocaust is not named, or is alluded to euphemistically as ‘driving out the jews’” (p. 256) as is the case in an indian textbook. sensitivities surrounding the very real trauma jewish people, and other groups such as gypsies, homosexuals, political and religious beliefs considered dangerous to the nazi mentality need to be applied when discussing the holocaust. with its mixture of eye witness accounts, ethnographic approach, action research, document analysis, and considered, scholarly approach this book achieves this demonstrating empathy to victims of the holocaust and providing advice (even if not explicit) to educators on how to sensitively approach this topic, applying historical principles. like all topics associated with human trauma, the holocaust is one that needs to be treated with sensitivity and accuracy by educators, regardless of whether they are teaching primary school, high school, college/university, or teaching within the field of memorial education. this book provides practical advice on how this topic can be approached, in a range of contexts, by educators from a range of backgrounds. for example, in this book, there are authors writing about educational experiences from the us, germany, australia, scotland, israel, latvia, estonia, and other european countries. thus, a comprehensive understanding of ways in which educators, from across the globe, can approach the teaching of the holocaust, can be found within its pages. in a review, it is impossible to comprehensively deal with each and every separate chapter; however combined, they all provide an insight in to the way the holocaust is being taught across a range of contexts. the 512 page book is divided into seven parts, consisting of: introduction; framing the issues for a new millennium; reckoning with the holocaust in israel, germany and poland; holocaust education in diverse classrooms; international dynamics, global trends and comparative research in holocaust education; holocaust education in national and regional contexts; and to know, to remember, to act. these parts indicate the breadth of the book in its attempt to examine holocaust education in, as the title indicates, curriculum, policy and practice; an aim it achieves very well. edited by scholars zehavit gross and e. doyle stevik with support from the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) and the international bureau of education, this springer publication is a valuable handbook for educators (whether school, tertiary, community, public memorial, or museum) to consider as a resource when approaching this topic. it offers a range of perspectives and a range of approaches to consider when teaching about the holocaust. while not suggesting that the experiences of the holocaust should, or even can, be essentialised to cross other examples of human suffering and trauma as it exists in both history and lived memory, it would be of benefit to educators to have a second volume of this superb book that mailto:heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 162-164 corresponding author email: heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 164 applies the same methodologies, empathetic understandings, pedagogical approaches, and analysis to other topics and events associated with gross acts of human rights violence and mass trauma so that educators have a comprehensive handbook on how to teach complex historical topics. mailto:heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. digital bridges for global awareness: pre-service social studies teachers’ experiences using technology to learn from and teach students in thailand brad m. maguth the university of akron __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: in order to ensure teachers are willing and ready to promote global perspectives in their classrooms, pre-service social studies teachers must know how to teach about the world, its people, and issues (merryfield, 2000). this manuscript describes a qualitative research study that undertook an 8 month qualitative investigation at a large midwestern university into secondary social studies methods students’ perceptions of participating in a digitally mediated global learning project with secondary students in thailand. methods students participated in weekly correspondences and learning activities with thai students that aimed to advance cross-cultural understandings and global learning. findings reveal that methods students believed their participation in this project served as an authentic opportunity to learn and apply best practices in teaching and learning, in particular, in social studies and global education, and that their participation in this project was beneficial as it provided a necessary concrete example to build from in planning and implementing their own digitally mediated global learning project. finally, implications of these findings and future lines of inquiry are discussed. key words: global education, social studies methods, pre-service teachers, technology __________________________________________________________________________________ as globalization influences the economic, political, environmental, and socio-cultural realities of citizens, there is a growing need to better equip social studies teachers and their students for an increasingly multicultural and global age (maira, 2004; reimers, 2006). drawing on the importance of schools as institutions to prepare engaged citizens, the noted american philosopher john dewey (1900, p. 16) stated, “the world without its relationship to human activity is less than a world.” in order to effectively prepare citizens for active participation in a global community, schools have an obligation to help students understand how they are connected to citizens, businesses, organizations, issues, histories, and movements around the world. this includes teaching students how to best learn about and reach across cultural differences and geographic boundaries to confront the serious global ecological, economic, political, and social issues of our day. to remedy the need for attuned global citizens, the national council for the social studies’ position statement on global education (2001) encourages social studies teachers to help students, “develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed for responsible participation in a democratic society and in a global community in the twenty-first century” (p. 1). to gain this global perspective, students must see the earth as a finite system whose people share a common fate, while acknowledging the cultural diversity, multiple perspectives, and unequal access to resources that define our planet (kirkwood-tucker, 2003; gaudelli, 2003). in all respects, citizens today, whether they acknowledge it corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. or not, are deeply influenced by actions and inactions of other citizens around the world (pike & selby, 2000). pre-service social studies teacher education programs are at the forefront of equipping teachers with best practices and resources to engage students (adler, 1991). in order to ensure teachers are willing and ready to promote a global perspective in their classrooms, pre-service social studies teachers must be prepared to discuss issues of culture and global interconnectedness in their classroom (merryfield, 2002). there has been a call for social studies teachers in many countries around the world to be prepared to teach about global cultures, issues, and perspectives to advance national interests (pike, 2000; tye & kiep, 1991; kasai; 2007). social studies methods courses serve as laboratories whereby teacher candidates can experiment with instructional methods and approaches (adler, 1991). as social studies teachers are prepared with the global literacies and understandings necessary in today’s age, they will be better situated to promote a global perspective amongst their students (merryfield, 2000). with citizenship education being at the heart of the social studies, informed 21st century citizenship demands that u.s. citizens understand how regions and people from around the world are connected economically, environmentally, politically, and socially. in many ways, what u.s. citizens, its government, and businesses do and do not do matter to the rest of the world. this includes the united state having over 600 military bases in over 130 nations (“ron paul says,” 2011), providing 49% of all world food aid (world food programme, 2006), being the world’s largest exporter of commercial services, and the second largest exporter for merchandise (u.s. department of commerce, international trade administration, 2012), and it having the largest co2 emissions per capita in the world (olivier, janssens-maenhout, muntean, & peters, 2013). because u.s. policies and actions having a profound impact on the rest of the world, u.s. citizens need to know how global issues, people, businesses, and movements impact the u.s. nuclear proliferation, war, terrorism, poverty, and climate change are all issues that cannot be remedied by one country acting alone, but jeopardizes the health and safety of all u.s. citizens. these significant global issues can only be overcome through meaningful global dialogue, mutual understanding, and action. in many ways, products, people, and policies from outside of the united states continue to shape life inside the united states. american consumers are becoming ever more dependent upon world trade and imports. for example, there is a growing u.s. demand for foreign automobiles (think south korea and hyundai and kia), european music (think one direction and adele) and international foods (think columbian coffee and flowers). furthermore, a growing number of immigrants, international university students, and foreign tourists are coming into the united states, making the united states an increasingly diverse country, both culturally and linguistically. as the distance between societies, schools, and households from around the world allows quicker and more efficient access to technology, this same use of technology can be an essential tool in preparing pre-service social studies teachers for a global and diverse age (maguth, 2013). corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. this manuscript describes a qualitative research study that undertook an 8 month qualitative investigation into pre-service social studies teachers’ perceptions of participating in a digitally mediated global learning project with students in thailand. inspired by the mantra “being the change you wish to see,” and using the 2012 college university faculty assembly (cufa) annual conference as an incubator, i decided to plan a research study that allowed u.s. pre-service social studies candidates to learn from and teach students in thailand. in particular, i set out to better understand: • in what ways does their participation in a digitally mediated global learning project shape teacher candidates’ perceptions towards teaching the social studies? • and, in what ways does their participation in a digitally mediated global learning project complicate and mediate their desire and ability to plan and enact such projects in the future? in the sections that follow, i discuss the theoretical perspectives and literature that shaped this collaboration, the design and implementation of this digitally mediated global learning project, and i provide an overview of research findings and implications that emerged from research on this project. theoretical framework and overview of literature in thinking about ways in which i could design and research a digitally mediated global learning experience for students, i pulled from research and literature in two areas: global education and the use of technology within global education. insights gained from my review of the literature in these areas were integral to the overall project and research design. thirteen years into the 21st century social studies teachers and teacher educators are still struggling to infuse global education into their curriculum. a lack of “curricular space,” teacher professional development, limited student background knowledge, controversy over highlighting global perspectives, instead of a u.s. perspective on issues, and inadequate instructional resources and strategies have all been reasons educators offer that prevent them from integrating global perspectives (metzger, 1988). while some states have enacted policies placing greater emphasis on pk-12 global education curricula (marzo, 2005), significant hurdles still remain in the preparation of teachers and students for an increasingly global and technological age. while many challenges exist, teacher preparation programs serve as a significant venue for future teachers to learn the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required of their students in a globally interconnected age (kelley, 2004). however, despite the insistent calls, research continues to indicate that u.s. pre-service and in-service teacher education programs are doing very little to prepare social studies teachers to teach about the world, its issues, and people (mansilla & gardner, 2007; merryfield, 2000; okpokodu, 2010: tye & tye, 1992). upon reviewing 15 different popularly adopted textbooks used in u.s. social studies methods courses, okpokodu (2010) found that absent in all of these books were discussions of global pedagogy and perspectives, and only one referenced corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. germane issues in social studies in a global context. much in line with zong’s (2009) findings, the u.s. social studies teachers i have worked with, while perceiving their value, often feel underprepared and overwhelmed in planning lessons and activities that advance global perspectives. in social studies, pre-service training programs—especially, content area methods courses—are significant in readying competent and confident teachers (adler, 1991). knowing that many teachers and schools struggle to prepare the global citizens that our society, communities, and world need, i set out to use my pre-service methods courses as a learning laboratory whereby teacher candidates could feel safe experimenting with and learning how to integrate technology to teach for global awareness. teacher education and global citizenship education in readying citizens for membership in a global and multicultural society, teachers are charged with the responsibility of fostering the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for “good” global citizenship. merry merryfield (2002), a leading international figure in global education, defines a global educator as, “those teachers whose students learn global perspectives on equity, diversity, and interconnectedness” (p. 18). teachers that infuse a global perspective in their classrooms move students to confront injustices and discrimination. toni kirkwood-tucker (2003), states that global educators help instill, “attitudes, values, knowledge, and skills that are necessary for students to become competent, responsible, participatory, and compassionate citizens of their community, state, nation, and world” (p. 93). educators that undertake the challenge of readying students for democratic citizenship in a global and complex age help prepare their students to work with a diverse citizenry committed to a deeper level of understanding in order to confront both local and global challenges. global educators promote essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes amongst their students in order to improve their local and global condition. pike and selby (2000) describe how students that gain a global perspective commit to the principle of “one world in which the interests of particular societies and nations are viewed in light of the overall needs of the planet” (p. 140). students come to view their dependence on the planet’s resources as a unifier between different cultures and states. infusing a global perspective in the classroom helps geographically distant and culturally diverse students work together in sustaining our planet by encouraging students to understand how nations around the world are mutually dependent upon the earth’s limited resources. climate change, deforestation, and even international trade are issues that allow educators to depict how consumption and actions in one area of the world influences the whole global system. robert hanvey (1976) calls this process, “state of the planet awareness” whereby students gain “an awareness of prevailing world conditions and development, including emergent conditions and trends, e.g. population growth, migration, economic conditions, resources and physical environment, political developments, science and technology, law, health, inter-nation and intranation conflicts, etc.” (p. 7). through global education, citizens learn about the world’s cultural, corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. economic, and geographic diversity. furthermore, the mutual human dependence on a healthy, peaceful, and just planet is reaffirmed. teacher educators have urgently been called to prepare pk-12 teachers that are able to infuse global perspectives in their teaching. this call has been based on the need for schools to turn out citizens that understand how their economic, political, and environmental choices connect them to the rest of the world. organizations such as the longview foundation, the asia society, the council of chief state school officers (ccsso), the national research council (nrc), and the national council for the social studies (ncss) have long called for adding a global dimension to teacher education (asia society, 2008; ccsso, 2006; longview foundation, 2008; nrc, 2007; ncss, 2001). despite the heavy rhetoric of these organizations, there has been a significant research deficit in understanding the practice of teachers and teacher educators in fostering a global perspective in their classrooms (anderson, bruce, & podemski, 1991; gaudelli, 2003; merryfield, 1997; zong, 2009). as guichun zong (2009) correctly points out in her research, even with weighty calls to better prepare educators to teach with/about a global society, there has been little research and journal space given to the exploration of best practices in teacher education for global citizenship education. this study sought to narrow this research deficit by better understanding how social studies method students’ participation in a digitally mediated global learning project influenced their perceptions towards teaching the social studies, and what, if any, impact does their participation have on their desire and ability to plan and enact such projects in the future. global citizenship, teacher education, and technology as globalization influences the economic, political, environmental, and sociocultural realities of communities, there is a growing need to integrate curriculum and instructional practices that foster informed and engaged citizenscapable of upholding the office of citizen in a global age. as access to technology grows inside and outside of the classroom, the use of computers and the internet by educators and students holds great potential in preparing in-demand global citizens (maguth, 2013). in 2009, over 93 percent of u.s. pk-12 public school teachers reported having at least one computer connected to the internet in their classroom, and teachers reported a 5.3 to 1 ratio of students to computers (u.s. department of education, 2010). outside of having growing access to information communication technologies in the classroom, organizations like the international society for technology in education (iste) have created standards and resources to help support teachers and students in meaningfully integrating technology into the curriculum (iste, 2012). while serious challenges still face teachers and teacher educators in using technology to impart a global perspective (i.e., global digital divide, curricular space, lack of professional training, issues of representation, etc.), new technologies present a unique possibility for teachers and students to reach outside their classrooms and communities to learn about global perspectives, issues, and cultures. furthermore, these possibilities can be imparted to future educators through their teacher preparation programs. corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. research indicates that, when incorporated meaningfully, the integration of technology into the university classroom holds the potential to promote cross-cultural awareness (merryfield, 2000) and global understandings (maguth, 2013). for instance, merryfield (2000) noted that her teacher education students demonstrated cross-cultural competence, appreciation of differences, and global perspectives when interacting online through discussion boards. from beijing to new york, one cannot walk down the street without seeing someone talking, texting, or surfing the internet on their cell phones, laptops, or tablet pcs. because of these technological developments, commerce, transportation, communications, and patterns of information flow have been altered. in the past, personal correspondences could only be relayed through costly telephone services or lengthy lines at neighborhood post offices. new technologies like social networking, video-conferencing, blogs, and e-mail allow for low-cost, instantaneous global communications. individuals can now access news headlines and blogs from around the world. previous generations were dependent upon their physical location in determining opportunities for membership in associations and networks. however, today’s internet user can instantaneously connect with millions of other worldly users in chat rooms, nings, or blogs. these same technologies also afford people from around the world access to new educational opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. for instance, paul kim and fellow researchers at stanford university are employing mobile learning technologies to promote literacy, numeracy, health, human rights, and self-empowerment amongst indigenous children in latin america (kim, 2009). here in the united states, students at the university of southern california in partnership with mtvu, created a narrative-based online simulation whereby “gamers”, from the perspective of a displaced darfurian, negotiate forces that threaten the survival of his or her refugee camp. it offers a glimpse into the horrors faced by more than 2.5 million internally displaced people by the crisis in sudan (darfurisdying.org). the use of the technology, the internet in particular, offers teachers and students opportunities to access a vast number of global perspectives, sources, and people (merryfield, 2000; brooks, 2011; west, 2010; glimps, & ford, 2008). merry merryfield (2000) describes how the use of online threaded discussions fostered a culturally diverse learning community in her class. in an article entitled, using electronic technologies to promote equity and cultural diversity in social studies and global education, merryfield (2000) notes: resistance to engaging in discussions on hard topics [like issues of race, white privilege, power, inequality, homophobia, and prejudice] disappear when i take discussions online. . . . this frankness and open flow of thoughts and experiences is shared equally by teachers from other countries [outside the united states]. (p. 513) the use of an online threaded discussion affords students, especially, international students and students of color, new opportunities in the discussion of culturally sensitive issues. catherine brooks’ (2011) study adds to this finding in that students’ use of technology is a beneficial first step in promoting intercultural conversations and communities. for students unable to travel abroad, corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. web-based technologies can serve as an important tool to, “bring the outside world to campus” (west, 2010). outside of the university setting, there are some pk-12th grade teachers that are harnessing the educative potential of technology to foster global awareness and citizens. maguth & elliott (2008) studied the use of podcasting to foster a global perspective in a high school social studies classroom. in this assignment, students took on global personalities and perspectives to engage in an audio recorded town hall meeting on the merits of global warming. a few months later, maguth, yamaguchi and elliott (2010) discussed the ways in which high school social studies students planned, filmed, and distributed online digital movies geared towards global advocacy. yukhymenko and brown’s (2009) study investigated the use of information-communication technologies by 122 students in ukraine. in this report, the researchers concluded that student access and use of technology holds the potential in facilitating global citizenship. as the digital, global civic commons grows, one must question whether social studies teachers and teacher educators are preparing students to meaningfully harness the use of these technologies to learn and teach about global issues, to help students access and think through multiple perspectives, and to interact with and learn about different cultures. these questions, and my pursuit to better understand their answers, led to the planning, implementation, and research of a digitally mediated global learning project in a social studies methods course. methodology drawing from the theoretical underpinnings presented above, i designed a digitally mediated global learning project that promoted authentic cross-cultural interactions and global understandings. knowing that university social studies methods courses serve as a significant venue for teacher candidates to learn about and experiment with alternative instructional methods and approaches (adler, 1991), i felt this digitally mediated global learning project was well positioned within my course goals. in my syllabus, i state that by the end of this course teacher candidates will: • develop a standards based lesson that provides secondary students with the opportunity to draw from best practices in global education, and learn about global cultures and issues inherent for global citizenship. • become familiar with a variety of instructional strategies advocated in the professional social studies literature, to reflect upon the efficacy of such strategies, and to engage in classroom discussion with colleagues about them. this research study was designed to allow for a focused examination on teacher candidates’ learning in my secondary social studies methods course. knowing that i wanted to situate myself as a participant researcher, i drew heavily from action research scholarship in social studies education when designing and implementing this study (dinkelman, 2000; johnston, 2006; kirkwood-tucker, 2004; vansledright, 2002). my rationale behind using action research was to “shine a light” on an aspect of my teaching practice which may help others in social studies education “to see more corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 48 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. clearly and carefully in order to promote change” (johnston, 2006, p. 57). as a secondary social studies methods professor, i have always been interested in those instructional practices that promote global learning amongst social studies teacher candidates. i have wondered how teacher candidates’ participation in digitally mediated global learning experiences mediates and or complicates their perceptions and abilities towards planning and implementing similar projects in their social studies classrooms. the design and implementation of this research project provided me with an opportunity to explore these questions and to help contribute new knowledge to an important, underdeveloped area of study. in this project, 26 secondary social studies teacher candidates at a large midwestern university were partnered with students in thailand. all teacher candidates enrolled in instructor 1’s methods course provided their informed consent to participate in this study. table 1 shows the u.s. participants in the project. table 1. u.s. participants in the project u.s. midwestern university instructor instructor 1 (researcher 1): is the social studies program coordinator and lead instructor for all secondary social studies methods courses at a large midwestern university. with a research interest in global education and technology, he is consistently looking for ways to open up his methods classroom by having his students use technology to learn about the world, its people, and issues. t students 26 pre-service secondary social studies methods students: all pre-service secondary social studies methods enrolled in instructor 1’s methods course volunteered to participate in this project. this course is taken by students prior to student teaching. purposeful sampling was used to select a teacher at an international secondary school overseas that would be willing to plan and implement a digitally mediated global learning project. at the 2012 annual conference of the international assembly, i located an educator from thailand that expressed interested in helping me recruit a secondary social studies teacher in thailand for this project. a few weeks later, i was introduced via email to a female social studies international school teacher in bangkok, thailand that expressed interest in helping to plan and implement in this global learning project in her classroom. this thai teacher’s students were also included in this study (24 thai 9th graders). data sources in this project, teacher candidates engaged in weekly communications and exchanges (asynchronous and synchronous) with thai students, participated in class discussions and activities on governance, culture and history, and used newly gained cultural learnings to construct lesson plans for thai corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 49 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. students on american imperialism—imperialism defined as the militaristic, economic, political, and cultural influence of the united states on other countries. all pre-service teachers were randomly paired with a thai student. since there were more university students than thai students, some university students doubled-up with thai students. at the beginning of the experience, university students and thai students exchanged biographies using an asynchronous email client (epals). in these biographies, students were asked to describe themselves, their families, their schools, their interests, and what they liked and disliked about their country. students were asked to write to their “epals” once a week on topics such as elections, current events, natural disasters, global/regional conflicts, and current events. at the beginning of the experience, u.s. and thai students constructed a video greeting (posted online using youtube) that introduced all of the participants and showcased each other’s school. at the beginning of the experience, students completed an “anticipation guide.” this guide involved all u.s. university students, as a class, initially identifying what they knew about thailand, and all thai students identified what they knew about the united states. during the project, all students completed a survey on u.s. power and status in the world today. after interacting with and learning about their thai epals, university students were asked to construct a 50-minute lesson plan for implementation in the thai classroom on the topic of u.s. imperialism. in particular, social studies methods students were asked to get thai students thinking about u.s. influence in the modern world (for better and worse). after constructing and submitting their lessons, the thai instructor selected the best lesson for implementation. a 25-minute excerpt from this implemented lesson was videotaped in the thai classroom and shared with the pre-service social studies students. at the end of the experience, u.s. and thai students and instructors came together via skype to reflect on the overall digitally mediated global learning project—thinking through such questions as, “what did you learn?” and “what was your favorite/least favorite part?” and “did your participation in this project make you want to use technology more to learn about the world and its people?” this real-time video conference was planned well in advance, as there is an 11 hour time difference between the schools. research data sources included all student email correspondences, student survey results, student comments from the anticipation guide, student lesson plans, commentaries, and class work. furthermore, a random selection of 6 methods students participated in a 20 minute focus group conversation on their experiences near the end of this project, and all methods students completed an online exit survey. in all, over 834 pages of data were collected over an 8 month span. since data collected rapidly timely and consistent analysis helped sort out significant features for data reduction (miles & huberman, 1984). research findings drawing from the data sources listed above, this study provides insights into the questions, “in what way(s) does the participation of pre-service social studies teachers in a digitally mediated global learning project, during their methods course, shape their perceptions towards teaching the social corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 50 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. studies?” and “in what ways does their participation complicate and mediate their desire and ability to plan and enact such projects in the future?” teacher candidates’ perceptions towards teaching social studies pre-service social studies methods students believed that their participation in this digitally mediated global learning project served as an authentic opportunity to learn the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to good teaching. this includes improved understanding towards classroom assessment, the importance of getting to know individual students and their community, and teacher self-reflection. instead of this project “adding to” an already busy methods course, university students felt as if this project enhanced and complimented core concepts in teaching and learning. this was most evident when reviewing student lesson plans, their commentaries, and during their final focus group interview: when i first heard about the project i was hesitant because i didn’t see how emailing a student in thailand was going to benefit me as a university student studying to be a social studies teacher. however, as we were designing our lesson plan i really found myself pulling from my email conversations with my thai epal. (secondary social studies focus group) so we’re supposed to put together a lesson on u.s. imperialism that your teacher will use in class. any advice for me as i put this together? i know you said you like watching videos and political cartoons but should i know anything else? (secondary social studies e-mail correspondence to thai student) after watching the implementation of our lesson plan on u.s. imperialism, it was obvious that certain parts failed. i just don’t think the students had as much cultural context about the united states as we thought they had. . . . i guess if i had to do it over again i would have added some additional information at the beginning. (secondary social studies student commentary, reflection on lesson plan) in general, methods students commented on how their participation in this project helped them gain important understandings and skills in building a strong rapport with students, understanding the profound role of culture in the learning process, and in teaching reflection and professional growth. social studies teachers are also expected to know about the rest of the world, its people, cultures, and issues (ncss, 2001). however, at the beginning of the project it was clear that both u.s. university students and thai students knew very little about each other’s countries. this was quite evident during the “anticipatory guide” activity where u.s. university students were asked to identify things they knew about thailand. many of their comments were filled with stereotypes and misinformation. for instance, a large number of u.s. university students drew upon knowledge gained through the movie “hangover 2” that portrayed thailand (bangkok in particular) as a wild, party ridden city with a vibrant criminal and sex-trade scene. thai students as well solicited stereotypical responses and commented on how all u.s. citizens are extremely patriotic, prefer fast food, and suffer from high levels of obesity. corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 51 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. figure 1. comments from both sides in the anticipation guide while student knowledge towards the other country was minimal at best, the majority of u.s. and thai students demonstrated a better understanding of the other nation’s history, issues, and culture(s) by the end of the semester. to be a good social studies teacher you need to know about what’s happening in the world. honestly, before this project i knew nothing about thailand. in order to make conversation with my epal, i had to seek out what was happening in the country, its form of government, and its news headlines. i really felt like i learned a lot more through actually talking to someone from the country—way more than just reading out of a textbook or taking a course. (secondary social studies student, focus group) overall, participants felt as if their participation in this digitally mediated global learning project provided them with an authentic learning opportunity to learn and apply those “essentials” in teaching and learning the social studies. some of those essentials noted by participants included both essential pedagogical and social studies specific understandings. important social studies specific understandings noted by methods students included knowing about people and histories outside the united states and of teachers seeking out and accessing multiple perspectives on issues. the area in which this was most noticeable was when students were asked to complete an online survey that identified their views towards the u.s. power and positionality in the world today. after reflecting on thai students’ responses and comments to this survey, u.s. methods students noted that at times they were uncomfortable with the thai students’ perceptions towards the united states and its government. as one social studies methods student commented, “i had no idea that youth overseas saw the united states and its government as greedy and evil.” corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 52 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. figure 2. thai students and u.s. students’ opinions on u.s. power important general pedagogical understandings noted by participants include the importance of strong instructional planning and assessment, the importance in getting to know individual students and their community, and of teacher self-reflection. it should also be noted that during this project, several events occurred that triggered an awareness of how students’ participation in this project provided them with an ideal opportunity to serve as cultural ambassadors for their country. in october 2012, hurricane sandy buried down on the united states and caused horrific damage along the northeastern coastline and great lakes region. after news struck, u.s. students were barraged with emails from sympathetic thai students checking-in on them and their families. i just saw online that you guys were hit with a really bad storm. my family and i are sending our love and support to the people of the united states. when i saw this i immediately thought about you and your family. please let me know if there’s anything i or my classmates can do to help. (thai students’ email to methods student) soon thereafter, u.s. students reciprocated with sympathetic messages and words of support after thailand was hit with significant rainfall and flooding in november. while u.s. students learned a great deal in regards to teaching and learning the social studies, it was also clear that bridges of understanding, friendship, and empathy grew between students of these two countries. this was evident when a secondary thai student sent author 1 an unsolicited email thanking him for helping to organize this opportunity: by participating in this project my view towards americans have changed significantly. most of it changed because of the conversations i had with my epal partner. i learned that not corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 53 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. all of the people there [u.s. citizens] is (sic) racist towards asians and knowing that makes me feel great. to an extent that makes me want to visit the united states and really see for myself how it is there. at the end of the project, 9 out of the 26 social studies methods students planned to continue to communicate with their epals and they had already exchanged personal email addresses to ensure clear lines of communication in the future. desire and ability to plan and enact digitally mediated global learning projects pre-service social studies methods students believed that their participation in this digitally mediated global learning project was beneficial in that it provided a model to build off of when planning their own digitally mediated global learning project. while many methods students understood the importance and theoretical significance of helping students learn about the world in social studies, some had difficulties translating this into concrete authentic global learning opportunities. student participation in this project allowed methods students to tinker with and explore a host of digital tools (i.e., epals, skype, youtube, google drive, etc.) for use in advancing global learning. i had no idea that there was a website where students could view all of the headlines from the major world newspapers. after i learned about this, i went to the bangkok post at least once a week to learn about what was happening. . . . i could see using this website in social studies class. (secondary social studies student, focus group) methods students commented during their reflections and in their exit focus group discussion on how their participation in this digitally mediated global learning project provided them with a “digital toolbox” of resources they could pull from in helping their future students learn about the world, its people, and issues. this digital toolbox included a host of synchronous and asynchronous technologies and platforms that teachers and students can use to advance global learning. instead of the instructor discreetly presenting each tool separately, this project demanded that methods students frequently use and apply all of these tools to participate in the project. instead of relying solely on one website or tool, methods students were exposed to the integration of a variety of tools to communicate and access information. when asked in an exit survey, “based upon your experience participating in this project, how likely are you to plan and implement a digitally based global learning project like this in the future,” 92% of methods students self-identified as “very likely.” one secondary social studies participant noted on an exit survey that: this project was very personal and getting able to know a student in an entirely different area of the world was invaluable. it really helps build a global perspective and had great benefits. i could definitely see myself setting up a pen pal activity like this when teaching social studies in the future. (secondary social studies, exit survey) corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 54 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. overall, methods students appreciated the significant global learning and cultural exchanges that took place through their participation in this project. as one secondary social studies student commented, i believe that this project in methods gave us a safe space to use technology to promote a global perspective. without this experience, we wouldn’t have even known it was possible, as not too many social studies teachers do stuff like this. (secondary social studies, focus group) while this study provided methods students with the opportunity to use a variety of digital tools to promote global communications and interactions, it also provided university students with a venue to discuss and think through the challenges, potential “fixes”, and limitations of their implementing a project like this in area schools. methods students noted that an era of high-stakes tests, a narrow curriculum, and a lack of technological infrastructure would be significant impediments to the implementation of a project like this in pk-12 schools. this provided for meaningful discussions on the standardization movement, the digital divide, and the mounting global learning opportunity gap between schools, students, and communities. methods students were quick to point out the limitations of this project, in that the thai students we collaborated with were students attending an elite international school that in no way represented the bulk or majority of thai people. in many ways, this project entailed one country’s elite talking to another country’s elite concerning the problems of the world. methods students also commented on how our dependence upon english for online communication throughout this project may have impeded or warped communications with thai students. implications and future directions this study found that pre-service social studies methods students believed their participation in this digitally mediated global learning project served as an authentic opportunity in learning the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for good teaching. instead of adding an additional layer to an already busy social studies curriculum, university students noted how their participation in this project provided them with an opportunity to learn and apply those essentials in teaching and learning the social studies. this included both social studies specific understandings and general best practices in instructional design. social studies methods students felt as if they expanded their digital toolbox when looking for instructional resources, websites, and software to promote global learning. overall, this research confirms adler’s (1991) findings that university social studies methods courses are ideal laboratories that allow teacher candidates to experiment with different instructional approaches, methods, and philosophies. this study builds on adler’s finding to include the role of the social studies methods course in serving as a safe and meaningful space for methods students to participate in digitally mediated global learning opportunities. while this study supports the great potential of digital technologies in advancing global learning, i realize that such projects are still the exception rather than the rule in social studies methods courses and in pk-12 social studies education. even though many pre-service teachers acknowledge corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 55 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. their newfound willingness, desire, and ability to integrate digitally mediated global learning projects in their future classrooms, a significant number identified real and perceived challenges in the implementation of these projects. these challenges include a narrowing of the curriculum, the popularity of didactic forms of instruction to yield short term gains on standardized tests, and the lack of technological equipment and support. in this regard, this study supports an emerging body of literature that views the integration of technology in the social studies—and moreover, in global education—as a “sleeping giant” (vanfossen & waterson, 2008; martorella, 1997). more research is needed in regard to ways in which the use of technology in the social studies advances, mediates, and complicates global education. while this research, with all of its limitations, provides additional insights into the use of digitally mediated global learning opportunities in one pre-service social studies methods course, it also raises additional questions. these questions include, “are any of these newly created global partnerships and friendships sustained after this semester, and if so, how does this influence teacher candidates’ perception of teaching the social studies?” i’m also interested in learning if this digitally mediated global learning project was mutually beneficial for u.s. and thai students and instructors. or, did it simply benefit “us” more than “them”? finally, i still cannot help think about if or how preservice social studies students’ participation in this project will influence their instructional attitudes and decisions as it relates to using technology to foster a global perspective. acknowledgements: i would like to thank mr. william mcsuley for feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. references adler, s. 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(1900). the school and society. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. dinkelman, t. (2000). an inquiry into the development of critical reflection in secondary student teachers. teaching and teacher education, 16, 195–222. corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 56 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. gaudelli, b. (2003). world class: teaching and learning in global times. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. glimps, b. j., & ford, t. (2008). using internet technology tools to teach about global diversity. the clearing house, 82(2), 91–95. hanvey, r. (1976). an attainable global perspective. new york, ny: the american forum for global education. international society for technology in education [iste]. (2012). iste standards. retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards johnston, m. 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(2006). citizenship, identity, and education: examining the public purposes of schools in an age of globalization. prospects, 36(3), 275–294. ron paul says u.s. has military personnel in 130 nations and 900 overseas bases. (2011, september 14). retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/truth-ocorresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 58 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 42-59. meter/statements/2011/sep/14/ron-paul/ron-paul-says-us-has-military-personnel-130nation/ tye, k. a., & kiep, w. (1991). global education around the world. educational leadership, 48(47), 47–49. tye, b. b., & tye, k. a. (1992). global education: a study of school change. albany, ny: state university of new york press. u.s. department of commerce, international trade administration. (2012). u.s. trade overview, 2012. retrieved from http://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/build/groups/public/@tg_ian/documents/ webcontent/tg_ian_002065.pdf u.s. department of education. (2010). teachers' use of educational technology in u.s. public schools: 2009. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46 vanfossen, p. j., & waterson, r. (2008). it is just easier to do what you did before?: an update on internet use in secondary social studies classrooms indiana. theory and research in social education, 36(2), 124–152. west, c. (2010). borderless via technology. international educator, 19(2), 25–33. world food programme. (2006, july 20). china emerges as world's third largest food aid donor. retrieved from http://www.wfp.org/node/534 vansledright, b. (2002). in search of america’s past: learning to read history in elementary school. new york: teacher’s college press. yukhymenko, m. a., & brown, s. c. (2009). promoting global citizenship through ict: ukrainian high school students. us-china education review, 6(8), 50–61. zong, g. (2009). developing preservice teacehers' global understanding through computer-mediated communication technology. teaching and teacher education, 25, 617–625. corresponding author email: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 59 theoretical framework and overview of literature teacher education and global citizenship education global citizenship, teacher education, and technology methodology data sources u.s. midwestern university research findings teacher candidates’ perceptions towards teaching social studies desire and ability to plan and enact digitally mediated global learning projects implications and future directions references journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 177 “hard” facts or “soft” opinion? history teachers’ reasoning about historical objectivity gideon boadu university of newcastle, australia abstract: objectivity is a contested issue in history and history education. this study explores history teachers’ conceptions about historical objectivity and whether or not their reasoning resonates with their classroom practices. data was collected through in-depth interviews and lesson observations from 15 public senior high schools in the central region of ghana. data was thematically analyzed, with three themes forming the main lines of argument in this study. findings show that participants recognize historical evidence as important to accessing the past reality and regard the interpretive intervention of historians as useful in the reconstruction of the past. classroom practices reveal minimal attention to the problematization of historical knowledge, as most participants taught history as grand narratives. the study recommends a postmodernist re-orientation of the ghanaian history curriculum and a continuing professional development of history teachers. key words: historical objectivity; historical evidence; teacher reasoning; classroom practice; history teaching introduction there are several ways of conceiving the past reality (ontologies), which determine how historians conceptualize knowledge (epistemology), and their approach to creating knowledge and offering explanations (methodologies) (munslow, 2006). objectivity is one of the many contested issues in history and history education, characterized by several important questions such as: are historical constructions biased or true? can we attribute equal validity to accounts, or are some accounts superior to others? can the past be scientifically studied (newall, 2009)? these philosophical questions are of interest to history teachers as they are to philosophers of history. best practice in history teaching involves encouraging students to progress in their search mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 178 for historical knowledge to enable them to attain understanding of concepts and acquire sophisticated intellectual dispositions (ragland, 2014; wineburg, 2001). while this is an important consideration in history education, reports show that students tend to view history as more informative than investigative, and their approach to the subject has been to acquire knowledge and give what they perceive are the correct answers rather than to create and critique knowledge (foster, 2011; havekes, aardema, & de vries, 2010; samuelsson, 2019). consequently, researchers have made repeated calls for teachers to involve students in activities and processes that allow a more active engagement with history in order for students to understand the complexities and tensions that characterize history as a discipline (e.g., barton, 2011; fordham, 2012; lee, 2005a, 2011; levstik & barton, 2011; wineburg, 2007). since history teachers’ beliefs influence how they teach and shape students’ thinking about history (bennett, 2014; vansledright, 1994; wineburg & wilson, 1991), it is important that their conception of the discipline and its associated contentions, such as the issue of historical objectivity, is given attention in research. a considerable number of studies from western countries have explored history teachers’ epistemic cognition in history. yeager and davis’s (1996) exploratory study revealed that teachers held three different views of history: history as construction, history as entertainment, and history as accuracy. evans (1990, 1994) makes a similar but broader categorization of the profiles of history teachers: storyteller, scientific historian, relativist/reformer, cosmic philosopher, and eclectic. according to evans (1994), storyteller teachers emphasized the details of events using teacher-centered pedagogies; scientific historians drew emphasis on historical explanations, interpretations, and generalizations and employed inquiry activities; relativist/reformers rejected objectivity in history; cosmic philosophers connected one event to another using general laws; and eclectic teachers were indefinite in their descriptions and practices. likewise, vansledright and associates have, in a series of studies, typified teachers’ epistemic beliefs into three categories: copier, subjectivist, and criterialist, with each category reflecting different positions on how teachers conceived the past and history, the role of the historian, and the place of interpretation in history. results showed that copier teachers were naïve realists who considered history as reflecting the past; subjectivists viewed history as reflected through the voice of historians but possessed limited understanding of the relationship between historians and history; and criterialists, on the other hand, conceived of history as the product of the interaction between historians and their object of study (see maggioni, vansledright, & alexander, 2009; vansledright, maggioni, & reddy, 2011; vansledright & reddy, 2014). while these studies and several others are significant (see, e.g., mccrum, 2013; voet & de wever, mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 179 2016), they give limited focus on teachers’ conceptions of the idea of objectivity in history. it appears that no studies have focused exclusively on history teachers’ reasoning about historical objectivity. this study thus contributes to filling a gap in current knowledge and research in history education by examining how history teachers in ghana reason about the idea of historical objectivity and transact their classroom practices. a ghanaian background history is currently taught as an elective subject for general arts students at the senior high school level in ghana. under the current arrangements, students can elect to study history only if they are assigned to study the general arts course. one aim of school history in ghana is to help students to “acquire the skill of gathering and objectively analysing historical data that will enable them interpret the actions and behaviours of the people of ghana from a ghanaian perspective” (ministry of education, 2010, p. ii). this curricular aim suggests that students are to be actively engaged in the doing of history to enable them to make their own judgements and interpretations of historical information. however, history teachers in ghana are mostly under pressure to complete the history curriculum for accountability purposes and, therefore, their perspectives regarding the nature of their subject are often overlooked. for example, debates concerning the influences of postmodernism on school history and students’ learning which gained popularity in the 1990s in australia and other countries (sharp, 2017) appear not to have attracted attention in either academic or public discourses on history in ghana. for various reasons, including the 1987 educational reforms which, among other changes, led to the expunction of history from the primary school curriculum, past and recent studies have focused on the place of history in ghanaian school curricula (see, e.g., adjei & kwarteng, 2017; buah, 2002; dwarko, 2007). hence, little or no evidence exists to show whether ghanaian history teachers problematize historical knowledge, adopt multiple approaches to teach history, or encourage rival perspectives on the content that they teach. even though the postmodern approach to school history is reported to be a challenge and thus unpopular among history educators in some jurisdictions (parkes, 2013; seixas, 2000), evidence is limited in developing countries, including ghana, as to whether teachers enact and transact this approach to history teaching. this study therefore investigates ghanaian history teachers’ conceptions of historical objectivity and whether or not their conceptions align with their classroom practices. the study is situated within the ongoing debates on historical objectivity with a view to adding a ghanaian voice to discussions within the academe. principally, the study seeks to answer this research question: how do ghanaian history teachers reason about historical objectivity and how do their mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 180 classroom practices reflect their reasoning? this research question is addressed through in-depth semi-structured interviews and lesson observations with 24 public school history teachers. the objectivity disquisition the literature on the philosophy of history features long-standing disputes relating to the reality of the past, conceptualization of historical knowledge, and approaches to creating knowledge about the past. historical objectivity, according to walsh (1992), is the most important and baffling topic in the philosophy of history. while it is not possible within the scope of this study to cover every aspect of the contentions surrounding historical objectivity, effort is made to review salient aspects that are sufficient to situate the findings within the ongoing debates. terminologically, historical objectivity is viewed differently (see mandelbaum, 1977), but the central issue is whether our knowledge of history is focused on the object of inquiry or is independent of our assumptions or expectations (newall, 2009). the different perspectives regarding historical objectivity relate to the nature of the past and the roles expected of historians in the reconstruction of the past. nevertheless, the role of historians in their study of the past has been at the center of the debates surrounding historical objectivity. debates about the role of historians in the study of the past have split historians and philosophers of history into positivist and relativist camps. there is a range of positionings within positivism and relativism, but positivist or empiricist historians generally believe in a knowable reality and argue that history aims to record truths about the past (windschuttle, 2000). conversely, the relativist position rejects the claim that history is objective and maintains that historians are at the center of any knowledge claims about the past and that universal theories are undermined when applied to history (black & macraild, 2017; rüsen, 2008; tucker, 2013). the positivists of the 19th century believed in the existence of irrefutable objective facts based on evidence. led by von ranke, positivist historians believed that historical accounts should capture the wider truth in its own terms or take an a posteriori approach by grounding explanation in evidence (boldt, 2007, 2014; munslow, 2006; plumb, 1969). however, postmodernist thinkers questioned the optimism of positivists and argued that it is difficult for historians to recreate the past (anbalakan, 2016). for instance, butterfield (1931), though initially appearing to assume a positivist stance, argued that it is wrong in historical writing “to abstract events from their context and set them up in implied comparison with the present day, and then to pretend that by this ‘the facts’ are being allowed to ‘speak for themselves’” (p. 57). similarly, several seminal historical thinkers and history educators maintained that, unlike the natural sciences, objectivity is difficult mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 181 to achieve in the construction of history, and that grand narratives are unsuited to history teaching in schools (see, e.g., atkinson, 1978; collingwood, 1946; stanford, 1998; white, 1973). even though differences exist in the views of these scholars, some agree that it is possible, in principle, to offer true statements about the past but argue that such possibility is not sufficient to claim objectivity since historians’ personal inclinations cannot be completely bracketed from the accounts they create about the past (atkinson, 1978; walsh, 1992). collingwood (1946) is well noted to have argued that “all history is the history of thought” (p. 214) and that evidence changes with every change in historical methodology. also, every change in the situation of historians brings variation to the manner in which evidence is interpreted (collingwood, 1946). this reflects the perspective theory of historical objectivity which argues that all history is written from a point of view (mccullagh, 2004; walsh, 1992). drawing from the literature, three factors could be said to have characterized the debates on historical objectivity: evidence, selection, and interpretation/explanation. evidence is important in history since historians seek answers to the questions they ask about the past through analysis of evidence (collingwood, 1946; lee, 2005b). however, it is argued that evidence does not necessarily present a recoverable reality and that, like its sources, no history is impartial but is, rather, contested and problematic (black & macraild, 1997, 2017; marwick, 1989). walsh (1992) notes that even though traces of the past offer a working theory of truth in history, such truths do not satisfy all philosophical questions. hence, walsh (1992) maintains that any assertion about the past depends on historians’ decisions about what evidence is available to support such claims. it is likely, however, for new evidence to emerge (carr, 1987; collingwood, 1946). mccullagh (2004) therefore argues that any claim that historians can describe the past in its exactness and complexity, independent of their beliefs and interests, using incomplete evidence, is unfounded. mccullagh (2004) describes such empiricist theory and its attendant correspondence theory of truth as naïve empiricism. mandelbaum (1977) counters this view and argues that even though the background and experience of every researcher affects their work, there is always an independent appeal to the object of inquiry regardless of one’s personal experiences. further, it is argued that since historians build upon each other’s work, their cumulative results could be regarded as objective knowledge, despite the possibility that new evidence might provide a different perspective or overturn what is already known (mandelbaum, 1977; windschuttle, 2000). this view suggests that it is possible to reach objective conclusions by crosschecking and integrating one historian’s account with other existing accounts; however, this raises concerns about the credibility of each account as a standalone inquiry about the past, which complicates the problem of historical objectivity. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 182 issues about historical evidence have a connection with the idea of selection. historians are generally selective since it is not possible to capture everything about their object of study. hence, it is argued that any assertion about the past depends on historians’ decisions about what evidence is available for selection to support their claims (walsh, 1992). besides, determining what is important to select from the past is relative because it depends on historians’ judgement of what is important (carr, 1987; walsh, 1992). in light of this, atkinson (1978) argues that the inevitability of selection and summary compounds the problem of historical objectivity, asking, “how can selection be other than arbitrary and subjective?” (p. 69). this means that reporting the whole truth about the past is difficult to achieve. history teachers, therefore, need an awareness that only aspects of the past are constructed as history, and they should be encouraged to search for and construct knowledge continually with students. historical interpretation is another site of contention among historians because of the plurality of interpretive theories, including whig, marxist, and feminist traditions. in light of the diverse explanatory theories leading to historical skepticism, historians argue that there is no universal standard of historical consciousness to which all historians subscribe and that every history reflects a perspective (mccullagh, 2004; walsh, 1992). yet, some researchers observe that plural interpretations do not necessarily make history unscientific and that different perspectives afford multiple means to understanding the past (anbalakan, 2016; bevir, 1994; bohan & davis, 1998). in the classroom, for instance, encouragement of multiperspectivity is noted to equip students with domain-specific historical processes and the interpretative frames adopted by historians to explicate events (stradling, 2003). this suggests that history teachers need to seek alternative approaches to explaining past events and guide students to reflect on their own interpretations in order to reach informed conclusions. besides the existence of plural interpretive theories, historians group and explain their material in different ways. these include colligation (walsh, 1992), covering law (burston, 1954; hempel, 1942), and uniqueness (evans, 1994). the colligation approach assumes that different historical events come together to form a whole and that particular events are explained by locating and finding the causal connections that they have with other events in the shared whole (walsh, 1992); thus, events that are colligated are those that are caused by similar factors, and historians’ task is to seek patterns and knit together fragmented pieces of historical information into meaningful and coherent explanations (munslow, 2006; retz, 2017). the covering law model projects general concepts on events and explains events in terms of how they belong to a class of events (burston, 1954; hempel, 1942). this approach to the past permits historians to make mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 183 generalizations in their explanation of events and to predict and categorize future behavior or action and its function given particular circumstances and their regularity of occurrence (munslow, 2003, 2006). the uniqueness pattern of explanation considers an event in terms of how different it is from others of its kind; its main argument is that historians must emphasize the individuality and exclusivity of each historical epoch or event with recourse to its time of occurrence (boldt, 2014). while these different patterns of grouping and explanation present alternative approaches to the past, they compound historical skepticism. for instance, colligation has been criticized as obscuring the complexity of the past and establishing false interconnections among disparate events (black & macraild, 2017), while the covering law approach is regarded as a poor philosophical model that commonly leads historians to misrepresent historical explanations (dray, 1960). munslow (2003) attempts to classify the various epistemological orientations about history under three typologies: reconstructionism, constructionism, and deconstructionism. munslow (2003) explains that these positions differ in terms of their emphasis on empiricism. according to munslow, reconstructionist historians believe that close examination of evidence can yield the most likely meaning of past events and actions. constructionist historians, for their part, move beyond description to the analysis and interpretation of evidence to discover the meaning and structure of events through the adoption of social and scientific theory. deconstructionist historians, on the other hand, hold that the content of history presents meanings that are only representational of the past; hence, their focus is not on discovering meanings of the past using evidence or theory but through a “representation of pastness” (munslow, 2003, p. 6). the multiple epistemological orientations indicate that evidence is conceptualized and used differently by historians. consequently, it is argued that the several contentious issues in the discipline make history ontologically altered and epistemologically fragile (jenkins, 1991; munslow, 2006). it is therefore important for teachers to be aware of the contested nature of history and translate such awareness into meaningful pedagogies for students’ understanding. methodology research setting and participants at the time of the study, there were 10 administrative regions in ghana. in these regions, there were 565 public senior high schools. out of this number, 542 offered general arts (ghana education service, 2015). there were, however, no publicly available records as to which schools offered history classes. table 1 shows the breakdown of schools in each region. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 184 table 1: public senior high schools in ghana source: ghana education service (2015) since the study was exploratory in nature and did not aim to generalize claims, the researcher considered that one region was enough to inform the study based on the following reasons. consideration was made of issues relating to access and other context-specific practical constraints. for example, due to the lack of public records on the number of schools that offered history, the total population of history teachers, and institutional contact details of heads of schools and teachers, the researcher could not send bulk emails to heads of schools to negotiate access and to invite teachers into the study. besides, emails were not the regular means of communication in schools. while the use of alternative approaches such as internet survey and/or telephone interviews could have helped address this difficulty, logistical and human factors did not make their use feasible—internet was generally expensive and unstable in some parts of the country—so the researcher embarked on personal travels to schools to negotiate access and to contact potential participants and invite them into the study. hence, it was considered that a region with which the researcher had sufficient geographic acquaintance was necessary. following husbands, kitson, and pendry’s (2003) example, the central region was region number of schools number of schools offering general arts ashanti region 102 100 eastern region 81 80 volta region 79 76 brong-ahafo region 64 63 central region 55 51 western region 47 46 northern region 40 37 greater accra region 40 40 upper east region 25 24 upper west region 32 25 total 565 542 mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 185 chosen in order to produce a study that was manageable yet large enough to account for different school contexts and characteristics. the study involved 24 history teachers who were drawn from 15 public senior high schools in the central region of ghana. a mixed purposive sampling technique comprising maximum variation and snowball sampling strategies were employed at different stages of the study. through maximum variation, participants were recruited to reflect the two main variations of schools in the central region—location (urban and semi-urban) and structure (religious and secular)— based on a matrix designed by the researcher. the snowball sampling technique was employed to locate the schools that offered history and the history teachers that taught in those schools. the combination of these sampling strategies reflected the larger experience-sharing community of teachers and the diverse characteristics of schools as much as possible. participants had a cumulative average of six years of experience in history teaching. even though they taught in schools in the central region, most of them had different ethnic backgrounds and came from different regions in ghana. gregory and boniface (all names are pseudonyms) held a master’s degree and phd, respectively, while the remaining participants held bachelor’s degrees as their highest professional qualifications, with majors in one of such related fields as history, political studies, and social studies. data sources this study is drawn from a larger interpretive phenomenological research that explored history teachers’ reasoning and practices using in-depth interviews, lesson observations, post-lesson interviews, and teachers’ portfolios. particularly, this study draws on the interview and observational data. participant recruitment and data collection took place from october, 2017, to march, 2018. each participant engaged in an in-depth semi-structured interview that was conversational in nature in order to enable them to express their views freely and to ensure their continuous cooperation in the study. the interviews were conducted in english as it was the official language of instruction in ghanaian schools. the use of probes helped to elicit further detail and clarify vague responses. on average, each interview lasted for about 50 minutes and was recorded with an audio device alongside hand-written notes. twenty out of the 24 participants agreed to be observed. a participant observation approach was employed to study these participants’ classroom practices. the number of observations for each participant ranged between one and four, based on their availability and circumstances. in total, 55 separate lessons were observed and 95.5 observational hours were accrued. the interviews were used to crosscheck classroom practices, whereas the observations provided further insights about mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 186 participants’ interview responses. interviews and observations were transcribed and returned to participants to check, amend if necessary, and approve. the research from which this study is drawn was approved by the ethics committee at the university where it was conducted. analysis of data data analysis commenced concurrently with data collection and involved continuous reflection and iteration, working from part to whole and from whole to part. beginning with the “first interview [and] the first observation” (merriam & tisdell, 2016, p. 191), transcripts were read multiple in order to develop sustained engagement with the data. data was de-identified and assigned pseudonyms. initially, the interview transcript of bernard was manually coded; words and phrases that represented essential ideas relating to history and historical objectivity were identified and applied to various parts of the hard-copy transcript. the manual coding helped the researcher to “touch” the data through physical manipulation and flipping of papers, which gave a sense of intimacy, ownership, and control over the analytic task (pope, ziebland, & mays, 2000; saldaña, 2009). however, after several time-consuming cycles of coding the transcript, manual coding was abandoned and nvivo was employed to make the organization, manipulation, and retrieval of data more manageable. the manual, paper-based codes were transferred to nvivo while paying attention to additional significant insights. codes that cohered together were clustered into categories, and the themes that emerged from the data formed the basis of the findings. the recursive processes of multiple reading, coding, category building, and theming offered considerable room to maneuver the analytic task by moving back and forth between the steps and the data until no new insights were emerging. the findings of this study are presented around three emerging themes. verbatim extracts from the interviews are cited as much as possible to account for participants’ conceptions and to maintain a critical distance between their emic perspective and the researcher’s etic understanding and interpretation. frequency counts (n) are also employed to represent the number of participants that orientated toward particular beliefs and practices. findings there is an existent and knowable past reality. all participants noted that the past is gone and is therefore not amenable to present observation. however, to most participants (n=20), history provides authentic access to the past actuality. fidelis, for instance, expressed: “history gives an account of what really happened.” these participants believed that there is a true, immutable past reality that is accessible, and it is the mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 187 responsibility of historians to project and report the past disinterestedly in consonance with professional standards. barns’s perspective is informative: history as a discipline lends itself to the scientific process of enquiry. the past needs to be investigated to find out the truth. [history] is an objective discipline and it always looks for the truth because there are clear standards that every credible historical account needs to meet. this viewpoint connotes that history is objective inasmuch as it is primed on facts and informed by research and theory. it further implies that in constructing knowledge about the past, historians strive to reach accurate, verifiable conclusions as much as possible. participants provided further insights on the need to get the facts right given the unobservable nature of the past. of note is gregory’s response: [history] is objective so far as it is driven by the facts, [and] that nobody is just manufacturing something and telling us. especially, if the historical information is backed by in-depth research and theoretical underpinnings. history is very careful because you are trying to create a picture of the past while you were not there … that is why when the history of a people is being reconstructed, multiple sources are used. this scientific view of history suggests that to the majority of participants, access to the past reality is fundamental to obtaining true statements about past events and that multiple sources of evidence provide access to the past actuality. in relation to this, edward maintained, “objectivity is achieved when the historian is convinced after using all the sources that this is what actually happened.” this orientation reflects the position of historical thinkers who emphasize the need to capture the richness and texture of the past based on available evidence (e.g., plumb, 1969). more findings relating to the role of historical evidence are explored under the next theme. evidence is incomplete but constructive and verificative. participants noted that some events left their traces behind and such traces provide significant evidence to ascertain past reality. they expressed that validating evidence from multiple sources strengthens the reliability of accounts. participants therefore took an empiricist posture, priming their argument on the corroborative role of evidence including historical traces, relics or remnants, and eyewitness accounts. albert’s response is informative: mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 188 you will have ensure that you rely on multiple disciplines to be able to crosscheck the information at hand from various sources. doing this increases the likelihood of getting a reliable account in the end. such an account can be believed or depended on to interpret or understand other events. citing a specific example, barns added: for instance, europeans came [here] and engaged in slave trade. what is the evidence? you move to the coastal areas and we have the forts and castles. all these tell you that there was indeed slave trade in ghana. that is why it is good that researchers of history depend on a number of sources to increase the veracity of the accounts produced by them. this result indicates that participants recognized the need to subject multiple sources of evidence to analysis in order to ascertain their historical utility. even though all participants acknowledged the role of evidence, their perspectives varied. out of the total number of participants, 20 believed that the use of multiple historical evidence is a necessary condition for objectivity since it helps to convey the past reality. four participants, however, had a dissenting opinion. their argument was grounded on the relativity and incompleteness of evidence and the difficulties presented by historical interpretations. these participants believed that although history is factual, evidence is often relative and therefore, with time, new discoveries might render an earlier claim redundant. in kaitlan’s view, “there are some truths or realities about the past that are revealed in the course of time and this might refute earlier claims.” rene added, “fact in itself is relative. people are even challenging facts now.” there were other views that sources themselves could compound the problem of objectivity, as emily noted: “even the materials we use, and the ones we find on the internet, we cannot say they are very authentic.” this belief suggests that evidence is fragmentary, that sources are not preordained for objectivity, and that careful interrogation of the sources of evidence is requisite. this group of participants regarded history as not objective, as lorna succinctly stated: “i do not think history can be objective.” in relation to pedagogy, most participants mentioned that they use materials such as photos, videos, and documentaries to support their lessons. in addition, they indicated that they give students tasks to practice how multiple sources could be used to reconstruct the past, and they also embark on occasional visits to historic sites such as slave castles, museums, and other heritage locations in the local community. jake described the sources he used in class: “there are mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 189 a lot of videos to show and sometimes newspapers that reported on the events. there are a lot of them in the library so i sometimes bring them out for them [students] to compare and see things that happened.” notwithstanding their views on the use of evidence, practical use of evidence during lessons was less apparent. of the 20 participants observed, only bernard and emy used primary and secondary sources to complement their lessons. bernard, for instance, gave seven different secondary source materials on the bond of 1844 to students and asked them to examine the sources and draw out their own analysis of the texts for group presentations in class; however, such analysis did not emphasize rival perspectives on the topic, nor did it draw students’ attention to the incomplete nature of evidence. emy, for her part, presented four samples of traditional medicinal plants to support her teaching and invited students to demonstrate how such medicines are used in their communities. in effect, even though participants’ conceptions of evidence suggest that evidence is fundamental to historical constructions, there was minimal use of it in the observed classroom teaching. their interview responses regarding the use of evidence in history teaching therefore did not match with their classroom practice. historians are self-conscious, active agents in their study of the past. even though most participants expressed optimism about the contribution of evidence to the doing of history, they made references to the fact that historians have a role to play in the study of the past, particularly in their selection and interpretation of evidence. participants made an initial note that not all past happenings are historical and that only important aspects of the past form part of history. for instance, cosmos noted: “history is about important activities in the past. so if it did not have effects on the lives of the people, it is not termed as history.” this view is indicative of the agency of historians in the selection of events through their inferential judgment as to the worth of such events, which is only possible subjectively. further, participants noted that the backgrounds, interests, and purposes of historians could inform their perspectives on what they study about the past. barns used the foreign authorship of ghana’s history as illustration: when the europeans began to write our history, there were some areas that they ignored because they thought it was not relevant to their objective. most of these had to do with our culture. to them, if it is not what they do in their country, [then] it is primitive, it is backward and so it should not even be recorded. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 190 further regarding the above, rene indicated that focus on only what historians select as important for study has led to the marginalization of certain people and groups in the past. she noted: i think that some people have been undermined because the emphasis is on those who occupied key positions or played key roles. for example, i cannot talk about the independence of ghana without giving credit to nkrumah. but what about the other people that worked with him? they [historians] do not really consider them. this view reinforces the assertion that historians select and marshal facts in accordance with their purposes and interests and leave out aspects that do not fit within their scope. this is consistent with e. h. carr’s (1987) fishmonger’s slab analogy, which suggests that history does not exist as a finished product but depends on historians’ choices: the facts are really not at all like fish on the fishmonger’s slab. they are like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes inaccessible ocean; and what the historian catches will depend, partly on chance, but mainly on what part of the ocean he chooses to fish in and what tackle he chooses to use these two factors being, of course, determined by the kind of fish he wants to catch. (p. 23) historical interpretation is another form of agency that is exercised by historians. results showed that the multiplicity of interpretations and distortions among accounts that are produced by historians blur objectivity. albert, for instance, noted, “there seem to be some ambiguities or differences in some accounts that are written by different historians, and in some cases, a particular historian might sound contradictory in the presentation and interpretation of facts.” also, participants subscribed to the view that the circumstances and position of the historian could influence how they project the past. thompson was succinct: “imagination, political thought, religious affiliations, and the background that we come from have influence on how we construct history.” this suggests that historians’ personal and interpretative orientations are difficult to eliminate in their dialogue with the past and from what they construct about the past, and that this is a difficulty historians grapple with: “when doing research, we try to separate our personal feelings but that is not easy to achieve. history is research. so the writer will certainly be influenced by his [sic] personal feelings or perspective,” rene submitted. seminal historical thinkers argue on the same line of thought and maintain that the social and historical environment of historians influences their selection and interpretation of evidence (black & macraild, 2017; carr, 1987; collingwood, 1946; mccullagh, 2004; walsh, 1992), even though mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 191 mandelbaum (1977) observes that historians make an independent appeal to evidence despite their personal experiences and perspectives. gregory shared mandelbaum’s (1977) idea and noted that as far as evidence is overriding, interpretation is necessary in order to bring nuance and meaning to past events. gregory highlighted the role of imagination in the reconstruction of the past: imagination should guide you to say what it is. … a little bit of imagination will give a clearer picture… you need some facts to drive your imagination. so a historian has to be a little bit creative and imaginative to understand how a group of people lived and maybe can give a good account of it. gregory’s response shows that evidence and the interpretive role of historians could play complementary roles to give a meaningful representation of the past. yet, evidence is of primary significance and must form the basis of all interpretations. findings indicate that the possible effects of historians’ personal attributes on historical interpretations could obscure objectivity, though not render the narrative entirely relative. in connection with this, bernard noted, “though we are encouraged to be creative and imaginative… care must be taken that in process, we do not distort the objective nature history.” boniface added that is possible to achieve objectivity in history if one is committed to it: “if you aim at objectivity, and you have the facts, and you want to interpret the facts as it were, you can realize objective history.” in the face of the difficulty in arriving at a single interpretation of events, participants recognized that students need to be exposed to different historical accounts or rival perspectives about the past. barns highlighted why this is necessary: history is constructed. … if you do not let them know the various accounts about a particular event and you let them look at one side [of it], they will conclude that it is the right information... that is why we have to let them understand the variations and different approaches historians use in presenting their work so [that]… they can draw their own conclusions. even though this response is instructive, lesson observations revealed that only three participants presented contrasting perspectives while the remaining participants focused on single narratives. for instance, in one of his lessons, bernard accounted for how two accounts on the bond of 1844 differed in terms of how it led to the british control of ghana or formally ushered in colonial rule. bernard explained that one version argues that the bond of 1844 marked the beginning of the british takeover of the country, while another account argues that the bond mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 192 did not contribute to colonial rule. he then encouraged students to share their views on the two perspectives. unlike bernard, some participants asked students to keep their interpretations of events for their personal use and rather narrowed their teaching to the contents of the curriculum and textbook. of note is rene’s response: “i tell them not to take my interpretation nor theirs but they should take that of the syllabus because that is what they are going to be examined on.” further analysis showed that the reason for the focus on the curriculum was to meet accountability demands. hence, the recognition for alternative interpretations and rival perspectives, though significant, lacked wide implementation in participants’ classrooms. discussion participants believed that there is a knowable past reality and that historical evidence is the route to accessing this reality. the idea of uncovering this past reality was complex, however, as participants, though widely empiricist in orientation, displayed elements of skepticism about the validity and durability of the representation of such reality. on the one hand, participants alluded to an objective history underpinned by standards by which truths about the past can be obtained. on the other hand, they acknowledged the personal influences of historians on the selection and interpretation of evidence. these views represent both a positivistic intent of capturing the wider truth and a postmodernist view that ideas and thoughts influence history (e.g., black & macraild, 2017; butterfield, 1931; mandelbaum, 1977; mccullagh, 2004; plumb, 1969; windschuttle, 2000). however, the view that there exists a set of standards that guides historians’ work does not accord with walsh’s (1992) argument that there are no agreed canons of interpretation and that impartial history is impossible. the results show that unlike facts of the natural sciences, which lend themselves to certainty, the mutability of the inaccessible past and analysis over time make historical objectivity problematic. participants acknowledged the provisional nature of evidence and recognized the need to crosscheck multiple evidence in order to establish its reliability. this is instructive due to the possible discovery of new evidence and counterfactuals or alternative versions of history. this result resonates with carr (1987), who highlighted the possibility for historians to identify shortfalls in earlier constructions about the past on account of new evidence: the historian who contests, say, the verdict of one of his predecessors will normally condemn it, not as absolutely false, but as inadequate or one-sided or misleading, or the product of a point of view which has been rendered obsolete or irrelevant by later evidence. (p. 120) mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 193 to this end, carr advances a view of history in which historians remain in an unending discourse with facts, a position that departs from the positivistic ideology that meaningful facts exist independent of the historian. also, judging historical accounts as accurate portrayals of the past without considering the limitations of available evidence, according to mccullagh (2004), is naïve empiricism since the past cannot be described in its exactness on the basis of fragmentary evidence. further, vansledright and reddy (2014) concluded that past objects cannot be trusted to tell their stories in an unmediated way. nonetheless, participants’ differing views on the centrality of evidence and the selective and interpretive agency of historians are representative of an approach to conceptualizing and understanding the past which munslow (2003) describes as constructionism. according to munslow (2003), constructionism offers a textualized access to the past through dialogue between historians and the past; by their conceptualization of evidence, historians exert some form of intervention on the truths they cast about the past. participants’ reference to the influence of historians’ personal and interpretive attributes on past accounts is indicative of this intervention. the results also reflect the position of criterialist teachers who conceived of history as the product of the interaction between the historian and their object of inquiry (maggioni et al., 2009; vansledright et al., 2011; vansledright & reddy, 2014). principally, the results indicate that in the view of participants, it is possible to access the past reality on account of evidence and that the intervention of historians in interpreting the past is constructive rather than destructive in history. this result is significant because it suggests that in the view of participants, history is characterized by “soft” interpretive perspectives that are often based on available “hard” evidence. this further means that even though evidence is important, any approach to studying the past cannot be done in the void of interpretive attention. the foregoing result is consistent with the study of voet and de wever (2016), which found that while history is empirical, it is reflected through the interpretation and judgment of the historian. however, though revealing, the result does not appear to support the outcomes of other previous research. mccrum (2013), for instance, found that secondary teachers rejected the possibility of knowing the past reality and, hence, denied the likelihood of attaining objectivity in history. exposing students to multiple perspectives and alternative histories, as indicated by participants, is instructive. nevertheless, exploration of rival interpretations in the classroom was evident in the lessons of only three participants. even in these limited cases, there was not a clear analytic focus, and this concealed the contested nature of historical knowledge. also, the use of the mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 194 curriculum and textbooks as the final arbiter for rival interpretations appears to suggest that to some participants, the curriculum and textbooks were presenting an incontestable truth. this finds confirmation in barns’s response: “i think those [events] that are presented to us for us to teach the students are objective. …the topics look at the accurate information.” perhaps, apart from accountability demands, the view that the content of the curriculum was accurate contributed to participants’ narrative approach to teaching and to the limited extent to which students’ interpretations were elicited in the classroom. this approach does not support the disputed nature of history. for instance, ahonen (2017) observes that teaching history as “grand narratives are unsuitable as truths” (p. 58) since history is not forthrightly objective. drawing on habermas and personal experience in history teaching, ahonen (2017) argues that rather than teaching history as grand narratives, the use of deliberative discussions could initiate an openended dialogue by which students can explore multiperspectivity. it is admissible that even though history operates on a strong, inseparable reality-interpretation connection, there could be a fuzzy boundary between acceptable interpretation and excessive interpretation (vansledright, 2002). nevertheless, since historical facts do not speak for themselves (carr, 1987), participating teachers generally observed that history is an interpretive discipline as much as analysis and the resultant interpretations are built around evidence to reflect a knowable past reality. conclusion and implications this study explored history teachers’ reasoning and practices about historical objectivity. participants’ reasoning reflected issues about the past reality, concerns about evidence, and the influences of historians in their study of the past. analysis shows that participants’ conceptions of historical objectivity were generally constructionist in nature as they were expressed in terms of the application of evidence-based historical methodologies in discovering, rediscovering, interpreting, and reinterpreting a knowable past reality over time. hence, in participants’ perspective, history is a form of knowledge that is amenable to change upon the discovery of new evidence and on account of the perspectives or circumstances of historians. teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the discipline and its pedagogical representations are important considerations in history teaching. participants largely demonstrated an understanding of the contested nature of historical objectivity. however, the broadly narrative approach to history teaching at the expense of the problematization of historical knowledge through the teaching of rival perspectives and interpretations suggests the need to consider mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 195 effective ways of transforming disciplinary knowledge into meaningful structures for student engagement and understanding. admittedly, recognition of the importance of multiple evidence could have encouraged participants to use more of it in the classroom, but only a few employed evidence in their teaching. also, the acknowledgement of multiple interpretations indicates participants’ awareness of its applicability to history teaching, but it lacked wide classroom application. these have ramifications for curriculum design, professional development, and teacher education. the current ghanaian senior high school history curriculum states that history teaching should enable students to develop the “skill of gathering and objectively analysing historical data” (ministry of education, 2010, p. ii) but does not present any further information or guidelines on how teachers can help students to develop such a skill. again, apart from the general curricular objectives, the curriculum does not give much attention to the exploration of multiple and competing perspectives, and this might have contributed to the wide use of narrative approaches among participants. in light of this, the ghanaian senior high school history curriculum needs a disciplinary re-orientation and an increased focus on a postmodern approach to school history. this is important since most participants implemented the curriculum as designed and hence limited all interpretations to the curriculum’s specifications. also, professional development has an important role in improving practice. opportunities for regular professional development programs in relation to new developments and directions in history and its implications for teaching and learning will keep teachers updated and possibly encourage the implementation activities that are consistent with the constructed and disputed nature of history. as ahonen (2017) suggests, deliberative classroom discussions through the exposure and exchange of conflicting stories, discussion and assessment of evidence, and recognition of conflicting aspects of the stories could help resolve the lure of grand narratives. further, the training of more specialist history teachers will bring innovation and disciplinary focus to the classroom and improve students’ sense of agency in the creation of historical knowledge. moreover, teacher education curricula should put more emphasis on the problematic issues in history to equip future teachers with the requisite knowledge base and skills to implement domain-specific pedagogies. understanding teachers’ conceptions of historical objectivity and improving their practices are important steps to resolving many challenges in history education since the problem of objectivity is fundamental to many of the epistemic tensions in history. while this study is illuminating, it is not without limitations. the study relies mainly on teachers’ self-reports of their conceptions through interviews, albeit with supporting insights from lesson mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 196 observations. it was likely that participating teachers could not articulate their conceptions in the most expressive manner and this could have yielded partial knowledge (heyl, 2001). also, prolonged observational contact with each participant could have yielded additional evidence about the everyday classroom culture of teaching to inform the findings and conclusion. further, a longitudinal study could likely reveal if teachers’ conceptions are subject to change over time and the reasons for such change. again, the study could have generated extensive data from which to generalize claims if it had been conducted in more than one region in ghana. nonetheless, the results of this study contribute to an underexplored area in history education in ghana, and are important to the development of students’ historical competencies, relevant to teacher education, curriculum development, and the on-going international debates on historical objectivity. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 197 references: akinwale, a. r. 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(2014). preparing secondary school history teachers: implementing authentic instructional strategies during pre-service experience. social studies research and practice, 9(2), 48-67. retz, t. (2017). the structure of historical inquiry. educational philosophy and theory, 49(6), 606617. rüsen, j. (2008). what does making sense of history mean. in j. rüsen (ed.), meaning and representation in history (pp. 1-5). new york: berghahn books. saldaña, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. london: sage. samuelsson, j. (2019). history as performance: pupil perspectives on history in the age of ‘pressure to perform’. education 3-13, 47(3), 333-347. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 201 seixas, p. (2000). schweigen! die kinder! or does postmodern history have a place in the schools? in p. stearns, p. seixas, & s. wineburg (eds.), knowing, teaching and learning history: national and international perspectives (pp. 19-37). new york: new york university press. sharp, h. (2017). after the ideological battles: student views on sources representing the gallipoli conflict. in h. å. elmersjö, a. clark, & m. vinterek (eds.), international perspectives on teaching rival histories: pedagogical responses to contested narratives and the history wars (pp. 229-250). london: pelgrave macmillan. stanford, m. (1998). an introduction to the philosophy of history. malden, ma: blackwell. stradling, r. (2003). multiperspectivity in history teaching: a guide for teachers. strasbourg: council of europe. tucker, e. (2013). the subject of history: historical subjectivity and historical science. journal of the philosophy of history, 7(2), 205-229. vansledright, b. a. (1994). historian as a high school history teacher: a case study. paper presented at the annual meeting of the national council for the social studies, phoenix. vansledright, b. a. (2002). in search of america’s past: learning to read history in elementary school. new york: teachers college press. vansledright, b. a., maggioni, l., & reddy, k. (2011). preparing teachers to teach historical thinking: the interplay between professional development programs and school-systems’ cultures. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association, new orleans. vansledright, b. a., & reddy, k. (2014). changing epistemic beliefs? an exploratory study of cognition among prospective history teachers. revista tempo e argumento, 6(11), 28-68. voet, m., & de wever, b. (2016). history teachers’ conceptions of inquiry-based learning, beliefs about the nature of history, and their relation to the classroom context. teaching and teacher education, 55, 57-67. walsh, w. h. (1992). an introduction to philosophy of history. bristol, uk: thoemmes press. white, h. (1973). metahistory: the historical imagination in the nineteenth-century europe. baltimore, maryland: the johns hopkins university press. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 177-202 corresponding author: gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 202 windschuttle, k. (2000). the killing of history: how literary critics and social theorists are murdering our past. new york: encounter books. wineburg, s. s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts: charting the future of teaching the past. philadelphia: temple university press. wineburg, s. s. (2007). unnatural and essential: the nature of historical thinking. teaching history, 129, 6-11. wineburg, s. s., & wilson, s. m. (1991). models of wisdom in history teaching. the history teacher, 24(4), 395-412. yeager, e. a., & davis, o. l., jr. (1996). classroom teacher's thinking about historical texts: an exploratory study. theory & research in social education, 24(2), 146-166. acknowledgements: i would like to acknowledge dr. debra donnelly and associate professor heather sharp for their comments and critique of the research from which this study was drawn. about the author: gideon boadu is a phd candidate at the school of education, university of newcastle, australia. his research interests include historical studies and curricular and instructional issues. his current research focuses on history teachers’ disciplinary and pedagogical reasoning and the empirics of classroom pedagogy in ghana. mailto:gideon.boadu@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 social justice perspectives hmong history and lgbtq lives: immigrant youth perspectives on being queer and hmong j.b. mayo, jr. university of minnesota _____________________________________________________________ abstract: this article highlights some of the cultural barriers that exist for hmong people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq), while placing these barriers in an historical context. it uncovers differences and similarities found between the experiences of queer hmong youth and the larger population of queer youth living in the united states. despite the perception that a traditional hmong culture holds no place for queer hmong americans, individuals are finding spaces for acceptance and slowly moving the larger hmong community to a place of understanding and tolerance. a vital part of this movement is shades of yellow (soy), an organization that supports queer hmong. the life stories of three of its members inform this study, offering a more nuanced look at the experiences of queer hmong living in the midwest. though few social studies researchers have broached this topic, the new social historians of the 1960s, who centered their research on broad social movements and the contributions of those formerly excluded from the grand historical narrative of progress, opened the door to this conversation within the field. key words: lgbtq, social justice, hmong, queer studies, tolerance and social studies when i arrived in minnesota in august 2005, i had never heard of the hmong people, their rich cultural heritage, or their struggle over many years to find a geographic home. even their significant contributions to the united states armed forces as part of the secret army during the vietnam war was unknown to me. despite having a love for american history, history/teaching degrees from a reputable university, and years of middle school social studies teaching experience, knowledge of the hmong had escaped me. after approximately a year of living in one of minnesota’s largest cities, i met and befriended a young hmong man who had moved here from the south just as i had. i had moved here to teach at the local university, and thomas1 had moved here because he desired to live in a hmong community where his gay identity would be recognized and validated. shades of yellow (soy) had been recently founded by another gay male member of the hmong community, to support lesbian, gay, and bisexual (lgb) hmong people living in this area. loosely organized, information about soy was spread mainly by word of mouth and discreet community networking. seven years have passed since i was first introduced to soy and members are now much more open about their membership and organizing efforts. still, soy remains the only lgbtq hmong support group in the world and stands as an organization with strong community connections to other local gay and lesbian support groups. i had stumbled across a group of asian americans that had heretofore been unknown to me, a sub-group within the hmong community that corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 79 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 struggled to gain recognition and acceptance, while sincerely working to stay connected to their families and to the larger hmong community. thomas’ experiences–coming to terms with his gay identity, coming out, facing racism, fearing rejection from family and friends–and the challenges/triumphs of other members of soy living within this local hmong community, in combination with the history of hmong people, inform social studies teachers who wish to present powerful lessons on significant social studies themes like culture, diversity, social justice, and citizenship. this article provides a brief history of the hmong people and the challenges faced by lesbian and gay hmong youth, in the larger context of lgbtq youth in schools in general. teens’ expectations have clashed with unfortunate realities of fear, disappointment, and the necessity of maintaining dual identities. the history of the hmong people and the specific stories of the gay hmong youth presented here exemplify perspectives that have largely gone unrepresented in our social studies literature. the lessons learned from them have strong implications for our field. history of the hmong the social studies literature is virtually silent about the hmong, their cultural heritage, and their contributions to united states history. an overview of the history of the hmong people identifies who they are and traces their various movements across southeast asia to their eventual migration to the united states. who are the hmong? the hmong are an ethnic minority group that some scholars believe can be traced as far back as 2700 bc in the yellow river region of china. in fact, king chi you, a legendary king prominent in chinese history, is believed to have been hmong. linguistic records tie the hmong to this region of china as well. after occupying this region for centuries, many hmong began to migrate out of china to laos, northern vietnam, and thailand in the late 18th century. most hmong americans, in fact, trace their recent ancestry to laos (yang, 2008). this migration continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. in the 1940s, anti-japanese resistance in laos was led by hmong leader touby lyfoung. later, he won legislative elections from his region and eventually reached the status of vice president of the laotian national assembly, the first of the hmong minority to reach this level of prominence. after the communist takeover of laos in 1975, lyfoung was arrested and sent to a labor camp along the vietnamese border where he died in 1979. vang pao joined the antijapanese movement led by lyfoung at a very young age and later fought alongside the french against the viet minh until laos, cambodia, and vietnam were granted independence from france in 1954. a few years later in 1961, vang pao met with american military officials and members of the cia to form a secret alliance between the hmong living in laos and american operatives fighting communists from the north, who were led by ho chi minh. this hmong/american partnership began what is known as the secret war in laos that lasted from 1963-1975. it is estimated that between thirty and forty thousand hmong lost their lives during this conflict. vang pao was evacuated to thailand in 1975 with assistance from the united corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 80 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 states, but thousands of his followers were left behind. communist leaders in laos announced their plan to wipe out those hmong who remained. hmong migration to the united states the withdrawal of american troops from southeast asia during the 1970s prompted a mass exodus of the hmong as well, and many hmong refugee camps were established in thailand. the largest and best known of these camps was ban vinai. by the mid-1970s, hmong refugees were allowed to enter other countries, including australia, canada, and france, but the vast majority came to the united states. they began arriving in the united states by the thousands, and by 1979 over 27,000 hmong had been allowed to cross our borders (yang, 2008). by 1990 the number of hmong living in the united states had risen to 94,000, a number that increased to over 209,000 by 2006, and to just over 260,000 by 2010 (hmong american partnership, n.d.) (see http://www.hmong.org/default.aspx). a subsidiary of the hmong american partnership in washington d. c. called hmong national development, inc. (n.d.) corroborates these numbers. some agencies estimate the true number of hmong living in the united states to be even higher. language barriers and fear of discrimination from holding minority status may have prevented many from listing hmong as their ethnic identity on official 2010 census counts. the west and midwest (california and minnesota, specifically) boast the largest hmong populations in the united states, with the largest concentration of hmong people in a single metropolitan area being the large midwestern city of st. paul. in some of st. paul’s schools over one-third of the student populations are hmong or hmong american. hmong culture yang (2008) reports that hmong culture is patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal, which means that men are considered the head of the family, men typically have more power than women, familial lines are traced through men, and when hmong couples marry they often live with the husband’s family. hmong traditional religion has been reported as either animism or shamanism, but is “more a holistic combination of both” (p. 1). given the presence of christian missionaries in southeast asia and the influence of large churches that assisted hmong migration to the united states, many hmong identify as christian. but the percentage that practice christianity and/or some combination of animism or shamanism is unclear. concerning sexual orientation, “gay men and lesbians have had no place in hmong history, culture, or literature” (p. 2). in fact, there is no direct translation for the words gay or lesbian in the hmong language. this linguistic reality denies the existence of lesbian and gay hmong people in their home countries, or at the very least, sends the message that there is no room for gays and lesbians in traditional hmong culture (yang, 2008). for those hmong and hmong corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 81 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 american individuals who identify as lgbtq, this lack of acknowledgment carries with it a heavy burden. social education perspectives the new social historians of the 1960s centered their research on broad social movements and the contributions of those formerly excluded from the grand historical narrative of progress. though the histories of african americans and women changed the most dramatically during the two decades that followed (symcox, 2002), current research into the lives of lgbt and queer people exemplifies a continuation of this movement that represents voices that “once uncovered could not easily be folded into the comfortable traditional narrative of a shared and glorious past” (ibid., p. 32). the type of research practiced by the new social historians lives on and is exemplified by crocco (2001) and thornton’s (2003) call that explicitly implicates social studies teachers and researchers for their complicity in continuing the silence about lgbt people, themes, and topics within the social studies literature. for example, though curricular materials have devoted considerable attention to the treatment of afghan women under taliban rule given their “harsh, extremist brand of islam,” there has been “no such condemnation of systematic persecution of gay men (or allegedly gay men) in parts of the islamic world … although, as with afghan women, the persecution rests on these men simply for being who they are” (thornton, 2003, p. 227). thornton continues; teachers have choices. all teachers are curricular-instructional gatekeepers—they largely decide the day-to-day curriculum and activities [that] students experience. how teachers enact curriculum, even with today’s constraints such as standards and highstakes tests, still matters both practically and ethically. opportunities to incorporate at least some gay material into the standard curriculum exist; in many instances, all that is required is the will to call attention to aspects of standard subject matter that heretofore went unmentioned. (thornton, 2003, p. 228) this article addresses the little known contributions of the hmong people during the vietnam war era, while simultaneously responding to thornton’s (2003) call to include more lgbtq people in the collective body of social studies literature. a review of the literature revealed only one social studies researcher who discussed the contributions of the hmong people in peerreviewed journal articles and one recent book where the hmong are given thorough consideration. this review corroborates earlier findings indicating that social studies literature lacks lgbtq-themed materials (mayo, 2012). these few examples (below) from the literature along with the contributions of the new social historians and the work of thornton provide the conceptual framework for this article. teaching history with film (marcus, et al., 2010) “provide[s] a fresh, engaging, and clear overview of teaching with film to effectively enhance social studies instruction.” the book presents cases of experienced teachers to uncover dynamic, effective teaching through the use of movies. of special importance to this study is one teacher who used various films in a history and anthropology unit to introduce an ethno-history of the hmong. citing numerous objectives for this particular unit, the authors concluded that “among the most important [objectives] is corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 82 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 humanizing an often marginalized and misunderstood people, and doing so by using assignments that ask students to adopt a hmong perspective” (p. 46). the various films used include between two worlds: the hmong shaman in america (1984), the killing fields (1984), and the split horn: life of a hmong shaman in america (2001). they helped students to learn more about the hmong and their culture. “in turn, this awareness helps students to develop respect, tolerance, and eventually care about and for the hmong” (ibid.). mccall (1997, 1999) also turned to a form of the arts to demonstrate and teach about hmong culture. through a study of hmong paj ntaub—artistic creations that express hmong culture through stories and designs on clothing and everyday items—and the women skilled in these arts, mccall called attention to the scant use of the visual arts in comparison with the emphasis on integrating literature into the social studies curriculum (p. 138). citing research that encourages social studies educators to use art such as paintings, because “art may provide a more direct and powerful form of communication than verbal messages for children” (p. 140), mccall concluded that for young children, the visual images of hmong everyday life in laos depicted on story cloth, a type of paj ntaub, provided background knowledge in a more memorable manner than verbal explanations did alone. the use of textile arts also demonstrates mccall’s commitment to including women’s voices in the social studies curriculum because [textile arts] “are typically viewed as a craft and less valuable than male-dominated painting and sculpture” (p. 141). later, mccall revealed how story cloths became a means for recording aspects of hmong history and culture that was comprehensible to a wider audience. among other historic and/or cultural scenes, they showed the agricultural lifestyle among the hmong while living in laos, and they showed the disruption of hmong lives caused by the vietnam war, the turmoil endured during the escape from laos to thailand, and images of life in the refugee camps. though mccall “developed a greater respect for and understanding of the hmong’s dedication to maintaining their cultural identity through creating paj ntaub” (p. 161), she never once mentions the existence of hmong who identify as gay or lesbian. just as no word for gay exists in their language, the absence of queer hmong on the story cloth indicates their invisibility and the complete erasure of these people’s lives. case study this case study began as a result of the friendship built between thomas and me. he was eager to reach out to groups and individuals who were allies, and i was equally interested in learning more about his story. not only was i being introduced to a culture heretofore unknown to me, but i was also becoming an ally to the only lgbtq support group of its kind for hmong people. in october 2006, i invited thomas to be a speaker at a university event called diversity dialogues. at these monthly presentations, individuals or groups would come in to talk about a particular facet of diversity in the hopes of raising awareness and starting conversations across the multiple cultures represented in the audience. while informal, these dialogues often raised important issues for faculty and students to consider following the presentation time. thomas agreed to come in and share about his life as a young gay hmong man and how soy had played an important role in the process of negotiating his gay identity. he also shared his strong desire to remain connected to family and the larger hmong community. following this presentation, corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 83 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 thomas invited me to a soy meeting so that i could meet other members of the group. i was humbled by this gesture of friendship and willingly accepted the invitation. though i shared thomas’s queer identity, it was a privilege to receive this invitation given my status as an outsider. over the next several months, i attended soy meetings and thomas introduced me to other members of the group. this allowed me to meet and befriend seven members of soy. the vast majority of the members identified as gay and male. they were between 21 and 26 years of age. i participated in hmong new year celebrations and was even asked to be a judge for the 2007 miss soy pageant, a celebration of art and dance culminating with the crowning of a young man or woman who best presented her/his talent in a lavish drag show. participating in these community activities helped me to earn the trust of the soy members, and so i asked if they would consider sharing more about their experiences as gay hmong youth, living in the metropolitan area that had become a key site of hmong immigration. thomas and two other soy members, kaim and teeb2 agreed to be interviewed. each interview lasted between 60-90 minutes, with two of the interviews taking place in my office and the other in a local coffee shop, locations agreed upon by the participants. each interview centered on four core questions: 1) what childhood memories stand out that indicated to you that you were different from the other boys in your community and possibly gay? 2) how would you describe your coming out process? 3) what did you hope to change about your life by moving to this area and joining shades of yellow? 4) what are your hopes for the future in terms of living freely as an openly gay individual in your community? individual participants were asked followup questions depending upon their responses to these foundational questions. all three interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then sent to the participants via electronic mail for verification purposes (lincoln & guba, 1985). yin (2009) defines a case study as “an empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon, set within its real-world context–especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (p. 18). the case study method was used to capture the impressions and experiences of three individual hmong youth who identify as gay. simultaneously, activities, behaviors, and dispositions displayed by the larger group of soy members were observed. by no means do these three individuals speak for the whole lgbtq hmong community, but their insights offer a slice of the overall experience described by others in various contexts. case study methodology was useful because the goals for this study were to investigate what challenges existed for the handful of gay hmong men who participated in soy and how their experiences compared to other gay hmong youth and gay youth in general. the study focused on specific incidents shared by these hmong men vis a vis their negotiated life experiences within the larger hmong community. these specific memories and stories recorded over a period of six months, combined with my personal interactions within the larger lgbtq hmong community, compose the bounded case of corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 84 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 the study (tellis, 1997; yin, 2012)—what is covered by this study and what is outside of its scope (baxter & jack, 2008). given the countless interactions among the participants in this study and within the larger hmong and lbtq hmong communities during this specific six-month timeframe, many other units of inquiry could have been explored. the participants’ actions and memories speak to how other members of the hmong lgbtq community make sense of their lived experience, and may lead to a greater understanding of the similarities and differences found between the experiences of lgbtq hmong and queer youth in general (yin, 2012). findings family/economic pressures and academic success the large concentration of hmong people in various metropolitan areas enables them to maintain strong cultural traditions, including the practice of marriage rituals and religious ceremonies. in addition, many hmong households do not speak english, which presents challenges for the children attending local schools. ngo (2010) found that hmong and other southeast asian youth feel tremendous pressure to provide economic assistance to their families while in high school, and some worked an average of 20-30 hours per week. this money was used to buy food for the family and clothes for younger (and sometimes older) siblings. hmong teens also felt pressure to attend family and clan gatherings and participate in important cultural rituals on the weekends, sometimes in communities far away. this time reduced the available academic work time for assignments outside of class. though these findings are not limited to lgbtq hmong youth, they, like their heterosexual peers, face similar family obligations. indeed, teeb has dropped out of school and works in a local machine shop to earn money for his family. working part-time while going to school proved to be too much, and he opted to help supplement the family income rather than moving forward with his education. immigrant and lgbt identities for those immigrant teens that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer, their experiences in school are even more complex. in part, this complexity is fueled by the expectation that living in the united states will allow them to explore their sexual orientation to a higher degree than was possible in their home country. kato (1998) identifies several challenges and fears faced by gay immigrant teens in the united states. the most prevalent of these fears are returning to home countries that are less gay, lesbian, or bisexual-friendly and the difficulties associated with remaining in the united states with a gay or lesbian partner, given the lack of legal recognition of gay marriages in most states across this country. according to kato, some immigrant teens fear that information about them will travel home, given the wide use of the world wide web and the internet. for others, the subtle racism and cultural disconnects they discovered are huge disappointments. one student in minnesota commented; cross-racial relationships ... are relatively rare [here]. most white people are not attracted to minorities, especially those around college age. for me, that created a sense of racial embarrassment that persisted for a while.... that has been hardest for corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 85 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 me to adjust [to].... it's not outright racism, because people have multiracial friends, it's only [that] attraction across racial lines is absent or very much reduced. like other immigrant youth, hmong immigrants face language barriers, difficult negotiations between familial and school expectations, and cultural disconnects, all of which are fairly common challenges. for those hmong teens that also identify as lgbt or queer, however, there is an added layer to the challenges they face. the concept of homosexuality is viewed as a western construct, although gay hmong boys may act out gender non-conforming behaviors throughout childhood without altering the expectation that they will grow up to marry and father children. as thomas shared with me during one of our many conversations: when i was a kid growing up in north carolina, i knew that i was different. i wore a tiara, and often wore my sister’s dresses and shoes around the house. whenever we played house, i was the mom. i was flamboyant, and my parents saw me. still, they would tell me about getting married when i grew up and the importance of having children. thomas’ parents expected him to marry and have children despite the outward signs he displayed growing up, that he might identify as a gay male. boulden (2009) uncovered similar pressures among his gay hmong american participants who felt compelled to marry (women), have children, and protect the reputation of the family and the clan. the expectations placed upon thomas persisted until he came out to his parents when he was seventeen. indeed, it was the naming of being gay that forced his parents to consider that he needed an alternative way of being in terms of his sexual orientation. in thomas’ case, his parents have come to accept him as the individual he has become over the last eight years. but for others, the outcome has been quite different. kaim and teeb immigrated to minnesota from thailand in 2005. both entered a large metropolitan school district in minnesota, and both identify as gay. they joined soy soon after coming to minnesota, and hoped to explore new possibilities of sexual freedom in this new place. what they found, instead, is complete resistance to their way of being and rejection from fellow hmong teens. on a popular hmong website, hmongblog.com, they have been exposed to threats of violence and physical harm from other local hmong students. in fact, they both report fearing for their lives if it became common knowledge in the hmong community that they are gay. this added stress has caused these young men to deny any open connection to the gay and lesbian community. “we have to be ‘straight’ at school and only feel comfortable being ‘out’ when we have soy meetings in my apartment or at a [gay] friend’s house.” fear of being hurt prevented kaim from attending the hmong new year celebration in the community, and neither he nor teeb plan on coming out to their parents for fear of bringing shame on the family. sadly, these young men who identify as gay plan to marry women at some time in the future. another recent immigrant to minnesota and member of soy came to the united states with his wife, while simultaneously (and secretly) exploring his sexual orientation with men. according to kaim, “there is no other way [for us] to be.” corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 86 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 these cases addressing the lives of three queer hmong youth in a midwestern, metropolitan area raise serious questions about the pressures faced by students in our classrooms. immigrant youth face challenges regardless of their sexual orientation, but for those youth who also identify as lgbtq, the challenges are far greater. they fear dishonoring or being abandoned by their family members and the larger hmong community, and they fear for their personal safety. for two of the three participants in this study, it is clearly not safe for them to be gay and hmong. discussion given the absence of lgbtq people in hmong history and in the hmong language, combined with the patriarchal cultural norms of many hmong communities, it would be easy to support a narrative that describes hmong culture as traditional, and queer hmong as “victims” who must overcome a plethora of hardships to survive. in their study of queer transnational migrants, mattheis & figueroa (2012) found that many of their participants described their home communities as unsupportive or hostile to lgbtq identities. surely there are hardships that individuals must endure, and one cannot negate those very real experiences where people literally live in fear of bodily harm or death if it becomes known that they are gay. as two of the participants in this study have indicated, gay hmong youth have gone to great lengths to cover or hide their gay identity in order to spare the family shame or dishonor, including going forward with the marriage ritual. queer hmong youth have been physically threatened in person and online, and some live in fear of being abandoned by loved ones. but this is not the whole story. this often-told narrative must be carefully re-examined so that a more complete telling of the story moves forward. yang (2008) reported that despite the apparent non-existence of gay hmong before they immigrated to the united states, there are “anecdotal stories” about gay and lesbian hmong in laos. the term gay was not used, but she recounts one family’s experience with a woman who “behaved like a man” (p. 3). there are also stories about hmong men and women who never married, indicating the possibility of same-sex attraction. recall that thomas reported that he always knew he was different. he was a flamboyant child who wore a tiara and his sister’s shoes, and enjoyed the role of mom when playing house. likewise, ngo (2012b) reports that the mother of one of her male participants did not see him as a boy, but rather as a girl in some sense. she never understood the word gay. these behaviors, while not the norm in these hmong families, are not unique. they indicate a continuum of behaviors reported anecdotally from hmong individuals in the past. another part of the story that must be problematized is the coming out narrative. for many americans, coming out represents an individual’s acknowledgment of their queer identity and the desire to stop hiding an important part of what makes that individual whole. though individuals who come out may endure negative consequences, the coming out process is mostoften viewed as a liberating experience. but as ngo (2012b) explains, “researchers of asian and asian american lgbt experiences find that the focus of coming out discourses on individual identity and development fails to take into corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 87 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 account the central importance of family social relations and expectations.” further, aoki, ngin, mo, and ja (1989) reveal that in many asian and asian american communities, a person is not simply viewed as an individual, but as a representative of the family and must maintain a public reputation that is positive. coming out as lgbtq has serious repercussions not only for the individual, but for the entire family as well. therefore, it is significant to note that despite the many pressures to remain closeted, some queer hmong youth are coming out and finding support among family members. for thomas, his mother has shown support for him and the entire hmong lgbtq community by participating in pride parades and attending soy new year celebrations. this kind of support is particularly significant given the traditional and conservative reputation of the hmong american community. it indicates that older hmong adults are “capable of shifting their stance on complex issues from positions as harsh critics to that of staunch allies” (kumashiro, 1999; ngo, 2012a). changes in individual attitudes result in dynamic actions within the larger community. hmong american beliefs about the queer youth among them are not monolithic. individually and collectively, perceptions of the various lgbtq communities are evolving. soy is helping to reshape perceptions of queer hmong and southeast asian youth just as gay straight alliances (gsas) have supported queer youth in schools in the united states since the early 1990s. though many challenges remain for queer youth in schools–verbal harassment, feeling [and being] unsafe at school, increased levels of depression, and decreased levels of self-esteem, to name a few (kosciw, et al., 2012)--they are only part of a much more complex story. queer youth endure hardships in school and in life, but they also enjoy triumphs and overcome difficulties on a daily basis. just as being out at school is related to victimization, being out also results in higher levels of psychological well being (ibid). lgbtq youth cannot be viewed simply as victims. to adopt that point of view robs these young people of the rich, nuanced lives they experience daily and perpetuates stereotypes that are unhealthy for us all. conclusions & educational implications this study raises questions about the multiple identities our students carry with them each day, at home and at school. though its focus is on challenges and triumphs experienced by one small part of the larger lgbtq and immigrant communities, this study reveals the complexity that accompanies many queer students’ lives. issues of race, gender, and socio-economic and immigrant status collide in various ways and play out differently for each of the individuals involved. coming out stories vary greatly; students’ commitments to family and community are multiple; and the dual realities of immigrant/lgbtq identification complicate students’ lives. teachers, guidance counselors, and parents need to constantly remind themselves about the complex lives their students/children live so that they can provide the resources and support these students need. further, the adults in school are responsible for helping all other students navigate the tricky terrain presented when they engage in relationships with their lgbtq and/or immigrant peers. advisors of gsas and other diversity club leaders may play a particularly important role in this endeavor. corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 88 mailto:mayo@umn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 all classroom teachers must recognize the importance of using culturally relevant curricular materials in their normal classroom routine. in addition, they must be willing to work with parent and community partnerships to ensure the well being of their students. social studies teachers in particular can serve as leaders in this effort by creating and implementing curriculum that includes diverse histories and perspectives, so that all students see themselves in the lessons being taught. thornton (2003) tells us that no special expertise is required to accomplish this goal, just the willingness to provide information that is already available. and readily available online resources can help teachers to develop more inclusive lesson/unit plans (see teacher resources for inclusive classrooms). this commitment to a more inclusive curriculum combined with dedicated efforts to understand students’ multiple identities will result in meeting the need for education and action in our diverse communities. references aoki, b., ngin, c. p., mo, b., & ja, d. y. (1989). aids prevention models in asian-american communities. in v. m. mays, g. w. albee & s. f. schneider (eds.), primary prevention of aids: psychological approaches (pp. 290-308). newbury park, ca: sage. baxter, p., & jack, s. (2008). qualitative case study methodology, study design and implementation for novice researchers. the qualitative report, 13(4), 544-559. retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/qr/qr13-4/baxter.pdf. boulden, w. t. (2009). gay hmong, a multifaceted clash of cultures. journal of gay & lesbian social services, 21(2-3), 134-150. crocco, m. s. (2001). the missing discourse about gender and sexuality in the social studies. theory into practice, 40(1), 65-71. doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4001_10. hmong american partnership. (n.d.). 2010 census, hmong populations by state. retrieved on march 20, 2013, from http://www.hmong.org/page33422626.aspx. hmong national development. (n.d.). research center data tables. retrieved on march 20, 2013, from http://www.hndinc.org/resrch_cntr.php. kato, n. (1998). working with gay, lesbian, and bisexual international students in the united states. international educator, 8(1). http://overseas.iu.edu/lesbigay/kato.html. kosciw, j. g., greytak, e. a., bartkiewicz, m. j., boesen, m. j., & palmer, n. a. (2012). the 2011 national school climate survey: the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our nation’s schools. new york, ny: gay, lesbian, and straight education network (glsen). kumashiro, k. k. (1999). supplementary normalcy and otherness, queer asian american men reflect on stereotypes, identity, and oppression. qualitative studies in education, 12(5), 491-508. lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. beverly hills, ca: sage. marcus, a. s., metzger, s. a., paxton, r. j., & stoddard, j. d. (2010). teaching history with film, strategies for secondary social studies. new york, ny: routledge. mattheis, a., & figueroa, c. (2012, november). queering intercultural analysis and perceptions of community. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american anthropological association, san francisco, california. corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 89 mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.hmong.org/page33422626.aspx http://www.hndinc.org/resrch_cntr.php journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 mayo, j. b. (2012). glbtq issues in the social studies. in w.b. russell iii (ed.), contemporary social studies: an essential reader (pp. 243-260). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. mccall, a. l. (1999). speaking through cloth, teaching hmong history and culture through textile art. the social studies, 90, 230-236. mccall, a. l. (1997). more than a pretty cloth, teaching hmong history and culture through textile art. theory & research in social education, 25(2), 137-167. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage. ngo, b. (2012a). the importance of family for a gay hmong american man, complicating discourses of “coming out.” hmong studies journal, 13(1), 1-27. ngo, b. (2012b). “there are no glbt hmong people,” hmong american young adults navigating culture and sexuality. in v. k. her & m. l. buley-meissner (eds.), hmong and american: from refugees to citizens (pp. 113-132). minneapolis, mn: minnesota historical society press. symcox, l. (2002). whose history? the struggle for national standards in american classrooms. new york, ny: teachers college press. tellis, w. (1997, july). introduction to case study. the qualitative report [on-line serial], 3(2). retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/qr/qr3-2/tellis1.html. thornton, s. j. (2002). does everybody count as human? theory &research in social education, 30(2), 178-189. doi:10.1080/00933104.2002.10473189. thornton, s. j. (2003). silence on gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum. social education, 67(4), 226-230. yang, p. k. (2008). a phenomenological study of the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian hmong (unpublished doctoral dissertation). minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research, design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. yin, r. k. (2012). applications of case study research (3rd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. notes 1this name and others used to present the views of the members of shades of yellow are all pseudonyms. “thomas” was used because he uses a name commonly considered american. 2the other two participants were given hmong pseudonyms out of respect for their given hmong names. resources for inclusive classrooms american civil liberties union: lgbt youth & schools http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/lgbt-youth-schools gay lesbian & straight education network (glsen) http://www.glsen.org corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 90 mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/lgbt-youth-schools http://www.glsen.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, 79-91 ground spark, respect for all project http://groundspark.org/respect-for-all hmong homepage www.hmongnet.org hmong studies journal www.hmongstudies.org human rights campaign http://www.hrc.org/ multicultural pavilion http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/ people with a history: an online guide to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* history http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/ rethinking schools http://www.rethinkingschools.org shades of yellow (soy) http://www.shadesofyellow.org/ the new york times learning network: teaching and learning about gay history and issues http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/teaching-and-learning-about-gay-history-andissues/ the safe schools coalition http://safeschoolscoalition.org corresponding author email: mayo@umn.edu ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page | 91 mailto:mayo@umn.edu http://groundspark.org/respect-for-all http://www.hmongnet.org/ http://www.hmongstudies.org/ http://www.hrc.org/ http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/ http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ http://www.shadesofyellow.org/ http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/teaching-and-learning-about-gay-history-and-issues/ http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/teaching-and-learning-about-gay-history-and-issues/ http://safeschoolscoalition.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. do you speak african? teaching for diversity awareness in an era of globalization john kambutu and lydiah nganga university of wyoming at casper __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: africa is a continent, not a country. yet, a monolithic misunderstanding of africa as a country is prevalent especially in the united states. thus, africans in the diaspora who speak heritage languages other than english are asked frequently if they speak african. this study countered existing misunderstandings through cultural immersion in kenya, africa. a comparison of preand post-visit data showed that participants (n = 140) developed critical cultural understanding, and became less ethnocentric. this was an essential transformation especially in the context of contemporary globalization. key words: globalization, ethnocentrism and cultural responsiveness __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction africa is a diverse continent. notwithstanding its diversity, however, africa is understood from a monolithic lens. for example, although africa is a continent, there is a perception in the united states that it is a country. equally common is a deficit view, perhaps because of television, that africa is the “dark continent” (shillington, 1995). as a result, africa is largely associated with tribal wars, starvation and strange diseases (kambutu & nganga, 2008; nganga & kambutu, 2008; nganga & kambutu, 2011; traor’e, 2006). the following feedback from a participant in this study before travelling to kenya provides valuable insight: “the extreme poverty that exists, in addition to the instability of many african governments presents a very different lens to see africans,” (threaded discussion, 2013). another participant expressed similar sentiments thusly, “i am very nervous about the experience. i worry about food, safety, illness, and comfort,” (field notes, 2011). apparently, the above feedbacks show that one participant was aware that africa is a continent. nevertheless, a mindset that associates it with extreme poverty, political instability and lack of economic development is apparent in both feedbacks. given the obvious misunderstanding, we (hereafter referenced as researchers) designed this study to broaden participants’ understanding of africa. to do so, the researchers immersed participants in kenyan cultures for up to 3 weeks. to gauge the effectiveness of cultural immersion in helping the participants to develop informed understanding, the researchers generated preand post-travel data. having an informed understanding of africa is essential in the current context of contemporary globalization. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 28 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. globalization modern technologies have changed the world in multiple ways. for example, improved technologies have transformed the world in to a “virtual” place of interdependence and interconnections, vis-àvis a physical place governed by rigid cultural, economic and political boundaries (tapscott, 2009). indeed, advances in technology have enabled people of diverse cultures to not only mingle with relative ease, but to also interact from remote sites, thus increasing contemporary globalization. the meaning of contemporary globalization is somehow problematic, perhaps because it is both advantageous and disadvantageous. for example, while the groups that benefit are likely to use a “global village” view, as in “we are in this together,” the exploited view globalization negatively using a neoliberal interpretation (sleeter, 2003). generally, neoliberalism is a framework that supports aggressive generation and protection of property rights for the developed nations only (apple, 2004; harvey, 1996). irrespective of definition, however, globalization is causing increased migrations of people from poor to wealthy nations in search of economic opportunities (cabrera, monterosieburth, & trujillo, 2012; nganga & han, 2013). while, immigration has provided opportunities for cultural interactions, cabrera et al. (2012) reported that immigrants are likely to experience a myriad of challenges, including discrimination and racism. to be sure, cultural interactions have value. however, it is problematic when it takes place in the context of neoliberalism. indeed, globalization with a neoliberal tilt is likely to focus more on advancing the social, economic and political ambitions of the wealthy nations at the expense of other developing countries of the world (lee, 2012; miller, 2010, kambutu & lopez, 2012; kambutu, 2013). to that end, nganga and kambutu (2013) recommended careful examination of contemporary globalization because it is likely to generate tensions between wealthy and poor nations. one such unease in the united states exists between the dominant society and immigrants because of different views concerning the use of heritage languages. language issues in the united states, the dominant culture expects immigrant to speak english language only. notwithstanding, immigrants oppose the sole use of english because by doing so, they risk loosing their respective heritage languages, yet language is an important aspect of identity development (nieto and bode, 2012). nevertheless, being in the minority, immigrants are compelled to speak english language, albeit with foreign accents. but the dominant culture is typically impatient with foreign accents. as a result, a tense dynamic exist between the two groups. for example, english language learners (ell) are likely to be excluded socially and cognitively because of their inability to speak fluent english (gordon, 2000). as immigrants from kenya, the researchers have had numerous experiences with language-based discrimination. perhaps because of speaking english with “heavy” african accents, the researchers’ cognitive abilities are also questioned either covertly or overtly, especially in higher education. addressing the issue, wattsjohnson (2003) indicated that it is common for the dominant culture to corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 29 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. doubt the professional qualifications and cultural practices of faculty of color1, teaching in predominantly monoracial institutions of higher learning. meanwhile, the researchers contend with other stereotypical and ethnocentric notions about africa. most common are statements such as africa has an abundance of marathon runners because africans have to run after gazelles for “bush meat.” equally troubling are questions about whether there are formal schools in africa, whether the researchers know this or that person from africa (africa is a continent that is three times the sizes of the united states), and whether the researchers speak african. ethnocentrism and racism seem to be central in the existing misunderstanding of africa. consider, for example, the fact that increased contacts between people of diverse cultural persuasion foster cultural understanding and appreciation (held, mcgrew, goldblatt, & perraton, 1999). perhaps because of ethnocentrism and racism, however, the process of developing informed understanding due to cultural contacts has not applied to africa. instead, africa is associated with tribal wars, starvation and strange diseases (kambutu & nganga, 2008). because ethnocentrism and racism affect negatively people’s quality of life, they should be challenged and eradicated by developing essential kills in cultural proficiency and global citizenship (nganga, 2009; merryfield, 2002; merryfield & wilson, 2005). cultural responsiveness culturally responsive people have a critical understanding of culture. for example, in addition to appreciating the centrality of culture in identity development, culturally responsive people seek to understand how their values, beliefs, choices and bias affect other people (chamberlain, 2005; gay, 2000). equally evident is the understanding that race and ethnicity influence human thinking and behavior in dramatic ways (zamudio, russell, rios, & bridgeman, 2011). generally, skills in cultural responsiveness allow people to not only expose and confront cultural stereotypes, but to also learn informed strategies, critical to effective fuctioning in familiar and unfamiliar cultures (banks, 2008). learning skills in cultural responsiveness occurs in many ways. however, learning through immersion is invaluable (kambutu & nganga, 2008). when people are immersed in unfamiliar cultures, they are likely to freely cross cultural bridges/borders, that is, invisible entities, yet very real in the socialization and allocation of societal power and privilege (anzaldua, 2001). the process of crossing cultural bridges/borders or building critical cultural understanding is essential, and it starts with selfawareness (robins, lindsey, lindsey, & terrell, 2002). meanwhile, an education for global skills is equally necessary because it helps people to understand themselves within the context of global “others” (tucker & cistone, 1991). given that an education for global skills supports cultural responsiveness, the researchers designed an international experience that immersed participants in foreign cultures to allow them ample opportunities to understand themselves within the contexts of kenyan, and by extension, african cultures. 1 kambutu, rios and castaneda (2009) use the term “teachers of color” to refer to educators who self-identify as coming from african-american, latina/o-american, asian-american, and/or american indian heritage. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 30 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. the study this narrative study explored the effects of cultural immersion in terms of helping the participants to develop informed understanding of africa. to that end, the participants (n = 140) traveled to kenya, africa at different times starting in the summer of 2004 to experience up to 3 weeks of cultural immersion. immersing the participants in foreign cultures for a prolonged period of time was consistent with derman-sparks’ (1998) caution against implementing brief cultural experiences that risk turning participants into “cultural tourists.” thus, in addition to designing programs that allowed the participants to experience foreign cultures for a minimum of 12 days, the researchers offered multiple opportunities for the participants to interact with different kenyan cultures. for example, visits to kenyan schools, both urban and rural, provided essential cultural experiences. meanwhile, before and after travel, the participants reflected in writing and orally about similarities and differences between america and kenya. they also examined ways in which the kenya experience would influence them as citizens of a “globalized” world. participants the researchers designed kenya cultural program for students in an elementary and early childhood education program in rural america. however, because of unexpected heightened interest, the general public was included. initially, the researchers planned to offer a one time cultural experience. however, increased public demand caused the researchers to offer the program every summer with the exception of 2008. the participants were volunteers of all ages and occupations. while one to three academic credits were available for college students, other participants completed various assignments voluntarily. thus, the data presented in this study were generated from both the participating students and the general public. the participants were mostly members of the dominant culture in rural america. to familiarize all the participants (n = 140) with the expectations, the researchers held monthly planning meetings for up to six months before travel. other activities such as guest speakers, formal lectures, reading assignments, online threaded discussions and question and answer sessions provided helpful information. while in kenya, the participants used primary resources to explore kenya’s history, geography, cultures, languages, economy, education, archeology, ecology, paleontology and zoology, geo-political, ethnic, gender issues and the hiv/aids epidemic. additionally, the summer of 2011 and 2013 groups participated in service learning projects. meanwhile, a visit to various national parks allowed the participants to learn about kenya’s fauna and flora. data source and analysis collaboratively, the researchers identified program outcomes, generated a set of guiding questions, and established how to collect and analyze data. the participants completed open-ended questions before and after kenya experiences. while pre-visit questions documented existing knowledge about host cultures, post-visit questions identified changes (transformation) that might have corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 31 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. occurred subsequent to kenya cultural experiences. the participants also wrote preand post-visit letters to themselves (copied to researchers) and kept journals/records documenting their feelings and reflections. other data were gathered from online threaded discussions, researchers’ field notes generated during planning and office meetings, and during telephone and e-mail communications between the researchers and participants. meanwhile, the researchers met regularly to discuss the experiences, and to make meaning of written data. the researchers coded the accumulated data using pseudo names (strauss & corbin, 1998) and recorded them using the following initials: td. (threaded discussion), wr. (written responses), j. (journals), e. (e-mails), l. (letters) and fn. (field notes). findings qualitative analysis of both preand post-visit data generated numerous themes that the researchers collapsed into the following robust themes: a) misconceptions and changed views, b) appreciation, and c) globalized awareness. misconceptions and changed views pre-visit data showed that although a majority of the participants understood that kenya was a country in africa, some lacked that knowledge. consequently, they referred to the planned cultural experience as “traveling to africa.” consider, for example, the following response relative to a pre-visit question that asked the participants to state either their thinking, feelings and/or sense about traveling to kenya: “africa has always been a dream of mine to go to!” (td., 2011). another participant expressed a similar mindset thusly: “i am very excited about going to see africa in person,” (l., 2004). meanwhile, all the participants associated kenya with villages and wildlife. before travel, the participants completed a questionnaire. data from the questionnaire showed that the participants believed kenya had tribal villages everywhere (78%), wildlife everywhere (66%), barely clothed people (44 %), people who live in huts and caves (33%) and diseases like aids/hiv and malaria (33%). when asked to provide the source of the information they had about kenya, a majority indicated that their knowledge was mainly from friends (100%), reading books and magazines (mainly national geographic) 67%, teachers (66%) and from television programs such as the animal planet and national geographic (44%). in the following selected quotes, a clear misperception of kenya before travel is evident: • when i think of kenya, i always have a view of tribal villages • it is just grassland and prairie or savanna as shown in the discovery channel • a place without food, good hygiene and medical facilities. the held misconceptions about kenya affected the participants in a variety of ways. for example, before travel, a majority of them expressed a high degree of anxiety. thus, one person was so concerned about “extreme poverty and governmental instability” that her “thoughts, senses, and feelings were in a state of contradiction,” (td., 2013). evidently, the thought of traveling to kenya corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 32 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. made the participants quite uneasy. but while other participants were concerned about being immersed in a “strange culture among strange people and being laughed at,” (fn., 2006 and 2007), the thought of seeing devastating poverty and diseases was most troubling as is evident in the following reflection: “kenya is a country that is completely consumed by poverty and aids. this will be a very depressing trip,” (wr., 2006). obviously, although the participants had not been to kenya before, they harbored a variety of ethnocentric and racist notions about host cultures. for example, the constant use of the word “tribe” instead of ethnic groups to describe kenyans was demeaning. addressing the issue, moore (2001) postulated that words deliver a particular message either overtly or covertly. so, because the oxford dictionary definition’s of the word tribe is “an aggregate of people in a primitive or barbarous condition,” moore argued that whenever the word tribe is used, it provokes, albeit subconsciously, a connotation of backwardness and primitiveness. therefore, he recommended the use of affirming words such as ethnicity. to researcher’s surprise, post-visit data showed that the participants embraced moore’s ideas. for example, instead of using tribe, they addressed kenyans as “hopeful, determined, hard-working, resourceful and innovative people,” (td., 2013). the apparent use of affirming words to describe kenyans is perhaps proof that the participants were developing nonjudgmental views after visiting kenya. changed views post-visit data showed evidence that after visiting kenya, the participants developed informed views about kenya, and african for that matter. for example, while they understood that africa was a diverse continent, they stopped associating it with wild animals, jungle, tribes, diseases, crimes and political unrests only. instead, they learned that kenya was a diverse country. so, when asked to describe kenya, the participants used informed terms such as “different cultures, friendly people, great food, westernized and beautiful country.” in addition, they showed a possible understanding of the existing media misinformation as is evident in the following response: “kenya has 43 different ethnic groups, each practicing a unique culture, but the media associate kenya primarily with the “uncivilized and war-liking” masaai people,” (j., 2005). meanwhile, the participants learned that there was plenty of good food in kenya. while pre-visit data showed that the participants were concerned about lack of food, post-visit data revealed that they learned that kenya had enough food. to that end, one participant was surprised by all the “good food available . . . more than we could eat,” (wr., 2004). the participants were equally impressed at how secure they felt. consequently, they no longer feared the possibility of being physically harmed or contacting deadly diseases as is evident in the following threaded discussion: traveling to kenya opened my eyes and taught me more life lessons than i could have ever imagined or expected. i went into our trip unnecessarily terrified. i have never met such welcoming, warm and caring people. i am so incredibly grateful to have been able to have this opportunity and am hoping to be able to go back soon! (td., 2013) corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 33 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. because this participant was contemplating returning to kenya, it is arguable that she developed more informed views of kenya after the visit. this is a necessary transformation particularly in the context of contemporary globalization. globalized awareness globalization or the interaction of people from different parts of the world is an old phenomenon that traditionally happened on a limited scale (steger, 2009). the development of modern technologies, however, is perhaps responsible for the emergence of contemporary globalization, a large scale phenomenon that has transformed the world into a place of interdependence and interconnections (krieger, 2005). a common trend in contemporary globalization is increased interactions between people of different cultural practices (kambutu & nganga, 2008). nevertheless, cotemporary globalization has multiple opportunities and challenges. therefore, people should acquire skills essential to effective functioning in a globalized world (nganga & kambutu, 2012, nganga & kambutu, 2011). while cultural understanding is helpful, lee (2012) supported the development of “human rights” skills to allow people to appreciate that, in a globalized world, when one group fails, all other groups are affected negatively. notwithstanding the significance of global skills, the participants in this study appeared to have limited pertinent skills before travelling to kenya. pre-visit data showed that the participants had a limited understanding of kenya and africa. recall that in addition to having a mindset that africa is a country, a majority of them associated kenya with barely clothed tribal people who lived in huts and caves. after travel, however, data showed that the participants gained essential cultural understanding as is evident in the following 2007 email response, “kenyan culture is generally warm and inviting. thus, i would love to live there and experience more of kenyan cultures.” evidently, this response indicates that the participant did not only develop a cultural appreciation, but he also experienced a personal connection with kenya. meanwhile, another participant expressed a desire to return to kenya, but using a human rights lens as is evident in the following response: prior to this experience, i viewed globalization positively. however, it was disheartening to see greenhouses that stretch for miles through some of the most fertile soil on the planet (land surrounding lake naivasha), constructed by international companies to grow flowers for export to benefit a few already privileged people while the food that should be grown there to feed the local people is imported. as the world becomes a village, it is essential that we all become empathic stewards of its resources. our world has enough resources for everyone. a just sharing of resources could ensure that the basic needs of all people on earth are met. (wr., 2010) evidently, the effects of globalization on a poor country like kenya created cognitive dissonance in this participant. equally apparent is his focus on human rights, thus arguing that, “as the world becomes a village, it is essential that we all become empathic stewards of its resources.” other participants had a similar sense of solidarity with kenya. consider, for example, the following corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. excerpt: “i became enthusiastic about kenya’s great potential for socio/economic improvement. i want to help in some way,” (wr., 2006). perhaps because of developing a global mindset, post visit data showed that the participants were also able to understand kenya’s issues using a globalization lens. although the initial knowledge that the participants had about kenya as a place of poverty was confirmed, they were able to understand poverty from a global context. instead of blaming kenyans, for example, the participants were able to understand poverty from a historical context, slavery and colonization especially. equally considered were contemporary events such as new-colonialism and globalization. to that end, a participant expressed her opposition to globalization because it allowed “whites to take land and other natural resources from the natives as if it were their right” (e., 2005). meanwhile, another participant expressed similar sentiments adding that, “having an explanation of political and social issues provided answers about what causes poverty, but i still don’t know how to change mankind to be less competitive while still remaining productive” (l., 2006). as if to offer a solution to the expressed dilemma, a participant reported that “changing the culture of international corporate firms that are exploiting kenyans and other third world people is a solution” (wr., 2006). meanwhile, another participant singled out international travel as an additional remedy because it helps people to see the negative effects of globalization, and justified her position thusly; mark twain was indeed correct when he said, “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” when people are fully immersed in a new environment, although scary, one gets acquainted and accustomed to it; thus making it relatable. this trip has taught me that ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive in a happy, healthy and long life is an essential goal. (td., 2013) discussion data from this study support the researchers’ notion that a monolithic view of africa exists, especially in the united states where many people think africa is a needy country. equally prevalent is a misunderstanding that africa has universal cultural practices, including language. as a result, it is common for the dominant culture to ask africans in the diaspora if they speak “african.” other statements about africa being a land of intertribal wars, and a place that lacks food, formal education, medical services and technology support the existing monolithic view of africa. given that modern technologies are allowing people to interact globally with relative ease, thus transforming the world into place of interconnections (tapscott, 2009), the existing monolithic view of africa is inexcusable. indeed, in the current age of globalization, the acquisition of objective information about other cultures is essential. while such information can be acquired in variety of ways, data from this study showed that planned cultural immersion programs are effective at helping people to develop objective understanding of other cultures, including geopolitical realities because cultural immersion eliminates isolation, albeit momentarily. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. cultural isolation tends to promote misinformation, misunderstanding and suspicion. additionally, it is likely to engender ethnocentrism, a destructive practice that cripples the hopes and aspirations of the affected people. ethnocentrism has no room in the current age of globalization. thus, it must be challenged and eradicated by helping people to acquire skills pertaining to cultural responsiveness in the context of globalization. although traditional instructional approaches have value, the dominant culture is usually reluctant to abandon ethnocentric practices because they fear losing the many privileges they are accustomed to (kambutu & nganga, 2008). thus, it is important to utilize other creative instructional approaches such as cultural immersion. immersing people in foreign cultures for a prolonged period of time has value. addressing the issue, merryfield, lo and kasai (2008) asserted that when people are immersed in other cultures, they are likely to have experiences that do not conform to existing notions, thus creating essential cultural dissonance. but because cultural immersion allows people to be physically present in host cultures, without the privilege of escaping to familiar ones, rodriguez (2000) argued that cultural immersion enables participants to confront and resolve the dissonance experienced. this is a necessary step in the process of building cultural awareness. to that end, data from this study revealed that, after experiencing kenyan cultures, the participants were able to develop objective cultural understanding. before experiencing kenya, the participants held monolithic notions of kenya and africa. recall, for example, that in addition to believing that africa was a country, the participants held negative and simplistic notions that generally associated kenya and africa with tribal wars and exotic animals. however, after experiencing kenya, they understood the country differently as is evident in the following feedback: kenya is a country of extremes with 43 different ethnic groups. each group speaks its own language along with kiswahili (national language that is spoken by all the groups), and english (business language only spoken by the schooled). education in kenya is free up to 8th grade. kenya has a diverse geography and geology. its economy is very extreme—very rich, and mostly poor who earn an average income of $1 a day. poverty is exacerbated by government policies that have taken land and given it to multinational corporations. (wr., 2007) although this participant’s view of kenya in the context of poverty was confirmed, being immersed in kenya allowed her to see the link between poverty and contemporary issues, globalization especially. therefore, using sokolower’s (2006) view of globalization as a scheme by the privileged west to control earth’s resources, the participant argued that “kenya government, like other governments of poor and developing nations is a victim of the ever-growing appetite by developed nations of the west to possess all global natural resources.” meanwhile, other participants understood that historical events such as slavery and colonization, both of which involved stealing of resources, dividing people along ethnic lines by drawing artificial and arbitrary political boundaries, thus causing ethnic and state animosities, were equally responsible for the extreme poverty affecting developing countries. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. the extreme poverty that the participants saw in kenya was troubling. nevertheless, instead of blaming kenyans, they showed solidarity and empathy by exploring possible ways to solve the problem. the ability to identify with kenya’s poverty was perhaps additional evidence that participants were developing essential skills in cultural responsiveness in the context of globalization. given the negative impact of globalization on developing nations, the participants saw the need to disrupt it in order to address the “tremendous poverty and the differences between the very rich and the very poor we saw in kenyan” (wr., 2007). again, what is evident here is a transformation that is causing the participants to think about poverty using a human rights lens, perhaps because of being immersed in kenya cultures. in addition to invoking human rights perspectives, however, it is also obvious that participants were in solidarity with kenyans plights. the ability to identify with kenyan issues was a welcome development. recall that before travel, the participants were generally apprehensive and “scared of the unknown such as wars and hiv/aids.” after travel, however, they reported being pleasantly surprised that kenya had such “diverse economy that is supported by tourism and farming, but i wonder what can be done about poor infrastructure that is hindering progress” (fn., 2010). evidently, this participant was making kenyan issues “personal” by wondering about ways to improve kenya’s infrastructure. to that end, she was not only able to identify with kenyans, but to also “cross cultural boundaries,” perhaps proving the value of cultural immersion. to make cultural immersion meaningful, careful planning is necessary. indeed, it is planning that separates immersion programs from tourist cultural experiences whose focus is to “wow” or excite and entertain participants (derman-sparks, 1998). because a tourist-based cultural experience is likely to promote comparison (them versus us) of familiar with unfamiliar cultural practices, williams (2005) recommended cultural immersion programs that enabled participants to interact with foreign cultures from multicultural perspectives. notwithstanding the value, planning cultural immersion programs is a daunting task. planning cultural immersion programs is involving in terms of labor and time. for example, it took the researchers one year to plan each summer program. in addition to preparing the participants for travel, the researchers spent an overwhelming amount of time on logistical details such as contacting host culture/s, securing institutional commitments, marketing/recruiting and preparing participants. during travel, the researchers were involved fully with daily activities including providing cultural lectures and responding to participants’ questions. the researchers encouraged the participants to ask questions in order to clarify their confusion or whatever was on their mind. although exhausting to researchers, allowing the participants to express themselves was essential in the process of helping participants to develop meaningful understanding of host cultures. indeed, cultural transformation is likely to occur during reflections (mezirow, 1991). while reflecting, learners are able to make “sense” of unfamiliar cultural experiences. indeed, when planned carefully, cultural immersion programs have the potential to promote cultural learning that is impossible to replicate in a traditional classroom. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 28-41. conclusion the benefits of cultural immersion are immeasurable. for example, a carefully planned cultural immersion program is likely to promote cultural transformation because participants are immersed in host cultures for days and weeks, thus giving them adequate time to make sense of unfamiliar cultural experiences. generally, data from this study suggest that although the participants held monolithic views of africa before travel, after experiencing kenya, they developed an understanding that africa is a diverse continent, not a country. meanwhile, in addition to understanding kenya’s diversity, the participants were rarely ethnocentric, an important transformation especially in the context of contemporary globalization. meanwhile, interactions between host cultures and the participants created space for them to learn about cultural similarities and differences, an essential step in the process of becoming culturally responsive. becoming culturally responsive is critical in the scheme of eradicating ethnocentrism. with increased interactions, for example, data in this study showed that the participants were perhaps becoming less ethnocentric. to that end, they drunk maasai “pombe” (home brew), and as they did, they appreciated the similarities between maasai and american cultures in the context of sharing alcohol with guests. this apparent cultural transformation speaks to the fact that the benefits of prolonged cultural immersion are both planned and serendipitous. thus, measuring the amount and quality of learning inherent in cultural immersion might be impossible. nevertheless, because it is not possible to replicate the effects of cultural immersion in regular traditional classroom-based cultural courses, educational institutions should support cultural immersion programs. planning successful cultural immersion programs, however, is overwhelming both in time and labor. implications as the world becomes increasingly a place of interdependence and interconnections, it is necessary that people acquire informed knowledge about other cultures. because data from this study show that cultural immersion helped the participants to gain essential cultural understanding and appreciation, institutions of higher learning, teacher preparation programs especially, should consider supporting cultural immersion programs designed to help pre-service teachers to acquire skills in cultural responsiveness in a globalized context. the researchers believe that when preservice teachers are prepared for cultural responsiveness and global citizenry, they are likely to eventually teach using a similar lens. culturally responsive teachers invite and prepare learners to become critical and reflective consumers of information. thus, these teachers focus on deconstructing monolithic, racist and ethnocentric canons. indeed, beyer (2001) asked classroom teachers to always avoid educational activities that foster stereotypes. meanwhile, because misconceptions about africa are numerous, all educators should help learners to acquire credible 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(2011). critical race theory matters: education and ideology. new york: routledge. corresponding author email: kambutu@uwyo.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 introduction globalization language issues cultural responsiveness the study participants data source and analysis findings misconceptions and changed views changed views globalized awareness discussion conclusion implications references journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 marginalization of social studies teacher preparation for global competence and global perspectives pedagogy: a call for change omiunota nelly ukpokodu university of missouri-kansas city abstract: few scholars have raised the question: why are teacher education programs not preparing teachers for global competence and global perspectives pedagogy? the purpose of this article is to explore this question. the study utilizes qualitative and practitioner research methodologies. four factors marginalizing the preparation of teachers for global competence and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education are examined: a) competing pedagogical paradigms; b) lack of clarity on global perspectives pedagogy; c) neoliberal ideologies and policies; and d) complicity in new high-stakes teacher licensure assessment. the paper discusses critical implications and recommendations for preparing social studies teachers for global competence and global key words: social studies, global education, global competence, global perspectives pedagogy, teacher education, marginalization. introduction today, the phenomenon of globalization and the notion of one interconnected and interdependent world or global “village” has become more omnipresent than ever. everywhere in the world, people are connected culturally, educationally, politically, economically, environmentally, technologically, transnationally—as well as challenged by pressing common concerns including security (terrorism), trade wars, cyber warfare, wars, refugee and migrant crisis, poverty, human trafficking, climate change, pandemic diseases, and natural disasters, among others. in some western nations such as canada, france, germany, the u.s., the u.k., and sweden, instances of racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, anti-semitism, anti-immigration rhetoric, white nationalism, human rights violations, and violence against the “other” are increasing. researchers, politicians, educators, activists, and organizations warn about today’s mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 compressed world and the existential threats to all humans. they have called for the imperative to prepare the young for global citizenship and remind all people that what happens to one in one location also happens to others. in michael apple’s (2011) words, “crises in one country have significant effects in others” (p. 223). specifically, some have warned about the danger of failing or ignoring to prepare the young for a globalized world. robert muller’s (1985) profound warning stands out: a child born today will be faced as an adult, almost daily, with problems of a global interdependent nature, be it peace, food, the quality of life, inflation, or scarcity of resources. he will be both an actor and a beneficiary or a victim in the total world fabric, and he may rightly ask, “why was i not warned? why was i not better educated? why did my teachers not tell me about these problems and indicate my behavior as a member of an interdependent human race? it is, therefore, the duty and the self-enlightened interest of governments to educate their children properly about the type of world in which they are going to live. (p.1) although the quote above was uttered more than three decades ago, it is as valid today as it was then. now more than ever, the world faces unprecedented challenges that defy unilateral resolution (longview foundation, 2008; united nations, 2012). for example, migration has become one of the defining challenges in the world. the increasing movement of people across borders means that the workforce will be populated by people of different cultural, linguistic, national, transnational, political, and religious backgrounds. imperatively, the young must be educated to develop global competence and citizenship they need to enter the “office of global citizen.” unfortunately, research reveals that many students in u.s. pre-k-12 schools and colleges lack the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to become effective global citizens (apple, 2011; author, 2010; banks, 2008, 2015; council of foreign relations [cfr], 2016; gaudelli, 2010; kahne & middaugh, 2010; longview foundation, 2008; merryfield, 2010; myers, 2006; national assessment of educational progress, 2015; national association of foreign student affairs [nafsa], (2014); noddings, 2006: parker, 2010; rapoport, 2013; zeichner, 2010). both national and international assessment reports have consistently shown that many u.s. students lack knowledge about the world (merryfield, 1991, 2000, 2002; national statistics for educational progress, 2010, 2015). numerous surveys have revealed u.s. students’ deficiency in knowledge of world geography, history, and current events, especially when compared with students in other countries (asia society, 2018; cfr, 2016; national geographic-roper [ngr], 2002, 2016). a mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 cfr-ngr survey administered to college students ages 18-26 revealed that few students possess critical knowledge about the world and america’s role in it (gawel, 2016). according to cfr’s report, the survey revealed students’ deficiencies in geographic understanding and global illiteracy of the increasingly interconnected world they live in and must navigate and negotiate. when students and even adults are uninformed about their world, they are ill-prepared to make responsible decisions for the planet and communicate, interact, and relate effectively across borders and cultures. global illiteracy is a critical problem that exposes and subjects individuals to vulnerabilities and embarrassment. i have observed these vulnerabilities and embarrassment among students, adults, and educators. in the u.s., journalists and television staffers regularly quiz people on the street regarding geographic and global literacy; it is not uncommon to see adults and young people confuse libya with liberia. even political leaders mix up the names of countries and heads of states they are referencing—slovakia with slovenia, switzerland with swaziland (now eswatini). imagine the swiss president, allain berset, being mistaken for king mswati of eswatini, who has 15 wives. imagine the embarrassment a presidential candidate felt when he was asked on national television about the city of aleppo, syria, at the height of a massive refugee migration crisis, and he did not know. global literacy matters! while the above examples of global illiteracy may seem trivial, many scholars, educators, organizations, governments, policymakers, and concerned citizens are deeply troubled. researchers and other globally-minded educators and organizations have attributed the geographic and global illiteracy and incompetence of students and adults to the inadequate preparation of teachers for global competence and teaching (apple, 2011; longview foundation, 2008; merryfield, 1998, 2000; myers, 2010; national association of international educators, 2014; zeichner, 2010). these scholars and organizations indicate that u.s. teachers possess superficial or inadequate knowledge about the world that does not equip them to teach their students about global consciousness, foster their global competence, and engage them in how to participate as active global citizens (banks, 2015; cfr, 2016; longview foundation, 2008). colleges and schools of education, particularly teacher education programs, have been implicated for their culpability in their disinclination to internationalize their programs (cogan & grossman, 2009; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; zeichner, 2010). pointedly, teacher education programs marginalize the preparation of teachers for global competence teaching. it is for this reason that i examine the marginalization of global education and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. in this paper, i engage the literature on global education and mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 global perspectives pedagogy and its absence in social studies teacher education. then, i examine and discuss the climates that marginalize global education and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. finally, i offer suggestions for engaging and integrating global education and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. the significance of this inquiry is underscored by the dearth of research on global education and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education (merryfield, 2002; ukpokodu, 2010; zeichner, 2010; zhao, 2010; zong, 2009). theoretical perspectives and literature review this qualitative inquiry is situated in the literature on global education, global citizenship, and global perspectives pedagogy and the imperative of preparing the young for a globalized world in the 21st century. i draw on these concepts and discourses to frame the phenomenon of marginalization of global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. global education matters issues pertaining to globalization and global education have become increasingly pervasive within the last decade. globalization has become the most powerful force shaping the lives of people and societies across the globe. in 2020, the world woke up to a new reality, with the unprecedented covid-19 pandemic that has plagued and devasted many communities around the world. covid-19, a coronavirus respiratory syndrome disease that originated in wuhan, china, quickly became a global pandemic, leaving no continent (except the continent of antarctica) untouched. as of the time of this writing the total confirmed cases worldwide, was 650,000, with over 30,000 deaths, and several epicenters. some cities have recorded about hundreds there is no area of human life that has not been affected. ironically, people from all spectra of life—race, ethnicity, gender, gender identities, education, age, politics, class, religion, geographic regions, travels, businesses, among others—have been severely disrupted. food, everyday supplies and medical equipment are in short supplies. many communities have become ghost spaces, as lockdown policies are in place. what a new world order! for better or worse, the young are the “beneficiaries” of globalization. how well they are prepared to develop the habits of mind and heart to function as globally competent citizens will be the difference between realizing an attainable and sustainable world that is humane, ethical, equitable, socially just, prosperous, and peaceful, and one that is chaotic, uncertain, insecure, inhumane, and unjust. currently, even as technological advances have made most people’s lives more comfortable, with modern conveniences such as fast and digital travels, communication tools, and medical breakthroughs, mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 today’s world is simultaneously faced with pressing and unprecedented challenges that threaten human existence. among these challenges are environmental and ecological degradation, poverty and economic disparity, racial and religious tensions and conflicts, migrant and refugee crises, hiv/aids, epidemic and pandemic diseases (ebola, zika, covid-19), natural disasters, terrorism, child exploitation, cyber espionage, cyber stalking, cybercrime, cyberterrorism, drug, sex and human trafficking, banking fraud, e-mail scams, and more. global migration is one of the critical challenges facing the global community. while migrations within and across nation-states have always been human phenomena, its massive, complicated, and costly effects have never been more terrifying. these events, concerns, and criminal activities defy unilateral resolutions. they require the talents and skills of all humans to work together to solve them (banks, 2015; cfr, 2016; ki-moon, 2012; national council for the social studies [ncss], 2013; oxfam, 2018). former u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon reminded the world of the dire state of the planet. calling for collective ambition and action, he said in 2012, “we are living through a period of profound turmoil, transition and transformation… insecurity, inequality and intolerance are spreading. global and national institutions are being put to the test.” specifically, he called for the preparation of global citizens who will be active players and not mere spectators through global education. global education (ge) is a concept that has been conceived, interpreted, and implemented variably (merryfield, 2010; zeichner, 2010). scholars and educators define and conceptualize it differently, which compromises its proper enactment in teachers’ practices. merryfield (1994) defines global education as helping students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for informed decision-making and participation in a world characterized by cultural pluralism, interconnectedness, and international and economic competition. ncss (1994, 2013) also states that global education cultivates in young people a perspective of the world which emphasizes the interconnections among cultures, species, and the planet. the purpose of global education is to develop in youth the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to live effectively in a world possessing limited natural resources and characterized by ethnic diversity, cultural pluralism, and increasing interdependence (p. 38). a discussion of global education is incomplete without referencing the works of earlier globallyminded scholars like hanvey (1976), becker (1982), and tye and kniep (1991), who, although varied in their views and approaches to global education, agree that global education is an education that helps the young learn about human diversity, cultures, peoples and their problems, seeing the world through their eyes and minds, and the interconnectedness of cultural, mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 ecological, economic, political, and technological systems. hanvey’s (1976) seminal work is most referenced in the literature. he presents five dimensions of global education that include: (1) perspective consciousness; (2) “state-of-the-planet awareness”; (3) cross-cultural awareness; (4) knowledge of global dynamics; and (5) consciousness of global change and awareness of human choices (for details, see hanvey, 1976). in my work, i explain global education as helping students become aware of global diversity and the commonalities in the human experience, equipping them with the capacities and dispositions to understand critical issues and concerns of the human family and the sensibilities to engage and transform the world for humanity, equity, and social justice. specifically, i view global education as educational experiences that intentionally, explicitly, and systematically orient the young to their identities as global citizens and their rights and responsibilities toward a sustainable world. the major goal of global education is for students to develop global competence and global citizenship. merryfield (2010) posits that global competence is about cultivating the knowledge and perception about what we know and how our perspectives of the world affect how we acquire and process new knowledge and its use. other scholars and professional organizations echo similar views and have made powerful pronouncements that call for developing students’ global competence for the 21st-century world (banks, 2008, 2015; council of chief state school officers [ccsso], 2008; national education association, 2012; ncss, 2010, 2013). noddings (2005) writes that the purpose of education in today’s world is to develop reflective, empathetic, caring, and responsible citizens with critical thinking and problem-solving skills and global competences that empower them to engage and influence the world. she views global competence as a skill essential for humanity. similarly, nussbaum (1997) called for an education for cultivating humanity that encompasses three core values: the capacity for critical examination of oneself and critical thinking about one’s worldview; the capacity of seeing oneself as not only a citizen of a nation-state but also as a human being who is bounded with other humans and their concerns in a globalized world; and the capacity for a narrative imagination and the ability to empathize and see others in their own light without judgment. basically, a globally competent citizen possesses the ability to acquire a critical and complex body of knowledge about human diversity, world regions, cultures, and global issues, and a mindset—skills and dispositions—to engage responsibly and effectively in a global environment (darling-hammond, 2010; longview foundation, 2008; ncss, 2013; nea, 2010; zhao, 2010). the organization of economic cooperation and development [oecd] (2018) defines global competence as “the capacity to examine local, global and intercultural issues, to understand and appreciate the perspectives and mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 worldviews of others, to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with people from different cultures, and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development.” increasingly, scholars, educators, and organizations—particularly institutions—have been challenged to rethink and transcend the traditional, unidimensional notion of national citizenship and to broaden its forms to include transnational citizenship, multicultural citizenship, and global citizenship. it should also assist the young in recognizing and developing their multiple identities: individual, cultural, national, regional, and global (banks, 2009; kymlicka, 1995). national citizenship is gained through birthright or the process of immigration and naturalization, while global citizenship is a right and responsibility that individuals assume as members of the human family. global citizenship has no specific geographic location; rather, it is our responsibility toward our collective planet and its inhabitants. a person’s allegiance as a global citizen is to the wider world and humanity as a whole. fostering students’ global competence and citizenship development does not happen magically. it is possible through purposeful, transformative global citizenship education. while today it is almost a cliché that schools should help students become competent citizens who cultivate a global perspective and a sense of global citizenship (banks, 2008; merryfield, 2010; parker, 2010), little is done to actualize it. this is because much focus is on students learning core subjects such as mathematics, science, and literacy, and the narrowing of the social studies curriculum. banks (2008, 2015) reminds us that helping students to learn and master core subjects is important, but also emphasizes the danger and fallacy of failing to foster their development of global competency and citizenship. as he explains: the world’s greatest problems do not result from people being unable to read and write. they result from people in the world—from different cultures, races, religions, and nations—being unable to get along and to work together to solve the world’s intractable problems such as global warming, the hiv/aids epidemic, poverty, racism, sexism, and war. (2010, p. 291) a transformative global citizenship education transcends learning tidbits and trivialities of other countries and cultures and simply knowing that they live in an interconnected and interdependent world. instead, it is purposeful and helps students to recognize their national and global citizen identity, including their rights and responsibilities to the planet and toward the world’s people, their needs and concerns, and learning to address injustice and inequities worldwide (banks, 2008, 2015; gutmann, 2004; kymlicka, 1995; parker, 2010; oxfam, 2018; mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 unesco, 2015). apple (2011) characterizes global citizenship education as one that allows students to “think internationally, not only to see the world from below, but to see the social world relationally” (p. 225). other scholars see global citizenship education as a pedagogical approach that allows students to examine and analyze the relationships between local and global issues, learning to deconstruct the “we/us vs. they/them” binary and, in the process, cultivate empathy, collective consciousness, and solidarity (banks, 2015; gaudelli, 2010; noddings, 2006). kahne and middaugh (2010) add that global citizenship education centers on developing justiceoriented global citizens. in my own work (ukpokodu, 2010), i have explained transformative global citizenship education as purposeful programming, curricular and pedagogical engagement that intentionally, explicitly, deliberately, and systematically integrates perspectives from across the globe as students study and examine themes, concepts, and issues in the social studies. this approach helps to achieve what banks (2008) calls pluralist and “global perspectives.” transformative global citizenship education is encompassing and engages students in learning about national and global civic ideals and responsibilities. in a world that needs healing, reconciliation, and collaboration, students must cultivate a sense of empathy, compassionate caring, humility, and collective activism. banks (2008) has developed a typology of citizenship identifications that proceeds from cultural, national, and regional to global. specifically, he identifies six stages of development: cultural captivity, cultural encapsulation, cultural identity, bi-cultural identity, cultural national identity, and global identity (see banks, 2004). stage six is perhaps the most relevant to this paper. banks (2008) explains that individuals at this stage exemplify global identification that imbues sensibilities of global competence and cosmopolitanism. that is, they have a commitment to all human beings in the world community. banks (2014) characterizes global citizens as those with cosmopolitan identities who have broadened their understanding of public, exude loyalty beyond ethnic and national boundaries, and engage with difference far and near. further, banks expands his idea of cosmopolitans as those who view social justice and equality globally and are concerned about the threats to the world community. for a transformative world, global citizenship education should aim to develop students’ identities as cosmopolitans who are knowledgeable about the world in its complexity, concerns, and social issues, and cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving skills and the dispositions for individual and collective agency on behalf of the planet. mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 global perspectives pedagogy and teacher education banks’ (2008) conception of global perspectives is that it is a way of viewing the world and its people with understanding and concern, possessing a sense of responsibility for the needs of all people, acting to change the world to make it more humane and just. merryfield (2010) understands it as having a “world-mindedness,” and seeing the world through the eyes of the “other.” further, she explains that global perspective is when a person cultivates knowledge of the interconnected world in its complexity, understands the lived realities and experiences of diverse people of the world, and develops perspective consciousness and critical global consciousness. the asia society (2005) believes that a person with a global perspective investigates the world beyond their immediate environment, recognizes their own and others’ perspectives, communicates ideas effectively with diverse audiences, and acts to improve conditions. the critical role of the teacher in the education of the young has been well established. in order to properly guide and develop students’ critical citizenship education and global identity, teachers must first be grounded in their own development as global citizens imbued with cosmopolitan sensibilities. hargreaves (1999) conveys this thought, saying: it is plain that if teachers do not acquire and display [the] capacity to redefine their skills for the task of teaching, and if they do not model in their own conduct the very qualities that are key outcomes for students, then the challenge of schooling in the next millennium will not be met. (p. 123) the imperative to prepare teachers for globally competent teaching is underscored by the numerous calls and efforts by prominent global education scholars (apple, 2011; banks, 2015; goodwin, 2010; merryfield, 2010), professional organizations (asia society, 2008; ccsso, 2013; longview foundation, 2008) and teacher education accreditation agencies (aacte, 2013; nea, 2012). these scholars and organizations call for a seriously concerned teacher education that would make the world its classroom and curriculum. osler and starkey (1996) clarify more poignantly the rationale for preparing teachers to develop not only a global perspective and competence, but the pedagogy for global perspective education. they explain: teachers are responsible for “transmitting” values. they need to be in a position to help their students be supportive of pluralist democracy and human rights, enjoy cultural diversity and be conscious of their responsibilities to the planet and to all those who live on it. this implies that they should themselves share these values. (p. 105) mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 however, as noted previously, research suggests that teacher education programs are doing very little to prepare globally competent teachers (apple, 2011; asia society, 2006; gaudelli, 2010; longview foundation, 2008; merryfield, 1998, 2001; nafsa, 2014; nea, 2012; zeichner, 2010; zhao, 2010; zong, 2009). much of the research on global education has focused on k-12 schools and classrooms, with little research on teacher education (asia society, 2011; longview foundation, 2012; nafsa, 2014). the good news is that professional organizations and research groups are increasingly calling upon teacher education programs to integrate global education and engage in global perspectives pedagogy to ensure that teachers and teacher candidates are prepared to cultivate global competence and become globally competent teachers (asia society, 2011; aacte, 2012; council for the accreditation of educator preparation [caep], 2013; longview foundation, 2008; nafsa, 2014; nea, 2012). however, the unfortunate reality is that these are mere value statements that rarely see the light of day in teacher education practice. for example, although aacte, ccsso, and caep have established standards that reference global awareness, contexts, and issues in teacher preparation, zhao (2010) observed that teacher education is exclusively focused on local contexts rather than on the global. zong (2009) noted that even the most current and notable handbooks on teacher education do not mention global education. research methodology this paper utilized a qualitative research approach. i situated the inquiry within a practitioner, interpretive case-study design (creswell, 2013). case-study research focuses on a phenomenon situated within a particular context to understand events, issues, and their impact (creswell, 2012; yin, 2013). for this inquiry, i explored the research question: how do teacher education programs marginalize global education and global perspectives pedagogy in the social studies program? i drew on multiple methodological approaches including existing literature on global education and global perspectives pedagogy and teacher preparation, reviews of teacher education websites and course syllabi, my previous work, and decades-long personal experiences of practice as a teacher educator and scholar of social studies at two institutions. for the past 25 years, i have taught both undergraduate and graduate social studies courses; i have coordinated the secondary social studies program, designed/redesigned programs, and provided general oversight; i have conducted focus group studies with social studies teachers and teacher candidates, analyzed exit survey data, and written both the internal and external assessments and accreditation reports for the social studies program; i have supervised social studies student teachers and conducted conferences with student teachers and cooperating mentor teachers. in mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 my course teaching, i have designed specialized courses, activities, assignments, and projects to engage students in critical learning and reflection, and i have kept field notes for reflection and discovery. i have drawn on these multiple data insights to examine and identify the marginalization of global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. i explain marginalization of global education and global perspectives pedagogy in the social studies as the subtle and overt ways and forms in which teacher education programs undermine the social studies program, resulting in the inadequate preparation of teachers for global competence and global perspectives pedagogy. using the lens of reflexivity, i reviewed, reflected, and identified four major themes. findings generally, the study reveals that global education and global perspectives pedagogy are maligned in social studies teacher education. the study confirms some of what many scholars of global education have noted in the literature (banks, 2008; gaudelli, 2016; merryfield, 2002, 2010; rapport, 2010; subedi, 2010; zhao, 2010). four major themes explain the marginalization of global education and global perspectives pedagogy in social studies teacher education. these are discussed below. competing pedagogical paradigms within the last few decades, emerging theories and pedagogies for preparing teachers and preservice teachers such as culturally responsive teaching, social justice teaching, and multicultural teaching have largely dominated teacher education programs. due to the increasing diversity in student populations, the demographic mismatch between students and teachers, the achievement disparity between student groups, and the need to prepare highly culturally competent teachers, scholars and professional organizations have popularized these pedagogies (banks, 2015; gay, 2013; ladson-billings, 2009; nea, 2012; nieto, 2016; sleeter, 2012). today, teacher education programs emphasize these pedagogies to foster teachers’ cultural competence and culturally teaching competency to the exclusion of global competence and global teaching competence. most teacher education programs offer and require courses on diversity, multicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, and social justice teaching; many self-proclaimed urban-focused teacher education programs emphasize urban teaching. the emphasis on preparing teachers for culturally responsive teaching, social justice teaching, and urban teaching inadvertently undermines preparing teachers for global education, global competence, and global perspectives pedagogy. few teacher education programs in the u.s. mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 offer specific courses in global education. like many teacher education programs across the u.s., the specialty methods course is the only social studies course experience offered to preservice social studies teachers at my institution. however, when i taught the methods course, i employed a transformative pedagogical stance that integrated global perspectives and modeled global perspectives pedagogy. although the conceptual program of our teacher education espouses preparing teachers for a diverse and globalized world, and the institution’s strategic plan includes multiculturalism and globalism, there is no structural programing in place to prepare social studies teachers for global competence and globally competent teaching. preservice social studies teachers complete a required course on cultural diversity, but the focus is on topics related to domestic diversity. my analysis of data collected from social studies preservice teachers’ focus-group studies in capstone courses, and supervision of student teachers and conferencing with them and their cooperating teachers, revealed the lack of global competence and globally competent teaching. all the student teachers i supervised failed to show integration of global perspectives in their teaching. in their defense, they argued that our program had mainly focused on culturally responsive teaching, which is accurate. lack of clarity on global perspectives pedagogy while the concept of global perspectives pedagogy appears in the literature, there is a lack of consensus about what it means and how it is enacted. in most publications that i reviewed, it is rarely defined. in my review of the existing but limited publications, some scholars use the phrase pedagogy of global perspectives (merryfield, 1998). others use global perspectives in teacher education (zong, 2009) and global perspectives in curriculum and instruction (kirkwood-tucker, 2009). a review of these publications and others suggests curricular approaches to global education in teacher education such as short-term and long-term international field experiences (doppen, 2012; merryfield & kasai, 2010; zong, 2009), cross-cultural immersion study abroad experiences (doppen, 2012; nafsa, 2012), and technological integration (gaudelli, 2010; zong, 2009). while these efforts are laudable, they do not systematically, intentionally, and explicitly foster teachers’ global competence or engage and model global education and perspectives pedagogy. although research documents that some teacher education programs offer international field experiences and other cross-cultural immersion study abroad experiences for preservice teachers, this is often limited as they involve a few students who have the inclination toward overseas adventures and have the means and opportunity to do so. therefore, shortterm study abroad experiences are often privileged occurrences, not intentional and systematic practices in teacher education. in my 25 years of teacher education, i have encountered only one mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 graduate student who had a student teaching experience overseas during her undergraduate teacher education program at another institution. my teacher education program has never encouraged or provided opportunities for teacher candidates to experience international study abroad even though the university operates an international study abroad program. in other words, my teacher education program is one of those that zeichner (2010) indicted for being the least internationalized. as a result of the lack of clarity and understanding of what global perspectives pedagogy is, instructors—especially adjuncts who teach social studies methods courses—do not know what it means, let alone how to integrate and model it for preservice teachers. neoliberal ideologies, policies, and knowledge reduction research shows that neoliberal ideologies and value systems are increasingly rendering colleges and universities contested spaces (cammarota, 2014; case & ngo, 2017; ginsberg, 2011). due to declining enrollments, neoliberal ideologies and values have penetrated colleges and schools of education that proclaim to promote democracy, multiculturalism, globalism, diversity, equity, and social justice. in times of depleting resources, neoliberal ideologies and rationalizations are used to formulate polices and decisions that affect quality preparation of social studies teachers. sleeter (2012) recognizes that neoliberalism creates agendas that adversely affect teacher education, improving the quality of teaching versus preparing teachers to prepare children for participation in a competitive globalized world. although teacher education programs may include a vision of preparing teachers for a globalized world, the values and neoliberal reforms malign its realization. grant and zwier (2015) observe that neoliberalism “rebuffs programs that promote multicultural education and ideas to improve the public good” (p. 62). ayers and ayers (2011) and martinez and garcia (2000) contend that institutions governed by neoliberal ideologies and values do not appreciate education committed to critical democracy and so find practices of global education irrelevant to the public good. the assault of neoliberalism on teacher education has become increasingly dire as student enrollment plummets and institutions face difficult financial situations and budget cuts. given that neoliberalism places emphasis on marketization, competition for students is at the heart of each university’s strategy. across universities, the strategy is to create and design new programs that reduce completion time to a bare minimum in order to attract students to their programs. online courses are vigorously pursued, encouraged, or even demanded. in teacher education, programs are being redesigned and fast-tracked so that students complete them in a short timeframe. it is common to see advertisements that claim to assist teacher candidates and teachers to complete programs within mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 one year. this is the case at my institution, which has contributed to the marginalization of the secondary social studies program. recently, a proposal for an “innovative” master’s in teaching (mat) degree program was approved. the program was described as “innovative” because students complete it in a short amount of time. the problem with this program is that it has an adverse impact on the overall quality of teacher preparation and, more importantly, on student development for high-leverage pedagogies as transformative courses have been eliminated. for example, prior to the development of the “innovative” mat program, i had redesigned the secondary social studies program to embed transformative courses that foster preservice teachers’ development of global competence and globally competent teaching. as part of the redesign, two social science courses—global inequality: slavery in historical and archaeological perspective and global issues in a changing world—were added to the program requirements. prior to these additions, the traditional social studies methods course was the only required course in the social studies teacher education program. informed by data from the focus-group studies and surveys i conducted with preservice teachers that revealed weakness in content knowledge and deficit in multicultural social science literacy, i proposed and developed a new course titled seminar in social science curriculum, which was approved. the course integrated global topics and issues such as global concerns and human rights. this course was significant because it aimed to help preservice teachers bridge the gap in their content knowledge development and foster transformative social science knowledge and global literacy. the course was offered twice, in 2018 and 2019. students who enrolled in the course expressed tremendous appreciation for it as it not only increased their content knowledge, exposed them to transformative multicultural social science knowledge and global knowledge, but also built their confidence and self-efficacy to enact transformative social studies and global learning. as geni (pseudonym) noted: this course created two emotions in me. first, it made me feel that i was dumb, ignorant and knew nothing even after completing my liberal arts and humanities courses. i was embarrassed when i found out that i had located names of fictitious countries on the world map and did not know about the articles of human rights and could not identify countries with democratic government and socialist systems. second, which is the good part, i am so glad and appreciative that i got the opportunity to develop a transformative social science knowledge and global competence so that i can teach multicultural and global perspectives that will change the hearts of my students. my students deserve the mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 truth and i cannot teach lies to my students. this course has changed my educational career! unfortunately, the course, along with the two global-focused content courses noted above, have been eliminated to reduce the time needed for completion of the “innovative” mat program. closely related, the use of instructors—mostly adjuncts— to teach social studies methods courses contributes to the marginalization of global perspectives pedagogy. research shows that more than 70 percent of college courses are taught by adjuncts (american federation of teachers, 2010). this is a reality in teacher education, where many courses, particularly methods courses, are taught by adjuncts. while most adjuncts are well-meaning and believe they are committed to preparing preservice teachers for effective teaching, they often lack the transformative knowledge and pedagogical competence to integrate global perspectives into preservice social studies teachers’ curricular experiences (aydarova & marquardt, 2016). one consistent and recurring theme from research on teacher education programs is that, like other content areas, social studies methods courses are often taught by adjuncts who may have professional and educational experience that is not directly related or relevant to social studies (lanahan & yeager, 2007; passe, 2006; owen, 1997), let alone transformative social studies. a few studies reveal that transformative social studies is a rarity in pre-k-12 social studies classrooms (cornbleth, 2010; ladson-billings, 2006; owen, 1997). at my institution, the only social studies course preservice teachers complete has been taught by an adjunct who, although well-meaning and dedicated, approaches the course from a traditional stance that does not embed global perspectives. complicity in new teacher licensure assessment like k-12 schools, teacher preparation programs have become targets of high-stakes performance assessment and accountability (alderman, carey, dillon, miller, & silva, 2011; ingersoll, merrill, & may, 2012). across the u.s., many states have designed, piloted, and implemented new versions of edtpa (teacher performance assessment). these state assessments are aimed to determine teacher candidates’ instructional capability prior to being awarded a teaching license. proponents believe that edtpa is a revolutionizing and authentic assessment tool with a high validity and reliability that has the potential to strengthen and professionalize the teaching field (american association of colleges and teacher education, 2012; cochran-smith, piazza, & power, 2013; darling-hammond, 2012; ravitch, 2013). high stakes assessment in the form of edtpa has now become a growing reality in many teacher mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 education programs. like pre-k-12 schools, teacher educators are now challenged and pressured to prepare teacher candidates to pass the assessment. teacher candidates feel apprehensive and pressured to pass the test. as a result, they become exclusively focused on learning how to pass the test. the emotional response to edtpa begins in the social studies methods course where teacher candidates learn the “methods” of teaching. this forces the course instructor to refocus their course facilitation. from my focus group studies with social studies preservice teachers, and my two-time experience teaching the secondary methods course, l learned firsthand the threat that edtpa poses to critical transformative social studies and global perspectives pedagogy. preservice social studies teachers feel less inclined to pay attention to topics that have nothing to do with edtpa. when i taught the social studies methods course, which i approached from critical transformative and global perspectives pedagogical stances, students openly—in some cases, rudely— told me that they would worry about cultural and global diversity issues when they graduate and have a job. they maintained they were more concerned about the assessment and asked that i focus exclusively on how to prepare them to write commentaries and complete the edtpa tasks. although i empathized with them, i felt frustrated with their disinclination toward transformative multicultural and global perspectives social studies teaching. i learned firsthand how the pressure of edtpa can undermine the ability of an instructor to teach transformatively, integrating global perspectives. more troubling, the pressure of edtpa extends beyond the social studies methods course. the edtpa tests are completed during student teaching. during my social studies student teaching supervision, i observed similar anxiety and pressure in the student teachers, which impacted the quality of their teaching. all student teachers i observed were preoccupied with and distracted by the demand of the edtpa to the extent that they taught lessons that lacked complexity, relevance, and integration of critical, multicultural, and global perspectives. the student teachers often used the demand of unit key assessments and edtpa to excuse and rationalize their lack of critical and quality teaching. in both pre-post teaching observation conferences and feedback, the student teachers often complained about the lack of time to research and develop lesson plans that integrated global perspectives and issues. one student teacher expressed this frustration thusly: professor, i know your expectation that i integrate multiple and global perspectives into my lesson. however, i am more concerned about passing the edtpa tests and other key unit assessments. if i don’t pass the test, i will not be able to get a job. so, i am frustrated mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 right now, and i don’t have the time to do the kind of work you expect me to demonstrate in my lessons. increasingly, studies show that performance assessments such as edtpa and program assessments have adverse impacts on quality teacher preparation (au, 2013; ayers & ayers, 2011; grant & zwier, 2015). discussion and implications this study sought to examine how teacher education marginalizes the preparation of teachers for global competence and perspectives pedagogy in the social studies program. the findings revealed four major ways in which teacher education maligns and marginalizes social studies teacher preparation for global competence and global perspectives pedagogy. it is widely recognized that teacher education programs are not preparing teachers for global competence and globally competent teaching. this study exposes and unpacks the forms of marginalization that must be disrupted if the young are to be prepared for global competence and citizenship in an interconnected, interdependent world in increasingly uncertain and troubled times (ki-moon, 2012). the findings are significant and serve to elevate and advance critical conversations about global education and teacher preparation for globally competent teaching. the indictment of schools of education as the least internationalized units on college and university campuses and the overwhelming call to prepare teachers for global competence and globally competent teaching (apple, 2011; longview foundations, 2018; merryfield, 2010; nafsa, 2014; nea, 2012; zeichner, 2010) can no longer be ignored. teacher education has a critical responsibility to equip teachers with the tools to prepare effective global citizens. it is important to acknowledge that the study may be limited due to the methodological approach and the subjectivity of the personal accounts of events; however, these limitations should not discount the significance of the study and its findings. the threat of neoliberal reforms and hyper-accountability in teacher education are real. in the following paragraphs, i will discuss the implications of the study and offer suggestions for positioning social studies teacher education to prepare teachers to cultivate global competence and the skills and commitment for globally competent teaching. the first key implication of this is that social studies teacher educators must have clarity regarding global competence and global perspectives pedagogy. in the theoretical perspective and literature review section, i summarized the definitions of these concepts. personally, i have defined global competence as the ability, commitment, disposition, and will to recognize one’s global citizen identity as a human being with a strong knowledge base about human diversity mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 across the globe, possessing knowledge of one’s own and other nation-states’ systems, issues, and human concerns in general, and having a positive disposition toward humanity and commitment to building and sustaining a just, peaceful, and prosperous world. specifically, a globally competent person possesses cross-cultural skills, perspective consciousness, empathy, advocacy, reflective decision-making skills, and activism needed to live and function responsively and responsibly for human justice in an interconnected and interdependent world. teacher educators must cultivate this capability if they are to assist teacher candidates in developing such know-how. it is no secret that many teacher educators, including social studies teacher educators, may be challenged with adequate knowledge on global education and global competence due to their own inadequate preparation. they therefore need opportunities to develop and enhance their knowledge base on global education and global perspectives pedagogy, especially given that this is or will be a new responsibility for them. the good news is that today, there is a plethora of resources available to help teacher educators and instructors educate or reeducate themselves. unesco, on account of the un’s global education first initiative, has developed guidelines for global citizenship education, defining it “as a sense of belonging to a global community and a common humanity; a feeling of global solidarity, identity and responsibility that generates actions based on and respect of universal values.” several organizations and agencies committed to global education have introduced frameworks and guidelines that teacher educators can access to inform and enhance their knowledge base on global education and its integration into social studies teacher preparation curriculum program. for example, unesco (2016, 2017, 2018) has developed comprehensive documents, including a template for preparing teachers for global citizenship education. the asia society (2018) developed guidelines for teacher development, including fostering global competence with a focus on four domains of knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills. the document addresses how educators can embed global competence into specific disciplines, including social studies. similarly, in its work on education for global citizenship, oxfam (2018) provides a guidebook for schools that lays out a curriculum for global citizenship education for different content areas and grade levels. another informative tool that teacher educators can access to develop their global knowledge and competence is the longview foundation-nafsa (2016) globally competent teaching continuum (gctc). the gctc is a self-reflective tool for teachers and teacher educators to use to better understand their current level of global competence and gain ideas on how to progress along the continuum. the tool allows teacher educators and teachers to self-assess their development of global competency in terms of knowledge, dispositions, and skills, and their capacity to act on global issues. these resources will be beneficial to social studies teacher mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 educators and instructors and their knowledge of global competence, global citizenship education, curriculum, and pedagogy. since educators and teachers often misconceive and conflate educational concepts, paradigms, and pedagogies, i clarify in my courses and scholarship the distinction between multiculturalism and globalism, multicultural citizenship and global citizenship. most educators’ conception is that doing multiculturalism is doing globalism—they assume when they teach about cultures of other groups within a nation-state, they are teaching globalism and so are globally competent. in my work, i have explicated that while there are commonalities between these concepts, and that both national and global citizenship are imperative, there are distinct differences that educators must recognize and understand to ensure that they are addressing each concept and goal. for example, while multiculturalism is focused on ethnic and cultural diversity within a nation-state, understanding and addressing issues of equity and justice aimed at promoting national citizenship, globalism focuses on global diversity of people and cultures, commonality in the human experience, and understanding and addressing issues of humanity, equity, and social justice aimed at fostering global citizenship. i also qualify and define what i call transformative global citizenship education as distinct from traditional global citizenship education that focuses on tokenistic and superficial tidbits: names, capitals, flags, and costumes. i define transformative global citizenship as an encompassing concept and pedagogical paradigm that engages students in learning about national and global civic ideals and responsibilities, and cultivating skills of perspective consciousness, critical thinking, reflective thinking, problem solving and collaboration, and dispositions such as openness, empathy, compassionate caring, humility, and individual and collective activism for promoting a world of healing, reconciliation, co-existence, equity, and peace. i also define global perspectives pedagogy as systematically integrating concepts, perspectives, events, issues, and themes from diverse world contexts into the curricular experiences of students. to systematically integrate global learning and global perspectives pedagogy in teacher education, teacher educators will need to be deliberate and explicit in their coursework in specific areas: course description and outcomes (develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions for global perspectives competence and global perspectives pedagogy), content integration (modeling an interdisciplinary thematic instructional plan that embeds global perspectives), instructional resources and materials (human rights documents, films, literature), delivery strategies (experiential activities, global citizen identity construction, disorienting dilemma, etc.), and assessment (assessment of level of global competence and selfefficacy to enact global perspectives pedagogy). mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 global perspectives pedagogy is transformative when it challenges learners to question world realities, examine their own experiences, understandings, beliefs, and values, and to reconstruct them so that they come to see some aspect of the world in a new way as well as find new meaning in this aspect of the world (dewey, 1933). some pedagogical approaches i have used to situate global competence and global perspectives pedagogy in the social studies methods courses i have taught include challenging teacher candidates’ level of global literacy. as a result of my international orientation and commitment to global education and transformative citizenship education, i administer informal tests that expose teachers and teacher candidates’ global illiteracy, causing them to contemplate and internalize the rationale for global perspectives pedagogy. for example, when i ask teacher candidates and teachers to recall former african colonial countries such as rhodesia (now zimbabwe), nyasaland (now malawi), and bechuanaland (now botswana), they draw a blank. they have never heard of them let alone learned about them, for africa is a part of the world that many u.s. students, social studies preservice teachers, and classroom teachers know very little about. each time i give students a blank map of africa on which to identify countries, only a few students are able to accurately locate a maximum of five countries. indeed, given fictitious african country names such as zamuda and nambia, all students attempt to locate them on the map. (zamuda is the name of a fictitious african country in the 1988 eddie murphy film coming to america, and nambia comes from an american political leader who misidentified the african country of namibia.) furthermore, niger and nigeria are often confused, as are countries elsewhere in the world such as austria and australia. students often feel embarrassed and frustrated, which leaves them with a memorable experience. i have had some conscientious preservice teachers who felt so inadequate that they deferred their student teaching and went back to retake some humanities courses such as geography, world history, and anthropology in order to be better prepared to teach social studies. another impactful activity i have used to foster teachers and teacher candidates’ global competence and global perspectives pedagogy is engaging them in writing global identity selfnarratives and autobiographies. students explore their lives within a global reality as they respond to introspective questions: who are you as a member of the human family? how do you see your life connected or interconnected with the “global other” or to a globalized world? how do you see your role and responsibilities working toward fostering a sustainable globalized world? what global issues do you connect to and how? how would you make teaching global mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 perspectives an integral practice in your classroom? if you were to write a poem about your global identity, what would it be? how would you describe yourself as a global citizen? i have found the rethinking schools rethinking globalization resource extremely beneficial and impactful in fostering teacher candidates’ and classroom teachers’ global literacy and global perspectives pedagogy. to raise their awareness and consciousness of global concerns and issues, i engage the students in experiential and complex activities that expose them to issues of global inequities, oppression, and economic, political, and environmental injustice. bigelow and peterson’s (2002) rethinking globalization: teaching for justice in an unjust world is a powerful book with many scenarios and activities that heighten awareness of global concerns and interconnectedness, providing strategies for enacting them in classrooms. finally, i have found the value and power of diverse global literature that presents narratives and stories of diverse children and youth who are immigrants and refugees fleeing from violence, wars, and cultural and political persecution. for example, i have used children’s books that narrate experiences of immigration, exclusion, and bullying because of their names and accents. i have used books from diverse societies and countries to engage teacher candidates’ thinking and reflection. systematically and intentionally integrating and engaging teacher candidates and classroom teachers in these activities has been valuable in broadening their knowledge about multiple and global perspectives beyond current events. another key implication of this inquiry that needs to be addressed is the complicity of teacher education in the infiltration of neoliberal ideology and policies that undercut transformative pedagogies, including global perspectives pedagogy. social studies teacher educators and scholars need to be more vigilant and cognizant of these ideologies and neoliberal reforms and how they undercut global education and global perspectives pedagogy. a study on social studies teacher educator demographics and research engagement (busey & waters, 2016) shows that only 17 percent of social studies teacher educators are engaged in global education research even though 29 percent believe it is an area of critical need for future research. most social studies teacher educators are engaged in research that promotes traditional areas of citizenship education, which implies that there is little attention given to global education to warrant studying and responding to issues of its marginalization. zhao (2010) noted that social studies teacher educators are typically oriented toward local contexts and coursework that is driven by standards and accreditation with a focus on domestic diversity. my challenge to teacher educators and program administrators is that they must rise to their responsibility to prepare teachers to educate for an interconnected and interdependent world as advocated by the asia mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 society, longview foundation, nea, ccsso, cfr, and the united nations. teacher educators can no longer be spectators when it comes to global education and preparing teachers for globally competent teaching. they must become more aware of the ideologies of neoliberalism and how they undercut teacher preparation in these areas. they must recognize their own complicity in the enforcement of neoliberal policies and practices such as high-stakes assessments that overwhelm and distract them from what matters most. they must resist the complicity in creating microwave programs or fast-track programs that contribute to knowledge reduction that ill-prepare teachers for today’s world. most importantly, they must heed zeichner’s (1983) charge to put the fundamental concerns of democracy and critical citizenship as the central purpose of teacher education and to be “concerned with questions of educational, moral and political commitments” to guide our work rather than practice that merely dwells on procedures and organization arrangements. conclusion this paper has emphasized the need to situate global perspectives education in teacher education for social studies teachers, and teachers in general, as they are least prepared for globally competent teaching (apple, 2011; cushner, 2012; doppen, 2010; merryfield, 2010; nafsa, 2014; zeichner, 2010). merryfield (2010) noted that only about 4 percent of k-12 teachers have had preparation in global education. the 2009 metlife inc. survey of the american teacher revealed that, while only two-thirds of the teachers surveyed rated their students’ global knowledge as poor or fair, the students rated their teachers lowest in knowledge, skills, and abilities to teach them about other nations and cultures. this is troubling given the nature of a rapidly interdependent and interconnected world plagued by pressing concerns that require individual and collective action. in this inquiry, i have identified and discussed the conditions and climates that marginalize global perspectives education and pedagogy in teacher education. teachers cannot teach what they do not know (rapoport, 2010). teacher education programs play a critical role in the making of teachers we want and need for a globalized world. as a teacher educator and global education scholar, i lament the culpability and complicity of teacher education programs in matriculating social studies teachers who do not possess global competence and are not globally competent to educate the young for their roles and responsibilities in a globalized world. at a time in which the world has become more interconnected and interdependent, faced by unprecedented challenges, critical and conscientious educators must resist the closing and narrowing of the minds of the young. the rejection of and backlash against globalism is an mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 existential threat. at the 2018 united nations general assembly annual meeting in new york, u.s. president donald trump emphasized to the entire world that the united states is exclusively committed to american sovereignty and not to globalism. he and his administration view globalism as dangerous; this was evident when he declared, “america is governed by americans. we reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” further, he announced to the world that he is a “nationalist” and not a “globalist.” in president trump’s understanding and imagination, globalism is unpatriotic and undermines america’s sovereignty and national interest. in some way, president trump may be parroting the rhetoric of conservative historians and educators of the 1990s culture wars who posited that globalism was anti-american (finn, 1988; ravitch, 2002). for better or worse, america is in the world and the world is in america. all nation-states, including the u.s., are intricately intertwined. thus, in this era of assault on globalism, teacher education programs and teachers must become more vigilant, proactive, and active in their teaching to promote the integration of global perspectives so that the young can be informed and reasoned in their choices and decisions as global citizens. president trump is not alone in this narrow-mindedness—in europe, nationalist tendencies are becoming popular. the world has changed dramatically and is changing by the minute. new and unprecedented challenges and concerns have and continue to impact the world and its people like never before. for example, climate change has become the world’s existential threat, contributing to today’s massive worldwide migration crisis. unprecedented weather patterns, including drought and severe and devastating wind conditions linked to climate change, are affecting food production that contributes to hunger, poverty, and criminal activities that push people to emigrate to the industrialized world. nicholas kristof (2019), in a new york times op ed, narrates heartwrenching stories of guatemalan migrants who told him that they are migrating because “food does not grow here anymore” due to drought and severe weather created partly by american carbon emissions. adequate preparation of teachers for global competency and global perspectives pedagogy cannot be effectively achieved without first understanding the current context of teacher education programs. this makes this inquiry critical and significant. the study contributes to the limited research on social studies teacher education and global perspectives pedagogy. it calls for teacher education to step up to the challenge of preparing teachers for global perspectives pedagogy. teachers can only teach or practice what they know, and experience and preparation cannot be taken for granted. mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-34 corresponding author: ukpokodun@umkc.edu ©2012/2021 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 references: alderman, c., carey, k., dillon, e., miller, b., & silva, e. 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(2010). preparing globally competent teachers: a new imperative for teacher education. journal of teacher education, 61(5), 422-431. zong, g. (2009). global perspectives in teacher education research and practice. in t. f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: perspectives from canada, russia, and the united states (pp. 71-89). new york: peter lang. about the authors: omiunota nelly ukpokodu is professor at university of missouri-kansas city. her research area are: quality teacher education, critical multicultural education, transformative learning and pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy, urban education, ubuntu pedagogy, equity and social justice education, social studies/citizenship education, global education, and african immigrant education. mailto:ukpokodun@umkc.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/resources/onlinehttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/resources/onlinehttp://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda http://www.nafsa.org/uploadedfiles/chez_nafsa/find_resources/publications/periodi journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 6 understanding social studies: student and teacher voices in relation to theoretical orientations catherine broom university of british columbia , kelowna, bc, canada. ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: social studies can be understood, or theorized, in a number of different ways as a consequence of its history (evans, 2004). this paper presents the findings of a research study of high school students’ and teachers’ conceptions of social studies in relation to four philosophical orientations, labeled the classicist/traditionalist, essentialist, progressivist and reconstructionist frames. these four frames are developed from literature in the field. after describing these frames, the research methods of the british columbia (bc), canada survey study with teachers and students are summarized. participants included close to 200 students and teachers in three separate grades. findings and conclusions are presented next. these findings illustrate that social studies is variously understood by participants and that connections exist between participants’ views of the subject and perceptions of its usefulness. the paper also describes students’ knowledge of the social sciences and students’ and teachers’ comments on the subject. the paper ends with recommendations, developed from the findings, which aim to improve teaching practice and student learning and engagement in the subject. key words: philosophies of social studies; student and teacher conceptions ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction: philosophies of social studies social studies is a complex subject: it can be conceptualized in a number of ways, depending on the philosophic orientation of the teacher, student, or academic. these varying conceptions are rooted in the subject’s history (evans, 2004; broom, 2008). four different views of social studies include the classicist/perennialist frame, the essentialist frame, the progressivist frame, and the reconstructionist frame. these frames will be described in more detail later in this paper. they were used as the basis for a survey study conducted with 18 classes of british columbian high school students and teachers which explored how students and teachers understand the subject. these philosophic orientations affect conceptions of and behaviours in the course of study, as explained in the next section. understanding of the philosophic orientations of school students provides the possibility for teacher actions that may lead to improved student engagement and learning. findings deepen our knowledge of how social studies is conceptualized in practice. research principles this study has two underlying precepts. first, social studies is understood to be a socially constructed course. as evans (2004), broom (2008), and broom & evans (2012) make clear, the course has been theorized and developed in a number of ways in different historical and geographical places. the multiple ways in which this course can be understood developed journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 7 from the open and flexible construction of the course in the united states in 1916 and have resulted in manifest interpretations of the aims and purposes, procedures and methods of the subject. four possible conceptions emerge from different philosophies of education that underlie varying understandings of the subject and are described in the next section. the author recognizes that other social studies typologies exist (such as: sears & hughes, 1996; clark & case, 1999; westheimer & kahne, 2004); however, evans’ (2004) typology was chosen as previous research conducted in bc (broom, 2008; broom & evans, 2012) illustrated that bc’s curriculum revisions closely matched the general trends identified by evans. the typologies used here initiated from the work of brameld (1950) but were substantially reframed and developed with the use of evans’ (2004) american social studies typologies and the author’s findings in previous historical studies. evans’ framework is comprehensive, covering the political spectrum of opinions on the subject, is clear to use, and provides an effective heuristic framework for identifying varied points of view on the subject. each frame is argued to be mutually exclusive in the sense that an individual cannot belong to two frames at the same time. the reason for this is that each frame is underlain by a deep philosophic base, and each base is unique. that is, a person cannot both be a traditionalist and a progressivist in the same sense that an individual cannot be both a republican and a democrat. philosophies of education, of life, and of politics, in other words, are comprehensive. they contain within themselves a number of elements that are closely associated and cohesively connected within a particular worldview. individuals cannot superficially take elements from the various philosophies and combine them, but they can change their philosophies through lived experience and reflection. the second conceptual precept is that exploring teachers’ and students’ views of social studies is essential to understanding their perceptions of and actions in relation to the subject. that is, students’ and teachers’ underlying philosophies of social studies influence their interactions with the subject in a manner of ways: they affect their views of the importance and purpose of the subject and their actions, such as the methods used by the teachers, or students’ behaviours in class. in summary, this research ascertains how teachers and students in this particular case study in british columbia understand social studies in relation to four conceptual frames. this has the potential to have wider implications, being of great importance to social studies teaching practice where underlying philosophies create lived reality. the four frames are described below. conceptual frames and literature review the classicist frame is the oldest tradition of social studies and the most familiar to the general public. it draws on the ancient greek inheritance and british liberal education theorists, such as oakeshott (1989). it views education as the process of inducting (or socializing) individuals into our rich inheritance of knowledge developed in the past, so that students can then take part in “conversations” about and within this knowledge. individuals are thus made into “humans” through education. this process, though, is more than that of giving students factual knowledge. it also requires teaching students to think critically about journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 8 and with this knowledge, through the study of philosophy and logic that enable students to come to see the “truth” (plato, 1999). activities that develop this critical thought include socratic questions, discussions, and debates. in this view, the teacher is an expert who guides students through the process of acquiring and then critically reflecting on knowledge. many supporters of this orientation view social studies as primarily a history-based course (seixas, 2004, 2010; clarke, 2011). evans (2004) classifies individuals in this frame as “traditionalists,” which is the category that is used for this study. this is a simplification of the classical model. it views social studies as the teaching of history and morals (with a little geography), primarily through old-school teacher-centric methods such as lecture and textbook work. content is primarily fact based, and learning is evaluated through tests or exams, including standardized exams. the second frame through which social studies can be understood is the essentialist view. evans (2004) calls this the mandarin view. this frame developed largely in the 1960s when the social sciences established themselves in universities as legitimate disciplines, was theorized by bruner (1962; 1987) and popularized in social studies by fenton (1967). bruner argued that each discipline has its “structure,” or organizing concepts. teachers were to understand the structure of each discipline and its methods, and to teach these to their students using the discipline’s methods. history and geography study could be expanded to include more of the social sciences, such as anthropology, archaeology, political science, and sociology. as history was understood to be research into the past using primary documents, teachers were to teach their students how to conduct historical research through the process of trying out its methods. the classroom was a place of discovery learning. students were to be mini-social scientists and teachers were to be guides. critical thinking and student-centred learning were key features and were embedded in a spiral curriculum (bruner, 1962). moving along the spectrum towards pedagogies that focus less on content and more on students, we have the third frame, the progressivist. this philosophic orientation draws on the work of dewey and can be argued to be the foundation out of which much current practice in social studies emerged (broom & evans, 2012). dewey argued that content only had significance to students as it was used by them when they were engaged in real activities, or experiences. he criticized the traditional frame for presenting information in a manner that was divorced from students’ worlds, and thus largely irrelevant or meaningless for students. it is not that knowledge is not valuable but that it only becomes meaningful through real activities, experiences, or projects that engage students in a “study of social life” (dewey, 2007), in learning through interdisciplinary projects. problems or issues explored in projects should be tackled with the use of facts and “scientific”-like procedures, such as observation, research, and thinking, and then “tested” in order to discover their validity. these problems can include, “such perplexing problems as insanity, intemperance, poverty, public sanitation, city planning, the conservation of natural resources, the constructive use of governmental agencies” (dewey, 2007). projects should be framed within, as well develop, students’ knowledge of their social world, and they should be relevant to the students: “the segregation which kills the vitality of history is divorce from journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 9 present modes and concerns of social life…past events cannot be separated from the living present and retain meaning. the true starting point of history is always some present situation with its problems” (dewey, 2007). this study should develop students’ critical thinking skills by “…extending the limits of experience…to enlarge the mind…by remaking…meaning” (dewey, 2007). the aim is to socialize students in a manner that also develops critical thinkers with community consciousness who work to bring continued “growth” to their democratic society. the teacher is to establish environments conducive to students’ work. facilities such as “laboratories, shops and gardens where dramatizations, plays, and games are freely used…for reproducing situations in life” (dewey, 1916, p. 162) are encouraged. the fourth frame, the reconstructionist according to evans, aims to remake society through education in order to increase social justice. it views the socialization aims of the other frames with distrust, as it understands all knowledge to be situated knowledge embedded in power structures. foucault (1980, 2006) argued, for example, that knowledge is power, as it shapes understanding. that is, knowledge is embedded in particular “truth discourses.” in the archaeology of knowledge, foucault (1972) illustrates this concept by arguing that the “statement” is key and could be understood by looking at its surrounding conditions. systems and rules determine a statement’s meaning, but they can be invisible. they can be made visible, and their meaning discovered, by looking at other discourses. this distrust of knowledge as oppressive results in teaching pedagogies that aim to develop students’ critical thinking through means such as dialogic inquiry. freire (2000) illustrated this approach by distinguishing between a “banking model” of education where knowledge is “deposited” into students (the “traditional” model) and a transformative pedagogy in which teacher and students together create a (living) curriculum embedded in a particular time and place. the teacher is teacher and student; the student is teacher and student too. together, they explore issues in society, with the aim of remaking and transforming understanding and life views that provide possibilities for freedom from oppression and the remaking of a more socially just society. the development of students’ critical thinking abilities, exploration of multiple texts, and use of dialogue and discussion on social issues are key components of the reconstructivist approach to teaching social studies. the study: background previous work (evans, 2004; broom, 2008) has demonstrated that social studies is a constructed course with multiple possible frames through which it can be theorized and, consequently, practiced. research also shows pendulum swings in theoretical conceptions in government curriculum documents over time (broom, 2008). further, vibrant discussion over the meaning, aims, and methods of social studies continues down to the present. for example, americans and canadians have recently engaged in discussions over progressivist and traditionalist conceptions of the course and over discipline-based (history-focused) versus progressivist (interdisciplinary, social studies) conceptions of the subject (evans, 2004; shields & ramsay, 2004; crocco, 2003; saxe, 2003). the questions framing this study were developed from this background: journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 10 (i) what social studies philosophic frames do teachers and students hold in bc? (ii) are there connections between students’ and teachers’ conceptions and students’ views of the usefulness of, and engagement with, the subject? (iii) how much knowledge of the academic social sciences do students hold? general context of the study the study took place in bc, canada. bc provides a good location for conducting a study on social studies, as the ministry of education has generally been open to curriculum reform over the twentieth century, and ministers have looked overseas (particularly to the united states) for contemporary curriculum conceptions. the ministry has often expressed a desire for bc’s educational system to be modern and so has carried out regular curriculum revisions. these revisions have closely associated with american trends (broom & evans, 2012). this openness to curriculum reform, which resulted in regular revisions emerging from varying philosophic orientations to the subject, provides a fertile ground for investigating how conceptions of social studies are manifested in curriculum documents and how these conceptions “live” in teachers and students’ views of the subject. the latest curriculum revision occurred in 2004 as part of a general high school revision which changed graduation requirements. it did not largely change the curriculum but it did institute a standardized grade 11 social studies exam, which is primarily fact based (broom, 2012). the claim is not made that the conclusions of this study apply to all locations, as each location provides a unique sociocultural, political and economic space within which curriculum conceptions are negotiated (broom, 2011; broom & evans, 2012). however, as curriculum is always lived and created in spaces, the study provides a unique, useful, and intriguing “deep” case study look at how social studies has been understood in one location that has been open to curriculum reform. further, some of the findings regarding the associations between conceptions of the subject and sociocultural conditions, as well as the implications of divergent conceptions of the subject for student engagement, are generalizable and provide insights into both how the subject is understood and how teaching practice can be most effective. methodology eighteen grade 11 social studies classes, two grade 12 history classes, and one grade 9 social studies class took part in the study. students and teachers were invited to participate in the research. if they agreed, they were all asked to fill out consent forms and to complete the anonymous survey during class time. approximately half the students in each participating class agreed to take part, resulting in a total number of participants (both teachers and students) of close to 200. the majority of participants (all but two private school classes) were at public schools in a range of different socioeconomic and sociocultural neighbourhoods across british columbia. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 11 with the aim of uncovering how teachers and students understand the course, the survey asked students and teachers to select their view of what social studies is in all grade levels including the history 12 class (as compulsory “social studies” finishes in grade 11, and divides into the optional “history 12” and “geography 12” classes). the first question asked participants to select one of the four philosophies described above: social studies as (factual) history and geography study (traditionalism), as the study of the social sciences (essentialism), as the study of citizenship for democracy (progressivism) or social studies as the study of critical thinking in order to improve society (reconstructionism). they were also given the option of “i don’t know” and “none of the above,” and space for general comments. in addition, students and teachers were asked to identify the purpose of social studies, again based on the four philosophies described, in order to see whether they had a consistent conception of the course, and with the options of “i don’t know” and “none of the above.” students were then asked to match each social science to its appropriate definition in order to explore their knowledge of each social science and to consider connections between an essentialist orientation and their introductory knowledge of each social science. in order to consider correlations between philosophic orientation and views of the value of the course, participants were also asked to identify the usefulness of the subject on a four point scale (very useful-somewhat useful—a little useful—not useful). participants also identified whether they had had all of their education in the same geographical area in order to explore whether place has affected conceptions. teachers were asked when and where they were certified as teachers. both students and teachers were given two optional open-ended questions in which they were invited to write any comments they wanted to make on the subject to ensure that participants had a voice in the study. surveys were chosen as the research tool as the aim of the study was to have participants identify which of four possible social studies conceptions they agreed with. the answers for each typology were summed up and studied through correlation-analysis. open-ended questions allowed participants to develop their own answers if they did not agree with the options provided. however, as the majority of participants selected one of the predetermined answers, the participants implicitly illustrated that they accepted the options provided. as teachers were educated at universities and developed their understanding of the subject through textbooks written by university professors, they are assumed to be both familiar with and associated with the same social representations (moscovici, 1963) as scholars. students, similarly, generally developed their understanding of the subject in and through school structures, processes, interaction with their teachers, and textbooks. findings were analyzed using spss software that identified frequencies and explored the relations between answers, that is, the significance of the percentage correlation between different answers. written response answers were analyzed qualitatively using a heuristic with both horizontal and vertical components. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 12 findings of the study survey findings illustrate the importance of philosophic frames to students’ and teachers’ conceptions of the subject. they demonstrate that students and teachers may have different understandings of social studies and that these views affect their views of the usefulness of the subject. these findings, described next, are presented by grade level. as grade 11 students were the largest group of participants, their findings are presented first. the findings review students’ definitions and views of the purposes of the subject. teachers’ answers are interwoven throughout. this is followed by a discussion of students’ introductory knowledge of the social sciences and the general comments made by students. the grade 12 and grade 9 student responses are explained next. this section concludes with a general comparative discussion of findings across the grades and with recommendations. grade 11 student responses students were fairly consistent in their definition of social studies: 58% of students chose the essentialist frame as their view of what social studies is, 21% chose the reconstructionist frame, 12% chose the traditionalist frame, and 2.9% chose the progressivist frame (see appendix one for a summary of the findings). 3.6% chose “i don’t know” and 2.9% chose “none of the above.” thus, the majority of students believe that social studies is, “a course where you learn information about and study information from different social sciences such as history, geography, anthropology, political science, law, and economics.” this answer differs to that of the government’s definition of social studies, which is in the progressivist frame: “the aim of social studies is to develop thoughtful, responsible, active citizens” (ministry of education, 2005, p. 11). no differences in answers were found between students who have had all their education in one place (63%) and those who have not (37% of students). this was not the case for grade 9 students (see below). further, only 55% of students had the same definition of social studies as their teachers did. the majority (56%) of teachers defined social studies in the reconstructionist frame, with (22%) following in the essentialist frame. although no teachers chose the progressivist frame, the percentage of teachers in this frame is actually higher, as 22% of teachers choose the definition “none of the above,” and then wrote their own definitions of the subject. these definitions were largely in the progressivist frame. teachers might have chosen to write their own answers as they had rich conceptions of the subject which they felt were not adequately summarized in a short statement. no teachers choose the traditionalist conception of social studies. intriguingly, students who had the same definition of social studies as their teachers found social studies to be more useful than their peers, perhaps as they have also internalized their teachers’ views as to the importance of the subject or because they are able to understand their teachers’ aims. students were not consistent in matching their view of the most important purpose of social studies to their definitions of the subject. only 36% of students choose the same philosophical frame for their answers on the purpose of social studies as they did for their journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 13 definition of social studies: 29% of students stated that the most important purpose of social studies is “to learn factual information about the history of canada and british columbia” (traditionalist). this was followed by 27% of students choosing the reconstructionist frame, 19% choosing the progressivist frame, and only 18% choosing the essentialist. 2.9% of students chose “i don’t know,” and the same number chose “none of the above.” these are again different to the answers of their teachers, who were split evenly between the progressivist and reconstructionist orientations and “none of the above.” for the latter, as in the case for their definitions of the study, teachers’ written answers were primarily under the progressivist frame. students’ mixed answers may mean that students have inconsistent or unclear views as to the meaning of social studies, or it might be the result of the imposition of a standardized exam which is heavily fact based, and is thus forcing teachers to teach fact-based material. this seems to be supported by the answers of students in grades 9 and 12, both of whom did not chose the traditionalist option as the most important purpose of social studies as often as the grade 11s. indeed, many grade 11 students voiced negative comments about the grade 11 standardized exam stating that it is not a good evaluation of their learning: -i feel the provincial exam isn’t the best way to test the province’s level of understanding of social studies. (student, survey) -i think that a social studies provincial is quite unnecessary. we do need to know the subject and its many topics for they relate to our everyday lives and our future. however not so much that we have to memorize every date and name in history. (student, survey) -i think writing the provincial exam is unnecessary because it just shows how much we can study, not how much we can learn. we get stressed so much about the exam, and end up not doing as well as wanted and that ruins our marks which in turn affects our future. (student, survey) students who had had all their education in one place chose a broader spectrum of answers as to the purpose of social studies than did students who had not had all of their education in one place. the latter primarily chose traditionalist and reconstructionist answers. surprisingly, considering students’ essentialist definition of the subject, 66% of students could not correctly match each social science to its appropriate definition. thus grade 11 students have little understanding of what each social science encompasses. in fact, some students made comments about how they would like to see more of the social sciences integrated into social studies: -in my opinion social studies should focus more on anthropology and philosophy than history. we need to more forward, rather than look backward. (student, survey) -we should have a course that combines all fields of social studies in case someone is interested in all of them. (student, survey) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 14 a further correlation is insightful: students who were able to correctly match the social sciences also found social studies to be more useful than their peers. this could either mean that students who are more knowledgeable of social studies find it more useful, or it could mean that students who have knowledge of the social sciences see them as valuable, and thus social studies as valuable. since curriculum guides do not give much attention to the social sciences as they focus primarily on history with a little geography study (which might also explain why students identified factual history and geography study as the purpose of the course), questions arise as to where and how students who have knowledge of the social sciences acquired their knowledge. students’ answers were spread out when it came to identifying the usefulness of social studies, with more having a positive view of the subject: 25% of students found social studies “very useful,” 49% found it “somewhat useful,” 22% found it “a little useful,” and only 3.6% found it “not useful.” further, those students who found the course useful were the most likely to define social studies’ purpose as that of learning the social sciences (essentialist frame) or becoming critical thinkers in order to improve society (reconstructionist frame). those who found social studies less or not useful tended to conceive of social studies along the largest spectrum (that is, to have unclear views of the subject) and to include more students who defined social studies as the study of factual information (traditionalist). this can also be interpreted to mean that those students who were clear on their purpose of social studies and who view social studies as having social purpose find the course more useful. this is reflected in students’ written response answers. students who found the course useful were able to understand how it augments daily living: -being well rounded is important. (student, survey) -the information gives you a new mind set about what has happened and why things are they way that are…so i would know what not to do or how we the next generation should deal with problems. (student, survey) -its everywhere and it helps us understand society and the world around us. (student, survey) those who did not find the course useful appeared to have a more instrumentalist/utilitarian view of education and felt that social studies was irrelevant to the careers they had chosen: -it will not help me very much in my future. (student, survey) -it will not help you in your professional life. (student, survey) -i think math is more useful for my future. (student, survey) -instead of learning about napoleon and history that doesn’t seem to relate to my future, i want to learn things i can use. (student, survey) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 15 general comments. standardized exam critiques as mentioned above, all of the students’ comments were negative with regards to the grade 11’s standardized exam. students stated that they found it unfair, stressful, factbased, and not useful. more global content students made comments recommending more social science content and more global history in the course, as the curriculum is canadian history focused: -canada’s history is boring. more about civilizations and their history across the seas. (student, survey) -it would be nice to learn about the histories of other countries as well. (student, survey) -canada’s history is not interesting. i find that my peers and i get really bored and stop listening. (student, survey) -i would really love to learn world history but instead they limit it to just canada’s history. (student, survey) -as a canadian, i believe that socials should do more of american history as well. i feel we are extremely biased towards canadian/british history. (student, survey) less memorization and more critical thinking students also asked for social studies to move away from content-based, factual learning to more higher order, critical thinking-based questions and activities and for the curriculum to be made more relevant to their lives: -the curriculum should contain more debating and discussions about what is being studied (was england’s treatment of the cultures in their colonies justified?) ect. (student, survey) -socials class becomes very boring when all you do is read and write questions from the textbook. there should be current events to capture the interest of students. socials classes should relate history to real life more often. for instance, class discussions comparing and contrasting, debates… (student, survey) -social studies should be less about just reading textbooks and more about getting out into the real world. (student, survey) -the curriculum should contain more debating and discussions about what is being studied. (student, survey) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 16 the teacher and text finally, some students made comments about the textbook and the importance of the teacher: -it can be a fascinating subject but you need to have a very good teacher. (student, survey) -i think it depends on who your teacher is and how good your teachers from the previous years have been. that affects how useful and how interested we become in the subject. (student, survey) -the textbook is horrible. it’s not in chronological order and it’s a massive confusion. also the glossary doesn’t have all of the topics. (student, survey) teacher responses as described above, teachers’ responses were primarily in the reconstructionist orientation (56%). they viewed social studies as encompassing the study of history and geography, civics, and law in order to develop students’ skills, particularly that of critical thinking, with the aim of understanding society and cultivating in students a desire to improve society. this definition partly matches that of the government’s. twenty two percent of teachers chose the essentialist orientation as their definition of the subject. interestingly, all of the teachers, except one, were educated at the same university. they were all trained to teach social studies at university, and they are primarily (66%) between the ages of 35 and 50 (only one is younger, and two are older). the older teachers, further, were the ones who chose the essentialist definitions of social studies. as essentialism was the philosophic orientation of the curriculum guide developed in 1968 and in use until 1985 and was actively promoted by some professors at the university where teachers studied, by writers in the local social studies teachers’ journal (exploration) and at conferences during the 1960s (broom, 2008), it is possible that these teachers’ definition of the subject was influenced by these factors. this could mean a correlation between teachers’ lived experience and their definitions of the subject. it would be interesting to see if a reconstructionist conception of social studies has been taught at the university more recently (according to anecdotal evidence regarding textbooks it might be, at least by some university professors). more research can be conducted in this area, but it does seem possible that teachers’ educations/backgrounds partly correlate with their conceptions of the subject. grade 12 history 12 is an optional course. the majority of these students (53%) had the same definition of social studies as their teachers (reconstructionist), also followed by the essentialist conception (36%). they had the same views as to the most important purpose of the subject: 42% chose “to make our society and our democracy better” and 26% chose “to learn to become better thinkers.” like the grade 11 students, grade 12 students appear journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 17 to have chosen to take the course, as they have similar conceptions of the subject as their teachers and thus see it as a useful course: 47% of students found the course to be “very useful,” 47% found it to be “somewhat useful,” and only 5% found it “a little useful.” no students found it “not useful.” these answers were the same for students who have had all their education in one place (42% of surveyed students) and those who haven’t (58%). grade 12 students made similar comments as grade 11 students as to why they think it is useful: it teaches about the past in order not to repeat its mistakes, it gives knowledge about society and allows students to understand interrelations, and it “enables us to become critical thinkers.” further, also like grade 11 students, the majority of grade 12s (58%) could not correctly match each social science to its appropriate definition: students seem to be familiar with history, geography, and a little political science but not as familiar with the other social sciences. students also asked for the content to be made more relevant: -i wish we had more time studying late 80s beginning of 90s because it is, i think, the most recent time period which many people do not know enough about. (student, survey) grade 9 grade 9 students had similar definitions of the subject as grade 11 students: 45% chose the essentialist answer, 27% chose the reconstructionist, and 27% chose the traditionalist definition. the only difference was with the latter choice (the traditionalist) which was chosen almost 3 times more often by grade 9 students than by grade 11 and grade 12 students, perhaps explaining why they found the course less useful than their older peers. further, there was a correlation between whether students had had all their education in one province or not: those (64%) students who had not had all of their education in one place had a broader spectrum of answers with regards to their definition of the subject. this might mean that younger students who have immigrated are less clear as to what social studies is about. all students illustrated some confusion as to the meaning and purpose of the subject: 82% of students were not consistent in choosing the same philosophic frame for their answers regarding the purpose of social studies, although there was a correlation between the reconstructionist definition and purpose, with this being the most chosen answer (36%), followed by the progressivist (27%), the traditionalist (18%), and the essentialist (9%) last. seventy three percent of students’ answers were not the same as their teachers’ answers, perhaps also helping to explain why less students found the course useful and defined it in a traditionalist manner. as well, like both the grade 11 and 12 students, 91% of the students could not correctly match each social science to its definition. students in grade 9 also made comments about making the curriculum more interesting and relevant to students and using more student-centred and critical pedagogy: -most kids should learn all sides of the story. only learning one side makes people biased. i think there would be a better understanding between people. it might be hard but so is reality. …people are like empty paper, teachers can brainwash kids. you should have more people ask questions. (student, survey) journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 18 there was also a correlation between those who did not find the course useful and an instrumental view of education (that is, feeling that social studies was not relevant to their career choice): -it’s good to know what happened in the past and how our world came to be but i don’t think it’s as important as, say, math. (student, survey) more students found the course less useful than students in higher grades: 27% found it “very useful,” 36% found it “somewhat useful,” and 36% found it “a little useful.” no student found it “not useful.” those students who have had all their social studies education in the province tended to choose the “somewhat useful” category, while those who have not had all their education in one place had a broader range of answers, either finding it very useful or only a little useful. the majority of students, though, (63%) still found the course more rather than less useful, and like older students, they found it useful if they choose the essentialist or progressivist definitions of the course. discussion this study found that 46% of bc students in grades 9, 11, and 12 define social studies in the essentialist frame, followed by the reconstructionist (34%), the traditionalist (16%) and the figure 1. bc students’ definitions of social studies. progressivist (1%) frames. students, thus, have a broad range of answers as to the meaning of subject, and older students had more reconstructionist views of the subject than younger students (who had more traditionalist and essentialist answers). further, while there is a correlation between the reconstructionist definition and purpose (30%), 29% of students chose the progressivist, 17% the traditionalist, and 12% the essentialist frames for their answers as to the purpose of the subject. students seem to have some confusion as to what the subject’s purpose is or are generally unclear about the subject overall. traditionalist essentialist progressivist reconstructionist journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 19 figure 2. bc students’ views of the purpose of the subject. as students’ philosophy of social studies is vital to their understanding of the aims and purposes and methods and behaviours appropriate to the subject, this confusion most likely influences learning and behaviour it certainly affects students’ views of the usefulness of the subject: 33% find it very useful, 44% find it somewhat useful, 21% find it a little useful, and only 1.2% don’t find it useful, and older students generally find it to be more useful than younger students, with half of grade 11 students choosing the “somewhat useful” option (figure 3). in short, 77% of students see the course as having some use and this correlates with having the same definition of social studies as their teachers, not having an instrumental view of learning, and not having a traditionalist definition of the subject. figure 3. bc students’ perceptions of the usefulness of the course. as perceptions of usefulness correlate with definitions of the subject, students’ conceptions of the subject might be improved over all, if teachers spend some time at the beginning of the course exploring with students what social studies is and why it is useful to study. this could involve presenting readings on, or framed within, each of the four philosophies of social studies described here and then having a discussion as to which students agree with and why. exploring why social studies is useful is important, and this could be done by discussing the skills that are developed through the course and its relevance to enhancing traditionalist essentialist progressivist reconstructionist very useful somewhat a little useful not useful journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 20 daily living, whatever one’s career ambitions might be. this will be beneficial for all students. a further study can be conducted to explore the impact of discussion about the meaning, purpose, and usefulness of social studies on students’ conceptions of and behaviours in the class. secondly, despite students’ definition of the course, this study found that a surprisingly high number of students were not able to correctly match each of the social sciences to its correct definition. students were comfortable with history, geography, law and political science, but confused anthropology, archaeology, economics, philosophy, psychology and sociology. further, students voiced interest in their comments as to having more study of the other social sciences. social studies content can thus be enriched through the addition of a contemporary study of the nation and the world today that includes an introduction to and a study through various social science lenses, as is partly done in the grade 9 atlantic canada course in nova scotia (broom, 2010) and in some american states, such as oregon. further, as students also requested, this study recommends the expansion of content beyond that of national history to include more global or world history. a pilot curriculum can be developed and tested out in order to see if students benefit from and appreciate a diversified program of study. finally, this study recommends the amendment of the new grade 11 standardized exam. of the three grades, only the grade 11 students chose the most important purpose of social studies as that of learning factual information. grade 9 students chose the option of becoming better thinkers and grade 12 students chose that of improving our democracy. most will agree that the latter two purposes are more important. grade 11 students’ choice of factual learning is most likely a consequence of the heavily factual and content-based nature of the new grade 11 exam, which is affecting how teachers teach the course. students made many comments to the effect that the new exam is not a good measure of their learning of social studies and that it causes them much fear and stress. social studies learning can be evaluated by teachers using a number of varied assessments. further, it is best taught—as the students themselves also commented—through methods that are not focused on content-learning (such as lecture and textbook work). these better methods match all of the four philosophic frames of social studies (including the classicist but excluding the traditional) that were described in the first part of this paper and comprise methods that include discussions which present multiple points of view and activities that foster the development of critical thinking, such as debates and critical questioning. summary and conclusion in 1916, social studies was formulated in the united states by the committee on the social studies. as the committee was composed of individuals with varying views on the purpose and meanings of the new subject being developed, consensus was reached through a document that was fluid, porous and subject to various interpretations (evans, 2004). this journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 21 has resulted in multiple conceptions of social studies grounded in varying philosophies of education, as illustrated in the pendulum swings of one government’s curriculum documents over the twentieth century (broom, 2008) as well as in the american “social studies wars” (evans, 2004). as the subject has been conceived in multiple ways in different times and places, the question emerges as to what teachers and students think the subject is about. this study has found that students are confused as to the meaning of social studies and that this correlates with their views of the usefulness of the subject. further, those students who have the same conceptions as their teachers find the course more useful. teachers are much more clear and consistent in their views of what the subject is about. they also seem to be affected by their own lived histories of the subject. evidence of students’ confusion is illustrated in the finding that the majority of students define social studies in the essentialist frame, yet they cannot correctly match each social science to its appropriate definition. in addition, unlike students in both grade 9 and grade 12, grade 11 students choose the purpose of social studies as being the learning of factual content. this appears to be a direct result of the implementation of a standardized exam in grade 11, which is criticized by students (and many teachers). students also commented on the narrow scope of the curriculum. this study thus supports the importance of exploring the philosophies undergirding a subject’s conception as this will influence how it is understood, taught, learned, and valued. as philosophies are viewed to be constructed by individuals through their lived experiences in relation with schemata processing in the mind, the study grounds itself within a sociocultural perspective. this approach provides possibilities for positive transformation through conscious awareness, reflection, and—consequently—changed action. journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 22 references brameld, t. 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(2010). a modest proposal for change in canadian history education. international review of history education, 6. seixas, p. (ed.). (2004). theorizing historical consciousness, toronto: university of toronto press. shields, p. and d. ramsay. (2004). social studies across english canada. in a. sears and i. wright (eds.), challenges and prospects for canadian social studies, pp. 38-54 vancouver: pacific educational press. westheimer, j. & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41 (2), 237-269. http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/ journal of international social studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, 6-24. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 24 appendix one: summary of the findings question/group traditionalist essentialist progressivist reconstructionist other 1. what is social studies? teachers 0% 22% 0% 56% 22% grade 12 10% 36% 0% 53% 0% grade 11 12% 58% 2.9% 21% 6.5% grade 9 27% 45% 0% 27% 0% 2. what is the most important purpose of social studies? teachers 0% 0% 33% 33% 33% grade 12 5% 10% 42% 26% 15% grade 11 29% 18% 19% 27% 5.8% grade 9 18% 9% 27% 36% 9% 3. percentage of students who could correctly match the social sciences to their definitions grade 12 42% grade 11 33% grade 9 9% 4. how useful do you think social studies is for your future? very useful somewhat a little not useful grade 12 47% 47% 5% 0% grade 11 25% 49% 22% 3.6% grade 9 27% 36% 36% 0% 5. has all your schooling from kindergarten to grade 11 been in british columbia? yes no grade 12 42% 58% grade 11 63% 37% grade 9 38% 64% journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 the united nations sustainable development goals as a global content framework? brad m. maguth the university of akron huiyong yang henan university, china abstract: existing research in global and social studies education has focused on methods, tools, and instruments to impart dispositions and skills for global learning, with little research pertaining to key global content knowledge. in this manuscript, the authors consider the use of the united nations sustainable development goals as a prospective global content knowledge framework to impart global learning in social studies. middle-grades ancient world history content standards from two countries, china and the u.s., were reviewed to evaluate the degree of their alignment to the united nations’ sustainable development goals, particularly goal 5: gender equality. the authors found little direct content alignment between content presented in the sdg and the reviewed content standards. implications of this research in the consideration of global content knowledge frameworks, as well as preparing learners to live up to the expectations of the sustainable development goals, particularly goal 5, in social studies are discussed. key words: sustainable development goals, united nations, global education, gender, content standards, china introduction like never before, globalization and technology have connected culturally diverse and geographically distant populations. people, investments, goods, research, and ideas can be immediately transported to nearly every corner of our planet. at the same time as global markets, mass migration, and other forces push people together, increasing counter forces like rising nationalism and populism can pull people and states apart. however, mounting global mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 issues like global climate change, conflict and war, migration, disease, international trade and investment, and nuclear proliferation can only be addressed through citizens collaborating across borders to take informed action. in an age confounded by the horrible yet real effects of manmade global climate change, the words of desmond tutu still ring true: “never before in history have human beings been called on to act collectively in defense of the earth.” policy makers and non-governmental organizations from around the world have initiated educational reforms aimed at preparing globally competent youth (darling-hammond & bransford, 2005; gaudelli, 2016; longview foundation, 2017). states continue to make progress in designing their global education reforms and agendas to help prepare educators and students for an increasingly multicultural and global future (cochran-smith & villegas, 2015). in certain countries, reforms include providing youth with meaningful opportunities to learn about and with diverse, global populations in order to take actions that create a more peaceful, prosperous, and just planet (maguth & hilburn, 2015). educational reforms have often sought to advance global learning in three traditional curricular areas: knowledge, skills, and dispositions (oecd, 2017). below, we define these three variables:  knowledge: refers to information such as concepts, vocabulary, and facts learners acquire and retain through their senses (reading, watching, listening, touching, testing, etc.). in many states, the key knowledge students should learn in school is identified in state content standards (e.g., what is the capital of russia?).  skills: refers to the ability of learners to put knowledge into practice in order to apply previous knowledge to specific situations. skills are developed and honed through constant practice. in many states, key skills students should be able to perform are identified in state curricular standards (e.g., why is moscow the capital of russia?).  dispositions: refers to learners’ attitudes, values, beliefs, ethics, and commitments that shape the way in which they see the world. these dispositions may influence learner behavior, and how they perceive the world and its people (e.g., having a curiosity and drive to learn more about russia). research in the area of global education has often refrained from referencing or listing specific global content knowledge for teachers to teach (or students to learn) in school. instead, research has mostly prioritized methodologies, assessments, and policies that promote particular global dispositions and skills in the learning process. for instance, the asia society’s popular framework “educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world” authored by mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 veronica boix mansilla and anthony jackson (2011), designed to assist states and educational organizations to promote global competence, presents the following core competencies:  investigating the world beyond their immediate environment, framing significant problems and conducting well-crafted and age-appropriate research.  recognizing perspectives, others’ and their own, articulating and explaining such perspectives thoughtfully and respectfully.  communicating ideas effectively with diverse audiences, bridging geographic, linguistic, ideological, and cultural barriers.  taking action to improve conditions, viewing themselves as players in the world and participating reflectively. while these four competencies provide educators with important skill sets and dispositions to advance global learning among students, the popular framework and its associated competencies are void of referencing any specific content knowledge about the world, its people, or issues. for instance, what world problems and accompanying perspectives should students recognize and investigate? the prioritization of skills and dispositions over the listing of specific global content knowledge is apparent in many other curricular frameworks including the recently adopted “global competence framework: preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world” (oecd, 2018). this particular framework, absent of any specific global content, targets four areas of global competence: 1. the capacity to examine issues and situations of local, global and cultural significance; 2. the capacity to understand and appreciate different perspectives and world views; 3. the ability to establish positive interactions with people of different national, ethnic, religious, social or cultural backgrounds or gender; and 4. the capacity and disposition to take constructive action toward sustainable development and collective well-being. in the area of global education, authors have tended to defer the listing of specific global content knowledge to individual states. this is due to the difficulty of getting states to agree on what content knowledge should be imparted in schools, and the desire of many state agencies to prioritize national and local identities over global (evans, 2004; grossman, 2017). even as states mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 make progress in promoting global learning in classrooms to prepare educators and students for an increasingly global future, cochran-smith and villegas (2015) find that it has been done in a way that gives priority to individual national interests, goals, and traditions. due to the difficulty of getting stakeholders across u.s. states (let alone different countries) to agree on what constitutes appropriate global content knowledge, there exists a “global content knowledge gap” in social studies and global education. this includes little consensus among global educators on what information students should be taught in relation to the world and its people and issues. however, this turf war over what content should be prioritized and made visible in the classroom is not new to the teaching of history and social studies. evans (2004), in “social studies wars: what should we teach the children?”, describes how the history of the social studies consists of competing camps struggling at different times to either retain control of the social studies curriculum or influence its future direction. while curricular reform efforts have sought to advance global learning in the areas of skills and dispositions, there has been little progress in identifying what constitutes appropriate deep global content knowledge. this global content knowledge gap is detrimental to teachers that are already underprepared and resourced to teach about the world, its people, and issues (longview foundation, 2008; merryfield, 2002). davies, evans, and reid (2006) found that of over 700 teachers in england who rated education for global citizenship as important on a survey, very few reported being confident in their ability to teach it. underprepared teachers often find little assistance when turning to their state content standards in order to teach global content supported by global educators and researchers. rapoport (2009) investigated u.s. state social studies standards and found that globalization was only referenced in 15 of the 50 different state standards. when the term was referenced, it was used as an economic concept (e.g., globalization of economy, business globalization, globalization of trade), which fails to account for the ways in which globalization has shaped culture, politics, and broader human activity. rapoport’s research also finds that the term “global citizen” or “global citizenship” was referenced in only two different state standards. thus, educators who are genuinely committed to advancing global content knowledge often find little support and clarity when turning to their state social studies standards (klein, 2013; rapoport, 2009). with a limited consideration and listing of deep global content knowledge, educators are being asked to impart skills and dispositions without the building blocks necessary to do so. in order to put into practice valuable skills and associated dispositions aimed at improving our world, educators may benefit from a more thorough listing of global content knowledge that is aimed mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 at building a more sustainable future for our planet. researchers, educators, and policy makers must consider what global content is most meaningful for students to know in order to strengthen our world’s future. method our central research questions are as follows: 1. in what ways does a proposed global content knowledge framework, namely, the united nations’ (un) sustainable development goals (sdgs), align with reviewed content standards in two different countries (china and the united states)? 2. how does this analysis inform educators, researchers, and policy makers towards the development of global content knowledge frameworks? additionally, in what ways would global content knowledge frameworks, serving alongside complimentary frameworks that focus on the acquisition of skills and dispositions, enhance, complicate, or contest the aims and goals of a global education? our sub-questions are as follows: 1. how do the reviewed junior high school chinese ancient world history standards mediate and complicate gender equality (sdg # 5)? 2. how do the reviewed grade 7 ancient world history state of ohio content standards (in the u.s.) mediate and complicate gender equality (sdg # 5)? this study is based on an analysis of official state-approved junior high school ancient world history content standards in the people’s republic of china and in one large midwestern u.s. state, ohio. in china, the government has issued a required content framework and outline that informs the construction of textbooks and teacher instruction in the nation’s history classrooms. however, in the united states, all 50 states are free to develop their own studies content standards, and content differs significantly across state borders (stern & stern, 2011). we decided to analyze these curricular standards to better understand what curricular content is prioritized and the positionality and representation of content. reviews of standards also allowed us to gain knowledge of the history and social studies curriculum in those countries. in our review of content standards from the two countries, we specifically looked at the alignment of presented curricular content in relation to the un’s sdg #5: gender equality. data analysis was performed in order to identify common themes and to generate findings for our research mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 questions. a developed analytical tool, available in the appendix, helped chart the relationship of reviewed content standards to our proposed global content knowledge framework (the sdgs). this tool, in table format, listed applicable sgds (inclusive of goals and targets) and any relationship to reviewed content standards. the format of the analytical tool was consistent for each set of standards reviewed. we conducted our analysis in four steps. first, we collected, identified, and translated (if applicable) junior high ancient world history content standards. these items were reviewed individually by the authors, as it pertained to the goals and targets of sgd #5: gender equality, across governmental documents for each country. second, for each country, themes that emerged during our investigation from steps one and two were analyzed, with a particular focus on commonalities and differences. at the end of this process, we had a document that identified key curricular content in each country and its relation to our considered global content knowledge framework, namely, the sdgs (goal #5). finally, themes across countries were analyzed, with a particular focus on painting a more holistic picture as to ways in which curricular content in these two countries related to our proposed global content knowledge framework. proposing global content knowledge framework: un sdgs as educators and policy makers look for resources in order to fill a “global content knowledge gap,” we propose the inclusion of the united nations’ sustainable development goals (2015) for consideration. as of january 1, 2016, the 17 sdgs and their 169 targets, which were voted on and adopted by world leaders at the united nations in 2015, are official. until 2030, countries will mobilize their efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, and tackle climate change. the sdgs, also known as global goals, build on the success of the millennium development goals (mdgs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. according to the united nations (2015) website, the new goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. they recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protections. while the sdgs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 goals. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 figure 1: united nations sustainable development goals the sdgs represent a signed agreement by 193 un member states that identifies the most significant global issues, and commits all member states and their people to take immediate action to confront these challenges. these goals and their associated targets have emerged as the closest the world has to an agreed-upon listing of key concepts, vocabulary, facts, and figures that citizens around the world should understand and take action on. global content knowledge: representations of sdg content in china and u.s. standards one way to analyze which global content knowledge individual nation-states prioritize and value is to analyze state-specific content standards in history and social studies. these materials often paint a picture of the overall content states want learners to know and value (beltramo & duncheon, 2013). in the following sections, the authors review findings in two different countries, china and the u.s. (state of ohio), to analyze the curricular standards alignment to global content within one of the un sdgs. a wide analysis of how curricular content standards in each country aligns to all 17 sdgs and their targets is outside of the scope of this particular study, so the authors instead opted to investigate how curricular content best aligned to one of the 17 goals and its accompanying targets. we hope that future research will provide a more robust analysis of how states are aligning their curriculum to meet their nation’s obligations mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 under the sdgs. below, additional information is provided on the goals selected for review in our analysis for each country. why china’s curricular standards and gender equality? the people’s republic of china content standards were selected due to author #2 living and working as a college lecturer in the teaching of english in china, and author #1 having two months of experience teaching and researching global learning in china. furthermore, china has one of the largest populations of youth, more than 100 million children, enrolled in some 200,000 elementary schools and 52,600 junior high schools nationwide (michael & gu, 2016). additionally, china’s ministry of education provides readily accessible curricular resources and materials online. the authors decided to select, out of all the other goals, sdg #5: gender equality for their analysis because of the popularity this topic has received domestically and internationally, and because of the paramount importance to ensure that all the world’s citizens have full and equal access to rights and opportunities. sdg #5 is focused on promoting gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls; targets include eliminating violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual exploitation, ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life, and enacting legal frameworks to counter deeply rooted gender-based discrimination that often results from patriarchal attitudes and related social norms (united nations, 2015). china: junior high school course standards in history for this study, we examined the junior high school course standards in history (2011) published and endorsed by the ministry of education in the people’s republic of china. it must be noted that our focus was on the junior secondary grades (ages 12-15) and only in the area of chinese ancient world history. we selected these grades due to this being the point at which most students leave school, as compulsory education ends following the completion of grade nine (zong, 2017). the junior high school course standards in history serves as the official curriculum guide to the teaching and learning of history in china (zong, 2017). in particular, these standards outline general content that shape the development of history textbooks and instruction. while this document shapes curriculum and content that instructors must teach, schools can select from mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 textbooks approved by the state textbooks examination and approval committee (zong, 2017). this committee is responsible for ensuring that approved textbooks present appropriate ideological perspectives and content that are in line with the minimum recommendations listed in state course standards and which are developmentally appropriate and adaptable in the classroom. table 1 junior high school course standards in china chinese ancient history standards http://old.pep.com.cn/peixun/xkpx/czls/kbjd/ jiedu/201403/t20140320_1188557.htm u.s. curricular standards: ohio’s 7th grade ancient world history standards for this study, we examined the 7th grade ancient world history standards embedded within ohio’s learning standards in social studies approved and adopted by the state board of education of the state of ohio (2010). the 7th grade content standards were selected due to course content (i.e., ancient world history) and learner age (age 12) aligning well across the different countries’ sets of standards. seventh grade ancient world history is the last world history course students complete in ohio before transitioning into modern world history and contemporary american history. ohio’s social studies standards were selected due to both authors’ familiarity with the standards, and author #1 having over 15 years of social studies experience in ohio. ohio’s learning standards in social studies outlines the “most essential curricular content” inclusive of topics and content ohio’s social studies educators are expected to impart to learners. educators are expected to align their classroom instruction and accompanying assessments in accord with these adopted state standards. however, there is no state assessment aligned to these standards, as the state has defunded all elementary and middle school social studies standardized assessments (ohio department of education, 2017). ohio law also makes it illegal for the state’s department of education to require high school students to complete a world history assessment (ohio revised code 3313.603). mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 table 2 ohio 7th grade social studies standards grade 7: ancient world history http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/topics/learning-inohio/social-studies/model-curriculum-for-social-studies/grade7-social-studies-model-curriculum_aug2014.pdf.aspx?lang=enus findings our review of the junior high chinese ancient world history content standards and ohio’s 7th grade learning standards in ancient world history shows that there is inadequate alignment with goal 5 of the united nations sdgs. content standards represent essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions valued and officially promoted by their ministries of education. according to these documents, teachers are at best encouraged to take a “gender blind” instructional approach despite existing gender inequalities, historically and currently, both domestically and globally. this study finds that no language expressed in sdg goal #5 or its accompanying targets are included in either the junior high chinese ancient world history or ohio’s 7th grade ancient world history content standards. missing language includes referencing both historic and current efforts, domestically and internationally, in ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, efforts to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life, and the adopting and strengthening of sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels. of the 31 historical individuals represented in the chinese ancient world history standards, 30 are male. the only woman represented is princess wencheng; her claim to fame highlights how her marriage created “harmony” between the tibet and tang dynasty. it must be noted that all of the males referenced in the document were scientists, inventors, soldiers, and esteemed statesmen. while females and their contributions to society are mostly absent in the chinese ancient world history standards, there is also a failure to reference any historical improvements (through movements or decree) or any historical progression or struggle in the area of gender equality. no mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 references are made to patriarchy and patrilineal societies that existed from at least the 11th century bce onward in china. this includes the popularity of foot binding, female infanticide, and restricting the freedom of movement for women. the silence and invisibility of contributions by women in chinese ancient history is contrary to the rich historical record of the important role women played in their communities and families during this time (brown, 2018; cartwright, 2017). the 7th grade ohio ancient world history content standards also fail to reference gender or any historical improvements (through movements or decree), progression, or struggle in the area of gender equality. while no historical individuals were referenced in the very vague content statements or topics sections, the accompanying model curriculum document does present historical figures and specific gendered content to be communicated by instructors. these include:  when discussing greek democracy and the roman republic (content statement 17), the document informs teachers that only males over 18 with athenian fathers could be granted citizenship and given the right to vote in elections. the document never states directly that women were unable to vote, masking this inequality in the fact that other males (those under 18 and without an athenian father) were unable to be citizens and vote as well.  this same model curriculum document, under its “content elaborations” section, lists three historically significant actors by name: christopher columbus, marco polo, and kings [in general]. no historically important females or female-specific titles (i.e. queen or princess) are referenced.  missing from ohio’s 7th grade world history standards is any reference to the discrimination and challenges faced by girls and women throughout ancient world history, and the persistent struggle for females to gain acceptance and entry into circles outside family and leadership roles. women and their contributions are invisible in the ohio ancient world history standards, more so than even individual female representation in reviewed chinese ancient history standards. this missing content across both sets of standards only reinforces the still long and difficult work needed in schools to advance gender equality. as noted within the united nations’ sdgs: mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will require more vigorous efforts, including legal frameworks, to counter deeply rooted gender-based discrimination that often results from patriarchal attitudes and related social norms. content standards in history are one such necessary legal framework that can be revisited to more vigorously counter discrimination and advance gender equality. using the sdgs as one possible marker for global content knowledge could easily serve as an analytical tool to investigate the commitment (or lack thereof) states are making in using schools to prepare citizens to confront significant global issues and challenges. after all, the sdgs represent an agreement by 193 un member states that identifies the most significant global issues, committing all member states and their people to working together to tackle these challenges. current frameworks in global education are often void of referencing any specific global content knowledge about the world, its people, or issues, and this research explored the possibility of using the sdgs as a common entry point in presenting global content to learners. this study finds little to no direct content alignment between the sdgs and the reviewed state content standards. this lack of alignment may pose a challenge for some states in agreeing upon a global content knowledge framework, even with the sdgs as a prospective pathway. content standards frequently promote national identities and allegiances that come at the cost of and trump readying all youth for an increasingly global age (grossman, 2017; ross, 2004). discussion there is recent textbook analysis research that finds improvements in documenting the historical contributions of women in china (zong, 2017) and in the u.s. (chick, 2006; chick & corle, 2016). zong investigated the six most widely adopted middle school history textbooks and reported an increase in the visual and textual reference to women in middle school history textbooks. this includes 45 textual references to women and 41 visual images of women across the six middle school history textbooks she analyzed. unfortunately, zong’s research did not report how women’s representation and inclusion compared to that of men. she did note, however, that women are still omitted from these texts during key historical chinese events (may fourth movement, revolutionary era, etc.). gender stereotyping and misrepresentation seemed to dominate history textbooks up through the 1990s (shi & ross, 2002; yi, 2002). yi jin’s research (2002), which investigated widely adopted history textbooks in china in the 1990s, found the gendered division of labor and gender role clearly manifested in young children’s reading materials. yi noted that: mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 one hundred percent of scientists, workers, peasants, and soldiers are males, whereas 100 percent of teachers and 75 percent of service personnel are female. males that appear in elementary school language teaching materials pursue social, professional, managerial, and recreational pursuits, whereas females appear mainly in private, family settings. even prominent female leaders who have shaped the course of chinese history are depicted in domestic or supportive roles. deng yingchao, one of the most influential female leaders of the chinese communist party and state, appears twice in elementary school teaching materials, once mending premier zhou enlai’s clothes, and once bringing an umbrella to a guard on a rainy day. (p. 68) historical narratives and research are filled with powerful men writing about the importance of other powerful men, and his-story has taken precedent over her-story in the social studies classroom (crocco, 2011). in particular, ancient china was a patriarchy where women were expected to follow the “three obediences” (cheng, 2016). an ancient chinese woman was expected to obey her father before she married, her husband after marriage, and her son after her husband’s death. ancient chinese men also valued particular “virtues” in women. these virtues included women being loyal and moral (fidelity) to the men in her life, and their being ignorant, passive, and uneducated, as women in ancient china were not allowed to attend formal schooling (cheng, 2016). these unjust and discriminatory attitudes go unacknowledged in the junior high chinese ancient world history standards, as do the valuable, rich historical contributions of such female figures as:  empress zhangsun (601-636 ce), one of the most famous women in ancient chinese history. she was wife to emperor li shimin (598-649 ce) during his reign from 626-649 and assisted in the founding of the tang dynasty (618-907). she also wrote a 30-volume work titled examples for women. when, upon her death in 636, emperor taizong was presented with her writings, he said, “this book, written by the empress, is capable of being an example to generations;”  li qingzhao (born 1084, died after 1155), one of china’s greatest poets. she produced seven volumes of essays and six volumes of poetry, but most of her work is lost except for some poetry fragments. her work continues to be highly regarded;  emperor wu zetian, also known as empress consort wu (624-705 ce), the only female emperor in the history of china. she reigned during the tang dynasty (618-907 ce) and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in china's history. when her mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 husband emperor gaozong died in 683, wu took control of the government as ruling emperor of china until a year before her death in 705 at the age of 81. chick and corle (2016) analyzed gender balance in the texts and illustrations of three recently published high school u.s. history textbooks and one alternate volume of american history. in all of the american history texts analyzed, there were significantly more males than females in textbook content and illustrations. women and girls who contributed to u.s. history were absent, leaving teachers in a difficult position whereby they needed to fill the visibility gender gap through their own research and sources. this finding was also visible in our analysis of the ohio 7th grade ancient world history standards, as the names and actions of females that contributed to world history went unacknowledged and reordered. this, despite an array of vast female actors in ancient history (including those listed previously) who helped shape the world (brown, 2018), such as:  cleopatra (cleopatra vii), who ruled ancient egypt for almost three decades. she could speak various languages and served as a dominant ruler who gained influence over roman leaders julius caesar and mark antony, some of the most powerful western men of the time;  artemisia, warrior-queen of halicarnassus, the ruler of halicarnassus (near today's bodrum, turkey) and its neighboring islands, part of the persian empire then ruled by xerxes. when xerxes went to war against greece (480-479 bce), artemisia brought five ships and helped xerxes fight the greeks in the naval battle of salamis. the greeks offered a reward of 10,000 drachmas for capturing the courageous artemisia, but no one succeeded in winning the prize;  enheduanna, an akkadian/sumerian poet credited with creating the paradigms of poetry, psalms, and prayers used throughout the ancient world, which led to the development of the genres recognized in the present day. this research is coupled with findings that textbooks in the u.s. and china are emerging as more gender inclusive despite a lack of attention to gender equality in middle grades ancient world history standards. it is our conclusion that, at best, both sets of standards reviewed strive to take a “gender blind” approach, and authors opted to take a mostly collective “we” approach versus disaggregating historical events, issues, achievements by gender. however, when specific individuals are referenced in these standards and within their supporting documents, all tend to be male figures. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 furthermore, this study found that there is little to no direct content alignment between sdg #5: gender equality and the reviewed state content standards. thus, as currently written, the goals do not align to or fill a “global content knowledge gap” in global education. this supports the finding that curricular content continues to prioritize national and local identities over global issues or shared goals (grossman, 2017; ross, 2005). a different yet related challenge in the movement towards a global content knowledge framework is the process of deciding what content to include in schools, as this process can be difficult and contentious across and within nation-states. even though the united nations 17 sdgs and 169 targets provides an agreedupon global agenda to promote a sustainable future for humanity, their intended purpose was not to serve as a resource for states in identifying global content in their school’s curriculum standards, as valuable as this may be. the sdgs are general, agreed-upon statements, with some content listed within devised targets that fail to provide a thorough list of global content knowledge about the world, its people, or issues. finally, and of paramount importance, a global content knowledge framework includes the limitations that would exist in any construction of an agreed-upon framework. this includes how such a framework may marginalize or subordinate minority perspectives. such a framework may serve as an ideological tool that colonizes the hearts and minds of others—something all too common in the history of curriculum, schooling, and global learning (merryfield, 2008; subedi, 2010; willinsky, 1998). individual nation-states are closest to the needs of their citizens and, many would argue, best positioned to meet their particular development needs. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 references beltramon, j. l., & duncheon, j. c. (2013). globalization standards: a comparison of u.s. and non-u.s. social studies curricula. the journal of social studies research, 37, 97-109. brown, e. l., & zong, g. (2017). global perspectives on gender and sexuality in education: raising awareness, fostering equity, advancing justice. charlotte, nc: information age press. benavot, a., & jere, c. (2016, march 8). gender bias is rife in textbooks. world education blog. retrieved at https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/gender-bias-is-rifein-textbooks boix mansilla, v., & jackson, a. (2011). educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world. asia society. retrieved at https://asiasociety.org/files/bookglobalcompetence.pdf cartwright, m. (2017). women in ancient china. ancient history encyclopedia. retrieved at https://www.ancient.eu/article/1136/women-in-ancient-china chen, q. (2010). curricular reform and the writing of high school history textbooks in china. social education, 74(1), 42-44. cheng, l. (2016). berkshire encyclopedia of china. great barrington, ma: berkshire publishing group. chick, k. (2006). gender balance in k-12 american history textbooks. social studies research and practice, 1(3), 284-290. chick, k., & corle, s. (2016). confronting gender imbalance in high school history textbooks through the c3 framework. social studies research and practice, 11(2), 1-16. cochran-smith, m., & villegas, a. m. (2015). preparing teachers for diversity and high poverty schools: a research-based perspective. in j. lampert & b. burnett (eds.), teacher education for high poverty schools. new york, ny: springer press. crocco, m. s. (2011). teaching about women in world history. the social studies, 102, 18-24. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/gender-bias-is-rife-in-textbooks https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/gender-bias-is-rife-in-textbooks https://asiasociety.org/files/book-globalcompetence.pdf https://asiasociety.org/files/book-globalcompetence.pdf https://www.ancient.eu/article/1136/women-in-ancient-china journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 darling-hammond, l., & bransford, j. (eds.). (2005). preparing teachers for a changing world: what teachers should learn and be able to do. san francisco: jossey-bass. davies, i., evans, m., & reid, a. (2005). globalizing citizenship education? a critique of “global education” and “citizenship education.” british journal of educational studies, 53(1), 66-89. gaudelli, w. (2016). global citizenship education: everyday transcendence. new york: routledge. grossman, d. (2017). global education. in m. m. manfra & c. m. bolick (eds.), the wiley handbook of social studies research (pp. 518-568). west sussex, uk: john wiley sons. guo, n. (2003). analysis of representations of wu ze tian in junior secondary history textbooks. chinese education and society, 36(3), 12-15. kahn, j. (2006, september 1). where is mao? chinese revise history books. new york times. retrieved at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/world/asia/01china.html klein, j. d. (2013). making meaning in a standards-based world: negotiating tensions in global education. educational forum, 77(4), 481-490. lin, l., zhao, y., ogawa, m., hoge, j., & kim, b. y. (2009). whose history? an analysis of the korean war in history textbooks from the united states, south korea, japan, and china. the social studies, 100(5), 222-232. longview foundation. (2017). connecting students and teachers to the world. retrieved at https://longviewfdn.org longview foundation. (2008). teacher preparation for the global age: the imperative for change. retrieved at http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/documents/teacher-prep-forglobal-age.pdf ma, j. (2001). a cursory analysis of the factors in secondary school history courses that are disadvantageous. chinese education & society, 31(3), 64-71. maguth, b., & hilburn, h. (2015). the state of global education: learning with the world and its people. new york, ny: routledge press. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/world/asia/01china.html https://longviewfdn.org/ http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/documents/teacher-prep-for-global-age.pdf http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/documents/teacher-prep-for-global-age.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 merryfield, m. (2008). worldmindedness: taking the blinders off. journal of curriculum and instruction, 2(1), 6-20. merryfield, m. (2000). why aren't teachers being prepared to teach for diversity, equity, and global interconnectedness? a study of lived experiences in the making of multicultural and global educators. teaching and teacher education, 16(4), 429-443. michael, r., & gu, m. (2016, march 7). education in china. world education news and reviews. accessed at http://wenr.wes.org/2016/03/education-in-china-2 ministry of education of the people’s republic of china. (2011). junior high school history standards. retrieved from http://old.pep.com.cn/peixun/xkpx/czls ohio department of education. (2017). state social studies tests for grades 4 and 6 eliminated. retrieved at http://education.ohio.gov/media/ed-connection/july-17-2017/state-socialstudies-tests-for-grades-4-and-6-elim organisation for economic co-operation and development [oecd]. (2018). preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world: oecd & pisa global competence framework. retrieved at http://www.oecd.org/pisa/handbook-pisa-2018-global-competence.pdf organisation for economic co-operation and development [oecd]. (2017). global competency for an inclusive world. retrieved at https://www.oecd.org/education/globalcompetency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf rapoport, a. (2009). a forgotten concept: global citizenship education and state social studies standards. the journal of social studies research, 33(1), 91-112. ross, e. w. (2005). the social studies wars: what should we teach the children? new york, ny: teachers college press. shi, j., & ross, h. (2002). guest editor's introduction. chinese education & society, 35(5), 3. subedi, b. (2010). critical global perspectives: rethinking knowledge about global societies. charlotte, nc: information age press. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://wenr.wes.org/2016/03/education-in-china-2 http://old.pep.com.cn/peixun/xkpx/czls https://www.oecd.org/education/global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf https://www.oecd.org/education/global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 stern, s. m., & stern, j. (2011). the state of state u.s. history standards, 2011. thomas fordham institute. retrieved at http://edex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ publication/pdfs/ soss_history_final_7.pdf united nations. (2015). sustainable development goals. retrieved at http://www.un.org/ sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals willinsky, j. (1998). learning to divide the world: education at empire’s end. minneapolis, mn: university of minneapolis press. yi, j. 2002. a discussion on the form of elementary school social teaching materials from the angle of gender analysis. chinese education and society, 35(5), 63-76. zong, g. (2017). a content analysis of representations of chinese middle school history textbooks. in e. l. brown & g. zong (eds.), global perspectives on gender and sexuality in education: raising awareness, fostering equity, advancing justice (pp. 129-146). charlotte, nc: information age press. about the authors: brad maguth associate professor of social studies education in the department of curricular & instructional studies in the lebron james family foundation college of education, the university of akron. huiyong yang instructor of english in the department of english at henan university, china. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://edex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/%20publication/pdfs/%20soss_history_final_7.pdf http://edex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/%20publication/pdfs/%20soss_history_final_7.pdf http://www.un.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 appendix a analytical tool sdg target # target content review standard title applicable content standard 5.1 end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere 5.2 eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation 5.3 eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation 5.4 recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate 5.5 ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life 5.6 ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the programme of action of the international conference on mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 population and development and the beijing platform for action and the outcome documents of their review conferences 5.a undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws 5.b enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 5.c adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels other: gender inequality persists worldwide, depriving women and girls of their basic rights and opportunities. achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will require more vigorous efforts, including legal frameworks, to counter deeply rooted gender-based discrimination that often results from patriarchal attitudes and related social norms. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 appendix b historic individuals references, chinese ancient history (grades 7-9) male or female historical individuals referenced w/ content m o emperor shi huangdi was the founder of the qin dynasty and was the first emperor of a unified china. m o emperor wudi was a great emperor in the han dynasty and his empire was the largest one in the world at that time. m o zheng he was a chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during china's early ming dynasty. m o emperor yan, the flame emperor, was a legendary ancient chinese ruler in pre-dynastic times. m o emperor huang, the emperor yellow, was a legendary ancient chinese ruler in pre-dynastic times. the chinese people are often referred as the “descendants of the yan and huang.” m o shang yang was a politician in qin dynasty and is known for the reforms of shang yang. m o laozi was an ancient chinese philosopher and writer. he is known as the reputed author of the tao te ching, the founder of philosophical taoism. m o confucius was an influential chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher. m o chen sheng was the leader of the dazexiang uprising, the first rebellion against the qin dynasty. m o wu guang was a leader of the first rebellion against the qin dynasty. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 m o emperor wendi was an emperor in the han dynasty who ruled his empire with “virtues.” m o emperor jingdi was the son of emperor wendi and maintained the peace and prosperity of the han dynasty. m o sima qian was a chinese historian of the han dynasty. he is considered the father of chinese historiography for his records of the grand historian. m o zhang zhongjing was an eastern han dynasty physician and one of the most eminent chinese physicians during the later years of the han dynasty. m o hua tuo was an ancient chinese physician who lived in the late eastern han dynasty. m o emperor xiao wendi was an emperor in the northern wei dynasty and advocated the integration of different ethics. m o zu chongzhi was a famous mathematician and astronaut in the southern and northern dynasty period. f o princess wencheng was a princess of the royal family in the tang dynasty and married the leader of tufan (today’s tibet) to promote ethnic integration. m o emperor xuanzong of tang was the seventh emperor of the tang dynasty in china, reigning from 713 to 756 ce. m o jian zhen was a monk in the tang dynasty who went to dong ying (today’s japan) to spread buddhism. m o xuan zang was a monk in the tang dynasty who went to tian zhu (today’s india) to learn buddhism. m o emperor taizong of tang was the second emperor of the tang dynasty of china, ruling from 626 to 649 ce. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 3-28 corresponding author: bmaguth@uakron.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 m o an lushan was a leader of fanzhen (local separate regime) who led a rebellion against the tang dynasty. m o shi siming was a leader of fanzhen who helped an lushan in the rebellion. m o yue fei was a chinese military general who defended the southern song dynasty against foreign invasion. m o genghis khan was the great khan and founder of the mongol empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. he came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast asia. m o qi jiguang was a military general of the ming dynasty. he is best known for leading the defense on the coastal regions against wokou (japanese pirates) activities in the 16th century. m o li zicheng was a chinese rebel leader who overthrew the ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over china briefly as the emperor of the short-lived shun dynasty. m o zheng chenggong was a chinese ming loyalist who resisted the qing conquest of china and recovered taiwan. m o wen tianxiang was a politician and patriotic poet in the song dynasty who is known for his fighting against the yuan dynasty. m o kang xi was the fourth emperor in the qing dynasty and fought many wars to keep the territorial integrity of china. mailto:bmaguth@uakron.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 3 developing globally competent teacher candidates through cross-cultural experiential learning michael a. kopish ohio university bahman shahri ohio university mohamed amira ohio university abstract: an emerging imperative for teacher preparation programs is the development of globally competent teacher candidates. employing a convergent parallel mixed methods design, the researchers analyzed data from asia society’s global competencies (2008) survey, critical reflection journals, course assignments, and field notes of 124 undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in two teacher preparation courses during three academic years. findings demonstrate candidates’ perceptions of learning experiences and the extent to which the experiences contributed to the development of global competencies. for educators, the study provides examples of cross-cultural experiential learning that contribute to the development of globally competent teacher candidates. key words: global competencies, teacher candidates, global citizenship education, cross-cultural experiential learning, teacher education introduction our world is changing rapidly as cultures, ideas, conflicts, and issues transcend borders. young people deserve to have globally competent teachers, but extant research indicates that teacher preparation and professional development have not kept up with the demands and needs of a global society (longview foundation, 2008; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; osler & vincent, 2002; corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 4 parkhouse, glazier, tichnor-wagner, & montana cain, 2015; rapoport, 2010). in the context of teacher preparation, global competencies include: knowledge of global issues and international subject matter, pedagogical skills to teach students analytical thinking and critical awareness of worldviews that are needed to consider multiple perspectives, and a commitment to helping students become ethically and responsible citizens globally and locally (longview foundation, 2008). calls for preparing young people for a globalized future there are many educational agencies, professional organizations, and policy groups that recognize an educational imperative for preparing young people for a globalized future. (nea, 2010, 2013-2014; partnership for 21st century skills, 2011; unesco, 2015; usdoe, 2012; world savvy, 2015). the national education association, for example, advocates for public education as a pathway to develop global competencies in young people and recommends that global education be included throughout students’ pre-k-12 curricular experience (nea, 2010, 2013 2014). however, education programs are among the least internationalized on u.s. campuses (longview foundation, 2008), and global education opportunities in teacher preparation coursework are limited (kirkwood-tucker, 2009). in the words of linda darling-hammond (2010), “it is impossible to teach recruits how to teach powerfully by asking them to imagine what they have never seen or to suggest they ‘do the opposite’ of what they have observed in the classroom” (p. 42). thus, a challenge for teacher educators is how to prepare globally competent teacher candidates. public education is the recommended pathway for global education to occur. research by kirby and crawford (2012) demonstrates that policymakers are now incorporating language to articulate global competencies in professional teacher education standards (i.e., caep, 2013; ccsso, 2013; ncate, 2008). in practice, however, teacher preparation programs are bound by state and national teaching standards and licensure requirements, high-stakes exams and accountability regimes that regulate teacher education programs (cochran-smith & villegas, 2015; darling-hammond, 2010; wang, lin, spalding, odell, & klecka, 2011; zhao, 2010). for teacher educators, it can be difficult to adequately address existing professional teacher education standards let alone those focused on global competencies. emerging research, however, demonstrates a viable prospect: incorporating a global citizenship education (gce) framework in teacher preparation courses as a means of developing global competencies in candidates (kopish, 2016, 2017). corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 5 gce in teacher preparation is not without its set of challenges, too. given the priorities of standards-based teacher preparation, gce is marginalized in teacher education programs, and institutions have generally not committed to adopting gce as a significant part of teacher preparation programs (gaudelli, 2016). when taught, gce acts as a null curriculum in teacher education; it may be present, infused in courses that focus on diversity and culture (parkhouse et al., 2015) or considered an add-on in an overcrowded curriculum (banks, 2008; reynolds et al., 2012), but is rarely examined as a learning area for aspiring teachers (gaudelli, 2016). scholars and policy organizations have called for the inclusion of gce as a major component of teacher preparation at the pre-service and in-service levels (gaudelli, 2016; myers, 2006; unesco, 2015). this research explores the extent to which teacher candidates develop global competencies as a result of participation in courses designed using the gce framework to engage candidates in multiple cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities. findings from this mixed-methods study demonstrate the efficacy of collaborative efforts to create transformative global experiences toward the development of global competencies among teacher candidates. literature review at a medium-sized rural university nestled in the appalachian mountains, the authors redesigned two teacher education courses, middle childhood social studies methods and issues in global education, to focus on development of globally competent teacher candidates. central to the course redesign was an emphasis on cross-cultural experiential learning and engaging teacher candidates in three core practices: 1) international and cross-cultural experiences (merryfield & kasai, 2010; ukpokodu, 2010); 2) teaching diverse content, multiple perspectives, and engaging in critical inquiry (boix mansilla & chua, 2016; carano, 2013; merryfield & subedi, 2003; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; poole & russell, 2015); and 3) designing authentic opportunities to take action (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; ibrahim, 2005; unesco, 2015). international and cross-cultural experiences international immersion experiences such as student teaching and study abroad continue to be the gold standard for developing global competencies in teachers (cushner & mahon, 2002; merryfield & kasai, 2010; pence & macgillivray, 2008). unfortunately, teacher education programs are among the least internationalized on campuses in the united states (longview foundation, 2008), so the benefits of such international experiences reach far too few teacher candidates. in lieu of international experiences, teacher educators could leverage the global assets on their campuses and communities to engage teacher candidates in cross-cultural corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 6 experiential learning to develop global knowledge and skills for communicating with and learning from different cultures (merryfield & wilson, 2005). cross-cultural experiential learning allows teachers to practice learning from multiple perspectives and worldviews (merryfield & kasai, 2010; ukpokodu, 2010). in addition, engaging in intercultural dialogue helps to develop cross cultural awareness, relationships, and communication skills (braskamp & engberg, 2011; crose, 2011). diverse content, multiple perspectives, and critical inquiry previous research demonstrates that american k-12 students have little knowledge of world and global issues (myers, 2006; rapoport, 2009, 2010). teacher educators should infuse global content in courses and teach diverse content about countries and regions outside the united states, including understudied regions outside the western world (i.e., africa, asia, latin america, and the middle east), and design rich curricula that includes multiple perspectives, voices, and experiences of the world’s people (carano, 2013; merryfield & subedi, 2003; poole & russell, 2015). opportunities for teacher candidates to learn from different perspectives and points of view facilitate the development of perspective consciousness and encourage reflexivity (andreotti, 2006). finally, teacher educators should model pedagogy of comparisons through cross-case analysis of global issues (boix mansilla & chua, 2016) and promote critical inquiry so that teacher candidates can practice investigating root causes of global issues, such as legacies of power and inequality (o’connor & zeichner, 2011). authentic opportunities to take action a social justice approach to gce requires an overt commitment among educators to develop the capacity for responsible engagement as global citizens both in and outside of the classroom (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; ibrahim, 2005; unesco, 2015). curriculum that engages teacher candidates through international and cross-cultural experiences, includes diverse content, promotes learning about local/global issues from multiple perspectives, and teaches skills associated with critical inquiry, fosters greater awareness of personal and social responsibility, and the impact of one’s choices on others. thoughtfully designed global experiences and support from globally competent teachers can motivate students and help to cultivate the individual agency necessary for people to take action and affect change. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 7 conceptual framework it is important to acknowledge different pedagogical perspectives that guide the design of teacher education courses. teacher candidate preparation is in a period of accountability demands from state and federal governments that privilege workforce development of professional and academic knowledge (cochran-smith, piazza, & power, 2013). these pressures are felt in every course taught, but so is a desire to empower teacher candidates’ voices and foster the development of enlightened and engaged citizens whose actions can achieve social and political change. the participants in this study were engaged in courses that created opportunities for civic participation (dewey, 1924) and experiential learning, where social interactions and democratic principles are integrated with learning activities (dewey, 1938). further, the educational milieu of the courses offers an environment to foster the development of critical consciousness (friere, 1973), challenge students through disorienting dilemmas and conflicting frames (meizrow, 1978, 1990), and engage in critical reflection to examine assumptions and deconstruct and reconstruct personal beliefs and knowledge. based on these pedagogical perspectives, global citizenship education (gce) served as the framing paradigm for the courses. gce as a framing paradigm gce is the framing paradigm employed to design cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities for teacher candidates (unesco, 2015). there are three dominant perspectives of gce offered in the literature: a technical-economic approach, a social justice approach, and an interrogative approach (dicicco, 2016; dill, 2013; kopish, 2017; marshall, 2011; parker & camecia, 2009). in our efforts to develop globally competent teachers through gce, we adopted a social justice and interrogative approach. the social justice approach is issues-centered (i.e., refugees, food insecurity) and allows teacher candidates to explore principles such as human rights, cultural diversity, democracy, and tolerance. it encourages teacher candidates to engage in critical inquiry to develop an understanding of global issues and how nations are implicated at local and global levels. this approach also promotes engagement in intercultural perspectives and empowers people to take action and interrupt injustices. in order to teach candidates critical perspectives espoused in the interrogative approach, we adapted andreotti’s (2012) heads up framework to provide a lens for candidates to examine hegemony, ethnocentrism, ahistoricism, depoliticzation, salvation, un-complicated solutions, and paternalism throughout their cross cultural experiences. the gce framework guided teacher candidates with a sense of purpose through inquiry processes and cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 8 gce in practice as course designers and instructors, the authors collaborated with campus and community assets and embraced the power of multiple perspectives to foster global experiences for teacher candidates. based on the three core practices above, the approach involves: inviting citizens of the world to speak on topics related to global citizenship; engaging teacher candidates in cross cultural conversation workshops with international students enrolled in an intensive english program; immersion experiences in immigrant and refugee communities; engaging in critical country studies to explore local/global issues (i.e., refugees, food insecurity); and designing and participating in after-school programs on global citizenship education. critical to undertaking critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiential learning is a purposeful design and approach to support teacher candidates’ navigation through expectations both as participants and future practitioners for the dual purpose of developing global competencies and meeting curricular outcomes. to this end, parker and hess’s (2001) study on promoting democratic competencies by teaching with and for discussion offered a helpful framing for this work. applied in this study, the authors taught with critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiential learning to help teacher candidates develop global competencies. the authors also taught for critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiential learning, which placed these instructional strategies as the subject matter to clearly emphasize their value along with explicit teaching of its purposes, types, and procedures for teacher candidates. as such, teaching for critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiential learning is not an instructional strategy but rather curricular outcomes that teacher candidates are expected to achieve. methods this research employs a convergent parallel mixed methods design (creswell & plano clark, 2011), which focuses on collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study. we seek to better understand to what extent cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities foster the development of globally competent teacher candidates. specific to this research, the following questions guided the inquiry: 1. whether and to what extent did teacher candidates global competencies develop as a result of course content and activities? 2. how did teacher candidates describe learning experiences that contributed to the development of global competencies? corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 9 participants study participants included 124 undergraduate teacher candidates: 63 enrolled in middle childhood social studies methods, a mandatory course for middle childhood licensure, and 61 enrolled in issues in global education, an elective general education course that satisfies a cross cultural perspectives requirement. both courses were offered for 15 weeks during the 2015 2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 academic years. data and analysis quantitative data were analyzed from the asia society’s global competencies (2008) survey administered at the beginning and end of the courses. the survey involves self-rating on a 4-point likert scale for 16 total statements, four statements in each of the following categories: investigate the world, recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, and take action (see appendix a). preliminary data are presented as aggregate mean scores (four statements of the four survey categories) on the pre-survey and post-survey by course. qualitative data, in the form of critical reflection journals, course assignments, and field notes, were analyzed thematically with a process outlined by braun and clarke (2006): 1) immersion in data to create lists of initial ideas; 2) employing a semantic approach (patton, 2015) to construct a coding scheme; 3) code sorting into possible themes of global competencies; 4) review of themes and examples across the entire data set; 5) creating themes and definitions with clear descriptive language and illustrative examples. each author worked through each step, comparing, discussing, and adjusting codes during weekly meetings. final codes were reviewed to ensure reliability, and any discrepancies were addressed until final consensus was reached. course cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities as stated, the middle childhood social studies methods and issues in global education courses were redesigned using the gce framework to engage teacher candidates in multiple cross cultural experiential learning opportunities. in the space below is a brief description of the core experiences for teacher candidates. table 1 provides a summary of the academic year, the course, and cross-cultural experiential learning opportunity. critical country study. one of the unique features of gce is a critical investigation of international crises, problems, issues, and global power structures. guided by the inquiry arc from the social studies c3 framework (ncss, 2013), teacher candidates explored push/pull factors of migration corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 10 in several understudied regions of the world: the horn of africa, the middle east, and regions of asia to address the compelling question: why do people move? (kopish, 2016, 2017) international cultural understanding certificate (icuc). the icuc involved collaboration between the college of education and an intensive english program on campus. earning the certificate involves successful completion of three core components: a series of hour-long workshops designed to promote intercultural awareness and understanding, a requirement to participate in two conversation hours hosted by the intensive english program, and a requirement to attend seven different cultural events sponsored by campus or community organizations. diversity presentations. diversity presentations involved inviting diverse people and perspectives into classrooms with intentionality and purpose. by intentionality and purpose, we mean that the presentation aligns with one or more of the topics in the global citizenship education framework. some examples of presentations include: reducing stereotypes and myths to teach about islam and interrupt islamophobia; debunking myths of africa; critical perspectives from one’s lived experiences in iran. religious panel facilitated discussion. the panel discussion engaged teacher candidates in a discussion of religious practices of global faiths and how to teach religion in schools. for this panel, we invited representatives from different religious student organizations on campus or the community. cross-cultural conversations. cross-cultural conversations engaged teacher candidates in three one-hour workshops focused on learning from people from different countries of origin. working closely with different campus organizations and through personal connections, cross-cultural conversations provided teacher candidates with opportunities to learn and enact practices to promote discussion across cultural and linguistic barriers. after-school program. the after-school program was designed to support sixth grade teachers at a local school and teacher candidates in their development as global educators. offered as a 10-week program, university students worked with small groups of sixth graders to address food insecurity as a local/global issue, which involved teaching with inquiry and service learning. immersion experience. with generous support from the longview foundation and through partnerships with several community organizations in a large metropolitan area (columbus, ohio), teacher candidates participated in a three-day immersion experience in the somali corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 11 community. the immersion experience allowed teacher candidates to engage with immigrants and refugees and learn from the community organizations that offer support. columbus is home to the second largest community of somali immigrants in the united states, so many of the community organizations with whom we partnered offered opportunities for teacher candidates to learn about the immigrant experiences directly from the community. gce unit plan. in collaborative teams, teacher candidates designed a 5-10 day unit based on their critical country study. the goal was to design a gce unit guided by state standards but also aligned with topics in the three domains of the gce framework (cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral/taking action) that encompasses key learning of content, skills, and assessments. global citizen action project. aligned with gce behavioral domain (unesco, 2016), teacher candidates were given freedom to explore a global issue through self-guided inquiry. the project required public action or presentation as an activity for international week on campus. table 1 – summary of cross-cultural experiential learning opportunity by academic year and course year middle childhood social studies methods issues in global education 2015-2016  diversity presentations  cross-cultural conversations  critical country study  gce unit plan  diversity presentations  cross-cultural conversations  critical country study 2016-2017  diversity presentations  cross-cultural conversations  critical country study  gce unit plan  cross-cultural conversations  critical country study  immersion experience  after-school program 2017-2018  diversity presentations  religious panel facilitated discussion  icuc  critical country study  gce unit plan  critical country study  icuc  global citizen action project corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 12 findings results are presented as four major themes from the merging of quantitative and qualitative analyses of participants’ preand postasia society’s global competencies (2008) survey results and thematic analysis (braun & clarke, 2006) of critical reflection journals, course assignments, and field notes. theme one: emerging skills of criticality as a consequence of participation in cross-cultural experiential learning, teacher candidates report improved ability to engage in critical inquiry and investigate local/global issues beyond their immediate environment. to illustrate, teacher candidates enrolled in the methods course reported their ability to investigate the world as pre-survey (m=2.94, sd=0.650) and post-survey (m=3.36, sd=0.581), as well as teacher candidates enrolled in the issues course: pre-survey (m=2.73, sd=0.750) and post-survey (m=3.47, sd=0.593). table 2. course means on preand post-survey for investigate the world measures one of core assignments for the two courses, the critical country study, is grounded in an inquiry process informed by the inquiry arc from the social studies c3 framework (ncss, 2013) and global competence education designed by the asia society (2008). for many teacher candidates, it was their first exposure to a systematic investigation of global issues, which expanded their corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 investigate the world 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 3.47 3.36 post 2.73 2.94 pre issues in ge mce methods c o u rs e m e a n mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 13 ability to conduct research and consider multiple perspectives beyond their circumscribed local surroundings. analyses revealed that as candidates described their experiences, two subthemes were present: rethinking global issues as interconnected and complex, and moving toward critical understanding of power and inequality. rethinking global issues as interconnected and complex hallmarks of gce (unesco, 2015) and global competencies (asia society, 2008) include being able to: investigate global issues and their impact at global and local levels, evaluate evidence from a variety of domestic and global sources, and develop arguments based on compelling evidence and multiple perspectives. through engagement in different cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities, candidates were provided multiple and unique opportunities to explore the effects of global issues at home and abroad. as one candidate shared in a critical reflection after participating in the after-school program, “learning about food insecurity has made me learn a lot about the world around me and how most of the world is effected by poverty, even the towns right around me, including the one i am living at for four years of my life.” through this example, the candidate demonstrated an understanding that food insecurity is not something that happens only in faraway places but also in the local community. in the same reflection, the candidate also discusses complexity related to food insecurity: i was shocked to learn that a similar percentage of people in our community and from my country study are experiencing food insecurity. i would have guessed way more in my country based on the images and made me start asking questions. why are so many food insecure? how does this happen in rich and poor countries? there are no easy answers. for some, it’s government policy, and others, it’s climate change or they live in food deserts. related to the issue of food insecurity, other candidates’ reflections demonstrated new thinking about poverty. to illustrate, several candidates discussed how the learning opportunities “changed [their] perspective that poverty is not a choice, but is something systemic and often imposed on marginalized people.” a second example of rethinking global issues as interconnected and complex is from a candidate’s reflection after their critical country study on syria. i heard about syria in the news and thought it was a bad government that was the root of the problem. after researching syria for my critical country study, i learned the refugee corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 14 crisis was way more complex. isis to russia and the u.s. are all contributing to the violence along with turkey and the eu for their role with the refugees. similar to the previous example on food insecurity, this candidate acknowledges a simplistic initial understanding of the syrian crisis; however, after a sustained inquiry, the candidate learned the plight of people in syria is exacerbated by violence among powerful countries and organizations and shifting policies toward refugees in countries that offer safe haven. moving toward critical understanding of power and inequality previous research indicates that some teacher candidates possess uncritical privilege as they enter into courses with a global focus (kopish, 2016) or harbor uncritical notions of progress and development, models of the ideal global citizen, or view the world from entrenched perspectives of western ideals and values (agresto et al., 2003; leming, ellington, & porter, 2003; merryfield & wilson, 2005; ukpokodu, 2010). global processes promote economic and cultural exchange that transforms identities and communities; uncritical perspectives contribute to the acceptance of dominant ways of thinking about global interconnectivity (rizvi, 2009). supported by andreotti’s (2012) heads up framework, the courses offered teacher candidates opportunities to critically examine normative dimensions of gce and global perspectives. adopting andreotti’s (2012) framework helped candidates move beyond uncritical or literal consumption of information to see how power and inequality are perpetuated through discourses and language. as one teacher candidate reflected: my original perceptions of somalia changed after the immersion trip. i started to understand the effects of colonialism on the political, social, and cultural aspects of why they left. i imagine it is difficult for somalia to be sovereign with so much outside influence and pressure to conform from europe, china, and the u.s. this excerpt indicates teacher candidate thinking around issues of hegemony, ahistoricism, and ethnocentrism through their cross-cultural immersion experience and application of the heads up framework (andreotti, 2012). in a second example, a teacher candidate reflects on their experience participating in the icuc with a conversation partner. here, the candidate reflects on the fourth workshop, a discussion of current events affecting each other’s country: corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 15 after talking with my conversation partner, i learned that not everything the u.s. does overseas is without consequence. my partner is from saudi arabia and they shared that the u.s. is actively involved in many different conflicts in the region. i only knew about iraq and afghanistan and thought elsewhere we are providing humanitarian aid. i had no idea that our footprint was much larger and our foreign policy is contributing to civilian deaths and forced movement of people in places like syria and yemen. for this candidate, the heads up framework (andreotti, 2012) assisted learning about complicated and often contradictory u.s. foreign policy from another perspective and challenged hegemonic and ethnocentric perspectives about the u.s. role in the region. these examples are illustrative of teacher candidates developing the ability to employ systems thinking and critically evaluate how decisions and actions interrelate and affect people across the globe in interconnected ways. theme two: perspective consciousness cross-cultural communication workshops are foundational experiences for all courses, and the skills developed are applied in campusand community-based experiences. for many candidates, the courses offered a formative experience talking with someone from another culture and country of origin. opportunities to engage in discussion with people from diverse backgrounds facilitates the development of perspective consciousness as teacher candidates learn that socio cultural influences result in different perspectives and points of view (villegas & lucas, 2002). survey data indicated a change in teacher candidates’ ability to recognize their own and others perspectives. for measures related to recognize perspectives, teacher candidates enrolled in the methods course reported a change from pre-survey (m=3.24, sd=0.566) to post-survey (m=3.68, sd=0.535). likewise, the candidates enrolled in the issues reported a change from pre-survey (m=3.15, sd=0.575) to post-survey (m=3.72, sd=0.451). corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 16 table 3. course means on preand post-survey for recognize perspectives measures analyses of critical reflection journals indicated two subthemes teacher candidates used to describe their experiences: bridging communication barriers and perspective taking. bridging communication barriers one subtheme derived from candidates’ reflections indicated a new focus on bridging communication barriers. again, for many teacher candidates, the courses offered formative opportunities to engage in cross-cultural communication. according to candidates’ journals, workshops and campus and community interactions required students to “step out of comfort zones,” “actively listen to other perspectives,” and “work through language barriers to promote effective communication.” in addition to the ways many candidates described their initial experiences, they also highlighted strategies to bridge communication barriers as a first step in engaging in meaningful and sustained cross-cultural conversations. to illustrate, one candidate reflected on a cross-cultural conversation workshop where directions were given in korean by discussing empathy and a strategy for listening: this taught me how hard it must be for people to come into a completely different culture where they don’t speak the native language and have no idea what people are saying. this really put us into a situation that i know i was uncomfortable and i wouldn’t want corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 issues in ge 3.15 3.72 mce methods 3.24 3.68 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 pre post recognize perspectives c o u rs e m e a n mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 17 others to struggle with that, either. i had to listen closely for similar words and non-verbal cues so i could follow along. on most days, teacher candidates enter the classroom and prepare for engagement in class activities with partial attention to the procedures and directions. workshops offered in other languages exposed candidates to disorienting dilemmas and conflicting frames (meizrow, 1978, 1990), which posed direct and difficult challenges similar for those in environments where a second language is spoken. the power of this activity carried over for students in future workshops with conversation partners from the intensive english program: on the day we had directions in korean, i became very self-aware of my own gaps in my skills and knowledge with another language. i think this really helped me think about how to more effectively communicate with my conversation partner. throughout the experience, i used the resources from the workshops and modified some to create personal strategies to use to make the conversation useful and relevant. i learned that cross-cultural communication is more involved than being respectful and appropriate. for candidates, learning how to effectively bridge communication barriers was a helpful and necessary step in building trust and establishing a positive relationship with conversation partners and people in the community, which allowed candidates to learn from others’ perspectives. perspective taking a second subtheme, perspective taking, demonstrated various experiences that helped candidates develop empathy and the ability to see viewpoints from other perspectives. repeated experiences engaging in discussion with people of different cultures enabled candidates to “more closely examine their own perspectives” and “discuss aspects of identity and how one’s life experiences influence perspectives.” at a fundamental level, the experiences challenged harbored assumptions from misunderstanding and stereotypes. as one candidate candidly offered in a reflection: i’m not going to lie. i was really scared to talk with my conversation partner from saudi arabia because i associate people from the middle east with terrorism. during our first conversation, we talked about soccer, video games, and cars. it was awesome! we have so much in common. i’m a little embarrassed by my first thoughts but think the corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 18 experience was so valuable. [my conversation partner] is going to join me for soccer open gym this week. from fear to friendship, this candidate expressed an ability to examine aspects of identity, life experiences, and different interests between people. for other candidates, the workshop on global issues in respective countries offered unique opportunities to learn perspectives from life experiences of others. as one candidate expressed: i specifically saw my perspective change when [he] talked about how his brother was taken from his home and taken to jail just for expressing his opinion against the government. this is so different from the life that i know. my dad is a police officer so i have always thought to be tough on crime. [his] story really made me reflect on laws and criminals. being able to have a conversation with [him] opened me up to how we can all come from different places and have unique experiences but we are all connected by our humanity. perhaps most importantly, candidates expressed pride in their newfound ability to reflect more critically on the intersectionality of multiple identities related to culture, power, and privilege. as one candidate reflected, “as a gay woman of color, working with refugees and learning about their experiences in our service learning project made me reconsider my own privilege and status as a middle-class citizen living in america who has the opportunity to go to college.” theme three: effective communication across the different cross-cultural experiences, teacher candidates were placed in opportunities to engage in dialogue with culturally and linguistically diverse people. conversations ranged from biographical exchanges between teacher candidates and students enrolled in an intensive english program to discussions with people in immigrant communities about lived experiences with uncertainty and fear stemming from u.s. policies. in other examples, teacher candidates were placed in leadership positions working with young people in an after-school program or delivering presentations to people at community and campus events. through the different experiences, candidates learned to communicate effectively for different audiences by leveraging strategies and technology. on measures of related to communicate ideas, methods candidates’ surveys indicate a positive difference from pre-survey (m=3.05, sd=0.805) to post-survey (m=3.66, sd=0.483), which was similar to issues candidates’ scores pre survey (m=2.94, sd=0.733) to post-survey (m=3.69, sd=0.489). corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 19 communicate ideas 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 c o u rs e m e a n table 4. course means on preand post-survey for communicate ideas measures mce methods issues in ge pre 3.05 2.94 post 3.66 3.69 in teacher candidates’ reflections, two themes were identified during analysis: employing strategies to sustain conversations and understanding how to communicate for different audiences. employing strategies to sustain conversations meeting someone for the first time and engaging in a sustained conversation can be difficult for some people. prior to meeting new people, all teacher candidates participated in workshops designed to prepare them to work with diverse people. for example, the first workshops for the icuc and cross-cultural conversations focused on engaging candidates in different strategies to facilitate conversations across cultural and linguistic barriers. prior to the immersion experience, candidates participated in a workshop to address stereotypes and misperceptions of the somali community. in reflections, teacher candidates shared ways they were able to effectively communicate with different people on a personal level “by using verbal and non-verbal strategies, technology, and expressions that evoked care and interest in the person.” to illustrate, one candidate reflected on their first intercultural interview with a conversation partner from china: during the intercultural interview with my conversation partner, i found myself using body language to express ideas more than i usually do and speaking more slowly. if we corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 20 hit a rough spot in describing something, we used google translate or did an image search on our phones. for candidates, understanding that communication does not need to be perfect helped to ease some of their anxiety. allowing the use of devices such as phones and apps provided a necessary bridge to overcome language barriers that could limit the conversation. some candidates, however, opted not to use technology and instead focused on regulating their own speech patterns. trying to limit potential barriers in advance helped both partners feel more comfortable. for example, one candidate offered: when i was preparing to talk with [my conversation partner] in columbus, i remembered the workshop on different idioms and speaking colloquially and tried to speak more simply and clearly. i think it really helped us feel more comfortable with each other and because the conversation was more to the point, it allowed [my partner] to ask questions to me. employing strategies to sustain conversations is critical in small group settings. however, the cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities also placed teacher candidates in settings with a range of different people. understanding how to communicate for different audiences through the different experiences, candidates were challenged to effectively communicate ideas for different audiences in myriad ways. the experiences most discussed by candidates related to their participation in activities where they engaged with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, such as the icuc, cross-cultural conversations, and the immersion experience. candidates often described feelings of nervousness followed by a sense of confidence communicating across cultural and linguistic differences. for example, one candidate described the difference between attending their first and second conversation hour for the icuc certificate: at first i was nervous attending the conversation hours because i never did anything like this before. i don’t think i contributed much the first time. by the second one i was more comfortable because i was used to talking to international people from our class workshops. i spoke more simply and clearly and didn’t talk like i do with my friends. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 21 in this excerpt, the candidate also indicates that their level of comfort for talking with international students increased through repeated exposure and practice during class workshops. still, other candidates discussed the educational implications of communication for different audiences from their experiences working with young people in the after-school program: from my experience in the community and the after-school program, i am more thoughtful and deliberate in how i speak and listen and in the materials i develop for students. because we are dealing with serious local/global issues, i have to be clear. on the one hand, candidates acknowledged rethinking how global issues are interconnected and complex and expressed cognitive change from uncritical or literal consumption of information to see how power and inequality and perpetuated through discourses and language. on the other hand, teacher candidates also recognized the need to teach complexity and criticality in a manner suitable for sixth grade students in the after-school program. in the spring of 2018, teacher candidates enrolled in the issues in global education course were asked to pilot a global action project. the project was loosely defined and encouraged students to practice global competencies related to investigating the world (asia society, 2008). for candidates, the global action project was an opportunity to engage in inquiry and present findings to a public audience during a campus-wide global event. as one candidate reflected: the public performance of our global action projects was my biggest challenge and greatest reward. i normally don’t have to give presentations to people outside of my class and i spent extra time preparing for the audience because i wanted them to know how climate change is affecting different countries. the global action project, administered at the end of the semester, offered candidates an authentic path to explore their interests and passions on global issues and create a project that involved taking action. theme four: the call to future engagement gce from a social justice perspective requires an explicit commitment to develop capacity for responsible participation and engagement to interrupt injustices at local and global levels (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; gaudelli & wylie, 2012; ibrahim, 2005). when working with candidates, teacher educators should create meaningful and productive learning opportunities corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 22 taking action 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 c o u rs e m e a n within and beyond the classroom on projects related to global citizenship (ibrahim, 2005). the courses in this study featured projects in the classroom (i.e., cross-cultural conversations, icuc workshops) and beyond (i.e., immersion experience, after-school program) that encouraged candidates to engage with global issues and global citizenship in authentic ways. collectively, the experiences encouraged teacher candidates to take action, which is a hallmark of gce and on the asia society (2008) survey. survey measures included: identify and create opportunities for personal or collaborative action to address situations, assess options and plan actions based on evidence, act personally or collaboratively in creative and ethical ways, and reflect on one’s capacity to advocate for and contribute to improvement. teacher candidates in methods and issues reported a change in perception of their ability to take action from pre (m=2.92, sd=0.621; m=2.73, sd=0.624) to post(m=3.48, sd=0.80; m=3.62, sd=0.535), respectively. table 5. course means on preand post-survey for taking action measures mce methods issues in ge pre 2.92 2.73 post 3.48 3.62 taking action, however, meant different things to different candidates. two themes were identified during analysis: actions are proximal and personal, and commitment to action. actions are proximal and personal the first subtheme indicated that for some teacher candidates, taking action is something that is proximal and personal. as expressed in several journals, the knowledge and skills developed corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 23 during the course helped candidates be “more comfortable with international students and people in the community.” for example, one candidate stated, “before this class i ignored or avoided international students. now i smile at them and even make small talk when in line at [cafeteria] or for coffee.” other candidates indicated that their development is “imperative for being a better consumer of information on global issues.” to illustrate, one candidate offered the following reflection: i am way more aware of refugee crises and am watching and listening to the media’s portrayal of trump’s ban more closely. it is a topic i never would have paid attention to. now i find myself looking across different u.s. and international sites to get perspectives. in both examples, the teacher candidates expressed their willingness to take action and started by changing the ways in which they interacted with others or in their daily consumption of media. the examples taken together are a start and for some teacher candidates are foundational in the development of global competencies. other candidates, however, expressed an outward readiness to take action more publicly. commitment to action a second subtheme, commitment to action, was present in teacher candidates who actively sought to engage in action on local/global issues beyond the course. these candidates viewed taking action as engagement by “actively participating in global experiences available on campus.” for example, one candidate reflected on the icuc requirement to attend seven global events and shared their influence on others: “from the icuc i learned how global our campus is. i loved all of the events and actually got my roommates to join me. i am definitely going to go to more events, even if it’s not a requirement.” the influence over family and friends was present in other candidates’ reflections as well. to illustrate, the following excerpt is a reflection after participating in the after-school program: from learning about food insecurity, volunteering, and how it affects me as an educator, i think it is safe to say this class and experience has really benefitted me for the future. i am really blessed to be a part of this opportunity and i love being able to share what i have learned with friends and family who can also get involved. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 24 sharing experiences with family and friends was just the start for this candidate. in a separate journal, the candidate shared some steps taken to act collaboratively on issues related to food insecurity: i learned there is food insecurity in my hometown. when i go home for the summer i plan to lead a drive to create weekend packs for students who are in the summer program where i work. the students in the program are all on free and reduced lunch, so we feed them two meals a day. some of the students in the program are recent immigrants, so i want to make sure the food in their packs is culturally sensitive. this example demonstrates a direct connection made by the candidate between the experiences in the after-school program and class workshops on cross-cultural awareness. perhaps most importantly, the example exhibits the candidate’s willingness to act in creative ways to improve the local condition. for other candidates, taking action meant a commitment to future participation in study abroad programs. in the following excerpt, the candidate shares the effect of the cross-cultural workshops from the icuc and immersion experiences: “this class inspired me to apply for the belize literacy study abroad program. i got accepted and i am so excited because i feel prepared to work with people from different cultures.” the immersion experience in the somali community proved to be a powerful learning opportunity for many teacher candidates, especially those originally from the columbus area. some candidates actively networked with community partners in order to “continue working with the refugee community during the summer.” as one candidate offered: throughout the whole experience in the somali community, i was shocked how little i knew, and i am from columbus. i took cards from people at the organizations we worked with and want to work with them when i am home this summer. this excerpt is representative of several candidates’ reflections following the experience in the somali community and demonstrates that the immersion experience opened new opportunities for candidates to be engaged and take action beyond the classroom and in communities. discussion the findings demonstrate the extent to which course content and activities and significant learning experiences contributed to the development of teacher candidates’ global corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 25 competencies. in both courses, a required middle childhood social studies methods and an elective issues in global education, and across three academic years, the results from the asia society survey of global competencies (2008) indicate an aggregate positive change in developing global competencies among classes. moreover, the qualitative data from teacher candidate critical reflections demonstrate the ways in which candidates think about significant learning experiences and how they contribute to the development of global competencies. the results, however, are limited to the experiences of teacher candidates at one university and represent a select sample of teacher candidates. compared to similar qualitative studies of smaller sample size (harshman, 2016b; kirkwood-tucker, 2004; maguth, 2014; parkhouse, tichnor-wagner, cain, & glazier, 2016), this study does offer a necessary contribution to the literature in its attempt to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data across two courses and over three academic years. furthermore, the study is limited in the analysis of two key data sources: a survey and critical reflections. both data sources are self-reported and may reflect a heightened sense of achievement and confirmation bias of teacher candidates. further analysis of these data may be warranted to better demonstrate unique contrasts or characteristics among candidates who exhibited minimal to little change and those of whom perceived higher degrees of change in the development of global competencies. despite these limitations, the courses designed with a gce framework offer new insights of pedagogical practices employed and may help teacher educators who are considering integrating gce in existing courses and curriculum. specifically, this study demonstrates the extent to which teacher candidates develop global competencies by enacting the following core practices: 1) international and cross-cultural experiences (merryfield & kasai, 2010; ukpokodu, 2010); 2) teaching diverse content, multiple perspectives, and engaging in critical inquiry (boix mansilla & chua, 2016; carano, 2013; merryfield & subedi, 2003; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; poole & russell, 2015); and 3) designing authentic opportunities to take action (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; ibrahim, 2005; unesco, 2015). with gce as a framing paradigm, this study offered concrete examples of core practices and unique opportunities for cross-cultural experiential learning. the critical reflections of teacher candidates captured the extent to which human connections contributed to their development of global competencies. for example, the icuc, cross-cultural conversations, immersion experience, and after-school program rose above all other course experiences as the most memorable and impactful. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 26 conclusion while there is no prescriptive path to developing global competencies among teacher candidates, one consideration for teacher educators is clear: seek to establish human connections at the core of gce course design and enactment of pedagogical practices. in their roles as course designers, instructors, and researchers, the authors embraced the power of human connections. through years of meetings, ongoing conversations, and critical dialogue across international perspectives, the authors challenged their own pedagogical thinking and practices to design reflexive and complex experiences that enabled teacher candidates to move out of their comfort zones, experience dissonance, turn from self-focus to consider others’ perspectives, and practice critical thinking across cultural and linguistic differences. despite the successes, the fruits of this labor are not felt in 8-15 weeks because the development of global competencies is a journey, not a destination. at this critical juncture in global relations and global citizenship education, teacher educators must be front and center to ensure that all teacher candidates are globally competent and prepared to meet the needs of young people in a globalized world. as campuses seek to globalize, there are new opportunities to leverage campus and community assets to promote gce and design experiences for teacher candidates to develop a sense of place as a global community and work toward continuous development of global competencies. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international 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(2011). understanding teacher education in an era of globalization. journal of teacher education, 62(2), 115. doi: 10.1177/0022487110394334 world savvy. (2015). world savvy. retrieved from http://www.worldsavvy.org corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/1.__p21_framework_2pager.pdf http://www.worldsavvy.org/ mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 32 zhao, y. (2010). preparing globally competent teachers: a new imperative for teacher education. journal of teacher education, 61, 422 acknowledgement: this research was supported by funding from the longview foundation. about the authors: michael a. kopish is an associate professor of teacher education at ohio university where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in social studies education and global education. dr. kopish is a global teaching fellow with the longview foundation. his research interests include: service learning, global citizenship education, experiential pedagogies in social studies. bahman shahri received his phd in curriculum & instruction from ohio university patton college of education in august 2019. his doctoral dissertation addressed the perspectives of overseas student teachers on american national identity. innovative pedagogy and experiential learning are other areas of his current research interest. mohamed amira is a visiting assistant professor at the department of linguistics at ohio university. he is a holder of phd in curriculum and instruction from ohio university. his doctoral dissertation discussed the religious microaggressions against graduate muslim students. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 33 appendix a global competencies (asia society) survey questions likert scale: 1 – strongly disagree, 2 – disagree, 3 – agree, 4 – strongly agree investigate the world 1: i am able to . . . identify an issue, generate a question, and explain the significance of locally, regionally, or globally focused researchable questions. 2: i am able to . . . use a variety of languages and domestic and international sources and media to identify and weigh relevant evidence to address a globally significant researchable question. 3: i am able to . . . analyze, integrate, and synthesize evidence collected to construct coherent responses to globally significant researchable questions. 4: i am able to . . . develop an argument based on compelling evidence that considers multiple perspectives and draws defensible conclusions. recognize perspectives 1: i am able to . . . recognize and express my own perspective on situations, events, issues, or phenomena and identify the influences on that perspective. 2: i am able to . . . examine perspectives of other people, groups, or schools of thought and identify the influences on those perspectives. 3: i am able to . . . explain how cultural interactions influence situations, events, issues, or phenomena, including the development of knowledge. 4: i am able to . . . articulate how differential access to knowledge, technology, and resources affects quality of life and perspectives. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 3-34 page 34 communicate ideas 1: i am able to . . . recognize and express how diverse audiences may perceive different meanings from the same information and how that affects communication. 2: i am able to . . . listen to and communicate effectively with diverse people, using appropriate verbal and nonverbal behavior, languages, and strategies. 3: i am able to . . . select and use appropriate technology and media to communicate with diverse audiences. 4: i am able to . . . reflect on how effective communication affects understanding and collaboration in an interdependent world. take action 1: i am able to . . . identify and create opportunities for personal or collaborative action to address situations, events, issues, or phenomena in ways that improve conditions. 2: i am able to . . . assess options and plan actions based on evidence and the potential for impact, taking into account previous approaches, varied perspectives, and potential consequences. 3: i am able to . . . act, personally or collaboratively, in creative and ethical ways to contribute to improvement locally, regionally, or globally and assess the impact of the actions taken. 4: i am able to . . . reflect on your capacity to advocate for and contribute to improvement locally, regionally, or globally. corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 172-173. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 172-173. 172 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 response to “the shaky legal foundations of the global human rights education project” by dr. felisa tibbitts founder and senior advisor, human rights education associates (hrea) affiliated professor, institute for reconciliation and social justice, university of the free state e-mail: ftibbitts@hrea.org in this article, the author characterizes current practices of human rights education (hre) as having an overriding agenda of activism, one that can draw on an ideologically-driven misinterpretation of international human rights standards. the author’s argument is based primarily on an example of an hre program being carried out by the uk section of amnesty international, which apparently presents same-sex marriage as directly supported in international human rights law (which it is not). my first response is that hre is a quite diverse field of practice, differing not only according to audiences and educational settings but also national contexts. hre for pupils in the uk may look different than hre carried out with students in india. there are already hre programs that are heavily oriented towards international law and national protection systems, especially those taking place in law schools or for adult learners in professions such as law enforcement, the military and civil servants. no single hre program, such as the one presented in this article, can be representative of the field as a whole. amnesty international’s work, specifically, is oriented towards the non-formal education sector and advocacy. any educator using amnesty resources will know this. hre that is linked with amnesty campaigning typically takes place outside of classroom hours, for example, in clubs. there are numerous hre resources that have been developed for use in schools that are completely appropriate for the classroom. as with any materials used in the classroom, educators make choices, working within the curriculum standards that are established by educational authorities. this is not to excuse the misrepresentation of the content of human rights legal standards; this should not happen, of course. the author states with reference to the ramirez, suarez and meyer article (2007) that human rightsoriented content and values have become more prevalent in textbooks over the past two decades. this is true; however when it is present such content is generally thin and noncontroversial. references to human rights values overlap with many well regarded and generally uncontested ethical principles such as non-discrimination and equality. teaching about human rights is generally restricted to topics such as the theory of human rights, human rights standards, and the establishment of the united nations, human rights institutions and ngos, human rights violations in past history or “in other countries”. in conjunction with the spread of hre in schools, the author suggests that hre should have more of a law-oriented focus. i agree that students ought to learn about the international legal framework of human rights as well as national protection systems that link up the international standards with the local context of the learner. however, i see two challenges to this proposal. the first is that this seems to make hre even less realistic for schools, as so few teachers are themselves familiar with the basics of the human rights system, let alone the legal framework. if hre is to be delivered by ‘professionals with academic qualifications in law’ only a very small number of students would receive hre, rendering it even less frequent in schools than it is now. mailto:frank.elbers@hrea.org mailto:frank.elbers@hrea.org journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 172-173. 173 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 the second challenge is that the reduction of hre to teaching legal standards would undercut its potential to fulfill its ultimate goal, which is to reduce human rights violations. the most recent definition forwarded by the united nations in its declaration on human rights education and training affirmed that hre included “empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others (united nations general assembly, 2011). empowerment is a contested and multi-faceted term but perhaps can be understood as the ability to influence one’s environment. schools can promote empowerment through knowledge, such as the legal kind supported by the author. classroom teaching can also facilitate empowerment through critical reflection processes, which might lead a learner to recognition that a personal experience of discrimination is shared by others or that his or her values are consistent with those in the international standards. as with human rights legal content, such teaching and learning processes require skilled educators. i agree fully with the author that we should be wary of hre that attempts to indoctrinate students. the ‘values and awareness model’ of hre for schools that i identified in an earlier article (2002) was not meant as an endorsement, but as a descriptive critique. i am wary of any educational process that is ideological, although we know that schools do socialize learners every day, whether explicitly or implicitly, about acceptable norms and behaviors. this concern to not have hre contribute to a uniform, uncontested and non-reflective treatment of the human rights system has led some educators to coin the term critical human rights education (chre). chre reinforces the importance of infusing critical reflection throughout hre – meaning not only in relation to the contrast between the ideals of the human rights standards and the realities of government behavior but also in relation to the human rights system itself. the proposal that human rights values are universal is a contested one. if human rights norms are to be personally meaningful ones for learners, then they must be de-constructed and processed accordingly. a few decades ago, there were two kinds of hre taking place: legal literacy and popular education. hre as a field has been in the process of developing over the past 20 years a healthy hybrid that incorporates basic legal knowledge and the empowerment pedagogy of popular education. i believe that the author and i are in fundamental agreement that hre should be taught in schools. however, the lack of teacher preparation and curriculum space for hre are perhaps our greatest challenges. a commitment from educational leaders for a wider curriculum space would automatically generate dialogue – such as this one – about the integration of critical reflection and the appropriate mixture of human rights-related law, values, history and current events – both domestically and internationally. references tibbitts, f. (2002). understanding what we do: emerging models for human rights education. international review of education, 48 (3-4), 159-171. united nations, general assembly. 2011. united nations declaration on human rights education and training. ga 66/127, art. 2, para. 2. geneva: united nations. mailto:frank.elbers@hrea.org journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 196 educating for social justice: perspectives from library and information science and collaboration with k-12 social studies educators jamie campbell naidoo and miriam e. sweeney university of alabama, school of library & information studies, tuscaloosa, al library and information science (lis) as a discipline is guided by core values that emphasize equal access to information, freedom of expression, democracy, and education. importantly, diversity and social responsibility are specifically called out as foundations of the profession (american library association, 2004). following from this, there has been a focus in lis on educating librarians from a social justice perspective. in this essay we will discuss some of the strategies we use for training librarians to practice librarianship using a social justice framework as a way to help social studies teachers and other educators critically think through their role in educating for social justice in their classrooms. some areas of particular transference from lis to k-12 educators that we focus on include locating classroom technologies as sites of power and privilege, prioritizing print and digital materials representative of culturally diverse populations and relevant contexts, and expanding the notion of literacy to include multiple literacies. these strategies lay a foundation for a critically-oriented classroom as a step towards teaching for social justice, and provide opportunities for collaboration between social studies educators and librarians. social justice perspectives in lis education in “public libraries and social justice” (2010) pateman and vincent locate social justice as a response to social exclusion, or the structural disenfranchisement of groups of people from social, economic, and cultural resources, creating patterns of disadvantage that can be reproduced generationally. they cite the library as an institution that has historically been implicated in the reproduction of social exclusion by reflecting the needs and interests of dominant culture. as an intervention to this structure, they suggest that librarians focus on targeted, needs-based services that are co-produced with the communities they serve. to do this, they recommend that librarians embrace diversity as they strive for equality, tailoring, rather than homogenizing, services and approaches. in this vein, we identify cultural competency, diversity, multiculturalism, and equality as foundational concepts for social justice work that can be extended through targeted, justice-oriented curricular collaborations between social studies educators and librarians (school media specialists and/or public librarians). montiel-overall (2009) suggests a model for fostering cultural competence among librarians that examines the intersection of interpersonal communication, environmental factors, and cognitive understanding. we believe this model lays the foundation for librarians being open to social justice learning collaborations and is equally pertinent for social studies teachers and other educators. cultural competence is understood to be the awareness of one’s own culture and the contributions of other cultures, the ability to interact with other individuals from diverse cultures, and an understanding of how cultures are integrated together within our larger society (montiel-overall, 2009). for social justice work to occur, both librarians and social studies teachers must develop their own cultural competence, or be on the road to doing so, before they can plan collaborative lessons that promote cultural competence among students. since environmental factors, lived experiences, and individualized perspectives shape our understanding and acceptance of the world, the journey to full cultural competence is a unique experience. it is positively influenced by opportunities to interact with diverse mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 197 cultures through hands-on activities, print and digital media, and educational programs that facilitate intercultural connections. cultural competency must be embedded in critiques of structural power in order to connect individual experiences and identity formation to systems of oppression and domination. critical pedagogy (friere, 2001; hooks, 1994) perspectives offer intersectional frameworks for interrogating classroom/libraries as hegemonic sites of power. these frameworks require educators and librarians to “unlearn” and question the assumptions of their training, including the ways in which diversity initiatives are constructed and employed. ahmed (2012) argues that institutionalized diversity projects may actually further entrench whiteness by placing efforts on the symbolic commitment to diversity without addressing necessary structural changes. similarly, scholars like pawley (2006) and honma (2005) point out that within lis, “multiculturalism” and “diversity” often take on celebratory tones of difference, without specifically calling out racism and white supremacy as the structural system of oppression. the same can occur when k-12 educators attempt to include cultural diversity in the curriculum, through a “tourist approach” which highlights the foods, fashion, festivals, folklore, and famous people from a culture rather than exploring the lived experiences of individuals from a particular cultural group. it is necessary for librarians as well as social studies teachers to locate white supremacy and features of whiteness (as well as other forms of primary cultural dominance) as a guiding benchmark of the status quo that guides formal structures as well as informal norms, practices, and customs. disrupting this requires active engagement with subjectivity, positionality, and a constant interrogation about the hidden assumptions of pedagogical paradigms. classroom technologies as sites and structures of power just as freire’s (2001) critical pedagogy demands that both social studies teachers and students become aware of the politics that structure their education as a way to understand their oppression and its relationship to the institution, so do critical technology perspectives demand an awareness of the politics that structure, and are structured by, technological assemblages. education for social justice must include an analysis of technological artifacts and associated practices as ideological processes that prioritize particular political interests and social arrangements. social studies educators and librarians can collaboratively teach critical technology perspectives along with technology skills, applications, and literacies as key components for a justice-oriented curriculum. situating the design, use, and meaning of common classroom technologies and practices within broader systems of power sets the stage for cultivating what selfe and selfe (1994) term “technology critics,” in addition to technology users. library and classroom technologies are commonly treated as “neutral” tools in normative frameworks that emphasize applications for learning or disseminating information. this is reflected in skills-based learning and literacy programs as well as access-based interventions for achieving digital parity. while skills and access are certainly important dimensions of technology, they often elide deeper explorations of technology as both sites and structures of power. for example, the common rhetoric of the digital divide relies on deficit-based language of information “haves” and “have nots,” a framing that eubanks (2007) identifies as falling within the “distributive paradigm” of social justice. young (2011) defines the distributive paradigm of social justice as the “morally proper distribution of social benefits and burdens among society’s members (p. 16).” according to eubanks, distributive paradigms of the digital divide are narrow in their over-reliance on market-based logics, and assume digital incorporation to be beneficial, and therefore unproblematic, to homogenous users. in fact, the redistribution of resources, and skilling up of users does not, de facto, guarantee digital or social inclusion. in their study of public libraries, schools, and the digital divide among diverse mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 198 socioeconomic communities in philadelphia, neuman and celano (2012) observe how affluence and poverty contribute to disparities in information capital. the authors note that without proper guidance and instruction, technology manages to further divide social classes rather than bring them together. similarly, warschauer (2000) examined how technology initiatives were enacted in both an affluent and low-income school, concluding that “one school was producing scholars and the other school was producing workers. and the introduction of computers did absolutely nothing to change this dynamic; in fact, it reinforced it (p. 5).” to echo forst (2007), distributive paradigms of the digital divide shift questions about justice into pragmatic accounts of the distribution of goods in society without addressing the underlying questions of structural power and oppression that produce and employ said goods in the global information economy. it is precisely these unaddressed questions that social studies educators and librarians are ideally positioned to help students learn to ask as part and parcel of their technology practices: how (and where) are our technologies made? who is involved with designing our technologies? whose knowledge and culture is encoded into the hardware, software, and interface design? what counts as technological skill? who decides? how are identities interpolated through technological engagement? these are examples of questions that, alongside skills acquisition, can help educators and students explore classroom technologies as sites and structures of power, connecting local experiences to global phenomena. lastly, a social justice framework requires acknowledging that classroom technologies are embedded with values that privilege particular users and experiences. selfe and selfe describe the computer interface as a “political and ideological boundary land (1994, p. 481)” that may contribute to a larger cultural system of differentiation and domination in much the same way that geopolitical borders do. using pratt’s (1991) concept of the “contact zone,” they point out that the design of computer interfaces can have exclusionary functions based on asymmetrical power relationships that reflect systems of oppression and domination. iconography reflecting white-collar, middle class workspace (e.g. the “desktop”), english-as-default language, autocorrect tools that discipline the user according to the standardized spellings and grammar of dominant groups, and ascii encoding systems that privilege western characters—these are but a few examples of common features of information and communication technologies that encode hegemonic values, leaving non-privileged users at a disadvantage. learning to recognize these features as designed and ideological, rather than natural and neutral, can help students become comfortable questioning how these technologies structure their education and broader opportunities in the world—a necessary foundation for imagining justiceoriented interventions. integrating critical technology perspectives into the social studies curriculum allows students to connect their own experiences with technology to broader systems of oppression. focusing on technology as an extension of various systems of exclusion provided a powerful tool for demonstrating the immediacy of oppression on a local level. this might be beneficial to students who have difficulty identifying localized systems of oppression, and could serve to validate the lived experiences of socially marginalized students. by exploring technologies as sites and structures of power, social studies educators and librarians can help students identify structural mechanisms of technological exclusion, move away from deficit-based models of technological ability and distributive paradigms of justice, re-define notions of expertise, and become more critical users/designers of technology. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 199 culturally authentic literature and digital media in the curriculum another opportunity in educating for social justice includes the incorporation of culturally authentic children’s and young adult literature and digital media (such as digital apps, streaming educational videos, online games, and digital picture books) into learning activities. multiple theoretical lenses have been used to explore the myriad factors influencing the cultural identity and lived experiences of children and young adults (hallowell, 1955; vygotsky, 1978; bronfenbrenner,1979; cummins, 1996). these theories suggest that the print and digital media that students consume, as well as their daily encounters at home or school, within the community, or in larger society, can augment their thoughts and feelings not only towards their cultural group but diverse cultural groups around the world. myers (2014), bishop (1997), fox & short (2003), naidoo (2014b), park dahlen (2013), and others also describe the importance of culturally authentic literature and digital media in the promotion of positive identity development among children and young adults and the fostering of global awareness. collectively, this research as well as the theoretical underpinnings advocate that culturally diverse children’s print and digital materials can be used to first foster cultural competence in students and then motivate them to engagement in social justice activities. print and digital materials presenting diverse cultures serve as mirrors, windows, and road maps to a child’s sociocultural world. they are mirrors reflecting the daily cultural experiences of a student or windows offering cross-cultural insight (bishop, 1997). moreover, these materials can also serve as a road map showcasing the accomplishment of a particular cultural group and predicting potential futures for students from that cultural group (myers, 2014). simply reading a story about a diverse culture or engaging with a digital app about another country does not empower students to become advocates of social justice. librarians and social studies educators should work together to design learning opportunities that include the use of well-chosen books and/or digital media that present an injustice relatable to students and then provide space for dialogue about how the students can realistically effect change that will make a step towards righting the injustice. librarians have knowledge of quality children’s and young adult books as well as impactful digital media to spark a conversation and empower action, while social studies teachers know how best to structure learning activities that meet learning outcomes in their subject area. the key for success is relevancy in materials and learning activities. if students cannot make a connection between an injustice in their own lives or broader social contexts, then it will be difficult to inspire action. some educators may find it useful to have a list of recommended materials that embody relevancy and have proven potential for promoting social justice with students. these lists can be shared with librarians who can then select complimentary print and digital resources to scaffold student learning. the following resources, culled by library and information science educators, present selected print and digital social justice-themed materials and curricula that can be used in k-12 classrooms. ● the international literacy association’s notable books for a global society (http://clrsig.org/nbgs.php), jane addams peace association’s jane addams children’s book award (http://www.janeaddamspeace.org/jacba/), and the citizen kid imprint of kids can press in canada (http://www.kidscanpress.com/series/citizenkid) are wonderful sources for recommended english-language children’s and young adult books with social justice themes. the two book awards highlight print materials that were specifically created to help students think about social issues around the world. titles receiving the awards represent diverse global cultures and myriad opportunities for social engagement. the citizen kid resource provides several children’s picture books with lesson plans that address global human rights topics and can inspire children to action. the publisher also includes video clips and short trailers that social studies educators can use in the curriculum to extend the topic. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://clrsig.org/nbgs.php http://www.janeaddamspeace.org/jacba/ http://www.kidscanpress.com/series/citizenkid journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 200 ● the u.s. peace corp world wise schools program (http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/) provides lesson plans, streaming video, recommended speakers, and teaching ideas for social studies educators interested in fostering the development of cultural competence and encouraging service learning among their k-12 students. the website also includes the interactive peace corp challenge (http://www.peacecorps.gov/kids/). this online game designed for upper elementary children fosters students’ critical thinking skills about global health and social problems and encourages them to find solutions to specific issues faced by fictional african villagers. ● the professional book, diversity programming for digital youth: promoting cultural competence in the children’s library (naidoo, 2014a), suggests how librarians can plan educational programs that promote cultural competency by way of culturally diverse books and digital media for children. numerous multicultural digital apps are recommended, including ones with specific appeal for librarians working collaboratively with social studies teachers to explore social justice themes. for instance, the digital gaming app get water! by decode global is designed to help upper elementary children and tweens understand the scarcity of clean drinking water in countries around the world. the app can be used in conjunction with a long walk to water (park, 2010) or one well: the story of water on earth (strauss & woods, 2007) in social studies lessons about basic human rights. ● developed by teaching tolerance, perspectives for a diverse america (http://perspectives.tolerance.org/) is a literacy-based, social justice curriculum aligned to the u.s. common core state standards and infused with an anti-bias education framework. this free curriculum is intended to teach students about diversity, build cultural competence, present social justice issues, and motivate students to action. librarians and social studies teachers can work together to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of their local school population. the teaching tolerance website (http://www.tolerance.org/) also provides a rich resource of lesson plans, readings lists, think pieces, and anecdotal stories to encourage and inspire educators interested in social justice lessons. ● approved in 1989, the united nations convention on the rights of the child is an international treaty describing the various social, cultural, political, and health rights of all children. the treaty provides a rich resource for social studies teachers and librarians to explore and foster engagement in social justice activities. topics for exploration can include education rights, gender equality, health disparities, child trafficking, child soldiers, homelessness, etc. fernekes and baxter (2015) align some of these topics to various national curriculum standards for social studies and further emphasize the potential of the treaty for educating for social justice. the convention on the rights of the child is available in child-friendly language (http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf) and is the subject of multiple children’s books that could be used to introduce the treaty such as this child, every child: a book about the world’s children (smith & armstrong 2011) and i have the right to be a child (serres, fronty, & mixter, 2012). older students in high school can be introduced to the treaty after reading books such as mccormick’s (2008) sold, which describes child trafficking in india or sullivan’s (2013) gold boy which tackles albino harvesting in africa. after students have read the books, explored the convention, and discussed which rights are being violated (in the case of the novels for the high school students), they can then examine ways that they can make a difference and bring about change. books such as pay it forward kids: small acts, big change (runstedler, 2013) provide prime examples of real children and teens engaged in social activism. they can be used by educators, to help students make the connection between what they have read and social engagement. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/ http://www.peacecorps.gov/kids/ http://perspectives.tolerance.org/ http://www.tolerance.org/ http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 201 while not exhaustive in nature, these sources suggest materials and approaches for educating for social justice with a significant focus on traditional reading literacy. the subsequent section describes the potential for incorporating multiple literacies into the social studies curriculum to foster an even richer sense of social engagement. using multiple literacies to educate for social justice librarians, particularly school media specialists, are trained to foster lifelong learning not only through traditional reading literacy but also through multiple literacies including information literacy, digital literacy, cultural literacy, visual literacy, and media literacy. the use of multiple literacies in a collaborative lesson or series of lessons with social studies teachers engages divergent learning styles of students and offers multiple opportunities for relevancy. information literacy as well as cultural and media literacy skills can be used to promote social justice and highlight propaganda or hate websites such as those created by white supremacists. daniels’ (2009) study of adolescents evaluating “cloaked websites” (websites that appear to be legitimate civil-rights sites but actually are fronts for white supremacist sites,) found that traditional approaches to media literacy (e.g. looking for bias in authorship, evaluating domain names) failed the students in being able to differentiate legitimate civil rights information from white supremacist rhetoric. she argues that critical understandings of race and racism are needed in addition to instrumental skills for evaluating online content as a way to appropriately contextualize and parse political content. through a purposeful collaborative lesson created by the social studies teacher and librarian, high school students can explore these topics to learn not only how to evaluate the authenticity of information but to also explore embedded rhetoric. to participate in a true multiple literacies lesson, students can also read children’s books such as my parents open carry (jeffs, nephew, & bergman, 2014) or god made dad and mom (parker & segura, 2013) and explore the various mediated social messages these books carry. visual literacy can be employed as students analyze the visual cues and loaded symbols in the illustrations used in both books. as a call to action, students can strategize ways to help younger children identify propaganda in children’s books and other media. they can also identify and share empowering, socially conscious children’s books to foster cultural competence. librarians and social studies educators can help students discuss the motives of the authors of books and websites, interrogating subjectivity and positionality alongside claims of “bias” and “impartiality.” an example of a lesson promoting social justice for upper elementary students can include discussion of the education rights of children. swadener et al. (2013) examine how schools around the world address the educational rights of children and conclude that many countries have considerable work to do before all children equally receive these basic human rights. the topic of educational rights is one that can easily be taught to students using multiple literacies. see figure 1 (appendix) for an outline of suggested topics for collaborative lessons between a librarian and social studies teacher for students in grades 5-8. a variety of print and digital materials are suggested to meet the varying developmental and reading levels of students. these lessons incorporate multimodal learning with culturally diverse children’s literature to facilitate cultural competence while utilizing multiple literacies to educate for social justice. students are engaged in visual, auditory, and hands-on activities and require competency in multiple literacies such as information, media, digital, visual, and cultural literacy. they are locating, evaluating, and synthesizing mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 202 information in order to communicate with peers and create new media. at the same time, these students are reaching beyond the scope of their cultural experiences to learn about current and historical events from the united states, tanzania, and pakistan. these books, along with digital media, provide a rich learning environment for examining the intersections of race, class, and culture in three diverse countries. the historical and current narratives provide a context for understanding the relevancy of education rights to contemporary students and augment experiences from their sociocultural worlds. opportunities for social justice action and engagement are presented as well as modeled by students around the world. the interplay between the various print and digital media, as well multiple literacies, extends the lesson to attract students with multiple learning modalities. conclusion the various strategies described in this article lay a foundation for justice work and empower social studies teachers, librarians, and students in the process. when social studies educators collaborate with librarians, there is a tremendous opportunity to develop enriching discussions, meaningful activities, and relevant projects that motivate students to action. integrating critical technology perspectives along with culturally diverse print and digital resources creates opportunities in curricula to simultaneously build multiple literacies in service of social justice-oriented education. by working together to create learning opportunities that allow students to actively identify societal injustices resulting from racism, sexism, heterocentrism, ableism, classism, and so on, librarians and social studies teachers can set the foundation for active engagement in service learning projects or global activities, allowing students to “pay it forward.” properly structured lessons can scaffold learning about injustices experienced around the world and call children and teens to action. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 203 references abouraya, k. l., & wheatley, l. c. (2014). malala yousafzai: warrior with words. great neck, ny: starwalk kids media. ahmed, s. (2012). on being included: racism and diversity in institutional life. durham, nc: duke university press. american library association. (2004). core values of librarianship. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues. bishop, r. s. (1997). selecting literature for a multicultural curriculum. in v. harris (ed.), using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom (pp. 1-20). norwood, ma: christopher-gordon. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. brown, d., & thomson, a. (2015). who is malala yousafzai? new york: grosset & dunlap. cummins, j. (1996). negotiating identities: education for empowerment in a diverse society. ontario: california association for bilingual education. eubanks, v. e. 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(2014a). diversity programming for digital youth: promoting cultural competence in the children’s library. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. naidoo, j. c. (2014b). the importance of diversity in library programs and material collections for children. whitepaper. chicago: association for library service to children. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alsc/importance-diversity. neuman, s., & celano, d. (2012). giving our children a fighting chance: poverty, literacy, and the development of information capital. new york: teachers college press. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-literature.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-literature.html http://www.ala.org/alsc/importance-diversity journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 204 park dahlen, s. (2013). windows and mirrors: reading diverse children’s literature. land of gazillion voices magazine. minneapolis: gazillion voices. retrieved from http://gazillionvoices.com/cover-story-windows-and-mirrors-reading-diverse-childrensliterature-by-dr-sarah-park-dahlen/#.vz2ffab8_1q. park, l. s. (2010). a long walk to water. new york: clarion books. parker, a. d., & segura, h. (2013). god made dad and mom. alachua, fl: bridge logos. pateman, j., & vincent, j. (2010). public libraries and social justice. farnham, surrey, england ; burlington, vt: ashgate. pawley, c. (2006). unequal legacies: race and multiculturalism in the lis curriculum. library quarterly, 76(2), 149–168. pratt, m. l. (1991). arts of the contact zone. profession, 33–40. retrieved from http://doi.org/10.2307/25595469 runstedler, n. (2013). pay it forward kids: small acts, big change. markham, ontario: fitzhenry & whiteside. selfe, c. l., & selfe, r. j. (1994). the politics of the interface: power and its exercise in electronic contact zones. college composition and communication, 45(4), 480–504. retrieved from http://doi.org/10.2307/358761 strauss, r., & woods, r. (2007). one well: the story of water on earth. toronto: kids can press. sullivan, t. (2013). golden boy. new york: g. p. putnam’s sons. swadener, b., lundy, l., habashi, j., & blanchet-cohen, n. (eds.). (2013). children's rights and education: international perspectives. new york: peter lang publishing. tonatiuh, d. (2014). separate is never equal: sylvia mendez and her family’s fight for desegregation. new york: abrams books for young readers. vygotsky, l. (1978). mind in society. cambridge: harvard university press. warschauer, m. (2000). technology and school reform: a view from both sides of the track. educational policy analysis archives, 8(4), retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/395 winner, l. (1980). do artifacts have politics? daedalus, 109(1), 121–136. winter, j. (2014). malala, a brave girl from pakistan/iqbal, a brave boy from pakistan: two stories of bravery. new york: beach lane books. young, i. m. (2011). justice and the politics of difference. princeton, n.j: princeton university press. yousafazi, m., & mccormick, p. (2014). i am malala: how one girl stood up for education and changed the world. young readers edition. new york: little, brown books for young readers. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://gazillionvoices.com/cover-story-windows-and-mirrors-reading-diverse-childrens-literature-by-dr-sarah-park-dahlen/%23.vz2ffab8_1q http://gazillionvoices.com/cover-story-windows-and-mirrors-reading-diverse-childrens-literature-by-dr-sarah-park-dahlen/%23.vz2ffab8_1q http://doi.org/10.2307/358761 http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/395 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 205 appendix (figure 1: social justice topics for collaborative lessons on the education rights of children) education rights of children grades 5-8 topic 1: education discrimination based on race: have students read separate is never equal: sylvia mendez & her family’s fight for desegregation (tonatiuh, 2014) and listen to the clip of sylvia mendez and sandra mendez duran on the storycorp website (http://storycorps.org/listen/sylvia-mendez-and-sandra-mendez-duran/). encourage students to discuss how the education rights of latino children were being ignored. ask them to describe how they would feel if they were told they could not go to school with other children because they were presumed to be dirty and uneducated. if social studies educators choose, they can focus on this topic for several class periods using the suggested lesson plans below. some of these lessons will provide an opportunity to use the school library computers to examine online primary source materials related to the mendez v. westminster case. an in-depth lesson tying into common core standards for english language arts in grades 6-8 is available on the vamos a leer: teaching latin america through literacy blog. (https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cox-lesson-plan-unit315.pdf). to extend this lesson to a younger audience, social studies teachers and librarians can consult the lesson plan created by the anti-defamation league (adl) for grades 1-5. (http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/book-of-the-month-separate-is-neverequal.pdf). topic 2: education discrimination based on immigration status: have students listen to teenager estafania’s personal story related to the u.s. dream act on the community-supported, educational kqed youth radio (http://www.kqed.org/a/perspectives/r201011040735). ask them to consider how her current story is similar and different from the historical story of sylvia mendez. should estafania and other students like her be denied the opportunity to attend college? organize the class to participate in a debate about undocumented immigrants and education rights in the united states. divide the class into two groups and let them use the school library computers and materials to research information about undocumented immigrants and education. social studies teachers can work with school librarians to preselect websites as well as books and other materials that the students can use for research. one group will find information to support the argument that undocumented immigrants should have an opportunity to go to college and another group will find information to support the counter argument. engage the students in the class debate. topic 3: education discrimination based on language barriers: have students watch present tense (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m_bpt85mno), a short film created by three high school students in zanzibar. the film describes how the english-only language policy in public mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://storycorps.org/listen/sylvia-mendez-and-sandra-mendez-duran/ https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cox-lesson-plan-unit-315.pdf https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cox-lesson-plan-unit-315.pdf https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cox-lesson-plan-unit-315.pdf https://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cox-lesson-plan-unit-315.pdf http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/book-of-the-month-separate-is-never-equal.pdf http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/book-of-the-month-separate-is-never-equal.pdf http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/book-of-the-month-separate-is-never-equal.pdf http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/book-of-the-month-separate-is-never-equal.pdf http://www.kqed.org/a/perspectives/r201011040735 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m_bpt85mno journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 206 schools, which was meant to equalize the education between government and private schools, creates access barriers to education and produces students who can speak little english and will mostly likely not graduate from high school. how is this type of education discrimination the same and different from the other types discussed? the film was created by high school students to call attention to a problem in their country. have students identify a problem in their local community, state, or province and ask them to brainstorm a solution to the problem. give students the opportunity to create a storyboard for their own digital story or digital movie that highlights the particular problem. working with the school librarian, the social studies teacher will work with students to create their digital stories/movies. students can work in small groups. examples of other digital stories and points to consider when creating digital stories with students are available at edtech teacher’s digital storytelling in the classroom (http://edtechteacher.org/tools/multimedia/digital-storytelling/). topic 4: education discrimination based on gender: have students watch one of the stories from the film girl rising (http://girlrising.com/) which profiles nine girls around the world and their struggle for an equal education. using the girl rising curriculum (http://girlrising.com/curriculum/), social studies teacher and librarians can work together to scaffold learning about education discrimination of girls. have students choose one of the following short books to read about malala yousafzai: who is malala yousafzai?(brown and thomson, 2015), malala, a brave girl from pakistan/iqbal, a brave boy from pakistan: two stories of bravery (winter, 2014), or malala yousafzai: warrior with words (abouraya & wheatley, 2014). after reading the books to gain background information about malala, have students listen to portions of one of her online speeches such as the books not bullets speech at education summit in oslo, norway (july 2015) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoftqyjy9o). have students create a booktrailer for their book that captures malala’s passion and would get younger students interested in reading her story. booktrailers will be shared in the school library with students in grades 2-3. educators could alternatively extend this lesson and have students read and discuss i am malala: how one girl stood up for education and changed the world, young readers edition (yousafzai & mccormick, 2014). using the malala fund website (http://www.malala.org/), encourage students to participate in the #booksnotbullets campaign, posting photos of themselves with their favorite books. ask students to brainstorm how they can make a difference in the world to end education discrimination. they might raise money for the because i am a girl fund (http://planinternational.org/girls/) to sponsor the education of a girl in another country; connect with students in other countries via epals (www.epals.com) to brainstorm collaborative action with other students; participate in international literacy day activities organizing book drives or a little free library; or connect with libraries around the world via theinternational federation of library associations (ifla)’ sister libraries program (https://sisterlibraries.wordpress.com/) to work with other children and teens to strategize ways to help children in the communities served by the libraries. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu http://edtechteacher.org/tools/multimedia/digital-storytelling/ http://girlrising.com/ http://girlrising.com/curriculum/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoftqyjy9o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoftqyjy9o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoftqyjy9o http://www.malala.org/ http://www.malala.org/ http://plan-international.org/girls/ http://plan-international.org/girls/ http://www.epals.com/ https://sisterlibraries.wordpress.com/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 196-207. corresponding author email: jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 207 authors jamie campbell naidoo, ph.d. is an associate professor at the university of alabama school of library and information studies where he teaches and researches in the areas of cultural diversity and social justice in children’s literature and library services. miriam e. sweeney, ph.d. is an assistant professor at the university of alabama school of library and information studies. she employs critical cultural frameworks to research intersections of race, gender, and digital media. her other research interests include social justice education and interventions for library and information professionals. note from editor: although articles in this section of the journal are usually not double blind peer reviewed, in this instance (naidoo & sweeney, 2015) this was undertaken, in addition to a peer review from the section editor. we thank naidoo & sweeney for their perseverance with the onerous process. mailto:jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 civic thinking and public policy analysis: a comparative approach to political decision-making jason fitzgerald monmouth university abstract: in an effort to increase students’ preparation for and participation in civic life, teachers and schools across the united states have incorporated action civics programs into their social studies courses. these programs resemble many of the key characteristics of the public policy analysis process. however, there is little evidence suggesting that civic leaders use this process when engaging a civic issue. this study explores the processes that civic leaders in one community use when thinking aloud about two hypothetical civic action scenarios, comparing their processes with the public policy analysis process. qualitative analysis demonstrates that civic leaders engage in the public policy analysis process but also include the crucial initial step of seeking community deliberation. this initial step makes the whole process community-based, especially in the research, planning, and action phases. these findings indicate that action civics programs should consider incorporating more community awareness and involvement into the early parts of their curricula, enabling youth to work with community members rather than isolating action civics work to k-12 classrooms. key words: action civics, civics education, community deliberation, public policy analysis, social studies introduction although citizenship education is a contested term with regards to pedagogic aims and implementation, there “is widespread agreement that the proper aim of the social studies is ‘citizenship’” (thornton, 2004, p. 223), building students’ capacities to make informed decisions in a pluralist society (national council for the social studies, 1994). unfortunately, there is little mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 evidence that students are given equal opportunities to develop their civic capacities, even if teachers value this purpose (levinson, 2012; pearson & waterson, 2013). indeed, while “the goal of citizenship is widely shared… teachers’ understanding of its meaning is sometimes simple and unelaborated” (levstik & barton, 2001, p. 40), providing few opportunities for teachers to engage students in “doing civics,” especially in low-ses, highminority student contexts. to compound the issue, many of the participatory civic practices are conducted within the classroom, not in authentic community-based settings (maker et al., 2015). mainstream social studies education does not often focus on “doing civics” (campbell et al., 2012). recently, action civics programs have begun partnering with schools across the united states to engage k-12 students in the process of civic engagement. using a variety of models, these programs routinely employ the public policy analysis model of civic action, whereby students engage in research, planning, and action steps. there is little empirical evidence that this model is authentically used by community civic leaders, the population that such action civics programs attempt to emulate. from a study of civic leaders’ civic problem-solving abilities, this study explores the ways that community civic leaders’ engagement activities mirror the public policy analysis model of engagement. literature review in reaction to traditional, content-heavy civics instruction, education-focused not-for-profit organizations have been developing civic education programs to promote action civics, where students take collective civic action to address personally relevant civic issues within a context that promotes reflection and skills development (bass, 2012; pope et al., 2011). initially, such programs were paired with more traditional civics knowledge. for example, the action civics program project citizen, a program that mentors secondary and post-secondary students to engage in local and state government (center for civic education, 2011), was often paired with the we the people curriculum so that students could develop their understanding of constitutional principles in class while they practiced engaging in public policy (center for civic education, 2014), following larry gerston’s (2002) model (haas, 2001). the result of these pairings was action civics work that enabled students to focus on school-based issues connected to state and local policies. such curricular models develop students’ participatory citizenship capacities (westheimer & kahne, 2004). however, they may inhibit the development of social justice-oriented paradigms because they reify the “hidden curriculum” (apple, 2000), which mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 imbue “codes of power” (delpit, 1995) that limit the transformative effects of civic engagement (marri, 2008). more recently, action civics programs such as generation citizen and mikva challenge have been developed without a specific “knowledge base” component without necessarily engaging governmental structures or in-school issues. generation citizen offers students the opportunity to learn and practice civic skills by taking collective action as a class on a local issue chosen by students; this community engagement is modeled by “democracy coaches,” trained college facilitators from local colleges and universities (generation citizen, 2011). similarly, mikva challenge engages students in a community engagement and civic change-making curriculum; they rely more heavily than generation citizen on teacher-led instructional support (national action civics collaborative, 2012). to be sure, these action civics programs explore fundamental civics concepts with students (e.g., the workings of the federalist system); however, such concepts are at the service of civic action rather than the primary focus of instruction. unlike the project citizen curriculum, generation citizen and mikva challenge focus more on engaging students in civic action within the community than on producing a whole-scale social studies curriculum with an action civics component. these three example programs illustrate a range of approaches to teaching action civics. project citizen is a bit more prescriptive than the others, offering a supplemental social studies curriculum. mikva challenge uses practicing social studies teachers to teach action civics, enabling the teachers to weave the experience together with their traditional curriculum. generation citizen uses outside democracy coaches, engaging students in the least prescriptive practice as it pertains to curriculum integration. while these programs differ in their approaches, they share a model for “doing civics.” as table 1 illustrates, each of these action civics programs are comprised of six steps, culled from their online program descriptions: (1) community analysis, (2) issue selection, (3) issue research, (4) planning for action, (5) taking action, and (6) reflection. in these cases, the “knowledge base” is contextually bound to the issue selected by the class, providing a more authentic role for research, action, and civics education. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 table 1: summary of sample civic action model components (fitzgerald, 2017) action civics program heuristics project citizen (taught by teacher using provided materials) mikva challenge (taught by teacher after training in action civics) generation citizen (taught by democracy coaches in coordination with teacher) community analysis profile community community mapping community analysis issue selection select issue select an issue select focus issue research gather data examine solutions consult experts id root causes traditional research survey research analyze evidence id root causes planning develop a public policy develop action plan id decision makers/forces create plan think about media get money id decision makers/forces analyze best tactics create plan take action implement plan assess action implement plan evaluate results lobby mobilize influencers reflection present work reflect on next steps reflect showcase work present work reflect on next steps although table 1 illustrates some differences in language and practices, all three action civics programs teach students to engage in civic action in the same way. for example, all three programs guide students through a research component before they begin planning a civic action. project citizen encourages students to “gather data” and “examine possible solutions” to their selected issue. generation citizen, on the other hand, encourages students to “analyze evidence” and “identify root causes” of the selected issue. it can be assumed that project citizen expects students to analyze the data they collect, since they will be examining possible solutions. similarly, generation citizen students most likely gather data prior to examining it. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 to be sure, such differences may have varying impacts on students’ action civics experiences depending on the instructor guiding the group. while students in these programs learn how to do some research, the emphasis on the type of data collected, the depth of analysis, and/or the purpose of the research (e.g., “solution to a problem” versus “identifying root causes” that would impact the way that plans and goals are formed) might vary greatly. mikva challenge seems to be the most prescriptive in its implementation of the model, indicating the types of research that will be conducted and the purpose of the research. however, such prescription could come at a cost, limiting the types of action civics work students might try. at times, each program’s curricular outline illustrates the balance between direct and indirect guidance as well as the particular goals and orientations of the program. despite these differences, each program’s curriculum follows a familiar six-step approach to action civics. importantly, the six-step approach employed by these programs is also the model by which public policy analysts make decisions, a model used in political science. professional public policy analysts (1) identify the problem, (2) map stakeholders, (3) formulate policy goals and weigh options, (4) develop policy options, (5) evaluate tradeoffs assumed, (6) select a policy option, and (7) implement their analysis (parker & zumeta, 1999). mapping the public policy analysis model to the action civics model is illustrated in table 2. the clear relationship between public policy analysis and action civics illustrates how action civics is modeled on the political science practice, where action is implemented through policies as part of the political (in the case of the united states, federalist) system. in this model, a group forms around a single issue, plans to resolve or act on it in some manner, and assesses the outcomes of those actions. often, these activities are focused on engaging existing power structures, as noted in the generation citizen model. this model is powerful; both public policy analysts and action civic instructors use it to guide decision-making. indeed, even when action civics is applied to literacy instruction, the process remains the same (c.f., epstein, 2014). however, there has been little discussion about whether or not this model approximates the approach that community civic leaders take to address civic issues. since any model makes assumptions about the problem space (voss & post, 1988), it is important that the civic problem solving approach that students use in school approximates the best approaches taken by community civic leaders, an approach upon which they can draw in various real-world contexts. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 table 2: mapping public policy analysis process to action civics model action civics program heuristics public policy analysis process community analysis map stakeholders1 choosing an issue id problem research formulate policy goals and weigh options planning develop policy options evaluate tradeoffs assumed select policy option take action implement analysis reflection using qualitative think-aloud and oral explanation data, this study explores the decision-making processes of community civic leaders as they think aloud about two hypothetical civic engagement scenarios. by identifying their decision-making processes, a model of civic engagement is formed to compare with the public policy analysis model used commonly in action civics instruction. this comparison enables a discussion of the authenticity of action civics curriculum assumptions about the process of community-based civic action. between political experts and civic experts politically-oriented occupations (e.g., public policy analysts and politicians) make a general distinction between what those on the political left think is emblematic of a “good” citizen and what those on the political right think of the same. the former argue for changes to the political, economic, and social systems, creating a more equitable society that rejects defining “citizen” by legal status (freire, 1970; shor, 1992). the latter emphasize the importance of good character in good citizenship, implying affirmative legal status (bennett, 1998); if everyone acts rightly, society will function well. an implication of this latter view is that “the system” is fine and does not need 1 in public policy analysis, the problem is identified first and then stakeholders are identified. for ease of comparison, i moved “map stakeholder” to pair with “community analysis.” mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 fixing. public policy analysts and politicians analyze these polarities, ideally crafting policy that works toward the good of the most people. most people, however, are citizens who are concerned in a wide array of personal, professional, and community interests that impact their own lives and families; they may not often think of these interests in politically partisan ways. rather than explicitly promoting partisan politics, schools are charged with preparing individuals to successfully live democratic lives within their communities not specifically from politically oriented work (dewey, 1916; parker, 2002, 2003). as part of an exploration into how schools and teachers aim to meet this civic mission, hochschild and scovronick (2002) identified five collective outcomes toward which teachers aim: • providing a common core of knowledge, enabling students to understand the basic rules of politics; • adhering to a common set of values, teaching students the value of accepting the proper functioning of our pluralistic democracy; • fostering students’ abilities to deal with, if not warm to, diverse others, fostering students’ appreciation of others’ races, cultures, and backgrounds; • teaching democratic practices, illustrating for students how to use appropriate procedural and interpersonal acts to address common issues; and • providing equal opportunity for all students, enabling students to strive towards the american dream (pp. 7-8). many of these outcomes satisfy the right’s concept of citizen and satisfy the left’s concept of collective action. unfortunately, many of these outcomes are difficult to quantify, making them difficult to use in an evaluation of “civic expert.” while these outcomes illustrate the common ground that educators have found between and among competing civil and political interests, there are still important variations in the instruction outcomes that come from day-to-day instruction. through a two-year study of educational programs, westheimer and kahne (2004) found that educators apply the above principles in ways that develop three kinds of citizens. personally responsible citizens act responsibly within their communities, obeying laws and volunteering their time to help in crises. participatory citizens, rather, are active members in community organizations, organizing community efforts and interacting with governmental agencies to support their local interests. finally, justice-oriented citizens focus their attention on changing the systemic issues in society-at-large, fighting injustice mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 throughout their spheres of influence. these three types of citizens provide a foundation for what one might look for in a “civic expert” because they enable a classification of citizens by their goals, experience, and spheres of influence. here, political ideology is less of a factor than form of engagement. in order to identify the type of expert citizen that would fulfill the needs and recognize the limitations of the school structure as well as enable teachers to support students “doing civics,” identifying participatory citizens is a reasonable goal. this is a goal affirmed by hochschild and scovronick’s (2002) outcomes. indeed, in their longitudinal, national study of intergenerational citizen engagement, zukin and colleagues (2006) mirror this conclusion as well, providing a measure by which to identify “civically engaged” individuals, “politically engaged” individuals, and those who do both, “dual activists2” (pp. 63-64). the foundation for zukin et al.’s (2006) measure is what they call the “civic-political divide” (p. 5), the fault line between a citizen’s activities involving government actions (political) and those involving “organized voluntary activities focused on problem solving and helping others” (p. 7). they argue that an individual can engage in one type of citizen participation and not the other or engage in both. used to analyze national survey data, they argue that people can be considered “civically engaged” if they take part in at least two of a predetermined set of four civic activities, including regularly volunteering and actively participating in a group or association. similarly, individuals are considered “politically engaged” if they take part in at least two of a predetermined set of five political activities, such as volunteering for a political organization and trying to persuade someone to vote. using their metric, 78 percent of the adult population in the united states is engaged in one or both of these dimensions. participation is the driving measure of civic engagement. this measure is useful for an exploration into the ways in which “civic experts” problem solve civic issues because it is practical and it recognizes the division between political and civic activities. it is practical in as much as it enables researchers to label individuals as “civically engaged,” “politically engaged,” “dual activist,” or “neither.” while there may be instances in 2 although “dual activist” is the term that zukin et al. (2006) use, it does not seem that they intend for “activist” to be used in the polarized political sense. rather, they seem to intend it to be related to “those engaged in activities.” thus, “dual activist” should be thought to stand as a more neutral term than it might be used colloquially, aligned with westheimer and kahne’s (2004) “participatory citizen.” mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 which someone’s civic or political work goes unrepresented per this measure, the clarity in the decision points enables researchers to discuss differences on common terms. furthermore, this measure’s ability to differentiate between civic and political activities enables researchers to identify individuals who are at least somewhat balanced in their civic and political activities. those with a balance of civic and political activities might be called “civic experts.” to be sure, this is a purely instrumental designation; those who are both politically and civically engaged per this measure are most likely to also be strong examples of the types of citizens that teachers want to develop, per hochschild and scovronick’s (2002) work. for example, those who work in both the political sphere as well as within their communities to problem solve probably know how to work with diverse others, know the basic rules, procedures, and structures of law and governance, and also foster the values of pluralistic democracy. while it is certainly possible (and hopefully expected) that individuals who are “simply” civically engaged, politically engaged, or not engaged at all share some or all of these characteristics, it is most likely that “civic experts” demonstrate them more often. thus, to explore the ways in which civic experts problem solve civic issues, it is useful to study the processes by which civic experts navigate civic issues. the extent to which the processes used by civic experts mirror the political policy analysis process illustrates the authenticity of the latter process for developing effective community-based citizens. method participants five civic experts (three men and two women) from a new york city neighborhood agreed to participate in this study. each participant’s engagement in political activities such as voting, volunteering for political organizations, persuading others to vote, etc., as well as engagement in civic activities such as regularly volunteering, working with others to solve community issues, raising money for non-profit organizations, etc., were confirmed by the participants before selection for the study was finalized. ranging from 10 to 32 years of service, these individuals have strong connections and commitment to the community; they have honed their skills as “civic experts.” (see table 3 for participant details.) mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 table 3: participant backgrounds participant gender race/ethnicity field of work # of years in service to community political engagement criteria3 civic engagement criteria4 1 female white healthcare 32 1, 4 b, d 2 male white healthcare 28 1, 3 b, d 3 female white education 10 1, 3 b, d 4 male hispanic education 11 1, 3 b, d 5 male white education 16 1, 2 b, d participant profiles two of the five participants worked in the healthcare industry. p1 is the medical director of a community clinic that helps underserved populations access primary medical care. p2 is the ceo of an eldercare organization, helping older individuals access community resources and meet nutritional and psychosocial needs. participants 3-5 work across various educational settings. p3 directs after-school programming in coordination with the public schools; she provides extra-curricular and tutoring support for k-12 youth. p4 directs a community educational center for marginalized populations, serving both youth and adults with educational programming across multiple languages. p5 is a k-12 public school administrator who works closely with community organizations to support lowsocioeconomic status youths and their families. 3 the following codes represent the types of political activities each participant indicated he/she engaged in at the time of the study. each was asked to select two items from the list: (1) “always” voting, (2) volunteering for a political organization or a candidate, (3) trying to persuade someone to vote, (4) displaying a button, bumper sticker, or sign on behalf of a candidate, (5) contributing money to a party or candidate in the past 12 months (zukin et al., 2006, p. 64). 4 the following codes represent the types of civic activities each participant indicated he/she engaged in at the time of the study. each was asked to select two items from the list: (a) regularly volunteering for an organization other than a candidate or political party, (b) working with others to solve a community problem in the past year, (c) raising money for charity, through a run/walk or any other means in the past year, (d) actively participating in a group or association (zukin et al., 2006, p. 63). mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 materials two scenarios and associated newspaper articles were assembled for this study, based on fitzgerald’s (2016) study of civic thinking heuristics. (see appendix a for scenario prompts.) the first scenario asked participants to imagine that a hydraulic fracturing company was interested in creating jobs in town by extracting gas, using the controversial “fracking” technique. to help participants who may not be familiar with the various arguments around this issue, three articles were selected from the internet. the first article provided a brief overview of the issue, the second was in favor of fracking, and the third presented arguments against the practice. the second scenario was related to a history curriculum revision. participants were asked to imagine that the local school board had decided that judeo-christian values be more explicitly stated in the history of the founding of the united states. again, three articles were given to participants. the first article outlined the debate, the second article supported the revisions, and the third article claimed that the revisions were not in keeping with historical analysis. these two scenarios were selected for both the recurrent themes of industry versus health safety (hydraulic fracturing scenario) and historicism versus nationalism (history curriculum scenario) throughout united states history. in addition, these scenarios aligned with the participants content expertise—health and education—enabling cross-comparisons between participant groupings. in this way, the data can illustrate the ways in which civic experts problem solve within their field and outside of their field, providing both a specific and a general civic engagement think-aloud for each participant. procedure participants were told that they would think aloud about two scenarios related to civic issues. they then practiced thinking aloud by engaging in a three-digit multiplication exercise, per ericsson and simon (1993, pp. 376-377). then, each participant was given the hydraulic fracturing scenario and associated articles. participants were asked to read the scenario aloud, thinking aloud about their reactions to the scenario; they were also asked to read the associated internet articles, thinking about that information. following the think aloud protocol, participants were asked to provide an oral explanation as to what position they would take on this issue and how they would take action on the issue. after the hydraulic fracturing scenario, the think aloud and explanation protocol was used for the history curriculum revision scenario and associated readings. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 data analysis audio-recordings were transcribed and text was parsed by proposition. macro-level themes were identified within each text by two researchers, using the public policy analysis process steps as a priori themes. themes were labeled in chronological order within the transcript. for example, if a participant discussed “issue identification” at the beginning of the transcript, that theme was labeled with a number one. the identified themes were compared to the action civics/public policy analysis process described above. finally, the researcher explored any qualitative dispositions that guided the participants’ problem-solving strategies. findings in addition to the public policy analysis process themes, a common theme found across the transcripts was “community analysis/deliberation.” as table 4 illustrates, four of the five participants discussed this emergent theme. of the a priori themes, only “reflection” was not discussed. this finding was expected; since the participants were not asked to actually act on their plans, no reflection was necessary. table 4: order of themes per participant discussion components p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 f h f h f h f h f h community analysis/ deliberation 2 7 2, 6 1, 2 2 3 1 issue id 1 1 1 1 research 3, 6 6 1 1, 3 2 planning 4, 5 3 3 4 2 action 7 2, 3, 4, 5 4, 5 2 1 5 1, 2 3, 4, 5 reflection mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 table 4 illustrates which themes were discussed per participant (e.g., p1 refers to participant 1), per scenario (“f” refers to the “fracking” scenario and “h” refers to the “history” scenario), and in reference to the order in which the theme appeared in that discussion (numbers are in ascending order). although there is no immediately clear order by which participants engaged in these steps, there are some trends that suggest civic experts may approach civic issues in similar ways. inside each theme within each of these themes, participants’ reasoning illustrates the ways in which they think about each step. as table 4 illustrates, some participants returned to various steps throughout a given scenario, demonstrating the linkages between these steps and the ways in which they can be used and reused in the process. below, participants’ discussions are analyzed within each theme. issue identification even though the issues were identified for the participants, some of them thought aloud about the root causes for each issue before they began thinking aloud about their plans. forty percent of participants’ scenario responses began with identifying the issues within each scenario. for example, p2 discussed the issue of hydraulic fracturing as one between “domestic energy” and “healthcare concerns.” he struggled to weigh the initial options of a personal position on fracking, arguing, “so, there’s an environmental concern… a health concern… but there is, um, also the potential for economic development. i mean, um, i suppose being the naïve, trusting person that i am, i would probably, uh, i would probably say i would believe in the safety of it.” to p2, the fracking scenario was not just about the practice but about its potential impact on the community. it was this decision that drove his next step; as described in “community deliberation,” p2 next offered information about his membership in the chamber of commerce, suggesting that his view on the economic development potential guided at least his next process. interestingly, these same two sides of this issue were the catalyst for p1 to return to the economic development argument, even though she said that she would be against allowing fracking in the fictitious town. in her sixth move, p1 said that any opposition to the fracking plans needed to include a plan to increase economic development in the town; increasing economic development by alternate means would enable people to more easily vote “no” to the fracking plans because jobs were the biggest draw to the proposal. p1 argued, “you can’t just be against something. you need to also research alternative options for economic development and energy, like yogurt mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 production… or green energy.” after she had determined her course of action and before “taking action,” p1 returned to what she had identified as the root causes to strengthen her position by countering others’ claims for economic development. similarly, some participants suggested that the history curriculum revision scenario was about “truth in history” (p1) and religion (p4). p1, for instance, began by inferring that the core issue behind the curriculum was that history was used in politically partisan ways; “but, the fact is, if you don’t teach the truth, and the truth is what transpired, and it’s not left or right or center, it’s what happened, and you shouldn’t be selectively choosing what goes into a history curriculum based on your political beliefs.” here, the participant recognizes the problem not as a matter of opinion for one side of the issue or the other; the issue is about not using “what transpired” for selective political gain. p4 went even further in this line of reasoning, saying that this is an issue of religion that will mean he has “gotta deal with, you know, i’m going to call them the christian right.” in both cases, p1 and p4 indicated that their roles as civic actors were, in part, to influence people’s beliefs, either ideological or religious. much like p1 and p2 in the fracking scenario, these two participants in the history curriculum scenario did not take the issue at face value, thinking that the issue is a simple matter of opinion; their identification of the issue was focused on finding the “core issue,” as generation citizen and mikva challenge call it. indeed, in their action plans, both of these participants were the strongest advocates for researching objective ways in which the curriculum could be more historically accurate, as described below in “research,” relating the type categories. community deliberation while issue identification was the most common first step for participants in their civic action plan processing, some participants also started with the networks to which they belonged. twenty percent of the participant responses began with community deliberations, not issue identification; another 40 percent of participants discussed their networks as a second step. interestingly, community deliberations was a heuristic that is not explicitly mentioned in the public policy analysis model of civic thinking; it was one that was drawn from the interviews. indeed, the language that participants used when explaining community deliberation illustrated that such work was part of a process that they follow often. after talking about the root issues around fracking, p1 explicitly stated, “the first step is to call all the representatives of larger constituencies, like elected officials. get their positions… the president of the rotary, linda, the green gardening groups—you want diversity.” importantly, p1’s comment about her “first step” mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 illustrates that this heuristic is linked directly to this process of tackling civic issues. in addition, her ability to name at least one person that she would contact indicates that she already has these contacts; the way that she would attempt to address this issue would not be by forging new relationships. rather, she draws on existing relationships that enable her to get a diversity of opinions, resources, and ideas. themes from p1’s response are echoed in other participants’ responses. four of the five participants openly offered the names of those with whom they would directly speak, calling them by first name (p2 would call carol from his inter-agency council, and p4 would call terry from a local not-for-profit with whom he has a close, personal relationship). interestingly, p5 said that he would call the same terry, indicating that there is a network of civic leaders in and around the community to which the participants have access. participants’ abilities to name specific people they would contact was related to the scenarios they had the most ability to influence. p1 and p2 both work in healthcare and they were also the only two that provided specific names in response to the fracking scenario. p4 and p5 both named terry as they responded to the history curriculum scenario, and they were two of the three participants who work in education. participants who work in healthcare did not name individuals with whom they would speak regarding the history curriculum scenario; the participants who work in education did not name people with whom to speak regarding the fracking scenario. participants’ abilities to name specific individuals indicates that they have already formed relationship with those people. p2, p4, and p5’s responses provide a clue as to how those relationships are formed. all three of these participants spoke about organizations of which they are members at the same time that they named specific people. p2, for example, stated, “i am a member of the chamber of commerce. issues come up and, actually… the chamber had a thing last year like this.” it is evident here that p2 not only is a member of this community organization but understands the issue of environmental effects on health through this lens. both p4 and p5 shared similar comments, expressing that they would discuss these issues with groups to which they already belonged. interestingly, no participant explained that they would discuss these issues within their own organization. research as expected from the public policy analysis model of civic thinking, research was a heuristic that many participants accessed. two of the participants in particular (p1 and p4) discussed research at length. specifically, they both focused on research via experts. with regards to the fracking mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 scenario, p1 suggested that she would need to “collect info on the impact of fracking. you want to know the impact on the environment, the water, the soil, on health in general,” suggesting that these measures of impact would come from scientific sources. similarly, p4 said that he would ask experts at the local colleges and universities for support. interestingly, none of the participants suggested that they would do library research on their own. each one was more interested in talking to experts and others who may have expertise. it is also important to note that two of the five participants did not address research at all in their think-alouds. instead, these participants transitioned from discussions about deliberating with other community leaders to planning their eventual action. for example, p2 transitioned from his thoughts on reaching out to the chamber of commerce to how that organization might help to rally local support in favor of fracking. p5, on the other hand, suggested that grassroots organizing was the most effective way to act against fracking, melding community deliberation and planning: “action should take place on the grassroots and political levels. start with the civic… i would just do a lot of education… i think that one of the biggest issues is that a lot of people do make uninformed decisions.” in order to accomplish the grassroots education campaign that he would plan, p5 suggested that he might already have networking connections with those who could support this plan, although he did not explicitly state those connections. planning all five instances of planning involved the concept of education. p1, p2, and p5 all explained that they would focus first on educating the public about the issues at hand. interestingly, these comments were equally divided between the fracking and the history curriculum scenarios. p1 summarized the participants’ comments when she said, “whatever the plan, you need to make the information accessible to regular joes and make sure it is connected to local and national groups.” indeed, when both p2 and p4 were talking aloud about the history curriculum review, they specifically mentioned the need to link the issue to interfaith groups at both local and national levels, engaging in a nationwide dialogue about the role of faith in history education. two of the participants, p2 and p4, made specific mention of educating politicians as well. interestingly, p2 suggested that the chamber of commerce educate politicians about the issue, saying, “i suppose if the topic came up and i had the opportunity to express my opinion of it, given what i said i would be in support of this… maybe encourage other people to feel more comfortable… talk to our legislators to make sure they put together comprehensive or accurate ways to monitor its safety.” similarly, p4 suggested that he use community influence to educate mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 politicians about the negative impacts of fracking on the community. in both cases, lobbying (although not called that by any of the participants) and educating occupy a place in the planning phases of civic action. to be sure, both participants had specific actions that they would take separately from this education, and both participants spoke of this step as a way to better understand the minds of the politicians. as p4 said, “the politicians have to take a stand one way or the other, so i… i think you educate first and then after that you determine, you know, the course of action.” neither participant seemed to suggest a “hard sell,” using the financial and political resources of their supporters. still, this merging of what might be considered “lobbying” and the participants’ use of the term “educating” is an interesting dimension to this heuristic. action given that the participants were selected for this study because they are dual activists (zukin et al., 2006), it is no surprise that the participants were split in the ways they would act with regards to the scenarios. p1, p2, and p5 both explicitly stated that they would take both a political and grassroots approach. p3 only suggested using a grassroots approach. p1 and p5 both stated that grassroots and political approaches to the scenarios, specifically the fracking issue, were important. both participants suggested that the grassroots approach, done correctly, would drive the political approach. for example, p1 stated, “action should take place on the grassroots and political levels. start with the civic organizations and community-based… get your message together. then, you can call, write, meet with politicians.” similarly, p5 said, “start with the civic…,” suggesting, like p1, that the leverage gained through grassroots organizing could be used in the political aspect of the plan. p2 suggested that he would use the power of his connections with other civic organizations to leverage political support. after stating that there are two ways to address the issue, he acknowledged that “you have to get legislators to do something to control [the fracking enterprise] and put those controls in place.” he went on to suggest that he would use the grassroots arm of his plan to populate local forums held by politicians, “which are very poorly attended.” in this way, he would use the political structures in place to impact politicians’ views on the issues. p2 was the only participant to explain his plan to impact the political process. discussion this study’s findings suggest that civic leaders engage in something that looks like the public policy analysis process model, a common model used in action civics curricula. participants mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 routinely (1) defined the civic issue, (2) researched the issue, (3) planned for action, and (4) could verbalize the ways in which they would act. interestingly, many of the civic leader participants focused these activities through community deliberation via networked relationships that they had already established outside of their own organizations. the participants engaged the public policy analysis model as a communal act, not as an individual act or one that only occurred within a specific organization. to be sure, the limitations of this study prohibit any generalizations from these findings to the broader roles and processes of civic leaders/dual activists (zukin et al., 2006). this study was conducted with only five participants, all located in one community. it is possible that these findings reflect a particular civic culture in the community rather than what “the average” dual activist might do. still, this study does illustrate the potential for dual activists to engage a community emphasis within the public policy analysis model. as such, these findings enable us to explore, at least preliminarily, the ways might these findings influence action civics curricula that are based on the public policy analysis model, specifically in the community deliberation, research, and action aspects of the model. deliberation: integrating community whereas action civics curricula ask students to examine an issue that is important to the class (whether the issue lies within the school or within the community), the dual activists in this study did not assume that issues they found important were important to their colleagues. fitzgerald and andes (2012) note that when students engage in action civics, they are sometimes rebuffed by the community, which finds the issue the students have select to be unimportant to the community. surely, sometimes student select issues important to the community-at-large (c.f., schultz, 2008), but there are often mixed results. as the participants in this study illustrate, civic engagement happens in diverse communities, where issues are approached as a community problem. asking students to think about issues with their immediate classmates could create an issue of epistemic isolation; individual classes may think and act alike, even if those thoughts and actions are not representative of the community-at-large. these findings do not suggest that action civics students survey the larger community; none of the participants said that they would conduct any particular form of research to identify community sentiments. rather, study participants suggested that they would meet with potentially interested colleagues to discuss the issues. even in these discussions, the participants mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 rarely thought that the issues they found personally important (e.g., the study scenarios) were ones that the community would care to address. in order for these participants to have such discussions, though, they had to already be involved in the community, often as a member of an organization, as p2 repeatedly stated. knowing people by name was an important theme within community deliberation; these dual activists’ actions depended on these relationships. thus, it might be important to action civics students to first be a part of their community. instead of measuring students’ civic engagement by the number of civic action projects they have undertaken, it might be worth asking how many community members they know (by some metric) and/or in how many community organizations they participate. such information seems to be of paramount importance to these dual activists, something that could be emulated within the action civics model. research another notable difference between action civics students and these participants was their approach to research. often, action civics students are encouraged to read newspaper articles, books, and internet sources about the selected issues and identify root causes of those issues (see table 1 as well as fitzgerald et al., 2014; schultz, 2008). dual activists, on the other hand, identified the root causes of the scenario issues as they were identifying the issue. from there, they quickly sought experts in their organizations (e.g., p2) and within the community (e.g., p1 and p4), finding religious leaders, medical experts, and professors that might be more knowledgeable than they felt they were about these particular scenarios. as highly educated people, these dual activists certainly had some knowledge about these particular scenarios. they also knew that others might know more. thus, research on selected issues should not just include in-class materials but bring community experts to the conversation, making sure that those who know the most about the root issues are engaged in the community discussions. action much like the participants’ comments in the community deliberation and research steps, the process by which many of the participants engaged action were with regards to educating the community rather than the discrete advocacy skills that many action civics programs promote (e.g., writing letters to elected officials, petitioning, rallying, etc.). certainly, these advocacy skills are important for direct political action (c.f., kush, 2004). however, these dual activists suggested that community-level and representative-level education was more important than engaging in these skills from the beginning. the participants seemed to view themselves as leading others mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 toward grassroots involvement rather than directing others to complete “civic activities.” in this way, action civics programs might include direct training for how to represent issues to community members and elected officials in ways that facilitate grassroots decisions to engage in more direct political activities. conclusion as social studies teachers look for ways to engage students’ exposure to 21st century skills and citizenship, they are increasingly looking to action civics programs. while these programs certainly increase youth civic participation, this study suggests that they may not prepare youth to engage in civic life in the ways that civic leaders do. indeed, while the process of civic action and public policy analysis may be similar, the tenors of the processes are somewhat different. civic action is more communal and deliberative than public policy analysis. if teachers and action civics instructors want to encourage youth to be civic leaders in the ways that mirror the work of dual activists, the above findings suggest that they should focus on the ways that youth interact with the community, making such interaction pre-requisite to direct action. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 references apple, m. w. 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(2011). history. http://www.generationcitizen.org/about-2/history gerston, l. n. (2002). public policymaking in a democratic society: a guide to civic engagement. m. e. sharpe. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 haas, n. (2001). using we the people... programs in social students teacher education. in principles and practices of democracy in the education of social studies teachers: civic learning in teacher education (vol. 1, pp. 167–183). eric clearinghouse for social studies. hochschild, j. l., & scovronick, n. (2002). democratic education and the american dream. in w. parker (ed.), education for democracy: contexts, curricula, assessments (pp. 3–26). information age publishing, inc. kush, c. (2004). the one-hour activist. jossey-bass. levinson, m. (2012). no citizen left behind. harvard university press. levstik, l. s., & barton, k. c. (2001). doing history: investigating with children in elementary and middle schools (vol. 2). lawrence erlbaum associates. maker, e., cohen, a. k., fitzgerald, j. c., & pope, a. (2015). effective civics education pedagogy and programs: a systemic review. american educational research association annual conference, chicago, il. marri, a. r. (2008). connecting diversity, justice, and democratic citizenship: lessons from an alternative u.s. history class. in j. s. bixby & j. l. pace (eds.), educating democratic citizens in troubled times: qualitative studies of current efforts (pp. 58–80). suny press. national action civics collaborative. (2012). mikva challenge. mikva challenge. http://www.centerforactioncivics.org/national-action-civics-collaborative/ parker, w. c. (2002). education for democracy: contexts, curricula, assessments. information age publishing. parker, w. c. (2003). teaching democracy: unity and diversity in public life. teachers college press. parker, w. c., & zumeta, w. (1999). toward an aristocracy of everyone: policy study in the high school curriculum. theory and research in social education, 27(1), 9–44. pearson, d. k., & waterson, r. a. (2013). social studies and democratic values. in j. passe & p. g. fitchett (eds.), the status of social studies: views from the field (pp. 125–140). information age publishing, inc. pope, a., stolte, l., & cohen, a. k. (2011). closing the civic engagement gap: the potential of action civics. social education, 75(5), 265–268. schultz, b. d. (2008). spectacular things happen along the way: lessons from an urban classroom. teachers college press. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 shor, i. (1992). empowering education: critical teaching for social change. university of chicago press. thornton, s. j. (2004). teaching social studies that matters: curriculum for active learning. teachers college press. voss, j. f., & post, t. a. (1988). on the solving of ill-structured problems. in m. t. h. chi, r. glaser, & m. j. farr (eds.), the nature of expertise. (pp. 261-285). lawrence erlbaum associates. westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of education for democracy. american educational research journal, 41(2), 237–269. zukin, c., keeter, s., andolina, m., jenkins, k., & dellicarpini, m. x. (2006). a new engagement?: political participation, civic life, and the changing american citizen. oxford university press. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 appendix study materials hydraulic fracturing scenario as the early morning sun rises, you look out your kitchen window at the wildlife preserve and see the color of the leaves changing. you’ve lived in dimock all your life and have grown to love the place. your neighbors are pleasant and you had a great childhood. unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of job opportunities here. about 13% of the community lives in poverty and the median income is only $35,000. most people can’t afford to leave the community, even if they wanted to. as you sit, thinking about your town and watching the ducks on the pond, you hear the woman on the news talking about “fracking.” she explains that fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing.” that is when energy companies drill down into the ground and force water and other chemicals into the shale below to release natural gas. these companies can then sell this gas to customers for energy. energy companies say that this type of energy extraction will help our country to reduce its dependence on foreign oil because we can get it right from our own ground. they also say that it will help local economies because they will pay landowners for the rights to drill on their land. if they find that they can get gas out of the ground on that land, the companies will pay the landowners even more money. some people say that this is a dangerous way to get energy, though. some have reported that the chemicals used during fracking have contaminated their water, making it dangerous to drink. there are even youtube videos of people being able to light their drinking water on fire because of the gas that has leaked into it when the fracking occurred. in addition, some worry about the by-products of fracking; something has to be done with all of the chemical water used during the process. as the news report finishes, the woman on the television says that a major energy company would like to begin fracking in dimock. mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 12-36 corresponding author: jfitzger@monmouth.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 history curriculum review scenario it seems like the state board of education is always looking at ways to revise the curriculum. as you open the morning paper, this year doesn’t seem to be any different. the school board just announced that they will be revising the history curriculum this time, looking specifically at what is being taught in united states and world history. you’ve always liked history, so you are interested to see what they want to revise. isn’t history what happened in the past? what is there to revise? as you look more closely at the newspaper article, you read that the former head of the school board and one of the proponents of the review has said, “history has already been skewed. academia is skewed too far to the left.” he proposes changes that include, but are not limited to, removing a discussion about thomas jefferson being interested in the enlightenment because it did not show that the founding fathers were true christians, and deleting a discussion about the famous hispanic archbishop romero’s fight for equal rights related to the united states’ intervention in el salvador. a lot of your neighbors agree that united states history should teach students about how great america is and how it was founded on christian beliefs. others, specifically college and university historians, are arguing against these changes. they say that the changes skew history and hide the problems and issues that our country has had in the past. they say that the changes will teach students a false history. a school board meeting has been scheduled so that community members might respond to the proposed changes. about the author: jason fitzgerald is an assistant professor at the department of curriculum and instruction in monmouth university mailto:jfitzger@monmouth.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 australian high school students on commemorating the gallipoli campaign: “it baffles me” and “it’s a bit weird.” heather sharp university of newcastle, australia melanie innes university of newcastle, australia abstract: australia’s involvement in world war i, currently in its centenary years of commemoration, continues to capture the public’s imagination in a way that arguably surpasses all other historical events in australia’s history. this is particularly in terms of popular culture representations such as advertising, film, and television; children’s literature; popular and academic history publications; and educational resources at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. so pervasive is the public’s awareness of australia’s first major military campaign, gallipoli, that by the time high school students in year 9 study the unit on australia’s involvement in wwi, they are already familiar with the common tropes of narratives surrounding this event, however inaccurate they may be. this paper reports on research conducted in three australian high schools that provided students with a collection of five sources and a series of questions to answer about the gallipoli campaign as a historical and commemorative event. the research is interested in understanding how the gallipoli campaign is perceived at the time of its 100year anniversary and to see whether or how students reflect collective memory and official history in their own narratives of the nation. key words: world war i, history, australia, collective memory, nationalism, historical consciousness. introduction with the centenary years of the 20th century’s first major international war, world war i (wwi), currently nearing its conclusion, significant attention is being paid to its legacies. political mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 ramifications are arguably still reverberating in consideration of issues of colonization, border security, alliances of nations, national militaries, and cultural impacts resulting from this war. governments, researchers, the media, educational institutions, and the general public remain interested and intrigued by the importance of wwi. in australia, a significant amount of funding, reported to be over $552 million, has accompanied this interest and has been distributed by all levels of government for heritage-type history projects (see, for example, projects made possible by the australian government-funded anzac centenary local grants program1). in light of this sustained interest in the centenary commemorations of wwi, a research project was conducted in high schools in new south wales (nsw) in 2015 during the early phase of the roll-out of official commemorative events. at that time, the focus of commemorative events was on the gallipoli military campaign. the aim of this research was to understand how high school students think about remembrance of the gallipoli campaign in the year of its centenary commemorative events. participants were provided with a five-page work booklet designed specifically for the project and invited to answer a few brief biographical questions followed by three questions about remembrance of gallipoli within a 45-minute timeframe. in total, 82 students participated in the research, 66 males and 16 females, across three high schools including an all-boys’ high school, an all-girls’ high school, and a co-ed (mixed sex) high school. participants in the research included 21 students from year 8, 21 students from year 9, eight students from year 10, one student from year 11, and 29 students from year 12, the final year of schooling in australia. this paper focuses on student responses that highlight public and personal complexities—including the students’ own understanding and historical consciousness as selfreported in their responses—surrounding the commemoration of gallipoli. background the australian and new zealand army corps (anzac or anzac), fighting on the side of the british empire against the ottoman empire, landed at a small cove on the gallipoli peninsula in turkey on april 25, 1915. allied troops evacuated from the peninsula just eight months later beginning 1 anzac day is held annually on april 25. the australian war memorial describes it as “... probably australia's most important national occasion. it marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by australian and new zealand forces during the first world war. anzac stands for australian and new zealand army corps… although the gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing constantinople and knocking turkey out of the war, the australian and new zealand actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. the creation of what became known as the ‘anzac legend’ became an important part of the national identity of both nations. this shaped the ways they viewed both their past and future” (australian war memorial, 2009, paragraph 1, 3). mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 on december 18, 1915, which resulted in victory for the central powers in this theatre of war. the gallipoli campaign has become a defining feature of national historical narratives, often touted as the “birth of the nation” as the young country of australia was called upon to support the british empire in its invasion. a significant aspect of anzac day celebrations in australia is drawn from the creation of what is known as the “anzac legend,” which denotes the perceived typical qualities of the anzac soldier: “resourceful and courageous, with a dislike of authority, a sense of humour and a strong sense of ‘mateship’” (lawless & bulgu, 2016, p. 223). arguably, the celebratory tone of anzac day in australia may be considered unusual (although not unique) as a prominent national holiday because it commemorates a defeat rather than a victory. the significance of anzac day in australia is evident in the high-profile nature of the public holiday, including large televised dawn services and marches in major cities, with many speeches from political figures and other important public figures. notably, thousands of australian tourists attend the dawn service at anzac cove in turkey, the site of the landing, which has become an important aspect of 21st century national commemoration (sheehan & taylor, 2016). however, it should be noted that anzac day and its significance in the national psyche has evolved over time. for instance, in the 1970s, lack of support for the vietnam war was linked to low attendance of commemorative activities. official national commemoration or ritualized memorialization of events deemed historically significant can serve to determine what are acceptable and legitimate as commemoration customs. this national narrative is also susceptible to change over time, often in response to the political context (apfelbaum, 2010). official historical narratives of a nation-state can often be difficult to challenge when that narrative is supported and reproduced in social and political contexts, with an official narrative becoming “a pivotal conduit through which the nation-states’ collective memory passes” (vansledright, 2008, p. 116). collective memory: a review of the literature with a focus on student responses that identify the complexities of remembrance in the public sphere and in relation to their own personal perspectives about the commemoration2 of gallipoli, 2 events, publications, documentaries, and other audio visual media such as television shows and even sporting matches that represent wwi to an australian audience have been numerous in the years leading up to and during the centenary of wwi, so much so that, as adorno and horkheimer (1972) might describe, a cultural industry associated with the commemoration (with the assertion made here that these commemorations frequently have the attributes of a celebration) has been created, and “…the culture industry remains the entertainment business” (1972, p. 136). mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 analysis of data was informed by the theory of collective and public memory in influencing individuals. the study of historical memory relates to ways that people consume history rather than a focus on the creation and dissemination of historical narratives (glassberg, 1996). létourneau and moisan (2004) argue that individuals understand new historical information based on a narrative core that forms the basis of individual memory, and that the assimilation of new knowledge builds on elements that are recognizable in terms of what is already known. this branch of scholarship also recognizes a multiplicity of individual interpretations, acknowledging that audiences will interpret information differently based on their own social context (glassberg, 1996). the theory of collective memory emerged as a significant field of study in the 20th century, evolving from an increased popularity in genealogy and autobiography (kerwin, 2000). collective memory can be understood as a community’s connection to the past, including the ways in which it engages in commemoration (clark, 2014). halbwachs’s (1980) original and seminal work in this area investigated how our current ideas about the present shape our reconstruction of the past. glassberg (1996) explained that collective memory forms a core component of nation building, thus the narrative history that is disseminated as an official historical version is politically motivated. this notion is evident in the australian context with increasing political debate over official history surrounding the anzac legend as a factor in national identity formation and commemoration of the gallipoli campaign. damousi (2010) argued that the emotional elements of this debate often elicit responses that appear not to be grounded in either historical or political engagement, suggesting that history is informed by numerous ideologies and intentions, dependent on its uses. furthermore, and in the context of this research, recent studies have found that collective memory is not always representative of school curricula (see, e.g., clark, 2014; létourneau, 2006), suggesting the influence of public history in its numerous forms. this research considers the social construction of collective memory and official national histories. létourneau and moisan (2004) argue that individuals understand new historical information based on a narrative core that forms the basis of individual memory, and that the assimilation of new knowledge will build on elements that are recognizable in terms of what is already known. similarly, halbwachs’ (1980) consideration of collective memory for groups suggests that collective histories serve as a point of reference and indicator of what is important to each particular group. moreover, halbwachs suggested that individual memories and collective memory are interrelated through dialogue, whereby an individual’s experiences are legitimized through consideration and evaluation of personal memories in relation to collective mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 memory. in other words, “what is important in one group may well be unimportant in another, so that individual memory must, to a certain extent, adjust to the sometimes contradictory demands of the various groups to which the subject is affiliated” (apfelbaum, 2010, p. 86). booth (2008) similarly touches on these concepts as “remembering” and “forgetting,” as bound to duty in acts of remembrance within a community. for example, this is taken to mean duty in the endurance of a community’s identity over time, ensuring justice through remembrance (the idea that silence, or amnesia, can also have an impact on identity) for those who have been marginalized in the past. booth described collective memory as a “site of democratic contest, of vulnerability, power, resistance, and interest rather than a sovereign locale of legitimacy and identity” (p. 258). thus, collective memory does not simply serve as a unifying force in the creation of a national character or values system; rather, in modern politics, memory is prominently debated and increasingly differentiated as the groups who were formally marginalized are able to publicly articulate their remembrance practices. the popular history idea of selective memory of certain historical events is also evident in the remembrance of the gallipoli campaign. while other conflicts are frequently conveniently forgotten (for example, the frontier conflicts), the pervasive and often politically motivated memorialization of the gallipoli campaign continues. the importance placed on australia’s participation in wwi is frequently privileged over other conflicts, meaning that more australians have ideas about the gallipoli campaign than other theatres of war. regarding any impact on identity formation, booth (2008) provides an explanation of memory as having a critical role in the formation of identity, both at a micro level through the example of the family, as well as at the macro level, looking at nationalism. along with this idea, booth argues that memory is tightly bound to community identities over time. of particular interest in this context is the concept of duty, or obligatory acts that are required within a community such as the duty to remember significant events or individuals in community narratives. furthermore, the persistence of these duties has a direct impact on identity. for example, in the australian context, the heavy expectation of honoring anzac day is deeply tied to defining national character, and is annually on display in political rhetoric and sporting contexts. damousi (2010) argued that there was a distinct shift in the historiography of anzac sentiment in australia, from critiquing political aspects of australian involvement in conflicts prior to the 1990s to “sentimentalising wartime experience” (p. 201) in more recent decades. at the same time, military history has become central to many public understandings of australia’s history (damousi, 2010; lake, 2010; reynolds, 2016). mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 anna clark’s history’s children: history wars in the classroom (2008) explored australian students’, teachers’, and officials’ experiences and thoughts on australian history. this largescale project explored student conceptions of australia’s war history, specifically the significance of anzac. she found that many students felt that they had a connection to the anzac story, explaining: it’s a heroic australian story that people can connect with, and they seem to be doing so in droves. the problem is that not everyone feels the same. despite this groundswell of public and political interest in the anzac story, a number of historians, teachers and even students worry about cultivating a pride in our national past that’s automatic rather than analysed. (p. 62) the uncritical acceptance of the anzac story that clark identified in schools extends to the greater public sphere, as explored in depth by damousi (2008), focusing specifically on the emotions that surround anzac mythology and why critical engagement with historical or political elements of commemoration can be characterized as unacceptable by the general public. marilyn lake (2010) argued that one element contributing to the recent resurgence in the anzac legend is targeted government funding, specifically from the department of veterans’ affairs (dva), into teaching and learning resources aligned with the school curriculum and public institutions devoted to the commemoration of australia’s military history. in particular, this highlights the intense politicization of anzac mythology that receives bi-partisan support, mobilizing the anzac narrative as a tool for national cohesion and nation building. historical narratives may be used to reinforce a particular view of the past that forms a basis for the collective identity (létourneau, 2006). at the same time, historical writings have been swept up in the emotional elements of anzac, with many more recent works focusing on sentimental elements of commemoration of military history (damousi, 2008). donoghue and tranter (2013), drawing on a nationally representative survey of australians, found that australian soldiers, known as “anzacs,” are widely acknowledged as national heroes. significantly, the soldiers are viewed as a collective entity rather than recognizable individuals. the representation of the anzacs as heroes in a mythological sense is evident in their portrayal in australian art and media. over time, their deeds have been embellished and enhanced as the historical narrative surrounding them has been utilized as a tool to promote national cohesion and perceived national values that should be passed on to future generations (tranter & donoghue, 2007). specifically, the anzac legend has become politicized as a means of promoting patriotism and national values, as holbrook (2014) observed: mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 in a settler nation that is conspicuously short of unifying mythologies, the anzac legend in uniquely powerful. it is not surprising that politicians seek to harness that power in their own ends – by adjusting the legend for political emphasis, by connecting the anzac legend with current foreign policies and even with military missions, and by being photographed and filmed in the company of australian soldiers. (p. 206) australia’s first national curriculum was implemented in 2011 after a period of ongoing high profile history and culture debates that included the status of school education. the australian curriculum: history is unique in the explicit inclusion of contestability as one of the seven historical thinking concepts underpinning the secondary history curriculum (sheehan & taylor, 2016). while this initially seems a welcome inclusion, the mandatory study of australian experiences of wwi may become complicated as students deal with cultural understandings of the anzac spirit, so often a large feature of commemorative events, and considerations of the myths of the anzac legend and historical remembrance. holbrook (2016) notes that the anzac legend itself has evolved over time, particularly as this event has been touted as a significant aspect of the politically driven national historical narrative. the study of gallipoli by students is further complicated as successive governments have spent millions of dollars to commemorate wwi. moreover, popular culture representations of gallipoli have a distinctive nationalistic tone, as well as the apparent surge in media attention surrounding anzac day, in what sheehan and taylor (2016) describe as “anzac season, throughout april in the lead up to the 25 april” (p. 242). studies of australian school textbook materials reveal a strong emphasis placed on gallipoli in the study of world war i (lawless & bulgu, 2016; parkes & sharp, 2014). while the current australian curriculum also requires the consideration of different historical perspectives, it is unknown to what degree a meaningful study of the turkish perspective (as the defenders from an allied invasion) is undertaken in classrooms (lawless & bulgu, 2016). recently, clark (2016) has explored the australian obsession with the anzac myth as its profile continues to increase in the public sphere and is less likely to be critiqued or questioned outside of academic circles. indeed, it has grown in such a way that any apparent criticism of anzac is often attributed to being un-australian, a perceived attack on australian values. through extensive interviews with a diverse group of australians about their connections to the past, clark (2017) found that despite the significance of anzac stories in national collective memory, the historical consciousness of australians concerning anzac was far from a sure acceptance. moreover, public commemorations and traditions surrounding anzac day combine personal connections to history with national collective memory, with individuals connecting their mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 personal experiences to historical narratives in the broader public history. how and if this is reflected in the responses of students who participated in the research project is of interest in this paper. methodology in consideration of the schooling context, apple’s (2004) official knowledge, and notions of collective and public memory, data were analyzed using the knowledge types of habermas (1987), through a close reading of the students’ responses, and drawing on ideas of citizenship developed for the schooling context by gilbert (2003). on a topic as pervasive in the school curriculum as anzac day, the incorporation of apple’s (2004) ideas on the official curriculum is important in order to frame the discussion within a clear context. the influence on schooling must be considered for a topic that is covered so extensively in both public discourses and in the classroom. on the topic of the polarization caused by the history/culture wars and the recognition of the complexity of history, australian writer tom keneally has stated: “you have to choose celebration or lamentation, triumphalism or black grief, but it’s possible for it to be two things at once (hope, 2006, p. 27). in many ways, this can be seen as a dilemma of teaching australia’s involvement in wwi: for a conflict that killed so many of the nation’s young, irrevocably changing the social fabric of many communities across the continent, it is difficult to reconcile the remembering of this event, which has turned almost celebratory, with the binary option of not remembering at all, and for the waste of human life to be in complete vain. sheehan and taylor (2016) note how the australian curriculum holds the potential to broaden students’ understandings of the nature of the anzac legend: fortunately, the australian curriculum’s emphasis on contestability as well as the gradual shift in professional historical and media commentary towards a more closely examined view of the anzac legend provides history teachers and students with the opportunity to broaden the scope of their historical understanding of the topic and arrive at their own, rather than any government-auspiced, set of conclusions about anzac’s place in australian and world history. (p. 243) in consideration of this idea, this research is interested in how young people reconcile the complexities of remembrance surrounding the gallipoli campaign. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 students were asked to respond to the following questions3 while considering five sources. these questions were: 1) is gallipoli a significant event for us to remember today? why or why not? 2) how should gallipoli be remembered today? 3) describe any perspectives/viewpoints about gallipoli that you feel are missing from sources a to e. the sources included a black and white photograph of wounded troops on the beach at anzac cove, a promotional poster for the “anzac girls” television miniseries, a soldier’s diary extract, a photograph of an army cadet at a cenotaph on anzac day, and a 2013 photograph of a crowd of australians and new zealanders at the official anzac day ceremony at gallipoli, turkey (figure 1). each of the five sources are typical of materials students are exposed to both in and outside of the classroom. many feature regularly as public artefacts in and around the annual anzac day public holiday. they are representative of cultural and scholastic ways of knowing about gallipoli. students’ experiences of public remembrance of wwi include (in addition to schooling) multiple contexts such as popular film and tv, media reports and advertising, and published history books; these influence their historical understanding and historical consciousness surrounding why they then see the continued remembrance of gallipoli as important. what follows is an analysis of student responses, of those that identified the contradictions and/or complexities of the ongoing commemoration of the gallipoli campaign. 3 the wording of the questions is arguably imprecise as the term gallipoli is conflated with the gallipoli campaign. however, the authors assert that this did not cause any confusion for the student participants nor complexities for comprehension for the school student participants as they completed this activity in the history classroom, their regular class teacher was able to answer any questions, and the five sources clearly show that the intention was for students to refer to the gallipoli military campaign of wwi, not gallipoli, a geographical area in modern-day turkey. student responses further indicate that they were not at all confused by the intention of the question. colloquially, the campaign is frequently referred to as simply gallipoli, particularly after the release of the 1981 film of the same name. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 figure 1. sources provided to student participants sources a to e source a: wounded troops on the beach at anzac cove on april 25, 1915. men of the aamc are treating some of the wounded. reference: australian war memorial ps1659 source b: “anzac girls” tv miniseries promotional poster. reference: http://www.screencastingnz.com/news/antonia-prebble-in-anzac-girls mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.screencastingnz.com/news/antonia-prebble-in-anzac-girls journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 source c: monday, 24 may 1915: diary (extract) of hv reynolds (soldier at gallipoli) reference: diary of an anzac. https://www.awm.gov.au/blog/category/diaryanzac/ “we were turned out early this morning and told that an armistice would be observed between 8am to 4.30pm when hostilities would cease to allow the dead to be buried in no mans land. the day broke very dull and about 7am a thick misty rain began to fall which continued till about 11am when it cleared up and helped to take the gruesome task of burying a little less offensive to those engaged in that work. i was thankful that we were not called upon to take part in that work, what we saw of it was more than enough. in most cases a grave was dug alongside the corpse which was then rolled into the hole and covered up. the whole affair was awful to the extreme as some of the dead has been lying there from the landing and the number to be buried made it impossible to do little more than cover them with earth.” source d: cadet at a commemorative service at fairholme college, toowoomba. reference: cadets. http://www.fairholme.qld.edu.au/learn/co-curricular-extra-curricularactivites/cadets.html mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.fairholme.qld.edu.au/learn/co-curricular-extra-curricular-activites/cadets.html http://www.fairholme.qld.edu.au/learn/co-curricular-extra-curricular-activites/cadets.html journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 source e: the pilgrimage of young new zealanders and australians to gallipoli some of the 5,200 new zealanders and australians who travelled to gallipoli, turkey, waiting for the ceremony to begin on april 25, 2013. reference: picture: john ferguson; source: the australian of the 82 high school students (from school years 8-12) who participated in the broader research project from which this data is drawn, this article reports on 17 responses that can be categorized as highlighting the complexities of gallipoli remembrance. these responses include the ideas of contradictions of remembrance and the struggle the students themselves experience between the emotional connection to wwi and its annual commemoration and to the historical facts of the event. here, the affective and effective domains of learning collide as the students seek to explain the contradictions, seemingly both to themselves and in their written responses. what also makes this topic interesting is that students were not asked questions that sought to uncover any contradictions within their understanding of the remembrance and commemoration of gallipoli, but such is its focus in the historical consciousness of the students that a significant percentage of students (almost 21%) included this in their responses without prompting. findings: competing ideas of remembrance the students’ responses that included notions of contradictions of remembrance were found to generally be at a higher cognitive level, frequently including analysis and critical reflections. there is potential overlap in the way the students’ responses could be themed, so the focus has been on determining the initial idea expressed by the student and using that as the stem from which to categorize their response. the complexity of remembrance surrounding wwi that students identified will be reported here, particularly emphasizing the cognitive dissonance experienced mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 by students regarding their personal views on gallipoli and what they have learned in the history classroom. indicating the engagement students have with the complexities, contradictions, and idiosyncrasies surrounding australia’s remembrance of gallipoli, a number of students clearly articulated their understandings either as the complexities of public memory and memorialization, their own personal struggle with the remembrance of gallipoli, or a combination of the two. this section details students’ responses and analyzes them with a view to how the school curriculum and their teachers’ interpretation of the official curriculum has shaped or provided a transformative pedagogical experience for them in their understanding of australia’s complex relationship with the public memorialization of this significant event. nationalism in defeat some students recognize that the gallipoli campaign was a military defeat but argue that australia won a moral victory in terms of how nationalism was developed and continues to this day. for example, mhs3 writes, “gallipoli was a failure and yet brought out the best of australia’s nationalism.” while he acknowledges that gallipoli was a military defeat, he also asserts that it was an example of “the best” nationalism. he then goes on to write that the “boys” who fought in the war should be remembered, but not as “implements of devices to fuel a huge mistake.” wc40 acknowledges the complexities surrounding the significance of gallipoli and its associated remembrance, and in doing so also demonstrates a not uncommon contradiction of perspective, with the second half of his response discussing “courage and spirit.” he also demonstrates skill in using primary sources to respond to questions: to australians, gallipoli is the battle that is remembered in relation to world war one. source d and e show how significant gallipoli is to both australians and new zealanders in terms of remembering the war. however, there is also other opinions from other historians that suggest that it is of bad significance as it symbolises australian death for a pointless cause. linking his response to the idea of courage in the first half of his response, wc40 discusses the differences in views about remembering gallipoli, citing historians as well as the general public’s perspectives in this response, and then in the second half of his response, wc40 looks to gallipoli as being an event to remember as it represents “courage and spirit.” he writes, “however, gallipoli should be remembered by today’s generations as it represents australian courage and mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 spirit. this is why gallipoli is considered a significant part of australian history and pride.” here, he is also implying that gallipoli is generationally dependent; wc40 is saying that australians today should see gallipoli as a representation of australian “courage and spirit” (interestingly, there is no mention of australia’s partner, new zealand). in using the provided sources to articulate his response, and recognizing that the sources provided are incomplete, wc44 wonders how the turkish people remember gallipoli: “a lack of turkish perspective sources results in an unclear view of how the turkish people remember gallipoli today.” he concludes his response by writing, “gallipoli should be remembered proudly by the australian and new zealand citizens today, as the campaign showed a tremendous amount of bravery by the anzacs.” when read in full, the complexities of wc44’s response become clearer: gallipoli today should be remembered as a significant, brave and somewhat unfortunate event. thousands of men lost their lives on the first day of the gallipoli campaign, as shown in source c, a diary extract of hv reynolds, a soldier present at gallipoli. the gallipoli campaign should never be celebrated, but remembered proudly, as shown in source e. a lack of turkish perspective sources results in an unclear view of how the turkish people remember gallipoli today. the remembrance of gallipoli has expanded into the modern day society and technology. as shown in source b, an australian broadcasting service has aired a miniseries called “anzac girls.” source d also provides a useful, yet still an australian perspective of how gallipoli is remembered today. gallipoli should be remembered proudly by the australian and new zealand citizens today, as the campaign showed a tremendous amount of bravery by the anzacs. contradictory views towards australia’s involvement in gallipoli also surface in some students’ responses. for example, wc45, in addition to writing about “british arrogance and the exploitation of the anzacs both in gallipoli and the western front” and that “gallipoli in this day and age is remembered as a significant event as we see the soldiers that partook in this war of affiliation to be ‘heroes’ and that they sacrificed themselves for the wellbeing of a nation,” also notes that “gallipoli should in part be remembered for heroism but instead should be reminded of humanities worst for us.” this last sentence, in consideration of the remainder of his response, is a clear indication of the competing ideas students feel towards the remembrance of gallipoli as a historical event of national importance. students in later school years seem to be able to deal with this type of cognitive dissonance in a more sophisticated way than those in lower years, arguably demonstrating the ability to think through complex historical issues and realize that mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 there are no clear cut, black-and-white answers to the case of gallipoli being special in the emotional consciousness of australians. this indicates that their understanding of the nature of history is well developed. similarly, wc46 acknowledges the complexities of how gallipoli is commonly remembered; his response then continues in a way that identifies the contradictions of the commemoration, or general remembrance of gallipoli, writing that it “is a bit weird” to commemorate a military defeat: gallipoli is quite a significant event for the people of australia and new zealand. as it pays tribute to the sacrifice those soldiers made for the country. clearly many new zealanders and australians feel they owe it to the soldiers that day to remember and be thankful for what they did for our country… i feel that the fact gallipoli was chosen as the day to remember is a bit weird as gallipoli is where australia suffered their greatest losses on the battlefield. the fact that we remember and “celebrate” bloodshed comes across as a weird day to commemorate. wc48, in possibly one of the most explicit responses about gallipoli being a military conflict and not being a significant event to remember, writes that it “baffles” him why it is considered such as significant event to remember given its defeat. wc48 uses source e (an image depicting young australians and new zealanders who have travelled to gallipoli for anzac day ceremonies) to support his perspective of the annual gallipoli commemorations, and while he acknowledges that “it does deserve commemoration,” other military campaigns such as tobruk and long tan are more deserving of recognition: gallipoli is significant as a major defeat for australia but not much else. it baffles me how we put one of australia’s worst defeats on a pedestal and say it is the birth of the anzac legend. it baffles me even more how we treat gallipoli as some sort of pilgrimage in source e for aussies and new zealanders. we treat gallipoli as the mecca of australian bravery and honour. and while i think it does deserve commemoration, other events in australia’s military history such as tobruk or kokoda or long tan should be celebrated as much if not more than we do gallipoli. glorification of a military defeat the contradictions of how some students (and australians in the wider community), as discussed by clark (2017) and lake (2010), feel about whether or not gallipoli is a significant event to mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 remember is summed up by wc49, who writes in the vernacular: “no, well yes, but not as the heroic actions of colonial nations fighting their ‘masters’ enemies. gallipoli should be remembered for the losses, sure, but more so for the massive tactical oversights leading to many thousands of anzac troop deaths.” similarly, wc53 understands the complexities and contradictions of the significance gallipoli has today when he comments in response to question 1: “yes and no, every battle that involved australians and/or kiwis is significant and therefore i don’t understand why this battle/campaign takes precedence over other campaigns.” linked to the actions of soldiers, aghs1 demonstrates the complexities in the remembrance and commemoration of gallipoli in her response: “i do believe that the people involved showed great courage in the face of adversity but i think that as a whole the loss encountered in war far outbalances the bravery that we remember.” here, she is implying that the courage of soldiers cannot be seen in isolation from the immense casualties of the conflict. the opinion that it was an anzac victory at gallipoli is not an uncommon one among ill-informed australians; it is difficult to blame them given the hype and sensationalism surrounding this military campaign. it is rare for a nation to so fervently celebrate—for there is frequently a spirit of celebration rather than commemoration or solemn remembrance—an unequivocal defeat. this is the position that aghs6 found herself in. while the first half of aghs6’s response to the question is presented as a factual statement, she explains why she disagrees with many public portrayals of the gallipoli campaign as an event to be celebrated. for instance, she writes, “gallipoli should be remembered as a mass slaughter. the soldiers who fought at gallipoli were condemned to injury and death when they signed up.” aghs6 displays a critical interpretation of the ways in which gallipoli is remembered; for instance, she responds to question 2 thusly: “unfortunately, gallipoli is celebrated and wrongly depicted. if someone were to have no knowledge of the true events of gallipoli, they would potentially see a glorified version of the war.” feeling that gallipoli is often portrayed in a misleading manner, she describes how an individual without historical knowledge of the campaign may view a “glorified version of events” through popular culture and public history. she goes on to explain her personal educative experience, which also highlights the internal contradictions that students experience: “without knowledge of what happened in gallipoli, i originally believed that gallipoli was a success. gallipoli should be remembered as a mass slaughter.” this response is significant as it highlights the potential for transformative education in history as students challenge pre-conceived ideas about the past. the difficulty students have in reconciling respect and remembrance for soldiers and not glorifying war, especially a disastrous defeat, is exemplified in aghs9’s response. she offers a mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 critical understanding of the events of gallipoli and highlights the many contradictions in commemoration of the gallipoli campaign. her response to question 2 reads: the soldiers who fought certainly showed courage and resilience, and i believe those virtues should be respectedbut i also think that it should be remembered primarily as a tragedy. i do not think that we should be proud of what happened at gallipoli. such pride often leads to romanticisation and a wide social acceptance of militarism as brave, noble, and necessary. this answer suggests that there is a need to be more critical of the campaign and australia’s involvement; however, the soldiers’ actions and/or motives should be revered, or their involvement understood, as “a result of immense social pressure and ignorance of the reality of war and the reality of death.” aghs9 concludes her response with a suggestion that gallipoli should be remembered as “a tragic military error which killed thousands and demonstrated the effects of social pressure at the time of world war i.” her response also highlights the strong influence of popular culture, whereby she makes reference to “an example of poor communication and terrible military strategy,” an attitude popular in the australian psyche despite being historically inaccurate. moreover, although she critiques the commemoration of gallipoli in her first response, here she states, “the soldiers who fought certainly showed courage and resilience, and i believe those virtues should be respected.” it is as though the military campaign itself can be critiqued, but not soldiers’ actions or motives. she communicates the contradictions of how gallipoli could be remembered today—an example of higher order thinking and the contradictions of the commemoration of this historical event. complexities of an international conflict mhs7 suggests that remembrance of gallipoli should not just focus on the australian perspective, citing the british perspective as also important to remember. mhs7 suggests that he considers remembrance of the deceased as an important factor in remembering gallipoli today: “…even if the morals of the battle weren’t just, we all must remember the young and the old that had laid down their lives for their family and for their country.” mhs7 offers an interesting perspective: he mentions that gallipoli is an event that should be remembered because “we should remember the events of both british and aussie forces,” but he goes on to say that this is not due to any inherent “goodness” of the cause. mhs7 finishes his responses within a discourse of soldier sacrifice, writing that “we all must remember the young and the old that had laid down their lives for their family and for their country.” while arguably adhering to a discourse citing mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 individual sacrifice for the nation, he acknowledges that there are contradictions in the current remembrance of gallipoli, in particular highlighting the moral aspect of the conflict. mhs9 feels that gallipoli is important to remember in australian history for several reasons, including international relations and war experiences. in response to question 1, she cites the need to remember gallipoli from an “ethical perspective,” explaining that, “though many disagree with the concept/execution of war, it is particularly important to recognise and respect the soldiers and their experiences. in terms of australia’s history, it’s helpful to review the reasons we participated and how this could potentially prevent war again.” she is able to articulate her perspective that war is rather futile while acknowledging the efforts of those who fought. like other students, she is optimistic that understanding this will prevent future wars, writing, “in terms of australia’s history, it’s helpful to review the reasons we participated and how this could potentially prevent war again.” in a demonstration of his ability to understand the contradictions of the remembrance of gallipoli and the significance it has to australians today, wc45 discusses the “heroic glory,” “glorified battle,” “bloody war,” “young men that unwittingly were bribed into participating,” and “wasting young lives for a pointless battle that ultimately failed.” in doing so, he places blame on authorities, particularly great britain (popularly blamed, including in the 1981 australian feature film gallipoli), for the military disaster. yet he still understands that gallipoli is viewed with reverence, and that it has been “glorified in a sense…to believe it as a glorified battle in which british and australian infantry troops bravely sacrificed their lives.” however, wc45 thinks it should be taught “in the true form that it took place a bloody war of affiliation that cost countless numbers of young lives all to gain new kilometres on the battlefield.” wc45 adopts a clear antibritish sentiment, writing that “gallipoli, while a significant event, was a perfect example of british arrogance and the exploitation of the ‘anzacs’ both in gallipoli and the western front” and that “many australians lack a [word illegible] perspective on gallipoli, seeing it as a heroic charge by australian troops when in fact we were the ones invading a country and destroying land that does not belong to the commonwealth.” emotional nationalism linked to contradictions there are examples of students who contradict themselves, seemingly unaware that they are doing so—such is the deep emotional attachment they feel to gallipoli. one such example is aghs8, who provides a description of how traditional forms of remembrance show an appreciation of those who served in the gallipoli campaign. in her response to question 2, aghs8 mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 provides reasoning for her belief that these traditions should continue, evoking discourses often used in ascribing australian national identity and official narratives of remembrance. it seems as though aghs8 is unaware of her contradictory statements. in her response to question 1, she discusses the commemoration of gallipoli from a factual, historical perspective, stating, “we remember and thank them for their service at gallipoli, despite their loss in taking over turkish land. this is because we like to justify their loss of life to war through our appreciation of their dedication and service to australia and new zealand.” in this statement, she acknowledges the service of soldiers without falling into the familiar trope of gushing about sacrifice and courage; there is no romanticization of soldier service. however, in her response to question 2, she writes: gallipoli would benefit more significantly through our remembrance of those who served our country at this war due to their dedication. we should remember this historical event through representing the anzacs as people who bravely fought for our country at gallipoli. this appreciation should be dedicated to those who served our country in gallipoli through keeping the tradition of having remembrance day once a year within war memorials or other symbols of remembrance toward those who served our country at gallipoli. by including terms such as “those who served our country…due to their dedication,” and “bravely fought for our country,” she sees the actions of the soldiers as being part of the anzac myth, which can be seen when coupled with her response about remembrance day, war memorials, and “other symbols of remembrance” as important ways to remember soldiers. analysis and discussion a popular idea in the general discourse of australia’s recognition and commemoration of wwi is the view that australian soldiers are unique, heroes, and seemingly invincible. this view is now applied by default to other major wars, conflicts, and peace-keeping operations that australia participates in: world war ii, korea, vietnam, east timor, iraq, and other middle eastern theatres of war and war-like conditions. the nationalistic sentimentality in the public sphere regarding australian soldiers in the lead up to anzac day is pervasive. this type of perspective about soldiers has been widely reported in academic and popular publications, including critiques of the infallible soldier discourse (stockings, 2010). in the findings for this research, students frequently used terms such as “sacrifice” and “they died for us” in their responses, reflecting broader public discourses. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 it is a historical fact that the gallipoli campaign was a colossal military failure for the allies. recognizing that the gallipoli campaign was a military defeat can sometimes be lost on students who see the hype surrounding commemorations of this campaign as evidence of a victory for the allies. some students saw the military failure of the gallipoli campaign as a source of pride, a concept that is unfamiliar to many nations, but has become so normalized in the australian context that it is “natural” to feel this connection to nationhood borne out of a military defeat. here, michael apple’s (2004) idea of official knowledge, usually used in the school context, can be applied to the public pedagogical influences on students’ understandings of australia’s participation in wwi. the concept of official knowledge theorizes the way in which dominant values are communicated to students as a type of non-overt way of inculcating students to view the world in particular ways. it is argued that dominant values are those usually viewed in society as being “normal,” “just,” or “right” and broadly accepted to be “true.” in a sense, they have been repeated so many times that they become naturalized as a way of understanding the world, becoming part of the hegemonic practice of schooling students (see, e.g., the understanding of hegemony offered by luke, 1995-1996). hall (1988) explains how this concept is practiced: the social distribution of knowledge is skewed. and since the social institutions most directly implicated in its formation and transmission—the family/school/media triplet— are grounded in and structured by the class relations that surround them, the distribution of the available codes with which to decode or unscramble the meaning of events in the world, and the languages we use to construct interests, are bound to reflect the unequal relations of power that obtain in the area of symbolic production as in other spheres... the circle of dominant ideas does accumulate the symbolic power to map or classify the world for others... it becomes the horizon of the taken-for-granted: what the world is and how it works, for all practical purposes. (p. 44) following apple’s (2004) and hall’s (1988) ideas of the relationship between topics broached in the school context and those topics in the public sphere (also acknowledging the influence of family, which is not insignificant), the responses from students are part of the messiness of how people develop their understanding of particular topics. therefore, students’ responses can be read as a response to their schooling as well as to the influence of public discourses, the intersections of which are not always clearly delineated. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 conclusion the pervasiveness of world war i commemoration and memorialization in schools and in the public sphere means that the history of anzac is kept well and truly alive. as historian tom griffiths wrote in the art of time travel (2017), “the american writer william faulkner famously said that ‘the past is never dead. it’s not even past.’ this simple, powerful quote declares what we know to be true, that the past is never gone or left behind; we are never free of its burden or is inspiration” (p. 8). with such a prominent place in the school curriculum and in public remembrance, the history of gallipoli, wwi, and australia’s involvement in international conflicts remains an important topic for researchers to pursue, and one that is still very much alive and present. holding a unique place in australia’s list of annual public holidays, anzac day is one that remains influential for shaping citizens’ ideas about what it means to be australian. the students who participated in this project are, by and large, acutely aware of this influence and the complexities and contradictions associated with the remembrance of gallipoli. for educators, this is a reminder that the influence of public and popular discourses cannot be ignored and that students bring knowledge about important national issues and events with them to the classroom. this provides an opportunity to work with students, assisting them to understand historical approaches to understanding the present, to explicitly discuss issues of historical consciousness. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 references: apfelbaum, e. 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(1980). the collective memory (f. j. ditter jr & v. y. ditter, trans.). new york: harper collins books. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.afssse.asn.au/seaa/publications/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 hall, s. (1988). the toad in the garden: thatcherism among the theorists. in c. nelson & l. grossberg (eds.), marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 35-73). urbana, il: the university of illinois press. holbrook, c. (2014). anzac: the unauthorised biography. sydney: newsouth publishing. holbrook, c. (2016). are we brainwashing our children? the place of anzac in australian history. agora, 51(4), 16-22. hope, d. (2006, march 18-19). ripping tales from the vault. the weekend australian, p. 27. horkheimer, m., and adorno, t. (1972). dialectic of enlightenment (j. cummin. trans). new york: herder and herder. klein, k. l. (2000, winter). on the emergence of memory in historical discourse. representations, 69, 127-50. lake, m. (2010). introduction: what have you done for your country. in m. lake & h. reynolds (eds.), what's wrong with anzac? the militarisation of australian history (pp. 1-23). sydney: university of new south wales press. lawless, j., & bulgu, s. (2016). turkey, australia and gallipoli: the challenges of a shared history. in r. guyver (ed.), teaching history and the changing nation-state: transnational and intranational perspectives (pp. 223-236). london: bloomsbury academic. létourneau, j. (2006). remembering our past: an examination of the historical memory of young québécois. in r. sandwell (ed.), to the past: history education, public memory, and citizenship in canada (pp. 70-87). toronto: university of toronto press. létourneau, j., & moisan. s. (2004). young people's assimilation of a collective historical memory: a case study of quebeckers of french-canadian heritage. in p. seixas (ed.), theorizing historical consciousness (pp. 109-128). toronto: university of toronto press. luke, a. (1995-1996). text and discourse in education: an introduction to critical discourse analysis. review of research in education, 21, 3-48. parkes, r. j., & sharp, h. (2014). nietzschean perspectives on representations of national history in australian school textbooks: what should we do with gallipoli? ensayos. revista de la facultad de educación de albacete, 29(1), 131-158. reynolds, h. (2016). unnecessary wars. sydney: new south publishing. sheehan, m., & taylor, t. (2016). australian and new zealand: anzac and gallipoli in the twentyfirst century. in r. guyver (ed.), teaching history in the changing nation state: mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 29-52 corresponding author: melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 transnational and intranational perspectives (pp. 237-256). london: bloomsbury academics. stockings, c. (2010). zombie myths of australian military history. sydney: university of new south wales press. tranter, b., & donoghue, j. (2007). colonial and post-colonial aspects of australian identity. the british journal of sociology, 58(2), 165-183. vansledright, b. (2008). narratives of nation-state, historical knowledge, and school history education. review of research in education, 32, 109-146. about the authors: dr. heather sharp – is a senior lecturer at the school of education, university of newcastle, australia melanie jane innes – is a ph.d. candidate and sessional academic at the school of education, university of newcastle, australia. mailto:melanie.innes@newcastle.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 69-70. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 69-70. corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au. ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 69 teachers and intercultural competence: the need to develop citizens committed to social justice through global education editor dr kate ferguson-patrick the university of newcastle, australia kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au the media review section of the journal of international social studies offers a framework for readers interested in sharing resources they have discovered; so please participate in discussions with the reviewers and feel free to submit your own reviews of appropriate texts. the three articles / book reviews in the media review section in this edition are opportune at a time where we are witnessing atrocities of terrorism all over the world. the recent paris attacks, as well as attacks in many other places in the world, have spurred a number of worrying protests against muslims in australia and particularly against the attempts to build new places of worship in the australian community. in newcastle, australia, the reclaim australia group have rallied to stop the building of a local mosque and counter rallies of anti-racism campaigners have occurred. this recent article (https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-peace-loving-muslims-to-be-thankful-for/) reminds us of some peace loving muslims including malala yousafzai, the youngest ever peace prize winner. a recent american documentary, directed by davis guggenheim, he named me malala, presents the young pakistani female activist who has spoken out for the rights of girls, especially the right to education, since she was very young. this film has recently hit australia and hopefully will help to build awareness of the plight of people living in war torn countries, such as syria and pakistan. the first piece, a chapter, "a values-based pedagogical stance. teaching teachers for global education in australia", written by reynolds et al. in the state of global education: learning with the world and its people, edited by brad maguth and jeremy hilburn, and reviewed by parsons, discusses the need for our preservice teachers to build global education (ge) pedagogies. the chapter shows how the authors have developed a tool to equip and empower teachers to adopt a global stance and teach about, for and with ge within any key learning area, at both elementary and secondary school levels. the importance of enhancing both the cognitive and affective domains of learning of pre-service teachers, to foster the development of a pedagogical stance; specifically a global stance at this time in the world is crucial in order for our school students to become the globally interconnected citizens needed, that show compassion and caring and be able to live together peacefully and sustainably. the second book, contesting and constructing international perspectives in global education, edited by ruth reynolds et al. also reviewed by parsons, gives space to both "western and non-western voices to champion the potential of education to be instrumental in fostering a cosmopolitan global consciousness." parsons goes on to say, "in our increasingly globalised world, this book convinces that the time for theorizing is over and what remains is the need to ask: what does teaching for global citizenship actually look like in the classroom?" journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 69-70. corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au. ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 70 the third book, review by osborn and written by liz jackson, muslims and islam in u.s. education: reconsidering multiculturalism, also discusses how many americans are grappling with their understanding of islam and muslims and discusses the clash thesis that "has engendered the propagation of stereotypes about muslims as a people and islam as a faith." jackson’s book examines how knowledge of islam and muslims is constructed in public school settings in the united states and introduces intercultural education as a viable alternative as it applies to the teaching of islam and muslims. she comments how schools may not necessarily be satisfying their mission of equipping students with the tools to co-exist with muslim citizens or understand muslim cultures and contemporary issues throughout the world, with little space allotted to the study of topics familiarizing students with muslims and islam as well as the poor quality of educational experiences when time is permitted for such content. she explores the three branches of multicultural education with an historical overview of their development and the flaws that exist within each and also argues for the need for students to acquire critical media literacy skills in the current climate. her proposal for interculturalism as a brand of multicultural education designed for deliberating on topics related to muslims and islam in the classroom is provided and she suggests that schools become inclusive of multiple narratives and that students receive a deliberation-based experience. all three pieces, and the malala documentary, point to the fact that as educators we need to be developing citizens committed to social justice focusing particularly on intercultural competence, education for sustainability, skills for cooperation and collaboration and an emphasis on building attitudes journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 her/him, them, and me: using a three-perspective format in elementary social studies methods to promote intercultural education initiatives erin m. casey (ecasey@lsu.edu) louisiana state university _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: intercultural education, focused on understanding, respecting, and engaging in dialogue among and about different cultures (united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization [unesco], 2006) adds to multicultural educational efforts by addressing diverse needs in learning and teaching students. this paper argues for focus on intercultural education in elementary social studies methods courses for pre-service teachers (psts) and describes the author-created three-perspective format for developing intercultural educational activities. use of the three-perspective format is described followed by results from a study using the approach to guide response journals focused on the multicultural novel, inside out and back again (lai, 2011), with 89 psts at a highly research intensive university in the southern united states. open coding of collective case studies revealed three themes in students’ journal reflections when using the three-perspective format: insight into diverse perspectives, changes in attitudes for teaching, and a valuable learning experience. combined with researcher field notes and student-generated emails, these emergent themes could indicate that some students experienced lasting change in attitudes and feelings towards others and themselves that had not been previously considered or held. this level of change could facilitate individual transformation and help make meaningful impressions and paradigm shifts in psts as described by mezirow (1991) in transformative learning theory. key words: intercultural education, pre-service teachers, social studies methods, three-perspective format _____________________________________________________________________________________ introduction “too many new teachers are unprepared for the classroom and especially lack experience working with diverse, low-income students and the trauma that can impact students from those backgrounds” (mader, 2015). released on september 30, 2015, this statement and others from a panel of educators and teacher trainers organized by rep. susan davis (d-calif.) in washington, d.c., ultimately calls for an increased focus on more diverse student teaching experiences in teacher preparation. valuable gains in preparing pre-service teachers, or psts, to work with diverse students and those who experience or have endured traumatic circumstances could be strengthened through coursework that compels psts to reflect upon their own dispositions concerning diversity, difficult life events some school children may experience, and the dissonance between psts and the students with whom they work. in fact developing dispositions is a hallmark of teacher training, reflected in accreditation standards for teacher education council for the accreditation of educator preparation (caep) (council for the accreditation of educator preparation, 2013). intercultural education, which focuses on the facilitation of understanding, respecting, and engaging in dialogue regarding and between different cultures (unesco, 2006), is the culmination of educational journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 efforts towards addressing multicultural needs in learning and teaching of students in primary, secondary, and teacher education. through intercultural educational experiences, psts are allowed to encounter and experience the concerns of diverse groups and individuals, understand the difficulties these groups might face, and reflect upon the disquiet that the process of analyzing one’s own culture in relation to others can create (lanas, 2014), thus, working towards preparing psts to be better prepared to work with diverse students. two primary research questions guided this study: a) what intercultural educational exercise(s) could be used to facilitate change and understanding in psts towards diverse students and possible traumatic life events? and b) what behaviors and resultant descriptors would emerge to define the changes or transformation in dispositions among psts due to its use? through the lenses of the transformational learning theory (mezirow, 1991), in this article, i attempt to explore ideas and practices of intercultural education, argue for a focus on intercultural education in elementary social studies methods courses for teacher preparation, and describe the three-perspective format i created and used in a study with students as a practice for developing intercultural educational concepts. understanding intercultural education in discussing ideas of intercultural education, it is important to note its relationship to multicultural education. the terms multicultural education and multiculturalism, first used by u.s. educators during the civil rights movement of the 1960s (banks, 1993), have such context-specific and varied definitions that ogbu (1995) and özturgut (2011) state there is not necessarily an agreed upon definition among scholars and practitioners regarding the terms. unesco (2006, p. 18) states that “multicultural education uses learning about other cultures in order to produce acceptance, or at least tolerance, of these cultures.” banks and banks (2001) describe multicultural education as an educational reform movement using processes where all students have an equal chance to achieve academic success. nieto (1996, p. 307) offers a deeper concept by labeling it as “antiracist education” which is “important for all students”. jay and jones’ (2005) description of multicultural education advocates adopting a pluralist education for teaching of the students of pre-k through college, and gay (2000) and ladson-billings (2003) define multicultural education as adopting a culturally responsive pedagogy to address diverse students’ needs in the classroom. all of these definitions contain important elements of diversity but they lack unification and specificity. consequently, the terms multicultural education and multiculturalism seem to serve as catchalls for any educational topic that focuses on diversity and teaching, which, then threatens to mute the importance of the deep theories and processes contained within such as those of intercultural education. the aim of intercultural education is to go beyond the understandings provided by multicultural education. instead of promoting “passive coexistence”, intercultural education seeks to create understanding, respect and dialogue between cultures (unesco, 2006, p. 18). definitions of intercultural education specifically emphasize addressing the relationships among and within cultures (abdallah-pretceille, 1990; portera, 2011); therefore, it has a deeper purpose which lies within the intentions of multicultural education. portera (2011, p. 19) distinguishes multiculturalism as the “peaceful coexistence of cultures” while interculturalism is the interaction, exchange, and dialogue journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 among and within cultural topics (abdallah-pretceille, 1990; portera, 2011); thus, the prefix inter is the discerning factor between intercultural and multicultural education. intercultural educational practices should allow students to develop their awareness, understandings, and acceptance of others and themselves; hence, causing them to change or transform in their feelings towards others. one significant educational theory which must be combined with intercultural educational practice is transformational learning. developed by jack mezirow (1991), transformational learning theory underscores creating learning experiences that inspire individual transformation and make meaningful impressions and paradigm shifts within individuals, which affect later personal practices (mezirow, 1991). many teaching practices fall within the framework of transformational learning theory in connection with intercultural educational concepts. for example, critical pedagogy, an educational concept typically used in english language teaching, intends to make teachers and learners representatives of transformation by prompting them to examine underlying cultural values and principles in the classroom and learning (rashidi & safari, 2010). another transformative practice is culturally responsive teaching, where cultures, practices, and perceptions of many diverse groups are used as mediums through which to teach academic skills and knowledge (gay & kirkland, 2003). critical reflection is yet another transformative model wherein students analyze and challenge their own personal understandings, which include prejudices, assumptions and beliefs, about other cultures (danielewicz, 2001; gay & kirland, 2003; greene, 1994; herrera & murry, 2016) and can lead individuals to consider their levels of “accommodation readiness” (p. 134) or willingness to interact with others from a culture different from their own (herrera & murry, 2016.) each of these transformational learning practices composes elements of intercultural education because they lead participants to examine relationships among and within cultures and are expressly the types of experiences psts needed to address both rep. susan davis’ and the panel of educators’ september 2015 concerns in the introductory quote as well as caep standards regarding new teachers’ lack of preparation for working in a diverse classroom. teacher preparation courses in elementary education for intercultural education current studies featuring intercultural educational methods in teacher preparation can be found across different contexts in coursework; however, many (abrams, 2002; rashidi & safari, 2010; szecsi, spillman, vazquez-montilla, & mayberry, 2010) take place in courses focused on second language acquisition or methods which are usually elective courses taken by students who want english as a second language endorsement or certification only. one study (howard, 2003) that did not use esl focused coursework but employed critical reflection used a course labeled identity and teaching which was created to prepare teachers to teach in urban school settings. the problem with using language-focused or special topic courses to deliver intercultural educational experiences is that not all teacher education students are typically required to take these courses, thus, jeopardizing exposure to and development of these understandings for future teachers. therefore, an argument can be made that intercultural educational experiences should take place in coursework that most students are typically required to take. the new accreditation caep standards (2103) outline the experiences teacher education programs must include in order to receive national accreditation. the caep embeds aspects of diversity throughout its journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 standards for teacher preparation and states in its manual, “regardless of their residence, personal circumstances, and preparation experiences, candidates need opportunities to develop professional capabilities that will enable them to adjust and adapt instruction in appropriate ways for the diversity they are likely to encounter in their professional lives” (caep, 2013, p. 20). caep does not specifically mandate any certain courses where diverse, multicultural experiences must occur but expects institutions to base coursework decisions off recommendations from educational associations that focus on research and best teaching practices. institutions, then, must demonstrate how diversity has been integrated into coursework (caep, 2013). social studies methods as a platform for intercultural education traditional elementary education preparation providers use professional standards recommended by educational associations such as the association for childhood education (acei) (2007) and the national association for education of young children (naeyc) (2012) to guide them on how to choose coursework options to fulfill accreditation requirements. acei lists social studies as a main focus in curriculum guidelines for pst preparation stating, “candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts and modes of inquiry from the social studies . . . to promote elementary students’ abilities to make informed decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society and independent world” (acei, 2007, p. 1). similarly, naeyc lists social studies as one of the six early childhood discipline areas needed in the curriculum to create a “well-prepared candidate”(naeyc, 2012, p. 36). based on the recommendations made by these two prominent associations regarding the preparation of psts, coursework which focuses on the teaching of social studies concepts is a key element of elementary teacher education preparation. in order to design effective coursework for psts regarding social studies, specific guidelines concerning teacher preparation within social studies content are issued by the national council for the social studies (ncss) in its document, national standards for social studies teachers (2002). the document, although aimed at secondary social studies teachers, states “social studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of culture and cultural diversity” (ncss, 2002, p. 19) is also germane to elementary teachers of social studies. in regard to how teachers must teach social studies in the classroom, the document mandates, “[pre-12] students need to comprehend multiple perspectives that emerge from within their own culture and from the vantage points of the diverse cultural groups within that society” (p. 19). the disposition required to teach students multiple perspectives must be fostered in teacher preparation through intercultural educational experiences. teachers will struggle to lead their own students in the transformational process if they have not experienced it themselves. standards for pst preparation specified by educational associations such as acei (2007) and naeyc (2012) underscore that social studies methods coursework should be a necessary component of elementary teacher education programs. within the context of that social studies coursework lies an opportunity to expose psts to necessary intercultural educational processes because of the existing relationship the coursework has with understanding and teaching culture and diversity as issued through standards for social studies teachers by ncss (2002). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 three-person perspective format: considering her/him, them, and me researchers (rashidi & safari, 2011; richards, 2010) state that despite a growing concentration on intercultural educational practices, such as critical pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching, and critical reflection, there is a lack of materials available for implementing these practices in coursework in educational settings. finding a method that can facilitate a shift in students’ beliefs about cultures can be difficult because of the complexity of variables involved. as an educator of psts, i intentionally sought a transformational learning method to use in my own courses to stimulate a dispositional shift in my students’ understandings of their future students and ultimately crafted the three-perspective format to apply to cultural topics in order to promote positive changes in psts’ dispositions concerning diversity and students who have experienced traumatic life events. the three-perspective format is an organizational plan that focuses on considering the varying viewpoints involved in any topic of study for the three separate entities of the main person or people involved, a separate group of people who need to be studied, and the student himself/herself. it can be used in conjunction with any topic where another culture outside one’s own identified culture is being considered such as examining current news, learning an historical event, or reading multicultural literature. table 1 provides guidance in basic question creation. table 1. her/him, them, and me: framework for question creation perspective to consider question framework her/him main person or group “how does/would _____ feel about what is happening to him/her?” them other group perspective “how would someone from the _____ group/culture feel about this issue?” me student’s perspective “how do/would you feel if you were experiencing this issue?” accurately responding to these questions will require background research into cultural norms of the focus groups dependent upon the topic and depth needed, which will further the intercultural educational value. for example, one can examine the currently debated issue of displaying the confederate flag or confederate monuments into the three-perspective format by considering the separate perspectives of those who are 1) against displaying the flags or monuments; then 2) a second group who support displaying the flags or monuments; and finally 3) for the student her or himself on their feelings towards displaying the flag or monuments. understandably, students would have to conduct research regarding the first two groups’ reasons for their positions to understand the perspectives found there, and then use this information to form and support their own perspectives. method of study overarching questions guiding this study were: a) what intercultural educational exercise(s) could be used to facilitate change and understanding in psts towards diverse students and possible traumatic life journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 28 events? and b) what behaviors and resultant descriptors would emerge to define the changes or transformation in dispositions among psts due to its use? similar to other studies focusing on intercultural educational exercises, this study was conducted in my own second language methodology courses in three semesters from spring 2013 to fall 2014. the results from the study in these courses will be presented here. because of the results and conclusions drawn from this study, i now use the three-perspective format in my elementary social studies methods courses using the method described here. as explained previously, a focus must be placed on students participating in this valuable experience in coursework that will reach more students such as social studies methods. more details about this decision will be provided in the conclusion. participants participants included 86 psts enrolled in english as a second language (esl) methodologies courses, which was an elective course for students attempting to attain esl state certification. research was conducted at a university in the southern united states designated as a research intensive (formerly referred to r1 designation). the majority of participants (81% or 70 out of 86) were white females between 20–25 years of age. because most of my students fell between the ages of 20–25, i elected to include that demographic indicator spanning five years. because a small number of students did not fall within the ages of 20–25; to accommodate nine of the 86 participants, i elected to add two demographic categories that corresponded to the age ranges found (see table 2 which provides a further description of all participants of the study). none of the 86 participants labeled themselves as first or secondgeneration immigrants. students who did were not included as participants, and their data was not included in the analyses because their responses might have been affected by personal knowledge or feelings about the topic of immigration, a focus in the novel used for the study. table 2. study participants gender white african american female age 20–25 70 3 age 26–35 5 age 36–45 3 male age 20–25 4 age 26–35 age 36–45 1 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 29 procedure for this assignment, participants read the young adult novel, inside out and back again by thanhha lai (2011). this novel was chosen because it features a child who experiences the traumatic event of immigration. in the story, hà, the main character, gives her account of emigrating from south vietnam to the united states in the 1970s. the reader learns about the turmoil that sparked the exodus from her homeland, the ocean journey to the united states, the introduction to an alabama community, and then the settling into a new life and culture. students were provided the three-perspective format to use in responding to questions about events in the novel in a reflection journal. to begin the assignment, students researched events concerning south vietnam and the vietnam war in order to better understand the main character’s perspective such as background information about saigon before the war, catalysts for the war, and major results of the conflict. then, they individually chose one immigrant population they believed might represent their future students and researched varying topics such as immigration routes and reasons, food, customs and traditions for that culture as needed during the assignment. immigration and learning a second language are prominent topics in the novel and were specifically used as a factor in selecting the other group perspective. many students chose cultural groups that had immigrated to the region and were part of the public school population such as mexican, marshallese, indian and vietnamese. here are sample three-perspective format questions i created for the assignment: questions based on part 1: saigon (lai, 2011). herthe chapter begins with hà explaining some of the customs and traditions of the first day of the lunar calendar. why does hà tell the reader these things? how do they affect her? themfor the immigrant population you have chosen, research the customs and traditions associated with a special holiday or celebration for that culture. what is the holiday? are there any special foods or activities that go along with it? why might it be important to familiarize yourself with holidays of your students? mewhat is a favorite celebration or holiday from your own culture? why is it special to you? herthroughout this section of the book, hà mentions several types of foods in saigon that she eats. why do you think the author focuses on these? themwhat are some of the favorite foods a student from your chosen immigrant population might enjoy? would it be important to know about those foods? how could you use that information? meare there any of your favorite foods that have special meaning for you? why? herhà writes about how her father left home when she was a small child. how does his absence affect her and her family’s lives? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 30 themit is possible that a child from your chosen immigrant population might have to live for periods of time without one or two of his/her parents? for the immigrant population you have chosen, research reasons on why a parent might be absent from the home. what are they? how do you think a parent being absent from the child’s home affects the child? mepersonally, how would having a parent away from the home have affected you as a child? (please answer with as much detail as you feel comfortable.) these questions and more using the three-perspective format were created for the entire novel. students answered the questions individually in a folder. data sources data for the study came from three separate sources. students’ reflection journals with responses to questions based on the three-perspective format provided the primary source for data collection. in particular, focus was placed on a summary prompt found at the end of response journal that asked students to reflect upon what they had gained from the assignment of reading the novel and completing the three-perspective format questions. also, the researcher’s field notes recorded during and after students’ engagement in group discussions in class were used as a secondary source of data, and finally, two self-generated emails sent to the professor after assignment completion provided another piece of data to measure the results of the activity. data analyses the qualitative method of a collective case study was used for analyses of this project. stake (2000) explains that “a researcher may jointly study a number of cases in order to investigate a phenomenon, population, or general condition” (p. 437) when seeking to better understand and theorize about a larger population of cases in a collective case study. instead of understanding the experiences of only one or two students, as in an intrinsic case study, i wanted to use a collection of cases in an instrumental study format to provide insight into this issue and draw generalizations about using the threeperspective questioning with my specific population (stake, 2000). open coding analyses procedure was used on students’ answers to the final prompt in the response journal, which asked: reflect over this class assignment. do you think that reading this book and answering the questions has added to or changed your personal perspective towards students who have recently immigrated? should this assignment be used with future classes? to analyze students’ responses to this prompt, i first read through responses and employed open coding to establish similar themes across the students’ answers. this method avoids using preset codes and uses terms and language from student responses to create the different codes (esterberg, 2002). after reviewing the codes, they were combined and collapsed to the point of saturation. the recurring codes were categorized into code categories which allowed for the emergence of themes. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 31 a secondary data source came from field notes i recorded from class discussions during and after students engaged in discussion groups. from questions, comments and thoughts students wanted to discuss in small groups or with the whole class, i recorded my observations. i used the same open coding on these field notes and was able to create themes from the code categories. finally, one surprising form of data emerged in the form of student-generated emails sent to me. two students sent unprompted emails regarding their feelings about the assignment in the weeks following its completion. these emails were analyzed for similarities to the themes gathered from open coding. results of using the three-perspective format three forms of data contributed to the trustworthiness of the final themes that resulted from this collective case study. in these data sources, students repeatedly used words such as “new”, “change”, “learned”, and “reflect” as they wrote about immigration, other cultures, and teaching. the open coding analyses of students’ responses to the final prompt about their thoughts concerning using the threeperspective format assignment resulted in three common themes: insight into diverse perspectives, changes in attitudes for teaching, and a valuable learning experience. using words such as perspective and thinking, students indicated their change in thinking about the experiences immigrants might endure that they had not previously which created the “insight into diverse perspectives” theme. one student wrote, “this assignment gave me an inside idea of how a student coming from another country must feel like—the emotions, anxiety, fears. i never would have gotten that kind of perspective” (student 15b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). another student wrote, “i think that completing this book and reading log have helped me because they have both helped me see a whole new perspective. it was good to see the differences and similarities in cultures” (student 3c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). another wrote, “reading the book and answering the questions has helped with my perspective towards students who are learning another language and are different from me” (student 20b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). a final example of having insight into diverse perspectives is from a student who wrote, “this assignment has allowed me to think about the perspectives of future cld [culturally and linguistically diverse] students i will be working with in my future classroom” (student 11a, student reflection journal, march 14, 2013). these statements highlight the dispositional shift that occurred by students as they considered their existing worldviews versus their expanding cultural horizons, a shift brought about by reading and responding to the prompts. the theme of “changes in attitudes for teaching” emerged as some students specifically tied teaching behavior to changes in their thinking. one student wrote, “it is crucial to remember students are all going through their own struggles every day, and i can become a better teacher from this assignment because i might recognize red flags that might hurt my students” (student 5c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). another stated, “as teachers, it is very important for us to know that backgrounds of the students in our class so that we are able to make sure they are learning to the best of their ability” (student 7b, student reflection journal, march 14, 2013). another statement to highlight this theme comes from a student who wrote, “it [the assignment] gives one the chance to reflect upon one’s teaching method and how they can integrate as well as differentiate for all learners and make them feel journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 32 welcomed, loved, and understood” (student 23c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). finally, two more students wrote, “i have gained so much knowledge from this that i can use it to alter myself as a teacher” (student 27b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014) and “i will use what i learned from this book and assignment to help me relate to any students who are not proficient in english in my classroom” (student 12c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). these statements epitomize the kinds of disposition shifts teacher educators seek when carefully constructing in-class experiences that will hopefully augment later teaching. the final theme of “valuable learning experience” was revealed because many students commented on how the assignment stood out to them as a memorable one that would affect them in later life. one student wrote, “this experience is something that i will be able to remember for my future classroom” (student 20a, student reflection journal, march 14, 2013). another stated, “i have gained more respect for immigrants after reading the story and considering others’ needs because of this assignment” (student 4c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). another commented, “i believe this was a great assignment for all classes. it opens your mind up to a whole new perspective about students from other cultures and countries. if i can be impacted greatly by it, i believe other students can be also” (student 2b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). continuing to highlight the theme, another student stated, “this assignment was eye-opening. only when you find a way to connect to others or their particular situation can you begin to feel empathy and find a way to assist them” (student 8b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). finally, one wrote, “this assignment isn’t like one that i’ve ever done, and i would strongly recommend using it in future classes” (student 23c, student reflection journal, october 9, 2014). these statements highlighting the value of the activity add to the probability that this experience might be one that stays with students and might have a positive effect on their future actions. field notes i collected during and after students’ engagement in discussion groups were also analyzed for codes, categories, and themes. like the students’ journal responses, the same three main themes emerged: insight into diverse perspectives, changes in attitudes for teaching, and a valuable learning experience. some verbatim expressions include, “i can see where some people, like from mexico, must have things really bad to have to choose coming to a new place where they don’t know anyone just like the people in the book” (student 17c, in-class discussion, september 25, 2014) and “i never thought about the kids in the school around here having to feel this way. you know, when the main character says she hates english words and stuff, i didn’t think about kids feeling that way” (student 15c, in-class discussion, october 2, 2014). a final piece of data supporting the emerged themes came from two emails sent after the completion of the class assignment. one student’s email stated: i liked the questions, but as i was answering them and thinking about what the immigration population i chose had to go through and how it would affect my family, it became uncomfortable. it wasn't a good feeling, but life isn't full of roses, and i think it is a great exercise for students, especially for those wanting to work with students that are from different cultures. (student 2b, email, june 21, 2014). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 33 the email contains the emerged themes as well. she thought of other perspectives, mentioned the value the activity holds for students who will work with or teach diverse students, and stated it was a valuable experience. the other email, while briefer in detail, expressed thanks from the student for having participated in the valuable exercise. three-perspectives + n: making even more meaning my course example uses the medium of multicultural literature and reflection to engage students in an intercultural experience. using multicultural literature alone to expose students to unfamiliar topics in other cultures can help shape teacher candidate’s attitudes and perspectives (gay, 2002), however, cassidy (2001) notes that readers need to engage in a form of reflection such as narrative and debriefing to make deeper meaning of multicultural readings. the narrative was attained through student response journals, and debriefing was achieved by participation in discussion groups where students discussed their answers to questions in a group format. the addition of the discussion group creates threeperspective + n because students considered additional perspectives from their classmates. several students commented in their reflection journals about the addition of the discussion groups and how it helped them. one wrote, “i also really enjoyed the time we are able to spend talking about the book and the questions in our group. it was good to hear my group’s thoughts and compare facts about different countries” (student 5b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). conclusion the themes of gaining insight into others’ perspectives, changes in attitudes for teaching, and valuable learning experience combined suggest that some students might have undergone a lasting change in attitudes and feelings towards others and themselves that might not have been previously considered or held. the data collected from student response journals, researcher field notes, and studentgenerated emails triangulate to reveal a shift in students’ dispositions. by participating in this activity, reading the novel and reflecting, students’ understanding resulted in an attitudinal change. this level of change, however small, could facilitate individual transformation and help make meaningful impressions and paradigm shifts in students as called for by mezirow (1991) in transformative learning theory. this response from student 4b, a white male, serves as a more thorough example of some of the students’ experiences and possible transformation: i never really took into account what it was like to immigrate [sic] from your home to a completely new place. i was the neighbor in the book when the family went to alabama: unwelcoming and standoffish. what i learned should have been something i already knew, but i just wasn’t aware of it. people who immigrate have lives and families as well. they have been through struggles and hard times the same as i have. in fact, our lives are very similar. this similarity made me appreciate all people who immigrate. the context of this is outside the classroom, but it also related inside the classroom. i will be more welcome in my daily life with people who immigrated because i read the book and completed the questions. i was really able to connect emotionally a lot with the experiences they went through. (student 4b, student reflection journal, march 6, 2014). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 examination of his reflection reveals crucial connections teacher candidates need to make to serve a diverse student body as teachers. he expresses deep understandings about the difficulties of immigration and acculturation from both the perspectives of one experiencing it to one witnessing it. he pledges to make a change in his future thoughts and actions and connects those plans to inside and outside his future classroom. the three-perspective format for examining cultural topics holds promise for transforming students’ thinking and attitudes towards culture and diversity. after completing this assignment with my second language methodologies students, comfortably discussing issues of diversity and immigration became easier because students were more open to discussion than before. however, when i wanted to discuss these same topics with students in social studies methods (who did not experience this activity), i realized they were missing a valuable exercise in intercultural education. thus, i have purposefully shifted my practice in my courses so that my social studies methods course is the primary venue for this activity as it reaches more students and effortlessly fits with the objectives for learning about culture and diversity. teacher candidates must experience necessary intercultural educational practices in order to be better prepared to work with diverse children and understand the experiences those children may have or are living. transformations in attitudes and practice must occur across all levels of education for ultimate success. references abdallah-pretceille, m. (1990). vers une pédagogie interculturelle [towards an intercultural pedagogy]. paris, france: inrp sobonne. abrams, z. i. (2002). surfing to cross-cultural awareness: using internet-mediated projects to explore cultural stereotypes. in e. spinelli (ed.), foreign language annals (pp. 141–160). yonkers, ny: american council on the teaching of foreign languages. association for childhood education international. (2007). association for childhood education international elementary education standards and supporting explanation. retrieved from http://www.acei.org/sites/default/files/aceielementarystandardssupportingexplanation.5.07.pd f banks, j. (1993). approaches to multicultural curriculum reform. in j. banks and c. banks (eds.), multicultural education: issues and perspectives. boston: allyn & bacon. banks, j. a., & banks, c. a. m. (2001). multicultural education: issues and perspectives (4th ed.). new york, ny: john wiley. cassidy, k. (2001). enhancing your experiential program with narrative theory. journal of experiential education, 24(1), 22–27. council for the accreditation of educator preparation. (2013). caep accreditation standards. retreived from http://caepnet.org/~/media/files/caep/standards/final-board-amended20150612.pdf?la=en journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 danielewicz, j. (2001). teaching selves: identity, pedagogy, and teacher education. albany, ny: suny press. esterberg, k. g. (2002). qualitative methods in social research. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106– 116. gay, g., & kirkland, k. 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(2011). inside out and back again. new york, ny: harper collins. lanas, m. (2014). failing intercultural education? ‘thoughtfulness’ in intercultural education for student teachers. european journal of teacher education, 37(2), 171–182. mader, j. (2015, september 30). teacher prep fails to prepare educators for diversity, child trauma, panel says. the hechinger report. retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/teacher-prep-failsto-prepare-educators-for-diversity-child-trauma-panel-says mezirow, j. (1991). transformative dimensions of adult learning. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. national association for the education of young children. (2012). 2010 naeyc standards for initial & advanced early childhood professional preparation programs. retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/ecada/file/2010%20naeyc%20initial%20&%20advanced%20standa rds.pdf national council for the social studies. (2002). national standards for social studies teachers. silver springs, md: national council for the social studies. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/ncssteacherstandardsvol1-rev2004.pdf http://hechingerreport.org/teacher-prep-fails-to-prepare-educators-for-diversity-child-trauma-panel-says http://hechingerreport.org/teacher-prep-fails-to-prepare-educators-for-diversity-child-trauma-panel-says journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 23-36. corresponding author email: ecasey@lsu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 nieto, s. (1996). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education. white plains, ny: longman. ogbu, j. (1995). understanding cultural diversity and learning. in j. a. banks & c. a. m.banks, (eds.), handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 582-593). new york, ny: macmillan. özturgut, o. 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(2010). transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. multicultural education, 17(4), 44–48. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. (2006). unesco guidelines on intercultural education. paris, france: unesco. retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001478/147878e.pdf introduction understanding intercultural education teacher preparation courses in elementary education for intercultural education social studies methods as a platform for intercultural education three-person perspective format: considering her/him, them, and me question framework perspective to consider method of study participants african american white gender procedure data sources data analyses results of using the three-perspective format three-perspectives + n: making even more meaning conclusion references journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 high school study abroad: what do world history students really learn? carmen newstreet university of dallas, united states jacqueline rackard broward county public schools, united states abstract: study abroad is recognized as a means to teach global citizenship to students, but little empirical research exists to support the notion. this qualitative research study details how a large, urban, public high school implemented a study abroad program to enrich its advanced placement world history course. the diverse school collaborated with a local community college to allow students to participate in a weeklong european study abroad exploring art, architecture, and historic sites. student interviews demonstrate that study abroad, as a global education enrichment, extended comprehension and enriched classroom learning and could be integrated into many disciplines. further, the study reveals the value of the program in meeting the needs of 21st century learners and their self-perceptions as members of the global society. the study provides insight for school leaders, study abroad coordinators, and teachers and suggests future research and study abroad implications for the field of global citizenship. key words: study abroad, high school, global citizenship education, qualitative, enrichment, self-perception. introduction study abroad is touted as a vehicle for teaching students how to function as citizens of a global society, evidenced by former first lady michelle obama’s remarks during a visit to china: the benefits of study abroad are almost endless. first of all, it's going to make you much more marketable here in the united states, because more and more companies are realizing that they need people with experiences around the world, who can speak different languages, who can transition easily into other cultures and people who bring to their jobs a sensibility and a sensitivity for other people. it will also make you more mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 compassionate. we could always use more compassionate, young leaders out there in the world, people who are willing to step outside their comfort zones and be open to wiping away misconceptions. (cnn, 2014) empirical research can help educators understand the challenges and possibilities of study abroad as a mechanism to promote global citizenship education (cge). however, gce lacks documentation that might inform school program implementation (myers & dicicco, 2015). this article aims to address the current gap in empirical research by presenting a case study that examines the learning perceptions of 10 high school students who participated in a short-term study abroad program at a public high school. we also intend to contextualize the gce movement by placing it in the world history classroom, including the addition of an online art appreciation component, with the purpose of increasing student understanding of different people and perspectives. this article describes the case study and offers insights into challenges schools may face integrating gce into the social studies curriculum via a study abroad program. the goal of the study was to provide a rich, interpretive account of student thinking to inform current gce endeavors based on study abroad. the following questions guided this research: “what have students experienced in the study abroad program as it relates to the arts and world history?” and “how has the study abroad experience impacted student understanding of their global citizenship?” although this was a single case in one high school, the story of students’ perceptions of their learning in this program revealed its success in meeting the goals of preparing students to be competent workers in the global economy and active participants in global society capable of understanding people different from themselves. this case also illustrated how one school was able to initiate an arts-based study abroad program during a time of test-based accountability and standards alignment to successfully broaden the world history curriculum. as argued in the article conclusion, as long as the dominant educational approach is defined by either curriculum narrowing or workforce preparation, a vision of global citizenship education based on the principles of cosmopolitanism and social justice will remain idealistic and unattainable. historical context in the literature in this section, we outline the literature that informs the historical context for the case study of a high school’s study abroad program. we begin by considering the lack of gce in the narrative of accountability and alignment to standards. we then discuss how the narrative behind the 21st mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 century skills movement includes a version of gce, which marshall (2011) characterizes as the technical-economic agenda. gce and accountability after more than a decade of reform aimed at closing the achievement gap between middleand low-income students, between caucasian students and african-american and latino students, and between rich suburban schools and poor rural and inner city schools, u.s. schools are mired in a situation that prescribes test-based accountability to state and national mandated academic standards as a cure-all for the effects of structural inequality in education (darling-hammond, 2010; hursh, 2007; ravitch, 2013). enacted by president johnson in 1965, the elementary and secondary education act (esea) is a landmark piece in the federal government’s commitment to educational equity. title i of the act makes federal funds available to school districts with lowincome students (esea, 1965). in the 2001 reauthorization, the no child left behind act (nclb) mandates that schools and districts meet “adequate yearly progress” benchmarks measured by performance on statewide standardized assessments to receive title i funding (nclb, 2001). the law garnered more impact with the obama administration’s funding of race to the top (rttt) educational grants for states (rttt, 2016). subsequent to the enactment of nclb and rttt, the achievement gap among u.s. students has not closed. additionally, the policies promote a series of negative externalities that include teaching strategies focused on memorization rather than critical and analytical thinking, teaching to a standardized test, and de-professionalization of teaching (darling-hammond, 2010; gunzenhauser & hyde, 2007). moreover, these policies’ emphasis on “basics” have the unintended consequence of narrowing the curriculum by taking attention, time, and resources away from foreign languages, social studies, and other subject areas (ravitch, 2010; tanner, 2013). schools and districts face obstacles to integrating gce. first, schools have to balance contrasting public viewpoints of gce curricula. some people believe that it is unpatriotic to foster allegiance to the global community; however, research on integration of gce in the world history classroom demonstrates that high school students develop national and global civic identities as they construct new meanings about citizenship (myers, mcbride, & anderson, 2015). second, teachers do not feel comfortable teaching courses that touch on world issues, especially when they have not had such exposure during teacher education programs; this may be ameliorated through professional development (rapoport, 2010). finally, curricular change is difficult to accomplish mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 when there is no guidance or support at the national or local level, not to mention the current reward system that undermines deviation from a basic curriculum. rapoport (2015) explains, “because the concept of gce is still ideologically and politically contested and not uniformly accepted, teachers need a curricular incentive to teach global citizenship-related ideas” ( p. 33). gce within the context of 21st century skills despite the curricular narrowing experienced in the current political climate, greater awareness of globalization and its effects pushes schools to recognize that teaching about the world, its systems, and its people is crucial for 21st century learners. there is a current interest, need, and support for gce evidenced by surveys (unesco, 2013), scholarly writing, and research on the topic (dicicco, 2016; myers & dicicco, 2015). there are trends of elementary and secondary schools renaming themselves as “international” and adding new courses, study abroad programs, and foreign language immersion programs (parker, 2011). non-profit organizations (e.g., asia society, p21) and international school networks exist to promote international education and produce reports and frameworks that advance gce as essential for modern education (boixmansilla & jackson, 2011; p21, 2014). for instance, partnership for 21st century skills (p21) is a network of u.s. business, education, and government agencies that promotes an approach to gce, advocating curriculum expansion beyond basic competency to include global topics and emphasizing collaborative skills, communication, and creative and critical thinking (oxfam, 2015). accountability and the concept of 21st century skill sets as modern education reforms are policy responses to changes initiated by globalization. globalization challenges localized national identities and highlights the need to broaden school curricula to include global issues, cultures, and languages. however, globalization also fuels the focus on international student achievement comparisons, sounding the alarm about the apparent decline of u.s. students relative to other developed countries. this appears to drive the increased need for the national government to control, manage, measure, and guarantee learning outcomes (ravitch, 2013). in addition, schools are increasingly expected to work with and meet employers’ workforce needs to experience success within the global marketplace. modern employers seek employees who graduate from school familiar with technology and fluent in a foreign language, who are creative, flexible, critical thinkers, and who are armed with cross-cultural skills and a positive disposition towards other people and cultures (stewart, 2007). within this context of career-ready education, gce aligns with the technical-economic agenda. this integration is currently accomplished through courses and programs where students learn about other cultures and countries comparative to their mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 home country. students develop their human capital for the purpose of being able to find a job and engage in global society. gce and social justice: an alternative mission in this educational setting, many practices labeled gce favor instruction for work readiness over citizenship education. in the u.s., this practice is related to the rttt policy and is referred to as preparing students for college and careers (stone & lewis, 2012). however, there are gce approaches that include promoting social justice initiatives, encouraging reflection on existing societal inequalities, and promoting engagement and learning about and with others, specifically in the geography classroom (advances in ap, 2016; huckle, 2015). this critical gce agenda embraces ideas such as the awareness of being part of a larger community with a strong commitment to social justice that would make the world a better place. gce for social justice requires social studies educators to consider why, what, and how they teach. this includes an awareness of multicultural education beyond teaching about cultural diversity, focusing on how global relations of power and privilege, historically and in the modern day, have been shaped (eidoo et al., 2011). this approach requires students to learn about other people and parts of the world, reflect upon how they construct knowledge about the world, think deeply about global issues, contemplate the consequences of their own actions, and act upon injustice (evans, 2006; rapoport, 2015; rizvi, 2009). the social justice agenda recognizes knowledge of regional histories and cultural legacies as a precondition for reflecting upon, understanding, and analyzing complex issues. rizvi (2009) brands this instruction as cosmopolitanism, in which gce moves beyond a national perspective of world affairs and is directed towards the goal of creating global relations that are more just, democratic, and humane: indeed, it should be in our collective power to develop an alternative imaginary of global connectivity, one which is informed not by the universalizing logic of the market, or by the romanticized notions of global citizenship, but by our determination to develop a different conception of global relations, which views all of the world’s diverse people and communities as part of the same moral universe. such an imaginary requires the development of a sense of moral responsibility among students directed not only towards their families and nations, but also towards humanity as a whole. (p. 266) as an ideal, gce encourages students to adopt a critical understanding of globalization, to reflect on how they and their nations are implicated in local and global problems, and to engage in intercultural perspectives (rizvi, 2009). central to gce for social justice is an idea of activism mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 derived from students understanding that all people have rights and responsibilities towards others and for improving the world (myers & zaman, 2009). such understanding enables citizens to develop an urgency and moral responsibility to take action upon an issue, i.e., planning an awareness campaign, advocating for minority rights, or providing assistance to people in difficulty. this agenda is reflected in programming promoted by the college board, iearn, oxfam, and unesco, all of which produce a variety of curriculum materials, guides, and programs to support teachers committed to this approach. conceptual framework stimulated by globalization, gce is increasingly part of discussions at all levels of education. schattle (2007) identified features of global citizenship that result in educational goals to develop students to that end. essentially, these features relate to how students perceive themselves: global citizenship identifies how a person functions in the world, not a nationality. citizenship is grounded in self-awareness and in the awareness of others; global citizens practice cultural empathy and utilize principled decision-making while participating in their communities, local, national, and international. this dialogue has led to a call for school structural changes to facilitate 21st century student learning. changes include decreasing student seat time and fixed physical boundaries, creation of an environment to promote and support innovation within and beyond school walls, and utilization of technology to facilitate student learning that transcends the traditional brick-andmortar building and school day (nasbe study group, 2010). this call is supported by national and international policy reports (oxfam, 2015; p21, 2014; unesco, 2013; unesco, 2014; unesco, 2015) and scholarly publications (myers & dicicco, 2015). marshall (2011) identifies several different agendas behind the current call for gce in schools. among these is the “technical-economic” agenda, for which gce forms a response to economic market demands of a shrinking world in an era characterized by globalization. in this agenda, teaching and learning about the world are pursued within the classroom to help students become competent and successful in the global marketplace. instruction focuses on global environmental, humanitarian, and economic developments (gutek, 2013). gce seeks to balance individual and local interests with social and global interests (pike, 2008; schattle, 2007). furthermore, gce has been situated with the world history curriculum as a place where there are intersections between an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on student inquiry, interconnectedness, and perspective taking (girard & harris, 2013). mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 in 2009, frey and whitehead concluded that gce policies were at a formative stage of development, recommending that state and national policy-makers, academics, business, and community leaders, working with “champions” at the school level, should expand their goals from international to global education to broaden access to study abroad, world languages, and critical perspective-taking in us schools, and look beyond immediate economic and security worries to ways that educators and students can positively impact the world beyond national borders. (p. 287) research context study abroad opportunities for language learners is not a new idea; indeed, participation in study abroad opportunities increased significantly during the past decade. still, the majority of study abroad participants are found in higher education, and most of the research on the effects of study abroad experiences are focused there. for secondary students, there have emerged more summer programs and programs of shorter duration. well-designed programs contain academic learning, socio-cultural experiences, sight-seeing, and community service (wang & peyton, 2015). from 1998-2008, the u.s. experienced a 130 percent increase in the number of high school students participating in a study abroad program; of these students, the majority were junioror senior-year caucasian girls traveling to europe during the summer (national center for education statistics, 2010). the specific case study of culture studies high school attempts to provide an alternative to these statistics and illustrates the tension between educating for the global marketplace and social justice. we employed an interpretive research perspective because our goal was to collect rich, in-depth data of student perceptions of the study abroad experience and global citizenship. this case is an example of how, in the current education setting of test-based accountability and standards alignment, even good schools, with supportive leaders and dedicated teachers, are not able to teach gce for social justice. the school’s initial effort to integrate teaching about the world in a comprehensive way across the curriculum fell short of comprehensive gce, resulting in the addition of a specialized program of study serving a small minority of students. case study methodology the study was a basic qualitative study, relying on participant interviews as the principal method of data collection, pulling from the qualitative paradigm to address the research questions. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 participant interviews are a qualitative approach frequently seen in the field of education. creswell (2007) explained that this type of research is performed to describe meanings for several individuals’ lived experiences of a phenomenon. the interviewer collects data from persons who have experienced the phenomenon and then develops a description of the experience of all of the individuals. this description explains the “what” they experienced and “how” they experienced it. for this study, this was the most appropriate method to answer the intended research questions. the study design investigated a small number of students who reported on study abroad experiences, and their perceptions of the impact of those experiences on students’ understanding of the social studies curriculum and the world. participants were asked two broad questions: “what have you experienced in the study abroad program as it relates to the arts and world history? how has the study abroad experience impacted your understanding of global citizenship?” it was necessary to interview students about the study abroad and discuss their understanding of classroom learning as well as their perceptions about their knowledge. this design allowed researchers to look at specific students and compare students' experiences within similar situations. the researchers used recorded interviews to gather in-depth data from students. participants were presented with interview transcripts and asked to comment as a form of subject review. these two research phases allowed for a significant amount of breadth and depth of data to be generated to address the research questions. research setting. the setting for this study was culture studies high school (cshs), a large, urban public high school in florida. cshs undertook a successful initiative to integrate art appreciation into its advanced placement world history curricular offering via an online dual-enrollment college course and a short-term study abroad experience. the european excursion encompassed the cities of amsterdam and paris, focusing on multiple museum trips to experience history and art. this study represented the second year of the program. participants. research participants were 10 sophomoreand junior-year high school students, enrolled in both the art appreciation and ap world history classes, who attended the study abroad component and provided written consent to participate in this study, approved by the university institutional review board. of the participating students, five were female and five were male; five participants self-identified as ethnic minorities including asian (30%) and latino (20%). mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 data collection. the researchers employed multiple data sources: (1) student photos, (2) student journal entries, and (3) semi-structured participant interviews. we selected these data to provide a picture of the development and content of participants’ thinking about their experiences and global citizenship. participant pictures and journal entries identified initial themes, then student interviews were analyzed for greater detail about participant thinking. consistent with an interpretive approach, analysis of the observations, pictures, journal entries, and interviews was an inductive process. all student subjects participated in the interviews and recorded the trip with photographs, two students maintained written journals, and one student produced an electronic video journal. we coded the data by analyzing them for themes, keeping in mind the visions of global citizenship identified in the literature (table 1). for example, one theme was “study abroad led to greater comprehension of the history and art curriculums,” for which three primary codes arose from analysis of the three data sets: “history comes to life,” “encountering art in person,” and “overlap between the two disciplines.” these codes were then compared with the academic literature to help see connections within the two broader perspectives of gce. interviews and journal entries were analyzed line by line for coding themes and each instance was recorded and quantified. we looked for patterns within the data themes, which included weighting the numbers of responses for each theme as a percentage of the sample to provide an indication of the strength and representativeness of each view. table 1. coding themes for the meaning of the study abroad experience study abroad led to greater comprehension of the history and art curriculums 1. history comes to life 2. encountering art in person 3. overlap between disciplines study abroad enriches academic experience 1. see connection between art, history, and current events 2. foundation laid in classroom, verified in field 3. desire to participate in another study abroad study abroad connection to global citizenship education 1. 21st century skills 2. value of cultural proficiency 3. social justice mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 prior to interviewing subjects, we sent them an interview protocol: 1. please tell me about your experience in your ap world history class. 2. how would you describe your learning in the online art appreciation class? 3. please tell me how you would describe your study abroad experience. could you tell me about the impact, if any, the trip had on enriching your class experiences? 4. please tell me about how you first learned about the study abroad program. can you tell me more about the specific things you learned in either class that you also saw on the trip? could you tell me about the impact, if any, these observations had on your learning of world history? 5. some people have indicated that they believe that enrichment programs can contribute to student learning. talk about that. 6. talk about how important the study abroad was to your learning. which aspect of the trip was most powerful? why do you feel this way? 7. tell how your history and art appreciation classes supported your learning on the study abroad trip. 8. what could the school do to further enrich learning in the history and/or art class? 9. how could the school better the study abroad experience? 10. how did the study abroad experience influence your self-perception as a global citizen? is there anything else you might like to tell me today about the study abroad experience? interviews lasted 20-60 minutes and explored in greater depth the students’ perceptions of their learning and how they related that to global citizenship. interview questions asked students to relate their experiences in the traditional social studies classroom, the online learning environment of the art appreciation class, and how the study abroad contributed to learning course content and the concept of global citizenship. findings analysis of student photos, journal entries, and interviews revealed responses associated with the coding themes that emerged about their self-perceptions of learning on the study abroad mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 trip. students reported that the trip led to greater comprehension of world history and art content, enriched the academic experience, and connected with gce (table 2). greater comprehension of history and art curriculums students reported that the study abroad led to greater comprehension of the history and art curriculums as history literally came to life. a visit to the anne frank museum triggered a connection between history studied in the classroom and the trip experience. mimi journaled, in world history, you sit there and you take notes and you learn about it but you don’t really experience it. and when i went on the trip to the anne frank house, i thought, “how can someone do this?” everything felt so empty, but when i got to her room and i saw those cutouts, i thought at least there’s some part of the world in here. and i thought, when i was her age, that’s what i had on my walls, pictures of rock stars or whatever. and seeing those pictures made you realize that she really was just a normal, little 13-year old girl. why didn’t she deserve a normal life like the rest of us? significantly, personally encountering art was more powerful than seeing it in textbooks or online. alice said that seeing the art was the most significant part of her trip: i learned how important art is and how much of a story it tells to people for the future. it sets a precedent and without it, if art was prohibited, banned, and expression was banned, then we wouldn’t be able to look back and reflect upon our political, social, economic decisions. so i came to value expression and speech, like people standing up for themselves. you come to value how much courage and honor that holds to be able to do that. students discussed disciplinary overlap between history and art. amanda said, in world history, the teacher wouldn’t go into it, but she would show examples of those paintings and kind of talk about the artist a little bit, because that was an important part of that time period. and then i’ll remember certain details that i learned in the art class and i like to know that i know a little bit more than everyone else about the painting and then once we got into the world war ii era, they talked about post-impressionism and realism and all those art movements and i remembered i learned about them. it was really just interesting to like, see the connection between them. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 the literature supports embedding the study abroad experience in the world history curriculum (myers, mcbride, & anderson, 2015), and students supported the study abroad experience as an extension of classroom learning in world history and art appreciation classes. additionally, students reported increased ability to make curricular connections in other classes as a result of the trip. enriching the academic experience students reported that study abroad enriches the academic experience, allowing them to see the connections between art, history, and current events. jarid said, “it’s really important to branch out and get that worldly perspective on everything. like just walking out of the train and seeing a protest in paris.” he laughed and continued, “like, wow, that’s happening. i wonder why? and actually seeing it in person really, truly, makes a difference. seeing your current events in person. like we do them every other week, but to actually live it, it’s a different story.” the study abroad component enhanced the academic curriculum. the foundation for learning history and art was laid in the classroom, then verified by students in the field. mimi related this to the online art class: we see it on a digital screen, but you wouldn’t be able to experience how you feel, what you’re thinking in the moment—it’s better than sitting there and taking notes. i actually see the art work. i see what it means. it’s not something just on a computer screen. i am really fascinated by this opportunity to see everything. it’s not just a usual lecture, it’s also like an experiment to me, like how different would i feel if i saw it. sebastian made historical connections studying the conclusion of world war i in his journal: we recently learned about the treaty of versailles. and then we go to the palace of versailles where they actually made the treaty, it’s a pretty cool thing, i’m not going to lie. to know that these leaders were all in this one place and looking back and i was like, wow, i was actually there. importantly, anthony said that the study abroad experience helps retain information learned in the classroom: you understand history better because you have things to visualize like when people talk about paris and the eiffel tower and just france in general. you associate what you’re learning. you have that connection that you can make. even weird stuff. like in mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 amsterdam how they have the hooks on the buildings and you figure out what that means. i remember someone was moving and they moved upstairs in an apartment building. i’m like, why don’t we just have one of those things that brings it down and you pick up all your stuff instead of going through an elevator. and i’m like, “oh, we’re not in amsterdam.” all study participants believed that the study abroad experience positively contributed to their learning, inside and outside the traditional classroom. the literature supports the need for academic enrichment in addition to curriculum acceleration. students considered the study abroad experience to have so much value that they reported a desire to do more of this type of academic work. indeed, two students on this trip had already participated in a study abroad trip the previous year. furthermore, all of the students saw study abroad opportunities as an important part of their post-secondary education. sebastian said, i will try to do that in college. in college it won’t necessarily be like a teacher looking after me, so it would be a group of college students actually working towards something, with a goal in mind. so i think it will be an entirely different experience in which i will definitely try to venture out . . . . would really like to expand in other places (beyond europe). amanda, who has taken a number of guided trips in europe, was on this trip as a first study abroad. she talked about her future studies: “i don’t even care where i go (for college), because i’ll do study abroad somewhere else anyways. . . . in europe or somewhere abroad, i would be happier and probably able to expand myself more. so i think that travelling is very important to me.” this experience cemented students’ ideas of the importance of expanding the traditional classroom when given the opportunity to study abroad in college. connections to gce study abroad as a vehicle to increase comprehension and enrichment in classroom learning is valuable, but is it a contributor to gce? the literature supports the value of gce in relationship to building 21st century skills. only one of these high school students had previously taken a fully online course. for these digital natives, study abroad was not about maximizing their 21st century skill sets; rather, it was an opportunity to further utilize them. keanu and anthony reported meeting with a friend in amsterdam whom they had previously only known online via video gaming and associated chat rooms. anthony stated, mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 meeting myron in amsterdam was really cool. especially amsterdam being so perfect for that, because he just walked outside of the trolley and saw us there, like the fact that it’s a big well-known city, but still small enough that you can just find people like that. . . .we’ve talked to him for like years now online and it’s been cool. we were just playing one of those online games and we just ended up talking to him for two or three years. these students have the potential of experiencing the world and its people virtually; international travel enabled them to personalize those relationships. the students believed that there was an added value of cultural proficiency. melissa compared the foreign experience to her home culture: you had to absorb their culture and things about that place. so, it made you really realize how different they are from us. their transportation, first of all, is completely different. here you have to drive on the highway to get anywhere. there, a little train can take you anywhere. and also, how they speak english. here, we would not have anyone who would speak dutch. . . . they have a lot more of our culture than we have of theirs. for students, the academic experience contributed to this sense of cultural learning. alice explained, in the beginning, i didn’t really care much for art and i just thought it’s a bunch of people getting together and expressing their own emotions. but now i see it more like, they’re not just expressing themselves, but the people; what the people are experiencing at that time. like it wasn’t just a personal situation . . . i guess learning the way people live differently than americans. she also wanted to relate her study of history to her parents: i wanted to explain things to them that were relevant to how they saw history. so, when we were in paris, they were really looking forward to paris and they really saw the colonization of the french really impacted their architecture in vietnam. so being able to make those connections and talk to them about it was interesting because they were talking about how their grandparents knew how to speak french. amanda believed that cultural experiences trumped her learning, saying to future students: appreciate what you’re seeing. i went on a trip to germany with a few people who didn’t appreciate the german culture. it was painful to listen to them complain. so i would just mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 tell people to have an open mind and not judge everything, and just let go of home for a week and just look at what’s ahead of you and not think about all the other stuff that america has that this place doesn’t. foreign experiences allowed students to appreciate their lives at home and abroad, increasing cultural literacy in both instances. students communicated that the trip contributed to their selfperceptions in the world, taking important steps toward a critical stance. sebastian remarked, if anything, i feel more foreign. because for me to say “i’m a part of the world” would be very prideful of me and almost rude to the other cultures, because they developed a culture for like years. and for me just to go in there and say, “oh now i know about amsterdam, or no, now i know about paris” would be almost disrespectful to them. so i think, if anything, even though i know i’m a foreigner, i want to branch out more and learn their language, learn their culture . . . try to become a part of them and see if i can actually be able to go to a place and not be considered an american visitor, but simply another human being. alice related this disconnect as a challenge: i felt very out of place when i was in europe. i thought that i need to learn, like i need to know more. when you’re there, you realize how much [social] capital you’re missing out of . . . how much language means, the value of language and knowing how to communicate with people. a lot of times we take for granted the social media in the united states and journalism. and you go over there and you see all of our news on their newspapers. so i think being able to go there and see what i’m missing out on makes me want to become more active globally as a citizen. students recognized that in order for them to contribute globally, they needed more time and personal effort to engage critically. table 2. findings summary for the meaning of the study abroad experience findings: study abroad led to… documented by students supporting student quotations greater comprehension of the history and art curriculums history comes to life 10 “i can connect where things are now. when you’re there and in museums, you realize that history happened exactly where i am. like the mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 anne frank house – she was right there, in that spot. and so you remember it more.” encountering art in person 6 “seeing the night watch was just amazing. you see a picture of it in a book, and it’s beautiful, in full color, and rembrandt’s glory… for whatever reason i hadn’t translated in my head that the thing was the size of a room. it’s huge! i’m blown away by how you get to even paint something that big.” overlap between disciplines 4 “when i see the actual painting, i think, tell me your story. and just by looking at that painting, it’s telling me everything that i’ve been taught, but just in their pictures, in their image.” enriched academic experience see connection between art, history, and current events 7 “just walking out of the train and seeing a protest. like ‘wow, that’s happening.’ actually seeing it in person makes a difference. seeing your current events in person . . . we do them every other week, but to actually live it is a different story.” foundation laid in classroom, verified in field 10 “i saw pictures of the notre-dame cathedral and the flying buttresses on the website. i didn’t really understand the concept… couldn’t you just build more panels or something to keep it straight up? we everyone got together in front of the church, held hands and i swung on it. then i saw the church and oh, i see it now!” desire to participate in future study abroad 9 “it’s something i’d really like to do again. i felt like i learned a lot about culture and history. i want to learn more.” gce connections 21st century skills application 2 “our friend in amsterdam went on twitter and found out about what happened at our school yesterday.” value of cultural proficiency 8 “it feels a lot better to think that i can go anywhere in the world that i want and to know mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 that i can be comfortable in these other places, is really comforting.” social justice 3 “when i went to paris and amsterdam, i saw different cultures and thought, everyone is different. it helped me because it showed me that i shouldn’t judge them, i should be more open to them, and i should accept that there are different things out there.” conclusion this analysis demonstrates that the study abroad initiative to facilitate increased student learning can be judged successfully within the context of expanding comprehension between the art and history curriculums and enriching the academic experience for participating students. indeed, it proved to be a worthy counter to curricular narrowing and could be viewed as a first step towards students becoming global citizens. as a vehicle for gce, students reported that the study abroad experience demonstrated the value of increasing social capital in a global society and the application of 21st century skills in preparation for the workforce. students did not see a residual impact in the area of social justice, which may be expected in a short-term study abroad experience focused solely on history and art. however, students reported that their experiences were heightened by the ability to personally meet people previously only contacted via the internet. further, their comments indicated that they were taking important steps that enabled them to see themselves as citizens of the world. their humility and increased sensitivity to others helped them recognize the insufficiency of the short trip—in fact, it spurred them to desire greater cultural contact and longer-term study abroad experiences as they move forward in their educations, enabling them to become more critical global citizens. to that end, we would also judge the short-term high school study abroad as successful in opening the door to a wider range of experiences that would move students further along the gce spectrum. in an era of increasing nationalism, contributing to research that could inform funding and admission to study abroad programs in both secondary and higher education is beneficial. these programs allow students to appreciate the world’s art, architecture, and historical sites, giving them access to a different way of knowing and experiencing humanity. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 future research and recommendations future studies of high school short-term study abroad trips would be valuable to school leaders, study abroad coordinators, and teachers. this case study was conducted with students participating in an accelerated curriculum; it would be worth exploring the impacts of such programs with non-accelerated students. such studies could systematically examine how trips integrate student learning in the curriculum beyond explicit trip preparation and follow up. further research would demonstrate if these experiences engage students to transfer what they learn across the curriculum, not confining learning to the class on which the trip is focused. it would also be valuable to ascertain if short-term opportunities inspire students to pursue longer-term experiences in higher education, potentially engaging them to become active citizens working for social justice in globalized settings. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 references: advances in ap. retrieved on september 4, 2016 from https://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/initiatives/ap-we-service/how-it-works#studentrecognition asia society 60 years. 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(2015). global aspects of citizenship education: challenges and perspectives. in b. maguth & j. hilburn (eds.), the state of global education: learning with the world and its people (pp. 27-40). new york, ny: routledge. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.nasbe.org/wp-content/uploads/sg_structure_of_schools_2010_exec_summary1.pdf http://www.nasbe.org/wp-content/uploads/sg_structure_of_schools_2010_exec_summary1.pdf https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_233.asp http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/107-110.pdf http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/global-citizenship/global-citizenship-guides http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/global-citizenship/global-citizenship-guides journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 ravitch, d. (2010, march 9). why i changed my mind about school reform. wall street journal. retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/ sb100014240527487048693045 75109443305343962 ravitch, d. (2013). reign of error: the hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to america's public schools. new york, ny: alfred a. knopf. rizvi, f. (2009). towards cosmopolitan learning. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 30(3), 253-268. doi:10.1080/01596300903036863 schattle, h. (2007). the practices of global citizenship. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. skirbekk, v., potancokova, m., & stonawski, m. (2013). measurement of global citizenship education. unesco. retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0022/002292/ 229287e.pdf stewart, v. (2007). becoming citizens of the world. educational leadership, 64(7), 8-14. stone, j. r., & lewis, m. v. (2012). college and career ready in the 21st century: making high school matter. new york, ny: teachers college press. tanner, d. (2013). race to the top and leave the children behind. journal of curriculum studies, 45(1), 4-15. doi:10.1080/00220272.2012.754946 unesco. (2013). global citizenship education: an emerging perspective. paris: unesco. retrieved on july 21, 2016 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002241/ 224115e.pdf unesco. (2014). global citizenship education: preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st century. paris: unesco. retrieved on july 21, 2016 from http://www.unesco.ch/ fileadmin/user_upload/3_wie/bildung/global_citizenship_education.pdf unesco. (2015). global citizenship education: topics and learning objectives. paris: unesco. retrieved on july 21, 2016 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0023/ 002329/ 232993e.pdf mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.wsj.com/articles/%20sb100014240527487048693045%2075109443305343962 http://www.wsj.com/articles/%20sb100014240527487048693045%2075109443305343962 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/%20images/0022/002292/%20229287e.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/%20images/0022/002292/%20229287e.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002241/%20224115e.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002241/%20224115e.pdf http://www.unesco.ch/%20fileadmin/user_upload/3_wie/bildung/global_citizenship_education.pdf http://www.unesco.ch/%20fileadmin/user_upload/3_wie/bildung/global_citizenship_education.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/%20images/0023/%20002329/%20232993e.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/%20images/0023/%20002329/%20232993e.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 55-77 corresponding author: cnewstreet@udallas.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 wang, s., & peyton, j. (2015, june 4). study abroad for younger students: benefits, challenges, and solutions. web log comment. retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/ global_learning/2015/06/study_abroad_for_younger_students_benefits_challenges_an d_solutions.html about the authors: carmen newstreet is assistant professor of education at the university of dallas and focuses her research and teaching in promoting global citizenship education through study abroad and literacy. she worked in the broward county public school system (fl) teaching secondary social studies, and received multiple awards for teaching excellence. e-mail: cnewstreet@udallas.edu. jacqueline rackard is a secondary school teacher in south florida. she has taught english/language arts, reading, and research and is certified in english, reading, and gifted education. rackard served on the ap english development committee and has presented at national conferences, including ncte and the ap annual conference. mailto:cnewstreet@udallas.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/%20global_learning/2015/06/study_abroad_for_younger_stu http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/%20global_learning/2015/06/study_abroad_for_younger_stu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 84 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 violations of the educational rights of disadvantaged youth in the global age dr toni fuss kirkwood-tucker and dr alejandro josé gallard-martinez. florida state university and georgia southern university about the authors toni fuss kirkwood-tucker is professor emeritá at florida atlantic university and currently a visiting associate professor in the school of teacher education at florida state university. alejandro josé gallard-martinez is professor and goizueta distinguished chair and the director for the georgia center for educational renewal at georgia southern university in the teaching and learning department. ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract in the postmodern age, the ubiquitous processes of globalization have exacerbated violations of the basic human right to an education among underprivileged youth around the world. researchers and policymakers have not given serious consideration to the criticality of context when addressing wide differences in academic performance between mainstream and disenfranchised youth in the united states and other nations. cultural capital, habitus (bourdieu, 1977), and other contextual mitigating factors (cmfs) (gallard m., et al., 2013) act as important mitigating cultural, economic, and political contextual factors affecting the learning of students, and leading to educational inequities. yet, educational policymakers and stakeholders have failed to be explicit about the influence of such cmfs on global differences in educational delivery, as well as data on educational achievement and performance within and across countries. further, such failures of recognition have led directly to violations of educational rights promulgated in the united nations’ convention of the rights of the child (crc). only by making cmfs explicit and understand their impact on all education reform efforts can decision-makers help disadvantaged youth to attain an equitable education and find their place in the global age. keywords: contextual mitigating factors, educational rights, cultural capital, educational inequities. __________________________________________________________________________________ in this age of globalization, educational researchers and policymakers have failed to consider the criticality of context when addressing educational inequities in the lives of disadvantaged i youth in the united states and around the world. this failure represents a direct violation of the basic human right to education of children and adolescents. ii we recognize that some may view this position as extreme. after all, with the united nations adoption of the convention of the rights of the child in journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 85 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 1989, institutional recognition of the rights of young people reached an unprecedented level. iii yet, despite the efforts of school systems, educational reform movements, national foundations, philanthropies, the united nations (un), and non-governmental organizations, young people around the world continue to be deprived of their right to an education. further, contextual mitigating factors (cmfs) such as persistent poverty, classism, racism, sexism, and differential access to social and economic resources continue to impede educational attainment for all an in particular young people around the globe. in fact, it is our contention that underprivileged youth are prevented from advancing academically, socially, and economically precisely because decision-makers have not addressed cmfs as the fundamental causes of educational inequality. among the most potent of these factors are poverty and malnutrition, health issues, gender inequity, the physical conditions of schools, the quality of teachers, and the lack of pedagogical resources required for a quality worldclass education. our perspectives as international educators have informed our efforts to improve teaching and learning throughout the world. our theoretical positions have been shaped by our experiences: in one case, extensive work on globalizing curricula and pedagogy in teacher education programs and schools in the united states and russia; in the other, years of professional engagement with national education policymakers at the ministerial level and with teachers in numerous countries, including the united states. defining globalization for billions of individuals around the world education is vital to advancement. yet, for many young people the ubiquitous process of globalization has exacerbated flagrant violations of the basic right to education for millions of disadvantaged students around the world. for purposes of this discussion, we use stiglitz’ (2003) description of globalization: …the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world which has been brought about by the enormous reduction of costs in transportation and communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge and (to a lesser extent), people across borders (p. 9). in the turn toward globalization some may see the promise of boundless economic opportunities for all and the eradication of poverty and misery within the arena of a massive global culture. in reality, however, globalization has generated enormous detrimental consequences such as continued illiteracy, gender inequity, economic exploitation, racism, classism, and environmental damage (benería, 2003). these negative impacts, while often overlooked, have restricted the ability of nongovernmental organizations to improve educational, social, and economic opportunities for citizens of developing countries. although the un, for example, has made considerable progress in reducing disease, poverty, social injustice, hunger, and gender inequality in the world and has promoted universal education, improved maternal and child health, increased hiv/aids prevention, fomented environmental sustainability, and encouraged the development of global partnerships, its improvements point to a discouraging context for the education of disadvantaged youth. for example:  about 805 million people were estimated to be chronically undernourished in 2012–14. (un food and agriculture organization, http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/)  the majority of the hungry live in developing countries, where over one in eight are chronically undernourished. (un food and agriculture organization, http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/)  the top 1 percent of the world’s richest individuals earns as much as the poorest 57 percent. (food 4 africa, n.d., para. 1) http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 86 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585  two-thirds of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. (food 4 africa, n.d., para. 1)  more than 2.4 billion people do not have proper sanitation facilities. (food 4 africa, n.d., para. 1)  of the 6.9 billion people in the world today, at least 1.2 billion do not have access to safe drinking water. (food 4 africa, n.d., para. 1)  two-thirds of the world’s 876 million illiterate persons are women. (food 4 africa, n.d., para. 1)  over twenty thousand children in the world die monthly from preventable causes. (united nations children’s fund, 2010) article 24 of the convention of the rights of the child (crc) stands in stark contrast to these statistics, as it guarantees access to the highest attainable standards of health, including preventative health care services; provision of adequate and nutritious food; clean drinking water; reduced infant and child mortality; and protection from environmental pollution. in light of these guarantees, statistics such as those above highlight the basic violations of human rights in the lives of disenfranchised youth. we believe that educational researchers and policymakers who aspire to improve the academic performance and increase educational opportunity for disadvantaged youth fail to comprehend the fundamental and decisive role of such violations. stiglitz (2003) noted that the promise of poverty reduction had shifted into an acceptance of “a growing divide between the haves and the have-nots [that] has left increasing numbers in the third world in dire poverty” (p. 5). since most of us expect education to provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to compete within highly competitive global market systems, several urgent questions arise from stiglitz’ observation. for example, how can young people care about being participating citizens if the democratic processes in their country are compromised by powerful elites? how can disadvantaged youth throughout the world care about academic achievement when they live in environments that do not encourage learning? how can adolescents care about literacy when they are hungry? how can we provide educational opportunity for all when the majority of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty and despair? the larger context we assert that in this age of globalization the single most critical variable for achieving educational equity is an understanding of the myriad of cmfs preventing its realization. a holistic examination of global economic forces makes it clear that factors like social injustices and the unequal distribution of resources represent gross violations of decency because they define the context within which profound educational inequities exist. we believe that unless policymakers, citizens of developed countries, and government leaders intentionally expose and repair such mitigating factors, the potential of education to improve the human condition will remain severely limited. thus if decision makers are to cultivate educational equity, they must address the inextricable link between inequity in education manifested in local, regional, and global injustice both of which are critical cmfs to acknowledge and whose influence must be diminished if not eradicated. a critical factor in this discourse is the reality that all educational decisions in all subject areas in schools are context-driven, that is, mitigated by complex systems of influences from within and beyond the social landscapes. such influences lead to visible and invisible tensions between what educators may seek to accomplish and the reality within which it must be accomplished. yet it is necessary to address such tensions if we are to find effective, equitable solutions that help to purge poverty and social equity as a means to expanding educational equity. in fact, we view the process of education in its current forms of actualization as an effort to globalize hegemonic practices journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 87 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 precisely because efforts to equalize and make equitable educational opportunity in this global age ignore the world’s socio-cultural-economic contexts. the glaring lack of attention to context in educational research misleads educators and policy makers resulting in policy that is void of the general inter/intra dependent nature of contexts. not only do cmfs interact across and within all systems, but also a cmf such as poverty can be a system itself as well as be part of larger systems. we refer to contextual systems as holons, a term coined by koestler (1967) to refer to “any stable biological or social sub-whole which displays rule-governed behavior and or gestalt-constancy” (p. 341). the convention on the rights of the child the concept of human rights is an integral part to the notion of a universal, morally-principled world order representing the values embedded in a “combination of worldwide religious practices, cultural traditions, philosophical constructions of universal, natural rights, and western philosophy” (landorf, 2009, p. 48). a global declaration of human rights calls for all members of civil societies to share particular standards of behavior, based on the belief that certain undeniable moral truths exist and apply to all human beings everywhere. in today’s interdependent and rapidly changing world, the concept of human rights has become common in the language of contemporary global political dialogue, representing to many the moral foundation for regulating the political world order and achieving social justice for all members of humankind. thus, human rights extend from a moral universalism that forms the basis for rules and norms of interaction among people in society. just as importantly, this moral universalism forms the ground upon which freedom can take hold in the world (landorf, 2009). unfortunately, despite a growing consciousness about the imperative of human rights throughout the world, the rights of disenfranchised and underserved students are being violated. by accident of birth, minority newborns routinely become the underprivileged children of the world, prevented from reaching their potential by inequitable education systems. such children could receive an equitable education, of course, but only if cmfs such as those which are part of the power elite of researchers, policymakers, businesspeople, and educators take courageous and principled action to make contextual factors explicit and synchronize educational reform with broader reform efforts. the problem of educational inequality based on race, class, sexism and ameliorative efforts in isolation from their cmfs is not new, of course. an awareness of the need to extend particular care to the rights of children dates back to the geneva declaration of the rights of the child approved by the league of nations in 1924 (un documents, 1924). later global agreements addressing the rights of children include the universal declaration of human rights of 1948, the declaration of the rights of the child of 1959, the international covenant on civil and political rights of 1966 (in particular in articles 23 and 24), and the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights of 1966 (in particular article 10), all adopted by the united nations general assembly. the most recent is the seminal human rights treaty outlining the civil, cultural, economic, social, and political rights of minors (those under age eighteen) around the world, the 1989 convention on the rights of the child (crc) designed by the united nations with the intention of addressing the problems facing disadvantaged youth. to date, this implicit acknowledgement of educational and other inequalities suffered by the world’s children has been signed by all member states of the united nations with the exception of somalia, the united states, and the new nation of south sudan. concerns about the welfare and rights of youth also are addressed in other statutes and relevant instruments of specialized agencies and international organizations seeking to secure the welfare of children and the conditions in which they “can fully assume its responsibilities within the community” (ucr preamble 1989, p. 1). journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 88 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 the 54 articles of the crc direct signatory states “to develop and undertake all actions and policies” (http://www.unicef.org/crc/ n.d.) that serves the best interests of the child. this stance is radically different from the common law of many countries in the world, where children are considered to be possessions and can be treated as chattel in family disputes. article 2 (unesco, 1989) clearly stipulates that signatory states should respect and ensure the rights of each child within their jurisdiction: …without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s…race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other states…to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members. (para. 2) moreover, the crc states that children must be afforded special care in the “full and harmonious development of their personality…in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding” (unesco, 1989, para.1). within this directive lies the essence of our call for educational justice as a basic human right of all children. articles 28, 29, 30, and 31 specify, among other things, the need for primary education, compulsory, and available free to all…development of different forms of secondary education including general and vocational education…available and accessible to every child…financial assistance in case of need; higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means… measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates. (unesco, 1989, para.8) in particular, article 29 concerns a child’s right to sound psychological and social development such that educational efforts are directed to the development of the child's personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential…a respect for [their] human rights and fundamental freedoms… [for] their own cultural identity, language and values; for the national values of the country in which the child is living; the country from which he or she may originate; and for civilizations different from his or her own (unesco, 1989, para. 9). article 30 speaks directly to the conditions of minority children, and addresses the critical concept of inclusion, which has been the focus of heated discussion in educational and policy-making circles in the u.s., particularly with regard to the eligibility of non-native english speakers to be placed in mainstream classrooms, stating: in those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right in the community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language (unesco, 1989, para. 9). finally, article 31 is aimed at ensuring that a child’s creativity and potentialities in the arts are maximized to the fullest. it requests that states respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic activity (unesco, 1989, para. 9). thus, the crc represents a powerful humanistic document by which to support the basic human right to equal educational opportunity for youth around the globe. we strongly believe that the fulfillment of this ideal has the potential to eradicate the discriminatory status of underprivileged children in their societies and to protect them from economic, social, cultural and political exploitation. http://www.unicef.org/crc/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 89 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 the role and function of education in today’s world what then should be the role of schooling and, by implication, the function of education in a capitalist society (bowles & gintis, 2002)? if education means to socialize students to become competent citizens and skilled workers in a highly competitive global economy, three questions arise. first, is there a predetermined, universal set of cultural indicators that hegemonic forces use as filters to limit the potential range of a student’s participation in a globalized world? second, does the function of education as determined by policymakers and educators throughout the world include these same filters, and if so, are the filters enacted implicitly or explicitly in school settings? thirdly, are all educational opportunities equal and equitable? regardless of how one chooses to answer these questions, our argument throughout this discourse is that cmfs shape human conditions, vary from one place to another, and must be made explicit in the attainment of global literacy. is it unreasonable to expect that power brokers and policymakers should explicitly address the cmfs that impact educational opportunity at local, national, and worldwide levels? for those hegemonic stakeholders interested in maintaining economic and political control, the answer may be yes. nevertheless, as history shows, power can be transitory and human rights can be upheld. carnoy and levin (1985) observed: “on the whole, members of racial minorities and low-income groups are less likely to do well in school, and they are also less likely to do well in the job market” (p. 1). although carnoy and levin are referring to the united states, we believe that a systematic discrepancy between those who succeed and those who fail is a worldwide phenomenon because gatekeepers, representing a cmf, control the equitable distribution of resources which include formal educational experiences. thoughts to consider a cursory review of educational conditions around the world reveals that many countries have failed to provide education to young people “without discrimination irrespective of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status” (unesco, 1989, para.2), violating article 2 of the crc. nor have political and educational leaders extended to disadvantaged children the special care necessary for their development. despite the challenges faced by children raised in complex, poor, struggling households that lack access to educational opportunities, those in a position to do so have not seen fit to provide “the maximum extent of available resources” (unesco, 1989, para. 2) such children require. many disadvantaged children around the world have not seen their nations follow through, for example, on the basic assurance in the crc of the “production and dissemination of children’s books” (unesco, 1989, para. 2). the execution of such a fundamental goal is a requirement if the world’s youth are to meet national standards, satisfy their intellectual curiosity, maximize their inherent creativity, and gain the skills needed to create a decent life. because educational researchers and policymakers have ignored the complexity of contexts when making explicit the reasons for underachievement by minority populations, their work has failed to come close to attaining educational justice for all children. further, we strongly believe, that education as a global phenomenon can never be successful as long as cmfs such as western-style inquiry learning stands as the reigning pedagogical tool of educators around the world. in addition, global literacy for all can never be achieved as long as some individuals can take full advantage of their cultural, economic, and social capital and others cannot. in the united states today, for example, educational policymakers and educators increasingly emphasize the inclusion of disadvantaged and underserved students in mathematics and science journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 90 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 classes to the neglect of social science education (pace, 2008). in fact, social science education has played a secondary role in k-12 schooling since the stirrings of the accountability movement and standardized testing in the 1990s (hutton & burstein, 2008). in our view, greater attention must be paid to the cmfs that lead to some students being overwhelmingly represented in the sciences and others not, and why many minorities are underrepresented in the social sciences. by raising the questions necessary to make explicit how and why students are sifted into particular types of classrooms, we can take a step in the direction of more equitable educational opportunity for all children. concluding remarks we are convinced that from a theoretical perspective, we need to keep in mind that making explicit the interconnectedness of education and influencing cmfs is critical. yet, the picture that many researchers paint and that policymakers use for decision-making lacks insight into the specific ways that a cmf such as inequity, manifests itself and influences pedagogical acts in teaching and learning. the inability or lack of willingness to make explicit the multiple cultural, economic, and political mitigating factors embedded in educational data, teaching methods, or any policy formulated is the greatest obstacle to a deep understanding of how inequity manifests itself in societies and classrooms around the world in this age of globalization. unless the criticality of context and socio-historical legacies are an integral part of educational discourse, any effort to understand the impact of past, present and future education and development efforts are merely hollow. in summary, we strongly believe that the failure of countries to provide their minority youth with equal access to education is a gross violation of their basic human rights. the failure of educators and policymakers to make contextual issues explicit punishes disadvantaged children who, by accident of birth, do not possess the cultural capital of their more privileged peers. without correct habitus, these disenfranchised children will remain severely disadvantaged as they seek to find their place in the global age. references benería, l. (2003). gender, development and globalization: economics as if all people mattered. new york: routledge. bourdieu, p. (1977). outline of a theory of practice (nice, r. trans.), cambridge: cambridge university press. bowles, s. & gintis, h. (1976). schooling in capitalist america. new york: basic. bowles, s. & gintis, h. (2002). schooling in capitalist america revisited. sociology of education, 75(1), 1-18. carnoy, m. & levin, h.m. (1985). schooling and work in the democratic state. stanford, ca: stanford university press. food and agriculture organization of the united nations. (2014). the state of food insecurity in the world 2014. http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/ food 4 africa. n.d. “role of food 4 africa.” retrieved june 5, 2012 from (http://food4africa.org/who-we-are/role-of-food-4-africa/). gallard m., a.j., pitts, w., flores bustos, b., claeys, l., baynes, g., brkich, k., stevenson, a., & http://food4africa.org/who-we-are/role-of-food-4-africa/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 84-91. 91 | p a g e corresponding author email: tkirkwoodtucker@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 wassell, b. (2013, november) latina resiliency: in pursuit of stem careers. paper presented at the meeting of the world education research association (wera), guanajuato, mexico. hutton, l., a. & bernstein, j. h. (2008). the teaching of history-social science: left behind or behind closed doors? social studies research and practice, 3(1): 96-108. koestler, a. (1967). the ghost in the machine. ny: macmillan. landorf, h. (2009). toward a philosophy of global education. in t.f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education programs and schools (chapter 3, pg. 47-67). ny: peter lang. no child left behind act of 2001, public law no. 107-110. retrieved may 10, 2012 from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/107-110.pdf pace, j.l. (2008). inequalities in history-social science teaching under high stakes accountability: interviews with fifth-grade teachers in california. social studies research and practice, 3(1), 24-40. stiglitz, j.e. (2003). globalization and its discontents. ny: w.w. norton & company. united nations. (1948). universal declaration of human rights. retrieved may 10, 2012 from http://www.un.org/overview/rights.html united nations. (1966a). international covenant on civil and political rights. general assembly resolution 2200a (xxi). retrieved june 1, 2012 from http://www.un-documents.net/a21r2200.htm united nations. (1966b). international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. general assembly resolution 2200a (xxi). retrieved june 1, 2012 from http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/acescr.htm united nations children’s fund (unicef). (2010). state of the world’s children special edition. retrieved june 1, 2012 from http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/sowc/pdfs/sowc_ spec% 20ed_crc_main%20report_en_090409.pdf united nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization (unesco) (1989). convention on the rights of the child. retrieved june 10, 2012 http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/child_e.pdf un documents. (1924). geneva declaration of the rights of the child. retrieved june 15, 2012 from http://www.un-documents.net/gdrc1924.htm world data sheet. (2010). retrieved june 10, 2012 from www.populationeducation.org i the terms underprivileged, disadvantaged, disenfranchised, and minority are used interchangeably in the text. ii the terms students, children, adolescents, and youth are used interchangeably in text. iii in 2000, the united nations adopted two additional protocols for the protection of children. the first optional protocol restricts the involvement of children in military conflicts; the second optional protocol prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography. both protocols have been ratified by 140 of 193 un member nations. http://www.un.org/overview/rights.html http://www.un-documents.net/a21r2200.htm http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/acescr.htm http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/sowc/pdfs/sowc_%20%20%0dspec%25%2020ed_crc_main%20report_en_090409.pdf http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/sowc/pdfs/sowc_%20%20%0dspec%25%2020ed_crc_main%20report_en_090409.pdf http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/child_e.pdf http://www.un-documents.net/gdrc1924.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/optional_protocol_on_the_involvement_of_children_in_armed_conflict http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/optional_protocol_to_the_convention_on_the_rights_of_the_child_on_the_sale_of_children,_child_prostitution_and_child_pornography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/child_pornography journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 1-3. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 1-3. corresponding author email:kcushner@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 1 introduction to this special issue: intercultural education in the social studies kenneth cushner emeritus professor kent state university kcushner@kent.edu addressing education from an international perspective, it seems, has finally come of age, and there are myriad ways in which this is being addressed throughout various educational circles. similarly, educators at all levels and in all disciplines have seen increased attention being given to intercultural education and enhancing the intercultural competence of teachers and children alike. intercultural competence as a construct, however, is more challenging and complex to achieve as it demands the integration and development of the cognitive, affective and behavioral domains, first of teachers who themselves may be on their own intercultural journey before we can consider how to transfer this through various curricular interventions to children. the social studies, more than any other discipline, recognized long ago the critical role that education can play in addressing intercultural education. the roots of intercultural education can be found in the work of hilda taba who established the center for intergroup education at the university of chicago in the mid-1940s. robert hanvey’s (1976) seminal publication, an attainable global perspective, later set the stage for much of the subsequent thinking and development of the field of global education that included the work of such scholars as james becker, lee anderson, kenneth tye, willard kniep and merry merryfield. the recent surge of interest in international education in general and intercultural competence more specifically, can be seen in the publication of such documents as teacher preparation for the global age: the imperative for change (longview foundation, 2008), the asia society and edsteps publication, educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world (boix-mansilla & jackson, 2011), and the australian government publication, global perspectives: a framework for global education in australian schools (global education project, 2008); the growth in schools and universities worldwide that are adopting the international baccalaureate (ib); the establishment of the alliance for international education in 2002 designed to bring together educators, primarily from the international schools network, committed to advancing intercultural understanding (www.intedalliance.org); the focus since 2010 at nafsa: association of international educator’s annual colloquium on the internationalization of teacher education; and the appearance of the comprehensive global teacher education website (http://www.globalteachereducation.org/) in 2013. elements of intercultural education and the importance of developing intercultural competence underlie many of the recommendations and aspirations of these various publications and initiatives. taba was in many ways ahead of her time, with many of her recommendations of what was necessary to achieve intercultural competence supported by considerable research today. taba recognized that knowledge alone was insufficient in reducing prejudice, and that teachers (and presumably their students) had to be actively involved through firsthand experience, simulations or role play in intercultural experience and knowledge acquisition if significant change was to occur (banks, 2012). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 1-3. corresponding author email:kcushner@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 2 similarly, she was a strong advocate that teachers should spend time in the communities in which their students lived in order to become more effective in the classroom the articles included in this special section on "intercultural education and the social studies" in many ways reflect taba’s recommendations and what the field of intercultural relations has documented over the years—the important role that guided mindful and strategic curriculum planning, coupled with guided reflective experience, plays in enhancing intercultural sensitivity and competence. mattix, cunningham and wrightsman’s article, "using service-learning as a tool to develop intercultural understanding", describes the role that integrating service learning in secondary education can play in developing intercultural competence. the program describer here enabled 18 u.s. urban secondary students to participate in a 2 week service project in costa rica. the authors carefully describe the rationale, preparatory work prior to the experience, and the range of cultural, linguistic and community service activities in which students were engaged while in country. what is especially relevant here is reinforcement of the importance that interventions, activities and reflections are strategically planned and fulfilled. markus and moss’s article, "enhancing intercultural understanding for pre-service teachers through developing and sustaining education abroad experiences", emphasizes the role of experience in two semester long programs in england designed to develop a global perspective and intercultural competence of pre-service teachers. their programs provide an urban focus in london while a program in nottingham is specific to the preparation of social studies teachers. the authors describe the specific attention paid to purposefully facilitating intercultural learning through carefully constructed curricular experiences both prior to and throughout the program. kuo’s article, "a global learning wiki project for pre-service teachers", studied the role technology can play in facilitating dialogue between u.s. pre-service teachers and students in other countries around topics of shared interests. pre-service teachers and their overseas partners responded to one another’s inquiries to determine the degree to which the project enhanced their knowledge of other cultures, their competence in working with those culturally different from themselves, and the degree to which their technology skills improved. the final article by marx and moss, "coming home: continuing intercultural learning during the reentry semester following a study abroad experience", brings us full circle by emphasizing the critical role that re-entry plays in intercultural learning. it is one thing for students to participate in a wellstructured and mindful intercultural learning experience. it is something else to understand the importance that reflection and integration must take after that initial experience. intercultural learning, as empathized here, does not occur simply as a result of the initial experience, but must continue upon return when the student has time to reflect and consider how to integrate it into their personal learning. this is of special importance to understand as learning continues well beyond the initial experience, requiring educators to continue paying attention to intercultural learning upon the return home. this article documents how such an impactful experience can help participants learn to look at themselves, their role in schools when they return, and at domestic diversity through a critical cultural lens. it is understood that not everyone will be able to participate in an international experience, and much work needs to be done to identify curricular strategies that can be implemented at home that do impact intercultural development. what is important to understand is that if enhancing intercultural journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 1-3. corresponding author email:kcushner@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 3 competence is a priority of an international experience, as it should be, it is critical that we apply the essential elements that make it more likely that positive outcomes will occur. these articles not only support what intercultural researchers have learned vis-à-vis the essential elements that should be applied when developing experiences designed to enhance intercultural competence, they have demonstrated how they can be implemented in educational setting at secondary and tertiary contexts. kenneth cushner references banks, j. (2012). encyclopedia of diversity in education. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. boix-mansilla, v., & jackson, a. (2011) educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world. new york, ny: council of chief state school officers. global education project. (2008). global perspectives: a framework for global education in australian schools. carlton, vic: education services australia. retrieved from http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/gps_web.pdf hanvey, r. (1976). an attainable global perspective. new york, ny: center for war/peace studies. longview foundation. (2008). teacher preparation for the global age: the imperative for change. silver springs, md: longview foundation. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 38 coming home: continuing intercultural learning during the re-entry semester following a study abroad experience helen a. marx*, associate professor southern connecticut state university marxh1@southernct.edu davis hall, 115g, 501 crescent street, new haven, ct 06515 david m. moss, associate professor neag school of education, university of connecticut david.moss@uconn.edu _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: international experiences through structured study abroad programs are proposed as a powerful way to impact pre-service teachers’ intercultural understandings and competence. in recent years attention has been placed on the nature of such study abroad programs, seeking to illuminate design elements that might enhance intercultural learning prior to, during, and after such programs. though acknowledged as a vital component to such experiences, the literature lacks exploration of the nature of program design once students return to their home university, termed the re-entry phase. this article presents findings from a case study of a pre-service teacher during the semester following a study abroad program, illuminating programmatic elements of the re-entry semester that provided the student with the support needed to leverage intercultural learning begun during the international experience once she returned to their home university. the findings provide insight into the importance of providing purposefully designed re-entry programs that support students’ continued intercultural learning, particularly in helping students learn to look at themselves, u.s. schools, and domestic diversity through a critical cultural lens. _____________________________________________________________________________________ statements: this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. copyright will be given to the journal of international social studies should it be published in jiss. *contact person: helen marx mailto:marxh1@southernct.edu mailto:david.moss@uconn.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 39 introduction teacher education in general, and social studies teacher education in particular, are called to prepare teachers who are interculturally competent; such teachers must be able to teach within culturally diverse schools and educate youth for lives in an increasing interconnected global world. interculturally competent teachers are culturally responsive, socially just, and globally minded (apple, 2011; darlinghammond, 2006). however, research suggests that many pre-service teachers, the majority of whom, in the united states at least, are white, european-americans, lack intercultural skills, are often unaware of their own cultural identities, have limited intercultural experiences, and limited knowledge about the role culture, ethnicity, and race play in schooling, teaching and learning (hodgkinson, 2002; howard & aleman, 2008; nieto, 2004). teacher educators have sought ways to help pre-service teachers increase their intercultural competence, often creating programs that included internships and other experiential components where pre-service teachers enter into cross-cultural settings. international experiences, such as teacher education study abroad experiences that include the opportunity to work in a foreign school context have been proposed as a potentially powerful vehicle to promote pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence (cushner & brennan, 2007; mahon & cushner, 2002, 2007; malewski & phillion, 2009; marx & moss, 2011, trilokekar & kukar, 2011). much of the research on study abroad programs within teacher education has focused on the nature of the international experience itself and the program design elements during this phase of a study abroad program (peckenpaugh, 2014). however, there is general consensus about the need to support intercultural learning prior to such a program and, perhaps more importantly, upon return to the home university, termed the re-entry phase (szkudlarek, 2010; vande berg, paige, & hemming lou, 2012). for pre-service teachers, the ability to transfer intercultural understanding and intercultural communication skills learned in an international, cross-cultural experience to domestic, cross-cultural educational contexts is crucial (mahon & cushner, 2007; marx & moss, 2011). we argue that the re-entry phase of teacher education study abroad programs must be explicitly and purposefully designed to leverage the gains in intercultural learning made overseas. while there has been increased research over the last 10 years on the design of the international phase of teacher education study abroad programs (cushner & brennan, 2007), there is a scarcity of studies that investigate the programmatic elements of the re-entry phase of teacher education study abroad programs (peckenpaugh, 2014; szkudlarek, 2010). tang and choi (2004) conducted a qualitative multicase study of four pre-service teachers involved in a study abroad student teaching program within the teacher education institution in hong kong. while they found evidence of intercultural growth, a discouraging finding in this study was the tendency of the participants to “regard the international field experience as an isolated piece of professional learning experience, without much direct linkage to their learning-to-teach experience in the hong kong school context” (tang & choi, 2004, p. 60). the study suggests that more focus needs to be placed on issues of re-entry, that is, how to best leverage the intense but isolated international experience once students return home, a finding also discussed in the general research on study abroad (martin & harwell, 2004; peckenpaugh, 2014). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 40 this article reports on the program elements during a re-entry semester, illuminating how a program leverages the intercultural learning begun during a semester abroad once the student returned home. it discusses findings from a case study of a single participant and describes the program elements that influenced her intercultural learning after she returned home from a teacher education study abroad semester in london. erickson (1984) reminds us that the goal in such qualitative research is an in-depth understanding of a particular instance of a case to deepen our understanding of complex social phenomenon. these findings are offered with the conviction that carefully considering one person’s unique experiences can inform our understanding of the dynamic and complex process of intercultural development during the re-entry stage of a study abroad experience. methodology context this article presents findings from a case study of one student, ana (pseudonym used), in the semester after she returned from a teacher education study abroad program in london, united kingdom, called the london program. the design of the re-entry coursework within this program is considered a vital component of the london program. the students involved in the london program are enrolled in a 5year integrated bachelor’s/master’s teacher education program offered by a large, land-grant university in new england. the london program takes place during the final year of the program after the preservice teachers have completed their full-time student teaching experience in domestic school placements. in the fall of this final year of their program, the students spend 15 weeks in london, engaged in an intensive internship (20 hours per week) working in a british school and taking courses in the evenings. they then return to campus for the spring semester, the focus of this study, where they take a full course load, including a required research focused seminar and a multicultural education course, and complete a 20 hour a week internship in a u.s. school. the required seminar, open only to the students from the london program, is intentionally designed to help students make sense of their study abroad experiences and facilitate their growing intercultural competence. this extended year teacher education program requires six semesters of clinic placements over 3 years, with student teaching occurring in the 4th semester of the program. this international teacher education program takes place in the following fall (5th semester in the program) and the re-entry semester is their final semester before graduation and certification as teachers. data collection this article reports on one phase of a larger qualitative case study (see, marx & moss, 2011). within the larger study, data was collected in three stages over the course of a calendar year, following a cohort of 10 students during their pre-departure coursework, over the course of their semester-long study abroad experience, and in their re-entry semester. the study involved two primary data collection methods: participant observation and in-depth interviews. given the emergent nature of qualitative research, data sources were identified on an on-going basis during the study and collection methods were modified as needed. referred to as chain source sampling methodology (merriam, 1998), this allowed for data sources and collection methodologies to be informed by the data as it was collected and journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 analyzed. the methodology and findings reported here are specific to the third phase of the research study, encompassing the re-entry semester of the study abroad program. the lead author was a participant observer during the study; the second author was a faculty member leading the re-entry seminar. the participant observation periods allowed for a deep exploration of the context of the case participant’s experiences and provided occasions for conversations and interactions that yielded insights not possible through less authentic communication styles (patton, 2002). additionally, five in-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with the case participant, ana, over the course of the study seeking to specifically explore her growing intercultural development. the first interview was conducted prior to her departure; the second and third interviews were conducted during the study abroad semester in london; the fourth interview was conducted two days after returning to the united states from london, and the final interview was conducted 5 months after the study abroad experience ended—near the completion of the re-entry semester. this final interview focused on issues of re-entry, particularly on how the experience was impacting ana’s understandings of the socio-cultural nature of schooling. consistent with ethnographic methodology, all interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and supported by field notes taken during the participant observation periods in london. secondary data sources, such as student coursework, student written journals, and program documents, were used to corroborate and complement the primary data sources. data analysis a constant comparative approach was used for data analysis with a three-step coding process of open, axial and selective coding (merriam, 1998). this analysis included all qualitative data sources, including interview, participant observation data, and secondary data sources. the software program, qsr nvivo 7, was used for data analysis. the first phase in data analysis took place throughout the data collection phases of the study. an initial, organizational coding scheme was developed to keep track of the multiple data sources that allowed for ease of data retrieval during subsequent phases of data analysis. intensive data analysis began after all data had been collected, transcribed and uploaded into nvivo, and initially coded. in the first stage of open coding analysis, the data was approached in a holistic and open way, seeking to identify, name, describe and categorize events and phenomenon found in the data and guided by the research questions. an initial reading of all data was conducted and notes were taken seeking to identify emerging categories and themes. during a second pass, data was coded into distinctive chronological codes related to the stages of the study: pre-departure, during study abroad and re-entry. this overarching chronological coding scheme allowed for the evolution of the case participant's intercultural development to emerge throughout the next phase of analysis. on a third pass of the data, framed within these chorological codes, a descriptive coding scheme emerged that was then refined into a selective coding scheme through reiterative readings. the process of reiterative and comparative readings of data allowed the coding scheme to be refined, challenged, modified and expanded as the research questions were illuminated. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 findings in this section of the article we present findings from the case study of ana’s intercultural learning upon return to her home campus after spending a semester taking education courses and interning in a school in london, united kingdom. however, while the re-entry phase is often thought of as beginning once a student returns home from a study abroad experience, we found that re-entry actually began for ana in the last weeks of her study abroad program as she and her classmates began to prepare for their spring semester back on their home campus. though ana was not looking forward to returning to campus in the spring, feeling that nothing would compare to the excitement of her time in london, she was anticipating that she would enter her spring internship in a u.s. school with different ideas about teaching and schools. she explained this in an interview while still in london: i’m really looking forward to going home and seeing what happens. that, i think, will be very different for me personally and how i see things at home . . . cause sometimes you get in the mode, i know i was in the mode of, ok, well i am aware of these other places and these other things, and how people tend to live their lives. but i never really turned the tables and looked at it, at me, and then the states, and i think that is what i am kind of really looking forward to. i want to. . . . when i first start to teach, how, i really think that this will change the way that, i don’t know, change the way i teach. (ana, november 15, 2006) at this point she was not exactly sure what would change in relation to her teaching, but she did feel that much of what she was learning during her experience would become apparent to her once she was back home and she could compare and consider what she had learned about herself and culture in london. ana’s return to campus that spring was a harder transition than she had anticipated, as is often the case with study abroad students. after the intensity of the fall study abroad semester and the challenges and intensity of her school internship placement in london, the start of her spring semester on her home campus seemed dull and uneventful. once back on campus in january, ana and the others in the london program cohort re-united within their weekly seminar and in other education coursework. they also all began internships in local u.s. schools. talking to ana in january, it was clear that she was feeling let down to be back on campus, feeling that the semester was something she needed to get through in order to graduate so she could head off on her next challenge—finding a teaching job. while much of her spring semester was focused on thinking about her future career, she also found that london was often on her mind. in april, i asked her how often she thought about london and, without hesitating, she said “almost on a daily basis.” (ana, april 3, 2007) her life as a student in the states felt normal to her; not a feeling she was happy about. though she missed the excitement of living and working in london and often felt let down by her reentry semester, findings from this case study reveal that it was during this semester that she began to use the intercultural learning begun in london to look anew at culture within u.s. schools and about her own cultural identity. this phase of the case study sought to explore the ways the intentionally designed journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 re-entry portions of her study abroad program influenced her continued cultural learning, specifically the seminar and school internship. seminar: staying connected to london through an inquiry project one way ana stayed connected to her experiences abroad and to the others who had been part of the london program was through the completion of a required inquiry project as part of a seminar class. the 10 students framed their own research questions before leaving for london after doing extensive research on the u.k. educational institution and reading past london program inquiry projects. the project continued during their time in london, where they fine-tuned their questions, research methodology, and engaged in data gathering in their london placement schools. back on campus in the spring, the london program students used time in their seminar to compile the data they had gathered in london and to co-write an 80-page inquiry paper. the focus of their project was on student anxiety regarding national testing in the united kingdom. in their conception of the project they proposed that the united states might learn a great deal from what has happened in the united kingdom, where the push for testing and accountability has been in place for a much longer time. the group had collected data while in london; some conducted interviews with students and others designed and administered a survey to students. ana was in the interview group and was able to interview five students about test anxiety from her london placement during the fall semester. in january, ana discussed how committed she had become to this research project: i have a vested interest in it. . . . i am not looking just because someone said it might be interesting. i really care about it. i want to know. we have been working hard because it’s our own. it means nothing if somebody else tells you to do something. you have to really want to do it . . . being given the freedom to do what we want was great. we can’t wait to see what is going to happen. we keep talking about what are the implications. what are we finding? to really care that much about your own work. i always saw college as jumping through hoops. i don’t see that right now, cause i want to do it. it is not because i have to do it. it is because i want to. i think that’s something that has changed. (ana, january 5, 2007) the experience of designing, conducting and writing up this research inquiry project was intense, and, in important ways, provided ana and her peers with a research lens that helped them consider the cultural contexts of educational systems. for ana, this inquiry project was a significant part of her london program experience and helped her bridge her learning between london and her spring semester on campus. while we watched the 10 negotiate the difficulties of conducting research with nine other people, we were interested if the work they were doing was adding to their intercultural growth. ana was asked directly in april if she saw the project as impacting her intercultural learning: i think so. cause we are specifically looking at the testing (in the united kingdom). . . . i can sympathize and i can see the pressure on the teachers to be, to not be failing teachers, to not be part of a failing school. i can’t imagine the pressure that that must put on the teachers. that is a journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 pretty stressful thing to have that responsibility handed over to you. a first year teacher going into this… (i wonder) what is that going to be like? oh, i don’t know. i don’t know if i could handle it. (ana, november 15, 2006) watching ana and her fellow students present this inquiry project at a regional educational research association conference the following fall, we came to see that the research project offered a way for london program students to stay connected to their study abroad experience and continue to look back on their experience as they headed into their first year of teaching. a concrete product that bore witness to their time in london, the inquiry project proved an important avenue for their continued connections between their study abroad experience and their re-entry back into u.s. schools. the project built on the power of comparison between cultures as an avenue for inquiry. internship: continued learning in domestic, multicultural school contexts during this re-entry semester, and in addition to her other education courses and the inquiry project, ana spent 20 hours a week in a school-based internship. this school internship proved a powerful opportunity for ana to continue her intercultural learning and reaffirm her commitment to working within culturally diverse school contexts. ana was very excited to have the opportunity to work in urban schools during her internship because she was eager to compare her experience teaching in city schools in london to teaching in a city in the united states. ana anticipated that her u.s. urban placement would allow her to make more sense of her u.k. experience, as she explained: i will be looking for, to see if i do experience things like i did in london. just the way they treat students; it is what really interests me. are they as up front with students and where they are in the classroom, where they are intellectually, as they are in london? i know that part of that is cultural difference. (ana, interview, jan. 5, 2007) in her spring internship she found herself comparing the teaching she saw in her u.s. city school to what she had previously witnessed. what struck ana upon her return was the way the u.s. teachers managed their classroom, or more precisely, how managed the students were. when i asked her what her colleagues from london might think of u.s. schools, she answered without hesitating: “i think the quietness of the classrooms, the absurd politeness.” (ana, april 3, 2007) this contrast caused her to consider further that there was an american way of teaching, one that she now felt she needed to understand in order to better serve all her students. ana came home from london feeling interested in culture and seeking opportunities where she would be able to interact with people who were “not just like me” (ana, january 5, 2007) as she talked about her work in u.s. schools, she began to talk about how she could create a classroom environment where everyone’s differences, personal and cultural, were openly discussed: your background, your culture, that’s a big part of who you are . . . and i envision my classroom, the first few weeks getting to know the kids, and part of getting to know the kids is getting to know their cultures and their backgrounds and things like that. and i’d have to share my cultural background and my experiences with the kids too, so we can all be closer to the same page with journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 where we are coming from and what’s important to me, what’s important to them, what do we want to get out of this. i don’t believe that that’s possible to do without acknowledging that we are different, we come from different areas. and this, you may see this as being very important, or this as being respectful or rude. i may not know that you consider it rude when i do x, y, or z. and now i know. and now i’ll try not to do that. but you have to know that if i do mess up and i do do that, it’s not because i am trying to be rude. . . . it’s because i don’t, i, for me, that’s not an unacceptable thing to do. (ana, april 3, 2007) creating a space for open dialogue about culture and cultural difference was becoming part of her personal teaching philosophy. ana is beginning to express the very attitudes necessary for culturally responsive teaching; she understood that her own and her students’ cultural perspectives must become an explicit part of the culture they create in the classroom. ana’s desire to seek work in schools that serve a culturally diverse population was strong, a commitment that had bloomed in london and was spurred further by her spring internship. she had a strong sense that teaching in a school with a diverse student population would allow her to continue to explore her own cultural-ness and also be around students of many cultures. in her last interview she explained why she was so excited to work within culturally diverse schools: it will remind me everyday that my own culture is important and so is theirs [the students']. . . . i feel like i’m missing things if i don’t incorporate their cultures into my life and if i don’t help incorporate things from my culture into their lives. so i feel like it needs to go both ways. we need to share. (ana, april 3, 2007) in our final interview ana talked about how she was only looking for jobs in schools that served a diverse student population: when i am looking for schools, and places that i want to work, the first thing i am looking for is a diverse classroom. . . . i loved working in the classrooms in london, and the ones that i am in now, i really like the students that are there. it, for me, it’s, it’s a break from where i grew up and it’s different. and that’s part of what i want. i like the differences that come out of it, and the conversations that you can have. (ana, april 3, 2007) ana was seeking out cultural difference; it challenged her and intrigued her. ana’s intense desire to learn and grow—aspects of her nature that were clear before she left for london—were now clearly directed towards cultural learning. she wanted to learn from cultural difference and she had some confidence that she had begun to learn how to do this. in june she wrote an excited email; she had taken a position at a charter school in the regional city with a curriculum that that was explicitly focused on multiculturalism and whose student population was predominantly african-american. upon her return home from london, ana was looking at her life in the united states through a newly developed cultural lens; this was something that she had not done prior to going overseas (marx & moss, 2011). once home, ana began to consider for the first time the larger dominant cultural context in which she had been raised and the ways culture impacts teaching and learning domestically. the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 seminar and inquiry project carried out within her re-entry semester provided ana with structured opportunities that supported her intercultural development, particularly her ability to engage in cultural reflection and cross-cultural comparisons. ana’s internship within a school that served a diverse student population encouraged her emerging intercultural sensitivity and a culturally responsive approach to learning. as she looked to her future, she anticipated making culture and cultural difference—her own and her students’—an explicit part of the culture of the classroom. discussion and implications though students often regard their flight home from an overseas experience as the end of their international experience, re-entry should be considered a vital aspect in the process of intercultural development and a formal element of study abroad (peckenpaugh, 2014; szkudlarek, 2010). over 20 years ago wilson (1988) drew attention to the importance of this aspect of a study abroad experience, stating: reentry deserves more than a mere mention as the last stage on a chart or even the last chapter in a book because, as the word itself implies, reentry is not only the end of the cross-cultural experience of an exchange student or study-abroad student but the beginning of interpreting that experiences to others and using the experience at home. (p. 197) in the months after they have settled back into life on campus, students need to continue to hear echoes of their overseas experiences as they integrate their intercultural learning into new understandings regarding culture and cultural difference in their domestic cultural context. we believe that the re-entry phase is a vital component of such programs and should be intentionally designed to influence students’ intercultural learning. a re-entry phase of a program offers unique opportunity to support students as they reflect upon the contrast of cultures between their home culture and the host culture where they had lived within for a period of time. during this time of reentry, students often experience what has been called “reverse culture shock” (gaw, 2000, p.83) which, if supported, can provide the type of disorienting experience that leads to transformative growth (taylor, 1994). this study highlights the need for structured avenues to bridge the learning begun during a study abroad experience to the student’s educational experiences upon return to their home country. this study also provides some cautionary insight into the importance, and difficulty, of providing a safe and supportive environment for the difficult work of critical cultural self-exploration. it also highlights the ways that domestic internships after an international experience can challenge students’ growing understandings of the socio-cultural dimensions of schooling and commitments to culturally responsive teaching. need for structured avenues to support cultural reflection for ana, her intercultural development had only begun in london and this study points to the need to continue to provide structured avenues for purposeful and explicit support for such intercultural development upon re-entry to the home culture. in the spring semester—at home, on campus, and in the schools—ana continually compared what she was experiencing in the united states to what she had journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 experienced in london. through these comparisons she was exploring cultural differences and cultural contexts in new ways. ana continued to hear echoes of her experience in london as she worked with the london program cohort on her inquiry project. she also continually used her reflections of teaching in london as a catalyst for cultural reflection within her school placement. ana found that she was looking at her own culture and the cultural context that she had been raised in with new understandings. far from having reached the core understandings of her cultural identity, ana had just begun to think about herself as cultural. significantly, ana was seeking out intercultural experiences and, in particular, wanted to work in a school that served a culturally diverse student population. ana had returned home from london with increased cultural sensitivity and, within her work with students, she was exploring culture differences and the ways her own and her students’ culture might impact their relationship. educational research demonstrates the vital role cultural reflection plays in learning from cross-cultural experiences, both domestically and internationally (gay & kirkland, 2003; howard, 2003; trilokekar & kukar, 2011). ana’s experience highlights the need for the creation of a supportive environment for cultural reflection during re-entry into domestic learning opportunities. king (2000) proposes the underlying perspective to support such reflecting thinking: [u]nderlying respect for students regardless of their level of intellectual development; it acknowledges that the journey is each student’s journey and that the teacher’s role as guide is to choose responses that are adapted to the student’s needs. through respectful but challenging interactions like these, interactions that take account of students’ epistemological assumptions, teachers can promote reflective thinking. (p. 25) thus, such an environment must attend to students’ affective, social, and cognitive needs and create a safe space where students can share what are often difficult and confusing thoughts and feeling and take risks as they seek to explore new areas of understanding and consciousness. parks daloz (2000) states that such classrooms are: characterized by the establishment of a climate of safety in which people feel free to speak their truth, where blaming and judging are minimal, where full participation is encouraged, where a premium is placed on mutual understanding, but also where evidence and arguments may be assessed objectively and assumptions surfaced openly. (p. 114) berger (2004) describes such teachers as the guides who help students as they approach the “growing edge” (p. 339) of their knowledge and awareness. she suggests that these teachers must help students find and recognize their edge, be good company at the edge, and help to build firm ground in a new place. ana’s experience once she returned home suggests that such support must be explicitly continued upon re-entry, where pre-service teachers are afforded clear and purposeful opportunities to make connections between their study abroad experience and issues of domestic diversity. as such, there are significant implications for the design of teacher education programs beyond concern for merely the semester overseas. as teacher education programs evolve to include international teaching experiences, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 48 teacher educators must recognize that there are significant re-entry considerations to optimize and leverage the international experience towards goals of impacting teacher’s intercultural competence. if a semester abroad is to become more than an isolated experience, teacher educators must provide well designed and explicit ways for students’ to continue their intercultural learning once they return to the home campus. connecting international diversity to intra-national diversity teacher educators who promote the use of study abroad as a catalyst for pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence must also provide structured programs that connect international, intercultural understandings and skills to the development of intra-national, intercultural skills (banks, 2006; bennett & bennett, 2004; kymlicka, 2003). some critics of study abroad are skeptical of efforts to connect learning regarding international diversity to issues of intra-national diversity (hoffman, 1996), feeling that they often promote an overly individualistic and cultural approach to diversity. hoffman (1996) explains that these critics posit that the focus on cultural diversity within an intercultural and international education can allow students to avoid issues of power and privilege within the domestic sphere, stating: obsessive concern with culture masks the political and socioeconomic conditions that contribute to real inequity in contemporary plural societies – thereby making multiculturalism a safe way of sidestepping the important issues… [these are] overly cultural interpretations of multiculturalism that in the end reflect a reification of the concept of culture that masks continuing hegemony of established groups. (p. 548) critics are concerned that an intercultural development approach and international programs emphasize interpersonal change within individuals and might avoid issues related to race, class, and social justice. pusch (2004) acknowledges that the focus on cultural diversity within the fields of intercultural communication and in international educational programs do not always address the social and political dimensions of diversity issues, but proposes that current intercultural theorists are “making headway integrating the advantages of focusing on cultural difference with the realities of continuing inequities in privilege and power” (p. 28). theorists argue that such dialog about the social and political dimensions of domestic diversity, including institutional racism, require a level of self-cultural consciousness (bennett & bennett, 2004; pusch, 2004). in this case study, we found that ana was looking anew at domestic diversity and was just beginning to confront issues of power and privilege and the impact of these on the educational experiences of students. though clearly only just beginning to consider such issues, we found evidence that she had begun along the path towards becoming a culturally responsive teacher and a development of a commitment to multicultural education as central to the larger field of social studies. we were encouraged by her acknowledgement that this was an area where she needed to grow, a commitment that she did not express prior to her study abroad experience. we believe that the period of re-entry from a study abroad experience can be a uniquely apt moment for such growth in pre-service teachers. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 49 conclusion advocates for the use of study abroad in teacher education must attend to the period of re-entry and develop programs to leverage growth attained in international experiences. previous research suggests that international experiences can play a crucial role in the development of a commitment towards multicultural education (mahon, 2003; merryfield, 2000; paccione, 2000). paccione (2000) advises that developing commitment to multicultural education is a life-time’s endeavor and that international experiences can play a catalytic role in such commitments. this study supports that supposition; ana’s international experience clearly moved her forward in her development of intercultural competence. our research indicates that re-entry should be considered a vital phase of a study abroad experience and must be intentionally designed to support intercultural growth. teacher educators who seek to create overseas intercultural experiences for pre-service teachers need to better understand how to continue to support their students’ intercultural development once they return home. this study indicates that ana may carry the echoes of her learning begun in london as she begins her first years of teaching, yet does not provide insight into her continued development of a commitment to multicultural education throughout her career. teacher education study abroad programs seek to influence preservice teachers’ intercultural competence, preparing teachers to work within culturally diverse schools and educate youth for lives in an increasingly interconnected global world. continued research is needed that explores the types of programmatic interventions that within a re-entry semester leverage intercultural growth during the remainder of a student’s time on campus and as they begin enter professional service. references apple, m. 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(2011). disorienting experiences during study abroad: reflections of preservice teacher candidates. teaching and teacher education, 27, 1141–1150. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 38-53. corresponding author email: marxh1@southernct.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 52 vande berg, m., paige, r. m., & hemming lou, k. (2012). student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it. sterling, va: stylus. wilson, a. h. (1988). reentry: toward becoming an international person. education and urban society, 20(2), 197–210. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 114 “they don’t tell it”: indigenous social studies teachers transforming curricula in post-conflict guatemala beth c. rubin, (beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu) rutgers, the state university of new jersey abstract: this analysis considers the complex ways that attempts to create a liberal, democratic guatemalan national identity through policy-driven curricular reform were taken up, engaged with, contested and transformed at the local level by indigenous social studies teachers. while post-conflict education initiatives aimed at civic reconstruction proliferate globally, this investigation draws on qualitative data collected in a variety of school settings to provide insight into the complexities of moving from policy to practice, highlighting the significant part played by social studies teachers in this process. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “now here in guatemala it is said that rios montt1 committed genocide against . . . our indigenous culture. our maya culture . . . but we all don’t know this because they don’t explain it, they don’t tell it.” social studies teacher, el básico,2 a village public middle school in 1996, 36 years of violence between army and guerilla forces in guatemala came to an end with the signing of the firm and lasting peace accords. these un-brokered accords included a promise by the government to “design and implement a national civic education programme for democracy and peace, promoting the protection of human rights, the renewal of political culture and the peaceful resolution of conflicts” (seide & wilson, 1997, p. 55). embedded in these documents, as in many post-conflict settings, were policy directives centering national civic reconstruction on the creation, through education, of a new guatemalan citizen, one devoted to peace, human rights, multiculturalism and democracy. part of a broader global emphasis on educating for democratic citizenship in post-conflict settings (freedman, weinstein, murphy, & longman, 2008), these ideas can be understood as policyscapes, globalized messages “projected across educational spaces and translated in ways that resonate in particular contexts” (carney, 2009, p. 69). 1 during the time of this data collection effort, former president and general efrain rios montt was on trial for genocide of the ixil maya people in the western highlands of guatemala during in the early 1980’s. he was convicted in may 2013, but the conviction was overturned later that month. the trial resumed in january 2015, and was suspended one year later. 2 pseudonyms are used for the names of all people and places in this manuscript. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 115 this recasting of contentious political problems in abstract, globalized terms (dreyfus & rabinow, 1982) diverged from indigenous3 teachers’ interpretations of national history in the social studies classrooms of post-conflict guatemala. in el básico, profe4 pedro, the school’s social studies teacher, critiqued the national curriculum for its glaring silence on questions of violence and cultural annihilation. explaining the purpose of his class, he told his middle school students, “we don’t know this [historical and contemporary atrocities committed against guatemala’s indigenous population], because they don’t explain it, they don’t tell it. we are here, we come to form ourselves bit by bit, and this is what this course is about”. presented with a curriculum they felt did not meet the needs of their communities, the teachers in this study innovated, creating curricula that explored the country’s painful history and interpreted its contentious present. drawing upon qualitative data collected in two schools serving indigenous students and one serving a ladino5 population, this paper considers the complex ways that attempts to create a liberal, democratic guatemalan national identity through policy-driven curricular reform were taken up, engaged with, contested and transformed at the local level by indigenous social studies teachers. while post-conflict education initiatives aimed at civic reconstruction proliferate globally, this investigation provides insight into the complexities of moving from policy to practice in such settings, highlighting the significant part played by social studies teachers in this process. situating the study the guatemalan context guatemala’s history stretches back thousands of years to a pre-colonial mayan civilization marked by astounding artistic, astronomical and engineering accomplishments, a brutal spanish conquest and colonial period, in which the area’s indigenous inhabitants were forced to work their own appropriated lands. this was followed by independence from spain, largely benefiting the wealthy creole (spanish descendants) class; liberal reform; u.s. intervention; military dictatorship; and a 36 year-long armed struggle between populist guerilla groups and the country’s military regimes, broadly recognized as vastly uneven in the relative power of and consequences for the two groups (perera, 1993; sanford, 2003). 3 indigena (indigenous) is the term commonly used in guatemala to refer to people of mayan ancestry. between 40 and 60% of guatemalans consider themselves to be indigenous, many speaking one of the 21 different languages that evolved from a common language spoken about 4,000 years ago (french, 2010). 4 profe, short for profesor, is a commonly used honorific for male teachers. 5 ladino is the term commonly used in guatemala to refer to people with european (mainly spanish) or mixed ancestry. unlike the term mestizo (commonly used in mexico), it does not reference ethnic mixing, but rather language assimilation. hale notes, “ladinos are heterogeneous but generally dominant in relation to the indigenous majority” (2006, p. 3). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 116 throughout the 19 and 20th century, guatemala’s indigenous population suffered disproportionately and systematically (grandin, levenson, & oglesby, 2011). indigenous guatemalans were exploited for their labor, lived in poverty, and had limited access to resources and opportunity. of the 200,000 people killed during the armed conflict, 80% were indigenous (rothenberg, 2012). however, in contrast to many other regions in the americas, and despite consistent oppression, these communities have remained intact, maintaining language and traditions. today, in this country of 15 million people, up to 60% of guatemalans consider themselves indigenous, speaking 21 languages, wearing distinctive clothing, following syncretistic religious traditions, and often maintaining particular forms of local governance and justice (international work group for indigenous affairs, n.d.). guatemala’s indigenous citizens continually shift, improvise and craft hybrid practices and identities amid the rapidly changing local and global context (goldin, 2009; seider, 2002; way, 2012). this includes a new sense of a pan-mayan identity emerging over the past several decades, el movimiento maya, around which many indigenous guatemalans have mobilized politically, (fischer & brown, 1996). as party to the development of the 1996 peace accords, indigenous groups organized under this framework successfully advocated for a wide swath of rights and recognitions to bring their disenfranchised voices into the national conversation (hale, 2006). post-conflict educational policy in guatemala the guatemalan peace accords explicitly tasked post-conflict healing and the development of a culture of peace and democracy to the country’s educational system. this emphasis on democratic civic education is part of a broader latin american trend over the last two decades, in which “civic education in schools has been reconceived as a space for fostering democratic citizenship” (levinson & berumen, 2007, p. 1). much of the language around democratic citizenship education in latin america can be traced to international bodies, such as the organization of american states (oas) and the organización de estados iberoamericanos (oei), and u.s.-based non-profits such as the center for civic education (p. 8). in societies seeking civic reconstruction after violence and genocide, these western-devised educational programs “are directed at building independence of thought and an orientation to democracy . . . developing tolerance, diminishing stereotypes and promoting reconciliation” (weinstein and freedman, 2007, p. 43). in guatemala, the 1996 peace accords were seen as a primary vehicle for the development of a “more tolerant, peaceful and just guatemalan society” (united nations general assembly, 1997) a complex set of documents developed over 7 years of negotiations, the accords consisted of 13 agreements containing more than 300 commitments and recommendations. these agreements, with mandates for education scattered throughout (cojtí cuxil, 2002), placed a challenging and extensive task at the feet of guatemala’s poorly functioning educational system. 6 developed by local and foreign experts and completed in 2004, the currículum nacional base (cnb) was built around four ejes (central ideas)— democratic life and culture of peace, unity in diversity, sustainable development, and science and 6 at time of the peace accords, indigenous literacy was 28%, with extremely low levels of schooling: an average of 1.8 years for boys and .9 years for girls. for non-indigenous guatemalans schooling was better, but still inadequate, with an average of 4.5 years for boys and 4 years for girls (poppema, 2009). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 117 technology (ministerio de educación, 2013), firmly framing the country’s educational reform efforts amid global policy discourses. these mandates for democracy, peace, diversity and progress found expression largely within the social studies curriculum, through its emphasis at every grade level on multicultural education, human rights, and the development of "a culture of peace” (ministerio de educación, n.d., n.p.) this globalized framing lent a generalized feel to the language of the cnb, reflecting what shamsie (2007) called “the oas broader peace building paradigm of liberal internationalism” (p. 419). larger questions of justice and responsibility were sidestepped in the curriculum by positioning the armed conflict as a step on guatemala’s inevitable progress toward peaceful democracy. as oglesby (2007) notes, “in the recent textbooks and in material produced by both human rights groups and international institutions, the inclusion of material on the war is a brief prelude to a much longer elaboration of other topics related to civic education and citizen formation” (p. 183). this focus on democratic citizenship is apparent in the treatment of the armed conflict in state approved social studies textbooks. despite its role as the impetus for curricular change, discussion of the conflict is buried amid pages devoted to human rights and conflict resolution (oglesby, 2007). in one textbook, a scant paragraph on the internal armed conflict is eclipsed by four pages devoted to painstakingly elaborated details of the peace accords (fundación para el enaltecimiento de la herencia cultural de guatemala, 2012). in an approach heavy on international and regional themes and light on the specifics of guatemalan history, another textbook dedicates almost 20 pages to describing the un’s human development index, with one page on the armed conflict wedged between a page on central american armed conflicts and the end of the cold war, followed by five pages detailing the central american peace processes, the guatemalan accords, democracy strengthening measures, globalization and regional economic development (santillana, 2010). curricula regarding maya history and culture reflected multicultural discourses focusing on the “preservation and valorization of maya culture, especially in a folkloric sense” (hale, 2002, p. 519) rather than directly engaging with historical and contemporary injustices experienced by the country’s indigenous population. civic education in post-conflict settings over the past several decades, the implementation of democratic civic education has become a common prescription for the civic reconstruction of post-conflict societies (freedman et al., 2008; levine & bishai, 2010; quaynor, 2011). across the globe, educational changes are seen as fundamental to the creation of peaceful, tolerant and democratic civic identities, the key to “social reconstruction, a better future, and a lasting peace” (levine & bishai, 2010, p. 663). intergovernmental organizations, such as the united nations and the world bank, have been at the forefront of the global promotion of democratic citizenship, evidenced by the similar language employed in civic education documents of various nations (cole & barsalou, 2006; quaynor, 2011). literature examining these efforts describes tension, in many settings, between the desire to create a “usable past” (fullinwider, 1996, p. 222) that might help move the society forward into a post-conflict future, and the equally pressing need for an honest reckoning about the country’s difficult history. this “clash between the needs of post-conflict . . . societies and the accurate depiction of a negative past” challenges those crafting curricular approaches, as with the ongoing dispute in guatemala over which version of the history of the internal armed conflict to include in the new national curriculum journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 118 (cole, 2007, 19). discomfort with digging into the historical specifics of conflict, combined with the influence of international actors, can translate into curricula and practices designed to avoid controversy (cole & murphy, 2009; joseph, 2005; niens & chastenay, 2008; quaynor, 2011). closely related, is the difficulty of designing a curricular approach to healing identity-based conflicts embedded in longstanding structural inequalities (ben-porath, 2006; niens & castenay, 2008). finally, teachers and their pedagogical choices can complicate the enactment of civic education policy. teachers may not be committed to a revised curriculum, may choose to ignore a new textbook, or may face political and social pressures to avoid controversy (cole, 2007; cole & barsalou, 2006; cole & murphy, 2009). pedagogies that encourage dialogue, debate, inquiry and discussion to develop democratic citizenship may be out of their reach, either through lack of training, inadequate resources, political climate or personal choice. although civic education policies depend upon teachers to transform society through their practice, their goals, preparation and constraints are seldom considered in these edicts (robertson, 2012). social studies teachers as policy interpreters as these efforts demonstrate, many policymakers conceptualize educational policy as an effective lever for democracy promotion (levinson & doyle, 2008, p. x). policy, however, is enacted locally, amid the varied historical, cultural, economic and political contours of particular settings. “globally circulating discourses” about educational practice can be far removed from what teachers actually do within their classrooms (varvus & bartlett, 2012; paine & zeichner, 2012, p. 574). social studies teachers, responsible for operationalizing policies targeted at post-conflict civic development, played a key, yet undertheorized and understudied, role in this process. based upon data collected at a number of guatemalan schools, this manuscript describes how indigenous teachers in guatemala reinterpreted policy, creating curricula to educate their students about the historical and contemporary injustices they felt were neglected within the cnb. seeing national history and contemporary civic and economic inequalities as manifestations of a “coloniality of power”—the present-day persistence of european colonialism in the form of vast disparities of wealth, opportunity and justice (quijano, 2000)—these social studies teachers recast educational policies aimed at post-conflict civic reconstruction by shifting the focus from democratic citizenship education to issues of structural and historical injustice. methods this qualitative, vertical case study investigates, in the guatemalan setting, post-conflict education aimed at civic reconstruction. it considers this policy, as it moves from the national level to local enactment, illuminating the complex and situated nature of this process (bartlett & vavrus, 2014). this analysis draws upon policy documents, curricular materials and data from classroom observations, focus groups and interviews, taking the interpretive approach that is most appropriate for a study investigating the meaning of complex phenomena. research sites part of a larger study of civic identity development in post-conflict guatemala, this analysis focuses on data collected at three schools. selected because of their relevance to understanding how indigenous journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 119 social studies teachers implement post-conflict educational policy, their salient characteristics are described in table 1. table 1. data collection sites name type location level population size el básico public village middle school indigenous, low income approx. 500 el colegio private city k-12 ladino, middle to high income approx. 500 nuestro futuro public rural high school indigneous, low income approx. 400 data collection procedures and participants the principal investigator, assisted for a period of time by a research assistant, collected data through classroom observation, focus groups with students, interviews with students and teachers, and analysis of curriculum documents. data collection took place over the course of 6 months. data analysis this analysis employed a grounded theory approach (glaser & strauss, 1967), “an inductive strategy for generating and confirming theory that emerges from close involvement and direct contact with the empirical world” (patton, 1990, p. 153). in practice, this meant that multiple readings of this complex data set generated a large number of codes (103), which i then organized into broad analytical categories (civic learning at school, government and politics, identity, national history, problems facing the country, social class, civic stances). the online data management system, dedoose, was used to manage the coding, categorization, and generation of analytical memos on emerging themes. this analysis draws upon a subset of data from the larger study to consider how indigenous teachers interpreted the new national curriculum. the researchers the principal researcher in this project is white, north american woman who is fluent in spanish and has spent a number of years in central america. a graduate student, also a white, north american woman fluent in spanish and with experience studying and conducting research in latin america, assisted her with data collection for several weeks and with data analysis over the past 12 months. the study was limited by not having the insight and understandings that a guatemalan researcher could bring to the inquiry and the power disparities between north american academics and working class guatemalan youth and educators. i attempted to mitigate these shortcomings through careful and attentive and data collection and analysis emphasizing the experiences and ideas of people whose perspectives are not often reported, soliciting feedback on protocols from participants and a guatemalan scholar, discussing findings with interested participants and local scholars, and attention to secondary sources. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 120 “we remember this so that a scar doesn’t remain” indigenous social studies teachers reinterpreting national education policy guatemalan post-war education policies were developed amid the influence of a global educational policyscape of human rights, democratic and multicultural education. produced through a painstaking, multi-partied peace process, these policies reflected an attempt to weave past events into a narrative of national progress. youth and educators in different guatemalan communities appropriated, interpreted, resisted and transformed these policies in varying ways. these findings describe and interpret how, in a variety of settings, indigenous social studies teachers transformed the national curriculum to meet what they felt were the needs of particular communities. nuestro futuro traveling slowly on the country’s battered rural roads, the 117 kilometers between the capital city and nuestro futuro, a rural public secondary institute serving several hundred indigenous students, took me 7 hours to complete. a wooden sign affixed to the chain link fence surrounding the school compound welcomed visitors in both spanish and the local maya language.7 nuestro futuro consisted of two rows of one-story cinderblock buildings, some set up as classrooms, with plastic picnic tables and chairs for students, others with beds, housing the school’s internados, boarding students who hailed from even more distant rural villages. a roughly built outhouse, buzzing with flies and containing two primitive outdoor toilets, provided the sanitary facilities for the entire school. at nuestro futuro, educators deviated from the national curriculum, infusing curriculum and pedagogy with locally fashioned indigenous connections. sonia, director of the non-profit organization that ran the school, explained their approach to teaching rural development as “learning about their ancestors’ ways of caring for the earth”. this connection to indigenous ancestors suffused the school’s teaching methodology. in the school’s hot and dusty classrooms, young people sat in groups of four—two girls and two boys—around worn plastic picnic tables. profe rolando told me that the seating arrangement came from maya cosmology, with four students representing four directions, four different elements, and they balanced each other out. “we each have our own way of thinking,” a boy explained. “we all have our own perspectives and can learn from each other,” affirmed another. when profe asked the students to explain the school’s values to me, “respect for the ancianos” (elders), was the first one proclaimed. nuestro futuro’s social studies curriculum focused on remembering injustices suffered by the indigenous community over time. “they teach them about the political situation,” said directora sonia, explaining the emphasis in the history curriculum on “how people, to keep power, used mechanisms to pacify the population from very early. they took grandparents to work on farms, indebted them, then they had to work on the farms. the role that other states have played in financing this situation. this year” she said, “they used two texts, one in [the indigenous language], about the maya community, the 7 one of the smaller of guatemala’s 22 indigenous language groups, i have not named the language spoken in this community so as not to identify the school. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 121 history of [the community].” these materials were locally created, supplanting a national curriculum that the school’s adults did not feel met their students’ needs to learn about their history and ready themselves for their futures as rural, indigenous citizens. study of the armed conflict was an explicit part of the school’s curriculum. the school itself was founded by a survivor of a local massacre during the worst years of the war, and was intentionally designed to provide secondary education to the indigenous descendants of small agricultural villages particularly impacted by the conflict. the school’s unique carrera (curricular focus) in community and rural development was coupled with an equal emphasis on memoria historica (historical memory) of the armed conflict and cultural preservation. on the second morning of my visit, the school held a ceremony to commemorate a massacre that occurred during the armed conflict. students convened on the playing field, standing in a circle around a central altar. each grade came forward to share a different reflection, commemorating the 1991 spanish embassy burning in which rigoberta menchu’s father was killed. directora sonia explained that they did not want the kids to forget “the history. it is painful but important.” historical memory, she said, is “knowing the historical truth. state sponsored education never gives it.” in interviews and focus groups, students reaffirmed their school’s commitment to historical memory. “here we study it a lot; there are books and readings where we can read everything that the massacre victims have narrated,” a student explained. the school’s self-produced textbook was boldly direct, concretely outlining the role of the state controlled electrification institute and foreign investors in the massacre of protesters and subsequent flooding of a local community in order to develop a hydroelectric plant. a first hand account by the school’s founding benefactor of his family’s murder by the armed forces was illustrated with pen and ink drawings, followed by a detailed recounting of the traditional life disrupted by the armed conflict. over the course of the school year, students participated in commemorations of massacres that occurred in the area, including an arduous, 2-day field trip to the site of this destroyed community. student linda told me of her desire to keep these memories alive. “we remember this so that a scar doesn’t remain; by narrating it from generation to generation, everyone understands what happened to other people.” el básico at el básico middle school, located in a village of 10,000 inhabitants near a larger city inhabited by a largely kaqchikel8 population, students kicked soccer balls across the dusty concrete plaza in front of the school’s mint green classroom buildings. modestly outfitted with worn wooden desk-chairs, smudged windows, inadequate lighting and sparse resources, el básico was still a step up in comfort from the bare bones conditions of nuestro futuro. 8 twenty-one mayan languages are spoken in guatemala. kaqchikel, spoken in the el básico community, is one of the larger linguistic groups, with around 450,000 speakers. the linguistic group served by nuestro futuro is quite small, and therefore i have omitted its name to preserve the anonymity of the participants. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 122 el básico’s social science teacher, profe pedro, described the town as “a highly indigenous community, where the people are descendants of the maya-kaqchikel culture.” highlighting the impact of spanish conquest on the original inhabitants of the area, profe pedro of el básico, told his class a version of history distinct in tone and perspective from that found in state approved textbooks. connecting his students directly to the region’s pre-colonial mayan population, he lectured that, “sadly, they [the spanish] came to assassinate all our culture. they came and they killed, they assassinated, they raped the maya population. and as part of this, they took our territory.” in focus groups, students identified strongly with the vanquished maya, equating them with guatemalans. student josue, in an interview explained that one of the worst moments in guatemalan history was “when the spaniards came. what they did, they stole everything . . . in santiago there were mines of gold, they went in and they were bad the spaniards, they came here to rob. they took everything.” cesar concurred, attributing guatemala’s current poverty to the trickery of the spanish. he explained, “when spain came here to guatemala, guatemala wasn’t poor. because they say that before there was gold and silver, everything, but the spaniards when they came they say that they subordinated the people of guatemala, they made them think that a little mirror was better than gold and silver.” students expressed pride in indigenous resistance to the spanish. students in el básico, when asked to selected images of things that made them proud to be guatemalan, choose an image of tecún umán, guatemala’s official national hero, thought to be the last ruler of the k’iche’ maya people. although difficult to substantiate historically, the popular legend that appeared in textbooks was that he was slain by conquistador pedro alvarado while resisting spanish conquest. they chose him, “because he defended us against the spaniards.” expressing direct identification, students said they were proud because, “he was indigenous . . . [and] we also are indigenous.” students at nuestro futuro also selected tecún umán as a symbol of guatemalan pride because “he is the king of the maya and he fought until the end with the spanish, but he couldn’t, and what they did was kill him, and for this we will always remember him.” students identified conquistator pedro alvarado as one of the worst parts of guatemalan history “because he invaded guatemalan lands.” addressing current issues not touched upon in the national curriculum, profe pedro spoke to his class about the guatemalan supreme court’s recent genocide conviction of efrain rios montt, president during the bloodiest years of the armed conflict. “the theme is genocide,” profe said. “what would genocide be? to kill, exploit, but a human culture. for example, we’ve heard tell of a german, of the nazis, of the famous . . . hitler,” offered jose. “adolf hitler,” confirmed profe, “the one that committed genocide against the jews. now here in guatemala it is said that rios montt committed genocide against . . .” “the indigenous,” said inez, completing the sentence. taking a stand where state approved textbooks held back, profe continued, our indigenous culture. our mayan culture, but many say that it wasn’t genocide. but there are three important things that we know to declare genocide: 1. they killed boys and girls, they eliminated them, why? because they saw that in the future they would be defenders, they could go against them. 2. they killed the mothers of the family. those that generate life, because they were going to procreate, they were going to have more children and these children could fight for their rights. and 3. they killed old people. they killed people in the third age, who were journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 123 maintaining the customs, the traditions, then with these requisites we can say that there was genocide in guatemala. in focus groups, students expressed outrage about rios montt’s crimes during the armed conflict. “what do you think about the trial?” we asked. “that it is good,” said jose. pedro added, “it is good because he is going to pay for the bad he did to the indigenous.” then, again connecting indigeneity with being guatemalan, “he is going to pay for what he did to the guatemalans for the massacres that he did.” el colegio el colegio, a private k-12 school serving affluent ladino students, was a marked contrast to the two other schools. tidy buildings with sparkling windows and well-resourced classrooms were arrayed around the manicured, verdant campus. periodically the uniformed security guard swung open the main gate to allow expensive automobiles, often driven by chauffeurs, to enter the grounds. the school’s lone indigenous educator was brought in monthly to instruct students in indigenous culture. rather than teaching the local indigenous language, as required by the cnb, el colegio instead offered a monthly indigenous culture workshop to its students. as the director explained, “our students come from various places; the majority of them don’t have an ethnic origin, so we think it isn’t necessary to learn the language”. seño9 hortencia, a university educated teacher from an indigenous village not far from the el colegio campus, taught the workshop, although, as she pointed out to her students, “in the cnb right now it says that everyone has to study the language of this place”. dressed in her village’s vibrant purple, pink and green huipil,10 she started class with a maya spiritual invocation, thanking the land and the ancestors. she then directly confronted the room of neatly uniformed 14 year olds, aiming to make visible a history she felt was little known. maya documents were destroyed and lost in the conquest, she explained. “if we had all of these documents, we’d have a different story, not of the niña, pínta, santa maria, but that the spaniards came and a mountain of people died.” she connected the architectural remnants of the spanish conquest that had earned nearby antigua its world heritage designation to the enslavement of the indigenous population, querying “why do you think there are majestic churches in antigua? whose work was that?” resting her hands on her chest, she challenged her community’s erasure with her own, clearly indigenous presence. “many people say the maya don’t exist. if they don’t exist, then what is the knowledge i bring to you?”. seño hortencia critiqued the national curriculum for its shallow treatment of indigenous history, explaining, “many write about the maya, you’ve noticed. they talk about the calendar, about polytheism. they talk about a lot of things, but the main idea is not there”. with her class, she reviewed an article she had assigned to them on indigenous resistance to spanish conquest. concluding her discussion of spanish conquest, she told the students, “this is the history, and no book is going to tell it to you”. 9 “seño,” short for “señora,” is a commonly used honorific for female teachers. 10 a hand loomed and embroidered blouse that is part of a woman’s traditional dress in indigenous guatemalan communities. villages have their own colors and patterns. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 124 students at all of the schools were quite familiar with the peace accords. in a focus group, nuestro futuro students chose a photo of the signing of the peace accords as an image of one of most important moments in guatemalan history. “we chose the signing of the firm and lasting peace accords,” students in a nuestro futuro focus group explained, “because this was a new concept for guatemala . . . because before them, there were a lot of wars, there were genocides.” students credited the accords for bringing an end to massive, state sponsored violence, saying, “since they signed it everything has changed.” however the curricular approaches to build a new guatemalan citizenry that were mandated by the accords did not easily intersect with indigenous teachers’ desires to promote historical memory of the past wrongs suffered by indigenous communities and understanding of the connections to current inequalities. “they don’t explain it. they don’t tell it,” said profe pedro, seeing the curriculum as inadequate, despite its focus on democratic citizenship education. “state-sponsored education never gives it,” echoed directora sonia , expressing her sense of the insufficiency of the cnb’s emphasis on multiculturalism, tolerance and a culture of peace. by discussing the spanish conquest in personalized terms, writing their own textbook and engaging in blunt conversation about the treatment of indigenous guatemalans during the armed conflict, these social studies teachers crafted their own approach to civic learning rooted in their sense of belonging to a community longing to reconcile historical and ongoing injustices with the promises of democracy. conclusion although guatemala’s civic education policy, as instantiated in the peace accords and the cnb, is dominated by “ideologized discourses, such as those of globalization, democratization, and privatization” (wedel, shore, geldman, & lathrop, 2005, p. 43), this analysis depicts the ways that socials studies teachers reshaped curricula within the classrooms that are the target of these policy edicts. in indigenous schools, teachers diverged from the national curriculum to speak openly and frequently of the terrible past that marked their community, innovating educational practices to preserve historical memory, connect indigeneity to new forms of learning, leadership, development and environmental stewardship, and confront ladino students with the country’s indigenous past and present. post-conflict civic learning cannot help but be deeply embedded in the contours of the preceding conflict. although in guatemalan educational policy, the political problem of discussing the armed conflict was recast as a discussion of human rights, the peace accords, and the values of democracy and tolerance, these indigenous social studies educators were not satisfied with this approach. grappling with the legacies of conquest, structural inequality, and violent conflict, the teachers in this analysis insisted on connecting their classrooms and their students to guatemala’s specific historical legacies, as a way to more fully understand the present. the civic reconstruction of societies torn by conflict and deep inequality is of great international concern (united nations general assembly, 1996). education is frequently envisioned as a key tool for civic transformation in such nations. social studies teachers are on the front lines of this policy implementation, playing the key role in translating policy into practice. this analysis indicates that their ideas and commitments reflect the perspectives of specific communities, the needs of which must be considered in the construction of curricular mandates in societies emerging from violent conflict. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 125 references bartlett, l., & vavrus, f. (2014). transversing the vertical case study: a methodological approach to studies of educational policy as practice. anthropology & education quarterly, 45(2), 131–147. ben-porath, s. (2006). citizenship under fire: democratic education in times of conflict. princeton, nj: princeton university press. carney, s. (2009). negotiating policy in an age of globalization: exploring educational “policyscapes” in denmark, nepal, and china. comparative education review, 53(1), 63–88. cojtí cuxil, d. (2002). educational reform in guatemala: lessons from negotiations between indigenous civil society and the state. in r. sieder (ed.), multiculturalism in latin america (pp. 103–128). new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. cole, e. (2007). teaching the violent past: history education and reconciliation. lanham, md: rowman and littlefield. cole, e., & barsalou, j. (2006). unite or divide? the challenges of teaching history in societies emerging from violent conflict (special report no. 163). washington, dc: united states institute of peace. retrieved from: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/sr163.pdf cole, e., & murphy, k. (2009). history, education reform, transitional justice and the transformation of identities (research brief). new york, ny: international center for transitional justice. dreyfus, h., & rabinow, p. (1982). michael foucault: beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. brighton, uk: harvester. fischer, e., & brown, r. (1996). maya cultural activism in guatemala. austin: university of texas press. freedman, s. w., weinstein, h., murphy, k, & longman, t. (2008). teaching history after identity-based conflicts: the rwanda experience. comparative education review, 52(4), 663–690. french, b. (2010). maya ethnolinguistic identity. tuscon, az: university of arizona press. fullinwider, r. (1996). patriotic history. in r. k. fullinwider (ed.), public education in a multicultural society. cambridge: cambridge university press. fundación para el enaltecimiento de la herencia cultural de guatemala. (2012). ciencias sociales y formación ciudadana. social sciences and citizenship formation. guatemala: fundación para la cultura y el desarrollo. glaser, b., & strauss, a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago, il: aldine. goldin, l. (2009). global maya. tuscon, az: university of arizona press. grandin, g., levenson, d., & oglesby, e. (2011). the guatemala reader. durham, nc: duke university press. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 114-127. corresponding author email: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 126 hale, c. (2006). más que un indio [more than an indian]. santa fe, nm: school of american research press. hale, c. (2002). does multiculturalism menace? governance, cultural rights and the politics of identity in guatemala. journal of latin american studies, 34, 485–524. international work group for indigenous affairs. (n.d.). indigenous peoples in guatemala. retrieved october 8, 2014, from http://www.iwgia.org/regions/latin-america/guatemala joseph, s. (2005). teaching rights and responsibilities: paradoxes of globalization and children’s citizenship in lebanon. journal of social history, 38, 1007–1026. levine, d., & bishai, l. (2010). civic education and peacebuilding: examples from iraq and sudan (special report no. 254). washington, dc: united states institute of peace. levinson, b., & berumen, j. (2007). democratic citizenship education and the state in latin america: a critical overview. revista electronica iberoamericana sobre calidad, eficacia y cambio en education, 5(4), 1–15. levinson, b., & doyle, s. (2008). advancing democracy through education? u.s. influence abroad and domestic practices. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. ministerio de educación. (n.d.). área de ciencias sociales y formación ciudadana, curriculum nacional base, guatemala. social sciences and citizenship formation, national base curriciulum. retrieved may 17, 2016, from http://cnbguatemala.org/index.php?title=%c3%81rea_de_ciencias_sociales_y_formaci%c3%b3 n_ciudadana_-_bachillerato_en_ciencias_y_letras ministerio de educación. (2013). ejes de la reforma educativa y su relación con los ejes del curriculum framework for educational reform and its relationship with curricular frameworks. retrieved may 17, 2016, from http://cnbguatemala.org/index.php?title=ejes_de_la_reforma_educativa_y_su_relaci%c3%b3n _con_los_ejes_del_curr%c3%adculum niens, u., & chastenay, m. (2008). educating for peace? citizenship education in quebec and northern ireland. comparative education review, 45(4), 519–540. oglesby, e. 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(2009) guatemala, the peace accords and education: a post-conflict struggle for equal opportunities, cultural recognition and participation in education. globalisation, societies and education, 7, 383–408. quaynor, l. (2011). citizenship education in post-conflict contexts: a review of the literature. education, citizenship and social justice, 7(1), 33–57. quijano, a. (2000). coloniality of power, eurocentrism, and latin america. nepantla: views from south, 1(3) 533-580 robertson, s. (2012). placing teachers in global governance agendas. comparative education review, 56(4), 584–607. rothenberg, d. (ed.). (2012). memory of silence: the guatemalan truth commission report. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. sanford, v. (2003). buried secrets: truth and human rights in guatemala. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. santillana. (2010). integral área humanistica. integrated humanities. peru: empresa editora el comercio s.a. seider, r. (2002). multiculturalism in latin america. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. seider, r., & wilson, r. (eds.). (1997). negotiating rights: the guatemalan peace process (accord series). london, uk: conciliation resources. shamsie, y. (2007). moving beyond mediation: the oas transforming conflict in guatemala. global governance, 13, 409–425. united nations general assembly. (1996). impact of armed conflict on children. un doc a/51/306. united nations general assembly (1997). procedures for the establishment of a firm and lasting peace and progress in fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development. un doc a/50/956. retrieved from https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/sites/default/files/accords/guatemala_1997_cpa_and_annexes.p df vavrus, f., and bartlett, l. (2012). comparative pedagogies and epistemological diversity. comparative education review, 56(4), 634–58. way, j. t. (2012). the mayan in the mall. durham, nc: duke university press. wedel, j., shore, c., geldman, g., & lathrop, s. (2005). toward an anthropology of public policy. annals of the american academy of political and social science, 600, 30–51. situating the study the guatemalan context post-conflict educational policy in guatemala civic education in post-conflict settings social studies teachers as policy interpreters methods research sites data collection procedures and participants data analysis the researchers size population level location type name “we remember this so that a scar doesn’t remain” indigenous social studies teachers reinterpreting national education policy nuestro futuro el básico el colegio conclusion references fullinwider, r. (1996). patriotic history. in r. k. fullinwider (ed.), public education in a multicultural society. cambridge: cambridge university press. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 155 using film as a tool for teaching and discussing genocide michalczyk, john j. and raymond g. helmick, eds. (2013). through a lens darkly: films of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities. new york, ny: peter lang publishing, inc. 283 pages., $136.32, hardback and $37.95, paperback. isbn-13 978-1433122941. reviewed by lisa k. pennington (lisakp@vt.edu) virginia tech, school of education, blacksburg, va 24061 in today’s media fueled society, the public commonly bases its historical knowledge around television and popular film, such as boardwalk empire and monuments men, that present history in engaging ways. social studies teachers often use film in attempts to increase student interest and curriculum relevance. given the number of historical movies, filmic reviews help direct educators to suitable classroom resources. john j. michalczyk and raymond g. helmick’s edited volume of filmic reviews, through a lens darkly: films of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities, is useful for secondary educators who teach genocide and other mass atrocities. in this review, i will scrutinize those essays that are most suitable for teachers covering genocide, particularly those that highlight topics that would lead to important class discussions. each of the text’s nine sections covers a mass atrocity and contains at least three chapters. while the first chapter in each section is a background essay providing historical context, the remaining chapters describe films or documentaries about the atrocity to provide various perspectives. the editors believe film is “a medium of unparalleled power” and that “used with passion, conviction, and honesty, it can be among the most significant forces to educate the public” (p. xvi). stoddard and marcus (2010) agree, stating that film is beneficial in classrooms because such media “serve a larger role as historical sources for the public at large” and it is, in fact, such media where the public learns history (p. 84). the book also confronts the idea of “the burden of historical representation” (stoddard and marcus, 2006). shohat and stam describe this concept as what transpires when audiences view a marginalized or underrepresented group on film and internalize “how people view the world and the groups that are represented, even if they know the film’s portrayal isn’t accurate” (as cited in stoddard and marcus , 2006, p. 27). in order to challenge the burden of historical representation, films should develop “complex characters and rich personal stories that challenge traditional historical and film narratives” (stoddard and marcus, 2006, p. 27). through a lens darkly offers educators a baseline to meet this challenge, highlighting marginalized groups and contributing to the resource base for mass atrocities often overlooked in schools. the first section entitled “trail of tears: cleansing the land of the indian ‘problem’” examines the genocide of native americans in north america. jordan jennings briefly describes atrocities affecting the indigenous population before highlighting ongoing questions over land use and culture, citing a case from the early 2000’s involving a washington state tribe who met mailto:lisakp@vt.edu mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 156 resistance when they tried to recommence their whaling traditions (p. 6). discussing recent conflicts is important, since past actions against native americans are not often connected to present day living conditions or ongoing stereotypes, as evidenced by current conflicts over the washington redskins. nancy lynch street’s bury my heart at wounded knee summarizes the film and cites historical inaccuracies and omissions. street clearly refers to the actions committed against native americans as genocide and believes the genocide continues today, visible in the desolate conditions and lack of systems to provide education, health care, jobs, and basic necessities on reservations. according to barton and levstik, (2004) students “need experience considering the intersection of historic injustices and contemporary concerns” (p. 100), and street provides teachers with ideas to accomplish this. the section on the armenian genocide begins with a background essay by dirkran m. kaligian. kaligian provides context for educators, details the horrors faced by the armenians, and describes turkish denial and the pressure turkey places on those who seek to recognize the armenian genocide. in 2007 turkey successfully pressured president bush to prevent a congressional vote to recognize the genocide by threatening to ban the united states from using turkish airspace (p. 36). the inclusion of denial is important as more countries currently acknowledge the actions against the armenians as genocide and turkey continues to oppugn recognition. paul bookbinder’s essay on the 1987 documentary everyone’s not here provides a good description of a film suitable for classroom use. bookbinder summarizes the documentary and describes events contemporary to the release of the film. this includes the frustration of armenians at having their history ignored and subsequent organization of terrorist groups, part of an effort to have armenian history recognized. the essay outlines changes since the release of the film, briefly mentioning turkish denial and the slow but growing recognition of the genocide. the armenian essays raise relevant points on the definition of genocide. students may not realize the term was not coined until the1940’s by raphael lemkin, who worked ceaselessly to have genocide recognized as a crime. the 1948 united nations convention on genocide defined the term, and scholars have since created multiple definitions. this presents an opportunity for debate by allowing students to examine the actions against the armenians, the many definitions of genocide, and the longstanding position of turkish denial. with over 500 films covering the holocaust (p. xix), this is unsurprisingly the longest section in the text. perhaps because readers are most familiar with the holocaust, the background essay by michalczyk does not provide straightforward history, as do most other introductory essays. rather, it focuses on the importance of film and the holocaust, from goebbels’ use of film as propaganda to documentaries of atrocities. the remainder details eleven holocaust films, providing historical context and brief but useful synopses. schindler’s list and the pianist appear in michalczyk’s essay, among more obscure films. however, the remaining essays mostly avoid more popular holocaust films. the holocaust essays are variably useful, but all suggest films that are likely not on an educator’s list. the first essay, also by michalczyk, examines the oldest film in the section, 1955’s night and fog. at twenty-five minutes, it could easily be shown in its entirety. michalczyk provides mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 157 historical context and contemporary criticisms, such as the lack of the word “jew” anywhere in the film. the criticisms lead into arguments of the “jewishness” (pg. 99) of the holocaust and the holocaust uniqueness factor, providing opportunities for discussions regarding victims and how traumatic events are remembered. michalczyk’s essay is valuable for summarizing the film and generating discussion topics. michael resler’s essay on 2009’s saviors in the night examines the idea of rescuers, focusing on german resistors who saved jewish lives. this film aids in dispelling the misconception that all germans wished the destruction of the jews. resler provides an excellent synopsis and raises interesting questions about ideas of heroism and difficult choices. the family central to the film hides a neighbor and her daughter, but refuses the father who looks “too jewish” (p. 138). their son is a soldier in the german army, placing them in the difficult position of doing what they think is right, which conflicts with their loyalties to their son. resler’s essay aids in conveying the complexities of the situation and shows that people’s decisions were often difficult to make and understand. the subsequent essays examine alternative angles to present to students. melanie murphy’s essay on the 1991 documentary the architecture of doom provides a synopsis of the film and its focus on hitler’s artistic endeavors, from his artistic background to the looting of wartime europe’s art. this film lends itself to discussions of cultural genocide and the concept of total war, leading to ideas of victimhood and how an entire culture was at risk, not solely members of its population. the second essay, “amen, the catholic church, and the holocaust” by kevin p. spicer, decries the catholic church’s role during the holocaust. spicer provides a good synopsis, including information on important individuals, which is helpful when prepping students for a screening. spicer describes the film as “less about the shortcomings of the pope and more about the failure of christianity to act in the face of the holocaust” (p. 122). these essays could begin a discussion of overlooked perspectives of the holocaust, such as the role of the bystander, or the aesthetic focus outlined in murphy’s essay. the last letter personalizes the holocaust for students, offering an alternative to the more commonly used diary of anne frank. diana elise araujo details the film, which focuses on a jewish mother writing a farewell letter to her son as she awaits deportation (p. 132). not quite documentary and not quite film (p. 134), araujo discusses some of the cinematic elements to this unique piece, which would prepare students to view a film in an unfamiliar style. at only 62 minutes, the last letter could be juxtaposed with first hand accounts to help students connect with the victims and shown in its entirety without encompassing too much time. the final essay in the holocaust section revolves around french complicity. michalczyk examines the roundup and sarah’s key, both from 2010. after a brief explanation of the french resistance myth and slow acceptance of the reality of collaboration, michalczyk thoroughly describes the films and their historical background. the roundup is based on the story of joseph weismann and details weismann’s capture and incarceration in the velodrome d’hiver in paris. like several other films in this section, the roundup could be used to introduce different perspectives, as bystanders and resistors are shown. sarah’s key focuses on a similar topic, following sarah as she and her family are evicted, sent to the vel d’hiv and then deported. this film weaves in the present day, as a reporter writing about the roundup uncovers sarah’s story and the connection between sarah and her in-laws, who ultimately inhabited the apartment mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 158 where sarah lived. with pertinent background information and brief analysis, this essay could help design a lesson incorporating either film. the sixth section groups several events under the title “ethnic cleansing.” like the essays on armenia, this section presents opportunity for discussions centered on terminology and international responsibility. after the un defined genocide in 1948, countries that ratified the convention were bound to prevent genocide. when conflict erupted in bosnia and then rwanda, the international community sought a means to avoid involvement. they chose to refer to events as “ethnic cleansing” rather than genocide, freeing them from any commitment to become involved in the affairs of other nations (p. 177). helmick’s essay contains the history of the term and his use of the israeli-palestinian conflict provides a clear example of ethnic cleansing. three of the film essays in this section focus on bosnia. the first, by cynthia simmons, examines snow, a 2008 film that explores “an easily forgotten or ignored segment of bosnian society-rural women survivors of ethnic cleansing” (p. 187). from 1992-1995, bosniak enclaves were the focus of ethnic cleansing, and today many of these societies are composed almost entirely of women, since the men were targeted during the atrocities. simmons description of the film is helpful in deciding whether it is appropriate, but offers little historical background. however, the next essay, which covers the pbs documentary srebrenica: graves cry out, provides that information. while srebrenica outlines the atrocities, snow examines the aftermath of the mass killings. michalczyk makes connections to the tribunals presently occurring to try perpetrators, which aids in helping students see the long-term repercussions of these events. the final film about bosnia, sarajevo ground zero, is composed of footage taken during the atrocities by filmmakers experiencing the events. trevor laurence jockims clearly explains how and why the film was made, as well as international response once it was completed. the major networks passed on the film, and it received one airing on cinemax in 1994. jockims points out that 1994 saw the release of schindler’s list and renewed promises that “never again” would such events occur (p. 199). this parallel leads to discussions on how the media influences the way events are documented and again highlights international responsibility, since the film was a cry for help from within the war zone. jockims explains that the 53-minute documentary includes “harrowing footage,” but clips could present students with footage from a unique perspective. the final sections focus on conflicts in africa. section seven examines the 1994 genocide in rwanda. the introductory essay by john h. stanfield ii is unfortunately spotty and links the genocide explicitly to belgian colonial rule, which corresponds with the government-approved narrative taught in rwanda today (buckley-zistel, 2009). he mentions incidents between the hutu and tutsi in the 1960’s and 1970’s, but provides no historical background or connection to the genocide. the conclusion mentions the “unsung heroes” who risked their lives to save others, offering paul rusesabagina and hotel rwanda as an example. while rusesabagina did shelter approximately 1200 tutsi during the genocide, allegations against rusesabagina, charging that he extorted money from those he sheltered, are omitted. this criticism is not meant to discount rusesabagina, but merely a reminder that when dealing with historical films these issues should be addressed. zine magubane analyzes hotel rwanda, making several valid points about the film and its goals. magubane briefly discusses the role of blacks in film as passive and unable to advance a story. even in movies that supposedly depict african or african american plot lines, the protagonist is mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 159 often a white person. hotel rwanda however, tackles the burden of historical representation and “deliberately set[s] out to reverse this trend by portraying africans as active agents in resisting genocide and the west as passive onlookers” (p. 220). magubane analyzes the film’s successes, mainly criticisms of the international community for standing by while violence unfolded. he balances the essay by discussing the film’s shortcomings, in this instance the history that led to the genocide. magubane also avoids more recent news surrounding rusesabagina, though a teacher could easily incorporate that information as a discussion piece after viewing the film, perhaps in the vein of barton and levstik’s heroes vs. heroic actions (barton and levstik, 2004, p. 102-106). another essay by michalczyk focuses on the gacaca courts in post-genocidal rwanda. in the tall grass (2006) could help students examine how a post-genocidal society handles the healing process. michalczyk explains the gacaca courts were reinstated to handle the overabundance of genocide cases. he offers two points of view on the gacaca-one of which is supportive of the role the courts have in the healing process, and another which questions whether these courts actually hinder the healing process due to bias and the victims and perpetrators living in close proximity. this controversy lends itself to discussion on the aftermath of genocide, and the films in this section would provide excellent supplemental material for a unit on rwanda, particularly if the films were paired to showcase the genocide and healing process. the penultimate section examines the conflict in sudan. though secretary of state colin powell dubbed the actions in darfur genocide in 2004 (state department memo), little international action has taken place. in the opening essay, “making sense of sudan’s conflicts”, nada mustafa ali outlines the complex causes that contribute to the conflicts, beginning with the country’s history of slavery, colonial domination, and struggles for control by different factions after independence. with roots of the conflict found in the country’s history, economic, religious, and political struggles, ali’s essay provides enough information within six pages to give students the basic background. both film essays are brief and show two distinctive angles to the sudan conflict. the first essay, “no heaven on earth: lost boys of sudan” by ajak mabior briefly summarizes the history of the lost boys and their treacherous journey. the documentary follows two lost boys from their departure from a kenyan refugee camp through their first year of resettlement in the united states. like the films about rwanda, lost boys of sudan would facilitate discussion on the aftermath of conflict, international response, and the difficulties refugees face. in following the boys, the film also allows students to compare american ideas of race, culture, and abundance to that of the lost boys, who come from widespread poverty where skin color is not an issue. the second film the devil came on horseback focuses on former marine captain brian steidle, who fights to have events in sudan recognized by the international community. through his description of the film, michalczyk provides background on the janjaweed, which would help students to understand exactly what steidle was fighting to have the international community recognize. the focus on this american activist could help students understand the position of people who risk their lives to help others. the films together would make an interesting pairing, and juxtapose the effects and the failure of international intervention. the final section examines the ongoing conflict in the congo. like several other essays in the text, the background essay by willy moka-mubelo mentions topics that would contribute to meaningful discussion such as the effects of colonialism and non-existent global response to mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 160 mass atrocity. moka-mubelo centers the essay on the exploitation of the congo’s natural resources and focuses on belgian colonial rule, before briefly mentioning the continuing abuse of natural resources. the history is useful as context, but it is unfortunate that the current exploitation is not explored in more detail to help students understand the lasting impacts of colonialism and internal struggles that arose with independence. moka-mubelo only mentions in the last paragraph the invasions of congo by rwanda and uganda, but provides little in the way of reason, connecting the invasions only to the desire of the international community to control the congo’s natural resources. though this essay does not focus on rwanda, a teacher could make connections between the invasion of the congo by rwanda and the perpetrators of that genocide hiding in the area, as part of the aftermath of genocide and its contributions to the region’s instability. many essays in through a lens darkly provide useful context or ideas for classroom discussion. a handful of essays however, are likely not helpful to educators for various reasons. some films, like ararat, include “horrific scenes of carnage and sexual violence” (pg. 46), which makes it improbable for student viewing. other essays, such as rebecca nedostup’s essay on city of life and death (nanjing! nanjing!), focuses on cinematic elements and explores ideas of victimhood and voice that are likely to be ignored in the classroom, due to complexity or time constraints. some essays cover a film such as claude lanzmann’s nine-hour shoah, which is too lengthy for classroom use. each essay has its merits and intriguing points, but from a practitioner standpoint they are inapplicable to the classroom. the essays in through a lens darkly tackle the history and visual representation of genocide. though not specifically written as an aid for educators, the majority of the essays are useful for historical context and background on the genocides represented, removing some of the workload from educators who may need to brush up on these topics. most film essays provide a good synopsis, allowing teachers to decide whether it would be appropriate for their classes. the most useful parts of the essays are ideas about key concepts in the films, leading to ideas for using the films as a springboard for discussion of interesting yet difficult topics. using films to start these discussions allows students a reference point and the teacher a starting point when introducing the film, debriefing after a viewing, or designing a viewing guide. the multiple essays are brief and readable. the text does not have to be read sequentially, and educators could refer only to relevant sections. by referencing through a lens darkly, educators are presented with lesser-known film options for these important topics. incorporating films in general, and these films in particular, can raise student interest in the topic, heighten relevancy, and create more meaning (russell, 2009, p. 2). the essays create opportunities for discussion that would allow students to examine events from a variety of perspectives and engage in critical analysis and inquiry. for secondary teachers facing a dearth of materials in genocide related topics, through a lens darkly is an excellent place to begin resource building. mailto:lisakp@vt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 155-161. corresponding author email: lisakp@vt.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 161 references barton, k. and levstik, l. (2004). teaching history for the common good. new york: routledge. buckley-zistel, s. (2009). nation, narration, unification? the politics of history teaching after the rwandan genocide. journal of genocide research, 11 (1), 31-53. genocide and darfur state department memo. (2004). retrieved from http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsaebb/nsaebb356/20040625_darfur.pdf. michalczyk, j. j. and helmick, r. g. (2013). through a lens darkly: films of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities. new york: peter lang. russell iii, w. b. (2009). teaching social issues with film. charlotte: information age publishing. stoddard, j. d. and marcus, a. s. (2006). the burden of historical representation: race, freedom, and “educational” hollywood film. film & history 36 (1), 26-35. stoddard, j.d. and marcus, a.s. (2010). more than “showing what happened”: exploring the potential of teaching history with film. the high school journal 94 (1), 83-90. mailto:lisakp@vt.edu http://www2.gwu.edu/%7ensarchiv/nsaebb/nsaebb356/20040625_darfur.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 77-80. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 77-80. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 77 book review: contesting global education reynolds, r., bradbery, d., brown, j., carroll, k., donnelly, d., ferguson-patrick, k., & macqueen, s. (eds.). (2015). contesting and constructing international perspectives in global education. rotterdam: sense publishers. a review by: phillipa parsons doctoral student school of education faculty of education and arts university of newcastle australia contesting and constructing international perspectives in global education, is an edited book addressing a topic that has significance for the peaceful and sustainable future of humanity. the editors have set out to seek a diverse range of perspectives around conceptualizations of global education and the global citizen. in doing so they have created a space for both western and nonwestern voices to champion the potential of education to be instrumental in fostering a cosmopolitan global consciousness, as well as economic competence. while the strength of the book is the broad and realistic re-imaginings of educating for global citizenship (gc), perspectives from the global south and indigenous philosophies would have been a valuable inclusion. a key theme is the underscoring of the objective of global education (ge), indeed its raison d’etre, in facilitating development of knowledge, skills and values deemed essential for gc, in both teachers and students. this is held up against current prevalent ideas around teaching for citizenship, such as service learning and charitable campaigns, both argued to maintain the status quo, and perpetuate both local and global inequality and inequity. the impetus for this book is explained as the nebulous and contested nature of (ge) and (gc) that has, to date, been rendered both over-theorized and under-implemented. this lack is argued to lie at journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 77-80. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 78 the root of the failure for ge to be included in any significant way in pre-service teacher education, in school curricula, or to be operationalized in school classrooms. setting the book against a backdrop of global challenges including climate change, conflict and inequity, one of the book’s greatest strengths is as a countering agent to the increasingly marketized and neoliberal discourse around education. in pushing back against neoliberal objectives, the contributing authors offer a substantial contribution to the field, and have reified many of the conceptual ideas around ge and gc—offering a roadmap from theory to practice. however, whilst acknowledging that this was not the stated aim of the editors, this is an area that could have been strengthened—offering more concrete pedagogical strategies for teachers may have served to enhance the book. that minor caveat aside, the book’s strength is its broad appeal and potential for application. it is relevant and practical for different audiences, including students, academics, teacher educators, pre and inservice teachers and policy makers. this book is an excellent resource that provides a comprehensive overview of the field of global education, and manages to draw together some of the contested notions surrounding the concept. in structuring the sections thematically, the editors have woven sometimes disparate conceptualizations and ideas for praxis into a complementary consolidation. by placing ge within peace education, environmental education, cosmopolitanism and human rights education, the editors have advanced the consolidation of the notion of ge. it is certainly a step forward for the actualization of ge in classrooms. the book commences with a theoretical analysis of existing and emerging theories of ge and gc. contextualizing ge within increasingly neoliberal education policy, pike draws on the tenets of cosmopolitanism. interconnectedness, shared humanity and global human solidarity underpin his proposal for a rethink not only on how, but why we do schooling. reynolds’ chapter contextualizes notions of ge through the exploration of literature across different sectors of education, from early childhood through to tertiary, and into community education. bringing non-western voices to the conversation, landorf and feldman’s chapter concludes that the time for questioning and theorizing around the concept of global citizenship is past; that what is essential now is to explore how ge can move out of the realm of theory and be operationalized in the classroom through “respecting local needs as well as global issues and concerns” (p. 50). the second section of the book challenges how skills and values for global citizenship can be incorporated into national narratives, with research from south africa, indonesia, ireland and england. key themes throughout are how to connect the local to the global for a practical ge, and journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 77-80. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 79 underscoring the essential role played by the teacher. in fact, it is constantly reinforced that to teach for the skills, attitudes and knowledge for gc, the teacher must be similarly equipped and possessed of such consciousness. utilizing information and communications technology (ict) to enhance connectivity in the geographically and culturally diverse indonesian archipelago forms the basis of the chapter by kusmawan. liddy, writing from an irish perspective, advocates for a stronger focus on the political sphere in classrooms, particularly through local issues that link to the global, and argues for critical analysis of the power structures that maintain inequities. davies offers a theory of the “global dimension – meaning the world’s interconnectedness” (p. 89). his research explored how this cosmopolitan philosophy can be included in pre-service teacher training, as a counter to the rhetoric of far-right nationalistic movements that threaten social cohesion in the wake of large scale polish immigration in england. in section three, entitled "empowering citizens for global education", three contributors offer practical ways and means of doing just that. addressing the idea of schools as sites for democratic reform, calvo de mora challenges the existing discourse of relationships of schools with their communities. as spaces for “democratic social relations . . . anchored to the wider social and cultural environment” (p. 107), he outlines a model called learning cycle of democracy that presents as a workable model to establish multi-stakeholder partnerships between schools and the community for collaborative learning and problem-solving. macqueen and ferguson-patrick ask how we can “employ global education for lasting change” (p. 115), and offer insights gained through empirical research with australian pre-service teachers. bradbery and brown promote utilizing children’s literature as a multimodal delivery method for a values stance towards teaching for the common good. citing research around the benefits of using children’s literature as a platform for teaching for values such as sustainability, peace, tolerance, diversity and kindness, they list a range of children’s books (although for this reviewer, the omission of the lorax by dr zeuss (1971) is an oversight). in deconstructing global education in section four, two authors make salient points around the potential for othering through existing citizenship programs, namely service learning and charity drives. martin and pirbhai-illich explore the impact of different ideologies on policy goals for educating for citizenship. they posit that programs such as service-learning can take on a “neocolonial form” (p. 135) that they reinforce classed and racial attitudes without challenging the power structures that maintain the inequities. carroll offers an australian perspective of the inadequacy of current curricula and schooling practices in the globalized world. she presents a four step model of journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 77-80. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 80 global literacy to “recalibrate the curriculum to focus on skills and concepts needed for active engagement in the global village” (p. 157). section five segues neatly with five chapters around "transforming curricula for global education". two of the chapters have a focus on educating for a culture of peace: elmersjo through the teaching of history, and toh via whole school emphasis on developing intercultural understandings. toh offers “visions, possibilities and challenges in promoting ge from the perspective of peace education” (p. 219). donnelly and grushka’s chapter reports on a pre-service teacher course focused on human rights and social justice through an “arts-led critical global education agenda” (p. 173). they have developed a model to develop students’ “global cultural literacy” (p. 175) through digital technologies, with broad application in a range of learning environments. print outlines representations of ge in curricula and presents the challenges and future direction for facilitating gc through current schooling systems. the penultimate chapter delivers a critical analysis of the disparity between hegemonic neoliberal discourse in australia around the purposes of schooling and aspirations to global citizenship in policy and the new national curriculum. in doing so, carroll challenges the reactionaries who call for a return to "basics". whilst not offering a solution, carroll does provide a robust rationale to continue to push back to ensure our young people have the capabilities for the global village to remain a viable worldview. this book ultimately offers several platforms for future research. much of the impetus for such research rests in several clearly defined pathways, to continue to explore, not only conceptualizations of ge and gc, but the emerging and corresponding pedagogical practices. in our increasingly globalized world, this book convinces that the time for theorizing is over and what remains is the need to ask: what does teaching for global citizenship actually look like in the classroom? journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. mainstreaming human rights education – a new ncss community looks forward rosemary ann blanchard chair, national council for the social studies (ncss) human rights education community. ___________________________________________________________________________ this article will introduce the human rights education community within the national council for the social studies and highlight some of our initial efforts to make human rights education (hre) more visible in the core social studies canon that students encounter in their public school education. it concludes with a look at the next steps that will need to take place if ncss’ recent support for hre is to manifest in genuine instructional change. a look at the problem efforts to bring human rights (hr) and international humanitarian law (ihl) into the mainstream of social studies education in the united states often encounter roadblocks and digressions that are difficult to understand from outside the arena of us public education. educational standards, curricula and core practices in u.s. public schools combine to create a formidable structure for educators who want to assure that no child completes public school without experiencing human rights friendly education and encountering hr/ihl course content. even treaties, signed and ratified by the united states, which call for dissemination of hr/ihl content to the civilian population, have had surprisingly little impact on the content and methods of u.s. public school education. both the principles of hr/ihl and the stories of u.s. involvement are often totally unknown to all but a small minority of students in u.s. schools. typically, this favored minority have either learned from a committed teacher who takes individual initiative to incorporate hr and ihl into their lessons or have had the luxury of taking non-mandatory elective courses in high school and have chosen hr/ihl related classes because of non-school influences (family, church, etc.). my own passion for human rights and human rights education (hre) began at around age five, on the living room sofa at a favorite aunt’s home, where she read to me from a small picture book called “your human rights”, with an introduction by eleanor roosevelt, my aunt’s hero. after that, despite a liberal arts education and more than one graduate degree, my knowledge of human rights and humanitarian law was largely self-taught and acquired in my late 40s and beyond. back in the 1950s and 1960s when i was a kid in public school, there weren’t many electives, even for the fortunate, and the concepts of human rights and international humanitarian law were not even on the radar. my professional background is not in curriculum or in k-12 education. i have worked the world of education from the policy perspective-–as an attorney, a consultant and a university educator. human rights became relevant to the indigenous language preservation activities of american indian educators i represented and ihl forced itself upon me in the aftermath of abu ghraib. clearly hr and ihl were important elements of the legal and sociocultural landscape for the united states and the world generally. their absence from most school-based education was and is symptomatic of a serious problem. as a professional in educational policy, i was increasing drawn into the world of social studies standards and curriculum, the venue where the study of hr/ihl belonged. 120 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. social studies content standards development – a perilous place and a perilous process a few forays into the contested world of state level content standards development in the social studies, one in new mexico, and one in california, taught me what a tough neighborhood social studies development really is. decision making is both decentralized and highly concentrated at the same time. states have the power to set standards and the standards approval process is essentially state-by-state nonetheless, the textbook publication process is more national and, increasingly, the funding incentives are national. furthermore, the entire field has been marginalized because of the focus on testable core skills in language arts and math. if it’s not on the test, it’s not likely to be in the classroom. in addition, battles about the proper scope of social studies education (symcox, 2002; evans, 2006) are compounded when they become battlegrounds for cultural wars about what is “american” and what is subversive (zimmerman, 2002). in this environment, subjects like history and civics continue to provide a highly visible target for the politicization of educational content and delivery. to navigate these dangerous waters, state committees and commissions often look to national professional communities of experts to define the field(s) for which the standards are to be written and to provide some support in dealing with both the politicization of their discipline(s) and the national push for a common core of educational content measured by a common set of assessments. therefore, national professional communities of educators like the national council for the social studies (ncss) are important ports of entry for hr and ihl education into the social studies canon. ncss has a comprehensive set of social studies standards, broader in scope than the discipline-specific standards in history, civics, economics and geography, which it developed as a resource for standards development by the states. however, these standards were first developed in 1994 (ncss, 1994); the landscape of u.s. standards-based education has changed radically since then. at the beginning of 2010, ncss and the council of chief state school officers (ccsso) announced their plan to jointly develop common core state standards for social studies, modeled on the common core state standards in language arts and mathematics just approved by ccsso and the national governors’ association center for best practices (ncss, 2010a). this initiative was at first widely touted on the ncss website as a participatory process whose working group would seek input from educators and experts in the field. as the process developed, however, it became a great deal less participatory as an appointed taskforce approved by the two organizations settled in to an essentially embargoed process of standards development in which task force members agreed not to divulge their work-in-progress “prematurely.” ncss and ccsso assured their public, however, that the semi-final result would be open to comments. by the time the document which ncss and ccsso developed was sent out for comment within their respective organizations, the much anticipated social studies “standards” had undergone a significant transformation. ncss and ccsso had opted to create a “framework,” not “standards.” the framework, known as the college, career and civic life c3 framework for social studies standards (ncss, 2013), is a guide meant to accompany state-approved standards; it is not a set of standards itself. as a framework, it seeks to avoid most decisions on content altogether. in addition, the framework addresses only such state standards as fit under the headings of civics, economics, geography and history, a far narrower range of study than that included in ncss’ own definition of the social studies: the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence…. drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, 121 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences . . . (ncss, 1994). in limiting the joint ncss/ccsso proposal to a framework, the taskforce and its sponsoring organizations may have hoped to better negotiate the political environment. a similar diversionary strategy was employed several years earlier by the state of california, which developed a social studies framework before it had even adopted social studies standards and has limited its revisions to the less visible framework ever since (california sbe, 2005). human rights education in the c3 framework and within ncss culture and structure the phrase “human rights” appears four times in the c3 framework, a considerable achievement given the circumstances. however, it is nowhere defined, nor is the term expanded upon in such a way to provide context. neither the phrase “humanitarian law” nor “geneva conventions” appear in the document at all, nor does the word “humanitarian.” the framework, taken alone, might raise questions about ncss’ sensitivity to the importance of human rights education and international humanitarian law in the social formation of children and youth in the united states. in other forums within ncss, however, a very different and more hopeful picture emerges. ncss, in its flagship journal social education, has frequently published articles regarding human rights issues and the teaching of human rights content. social education devoted a large special section of one issue to articles about teaching international humanitarian law, using the icrc and american red cross curriculum, exploring humanitarian law (ehl) (ncss, 2010b). the problem for relevant inclusion of hre/ihl appeared as soon as ncss became involved in the development of a standards-related document to be included under the aegis of the common core state standards. thus, human rights educators both within and outside ncss had to consider what other route besides standards development might be more productive for obtaining a visible ncss commitment to hre/ihl in the social studies core. like many large professional communities, ncss encourages the development of special interest groups or special interest communities within its overall structure. so, the first step toward testing the ncss waters began in 2011, as this author encouraged other human rights educators to join ncss, read its publications, join the nearest state affiliate, participate in the annual conference and pursue the establishment of an official ncss human rights education community. at the time, ncss had communities around related topics like civics and social justice, but they did not have a specific hre focus. a human rights education community would appear on the ncss website under “special interest communities;” other ncss members could join it. an hre community could network with other communities, affiliates and assemblies within ncss. any ncss community is guaranteed a session at the annual conference and a representative in the ncss house of delegates. a hre community, through its membership in the house of delegates could propose resolutions – for instance, a resolution reaffirming ncss support for human rights education. and, importantly, an official ncss community could reach out to independent nonprofit civic organizations, such as the recently formed human rights educators usa, to connect with their network of hre-friendly members among whom were sure to be members of ncss. the 2012 president-elect of ncss, steven armstrong, visited the state affiliates of ncss prior to the 2012 ncss annual meeting, where he was more accessible to local educators than is possible in 122 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. large national meetings. he was very supportive of the idea of ncss officially endorsing hre and ihl in the social studies core. in a brief meeting during the new mexico council for the social studies annual meeting, he encouraged me to move the project ahead with diligence: get the petition to form an hre community in right away; plan to attend the next annual conference; as soon as the hre community was approved by the ncss board, recruit members and propose a resolution on human rights education. what he proposed was a whirlwind of forward momentum. it worked. the proposed hre community was allowed to have a business meeting at the 2012 conference, even though our application to be approved as a community had not yet been filed. hre usa sent out a call to its membership to help ncss launch the ncss hre community. the inaugural meeting of the proposed hre community was well attended, and included ncss board members. hre usa members who were ncss members put the word out in their state communities to join in the petition to form the hre community. this brought together many interested ncss members who could not attend the first annual meeting. the application for community status was filed and approved in april of 2013. the human rights education community gets up and running within ncss by the 2013 ncss annual conference, the hre community had a business meeting, a hre community scholar presentation on the conference agenda (with pictures of our speakers, making it more visible to the rest of the ncss membership), a seat in the house of delegates and a resolution for the hod calling for ncss support for human rights education. we had an executive committee and officers. continuity of membership and activity, however, proved to be a problem. ncss is an organization primarily made up of public school teachers, curriculum specialists and other educators. it has some university members, but the main thrust is toward the practitioner, as it should be. the annual conference is a special event that teachers may not be able to attend each year. public education has been squeezed since the early days of the great recession. hre community board members experienced salary furloughs, layoffs and crises when their schools went into program improvement. to make matters worse, they had no time. external human rights education advocates, like the members of hre usa were enthusiastic about the hre community within ncss, but most were not ncss members. only ncss members can join an ncss community. ncss membership is not free and most of what ncss does is not about hre. so, the challenge in developing this or any professional community of practice is to link up committed insiders and outsiders, to nurture school-based practitioners while recruiting more freelance professionals who may actually have the time to do the organizational work of building a presence. and the linkages between these two communities of participants must be tenderly maintained so that neither the classroom practitioner nor the freelance academic or advocate feels out of place. the hre community’s first resolution, calling on ncss to endorse hre/ihl as part of the social studies core, went before the ncss house of delegates (hod) during the 2013 annual meeting. on its way to the floor, it gained the co-sponsorship of several state affiliates of ncss and other special interest communities. in the end, the hod unanimously approved the hre community’s resolution, declaring education about human rights and humanitarian law [to be] an essential component of democratic citizenship and civic education, supporting the ideals and principles embedded in the declaration of independence, the u. s. constitution, constitutions 123 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. of the states, the universal declaration of human rights, and the geneva conventions, [and calling upon. . .] the national council for the social studies [to] incorporate into its expectations for social studies education, comprehensive programs of human rights and humanitarian law education” and “ adopt an official position statement endorsing human rights education for all students and supporting the goals of the world programme for human rights education . . . despite the unanimous approval by the hod, the hre community’s resolution was not yet the official policy of ncss. hod resolutions are advisory only and must be adopted by the ncss board of directors (bod) to become official. the ncss board of directors considered the hod resolution at its spring 2014 meeting and unanimously adopted it. there was yet another step, however, on the way to a formal ncss position on human rights education. the resolution merely asserted that hre was a necessary part of the social studies core. it was not a detailed position statement about human rights education. therefore, the ncss bod asked the hre community to prepare a draft position statement. the new executive committee of the hre community now included a mix of human rights education academics, advocates and school-based educators. this made it more possible to draw on the time and expertise of the academics and advocates while incorporating the situated knowledge and experience of the school-based practitioners. a team of hre advocates, researchers, specialists and others collaborated on a draft of the hre position statement, using the ncss format. school-based practitioners contributed their suggestions and review, but simply did not have the time to fully participate in the drafting process. this division of skills and availabilities highlights an ongoing dynamic working inside a professional community of practice like ncss-–the practitioner members don’t have the time and in a specialized field like hre and ihl often don’t have the expertise. those with the expertise are not school-based practitioners and often do not share the experience and familiarity with the practice environment of the classroom teachers. it is all too easy to get stalled because nobody has time to do the work or to proceed in directions that don’t fit with classroom realities. in any area involving educational policy that affects practice, it is absolutely essential that classroom practitioners, academic scholars and field advocates build a very open and egalitarian team in which everyone’s expertise is equally valued and any final product is as acceptable to the school-level practitioner as to the theoretical researcher or the policy advocate. in the end, the ncss position statement on human rights education was vetted through the hre community and sent on to the ncss bod. the board unanimously approved it in september of 2014, in time for the november 2014 ncss annual conference. the position statement is available on the ncss website at http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/human_rights_education_2014. the hre community is developing a two-page executive summary of the statement to aid in its dissemination to a broader, more general audience. the statement introduces the concept of hr-friendly education and links it to positive school climate practices. it stresses the linkage between hre and us history, between hre and foundational documents like the declaration of independence and the bill of rights as well as international documents like the universal declaration of human rights, the geneva conventions and the various conventions, covenants, treaties and declarations that implement the principles of both. this dual emphasis is intentional, serving both to “domesticate” the perception of human rights and 124 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net https://webmail.saclink.csus.edu/owa/redir.aspx?c=wtdo1cuq00ircv2lwurkxktvzssa19ei4swjd78m_ixdu-sjgzkz5zmdxkzq8shmgdavq1gucjm.&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialstudies.org%2fpositions%2fhuman_rights_education_2014 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. humanitarian law and to identify niches in existing required social studies units where the hr/ihl story can be told. the statement incorporates both human rights and international humanitarian law into the adopted position and recommended practices. the ncss hre community concluded that school districts and state boards of education are more likely to embrace the whole field of hr/ihl education if it is presented as a combination of these related fields. next steps in institutionalizing human rights education into standards, curricula and practice everything that has been achieved so far through the national council for the social studies is preliminary in nature. ncss has created a platform within the mainstream world of u.s. social studies to begin effecting change in the visibility of hre education in the united states. ncss is clearly willing to provide a venue for members who share a strong interest in and commitment to human rights education, so that they may advocate for and inform others about hre. the position of the hre community within ncss provides a mainstream credibility when communicating with state departments of education as they revise their social studies standards, school districts as they define their curricula and learning objectives, and trade and textbook publishers as they determine what content and perspectives will be reflected in their publications. the hre position statement provides a comprehensive overview for integrating hre into social studies education at every grade level. while it is only a starting point, it is an important step toward the institutionalization of hre/ihl into the core of the u.s. social studies canon. nothing that has happened so far, however, provides any guarantee that even one more child will learn about human rights and humanitarian law or go to school in an hre-friendly environment. the existence of the hre community and position statement will not, on their own, change the preparation of future teachers. human rights education must continue to be a visible strand within the ncss portfolio. this means introducing resolutions on hr-related themes, negotiating for position in the schedule of the annual conference in regard to highlighted speakers and sessions, and submitting and publishing articles in ncss’ practitioner-oriented publications. the ncss hre position statement will be published in the may/june issue of social education. it will be accompanied by an introduction, the executive summary and an article on practice. this article introduces the existence of the hre community and the hre position statement to another group within ncss. these intra-organizational exchanges are essential if the work done so far is to become reflected in actual educational outcomes. ncss publishes bulletins for practitioners, addressing a single issue. the hre community, relying on the expertise of its insider and outsider friends and related groups, needs to publish at least one bulletin on “how to teach about human rights.” the articles need to align with the c3 social studies framework that ncss considers a signature guide to social studies practice. there need to be regular journal articles in ncss-related publications for elementary, secondary and postsecondary educators on hre strategies and themes. even if hre becomes a staple theme in ncss publications, this presence alone will not alter state social studies content standards, school district curricula or teacher education program expectations. the disconnect between the relatively polite world of professional presentation and the tough neighborhood where standards are defined and enforced, textbook content is determined and standardized tests are composed is still an underlying reality of social studies education in the united states. 125 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. a publication by the british red cross promoting its own ihl curriculum offers several reasons why schools and educators should use their materials. one reason could not be argued in any state or school district in the united states: ihl is included within the examination specifications of all of the major examination boards. (british red cross, allen & overy, 2009) hr and ihl content are not “included within the examination specifications” of the major social studies assessments used by states and school districts in the united states. the legitimacy ncss gives to hre education in its professional community portfolio must be used as a springboard for institutionalizing hre. for example, hre must be acknowledged as an essential component of civic education in the united states. this means that programs promoting hr and ihl and the methods of hre will have to be incorporated into the major civic education professional communities in the u.s., particularly the center for civic education (cce), a professional community: dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in the united states and other countries.( http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/thecampaign) the center for civic education does not have “communities” like ncss. it does however sponsor and support “programs,” such as project citizen, and the campaign to promote civic education (cce website: http://www.civiced.org/programs ). these programs should be approached to see which are willing to incorporate an hre component into their core activities. ideally an hre program should be referenced in the center for civic education’s list of programs. the next time cce revises its national standards for civics and government, human rights and humanitarian law need to be included in the civic competencies required by the standards. the current edition (current to 2014) does not include the phrase “human rights” in its glossary of key terms (http://www.civiced.org/standards ). the campaign for the civic mission of schools is another gatekeeper professional community of practice, self-described as a coalition of over 70 national civic learning, education, civic engagement and business groups committed to improving the quality and quantity of civic learning in american schools. (http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/the-campaign ) the campaign’s list of policy makers and partners includes many groups whose focus relates to areas compatible with hre, but no hre-specific organization is identified on the site and the term ‘human rights’ does not appear in the defining categories on its website (http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/policymakers/links ). the ncss position statement and the continued existence of the hre community are good starting places from which to secure a definition of civic education that includes human rights, humanitarian law and the practices of hre. the ncss position on hre needs to be represented in every instance where a state is revising its social studies standards or specific social studies-related components of its 126 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/the-campaign http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/the-campaign http://www.civiced.org/programs http://www.civiced.org/standards http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/the-campaign http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/policymakers/links journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. standards such as its standards for history and for civics. human rights education professionals and supporters need to engage with the state level affiliates of ncss and with other educational and advocacy organizations at the state level. in some states, state legislatures pass legislation regarding particular content that must be included in the social studies core (e.g., the armenian genocide, cesar chavez, etc.). in these settings, friendly legislators should be asked to sponsor legislation adopting the ncss position on hre or making a comparable statement. it is important to realize that in the federal system of education within the united states, the approval of national gatekeepers is important, even necessary, but the real change in the social studies core requires a change in the statemandated content standards. the mainstream legitimacy accorded to hre by ncss needs to be negotiated with trade book publishers in the social studies. human rights-friendly authors need to write trade books and chapter books for use at all grade levels in the schools. materials used in elementary education need particular attention. hr/ihl content needs to be incorporated into the products of the social studies textbook-testing conglomerates, where increasingly the same company or consortia of companies may be publishing the textbooks and writing the standardized tests. one can argue about the appropriateness of this entire textbooktesting-industrial complex. but as long as it holds such powerful sway over school curricula and state testing regimens, hre needs to be incorporated into the core offerings produced within this system. and, of course, the programs that prepare teachers will need to prepare them to integrate hre/ihl into the subject matter of social studies and to incorporate hre-friendly teaching strategies into their practice. this preparation is particularly important because it involves both content and methods which too often were not part of the educational experience of these future teachers when they went through the public schools. it will take at least one generation before new teachers will be teaching a curriculum they experienced as young students when they teach about hr and ihl. in the long run, for human rights education to become an institutionalized part of the core educational experience of every child in every public school in the u.s., something agreed to in treaties, declarations and yes, in the ncss position statement, there will need to be system-wide institutionalized support for hr/ihl education and for the development of human rightsfriendly schools. the support of such a major professional community of practice as the national council for the social studies creates an opportunity to move that institutionalization forward. each advance of hre into the mainstream creates a platform for the next step forward. references british red cross, in partnership with allen & overy. (2009). justice and fairness: exploring justice and fairness as part of international humanitarian law. introductory pamphlet. curriculum available online at http://www.redcross.org.uk/what-we-do/teaching-resources/teachingpackages/justice-and-fairness california state board of education. (2005). history-social science framework for california public schools. accessed from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/histsocsciframe.pdf . retrieved 09/06/2008. 127 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net http://www.redcross.org.uk/what-we-do/teaching-resources/teaching-packages/justice-and-fairness http://www.redcross.org.uk/what-we-do/teaching-resources/teaching-packages/justice-and-fairness http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/histsocsciframe.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 120-128. center for civic education (1994, 2003, 2010). national standards for civics and government. available in print and online: http://www.civiced.org/standards and http://www.scribd.com/doc/53858149/national-standards-for-civics-and-government evans, r.w. (2006). the social studies wars, now and then. social education 70(5), pp. 317-321. http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/se/7005/700506317.pdf. national council for the social studies. (1994). national curriculum standards for social studies: a framework for teaching, learning and assessment. washington, dc: author ncss. (2013). college, career, and civic life c3 framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. available at http://www.socialstudies.org/c3. ncss. (2010a). climb aboard! the common core state standards initiative. the social studies professional (tssp), no. 216, march/april, 2010. http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/tssp/tssp216.pdf ncss. (2010b). special section: exploring humanitarian law. social education, 75(5), october, 2010. http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation#gsc.tab=0. symcox, l. (2002). whose history? the struggle for national standards in american classrooms. new york: teachers college press. nearest library access available from http://www.worldcat.org/title/whose-history-the-struggle-for-national-standards-inamerican-classrooms/oclc/231965467. retrieved 12-02-2010 zimmerman, j. (2002). whose america? culture wars in the public schools. cambridge and london: harvard university press. 128 | p a g e corresponding editor email: gloria alter : galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:galter9@comcast.net http://www.civiced.org/standards http://www.scribd.com/doc/53858149/national-standards-for-civics-and-government http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/se/7005/700506317.pdf http://www.socialstudies.org/c3 http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/tssp/tssp216.pdf http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation%23gsc.tab=0 http://www.worldcat.org/title/whose-history-the-struggle-for-national-standards-in-american-classrooms/oclc/231965467 http://www.worldcat.org/title/whose-history-the-struggle-for-national-standards-in-american-classrooms/oclc/231965467 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 174 crossing the bridge to swaziland: results of a transformative field experience susan jacques pierson (sr722@cabrini.edu) cabrini college, u.s.a. abstract: crossing the bridge to swaziland presents the story of five pre-service teachers and their faculty mentors who traveled to st. philip’s mission, swaziland in january 2014. there they worked collaboratively with swazi teachers and staff running a week long camp with a business basics and motivational theme, for teenaged orphans and vulnerable children. the cultural immersion and teaching experience in swaziland had a profound effect on students’ confidence and competence working with english language learners, their faith in the power of cross-cultural relationships and their conviction that they can make a difference in the lives of their students. i used to: be afraid of leaving the country and traveling to an unfamiliar place to work with people who speak a foreign language; but now: i have expanded my comfort zone across the ocean and i do not see unfamiliar faces’ i see family and friends. cassie the reflections shared by cassie and other pre-service teachers who have ventured outside their comfort zones indicate that teaching overseas provides life-changing opportunities. overseas field experiences enable teacher candidates to practice culturally responsive pedagogies while learning and growing as global citizens. mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 175 literature review in the recent past, students in teacher education programs, both elementary and secondary, were under-represented in study abroad programs (quezada, 2004). inspired by calls to action by merryfield (1995, 2002) and others (flournoy, 1994; rodriquez, 2011) teacher educators have begun to provide student teaching and field experiences abroad and to document the effects these experiences have on participants. more than a decade ago, merryfield (2000) faulted colleges for failing to prepare teachers committed to educational equity, cultural diversity and global interconnectedness (as cited in doppen & an, 2014, p.60). she warned that inadequate teacher preparation in global education and international studies created a major obstacle to the ability of the united states to meet the economic, political and social challenges of today’s world and recommended international experiences as a means of moving forward (merryfield, 1995). her work suggests that teachers must develop skills in cross-cultural interaction if they are to become effective citizens in a pluralistic and interdependent world. participation in overseas field experiences which provide in-depth study and collaborative work with others have been shown to sharpen the awareness, enhance the sensitivity and hone the pedagogical skills urgently needed by 21st century teachers (phillion et al, 2009). international field experiences for pre-service teachers not only facilitate the development of global citizens, but they also address a major challenge currently facing the teaching profession, how best to prepare predominantly white, middle-class, female students enrolled in teacher education programs to work with the culturally and linguistically diverse students they will face in their future classrooms (sleeter, 2001 as cited in philion et al, 2009). more than ever, there is a need for teacher candidates to have significant, cross-cultural experiences that enable them to teach with, work with and continue to learn from people different than themselves (cushner, 2007). while it is important for teacher education programs to provide ample opportunities for pre-service teachers to work in multi-cultural, multi-lingual and inclusive classrooms here in the united states, extant research indicates that overseas experiences are a catalyst for professional and personal growth. involvement in such experiences broadens student horizons in ways that could never be achieved on campus. students return from immersion trips with increased skill and confidence and with heightened awareness of social justice as an international issue (phillion et al, 2009). it is not enough, however, for teacher candidates to venture outside the united states as “educational tourists” (quezada, 2004). teacher education programs must provide significant intercultural encounters and structure opportunities for forging relationships based on deep and meaningful understandings of people’s similarities as well as differences and address the interpersonal and intercultural dimensions of communication, interaction and learning (cushner, 2009). those who have such encounters return transformed. bryan and sprague, (1997) who interviewed in-service teachers several years after their experiences abroad, discovered lasting effects included increased sensitivity to and empathy for students from other cultures and language backgrounds, fcalybility of teaching practices and commitment to developing new, multi-cultural curricula. devillar & jiang (2012) surveyed those who had student taught in china, belize, costa rica and mexico. self-reports of participants indicated that overseas experiences taught them how to work collaboratively, improved their pedagogical skills, inspired creativity and encouraged flexibility. as a result of their teaching experiences abroad, they felt more competent, more culturally responsive and better able to provide differentiated instruction for their students. in order to explore the impact of overseas student teaching on global awareness, doppen &an (2013) surveyed 40 people who had participated in cost (consortium for overseas student teaching) between mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 176 1995 and 2012. their findings indicate that the overseas experience had a significant impact upon the professional and personal lives of the participants, enhancing their global awareness and increasing their ability to consider multiple perspectives. “most respondents indicated that cost made them more independent, confident, adventuresome, accomplished and courageous. they believed cost challenged them to get out of their comfort zone and persist in uncomfortable situations….” (p. 68). flourney (1995) facilitated collaboration between pre-service teachers at ohio university and students at ngwene teachers college in nhlengano, swaziland. participants worked as teams, teaching elementary and secondary students within the kingdom of swaziland. those involved in the program gained global competence while discerning linkages between places, peoples and disciplines (flourney, 1995, p. 14). it seems even short-term overseas teaching experiences provide teacher candidates with a new appreciation of diverse cultures, acquisition of new teaching tools and strategies, and increased knowledge of themselves and others (lanedeholm & chacko, 2013; walters et al, 2011; willard-holt, 2001). philion et al. (2009) surveyed 54 pre-service teachers who participated in a three -week summer immersion trip to honduras. they found that the experience resulted in a clearer understanding of educational, social and political realities. in another study, rodriguez (2012) investigated the effects of a 10 day immersion trip to bolivia upon participants’ understanding of the role of education in society and their own responsibilities as educators. her findings, based on the responses of 6 former students, indicated that the trip helped participants develop a clearer of understanding of education as a community based enterprise, helped them refine teaching tools and strategies and provided a greater sense of agency (rodriguez, 2012, p. 1). while these results are provocative there is a need for more research in this area. it is the intent of this essay to contribute to ongoing conversations concerning the benefits of cultural immersion and field experiences abroad for pre-service teachers. background this is the account of a two -week immersion trip to st. philips mission swaziland for 5 undergraduate students and two faculty mentors. while in swaziland, the teacher candidates and their instructors directed a camp and taught business basics and english language to orphaned and vulnerable teenagers and young adults, in partnership with swazi teachers and staff. the story of the trip begins in june 2010 when the education department of our small, faith based college, cabrini college, in radnor, pennsylvania, was asked to partner with cabrini ministries, swaziland in order to improve educational opportunities for the orphans and vulnerable children living there. swaziland was severely affected by the aids/hiv pandemic. currently, swaziland has the highest hiv infection rate in the world with over ¼ of the people infected. one third of the population of 1.25 million people is orphans and vulnerable children, 40% are unemployed, and life expectancy is only 50 years. although education holds the key to a better future, few students are able to progress to secondary school, due in large part to their failure attaining english language proficiency. one important manifestation of the mission of cabrini college is the establishment of global partnerships that promote social justice and advance the common good. faculty, administration, and students alike embraced the opportunity to help restore life and hope to the people in swaziland by working in solidarity with cabrini ministries to improve english language teaching and learning for the children in st. philips mission. the collaborative work began with staff development for two swazi teachers, sharon singleton and simo mamba, who traveled to the united states in january 2011. the mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 177 author developed workshops for the teachers from swaziland and her colleagues at cabrini that provided practice using culturally responsive methods for both teaching and reaching english language learners. during simo and sharon’s three week visit, they were introduced to the language experience method, using repeated readings, including book in hand theatre, the use of movement and song, and the integration of instructional technology. as part of their experience, they traveled with the author to a nearby kindergarten class that served culturally and linguistically diverse students. simo and sharon returned home with four laptop computers, a projector personalized “digital tools” including excerpts from culturally relevant children’s literature and accompanying vocabulary and comprehension activities. in june 2011, the author and a colleague from the cabrini education department traveled to swaziland to continue the staff development initiative. building upon the friendship and partnership established through previous visits, the cabrini team demonstrated strategies for 10 swazi teachers and staff members. they also worked directly with swazi students using a myriad of strategies, including language experience, writing and reading poetry, games, songs and movement exercises designed to help teach english and computer technology, including songs, videos and personalized learning activities. after returning to the united states, the author integrated the educational partnership into an existing social studies methods class and created a new course, “bridges to swaziland,” which became part of the college’s engagements with the common good, justice matters curriculum. as a part of both classes, students learned of the history, culture and current challenges facing the people of swaziland. they dedicated themselves to the task of creating personalized, digital tools for use by the students at cabrini ministries, swaziland. resources were mailed to swaziland on flash drives and communication was maintained with partners overseas through the use of social media and cell phones. throughout the course, participants reflected on the meaning of social justice and the challenges facing those working around the world to effect change. in january 2012, three swazi teachers spent two weeks at cabrini college. during that time they learned more ideas for teaching esl but they also shared details of their lives and culture that enriched the lives of those who met them. in january 2013, one of these teachers, nonhlanhla, traveled back to cabrini with three young adults who were graduates of cabrini ministries for two weeks, she and her students attended undergraduate and graduate classes, participated in community service projects, expressed themselves through poetry writing and art, went on field trips to museums and historical sites, shared their stories, and further strengthened the ongoing partnership. it is clear from observations of their behavior and examination of their reflective writing that cabrini students who meet our partners from swaziland and actively participate in creating learning materials for the children grow in global competence and responsibility. they share what they learned with their peers, advocate for change, and express confidence that their efforts are making a difference in efforts to bring about social justice through education. kelly’s reflection at is typical: i will try my utmost to express what i have learned through my words and speech, but the conveyance of growth as a person is not so easy a task. learning about swaziland was an experience, not a lesson. the well-known adage “if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. if you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a life time,” describes the struggle between charity and social justice. social justice is ensuring that all peoples of the world, with no discrimination, have the ability to lead a safe, happy life. cabrini college strives to educate its students on the importance of social justice, because throwing money at a problem will only delay the disaster, not cure it. by implementing social justice programs around the world, and even in our backyard, we are helping people to become self-reliant and self-sufficient. all people should have the right to a safe and happy life, but beyond that i believe that every person deserves a good education. education is the universal key to all locked doors in life. food may mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 178 keep us physically healthy, but learning feeds the mind and the soul, which is essential to a full life. in january 2014, a new chapter in the partnership opened. using funds obtained through a fulbright foundation grant awarded by the united states department of education, five undergraduate, teacher education students (four had completed the bridges to swaziland class) and their faculty mentors, traveled to cabrini ministries, swaziland. over winter break, the students, in partnership with 8 swazi teachers and their teachers from cabrini, helped to plan and direct a camp for swazi teenagers and young adults developed around the theme, “my heart, my mind, my hands, my community.” the workshops and activities were designed to improve both english language skills and increase knowledge of business basics, including personal finance, marketing, and sales. while in swaziland, the students also had the opportunity to participate in cultural events, including presentation of songs and dances by their hosts, a trip to a nearby market and overnight trips to homesteads. while visiting the homesteads, the students prepared and shared traditional meals and participated fully in the life of their host family. method in order to gauge the effects of the student cultural immersion and field experience, data was collected before, during, and after the trip. sources of information included journal writing, reflective poetry, interviews, field observations and informal conversations with participants. one data collection strategy, writing and sharing of “i used to…” poems, requires some explanation. as cowen (2012) has discovered, poetry is an effective tool for inspiring and sustaining the reflective spirits of pre-service teachers. she has used reading and writing poetry successfully in student teaching seminars, both to stimulate reflection upon learning and as a means of sharing personal and profession growth. as intrator and scribner (2003) editors of teaching with fire state, poetry has the capacity to empower pre-service and in-service teachers alike. it can engender self -understanding and inspire teachers to act as change agents. “far from being a mere grace note in a sometimes heartless world” (p. xviii), poetry contributes in at least 3 ways to personal and social transformation: by helping us remember what it means to be human by giving us the courage to walk a path with a heart by inspiring us to take collective action toward meaningful social change while in swaziland, we had multiple opportunities to hear and respond to poems written by our young partners and friends, including ”haunted”, composed by njobo mamba and read with deep conviction during one of our camp meetings: mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 179 haunted haunted, my shadow, my friend in light, my conscience, my life map, my life, my letdown, my broken bridge, my past, my motivation and experience my life haunts me. i am haunted by the sad and bad i have experienced and done in this joyous life. oh my past is catching up with me. i am haunted to do good, for my teacher, the past., has taught me a lot about life “exam before lecture experience” they call it. it’s all coming back to me now, i am a shadow of my past, a reflection of my future, i am haunted to be a better self than yester time. my conscience, my motivation and encouragement the engine hub of my desire. the reminder to be a fighter all times. my past haunts me to do good, let sadness give birth to joy for am haunted to be a good creature. i love and enjoy being haunted for goodness, for it produces the drive to be good. haunted and conscience, my life’s gps to joy for my future is baked from the past, not with the past. haunted i will always be, and that is my future secret ingredient. living within self and proud. while we were in swaziland, njobo and other swazi young people spent time teaching the students siswati, shared details of their life experiences, and spoke of their dreams for the future. each american student kept a personal journal that included poetry and prose. they also participated in daily discussions and reflective meetings with our swazi hosts and partners. upon our return to the united states, each participant in the immersion trip composed a poem using the “i used to, but now i…” framework as a tool for reflection upon how the swaziland immersion had impacted our lives. mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 180 results analysis of qualitative data including pre-immersion interviews, essays and discussions, onsite observations and post-trip reflective poetry reveal five major themes: 1. concern about personal needs and personal safety 2. encountering and overcoming challenges working with english language learners 3. relationships with swazi students and staff 4. growing in confidence and competence 5. personal transformation and making a difference concerns about personal needs and safety our results mirror those of mosley, reeder & armstrong (2008) who found that during the weeks preceding an immersion trip to costa rica, students were most concerned about “basic needs,” including how they would get money and what they should pack. during our pre-trip meetings with students they raised each of these concerns multiple times: how would they find off mosquitoes? would they encounter poisonous snakes? would there be toilets and running water? would they ever be able to wear shorts or would long skirts be worn at all times? how would they communicate with family and friends? did they really have to sleep over on the homesteads? encountering and overcoming challenges working with english language learners participants in the immersion experience remarked often about the challenges faced teaching students who lacked english language proficiency. their comments indicated initial frustration. dayna remarked: “they hate biz world. they don’t understand at all.” zoe added: “ i’m not getting through to them.” after an appeal to our swazi teaching partners for help with translation and lesson delivery, things improved. caly said: “i don’t know what we’d do without mrs. mamba (community leader and first grade teacher).” dayna said: “menzi (a fifth grade teacher who also helps out at the high school) really knows how to reach each one of the students.” cassie remarked: “bravo (a teacher and caseworker) is the best.” collaborative lesson planning led to the inclusion of many hands-on activities, the use of language supports, including word walls and cooperative learning strategies that provided a means for more proficient swazi students to help those just learning english. the cabrini students learned to speak slowly and to use modeling and visuals to support their teaching. they also learned that bonds created out of class through playing games, sharing stories, songs, and dances, taking photos and videos together, and just talking, seemed to help transcend the language barrier during instructional time. on the morning the campers left to return to their homesteads, there was no mistaking how close everyone had become, despite the language barrier. tears were shed and hugs exchanged as everyone said good-bye. later in the week, caly, cassie and the author participated in a community goat and cattle drive that took us miles away from the mission. along the dusty, animal clogged roads, we were delighted to encounter and be recognized by our camper friends. the hellos and how are you’s? were exchanged in mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 181 both english and siswati and accompanied by huge smiles. excerpts from students’ essays and reflective poetry are telling: zoe: it was difficult to teach young adults and teens whose first language was siswati. now i feel better prepared because i realize there are many strategies to aid instruction. we were constantly adjusting our teaching strategies to accommodate our students…it is important to use pictures and actions to explain the message you are trying to convey. also, as you spend time and build a connection with your students, teachers are able to communicate and understand each of their students in a way beyond words. cassie: i was taught teaching techniques from a different culture that allowed me to open myself to unfamiliar ideas and new strategies that improved me as their teacher. zoe: i used to be afraid that the language difference would be so stressful and we would not be able to accomplish everything we wanted. but now i know that even though there were some challenges with the language, we moved past them and did more in our two weeks than i ever could have imagined. relationships with swazi students and staff the theme of developing relationships was strong. zoe: one reward of traveling to swaziland was the lifelong relationships and connections i made. i found comfort in embracing new cultures and people and i have made relationships that will last a lifetime. caly: i used to be worried that the students would not want to open up to us about their lives and that we would have the same struggle. but now i think everyday about our last day there when we held our students and cried because our lives had become so interconnected we thought it would be impossible to leave. zoe: i used to fear unknown culture. but now i know people are openhearted and will do anything it takes to make you feel comfortable and welcomed into their country, home and lifestyle. emma: i know god brought me to swaziland. the people i met along this journey gave and taught me more than i could ever give in return…i was able to grow in love for things that i do not know or understand. growing in confidence and competence analysis of student essays and reflective poetry reflected growth in confidence concerning teaching. emma: i used to be doubtful of my own skills, but now i have confidence in myself. zoe: my confidence definitely soared as a result of my teaching experience in swaziland. cassie: i used to think i wasn’t going to be good at working with children who have such a different cultural background than myself. but now i have gained the confidence that i can work with all types of children. i used to question how this experience was going to help me, and worry it would scare me away from wanting to teach. but now i am confident i want to teach more than i did before i left because of this experience i had in swaziland. dayna: emerging into a different culture and teaching a new population was quite challenging. however, this experience indicated i am more than capable to teach in any situation. the people of swaziland taught me many unbelievable skills that i never would have learned just by teaching in the states. mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 182 personal transformation and making a difference a final theme began to emerge from analysis of student writing was that of being transformed and of making a difference through teaching. cassie: that feeling of peace from my first step on swazi soil just reassured me that i was in the right place at that time in my life. i have relived that moment of peace millions of times in my head since i returned from swaziland. dayna: it’s one thing to learn and read books but to actually see for yourself sickness, poverty and hunger, is something that has forever changed my heart. zoe: i used to believe that i could not make a difference. but now i know that i did make a difference and that i can continue to make a difference. caly: i used to be full of self-doubt that i would not be able to make a difference in these children’s lives because i am just one person. but now i know the time we had with these children made the biggest difference to both them and me. cassie: i used to think i could not make an impact on the world or make a change in the world as much as i dreamed i could with my major in education. but now i have opened a new world of exploration and service to the world and know i can change the world if i just open myself up to it first. conclusion our findings, while tentative, indicate that a short term cultural immersion and field experience has clear benefits for pre-service teachers. in addition to unforgettable memories of a night spent on a homestead, participation in a cattle drive and the smiles of new friends, our teacher candidates carried home new confidence in their abilities to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students, a deep understanding of the power of relationships, and an unshakable belief that those who work for social justice through education have the power to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of their students. references bryan, s. & sprague, m. (1997). the effect of overseas internships on early teaching experiences. the clearing house. 70(4), 199-201. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30189284 chan, j. & parr, g. (2012). intercultural teacher education: challenges and ethical dilemmas on an international practicum. paper delivered at the joint aare apera international conference, sydney 2012. 1-19. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed542511.pdf cowen, k. (2012) enhancing student teacher reflective practice through poetry. the new educator, 8(4), 308-320. cushner, k. (2007). the role of experience in the making of internationally-minded teachers. teacher education quarterly, 34(1). 27-40. devillar, r. & jiang, b. (2012). from student teaching abroad to teaching in the u.s. classroom: effects of global experiences on local instructional practice. teacher education quarterly, 7-24. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1001435.pdf mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 183 doppen, f. & jing, a. (2014). student teaching abroad: enhancing global awareness. international education, 43(2), 59-75. flournoy,m. (1994). educating globally competent teachers. paper presented at the annual meeting of the council on international educational exchange (washington, d.c. november 4, 1993). 2-17. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed373032.pdf intrator, s. & scribner, m. (2003). teaching with fire: poetry that sustains the courage to teach. new york: john wiley & sons. landerholm, e. & chacko, j. student teaching abroad: an experience for 21st century teachers. online submission (march 15, 2013) retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed540609.pdf merryfield, m. (1995). teacher education in global and international education. eric digest. 1-6. merryfield, m. (2002). the difference a global educator can make. educational leadership, 16(4), 429443. merryfield, m. m. (2000). using electronic technologies to promote equity and cultural diversity in social studies and global education. theory and research in social education, 28(4), 502-526. mosley, c., reeder, s. & armstrong, n. (2008). i don’t eat white: the transformational nature of student teaching abroad. curriculum and teaching dialogue, 10(1-2), 55-71. oh, k. & nussli, n. (2014). challenging, eye-opening, and changing u.s. teacher training in korea: creating experiences that will enhance global perspectives journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning, 14(4), 67-87. doi:10.14434/josotl.v14i4.12764 phillion, j., malewski, e., sharma, s., & wang, y. (2009). reimagining the curriculum: future teachers and study abroad. frontiers: the interdisciplinary journal of study abroad, 323-339 quezada, r. (2004). beyond educational tourism: lessons learned while student teaching abroad. international education journal, 5(4),58-465. retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=beyond+educational+tourism&ft=on&idej903870 rodriguez, e. (2011). what pre-service teachers bring home when they travel abroad: rethinking teaching through a short international immersion experience. scholar-practitioner quarterly, 5(3), 289-305. santoro, n., & major, j. (2012). learning to be a culturally responsive teacher through international study trips: transformation or tourism? reaching education, 23(3), 309-322. sleeter, c. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52 (94). retrieved from: http://jte.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/2/94 mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 174-184. corresponding author email: sr722@cabrini.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 184 tang, s. & choi, p. (2004). the development of personal, intercultural and professional competence in international field experience in initial teacher education. asia pacific education review. 5(1), 50-63. retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/pdfs/ej720527.pdf walters, l. m., green, m. r., wang. l., & walters, t. (2011). from heads to hearts: digital stories as reflection artifacts of teachers' international experience. issues in teacher education, 37-52. willard-holt. (2001). the impact of a short-term international experience for preservice teachers. teaching and teacher education, 17(4), 505-517. mailto:sr722@cabrini.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 84 promoting intercultural competence in a globalized era: pre-service teachers’ perceptions of practices that promote intercultural competency lydiah nganga (lnganga@uwyo.edu) university of wyoming _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the teaching force in the united states of america is still predominantly white and monolingual. yet, the u.s. population is rapidly becoming culturally and ethnically diverse. as a result, white teachers have expressed doubt in their efficacy in teaching students whose cultures are different than theirs (helfrich & bean, 2011). the purpose of this study, therefore, was to identify and examine instructional practices that promote intercultural competencies effectively. thus, after experiencing a variety of instructional approaches, the participants (n=92 pre-service teachers) responded to open-ended questions and reflections. participants also took part in online threaded discussions. among other findings, data showed that the use of children’s literature with a global focus, along with participating in on-going threaded discussions and reflections, helped the participants most in acquiring essential intercultural competencies. key words: intercultural competence, global education, intercultural education, social studies methods, teacher education, instructional practices, and international service learning _____________________________________________________________________________________ the teaching force in public schools in the united states is predominantly white, female and monolingual. although a majority of these educators are well prepared to inculcate their students with academic knowledge and skills that they need in 21st century, they continue to express reservation and doubt about their ability to teach effectively to the many cultural differences that they encounter in their classroom (helfrich & bean, 2011). perhaps because of globalization, the united states has experienced drastic demographics shifts in recent years, including a dramatic increase of cultural and ethnic diversity. commenting on the effects of globalization, for example, a 2013 unesco report remarked that globalization has shrunk the world “bringing a wider range of cultures into closer contact than ever before” (p. 7). in terms of education, then, increased cultural contacts necessitate schools to inculcate their students with essential intercultural competencies by providing an education that is multicultural. an education for intercultural competencies is designed to broaden learners’ perspectives about human differences. it is an education that maximizes people’s potentials irrespective of their differences, whether natural or socially constructed (moll & gonzale, 2004.) further, an education for cultural competencies supports the development of social skills, including “tolerance of uncertainty,” majerek (2012, p. 318). given that globalization has created increased interactions of global cultures, helping students to develop tolerance of uncertainties is invaluable. mailto:lnganga@uwyo.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 85 globalization has resulted in increased mingling of diverse cultures, especially in school settings. notwithstanding this reality, many teacher-preparation programs in the united states are still lagging behind with regard to preparing educators with essential intercultural competencies (doppen & an, 2014). the process of acquiring intercultural competencies involves the mastery of many skills, but the ability to use instructional practices that help students to develop a high degree of world-mindedness and intercultural competence is especially helpful (schuerholz-lehr, 2007). equally essential is the ability to utilize instructional strategies that allow learners to understand and appreciate other cultures because different cultures conceptualize and understand the world differently (tanriverdi, ulusoy, & seymen, 2011). given that educators with a clear understanding and appreciation of intercultural competencies are likely to inculcate their students with similar knowledge and skills, it is necessary to develop a consensus about what intercultural competencies are. different scholars define intercultural competencies differently. for example, deardorff (2006) found that terms such as global competence, multicultural competence, global-mindedness, global perspective, cross-culturally awareness, and intercultural competence are used regularly in different academic disciplines. notwithstanding the variety of terms used to denote intercultural competencies, the ability to hold multiple perspectives on cultures, events and issues is an essential skill in the field of intercultural competency (bennett, 1993; hanvey, 1976; kirkwood-tucker, 2009; merryfield, 2009; nganga & kambutu, 2015). but reflecting on the meaning of holding multiple cultural perspectives, cushner and chang (2015) credited intercultural competencies for promoting the development of “critical knowledge and skills that enable people to make increasingly more complex perceptual distinctions about their experiences with cultural differences” (p. 167). evidently, becoming interculturally competent has many benefits. the benefits of intercultural competency are well documented. for example, spitzberg and changnon (2009) credited intercultural competency for enabling people to gain knowledge and skills that support effective interactions with unfamiliar world cultures. similarly, fantini (2006) considered intercultural competency invaluable because it supports essential skills such as flexibility and intercultural communication. nevertheless, becoming interculturally competent is a process that requires learning in integrative and inter-cultural learning environments (merryfield & wilson, 2005; zhao, meyers, & meyers, 2009). as a result, zong (2009) advocated for an education that supports the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to intercultural competence in a global age, a postulate that was advocated by cushner and chang (2015). as stated earlier, the acquisition of skills in intercultural competencies is a deliberate act. although the learning process could assume many formats, deardorff (2006) recommended learning experiences that factor the following stages: • recognition of global systems and their interconnectedness, including openness to other cultures, values, and attitudes; • experiencing intercultural skills; • gaining general knowledge of history and world events; • studying in details areas related to intercultural skills. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 86 evidently, the acquisition of essential intercultural competencies is an ongoing process that can take place during any stage in human life. regardless of where a person starts, however, deardorff (2006) noted that having the right attitude about becoming interculturally competent is helpful. to support deardofff’s postulate, okayama, furuto and edmondson (2001) commented that “what may be most important is a willingness to make changes . . . underlying attitudes that support everything that can be taught or learned” (p. 97). becoming interculturally competent necessitates the development of attitudes of respect, openness, cultural awareness and flexibility. also, because the process of acquiring intercultural competence does not occur naturally, planning intentionally and carefully could have a positive impact. teaching for intercultural competence in a teacher education program increasing cultural diversity in the united states creates a need for teacher education programs to inculcate pre-service teachers with essential knowledge and skills in intercultural competencies. but because the acquisition of pertinent knowledge and skills is an intentional act, teacher education programs need to provide the needed instructional infrastructure. while a number of instructional practices are likely to enhance this important work, an education that promotes quality and informed interactions between people of different cultural persuasions is helpful (deardorff, 2006). indeed, in many teacher education programs, the use of content with a global focus, along with availability of carefully planned cultural immersion experiences, is becoming common practice (zong, 2009). using planned international cultural immersion experiences to teach for global/intercultural competence carefully planned international cultural immersion experiences provide “unique experiential learning” because they allow learning to take place from a divergent worldview lens, thus enabling learners to become “more global in their thoughts and actions” (zong, 2009, p. 77). as a result, education experts argue that although international cultural learning experiences could have unintended consequences, the personal and professional benefits inherent in well planned programs make them invaluable instructional practices (cushner & brennan, 2007; kambutu & nganga, 2008; kambutu & nganga, 2014). some of the documented benefits of international cultural immersion experiences, for example, include helping learners to shift their perspectives, while developing an empathetic understanding of the world and its people. but lewin (2009) indicated that without good planning achieving positive impact on intercultural development through study abroad experiences is impossible. thus, he recommended a program design that allowed space for “immersion into the host culture, opportunities to develop relationships with people from the culture, and program support for guided critical cultural selfreflection” (p. 159). critical cultural reflections are especially meaningful because they create learning opportunities that allow students to not only learn about other cultures, but also self-critique with regard to perceptions about heritage cultures, and how those perceptions could influence interactions with unfamiliar cultures. although self-reflection occurs in many settings, the use of technology is especially helpful. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 87 using technology to teach skills in intercultural competencies instructional technologies have transformed teaching and learning in dramatic ways. recently, for example, scholars have explored the benefits of instructional technologies in enhancing pre-service teachers’ understanding of global matters (chadwick & ralston, 2010; zong, 2009). one technology that has received close scrutiny is the internet, and in specific, online threaded discussions. although online learning, threaded discussions in particular, is quite different from face-to-face discussions, when planned carefully, it is likely to elicit in-depth discussions especially when controversial issues such as prejudice, inequality, privilege, imperialism and injustice are the focus (merryfield, 2000; peters, 2009; zong, 2009). other studies have shown that online pedagogy was essential at increasing intercultural learning because it served as a “means of communication, understanding and cooperation” with people in any continent, thus promoting a “spirit of tolerance and cosmopolitanism” (beaven & alvarez, 2002, para. 10). although technology is helpful, using course content with a global and intercultural focus is also essential. the use of course content and resources with a global and intercultural focus educators play a significant role in helping learners to gain knowledge and skills about global diversity (cushner, 2015). as a result, it is the educators’ responsibility to ensure that the content in use provides opportunities to learn about global issues, including strategies to solve problems locally, regionally and internationally (nganga & kambutu, 2015). given this important role that educators play in teaching for global mindedness, they should always ensure that they possess essential intercultural competencies. unfortunately, this is not always the case. instead, many educators are not only less educated about global issues, but they also are likely to marginalize curriculum that has cultural, and or potentially controversial outlook (kirkwood-tucker, 2009). notwithstanding this reluctance, teaching and learning for global mindedness is essential. this is especially true in programs that prepare teachers because these future educators will prepare future generations for global citizenship (merryfield, 2009; nganga & kambutu, 2015; zong, 2009). as a result, many scholars have spoken strongly in support of educational efforts aimed at helping prospective and practicing teachers to acquire world cultural knowledge (merryfield, jarchow, & pickert, 1997; nganga, kambutu, & russell, 2013). although educators could use a variety of resources and teaching practices, the use of children’s literature with a multicultural theme could help immensely (mayer, 1997). the power of multicultural literature in the process of constructing sociocultural images and global experiences is widely acknowledged. for example, multicultural literature can be used to broaden students’ understanding of culture, and also to build awareness of cross-cultural, intra-cultural differences and similarities (nganga & kambutu, 2015; wilkins & gamble, 1998). reflecting on this essential reality, rodriguez and puyal (2012) reported that “the use of literary texts can promote reflection on cultural differences, develop understanding of the home culture, and consequently enhance more tolerant and open attitudes towards other cultures,” (p. 108). that said, phipps and gonzalez (2004) felt that the use of children’s literature with a multicultural focus can truly help learners develop critical awareness by engaging them cognitively and affectively, thus enhancing their ability to analyze critically foreign cultures in order to pave way for intercultural awareness. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 88 when using children’s literature with multicultural focus, teachers should focus on creating an instructional habit of talking about human differences, including an exploration of topics that relate to issues of diversity (derman-sparks & olson-edwards, 2010). however, many teachers have limited experiences using children’s books that are written from the perspective of, or about racial and ethnic differences. while many factors are at play in this reality, most prominent is the fact that diversity calls for numerous issues to be considered when choosing multicultural literature. therefore, “teachers must learn how to assess books as appropriate for use in the classroom” (wilkins & gamble, 1998, p.29). so, when selecting anti-bias culturally responsive children’s books, an educator should do so using a critical lens (derman-sparks & olson-edwards, 2010; nganga, 2015). equally important is an assessment of instructional materials to make sure that the used instructional resources counter existing stereotypes and misinformation. in terms of race, for example, an educator should ensure that instructional resources do not portray african americans as athletes only, and whites as working professionals. also helpful is ensuring that the teaching materials used do not just show exotic images of any given group. typically, resources with an exotic focus exaggerate, and/or depict racial groups unrealistically (dermansparks & olson-edwards, 2010, nganga, 2015). so, curriculum for intercultural understanding provides objective cultural knowledge, skills and practices. notwithstanding the value of an education for intercultural competence, few scholars have examined pre-service teachers’ perceptions of classroom practices that they consider helpful in preparing them to teach for global mindedness and intercultural competency. purpose of this study this study that was conducted in a teacher education program in the rocky mountain region in the united states explored pedagogical practices that promote intercultural competence in a social studies course. the following research questions guided this study: 1. what instructional practices helped pre-service teachers the most while learning about global and intercultural competencies? 2. how did planned international cultural immersion experience affect the participants’ understanding and appreciation of unfamiliar cultures? the data reported in this study were generated from teaching activities such as reflections, in-class discussion notes, and online threaded discussions that spanned from 2011 to 2015. data from an openended questionnaire helped the author/researcher to explore the participants’ views in-depth (mukherji & albon, 2010) because these data provided information on participants’ ideas, attitudes and values. the participants in this study were all white (n=92) pre-service teachers. perhaps because these participants’ area of academic focus was elementary education, they were overwhelmingly female (74 or 80%). on the onset, however, the researcher informed the participants that their participation in the study was purely voluntary. thus, their participation or not would not affect their grade in the course/s in any way. the author collected data from the following courses: journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 89 planned international cultural immersion implemented in kenya, africa, this summer international cultural immersion experience included a service learning component that enabled students to learn by doing. thus, in addition to using primary resources to explore the host country’s history, geography, cultures, languages, economy, education, archeology, ecology, paleontology and zoology, geopolitical, ethnic, gender issues and the hiv/aids epidemic, learners participated in field experiences at local schools. before travel, participants were engaged in several learning activities such as face-to-face discussions, threaded discussions, online research activities and teleconferences. also included was a final comparative paper. course materials that helped learners to understand host cultures were provided and discussed. upon arrival in kenya, the instructor met with the participants on a daily basis (morning and evening). these meetings provided a forum to not only discuss expectations, but also debrief and reflect (see appendix 1 for predeparture and post-teaching open-ended questions). social studies methods course this course focused on the role of social studies education in an elementary education curriculum. the course was designed on the premise that social studies enhanced opportunities to facilitate inquiry, exploration, and understanding of the society and world in which we live. to that end, global and intercultural content was integrated throughout the course work. assignments in this course included online threaded discussions, class discussions, reading and analyzing children’s literature with a global/intercultural focus. also included were online research activities and reflections, and writing research papers that focused on various aspects of a foreign nation of the learner’s choosing. research findings were presented during class meetings. other learning activities included a review of children’s books with a global cultural focus. after reviewing a book/s, the participants listed questions that emerged as a result, and commented on the book’s value relative to teaching for cultural and global understanding. the generated data were analyzed qualitatively (strauss & corbin, 1998). findings using qualitative data analysis, the author looked for emerging themes (strauss & corbin, 1998). after conducting a detailed data coding process, several minor themes emerged that the author juxtaposed and melded to develop the following two robust themes: a) using a variety of instructional practices has most value, and b) planned cultural immersion offers many opportunities to develop cultural and global awareness. the following is a detailed discussion of these themes. preferred instructional practices when asked to identify the instructional practices that helped the participants the most in the process of learning and acquiring intercultural knowledge and global perspectives, several practices were deemed most valuable. among those practices was the use of content and learning activities with intercultural/global education focus. also preferred was the use of children’s books with cultural and global themes because this instructional practice exposed the participants to the role that educators play as change agents. meanwhile, the participants preferred the use of web-based technology because journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 90 it created space for them to experience foreign cultures, albeit virtually. the following is a detailed discussion of each of the preferred instructional practices. a) course content and activities with intercultural/global education focus the participants in this study preferred the integration of course content with a global and intercultural focus because it helped them to develop skills in intercultural competence, thus preparing them to teach such content in their future classrooms. to these participants, an integrated approach to instruction allowed them to not only consider cultural differences, but also explore cultural similarities using a global lens. this is an important finding because it pointed to a possible shift from ethnocentrism to ethno-relative (hammer, bennett, & wiseman, 2003). meanwhile, the participants saw value in using course content with cultural and divergent worldviews because such content examined both the familiar and unfamiliar. the following expert, written after completing a research project, captures this reality rather well: this project was a great hands-on activity that exposed us to other cultures and traditions. it really showed the cultural similarities and differences between the countries presented. this would be a great learning experience to incorporate in a classroom while teaching about other cultures. (kristi, reflection in social studies course, 10/20/ 2011) evident in this excerpt is the participant’s ability to see how she might apply the knowledge learned about world cultures in her own teaching. indeed, in addition to planning to use the knowledge gained for instructional purposes, the participant showed a willingness to take action (banks, 2008) based on the skills gained about global cultures. to that end, sally (cultural immersion threaded discussions, 11/8, 2015) reported that she refused to be silent any more on issues of global cultures. instead, she offered to use the skills gained to help others learn, understand and appreciate foreign cultures. one learning activity that provides pertinent cultural knowledge and skills is in-class discussions and reflections. data showed that the participants gained essential cultural knowledge and skills during in-class discussions and reflections. reflecting on the associated benefits, a participant reported that in-class discussions and reflections allowed her to “think critically about content, in addition to allowing me to acknowledge both sides of the story, and presenting them with factual information based on reliable sources” (ponny, in-class notes in social studies course, 10/29/2013. as a result, this participant was ready to “integrate content that exposes students to other cultures and promote intercultural and global competency and activities that engage learners because i want to be the teacher who makes this positive impact on the students,” (medith, in-class discussion notes in social studies course, 10/29/2013). evidently, the participants in this study appreciated the benefits of infusing globally focused content in regular content. such infusion not only helped them become aware of different cultures, but also allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of people’s histories, and cultural similarities and differences. an additional critical gain is their commitment to using content and learning activities that enhance cultural awareness in their future classrooms. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 91 b) using children’s books with intercultural and global themes data from this study revealed that the participants found the use of children’s books with intercultural and global themes helpful. for this activity, the participants read and critiqued a book/s on the way culture was presented in the selected book/s. although some participants struggled to ascertain why they selected certain books, they favored the assigned learning activity because it enabled them to learn about foreign cultural practices. for example, after studying the book what we wear: dressing up around the world by ajmera, derstine and pon (2012), tamera reflected that “this book is appropriate because it shows different clothing from all around the world, and by using it for instruction, it will help children to learn to be open-minded by looking at pictures,” (reflection notes in social studies course, 11/8/2014). although tamera did not respond in depth why the book she selected was appropriate, the selection in itself was a good choice because children’s book can easily provoke interest in learning cultural similarities and differences, particularly in areas of clothing. meanwhile, other reflections suggested that analyzing children’s books helped the participants to be receptive to other ways of seeing, thinking, and teaching as is evident in the following reflection: as a teacher, it is important for me to consider my biases while selecting instructional materials. the assignment to evaluate a children’s book was really a revelation for me. i have never considered evaluating children’s books. analyzing and discussing children’s stories for unfairness and fairness can help children learn how to recognize such acts in real life and what to do about them. as a teacher, therefore, i should take time to evaluate such materials for stereotypes as well as select materials that children can identify with. (lucy, in-class discussion notes in social studies, 10/18/2012) lucy’s reflection emphasizes the importance of selecting children’s books that do not confirm stereotype about other cultures. equally critical is her apparent understanding that using a curriculum for cultural and global understanding could help learners to become aware of acts of unfairness against foreign cultures. meanwhile, the following reflection shows clearly that other participants found the analysis of children’s books beneficial: in this learning activity, we learned how to evaluate children’s books for biases. before this learning activity, i did not pay attention to pictures in books or what they depicted. now, i realize how important it is to use books that have photographs that portray all races and ethnicities in a positive manner. when i get my own classroom, i want to make sure it is culturally responsive and respectful of all my students, (pora, reflection in social studies course, 11/8/2015). the importance of selecting and using culturally inclusive children’s books is, without a doubt, a critical instructional practice. equally important is the teacher’s ability to model pertinent instructional practices. to that end, several participants in this study voiced the importance of classroom teachers’ ability to model cultural practices, while practicing the cultural change they would like to see in their students. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 92 c) educators as change agents a critical finding from the collected data delved into the importance of educators as change agents. to that end, a majority of the participants in this study appeared to realize that it is critical for educators to be change agents. in other words, the participants reported that when classroom teachers are not interculturally competent, it is almost impossible for their students to become culturally competent. this finding seems to support the notion that it is the teacher’s responsibility to help his/her learners to explore topics that examine cultural differences. to that end, one pre-service teacher indicated that a classroom teacher has to: accept his or her role as an agent of change to enable students to learn about the world from different perspectives. for example, i have never seen christopher columbus the way i do now. if our instructor did not assign materials and research that helped us to see columbus from a native american’s perspective, for example, i would have continued to think of him as a hero. the mistreatment of native americans was for the most part nothing to make one a hero. the contacted foreign disease that killed many of their people, along with how they were hunted and killed like wild animals and forced to look for precious metals for columbus and his men is unjust. i am disappointed that i was miss-educated all along. (toni, threaded discussion in social studies course, 11/8/ 2011) the above reflection shows the apparent transformation that teaching for change is likely to cause. apparently, toni is empathetic to the treatment of native americans based on the new information gained. additionally, she showed cognitive flexibility in that she used the new information to help her to come up with a conclusion that she has been “mis-educated all along.” when learning for intercultural competence is in place, a new cognitive awaking is realized. this kind of awakening is essential, but becoming a change agent is likely to happen when ideal learning conditions are in place. pora’s (2015) reflection in a social studies course addressed the importance of providing supportive learning conditions: i liked how well we interacted during in-class discussions and the respect that was accorded to each of us during presentations. if we presented erroneous information, the instructor asked questions that made us think, and directed us to new resources. if we brought in new information, the instructor gave us the opportunity to share. we were acknowledged. everyone’s perspectives were respected. this was very helpful. (pora, threaded discussion in social studies, 11/8, 2015) pora’s sentiment is supported by fantini (2006) and deardorff (2006) in their recommendation for instructors to support their students. such support is essential because it motivates students to embrace new knowledge and skills. d) using technology to teach for cultural understanding data showed that the participants in this study favorably viewed the use of modern technologies, webbased technology especially. for example, conny reflected on the value of modern technologies for instructional purposes: journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 93 i thoroughly enjoyed threaded discussions because they gave me an opportunity to see what my peers were thinking about. after reading a post on why one participant in our international service-learning course choose [sic] to travel, i was reassured of my own interest. i never thought about the advantage of travelling to kenya with a professor who knows the local languages, and it just dawned on me how that was going to be an asset in my learning. the opportunity of traveling with a native professor was really helpful as we were able to experience the real culture by being immersed in the community. tourists generally don't get this opportunity of interaction with local communities. this was very helpful in learning about another culture. (conny, cultural immersion threaded discussion, 7/12/2015) although threaded discussions were helpful in that learners had a platform to share their thoughts freely, participants credited it for creating a space for the participants to share their perspectives and thoughts about foreign cultures. responding to the benefits of threaded discussions, kaitryn added that: responding to my peers as well as the prompts provided by the instructor was helpful in many ways. it encouraged us to share our thoughts and created a deeper understanding of different cultural aspects. it was interesting to see diverse thoughts on similar topics. (cultural immersion threaded discussion, 12/5/2011) although threaded discussions encouraged divergent and creative thinking, another apparent benefit is the support for critical thinking. indeed, because of online discussions, many participants in this study reported that they were able to engage in self-reflection about course work. additionally, the participants were able to think about practices that enhance intercultural competence in their personal lives, including ways to help others, especially their future students. meanwhile the students in this study found other teaching approaches, including open-ended questions, meaningful because they provided a platform for dialogue with peers. for example, in one threaded discussion post, erina (10/29/ 2013) commented that open-ended questions prompted others to think about ways to promote respect in the classroom when working with diverse learners. to that end, she credited her peers for utilizing threaded discussions to “respectfully share our opinions.” in response to erina’s observation, dusty noted that it was important for teachers to model behaviors that show respect for diverse learners: that's a very good question, erina. i guess i would just let everyone know that some conversations are not appropriate for schools. we would then talk about respecting differences. at the same time, i actually would respect a student who wants to talk about his/her religion because many students and adults want to hide what they believe in. they don't want to be different, so if they want to share, i would have to respect that, (threaded discussions in social studies course, 10/29/2013). planned international cultural immersion experiences data from this study indicated that planned cultural immersion experiences were critical to helping the participants develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures. to that end, for example, a majority of the participants reflected on how their interactions with people in the host country opened their eyes to new ways of thinking about other cultures. after participating in a 2015 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 94 cultural immersion program, for example, molly (threaded discussion notes, 7/12/ 2015) commented that: i now understand kenyan culture better through experiences of critical reflection and having first hand experiences and interactions with the local people. to be an effective educator, one needs to respect and appreciate all cultural groups. teaching at the karati school was a highlight. as a teacher in america, it was eye-opening to not only see the classrooms and students, but to teach the students. overall, it was a life-changing trip and i hope i am able to return for another service learning project. in the above reflection, molly noted that to become an effective educator, one needs to understand other cultures. understanding other cultures is an important aspect in intercultural competency because it allows people to contextualize cultural interactions. consider, for example, john’s quote below that shows how he contextualized his interaction with both school children and educators in kenya. i was nervous about language barriers. i thought the children in kenya did not speak english. but when i started teaching, i was impressed with the children and the level of respect they showed their teachers. this was very different than any american classroom i have experienced. it takes month to build such type of rapport with american learners. the students were shy, may be because it was their first time being taught by a musungu (white) person. kenyan children learn both english and kiswahili (their national language), as such, i just had to slow down when i spoke so they could understand my american accent (threaded discussion in cultural immersion course, 7/12/2015). in the above reflection, it is evident that john’s initial preference was to use his heritage culture to make meaning of new cultural experiences. but by interacting with students and their teachers in the host culture, he was able to gain new cultural insights. this apparent change is typical of what happens when one is immersed in a foreign culture. studies show that teaching in a foreign culture not only allows educators to gain cultural understanding, but also increases their sensitivity to cultural injustice (merryfield, 2000). discussion and conclusion data from this study support the importance of using course content with intercultural and global focus to help learners gain knowledge and skills for global and cultural competence. but even though using the appropriate content is key, the participants in this study highlighted the critical role that educators’ knowledge plays. therefore, these participants postulated that while teacher knowledge of diverse cultures is essential, it is critical for all educators to model and encourage their students to always consider different cultural perspectives. indeed, educators must always be ready to see themselves not just as teachers, but also as agents of social change. although educators for social change select teaching and learning resources carefully, they also think continually about learning outcomes. in addition, teachers for social change support and promote behaviors that are non-judgmental, and they also provide nurturing classroom environments. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 95 a nurturing learning environment is an inviting place. as a result, educators in a nurturing learning space establish authentic and meaningful relationships with their students. in a nurturing learning environment, a practice of collaboration is the norm. when educators collaborate with their students, they are able to accomplish common goals while promoting tolerance for ambiguity (cushner & chang, 2015). in this study, a nurturing learning environment was established in a variety of ways, including providing many opportunities for online threaded discussions. although online discussions are typically impersonal, participants in this study acknowledged that the planned threaded discussions created a space for critical reflections that went beyond offering cultural information. this was perhaps possible because the instructor combined threaded discussions with other instructional approaches such as research projects and critiques of children’s books prior to assigning online discussions. the additional learning activities not only helped learners to contextualize their thinking about unfamiliar cultures, but also provided space for them to process cross-cultural issues, thus facilitating the acquisition of various cultural competencies. essentially, then, threaded discussions provided invaluable scaffolding opportunities (lee, 2011; merryfield, 2000). ideally, threaded discussions enable teachers to give up the power of being the one delivering knowledge, thus allowing learning to become collaborative in the process of constructing new knowledge. planned carefully, therefore, online learning, threaded discussions especially, can play a key role in the development of intercultural competence. as learners interact with information and the perspectives of other learners, they are able “to go beyond superficial facts,” and instead, they develop an open mind to “other cultures so that they understand cross-cultural perspectives with nonjudgmental attitudes and respect” (lee, 2011, p. 90). data from this study show that the use of visuals is especially helpful in the process of developing non-judgmental attitudes. participants in this study examined children’s books that had a cultural focus. while analyzing children’s books, the participants learned that it is important to consider content and visual representations of people from diverse backgrounds in order to ascertain that non-judgmental representations are used. being able to scrutinize teaching and learning resources for bias is essential because it creates space to view cultural differences from a more positive perspective rather than from a deficit model (chartock, 2010). additionally, this awareness could allow educators to adjust instructional practices in order to address the needs of diverse students. evidently, well-selected global and multicultural literature could help learners to see how the world is more connected, and therefore, understand the need to appreciate different points of view. in all, findings from this study have implications for social studies courses in teacher education programs. based on the findings from this study, for example, it is important for course instructors to consider using multiple instructional practices in order to enhance intercultural competence. indeed, dunn, doston, cross, kesner and lundahl (2014) reported that an instructional balance was always helpful. to that end, they recommended the use of context-driven assignments, theoretical readings, discussions, active reflections and cultural immersion. but because not all learners have the opportunity to experience cultural immersion, the use of intercultural and global education course content is helpful. equally helpful are educators who consider themselves agents of social change and role models in supporting and enhancing knowledge and skills in intercultural competence. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 96 clearly, then, there is not a single instructional practice that is ideal for promoting global mindedness and intercultural competencies. rather, a combination of instructional practice, including the use of children’s literature with a global focus, cultural immersion experiences, the use of technology (online discussions), and participating in in-class discussions and reflections are likely to promote the acquisition of knowledge and skills essential to global mindedness and intercultural competencies. references aimera, m., derstine, e. h., & pon, c. 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(2009). research and practice in teacher education for global perspectives. in t. f. kirkwoodtucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 71–89). new york, ny: peter lang. http://akademikpersonel.kocaeli.edu.tr/tanriverdi/diger/tanriverdi02.05.2012_15.4 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219768e.pdf http://www.academia.edu/1244761/evaluating_multicultural_literature_for_use http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598660903058925 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 100 appendix 1 international service learning on-site guidelines 1. arrive on site ready to work with the local community. 2. respect local community’s dress code and values. 3. actively engage in work and interact with the local people. 4. learn to use new tools. 5. show respect when answering questions that might not align with your belief system. 6. while in the classrooms, observe how local teachers interact with students during their teaching before you teach. 7. be flexible. international service learning pre-teaching questions before departure from the united states, participants were asked to respond to the following questions. 1). a. if this is your first time traveling to the host country, please describe in a paragraph what comes to mind when you think of the country. (if you have been in the host country on a previous international study abroad experience, skip this question and respond to (b).) b. if you have been to host country, describe why you are going back. 2.) a. why did you choose to participate in this country? b. what are your expectations in this course? 3.) a. what is you understanding of international service learning? b. what motivated you to take part in international service learning. 4.) in your profession, how might having a "global consciousness" help? defend your claim with research. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 101 post-teaching questions upon return to the united states, participants were asked to react to the following questions 1. upon arrival in kenya, what was most shocking? why? 2. discuss the social issues (problems) that you observed in kenyan (who, what, where). 3. based on your international service learning experiences/course work & research, what do you see as possible solutions to these social issues? 4. what similarities and differences are there between the types of social issues faced by kenyan and u.s. citizens? 5. how can citizens of the world solve these types of social problems? what role does civic engagement play? 6. what are some negative and positive consequences of globalization for kenya? also consider your observations and class discussions while in kenya (support with other research on globalization). 7. service leaning is as much about learning about others as it is about learning about ourselves: discuss this statement as it relates to you as a global citizen and your kenya experiences. 8. upon your departure from kenya, what was different for you? (connect your apprehension, prior experiences if any, and your thoughts before and after, etc.) 9. how do you hope to use your newly acquired knowledge? 10. did the travel meet your expectations? explain. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 84-102. corresponding author email: lnganga@uwyo.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 102 appendix 2 reflection questions: social studies methods course pre-teaching questions 1. what is your definition of intercultural education? 2. what values and attitudes are fundamental to developing a global perspective and intercultural understating? why? 3. what skills do you possess that reflects a global minded educator? 4. what additional skills do you think you need to keep learning in this course to keep developing intercultural skills and global competence? post teaching reflections a. based on course work activities, in what ways has your definition on intercultural education changed if any? explain. b. what learning experiences influenced your learning the most? c. what does it mean to teach for intercultural competence and global understanding? d. describe an activity that you might do with your students that ties global education, social justice and cultural competence. what concepts would be your focus and why? teaching for intercultural competence in a teacher education program using planned international cultural immersion experiences to teach for global/intercultural competence using technology to teach skills in intercultural competencies the use of course content and resources with a global and intercultural focus purpose of this study planned international cultural immersion social studies methods course findings preferred instructional practices a) course content and activities with intercultural/global education focus b) using children’s books with intercultural and global themes c) educators as change agents d) using technology to teach for cultural understanding planned international cultural immersion experiences discussion and conclusion references aimera, m., derstine, e. h., & pon, c. (2012). what we wear: dressing up around the world. charlesbridge appendix 1 appendix 2 journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 using social science inquiry for explaining major events in global history: the disintegration of the soviet union as a case study iftikhar ahmad long island university abstract: the disintegration of the soviet union in 1991 was a major global historical event of the 20th century that permanently changed the destiny of hundreds of millions of people around the world. it was not a revolution. it was not a transition to democracy. it was not a struggle for decolonization. no one expected a world power like the soviet union to disintegrate into 15 autonomous republics. historians, social science researchers, and other observers of the soviet union were all surprised by the sudden collapse of a political system that was sustained for 70 years by a political ideology and which had dominated a significant portion of the global land mass, its people, cultures, and resources. how do we explain the disintegration of a super power? what theories of change may be valid in a case that has no precedent? this paper seeks to explore the causes of the disintegration of the soviet union through the formulation and testing of a correlative hypothesis: a strong correlation exists between the break-up of the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) and the disintegration of the soviet state. this hypothesis is specific, testable, verifiable, and it is supported by historical evidence and events examined in the paper. key words: social science, inquiry, history, revolution, case study, hypothesis. introduction in december 1991, the soviet union officially expired as a state. the momentous disintegration of the soviet state into 15 autonomous nation-states was a global and indeed remarkable event that demands an explanation. what caused this historic collapse? what plausible explanation can one offer for a phenomenon which has neither parallel nor precedent in history? where should we look for similar categories of cases in order to make generalizations or test social science mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 theories of change? in this case, the predictive power of social science theories has been a huge disappointment. theories are useful as tools for explanation when there is replication of a phenomenon, but the collapse of the soviet union is a case with no parallel. looking at theories of revolutions, modernization, or regime transitions may not be useful because none of those models offer any meaningful resemblance to the soviet case. other models that one may look at are perhaps those of empires and ancien régimes; for instance, the french, russian, and chinese revolutions wiped out the old ruling bureaucracies and replaced them with new ones. none of those phenomena was replicated in the former soviet union, however. paradoxically, in the soviet case, the old ruling bureaucracies largely escaped unscathed and even benefited from the new free market opportunities, and yesterday’s communists are today’s capitalists and oligarchs. one could therefore argue that the demise of the soviet union cannot be compared with the demise of the ancien régimes. to explain the disintegration of the soviet union, this paper formulates a correlative hypothesis: a strong correlation exists between the break-up of the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) and the disintegration of the soviet state. this hypothesis is specific, testable, verifiable, tenable, and supported by historical evidence examined in the paper. this paper has three parts. the first part focuses on methodological problems. as the selection of a research method is a subjective decision, no method can be value-free. solving the methodological problem becomes even more formidable when the research question is about the soviet union, a state that remained hidden for decades behind the iron curtain and offered limited access to international social science research scholars. the second part of the paper analyzes theories, perspectives, and debates on the subject of the disintegration of the soviet union. the third part of the paper explores the possibilities of testing the correlative hypothesis through the exploratory single-case study method. theoretical models and research methods the disintegration of the soviet union was a massive political event. to study the “why” of this event, one needs a research method. three research methods are commonly employed by social scientists for the study of regime change: the comparative-historical analysis, the transition to democracy model, and revolution. comparative-historical analysis has been useful for explaining regime change. in social origins of dictatorship and democracy, barrington moore (1966) successfully and effectively applied this method to trace the origins of change in different societies, fusing theory and history to explain change. informed by moore’s methodological mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 innovation, theda skocpol (1979) also employed the comparative-historical analysis for comparing the french, russian, and chinese revolutions; however, the comparative-historical method requires other comparable cases in history that do not exist in the soviet case. the second model, the transitions to democracy model, has been applied by rustow (1970), o’donnell and schmitter (1986), and przeworski (1991), among others. these scholars used this model to explain the change from authoritarian rule to democracy in sweden, turkey, latin america, and southern and eastern europe. can this model be employed effectively for the former soviet union? the model assumes democracy as a logical outcome—or a contingent outcome, according to przeworski (1991)—of change from authoritarian rule. this paper, however, does not share przeworski’s assumption because it does not focus on the actual direction of change in the former soviet union. the singular aim of this paper is to identify one or several independent variable(s) for accidental overlapping between the processes of disintegration and transition. to make this point clear, rustow (1970) cautioned that before the process of transition begins, there must be a “background condition” of national unity. that is to say, a nation should already have resolved its internal ethnic conflicts before it embarks upon the journey of democratic change. but in the soviet case, the opposite is true—the dormant centrifugal movements and historical ethnic cleavages resuscitated and even intensified—so the transitions to democracy model is not applicable here. the third model of regime change is revolution. can one characterize the disintegration of the soviet union as a revolution? revolutions are of many types, some initiated from below as in china in 1949 and in iran in 1979, and some initiated from above, such as the meiji restoration in 1868, the russian revolution in 1917, and the german revolution in 1918. if the disintegration of the soviet union was indeed a revolution, then it either belongs to one category of revolutions or another. different scholars have suggested different definitions of the term “revolution”—one person’s revolution may be another person’s rebellion. kotowski (1984) identifies 23 definitions of revolution proposed by three generations of scholars reflecting contending theoretical models. to define revolution is to define one’s own politics. skocpol (1979) defines revolution as: “rapid, basic transformation of a society’s state and class structures; and they are accompanied and in part carried through by class-based revolts from below” (p. 4). one can identify five important characteristics in skocpol’s definition: revolution involves transformation of state organization, social structures, state-class relations, a revolutionary impulse from the peasantry in the rural areas, and rapidity. the regime change in the soviet union occurred from above, mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 whereas skocpol’s sociological perspective emphasizes “class-based revolt” from below. therefore, it would be fair to say that the soviet case does not fit skocpol’s model of revolution. political scientists samuel p. huntington (1968) and charles tilly (1975) have also defined revolution. even though both scholars stress the political aspects of revolution, there is disagreement between them about the origins and outcome of the phenomenon. for huntington (1968), a revolution is “a rapid, fundamental, and violent domestic change in the dominant values and myths of a society, in its political institutions, social structure, leadership, and government activity and policies” (p. 264). in huntington’s framework, revolution “begins simply with a sudden recognition by almost all the passive and active membership of the society that the state no longer exists” (p. 267). he views revolution as an aspect of modernization, arguing that revolution does not occur in either highly traditional or highly modern societies; revolution occurs in modernizing societies that have seen some economic development but have not yet developed political institutions to absorb the newly emerging social groups. huntington’s model draws criticism from tilly (1975), who is not convinced that modernization necessarily leads to revolution. tilly defines revolution as “a forcible transfer of power over a state through armed struggle in the course of which at least two distinct power blocs make incompatible claims to control the state, and some significant portion of the population subject to the state’s jurisdiction acquiesces in the claims of each bloc.” the key elements of this definition are structural, involving: (a) armed struggle; (b) two or more power blocs; and (c) the transfer of state power. for tilly, the hallmark of a revolutionary situation is the appearance within a given population of a “multiple sovereignty,” or two or more competing polities commanding the allegiances of different sections of the population and claiming the right to be the single sovereign polity. tilly’s model revolves around max weber’s idea of the state. according to weber, states are autonomous institutions whose agents constantly seek to expand their control both domestically and internationally. state activities revolve around four functions: war-making, state-building, protection, and extraction, all of which depend upon the state’s coercive capacity. state expansion strengthens the regime but leaves society vulnerable to revolution. tilly (1975) argues that “revolutions have occurred especially in times of state expansion.” the business of the state is to expand, and the process of expansion encourages contenders from below to revolt. in other words, revolution is “politics by other means.” before one can apply tilly’s model to the soviet case, one must note that there was no significant struggle in the process of disintegration—indeed, the collapse was enigmatically smooth— although the role of two or more power blocs and the transfer of state power were in play. tilly’s mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 concept of “multiple sovereignty” is applicable to the situation that developed between 1986 and 1991 in russia, where the central authority was first challenged. two tracks of “multiple sovereignty” emerged in russia as a result of mikhail gorbachev’s “liberalization” policies: one “multiple sovereignty” emerged within the cpsu of russia, and the second emerged outside the cpsu in the minority republics, a direct consequence of the first. as tilly’s model shows, one could argue that in the soviet union, competing polities commanded the allegiance of the population and claimed to be the rightful and sovereign polities. as the “center” declared independence from the super-structure, the periphery had no other alternative but to follow suit. this way, gorbachev and the soviet union very quickly became illegitimate and irrelevant. among the definitions and models of revolution discussed here, it seems that the soviet case is unique and unprecedented. whereas all models of revolution stress state-building, none of them leave room for the possibility of state-dismantling. huntington (1968) states that revolution occurs in “modernizing” societies, which is to say that the society should be in the process of moving from tradition to modernity, but the soviet union was a fairly modern society in that its population was literate and science and technology had progressed tremendously. huntington’s argument on the question of newly emerging groups may have some validity: there is no doubt that gorbachev’s glasnost and democratization, i.e., liberalization, had emboldened certain informal social groups outside the cpsu which openly and tenaciously criticized weaknesses of the soviet social, political, and economic system. these groups put pressure on the nomenklatura, forcing them to a defensive position. in a one-party system, no official channels were available for participation of the non-party groups. huntington’s perspective is society-centered and may be of some use as a conceptual tool for analyzing and understanding the soviet case. there is no doubt that what happened in the former soviet union in 1991 was a “rapid, fundamental violent domestic change in the dominant values and myths of a society, in its political institutions, social structures, leadership, and government activity and policies” (huntington, 1968, p. 264). this definition implies that these changes in a given society signify revolution, and while that may be true, one also needs to know when and where revolution begins and ends. huntington provides half the answer, and his assertion that “when all active and passive members of the society suddenly recognize that the state no longer exists, revolution begins” makes a valid point, but when does revolution end? revolutionary change is a process, or “politics by other means” (tilly, 1975). that is to say, revolution is a political process involving state and violence. mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 if one applies huntington’s definition of revolution as a change in “dominant values of the society,” then marxism-leninism would no longer be the official ideology of the state and the party, and the social, political, and economic institutions and structures would be radically changed. but the old communists were not excluded from power under the new regimes in the former soviet union. huntington’s model is also useful in that the new social groups that emerged in the soviet union pressed their views in the newly liberated news media and influenced public opinion in favor of russian nationalism. questions about the russia-soviet union dichotomy were raised openly for the first time. these new groups identified the burdens russia was bearing for the sake of the union and targeted the imperial structure of the soviet union for all the social and economic ills russia was facing. it was the first time that some russian leaders in the cpsu were influenced by the argument for the unloading of the empire. these russian groups saw their destiny as with the prosperous west. this was a powerful argument that persuaded communist leaders such as boris yeltsin to fight for russia. for these leaders, the fate of russia was more important than the uncertain future of the soviet union. in short, the newly-emerging social groups and the open dialogue enabled the political elite to make rational decisions that were russia-centric. the cpsu elites, who were predominantly ethnic russians and political entrepreneurs, had before them two choices: (a) to support gorbachev’s policies and continue on a downward professional spiral, or (b) to enhance their personal political and economic power in russia under the new arrangement. most made the second choice. from the above discussion of the existing models, it appears that no single model offers all of the answers, and one could benefit from considering all of them. there is a methodological brick wall that any researcher confronts in the soviet case. perhaps it is due to this uniqueness of the soviet case that, as yet, no well-known sovietologist has proposed a complete model for the disintegration of the soviet union. considering this difficulty, this paper uses the single historicalexploratory case study method. admittedly, perhaps the use of a single case study research design does not have as much rigor and explanatory power as the comparative or multiple case study methods, but this will serve the purpose of testing the hypothesis and provide some tentative answers to questions such as why the political system in the soviet union ended so suddenly, the major origins of the causes of the collapse, and why the system collapsed in 1991 and not before or after. the goals of this paper are modest, drawing mainly on data and theoretical literature for evidence and support. although much of the work produced about the collapse of the soviet union was produced mostly by both “optimist” and “pessimist” sovietologists whose views were already mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 known before the actual disintegration occurred, this paper benefits from those views nonetheless. a humble attempt is made here to go beyond traditional analyses to explore one or more specific independent variables that might have led to the disintegration of the soviet state. one of the underlying assumptions of the paper is that understanding power relations is key to the objective analysis of politics in any polity, and the soviet union is no exception. one must look for the source of power, identify the place where power is located and congealed, because history shows that it is the most powerful groups in society that have the most to hide. why should one study the disintegration of the soviet state? why is this a worthwhile research project? this is important because, first of all, this political phenomenon has direct implications for the 300 million peoples of eurasia. this historical change continues to influence the social, political, and economic aspects of many peoples around the world. the international implications of this phenomenon alone warrants researching this subject. it is thus necessary to look for the independent variable(s) causing the disintegration of the soviet union, the disintegration being the dependent variable. let us begin with the assumption that the major vertical and horizontal bond in the social, national, political, and economic life of the soviet system was the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) and its elite, specifically the russian party elite. as power and privilege was located in the party at the elite level, it is necessary to look at the party itself and study the effects of glasnost, perestroika, and democratization—the liberalization measures—on its legitimacy in the period between 1986 and 1991. under gorbachev’s leadership, the party elite lost its traditional and central hegemony over the affairs of the state. if the disintegration involved some kind of political conflict, as all revolutionary changes do, then this conflict emerged and grew within the party itself. gorbachev’s structural reforms produced some unintended consequences, leading to the end of the party’s monopoly over power and the demise of the soviet union. perspectives on the disintegration of the soviet union western sovietologists have offered competing perspectives on the disintegration of the soviet state. rational choice theory, neo-institutionalism, totalitarian-essentialism, transition to democracy, group theory, and neo-marxist political economy have been proposed for analyzing the disintegration of the soviet political system. among these are the totalitarianism school and the neo-marxist approach, as represented by historian richard pipes (1984) and hillel ticktin (1992), respectively; while these two schools of thought present opposite perspectives, they share some key essentialist assumptions, arguing that the soviet union was an unnatural mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 arrangement and that its disintegration was imminent. pipes (1984) links the disintegration to the bolshevik revolution of 1917 and posits that the system was doomed from the start, as the october revolution was an illegitimate seizure of power. pipes seems to focus more on the cultural attributes of russia than any other variables. as martin malia (1992) describes pipes’s approach, “the key to sovietism lies in the russian national tradition and a virtually changeless russian political culture compounded of despotism above and servitude below, a tradition in which the country and its inhabitants are the property of the ruler, and sovereignty is confused with ownership... pipes rides his claims of immutable russianness to implausible lengths.” the essentialist argument asserts that the soviet union was a continuation of czarist russia. according to this paradigm of sovietology, one must study the soviet union in its historical perspective; the long history of the russian people has shaped their character, values, and worldview, and change in the russian ethos is not possible. scholars such as legvold (2016), simes (1999), and sestanovich (1994) are just a few among many who subscribe to this conceptual and ideological paradigm. this perspective has not specified the causes and conditions under which the collapse occurred. this school of thought also served as a forum for those interests in the west which aspired to see the collapse occur as soon as possible and made deliberate and material efforts towards that end. the neo-marxists seek to explain the disintegration of the soviet union from the political economy perspective. this perspective maintains that the soviet union was not a socialist system and no one particularly cared about the essence of marxism-leninism. the political elite class itself had no ideology, misusing marxism-leninism to perpetuate its own rule. the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) was not a political party in the western sense simply because a single party cannot be a political party—a one-party system is a no-party system, a fact easily demonstrated by looking at the internal life of the cpsu. local parties simply accepted instructions and decisions from above, and there was no real discussion, election, or criticism from below, or indeed any real function for the local party other than the reception of documents that nobody read. the party had no need to contest elections, campaign to change minds, or perform in the manner that communist parties did before 1917 or in the rest of the world. the party congresses and central committee meetings were a forum for the elites, where the great bodies of the state, army, secret police, and the bureaucratic apparatus in their factionalized form could display themselves. the plenum of the central committee that met february 6-8, 1990, marked a turning point for the party, however. article 6 of the constitution, which enshrined the special role of the communist party, was slated for removal; meanwhile, the party would become more democratic and multiparty elections were to be permitted. by this time, the mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 soviet elite preferred to rule using formal elections, assuming that their own party would obtain sufficient consent to maintain the system by continuing the status quo. the neo-marxists do not believe that the soviet economy was a planned economy in the sense that planning required knowledge, consistency, and means of implementation of the directives. the soviet system was not a mode of production like capitalism and communism; it was neither a market economy nor a planned economy. both of these economic systems are governed by their own respective laws, but the soviet economic system had no laws. to make the economy efficient, gorbachev had to introduce “market socialism” reforms, but any attempts at reforming the system would have produced more chaos and disorder. the neo-marxists argued that there were three sets of laws operating in that epoch: the laws of capitalism itself, the laws of a declining capitalism, and the laws of transition. capitalism was on the decline and the world was in a transition to a new mode of production that had not yet been born. the disintegration of the soviet union was a part of that global transition and must be seen as a part of that change. the change in the soviet union was not a transition to a free market economy or a liberal democracy. no one knew what lay ahead. ticktin’s (1992) neo-marxist approach identifies the origins of the decay in the soviet system before the collapse; perhaps this is the only theoretical framework with predictive and explanatory power, claiming that the western sovietologists misunderstood the soviet system by equating it with communism when, indeed, it was not a communist system. putting it differently, the collapse of the soviet union was not the collapse of communism, as some western sovietologists such as pipes (1990), malia (1992), and mandelbaum (1991) have suggested. alternative paradigms (rational choice and neo-institutionalism), as proposed by seweryn bialer (1992), did not make any predictions before the collapse but identified the sources of deep economic crises in gorbachev’s period. bialer’s liberal micro-economic approach focused on the industrial production aspect of the system, arguing that gorbachev’s reforms served as a catalyst for institutional collapse. the planning/command economic system could be dismantled but not reformed. the analyses of bialer, pipes, and malia have always been harsh regarding the soviet union and communism; one might suggest that their analyses and conclusions were tinged with cold war ideological biases. more importantly, one could say that most of those explanations suffered from the fallacy of retrospective speculations. the soviet union as an exploratory case study mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 the soviet union consisted of 15 republics, of which russia was the dominant republic. like an empire, the soviet state collapsed and spun off the smaller republics from the core. a plausible explanation for the collapse warrants a closer look at the nature of social, political, economic, cultural, and historical relationships between russia and the rest of the republics. the soviet union had not been able to become a nation—russia was the core of the soviet system around which the other republics gravitated for about 73 years and would have perhaps continued to do so. without looking at russia’s pivotal position in the soviet political and economic system, any explanation of the collapse would remain deficient and wanting. as bialer (1992) pointed out, “russia was the soviet union.” one of the central arguments of this paper is that the major cause of the disintegration of the soviet union was russia itself. it was no longer in the interest of the russian party elite to carry the burden of the union, so when the elite decided to remove the political linchpin, the communist party, the soviet union collapsed. let us discuss briefly the official role of the cpsu in the soviet union. article 6 of the 1977 constitution defines the role of the cpsu in these words: the leading and guiding force of soviet society and the nucleus of its political system, of all state organizations and public organizations, is the communist party of the soviet union. the cpsu exists for the people and serves the people. the communist party, armed with marxismleninism, determines the general perspectives of the development of society and the course of home and foreign policy of the ussr, directs the great constructive work of the soviet people, and imparts a planned, systematic and theoretically substantiated character to their struggle for the victory of communism. all party organizations shall function within the framework of the constitution of the ussr. the cpsu had no rivals for power. as it was a permanent ruling party, it did not have to justify its every action before an opposition. it could—and did—ignore public opinion over the years. the cpsu justified its own existence in terms of its understanding of marxism-leninism, said to embody scientific truths about human society, laws of development that were universally applicable. marxism-leninism was described as “a universal scientific theory, which was constantly developing and being enriched by the workers’ struggle for socialism in the whole leninist principles and policies.” the party claimed to be the only genuine defender of workers’ rights and that it had the exclusive right to scientific truth. in the words of mikhail suslov, an ideologue of the politburo, “the policy of the cpsu is strictly scientific. it is built on a profound knowledge of the laws of social development, and it comprehensively takes into account the various conditions of the country’s internal life, and also the whole system of international mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 relations.” on the basis of this understanding, the party was required to reject as false all other alternative policies, be they bourgeois, nationalist, or religious. it was thus this ideology that legitimated the party and gave it a great deal of power in policy-making and implementation. the most important question examines the party’s relationship with the state and the state institutions. in theoretical terms, marxism-leninism asserts that the state represents the domination of the bourgeois class and is, therefore, an undesirable institution. with the proletariat revolution and the establishment of communism, the state must wither away. in practice, however, the cpsu did the opposite, strengthening the state by controlling all the social, political, and economic levers. the cpsu had the characteristics of an elite organization. first of all, the membership of the party was restricted. the party was a functional group that had a high status in society and played an exceptionally influential role in political and social affairs. the party members enjoyed access to privileged information. some students of the soviet system argue that the 19 million members of the cpsu could not have enjoyed equal power and privilege and that because of the enormous size of the cpsu, one should not call it an elite group. but size was irrelevant since decisions were made exclusively by the party at both micro and macro levels. relative to russia, other republics were not as crucial in the early process of the collapse. this is so because the cpsu was essentially a russian entity. other republics simply reacted to the unfolding drama in moscow, but the final decisions were made in russia and it is there where one must look for answers. for some of the republics, this divorce was an unpleasant surprise: the central asian republics, for example, had shown little desire to become autonomous nationstates. the union was not a real federation but a monolithic party-state, and its republics were simply administrative sub-divisions created to give a fictitious recognition to minority nationalisms while reserving all real power for moscow. the economic infrastructure developed over a period of 75 years or more left the non-russians as dependent peoples. sultan nazarbaev, the president of kazakhstan, commented that he could not imagine being independent of the union and moved very quickly to propose the idea of the commonwealth of independent states (cis). it was the irony of history that nationhood intruded on those who did not seek it. in fact, most of the republics had never existed before in the form of nations or countries; entities such as belarus, uzbekistan, and kazakhstan were soviet administrative creations. by no means does this suggest that nationalist and centrifugal forces did not operate in the soviet union. indeed, deeply entrenched nationalist factions operated at the soviet and local levels in almost all republics. groups such as the tartars, azeris, chechens, mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 georgians, and others had always been suspicious of the russians, but there was hardly any evidence of armed struggle for independence from the union except in the baltics. the final decision for the independence of these future nations was made in russia and not by the individual communist parties in the minority republics. the communist party of the soviet union (cpsu) was controlled and run by russians. russians made up 55 percent of the soviet population but 75 percent of the presidium and secretariat. the cpsu suffered from internal ethnic tensions, and russians and non-russians were divided on many economic and national questions. party elites in central asia and transcaucasia controlled the republics as their fiefdoms and paid lip service to the center; non-russian party elites in other republics amassed private wealth and businesses, which worried the central command of the party. but in spite of the widespread corruption and abuse of power by the party and bureaucratic nomenklatura, the system was still stable for a long time. to put it differently, the system had problems with effectiveness but its survival was not in question. no one living in the country could foresee the prospects of a total disintegration of the soviet state. perhaps the system would have continued if it been left alone. mikhail gorbachev was a committed communist who sought to modernize the soviet union. his vision was to make the economy more efficient and the party more democratic, although he was not a jeffersonian democrat and did not believe in a multiparty system. but he knew that the system he inherited was defective to the core. on the one hand, the soviet union claimed to be a superpower, spending a large portion of its scarce resources on the military; on the other hand, the technology it used for manufacturing consumer goods was obsolete. the standard of living of its people had declined, the bread lines were getting longer. gorbachev had traveled to the west and the newly industrialized nations of the far east, and he observed that the technological world had changed. he was not satisfied with the obsolete technology in the soviet union. in his view, the political and economic system needed reformation. if the soviet union would compete in the global economy, it needed the latest technology and a more responsive political system. gorbachev was a man with a different worldview than his predecessors or the hard core conservative party leaders around him—his goal was to modernize the country by integrating into the capitalist world economy. as the disintegration of the soviet union occurred on gorbachev’s watch, it is necessary to look at those five or six years and examine the policies he intended to implement, how and why he planned to implement them, and his constituency and power-base. mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 gorbachev’s reforms involved compromises, maneuvering, resistance, defections, the breakup of the party, the august 1991 coup, his own downfall, and finally, the collapse of the soviet state itself. his policy of glasnost (openness and transparency) relaxed bureaucratic controls on information, broadening the parameters of permitted discussion and thereby enabling the people of the soviet union to say more, hear more, and learn more about their past and present. gorbachev’s purpose had been to enlist the intelligentsia in his campaign to revitalize the country and to generate popular pressure on the party apparatus, which had resisted the changes he was trying to make. he wanted to encourage criticism of his predecessor, leonid brezhnev, and to resume former soviet leader nikita khrushchev’s campaign against stalin. but glasnost did not stop there—gorbachev himself could not escape criticism. the democratization program was gorbachev’s weapon in his battle against the party apparatchiks. free elections in 1989 and 1990 showed that the people had contempt for the communist party of soviet union. democratization also created the opportunity for the beginnings of an alternative to the party elite to emerge. gorbachev, who had risen through the ranks of the party, was selected for his energy and personal spark to advance the communist cause. a longstanding member of the party but not of its inner core, he was ideally suited to reform the ossified apparatus. he soon learned that he had inherited a tottering structure, no part of which could be repaired without fixing the other parts, too. for instance, the achievement of his economic goals, he said, would depend primarily on technological modernization which would be bought by shunting investment into civilian production. since it would take some time for state-of-the-art machinery to be available, the government would have to make efficient use of existing human and material resources. gorbachev wanted to “put things in order.” the aim was to crack down on sloppiness and complacency in personnel. this was reflected in may 1985 decrees curbing the sales of alcohol. in april 1985, he launched perestroika (restructuring of the economic mechanism). the economic crisis was in fact created by the political system, and the system was run by the party, of which he was the general secretary. for the economic reforms to succeed, gorbachev wanted to mobilize the party apparatus. perestroika was not popular among the party elite, the conservative nomenklatura, and they opposed reforms. frustrated by this resistance, gorbachev decided to invoke popular support. he shifted the center of gravity from party to state, depriving the party of its monopoly status as the country’s only legitimate political organization, reduced the politburo to impotence, and stripped the party of the bulk of its revenues. his dilemma was that he could not find a way, as lenin did, to break the economic decline without weakening the party. he could not part with the leninist tradition of saving the party by making tactical mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 adjustments, and he could not make tactical adjustments without endangering the party. in the august coup, gorbachev (1991) described this dilemma: from the very beginning of the crisis brought about by the radical transformation of our society, i tried not to allow an explosive resolution of the contradictions to take place. i wanted to gain time by making tactical moves, so as to allow the democratic process to acquire sufficient stability to ease out the old ways and to strengthen people’s attachments to the new values. in short i wanted to bring the country in a stage where any such attempt to seize power would be doomed to failure. my principal objective was, despite all the difficulties, to continue along the course of reform and however painful it might be, to keep the process moving on political and in constitutional lines. (p. 13) this is another way of saying that he started out by thinking that he could manage reforms with the cadres and within the traditions of the old party. he soon found that even his tentative reforms were anathema to the “neo-stalinists,” as he called them. in order to maintain the unity of the party, he adopted a policy of maneuvering and compromise. in effect, the residual leninism of party loyalty enabled the neo-stalinists to hold on and dig in. gorbachev’s program can be described as political liberalization within a strong one-party system, with economic reform remaining within a socialist framework. the great historical question which gorbachev took upon himself to answer was whether political liberalization was compatible with a one-party system, and economic reform with what passed for socialism in the soviet union. yet gorbachev came to recognize that he had to loosen the dead hand of the party in order to move forward. his first move was to try to substitute the state machinery for the party apparatus. it was not enough because the party permeated the state as it did all other institutions in the country. the party directed and controlled the state because every state official was put there by the party to carry out the party line. by 1990-1991, a serious vertical conflict on generational lines had developed in the party between the conservative (right-wing) old guard and the supporters (left-wing) of reforms. the conservatives insisted on keeping the system and the status quo intact while their opponents demanded a radical market-oriented economic change. a dramatic change was the emergence of legitimate anti-communist forces in the russian republic, the rsfsr, with a freely elected leader who had his own structural base of support. these radical counterweights—boris yeltsin, democratic russia, the separatist movements—made gorbachev’s centrist strategy more and more untenable. gorbachev juggled between the left and the right for support of his centrist mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 position. he tried to please all sides, but he could not long continue this oscillation. a revolutionary process was setting in. the emergence of cleavage in authoritarian regimes has been discussed in the work of “transition” theorists such as przeworski (1991) and o’donnell and schmitter (1986). according to the “transitional process model,” the emergence of a difference of opinion between hardliners and soft-liners is the beginning of the process of change. the two opposing groups see and interpret events from incompatible perspectives. in the soviet case, the two groups squeezing gorbachev from ideologically opposite sides had one goal in common: the political and economic self-sufficiency of russia. the first group, a conservative alliance of neo-stalinists, national bolsheviks, and conservative russian nationalists, wanted to boost marxism-leninism fused with russian imperial nationalism. in addition, this conservative alliance wanted the same institutions, such as a russian communist party, that were enjoyed by the minority republics. their plan included the preservation of the soviet union at any cost. moreover, russia should use force if necessary to keep the minority republics within the soviet union. another group, “democrats” and sworn opponents of the conservatives, also emerged for the cause of russian economic selfsufficiency. this coalition wanted the rsfsr to be politically and economically sovereign and separate from the soviet union, with the soviet union as a confederation with lesser authority. throughout his period of rule, gorbachev attempted to counter the agendas of these two powerful coalitions. gorbachev wanted to preserve the russian-ussr linkup in the minds of ethnic russians. contrary to the goal of narrowing the structural asymmetries between russia and minority republics, he struggled to maintain the soviet union as a unitary state. at every step, gorbachev resisted the proposition for russian autarchy. the democrats argued that the population of rsfsr was 140 million people (about 10.6 million communist party members), deserving of special treatment. despite gorbachev’s objections, the democrats succeeded in organizing their own russian communist party in 1990. that year, boris yeltsin was elected to the chairmanship of the rsfsr supreme soviet. yeltsin quickly declared the republic’s sovereignty and established, for the first time, russia’s foreign ministry, radio and television station, newspaper, and a separate kgb. to counter yeltsin’s bold moves for self-sufficiency, gorbachev tried to weaken his opponent by dividing the rsfsr in several separate autonomous economic regions, but gorbachev’s efforts did not succeed. one yeltsin supporter described gorbachev’s action thusly: “gorbachev would have earned a place in russian history as a great reformer had he not made his principal error, the error of tearing russia mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 apart. russia does not forgive such transgressions, for gorbachev bears a great political blame for the anti-russian direction of his politics.” at this stage, yeltsin emerged as a more powerful and dominating figure in russian politics, having shown personal courage, political savvy, and a determination for change. in 1991, yeltsin’s election as president of the rsfsr catapulted him to a comparable political position with gorbachev, if not higher. now yeltsin enjoyed the legitimacy in the russian republic that gorbachev lacked. he began his struggle against the center for the rights of russia. he took bold steps by signing treaties and economic agreements with other republics without seeking moscow’s blessing; for instance, in 1990 he signed a treaty with ukraine in which both sides recognized each other as sovereign states. yeltsin and other democrats had limited their demands to the so-called legitimate rights of russia within a confederation framework of the ussr. at the public level, no significant movement had yet emerged for a complete breaking of ties with the union, as extreme separatist impulses simply were not popular in russia at that time. but a rapid change of opinion was occurring among the public. for example, in a 1989 poll, the results of which were published in the weekly magazine ogonek, 63.4 percent of the rsfsr citizens contacted gave a high priority to preserving “the unity and cohesion of the ussr,” but a poll taken in september 1990 showed strong public support for yeltsin’s policies of pursuing sovereignty for the russian republic and of offering a broad degree of self-rule to the autonomous formations within the rsfsr. if the entire gorbachev period witnessed a rapid succession of dramatic events, then high drama continued in the rsfsr in the second half of 1991. in june, the republic’s bid for full sovereignty received a significant boost when yeltsin was elected president of rsfsr with 57.3 percent of the vote. after months of bitter rivalry, yeltsin and gorbachev succeeded in coming to a rough agreement concerning the political and economic shape of a future union of sovereign states. the scheduled signing of the union treaty, scheduled for august 20, 1991, precipitated the failed coup of august 18-21. the coup proved to be an earthquake for the soviet state. as a consequence of the coup, president boris yeltsin made radical decisions including outlawing the communist party, disassembling the kgb, and side-stepping the de jure authority of the soviet union. in addition to yeltsin’s rebellion, on december 1, the ukrainian parliament also voted for full independence from the soviet union. the tumultuous processes resulting from gorbachev’s accession and his programs of glasnost and democratization had, for the first time in 73 years, required ethnic russians to consciously mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 define their relationship to the soviet empire. it seems that during the last two years of the soviet union, the russian elite faced the choice between “empire-saving” and “nation-building.” polls show that russians were unwilling to use force for preserving the union. the legitimacy of the cpsu had eroded. surveys conducted in july 1990 indicate that the number of citizens who fully trusted the cpsu had declined to 14 percent. criticism of gorbachev’s leadership intensified from all sides. the plotters of the august coup were gorbachev’s closest advisers who believed in the use of force, although it was unpopular among russians. (this reluctance to use force may have been a result of the massive loss of life in the war in afghanistan during the 1980s; according to one estimate, over 20,000 russian men were killed in the war.) conclusion the causes of disintegration of the soviet state may be several. but one must search for answers in rsfsr in general and the russian elite of the cpsu in particular. moreover, because the soviet state was a political edifice, one needs to analyze in detail the structural relations between the units. the central linchpin of the structure was the cpsu, which functioned quite efficiently for half a century and had, undoubtedly, a number of social and economic achievements to its credit. but during the last two decades, it lost interest in the welfare of the workers it was supposed to lead. in theory, it was the party’s responsibility to interpret marxism-leninism according to the changing global environment, but it failed to respond adequately to the emerging changes in the capitalist world economy. the cpsu remained rigid and stuck to stale slogans and ideas. the nomenklatura enjoyed privileges and behaved like aristocrats while the quality of life declined for the general public. these are just a few of the many contradictions the party suffered. in short, the cpsu was no longer the vanguard party it was meant to be. it had lost credibility, legitimacy, and purpose. once this linchpin snapped, the structure fell apart, for there was nothing to sustain it from below. mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 references: bialer, s. (1992). the death of soviet communism. foreign affairs, 70(5), 166-181. dunlop, j. (1993). russia: confronting a loss of empire. in i. bremmer and r. taras (eds.), nations and politics in the soviet successor states. cambridge: cambridge university press. hill, r., and frank, p. (1981). the soviet communist party. boston, ma: g allen and unwin. huntington, s. p. (1968). political order in changing societies. new haven, ct: yale university press. kotowski, c. (1984). revolution. in g. sartori (ed.), social science concepts: a systematic analysis, pp. 404-443. new york: sage publications. legvold, r. (2016). return to cold war. new york: polity. malia, m. (1992). leninist endgame. daedalus, 121(2), 57-75. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20025433 mandelbaum, m. (1977). international stability and nuclear order: the first nuclear regime. in d. gompart (ed.), nuclear weapons and world politics: alternatives for the future. new york: mcgraw-hill. moore, b. (1966). social origins of dictatorship and democracy: lord and peasant in the making of the modern world. boston, ma: beacon press. o’donnell, g., and schmitter, p. (1986). transitions from authoritarian rule. washington, dc: johns hopkins university press. pipes, r. (1990). the soviet union adrift. foreign affairs, 70(1), 70-87. doi:10.2307/20044695 przeworski, a. (1991). democracy and the market: political and economic reforms in eastern europe and latin america. new york: cambridge university press. mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.jstor.org/stable/20025433 journal of international social studies, v. 9, n. 1, 2019, pp. 111-129 corresponding author: iahmad@liu.edu ©2012/2023 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129 rustow, d. (1970). transitions to democracy: towards a dynamic model. comparative politics, 2(3), 337-363. sestanovich, s. (1994). russia turns the corner. foreign affairs, 73(1): 83-98. simes, d. (1999). after the collapse: russia seeks its place as a great power. new york: simon & schuster. skocpol, t. (1979). states and social revolutions. cambridge: cambridge university press. ticktin, h. (1992). origins of the crisis in the ussr. armonk, ny: m. e. sharpe. tilly, c. (1975). revolutions and collective violence. in f. greenstein and n. polsby (eds.), handbook of political science, vol. 3, pp. 483-556. reading, ma: addison-wesley. about the authors: iftikhar ahmad is an associate professor at the college of education and information technology, long island university, post campus, new york. iftikhar is the former program chair and president of the international assembly of the national council for the social studies. his research focuses on social science education, global education, peace education, and human rights education. mailto:iahmad@liu.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 128 the intersection of culture and behavior in social studies classrooms candace schlein, (schleinc@umkc.edu) university of missouri-kansas city raol j. taft, university of missouri-kansas city crystal m. ramsay, penn state university abstract: social studies is a school subject that aims to enmesh local and global concerns and ways of understanding the world. it is a complex task to position local concerns and perspectives within an intercultural vantage. in turn, this objective for teaching and learning also presumes that students interact with social studies material from fixed and definable cultures, identities, and family structures, as well as in accordance with normalized behavioral expectations for students in school. children who have been adopted from foreign countries, and particularly children who have been placed in transnational families and homes, might have multiple and shifting identities and cultural identities. within this article, we discuss the findings of an investigation into the experiences of families of children with reactive attachment disorder (rad) who are transnational adoptees. we argue for the great need for teachers to gain intercultural competence in order to meet the needs of all students in terms of academics, behaviors, and cultures. significantly, we consider how the use of intercultural competence might support the practices and perspectives of social studies teachers. we explore the intersection of culture and behavior in deliberating over intercultural competence, transnational adoptees, and social studies classrooms. _____________________________________________________________________________________ social studies is a school subject that aims to enmesh local and global concerns and ways of understanding the world. this objective for teaching and learning presumes that students interact with social studies material from fixed and definable cultures, identities and family structures, as well as in accordance with normalized behavioral expectations for students in school. the national council for the social studies (2009) asserted the great need for social studies teachers to account for the increasingly culturally pluralistic and global world. teachers in this content area are expected to interact with students from diverse backgrounds while helping students to acquire the tools necessary for societal participation in such multicultural settings: both america and the world are rapidly changing, creating a far more multiethnic, multiracial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multicultural context for elementary education. thus, elementary educators must be prepared to value and to serve a far more diverse group of young learners and families than at any time in the past. social studies must be a vital part of the mailto:schleinc@umkc.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 129 elementary curriculum in order to prepare children to understand and participate effectively in an increasingly complex world. (national council for the social studies, 2009, para. 4) schools might represent complex terrains for students from diverse backgrounds (chan & schlein 2010), particularly among those who enter u.s. classrooms as newcomers or refugees from other countries (chan, 2007). while the rates of international adoption have recently begun to reflect a decline in numbers (voigt & brown, 2013), many children who have been adopted from other countries are currently reaching school age and entering u.s. schools. children who have been adopted from foreign countries, and children who have been placed in transnational families and homes, might have multiple and shifting identities and cultural identities (baden, 2002). transcultural and transracial adoptee learners might speak multiple languages at varying levels of fluency, and they might position themselves as members of different cultures depending on the nature of classroom activities and interactions. although pertinent to all disciplines to some extent, teaching social studies to children who might identify themselves as global and local citizens with memories, experiences and/or attachments to life in different countries and cultures might complicate lessons on civics, history and culture. social studies teachers, by virtue of their disciplinary focus, may be especially well-positioned to bridge any potential cultural gaps and attend to divergent perspectives on history, culture and civic engagement. jackson (1990) highlighted how the hidden curriculum often surrounds behavioral expectations that are rooted in norms and expectations for future societal participation. he claimed that students who do not behave in accordance with such culturally influenced behaviors might face lower academic grades and punishments. transnational adoptee learners might speak english or have english names, yet their behaviors might have been shaped in other cultures and cultures of schooling. moreover reactive attachment disorder (rad) is a severe behavior disorder that has been associated with childhood trauma (cain, 2006). such traumas include child abuse, life in an institution, and adoption (taft, ramsay, & schlein, 2015). children who are adopted from foreign countries are usually in institutional settings prior to their final placement as a result of lengthy international adoption processes. thus, a good proportion of transnational adoptee pupils might interact within classrooms and understand classroom interactions from a range of diverse cultural and behavioral perspectives. within this article, we discuss the findings of an investigation into the experiences of families of children with rad who are transnational adoptees. we argue for the great need for social studies teachers to meet the needs of all students in terms of academics, behaviors and cultures. we further consider how the use of intercultural competence might support the practices and perspectives of social studies teachers. we explore the intersection of culture and behavior in deliberating over intercultural competence, transnational adoptees and social studies classrooms. relevant literature in this section we highlight a discussion on reactive attachment disorder, universal design for learning (udl) and literature that acknowledges culture as a foundation for teaching in diverse schools and within a global society. we then review the goals for social studies classes in relation to culture and identity. we also discuss research that links culture; culturally responsive pedagogy; and students with journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 130 special academic, behavioral, cultural or language needs. we then address the literature on intercultural competence and teaching for diversity. students with reactive attachment disorder (rad) rad is an emotional and behavioral disorder that constitutes a child’s inability to attach to the primary caregiver. rad is often connected to cases of child abuse in young children (chaffin et al., 2006). it is also commonly associated with adopted children, who have experienced different primary caregivers. significantly, transnational adopted children are more likely to have lived in orphanages or other institutional settings for prolonged periods due to the extended time required for completing petitions for international adoption. thus, transnational adoptees are more likely to demonstrate attachment issues or to be assessed with rad (miller, chan, tirella, & perrin, 2009). students with rad present emotional and behavioral issues that are unpredictable, extreme and challenging (taft, ramsay, & schlein, 2015; taft, schlein, & ramsay, 2016), which affect their capacities for curricular interactions (schwartz & davis, 2006). in fact, the literature emphasized that children with this disorder are the most difficult student population with which educators work (dunlap & fox, 2007). cain (2006) noted how difficult it might be to discover triggers for episodes among students with rad. students with rad also do not often respond to interventions that are useful for working with students who have other behavioral or emotional disorders (thomas, 2005). when education professionals work with students with behavioral issues, especially students with behavioral needs that are as intense as these involved with children with rad, it is imperative that all educators consider the whole child (cain, 2006; trout & thomas, 2005). that means that educators must incorporate any number of variables that might impact behavior. one of the most important variables might be for teachers to understand the students’ cultures, backgrounds, and any and all family variables (taft, ramsay, & schlein, 2015). for children who are transnational adoptees, this would include extended families that might be overseas. as discussed above, children with rad can, and often do, explode for reasons that no one can anticipate, including special education professionals and behavioral specialists. behavior could very well be triggered by an insensitive instructional delivery that does not take into account the personal history of the child. given the cultural nature of social studies content, this is more likely to occur due to insensitive instructional delivery by a teacher of social studies as compared to teachers in other content areas. differentiation began with special education. now it is the mantra for all instruction, especially when teachers are interacting with diverse groups of learners. for students with rad it is even more important, on the part of the teacher, to consciously incorporate cultural knowledge and understanding into any differentiated lessons. universal design for learning one method for addressing differentiated instruction and for attending to the diverse needs of all students, is a concept called universal design for learning (udl). udl allows teachers to design journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 131 instructions that meet the needs of students with diverse learning needs. udl allows students to access content through adjusted instructional methodologies and materials. progress can be assessed for these students by using appropriate and multiple assessment practices (national center on universal design for learning, 2015). boon, fore iii, blankenship, and chalk (2007) noted that there is a particular need for enhanced universal curricular design in the subject of social studies that meets the needs of all students. the authors argued that social studies textbooks do not engage students with background knowledge of historical events. they further highlighted that contextual information is usually not given in social studies learning materials and the pictures included in social studies textbooks often do not accurately portray the topics of study. such issues with social studies instructional materials points to the need to attend more closely to udl so that all students might be able to grasp social studies material. in turn, the lack of background and contextual information might be especially relevant for students with rad, as these children might have multiple and layered understandings of home, family and culture. this would be even more of a complex barrier to learning social studies among students with rad who are transnational adoptees. brophy and alleman (2002) focused on universal cultural understanding as a key element in universal curriculum design in social studies classes. they argued that there are certain themes and concepts of culture that are universal for all students, regardless of their backgrounds. the findings of their investigation highlighted that teaching in social studies needs to be oriented toward such common topics in culture. brophy and alleman’s (2002) study indicated that cultural universals to be taught to students in elementary level social studies lessons included the concepts of shelter and clothing. yet, such concepts might be problematic for students with rad. this group of students might have a heightened sensitivity toward notions of shelter, given their own possible experiences with multiple primary caregivers and their potential experiences of shifting primary living environments. as well, students with rad, who have severe attachment issues, might respond negatively to the study of shelter, with its associated imagery of safety and security as situated within family life. in addition, students who are transnational adoptees might have multiple and complex notions of shelter and clothing that are not accounted for in school-based discussions of such concepts. langrehr (in press) displayed in the following a lack of curricular and cultural accountability toward transnational adoptee students. “like many other underrepresented groups in the united states, transnational individuals are rarely included in the discourse on pluralistic education, intercultural learning, and social justice” (langrehr, in press, p. 1). transnational notions of shelter and clothing are multiple and shifting, which are not represented in the linear cultural universals that are supported by brophy and alleman (2002) in designing the social studies curriculum. this situation would then be compounded among students with rad who are also transnational adoptees. by embracing and understanding the influences of a particular culture and how it may impact a student, teachers can be much more effective instructors. such an environment would recognize the needs of the individual student and the needs of a larger diverse group (raymond, 2012). interactions and journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 132 engagement in meaningful, non-threatening and culturally aware ways may be especially beneficial for students with rad. culturally responsive teaching, social studies classrooms, and special education according to the national council for the social studies (2010), curricular engagement in the area of social studies must include such themes as a focus on culture and diversity, and an exploration of people and contexts. thus, it is within social studies classes that students come to know about themselves and others. such a curricular goal assumes that teachers are able to competently guide students around issues of culture and identity while ensuring that social studies classrooms serve as models for embracing multiple cultures and multiple identities. the national council for the social studies (2003) has emphasized in its position statement that educators in the subject area of social studies must meet basic requirements for ethical teaching and learning. these principles include that it is the ethical responsibility that professionals in the area of social studies education must be concerned with school and community life. they must also “engage in continued study of the changing world scene and remain an active student of and a critical participant in society” (national council for the social studies, 2003, para. 4). the standards for social studies teachers thus highlight the need for teachers to be culturally competent and to be advocates for diverse students. the u.s. national organization for social studies additionally stated the need for social studies to be a subject area in which teachers explore cultures and beliefs alongside students while further supporting students’ capacities for civic engagement and for participation in diverse and global societies (national council for the social studies, 2003). ukpokodu (2006) further underlined that the social studies classroom is especially significant, since it is the learning site where students are socialized to become critical thinkers as contextualized within local and global settings. yet, ukpokodu (2006) argued that there exist inequalities in the social studies classroom. at the same time, gay (2002) argued that a disproportionate number of students of color are assigned to special education in large part due to a lack of knowledge and appreciation for diverse cultures. these insensitivities might manifest in poor student outcomes and negatively impact students’ learning behaviors. gay further stated that outcomes for students of color with and without disabilities can be improved by using instructional practices and methodologies that reflect students’ cultures, cultural heritage, experiences and perspectives. teachers need to have a critical cultural awareness, build classroom climates that accept plural and diverse cultures, and apply multicultural curriculum and instruction. possible barriers to effective collaboration and the implementation of effective practices might be due to deficit views of the cultures of learning disabled families. lamorey (2002) indicated that cross-cultural misunderstandings associated with a lack of understanding of the cultural perspectives of families regarding disabilities might result when teachers are not familiar with the ways in which families might view or approach their children with disabilities. teachers need to be aware of individual and cultural differences as they provide assessments, and design and implement instruction plans for diverse students. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 133 harry (2008) further cited as problematic the differences in perceptions of disability between families and service providers and other barriers across race, culture, language and social class. for educators working with culturally diverse families, an understanding of the family’s culture is crucial in order to form effective partnerships with the family. in turn, santamaria (2009) discussed the need for individual education plans (ieps) for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds educators with intercultural competence might avoid dissembling families’ belief systems while making use of cultural understandings as a basis for academic achievement and culturally meaningful educational and behavioral interventions. intercultural competence and social studies teaching theories related to culturally responsive pedagogy are useful for examining ways of improving practices in culturally diverse classrooms. however, it is also significant for educators to attain intercultural competence as a means of working with students from a variety of cultural backgrounds as positioned in global societies (cushner, 2012; garii, 2009; schlein, 2014). increasingly, teacher education programs have been addressing the need for instilling in teachers intercultural competence through specialized programs, such as via study abroad experiences (mahon & cushner, 2002; marx & moss, 2011). as well, intercultural experiences might aid teachers in acquiring intercultural competence while further enhancing their capacities for critical reflection about issues of race and culture (phillion et al., 2008; sharma, phillion, & malewski, 2011). thus, teacher professional development activities and experiences that strive to contribute to teachers’ levels of intercultural competence might go beyond culturally responsive teaching to merge the local and the global. heightened intercultural competence might allow teachers to interact with their students from multiple cultural perspectives on knowledge, behavior and social relations. teachers displaying intercultural competence might thus have a greater understanding of some of the multiple cultural, language and behavior layers of students with rad who are transnational adoptees. this might be especially salient in social studies classrooms, where such aspects of students’ lives might be brought to the forefront as both the content and medium of instruction. methodology we conducted this study following the narrative research tradition of clandinin and connelly (2000). our guiding research question was: what are the experiences of parents and/or caregivers of children with reactive attachment disorder in home and school environments? this overarching question enabled us to collect experiential narratives of families of children with rad. our participants included 10 parents of children with rad from four states and nine school districts. all participants were recruited through snowball sampling, such as via discussions with potential participants at support groups, academic conferences or via personal recommendations. the names of people and specific places have been replaced with pseudonyms. the parents who participated in the interviews were a very well-informed and well-educated group of individuals. together they represented a group who were for the most part working in a field that implemented services to children who were adopted. collectively these parents had five master’s journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 134 degrees, three bachelors’ degrees, one associate’s degree, and one held numerous specialized certificates. the experiences of two of our parent participants, georgia and harvey, are highlighted in this work as a representative example of our group of parent participants. harvey earned a bachelor’s degree in business and was the ceo of a mid-sized company. georgia had earned her degree in elementary education, but after the adoption of her son, she was required to stay at home in order to address his ever-increasing needs. they adopted aidan and maya because they knew of the desperate needs of children in orphanages in eastern europe and they had the means to be able to do something about it. their deep wish was to make a difference in a child's life. one researcher met with our participants for one semi-structured informal interview. observations were also conducted at a support group for parents of children with rad. interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed. field notes were compiled following interviews and meetings. data analysis comprised reviewing all data for common narrative themes. we reviewed interview transcripts and field notes to identify patterns and themes. data analysis and discussion we attend here to the storied experiences of a sub-set of our participants—those who formed a family through transnational adoption. we explore here some of the narratives of these participants that indicate the intersection of culture and behavior. in this way, we create a space to consider some of the nuances of social studies teachers and intercultural competence in increasingly diverse and globalized contexts. in the following, we highlight our argument through the discussion of several recent cases of transnational adoption, behavioral issues, and cultural multiplicity and dislocation. on april 10, 2010, torry hansen took artyom savelyev, her adopted 7-year-old son, to the airport, put him on a plane, and sent him back to russia. ms. hansen maintained that russian officials had not been truthful with her about the child’s psychological problems and insisted the young savelyev was mentally unstable and violent and she feared for her family’s safety. further, she contended she had done all she could and that sending him back to his native land was her last resort. in an interview with abc’s george stephanopoulos (goldwert, 2010), pavel astokhov, russia’s children’s rights commissioner, denied that behaviors described by ms. hansen could occur. while no one publicly endorsed ms. hansen’s actions, there were some people who expressed empathy for her. carol skeirik adopted a 5-year-old chinese orphan, sier. soon after the adoption sier threw a 14-hour temper tantrum. shortly after her adoption, she became violent and sexually aggressive, threatened to murder the family, attacked her siblings, and even attacked the family pets. sier abused her younger brother and broke his nose so severely that he required corrective procedures. later, sier was diagnosed with a condition known as reactive attachment disorder (donaldson, 2010). some children who have been raised in orphanages in foreign countries demonstrate significant behavior problems after they are adopted. a study by miller et al. (2009) evaluated 8-10-year-old adoptees from 50 eastern european/former soviet bloc countries. most of these adopted children lived in government orphanages, where they were exposed to varied forms of neglect for months to years. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 135 when studied at school age, many of the children demonstrated substantial problems: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), learning disabilities and mental health disorders. twenty-four per cent had severe behavioral disturbances. parent stress was high and correlated with externalizing behaviors of the child. though no diagnosis was discussed for artyom, given the parallel of his story to that of sier’s, one might wonder if artyom suffered behavioral issues attributed to the same disorder that was diagnosed for sier, rad. children diagnosed with rad demonstrate significant and often dangerous behaviors that present the types of problems and concerns for adoptive parents and their families that were described by torry hansen. children with rad have been described by cain (2006) as a different breed of child who defies traditional treatment and behavioral management strategies (trout & thomas, 2005) and, as such, demands more than the usual treatment approaches and interventions. inattention to cultural and identity adaption might cause difficulties among families, and when behavior disorders are added, family dissolution might occur. therefore, social studies teachers of transnational adoptees engage in lessons among learners that might be extremely high in stakes. in the following, harvey explains how when he and his wife adopted their daughter, maya, they did not know much information about her. they needed to make a selection to form a family based upon limited knowledge provided to them from an adoption agency. harvey: we adopted maya in 2002 through new hope adoption agency and at that time in russia you traveled what they called blind, so when we got to russia they took us to this little office in a small town, which is about 9 hours from moscow. anyway and they showed us, this is the picture they showed us and they said, ‘what about her?’ and i said, ‘okay.’ so then they take you to the orphanage, and you meet your little girl. . . . these are just random pictures. this is leaving the orphanage, this is waving goodbye to her friends at the orphanage. this is when we got her back at the hotel, and just some of the paperwork and stuff. just a keepsake for us and for her. here we are, we flew into moscow. . . . so you spend a day or so there and they put us on a night train to go to the small town . . . (interview transcription, september 19, 2013) harvey’s story relates how expanding a family through international adoption requires travel to a foreign country and communicating across a new culture. he described his daughter as a girl, rather than as a baby, who needed to part with her friends and caretakers at an orphanage before going to her new home in the united states. children in transnational families might also have come to understand the concept of family in new ways, which might be of much significance for social studies curricular interactions. harvey explained in the following about how he uncovered information regarding his adopted daughter’s family. harvey: see when we adopted maya, they told us that she had a little brother, but. . . . and then aidan, same story. only we went back for him, this is the picture they showed us. we were told he was not adoptable. they told us he wasn’t adoptable, and we said, ‘that’s okay,’ because we only wanted to adopt one child anyway, so that was fine with us. but then when we got back, after maya was here for about a year, the lady, katya, who is in the region, she kind of led us to believe that maya had sisters, or had siblings that had been adopted. and so we got on a journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 136 chatroom in that small town, the region they’re from, and we met a guy who—and it sounds a little sketchy—but he’s a british guy married to a russian woman, solid citizen, his name’s mark lamb. mark, what he does is he goes back and helps people find birth families. so we thought it would be a tragedy for maya to grow up and find out she’s got a sister in minneapolis. so we hired him, which sounds exotic. i don’t even think we paid him $200, but he went back to the orphanage on 4 or 5 occasions, and he talked to the workers, because their records are sealed so there’s no way you can go in and open the books. so he calls it a jungle drum network of the people that worked in the orphanage, because they know the families, they know the circumstances. so he went back, found out about aidan. the orphanage director remembered us and asked us if we would consider adopting him, so that’s how we came to . . . (interview transcription, september 19, 2013) harvey discussed how maya might have come to understand that family members can be split up or reunited, living in different cultures and languages, or building new families together. after maya had begun to acculturate to life and family in her new surroundings, she was reunited with her brother aidan. the following illustrates how aidan had been left in the orphanage without the initial possibility for adoption. researcher: why was he unadoptable when you first…? harvey: because the father had not given up his rights. and because it was a boy. but then the father later was put in prison and he lost his rights. but in the time that aidan was in the orphanage from 6 months until we got him, nobody ever came to see him. the father ended up, he killed the mother. it was alcoholic. fight. they were both heavy drinkers. researcher: how old was he when it happened? harvey: six months or . . . . he was already, the kids were gone, they’d been removed when the mom was killed. they were in the orphanage. and were in touch with, we’d been in touch, they don’t stay in touch with us, but we write them letters and send them money. i haven’t done it this year, i should. but i send them a little money around this time, and the sisters have told us the whole story. researcher: the orphanage? harvey: no, i send money to their actual biological siblings. there were nine kids. (interview transcription, september 19, 2013) aidan and maya know that they have seven siblings in russia, who are in an orphanage and who were not adopted. georgia, harvey’s wife, has regularly attempted to communicate with these siblings through an intermediary. nevertheless, these communication attempts have not been met with consistent replies. since maya and aidan were the youngest of the siblings, they had been placed in an orphanage for younger children, while the other brothers and sisters had been placed in an orphanage for older children, from which they were presumably not adopted. it is impossible to state exactly how maya and aidan have been affected by the fact that their family has experienced a wealth of fracturing journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 137 and cultural and language transitions. both maya and aidan are afflicted with rad. within our research, we attended to many stories that described the difficulties and obstacles that these children and their parents face in school. moreover, georgia and harvey learned to envision the native culture of their own adopted children as couched in diplomatic disputes and potential black market dealings. harvey reflected on the torry hansen case with respect to his own experiences of adoption in russia in the storied experience below. harvey: i absolutely believe they lied to us. i think they knew the history of these kids. i think it’s a business in russia. actually i just saw, when i was sitting in the airport coming home from our east coast trip, that parliament in russia has voted to end american adoptions of russian children. they’re voting to end it because of some diplomatic dispute. it’s just happened the last few days that they’re doing it but. . . . i think it’s a business and i think it was interesting the facilitator would carry a little bag when you’d go in to get paperwork done, because they’re not quick with paperwork. there’d be a little bottle of vodka. a fifth of vodka. just kind of slipped it under the desk. you wouldn’t even know she’d done it. a payoff. we didn’t even have to take big wads of cash. it was all done through checks. but it’s a business, there’s no doubt about it. and they would never admit that . . . (interview transcription, september 19, 2013) such experiences might get translated to children who are transnational adoptees as significant lore about their blood relatives, their countries of origin and their cultural experiences. these stories discussed above emphasize how children growing up in transnational families might need to navigate complex cultural and social structures as they seek out ways of defining and redefining who they are and how to behave in different settings. such pressures might be compounded when children have behavioral disorders, and especially when such disorders are a result of their family lives and family experiences. interconnected and multiple factors can contribute to the development of an individual’s behavior, which has been named as correlated constraints (farmer, quinn, hussey, & holahan, 2001). the stories highlighted above indicate narratives that might set the stage for correlated constraints for two students, maya and aidan. farmer et al. recommended that schools should focus on early intervention that targets several risk factors at once, such as socialization and academic problems, rather than just focusing on one risk factor. yet, all of our participants experienced difficulty obtaining cooperation from the schools for receiving services for their children with rad. since rad is not recognized as a disability under individuals with disabilities education act (idea) in the united states, schools are not required to provide services for the child until academic and/or problem behaviors became so intense that action has to be taken. even with a diagnosis of rad and oppositional defiant disorder (odd), harvey and maya had to result to the threat of legal action to get services for their children. the inability to receive and implement support services in a prompt manner can have serious consequences for not only the child with rad but the classroom teacher. maya and aidan are children with rad who have exhibited behavioral issues in class stemming from their behavioral disorder. teachers who do not have high levels of intercultural competence might not journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 138 be adept at working together with children and their families, when such family units represent a variety of cultures and hyphenated identities. it is possible that children with rad who have been adopted transnationally and their families might also have differing and/or multiple perspectives on special needs and ways of supporting them. educators with intercultural competence might be positioned well for considering multiple cultural vantages, especially educators in social studies classrooms, where issues of culture and identity are studied. intercultural teaching in connection with udl approaches to classroom practices might also prove to be useful to straddle students’ special academic, cultural, and behavioral needs while serving as a model for preparing students more generally to live in a globalized world. it is further requisite for families of children with rad to build effective partnerships with teachers so that the needs of the children will be heard and met. kauffman and landrum (2013) specifically acknowledged the benefit of parental involvement regarding children who have behavioral disorders. developing relationships between teachers, students, and parents might further contribute to teachers’ intercultural competence while acknowledging the cultural, identity, academic, social and behavioral needs of students. we discussed the experiences surrounding one family’s experiences with overseas adoption to consider how transnational adoption might affect students and their families from a variety of vantages. significantly, we identified how students who are adopted from foreign countries are often adopted into families with limited knowledge of the children’s cultural backgrounds. these children are usually older, and they require cultural and language adjustment upon permanent placement with a family. the partitioning of family members and cut off communication with family, language, and culture might occur following adoption, which is usually unintentional and perhaps fueled by a lack of knowledge or information. likewise, transnational adoptee students attending schools in the united states might experience a similar disconnect until they have acquired pertinent cultural and language knowledge for school success. educators might need to become savvy in terms of helping their students to bridge their cultures and cultural identities. educators with advanced cultural competence might be able to reach this group of students from a fluid and intercultural perspective, through an understanding that students’ cultural affiliations and cultural beliefs might shift back and forth across subject areas and lessons. lessons in social studies might prove to be exciting opportunities for children to learn about their own cultural backgrounds, to share part of their cultural knowledge and experiences, and to challenge information gleaned from their home experiences in the united states. social studies classrooms might also prove to be places where identities of transnational adoptees are called into question and where issues of nationality, citizenship and global interaction are raised and teased apart. social studies teachers with a high level of intercultural competence might be well-positioned to aid students in shifting between cultures and identities and between the local and the global. moreover, teachers who have acquired intercultural competence might further be able to support the behavioral needs of students with rad from local and global norms, values and perspectives. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 128-142. corresponding author email:schleinc@umkc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 139 educational significance curricular engagement in diverse schools is often structured according to principles concerning culturally responsive pedagogy. however, schooling that is aimed at critical thinking and globalization, and social studies classrooms that are focused on culture, identity, history, civics and global connections might move beyond the need for cultural responsiveness. in this article, we highlight the usefulness of intercultural competence for shaping teachers’ perspectives and practices toward schooling concentrating on global and local issues. moreover, we identify the social studies classroom as an area where culture and identity might be contested and identified, as teachers and students share interculturally competent interactions and curricular engagement. in addition, we discussed how social studies teachers’ levels of intercultural competence might be especially relevant for students who are transnational adoptees. importantly, we highlighted how transnational adoptees might require teachers to have a sophisticated knowledge of culture and identity through the acquisition of intercultural competence as a means of helping this group of students cross back and forth between their multiple, layered, and shifting cultures and identities. we further identified links between culture and behavior that might impact students’ school experiences negatively. students with rad who are transnational adoptees have an intermingling of cultural and behavioral needs that might be best supported through the application of intercultural practices and perspectives. few studies have examined the experiences of families of children with rad. even less qualitative research aims to gain insight into some of the cultural and identity implications that might be interconnected with rad. there is also a paucity of experiential research into the applications of intercultural competence or literature exploring the nuances of social studies classes for diverse students on a variety of cultural landscapes. as such, this study might influence the preparation, professional development and practices of social studies educators. it might further contribute to the existing literature base and act as a springboard for much-needed future research. references baden, a. l. 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(2013, september 17). international adoptions in decline as number of orphans grows. cnn. retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/world/international-adoptionmain-story-decline/ relevant literature students with reactive attachment disorder (rad) universal design for learning culturally responsive teaching, social studies classrooms, and special education intercultural competence and social studies teaching methodology data analysis and discussion educational significance references journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. "we are dumbledore's army:" forging the foundation for future upstanders misty d. rodeheaver & jill m. gradwell, suny buffalo state robert l. dahlgren, suny fredonia ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the profusion of human rights atrocities and purported incidents of genocide across the globe in recent decades has increasingly forced multiple and complicated issues associated with combating these violations onto the political agendas of world leaders and institutions. scholars are united in recognizing the growing importance and need for critical instruction on the complex issues related to human rights and genocide studies to inspire high school students toward a global, democratic citizenship for the 21st century. therefore, how do educators and student programs prepare students to critically examine these complex questions in a way that encourages global citizenship? this study, conducted during a two-week intensive summer institute on human rights and genocide studies in western new york state, assessed the ability of a human rights and genocide educational institute to foster higher levels of self-efficacy among the participating students and their ability to be "upstanders," rather than bystanders in their daily lives. we argue that the students felt empowered to pursue their shortand long-term goals regarding becoming human rights upstanders through the role models in their lives who influenced them to come to the institute and the various experiences they had during the institute’s workshops and field trips. key words: alternative pedagogy, human rights, and social studies education ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction the profusion of human rights atrocities and purported incidents of genocide across the globe in recent decades increasingly forced the multiple and complex issues associated with combating these violations onto the political agendas of world leaders and institutions. upon receiving the nobel prize, president barack obama (2009) spoke passionately about the need for the united states to be a force for policing these issues. he commented: i face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the american people. for make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. a non-violent movement could not have halted hitler's armies. negotiations cannot convince al qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. to say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason. (2009 p. 3) at the same time, the united states, having struggled through a decade of major military interventions in afghanistan and iraq – as well as in smaller global conflicts– is seemingly exhausted with the burden of playing the role of a global police force. this vacuum has been filled by a number of ad hoc organizations pursuing human rights campaigns through social media sources. for example, a viral youtube video campaign entitled “kony 2012 ” attempted to raise awareness of the human rights violations of the uganda–based lord’s resistance army militia leader joseph kony. critics, however, have charged that, as noble an effort as campaign like this may be, it presents a simplistic view of long-standing conflicts between a bewildering network of competing groups. 57 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. upstanders and engagement a number of significant scholarly projects have altered the landscape of human rights advocacy and research in order to accommodate an agenda closely focused on the work of non-governmental organizations (ngos) and charitable groups. each agenda requires that individuals actively engage in human rights advocacy to become upstanders. an "upstander" is defined as an individual who is willing to stand up and take action in defense of others (power, 2002). while the origins of the term are attributed to several individuals and organizations, the researchers chose the term as it was defined by power (2002). the term encompasses individuals who take large risks on a global level as well as individuals who take a stand on a more personal level, such as those who prevent bullying. the process by which one develops an upstander identity is an involved process that requires outside assistance. it is not merely enough for a person to want to be an upstander, the individual must be immersed in a supportive environment where activism is appropriately modeled, the individual’s commitment to act is supported and ample opportunities for action and reflection are provided (eyler, 2002; harré, 2007). the reasons why individuals decide to take up this mantel are as varied as the individual, but several factors, both experiential and contextual, contribute to this decision. these factors may include having personal experiences with injustice (kaplan & xiaoru, 2000), contact with prominent figures, possessing influential religious values (harré, 2007), and for the rise of a collective crisis. for example, collective crises, like genocide or government-sanctioned acts of aggression, can mobilize large portions of society to act. when the global community witnessed acts of aggression like those recently waged in syria, several activist efforts sprang forth providing individuals with a variety of ways to become involved and advocate for change (amnesty international, 2013; i am syria, 2013). for students, effective modeling remains one of the most potent methods for increasing activism. when activism is imbedded in the ethos of an educational organization and is modeled by its leaders, youth perceive the activist activities as more genuine and authentic and their own rate of activism increases (harré, 2007). ormond (2006) concluded that: when students actually see others of similar age and ability successfully reaching a goal, they are especially likely to believe that they, too, can achieve that goal. hence, students sometimes develop greater self-efficacy when they see a fellow student model a behavior than when they see their teacher model the behavior. (p. 343, emphasis in original) american educational organizations such as the hugh o’brian youth leadership program and the pearl s. buck international leadership program, while not human rights programs per se, claim to do just that. they provide students with the opportunities to put rights into action and engage in activism and volunteerism. they dispel the myth that youth must be apathetic. rather, they empower participants to engage in activism through modeling activist practices, emphasizing the importance of activism, of connecting participants with current activists, educating them on how to become leaders and activists, allowing participants to develop their own activist projects, and providing networks and support systems after the programs have ended. while these programs could provide the potential benefit of increasing a participant’s desire to become empowered and take action, little is known about the extent of their effectiveness. it is thus necessary to examine the reflections of participants in such programs and to assess whether educational institutions are able to prepare american high-school aged students to critically exam complex questions about human rights issues and increase their sense of empowerment. this study investigated a two-week genocide and human rights summer institute, heretofore known as the summer institute, for high school students that took place in western new york during the summer of 2011. 58 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. the research questions that drove this project, therefore, are: a) why do these particular high school students choose to attend a summer institute on human rights and genocide studies? b) what is the general experience of a group of high school students attending a summer institute on human rights and genocide studies? c) how do high school students feel their participation in a summer institute on human rights and genocide studies impacts their beliefs about and their perceptions of their ability to respond to human rights issues? in this article we argue that the students felt empowered to pursue their shortand long-term goals of becoming human rights upstanders because of their perceptions of the role models in their lives who encouraged them to attend the institute and because of the various experiences they had during the institute program. methods framework we employed a qualitative research design that hewed closely to the social constructivist paradigm as defined by crotty (1998). social constructivism, for von glasersfeld (1995), emphasizes the social nature of knowledge and knowledge building, with researchers playing the role of the primary data collection instrument. setting the principal investigators in this study initially made contact with a group of k-12 american educators who developed and led the summer institute for high school students on human rights issues. the summer institute met over two weeks in an educational center in western new york state in late june and early july 2011. sampling procedures the investigators used a purposeful sampling approach with the “focus on selecting information-rich cases. of the 25 students enrolled in the institute, 17 participants consented to be part of the study. there were 15 females and 2 males, 11 were first time attendees, 4 were attending the institute for a second time, and 2 were attending their third. all students identified themselves as average to above average in their academic ability with 2 at the honors level. in the upcoming fall 2011 semester, there were 6 entering ninth graders, 5 tenth graders, 4 eleventh graders, and 2 college freshman. data collection in the first stage of the study, students participating in the institute completed an on-line entrance survey (see appendix a). during the first week of the institute individual interviews were conducted with participants using a semi-structured interview protocol recommended by holstein and gubrium (2003). participants were asked about why they attended the institute, their conceptions of human rights, their experiences learning about human rights issues within their regular social studies classes, and the impact of the institute on their understandings of these issues (see appendix b). we used an informal interview approach as a “conversation with a purpose” (maykut & morehouse, 1994, p. 79). interviews were recorded and literally transcribed using the conventions developed by 59 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. silverman (2002). on the last day of the institute, we conducted three focus group sessions as a final data point for our study. the advantage of the focus group method is that it is a “process (that) takes in a wider variety of information than if there were fewer participants” (marshall & rossman, 2006, p. 102). (see appendix c). throughout the institute, we observed all sessions and took detailed field notes in order to capture the intent of the institute and its leaders, the content and pedagogical methods of the sessions, and the ways in which the students participated. data analysis understanding that “analysis is happening from the first moments of data collection” (hatch, 2002, p. 149), we looked early for patterns emerging from the data collected from surveys, individual interviews, focus groups and observations. in this case, we were particularly interested in the ways in which participating in the institute influenced the participant’s sense of empowerment to act as an activist. the data analysis procedure began with a process of open coding in order to extract the most valuable themes and to eliminate portions of the interview data that did not directly relate to the research questions at hand (miles & huberman, 1994). after transcription, we reread the transcripts several times and then divided the transcript broadly into large sections based on major topics and then into more specific subtopics. in the next section we outline the institute’s mission, provide students’ reasons for attending, describe their most powerful institute experiences, and share the students’ perceptions of the impact the institute had on their ability to be upstanders. “we are dumbledore’s army” for seven days during the start of the 2011 summer vacation, 25 high school students and three teachers participated in a human rights and genocide institute created and facilitated by local teachers. during the institute, students heard from holocaust survivors, genocide victims, and upstanders, and went on two field trips. the institute director, adam becker, set the tone on the first day: the fact that you are taking part in this opportunity for learning demonstrates a great compassion for those who are still suffering in a world unable to provide actual gravity to the phrase, “never again.” …. it is important that you recognize the need to continually assess the circumstances surrounding human rights violations. once this experience is over, your study of human rights and genocide has just begun. we must take what we learn and plan a course of action for the future…. we want to focus on the rock stars, the upstanders, as samantha power calls them. this is not a peace institute; we are assuming evil is around us. like in harry potter, we are dumbledore’s army! the surveys, interviews, and focus groups conducted during the summer institute spoke powerfully to the dynamic impact that a critical focus on human rights issues can have on the lives of young students who perceive themselves as activists. institute facilitators made no secret of their intentions for the participants. as becker emphasized, “we expect you to change the world and to want to do it right now.” 60 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. reasons for attending the summer institute women's rights theme in 1995, united states first lady hillary rodham clinton declared, “women’s rights are human rights” at the united nations conference on women in beijing, china. embracing the thesis of her speech, institute leaders framed their 2011 summer program around this theme. one returning participant, in particular, was very enthusiastic about program’s focus. saleema shared; when i realized it was a women’s rights kind of theme, i wanted to definitely be a part of it. this was an opportunity i did not want to miss, especially when i realized it was women’s rights, as i want to help women in the middle east. while only one participant explicitly mentioned the women’s right theme as a major reason for attending the institute, many others spoke highly of the infusion of women’s human rights issues throughout the two-week seminars. identified as a potential upstander some participants attended because they were identified by their school districts as student leaders who might benefit from the institute experience. destiny shared how she came to be a participant in the institute: my principal picked me out of the whole school. she called me down one day and asked if i wanted to go to this institute. she said the summer institute is for people who have leadership and show it. she said i really show leadership because i don’t leave anyone out of anything. i always include them and i treat everyone the way i want to be treated. destiny not only was identified by her school administration but was also given a scholarship to attend the institute. at saleema’s school three students were invited to attend the institute and given scholarships because of their leadership qualities and interest level in human rights issues. “they just came up to me,” saleema explained, “because they knew how much i like this stuff and how interested i was.” inspirational teachers by far the most reported reason for participants attending the institute was the presence of inspirational teachers, many of whom were affiliated with the institute itself, like director becker. “in eighth grade mr. becker was my teacher,” shared beth, “and i would talk a lot in school about [human rights] and he told me about [the institute]. he said i would really enjoy it so i thought i would try it and i’ve been back ever since.” bella was also encouraged to attend because of mr. becker. “he figured this was the perfect thing for me, what i cared about, and how i felt about things like discrimination,” she explained. initially, kirsten learned about the institute from her english language arts teacher but because of other summer obligations she could not attend at first. she was then reminded by her social studies teacher about the institute the following summer and found time in her schedule. “mr. grayson told me about the program and i thought this was the perfect opportunity because i want to be an international lawyer one day so i wanted to [go to the institute],” kirsten said. student choice is certainly influenced by several factors, but one of the most influential is the teacher. when students experience teachers who are emotionally engaged and that present clear 61 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. expectations they are more likely to remain engaged and follow the urgings of the teachers (skinner & belmont, 1993). when students perceive teachers as involved and invested, they are more receptive to a teacher’s guidance and direction (brophy, 1986). the summer institute participant experience experiencing the women’s right theme some participants found the modern day women’s rights topics relevant to their learning. a pressing issue for eliza was the global exploitation of women: “[the] human trafficking issue is a really big thing because it happens in the united states too. i think the public is kind of ignorant and it’s not their fault. it is just they are not informed so i think we really need to raise awareness about exploitation of women in countless countries and human trafficking issue.” many participants were drawn to the theme of women’s rights and the historical content connected to it for empowering their future activism. for example, in the beginning of the institute, the participants were exposed to historic women’s rights activists. “throughout the institute we’ve heard so many success stories about people getting stuff done and reaching their goals, like when alice paul helped to get women the right to vote,” eliza pointed out. beth found the eleanor roosevelt historic impersonator engaging: “i would have to say seeing the eleanor roosevelt experience yesterday. she was such a powerful woman and it was great to see that.” it has been found that purposeful integration of women into the curriculum can have positive effects on a student’s attitude towards personal empowerment (baxter, sproul, kelly, & franco, 2006) and for these students women’s rights issues drew high marks. attending field trips over the course of the institute the participants attended three field trips to foster their ability to be upstanders. to complement the women’s rights theme, the group visited the women’s rights national historic park in seneca falls and the susan b. anthony house in rochester. julie was impressed that such historic events took place close to where she lives: “we went to the susan b. anthony house. it was cool to be in the actual house where she was…that it is there in rochester, in our backyard.” destiny found the trip to seneca falls inspiring: “i think it will mold us teenagers into people that other people will look up to when we get older.” several students also noted the trip to the robert jackson center in jamestown, ny when they heard from speakers about the nuremberg trials and current international criminal court. some students thought the trip was “life-changing” and mentioned future career choices being influenced by the speakers. for example, hillary explained how impactful a former prosecutor of the court was with his simulation activity: “he is a good motivational speaker and it moved me when he did that demonstration with the line and talked about what actually happened during the genocide.” field trips can provide meaningful learning opportunities for students (coughlin, 2010) as long as they are connected to the history curriculum in the classroom (noel & colopy, 2006). field trips also have the potential to raise cultural awareness and promote social justice (jakubowski, 2003). in the case of these students, they believed the field trips were extremely worthwhile and beneficial to their learning and future endeavors. 62 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. participating in a day of service-learning within the institute, there was an emphasis on both doing as well as knowing, implicit in parker’s (2010) notions of democratic citizenship education. students commented on several doing aspects of the institute that fostered their ability to be upstanders, in particular, the day of service. this daylong activity, in which students travelled to a nearby city to renovate a house for a group of recently arrived burmese refugees, was an especially powerful one for many of the participants. ed commented: yesterday, when we went to the refugee house and actually helped paint the walls, move in the furniture, clean up, and help these people resettle, that was really humbling to me. that was my favorite part because i’ve always been active and have wanted to get involved in things like that. the service-learning experience caused participants to want to continue helping others in need, and as annie put it, “it’s instant results, you see what we can do and it just makes you want to do it more!” according to the national council for the social studies (ncss, 2007) and leading social studies scholars (e.g., boyle-baise & zevin, 2009; wade, 2008) students need opportunities to engage in democratic practices outside of school, and one way is through service-learning. additionally, research suggests that when adolescents are engaged in extra-curricular activities that include opportunities for service-learning, it significantly impacts their commitment to civic participation (kahne & sporte, 2008) and positively affects their future adult civic participation (mcfarland & thomas, 2006). the service-learning project day allowed institute participants to see the immediate results of their activism and encouraged them to continue similar work within their respective communities. limitations of the institute structure while the narratives regarding the summer institute were generally positive, several still expressed areas of need for improvement. student participants were quite reflective in response to questions about the ways in which they would like to see future institute sessions modified. some simply wished to be exposed to more content on other areas of the world and human rights issues that were missing from their high school social studies curriculum, while recognizing the limited nature of a two-week institute. kirsten, for example, stated that, “i just wish we learned more about the women in afghanistan and pakistan.” this desire would seem perfectly natural given the united state's recent, expanded political and military role in the near east. comments like this suggest a strong desire among these participants who also considered themselves to be young activists, to learn about pressing human rights concerns across the globe, which is in accordance with zong, wilson and quashiga's (2008) scholarship on global social education. participants’ beliefs about the impact of the summer institute using upstanders as role models the consistent presence of successful upstanders, including past participants, who have gone on to conduct their own activist projects, left an indelible mark on many of the participants and led them to feel as though they too were capable of imparting change. sally spoke of the power of a past institute participant, angel, and her forthcoming humanitarian trip to africa saying, “i liked hearing angel’s story about how she started her own charity because then it makes you feel like you can do that too.” 63 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. other participants echoed similar sentiments when discussing the opportunity to meet other activists such as holocaust survivors, non-profit activists, and prosecutors specializing in human rights violations. ainsley noted the power of hearing the upstanders: “in motivating her to make a difference in the world and that just one person can make a huge difference.” when outside experts such as political activists are involved in interactive lessons, they can positively influence what students learn about politics and foster attitudes more likely to lead to political engagement (hess, 2004). for past participants such as angel, hearing from local upstanders about their work inspired her to start her own charity. for current institute participants, having models of activist behavior allows them to consider future possibilities. community atmosphere in addition to surrounding the participants with successful upstanders, the institute’s structure provided the participants with an environment that fostered growth and supported its members by providing a network of like-minded people in whom they could seek refuge and reassurance. ed emphasized several times how important it was that he had a network of friends who kept him motivated and inspired: i have so many friends from the institute who are here and some past institutes and we still talk to this day. it is kind of like a home away from home. when you are having a terrible day, and you just go back to talk to these people who understand what you are about and know what your beliefs are. even to talk to them and know there are other people out there and that you are not just this [single] person, it’s amazing. the support found within this circle of like-minded individuals was echoed by many participants, both old and new, and at various stages of the program. the peer bonding that formed at this institute is not unlike the student interactions reported by middle level students enrolled in a social studies year-long course about the study of race, class, and gender (caldwell, 2012). in that eighth grade course, students attributed the safe community environment of the class to fostering strong relationships with their peers. institute participants, such as ed, acknowledged that their passions for human rights activism are unlike those of many of their peers and that they relied on the connections made through the institute to persevere and work to affect positive change. forging the foundation for future student upstanders the participant narratives were clear in the effect the two-week experience had on their beliefs to be human rights activists. many of the participants spoke about their immediate, short-term plans for implementing the recommendations of the institute in their various school settings. eliza, for example, stated forcefully that, “next year at school i’m going to definitely join the amnesty international club because last year i was really busy and didn’t have any interest in it. but coming here and learning all the things i learned, i’m going to definitely make time for it next year.” the institute thus had a profound influence on these students' immediate sense of the need and their beliefs to seek out, reinvigorate, and organize human rights clubs in their schools. at the same time, several participants spoke passionately about their future career plans, many of which involved human rights campaigns and activities. lisa, for example, mentioned her desire “to become a lawyer and maybe do human rights stuff.” in a moving testimony, deanna outlined her ambitious future plans: 64 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. i’m thinking of being a reconstructive plastic surgeon. after i become a doctor, i’m planning to go to the middle east to help the girls that have acid sprayed on their faces for trying to work. i’m going to try to make them feel beautiful again. other students are already involved in several innovative projects that touch on ways that their experiences at the institutes over several summers have inspired them. ed explained his on-going eagle scout project, which involves making birthing kits and sending them to rwanda. in the end, it is clear from this testimony that the institute provided student participants with precisely the kinds of experiences that modeled practices found to increase a willingness to engage in activism. these often moving narratives express in straightforward ways the impact that this voluntary participation in the summer institute on human rights and genocide studies has had on their perceptions to affecting social change in their communities and as global citizens. summer institute implications the institute community as noted, the community of the summer institute was a key factor in engendering a sense of empowerment among institute participants. from the opening moments of the institute, it was clear that its leaders had taken care to create an atmosphere that would be conducive to furthering their goals. the main meeting space had been decorated with posters featuring images and slogans such as “stand up for what is right even if you're standing alone” and “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” these simple measures taken together served to create a sense of community quite apart from that of the participants' public school experiences. the use of role models the use of role models has clearly been a large part of the institute's success. many of the student participants referred to the important role of dynamic social studies teachers, especially the institute founder adam becker, in their lives. indeed, the clear majority of the participants had been recruited by either their own teachers or by former student participants. the institute's leaders strategically employed alumni of past institutes often as examples of upstanders. as much as the curriculum and pedagogy of the institute, these role models encouraged participants to imagine having the ability to affect change in significant ways in their own contexts. this agenda is especially important, as several institute leaders acknowledged, in a time of economic contraction that puts the future dreams of many young people in jeopardy. institute leaders put forward a consistent message of hope, empowering students to imagine more imaginative career paths that included public service and international travel. the upstanders included in the institute program reinforced these messages. during the service-learning day in buffalo, for example, participants took the advantage of meeting an americorps intern working with burmese refugees to ask questions about service opportunities. 65 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. conclusion the summer institute participants believed that superficial learning about the holocaust and modern day atrocities was not enough. they wanted comprehensive examinations of human rights issues and to then take this knowledge and carry out the work that the institute organizers envisioned for them as “dumbledore's army.” they wanted to do something to serve the common good locally, nationally, and globally. this often meant articulating bold and ambitious future academic and career plans that will potentially take them around the world in search of meaningful interventions surrounding human rights violations. although in this article we describe the ways in which participants believed a summer institute about human rights and genocide studies forged the foundation for them to become upstanders, there are still several questions and opportunities for future research. for example, to what extent does this institute reflect the recommendations from human rights education experts? what is the long-term impact of this institute on participants’ human rights activism? when students are informed by dedicated human rights educators and engaged by genocide activists and survivors, they may be more likely to care about real world events and, in turn, try to affect positive change. within an institute format and its multiplicity of experiences, students could clearly articulate immediate and long-range human rights issues plans, specific to their own needs and interests. however, to be exposed to such experiences, such as a summer institute, they need a support network that may consist of parents, teachers, and/or peers. perhaps, as more generations of students attend similar summer institutes, they may in turn influence their peers and children, thereby increasing the ratio of upstanders to bystanders in a world that continues to face troubling times. 66 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. references alleman, j., & brophy, j. 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(2009). nobel lecture. retrieved from 69 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu http://www.iamsyria.org/take-action.html http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/servicelearning http://www.socialnorms.org/faq/faq.php mailto:hreducation@hrea.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/obama-lecture_en.html parker, w.c. (2010). idiocy, puberty and citizenship: the road ahead. in w.c. parker (ed.). social studies today: research and practice (pp. 247-260). new york: routledge. pearl s. buck international. (2013). pearl s. buck international high school leadership program. retrieved from http://www.pearlsbuck.org/page.aspx?pid=437 patton, m. (2002). qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). newbury park, ca: sage publications. perkins, h. w. (1997). college student misperceptions of alcohol and other drug norms among peers: exploring causes, consequences, and implications for prevention programs. in u.s. department of education (ed.). designing alcohol and other drug prevention programs in higher education: bringing theory into practice (pp. 177–206). newton, ma: higher education center for alcohol and other drug prevention. perkins, h. w. (2002). social norms and the prevention of alcohol misuse in collegiate contexts. journal of studies on alcohol, supplement, 14, 164–172. perkins, h. w. 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(1993). motivation in the classroom: reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. journal of educational psychology, 85(4), 571-581. stone, a. (2002). human rights education and public policy in the united states: mapping the road ahead. human rights quarterly, 24(2), 537-57. sunal, c.s., & haas, m.e. (2010). social studies for the elementary and middle grades: a constructivist approach (4th ed.). boston: pearson. wade, r. (2008). service-learning. in l. s. levstik & c. a. tyson (eds.), handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 109-123). new york, ny: routledge. wood, a.m., brown, g.d.a., maltby, j. (2012). social norm influences on evaluation of the risks associated with alcohol consumption: applying the risk-based decision by sampling model to health judgments. alcohol and alcoholism, 47(1), 57-62. 70 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/obama-lecture_en.html http://www.pearl-s-buck.org/page.aspx?pid=437 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. wood, g. (1992). schools that work. new york: penguin. zong, g., wilson, a.h., & quashiga, a.y. (2008). global education. in l.s. levstik & c.a. tyson (eds.). handbook of social studies education (pp. 197-216). new york: routledge, . 71 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 57-72. appendix a pre-intervention on-line survey protocol. 1. please provide your first and last name 2. describe your own educational background 3. when did you first become aware of human rights issues? 4. what led you to consider participating in the summer institute of human rights and genocide studies 5. what are your general expectations for the institute? 6. what content do you expect to learn? 7. what skills do you expect to gain? misty rodeheaver is an assistant professor of social studies education at suny buffalo state with research interests in human rights education. jill m. gradwell is an associate professor of social studies education at suny buffalo state with research interests in teaching, learning, and assessing history. robert dahlgren is an assistant professor of social studies education at the suny fredonia with research interests in academic freedom and teaching controversy in social studies classrooms. funding statement: this work was supported by suny fredonia’s and suny buffalo state’s research foundations. acknowledgements: the authors would like to thank those student and faculty participants whose voices are integral to this research. 72 | p a g e corresponding author email: rodehemd@buffalostate.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu mailto:rodehemd@buffalostate.edu framework sampling procedures data collection data analysis references alleman, j., & brophy, j. (1998). assessment in a social constructivist classroom. social education, 62, 32-34. amnesty international (2012). what is human rights education?. retrieved from colby, a. (2007). education for democracy. retrieved from http://www.carnegiefounation.org/perspectives/education-democracy crotty, m. (1998). foundations of social research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. gergen, m. m., & gergen, k.j. (2000). qualitative inquiry: tensions and transformations. in n.k. denzin and y.l. lincoln (eds.). handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.) (pp. 1025-1045). thousand oaks, ca: sage. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/obama-lecture_en.html funding statement: this work was supported by suny fredonia’s and suny buffalo state’s research foundations. acknowledgements: the authors would like to thank those student and faculty participants whose voices are integral to this research. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 1-3. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 1-3. 1 | p a g e i stand with adam: racism, human rights and our democracies. editorial ruth reynolds university of newcastle australia ______________________________________________________________________________ i stand with adam goodes, australian football league player, an indigenous player, a great footballer, australian of the year and a decent human being. this is an australian issue but also a global issue and one of great import for social studies teachers. it is about bullying. it is about mob behaviour fuelled by a few media celebrities. it is about racial vilification and it is about democracies protecting the rights of minorities and working out how to counter radical and extreme views. adam goodes was booed by a crowd of 10,000 people in a recent football game because he performed an indigenous war dance when he took a goal. some groups took exception to the dance and the response has continued in every game since then to the point where he has decided not to play. this is in a country where we proclaim ourselves as being tolerant, giving everyone a “fair go” and valuing and forgiving our football heroes just about every transgression. this is a country where we love to have the new zealanders come over and perform the maori haka war-like dance before football games but we seemingly do not approve indigenous dances. australians are standing up on this i hope. (http://www.theage.com.au/comment/booing-adam-goodes-australians-must-unite-againstracism-20150731-giosk2.html) as this journal advocates for a global perspective on social issues of relevance to us all, from whichever nation we belong, i thought this case might be a useful prompt for considering the importance of social studies teachers in advocating for, and continually monitoring, our democracies. i had just read audrey osler’s article in the latest ncss journal theory and research in social education (43:2) and a key section of her article was titled the fragility of democracy. she pointed out that reconciling different worldviews and consideration of pluralism in schools and communities is a key challenge for 21st century democracies. the council of europe group of eminent persons’ report of 2011 argued that a person’s identity is voluntary and personal and no one should be forced to choose one identity over another. however osler points out that work by researchers such as banks (2004) has found that individuals can be denied full citizenship rights because of others’ perceptions of the characteristics or identities related to culture, identity, gender and sexuality for example. education for democracy “requires the development of skills and attitudes in all students, both mainstream and minoritized, which equip them to defend democratic principles and to struggle for justice with those who encounter discrimination of exclusion” (osler, p 250). a number of articles in this issue address issues of democracy, of learning to weigh up alternative perspectives, of trying to ensure students learn about alternative perspectives, to look for the information that is missing in explanation for events, to listen for the silenced voice. let us continue to work hard for our democracies. articles in this issue are rich and varied. a number of them address the themes of racism or what can be a source of racism, a lack of a larger world view and acknowledgement of a diversity of views in our society. waterson & moffa address the importance of the role of the social studies teacher in rural areas where acknowledgement of the validity of local cultural http://www.theage.com.au/comment/booing-adam-goodes-australians-must-unite-against-racism-20150731-giosk2.html http://www.theage.com.au/comment/booing-adam-goodes-australians-must-unite-against-racism-20150731-giosk2.html journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 1-3. 2 | p a g e knowledge and identity in these communities can also provide a platform for a global view of issues. eraqi points to the lack of arab, muslim, and arab and muslim identities in american textbooks and some of the possible repercussions of such silent voices. ryter investigates the different ways in which world history is taught and “received” in classrooms in the nation; and yoder explores the “history wars” associated with the writing and teaching of history education in lebanon. trade book misrepresentations of the holocaust are explored by bickford, schuette & rich; while the importance of teaching how to reliably source information is elucidated by damico & baildon. finally heafner & fitchett present their findings of a study of instructional time devoted to teaching and to administration which concluded that very little time is actually devoted to social studies in our classrooms. with such a mass of important issues to be addressed (as represented in the articles in just this journal issue) we need to advocate for further time, and to have this area of the curriculum acknowledged as of great importance to our society generally. the international perspectives section of our issue this time introduces something new for our readers. following from our previous issue one of our authors who is interested in human rights education in schools, and has a law-education based perspective on it, considered the social justice publications associated with human rights education (hre) in issue 4(2) provided by felisa tibbitts from human rights education associates (hrea) and rosemary blanchard who is chair, national council for the social studies (ncss) human rights education community and proposed some perspectives for a stronger law education focus in schools. anatoli rapaport, our editor for this section, asked felisa to respond and so now we have an intellectual conversation on the place and role of law education and hre in social studies education. we would like to continue such conversations so if you are interested in making an observation on any of our published articles please do so. additionally in our international perspectives section we include observations and comments from two authors involved in building intercultural travel abroad experiences for pre-service teachers/college students, one instigating a semester long in-school experience in italy and one a week long service learning project in swaziland. as veltri pointed out the cc3r framework (college and career readiness) seeks to prepare students to enter a “globally competitive workforce,”(ncss, 2013). there are multiple programs attempting to do just that but the actual number of students involved is very small. piecemeal approaches and add-on courses often used to address this issue have proved ineffective (mcdonald, 2005; mills & ballantyne, 2010), while research shows that perspectives about diverse groups can be improved by direct and indirect contact with people from minority backgrounds (hewstone et al., 2014). however, developing cultural competency in education seems to remain at the margins in teacher education programs despite it being acknowledged as a vital skill (cushner & mahon 2009). we are thus very happy to present stories of how teachers have worked so hard to develop intercultural competency in their students but would welcome strongly researched papers on this too. longitudinal studies would be especially welcome. how has this experience changed students’ lives over a long period? welcome to a new media review editor, kate ferguson-patrick, who i have worked with for many years and who brings a british background to our international editorial team. she has sourced some new publications for review including an edited volume of reviews of films for a study of genocide (michalczyk & helmick). this latter text provides a background essay providing historical context to particular atrocities, and then chapters describe films or documentaries about the atrocity to elucidate various perspectives. wayne e. ross, editor, has completed the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 1-3. 3 | p a g e 4th edition of his popular text, the social studies curriculum continuing its participatory and critical approach to democratic understanding as a fundamental aim of social studies teaching and learning. a further interesting text is a volume edited by stevick & gross, where authors write about educational experiences can approach the teaching of the holocaust from the us, germany, australia, scotland, israel, latvia, estonia, and other european countries. last but not least our amazing social justice issues editor, gloria alter, has worked with jamie naidoo and miriam sweeney to provide a very useful analysis of the importance of culturally authentic literature and digital media in the promotion of positive identity development among children and young adults and the fostering of global awareness. as experts in library and information services they provide sites for support for those who need texts of any variety to teach for a social justice perspective, and a clear rationale for such study. references cushner, k. & mahon, j., (2009). developing the intercultural competence of educators and their students: creating the blueprints. in d.k (ed.), the sage handbook of intercultural competence, thousand oaks, ca: sage. hewstone, m., martin, r., hammer-hewstone, c., crisp, r., & voci, a. (2014). minority-majority relations in organizations: challenges and opportunities. in m. hogg & d. terry (eds), social identity processes in organisational contexts, pp. 67-86. philadelphia, pa: psychology press. mcdonald, m. (2005). the integration of social justice in teacher education dimensions of prospective teachers’ opportunities to learn. journal of teacher education 56(5), 418435. mills, c. & ballantyne, j.,(2010). pre-service teachers' dispositions towards diversity: arguing for a developmental hierarchy of change. teaching and teacher education, 26(3), 447-454. national council for the social studies (ncss), (2013). the college, career and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography and history. silver spring, md: author. osler, a. (2015). human rights education, scholarship, and social justice. theory and research in social education, 43 (2), 244-274. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0742051x09001255 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0742051x09001255 mills, c. & ballantyne, j.,(2010). pre-service teachers' dispositions towards diversity: arguing for a developmental hierarchy of change. teaching and teacher education, 26(3), 447-454. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 81-82. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 81-82. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 81 book review: the state of global education reynolds, r., bradbery, d., brown, j., donnelly, d., ferguson-patrick, k., macqueen, s., & ross, a. (2015). a values-based pedagogical stance. teaching teachers for global education in australia. in b. maguth & j. hilburn (eds.), the state of global education: learning with the world and its people, (pp. 174–188). new york, ny: routledge. a review by: phillipa parsons doctoral student school of education faculty of education and arts university of newcastle australia as one of two chapters under the section title "conceptual approaches to teaching and learning", ruth reynolds et al. make a compelling case for broadening the conversation around how theories of educating for global citizenship can translate into praxis. as the authors emphasize right from the start, the concept of the global citizen and educating for global citizenship is relatively new, and a heavily contested field. in acknowledging that, the focus for this chapter is fixed on the development of a “practice-based roadmap” (p. 174) for global education (ge), developed through a cyclical process within an empirical research project. this chapter outlines the qualitative portion of the action research study undertaken with pre-service teachers by teacher-educators at a regional university. interestingly, the study incorporates the influence of the researchers’ own values on their definition of global education, the student-participant responses, and how both of these fed back and informed the researchers’ evolving pedagogy with the participant groups. the degree to this then informed the pre-service teachers’ own classroom practices also formed part of the data analyzed. drawing attention to the australian commonwealth government’s national framework for values in australian schools, the authors offer that as validation for australian teachers to begin the transition to a more values-based pedagogy for ge. however, they emphasize that this does not preclude teacher educators and teachers in other areas implementing this model. significantly, the authors background their findings by dichotomizing the notion of the global citizen, and associated objectives of ge. first, the globally competent citizen, perhaps the hegemonic conception within educational discourse, is described as able to compete and operate effectively within the global capitalist market. secondly, the globally interconnected citizen is outlined as underpinned by the ideal of compassion and caring and of living together peacefully and sustainably. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 81-82. corresponding author email: phillipa.parsons@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 82 this latter definition can be likened to the philosophical concept of cosmopolitanism. an elucidation of this second interpretation is then adopted as a framework for ge values and forms the central tenet of this chapter. for this reviewer, this underpinning is one of the chapter’s greatest strengths, despite not actually referring to the term cosmopolitanism. regardless, this chapter makes a significant contribution to the field of educating for global consciousness as cosmopolitanism. grounding this study in the scholarly consensus that teachers’ values are crucial in determining pedagogical practices, the authors conceive the notion of a “global stance” (p. 176), defined as a heuristic, or mechanism by which choices for action are made. this is further defined and contextualized as a “values-laden pedagogical stance” (p. 1). co-opting values identified by oxfam as essential for an increasingly globalizing world, the resultant model, "values and pedagogical strategies to teach about, for, and with global education – a global stance" (p. 184), makes explicit those values for ge. in aligning them with concrete pedagogical strategies the authors have developed a tool that can equip and empower teachers to adopt a global stance and teach about, for and with ge within any key learning area, and at both elementary and secondary school levels. the authors’ ambitions are for a holistic re-orientation of values regarding the objective of schooling, towards a ge stance. they emphasize the importance of enhancing both the cognitive and affective domains of learning of pre-service teachers, to foster the development of a pedagogical stance; specifically a global stance. an adoption of ge values may then inform those pre-service teachers choice of classroom practice. this is premised on the theory that for teachers to achieve a global orientation in their pedagogy, they must first develop, then make explicit those values to students. the authors have outlined a collaborative, values-based approach to education, as opposed to the predominant competitive academic focus, echoing similar calls from within the field of educating for cosmopolitanism. this study, and the resulting framework, will serve not only as a tool for practicing teachers and teacher educators, but offers much potential as impetus for future research projects. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 1-3 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 1-3 corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 assessing global competence editorial comment ruth reynolds (ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au) the university of newcastle, australia i have been reading with interest the oecd publication global competency for an inclusive world (oecd, 2016) with its vision for some tests of global competency that may be added to the current pisa tests of reading, mathematics and science (and optional problem solving and financial literacy) in 2018. this document defines global competency as: global competence is the capacity to analyse global and intercultural issues critically and from multiple perspectives, to understand how differences affect perceptions, judgments, and ideas of self and others, and to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with others from different backgrounds on the basis of a shared respect for human dignity (p. 4). it is proposed that tests be prepared to assess knowledge and understanding of global issues; intercultural knowledge and understanding; and analytical and critical thinking. some guidance for the development of test items will be drawn from international tests of civics and citizenship, of which we have a good knowledge particularly due to the fantastic annotated bibliography recently developed by knowles and stefano and published in the last edition of this journal (volume 5, no. 2). as well as cognitive skills self-reported skills and attitudes will be elicited around aspects like interacting appropriately with others and having respect. as much as i am wary of the notion of high stakes standardised testing regimes, the fact that certain disciplines, such a science, are subjected to them constantly as an indicator that they are “important” makes me yearn for a test to measure something i think is important – such as intercultural competence. thus the whole idea that global competency has become a “real” area of study and assessment is a wonder to me. if we read some of the work of our colleagues in previous issues of this journal we can see how hard they have worked to build global competency and global awareness in social studies, and other interdisciplinary studies of many shapes and sizes, because they believed in it. yet they have seem to have had less success and support than their work would warrant, with global competency often positioned as a nice but not necessary skill in education. in a blog by saga briggs (12 facets of education that will be obsolete by 2025) the fact that standardised tests as we know will be different; multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning will be much more common; and learning itself will be much more accessible to a wider group of people bodes well for recognition of the work of those who continue to build global competency. at least we are going to have a conversation about the importance of this area and all those social studies teachers and researchers who have been working on this for years and decades may at least be better acknowledged and recognised for their efforts and their forward thinking. mailto:ruth.reynolds@newc mailto:ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 1-3 corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 in this edition following the theme of intercultural competency we have a number of articles that addressed this theme particularly in addressing instructional techniques for using multicultural literature. nganga asked preservice teachers, who were involved in an overseas immersion program, about the instructional practices they found most useful in developing intercultural competence. the students found technology of great value for reflection amongst participants and its ability to provide a wide variety of world views while preparing to use diverse children’s literature challenged their views on how to use such literature to counter stereotyping and personal biases. morgan and forest also investigated the value of children’s literature but using it with a different focus. they looked for examples of children’s literature which portrayed a biased view with regard to gender race or religion and pointed out how this could be used to teach older children to better understand and have empathy from an historical and contemporary perspective. casey interrogated a range of instructional techniques using multicultural literature. students studied texts, engaged in narrative through student response journals, and debriefed by participation in discussion groups where students discussed their answers to questions in a group format, thus considering additional perspectives from their classmates. on the other hand osborne provided a broader perspective by deconstructing recent intercultural education research to help discern key teaching techniques to address prejudice, discrimination and hate, a valuable oversight for those who are interested in seeing what has been tried and what seems to work well. social studies teachers working to mediate border tensions were also focused upon in this volume. miyazaki, cashman and madokoro’s study investigated the success of a series of lessons taught in a japanese classroom to address ongoing tensions between japan and china over the sovereignty of the diaoyu (china)/senkaku (japan) islands. although not totally successful in building increased sensitivity the theoretical perspective of border pedagogy and transformative education (garza, 2007; giroux, 1991, 2005; romo & chavez, 2006) was found to be useful in understanding how border studies can be interpreted and implemented. authors found that post-test results indicated that student understandings of japanese and chinese relationships increased and they learned to evaluate and collect data from multiple sources. hung’s study of how history teachers in taiwan address the relationship between taiwan and the people’s republic of china pointed to the complexity evident in each and every classroom due to the teacher’s own imaginative worldview, sense of personal and professional identity and their classroom teaching practices. he argued for greater consideration of the personal history of the teachers who teach controversial issues. rubin likewise identified the power of individual teachers with her scrutiny of how indigenous teachers in guatemala reinterpreted policy and created curricula to educate their students about the historical and contemporary injustices they felt were neglected within the curriculum. she argued that these social studies teachers recast educational policies aimed at post-conflict civic reconstruction by shifting the focus from democratic citizenship education to issues of structural and historical injustice. we also have articles in this volume that address both new and ongoing issues of interest to social studies teachers and researchers. in the area of civics education broom investigated youth civic mailto:ruth.reynolds@newc journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 1-3 corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 engagement finding that youth behaviors are complex, influenced by individuals’ cultural and family backgrounds and lived experiences. supporting and adding to the literature in the field, correlations were found between youth civic attitudes and behaviors (finlay et al., 2010), community engagement and experience (magen & aharoni, 1991), family and civic participation (lenzi, 2014), and culture and civic views (andersen & siim, 2004; moeller, 2013). walker, langan, kemp, pagnotti and russell investigated critical thinking skills in social studies classrooms finding that through their intervention to build critical thinking skills pre-service teachers developed a new appreciation and understanding of the components of critical thinking. they also made a commitment to help their future students develop their own critical thinking skills. schlein used case studies of children with reactive attachment disorder (rad), often linked to transnational adopted children, to make the case for the need for further work for social studies teachers in building their skills in competently guiding students around issues of culture and identity while ensuring that social studies classrooms serve as models for embracing multiple cultures and multiple identities. i hope you find these of value in your professional and community life. ruth references briggs, s. (2016, may 16). 12 facets of education that will be obsolete by 2025 [blog post]. retrieved from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/25-things-that-will-be-obsolete-by2025/?_tmc=rpc_eosxy1oy4nfjwzjpipg_8jnpz-fveo0apzoo2bi oecd, (2016). global competency for an inclusive world. paris: oecd mailto:ruth.reynolds@newc http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/25-things-that-will-be-obsolete-by-2025/?_tmc=rpc_eosxy1oy4nfjwzjpipg_8jnpz-fveo0apzoo2bi http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/25-things-that-will-be-obsolete-by-2025/?_tmc=rpc_eosxy1oy4nfjwzjpipg_8jnpz-fveo0apzoo2bi abstract journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 53 teaching for multifaceted knowledge of disputed islands in japanese classrooms: toward a critical border dialogism takeshi miyazaki soka university, tokyo, japan timothy g. cashman university of texas at el paso, el paso, texas, us kayo madokoro yokohama science frontier high school, kanagawa, japan __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study considers the teaching of historical and territorial issues between japan and china for the current japanese social studies curriculum. for research purposes, a lesson plan was designed and facilitated in japanese elementary and junior high schools. this lesson addressed ongoing tensions between japan and china over the sovereignty of the diaoyu (china)/senkaku (japan) islands. pre-tests and post-tests were administered, and results were analyzed through the lenses of border pedagogy and place-based pedagogies. students’ transformative understandings of their roles as global citizens and students’ attitudes toward problem solving were considered. __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction a dilemma facing the architects of japanese social studies education is how to discuss conflict and promote global citizenship simultaneously. furthermore, teachers have the responsibility for developing knowledge and skills needed for participation in democratic nationhood. for the purposes of this study, social studies lessons that addressed issues of global citizenship and border conflict were taught to ninth grade students in japan. the students were attending a japanese junior journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 54 high school located on hokkaido, the northernmost of japan’s four main islands. the school site is approximately 45 kilometers outside of sapporo, the capital of the prefecture of hokkaido. the participating junior high school has one class in each of the three grades and two special education classes, in total, five classes. the school size is relatively small compared to ordinary junior high schools in japan. this particular ninth grade class had 20 male students and 14 female students, for a total of 34 student participants. social studies lessons that sought to develop greater understandings of japanese and chinese border tensions were facilitated during the timespan of september 2013 to october 2013. in all, a total of 12 social studies lessons were created and implemented with ninth grade students in one classroom. background currently, a territorial issue exists between japan and china over a group of islands, known as diaoyu in china and senkaku in japan. these islands are located between taiwan and japan. since 1895, japan has declared the islands as theirs. china claimed ownership in 1971, shortly after oil was discovered, but both sides agreed to let the next generation resolve the issue. shintaro ishihara, the former governor of tokyo, re-ignited the dispute last year when he announced plans to purchase the islands from private owners. amid increased tensions the tokyo educational public system issued a text entitled from edo to tokyo for high schools that included a new description of the islands as an integral part of japan. theoretical framework banks (2006) argues that to guard against abuses of patriotism, teachers should emphasize critical patriotism. critical patriotism encourages reasoned loyalty: pride in the rights of the nation alongside a commitment to correct its wrongs. border pedagogy, in turn, provides critical lenses for considering the dynamics of ongoing tensions between japan and china. giroux (1991) put forth that border pedagogy utilizes diverse cultural resources that promote new identities within existing configurations of power. border pedagogy teaches students the skills of critical thinking, debating power, meaning, and identity and a border pedagogy is essential in bringing about understandings of a region that exists between the two countries (flores & clark, 2002). the goals of transformative education are embedded within the discourses of border pedagogy (garza, 2007; giroux, 1991, 2005; romo & chavez, 2006). according to romo and chavez (2006), border pedagogy encourages tolerance, ethical sophistication and openness. border pedagogy, in turn, offers opportunities for resituating one’s positionalities on key issues and questions (cashman, 2015). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 55 place-based pedagogies provide lenses for an understanding of the various issues surrounding tensions between neighboring countries (gruenewald, 2003; smith, 2002). gruenewald (2003) noted that there is an intimate connection between individuals and their inhabited space, and that a pedagogy of place can be a means of examining such important relationships. smith (2002) maintained that place-based education seeks to ground learning in local phenomena and students' experiences. a pedagogy of place (gruenewald, 2003; smith, 2002) promotes understandings of social and ecological spaces. moreover, it can serve as a flexible structure for examining the work and efforts of japanese educators and their students. by incorporating critical approaches into place-based pedagogies, “we challenge the assumptions, practices, and outcomes taken for granted in dominant culture and in conventional education" (gruenewald, 2003, p. 3). border pedagogy (giroux, 1991, 2005), in turn, intersects with place-based pedagogies as border pedagogy engages a critical pedagogy of place in its discourses. border pedagogy builds upon critical understandings of place and attempts to connect those understandings with larger contexts. according to giroux (2005), border pedagogy involves a recognition and understanding of margins as affected by history, power, and difference. moreover, an individual must contemplate historically and socially constructed limitations to become a border crosser who has developed new understandings of others (giroux, 2005). borders are considered boundaries of entities, while the act of crossing borders entails going beyond existing boundaries and broadening one's perspectives of others in locales near or afar. for the purposes of this study, the intersection of critical place-based pedagogies and border pedagogy was taken into account, for the results of the study and for the implications of further research. method pre-tests and post-tests were administered to ninth grade students in a hokkaido, japan, junior high school classroom. both instruments were analyzed to contemplate students’ understandings of their roles as global citizens, students’ attitudes toward problem solving and the potential transformation of the students’ knowledge. students were engaged in a lesson that provided them opportunities to share their background knowledge and discuss their feelings on issues of sovereignty for the group of islands. data were subsequently collected, noted for frequency and categorized. the next step was to develop interpretive explanations (creswell, 2007). data analysis followed what glesne (2011) refers to as thematic analysis, whereby the data was read many times in search of emerging themes or categories and subcategories. the research analysis also followed the recommendations of yin (2003) for considering local meanings and foreshadowed meanings in their context. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 56 based on the results of a pre-test, an instructional unit was designed and put into practice in a junior high school. results of pre-tests and post-tests were analyzed for students’ transformative knowledge and changes in their attitudes about problem solving. accordingly, the design was structured with four key principles: complex issues of unity and diversity, global interdependence, human rights and putting democratic ideals into practice (banks, 2006). to better contemplate principle #1, complex issues of unity and diversity, students engaged in an activity entitled, “games of differences". to develop understandings of principle #2, global interdependence, students discussed media representations of china and took part in role playing activities related to the disputed islands. principle #3, human rights, was discussed as the basis of the japanese constitution, the convention on the rights of the child and the universal declaration of human rights. principle #4, putting democratic ideals into practice, engaged the student council or seitokai, in a discussion of options and appropriate actions for senkaku/diaoyu islands issue (see table 1). table 1. principles introduced into the 9th grade curriculum four principles curriculum for international perspectives in social studies courses and objectives contents d iversity, u nity, g lobal interconnectedness, and h um an rights 1. students should learn about the complex relationships between unity and diversity in their local communities, the nation and the world. course 1—students learn about the discrimination in their local communities, the nation and the world. an activity of different games of differences: the students will notice the differences in various and diverse perspectives. during the discussion it must be remembered that none of the opinions are wrong. because of this, they must understand that there are many problems that cannot be solved so simply. 2. students should learn about the ways in which people in their community, nation and region are increasingly interdependent with other people around the world and are course 2—students learn about how we are interdependent on other people around the world and are connected to the economic, political, cultural, environmental and technological changes the students learn about the interdependent relationships between china and japan. role playing activities about the senkaku islands issue: the goal of these activities is to search for a better solution. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 57 connected to the economic, political, cultural, environmental and technological changes taking place across the planet. taking place across the planet. the students will learn that, along with the senkaku islands, the solutions for other international disputes do not depend on military force. these are things which will make them think further. 3. the teaching of human rights should underpin citizenship education courses and programs in multicultural nation-states. course 3—students learn about human rights. according to curriculum guidelines, students will learn about: • how human rights have been established. • basic human rights, which are the basis of the japanese constitution. • the convention on the rights of the child and the universal declaration of human rights, which show us that human rights are universal. experience and participation 4. students learn ideals of democracy and democratic institutions and are provided with opportunities to practice democracy. course 4—students practice what they learned. the creation of an organization called seitokai-student union, a place where students alone resolve problems that occur in their school and put into practice better activity systems. students examine some examples from ngos, which give them an idea of the process and the outcome that social participation or action can have. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 58 results of pre-tests and post-tests pre-test results for 34 students revealed that many junior high-school students shared many pre-conceived negative impressions of china. student impressions included chinese nationalism, china’s one child policy, the great wall, the senkaku islands problem and china’s air pollution as presented in the media and chinese food. few students reported having discussions with chinese people or having accessed direct sources of information from china. no students could correctly identify the location of the senkaku islands. they knew very little about the historical claims of japan and china. thus, the negative impressions were not based upon substantial background knowledge and information. nonetheless, students expressed their desire to find a solution to the senkaku islands problem. students expressed interest in better understanding about the senkaku/diaoyu issue. also, 30% of the students felt that visions and ideals were prerequisites for societal change. student participants were admininstered post-tests to determine the results of intervening lessons that explored the associations between china and japan. post-test results indicated that student understandings of japanese and chinese relationships increased. for example, the number of students who answered yes to the question of whether they are aware that china is the largest trading partner of japan, changed from 17 students in the pre-test to 24 students in the post-test. there was also an increased awareness of the territorial issue between japan and china (senkaku/diaoyu islands). the number of students who could correctly identify the claims of japan/china on the senkaku/diaoyu islands doubled on the post-test (after students had been taught the lesson). students who wished to have the territorial issues solved increased slightly from 20 to 24 students on the post-test. based on the results of the student responses, it can be inferred that students learned to evaluate and collect data from multiple sources; yet, overall, japanese students held on to their negative images of china. thus, students were interested in exploring issues of the senkaku/diaoyu islands, but the intervention of one unit of study was not enough to achieve the goals of transformative thinking as global citizens (see figure 1). figure 1. results of the pre-test and post-test hokkaido 9th grade students (n=34), implemented in september, 2013 check all issues you know about between china and japan. (you can choose multiple options) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 59 (n=34) (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 60 (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 61 (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 62 what do you think about the national character of chinese? (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 63 (n=34) (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 64 (n=34) (n=34) (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 65 (n=34) (n=34) (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 66 (n=34) (n=34) (n=34) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 67 (n=34) (n=34) discussion on the basis of student responses to the pre-test questions and post-test items, the following categories of data emerged in this study: (1) issues of unity and diversity; (2) global interdependence; (3) human rights; and (4) putting democratic ideals into practice. student participants were administered pre-tests and post-tests to evaluate the results of intervening lessons that facilitated understandings of the associations between china and japan. under the category of issues of unity and diversity, students demonstrated pre-conceived superficial and negative impressions of china on the pre-tests and in their discussions. students noted chinese nationalism, china’s one child policy, the great wall, the senkaku islands problem, media coverage of china’s air pollution and chinese food. students’ ideas divulged gaps in their background knowledge and understandings of chinese history and culture. based on data obtained from the journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 68 post-tests students learned to evaluate and collect data from multiple sources. nonetheless, on the same post-tests japanese students held on to negative images of china. within the subset of global interdependence, students expressed their hopes of resolving the senkaku islands problem. on pre-test items students indicated an interest in better understanding senkaku/diaoyu issues. post-test results indicated that student understandings of japanese and chinese relationships increased. there was also an increase in overall awareness of existing territorial issues between japan and china. more students correctly identified the separate claims of japan and china as a result of the intervening lesson. the number of students who wished to have the territorial issues resolved also increased in the post-test. under the theme of human rights, pre-test responses uncovered student interest in visions and ideals as the foundations of societal change. through their participation in role-play and subsequent debriefings, students demonstrated a degree of multifaceted thinking and the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others, which signified an attempt to facilitate forms of border pedagogy. finally, in the category of putting democratic ideals into practice, student responses on post-tests revealed that students developed skills in interpreting and analyzing multiple sources. students were also interested in exploring issues that encompass the senkaku/diaoyu islands, yet the intervention of one unit of study was not enough to alter students’ negative images of china. the lessons that served as interventions did not promote a discovery of the roles of global citizens or achieve the desired goals of transformative education. the implementation of border pedagogy was limited by key factors. for instance, the fact that there were no chinese nationals in the classroom affected the perspectives that were presented: both the teacher and the students were japanese in this classroom example. informed positions through diverse chinese lenses were omitted. thus, japanese students depended on japanese sources of information when considering multifaceted aspects and forming personal judgments. another factor was the lack of media literacy education combined with border pedagogy in attempts to provide enriched understandings of border issues. considerations for further implementation of a border pedagogy are numerous. giroux (2005) lists three essential components of border pedagogy. accordingly, 1. border consists of epistemological, political, cultural and social margins that structure the language of history, power and difference. border crossing prefigures cultural criticism and pedagogical processes and signals forms of transgression in which dominant, existing borders can be challenged and redefined. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 69 2. border pedagogy speaks to the need to create conditions in which students become border crossers in order to understand otherness in its own terms, so that borderlands with diverse, new identities with existing configurations of power are created. 3. border pedagogy allows students to recognize “the historically and socially constructed strengths and limitations of those places and borders we inherit and that frame our discourses and social relations” (giroux, 2005, p. 20). in this study, there was a limited time for the classroom interventions. nagda (2006) recommends the development of critical self-reflection in terms of understanding one’s own experiences in the context of social positions and building alliances for greater social justice. accordingly, students could be afforded more time to engage with a question such as: how do rhetoric from the mainstream media and dominant institutions influence our abilities to build alliances across differences? it is also possible that the limited duration of the contact may not have been ideal for fostering substantive actions. if additional lessons were possible, projects that link dialogue and action should be included. for example, given the opportunity for follow-up interventions, student participants could role play in additional transnational conflict situations and to partake in supplementary active interventions. applied learning and personal reflections could generate a wide array of concrete actions as well as further dialogue on transnational understandings. alliances develop from collaborative actions, and are crucial for any transnational relationship. nagda (2006) put forth, “inclusive, caring, and critically tended alliances allow for mindful, affective actions that can empower all participants” (p. 573). border pedagogy is continuing consideration for all classroom interventions. giroux (1991) put forth that border pedagogy teaches students the skills of critical thinking, debating power, meaning and identity. border pedagogy can be used to teach students the skills of critical thinking and debate as well as develop self-identity with regard to their sense of place, both locally and globally. border pedagogy puts forward a means of providing students with better contemplation and clarification of their positionalities (flores & clark, 2002). the discourses of border pedagogy correspond with the goals of melioristic, transformative education (garza, 2007; giroux, 1991; romo & chavez, 2006). according to romo and chavez (2006), border pedagogy encourages tolerance, ethical sophistication, and openness. border pedagogy particularly engages learners in "multiple references that constitute different cultural codes, experiences, and languages to help them construct their own narratives and histories, and revise democracy through sociocultural negotiation" (romo & chavez, 2006, p. 143). in the case of japanese students learning about china, border pedagogy entails interdisciplinary, journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 70 longer term reflections on positionalities and situatedness within current power configurations. hence, problem solving and conflict resolution are integral pieces of interventions and learning. recommendations to go beyond the lessons learned through classroom interventions, we recommend more policy-driven decisions that allow for substantial consideration of border conflicts in classrooms. decision makers and policies should consider the necessity of developing knowledge through an implementation of the principles of border pedagogy and place-based pedagogies. the findings of this study, indeed, reinforce the recommendations of zhao, lin and hoge (2007) for comparative and transnational studies on how well students know each other and each other’s histories and cultures. there is a call for a critical border dialogism (cashman, 2015) that draws upon border pedagogy and is based on the following principles: (1) heteroglossia, as it counters any sort of unilateral and unidirectional voices. (abraham, 2014; bakhtin, 1981; clark & holquist, 1984; holquist, 2002); (2) meliorism, holds that better futures become reality through our efforts (kliebard, 2004; koopman, 2006; james, 1906; wilson, 2003); (3) critical cosmopolitanism, which serves as an argument for globalization from below, and it argues for the geopolitical diversal (delanty, 2006; mignolo, 2000b); (4) nepantla, which characterizes border surroundings as dynamic and fluid (abraham, 2014; anzaldua, 2002; maffie, 2007; mignolo, 2000a); (5) dialogic feminism, as it is exemplified by its renunciation, resistance and counter-hegemonic actions to patriarchy and other borders (puigvert, 2012; yaeger, 1991); and (6) pragmatic hope, as it offers possibilities for a transcendence of the limitations currently imposed on schools and educational systems (koopman, 2006; nolan & stitzlein, 2011; rorty, 1999; shade, 2001). it is through a critical border dialogism involving educators, students, cultural workers and policy makers that we contemplate the multiplicity of voices that help constitute heteroglossia. in this manner, stakeholders develop greater understandings of our societies and are, in turn, better informed to counter hegemonic systems that seek to dictate teaching and learning within our societies. references abraham, s. (2014). a nepantla pedagogy: comparing anzaldua’s and bakhtin’s ideas for pedagogical and social change. critical education, 5(5), 1–19. anzaldúa, g. (2002). now let us shift…the path of conocimiento…inner work public acts. in g. anzaldúa & a. keating (eds.), this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540–577). new york, ny: routledge. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 71 banks, j. a. (2006). democracy, diversity, and social justice: educating citizens for the public interest in a global age. in g. ladson-billings & w. f. tate (eds.), education research in the public interest (pp. 141–157). new york, ny: teachers college press. bakhtin, m. m. (1981). the dialogic imagination (c. emerson & m. holquist, trans.). austin, tx: university of texas press (original work published 1975). cashman, t. g. (2015). considering critical border dialogism: learning from fellow educators in malaysia, mexico, and canada. charlotte, nc: information age. clark, k., & holquist, m. (1984). mikhail bakhtin. cambridge, ma: belknap press of harvard university press. creswell, j. w. (2007). qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage. delanty, g. (2006). the cosmopolitan imagination: critical cosmopolitanism and social theory. british journal of sociology, 57(1), 25–47. flores, b. b., & clark, e. r. (2002). el desarrollo del proyecto alianza: lessons learned and policy implications. tempe, az: arizona state university, southwest center for educational equity and language diversity. garza, e. (2007). becoming a border pedagogy educator: rooting practice in paradox. multicultural education, 15(1), 2–7. giroux, h. a. (1991). border pedagogy and the politics of postmodernism. social text, 28, 51–67. giroux, h. a. (2005). border crossings: cultural workers and the politics of education (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. glesne, c. (2011). becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction. boston, ma: pearson. gruenewald, d. a. (2003). the best of both worlds: a critical pedagogy of place. educational researcher, 32(4), 3–12. holquist, m. (2002). dialogism: bakhtin and his world (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. james, w. (1906). what pragmatism means. retrieved from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 72 kliebard, h. m. (2004). the struggle for the american curriculum, 1893–1958. new york, ny: routledgefalmer. koopman, c. (2006). pragmatism as a philosophy of hope: emerson, james, dewey, and rorty. journal of speculative philosophy, 20(2), 106–116. maffie, j. (2007). the centrality of nepantla in conquest-era nahua philosophy. nahua newsletter, 44, 11–22. retrieved from https://nahuanewsletter.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/nahua-no-44.pdf mignolo, w. d. (2000a). the many faces of cosmo-polis: border thinking and critical cosmopolitanism, public culture,12(3), 721–748. mignolo, w. d. (2000b). introduction: from cross-genealogies and subaltern knowledges to nepantla. nepantla: views from south, 1(1), 1–8. nagda, b. a. (2006). breaking barriers, crossing borders, building bridges: communication processes in intergroup dialogues. journal of social issues, 62(3), 553–576. nolan, c., & stitzlein, s. m. (2011). meaningful hope for teachers in times of high anxiety and low morale. democracy and education, 19(1), 1–11. puigvert, l. (2012). the dialogic turn: dialogue or violence? international and multidisciplinary journal of social sciences, 1(1), 78–96. doi: 10.4471/rimcis.2012.04 romo, j. j., & chavez, c. (2006) border pedagogy: a study of pre-service teacher transformation. the educational forum, 70, 142–153. rorty, r. (1999). philosophy and social hope. new york, ny: penguin books. shade, p. (2001). habits of hope: a pragmatic theory. nashville, tn: vanderbilt university press. smith, g. (2002). place-based education: learning to be where we are. phi delta kappan, 83, 584–594. wilson, d. a. (2003). the future of international and comparative education in a globalised world. in m. bray (ed.), comparative education: continuing traditions, new challenges, and new paradigms (pp. 15–33). dordrecht, the netherlands: kluwer academic publishers. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 53-73. corresponding author email: takeshim@soka.ac.jp ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 73 yaeger, p. (1991). afterward. in d. m. bauer & s. j. mckinstry (eds.), feminism, bakhtin, and the dialogic (pp. 239–245). albany, ny: state university of new york press.. yin, r. k. (2003). case study research: design and methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. zhao, y., lin, l., & hoge, j. d. (2007). establishing a need for cross-cultural and global issues research. international education journal, 8(1), 139–150. introduction background theoretical framework method results of pre-tests and post-tests discussion recommendations references journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. future of social studies education in turkey mehmet acikalin istanbul university ___________________________________________________________________________ abstract: social studies education [sosyal bilgiler] in turkey has been defined as an integrated field of study after the curriculum reform over the last decade. this interdisciplinary notion of social studies education is established in the curriculum as a result of modeling ncss (national council for the social studies) standards. this new social studies movement in turkey has taken a thematic approach and focuses on developing skills and values in the curriculum. unlike the former curriculums, this new curriculum has adapted alternative assessment methods such as portfolios, self and peer evaluation, projects, poster presentations, and rubrics where in the past turkish educational system has been dominated by the standardized testing. on the other hand, there have been discussions in the united states regarding the influence of high-stakes testing in diminishing the instructional time of social studies classes and instructional decisions in these classes. the purpose of this paper is to compare and discuss the influence of standardized testing on social studies education both in turkey and the united states. this discussion may help to redefine and restructure social studies education and will consider the disintegration of the field, as has been one of the major trends in the last two decades. key words: social studies, education in turkey, standardised testing in social studies ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction social studies education in turkey has changed significantly after the curriculum reform in the last decade. social studies as an interdisciplinary course first was introduced in the elementary education program at the end of the 1960s in turkey (akpınar & kaymakçı, 2012) and at the beginning of the 1970–71 school year it also became a part of middle school program (çayır & gürkaynak, 2008 semenderoğlu & gülersoy, 2005). this course was a combination of history, geography, and civic studies. nevertheless, each instructional unit in this course was focusing on separate subjects such as history or geography. thus, the instructional units in the textbooks were not interdisciplinary. nonetheless, social studies remained in the elementary and middle school curriculum an interdisciplinary course until 1985. the ministry of national education took a different turn in those days and they abolished social studies courses and converted into three different discipline based courses entitled national history [milli tarih], national geography [milli coğrafya], and citizenship [vatandaşlık bilgisi] (akpınar & kaymakçı, 2012; çayır & gürkaynak, 2008) for the middle school level in 1986. this situation lasted until 1998 when the curriculum reform movements began in turkey (aksit, 2007). as a result of these movements, integrated social studies courses were reinstated in the middle school (akpınar & kaymakçı, 2012) and new curriculum was developed for these courses (see milli eğitim bakanlığı talim terbiye kurulu başkanlığı [ministry of national education – curriculum division] [meb] 2009a; 2009b). corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 93 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. new social studies curriculum in turkey according to the current curriculum (meb, 2009a; 2009b), social studies is defined as “an integrated study of history, geography, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, political science, law and similar social science subjects that reflects citizenship education. social studies is a general education course that helps an individual to live in the society and interact within the environment.” this interdisciplinary character of the social studies education is established in the curriculum as a result of modeling the ncss guidelines (1994) in the united states. it is specifically pointed out that the three major social studies traditions (citizenship transmission, social science and reflective inquiry) (see barr, barth, & shermis, 1978) are valued and taken under consideration within the current frame of the curriculum; and all these three traditions have influence on the design of the curriculum (see meb, 2009a; 2009b). unlike the former curriculums, skills and values have been given more focus within the new social studies curriculum. critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, researching, and empathy are among the skills introduced to the curriculum. correspondingly, new values are also incorporated into the curriculum, such as justice, freedom, respect, love, responsibility, and honesty. the new social studies curriculum was organized thematically rather than subject based. accordingly nine learning themes were introduced in the new social studies curriculum (aksit, 2010). these nine learning themes are (a) individual and society, (b) culture and heritage, (c) people, places, and environments, (d) power, governance, and society, (e) time continuity, and change, (f) production, consumption and distribution, (g) science technology, and society, and (h) global connections. all instructional units within the curriculum from grades 4 through 7 are organized according to these learning themes (see meb, 2009a; 2009b). it is clear that these learning themes are very similar to the ten themes of ncss (1994; 2010). according to these new learning themes, the names and organization of instructional units were changed significantly as well (aksit, 2010). for instance a unit named turkish history (6th grade) in the former curriculum, was entitled turks on the silk road (6th grade) in the new social studies curriculum. similarly, a unit named geographical regions in turkey (7th grade) in the former curriculum, entitled as lets learn about our region (4th grade) in the new curriculum. also new instructional units that reflect science, technology (the electronic century – 6th grade; science through history – 7th grade) and global education (my away friends – 4th grade; our world – 5th grade; bridges between countries – 7th grade) have been added to the curriculum. it is clear that with this current curriculum reform, social studies education in turkey has changed fundamentally. the new curriculum has taken a thematic approach and put more focus on skills and values rather than content (akınoğlu, 2008). new instructional units that reflect science, technology and global education have been added to the new social studies curriculum. the new social studies textbooks have been prepared accordingly. the textbooks now may have information about various topics such as technological developments (i.e., a robot conducting an orchestra in japan), social issues and projects (i.e., the benefits of organ donations or collecting plastic bottles). this kind of corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 94 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. information in social studies textbooks is very new. former textbooks mostly contained purely content based information about turkish and world history and geography. assessment in the new social studies curriculum adapting a completely different social studies curriculum requires fundamental changes with measurement and evaluation methods as well. former curriculums mostly focused on written examinations with open ended questions and/or multiple choices tests as the main assessment techniques. in addition to these methods, the new social studies curriculum also adapted authentic/alternative assessment techniques (aksit, 2007) such as portfolio, self and peer evaluation, projects, poster presentations, and rubrics (meb, 2009a; 2009b). although social studies teachers are encouraged to apply alternative assessment methods, the current research indicated the opposite. recent studies showed that teachers still extensively use the traditional assessment methods and had trouble applying the alternative assessment techniques in the new social studies curriculum (adanalı & doğanay, 2010; çelikkaya, karakuş, & öztürk-demirbaş, 2010; doğanay & sarı, 2008). a qualitative study conducted with 22 social studies teachers using semi structured interviews showed that the new evaluation and measurement activities were viewed as the most problematic side of the curriculum by the participants (dinç & doğan, 2010). the majority of participants in the study pointed out that while the standardized test measured the content knowledge, the alternative assessment methods in the new curriculum measured the process of learning and gaining skills. the authors concluded that this major discrepancy between the standardized tests and the alternative evaluation methods in the new curriculum must be resolved. this solution should make both assessment methods compatible and work together. another qualitative study conducted with 14 social studies teacher indicated that although all participants believed alternative assessment techniques were more useful to evaluate student success; they complained about increasing work load and inadequate time while they applied alternative assessment techniques (kesten & özdemir, 2010). moreover, a teacher in this study questioned the meaning of alternative assessment methods. for example, is it possible in the new system, if we do not make open-ended written examinations? since you mention alternative assessment, a teacher can give alternative homework [to the students]. so it is not necessary to give [students] open-ended written examinations. but is this clear in the guidelines [prepared by ministry of national education]? i myself give [each class] three open-ended written examinations [in a semester]. it is in the guidelines [prepared by ministry of national education]. so, why do we apply alternative measurement and evaluations methods? (kesten & özdemir, 2010, p. 231) it is clear that this teacher was frustrated about the role of alternative assessment techniques in the new curriculum. although the new curriculum encourages the application of alternative assessment techniques such as portfolios, projects, and poster presentations, the traditional assessments corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 95 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. techniques such as open-ended written examinations are still used extensively in social studies classes in turkey. it must also be noted that students’ final grades heavily depend on those written examinations. even if teachers apply alternative assessment in social studies classes, there are other issues that may come up in the process. this quote from a social studies teacher shows how alternative assessment methods are misunderstood. when we tell the parents “you should help your kids with projects and homework,” they think that they are supposed to do the homework. they [parents] do the homework, they even bring the homework to the school in case it breaks on the way. (dinç & doğan, 2010, p. 43) although there is limited empirical research on this issue it seems that the alternative assessment methods are not used adequately and appropriately in the social studies classrooms. furthermore, these assessment methods do not measure students’ achievement levels that counts and gives students directions and promotions in the educational system. rather, the newly adapted authentic/alternative measurement methods such as portfolio, self and peer evaluation, projects, poster presentations, and rubrics (meb, 2009a; 2009b) measure and evaluate the process of learning and gaining skills. on the contrary, the standardized tests measure the content knowledge. recent studies indicated that most of the questions in these standardized tests mainly test very basic comprehension skills, and there were not any questions that require higher order think skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation (aydoğan, 2008; ümre, 2010). standardized tests have been dominating the educational system in turkey for more than a quarter of a century. students have to take series of standardized tests in middle schools in order to be considered for high school which the students are going to attend. a high school graduate in turkey has to take university entrance examination in order to be accepted to a program in a state or private university. even a university graduate in most cases has to take a standardized test in order to get a job or to apply for the postgraduate education (açıkalın, 2011). while the educational system in turkey is heavily dominated by the standardized tests; this new social studies education approach requirements are contradictory. thus, it seems that there is a serious problem with the consistency of the curriculum and the mainstream assessment system in social studies classes in turkey. while, the social studies education community in turkey are struggling with these issues, i believe it would be interesting to compare the current situation and the influence of the no child left behind (nclb) act (u.s. department of education, 2002) on social studies education in the united states as it is the prominent place where integrated social studies applied. high-stakes tests and social studies in the united states there is a growing body of research indicating that organic (as in more involved and student-based) social studies education is disappearing from schools in the united states, as high-stakes tests have come to dominate education in the united states since the nclb act came into effect (au, 2009; fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner & fitchett, 2012; leming, ellington, & schug, 2006; mathis & boyd, 2009; mcguire, 2007; passe, 2006; saye, & social studies inquiry research collaborative [ssirc], 2013). corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 96 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. heafner and fitchett (2012), who conducted a national survey about instructional time allocations for core subject areas in the united states, reported that social studies instructional time decreased to 48 minutes per week within the last 10 years. furthermore, nclb promoted the testing culture by using federal funds to reward measured success (fitchett & heafner, 2010). thus, teachers allocate social studies instructional time mostly for test preparation due to pressure by the assessment protocols of policy makers (fitchett & heafner, 2010; saye & ssirc, 2013). au (2009) stated that it appears that, when high-stakes social studies tests consist mainly of multiple choice questions and dislocated fact memorization, social studies teachers feel compelled to align their content, instruction, and assessment to the test-defined norms. while this does not mean that these teachers changed their content, instruction, and assessment en toto, it does demonstrate that these tests do change the social studies curriculum and do cause teachers to at least reduce the amount of student-centered instruction and increase the amount of teacher-centered instruction in their classrooms. (p. 48) correspondingly saye and ssirc (2013) stated that “teachers and administrators are unlikely to adopt inquiry-based approaches without evidence that such teaching will not negatively impact student performance on state-mandated high-stakes measures of basic knowledge” (p. 91). thus, it seems that high-stakes tests both have influence on diminishing the instructional time of social studies and instructional decisions in these classes. recent literature in the united states also shows inconsistency between ncss standards and the high-stakes testing (dewitt et al., 2013). recently a large group of researcher analyzed four states’ (new york, ohio, texas, and virginia) social studies standards and the standardized tests questions based on bloom’s taxonomy levels. the study indicated that while state social studies standards require higher level cognitive activity, high-stakes tests are dominated by low level cognitive items. on the contrary, a number of educational organizations including ncss are emphasizing 21st century’s skills such as critical thinking and problem solving (dewitt et al., 2013; mcguire, 2007). ncss revised standards (2010) clearly indicated that the aim of social studies is to prepare citizens with civic competence who can “apply inquiry processes, and to employ skills of data collection and analysis, collaboration, decision-making, and problem-solving” (p. 9). finally, nclb adversely impacts inquiry-based learning and the development of critical analysis skills, due primarily to the content demands of the tests and the need to convert social studies to a more content based course while this act also endorses the separation of social science disciplines (fitchett & heafner, 2010). the nclb that promotes high-stakes standardized testing has had a major impact on what and how students are taught and assessed in social studies courses. therefore, this legislation has led the educational community to discuss the disintegration or redefinition of social studies as a course subject in the united states (au, 2009; fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner & fitchett, 2012; leming et al., 2006; mathis & boyd, 2009; mcguire, 2007; passe, 2006; saye & ssirc, 2013). at this point, i would like to compare and discuss the status of social studies education and standardized testing both in turkey and the united states. corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 97 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. discussions of turkish and the united states cases: future direction of social studies it seems that there are some commonalities about the status of social studies education both in turkey and the united states. as previously discussed, both countries have compatible social studies curriculums and standardized testing systems. social studies curriculums both in turkey and the united states define social studies as integrated field of social science disciplines, cover very parallel learning themes and skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. also, in both countries the success of students and teachers is measured by the standardized testing systems and this puts lots of pressure on them. this pressure influences the content, instruction methods, and the purpose of social studies education and has even led the educational community to question the role of integrated social studies education. the major distinction between the social studies education systems in turkey and the united states is in the time when standardized test was first introduced to the educational system. the integrated social studies with focus on civic competence has already been accepted and applied in the united states when the high-stakes tests were included to educational system. however, the order of events is exactly opposite in turkey. the standardized tests were already in use when the integrated social studies curriculum was introduced to the educational system in turkey. even if there is dissimilarity between turkey and the united states regarding the time when the standardized test included to the educational system, however, the results and effects resulting from and effecting the social studies courses are very similar. it is clear that integrated, thematic and skill based social studies education does not work well with the standardized testing systems in both countries. the studies in both countries showed that these tests mostly measured basic content knowledge at comprehension level that does not require higher order thinking (aydoğan, 2008; dewitt et al., 2013; ümre, 2010). on the contrary, the contemporary social studies education aims to develop civic competences that require higher level thinking such as critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision making. therefore, we must find a way to overcome this discrepancy. the easiest way is to abolish the standardized tests or diminish the role of these tests in the assessment system that plays significant part in a student’s future. however, such a decision is not likely to be made by policymakers in turkey. thus, we are at the point where we must make a decision on the role and purpose of social studies education, or redefine and restructure this field so that it can work with these tests. i believe the only solution in turkish educational context would be the separation of the social studies fields. likewise, in the united states a study conducted on 43 experienced social studies professors, even before nclb, foresaw social studies as a downgrading field in schools indicating that “the diminishing and fragmentation of social studies as a field of study” was one of the major trends expected in the 21st century (hass & laughlin, 1999). similarly, fitchett and heafner (2010) stated that “the marginalization of social studies is an enduring trend over the last two decades, a byproduct of an educational policy shift toward national standardization” (p. 114) in the united states. corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 98 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. thus, this trend had started long before policymakers in turkey adapted principles and standards of ncss (1994, 2010) curriculum a decade ago. as previously discussed, we already have the dominancy of the standardized tests when ncss standards were introduced to educational system in turkey. it is clear that the educational policymakers in turkey were not able to critically analyze this trend in the united states and definitely did not foresee this current situation. thus, considering the context of the turkish educational system, i would propose some social science disciplines, such as history and geography to be separated from social studies education as a whole. therefore, the content based social sciences which are the base for these high-stakes tests questions can be taught and tested accordingly. on the other hand, new social studies courses which encompass such topics as civic engineering, environmental studies, world culture, and global issues may be established. also, a special focus must be given to the exploration and development of skills, values, and ethics in these new social studies courses. i believe a social studies course with this level of scope will be more valuable to educate informed citizens who possess critical and creative thinking, problems solving, and decision making skills. in the future, there will be a need for more discussions, to shape, or build, a new framework for social studies in turkey. references açıkalın, m. 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(2002). no child left behind: a desktop reference. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, office of the under secretary. corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 101 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 93-102. ümre, m. m. (2010). seviye belirleme sınavları (sbs) sosyal bilgiler sorularının sosyal bilgiler programına ve bilişsel alan basamaklarına göre değerlendirilmesi [the evalution of social sciences questions in placement tests according to social sciences programme and the steps of cognitive domain]. unpublished master thesis, gaziosmanpaşa üniversitesi, tokat, türkiye. corresponding author email: mehmet.acikalin@gmail ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 102 introduction new social studies curriculum in turkey assessment in the new social studies curriculum high-stakes tests and social studies in the united states discussions of turkish and the united states cases: future direction of social studies references journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 global education in times of discomfort 1 graham pike, dean of international education, vancouver island university, canada ______________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the development of global education as a grassroots movement for educational change has always been subject to the influences of prevailing economic and political forces. perspectives are offered on how the formative years of global education in the united kingdom and canada were shaped, including the impacts of controversies and tensions among proponents and opposition from governments in power. a retrospective assessment of my experiences as a global educator during this period gives rise to some personal reflections on how my perceptions of global education have changed over time and some thoughts on how the movement might tackle some key challenges that inhibit its broader acceptance. in the current era of neoliberalism, it is argued that the visionary goals of global education are now more urgently needed in order to provide future decision makers with the tools required to make ethically sound judgments on matters that will determine the fate of humankind. key words: global education, futures education, neoliberalism, reflective global education ______________________________________________________________________________ introduction the haunting image of mr. gradgrind in charles dickens’ hard times is never far from my mind as i reflect on trends in public education over the past twenty years. ‘teach these boys and girls nothing but facts’ (dickens, 1969, p. 47) was the command he gave to a new teacher who was struggling to overcome the naturally creative and fanciful urges of the children in his class. dickens’ wry commentary on educational trends in mid-19th century britain, at the height of her powers as the leading industrial nation of the era, is a salutary reminder of the dangers in forging too close an alignment between schooling and the perceived needs of the workforce, especially where the skills required for the latter are narrowly defined and leave little to nurture the imagination. the comparison between the current era of technological and communications innovation and the industrial grime of the nineteenth century may seem a little far-fetched, but i want to suggest that both can be viewed as times of discomfort for educational visions that favor the holistic development of the child and place a premium on learning rather than on the simpler acquisition of factual knowledge. just as dickens wished to critique the obsessive focus on memorization and the treatment of children as manufactured products, global educators in the 21st century are having to combat the trends that have prioritized education for employment and economic growth and have defined value in education as that which can be measured. today’s ‘learning outcomes are hopefully more sophisticated than those envisaged for the latter day industrial worker but the premise of schooling principally as a training ground for an unquestioning workforce is, arguably, not much different. 1 this article is based on the jan l. tucker memorial lecture presented to the international assembly of the national council for the social studies, seattle, november 2012. the editorial team invited this professor pike to submit this paper. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 in this article, i want to revisit some of the key ideas, debates and tensions that have influenced my vision of the purpose and practice of global education and reflect on some personal lessons learnt over 35 years as an educator in the united kingdom and canada. in so doing, i hope to illustrate the need for constant reassessment of, and reinvestment in, global education’s visionary goals, especially during periods of time when economic interests, as determined by the global free market, trump the broader concerns of planetary health and the common good. as i will indicate, conflict and controversy have always shaped the global education narrative but the neoliberal values that dominate contemporary discourse on public education pose a challenge of an entirely different magnitude. these are very personal reflections on an era that has witnessed monumental changes in geopolitical and economic systems, all of which, inevitably, have influenced educational thinking. the probable continuance of such rapid change, allied to the uncertainty of its outcomes, is the context for a discussion later in the article on the future of global education in the current era of discomfort. inauspicious beginnings my initiation in the field of global education began when i joined the council for education in world citizenship (cewc), a london-based non-governmental organization that was a leader in the promotion of the concept of global citizenship in the formal education system in the uk. my role, as deputy director and conference organizer, was to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge, perspectives and ideas about world events, global systems and trends through conferences for students, newsletters and briefing notes, and a speakers’ service that dispatched high-profile and expert speakers to schools across the country. it was, in my view at the time, a challenging but non-controversial role: in the last quarter of the 20th century, given the horrors that century had already witnessed, who could argue against the desire to instill in young people greater global understanding and cross-cultural tolerance? as i was to learn, painfully at times, throughout my career the concept of global citizenship is, at best, contested and oftentimes subjected to a plethora of overt and covert forces that attempt to undermine its key principles or denigrate its feasibility. controversy was, in fact, imbued in the very beginnings of cewc itself. at the time of the official opening of the organization in 1940 – a time when rampant nationalism was the order of the day – cewc’s founders were accused of ‘humbug and false piety’ and the leading educational newspaper, the times education supplement, commented : ‘fundamentally, their claim is not different from that of the nazis and communists’ (heater, 1984, p. 56). it would not be unreasonable to hope that the memories of world war ii would have snuffed out such sentiments for good, at least in europe, but it seems that nationalism’s stronghold is persistent and pervasive, even extending its tentacles to infuse the development of global education itself (pike, 2000). despite the vestiges of nationalism lurking in the wings, the growth of world studies (the forerunner to global education in the uk) during the 1970s and 80s was a time of excitement, of dizzying creativity among its many proponents and, most importantly, a time of relative curricular freedom in the formal education system. non-governmental organizations, such as oxfam, christian aid and the world wildlife fund, played a key role in the promotion of key ideas through conferences and workshops, funding for worthy initiatives, and an array of journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 exciting print resources that demonstrated how teachers could engage students’ minds in the consideration of complex global issues through thought-provoking (though not always thoughtful) activities and simulation games in the classroom. given the primary global concerns of the time – the seemingly intractable cold war and the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation – teachers of many subjects eagerly devoured these innovative teaching methods and found space for them in their curricula. it could be said that the coming of age of world studies was marked by funding from the uk government for the world studies 8-13 project, aimed at the middle school years (fisher & hicks, 1985). multiple influences were beginning to shape world studies during this growth period. the influence of the global education movement in the united states was certainly evident, particularly in discussions of the key concept of global interdependence (anderson, 1979) and through explorations of this idea in activities such as the world in the neighbourhood (richardson, 1976), echoing the pioneering work of chad alger in columbus, ohio (tye, 1990). robert hanvey’s (1975) seminal work was also influential in sharpening understanding of the implications of global systems and in defining the concept of perspective consciousness. these ideas from across the atlantic meshed, though not without ideological tensions, with the discourse emanating from the british development education and peace education movements, both of which had made good progress in helping teachers explore some critical concepts such as injustice, inequality, disarmament and conflict resolution. a new ingredient in the world studies mix was a shameless appropriation of some key insights from the new science, particularly the work of physicists such as fritjof capra and david bohm, and scholars in the ‘human potential movement’, including jean houston, marilyn ferguson and theodore roszak. the application of theories of quantum mechanics to explain contemporary global phenomena offered a scientific underpinning for world studies proponents’ exploration of global systems and provided a conceptual framework for critiquing the fragmentation of knowledge that they perceived as endemic in the construction of school curricula (pike & selby, 1988). supporting and strengthening this critique of mainstream practice in uk schools were arguments and models developed by learning theorists such as carl rogers, david kolb and bernice mccarthy with regard to the necessity of paying attention to the process of learning and teaching, not just to curriculum content. world studies embraced such theories with gusto, advocating for a fundamental overhaul of classroom practice and thereby transforming the role of the teacher from an imparter of knowledge to a facilitator of students’ learning. the proposed changes in practice (which were probably more evident in teachers’ handbooks than in actual classrooms) caused one commentator to suggest that world studies was ‘process rich and content poor . . . as students were subjected to “one damned simulation” after another’ (lister, 1987, p. 59). it would be remiss to ignore the impact of some tensions and controversies among world studies proponents during this growth period. at one notable national conference in 1982, a keynote speaker criticized the world studies movement for legitimizing racial inequality, an attack that fractured the movement and led to considerable soul searching with regard to the relationship between world studies and anti-racist education (starkey, 1982). at about the same time, a similar challenge was thrown down by feminist educators, including those working under the umbrella of world studies. aileen mckenzie (1987), writing in the world studies journal, refers to ‘the amazing, self-deluding games men in world studies play’ and asserts that women journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 ‘engaged in world studies are very much aware that our contribution is likely to be of far greater significance than that made by all or most men involved in the same field of work’ (p. 2). from a longer-term perspective, the significance of such challenges lies more in the fact that the educational climate of the time allowed, even fostered, the occurrence of such debate among educators. the discourse of the day was conducted in forums, such as conferences and professional journals, by those at the leading edge of thinking about public education’s responsibilities with regard to contemporary social issues. debates were infused with the passionate beliefs emanating from diverse political positions, but the notion that education had a primary responsibility to help create a more just, equitable and sustainable global society was shared by all. in a sense, this was a ‘golden age’ for global education in the uk, and it was about to change. the impact of neoliberalism my first real confrontation with the ideological opponents of global education in the uk occurred with the publication by roger scruton, a junior minister in margaret thatcher’s government, of a report entitled world studies: education or indoctrination? (scruton, 1985). in this pamphlet, scruton argues that world studies is essentially marxist indoctrination and is neither a proper subject nor a necessary component of the school curriculum. in order to provide evidence for a central tenet in his argument, scruton claims that emily brontë had achieved a profound understanding of the world around her without ever having left her north yorkshire home. in our response to scruton’s paper (pike & selby, 1986), we pointed out, perhaps rather too gleefully, that the writer had in fact attended a finishing school in switzerland. notwithstanding such moments of light-hearted academic banter, the attacks by scruton and others of like mind (e.g. marks, 1984, cox & scruton, 1984) marked a serious and significant shift in the political discourse surrounding world studies and related fields in social and political education. from having enjoyed some, albeit limited, support from the department of education and science, world studies was now directly under attack by government ministers and influential academics. furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the freedom enjoyed by teachers to debate the place and scope of teaching contemporary global issues in the k-12 curriculum was severely restricted by the multiple impacts of the 1988 education reform act that heralded the arrival of the first national curriculum in england and wales. not only was the national curriculum, for the most part, unreceptive to the substance and style of teaching advocated by world studies, but also the pervasive and relentless shift towards the standardization of curriculum and assessment left teachers with little time or energy to explore ways to integrate topics that were deemed to be peripheral, despite some evidence of initial resistance on the part of global educators (vulliamy & webb, 1993). at the time of my move to the university of toronto in 1992, it seemed that the tide of neoliberal thinking sweeping the uk had not yet infused education systems in canada. indeed, the federal government, under the auspices of the canadian international development agency (cida), had committed significant funding to global education projects in 8 of the 10 provinces. innovative projects undertaken in collaboration with teachers’ unions, including the development of global schools in one province, were nurturing a generation of global educators that were building on best practice ideas from many countries. school boards were actively journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 promoting global education as a key strand in the social studies curriculum and were funding teachers’ workshops and summer institutes. some provincial governments, where responsibility for education resides, demonstrated direct support: the common curriculum (ministry of education and training, ontario, 1995), developed by a working group under the auspices of the new democratic government in ontario was, arguably, the most pro-global education curriculum ever produced by a government in power. it could be argued that many of the values that canadians espouse provide a fertile soil for global education to grow and flourish. a passion for internationalism, most notable in the pioneering work of former prime minister lester b. pearson, is integral to canadians’ belief about their role in the world (moore, 1992). as a self-evidently multicultural society that continues to actively encourage immigration, acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity is a fundamental principle to which most canadians would ascribe. a fascination for the resourcerich land, particularly the vast areas of remaining wilderness, is also deeply engrained in the canadian psyche; it is no coincidence that greenpeace began its controversial existence as an environmental pressure group in vancouver. thus, the commitment of significant funding from cida was not surprising at the time. it should not be inferred, however, that global education enjoyed a trouble-free period of growth in canada. as in the uk, tensions existed between proponents of related fields in social and political education and the jostling for position of various global education models and theories was also similar. toh’s (1993) assertion of the deep divide between the liberal technocratic and the transformative paradigms of global education, with the vast majority of classroom practice steeped in the former, was startling for many in the field but probably an accurate assessment of the challenges faced by many teachers in introducing global education’s more radical ideas and practice. by the mid-1990s, the tide of widespread support for global education in canada was rapidly turning. cida, without warning, cut its funding for the provincial global education projects in 1995, leaving many projects and organizations struggling for alternative funds and destroying the provincial and national dialogues and support networks that were so important to teachers. the common curriculum was thrown out by the incoming conservative government in ontario and replaced with a much more traditional model. recently established global schools discovered that their visions were no longer in line with school board mandates and withered on the vine. inexorably, the hallmarks of neoliberal ideology began to take hold in education thinking and systems: curricula increasingly oriented to the imperatives of a free-market global economy and the honing of skills necessary to perpetuate it; an insistence on learning outcomes that were closely allied to the perceived needs of employers; the prioritization of stem (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects over the softer and more creative arts, humanities and social sciences; an attribution of greater value to learning that can be immediately measured; and an increasing commercialization of education that views learning as a product to be bought, rather than as a lifelong way of being. global education was patently unprepared for this onslaught. not only were some of its key principles a poor fit with neoliberal thinking, but also the movement itself – both in the uk and canada – had paid insufficient attention to the fundamentals of gaining credibility within either academic or political establishments. indeed, being essentially a grassroots movement, global educators had eschewed the idea of aligning themselves with establishment thinking, arguing journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 that such thinking was at the roots of many contemporary global crises and, therefore, needed to be challenged. additionally, global education proponents had made many assertions about the efficacy of their favored teaching and learning strategies, but had devoted little time to providing supporting, research-based evidence (lister, 1987). when faced with the sweeping reforms of curricula and assessment practices that neoliberal thinking instigated, global educators were ill-equipped to demonstrate the validity of their beliefs and practice or to adapt to the changing circumstances in education thinking. the current era of discomfort for global education has been further exacerbated by the pervasive impacts of subsequent global events, notably 9/11 and the economic collapse of 2008. the irony, of course, is that global educators believe that their vision for education is key to developing safer and more sustainable societies, but they are struggling to be heard amidst the strident neoliberal voices. some personal lessons learned the challenges to the global education movement over the past 25 years have not shaken my belief in the correctness and necessity of its vision but they have caused me to retrospectively assess my perceptions and practice as a global educator. the reflections that follow are personal in nature and are not intended to be comments on how global education in general has been shaped. 1. a shift in perception of the role and purpose of global education my first encounter with ideas that were to become global education was exhilarating and inspiring. it represented for me a new way of teaching that energized a tired social studies curriculum and made students’ learning more relevant to the real world. teaching about global issues and systems, about other cultures and their perspectives on the world, created a new dimension that i considered to be an important addition to the store of knowledge and ideas that students should attain from their schooling. it was, in a sense, a value-added component that enriched the k-12 experience. as my career progressed, and my understanding of global issues matured, my perception of global education changed; far from being an add-on, i have come to believe in its necessity and urgency for ensuring a sustainable future. the major global events of the past quarter of a century have illustrated, with alarming clarity and regularity, the need for informed, globally-minded citizens who can take thoughtful decisions and actions with due regard for the long-term health of the planet and all its inhabitants. the best evidence available on the potential impacts of climate change suggests that there is very limited time remaining to take substantive action globally to mitigate the worst effects of a warming planet and to adapt to the inevitable changes that are already in progress. unfortunately, education on climate change and sustainability appear peripheral to the dominant agenda of education for employment and economic growth. as democratic rights and freedoms become available, at long last, to more people around the world, the need for informed citizenry becomes starkly evident: with more people participating in the political process, the impacts of democratic decisions in multiple locations begin to play an even more significant role in determining the future of the planet. however, the continuing drama of the arab spring has reminded us that the transformation towards responsible civic participation is complex and arduous, with effective and visionary education for all at the heart of the requirements for a successful outcome. in comparison with the world that i attempted to understand and represent at the journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 start of my career, we live today in an infinitely more complicated, connected and fragile global environment. ‘human history’, suggested h.g. wells in 1920, ‘is a race between education and catastrophe’ (partington, 2004, p. 47). over the last century, we have come to learn much more about the forces of catastrophe and the awesome responsibilities this places on the shoulders of education. 2. teaching is an act of courage one of the critical responsibilities of education is the nurturing of forces for change. for hannah arendt (1961), change comes about through giving children the freedom to foster it, not through telling them how do it: education is the point at which we decide, whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token save it from that ruin which, except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. (p. 196) in my early teaching years, i pursued arendt’s vision in the classroom. i was content to play the neutral chairperson role, laying out for my students a range of options and perspectives on various issues and accepting their choices without comment, even while believing that many of their decisions would not be in the best interests of society or the planet. indeed, i thought this to be the only defensible way to teach: remaining as neutral as possible allowed me to feel comfortable in addressing controversial and sensitive issues in the classroom in a manner that would not incite the wrath of political opponents. mariam steiner (1987), a leading global educator in the uk, expressed well her discomfort with this position: one of my dilemmas as a world studies co-ordinator . . has been a perceived need to make world studies ‘safe’, an acceptable classroom approach, radicalism without tears. in short, i fall constantly into the liberal mould, excusing my cowardice to confront real issues as pragmatism. (p. 57) given the current state of the planet, and the urgency of the need to find sustainable solutions to complex problems, i wonder now about the wisdom of this non-committed approach on some key global issues. while i would reject scruton’s claim that global education is marxist indoctrination, i would argue that some elements of indoctrination are necessary at this point in human history. in making this point i am claiming for global education no more, and no less, than the moral authority afforded to teachers when addressing other serious human concerns, such as issues related to race, gender and violence. if it is not acceptable to take a neutral stance when confronting examples of racism, sexism or various forms of violence in the classroom, why do we need to be so equivocal in discussing matters relating to global inequity, nationalism or unsustainable development? of course, the courageous public battles for social acceptance of the concepts of racial and gender equity, and of non-violence, have already taken place in many parts of the world while we still await the comparable movement for global equity or sustainability (perhaps the ‘occupy’ movement is a tentative and faltering beginning?). nonetheless, just as education has assumed a leading role in advocating for racial and gender equality, and for non-violent solutions to conflict, so too must it bear significant responsibility for creating informed global citizens who are prepared to act in the interests of the planet as a journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 whole. such a position is not neutral; it demands advocacy for responsible and ethical social change; it requires courage, commitment and foresight on the part of teachers. 3. the unshakeable grasp of nationalism much of my research and writing in global education has been built on a belief that overt nationalism is too often a negative force, as well as an anachronism in an era of global interconnectedness. while public education systems may have been founded originally to respond to the needs of the nation state (green, 1990), surely nationalism has no place in 21st century school systems at a time when a nation’s fortunes are so obviously intertwined with those of other nations? that said, i have been intrigued by the national distinctiveness of manifestations of global education in various countries and even ways in which it has been used as a vehicle to promote national or regional identity (pike, 2000; tye, 1999). clearly, nationalism is still a formidable force in shaping public education and, perhaps, poses the most direct challenge to the promotion of the concept of global citizenship in schools. ignatieff (1994) suggests that while we may theorize about the emergence of a ‘global village’, few of us actually choose to live in that village, preferring in the main to surround ourselves with people who share similar attributes, values and views of the world to our own. as saul (2004) points out, the number of nations has actually increased as globalization has become widespread because the nation state – at least in democratic societies – remains the best option for the protection of individual choice. while i remain concerned about the influences of nationalism in education, it is perhaps important to make a distinction between naked and nuanced nationalism. by naked nationalism, i mean an unquestioning patriotism and belief in the moral superiority of one’s own nation or culture. nuanced nationalism does not preclude a love of one’s own country and people, but it demands a critically reflective analysis of the nation’s history and contemporary values, as well as an understanding of how the nation is nested in a wider system of global responsibilities. nuanced nationalism is, i would suggest, an important dimension in the development of personal identity: it creates a psychological grounding in a land and culture, thereby providing an important context for of each individual’s character formation. thus, it holds a rightful place in the holistic development of the child at school. naked nationalism, on the other hand, is antithetical to the development of informed global citizens as it prohibits any reasoned assessment of a nation’s actions according to generally accepted international standards and protocols. it also impairs the process of judgment that is critical to ‘multiple citizenship’ (heater, 2004), the idea that we all have allegiances to multiple actors – including family, community, region, nation and planet – and that, when conflict arises between two or more actors, discernment is required in assessing the best course of action. naked and nuanced nationalism, as i have depicted them, exist on a continuum; the further one moves towards the ‘naked’ end, the more challenging it becomes to practice responsible global citizenship. 4. the elusiveness of global education as a concept when derek heater (1980) saw its ‘zany confusion of nomenclature’(p.8) as an inhibiting factor in the development of world studies in the early 1980s, he was signaling a challenge that global education has faced ever since. in the early part of my career, i was frequently disappointed that journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 few educators showed any recognition of the term ‘global education’. now, i am often dismayed at the appropriation of the term to mean a wide array of educational, and not-soeducational, initiatives with conflicting goals and values! popkewitz (1980) pronounced global education to be a slogan system; as globalization has become all-pervasive, so the term has been used as a slogan-like descriptor of any attempts to prepare young people to operate in an increasingly globalized world, regardless of their underlying motives. for example, while many global educators in canada argue for a critique of the excesses of free-market capitalism, the government of alberta envisages global education as a vehicle for developing the skills required by workers to more effectively contribute to that free market: we will need more entrepreneurs, financiers and managers. we need people who are comfortable doing business globally, with multiple languages and cross-cultural skills. to seize the opportunities offered by an economy that functions as an interconnected grid, people need to be attuned to the world and prepared to participate in global networks. the education system at all levels has an important role to play in fostering this mindset. (premier’s council for economic strategy, 2011, p. 64) various definitions of global education have been formulated in the literature. while most contain similar ideas, the overall concept has remained elusive from a public perception point of view. other relatively new fields in social and political education have more understandable titles: environmental education, multicultural education, peace education and human rights education all convey, in their titles, the substance of their field of scholarship. global education, which is also used as an ‘umbrella’ term to include many if not all of the fields just mentioned, does not have the same immediate comprehensibility. additionally, the holistic, crossdisciplinary essence of global education – and the consequent problems in finding its place in the curriculum – renders it even more challenging to grasp. it is not so much a subject as an interdisciplinary way of thinking. for most of us who have been schooled in a discipline-based curriculum, the interlocking elements of global education are both difficult to grasp as a whole and, perhaps more importantly, even more difficult to explain to others. succinct definitions are often overly simplistic and unhelpful. it is undoubtedly true that full understanding in global education is individually constructed through the synergetic processes of action and reflection (tye & tye, 1992; merryfield, 1993). the constant interplay of personal beliefs and values with a deepening understanding of global affairs and systems is critical. however, an inability to succinctly characterize or offer an accessible synopsis of global education has, in my view, both limited its wider acceptance and allowed other initiatives with conflicting goals to use the same term. the lack of clarity that ensues creates vulnerabilities that leave global education’s advancement at risk in the face of changing political ideology, educational policy or public mood. new ideas, however complex, need to be accessible if they are to withstand the inevitable challenges of a rapidly changing world that is characterized by short-term decision-making and an expectation of immediate results. i need to work on my global education ‘elevator speech’! journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 5. change has many faces and voices in common with many in global education and similar movements for social change, my interests were initially fuelled by a strong – and naïve – vision of a better global society. of course, the society i envisaged was my utopia, fashioned out of my limited experience of the world and incorporating many of my biases and prejudices. this is an inevitable starting point for most educators and should not, in itself, be regarded negatively. problems arise, however, when that personal idealism becomes calcified in an over-zealous desire to change the world according to a fixed set of beliefs and principles. such a vision – however worthy – is inevitably limited and can become easily marginalized if it is not able to adapt to changing circumstances and environments. flexibility does not have to mean a compromise in fundamental values, but it does require letting go of the belief that those values can only be pursued in certain ways, or by certain people. as democracy has spread around the globe, it has taken on forms and practices quite different from its western origins; similarly, the major world religions have witnessed the emergence of distinctive manifestations from particular regions. adaptation is key to survival. as members of a grassroots movement, global educators can be skeptical of those people and institutions perceived to be holding the reins of power, whether they are in education, government or the corporate world. i have had the good fortune to work with diverse groups in both public and private sectors and i have encountered visionary and principled individuals with a strong commitment to social change in many organizations. this has led me to reassess my perception of the change process and to recognize that the goals to which i aspire can be achieved in multiple ways and by people with whom i may have very little in common. it has also prompted a much more cautious approach to evaluating the act of change itself: while those who deliberately and vocally identify themselves as change agents are easy to identify, change can be promulgated effectively through the collective thoughts and actions of countless others who are quietly influencing those around them. dower (2003) points out that only the few will become active global citizens; the much larger body of aware global citizens is also critical, in that the decisions and actions derived from that awareness will subtly change behaviors, not with a fanfare of trumpets but through imperceptible shifts. as albert camus (1957/1995) reminds us: great ideas come into the world as gently as doves. perhaps then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amidst the uproar of empires and nations, a faint flutter of wings, the gentle stirring of life and hope. (p. 272) educating globally in times of discomfort: where do we go from here? charles dickens’ heavy-handed critique of education’s role in the 19th century industrial economy in britain was entirely appropriate for the time and place. the current era of discomfort for global education demands a much more sophisticated and inclusive response. at a time when public education has been made more accessible to people in more and more communities, through both economic and technological advances, the potential for influencing the development of communities and societies through education has never been greater. at the same time, however, the same economic and technological advances have stimulated expectations for education that are increasingly focused on the satisfaction of a relatively journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 narrow set of goals, largely oriented towards the pursuit of economic prosperity and westernstyle material comforts. while the very human desire for personal and social improvement is entirely understandable, i would suggest that a key role of public education at this critical stage in human development is to instil a much more sophisticated vision of personal and social wellbeing. such vision has to global in scope, rather than designed to fuel national or regional competitiveness; it needs to be long term and non-partisan, rather than tied to transient political mandates; fundamentally, it needs to recognize the inherent incompatibility between two key ideals, development and equity (sachs, 2013). over the past 30 years the negative impacts of the fruits of development enjoyed by the wealthy top 15% of humanity, resulting largely from the exploitation of fossil fuels, have become increasingly clear. at the same time there has been a growing acceptance of the idea that such benefits are human rights and should be available to all, regardless of geographic location, wealth, ethnicity, class or gender. unfortunately, equal access to all the comforts enjoyed by the wealthy is, in all likelihood, not possible on a planet with finite and diminishing resources, limited useable space for increased food production and waste disposal, and a steadily growing population. this incompatibility creates a moral dilemma for humankind of immense proportions: do we continue to pursue the current path of development and accept that access to it will remain unequal; or do we strive for equity on a global scale and recognize that our concept of development will need to undergo quite drastic revisions that will undoubtedly challenge and change the lifestyles of the wealthy? it will be evident from what i have written earlier where my priorities lie. more importantly, however, i believe it is the role and responsibility of public education to nurture citizens who are able and prepared to make informed and ethically sound decisions with regard to this dilemma. there is no other social institution that has the reach and capacity to furnish future decision makers with the knowledge, skills and determination necessary to come to grips with moral questions of this magnitude. this is why global education is so urgent and so crucial. it is why, in the current era of discomfort, global education must find a way to be heard among the global cacophony that is steering humankind in the direction of unsustainable development with scant regard for the long-term consequences. certainly, global educators should learn from past mistakes. we need to be nimble in adapting to changing political forces and public moods. we need to recognize the abiding strength of nationalism at a time of accelerating and intensifying global interconnectedness. we need to ensure that we can adequately respond, when required, to questions about or critiques of the appropriateness of a global education approach to learning. we need to find ways to ‘sell’ the holistic and long-term vision of global education to a public that too often finds comfort in short-term panaceas. foremost, however, we need to remind ourselves, and a more skeptical public, that no longer do we have the luxury of time. world population will not decline, at least for the next 30-40 years; the desire for greater economic prosperity will not diminish over this period, nor will the environmental degradation that results; the occurrence of insecurity and conflict resulting from these trends is unknown, but highly probable. the time for caution and reasonableness is over; the era requires what eduardo galeano has called ‘a patient impatience’, a sense of urgency tempered by the understanding that fundamental change requires determination, perseverance and time. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 ngugi wa thiong’o offers a fitting metaphor for the current dilemma facing global education in his novel petals of blood. one of the main characters, godfrey munira, starts his teaching career in a village school. teaching botany, he decides to give students a hands-on experience and takes them out into the fields. he teaches the names of flowers and their constituent parts; he feels pleased as he imparts factual information in a real context. but soon the fragile social order between teacher and student, maintained by academic knowledge and technical vocabulary, begins to crumble. the children use vivid poetic metaphors, such as suggesting that the red beanflower has ‘petals of blood’; they see worm-eaten flowers and ask challenging questions: why does god allow beauty to be destroyed? as the children press him further, munira reflects: man . . . law . . . god . . . nature: he had never thought deeply about these things, and he swore he would never again take the children to the fields. enclosed in the four walls he was master, aloof, dispensing knowledge to a concentration of faces looking up to him. there he could avoid being drawn in. but out in the fields, outside the walls, he felt insecure. (ngugi, 1986, p. 22) the ‘concentration of faces looking up’ in our classrooms today has equally challenging questions about the state of the planet and how we have allowed it to happen. we have a responsibility to get out into the fields and enable the next generation to find some answers. references anderson, l. (1979). schooling for citizenship in a global age: an exploration of the meaning and significance of global education. bloomington, in: social studies development center. arendt, h. (1961). between past and future: eight exercises in political thought. new york: penguin books. camus, a. (1995). resistance, rebellion and death: essays (j. o’brien, trans.). new york: vintage books. (original work published 1957) cox, c., & scruton, r. (1984). peace studies. a critical survey. london: institute for european defence and strategic studies. dickens, c. (1969). hard times. harmondsworth: penguin books. dower, n. (2003). an introduction to global citizenship. edinburgh: edinburgh university press. fisher, s., & hicks, d. (1985). world studies 8–13. a teacher’s handbook. edinburgh: oliver & boyd. green, a. (1990). education and state formation: the rise of educational systems in england, france and the usa. new york: st. martin’s press. journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 hanvey, r. g. (1975). an attainable global perspective. new york: center for war/peace studies. heater, d. (1980). world studies. education for international understanding in britain. london: harrap heater, d. (1984). peace through education. the contribution of the council for education in world citizenship. london: falmer press. heater, d. 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(1986). petals of blood. london: heinemann. partington, j. (2004). the pen as sword: george orwell, h. g. wells and journalistic parricide. journal of contemporary history, 39(1), 45–56. pike, g. (2000). global education and national identity: in pursuit of meaning. theory into practice, 39(2), 64–73. pike, g., & selby, d. (1986, april 11). scrutinizing scruton. the times educational supplement, p. 24. pike, g., & selby, d. (1988). global teacher, global learner. london: hodder & stoughton. http://www.academia.edu/400346/the_pen_as_sword_george_orwell_h._g._wells_and_journalistic_parricide journal of international social studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013, 4-17. corresponding author email: graham.pike@viu.ca ©2012/2013 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 premier’s council for economic strategy. (2011). shaping alberta’s future: report of the premier’s council for economic strategy. edmonton: author. popkewitz, t. s. (1980). global education as a slogan system. curriculum inquiry, 10(3), 303–316. richardson, r. (1976). learning for change in world society. reflections, activities and resources. london: one world trust. sachs, w. (2013). liberating the world from development. new internationalist, 460, 22–27. saul, j. r. (2004). the collapse of globalism. harper’s magazine, march, 33–43. scruton, r. (1985). world studies: education or indoctrination? london: institute for european defence and strategic studies. starkey, h. (1982). editorial: world studies in a multicultural society. world studies journal, 4(1), 3–4. steiner, m. (1987). a plea for help. world studies journal, 6(3), 57. toh, s-h. (1993). bringing the world into the classroom. global literacy and a question of paradigms. global education, 1(1), 9–17. tye, b. b. (1990). schooling in america today: potential for global studies. in k. a.tye (ed.), global education: from thought to action (pp. 35–48). alexandria: association for supervision and curriculum development. tye, k. a. (1999). global education. a worldwide movement. orange, ca: interdependence press. tye, b. b., & tye, k. a. (1992). global education. a study of school change. albany: state university of new york press. vulliamy, g., & webb, r. (1993). progressive education and the national curriculum: findings from a global education research project. educational review, 45(1), 21–41. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 161 un human rights violations here at home? the plight of undocumented and daca students in south carolina, usa. will mccorkle, wmccork@clemson.edu clemson university, clemson, usa beatrice bailey clemson university, clemson, usa __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: south carolina is arguably the most restrictive state in the nation as it pertains to access to higher education for immigrant students, particularly undocumented and daca (deferred action for childhood arrivals) students. as we show through personal interviews, this has had a detrimental effect on the lives of many immigrant students throughout the state. it also conflicts with the ideals of human rights in regard to access to higher education and equality which are laid out in the unesco convention against discrimination in education.i our analysis of south carolina’s policies helps shed a light on the greater issues related to immigrant education rights across the nation and how they compare to the immigration policies of more welcoming developed nations. as the united states seeks to be a champion for human rights around the world, we need to confront our own problematic educational policies, which often leave many students behind. __________________________________________________________________________________ as american high school students read current news magazines like time and then discuss within their social studies classes the syrian immigration policies of angela merkel and the german people, they are struck by the sweeping human rights efforts the country has made over the last seventy years. how has berlin become the capital of a once divided and bitterly racist country that now welcomes the outsider and beleaguered “other” even as they realize quite fully the issues and challenges it would pose for a diverse country? as students reflect, they begin to realize that the changes have come about in big but also in very small ways as thoughtful german citizens have begun to face their history head-on, as they have begun to make reparations for their unspeakable acts against humanity. as a result, they have engaged in self-examination and made remarkable revisions in their laws and policies. within less than two decades after the holocaust, they also earned admission into the united nations and have contributed more recently to its development goals with more financial support than even the u.s.a. furthermore, they are setting the example for the world in terms of its global sustainability efforts that may well lead to the preservation of our planet and our continued life on it. global comparisons can help our american students rethink our own troubled human rights history as we deal with current challenges within classroom discussions. within the southeastern united states where we both currently work, we watched on the national news as the confederate flag was finally removed from the state grounds this past summer (2015) but only after a horrific slaughter in the holy city (of charleston) pricked our consciences and after families of the african american victims urged peace, forgiveness and an alternative way of living and being. in december of 2015, time featured an article about the tragedy, asking a pressing and universal human rights question. what does it take to forgive? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 162 regrettably, other human rights concerns have surfaced within the state but have received far less notice. south carolina currently has one of the harshest laws regarding the treatment of undocumented immigrants and daca (deferred action for childhood arrivals) students. in 2008, the state passed the south carolina illegal immigration reform act. the bill essentially placed tighter restrictions on immigrants in areas of housing, education, and employment. it went as far as making it a felony to transport an undocumented individual “with intent to further that person's unlawful entry into the united states.” it also called for local agencies to check the legal status of all arrested individuals. perhaps somewhat ironic in a state known for its strong support of gun rights, the law stated that it was illegal for an undocumented individual to possess a firearm with a possible penalty of up to 10 years in prison. it also made it illegal for local municipalities to create any type of “sanctuary city,” which do not enforce policies against undocumented immigrants and would thus undermine state immigration policy. although we realize that the law that we will illuminate applies to all undocumented and daca immigrants within the state, we will focus on the potential human rights violations that we see perpetrated upon the lives of teenage latino students within our state’s schools. in south carolina, the overwhelming majority of undocumented and daca students are from latino descent. this follows national trends. for example, 77% of young people who apply for daca are from latin america (rusin, 2015). specifically, we will address the state law’s aspects that relate to access to higher education for these talented and gifted teens whom deserve and have a right to decent educational opportunities. of course, there are several other good reasons for calling into question this discriminatory legislation, but the denial of this fundamental human right to education is of far more import than the arguments related to the economic benefits of supporting undocumented immigrants. how will our international peers view our country as the word spreads and as comparisons are made with germany and other representative democracies? calling attention to our law and its effects on our youth is just one small step toward altering an unjust law that may be a violation of our country’s commitment to our global community’s united nation’s (un) universal declaration of human rights. one of the harshest aspects of the law was the issue of access to higher education for undocumented immigrants. the new legislation barred undocumented students from studying in public institutions of higher education. south carolina led the nation in this policy, becoming the first state to officially ban undocumented immigrants from public colleges or universities (ramirez, 2008). it also stated that no undocumented immigrant could qualify for state “scholarships, financial aid, grants, or resident tuition.” south carolina’s education policies not only negatively impact undocumented students, but they also affect daca students, those young adults who were eligible for temporary legal status under obama’s 2012 daca plan. while these students are able to legally study in the state, they do not qualify for in-state tuition or state scholarships and assistance. todd rutherford, the house minority leader from columbia, sc introduced a bill in 2014 that would have allowed daca students who had graduated from south carolina high schools to receive in-state tuition and scholarships (hutchins, 2014). however, as this time, there still has been no change to the policy. to understand the difference in costs between two high performing students in the state of south carolina, one can look at a state university such as clemson university where we both work and study. the total tuition and fees for an in-state resident per semester for the 2015journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 163 2016 school year is $6, 941 compared to a non-resident who would pay $16,400 (“clemson university tuition,” 2015). in-state residents can also qualify for state scholarships which can cover a portion or all of the tuition costs. this means that two students, one a daca student and one a traditional student, who both graduated from the same high school with high gpas, would have a vast difference in educational costs. to add to this, daca students do not qualify for federal financial aid, which makes higher education even more unattainable. there are even some public institutions in south carolina who still deny daca students admission which has led to student protest. south carolina is in the minority of states that do not allow daca students to receive in-state tuition. even some of these other states with restrictive immigration policies such as alabama and arizona have still allow universities to offer daca students instate tuition. although the supreme court case of plyler v doe (1982) forbids discrimination at the k-12 level based on immigration status, this does not necessarily apply to post-secondary education. perhaps such a case should be put forth to see that this discrimination is eradicated for higher education as well. u.s. citizens with undocumented parents barred from in-state tuition even more disconcerting from a human rights perspective is the fact that some u.s. citizens with undocumented parents have been denied access to in-state tuition and financial aid in south carolina based on their parents’ lack of “state residency.” these citizens are usually students who were born out of state. even if they have spent years in south carolina, they may not be able to qualify for in-state benefits. as ed buckley (2015) points out, this policy is “almost certainly unconstitutional.” a federal judge rejected a similar policy in florida. in june 2015, three south carolina students, antonio rojas rodriguez, cristal carreno, and alan vasquez filed a suit through the southern poverty law center against this state policy claiming it to be unconstitutional (buckley, 2015). due to this lawsuit, the south carolina commission of higher education did send a recommendation to universities to allow these citizens to receive in-state tuition. however, it is not a binding policy. it is telling that the state that gives little flexibility when it comes to addressing the needs of these aspiring immigrant students also gives leeway to universities to be more discriminatory. one could easily argue that south carolina actually has the most restrictive policy in the nation when it comes to these high-achieving and eager youth who think of themselves as americans. our state is alone with alabama in completely banning undocumented students, in the minority of states that deny in-state tuition for daca students, and one of the only states where in-state benefits and tuition for u.s. citizens of undocumented parents is not guaranteed. one of our authors was able to interview two of the plaintiffs in the southern poverty law center case, alan vasquez and cristal carreno.ii both expressed a sense of bewilderment when they discovered they would not be eligible for in-state tuition or benefits due to the immigration status of their parents. both had moved to the state as young children. in alan’s case, he was only one year old. throughout high school, they had no knowledge such a policy existed. as cristal describes it “when i received the news, it was shocking” alan added to this when he described how immigrant students “are not aware, they do not even know it until they reach their senior year…that is how it was for me, that is how i am sure it is for most of them.” naturally, they assumed as u.s. citizens that the state could not discriminate against them. both expressed a true outrage at the unjust policies. though neither was planning to become an activist, both began to see their struggles as part of a larger issue of educational justice in the state. as cristal stated, “i would like to see an overall change in south carolina” in contrast to journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 164 the state polices which she sees as based on mixture of “fear and narrow-mindedness.” alan discussed his desire to become even more involved with these issues in the future. alan and cristal also highlighted the effect these policies are having on students pursuing higher education. cristal stated how among her daca friends, “a lot of them decide not to go (to college) and start working . . . it’s really expensive…and they can’t afford it.” alan adds that the students see “that no one is trying to help them, and if they are, help cannot always be given.” he said that some “even drop out of high school when they find that out…because the reason they graduate high school is so that they can go to college.” he also told about one friend who dropped out who said that “he didn’t regret it” because he did not have opportunities anyways. the same author had another experience with a close family friend who had lived in south carolina for over 8 years and graduated from high school in the greenville area. his family currently has legal status under the u visa, which is for battered families.iii he enrolled in community college after high school, assuming that he would be treated the same as any other student. unfortunately, within the first few weeks of the semester he discovered that he would not be able to receive in-state tuition with the u-visa because it was not on the approved list of visas for residency. will sat with him in the office of the college, where the admissions officer told him that unfortunately there was nothing she could do. she informed us that this was one of the worst parts of her job and that she felt it was utterly unjust, but it was out of her hands. another close family friend of this same researcher, who is under the daca program, went to a local community college to get a license in aesthetics. she finished the program, passed her exams, and paid over $4000 in out-of-state tuition, only to receive a letter from the state board of cosmetology, which told her that she could not qualify for licensure due to her immigration status. in the interview will conducted with her, she tells a story of a meeting where many students in the same situation went to appeal the ruling. she describes how some of the girls had spent over $20,000 and passed all their exams but were still denied licensure. in the interview, she describes how one by one the students had their appeals denied. as she explains, “a lot of them were crying that day. because they spend so much time…it was their passion.” she describes the “frustration” she felt from the process and the “heartbreak” the students faced. near the end of the interview she describes how she “loves school, i wish i could go sometimes. i love learning and i just get flashbacks of when i was back in high school.” iv in another scenario, when will was teaching high school, a fellow teacher came to talk to him in the middle of class. he asked him about a student of his who was in tears. she had completed a school program for two years to get her cosmetology license. she was not informed until near the end of the program that despite all her studies, she would not be able to get a license due to her status as a daca student. these stories are just small glimpses into the lives of many students who have been left behind in south carolina due to the state’s restrictive policies. ultimately, this not only hurts these individual students. it damages the state both economically and educationally. on an economic level, it is keeping young people from pursuing higher education and denying the state the benefits that these young people could provide upon their successful completion of their degrees or certifications and their matriculation into the work place. it has also caused problems in the state’s educational system. for one, it has been a barrier to diversity in state colleges and universities. a 2009 study shows that latinos only made up about 2.4% of students at south carolina colleges and universities (“colleges and careers,” 2009). however, the pew research center shows that hispanics made up 7% of the k-12 student population (2011). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 165 while this large difference may not be totally due to discriminatory policies towards undocumented immigrants, daca students, and children of undocumented parents, there is little doubt that the state’s educational policy is probably a major factor in suppressing the hispanic population at state colleges and universities. the state’s educational policy towards immigrants is also detrimental to student performance in the k-12 classroom. if students realize that the options for higher education are either legally or financially out of reach, what is the motivation to work hard and succeed in the classroom? though there are numerous examples of students that have excelled in their studies despite the educational hurdles, there are many others who have simply stopped trying. alan vasquez (cited above) confirmed that this occurred with some of his fellow immigrant friends when they realized they were being shut out of the system. this is damaging to the whole school environment. apathy and despair are contagious. it is often hard enough for teachers to motivate students to succeed without the state putting hurdles before them that discourage a whole group of motivated students from academic achievement. south carolina is fundamentally undermining its own k-12 system by creating a societal “sub-group” who are less likely to care about academic success and are likely to spread this undesirable outlook to the general student population. in addition, restrictive immigration policies also have an impact on the dropout rate. a 2014 study shows that the dropout rate for foreign-born non-citizen mexicans decreased by 8% in states that extended in-state tuition to undocumented students (potochnick, 2014). high dropout rates not only internally damage the k-12 system, but they also put schools in south carolina in danger of being reprimanded, having funding cut, or even being shut down. if a school is in a largely immigrant area, they likely already face many specific challenges with school performance based on socio-economic status and also the number of second language learners. when the state creates incentives to underachieve or drop out, it is further damaging the schools in these often high needs areas. perhaps most distressing of all, south carolina and the u.s.a. is better than this. our state and nation do not need to continue to treat undocumented and daca minors in this way, especially in light of our state and country’s fundamental commitment to human rights as is recognized within our embrace of the universal declaration of human rights as a founding member of the united nations--not to mention our espousal of such beliefs within our country’s founding declarations and constitution. our very identity as a country may be at stake. south carolina does not need to bring down the rest of the country because of its current restrictive policies, especially when our country still touts our belief in freedoms for all. besides, we currently call out discrimination and inequality in education in countries such as afghanistan and saudi arabia, so we as u.s. citizens should look within our own borders and help modify discriminatory policies against minors within any of our states who yearn for the cultural capital a college education could provide. perhaps hosting conversations within our classrooms and in the public sphere that reframe the conversation in terms of the kind of identity we hope to foster within our global community is a helpful, nonviolent way to reach consensus about our next best step in this ongoing global debate about the fair treatment of all immigrants, regardless of legal status, who need a chance in a time of need. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 166 references banks, a.m. (2013). members only: undocumented students and in-state tuition. brigham young university law review, 1425-1455. buckley, e. (2015, june 21). in-state tuition fight reveals flawed approach to immigration. post and courier. clemson university tuition and fee schedules-2015-2016. (n.d.). retrieved august 8, 2015. college and careers table library-national center for education statistics. (2009). retrieved august 2, 2015, from https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/data_tables.asp. cobb, j.c. (2004). away down south: a history of southern identity. new york: oxford university press. ettinger, p. (2009). imaginary lines: border enforcement and the origins of undocumented immigration, 1882-1930. austin: university of texas press. garcia, l.d. & w.g. tierney. (december, 2011). undocumented immigrants in higher education: a preliminary analysis. teachers college record. 113 (12), 2739-2776. gildersleeve, r.e., c. rumann & r. mondragon. (fall, 2010). serving undocumented students: current law and policy. new directions for student services. new york: wiley periodicals, inc. p. 5-18. hutchins, c. (2014, march 5). proposed law would help children of undocumented immigrants go to state colleges where they are currently banned. charleston city paper. negy, c. (2012). the importance of considering undocumented immigration from multiple perspectives in the context of social justice. analyses of social issues and public policy, (12), 1, 138-143. patel, l. (2013). youth held at the border: immigration, education and the politics of inclusion. new york: teachers college press. pew research center. (2011). demographic profile of hispanics in south carolina, 2011. retrieved august 1, 2015. potochnick, s. (2014). how states can reduce the dropout rate for undocumented immigrant youth: the effects of in-state resident tuition policies. social science research, 45, 18-32. retrieved august 15, 2015. protesters to trident tech: 'we demand admission for dreamers' (2013, february 5). retrieved august 2, 2015, from http://www.abcnews4.com/story/20971445/protesters-to-trident-tech-we-demandadmission-for-dreamers ramirez, e. (2008, august 7). should colleges enroll illegal immigrants? u.s. news and world report. reich, g., & mendoza, a. (2008). 'educating kids' versus 'coddling criminals': framing the debate over in-state tuition for undocumented students in kansas. state politics and policy quarterly,8(2), 177-197. retrieved august 19, 2015. roman, e. t. (2013). those damned immigrants: america’s hysteria over undocumented immigration. new york: new york university press. rusin, s. (2015, august 13). origin and community: asian and latin american unauthorized youth and u.s. deportation relief. migration policy center. south carolina illegal immigration reform act of 2008, sc general assembly (2007-2008), bill 4400. state of sc scholarships-clemson university (2015-2016). (n.d.). retrieved august 5, 2015. http://www.abcnews4.com/story/20971445/protesters-to-tridenthttp://www.abcnews4.com/story/20971445/protesters-to-tridentjournal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 161-167. corresponding author email: wmccork@clemson.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 167 trejo, m. (2010). changing the narrative in arizona. harvard journal of hispanic policy. (23), 23-28. urias, d.a. (2012). the immigration and education nexus: a focus on the context and consequences of schooling. boston: sense publishers. i the 1966 unesco convention against discrimination in education calls for all nations to “make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means” (“international covenant,” 1966). ii the interview with alan was conducted in the october of 2015, and the interview with cristal was conducted in november of 2015. both were approved by clemson university’s institutional review board. iii the u visa was first enacted in 2000 as part of the victims of trafficking and violence protection act. it is set aside for those immigrants who have suffered physical or mental abuse and have been helpful to law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting this abuse. iv this interview was conducted in march of 2016 in greenville, sc. the interview was approved by clemson’s institutional review board. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. using feature film in the teaching of history: the practitioner decision-making dynamic debra donnelly university of newcastle, australia __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: historical feature film can engage and motivate today’s visually orientated students and provide a bridge between the school and life world of a youth culture habituated to communication via numerous electronic portals. it is not surprising that international scholarship suggests that these multi-modal recreations of the past are being used as teaching resources in many history classrooms. however, the use of historical filmic narratives is not without its difficulties for the history teacher. these films are made with no obligation to adhere to evidentiary records and, the limitations of the art form and commercial imperatives, can lead to compression and manipulation of the narrative and the inclusion of fictionalized elements. history educators are faced with the dilemma how best to harness the engagement of film and test its historical representation. this paper reports on an australian research project that explored the decision-making dynamic of history teachers in regard to the use of feature films. it found that the dynamic was governed by a complex interplay of factors in relation to teaching context, learning community perceptions and practitioner understandings and strategies, and concluded that teacher disciplinary perceptions were a major contributing factor in the decision-making process. key words: history education, history and feature film, practitioner understandings, disciplinary perceptions. __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction: historical feature film has the potential to engage and motivate contemporary students and can bridge the school and life world of a youth culture habituated to communication via numerous electronic portals. these films can teach rich lessons about the nature of historical inquiry and the subversion and redrafting of history in contemporary media (marcus, metzger, paxton, & stoddard, 2010; wineburg, 2001; seixas, 1994). their appeal to the cognitive and emotional endows historical feature films with an enduring impact that can be exploited by teachers in epistemological and ethical investigations and lead to the development of metacognitive frameworks of historical understanding and consciousness (donnelly, 2013). however, the very nature of commercial film production is an issue in the use of film for educational objectives. feature films are money-making enterprises and as such need to attract an audience. it is often the case that adherence to the historical evidence and narrative is sacrificed in the name of entertainment with distortions, compressions and fictional additions. perhaps the most insidious problem is that of “presentism”, that is having characters act and speak in the manner of the contemporary society, rather than those of the film’s historical setting (taylor & young, 2003). this is a problem in the presentation of values, attitudes and societal roles of the past, which may jar with modern sensibilities (weinstein, 2001). for example, many contemporary audiences may not be comfortable with the rigid codes of behavior and limited expectation of independence that existed for women in some past, and indeed contemporary, societies. however, to modernize, and westernize, these narratives for the comfort of the audience is to falsify the historical record and corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 17 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. undervalue the dynamic shifts in sex-based roles in human history. these “creative liberties” need to be explicitly exposed assessed and amended, if feature films are to be helpful in the teaching and learning of history. the effective utilization of film in the teaching of history is not a simple matter and requires clear learning objectives and explicit teaching (stoddard, 2007). wineburg and martin (2004) found without careful time allocation and explicit teaching, film can become another “distraction” to the examination and analysis of historical sources. they conclude that if students only passively engage with the film and are not required to deeply investigate and respond to it as an historical artefact, then films run the same risk as internet searches, computer slide shows and other technology: that of being a distraction from historical literacy skills. this project examined the interplay of tensions that influence if and how feature films are used in the history classroom and analysed data from a group of australian history teachers to identify the factors that encouraged or inhibited their use of feature film. research design and data analysis this paper reports on an australian research project that examined the use of feature films in the teaching of history and explored the decision-making dynamic of the teachers in regard to if and how they used film in their secondary classrooms. the project was designed in three phases. the majority of participants were from the most populous australian state of new south wales with small contributions from queensland, tasmania and victoria. initial data was gathered from two surveys about filmic pedagogies in history, one focused on teacher practice (n = 203), while the other looked at student experience (n = 361). the teacher practice survey investigated the use of film in the history classroom in terms of films used, implementation strategies and the conceptual frameworks underpinning pedagogical decision-making. the student survey examined students’ experiences with film in history and their attitudes to its place in their learning. the second phase of data gathering took the form of twenty semi-structured teacher interviews. the selected group volunteered from the surveys and were from a variety of teaching contexts, and had a diverse range of experiences and attitudes with using film to teach history. case studies formed the last phase of the project (n = 6). these were selected from the teacher interviewees’ group on the basis of exemplifying distinctive approaches to the use of film and being extreme examples of methodological approaches that were evident in phase 1 and 2 data. the case studies took the form of classroom observation, document analysis and in-depth interviews. the data was coded and, using nvivo software, analysis was undertaken by the development of “trees” of inter-related ideas and themes. the findings discussed here are drawn from the three phases of the project with a focus on the teacher-based data. findings rationales for feature film usage the teachers were asked if they found feature film to be a powerful teaching tool and if so, they were asked to give one reason for their answer. the results are shown below in table 1. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 18 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. table 1: filmic usage rationales from phase 1 teacher survey (n = 202) yes/no total percentage reasons given (expressed in whole number percentages) yes 83% encourages empathy (42%) brings history to life – historical imagination and visual literacy (30%) good for teaching historiography and historical understanding (8%) excellent stimulus for discussion (6%) provides different strategy to reading (4%) good introduction or conclusion to topic (2%) familiar genre for generation x, y and z (1%) no 15% films not historically accurate (10%) students find boring (2%) film lacks sufficient depth (2%) students consider a “bludge” (non-productive) lesson (1%) undeci ded 2% only good for mature students (1%) yes in some ways and no in others (1%) film’s ability to engage and to create interest by encouraging empathy and stimulating the historical imagination were the most reported rationales (72%). these responses are typical of this large group. “kids enjoy the experience and become more involved in their learning. students recall what they have seen and discussed rather than what they have just read. film allows the teacher to refer back to particular scenes or incidents in their explanations and gives the students an initial frame of reference.” also “yes, [film] is a very powerful tool because it makes history visual and alive in a way that no textbook can. historical films can give students a feel for the era and are excellent for motivation of most students.” many respondents reported that film helped their students identify with the past and develop emotional as well as intellectual connections. as one teacher related, “i’ve watched a whole generation of students empathize with aboriginal people because of watching rabbit proof fence and i’ve yet to get a single student volunteer to fight the way soldiers did in world war i thanks to gallipoli. another teacher used the same films as examples for the power of film to take students back to a past world. “most students don’t understand the society of 1914 so showing gallipoli explains in one film what could take a month of words and pictures. same with rabbit proof fence. when they see the anguish of the parents and kids they really know what the stolen generations is all about. it makes it more real to them and brings the topic to life and they will not forget.” several teachers related this emotional response to the encouragement of perspective taking. “it [film] corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. allows students to empathize with situations that may be beyond their experience and one of my aims is to get my students to see and feel the lives of others. i find films very effective means of examining different points of view and values by comparing and contrasting attitudes and experiences of the various characters.” the importance of the visual in learning was advocated by many of the teachers as a positive aspect of film usage. “visual material can create an image of the context so beautifully — even if inaccurate at times. film is hugely important in history, i believe.” many commented here on the visual nature of the film experience as appropriate and engaging for contemporary students who inhabit a very visual technological world. as one teacher explained, “many students are visual learners and films are designed to be powerful. a powerful impact can be a very handy teaching tool if used carefully; students remember the visual imagery clearly.” visual literacy and historical imagination were also canvassed in this question. as one teacher explained, “it [film] helps students to visualize aspects of the historical period. students often comment on how the topic comes alive for them after watching a film. they connect with the narrative and it often garners thoughtful questions from the students.” the link between popular culture, film and the life world of the students was also reported. this comment is illustrative of the group, “[film] brings both enjoyment and a visual learning aid into classroom. actors are much more glamorous and interesting than boring old teachers and much more connected to youth culture.” eight percent of teachers cited film as a useful medium for teaching historiography. as one teacher explained, “film does provide students with a medium that they are familiar with as visual learners, and does not require students to ‘imagine’ but rather ‘observe’ the product of someone else’s imagination. most students watch movies regularly and therefore would find watching a film more accessible and relevant than reading a book or a set of primary written sources. though these skills are important, students are able to see how historians and directors and producers use those skills and others to create films that teach the world audience about the past. this does not only allow for a study of the past events and issues that the film covers, but also a layer of historiography and mass media that require higher-order thinking skills to understand.” a number of comments alluded to critically examining film and the importance of this skill for life beyond and after school. this comment epitomized this notion, “film serves to complement work done in class when it is an accurate presentation, when inaccurate promotes discussion of film as source and representation of the past, promoting higher order thinking. as entertainment, film can foster a life-long interest in history, which is one of my major objectives.” filmic pedagogy dynamic further analysis of the data from the three phases of the research aimed to discern the decisionmaking processes that determine if and how teachers use historical feature film in their teaching of history. the work from this section of the project builds on the findings of wineburg and wilson (1993) that characterizes impact teachers’ expertise and pedagogical decision making processes as difficult to isolate due to the many contextual factors that impact on teachers’ epistemic stances. the project data indicated a wide variety of teacher attitudes and approaches to using feature film in secondary school history. the analysis identified eight broad factors that impacted on the use of filmic pedagogies and these are epitomized in the diagram below (see figure 1). the following section provides a descriptive analysis of the factors that determine filmic pedagogies and discusses each using examples from all phases of the project. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. figure 1. filmic pedagogy dynamic learning environment and technology the learning environment, such as access to technology, systemic timeframes and cohort disposition, were factors that influenced how teachers tended to use feature film in their pedagogy. access did not appear to be a deterrent. only six teachers, from a participant group of 203, reported having problems with access to the technology required for watching films, all the rest graded their access to technology as good to excellent. the non-alignment of the school timetable and the time needed to effectively teach using film was a complaint that echoed throughout the teachers’ survey and interviews with most teachers having good access to the required technology and films, but not enough access to their students’ time. many teachers found that film viewing did not easily fit into the rigid timeframe of secondary high school time structures, especially when they want to include time for discussion or reviewing strategies. as one respondent put it, “films are too long to be viewed in one session and so need several viewings. if there is discussion on part of the film, it also takes longer. i do occasionally use edited parts, but this doesn’t engage student interest as much.” several teachers suggested that a major re-organization of the school day was needed to allow them time to use the new technologies effectively as they saw the lack of continuity caused by short lesson times and irregular class attendance as reducing the effectiveness of the teaching programs. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. another dimension of the learning environment that influenced teaching practice with film was the culture of the school and the resulting behavior of the students in class and their attitudes to their learning. it is obvious that enthusiastic, literate students are more easily guided through issues of problematic knowledge and historiographical changes over time than those students who resist the journey, for whatever reasons. several of the teachers referred to the socio-economic background and the poor literacy skills of their student cohort and expressed the view that film, and visual sources generally, were effective teaching tools for their students. the narratives of teacher practice in this group tended to concentrate on engagement, motivation and communicating the content knowledge with some use of historical sources. two case study subjects, mrs drew and ms stacey (pseudonyms), taught in advantaged learning settings and their narrative of teacher practice centred on historical literacy skills and understandings. their classes were small, single-sex and their students were reported as eager to learn and had strong literacy skills. the compliance and capabilities of their classes appeared to give the teachers more opportunity to investigate disciplinary issues, such as the nature of historical representation and its evolution over time. on the other hand, the case studies of mr murray and mr price demonstrated that feature film can be integrated into the more challenging teaching contexts and that issues of contestability and historical representation can be explored. as mr price explained it, “my school is pretty rough and we seem to always be looking at visual stuff. it seems the more films i use the better and the better the kids like it and the more they learn.” although cohort disposition did appear to impact on filmic pedagogy, the variety of approaches reported and observed suggested that other factors held more sway in the choice of pedagogical approaches with film. several teachers revealed that their use of film was blocked, against their professional judgement and understanding, because of the traditionalist school culture view of historical films as entertainment. this controversy stems from the nexus between history, fiction and entertainment and almost certainly has been intensified by the misuse of film by teachers with little regard, or perhaps understanding, of its potential. appropriate films and systemic prescriptions two factors that were found to have negative impacts on the use of feature film in the history classroom were the difficulty in finding suitable and allowable films and the syllabus compliance requirements. many teachers commented about the difficulties of finding appropriate historical feature films for their classroom studies. there were numerous complaints about the unrealistic australian censorship ratings for many historical feature films and the inconsistent application of the criteria for the classifications. as one teacher explained, “some films have little that is in any way controversial and these films can be seen in the students’ homes on prime time tv.” in state-run new south wales schools the classification problem was compounded by the administration of compulsory permission notes that caused many teachers to use film less frequently. although few parents refuse permission, it is common for some students to fail to return their permission notes and so these students, often the more unruly members of the group, have to be excluded. as one teacher put it, “all those slips of paper and lists for each class – it has become an administrative nightmare and what am i to do with the few non-watchers?” some teachers reported these logistical difficulties as inhibitors to the breadth of pedagogical approaches and an encouragement to an almost exclusive concentration on print-based methodologies. the prescriptive syllabus documents and the high stakes examination regimes were seen by many teachers in the australian state of new south wales as impediments to their effective use of feature film. the syllabi for history prescribe broad coverage of numerous topics and this is coupled with the corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. pressure of a public examination regime. as one teacher explained, “my biggest problem is fitting everything in while engaging and challenging my students. i teach in a senior high school and the content demands are heavy, which means there is little time for extended viewing.” one teacher commented that his students became impatient with spending valuable class time watching a feature film. “students are under more and more pressure from the many subjects they study and want to use their time efficiently. if we are ‘taking up time’ watching a film, regardless of the effectiveness of its use, some students feel that we are ‘getting behind’ with the work, particularly if they have already seen the film before.” practitioner pedagogical skill base and visual literacy all interviewees in this project portrayed themselves using a variety of teaching resources when teaching and all agreed that technology has provided information sources and presentation devices beyond the printed page. although there may be a gap between the described in the intervews and actual classroom practice (barton and levstik, 2004). however, the four of the six case studies demonstrated the use of a variety of teaching resources across a range of formats. mrs drew’s response captures the sentiments of the participants. she was observed using a variety of resources and explained, “i use pretty much everything that's available. . . . i tend to use a lot of primary sources and we use websites, sometimes in the classroom, it might be interactive or maps. sometimes i bring in an artefact as a stimulus.” another case study subject, mrs matthews (pseudonym) also expressed the need for varied teaching resources, “it’s always a variety. there will be a textbook, there’ll be a short film, and i’ve got things on cd that i play, all sorts of bits and pieces that provide separate forms of stimulation for the kids.” this research found that few of the teacher participants had training in the semiotics of film or the issues around using film to teach history. only 8% of the participants had studied using film to teach history in their initial qualification or in subsequent training. the data indicated that many teachers who were confident with printed source analysis and interpretation were less comfortable with investigating film as an historical artefact. this comment from an interviewee demonstrates this lack of understanding, “i just show the movie and talk about what happened. then i move on to the sources.” when asked what methods they used to teach using film most teachers referred to discussion and worksheets. there were a few exceptions to this with a small number of teachers commenting on the need for explicit teaching of visual media analysis skills and they were able to narrate their methods. this is from an interviewee, “you can’t expect kids to be critical thinkers without some guidance and they need to be taught how film works. i use the special features included on dvds to explore the director’s intention and the music of music, costuming, effects and so on.” there was general agreement that film appealed more directly to the visual learner and many stated that today’s students, as users of technology, are more visually orientated than previous generations. this comment is representative of many. “film gives students, who are part of a world filled with visual stimuli, a visual hook on which to hang often complex concepts. they remember what they see better than what they read and film gives the class a basis for discussion. remember when x did that in the film?” the case studies of mrs drew and mrs warner (pseudonyms) demonstrated impressive use of the visual for learning. they used visual representations and scaffolds to summarize observations and opinions around specific focus questions. they both re-visited important scenes to allow students to “collect” extra evidence and encouraged their students to argue from a number of viewpoints. mrs drew devoted time to the analysis of filmic techniques and the effects and rationale for their use. she focused her students on the persuasive devices employed corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. by the film-makers to convince the audience to a particular viewpoint. mrs warner’s classes rewrote scenes from alternative perspectives, and performed them for the class. the students provided explanations for their directorial decisions and linked these to other historical sources. however, the other teacher practice interview narratives had a much more limited approach when using film and the visual in their teaching. most had questions for the students to answer during or after viewing, and these tended to focus on the story of the film. the data suggest that the limited visual literacy skills of some of the teachers precluded them from thorough film analysis and that their ability to scrutinize production motivation, agenda and representation issues was lacking. these teachers tended to concentrate on the narrative of the feature films and did not treat the films as contemporary historical sources to be interrogated. some teachers did test the historical veracity of representation, but few integrated this study by comparison with other primary and secondary historical sources. although there were a few exceptions, most teachers in this study used a limited range of pedagogies when dealing with film and many saw the feature film as separate from the rest of the study. practitioner disciplinary conceptual framework and filmic pedagogoies the data indicated that philosophical positionality concerning the nature of the discipline of history, and the resulting notions of teaching purpose, was an important element in the decision-making processes of history teachers. a continuum of disciplinary understandings was suggested in the teacher survey data and further explored in the teacher interviews. this line of investigation began with the observation that attitudes to historical accuracies in feature films vary and that this impacted on the teachers’ attitude and use of film. a small group of seven teachers observed that film was useful to the development of historical understanding as the narrative could be examined as a construction of the past and then embedded in a broader study of the evidence. as one of these teachers explained, “they [films] help in the understanding of the process of historical construction. films put forward a particular historical interpretation in a way they [students] do not necessarily pick up in a written text. things such as what is left out, selection of actors for particular parts and introduction of romance can be detected and motives for inclusion looked at.” another teacher supports this idea, “when i’m evaluating a film as a source i have focused viewing followed by discussion and comparison with other sources. it is vital to line up the film with other historical evidence.” a few teachers from this group commented on the importance of critically examining the films to detect how the audience is being manipulated. “i think it is important that the students understand that the visuals, music, characterizations and narrative of the film are designed to get them in. i have them note down the techniques used by the film makers for later discussion.” there was a small but significant group of twelve teachers who took the position that film did not help with historical understanding as it confused the students with its inaccurate portrayal of history. as one of these teachers put it, “some students find it difficult to separate out the entertainment ‘add-ins’ from the historically sound material.” and again, “hollywood distorts history but kids remember what they‘ve seen more than the facts. a good film tells the story accurately, a poor film confuses the students.” this appeared to indicate that a number of teachers did not view history as a contestable and multi-perspectival account of the past, rather they held to the idea of history as a story to be transmitted to students. this is more striking when one considers that the respondents in this study were likely to be a more informed and motivated sub-set of history teachers compared to the entire population of history teachers in new south wales. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. to further explore the influence of disciplinary positionality, the interviewees were classified using categories of history teachers’ pedagogical approaches devised by evans (1994). these categories were: storyteller, scientific historian, relativist/reformer, cosmic philosopher and eclectic. although the categories were not a perfect fit for all the teachers, enough commonalities were found to classify the group on the basis of their stated purpose and historical understanding. the teachers were classified and then grouped. it was found that two could be labelled storytellers, five as scientific historians, seven as relativist/reformers, two as cosmic philosophers and four as eclectics. these results aligned with those in the evans research. the self-described pedagogical practices using film were then added for each teacher with the aim of investigating the connections between conception of history teaching and filmic pedagogies. although the evans schema was a blunt instrument, it produced an impressive alignment between teacher notions of history, their pedagogical approaches when using film and their attitude to and use of empathy in their teaching. the findings in this project suggest that disciplinary positionality and understandings have significant influence on how teachers choose to teach and how they use feature film in their practice. conclusion teacher practice emerges from a web of decisions made in response to the educational, social and cultural tensions. this project undertook to examine a sub-set of the myriad of teaching decisions by focusing on the use of feature film in history teaching and found that, even in this bounded field of study, the decision-making process was complex and capricious. the engagement with the visual and multi-modal constructs was seen to enrich pedagogy and makes the classroom encounters more significant and relevant to students’ world life outside and beyond school. history teachers’ attraction to feature film in their practice testifies to the importance of engagement for learning, to an appreciation of the powerful appeal of the multi-sensory narrative to the historical imagination and to the role of empathy in an enacted value system. in past decades easy access to technology would likely have been cited as an impediment to the inclusion of film in classroom pedagogy but this research found that this is not the case on the east coast of australia, with access to data projectors and smartboard technologies allowing motion pictures to be conveniently shown in the learning space. the use of film also was reported to have practical implementation challenges. modern feature films are often too long to conform to the lesson structure of a typical high school timetable. viewing, discussing and analysing a film in its entirety can take up several weeks of lesson time. in many teaching environments, time is short with the demands of content-heavy syllabi and high stake examination structures. to counter this problem, many teachers show sections of films to illustrate particular teaching points, but using film clips can frustrate students who want to see the whole story and deny students the opportunity to fully engage with the film’s narrative and production techniques (metzger, 2010). there was an acknowledgement that the traditional privileging of the printed text has been considerably eroded by rapid technological advancement, and that engaging teacher practice would include an array of non-print sources peppered throughout teaching programs. despite this, the problems of implementation were reported to discourage the use of film and encourage teachers to a heavy reliance on printed sources. it did appear that cohort disposition had an influence on the utility of film with the more motivated and capable groups allowing opportunities to delve more deeply into meta-understandings of the discipline. however, this should not be over-stated as two of the case studies situated in challenging teaching environments, demonstrated clever use of film in the exploration of issues and to communicate the flawed nature of filmic historical narratives. both these case study teachers corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. integrated high interest primary sources to question the validity of the film narrative and broached questions of contestability with their classes. the project data indicated that teacher skills in multi-literacy semiotic analysis and disciplinary understandings were highly influential in the effective inclusion of film in the history classroom. however, it was noted that few participants had sufficient training in this area and many admitted a lack of confidence in their pedagogical approaches to film. of particular interest was the impact of practitioner understanding of the nature of the discipline and their aims in teaching history. this finding of the alignment between conceptual framework, purpose and filmic pedagogies amongst the interviewees and case studies, supports the argument proposed by barton & levstik (2004) that purpose in teaching is more influential than subject knowledge or teaching methodology when it comes to determining teacher practice. historical feature films are often flawed representations, but they are exciting and captivating glimpses into the past that will continue to have an important role in connecting secondary school students and the community at large to history. these films can be used to teach rich lessons about the nature of historical inquiry and the subversion and redrafting of history in contemporary media. their appeal to the cognitive and emotional endows historical feature films with an enduring impact that can be exploited by teachers in epistemological and ethical investigations and lead to the development of metacognitive frameworks of historical understanding and consciousness. but none of this impressive potential can be achieved without expert guidance from history educators. the research concluded that there is a need for more targeted training agendas to better prepare history teachers to embed these newly available electronic sources that are so integral to youth culture. the findings concerning the relationship between teacher disciplinary frameworks and pedagogical practice points to the need for this training to explore notions of the nature of history and the purposes of history education, as well as pedagogies of historical and media literacy. references barton, k., & levstik, l. (2004). teaching history for the common good. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. donnelly, d. j., (2013). teaching history using feature film: practitioner acuity and cognitive neuroscientific validation. international journal of historical learning, teaching and research, 12(2), 16-27. evans, r. w. (1994). educational ideologies and the teaching of history. in g. leinhardt, i. l. beck, & c. stainton (eds.), teaching and learning in history (pp. 171–207). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. marcus, a. s., metzger s. a., paxton, r. j., and stoddard, j. d. (eds.). (2010). teaching history with film. new york: routledge. metzger, a. (2010). maximizing the educational power of history movies in the classroom. the social science, 101(3), 127–136. seixas, p. (1994). confronting the moral frames of popular film: young people respond to historical revisionism. american journal of education, 102, 261–285. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 17-27. stoddard, j. d. (2007). attempting to understand the lives of others: film as a tool for developing historical empathy. in a. s. marcus (ed.), celluloid blackboard: teaching history with film (pp. 187–216). charlotte, north carolina: information age publishing inc. taylor, t., & young, c. (2003). making history: a guide for the teaching and learning of history in australian schools. retrieved march 2, 2007, from: http://www.hyperhistory.org/images/assets/pdf/complete.pdf weinstein, p. b. (2001). movies as a gateway to history: the history and film project. the history teacher, 35(1), 27–48. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts: charting the future of teaching the past. philadelphia, usa: temple university press. wineburg, s., & martin, d. (2004). reading and writing history. educational leadership, 52(1), 42–45. wineburg, s., & wilson, s. (1993). wrinkles in time and place: using performance assessments to understand the knowledge of history teachers. american educational research journal, 30, 729–770. corresponding author email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au ©2014/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 mailto:debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au introduction: research design and data analysis findings rationales for feature film usage filmic pedagogy dynamic learning environment and technology appropriate films and systemic prescriptions practitioner pedagogical skill base and visual literacy practitioner disciplinary conceptual framework and filmic pedagogoies reasons given (expressed in whole number percentages) total percentage yes/no conclusion references journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 129 applying deweyan principles to global citizenship education in a rural context robert a. waterson, west virginia university eric d. moffa, west virginia university ____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: global citizenship education (gce) helps students conceptualize citizenship beyond national boundaries so they are capable of action in dealing with global issues like human rights and environmental sustainability. however, very little literature exists to assist rural teachers in implementing gce as they face specific challenges due to the context of their schools. this paper identifies challenges rural educators encounter, such as conservative communities and geographic isolation, and details a deweyan approach to gce as a means to overcome these challenges. specifically, we apply dewey’s democratic and learning theories to reconceptualize gce around student, home, and community life to foster a more relevant curriculum that utilizes students’ experiences. it emphasizes the utmost respect for local customs and culture by using them as sources of content for the curriculum while simultaneously extending citizenship thoughts and actions to the global arena. keywords: global citizenship education, rural education, social studies curriculum, john dewey, community-based learning, democracy education _____________________________________________________________________________________________ introduction social studies teachers are charged with the challenging and often contentious task of citizenship education (abowitz & harnish, 2006; evans, 2004). globalization increases the complexity of this task, leading some people to reevaluate the traditional notion of nation-based citizenship as the dominate paradigm. some scholars support global citizenship; however, others view this newer conceptualization as anti-american (grygiel, 2013; rapoport, 2009). in light of this controversy, today’s social studies educators are making decisions, consciously or unconsciously, about global citizenship as they enact their curricula. their work is of great moral importance as it influences how (or if) students will act regarding global concerns such as human rights and environmental sustainability. rural teachers face specific challenges when teaching for global citizenship. they often confront geographically isolated students and conservative communities that may oppose this non-traditional concept (gimpel & karnes, 2006; knoke & constance, 1977). we believe these challenges must be overcome to prepare rural citizens for participation in a wide range of political and social arenas, from the local to the global. to maintain a thriving democracy and a sustainable world, rural students must have access to a social studies curriculum that empowers them to become both local and global citizens. to accomplish this task, we offer a reconceptualized global citizenship education (gce) framework specific to rural needs. the gce framework we propose applies deweyan principles of democratic life and local experiences to overcome resistance, personal or cultural, to global citizenship. we desire teachers to be knowledgeable and respectful towards students’ experiences and the needs of the community while reverent toward mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 130 rural values. our framework integrates deweyan principles into three categories: student life, home life, and community life. each category links specific rural experiences with the aims of global citizenship. this deweyan framework helps rural educators use students’ lives, homes, and communities as starting points for a more relevant gce, respecting the local while embracing the global. to apply this framework, the characteristics of global citizenship education must first be understood. understanding global citizenship education adding global dimensions to citizenship education discourses increases the intensity of an already controversial field (abowitz & harnish, 2006). some scholars do not support gce, viewing it as a threat to national interests (grygiel, 2013); and even amongst its proponents, unsettled conceptual issues and opposing aims make gce contentious (gaudelli, 2009; oxley & morris, 2013). while leading curriculum theorists note that conflicts can be healthy for curriculum development because they allow deeper understanding and growth in the field (pinar, reynolds, slattery & taubman, 1995, p. 867), this point becomes moot if practicing teachers do not adopt the new curriculum understandings. this is currently the case with gce as few teachers implement global citizenship instruction (rapoport, 2009). one way of addressing this concern is for scholars to provide practical guidance to social studies teachers so they can overcome their unique challenges (shaver, 2001) and become more competent “gatekeepers” of the social studies curriculum (thornton, 2005, p. 1). since multiple types of gce exist, gaudelli and heilman (2009) reduced them into two groups – those congruent with democratic citizenship (cosmopolitan, environmental, and critical justice) and those less congruent (disciplinary, neoliberal, and human relations). democratically-congruent forms of gce share an emphasis on respecting human rights and revering places. gaudelli and heilman suggest that democratic types of gce embody deweyan ideals of pragmatism. less democratically-congruent types of gce fail to evoke egalitarian ideals. they lack civic aims, instead promoting a narrow focus on academic knowledge, vocations, or private interests. we believe the social relationships and place consciousness emphasized in democratically-congruent gce approaches are necessary to link rural populations with global concerns. support for deweyan gce like dewey, gaudelli and heilman (2009) acknowledge the reciprocal relationship of the individual and the society (p. 2674). in their article on geography education, they criticize didactic instruction that makes no attempts to connect the curriculum with students’ lives. they recognize gce is both local and global, saying “it is democratic and inclusive in its use of theory toward pragmatic democratic ends… gce allows both connections across lines of cultural and social difference, and collective action dependent on local and global similarities” (p. 2666). gaudelli and heilman (2009) offer a deweyansupported gce that links local and global through the study of geography. building from their work, we undertake a further analysis of dewey’s ideas to construct a new conceptualization of gce for one specific local context, rural areas. in this paper, we propose that the challenges of rural education demand a place-conscious, democratic approach to gce. rural education adversities and rural political resistance to gce can be overcome by making the global citizenship curriculum relevant through a refocus on students’ individual experiences, home life, and community associations. in his pedagogical creed, dewey (1897) recommended these mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 131 elements to make subject matter more meaningful. our reconceptualization of gce empowers and improves democratic relations in rural communities, brings to fruition rural-global connections, and establishes broader conceptualizations of citizenship for rural areas. understanding rural contexts prior to explaining how deweyan principles can be applied to gce in rural contexts, the term “rural” must be understood and the challenges of rural education must be delineated. this enables readers to understand our proposed framework in context. rural is defined in many different ways by researchers (cromartie & bucholtz, 2008). cromartie and bucholtz (2008) suggest “the use of multiple definitions [by researchers] reflects the reality that rural and urban are multidimensional concepts, making clear-cut distinctions between the two difficult” (p. 29). rural areas are often described as having small populations, as well as being geographically isolated and agrarian, but the reality of rural areas is much more complex (cromatie & bulchotz, 2008). in the united states, rural areas vary greatly by population density, community size, and proximity to metropolitan areas (national center for education statistics, 2013). they are more likely to be homogeneous, but not always white (johnson, 2006); and their ethnic and socioeconomic demographics change due to inand out-migration that is often driven by job markets (johnson, 2006). internationally, rural places can differ greatly from one another. for example, rural in china may refer to isolated, self-sustaining mountain villages (gao, 1999), while rural in subsaharan africa may conjure images of de-agrarianization and the unraveling of peasant communities (bryceson, 2000). the interand intra-diversity of rural areas makes research difficult, but nonetheless important because policy-makers and curriculum specialists across the globe cannot afford to misunderstand the complexity of rural situations. in this paper, we avoid one firm definition of rural. our deweyan gce framework is general enough to be adapted across many unique rural contexts throughout the world. the united nations department of economic and social affairs (2014) reports that 46% of the world’s population is rural, though this population is spread unequally among countries. just two nations, india and china, account for 45% of the world’s total rural population. while detailing rural traits for each international area is impractical, rural education research across multiple countries shows some common characteristics. rural areas often face poverty, remoteness, lack of economic diversity, and trouble recruiting high-quality teachers (herzog & pittman, 1995; lock, 2008; qian & smyth, 2008). we theorize these challenges work against rural students’ understandings of social life beyond their communities and that this contributes to lower political efficacy as adults. for example, it is well documented in the united states that people in poverty and people with low levels of education, both common traits in rural areas, tend to vote less than others groups (mcelwee, 2014). additionally, small and remote communities may lack contact with diverse people therefore hindering rural people’s citizenship development (pearse, 1989). many of the above stated rural challenges stem from large scale societal circumstances. historic rural trends, like out-migration to urban areas, waning industry, and negative perceptions adversely impact education in those areas (herzog & pittman, 1995). while no research currently exists to assess the effects of these specific rural challenges on teaching social studies, we believe broader rural education research points to the likelihood that rural students receive a lower quality citizenship education. research shows that rural schools have fewer course offerings, less technology, and poorer quality teachers (bouck, 2004). additionally, declining populations and low funding have led to school mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 132 consolidations in the united states (purcel & shackelford, 2005) and small school closures in finland (autti & hyry-beihammer, 2014) adversely impacting rural communities in those nations. consolidations and closures remove community schools that would otherwise act as common gathering places and contributors to a shared public heritage – something beneficial to democratic life (dewey, 1916/2008). in addition to economic and demographic challenges, we suspect people’s rural identities bear on teachers’ willingness to implement gce. this suspicion arises as rural people tend to possess strong place-based identities (corbett, 2007) and hold conservative ideologies (gimpel & karnes, 2006). rapoport (2010) noted that “small town mindsets” may be at odds with gce (p. 186). in one part of rural canada, students possessed a strong place-based identity that caused many to place less emphasis on academic success (corbett, 2007). since gce asks students to take perspectives that differ from their ethnic, national, religious, and geographic understandings of life, it may be perceived as threatening to a student’s self-identity and produce student resistance to the content or low motivation to learn. a strong sense-of-place may lead students and community members to decide global issues are a less important part of the curriculum as they first appear to have very little connection with daily activities in the community. strong place-based identities can present challenges to citizenship educators, but they also offer the possibility to increase student interest by connecting local issues with the academic curriculum. research in rural social studies education is limited (burton, brown, & johnson, 2013), but some studies point to specific challenges for citizenship educators. feinberg and doppen (2010) found that both urban and rural students tend to lack sophisticated understandings of citizenship. students in their study viewed citizenship as personally responsible acts opposed to participatory or justice-oriented acts. personally responsible acts fail to represent the full range of democratic values (westheimer & kahne, 2004). journell’s (2011) research on the political socialization further illuminates this deficiency. while not explicitly comparing urban and rural schools, the researcher observed social studies teachers in both types of schools instructing students for their presumed citizenship roles. teachers in the study emphasized the political identities and attitudes most prevalent in the communities where their schools were embedded. we believe that while students need to know how to act as citizens within their lived settings, too narrowly-focused citizenship curricula devalue students’ potential to understand and influence political events beyond the local; and it often fails to recognize connections between the local and global. a more relevant gce would nurture dispositions in rural students for multidimensional citizenship, or citizenship that “requires citizens to address a series of interconnected dimensions of thought, belief and action.” (grossman, 2002, p. 38). other literature points to additional challenges for classroom teachers. for one, walsh (2004) suggests that group homogeneity may foster distrust of people outside the group. while it is noteworthy that not all rural areas are homogeneous and research on the effects of homogeneous classrooms is inconclusive, some studies suggest insular attitudes in rural classrooms may be problematic for citizenship educators. washington and humphries (2011) identify the existence of overt racism in one rural classroom during student discussions of slavery. lee (2006) found rural students displayed othering, or measuring global cultures based on united states culture, when participating in an international educational program. these cases call attention to the disconnection some rural students have with cultures and people that differ from their own. teachers must be prepared to handle rural students’ negative perceptions or stereotypes of others when teaching gce. mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 133 lastly, working at schools located in less populated communities represents life challenges for teachers. an increase in the visibility of teachers outside of school can result in increased interaction with parents and community members (seifert & simone, 1980). if gce is seen as controversial by people outside of school, a dichotomy arises for social studies teachers where they seek acceptance within a tightknit community while simultaneously asking the youth to contemplate other cultures. inquiry into the nature of other cultures could lead to students’ rejection or reconstruction of previously-held family or community values. if not handled with care, this forces confrontations with rural traditionalism and family-first values. no research could be found that explores the tensions between forming rural and global citizenship identities, but a synthesis of the existing literature on rural schooling leads to our assumption that educating rural citizens for global citizenship is a difficult task in need of scholarly attention. establishing the importance of rural-global connections existing gce scholarship does not focus on rural-specific contexts; however, the need is urgent. the national council for the social studies situates global education as a vital component of the social studies curriculum (ncss, 1982). the call for personal and political action beyond a nation’s borders, coupled with the more recent college, career, and civic framework for social studies state standards (ncss, 2013b), demands teachers be knowledgeable about global curricula and the aims of teaching for global civic life. we concede this is not an easy mission, especially for educators in rural areas. guenther and weible (1983) declared, “rural isolation limits or eliminates various kinds of educational experiences which might foster a more global, multicultural perspective” (p. 60). they recommend including global and multicultural components into the social studies curriculum; however, they stop short of providing practical advice on how to teach for global citizenship in rural contexts. also in the more than thirty years since they referenced the effects of rural isolation, new communication technologies, like social media and online video conferencing, gained common usage. these tools have the power to bring knowledge of global issues directly to rural people. new local-global connections heighten the need for rural social studies teachers to foster global citizenship dispositions in their students that show respect for human rights across cultures and responsibility in addressing global problems. also relevant to frame our reconceptualization of gce is the shortcomings of current gce practice pieces. the social studies literature abounds with exemplar instructional strategies and lesson plans for various types of gce (fry, griffin, & kirshner, 2012; kirkwood-tucker, 1999; kirkwood-tucker, 2004; kirkwood-tucker, 2012; merryfield, 1998; nganga, 2009); however, not all lessons are easily applicable to rural locales due to limited resources and small student populations. of key interest to this study is the notion that little utilization is made of students’ community experiences or personal interests as a doorway to relevancy and increased motivation in exemplary gce lessons. their cultural capital is not being used. a deweyan-infused global citizenship education for rural areas this section details specific deweyan principles that enhance gce for rural contexts. we organize deweyan gce around three categories: student life, home life, and community life. these categories enable the gce curriculum to blossom through an enlarging horizon, starting with pupils’ personal interests and experiences, then recognizing and respecting home life as a primary agent of a student’s mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 134 socialization, and finally utilizing life in the local community. this framework considers that human interactions across these three areas provide complex social and moral codes and a distinct knowledge base that cultivates a person’s disposition and behavior. schools that serve rural communities can increase democratic relationships to create shared-understandings of local-global issues and how the local populace can participate beyond their geographic limitations. when applied to gce in rural areas this generates a curriculum that rethinks community investments, from local to global. also, this better fulfills the civic mission of the schools where community participation, thoughtfulness, political action, and virtuous citizenship are prized (ncss, 2013a). see table 1 below for an overview of the key principles of deweyan gce for rural contexts. table 1 deweyan gce in rural contexts category key deweyan principles for rural contexts questions to consider for curriculum development student life • the child is an essential part of curriculum. • teachers should utilize subject matter familiar to the students. • look to students’ daily lives to incorporate their interests and life experiences. • does the gce curriculum consider rural students’ interests, aspirations, and desires within the community context? • does it challenge students with perspective-taking to overcome prejudices, racism, and xenophobia? • does it ask students to share their life experiences with others, within and across cultures? • does it recognize that despite appearances rural students are not always academically, culturally, and ideologically homogeneous? home life • do not impose a predecided moral code. • deepen and extend values bound up in home life. • does the gce curriculum honor local community culture and family values? • does it seek active participation from parents and other relatives? • does it foster shared experiences that lead toward positive growth for all? community life • utilize physical, historical, economic, and occupational conditions of the local community. • focus on human mutuality within and across cultures • does the gce curriculum make global concerns relevant to the local community or place the local community as a crucial element of the global? • does it make use of community groups as a resource to connect to the greater world? • does it foster group associations that will improve the community while simultaneously seeking to improve the world? mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 135 student life dewey was explicit that the child is an essential part of the curriculum (dewey, 1902). subject matter should stem from the passions and impulses of students (dewey, 1916/2008). motivation to learn increases when new experiences are crafted that utilize familiar subject matter. dewey (1938) wrote, “it thus becomes the office of the educator to select those things within the range of existing experience that have the promise and potentiality of presenting new problems which by stimulating new ways of observation and judgment will expand the area of further experiences” (p. 75). students make sense of new experiences based on their prior knowledge. this act of reflection, or what dewey calls judgment, helps students form a broader knowledge base for future experiences. this is the essence of student growth. when applied to gce in rural contexts, students’ life experiences become the building blocks for a relevant curriculum. teachers choose pertinent gce content and guide students through new experiences that foster progress towards global citizenship objectives. the deweyan principle of growth through experiences is valuable to rural gce because it recognizes the child’s unique knowledge, values, and interests; and it provides a more approachable educative experience. also, dewey realized that positive growth could come through “play” as it indirectly formulates the dispositions of the young (dewey, 1916/2008). rural teachers should look to their students’ daily lives for opportunities to take advantage of play, interests, and relevant life experiences. democracy is about how conclusions are made by individual people concerning public issues. dewey (1930/2010c) thought that the cardinal objective of schooling was to develop the desire and ability for “democratic social cooperation” (p. 247); therefore, democratic gce requires the ability to learn from and with one another. ethnically and ideologically homogeneous rural classrooms, when encountered, must be treated to a variety of perspectives on issues of global concerns. discussion enables classroom opportunities to evaluate students’ thoughts on these issues. ideally, these conversations would move from the classroom to the dining room, and then to the community, intermixing multiple perspectives and value systems. as ethical stances on issues are refined, so are students’ “sympathetic imagination(s)” (dewey, 1893/2010b, p. 48). sympathetic imagination denotes a perspectiveconsciousness that makes citizens ethically competent in decision-making and action on political and social issues, both local and global. dewey desired students to utilize sympathetic imaginations in their future relationships and decisions. home life students’ home lives act as key agents of their socialization. in rural areas, the family relationships and teaching present in students’ homes tend to be highly regarded. teachers should respect students’ homes as powerful identity builders and recognize that families instill values and knowledge that stem from intergenerational heritages and complex, unique histories. dewey (1897) wrote that schools should deepen and extend the values of students’ home lives. while social studies curricula, like gce, can cause cognitive dissonance in students, it is not wise for teachers to aggressively or pretentiously challenge family values. instead, teachers should strive for harmony between the values of global citizenship and the values of rural families. this can be done through the incorporation of the home life into the gce curriculum and freer and fuller communication between schools and families. however, as noted in the literature (washington & humphries, 2011), when students display racist or antimailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 136 democratic values, whether they stem from a child’s home life or not, teachers must be prepared to intervene and challenge students’ perspectives. it is unrealistic to think that families and teachers will always agree on educational aims and the underlying morality of a curriculum. this is particularly true in gce. teaching global citizenship in rural areas may contradict family values or conservative expectations for the social studies curriculum. this issue can be reconciled through dialogue. as professional educators, the responsibility to convey rationales for the curriculum falls on teachers. teachers must explain to families that gce does not impose external values on students. instead, the curriculum encourages both local and global perspective-taking and public evaluation of multiple perspectives. rural social studies classrooms should be havens of respect that purposely seek to incorporate local attitudes and the construction of shared interests. dewey recognized that all education was moral in nature. he did not believe in the imposition of a predecided moral code. he advocated for a morality fostered through social interaction that looked to the consequences of human action for moral meaning (simpson & stack, 2010). his ultimate faith was in the human capacity for people to be democratic in their thoughts and actions. this conviction must be brought into the teaching of gce in rural contexts to achieve a reconciliation of competing aims. home life and family relationships should be incorporated into democratic educational processes. dewey (1916/2008) said democracy is “a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience” (p. 80). teachers of democratically-congruent gce should increase opportunities for community interactions between many individuals, including parents, grandparents, and other relatives and their contact with students, school personal, and community groups at large. fostering shared knowledge about global concerns is a critical goal. families’ heritages are important in establishing student identities and should be used as stepping stones into exploring the heritages of other cultures. incorporation of local home life into the gce curriculum strengthens democratic education and stymies indoctrinatory pedagogies. reconstructionist goals of gce, to purposely make students more globallyminded and cosmopolitan, must be addressed through a deweyan vision of democratic reflection and decision making. communication, freedom of intelligence, and contemplative inquiry are a must. adversarial relationships between students, families, and teachers are poisonous to education and likely to thwart any positive outcomes of the curriculum. rural teachers should assist families in joining the educational process by opening lines of communication and with them the power of developing social dispositions and communal knowledge. lastly, teachers should assist families in seeing their role as a vital institution in the local community and in the greater world. community life a community acts as a microcosm of democracy. it is through communities that citizens construct common interests and group associations that are crucial to the democratic way of life. rural gce must strive to connect the culture, customs, careers, and history of the local community to the global community. dewey (1938) said, “the teacher should become intimately acquainted with the conditions of the local community, physical, historical, economic, occupational, etc., in order to utilize them as educational resources” (p. 40). connecting students to community life stimulates political and social efficacy. if the rural school acts as a living model of democracy, then its outreach and connection with the local community will be recognized as a necessity to education itself. mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 137 dewey’s emphasis on democratic associations is synonymous with equality and mutuality within community – large and small, local and global. dewey (1916/2008) believed democracy was best accomplished through an “equal opportunity of all members of society to receive and to take from others” (p. 78). a wide range of collective activities and experiences encourage people to learn from one another and foster societal improvements. teachers play a crucial role in this task. they can instill students with dispositions for “fuller, freer, and more fruitful associations of all human beings with one another” (p. 89). gce in rural areas must establish this interchange, so rural experiences and values become interlaced with desires for local and global action. gce must be cognizant and reverent of the local culture in which schools are embedded especially when teaching for critical conceptions of gce. one example of a critical conception is merryfield and subedi’s (2006) desire for students to contest ethnocentrism and national superiority. since conservatism tends to dominate rural areas, successful global citizenship educators must be prepared to handle backlash if the curricula is perceived as antiamerican or anti-patriotic. rural classrooms provide a public space to evaluate the worthiness of critical approaches to gce, but to do so teachers should pursue effective group and community relationships. dewey’s notion of human mutuality can be used for guidance through this delicate dilemma. writing about human mutuality and overcoming international animosity, dewey (1916/2008) said, “the emphasis must be put upon whatever binds people together in cooperative human pursuits and results, apart from geographical limitations” (p. 89). global citizenship educators should emphasize common human experiences across national boundaries to make a less threatening curriculum that can still lead to critical epiphanies such as a loss of ethnocentrism or increased perspective-taking of other nationalities. world events influence community life in rural america. the immigrant past of many families in the u.s. is proof alone. dewey (1916/2010a) was well aware of this as he said, “the peculiarity of our nationalism is its internationalism” (p. 237). personal connections with other global cultures can be used as a springboard into gce as it positions the unique makeup of the community as a globally-infused locale. ultimately, gce should assist the community in thinking and acting beyond its geographic limitations. historical perspectives on community formation through internal migration and immigration foster a better sense-of-place, something that is valued in rural america (corbett, 2007). gce should make relevant local occupations and labor conditions. rural jobs and the local labor economy influence students’ prior knowledge, views, and dispositions. dewey (1916/2008) believed education should acknowledge the “full intellectual and social meaning of a vocation” to ensure workers do not become “blindly subject to a fate imposed upon them” (p. 275). in today’s world, local occupations often relate to the global marketplace. some traditional rural jobs (in mining, lumber, and agriculture) can be researched for their roles in fulfilling the world’s needs. teachers can also help students see how their local jobs compare to similar positions in others areas across the globe and how globalization affects rural jobs and markets. also, if a rural community experiences high levels of poverty, waning industries, and out-migration due to work shortages then teachers should strive to make connection to the global causes and effects of such plights. these practices align with the deweyan commitment to a well-rounded, reflective individual regardless of his or her future vocation. in the end, democracy and global political efficacy are fulfilled by human relationships as they are put into action at the community level. mailto:robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 129-139 corresponding author email: robert.waterson@mail.wvu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 page 138 conclusion gce in rural contexts presents unique challenges to teachers, including conservative ideologies and geographically isolated communities; but rural contexts also provide enhanced educational possibilities, like intimate family relationships and community associations. applying deweyan democratic principles to gce makes the most of these possibilities by providing a literature-backed framework to bridge localglobal divisions and empowering rural citizens to think globally while acting locally. teaching global citizenship in a rural-sensitive manner creates a more approachable and meaningful curriculum. rural teachers can employ this framework to construct powerful classroom experiences in global citizenship. references abowitz, k. k., & harnish, j. 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need to know and how to get involved gloria alter, steering committee, hre usa __________________________________________________________________________ i find a healing presence in the work of human rights educators, advocates, and activists, an antidote to the evil in our world. their work embodies compassion, commitment to others regardless of their identities and even laying down their lives for others — powerful weapons in the struggle for human rights. it is easy to become overwhelmed by the ongoing reports of human rights abuses in the united states and around the world and to believe that there is nothing we can do about it. the authors of the articles that follow show us there is much we can do. they are wise advocates of human rights and determined leaders in this struggle. dr. felisa tibbitts is the founder and senior advisor of human rights education associates (hrea – www.hrea.org), which she directed from 1999-2010. she has been an adjunct faculty member at numerous institutions, including harvard university, columbia university and the un university for peace. she has worked with numerous government and international agencies in developing curriculum and policies that support the integration of human rights into teaching and training, including the office of the un high commissioner for human rights, unicef, unesco, undp, osce, the council of europe, the organization of american states and numerous non-governmental organizations, such as amnesty international. dr. tibbitts has engaged in adult trainings in over 20 countries, serves on numerous advisory committees and has published articles, book chapters, and manuals addressing such topics as hre in schools and the empowerment model of hre. she received her bachelor’s degree and two masters degrees (public policy, education) from harvard university and her d.phil. from the otto-von-guericke universität of magdeburg. in “human rights education here and now: u.s. practices and international processes,” dr. tibbitts shares her impressive human rights education community scholar lecture from the annual meeting of the national council for the social studies. coordinating the work of the human rights education community that brought felisa to ncss is rosemary blanchard. rosemary ann blanchard is the co-vice-chair of human rights education-usa (hre usa www.hreusa.net). she recently retired as associate professor of education at california state university, sacramento. she has extensive experience in community controlled indigenous education, having worked as a policy analyst for the division of diné education, as a consultant to grassroots navajo education organizations, and as dean of instruction to what is now navajo technical college. she also has extensive experience in the legislative process and has been involved in researching and drafting legislation in the fields of human rights, education, mental health, and services to persons with disabilities. her current research interests include the principles and http://www.hrea.org/ http://www.hreusa.net/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 118-119. 119 | p a g e corresponding author email: galter9@comcast.net ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 historical development of global human rights and international humanitarian law together with curricular and policy research to support incorporating their study into american social studies education. in “mainstreaming human rights education – a new ncss community looks forward,” rosemary writes about the work of the new human rights community of ncss and the need to integrate human rights education across the social studies curriculum. she details the challenging political aspects of creating and implementing state standards and guides to standards development (c3), from her own first-hand experience. two documents in particular highlight the increasing relevance of hre: first, the hre communitysponsored resolution—the ncss position statement on human rights education that identifies “education about human rights and humanitarian law [to be] an essential component of democratic citizenship and civic education” http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/human_rights_education_2014; and second, the un declaration on human rights education and training http://www.hrea.org/resource.php?base_id=1323&language_id=1 that defines hre to include taking action— learning about human rights, through human rights (“in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners”), and for human rights (“to enjoy and exercise [your] rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others”). in both national and international contexts broad-based support for hre is emerging. hre organizations are also collaborating with each other (global coalition for human rights education, for example) and state level projects are beginning to align hre with state standards (see hre usa project, hre new jersey curriculum integration guide, led by bill fernekes). the following articles provide a strong introduction to many of the complexities of hre at the national and international levels and help readers to become better informed and more actively involved in this important work. if you are interested in human rights education and training, connecting with like-minded colleagues and taking action on issues that matter to you, see hrea (www.hrea.org) and join hre usa (www.hreusa.net) and the human rights community of ncss (there are no membership fees for either group). the advocates for human rights (http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org) also has a wealth of resources. “to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” nelson mandela https://webmail.saclink.csus.edu/owa/redir.aspx?c=wtdo1cuq00ircv2lwurkxktvzssa19ei4swjd78m_ixdu-sjgzkz5zmdxkzq8shmgdavq1gucjm.&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialstudies.org%2fpositions%2fhuman_rights_education_2014 http://www.hrea.org/resource.php?base_id=1323&language_id=1 http://www.hrea.org/ http://www.hreusa.net/ http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 84 seeking moral autonomy in a chinese context: a study of elementary moral education standards lena lee and thomas misco miami university, oxford, ohio _________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: in this article, we explored chinese moral education standards for grades one and two by using the heuristic of moral autonomy and by employing a typology of moral autonomy, one based on kantian and deweyan ideas about moral autonomy and agency. given the larger charge for all of schooling to develop independence, problem-solving, and creativity in china, we sought to determine whether this change is actually the case within the 2011 chinese moral education standards for grades one and two, for the period of 2011-2020. although some elements of moral autonomy are stated and suggested in the standard learning objectives, there are significant discrepancies between the ultimate goals of education for children’s development of autonomy and their practices and implementation within these chinese moral education curriculum standards. key words: china; moral education; moral autonomy, curriculum __________________________________________________________________________________________ introduction after the communist party gained control of china in 1949, moral education focused on loyalty and selfless devotion to the country, primarily through a curriculum stressing obligations over rights (e.g., lee & ho, 2005; maosen, 1990). moral education was both the “soul of the educational system” and a “powerful ideological tool” (li, zhong, lin, & zhang, 2004, p. 458), one which was used to equate morality and politics and to demand espousal of party ideals, marxism, patriotism, collectivism, and socialism—in short, a “proper worldview” (li, et al., 2004, p. 455). the moral education standards set in 2001, for use from 2001-2010, demonstrated an initial shift in the prescribed curriculum towards individual growth instead of political socialization (lee & ho, 2005). these standards introduced the concept of “regulated individualism” to describe the tension of personal autonomy that has limits within the people’s republic of china (cheung & pan, 2006). moral autonomy represents a new goal for schools, curriculum, instruction, students, and teachers. although the communist party of china still acts as a gatekeeper of morality within moral education (cheung & pan, 2006), this curricular change brings forth a tension between individualism and collectivism, one which is borne out in the new standards as well. whereas moral education used to engage in a priori certainties with prescribed and “ready-made conclusions” (li, et al., 2004, p. 461), journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 85 newer iterations ostensibly seek more critical and creative autonomy within moral thinking and behavior. the 2011 standards are situated within a larger educational goal of developing more creativity and innovation. these curricular reforms are “radical and ambitious” because the macrocurricular intention is to move away from a transmission pedagogical paradigm and towards the development of autonomous learners (ryan, 2013, p. 82). the encouragement of independence, collaboration, problem-solving, and creativity within all subject matter is a major sea-change, to be sure, and one that is fraught with implementation concerns (ryan, 2013). this paper does not address implementation, but rather seeks to explore the extent to which the moral education standards for grades one and two, for the period of 2011-2020, contain directives to cultivate moral autonomy. given the larger charge for all of schooling to develop independence, problem-solving, and creativity, we sought to determine whether this is actually the case within the moral education standards. this analysis is predicated on a theoretical framework that focuses on moral autonomy as a position of agency, one that has numerous roots in western philosophical epistemologies, but is also compatible, to some degree, with confucianism. theoretical framework moral autonomy is a kantian construct that, in its purest form, rejects “anything other than one’s practical reason as the source of morality” (chan, 2002, p. 281). this does not imply an individual sui generis, who does not make reference to others within their moral calculus. rather, it is an ideal to make decisions about one’s life without “undue interference by others” and with the capacity to make these decisions with “due reflection and independence of mind” (hill, 2013, p. 24). a morally autonomous agent also needs to have the “power to deliberate about and to change her values and motivations to alter significant relations in her life if she so chooses” (oshana, 2005, p. 198). more than simply freedom and free will, autonomy within moral decision-making has to guarantee that the moral agent has “de facto authority over her will and her circumstances” (oshana, 2005, p. 199). this kantian foundation is compatible with dewey’s notion of moral autonomy as reflective morality (1932/1960). reflective morality, unlike morality of custom, places emphasis on appeals to “conscience, reason, or to some other principle which includes thought” (dewey, 1932/1960, p. 3). most critically, this demands the absence of conclusions made in advance of reflection. whereas autonomous moral agents need to grapple with the deonotological evidence, reasons, and motives for a particular course of action, those without moral autonomy largely have teleological conclusions and ends formulated for acceptance a priori. the autonomous and deontological moral agent focuses on the method of determining the legitimacy of moral beliefs and behaviors, while the moral agent lacking autonomy experiences established and codified directives for consumption without reflection. therefore, moral autonomy is fundamentally deontological, whereby all moral beliefs and values are open for debate, circumspection, and reconsideration in light of current conditions, beliefs, values, and experiences. reflective morality, which was dewey’s iteration of moral autonomy, positions moral agents to analyze critically prevailing habits of valuation, which is an intellectual endeavor. as such, customary morals naturally “make it hot” for those who question or criticize custom or tradition (dewey, 1932/1960, p. 112). customary or traditional moral beliefs that flow from false “idols” of knowledge found in tradition, authority, and custom (dewey, 1933, p. 25) are therefore not sufficient for informing a morally autonomous agent’s determinations. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 86 an authoritarian state such as china, which seeks to influence the ways in which citizens think, would seem to be a prima facie case of epistemological incompatibility with moral autonomy. moreover, china has a long-standing confucian heritage, which typically fails to recognize the dignity of the individual (chan, 2002). yet of the four elements of moral autonomy, two work within a confucian and authoritarian paradigm (chan, 2002). the four elements are: 1. voluntary endorsement of morality 2. reflective engagement in moral life 3. morality as self-legislation; and 4. morality as the radical free expression of the individual’s will in particular, voluntary endorsement suggests a minimal sense of moral autonomy since moral agents cannot live a moral life if they are coerced to act or if actions are based on fear of punishment. voluntary endorsement is not necessarily reflective or deliberative, but it does denote a sense of agency. the other element, reflective engagement, indicates an agent who is able to lead a moral life “according to my own understanding of what morality requires of me” (chan, 2002, p. 285). this kind of autonomy includes reflection as well as deliberation and judgment. chan (2002) suggested that confucianism does not ask for people to “blindly follow the rites as endorsed by society or the majority” (p. 288). rather, it calls for reflection and appropriateness of application based on circumstances, which are dynamic and contextual. the third level, self-legislation, is moral law independent of societal convention, tradition, and anything “external to one’s rationality” (chan, 2002, p. 285). self-legislation and radical expression, which suggests obeying no laws other than the agent’s own laws, are both largely incompatible with authoritarianism and confucianism (chan, 2002). data analysis in order to understand how chinese moral education is currently articulated and the degree to which moral autonomy is officially promoted, we decided to analyze the intended curriculum (porter, 2006; van den akker, 2003) chinese content standards from the moral education curriculum for grades one and two, published by ministry of education of the people's republic of china in 2011. analyzing the standards is well suited with our research inquiry mentioned above because the intended curriculum is the one written on paper, such as curriculum standards or policies that define curriculum to teach. thus, the curriculum is often used to examine the objectives of a certain level and subject in education. for this study, we used chinese moral standards from 2011, when the sixth period of curriculum reform occurred. these standards will be in use until 2020, when the ministry of education engages in the next planned curriculum revision. we intentionally chose the curriculum for grades one and two because chinese elementary education begins with grade one, and the first and second grades are young children’s first two years in their compulsory education experiences. as a result, analyzing the moral standards for grades one and two is important for us to comprehend what young children are expected to learn first, in order to become moral beings in chinese social contexts. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 87 we decided to employ chan’s (2002) theoretical framework of moral autonomy for analyzing the standards, because it clearly distinguishes four different elements of autonomy that would fit, or not fit, within a confucian or authoritarian context. in particular, we sought to distinguish the moral education standards between elements one and two, primarily on the basis of whether judgment, reflection, or deliberation would be required of the moral agent. our analysis is in four different sections, based on those found within the standards (see tables 1-4). these sections are “my healthy development,” “my family life,” “our school life,” and “our living community.” findings content standards: my healthy environment the content standards, “my healthy environment,” have eight different learning objectives (see table 1). of these objectives, five fit within chan’s first element, “voluntary endorsement of morality,” and three fit within the second element, “reflective engagement in moral life.” this set of content standards includes more instances of the second element of chan’s moral autonomy than the rest of the set of the content standards combined. although the major learning objectives are for young children to understand knowledge and attitudes of morality, rather than to question and reflect on morality, some of these standards are aimed at young children’s own thinking and ideas to reflect in developing morality and solving problems. table 1. 2011 content standards “my healthy environment” element learning objective 2 students get to know their own traits, develop their strengths, and know about other peoples’ interests. develop self-confidence and learn from each other. 2 students learn to love themselves and retain self-esteem. learn to reflect upon their daily lives and behaviors. know how to distinguish right from wrong. 2 students should be able to face academic and non-academic challenges. they should try to solve problems on their own and develop a sense of achievement when they overcome difficulties. 1 be honest people. 1 learn to respect, appreciate, and forgive other people. learn the basic appropriate behaviors. 1 understand that life is precious and know that they should take care of their physical wellbeing. develop safety awareness and learn about safety commonsense and basic selfprotection skills. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 88 1 know about the negative effect of addiction to internet and videogames, as well as other unhealthy hobbies. say no to unhealthy lifestyles. 1 know about the extreme hazards of using illegal drugs to one’s health as well as to society. one should treasure life and stay away from illicit drugs; attain healthy, positive attitudes toward life. content standards: my family life all five content standard objectives of the “my family life” fit within the first element of moral autonomy, although the last objective also related the element two (see the table 2). in particular, this set of learning objectives clearly demonstrates a confucian emphasis on duty and responsibilities for family and society, both of which have cultural traditions within a chinese context. as a result, instead of seeking a question about reasons or reflection, the objectives are composed of statements such as “ought to” or “should” recognize and understand the importance of such others as parents, family, and neighbors, as well as other areas of normative guidance. table 2. 2011 content standards “my family life” element learning objective 1 students should know about the importance of their family’s contribution to their personal development. one should be thankful about parenting and pay back to their family with gratefulness, respect, and care. 1 students ought to know how to take care of themselves and form good habits. in the meantime, pay attention to their family experiences and contribute to it in order to develop responsibility. for instance, help with household chores. 1 be a reasonable and moral person. get along with neighbors. protect the community environment. 1 learn from parents about the family’s finance situation. learn to spend according to needs and be economical. 1, 2 know that family members should have mutual understanding and respect. good communication should be maintained. learn how to resolve family conflicts. content standards: our school life journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 89 the content standards of the “our school life” section all fit within the first element of moral autonomy: “voluntary endorsement of morality” (see the table 3). these standards deal with geographic and economic knowledge and skills, as well as adequate understanding of both community and self. the geographic and economic objectives are fact-driven, which invites the most basic element of moral autonomy. however, when the objectives of community and self are present, there is no significant difference in indicating chan’s elements of moral autonomy, because these objectives still rely on basic moral autonomy levels within a “voluntary endorsement of morality.” for instance, several objectives start with existing values and virtues, such as social collaboration and collectivism as “a team” and “obeying social conventions including the rules of activities and of the school,” exemplars for behavior within chinese society. table 3. 2011 content standards “our school life” element learning objective 1 be able to read maps, especially those describing campus and the surrounding area. be able to use simple lines and shapes to outline the campus as well as directions from home to school. 1 be aware of the major departments of the school and their corresponding responsibilities. know about the school’s development. show respect to campus, faculty, and staff. 1 time is precious and should not be wasted. learn good time management. create good study habits. be able to finish tasks independently. do not plagiarize. 1 be sincere with each other in the classroom and be willing to help each other when needed. know that everyone is equal. with mutual respect, everyone should get along with classmates and make friends. 1 learn about a sense of belonging. know that everyone is in a team and should take care of the team together. join team activities and maintain a good team reputation. be responsible for your own team. 1 know about the rules in class and on campus. experience the use of rules in team standing. build awareness towards rules and abide by the rules of activities and of the school. 1 by spending time in the school and in class as a team, students learn that everyone is equal. content standards: our living community journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 90 similar to the standards of “our school life,” all the content standards of the “our living community” demonstrate the first element of moral autonomy, “voluntary endorsement” (see the table 4). these content standards also relate to geography and economics in relation to the community, similar to those of “our school life.” therefore, direct approaches to teaching about basic concepts and skills for geography and economics are manifest within the objectives. these standards contain critical concepts for young children to understand, including “equal rights of citizens,” “public welfare,” “equality,” “discrimination,” and “prejudice.” however, these objectives also focus on understanding socially constructed “common sense” that is already established. as a result, the objectives state what young children “should” or “should not,” instead of why they can, cultivate certain mind sets and what process of understanding they can have for each concept or issue. more precisely, there are no objectives to discuss or determine why certain rules, customs, or habits are considered bad, negative, or unhealthy. the objectives directly guide what behaviors, preferences, desires, and interests young children must have without taking into account personal considerations or individual differences. table 4. 2011 content standards “our living community” element learning objective 1 able to read the region (district, county, city, etc.), tourist attractions, such as the small area of the plane diagram. correctly identify area, direction, and scale, as well as simple illustrations on maps. 1 determine the characteristics of the environment and economy of the region and its relationship with people's lives; experience the changes and development of the region. understand a contribution to the development of the region and germinate a love one’s hometown. 1 care about workers in different industries and appreciate how their work brings convenience to people's lives; respect and cherish the efforts of their labor. 1 know how to choose and use goods correctly; be able to buy simple items independently and become a consciously wise consumer. 1 understand the traffic situation in this region; know the relevant traffic common sense, consciously abide by traffic regulations, and pay attention to safety. 1 experience the convenience that public facilities bring to people's lives; be responsible for taking good care of public facilities. 1 observe public order, pay attention to public safety. 1 care for the elderly, the disabled, and other vulnerable people with compassion. develop ideas of respect and equality, and be willing to try one's best to help them; take an active part in public welfare activities. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 91 1 understand that there are different social groups in public life, various groups have equal rights of citizens; have mutual respect, equality, no discrimination, and no prejudice. 1 understand the folkways, customs, and cultural activities in the region, as well as their impact on peoples’ lives. be able to identify negative customs in society and do not participate in the activities of superstition. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 92 discussion and conclusion this paper explored the extent to which chinese moral education standards for grades one and two contain moral autonomy. to do so, we employed chan’s (2002) typology of moral autonomy, which is based on kantian and deweyan ideas about moral autonomy and agency. all of the learning objectives relate to element one, “the voluntary endorsement of morality,” and two, “a reflective engagement in moral life” and over 88% of the objectives fit within element one. these findings fit with chan’s (2002) caveat about confucian societies’ incompatibility with the third and fourth elements of “morality as self-legislation” and “morality as the radical free expression of the individual’s will.” the introductory statements of the content standards recognize the important goal of moral education for young children in china. the introduction aims for the “cultivation of moral character and life, good moral behavior habits, be willing to explore, and love their lives” (ministry of education of the people's republic of china, 2011, p. 1), and therefore, to become “good citizens” who are able to “explore creativity and practical application.” this ultimate goal is accomplished by having different curriculum components and concepts where some higher personal levels of moral autonomy are manifested. for example, the introduction of the standards explicitly states moral education as a mechanism to “make children’s own problems as the starting point of moral education” (ministry of education of the people's republic of china, 2011, p.1); to “allow children to know how to solve problems and participate socially” (2011, p.1); “take the initiative to explore, developing innovation consciousness and practice ability” ” (2011, p.2); and “develop the ability for practical application and creativity and use their knowledge and learning to explore and solve the problem” (2011, p. 3). these functions and goals of moral education reflect chan’s (2002) second and third elements of moral autonomy, “reflective engagement in moral life” and “morality as self-legislation.” yet the actual moral education learning objectives in the standards tell a different story. unlike the goals of moral education to which china aims, the learning objectives predominately reside within the basic level of moral autonomy, or more precisely, chan’s (2002) first element of “voluntary endorsement of morality.” therefore, there are significant discrepancies between overarching ideals and the ultimate goals of education for children and their practices and implementation in everyday lives within these chinese moral education curriculum standards. again, this finding echoes ryan’s (2013) remarks concerning the current governmental initiatives of independence, problem-solving, and creativity in education that does not quite correspond to the reality of teaching and learning in schools. while constructing these findings, it is salient to note that voluntary endorsement has more meaning in a chinese context as compared to a western or non-confucian culture because it presupposes that a moral act should be derived from a moral life, wherein each individual must cultivate through his/her internal motivation (yearley, 1990). a confucian paradigm advances the notion that a person cannot have a moral life without his/her wills to do so (wong, 1996). this presumption also involves a fulcrum idea that such a moral life must be in consensus among people and society as “common sense.” morality and its principles within a confucian context result from a sense of the common good or the majority of people or group, not from individual needs, desires, reasons, or freedom to choose. the concepts within confucian morality are decidedly more collective when compared to non-confucian moral structures, and moral questions are situated in the issue of “whether” rather than that of journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 93 “what” or “why” in chinese education. because of this reason, the simple, direct action statements we found in the chinese moral education curriculum are contextually relevant. given the chinese confucian views where different understandings and expectations of morality are present, this curriculum standard analysis has some implications for chinese moral education for young children. first, chinese moral education needs to be intent on how educational goals can be accordingly applied and operationalized into the current practical curriculum enactments in young children’s classrooms. even though the chinese ministry of education strongly encourages children to explore creativity and develop independence as one of the important educational goals (chinese content standards from the moral education curriculum, 2011; ryan, 2013), moral education curriculum objectives for children’s learning do not precisely respond to them. chinese moral education should provide ample educative opportunities for enhancing children’s abilities for divergent thinking and innovative ideas to make appropriate choices by themselves in the manifold moral situations they will encounter throughout their lives. second, it is necessary for chinese moral education to create a critical space between children and traditional concepts of morality and to seek a deontological inquiry of moral reasoning on various circumstances and situations with diverse people. considering that china has recently undergone substantive economic changes, if its education mainly emphasizes confucian morality based on humanity and common sense of the world, moral education may not reflect the children’s reality in contemporary chinese society. as a result, chinese moral education needs to reconstruct some important standpoints and perceptions of confucian morality by allowing children to reflect upon such questions as who the majority of people are, whose common good has been considered, and who are assumed to ignore the discourse of morality and its decision making. in this way, chinese education would enable cultivating children’s morality based on personal reasoning, as well as developing its scheme to balance individual differences with chinese traditional culture of confucian strong morality for the common good. in a similar vein, it is important for chinese moral education to consider that children’s developing moral autonomy needs to coincide with full recognition of their own personal autonomy through their own reflections. social convention is often rendered as morality in china because it is mostly assumed to be established for the public good and the majority of people in the country with the absence of personal needs or individual selves as the first priority. therefore, it is not easy for china to reconsider the definition of “moral” with the concepts of “autonomy,” because morality was thoroughly rooted from what is good for the others, not one’s self, and what ought to be done as human beings in general, not one’s specific criteria. hence, moral education with the level of reflection that both kant and dewey (1932/1960) suggested can be a useful mechanism for china to encourage young children to bridge social expectation from confucian moral perspectives to children’s real life experiences. children’s discussions about their reasons for a functional arrangement that each individual can develop differently, depending on his/her rationality, can allow them to understand how different people can have various actions and purposes in morality. by promoting young children’s own freedom in reflecting upon and discussing specific moral issues and situations, chinese moral education may lead them to have more opportunities to develop moral autotomy. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 94 references chan, j. 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(2003). curriculum perspectives: an introduction. in j. van den akker, w. kuiper, & u. hameyer (eds.), curriculum landscapes and trends (pp. 1-10). dordrecht, the netherlands: kluwer. wong, d. (1996). xunzi on moral motivation. in p. ivanhoe (ed.), chinese language thoughts, and culture: nivision and his critics (pp. 202-223). chicago, il: open court. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305724900190302 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 84-95. corresponding author email: leel@miamioh.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 95 yearley, h. (1990). mencius and aquinas: theories of virtue and conceptions of courage. new york, ny: state university of new york press. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 83-85. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 83-85. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 83 learning about and learning with. international perspectives on the future of global education. book review: maguth, b., & hilburn, j. (eds.). (2015). the state of global education. learning with the world and its people. new york, ny: routledge. isbn-13 978-0-415-72167-7 reviewed by ruth reynolds (ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au) school of education, the university of newcastle, australia this edited text comprises 10 externally reviewed chapters addressing the current situation of global education (ge) in teaching curriculum. the book is part of a series of books from routledge dedicated to citizenship, character and values education. as the series editors (lee and arthur) point out, the challenge for 21st century education is the impact of globalization on global citizenship, an imperative clearly envisaged by unesco in the online and readily available publications (http://en.unesco.org/gced). with this obviously in mind, the book editors (brad maguth and jeremy hilburn) have gathered chapters from authors from different countries that help to provide direction for transforming and building partnerships across and with the global community to promote “a more equitable, socially just, and sustainable planet” (p. 4). because this is obviously the aim of the edited text the reviewer has seen to see the book as a guide for the future of ge, not simply a description of the state of play as the title would infer. the book tackles many of the key issues associated with grappling with the concept of ge in different educational sites and brings together some substantial future conceptual directions which i will address at the conclusion of this review. first a description of what it contains. the book is divided into two parts; the theory of ge and then programs and practices in ge. the latter section is envisaged as experiential education, university-based initiatives and then conceptual approaches to teaching and learning. it is difficult to scrutinize as a totality such a varied text so i will firstly try to elicit the key points of each chapter. in the section on the theory of ge, we are provided with a useful history of changes in conceptions of ge. as anyone in the area will verify, the term is contested and means different things to different educational settings, different geographies of education as well as in different periods of time. bourne argues that many of the features of what was previously called “development education” (p. 16) inspires many teachers who work to uphold a vision of social justice and equity by reflection and dialogue while rapaport appears more comfortable with using the term global citizenship although pointing out that for many it is really associated with national citizenship and lacks a disciplinary heritage. lantz and davies select one aspect of ge for scrutiny, the aspect of intercultural competency and, as they point out, it is difficult to envisage global change without meaningful global communication. both intercultural competency and ge feature learning about ourselves and others, maintain and develop international excellence, recognize the value of diversity and promote the skills and dispositions of intercultural competence. ge and intercultural competence move education away from simple internationalization for economic reasons toward more “academically rigorous and affectively demanding approaches that will help us understand ourselves and others” (p. 54). the text then moves to ideas as how to do this, to learn with the world and its people. as a teacher educator, the reviewer is always glad to see sections like this—we do know the research but how to enact it is always an issue for teacher education. patterson scrutinizes the taken-for-granted notion that international travel augmented global education, arguing that it required strong programs mailto:ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 83-85. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 84 before, during and after such programs (possibly by computer mediated communication) to ensure best practice and intercultural competency while ortloff and shonia find immersion in other cultures did tend to indicate increased strength of teachers’ views of global citizenship as an active pedagogy. michetti, madrid and cofino point to the importance of international schools as models of how to build ge. they see 21st education as needing to be action-oriented, globally connected and inclusive and argue that many of the schools using the international baccalaureate (ib) provide a useful framework for educators. zong links globalization to the local community in order to contextualize and enable students to construct their own conceptions of globalization. all of these examples indicate the importance of experiences, conflict and problem-solving in global education. what makes teaching ge challenging is that teaching experiences must to some extent mirror a globalized 21st century world—a world where nothing seems taken-for-granted. critical thinking, having an open mind and becoming involved are essential. some of the university initiatives and the conceptual focuses underline these themes. poole and russell find that university teacher education programs have tried to increase the global content of their program but teacher education student were not substantially more globally oriented than teachers of 20 years standing. they recommend more exposure to cross-cultural experiences as well as learning about other cultures. as the title of the text indicates, there is a real need to work with others but as previously indicated this is not straightforward. mathews and landorf interrogate online work as an approach to building international communities and find that it was the communities and the community building that assisted international collaboration and that asynchronized massive open online courses (moocs) were less valuable in building ge perspectives. i refrain from commenting on our own group’s work on values associated with ge also in this book. i asked a colleague to rigorously comment on it and it is attached elsewhere in the journal. so, as i pointed out in the beginning of the review, we have learnt a lot for the future teaching of ge from reading these articles. ge must have an understanding of power and inequality in the world at its heart and future research should interrogate these concepts as fundamental outcomes. teachers of ge need to have the will to assist students to augment nation and local centered citizenship by also teaching their global citizenship status and adapting their curriculum. future research should investigate how teachers do this and what results ensue. ge should encompass multiple cultural perspectives. a non-western view of ge would seem to be important. the classrooms and institutions purporting to develop ge should be interrogated to discover what knowledge, understanding and disposition they foster. computer mediated communications can augment ge concepts but what way is best? the local can assist develop ge. what are some of the authentic ways in which this can happen? pre-service teachers continue to have poorly developed cross-cultural competencies and global content knowledge. what can strongly focused programs achieve to improve this situation? research indicates that ge encompasses the intrapersonal domain, the cognitive domain and interpersonal domain. what are the best activities to teach these? mailto:ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 83-85. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 85 overall i think this book was an excellent contribution to the literature associated with ge and urgently required in an era when global finance, migrations and misunderstandings threaten global security and global interactions across many fields of endeavour. our schools and education institutions must continue to advocate for the fundamentals of living together—seeking equity, social justice; learners learning about themselves; learners clarifying their own sense of place in a wider context. mailto:ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. human rights education here and now: u.s. practices and international processes dr. felisa tibbitts steering committee, human right educators usa founder and senior advisor, human rights education associates (hrea) ___________________________________________________________________________ i have spent the better part of my professional life in the field of human rights education, which was a nascent one when i began working with ministries of education in post-authoritarian central and eastern europe in the 1990s. that was a heady time for human rights, when we witnessed the movement towards democratic governance in both this region as well as south africa. at the time i was working for a human rights group in the netherlands, and i was surprised that educational leaders in these regions were so willing to embrace the concepts of “human rights” in national curriculum. as a u.s. national, i had been steeped in the language of civic education and peace education, but had not come across “human rights” and didn’t initially understand how these standards and the united nations could have any bearing on curriculum and classroom practices, aside from a reference to the united nations in social studies classes. i have since come to understand and vigorously promote the unique place that human rights education (hre) can play within a larger field of educational approaches that seeks to promote the human dignity of all members of the school community. human rights are focused on the concept of justice and, by extension, the protection of those who are marginalized and abused. human rights organizations familiar to us monitor such conditions. the framework is also a positive, aspirational one and not merely focused on human rights violations, as it is grounded in concrete descriptions about what it means to enjoy your human rights. i recognize that educators may be confused at times about how hre differs from citizenship education and other approaches such as intercultural education or peace education. there are certainly overlaps in goals and methodological approaches. i like to see these as collectively offering a kind of menu for educators in relation to the values and outcomes established within for schooling systems. however, hre remains unique in that it is focused not only on values related to justice but the empowerment of learners to know and claim their rights. this is quite specific to hre and goes beyond the “participation” goal that we find in citizenship education. 129 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. the un defines the goals of hre in the recent declaration on human rights education and training (ga, 2011) as: [a]imed at promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and this contributing, inter alia, to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses/ by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviors/, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.1 (art. 2[1]). hre assumes that the relationship between citizens and governments can be a contentious one: governments can violate the rights of citizens. there is another feature of hre that makes its approach unique. this feature is the backdrop of the united nations and international human rights standards. it’s quite significant that we have an educational approach that is an offshoot of another area of social organization, and this is the un human rights system. in the past, there has been almost no link between diplomatic work related to international human rights standards in geneva and new york and public education, with the exception of some courses in law schools. one of the remarkable outcomes of the advent of hre since the 1990s is efforts to make human rights more of a layman’s term. my assessment is that the term “human rights” is widely used and recognized but there is scant general understanding about the content and meaning of human rights. more significantly, very few of us understand how these norms can influence social movements or the laws and policies of our governments through treaty commitments. the international hre movement is populated by organizations and individuals who are committed to integrating this approach within schooling systems, taking into account national contexts, priorities and needs. teaching about human rights content alone, however, does not constitute hre. given the agenda to forward capacities to protect and promote human dignity, there has to be much more than a transfer of knowledge. based on good work carried out over the past 20 years, the united nations has embraced a holistic definition of hre that sets a high standard. in the declaration on human rights education and training, the un general assembly endorsed the view that teaching and learning processes for hre should incorporate: • education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection; • education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners; • education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others.2 1 united nations, general assembly, (19 december 2011). united nations declaration on human rights education and training. ga 66/127, art. 2, para 1. geneva: united nations. 2 ibid, art. 2, para 2. 130 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. guidelines for implementing hre elaborated by the regional security organization, the organization for security and co-operation in europe, have gone into further detail. examples of outcomes related to knowledge and understanding (education “about” hr) include: • international human rights standards and principles • root causes of human rights violations (e.g. prejudice, structural inequality) • critical human rights challenges in our communities and societies • how to take action against human rights violations.3 sample outcomes related to hre-related skills, attitudes and values (education “for” hr) include: • acceptance of and respect for persons of different race, color, gender, language, political or other opinion, religion, national or social origin, property, birth, age or other status, with awareness of one’s own inherent prejudices and biases, and commitment to overcoming these; • compassion for and solidarity with those suffering human rights violations and those who are the targets of attacks resulting from prejudice • the belief that one person working collaboratively with others can make a difference in promoting human rights locally and globally, and an interest to do so • the ability to locate information and sources on human rights relevant to one’s personal and academic needs and interests, including through the use of icts • skills to network and collaborate with others in advocating for human rights.4 some outcomes related to hre-related teaching and learning environments (education “through” hr) include: • hre takes place in environments that are youth-friendly, trustful, secure and democratic in atmosphere. • cooperation is facilitated and encouraged between secondary schools, parents and communities, including ngos, youth organizations, local government agencies, media and businesses. • instruction and learning processes facilitate the inclusion of all students.5 the united nations office of the high commissioner for human rights continues to promote the implementation of hre by making available technical resources. curriculum and training resources and evaluation supports can be found in the hre section of their website (www.ohchr.org). unesco and unicef have also offered guidance and support for carrying out hre in schools.6 3 osce office for democratic institutions and human rights (odihr) (2012). guidelines for human rights education in secondary schools. warsaw, poland: osce office for democratic institutions and human rights (odihr), pp. 24-25. 4 ibid, p. 25-27. 5 ibid, p. 33-34. 6 see unesco (19 november 1974). unesco recommendation concerning education for international understanding, co-operation and peace and education related to human rights and fundamental freedoms. paris: united nations; unicef and unesco (2007). a human rights-based approach to education for all. new york and paris: unicef and unesco. 131 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org http://www.ohchr.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. since the mid 1990s, the united nations has continued to evolve hre norms and policies in order to encourage governments to take on the task of hre in relation to their treaty commitments. in addition to passing the un declaration on human rights education and training in 2011, the general assembly authorized the ongoing world programme on human rights education (2005 -), which highlights the importance of hre in schooling systems and teacher preparation in their phases one and two.7 these efforts from within the united nations illustrate the importance that is being placed on education and training as foundational for the successful operation of the international human rights system. think about it. if the human rights system is based upon citizens knowing and claiming their rights – especially those related to treaties that their own governments have voluntarily obligated themselves to uphold through ratification of conventions – then doesn’t it make sense that citizens ought to know what their human rights are? in parallel, shouldn’t those who are working on behalf of our governments, including our teachers, be similarly educated? in the u.s. the human rights educators network (hre usa) was established in 2012 in order to promote hre in schools. this growing network already has over 400 individual and organizational members, including teachers, teacher trainers, teacher unions and civil society representatives. there are over a dozen regional representatives and several active working groups, including one oriented towards hre policy and advocacy. one of the outcomes of the network was the adoption of an hre position statement by the national council for the social studies in october 2014.8 hre usa also did something quite bold in 2014 in relation to hre. it collaborated with another national network, the u.s. human rights network, to render a report on the status of hre in u.s. schools as a civil society contribution to the second cycle of the u.s. universal periodic review (upr). hre usa thought, in addition to teaching about, for and through human rights, why not actually engage in a consultation related to a un human rights mechanism? the upr is a process that requires every country to self-review every four and a half years, the status of their compliance with international human rights standards. remarkably, these standards include not only the treaties that the government has signed, but also the universal declaration of human rights (which covers the full range of human rights). governments are supposed to submit a report to the un and engage in a peer review with other countries. it is possible for civil society organizations to consult with the government on their report and also to submit their own report, which is what hre usa did in cooperation with the u.s. human rights network, with additional support from hre 2020, an international coalition dedicated to promoting hre within un human rights mechanisms. hre usa used its membership to carry out a modest but valid consultative process involving an online survey and meetings in the cities of san francisco, new york city and boston. the result was a report that presented problems, best practices and recommendations in relation to hre in u.s. schools. this report was submitted both to the u.s. state department and to the un office of the high commissioner for human rights. 7 united nations, office of the high commissioner for human rights (2005). world programme for human rights education. geneva: united nations; united nations, general assembly (25 october 2005). draft plan of action for the first phase (2005-2007) of the proposed world programme for human rights education. a/59/525. geneva: united nations. 8 http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/human_rights_education_2014 132 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/human_rights_education_2014 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. the key problems and recommendations were oriented towards three priorities: curriculum standards, teacher preparation, and the school environment. i anticipate that many of these issues will be similar for other school systems, so i am sharing these analyses from the report, which can be found in its entirety on the hre usa website (www.hreusa.net). curriculum standards key problems: • the federal government lacks coordination, leadership and oversight in supporting statelevel implementation of hre. • at the state level, curriculum standards related to hre are disparate and unregulated. only 39 states even mention hr in their social studies standards and among them only 22 contain the udhr (2014). • human rights are most often taught strictly through a historical lens without attention to contemporary application. • human rights are taught without attention to hr skills and attitudes. recommendations: • the u.s. department of education should encourage, support (technically and financially) state and local efforts to incorporate hre in legislation and departmental policies. • hre should be incorporated within the curriculum standards of key subject areas such as social studies teacher preparation key findings: • the vast majority of teacher training programs do not require teachers to be proficient in hre. • the same is true for other personnel who work with children and youth in schools. recommendations: • the u.s. government should work with legislatures and credentialing/accreditation entities to ensure hre in education programs for teachers, administrators and other educational personnel working in schools that receive federal funding. • also with social workers, paraprofessionals, special education staff, juvenile justice personnel and other providers of school programming that receive federal funding. 133 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 129-134. school environment findings: • bullying continues to be a significant problem in the united states and lacks a coordinated response from federal, state and local governments, as well as district and school officials. recommendations: the u.s. government should: • provide monetary and technical assistance to non-governmental organizations, institutions of higher education and school districts to ensure safe and welcoming school environments. • adopt social emotional learning (sel) standards • adopt strong anti-bullying legislation. working on the stakeholder report was a fascinating and productive process because hre usa members learned about un monitoring and consultative processes through personal engagement. we grappled with the use of primary sources and the identification of secondary sources in rendering our profile of the status of hre in u.s. schools. we did our best to be fair but also clear about setting goals for improvement. in preparing the report, we educators had to consider what kind of recommendations would be most sensible and “actionable” for the u.s. government, also taking into account our federalist system. we narrowed down the set of problems to be addressed and through our recommendations developed an agenda for working with national and state-level agencies in the coming years. in the u.s. upr session, which will take place in geneva on may 11th, the peer review countries assigned to the u.s. will respond to the report prepared by the u.s. state department as well as those submitted by u.s. civil society organizations. our hope is that the written recommendations for improvement made to the u.s. government following this interactive session will include a reference to improve human rights education in u.s. schools. if this recommendation is accepted, it will give us added political support “from the top” to complement the grassroots work that hre usa is already carrying out “from the bottom.” this recent effort in the u.s. adds a new dimension of hre. it extends our treatment of human rights and the united nations to one of participation—not only to advance human rights in our own schools and communities but also to advance hre itself, making use of a un mechanism. i realize that the circumstances we had in the u.s. to carry out this monitoring was a promising one, and decisions about where to put one’s energy in times when these are in short supply can be very difficult. however, i would like to encourage those readers who hold out hope for the un human rights system to (a) find ways to teach about, for and through human rights in your classroom; (b) engage in carrying out a review of the status of hre in your schools, right where you are based and further, if possible; and (c) consider linking up with or beginning an hre network (amnesty international has one in many countries). there is no time like the present. 134 | p a g e corresponding author email: ftibbitts@hrea.org ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 1 editors’ report: connecting to ‘others’ through social studies ruth reynolds, university of newcastle, australia. _________________________________________________________________________________ when reading through the varied contributions to the journal from all parts of the world and by authors with such varied experiences i was inspired to read said’s orientalism in more depth, to clarify some of the arguments he provided for how a whole raft of peoples could be categorised as overwhelmingly similar and overwhelmingly subservient. said’s methodological underpinnings included examining what he called pure and political knowledge, acknowledging that much of our literature, our academic papers, our ways of thinking are influenced by political factors including where we live or have our cultural roots. he also pointed out that he was influenced in his choice of texts to read by the historical vagaries of what texts were available to him, what translations had been made, the need to clarify the origins of the representations made of the orient, and the importance of reading ‘scholarly works, political tracts, journalist texts, travel books, religious and philosophical studies’ (p. 23). thirdly he acknowledged his personal stories as a key influencing factor in his observations. as an “oriental’ growing up in palestine and egypt and america and educated in a western manner his personal life influenced the book’s writing and argued that this must be accounted for in its findings. this acknowledgement of the importance of the influences around us on how we think and behave is crucial when considering our importance as social educators. the example of the notion of ‘orientalism’ is an important one: orientalism was ultimately a political vision of reality whose structure promoted the difference between the familiar (europe, the west, ‘us’) and the strange (the orient, the east, ‘them’). this vision in a sense created and then served the two worlds thus conceived [it] express[es] the strength of the west and the orient’s weakness-as seen by the west (said, pp.43-45). thus its discourse is a: discourse of power originating in an era of colonialism…. [and many] see similar knowledges constructed for native american and africans a chronic tendency to deny, suppress, or distort the cultural context of such systems of thought in order to maintain the fiction of its scholarly disinterest (said, p.345). orientalism is a text well worth another read if only to clarify some of the difficulties of having a clear and ‘simple’ methodology for your research. this edition of the journal is very much focused on change in curriculum and the changes focused upon are associated with improved ways to connect with others. we have research articles that tackle big issues of learning to live with others in a globalised world; learning about others and also clarifying underlying preconceptions which may make such linkages and awareness difficult. a focus of these articles is the methodologies used. all authors were careful to critically scrutinise the way they provided evidence for their conclusions and to signpost the way for future researchers to follow their trail. the issues addressed are crucial for social education and the link between us as social educators and social studies educators and the wider education community. these ideas are continued in our wonderful set of perspective articles on human rights education in the social justice section; articles about how ‘others’ do things that can provide direction for our own work in our international perspectives section; and points of view that can inspire us under the media section. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 2 articles kristy brugar, experiencing the local to become global: a portrait of teaching and learning abroad, follows some teachers with regular interviews over a 12 month period as they begin their teaching career in haiti at an american school. this contribution to looking at things from the ’other’ point of view allows us to clarify if things change as the teachers become more familiar with the new context and it provides a social studies focused methodological lens (linking history and pedagogy of place to students’ lived experiences). i was struck by the fact that such key fundamental aspects of what we do in social studies education are crucial for global learning and global understanding. historically she points out that students bring their histories to class and so to teach in a context different to the one you are familiar with requires knowledge of their histories. this can be part of the students’ sense of place, an aspect of how they perceive their place. as kristy explains it, pedagogy of place or place-based education (pbe). pbe is grounded in curriculum and instruction of local contexts (woodhouse, 2001) with an emphasis on authentic learning experiences. several guiding principles associated with place guided her study including the idea that (1) content is specific to place; (2) experiences are experiential/participatory; (3) place is multidisciplinary; (4) connection of individual to place; and (5) reflection of a more broad educational philosophy emerges through place study. she argues for the need to provide such global perspectives in all teachers’ professional development. how better to understand the ‘other’ than to clarify their personal sense of their place. dr dafney dabach, “you can’t vote, right?”: when language proficiency is a proxy for citizenship in a civics classroom, highlights the long identified dilemma that emerges in many educational contexts when teachers form different expectations for different students, and as a result behave differently toward students (brophy & good, 1974). in this instance dabach argues that language competence, in immigrant-origin english learners (els), appears to influence civics teachers to judge how themes of citizenship education should be taught. dabach claims that in her case study observation ‘el students were positioned as non-citizen outsiders, rather than as “citizens in the making”’. in view of the fact that: not all els are immigrants, and not all immigrants are undocumented. in fact, most el students (over 74%) are us-born with citizenship status (whatley & batalova, 2014), this is problematic for educating future citizens. wider perceptions of citizenship rights and responsibilities that include social participation and transnational citizenship in the curriculum may be more appropriate and more inclusive than citizenship interpreted as learning to vote as a u.s. citizen. dabach points out that: the issue at hand is not merely whether or not students were correctly identified as citizens. the contentiousness of the politics of immigration underscores the need for educational theorists, teachers, and others to stake out an inclusive and progressive pedagogy in citizenship education. the episodes reveal a genuine need to address gaps that are not merely cultural and linguistic, as substantive as those are, but which also bar access to journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 3 participation in the very practices that are imagined as important in civics education (e.g., voting). including the ‘other’ that reside among us can be difficult if the educators do not recognise that they are excluding groups of people and do not address the curriculum to make it more inclusive of diversity even in citizenship education which appears to be inclusive. rodeheaver, gradwell and dahlgren, in their article, "we are dumbledore's army:" forging the foundation for future upstanders” pursue their interest in examining how activists, who advocate for human rights, learn to do so. the idea of “dumbledore’s army” evolves from the harry potter series of books as a group of people who will stand up and fight for practical ideas. the authors call these activists “upstanders”. while the origins of the term are attributed to several individuals and organizations, the researchers chose the term as it was defined by power (2002). the term encompasses individuals who take large risks on a global level as well as individuals who take a stand on a more personal level, such as those who prevent bullying. the need for participation in support of those who cannot pursue their rights, or do not understand their rights, is a fundamental belief of a democratic system, and yet so many of us abrogate that right and duty. it is important to clarify how to help people to learn and how and when to do this. by examining a summer program to encourage young human rights advocates the authors identified some key features of what seemed a successful program (albeit a program difficult to assess in terms of actual outcomes). the key features they identified included women’s rights themes, attending field trips to sites useful for learning about human rights, participating in service learning, observing and working with role models of “upstanders”, and working in a community atmosphere. bates, lucey, inose, yamane and green pose interesting questions about how how ‘other’ cultural groups perceive financial morality. in their paper, ‘college students' interpretations of financial morality: an international comparison’ they ask students in the u.s., canada and japan how they perceive financial morality. the literature review in this article is quite insightful for social studies teachers because it links research from disciplinary and cross disciplinary areas such as economics, psychology, philosophy, ethical studies, citizenship studies, multicultural studies and education. in the school curriculum the world, over the disjunction between social studies teaching and some key ethical debates that affect subject areas such as maths teaching and business studies are overlooked and not engaged with. some fundamental precepts of modern economics are open to debate particularly that of why the economy runs as it does – is it about individual choice and decisionmaking or community choice and decision-making or is there no choices when it comes to sustaining a global community? they argue that the value of their research lies within the importance of being cognizant of cross-cultural differences about perspectives of financial ideas in global communications and in educational processes. international perspectives dr rapaport as editor of our international perspective section of the journal points out the importance of international education and global education in developing new ways for us to interact within our nations but also with other nations. he has long been an advocate for travel abroad programs for teachers because they influence the teacher to reflect on what they had previously seen as ‘common and normal’ and to consider other ways of doing things. dr rapaport’s selection of dr mark pearcy’s, contribution to this section is a very important one. mark travelled to journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 4 germany for only two weeks and yet came back with some very important insights into key differences in ways of organising community between the usa and germany that he will consider with students in his classes. he argues that it has increased his open-mindedness with the german concept of ‘sozialstate’, where the individual owes a responsibility to the community, a theme that should be explored in social studies classrooms in the usa. additionally we have the work of dr vlaardingerbroek and his two co authors louie traikovski and irshad hussain who have developed a comparative approach to law education in schools internationally using a case study of pakistan and a state of australia (victoria). they argue for further professional development of teachers of law and law related subjects in the shcool curriculum because different forms of law appear to be taught well but others are ignored in school education. this is of much interest when considering international perspectives on citizenship, as the legal underpinnings of our society are not necessarily clearly apparent to its citizenry. in particular it seems international laws are not often applied. some fundamental rights and privileges can be neglected through lack of use, and lack of understanding. social justice dr gloria alter, always an advocate for social justice and human rights, introduces us to two inspiring advocates for curriculum change in the area of human rights education (hre). dr felisa tibbitts and rosemary ann blanchard. all three scholars were at the recent ncss conference in boston so i hope many of you heard them and learned with them. felisa points out in her piece that: hre remains unique in that it is focused not only on values related to justice but the empowerment of learners to know and claim their rights. this is quite specific to hre and goes beyond the “participation” goal that we find in citizenship education. she is arguing for a stronger direction for citizenship education and curriculum change in citizenship education. hre has been developed by an international organisation (the united nations) and requires educators and policy makers in various separate nations to use the ideas and ideals developed and make them applicable to their own national state. human rights covenants require discussion and collaboration and contextual understandings, all skills which an active citizen needs. social studies is the place for such strong active teaching. rosemary ann blanchard demonstrates such strong advocacy skills and uses them in her work with community based indigenous groups, policymakers associated with human rights education and with curriculum groups lobbying for a place in crucial curriculum documents. learning from an international forum such as the united nations, and leading curriculum change towards a more equitable future world would seem to be something that social studies teachers can easily identify with. these are people from whom we can learn. media review associate professor toni fuss kirkwood-tucker and professor alejandro josé gallard-martinez, violations of the educational rights of disadvantaged youth in the global age, have joined forces to discuss a particular important human rights issue, the lack of access to education by disadvantaged youth. examining this difficult issues under a hr lens, allows us, as educators, to point out that blaming the victim is not acceptable. …globalization has generated enormous detrimental consequences such as continued illiteracy, gender inequity, economic exploitation, racism, classism, and environmental damage (benería, 2003). journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 1-5. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 5 we in the western world must accept some responsibility for students in many corners of the world not being given basic human rights. clarifying for international citizens of the world that lack of achievement in school is influenced by a myriad number of cultural, economic, and political factors which subvert basic human rights is a goal for social studies. then application of poor curriculum and pedagogical approaches that disadvantage some groups above others is unfair and counters global and international values of social justice. additionally, as a way forward in a divided world oluwaseun bamidele provides an overview of key issues in peace education and ways in which we can work actively towards building a culture of peace in the world. this is a very useful referencing of key ideas in peace education dialogue and a reminder that we have not given up on peace even though we seem to try to resolve our differences with conflict and force. references brophy, j. & good, t. (1974). teacher-student relationships: causes and consequences. new york: holt, rinehart and winston. said, e. (1979). orientalism. new york: vintage. books. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 126-127. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 126-127. corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 126 social studies and children’s literature: diversity and inclusion through picture books. kate ferguson-patrick (media editor) __________________________________________________________________________ in this edition, debbie bradbery, a lecturer and phd student from the university of newcastle, australia has reviewed two picture books from the children’s book council notable social studies books for young children 2015 list. one of them, because they marched: the people’s campaign for voting rights that changed america by russell freedman, links nicely to a reasonably movie selma, reviewed below. selma review this film dr. martin luther king jr. (david oyelowo) and others set out on an epic march from selma to montgomery, which resulted in president lyndon johnson signing the voting rights act of 1965. although the civil rights act of 1964 legally desegregated the south, it had made very little difference in certain areas including alabama city where discrimination was still rampant making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. in 1965, the city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. the rising british star david oyelowo makes an outstanding performance and watching the harrowing film on a recent trip to a conference i couldn’t help but think how important it is for all history teachers to show this film. i was also disappointed to hear that despite it being nominated for an oscar it didn’t win (except for the original song in the movie ‘glory’). in december 2014, "selma" received a freedom of expression award from the national board of review. two books have been selected for review from the children’s book council notable social studies books for young children 2015 list. the selection committee looks for books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text. http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/notable-social-studies-trade-books-foryoung-people-2015-preview.pdf both books, migrant and because they marched: the peoples campaign for voting rights that changed america, both from the third to fifth grade selections, are commendable additions to this list and have been reviewed expertly by debbie bradbery, a lecturer in primary education at the university of newcastle, who teaches in the children’s literacy and literature area and who is also completing a phd to clarify key issues encountered by teachers when integrating literacy and global education for sustainable futures in the early years of teaching. for more information on debbie’s work go to http://global-education.net/debbie-bradbery/ http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/2014/12/national-board-review-announces-2014-award-winners/ http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/2014/12/national-board-review-announces-2014-award-winners/ http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/notable-social-studies-trade-books-for-young-people-2015-preview.pdf http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/notable-social-studies-trade-books-for-young-people-2015-preview.pdf http://global-education.net/debbie-bradbery/ journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 126-127. corresponding author email: kate.fergusonpatrick@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 127 the 2016 list is also available at: http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/notablesocial-studies-trade-books-for-young-people-2016-preview3.pdf all lists have books suitable from kindergarten to 12th grade. the following link also provides a great list of australian picture books for use by teachers in the social studies area. http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-childrens-books and australia also has a list of shortlisted books which has some great titles which can be linked to social studies. established in 1945, the children's book council of australia (cbca) is a not for profit, volunteer run, organisation which aims to engage the community with literature for young australians. the cbca presents annual awards to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to australian children's literature. http://cbca.org.au/shortlist-2015.htm https://cbca.org.au/shortlist-2016 and also https://cbca.org.au/notables-2017 http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/notable-social-studies-trade-books-for-young-people-2016-preview3.pdf http://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/notable-social-studies-trade-books-for-young-people-2016-preview3.pdf http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-childrens-books http://cbca.org.au/shortlist-2015.htm https://cbca.org.au/shortlist-2016 https://cbca.org.au/notables-2017 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 what can we learn from taiwanese teachers about teaching controversial public issues yu-han hung (hungyuha@msu.edu) michigan state university, curriculum and instruction, teacher education (cite) __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study explores how history teachers in taiwan make curricular decisions while engaging controversial public issues. the main political controversies discussed in taiwanese society center on the relationship between taiwan and the people’s republic of china. this study documents how four social studies teachers formulate their curricular decisions through the intersecting lenses of professional knowledge and personal beliefs. findings illuminate the role of personal experience and belief in teacher’s curricular-instructional gate keeping in socially divisive contexts. in sum, this study helps us understand the relationship between a teacher’s own imaginative worldview, sense of personal and professional identity and their classroom teaching practices. key words: history curriculum, teacher knowledge, curricular-instructional gatekeeper, controversial public issues, taiwan and the prc __________________________________________________________________________________ as someone who has grown up, been educated, and taught high school social studies in taiwan, i have known the controversy that envelopes that island my whole life. now, teaching and doing research in the united states, my view is different. i have noticed that people outside of taiwan tend to have a limited understanding of taiwan’s relationship with the the people’s republic of china (prc). in contrast, for my family, friends and colleagues still living in taiwan, the relationship with the people’s republic of china is not only a major political issue, but a daily reality that affects almost every major aspect of their life. in taiwanese society, this relationship between taiwan and the prc has caused many controversies—including debates about national identity, state sovereignty, and ethnic integration—with the result that people argue and act upon these issues in a variety of spaces (chen, 2008). indeed, one could argue that taiwanese society is virtually saturated with talks about the prc, national sovereignty and the future status of the island. in such a situation, schools might play a particularly important role in shaping larger issues such as peace and war, happiness and anxiety. diana hess (2009) has defined controversial public issues as questions of public policy that spark mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 38 significant public disagreement and, in this way, constitute public problems. the relationship between taiwan and the prc, when viewed from this perspective, is therefore a controversial issue par excellence. therefore, this paper uses the relationship between taiwan and the prc as a case example for the way in which social studies teachers can respond to the pressures societies all over the world face as they attempt to prepare their students for life in a fractured and conflict-ridden public sphere. given the intertwining nature of the historical relationship between the prc-taiwan, designing a history curriculum in taiwan has inevitably been a contentious task. in this way, the challenges faced by taiwanese history educators—to construct a history curriculum with a pluralistic and broad view of the past, present and future of the prc and taiwan, as well as to make educational substance outweigh the ideological and political dimensions of school history (chen, 2008)—can provide an important case example for history educators around the globe. as nel noddings (1992) has noted, educational decisions need educational rationales—not only political ones. teachers are obviously important actors in school contexts; equally as obvious, teachers have their own reactions and responses to controversial issues in their classrooms (and this is particularly the case when they have lived through the difficult events they are trying to teach about, as is the case in this paper). teachers are not merely deliverers of the curriculum; instead, they bring their own ideas and interpretations to their teaching (thornton, 1991). as hess mentioned (2009), teachers play a particularly pivotal role in the teaching of controversial issues, since they interact with students in ways that can never be fully scripted. this means that their own fears, hopes and desires are particularly on display in such forms of ambitious teaching. therefore, this paper focuses on how teachers in taiwan use both their professional knowledge and their personal beliefs as they come to teaching about the controversial issue of the relationship between taiwan and the prc. this paper explores the role of the teacher as “curricular-instructional gatekeeper” (thornton, 1991, p. 237) a figure who must make important decisions about the implementation of the national history curriculum within a context dominated by public controversy. last, this paper reflects on the pedagogical and social significance of the challenges faced by teachers in taiwan and across the globe, as they carry out their work within the context of such social controversy. a conflicted social landscape the relationship between the people’s republic of china and taiwan has been characterized as an intensive conflict, based on limited contacts and unstable interactions since 1949 (grossman & lo, 2008). questions about the legal and political status of the island of taiwan have focused on the prospects of formal reunification with the mainland, or on full taiwanese independence. as negotiations began to restore “the three links" (kuo, 1999, p. 66) (transportation, commerce and mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 39 communications) between the two sides, taiwan and the prc launched semi-official negotiations through organizations representing the interests of their respective governments. at the conclusion of the chinese civil war in 1949, the people’s republic of china asserted itself as the sole legal representation of china, and it has threatened the use of military force as a response to any formal declaration of taiwanese independence. in fact, the relationship between the prc and taiwan, as well as issues of taiwanese national identity, continue to haunt taiwanese society and politics, and they are a cause of political divisions among all of the major political parties in taiwan. since 1949, state sovereignty, chinese inheritance and territorial disputation have been the main topics which have caused public debates, both in the national government and among the general public (chen, 2008; grossman & lo, 2008). while these are primarily legal issues being worked in governmental circles, the questions surrounding such debates have led to a form of identity politics that has led to a larger polarization across taiwanese society. in terms of ethnic issues, there are no perceived racial differences among the people of taiwan; instead, people are divided by perceived differences among their ancestry: ancestors who were from different provinces of china and who came to taiwan at different time periods. for example, people from the south eastern part of china who came to taiwan before 1949 are seen as taiwanese (“people native to the island”), compared to people from other parts of china who came to taiwan after 1949, and who are seen as chinese (“people not native to the island”) (hsu & chen, 2004). these are the two main ethnic groups in taiwan. these two different ethnic groups continue to represent two different political choices, languages, speaking tones, living districts and food. they both have their own distinctive characteristics and practices in everyday life. as should be clear, then, in terms of national identity, there is no agreement about who or what is taiwanese. therefore, national identity has long been seen as a controversial issue in taiwan. several factors have supported this sense of confusion or ambivalence. first, taiwan’s own sovereignty has not been recognized by the global community (wu, 2010); people outside of taiwan do not think of taiwan as an independent country. this includes all global and international associations. second, in taiwan itself, the taiwanese government has avoided clear statements about the definition of the nation. for example, starting in 1996, the taiwanese government specifically rejected the development of a chinese national identity as an educational aim. instead, the government chose developing individual self-identity as an emphasis and gradually introduced a greater focus on taiwanese geography, culture and society (ministry of education, 1996, 2006, 2009, 2013). despite this conflicted state of affairs, legally speaking, taiwan is nothing more than the geographic name of an island which is governed by an entity that calls itself the republic of china—a name which is not recognized anywhere in the world. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 40 the role of the person in teaching given this social context, and given that the events which have shaped this context are in the not-very-distant past, it is not surprising that social studies teachers in taiwan face not only professional challenges in their work, but personal ones as well. indeed, much research has sought to understand teaching through the lens of a teacher’s own biography—teaching as a form of personal knowledge (brookfield, 1995; clandinin & connelly, 1987, 1996; cochran-smith & lytle, 1990). this research demonstrates the personal way in which professional knowledge is constructed across a variety of situations. however, i would argue that the role of the person is particularly clear when we examine a case like the teaching of controversial public issues within the taiwanese context. in the literature on the personal foundations for teacher’s public decision making, 95teachers’ decision making emerges out of the relationship among people, places and objects in their temporal dimensions of past, present and future. different relationships among people, places and objects—in terms of their pasts, presents and futures—make for different decisions among teachers. indeed, clandinin and connelly (1987) attempted to clarify this when they examined the origins, uses and meanings of personal knowledge in their studies of teacher’s beliefs. in particular, teachers’ personal knowledge is a factor that influences their decision making on controversial public issues. past research shows most teachers agree about the importance of teaching controversial pubic issues—however, the perceived consequences may limit teachers. in particular, they fear student-related disruptions, conflict, as well as the implication for their careers (byford, lennon, & russell, 2009). in addition, other research indicated that many teachers are under-prepared and feel constrained in their ability to handle controversial issues. teachers, in general, demonstrate concern relating to “procedural neutrality,” the balance between teaching and learning, and a lack of readiness (oulton, day, dillon, & grace, 2004, p. 492). clearly, recent changes over the past decades i the taiwanese public history curriculum were not just due to historiographical changes—they were motivated by larger societal concerns and debates. in these public debates, historians and educational policy makers have shown relatively little interest in pedagogical concerns; for the most part, only classroom teachers have cared about pedagogical issues, instructional goals, strategies, sequences, and the assignment of learning outcomes (chen, 2008). teachers have been left to sort these things out for themselves. many classroom teachers around the globe, including teachers in taiwan, believe that curriculum decisions are made by outside authorities (chen, 2004). that is, they believe that curriculum development is a formal task imposed from the outside (cornett, 1987). however, on the other hand, stephen thornton (1991) has theorized that despite the many external limits on teachers, the teacher is still an agent, one who makes decisions about the curriculum. that is, no two teachers can mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 or will ever teach the same curriculum in the same manner. similarly, walter parker (1987) has contended that the idea of “teachers making a difference” is situated in teachers as curriculum agents. according to these scholars, teachers can do more with curriculum than they thought. thornton first presented this work in 1988 at an american educational research association conference, and started to advocate the importance of teachers as curricular-instructional gatekeepers in the social studies. the components of gate keeping are considered to be 1) beliefs concerning the meaning of social studies, 2) decisions concerning planning, and 3) decisions concerning instructional strategies (thornton, 1991, p. 237). a curricular-instructional gatekeeper has to make considerations of purposes—how teachers think about the social studies curriculum heavily influences teachers’ teaching and curriculum. as thornton (2005) asserted, teachers, when viewed as curricular-instructional gatekeepers, have significant effects on the curriculum that is enacted in the classroom. teachers’ beliefs concerning social studies do influence what they teach. in a sense, teachers are guided by their personal beliefs and theories that structure their teaching and guide them in their decision making. both curriculum and instruction can be strengthened by teachers having a significant stake in either creating or modifying a curriculum (walker, 2003, pp. 294–295). however, in taiwan and in other east asian context, teachers have long been viewed in the research as “content deliverers,” delivering the official knowledge of the national curriculum standards and textbooks (chou, 2001, p.95). an important goal of this paper is to challenge such a limited (and limiting) view of classroom teachers in both east asian contexts (specifically) and globally (more generally). having indicated the role that teacher personal beliefs might play in the enactment of the classroom curriculum, i will now turn to the research itself. research questions this study seeks to produce results that will be globally relevant for curriculum reformers and for teacher education programs that seek to promote the value of the teacher as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper in contexts where teacher agency and autonomy have increasingly been reduced. in addition, this study aims to illuminate the challenges and strategies of social studies teachers as they attempt to teach controversial issues within a fractured and divided social context. the following research questions therefore drive this study: 1. how do the beliefs and knowledge of high school history teachers in taiwan about the taiwan-prc relationship influence their curricular decisions? 2. in what ways, if any, are high school history teachers in taiwan curricular-instructional gatekeepers, particularly in their instruction about the taiwan-prc relationship? mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 case study methods this study is about teachers and their working contexts: that is, history teachers in the social, cultural and political contexts of a globally interconnected world. my research seeks to understand the personal foundations of social studies teachers’ professional decision making. the data from this paper comes from a larger case study (yin, 2009) on controversial public issues pedagogy in taiwan—an island. as i attempted to demonstrate above, that is a particularly rich example when it comes to thinking about issues of global connections, international conflict and social divisions. there were four participants in the larger study and they were all taiwanese teachers living and working in an urban context (see table 1). these are all teachers at the top of their craft: they all have a master’s degree in history. they have taught from 6 to 23 years. two undertook their teacher preparation from taiwan normal university and the other two were prepared at alternative teacher education programs. table 1. summary of the participants and their backgrounds mr. wu mr. chen mrs. chang mrs. fan teaching experience 20 years. first 2 years in a middle school, and 18 years in high school. 23 years, in a public high school. 6 years. 3 years in taipei, and 3 years in taichung. 17 years. 6 years in a middle school, and 11 years in a high school. education masters/ normal university. masters/ normal university. studying phd in taipei, having a master’s degree from the u.s. and from an alternative program. master’s degree/ graduated from a private university. majored in western history. other experiences working for history subject summer camps in taichung. worked for national curriculum design project. working for national history subject pd team leader in taichung. worked for a national university entry exam committee. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 family background from a chinese—not native to the island family, and married taiwanese. from a chinese—not native to the island—family. all family members are teachers. from a taiwanese —native to the island—family. single. he grew up in taichung. from a chinese—not native to the island—family. she plans to move to taipei in 2 years. conducting a case study with multiple resources created a broad base and maintained a strong chain of evidence (yin, 2009). this study utilized two different strategies of data collection: non-participant observation and interviews. the data collection was conducted over the summer of 2013. for the larger study, interviews and observations were my primary research methods. the most important data collection method used in this study was interviews. as yin (2009) mentioned, case study interviews are often of an open-ended nature, in which an investigator can ask key respondents for the facts of a matter as well as for the respondents’ opinions about events. this study seeks to not only understand specific answers from teachers, but also to explore their personal practical knowledge and to try to understand how their personal practical knowledge influences their curricular gate keeping around the teaching of controversial public issues in the classroom. the use of interviews allowed me to obtain critical in-depth descriptions and interpretations from the participants in this case study (stake, 1995). this method provided an in-depth analysis of participants' perspectives, their personal practical knowledge, their gate keeping, and their conception of controversial public issues’ teaching. besides the interviews, i observed the four participants’ classes over a period of 6 weeks; each participant was observed at least twice, each for 50 minutes. i observed mr. wu four times; mr. chen, four times; mrs. chang, three times; and mrs. fan two times. the observations in this study helped me build my relationship with the teachers. the time spent in their classrooms debriefing after each observation also helped me have a better understanding about their teaching practice and their social and cultural contexts. i analyzed the interview and observational data in several ways. first, i began by organizing the data from interviews into two broad categories that i borrowed from the research: teacher knowledge and teacher belief. within the teacher knowledge and teacher belief categories, i further divided the interview data into teacher professional knowledge, including content knowledge and pedagogy knowledge, and teacher personal knowledge, consisting of teacher backgrounds, teacher life experiences, and their political beliefs. this way of organizing the data highlighted teachers’ gate keeping roles and the various factors that influenced how they viewed that role. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 i also collected observation data on the teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeepers. i connected their decisions to their professional knowledge and personal beliefs. i explored their decision making processes regarding the curriculum, for example, their ways of representing controversial historical events or their rationales for teaching or not teaching some specific issues. overall, as i reviewed categories and data, i made short conclusions for each category. after the process of reading the data, and organizing it into different themes and categories, i asked myself to rethink my own background and teaching experiences in taiwan, and i went through the process again, as a taiwanese history teacher, not as a researcher. going through the process one more time, i got closer to the data, examining the structural issues and the cultural context carefully, and i made myself rethink the data, which is constructed in the specific context of taiwan. as should be clear from the dual way in which i attempted to analyze my data, my roles as both an insider and an outsider to the research context placed me in a unique position. on the one hand, i was perceived as an outsider because of my current status as a researcher and a doctoral student from the united states. participants treated me as an outsider, not as a peer or colleague, and regarded me as a researcher, not as a fellow history teacher. but, the experiences have allowed me to distance myself from the immediacy of the demands of classroom teaching. on the other hand, i was perceived as an insider because of my background. before studying in the united states, as noted above, i was a taiwanese public school history teacher for many years and i had heavily engaged in history curriculum reforms and several research projects, for example, the social studies in asia research project. in addition, growing up and attending public schools in taipei, taiwan, also positions me as an insider. my entire life experience and education in taiwan has given me an embodied knowledge of the social and historical contexts of taiwanese society. such embodied knowledge was made critical though distance—giving me the knowledge necessary to understand the school and teacher culture found in the taiwanese public school. teacher narratives on the personal foundations of their professional work teacher knowledge and teacher beliefs have largely been ignored by the taiwanese research and educational community (chou, 2001). however, for the teachers i interviewed, it is clear that teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, teacher biography and curricular-instructional gate keeping are interrelated, especially with regards to the decision to teach the relationship between taiwan and the prc. as noted above, in recent research in taiwan, there has been little discussion of teacher knowledge, especially about its personal foundations. instead, educational research and teacher preparation have invested more time and energy into equipping social studies teachers with the subject matter mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 knowledge needed to intelligently navigate the ideological pressures that are reflected in the oft-changing national history curriculum. for example, one participant, mr. chen (interview2-2, 06182013,), said, history teachers in taiwan still rely on the subject matter knowledge learned from the teacher preparation and professional development programs. i have participated in the professional development program for high school history teachers for a couple years. teachers across ages in pd significantly depend on their subject matter knowledge; they look for “historical facts” and “truths.” to navigate the national history curriculum, teachers reach out for more subject matter knowledge, and teacher preparation programs and professional development programs have attempted to supply them with this content knowledge. that means that teachers depend on knowledge officially approved by an external authority. this means that their work is subject to the changing ideologies of the curriculum writers, on the one hand, and to professional historians, on the other. from the participants i interviewed, it therefore appeared that their primary focus was on their professional subject matter knowledge rather than on their personal beliefs. in other words, participants usually reflected on their professional knowledge for teaching social studies, but they did not rethink how their personal beliefs influenced their curricular decisions. however, the interview data revealed that teachers nevertheless interpret the content of the curriculum based on their personal beliefs. interview data also reflected that teacher knowledge is highly dynamic, as new life experiences and new contexts may produce different insights and new decisions during their teaching. in addition, observation notes supported the claim that teacher personal practical knowledge helps to shape teachers’ decision making. in what follows, i shall explore several examples of how personal beliefs and experiences influence the professional work of taiwanese social studies teachers. family stories as a spur to multiple perspectives even though participants were not aware of their personal beliefs influencing their curriculum gate keeping, they did make interpretations of the content of the curriculum that were based on their personal beliefs. for example, mr. wu shared, my dad is chinese, my mom is taiwanese, but my dad came to taiwan before 1949. during “228,” one would have expected him to be persecuted, but his taiwanese friends prevented him from being arrested and killed. my family is part of this history. so, because this event is so close to us, i always ask students to re-tell these past historical episodes and events. i will share articles about this case, but with different perspectives, not from the political perspective but from a “humanities” perspective. that means i usually ask my students to mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 think about themselves from a human perspective, not from a person who has already been labeled as “taiwanese” or “chinese.” (interview1-2, 06102013) based on the story from mr. wu about his pedagogical engagement with the historical event, 228—the february 28 massacre, also known as the 228 incident, was an anti-government uprising in taiwan. the massacre marked the beginning of the kuomintang’s white terror period and is a critical impetus for the taiwanese independence movement. in his class, he opened students up to different perspectives on this historical event, brought in materials that supplemented the official documents, and stimulated students’ thinking by giving more space for student questions and free thinking. through observation notes, i could see how mr. wu intentionally created the space for students to understand the conflict but not to emphasize the conflict between the taiwanese and chinese when he was talking about 228 in this class. ultimately, it would appear, he made his curricular decision based on his personal story. indeed, his own personal story truly influenced his interpretation of both the content and his teaching. based on the lesson mr. wu taught, he teaches historical events differently from the national curriculum standards, and the way he teaches is based on his personal beliefs. mr. wu’s interpretation exemplified how a teacher’s personal life can impact how he or she encounters a history curriculum. indeed, teachers’ personal beliefs guided their curricular instruction as a kind of curricular gate keeping in class, especially in teaching controversial public issues. the teacher as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper in taiwan from the interviews, it is clear that participants do make their own curricular decisions based on their professional knowledge and personal beliefs. participants practice curricular-instructional gate keeping as they teach in their class, and as they make their own curricular decisions related to controversial issues. in other words, participants have been curricular gatekeepers who make decisions about teaching controversial issues in taiwan. the teacher as a curricular gatekeeper considers students’ development a curricular gatekeeper not only makes decisions that shape the content of the curriculum and the nature of the classroom’s pedagogy, but also has to have an understanding of students’ development. understanding students’ development, especially their moral and intellectual development, is a key point in being a curricular gatekeeper. teachers best impact such development by offering students viable alternatives and allowing them to choose among them. as mrs. chang shared, being a teacher is subjective; teaching includes not only teaching knowledge (傳道), but developing values (授業) and solving problems (解惑). i think developing values is the most difficult one. as a teacher, i have my own values, but it is not expected that my students would either accept or be influenced by my own values. i usually give them multiple values and mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 multiple answers, rather than giving them specific answers and the “truth.” (interview3-1, 06172013) as seen in mrs. chang’s statement, a taiwanese teacher can conceive of influencing students’ moral values and development. a curricular gatekeeper needs to have awareness of the ways in which students can be influenced by teachers, both inside and outside of class. the teacher as a curricular gatekeeper has awareness of contextual factors influencing decision making teachers as curricular gatekeepers make decisions that are heavily influenced by contextual factors (thornton, 2005). mr. wu shared, frequent history curriculum reforms impacted our teaching a lot, for example, the reforms in 1999 and 2006, which came along with the changes in the political parties. the goals and the content of curriculum were different, not only with more new content which teachers did not know, but also with some different ideology influences. for example, there is no mention of national identity in the new curriculum and there is a lesser proportion of chinese history. i did make some differences based on these changes, but, overall, i see the changes as positive to my teaching, i have more space to adjust my own teaching and to learn different knowledge. (interview1-3, 06172013) from mr. wu’s perspective, he agreed that teacher’s gate keeping is influenced by contextual factors, for example, curriculum reforms, political changes and the interaction with the prc. yet, compared to other participants, mr. wu looked positively upon the factors and changes; indeed, he took the changes as opportunities to develop his teaching and knowledge—especially his subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. in addition, mr. wu also shared that he will try to teach an independent study “taiwanese history after the 1980s,” which is a specific time period that includes many controversial historical events in taiwan; he likes to use this opportunity to challenge himself for teaching the controversial issues. on the other hand, mrs. feng is an example of someone who is aware of the contextual factors but also made curricular decisions—she does not see the value of the curriculum guideline reforms; she instead chose to use traditional textbooks with her students. through observation notes, i saw her comparing the new and old versions of the history curriculum textbooks and add content to the newer textbooks from the older one. mr. wu and mrs. feng were both aware of contextual factors and consider their influences, but they made different curricular decisions. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 48 discussion summary of the findings this study shows that even though there is no clear definition of teachers as curricular-instructional gatekeepers in taiwan, teachers still make curricular decisions that are based on their subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, personal beliefs, family background and local contexts. the following are three different areas for discussion. first, as shulman (1987) pointed out, teachers must learn to use their knowledge base to provide the grounds for their choices and actions. in my study, teachers used their professional knowledge for teaching controversial issues, but their personal beliefs were also an important factor. in taiwan, as everywhere else, teaching controversial issues is related to the structure and norms of the nation-state (king, 2012); in general, there are national curriculum standards and a national curriculum committee that makes the history curriculum. teachers have little to no input at the national curricular decision making level. in addition, teachers often feel that they lack the required content knowledge and preparation for teaching controversial issues, especially those who graduated from traditional teacher preparation programs (chen, 2008; hung, 2007). therefore, when teachers face teaching controversial issues, teachers come to feel that it is necessary to develop professional knowledge that will guide them in this work. through this study, we can see the manner in which teachers are anxious about the new content of the history curriculum, because they did not have such preparation from their teacher education programs. these teachers often reach out for additional professional knowledge, including subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, when facing the challenges raised by history curriculum reforms. however, when teachers make curricular decisions in the classroom—when they exercise their gate keeping functions—they also make curricular decisions based on their personal beliefs, experiences and personal backgrounds. as ross, cornett, and mccutcheon (1992) pointed out, teachers are guided by personal and practical theories that structure their decision making. along the same line, clandinin and connelly (1996) believe that teachers’ personal knowledge and story-sharing make a difference in the lives of a teacher. teachers’ personal stories and experiences change the way teachers interpret the content of controversial issues and also how teachers represent these issues to students. however, the degree to which teachers are aware of such influences is, perhaps, questionable. second, the teacher as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper makes decisions for teaching controversial issues at the classroom level, not at the national level. there is always a gap between mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 49 these levels. as cornett (1987) argued, teachers too often believe curriculum development is a formal task imposed from the outside, not in conjunction with the teachers themselves. along the same lines, in taiwan, national curriculum decision making is a powerful dynamic and an ideological process that disempowers teachers (chen, 2008); too many teachers believe they are only given a passive role for curriculum decision making. however, as we listen to the participants, it is clear that teachers do have an important sort of ownership over their classroom teaching. when they represent historical events and controversial issues based on their own personal beliefs and professional knowledge, they significantly shape the curriculum at the classroom level. as chen (2008) asserted, teachers play important roles, as curricular-instructional gatekeepers in the classroom, although they are often excluded at the national level. however, since teachers teach in the classroom, they can decide what needs to be included, what needs to be excluded, what skills need to be taught, how to interpret the historical accounts, and so forth. teachers have more power in the implementation of a controversial issue at the classroom level than they often think. lastly, teachers can make differences when they make decisions based on their personal beliefs in ways that might influence students’ development. as curricular-instructional gatekeepers, teachers impact the intellectual and moral development of students (thornton, 2005). for example, mr. wu talked about the historical event 228 from a global perspective, and he teaches national identity in a manner that transcends national boundaries. teachers influence not only students’ ideas of national identity and self-identity, but also their opportunities for understanding the relationship between taiwan and the prc. in addition, teachers make more differences than they expect and than they were expected to by the public in taiwan. when teachers seriously consider the meanings and purposes of the curriculum, they also commit themselves to the responsibilities of making decisions at the same time. indeed, teachers make differences as curriculum agents (parker, 1987; thornton, 1991). in taiwan, in the past, most teachers have thought of themselves, and outsiders have thought about them, as curriculum deliverers, without the ability to make their own decisions. in a sense, they were not required and expected to shape the national curriculum and curriculum standards. however, from this study’s findings, it is clear that teachers often recognize their own agency and, even when they do not, they still make decisions at the classroom level, and these curricular decisions, based on their personal beliefs, are a form of curricular agency. as thornton (2005) argued, teachers as curricular gatekeepers have a more significant effect on the curriculum enacted in the classroom than is often believed. limitations of the study a concern for any interview study is the way in which factors in the environment that might influence teachers’ willingness to honestly and openly discuss their experiences. in addition, it could mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 50 be claimed that two and half months is a relatively short timeframe for a qualitative research. however, the evidences obtained from the observations and narrative interviews were used to corroborate and confirm the findings. in addition, my own insider knowledge of taiwanese society and teaching cultures can be viewed as an important bulwark against faulty interpretation. implications for policy and practice there has been a gap between classroom teaching and national curriculum-making. the results of this study suggest that national policymakers should take greater consideration of teachers, especially these teachers who have been empowered at the classroom level for teaching controversial issues. on the other hand, teachers often feel anxious about new changes and teaching controversial public issues because of a lack of preparation from teacher education programs. therefore, the result of this study suggests teacher educators should open the various courses and diverse field-placements for pre-service teachers in order to prepare their content knowledge and practical experiences for new content and issues. in addition, the results of this research also indicates that teachers are accustomed to reaching out for professional knowledge, including subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, for teaching controversial issues, without rethinking how their personal beliefs impact the curriculum that they teach. therefore, teacher preparation and professional development programs should provide more chances for teachers, both preservice teachers and inservice, to reflect upon their personal beliefs and experience. i began this paper by stating that it will always be a challenging (but imperative) task for taiwanese history educators to construct a history curriculum with a pluralist and broad view of the past, present and future, and to make educational substance outweigh the ideological and political dimensions of school history. i believe that the results and recommendations of this study might be a helpful step in moving in that direction. references byford, j., lennon, s., & russell, w. b. (2009). teaching controversial issues in the social studies: a research study of high school teachers. the clearing house: a journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 82(4), 165–170. brookfield, s. (1995). becoming a critically reflective teacher. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. chen, n. p. (2004). the discussion of teachers’ curricular decisions at the classroom level. the journal of national education, 52(2), 1–17. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 37-52. corresponding author email: hungyuha@msu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 51 chen, h. l. (2008). a critical reflection on the reform of the high school history curriculum in taiwan. in d. grossman & j. lo (eds.), social education in asia: critical issues and multiple perspectives (pp. 87-110). hong kong: the hong kong institution of education. chou, s. c. (2001). the myth of curricular decision. the journal of education, 7(47), 91–106. clandinin, d. j., & connelly, f. m. (1987). teacher’s personal knowledge: what accounts as personal in the study of personal. journal of curriculum studies, 19, 487–500. clandinin, d. j., & connelly, f. m. (1996). teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes: teacher stories of teachers. school stories, stories of schools. educational researcher, 25(3), 24–30. cornett, j. w. (1987). teacher personal practical theories and their influence upon teacher curricular and instructional actions: a case study of secondary social studies teacher (unpublished doctoral dissertation). ohio state university, columbus, ohio. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. l. (1990). research on teaching and teacher research: the issues that divide. education research, 19(2), 2–11. grossman, d. l., & lo, j. (2008). introduction. in d. grossman & j. lo (eds.), social education in asia: critical issues and multiple perspectives (pp. 1-12) hong kong: the hong kong institution of education. hess, d. e. (2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. london and new york: routledge. hsu, f. j., & chen, m. s. (2004, 04). the analysis of racial issues in taiwan. paper presented in the develop04ment of taiwanese population, family, and national healthy policy conference, taipei, taiwan. hung, y. h. (2007). explore the teachers’ subjectivity in history curriculum guidelines reforms in taiwan (unpublished master’s dissertation). national taiwan normal university, taipei, taiwan. king. j. t. (2012). teaching and learning about controversial issues: lessons from northern ireland. theory & research in social education, 37(2), 215–246. kuo, j. l. (1999). political logic of three links policy change. soochow journal of political science, 10 65–95. ministry of education. 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(2004). controversial issues: teachers’ attitudes and practices in the context of citizenship education. oxford review of education, 30(4), 489– 507. ross, e. w., cornett, j. w., & mccutcheon, g. (1992). teacher personal theorizing: connecting curriculum practice, theory, and research. albany, ny: state university of new york press. stake (1995). the art of case study research. london, england: international educational and professional publisher. shulman, l. (1987). knowledge and teaching foundation of the new reform. harvard educational review, 51, 1–22. parker, w. c. (1987). teacher’s mediation in social studies. theory and research in social education, 15, 1–22. thornton, s. j. (1991). teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper in social studies. in j. p. shaver (ed.), handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning (pp. 237–248). new york, ny: macmillan. thornton, s. j. (2005). teaching social studies that matters. new york, ny: teachers college press. walker, d. f. (2003). fundamentals of curriculum (2nd ed.). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. wu, j. s. (2010). the relationship among the u.s., taiwan, and the prc after 911. soochow journal of political science, 28(1), 1–32. yin, r. (2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. mailto:hungyuha@msu.edu a conflicted social landscape the role of the person in teaching research questions case study methods mrs. fan mrs. chang mr. chen mr. wu teacher narratives on the personal foundations of their professional work ... family stories as a spur to multiple perspectives the teacher as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper in taiwan the teacher as a curricular gatekeeper considers students’ development the teacher as a curricular gatekeeper has awareness of contextual factors influencing decision making discussion summary of the findings limitations of the study implications for policy and practice references journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 143 theoretical cognitive principles observed in the social studies classroom juan walker (juwalker@augusta.edu) augusta university elise langan, middle georgia state university andrew kemp, augusta university john pagnotti, ocala school district william russell, university of central florida _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: pre-service elementary social studies teachers in the south eastern united states participated in a mixed methods study to determine the degree to which they utilized critical thinking skills. insight assessments administered analysis of their reflections, critical thinking skills, and dispositions test. the researchers developed a post survey for the study based on paul and elder’s (2009) work. pre-service teachers initially believed that their critical thinking abilities were above average; however, after taking the skills and dispositions test and receiving feedback on their reflections, they developed a new appreciation and understanding of the components of critical thinking. they also made a commitment to help their future students develop their critical thinking skills. this study addresses the need to consider how our pre-service teachers think about their practice, how to help them think more critically, and how to help them teach critical thinking skills when they become teachers. key words: critical thinking, learning processes, intellectual interaction, application of knowledge _____________________________________________________________________________________ introduction in order to understand the past actions of different groups, we must examine the beliefs, attitudes, and information that guided their decisions. as social studies teachers, we can draw comparisons that consider how events and beliefs evolve in modern times. for example, why do conservatives and liberals champion particular causes? why do some religious groups have a negative impression of a particular faith? in vansledright’s (2010) view, all cognitive tools are insignificant without an understanding of the theories that inform the different tools that result in students’ learning. according to paul and elder (2009), few people realize the role critical thinking plays in their lives, and even fewer understand the process of thinking critically. poor thinking skills prevent individuals from recognizing opportunities and making informed decisions. the new national standards (common core state standards initiative [ccssi], n.d.) and college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies standards (national council for the social studies, n.d.) place strong emphasis on the development of students’ critical thinking skills. mailto:juwalker@augusta.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 144 as a research group, we agreed with pinkney and shaughnessy (2013), “modern mandates require that schools teach higher-level thinking, without really specifying what this means” (p. 346). since this directive seems fairly standard in all classrooms, most people “generally need training to think reliably, deeply, critically, and well” (p. 346). oftentimes the idea and concept of thinking is devalued or overlooked as humans are perceived as always thinking; however, the level at which they are thinking should be considered. pinkney and shaughnessy (2013) point out that “educators must teach critical thinking because critical thinking is a skill which makes people fully human” (p. 351). to make the historical past come alive, students often seek personal meanings (davis, yeager, & foster, 2001). as social studies methods professors and curriculum experts, we emphasize a strict cognitive view of learning and explore a blend of understanding and empathy for others. we encourage our preservice teachers to facilitate consideration of various perspectives when seeking historical meanings. the pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge base plays a key role in seeking historical meaning. if teachers lack critical thinking skills, how can they teach students to think critically? if teachers lack empathy for other cultures, how can they teach about kindness and justice? skolnick, dulberg, maestre, and stokes (2004) call for a blending of cognitive abilities with compassion for others. intelligence and emotions must be considered as equal tools for critical thinking. willingham (2012) notes that, when students are provided a mechanism for approaching problems from a critical thinking perspective, their ability to think critically and make connections improves. critical thinking is developed through active learning, as active learning involves the application of knowledge and skill to real-life situations. according to smart, witt, and scott (2012), “active learning consists of more than just any activity that students participate in. the activities, experiences, or interventions must be focused around clear objectives” (p. 452). smart et al., (2012) point out four steps in the active learning cycle: experiencing, reflecting, generalizing and applying (p. 453). by following these steps, students develop higher-order thinking skills as they become familiar with the necessary process to produce educated thoughts and opinions based on content and real-life experience. it is this practice that allows individuals to eventually develop informed opinions, helping them to develop a better system for thinking (camilli, vargas, ryan, & barnett, 2010). if students can understand and apply the learning process to the content being covered, they can obtain the required skills to independently analyze any type of knowledge. according to snyder and snyder (2008), “critical thinking activities should be based on a structure that includes four elements: ‘illstructured problems, criteria for assessing thinking, student assessment of thinking, and improvement of thinking’” (p. 94). it is imperative that students learn these steps and turn them into a second-nature thought process in order to develop strong opinions and educated ideas. it is also important for students to understand that they will not receive confirmation from the teacher on whether an idea is right or wrong. right and wrong answers do not exist as long as logical reasoning—developed through the critical thinking process—supports the student’s choice. critical thinking skills are not developed through any specific content, but according to how the content is presented. to support this premise, focused attention needs to be placed on the application of content, the process of learning and methods of assessment. according to snyder and snyder (2008), “in terms of the application of content, teaching techniques that promote memorization do not support critical thinking. some content, such as vocabulary definitions, does require memory; however, it is the application of the content that stimulates thinking” (p. 91). students should be faced with a problem to journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 145 solve, irrespective of the specificity of the content, e.g., “critical thinking uses questioning techniques that require students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information to solve problems and make decisions rather than merely to repeat information” (p. 91). students must be able to question situations and problem-solve for answers rather than memorize steps or ideas that are not original. in order to teach students to think critically, teachers must provide students with fodder while keeping them actively engaged. sen (2013), echoing john dewey (1938), states, “learning by experience is a purposeful process. in this purposeful process, there is taking the knowledge and beliefs into consideration and ordering the ideas by reasoning” (p. 41). critical thinking entails “doubting a situation, hesitating, being surprised, cognitive difficulties, and actions such as searching, hunting, questioning, and finding materials for removing suspicions” (sen, 2013, p. 41). by allowing students to explore their experiences while addressing these skills, students are actively engaged in the learning process, which activates their development and their self worth. reasons for outdated assumptions although the research group differed on the reasons for the classroom teacher’s struggles, they did agree that from a neurological perspective, the brain could change in only one direction: degenerating from aging, injury or disease. based on this antiquated understanding, teachers might not understand their students’ capacity for intellectual growth. it was also believed that after a certain age, no further brain development could take place. this is also incorrect. recent cognitive research demonstrates that even at the adolescent stage, substantial development is taking place in the frontal cortex region of the brain. without this cutting-edge research, 20th century teachers draw erroneous conclusions. if students are not performing well, the blame must have reside with the students. the widespread theory of flawed students supports a teacher-centered philosophy. according to darling-hammond (2010), factors such as the quality of instruction, motivation or organization are ignored by many teachers in the classroom. vansledright (2011) contends that anemic approaches are acquired through practice and repetition. these inconsistent methodology techniques have been passed on for generations and the results are self-evident. teachers must provide a positive emotional environment for learning (hardiman and denckla, 2010). another factor to consider is for teachers to truly care for their students and learning (noddings, 2005). building an environment that allows students to feel they are important in the classroom also matters. further, all community members in a classroom have to be invested in the learning process. hattie (2012) believes that teaching is more than just disseminating facts. teaching is about creating change in a student’s cognitive system. factors such as cognitively demanding careers, cognitively demanding leisure, and better schooling have led to a gain in intelligent test scores (nisbett et al., 2012). within this philosophy, “to think about the future, it is best to work backwards, tracing trajectories to the present moment, carefully working out the lineages that have brought current conditions into being” (smith, 2013, p. 370). for teachers, we almost think of our students’ futures and reverse engineer the process of helping them to develop. in this article, we made several suggestions for how to take a progressive neuroeducation approach to teaching social studies. because teaching is a multifaceted construct including skills, dispositions, and metacognition, this presents several challenges to those seeking to comprehend 21st century teaching skills. to capture the multidimensional nature of critical thinking, we encourage teachers to renounce journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 146 20th century techniques. in the future, more neurological and educational research may prove that teachers should seek to capture the dispositions and metacognitions of students as they perform thinking tasks versus following the usual practice of assessing lower-order skills. teachers can also increase the validity of their approaches by conducting action research to better understand student learning and thinking. furthermore, when outcomes are systematically studied in relation to instruction and teachers are willing to change instruction in response to students’ needs, improvement is often considerable. in the process, we hope that teachers who examine their students’ needs will realize that they are social scientists studying important social questions in an active learning environment that can inform their own content knowledge and pedagogy. rationale for paul and elder framework as a research group, we selected paul and elder’s (2001) framework because it aligned with our views regarding critical thinking in education. within their framework, they advocate reasoning, intellectual standards and intellectual traits. neuroeducation is a new field that combines mind, brain and education research (sparks, 2012). research from these fields has practical application for social studies classroom instruction (miller, 2010). by examining nature-nurture; by learning development, multiple codes, and modifications; by studying alternative paths to learning; and by offering alternative connections to the brain, we will allow students a better foundation for learning. selecting paul and elder’s (2009) framework supported the original goal of this project, which was to deepen history teacher candidates’ critical thinking skills—and those of their students—as a means of engendering intellectual curiosity in a globalized society. the project goals were met through the development of primary sources and curriculum activities for history teacher candidates to be delivered in the pre-service classroom prior to field placement. primary sources are the raw materials of history— original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. they are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience. sam wineberg (2001) defines primary sources as a portion of the past. sources are often incomplete and provide little context; therefore, students must use prior knowledge and work with multiple primary sources to find patterns that matched the template established by paul and elder (2009). in analyzing primary sources, students move from concrete observations and facts to questioning and making inferences about the materials. questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of view challenge students’ assumptions. in our study, the following outcome objectives were addressed: 1. how do pre-service teachers respond to the outsourced insight assessment organization? 2. how do pre-service social studies teachers in field placements rate their critical thinking skills (using a scale of poor to excellent) after participating in project activities using primary sources? 3. how successfully do the targeted pre-service teachers incorporate social studies units designed to improve students’ critical thinking skills in their field placement classrooms, as measured by the graders? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 147 methods participants target audience: we implemented the project with n=14 elementary grades social studies teacher candidates enrolled at in a large public university system in the southern united states who will be teaching elementary social studies (kindergarten to 5th grade level). although the number of participants is small, triangulation of multiple data sources enhanced the trustworthiness of the analysis. for the currently enrolled pre-service teachers, the critical thinking activities employing primary sources were incorporated into required methods coursework (early childhood social studies education ii), which was taught by the project director. work plan the first task was to make primary and secondary sources accessible to the pre-service teachers. the kinds of primary sources—which provide authentic materials for students to practice the skills required by the common core state standards, college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards, and georgia milestone testing—that were assembled, included: photographs, newspapers, films, audio files, government documents, personal correspondence and economic data. the library of congress provided sources and materials. assembled materials were posted to a project website that included guidance regarding their usage. the web page, teaching primary sources (augusta university, n.d.), was used by the targeted pre-service teachers and is maintained as an open source for other preand in-service teachers who wish to strengthen their critical thinking skills and/or develop activities intended to build their students’ critical thinking skills. methods included mock trials, propaganda posters, graphs, museums and charts. the second major activity was the development of the critical thinking classroom activities. the curriculum focused on showing teacher candidates how to evaluate patterns, chronology, sequencing (including cause and effect), and the identification of historical periods that were influenced by frames of reference. within carr’s (1991) framework, the critical thinker has to process the presence of the evidence and consider an endless possibility of meanings among texts or artifacts that are different from their everyday lives. we guided our future teachers accordingly: this thinking recognizes changes in the features and patterns on the face of experience; it uses the familiar to examine the unknown. as information expands, perspectives change. reflections may reframe the memories and assumptions of an entire life, or they may resolve unclarity, attuning dissonances and easing constraints in an evolving life (carr, 1991, p. 10). these mechanisms (primary and secondary sources) are valuable tools of communication from previous cultures to our modern culture. this approach is further supported by langer (1989) who presented his thoughts on the mindlessness of traditional education: “the individual becomes mindlessly trapped by categories that were previously created when in a mindful mode. this entrapment limits people both physiologically and behaviorally” (p. 139). langer, then, encourages a free environment for intellectual interaction and a repudiation of journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 148 traditional methods of learning. doyle and zakrajsek (2013) advocate for learning-center teaching (lct), teaching which espouses that your learning is actively engaging with content. this modern neuroscience argument contradicts traditional social studies techniques. instead of using a collective history approach, as rochester (2003) proposes, based on neurological data, a history as mystery approach is better supported by modern science, asking the learner to consider context, perspective and significance of events (zarnowski, 2003). the third major project task was the implementation of the assigned teaching activities which incorporated primary and secondary sources to develop critical thinking skills. in the spring of 2014, preservice teachers received in-class training during methods courses and used online assemblages of source materials. the teacher candidates completed a pre-survey regarding their views on critical thinking. the teacher candidates were given one critical thinking unit based on social studies activities to prepare lessons for their spring 2014 studentteaching placements. their assignments included analysis of documents from key historical figures concerning historic events. for example, one teacher candidate examined george washington’s actions at valley forge which can be viewed through multiple lenses. the pre-service teachers submitted their lesson plans late in the spring 2014 semester, along with their field notes on a lesson, the list of documents used, and a description of critical thinking activities and guides developed for review prior to implementation during field placement. thus, project participants taught their students using the same materials and guided approaches. all of these approaches were built to support the objectives of the common core state standards and the c3 framework. at the completion of the study, the pre-service teachers completed a post survey. procedure the teacher candidates completed the california critical thinking skills (cctst) and dispositions (ccsdt) tests after their field placements. all materials, including lesson plans (three-day teaching units), learning activities, assessments (formative) and discrete lesson reflections, were examined. the dispositions’ component signifies an individual’s desire to engage in certain activities. for our purposes, we asked if the pre-service teachers were predisposed toward critical thinking which includes being motivated to think beyond rote responses. four research members evaluated the data and offered conclusions. all aspects were examined from the (n=14) teacher candidates. they included: in-class training during methods courses, workshops and online materials from the library of congress. the researchers evaluated the teacher candidates’ views of their critical thinking skills using a likert scale from 1 to 5. in addition, the research team examined how the teacher candidates used the resources in class and evaluated best methods of usage. if we found there were concerns about the specified materials, we examined them to see if they had been correctly presented to the teacher candidates in addition to considering whether or not the teacher candidates possessed the necessary skills to implement them. the research staff used a modified version of paul and elder’s (2009) rubric to measure the teacher candidates’ critical thinking skills by examining lesson plans and journals to find common areas of success and areas of concerns. if we found that the activities were flawed, we reexamined them and reviewed them later. only the activities that were deemed successful by a vast majority of teacher candidates and the research staff were included in the final online version of the critical thinking exercises. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 149 the teacher candidates were provided a post survey regarding their perceptions of their critical thinking skills and dispositions. instructing teacher candidates how to evaluate patterns, chronology, sequencing (including cause and effect) and the identification of historical periods are influenced by frames of reference. the researchers used the rubrics established by paul and elder (2009) to assess the teacher candidates’ understanding. paul and elder’s (2009) rubric was based on eight areas of cognitive functions: purpose, question at issue or central problem, point of view, information, concept and ideas, assumptions, implications and consequences, inference and interpretation. each section had five questions relating to each critical thinking domain. all materials related to the lesson were examined: teacher candidates’ lesson plans, assessments (formative) and individual lesson (reflections). data analysis the purpose of this study was to advance understanding of pre-service teachers’ ability to think critically. this section discusses the analysis of the data collected from subjects. participants were identified by pseudonyms assigned by the research team; only participants who responded to all survey questions and completed the consent forms were included in the study. fourteen pre-service teachers responded to all survey questions throughout the 4-week data-collection period. the pseudonyms we selected were students “a-n.” applying what corbin, and strauss (2008) refer to as “theoretical sampling,” (p. 12) we chose to review the reflections of the pre-service teachers (n=14). although the numbers of participants were small, triangulation of multiple data sources enhanced the trustworthiness of the analysis. written assignments and questionnaire responses were read and coded by the researchers. we participated in a process of individual, open coding. next, the researchers compared codes to develop categories or themes (corbin et al., 2008), discussed in the next section. results of dispositions and skills our goal was to answer the first research question: (1) how do pre-service teachers respond to a rating system—poor, fair, good, excellent critical thinking skills—to compare surveys of the teacher candidates with the researchers and the outsourced insight assessment organization? as noted previously, one of the purposes of this study was to determine if the students, after their field placements, had the skills (as measured by the cctst) and the dispositions for critical thinking (as measured by the california critical thinking disposition inventory cctdi). the mean scores for each inventory can be found in table 1. (see appendices) according to the literature on the instruments, there should be a strong relationship between the candidates’ dispositions for critical thinking and their critical thinking skills. however, for this small sample, there was no clear relationship (table 1). because of the lack of correlation between the instruments, we decided that an internal look at each instrument would provide useful information about student dispositions and skills, respectively. california critical thinking disposition inventory (cctdi) using a correlation analysis, the cctdi was analyzed to see where the strongest relationships were within the instrument. the results can be found in table 2. (see appendices) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 150 as can be seen from this correlation table, there are many strong correlations within this instrument. however, there were quite a few items in the survey that did not seem to fit the overall purpose. for instance, truth seeking did not correlate highly with many of the other items. confidence in reasoning did not correlate highly either. california critical thinking skills test (cctst) much like the cctdi, the california critical thinking skills test had strong internal validity. however, a few items, like the skills explanation and evaluation, did not correlate highly with the other items in the instrument (table 2). (see appendices) because of the relatively strong internal structure of both instruments with some anomalous results, the researchers determined that a factor analysis be run to create aggregated factors that would indicate the variables’ relationship to each other. factor analysis the items from the cctst and the cctdi were put through a principal components analysis (pca) using spss 21. prior to the factor analysis, the data were analyzed to determine the factorability. using a correlation matrix for each inventory, it was determined that there were numerous items with correlations above .3, with the majority above .6. because of the small sample size, the sample was artificially manipulated to create a larger group to produce both the kaiser-meyer-oklin (kmo) and bartlett’s test for sphericity (see table 3 in appendices). the size of the sample was tripled only for the purposes of this analysis. the kmo was .62, slightly exceeding the recommended value of .6 (reavley and pallant, 2009, citing kaiser, 1970, 1974) and bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant at the .00 level supporting the idea of being factorable. the pca revealed the presence of four components: two for each instrument (see table 3). the eigenvalues exceeding 1 explained 38%, 23%, 14% and 10% (cumulative 86%) of the variance. the pattern matrix reveals the composition of the four factors. these factors will be discussed later. for the purposes of this analysis, the factors will be presented out of order to pair the factors from each instrument together, thus offering a clearer delineation of each factor. the first two factors listed are both found in the skills instrument while the second two are from the dispositions instrument. 1. factor 1 (investigation skills)—is composed on analysis, interpretation, inference, induction and deduction. 2. factor 4 (court room skills)—is composed of evaluation and explanation. 3. factor 2 (open mindedness)—is composed of the dispositions of truth seeking, open mindedness, systematicity and maturity of judgment. 4. factor 3 (drawing conclusions)—is composed of inquisitiveness, analyticity and confidence in reasoning. how do pre-service social studies teachers in field placements view their critical thinking skills of at least one level on a scale of poor to excellent after participating in project activities using primary sources? data were gathered using a 5 point likert scale survey with 1 indicating a strongly disagree measure and journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 151 a 5 indicating a strongly agree measure. as such, the stronger the mean score for each item on the survey, the more perceptual confidence can be construed from the results. furthermore, standard deviation scores were computed for each item to check for the tightness of scores. given these parameters, when looking at the totality of the teacher candidate post survey results, the data suggest the subjects are confident in their ability to plan and implement a lesson that integrates meaningful critical thinking skills. this is especially true when subjects were asked about the foundation on which they created their lesson. the results show that the pre-service teachers believe the lesson, as it was planned and implemented, was relevant and responsive to the needs of the learners they taught (see results from q1–10). they reported that their unit questions were sufficiently clear, their daily lessons followed a logical sequence, and the organization of the unit was properly scaffolded (q7 and 8). it is also clear that subjects were aware of how their own perceptions, values and biases influenced the lesson as it was built. this is supported by the survey results in q11–25. in each of these items, the teachers indicated they were strongly aware of and could articulate the perspective they had approached as the themes and direction of the unit (q11 m=4.14; q13 m=3.93). they also reported that they purposely tried to build and present information from multiple points of view in a fair and honest manner (q12, q14, q15, q20 & q23). what was interesting to note is that while the scores suggested they believed they constructed a balanced unit, there was more dissention in the scores as supported by a larger score in both q14 and q15. the claims made as part of the designed learning experiences were clearly stated (q22) and strongly supported by evidence (q16) which denotes a high level of confidence in the results. when examining how the subjects reported on their metacognitive process while building the lesson, the results strongly suggest they made an effort to be deliberate about their planning and practice. the results in q26–40 led the researcher to infer that respondents understood how their thinking informed their unit design and were aware of some of the conceptual conflicts that could occur as a result of their assumptions. they were cognizant of the pitfalls of their lessons and some of the possible controversies that could arise. in the end, however, they reported their methods and assumptions were justified (q29) and that the learning outcomes could be different if their own assumptions were changed (q40). all of the data indicated that the subjects thought about how they influenced their designed learning experiences and that in spite of their own biases and personal experiences, they believed they could build a unit for students that was focused on important issues presented in a fair and relevant manner. it supports the notion that this sample population of pre-service teachers was able to use their metacognitive processes to think critically about their own practice. further, they evaluated their pedagogy and lesson plan designs allowing for their students to build upon the principles of democracy. we approached the third research question using qualitative analysis, “how do pre-service teachers who completed the methods course successfully incorporate social studies units designed to improve students’ critical thinking skills in their field placement classrooms, as measured by the graders?” the researchers examined the pre-service teachers’ collective works, including the lesson plan design, journal reflections and assessments. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 152 results from qualitative findings finding 1: highlighting the importance of complex issues (race and gender) many of the candidates demonstrated an increased ability to design higher-order questions for their lessons. for example, student a referred to her first lesson question as short sighted. by her third lesson, she had developed a more complex question for her students. her critical thinking unit was focused on abraham lincoln’s stance on slavery. her first question was, “what events started the civil war?” her last lesson’s question was, “what was abraham lincoln’s personal view of slavery?” this candidate, along with other candidates, had articulated concerns about the topic of slavery since her classroom was largely african american. she said she felt awkward every time she discussed it. by having the students answer questions and investigate primary sources, the lesson allowed the students to examine documents from lincoln at three distinct stages of his political career. she was confident in her ability to communicate the events for her 5th grade class. she was surprised by the students’ positive reaction. she recounted how the students wanted to read each other’s primary source documents. she stated, “i thought the lesson would be beyond my students, but their reaction surpassed my expectations.” other pre-service teachers (n=9) demonstrated concerns about addressing controversial issues. however, they did mention in their reflections that they believe they now have a better skill set and subsequently introduce controversial issues in their lesson plans. for example, issues of race were discussed with students, while the teacher candidate acted as moderator. student g implemented the same lesson in a predominantly african american 5th grade classroom, but utilized a different approach. she decided to characterize slavery as a forgotten institution that had no impact on the present. after the lesson, the teacher candidate was asked to defend her statement, but relented when faced with the professor’s list of current examples. she explained that her approach was to spare the students’ feelings since she knows that race is a touchy subject. she thought that by presenting race as insignificant, the students would not be uncomfortable. within epstein’s (2009) approach, controversial issues in a classroom should not be avoided. based on epstein’s view, teaching history as one united theme is less combative for teachers. teaching that others were oppressed during america’s rise to prominence, could be viewed as divisive by some students. these teachers may try to actively avoid angry parents and administrators. teachers may not be informed enough to discuss controversial matters in a meaningful way. according to beineke (2011), we are a divided nation. teachers need to use sensitivity, knowledge and wisdom when they approach controversial issues. for the classroom teacher, this approach should be well thought out and implemented in a way that is fair and honest. exploring controversial issues should not incite students, but rather serve as a platform for critical exploration and meaningful dialogue. finding 2: building strategy for instructional activities not all of the responses from our sample were positive. student d, who had low cctdi skill scores, reported that her experience was not beneficial. for this study, all pre-service teachers were required to develop a high-level ability question for assessment purposes. after numerous submissions, her lessons were returned because all the questions were low level. for example, while discussing jim crow laws, she asked the students if they thought jim crow was a good or bad decision; she then had the students debate the question. all of her students said it was bad during the two-minute discussion. after discussing why this was a poorly designed question, the pre-service teacher stated that she thought it was effective. after the professor provided examples of higher-order questions, the student remained journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 153 unconcerned about her inquiry skills. in her reflections, she referred to her questioning skills as “advanced.” student m, who posted a high cctdi skills score, recounted that her skills were low, however, her lesson plans and activities suggested that her skills were advanced. a theoretical reasoning for this might be that she is an advanced critical thinker, thus allowing her to be more discerning about her abilities. student d, who spoke very highly of her skills (but her scores suggested otherwise) was not utilizing high critical thinking skills. while examining lesson plans and reflections from student m, she recounted several incisive views about her teaching including how to improve her questions, lesson design, and assessments. her reflective piece was eight pages, whereas student d only wrote three pages. this is not to suggest that by writing more she is a more in-depth thinker; however, she did give evidence for her rationale and decisions, while student d provided little thought about her lessons and held her work in higher regard. within in the cctdi disposition score, student d had the highest score. her skills and dispositions were not correlated based on the cctdi and the researcher’s grading. finding 3: combining theoretical and experiential knowledge to better understand assessment concerns a perception held by the teacher candidates within the reflections (n=11) was the pre-service teachers’ view that high-level questioning interfered with pre-packaged questions provided by textbook companies. student i recounted, “you can understand how frustrating it might be when i see all these questions in the textbook and you tell us we can’t use them.” pre-service teacher g stated, “i liked some of the questions that were in my textbook. i actually submitted a few to you and you rejected all of them.” student e offered the critique, “why is it so hard to come up with good questions?” after numerous discussions about poorly formed questions found in textbooks, we consulted other testing systems for accurate measures (portfolios, stealth testing and informal measures), the purpose of assessment, in addition to exploring our own experiences with assessments. after reading through the reflections, it was clear that the teacher candidates weigh the need to develop sustainable questions for students with the time constraints they will face as teachers. based on the graders’ findings, most teacher candidates (n=10) learned and understood the principles of critical thinking, problem solving, knowledge acquisition and reflective thinking through assigned readings and discussion. they understand how inference, evaluation, metacognition, interest and motivation influence problem solving. finally, they learned how cognitive principles influence a teacher candidate’s critical and reflective thinking when acquiring knowledge for social studies instruction and classroom activities. conclusions in teacher-preparation programs, it is not uncommon to focus on the format of each lesson plan, instead of the learning outcomes that lesson plans provide for students. consequently, the reflections become mechanical and isolated from the lesson. from this study, we concluded that teacher candidates should be taught to reflect on all the class activities that result in learning outcomes. social studies teacher candidates need to be taught to incorporate critical thinking activities in their lesson plans. they need models of social studies lesson plans that utilize critical thinking activities and discussions. finally, teacher candidates need to be taught strategies to anticipate student conflicts in class discussions about journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 154 race and social class. connecting historical events to 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(2003). history makers: a questioning approach to reading and writing biographies. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 157 appendices table 1: descriptive statistics for overall scores, cctdi and cctst correlations n mean std. deviation cctdioverall 15 291.8667 30.92125 cctstoverall 13 66.8462 6.02559 valid n (listwise) 13 cctdioverall overall cctdioverall cor. 1 -.202 sig .508 n 15 13 overall cor. -.202 1 sig .508 n 13 13 table 2: cctdi correlations and cctst correlations cctdi overa ll truthse eking openmin dedness inquiesiti veness analyt icity system aticity confidencer easoning maturityofj udgement cctdioveral l cor. 1 .558* .870** .801** .667** .840** .639* .759** sig .031 .000 .000 .007 .000 .010 .001 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 truthseekin g cor. .558* 1 .597* .117 -.100 .754** -.144 .611* sig .031 .019 .677 .722 .001 .610 .015 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 openminde dness cor. .870** .597* 1 .531* .484 .801** .423 .629* sig .000 .019 .042 .067 .000 .116 .012 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 inquiesitiven ess cor. .801** .117 .531* 1 .691** .542* .778** .479 sig .000 .677 .042 .004 .037 .001 .071 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 analyticity cor. .667** -.100 .484 .691** 1 .221 .843** .295 sig .007 .722 .067 .004 .428 .000 .286 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 systematicit y cor. .840** .754** .801** .542* .221 1 .274 .732** sig .000 .001 .000 .037 .428 .323 .002 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 158 confidencer easoning cor. .639* -.144 .423 .778** .843** .274 1 .129 sig .010 .610 .116 .001 .000 .323 .647 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 maturityofju dgement cor. .759** .611* .629* .479 .295 .732** .129 1 sig .001 .015 .012 .071 .286 .002 .647 n 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). cctstove rall precen tile analys is interpreta tion infere nce evaluati on explanat ion inducti on deducti on cctstover all cor 1 .906** .806** .758** .965** .618* .468 .957** .915** sig .000 .001 .003 .000 .024 .107 .000 .000 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 precentile cor .906** 1 .718** .568* .904** .556* .454 .872** .784** sig .000 .006 .043 .000 .049 .119 .000 .002 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 analysis cor .806** .718** 1 .568* .818** .203 .007 .715** .845** sig .001 .006 .043 .001 .505 .983 .006 .000 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 interpretati on cor .758** .568* .568* 1 .757** .249 .264 .702** .738** sig .003 .043 .043 .003 .412 .383 .007 .004 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 inference cor .965** .904** .818** .757** 1 .507 .345 .934** .869** sig .000 .000 .001 .003 .077 .249 .000 .000 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 evaluation cor .618* .556* .203 .249 .507 1 .901** .640* .471 sig .024 .049 .505 .412 .077 .000 .018 .104 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 explanatio n cor .468 .454 .007 .264 .345 .901** 1 .479 .342 sig .107 .119 .983 .383 .249 .000 .098 .252 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 induction cor .957** .872** .715** .702** .934** .640* .479 1 .763** sig .000 .000 .006 .007 .000 .018 .098 .002 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 deduction cor .915** .784** .845** .738** .869** .471 .342 .763** 1 sig .000 .002 .000 .004 .000 .104 .252 .002 n 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 143-156. corresponding author email:juwalker@augusta.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 159 table 3: kmo and bartlett's test and pattern matrixa kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy. .620 bartlett's test of sphericity approx. chi-square 649.695 df 105 sig. .000 component 1 2 3 4 truthseeking .953 openmindedness .819 inquiesitiveness .772 analyticity .923 systematicity .925 confidencereasoning .969 maturityofjudgement .810 precentile .818 analysis .976 interpretation .805 inference .944 evaluation .921 explanation .980 induction .807 deduction .905 extraction method: principal component analysis. rotation method: oblimin with kaiser normalization. a. rotation converged in 5 iterations. introduction reasons for outdated assumptions rationale for paul and elder framework methods participants work plan procedure data analysis results of dispositions and skills california critical thinking disposition inventory (cctdi) california critical thinking skills test (cctst) factor analysis results from qualitative findings finding 1: highlighting the importance of complex issues (race and gender) finding 2: building strategy for instructional activities finding 3: combining theoretical and experiential knowledge to better understand assessment concerns conclusions references journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. comparing youth opinions toward compulsory voting across five countries jessamay t. pesek university of minnesota __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study uses a comparative case study design to examine youth (ages 13–20) opinions toward compulsory voting across five democratic countries: colombia, ecuador, mexico, peru, and the united states. youth responses toward compulsory voting demonstrate how youth come to learn about citizen rights and responsibilities with varied understandings of what it means to participate in a democracy. four themes represent the most notable variations of reasons given by youth to support and oppose compulsory voting: rights and duties, corruption, inclusion of minorities, and strong democracy. further, the majority of students gave at least one reason for and against compulsory voting demonstrating students’ ability of perspective-taking, to give reasons for the perspective with which they disagree. this study provides an analysis of how youth political opinions are constructed and negotiated by social and political influences. the findings have implications for educational researchers and social studies teachers as they work to improve civic education. key words: civic education, political socialization, voting, democracy, latin america __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction throughout the 1980s, the worldwide spread of liberal democracy signified “the end of history,” according to political scientist francis fukuyama (1989, 1992). fukuyama posits that the post-soviet era represents the end of the ideological evolution and he argues the universalization of democracy as the final form of government. the ideology of democracy continues to traverse the world, and several countries are currently gaining benefits of democratization. however, maintaining democracy is demanding. newer democracies face challenges, such as building civil society and establishing societal norms and political practices. older democracies encounter low levels of political participation, voter apathy, and demographic changes related to immigration. new and old democracies require their citizens to have the tolerance, knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable civic participation and critical thought. such citizen attributes are important because democratization is an evolving project and citizens in a democracy must manage and support democratic processes. electoral participation is one pillar of democracy. citizens participate in their democratic governments by voting for political representatives and voting on key issues. compulsory (or mandatory) voting has been introduced in a variety of contexts throughout history as a way to encourage and enforce voting, although debates concerning the merits of compulsory voting continue. personal values of rights and responsibilities inform arguments for or against compulsory voting and question what roles citizens should play in democracy. the key question is whether citizens should have a personal right or a legal obligation to attend the polls during elections. often corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 60 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. in liberal democracies, citizens believe it is their right to choose to vote, that it is their individual freedom to exercise if desired. on the other hand, citizens may also perceive voting as a duty, a responsibility that must be fulfilled. most academic literature on the subject centers on increasing electoral participation (birch, 2009). research reports (electoral commission, 2006; keaney & rogers, 2006) provide background and present arguments to both support and oppose compulsory voting. proponents argue compulsory voting increases voter turnout (hill, 2000; lijphart, 1997); promotes political awareness (birch, 2009); and encourages electoral participation among minorities, economically disadvantaged individuals, and more vulnerable population groups (keaney & rogers, 2006). the focus on inclusion is important because low voter turnout is typically associated with strong patterns of inequality (verba, schlozman, & brady, 1995). focus of study and research questions in this study, i focused on students’ (ages 13–20) opinions toward compulsory voting across five countries: colombia, ecuador, mexico, peru, and the united states. my purpose was to analyze how the sociopolitical environment impacts students’ opinions toward compulsory voting. the students (n = 2,510) deliberated the policy issue of compulsory voting in their classrooms. this study was guided by the following research questions: 1. how does youth support for compulsory voting vary across countries? 2. to what degree do youth demonstrate perspective-taking in relation to the issue of compulsory voting? 3. what themes and patterns are reflected in youths’ reasons for and against compulsory voting? 4. how are these themes and patterns reflective of country context? democracy and elections democracy or "rule by the people" developed in early greece and has traversed the globe through shared ideas of government, colonization, globalization, and economic liberalization. although the term "democracy" is defined by the context of the country, common characteristics such as equality and freedom prevail. democratization has occurred at various times for different countries. the united states has remained a democracy, while many of the countries of latin america have become democratized more recently. several latin american countries had authoritarian or military regimes before turning to democracy throughout the 1980s (payne, zovatto, & mateo díaz, 2007). before 1978, only colombia, costa rica, and venezuela elected their leaders through competitive and free elections (reimers, 2007). currently, all latin american countries, except cuba, hold democratic elections. compulsory voting is a system in which electors are legally required to vote in political elections. currently, 29 countries worldwide require participation; this includes about 25% of all democracies (birch, 2009). however, countries vary in how compulsory voting is mandated, and whether the laws corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 61 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. are enforced. if enforced, individuals are penalized for not voting, and may either have to pay a fine or face other punishments with varying levels of severity. if not enforced, citizens are legally required to vote but are not penalized. in some countries, where voting is required, some individuals are exempt. determinants if an individual is required, allowed, or exempt from voting may be age, literacy level, mental incompetence, legal citizenship, imprisonment, and uncompleted military service. further, whether compulsory or not, societal and political influences set norms for voting. some individuals feel pushed to vote based on personal values and social expectations (verba et al., 1995). for example, in the former soviet union societal pressures strongly encouraged participation in non-competitive elections; not voting was viewed as political dissidence throughout society (karklins, 1986). people are compelled to vote for a number of reasons, but an aim for democratic governments should be to increase and support electoral participation. a democracy depends on its citizens and their willingness to participate. therefore, the investigation of how citizens—including young citizens—think about democratic practices and institutions is a step to strengthen democracy. moreover, recent expansion of democracy throughout latin america and the need to preserve democracy in the united states demands research of citizens’ opinions toward democracy. previous research i found no studies investigating youth attitudes toward compulsory voting, however, researchers have studied adolescents’ political attitudes toward electoral politics and democratic participation. the following sections outline relevant previous research. political attitudes the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea) civic education study conducted in 1999 in 28 countries surveyed 14-year-olds’ perspectives toward political participation. the study’s researchers indicated that increased civic knowledge is positively correlated to socioeconomic status and age (torney-purta, lehmann, oswald, & schulz, 2001), and young peoples’ anticipation of future voting and actual voting after completion of high school (hart, donnely, youniss, & atkins, 2007). in addition, students reported positive attitudes toward voting, although they were open to alternative types of participation, such as participating in non-violent protests or raising money for social causes (torney-purta et al., 2001). however, in the two latin american countries (chile and colombia) that were involved in the study, more knowledgeable youth at ages 14 and 17 were less likely to endorse social-movement activities, suggesting that the more academically successful students are entering life trajectories disjointed from public life (torney-purta & amadeo, 2004). more recently, the international civic and citizenship education study (iccs), conducted in 2008– 2009 in 38 countries, also surveyed 14-year-olds’ perspectives. this time six latin american countries participated: chile, colombia, dominican republic, guatemala, mexico, and paraguay. across the six countries, the study suggested that civic knowledge is comparatively low. in addition, corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 62 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. students expressed low levels of trust in political parties, courts of justice, and police (schulz, ainley, friedman, & lietz, 2011). low levels of trust in governmental institutions are often typical in societies that have recently undergone political transitions (klingemann, 1999). doubts about democracy are prevalent among adults throughout latin america. latinobarómetro, a public opinion survey, polled individuals in 18 latin american countries. the 2002 survey revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with democratic institutions, and limited support for democracy as a form of government (reimers, 2007). the survey results showed that 50% of people are willing to accept an authoritarian regime if it resolves the country’s problems and 75% of respondents agree that solutions to these problems do not depend on the existence of a democratic government (latinobarómetro, 2002). in addition, a united nations development program report (2004) indicated that approximately 19% of people in latin america are identified as participative democrats, 35% as ambivalent non-democrats, and 22% were identified as those people who have doubts about democracy or are opposed to it, and are politically active. due to democratic doubts and non-participation, latin american countries face the challenge of deepening their democratic institutions and practices (adams, 2003). these democratic doubts are the consequence of deep social inequalities, corruption, intolerance, public distrust, violence, and crisis in the justice system (cox, 2010; schulz et al., 2011). student learning studies have investigated students’ definitions of democracy and have found that a majority of youth can accurately define democracy (avery, levy, simmons & scarlett, 2012; flanagan, gallay, gill, gallay, & nti, 2005). age and parents' level of educational attainment (flanagan et al., 2005), students’ perception of classroom climate, and students’ level of political engagement (avery et al., 2012) influence students’ accuracy and the complexity of the definitions they offer. in addition, avery and her colleagues’ study of students in eastern europe and the united states demonstrated youth were likely to use the terms “freedom” and “rights” in their definitions of democracy. several research studies (ehman, 1980; hahn, 1998; niemi & junn, 1998; torney-purta et al., 2001) demonstrate how students who report they were encouraged and felt comfortable to discuss controversial public issues in a classroom environment were more likely to have higher levels of civic knowledge, political efficacy, political interest, sense of civic duty, and expectations of voting as adults than peers without such experiences. this research provides evidence that an open classroom climate where students and teacher discuss substantive public issues in a respectful way matters. classroom discussions positively influence students’ confidence and agency in political and social issues, and these experiences become part of how youth are politically socialized. perspective-taking in addition, structured classroom discussions cultivate opportunities for students to set aside their predispositions toward an issue and consider the justifications associated with other positions (gutmann & thompson, 1996). this process, known as perspective-taking, involves the ability to corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 63 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. identify reasons for positions with which one does not agree. perspective-taking is an integral part of democratic education (hess, 2009; parker, 2003).1 however, throughout democratic societies, opportunities to participate in thoughtful, evidence-based discussions that weigh various options and consequences are uncommon. rarely do individuals evaluate multiple positions on an issue; rather individuals become attached to their personal opinions and infrequently encounter opposing arguments. to some extent this occurs because individuals generally associate with those who are like-minded (mutz, 2006). these situations contradict democratic ideals; democracies are supported on the assertion that people of diverse viewpoints can come together to discuss difficult issues of common concern (habermas, 1989). therefore, structured classroom discussions that incorporate perspective-taking is one strategy to prepare future citizens to participate in a pluralistic, multicultural democracy. conceptual framework political socialization is the conceptual framework that guides this study. political socialization frames how individuals engage in political development and learning and how they construct relationships to the political contexts in which they live (sapiro, 2004). researchers in this area examine how political systems instill norms and practices upon their citizens and how political culture is transmitted. several agents (e.g., family, school, religion) influence how an individual is politically socialized. however, political socialization is a complex process. political attitudes are based upon a conglomerate of factors, including: political context, personal experience, key events, and local and global realities. a way to explore these multiple factors is through bronfenbrenner’s (1988) ecological model. this model investigates the complexity of social context and adopts a systemic approach to study youth civic engagement. this prompts the investigation of not only the students’ attitudes, but also the interconnected set of contexts in which the students are located. it examines how an individual develops and functions within systems such as the family, school, peer groups, organizations, community, and institutions. moreover, the model recognizes that political attitudes and beliefs are not passively received; political socialization is not solely something that adults do to youth, it is also something youth do for themselves (yates & youniss, 1999). put another way, adolescents are active mediators influencing and being influenced by their environment and interactions with others (wertsch, 1991). methodology i implemented a comparative case study design (yin, 2009) to explore youth opinions toward compulsory voting across five countries. each country—colombia, ecuador, mexico, peru, and the united states—represented the unit of analysis. for each country, i analyzed adolescents’ qualitative responses, looking for meaning embedded in the contexts of school, community, and country (merriam, 1998; patton, 2002). then i compared themes and patterns across countries (yin, 2009). 1 perspective taking is also an important component of fostering historical empathy as a way to increase understanding of past experiences (barton & levstik, 2004; brooks, 2011; davis, yeager, & foster, 2001). corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 64 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. program context the students for this study were selected because their teachers were involved in an international professional development project2 designed to promote one model of discussion, structured academic controversy (sac) (johnson & johnson, 1979), to teach controversial public issues in classrooms. sac systematically formats classroom discussion to allow students to investigate and deliberate two opposing viewpoints, formulate an opinion, and possibly reach group consensus. the sac model encourages students to develop the skill of perspective-taking by detailing arguments for a side with which they disagree (johnson & johnson, 2009). for the project, teachers conducted three sacs in their classrooms throughout the 2011–2012 school year. teachers were allowed to choose two topics, but were all asked to deliberate the issue of compulsory voting. although teachers played a major role in the professional development project, their students were the focus of this study. participants students (n = 2,510) from 111 classrooms were part of this study. the mean age of youth was 17.1 years and approximately 52% of the youth were female and 47% were male. table 1 details youth demographics by country. table 1. youth demographics by country site youth (n) % mean age (range) gender n % f % m % colombia 298 12 16.9 (14-19) 39 61 ecuador 100 4 16.7 (14-20) 57 42 mexico 522 21 17.2 (15-20) 52 48 peru 286 11 16.8 (13-18) 63 35 usa 1,304 52 16.0 (13-19) 53 46 2 the deliberating in a democracy in the americas (dda) project was directed by the constitutional rights foundation chicago (crfc), in collaboration with the constitutional rights foundation in los angeles (crf) and street law, inc., with a grant from the u.s. department of education (#q304a100003), october 2010 – september 2012. the dda project involved 134 teachers and more than 9,300 students in five countries. further information about the project can be found at: http://deliberating.org. i served as one of the evaluators for the project. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 65 http://deliberating.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. total 2,510 16.2 52 47 note. the number of females and males does not equal the total number of students because some students left the gender question blank. multiple public and private schools were part of this study. schools represented a diverse range of student populations, socioeconomic standings, size, and location. most schools were located in urban and suburban settings. ecuadorian students were from schools located in or near guayaquil or quito. colombian students attended schools in bogota. mexican students attended schools located within mexico city and neighboring communities. peruvian students attended schools in and nearby lima. the u.s. students were from california, colorado, illinois, maryland, minnesota, north carolina, and virginia. country context the students were from countries that hold different laws for electoral participation. of the five countries represented in this study, two do not have compulsory voting (colombia and the united states), two have compulsory voting (ecuador and peru), and one has compulsory voting that is not enforced (mexico). although colombia and the united states do not have compulsory voting, arguments for compulsory voting are debated. in the united states, proponents for compulsory voting believe it would increase participation, grant more opportunity for minorities to vote (verba et al., 1995), and serve to increase poor peoples’ voice in congress (mann, 2012). in the united states, in 2004, voter turnout was 60.4% of all eligible voters, compared to 62.3% who voted in 2008, and 57.5% who voted in 2012 (bipartisan policy center, 2012). in colombia, in 2006, 45.1% of eligible voters participated in the presidential election and in 2010, 44.4% of voters participated (international institute for democracy and electoral assistance [international idea], 2013). mexico legally has compulsory voting, but does not require electors to actually cast a vote. perhaps as a consequence, turnout is relatively low in comparison to other countries with compulsory voting (electoral commission, 2006). in total, 64% of eligible voters in 2012 and 58.5% in 2006 participated in presidential elections (international idea, 2013). despite the low turnout, importance is placed on voter identification cards. the cards act as a means of identification used by banks and other official institutions and permit individuals to vote in local and national elections. ecuador and peru legally enforce compulsory voting through use of sanctions. in ecuador, voting is mandatory for people between the ages of 18 and 65 who are literate (electoral commission, 2006). if ecuadorans do not vote, they are fined (about $25 usd). in peru, voting is mandatory for people between the ages of 18 and 70. eligible voters who do not participate face financial penalties, are prohibited from making banking or other public administrative transactions for three months, and may also be denied public services and public sector employment (electoral commission, 2006). corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 66 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. voting turnout for presidential elections in ecuador and peru has remained fairly high, with roughly 70-80% eligible voters attending the polls the last 15 years (international idea, 2013). data collection and analysis the data were collected as part of a larger evaluation of the international project to increase democratic discussion in classrooms. for the evaluation, students completed a 53-item postprogram questionnaire (avery, kundin, sheldon, & thompson, 2012). for this study, i only report on the students' responses to questions related to compulsory voting. the data were derived from the following three items on the questionnaire: 1. what reasons are there to support a compulsory voting law? list up to five. 2. what reasons are there to oppose a compulsory voting law? list up to five. 3. choose one statement: i support a compulsory voting law. i oppose a compulsory voting law. the questionnaire was administered after students participated in three sacs. the questionnaire was available in both spanish and english and distributed via online or paper format. all qualitative student reasons written in spanish were translated to english for ease of analysis. for data analysis, i systematically coded each student’s reasons for and against compulsory voting. first, i coded valid reasons and invalid reasons. invalid reasons included nonsensical (e.g., “reading is good”, “life is hard”), vague (e.g., “democracy is best”, “rights”), and repetitive or redundant answers. second, to measure perspective-taking, i calculated the number of valid reasons students gave to support their personal opinion and the number of valid reasons to support the side with which they were in disagreement. third, i categorized themes and patterns for or against compulsory voting. to categorize reasons, i began with an initial set of codes (e.g., increase participation, duty to vote, individual rights) and added codes as other themes became apparent (e.g., corruption, inclusion of minorities). reasons were coded and grouped into categories to examine trends both within and across countries. limitations this study has three primary limitations. first, participants’ socioeconomic status is unknown. this would have added an additional element of the role social class plays in responses toward compulsory electoral participation. second, participant selection does not reflect a representative sample of youth in each country. third, i draw on a single data source, the questionnaire. integration of student interviews would have added greater understanding of why students support or oppose compulsory voting. findings and discussion the findings present the students’ responses to the questionnaire items and the notable categories of students’ thinking about compulsory voting. in this section, i first outline students’ quantitative corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 67 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. responses. i explain how youth support for compulsory voting varies across countries and how youth demonstrate perspective-taking. then, i present a thematic analysis of youth responses. i detail categories of students’ qualitative reasons given for and against compulsory voting. when reviewing students’ qualitative reasons, i apply the political socialization framework to explore possible themes and patterns that reflect country context. quantitative analysis across the five countries, 2,510 youth deliberated compulsory voting in their classrooms. after the deliberation, they were to indicate whether they supported or opposed compulsory voting. table 2 displays students’ final position toward compulsory voting. table 2. youth support and opposition to compulsory voting by country country (n of students) % support (n) % oppose (n) % no response (n) colombia (298) 37% (110) 62% (184) 1% (4) ecuador (100) 40 (40) 59 (59) 1 (1) peru (286) 60 (172) 37 (106) 3 (8) mexico (522) 54 (285) 45 (235) 1 (2) united states (1,304) 35 (455) 64 (831) 1 (18) total (2,510) 42 (1,062) 57 (1,415) 1 (33) students’ position toward compulsory voting varied across countries and their position was not always aligned with their country’s voting policy. the united states and colombia do not have a corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 68 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. compulsory voting law. a majority of students in the united states (64%) and in colombia (62%) opposed compulsory voting. peru and ecuador have a compulsory voting law, but youth hold contrasting standpoints. while, a majority of students in peru (60%) supported compulsory voting, a majority of students in ecuador (59%) opposed compulsory voting. mexico has compulsory voting that is not enforced. mexican youth were rather split on the issue, 54% supported and 45% opposed compulsory voting. of the 2,510 youth who deliberated compulsory voting, 87% wrote valid reasons to either support or oppose compulsory voting. thirteen percent (n = 328) of students chose not to write or wrote invalid statements, however, identified whether they personally support or oppose compulsory voting. therefore, all youth wrote statements and/or selected if they personally support or oppose compulsory voting. on average, youth wrote 2.35 valid reasons to support compulsory voting and 2.04 to oppose. the median response for both sides was 2.0 valid reasons. youth perspective taking was measured by taking the number of reasons students offered in support of their personal opinion and comparing the number offered in support of an opinion with which they disagreed. table 3 displays the mean number of reasons given to support and oppose compulsory voting by student position. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 69 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. table 3. mean number of reasons to support or oppose by student position students who support compulsory voting students who oppose compulsory voting students who are undecided country (n) mean number of reasons to support (n) mean number of reasons to oppose (n) mean number of reasons to support (n) mean number of reasons to oppose (n) mean number of reasons to support (n) mean number of reasons to oppose (n) colombia (298) 2.67 (110) 1.71 (110) 2.65 (184) 2.71 (184) 2.50 (4) 3.0 (4) ecuador (100) 2.03 (40) 1.43 (40) 2.20 (59) 2.15 (59) 1.0 (1) 0 (1) mexico (522) 2.75 (285) 1.95 (285) 2.55 (235) 2.46 (235) 2.50 (2) 2.50 (2) peru (286) 2.40 (172) 1.95 (172) 2.81 (106) 2.82 (106) 2.25 (8) 2.25 (8) united states (1,304) 2.04 (455) 1.47 (455) 2.12 (831) 2.17 (831) 1.94 (18) 1.22 (18) total (2,510) 2.35 (1,062) 1.70 (1,062) 2.04 (1,415) 2.31 (1,415) 2.09 (33) 1.73 (33) most students gave at least one reason of support and opposition regardless of their position toward compulsory voting. a paired-sample t-test was conducted to compare the students’ number of reasons given to support and oppose. there was a significant difference in the reasons given to support and oppose by students who supported compulsory voting; t(1061) = 19.63, p < .001, 95% ci [.59, .71]. this was confirmed across all countries, students who supported compulsory voting wrote significantly more reasons to support. for example, in ecuador there was a significant difference in corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 70 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. reasons to support (m = 2.03) and reasons to oppose (m = 1.43); t(39) =. 92, p = .001, 95% ci [.28, .92]. however, there was not a significance difference in reasons to support and oppose by students who opposed compulsory voting. students who opposed wrote an equal number of reasons for both sides, although generally they listed slightly more reasons to oppose. thematic analysis a number of reasons to support or oppose compulsory voting were given across the five countries. some categories were more prevalent than others. reasons given to support weighed heavily on legitimacy and increased participation. reasons to oppose focused on individual rights and liberties. multiple factors likely influenced youths’ reasons to support and oppose compulsory voting. bronfenbrenner’s (1988) ecological theory recognizes complex, contextual factors such as social group interactions, societal influences, political institutions, and social experience cumulated over time that impact the development of an individual. given the limitations of this study, i did not examine all factors. some factors that i included were: the political system, key country events, economic indicators, education policies, and school context. in total, four themes—rights and duties, corruption, inclusion of minorities, and strong democracy—represent the most notable variations of reasons of youth across countries. each theme was evident on both sides of the argument. for example, youth addressed rights and duties in their reasons for and against compulsory voting. for each theme, i analyzed students’ reasons and then theorized some possible factors that may have influenced students’ thinking. rights and duties in a democracy should individuals have the right to vote or the duty to vote? more often, students’ reasons described voting as their right rather than their duty, obligation, or responsibility. in total, 30.4% of youth reasons against compulsory voting explained voting as a right, freedom, and/or personal liberty. the following examples illustrate students’ reasons: democracy is about having the freedom to choose and so voting should be a choice. (u.s. american female, 15-year-old, opposes compulsory voting) compulsory voting violates our freedoms in a democracy. (colombian female, 17-year-old, opposes compulsory voting) voting as a duty may make people take it more seriously. (u.s. american male, 16-year-old, supports compulsory voting) although students in all five countries advocated for the protection of rights rather than the mandate of duties, students in the united states mentioned rights more frequently. in the united states, 32.6% of students described voting as a right. in comparison, the student response rate in latin america ranged between 23.4% and 25.5%. students’ inclusion of rights in their reasons is likely influenced by the longstanding, liberal tradition of personal rights. marshall (1965) divides citizenship rights into three categories: civil rights, corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 71 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. political rights, and social rights. marshall posits these rights should be guaranteed to all citizens regardless of race or class; however, an individual may opt out, or not participate due to his/her personal, private rights as a citizen. although this holds true in several democracies, u.s. citizens draw predominantly on the liberal tradition in emphasizing these private, individual rights. these rights have a legal sanction protected in a court of law and are framed as freedoms guaranteed by the u.s. constitution. kymlicka and norman (1994) argue this conception of citizenship limits responsibilities. they call for the need to replace the passive acceptance of civic rights with the active exercise of political civic responsibilities and duties bestowed on citizens of a country. u.s. students do not appear as aware or supportive of political participation as being an obligation, duty, or responsibility. this is also evident in other studies. conover, crewe, & searing’s (1991) study asserted that u.s. citizens place more emphasis on their rights as citizens than on their responsibilities. avery and her colleagues’ (2012) study also demonstrated adolescents were likely to use the terms “freedom” and “rights” in their definitions of democracy. moreover, u.s social studies textbooks and standards display a strong emphasis on rights (gonzales, riedel, avery, & sullivan, 2001). u.s. students seem to be encountering content that speaks to rights more often than responsibilities. this highlights an important question: has u.s. society encouraged youth to be fixated with rights and forgetful of responsibilities? as we consider how we educate youth for democratic citizenship across all countries, we should be cognizant of how youth receive messages of both rights and duties. corruption corruption undermines democracy and good governance by contradicting accountability and subverting political processes. students discussed the problems of corruption in reasons to both support and oppose compulsory voting. the following statements are generally representative of students’ reasons: it really does not change the amount of corruption in colombia. nobody said more votes would be less corrupt. (colombian female, 13-year-old, supports compulsory voting) non-voting is a way to deal with corruption because if all are inept politicians, it is not the best option to vote. (colombian male, 16-year-old, opposes compulsory voting) several of the politicians are corrupt. (mexican female, 16-year-old, undecided) although corruption was a notable theme, students referred to corruption across all five countries at differing rates. in colombia, 25% of students mentioned corruption. this is starkly higher than the other four countries. students in mexico (10.3%), ecuador (9%), peru (5.6%), and the united states (3.5%) mentioned corruption at lower rates. latin american students referred to corruption more frequently than u.s. students. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 72 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. corruption is an issue for many latin american countries (cox, 2010). transparency international’s corruption perceptions index (cpi)3 scores countries on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). the cpi 2012 report indicates a corruption problem in the four latin american countries in this study. scores range from 32 for ecuador to 38 for colombia. the united states score is 78, considerably less corrupt than the latin american countries. the cpi asserts ecuador is more corrupt than colombia, yet colombian students were more apt to cite corruption throughout their reasons. in both supporting and opposing reasons, roughly one in four colombians mentioned corruption. there are several factors that may have contributed to colombian students’ concerns. perhaps curriculum foci influenced students’ reasons. current colombian civic education curriculum devotes attention to corruption, social struggle, civil warfare, social disintegration, and human rights violations (shultz et al., 2011. therefore, students in colombia may be more likely to learn in school about the problems of corruption. in addition, colombian students’ reasons indicated that citizens would have to vote for “bad candidates” if a compulsory voting law were to exist. students’ perceptions of “bad candidates” may signify low levels of trust. colombian students have exhibited low levels of trust for political parties, courts of justice, and people in general (shultz et al., 2011). mexican youth also discussed corruption throughout their reasons. in mexico, corruption has been a point of concern due to political bribery, drug trafficking, and kidnapping (serrano, 2012). these events likely influence mexican students’ perceptions of corruption. further investigation should pinpoint additional influencers of students’ attitudes and their perceptions of corruption. corruption is a concern for democratization. causes of corruption and possible anti-corruption strategies and remedies should be sought to strengthen democratic processes and institutions. inclusion the third notable theme is inclusion, which students explain would encourage and boost voter participation. in total, 28.4% of youth explained how compulsory voting would increase participation. however, 4.1% of youth specifically stated compulsory voting would increase participation and grant more opportunities to vote for minorities and individuals who are poor or are living in rural areas. further, students in the five countries referred to inclusion at differing rates. in ecuador and mexico, less than 1% of youth mentioned how compulsory voting would increase participation of minorities or disadvantaged individuals. the rate was 3.9% in the united states and 2.3% in colombia. but, in peru 15.7% of youth stated minorities are or should be included. two representative peruvian responses include: the rural zones must have a right to participate and share their opinion. (peruvian male, 14year-old, supports compulsory voting) 3 cpi is the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide. see more at: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/#sthash.iq0lmctm.dpuf corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 73 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. the people in the poor sectors will be more informed; they will have more of a chance to vote. (peruvian female, 17-year-old, supports compulsory voting) in peru, students explained that compulsory voting would increase participation and include minorities and individuals disfranchised from the political system. their reasons highlighted the need for individuals who are illiterate, poor, disabled, and elderly to vote. several students’ reasons also stated compulsory voting grants opportunity for indigenous groups to participate. peruvian students seem to be more tolerant in encouraging participation and inclusion of multiple social groups. the higher rate of reference to inclusion also may signal how social class impacts students’ reasons. this study did not include specific information on students’ individual social class, but school location may give an indication. peruvian youth in this study attend schools located in lower and middle class neighborhoods. therefore, the students are likely to be poor and/or to have had encounters with individuals who are poor. this situation is quite different from that of ecuadorian students. the ecuadorian students attend private, elite, bilingual schools in more affluent neighborhoods somewhat sheltered from poorer areas. further, ecuadorian students are likely to have traveled outside the country and many plan to attend universities in the united states or europe. the differing experiences between peruvian and ecuadorian students highlight the important role social class plays in youth experience, especially when social class is rigidly divided. latin america is one of the more economically unequal regions in the world. national income and wealth are in very few hands (united nation development program, 2004). the region has had high and persistent income inequality, although there has been improvement. the gini coefficient4 declined from an average of 0.529 in 2000 to 50.9 in 2009 (levy & schady, 2013). despite this decrease, income inequality in latin america still remains a concern. the economic divide separates cities and neighborhoods. this separation may, in part, explain why ecuadorian students appear less cognizant of inequalities. perhaps they are simply unaware of individuals who are poor or unknowledgeable of the significance of the problem of inequality. the economic divide potentially has other consequences. since ecuadorian youth attend schools separate from lower classes, they may have differing opinions. their opinions may be disconnected from ecuadorian public life (torney-purta & amadeo, 2004). this may partially explain why these ecuadorian youth held political opinions toward compulsory voting not aligned with current ecuadorian policies. although a compulsory voting law exists, a majority of ecuador students opposed the law. peru also enforces compulsory voting, but unlike ecuador, youth in peru were more likely to support compulsory voting. future studies of latin american countries should include more specific social class identifiers due to the role social class may play in the formulation of political opinion. 4 the gini coefficient is commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth. the gini coefficient is an index that can take values between 0 and 1; the closer it is to 0, the more equal the distribution in question. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 74 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. democracy the final theme, democracy, incorporates the previous themes, as they are all components to acknowledge for strengthening democracy. however, this theme is included because students specifically discussed compulsory voting in terms of democracy; 12.8% of students mentioned democracy in their reasons to support, and 8.6% mentioned democracy in their reasons to oppose. reasons of support articulated how compulsory voting would maintain, improve, and/or strengthen democracy. reasons of opposition explained that compulsory voting would hurt or hinder democracy by forcing people to vote. although students across all countries specifically mentioned democracy, they did so at differing rates. table 4 reflects the percentages of students’ reasons that incorporated democratic concepts in support and opposition of compulsory voting. table 4. youth reasons incorporating democracy by country (n = 2,510) country students’ reasons to support (%) students’ reasons to oppose (%) colombia 12.8% 16.4% ecuador 10 8 mexico 31 9.8 peru 11.9 12.9 united states 5.9 5.5 generally, latin american youth were more likely to include democracy into their statements. in both reasons to support and oppose, u.s. students incorporated democracy the least. mexican students were most likely of the five countries to mention democracy in either supporting or opposing reasons. democracy in latin america is a relatively recent development. the region experienced a democratic wave during the 1980s and the 1990s. despite this democratic turn, instabilities exist. in several countries, social conflicts and civil and political liberty violations pose a risk to democratization (emmerich, 2009). these conflicts and violations curtail citizens’ support for democracy (latinobarómetro, 2002). due to the recent arrival of democracy and its instability, social studies teachers in this region may be more aware of political change and current challenges, and readily infuse democratic terms into their teaching. in addition, teachers in this study volunteered to participate in this international project. because they chose to engage in professional development, they may represent a more committed group of teachers. since the project’s aim is to support democracy, teachers may have been attracted to this project as a way to promote democracy within their classrooms. furthermore, latin american scholars and educators have adopted u.s. ideas for corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 75 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. democratic education, such as models in the philosophical and pedagogical literature and curriculum from non-profit organizations (e.g., center for civic education and civitas international) that specialize in exporting programs for democratic civic education (levinson, 2005). due to an influx of programs to support democracy, students may be receiving multiple messages from teachers and curriculum regarding democracy. implications within and across the five countries, students’ reasons to support and oppose compulsory voting exhibit similarities and differences. the protection of rights is the strongest reason against compulsory voting. increased participation, the promotion of democracy, and legitimatization of elections are the most common reasons to support compulsory voting. these findings are important for both civic education researchers and social studies teachers. educational researchers should investigate multiple factors that illustrate the transmission of political culture. these factors include, but are not limited to, family, religion, language, and cultural background; media and technological influences; and peer and social group relationships. in sum, political socialization of youth is a complex process, but it is an important evolving process that must be dissected, for it offers insight of how future citizens are prepared for living and participating in a democracy. social studies teachers should recognize how social context molds young peoples’ beliefs. for example, students’ reasons in colombia were influenced by past and current corruption activities, while students in peru were impacted by income inequalities present in their community. teachers should identify social and political factors that influence their students’ beliefs. moreover, within their classrooms, teachers have a pivotal role to play. as their students are being influenced by social context, teachers ought to offer opportunities for their students to increase awareness and practice agency to influence social context. to do this, teachers should provide opportunities for students to engage in educational practices (e.g., deliberation, perspective-taking) that may foster informed and participatory youth (kahne & westheimer, 2003; parker & hess, 2001). through practicing these democratic activities at a young age, youth may learn how to act democratically as adults. therefore, teachers have a role to play in preparing future generations to be knowledgeable, engaged citizens. conclusion one assumption of this study is that it is worthwhile to investigate students' opinions toward complex political issues. examining how youth perceive issues related to democracy and how their opinions are situated in context allows for greater understanding of the ways in which youth are politically socialized in complex, dynamic environments. this study paints a broad picture of how social context influences young peoples’ political opinions across countries. future comparison studies should further examine the multiple factors that shape youth political beliefs and how these beliefs are cultivated in context. this is especially pertinent in newer democracies throughout latin america that are currently building and sustaining democratic institutions and processes. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 76 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, 60-80. references adams, f. 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(2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. corresponding author email: thom1551@umn.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 80 http://world.time.com/2012/07/05/the-challenge-of-mexicos-next-president-the-corruption-at-the-heart-of-crime/ http://world.time.com/2012/07/05/the-challenge-of-mexicos-next-president-the-corruption-at-the-heart-of-crime/ introduction focus of study and research questions democracy and elections previous research political attitudes student learning perspective-taking conceptual framework methodology program context participants country context data collection and analysis limitations mean age (range) site findings and discussion quantitative analysis thematic analysis rights and duties corruption inclusion democracy students who are undecided students who oppose compulsory voting students who support compulsory voting students’ reasons to oppose (%) students’ reasons to support (%) country implications conclusion references powerpoint presentation http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/i ajiss/index http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/index 2015-2016 2014-2015 80% new user in previous 12 months (2014-2015) registry of doaj journals ia journal of international social studies, �2015-2016 http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/index slide number 3 slide number 4 slide number 5 2016 stats on journal –google analytics slide number 7 thanks: 8 editions journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 92. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 92. 92 | p a g e corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 editor: international perspectives the importance of international education anatoli rapaport purdue university, ___________________________________________________________________________ freeman butts illustrated the initial stage of what he called america’s educational involvement with other nations as the nation’s knowledge and understanding about other people and informing them about ourselves through systemic study in schools and colleges. it is here, he argues, where educational and cultural programs belong, serving as one of the most important and effective means of expending international knowledge and awareness. the integration of international education and global studies into social studies is imperative to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed for responsible participation in a global community. in a social studies classroom, international studies aim at the in-depth study of a specific region of the world to develop knowledge and understanding of another culture. due to their origin and development, international programs for educators manifest the multifaceted nature of education, serving in many instances as a magnifying glass that enables observers to see success and failures in the development of educational institutions, intercultural communication, educational reform, to name a few. the role of educators in all areas of international education is critical. faculty are the key to a successful international education project. they develop curriculum, influence curricular modification, motivate students and evaluate colleagues’ work. in the era of technological super-and overconnectivity, teachers still remain an important link that connects elements of international education, global studies, cultural studies, and multicultural education. mark pearcy’s insightful analysis of german education and the role of social studies in germany is a helpful example that demonstrates how international programs foster teachers’ sense of globalmindedness and help educators develop a global perspective among students. vlaardingerbroek, traikovski, and hussain compare the teaching of law between australia and pakistan, pointing out the difficulties that arise when an educated citizenry is not aware of their laws and rights in law. they advocate for more professional development for educators in this important area. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 4 a global learning wiki project for pre-service teachers chia-ling kuo kent state university email: ckuo@kent.edu _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: in this study the author investigated 228 pre-service teachers’ experiences with a global learning wiki project in an undergraduate educational technology course. the project connected pre-service teachers with students in 11 different countries on wiki sites, participants and their overseas partners posting questions about topics of interest to them and responding to one another’s questions on the sites. the goals of this study were to determine whether the global learning wiki project (a) enhanced participants’ knowledge of other cultures and competence in working with those who are culturally different and (b) benefited the participants professionally by improving their technology skills. results of the study show that participants enjoyed this project and the contacts they made with educators and students in other countries. they gained knowledge of cultures and grew more comfortable working with people who speak another language; however, their responses were mixed about the professional benefits and enhancement of their technology skills. keywords: cultures, educational technology, global competency, global learning, international participants, pre-service teachers, technology, undergraduate, web 2.0, wiki _____________________________________________________________________________________ one of the goals of contemporary teacher education programs is to prepare pre-service teachers to become globally competent, appreciating not only the international dimensions of their subject matter but also gaining an awareness of cultural diversity and international issues, understanding other cultures and people who speak other languages, and grasping educational practices in other countries. the web, journal articles, magazines, and books are excellent resources for acquiring information about other countries, but with these materials learning is passive; and today’s pre-service teachers need to be both comfortable with and skilled in establishing actual contact with educators and students outside the united states. in this study 228 pre-service teachers’ experiences with a global learning wiki project were investigated; in this project pre-service teachers acquired information by making direct contact with students in another country instead of learning by traditional methods. review of literature global connections are a reality in the 21st century. at the time of this writing, one in five jobs in the united states was tied to international trade. working in isolation without some type of global connection is virtually impossible (longview foundation, 2008); therefore, educating students to be globally competent has become a priority in education. mansilla and jackson (2011) stated that globally competent students should be able to (a) investigate the world beyond their immediate environment; (b) recognize perspectives, others’ and their own; (c) communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences; and (d) take action to improve conditions. global competencies, which do not comprise a set journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 5 of stand-alone skills, should be embedded into all coursework, course-related field experience, and every profession. even among members of the general public, global competence is perceived as important. the results of public surveys conducted by the american council on education in 2000 and 2002 showed that over 90% of the general public agreed that knowledge of international issues will be important to the careers of the younger generations. the results of a 2007 phi delta kappa/gallup poll showed that 86% of american adults think learning a second language is very or somewhat important for students; furthermore, 70% of them indicated that foreign language instruction should begin in elementary school (longview foundation, 2008). multiple national and nonprofit associations, such as the national lieutenant governor’s association, the council of chief state school officers, the national education association, the national association of state boards of education, the partnership for 21st century skills, the committee for economic development, and the longview foundation, have called for educators to address the new era of global challenge (longview foundation, 2008). in 2012, the u.s. department of education announced a new international strategy for education, the main goal of which was to increase global competence in all u.s. students (u.s. department of education, 2012); but schneider (2003) argued that despite significant attention to increasing international exposure in education, teacher education programs are the least internationalized programs on american college and university campuses. strategies designed to internationalize teacher education have not changed much since earlier studies. encouraging faculty travel abroad, admitting foreign students, and sending students on overseas programs are still the strategies most used at institutions of higher education in the united states. revising curricula to include international content in teacher preparation courses was proposed by only 5% of schneider’s (2003) respondents. studying abroad is a way to learn the values, languages, and cultures of other countries; but very few college students actually have the opportunity to do so. furthermore, without critical planning and structures, studying abroad could become an ordinary trip instead of a meaningful cultural exchange experience (patterson, 2014). the institute of international education (2012) reported that the number of students studying abroad for a single academic year represents only 1% of the total enrollment in u.s. higher education; moreover, study abroad is difficult for education students because of time constraints, already packed course requirements, and student teaching (schneider, 2003). the longview foundation (2008) proposed several strategies to prepare globally competent teachers, one of which involves technology; however, few studies on using technology in the field of teacher preparation have been conducted. using technology in global learning the classroom learning environment has changed with increased access to the internet and a wide range of digital technologies, which not only support multimodal learning but also provide rich learning experience beyond classroom walls (lock, 2015). with regard to global learning, asynchronous and synchronous communication technologies, web resources, social media, and web 2.0 technology were found to be used by teacher educators for the purpose of gaining cultural understanding and diverse perspective. merryfield (2000) used asynchronous online threaded discussions to promote equity, diversity and cultural understanding among students of her social studies and global education courses. she found that comparing to face-to-face seminar, online threaded discussions created a safe environment where journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 6 students in a diverse group felt comfortable discussing sensitive and controversial topics. she found more interactions in terms of responding to the discussions posted by people across cultural differences than in the face-to-face discussions. asynchronous threaded discussion provides equal participation to all learners, offers time for students to comprehend the materials before posting their opinions, and enhances deliberate reflection gathered from the posts (merryfield, 2000). in spite of all the positive findings merryfield observed, learning seemed unreal and like a game for her students because of missing visual presences. she also raised issues about whether or not the convenience aspect of when and where to participate provided by asynchronous threaded discussion was truly beneficial to participants or merely a way to avoid the conflicts of differences in races, languages and cultures that occur in face-to-face interaction. in addition, the read-and-write nature of threaded discussion favored those who can express themselves better in writing than orally (merryfield, 2000). designing an effective digitally mediated global collaborative project involves a series of considerations from determining topics and goals and careful selection of digital tools to an intentional plan on how to collaborate, what knowledge and information to exchange, and what activities to design (manso & garzon, 2011; lock, 2015). each of the steps could affect the success of a digitally mediated global project. lock and redmond (2011) implemented an inquiry-based, systematic approach that began with participants introducing one another in online discussion forums to establish familiarity, then moved from reading and discussing selected novels in relation to the topic of diversity with small groups to interacting in dialogue with in-service teachers as experts equipped with experiences, expertise and resources. the pre-service teachers in lock and redmond’s study gained a rich understanding of diversity issues and pedagogical practices, which can be used in their future classrooms. using web-based resources is another way that many teacher educators incorporate instructions to teach diverse perspectives on events and cultural issues around the world. despite the access to the information and primary resources originating in other countries that the web provides, merryfield (2007) found that the u.s. teacher educators in her study were often tentative in selecting and using them. as a result of the convenience, efficiency, perceived safety and english language needed, teacher educators preferred to select and use the websites created by large american professional organizations, media or universities that contain information or links to other countries for their lessons. merryfield (2007) further posted a concern on the influencing power those large american websites have on what teachers and their students should learn about the world. since video conferencing was introduced in schools, its benefits in offering real-time face-to-face interaction were quickly recognized and implemented in global learning. video conferencing not only creates a virtual classroom in which students in different geographic locations can be together to learn but also opens new opportunities for students to gain international experience without physically traveling abroad (west, 2010). the use of video conferencing for international collaboration and crosscultural understanding has been the subject of research by chia, poe, and wuensch (2009); mejia and merasz (2011); and seeberg and minick (2011). if students are in the same time zone and virtual meetings can be arranged to connect them, then the videoconference is a good way to learn about one another’s culture, educational system, and topics of interest. according to these researchers students found learning about other cultures through videoconferencing more appealing than learning the same information from a textbook (mejia & merasz, 2011); the insight they gained through direct journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 7 communication with international students was impossible to gain from books (seeberg & minick, 2011). the researchers found that after the videoconference, students’ understanding of people from other cultures increased, enhancing american students’ comfort level and desire to work with those who are culturally different (chia, poe, & wuensch, 2009). the experiences they gained broadened their horizons, and they wanted more exchange of this kind in the future (mejia & merasz, 2011). in a case of the u.s.–eu dual degree program at depaul university, faculty used skype video conference to advise students who were abroad and also created a facebook community in which students could talk to others who had been in the program or their foreign colleagues. the facebook community greatly reduced pre-departure anxiety and increased the comfort level of students about their destinations (west, 2000). ausband and schultheis (2010) used discussion boards, chats, blogs and online survey tools to connect american pre-service teachers with students in germany, bulgaria and spain. the participants learned about topics and issues in education from peers from different cultures, improving their understanding of global relations through direct communication via multiple web 2.0 tools and the results of their study were extremely positive. with global learning social networks, such as epals and iearn, people can gather around the world in an online environment and collaborate on a project or discuss any cultural issues of interest. zong (2009) took advantage of this unique learning environment and conducted a study of pre-service teachers’ understanding of the meaning and purpose of global education by using web-based threaded discussion forums through iearn to discuss a range of cultural and global issues with students and teachers from over 20 countries. maguth (2014) used an asynchronous email client (epals) and skype to connect his pre-service social studies teachers with a group of secondary students in thailand to advance authentic cross-cultural interaction and global understandings. zong’s and maguth’s findings resembled those of ausband and schultheis (2010), who concluded that participants deepened their level of global understanding and interest in incorporating global components into their future classrooms. participating in the authentic digitally mediated global learning opportunity helps pre-service teachers in their professional growth (maguth, 2014). a recent study of teens, social media, and technology done by the pew research center (lenhart, 2015) showed that among 13to 17-year-olds, 92% of teens are online daily with 24% of them online almost constantly. facebook is the most popular site among teens with 71% of all teens using the site. the pew study indicated that a majority of young people are already involved in activities on the web. because the web-based tools currently available are so user friendly, peters (2009) suggested that educators should take advantage of students’ built-in comfort level with the web to globalize their classrooms. overview of the project at the time of this writing, the author of the current study taught four sections of educational technology, an undergraduate course in the teacher education program at a large midwestern university in the united states. the primary goal of this course was to develop the necessary technological competencies to successfully support pre-service teachers in their teaching professions. as a need arose to prepare pre-service teachers to become globally competent and culturally responsive and to be more knowledgeable on the use of technology to support global learning, a global learning wiki project was added to the curriculum as a course project. in the project, pre-service students worked in groups of six or eight, and each group set up a private wiki site as a space for sharing information, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 8 ideas, thoughts, images and videos with a group of students in another country. both sets of students posted questions about topics they were interested in learning about from the other group on the wiki website; then they responded to one another’s questions. they collaboratively developed a wiki website filled with information, images and videos that helped each other learn about the education practices, school structures and cultures of their home countries. at the end of the project, the pre-service teachers presented their wiki sites to the whole class, sharing their learning experiences. the author made arrangements with three or four international teachers and their students for each of the course sections she taught before semester began. the details of seeking international participants are described in the next section. before the project began, basic details about each of the overseas classes, including the country, name of the school, name of the international teacher, the course he or she taught, and participating students’ grade levels, were introduced to the pre-service teachers. they then chose the overseas class they wanted to work with for this project. in order to allow sufficient time for students from both countries to work on the wiki website, the global learning wiki project included three stages. the tasks required for the pre-service teachers in each of the stages are presented below as they were given to the students. stage 1: set up a group wiki website each group of pre-service teachers builds a group wiki website. develop the home page of the group wiki website with a group photo and a well-written introductory statement that tells who you are, your majors, the purposes of the project, and your expectations for this project. discuss as a group and list what you know about the country and what you want to learn from the overseas students. then, list questions, each one on an individual page of the wiki, which your group would like answered by the overseas class. provide responses from a u.s. perspective to each of your questions. for example, if a question for the overseas students is about their typical high school day, the pre-service teachers should share with the overseas students what a typical high school day is like here in the united states. the purpose of this step is to share perspectives on the questions raised by both groups. students are also encouraged to add visuals or audio, such as pictures, videos and hyperlinks to web resources, to their responses. create a list of 10 usernames and passwords for the participating students overseas so that they can easily access the wiki website. send the wiki web address along with the usernames and passwords to the partner teacher overseas. a 4-week break occurred between the first and second stages, so the international students could have enough time to work on the wiki websites. the u.s. pre-service teachers studied other course topics in the meantime. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 9 stage 2: comment on the responses to your questions and respond to the questions posted by the participating students overseas read the responses posted by your overseas partners, which could include written text, videos, pictures, and links to web resources from their home countries. then, provide feedback or comments on the responses you received. read the questions posted by the overseas partners. as a group discuss how to respond to the questions raised by the overseas class. work collaboratively with other group members to answer the questions posted by the overseas class. the responses should include more than text. students are encouraged to include pictures, hyperlinks, videos, audios and other types of media in the response. add any follow-up questions, if needed. continue the communication with the overseas class on the wiki website until the project is closed. stage 2 lasts for about 4 weeks. stage 3: project presentation and closure pre-service teachers present their global learning wiki site to the whole class and share their learning experience. complete an online survey. seeking international partners ausband and schultheis (2010) indicated that the major challenge in conducting an international project is to find partners who can speak english; thus, the author contacted the international leaders in education program (ilep) operating at the university where she was employed in order to secure a pool of international educators, whose students would partner with hers. the ilep is funded by the u.s. department of state’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs and administered by the international research and exchanges board (irex). starting with the 2006–2007 academic year, the ilep hosted 16 teachers from the near east, south asia, southeast asia, sub-saharan africa and the western hemisphere at the university for one semester to learn and exchange knowledge and skills in educational methodology and policy. most of the ilep scholars were secondary education teachers and taught english as a foreign language in their home countries. with the help of the director of the international and intercultural center at the university, the author invited ilep alumni and their students to participate in the project. before each semester began, the author set up a project schedule, listing the due dates for each of the stages and tasks to be completed by both the international students and members of the author’s classes. an invitation letter (see appendix a) with a project schedule attached to the email was sent to a listserv of ilep alumni. the majority of international participants in this project were students of ilep alumni in their home countries. some international participants were students of the author’s acquaintances in other countries. these educators taught at the college level, were interested in global collaboration and wanted to provide more opportunities for their students to practice english. since spring 2012, the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 10 author has offered this project to students enrolled in the educational technology course every semester. countries participating in the project overseas participants represented different countries each semester. some international teachers, especially those who taught in university settings, participated in the project almost every semester primarily because they had a different group of students each term, the proposed project timeframe worked for their academic systems, and it was more feasible for them to adjust their curricula to include a global learning project than those who taught in secondary schools. below is a list of countries and grade levels of students participating in this global learning wiki project. fall 2012: brazil (high school), india (middle school), indonesia (high school), lebanon (high school), morocco (high school), philippines (high school), and taiwan (university). spring 2013: brazil (language institute, high school to college level), finland (university), india (high school), indonesia (high school), malaysia (high school), canada (elementary school), taiwan (university), and tajikistan (university). fall 2013: brazil (language institute, high school to college level), finland (university), indonesia (high school), philippines (university), and taiwan (university). before the project began, an online orientation video and a written wiki tutorial created by the author with specific editing and collaborating guidelines focusing on this project were sent to each of international participating teachers to be shown to their students. the online orientation video included a welcome statement, expectations and goals for the project, and an outline of the project procedures. participants and methods the author taught four sections of educational technology with 20 to 24 students in each section. the course was offered in fall and spring semesters each academic year. approval was obtained from the institutional review board for this study. a total of 228 pre-service teachers enrolled in the educational technology course from across the disciplines during three semesters volunteered and signed the consent form for this study. in fall 2012 semester, 78 students consented; in spring 2013 semester, 86; and in fall 2013 semester, 64. participation rates were 87%, 97%, and 89%, respectively. most of them were in their second or third year of study. the online survey (see appendix b) given at the end of the project included multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions about their learning experience. participants responded to multiple-choice questions on 5-point likert scales with the following answer choices: strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, and strongly agree. the multiple-choice questions were used to measure participants’ attitudes toward this project. providing insight into the learning experience of the participants, the open-ended questions elicited what they knew about the country of their overseas partners before starting the project, the degree to which the project gave them new perspectives on their partners’ country, their most challenging and rewarding experiences, the degree to which the project helped to enhance their confidence to work with overseas educators, the professional benefits they gained from the project, and the degree to which it enhanced their technology skills. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 11 research questions the purpose of the study was to help the instructor understand what students enrolled in the educational technology course thought about the global learning project, what they learned and how they used technology in the project. specific research questions were as follows:  what were students’ overall experiences with the global learning wiki project?  to what extent did the project enhance students’ knowledge of other cultures?  to what extent did the project enhance students’ confidence to work with people who are culturally different?  to what extent did the project benefit students professionally?  to what extent did the project enhance students’ technology skills? results results for each research question and results of the multiple-choice questions and answers to the open-ended questions associated with each research question appear below. a list of results of all multiple-choice questions is provided in table 1. participants’ overall experience with the global learning project participants’ overall experience with the global learning project was very positive. a total of 89.5% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “i enjoyed participating in the global learning project.” the majority of them stated that it was an eye-opening experience, fun and more interesting than merely conducting research to learn about a country or a culture. furthermore, 87.7% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “i was excited to have contact with an educator and students in another country.” a total of 91.2% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that “the learning activities were appropriate for pre-service teachers.” their answers to the open-ended questions offered more insight into research question 1: what were students’ overall learning experiences with the global learning wiki project? one student responded, it was a really neat experience. i liked that it was hands on and i didn't have to just sit at the computer and look things up to find out more about the country—it was almost like i was right there in the classroom with the students! (student 27, fall 2012) the amount of information that participants gained from the overseas students varied across groups. a few students expressed some disappointment because their group did not receive as many responses as other groups did, but they still considered the overall experience good. one participant said, “even though some of [the] responses were not as in-depth as i was hoping, it was still pretty cool to experience that communication from people so far away, and i learned a great deal from my classmates’ presentations” (student 46, fall 2013). when participants were asked about their most challenging and rewarding experiences, many of them stated that thinking of questions to ask was the most challenging aspect of the project because they had never thought much about the overseas country or had no previous knowledge of what its culture was journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 12 like. thus, they had trouble settling on what questions to ask. some of them said they were trying not to ask questions, answers for which could easily be found online or might seem offensive. another main challenge described by many students was the language barrier that students on both sides of the ocean experienced. they appreciated that all their overseas partners used english to communicate in this project, but participants sometimes did not quite understand what they were talking about and just tried their best to answer their questions. participants thought the overseas partners might also have experienced the language barrier. one participant stated, “i noticed that they did not answer a few questions, and it could be because they did not understand what we were asking” (student 32, fall2013). communication without face-to-face contact was difficult because students could not determine what needed improvement. as for the most rewarding experience, most participants indicated that receiving questions and answers from the overseas partners and seeing the pictures they posted on the wiki site. many statements similar to the following were made: “the rewarding experiences were being able to communicate with these students and learning from their point of view, not just the internet” (student 54, spring 2013). role of the project in enhancing students’ knowledge of other cultures the author found that participants’ knowledge of the country of the students with whom they collaborated was very limited before starting the project, with more than half admitting no knowledge of the country before the project. some of them mentioned that their knowledge of the country was confined to geographic location on a map and religion practiced. only those participants who collaborated with students in canada or brazil showed a little more knowledge for reasons such as close proximity to the united states or previous visits in the case of canada and well-known athletes in the case of both countries. after the project, 85.1% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “the project enhanced my knowledge and understanding of another country.” the answers to openended questions showed that a majority of the participants learned about the country, its culture, school structure and typical school day. students pointed out that they learned about the individuals in that country as well. one student stated: i really enjoyed the global learning project. i got to see perspectives of students in another country that i would not otherwise have gotten to experience. this project went beyond just what would have been available to us online and gave us insight in to what life in [the country] is actually like. (student 35, fall 2013) not only did the project enhance the knowledge of participants about other countries, but it also changed their perspectives on them. new perspectives included the following: they found more similarities than differences; the country was different from what they expected; and they were generally impressed with the english ability of their international partners. many participants indicated that the school structures, courses, and holidays in the countries of their partners were similar to those in the united states. one participant wrote, “even though they are on the other side of the world, their schooling is somewhat similar to ours; and they do share and experience the same things americans do in their classrooms” (student 17, fall 2012). through the pictures and videos posted on the wiki site by the overseas partners, the participants’ perceptions about the country differed from their preconceived notions. another participant said, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 13 the picture of the school is not what i expected. it looked like a pretty big school and somewhat modern. they teach just about every subject we teach in the united states, and they use technology that we use in the united states. (student 34, fall 2012) the availability of technology surprised numerous participants, who had thought some of the collaborating countries had limited access to technology. below is a representative statement: originally, my perspective on the country was that it was progressively getting more technologically advanced, but was still ages behind the united states. this school quickly proved to me how wrong my perspective was. these students were very technologically advanced and even had items in their classrooms such as smartboards, computers and laptops. (student 67, fall 2012) language was a major issue of concern for the participants in this project, but all international partners’ used english to communicate with them; in fact, their english ability surprised the participants. one participant stated: “i was amazed at their ability to read, comprehend and speak english” (student 38, spring 2013) role of the project in enhancing students’ confidence to work with people who are culturally different to most of the students, working with international partners seemed difficult because of a lack of experience and not knowing whether they could speak english. after working with the overseas partners, participants felt comfortable. in fact, 85.5% of them agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “i feel comfortable working with educators in other nations whom i have never met”; furthermore, 70.6% agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “i would like to have more contact with educators and students in another country.” they found that (a) english is a second language in many countries and (b) their international partners were very interested in learning from them and sharing their cultures with them. many participants also pointed out that they did not realize how easy it was to connect to people overseas through technology. after engaging in this project, they felt much more confident in their ability and believed they were likely to do so again; in addition, most participants were open to and interested in working with international partners. one wrote, “i never even thought of working with overseas educators before, so this was a great way to show how i could use technology to relate to students and classrooms around the world” (student 49, fall 2012). the confidence of one project participant, however, seems not to have been greatly enhanced. this participant stated, “it did enhance my confidence a little, but i still think that i need more experience before i can say i’m completely confident” (student 48, spring 2013). role of the project in providing professional benefits to students with regard to the fourth research question—to what extent did the project benefit students professionally?—student responses were mixed responses. a total of 68% of them agreed and strongly agreed with the following statement: “participating in the global learning project with the overseas educator and his or her students benefited me professionally.” they stated that this project inspired and encouraged them to do a global project in their future classrooms; they became more appreciative of other cultures and more aware of their importance; the project helped them learn to be professional, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 14 and they believed that they would be more marketable in their job searches. a total of 84.2% of the participants agreed and strongly agreed with the following statement: “i would recommend other preservice teachers to participate in the global learning project.” one participant commented: i never even thought of trying to get in contact with another country, especially not in my classroom. realizing how important it is to be culturally aware and open-minded, i think this could be a great way to integrate culture into my own classroom someday, by relating literature and other projects in class to real classrooms and places around the world. (student 51, fall 2012) some participants, however, did not think this project was beneficial to them even though they agreed that it was a good learning experience. the author found that the disappointment that some participants experienced about not receiving in-depth responses to their questions affected their attitudes. some students stated that learning about other countries or cultures is unnecessary. those participants made statements such as the following: “it has nothing to do with my teaching” (student 24, fall 2012); “i wouldn’t get to try [dealing with students from other cultures] unless i taught abroad or did a foreign exchange program” (student 67, fall 2012); and “i may have to go to another country someday, but i don’t plan on leaving north america” (student 28, fall 2013). role of the project in enhancing technology skills a total of 71.5% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement: “i gained technology skills by participating in the project.” answers to the open-ended question associated with the fifth research question—"to what extent did the project enhance students’ technology skills?"— showed that no matter how much experience the participants had with technology, using a wiki for international communication and collaboration was a new and positive learning experience for them. one participant wrote: “this project enhanced my computer skills but from a different aspect; this project enhanced the way i can communicate with individuals through technology and programs like this” (student 64, spring 2013). some participants considered themselves technology savvy or stated that they had used wikis before, so they did not think this project actually helped to enhance their technology skills but allowed them some practice with technology or provided them extensive practice with the tool. the participants who had never used wiki before stated that this project enhanced their skills; they learned how to use and manage a wiki and incorporate pictures, videos, and other types of multimedia into the wiki. very few participants, only 16.2%, “felt frustrated by the technical problems [they] experienced” basically when their content had been deleted or moved accidentally by their own groupmates or by the overseas students; but they were all able to retrieve it from the history of the wiki page, which is a wiki functionality. table 1 presents a list of multiple-choice questions and the percentage of participants who agreed or strongly agreed. table 1. results of multiple-choice questions question % journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 15 i enjoyed participating in the global learning project. 89.5% i was excited to have contact with an educator and students in another country. 87.7% i feel comfortable working with educators in other nations whom i have never met. 85.5% i would like to have more contact with educators and students in another country. 70.6% the project enhanced my knowledge and understanding of another country. 85.1% i would recommend other pre-service teachers to participate in the global learning project. 84.2% participating in the global learning project with an overseas educator and his or her students benefited me professionally. 68% i gained technology skills by participating in the project. 71.5% i felt frustrated by the technical problems i experienced. 16.2% the learning activities were appropriate for pre-service teachers. 91.2% discussion the author found that pre-service teachers’ knowledge of other countries was minimal, superficial, and even biased initially. some of the participants stated that they could probably locate on a map the country of those with whom they collaborated; others were not even sure of the exact location, and still others had never heard of some of the countries. this result coincides with the report of the longview foundation (2008), which stated, “today’s educators rarely begin their careers with the deep knowledge and robust skills necessary to bring the world into their classrooms” (p. 3). one participant said, “i never was really interested in other countries, but once we got the project going, it was a lot of fun” (student 22, fall 2013). their lack of interest was merely a function of their lack of experience. once they were offered a learning experience with partners overseas, they enjoyed doing the project, gained knowledge and understanding about other cultures, changed their perceptions of some aspects of the country, and felt more comfortable about working with teachers and students of other countries in the future. many participants posted questions related to their majors to their overseas partners, which extended their knowledge of their own field outside the united states. the international students participating in this project ranged from elementary school to university levels. because of their age and english ability, topics they were interested in learning about differed from what interested u.s. students. in addition, the richness of information that participants received was not the same across groups. one participant considered working with international students of the same grade level as those in her own future classroom a rewarding experience. the participant stated: it was rewarding, though, to get to talk to a group of students from another country, especially students in the grade range that i will be teaching one day. it was nice to start interacting with journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 16 the age group of students that i will be interacting with in the future, and it was even better to be more exposed to a different culture. (student 68, spring 2013) not every participant, however, saw the project as a rewarding experience. participants who worked with college students in other countries generally received more information than the groups working with middle school or high school students, which influenced participants’ views of their learning experience in this project. the author realized this limitation, so each of the groups presented their wiki website and shared what they learned with the whole class to maximize students’ overall learning outcomes. for some participants, their primary concern was how to teach their subject matter to future students; thus, they failed to see how this project contributed to teaching competence in their proposed subject area. some participants thought knowing other cultures was unnecessary if they planned to remain in the united states and teach americans. one participant stated: “i will end up teaching in america, so i find american teachers and classrooms more interesting and helpful to my future career than i find those of another country” (student 9, fall 2012). although these kinds of voices represented only about 11%–12% of the participants, their narrow views of global importance and awareness show how little attention some u.s. educators have paid to other countries and cultures. systemic preparation for preservice teachers to be globally competent individuals is essential throughout their years of study. in addition, similar to zong’s (2008) findings, the participants in this study tended not to choose critical cultural topics to ask about or express opposing views because they did not want to offend others; unfortunately, this mode of participation did not facilitate true cultural understanding. the survey results associated with the question of enhanced technology skills were unsurprising. those participants who had not used wikispaces before gained considerable skills. because many participants had used wikis in the past and were also familiar with the procedures of sharing multimedia materials, such as photos, videos and music online, this project did not help them gain new technological skills; however, it successfully demonstrated how easily and effectively using technology connects the people of the world. in this project, technology was a bridge to connect students to people in other countries. other web-based collaborative tools such as google docs, blog, and voicethread can be introduced to this project to maximize students’ knowledge on the use of web-based tools to support global learning. the international students had no other problems collaborating with their u.s. partners on the wiki websites; in other words they were all able to navigate, manage, and use wikis successfully. peters (2009) stated that “the challenge of breaking down cultural barriers that one time might have impeded any kind of meaningful collaboration is now considerably eased” (p. 11). his statement proved to be true in this project, where participants had few technical problems and were able to focus on collaboration. the new challenge was how to design a learning experience that would foster greater global awareness and understanding and also make sure that students learn or collaborate (lock, 2015). some improvements and new avenues should be taken into account in future projects. first, practicing english was one of the purposes for the international participants in this project. the students of ilep alumni were english language learners, and the international college students had some level of proficiency in english. although it was unintentional, the entire project was communicated in english language. even the videos and hyperlinks provided by the international participants about their journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 17 countries were mostly in english. using english for the global project certainly favored the u.s. students. what if the u.s. students needed to use a language other than english in this type of global learning project? would they still have positive learning experiences and enjoy the project? would technology be helpful? second, the instructor did not require students to conduct research about their collaborating country during the first stage of the project when each group of students listed what they already knew about the country. although some students quickly searched online for information about their country, the information they found was very basic. the major challenge indicated by the participants was not knowing what questions to ask, which might be reduced or eliminated if they were provided opportunity and time to engage in a more in-depth study of a given country before staring a global learning project. third, the truly online interaction and excitement between u.s. pre-service teachers and international students began from stage 2, when the u.s. pre-service teachers saw pictures of their international partners, questions, and responses to their questions on the wiki websites. both groups of students may want to post their pictures and introductions at the beginning of the project to build a familiarity of each other, friendship, and commitment to the project. finally, not all the questions posted by the pre-service teachers were answered. we did not know whether they chose not to answer a question because they did not understand it, lacked the knowledge necessary to respond to the question, felt offended by the question, or did not answer for some other reason. further communication with the international students about the questions that were not answered should be required. the reasons behind the unanswered questions might have helped students develop another level of cultural understanding of other countries. conclusion this study shows that participants were satisfied with the global learning project and the learning outcomes. they not only gained more knowledge about other cultures and became more comfortable working with people in different cultures but were also interested in incorporating global components into their own classrooms one day. the use of wikis in the project demonstrated a great way to collaborate and work with educators and students in other countries when synchronous face-to-face communication is not feasible. answers to the open-ended questions show that participants enjoyed learning about a country and its cultures directly from the people who live there instead of by conducting research because the former constitutes active learning; however, finding international participants is challenging. the author suggests that instructors who wish to implement global education in the classroom use the resources of the international office or global education office at their institutions. in addition, global social networks are also appropriate places to initiate this type of global learning project. the truth is that many overseas educators also want to provide their students some kind of international experience. future researchers might conduct preand post-surveys to compare and to examine the learning outcomes of both groups of students. the results show that the global learning project was successful and should be offered to future pre-service teachers. many professors in teacher education programs journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 18 have sought ideas about this kind of global learning project. the current project could be an example for them and encourage them to call for more global learning projects in teacher preparation programs. references ausband, l. t., & schultheis, k. (2010). utilizing web 2.0 to provide an international experience for pre-service elementary education teachers—the ipc project. computers in the schools, 27, 266–287. doi: 10.1080/07380569.2010.523886 chia, r. c., poe, e., & wuensch, k. l. (2009). atti tude change after taking a virtual global understanding course. international journal of social sciences, 4(2), 75–79. institute of international education. (2012). international education exchanges are at all -time high, strengthening economies and societies around the world [press release]. retrieved from http://www.iie.org/who-we-are/news-and-events/press-center/pressreleases/2012/2012-11-13-open-doors-international-students lenhart, a. (2015). teens, social media & technology overview 2015 [report]. pew research centre: interne, science & tech. retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/ lock, j. v. (2015). designing learning to engage students in the global classroom. technology and education, 24(2), 137–153. dio:10.1080/1475939x.2014.946957 lock, j. v., & redmond, p. (2011). international online collaboration: giving voice to the study of diversity. one world in dialogue, 1(1), 19–25. longview foundation. (2008). teacher preparation for the global age: an imperative for change. silver spring, md: longview foundation. retrieved from http://www.longviewfdn.org/index.php/download_file/force/10/ maguth, b. m. (2014). digital bridges for global awareness: pre-service social studies teachers’ experiences using technology to learn from and teach students in thailand. journal of international social studies, 4(1), 42–59. mansilla, v. b., & jackson, t. (2011). educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world. new york, ny: asia society. manso, m., & garzon, m. (2011). designing effective global collaborative projects. learning & leading with technology, 39(3), 32–35. mejia, r. m., & merasz, j. (2011). video conferencing: a global alternative for educating majors to learn from their peers. insights journal, 2011(1), 3–9. merryfield, m. m. (2000). using electronic technologies to promote equity and cultural diversity in social studies and global education. theory and research in social education, 28(4), 502– 526. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 merryfield, m. m. (2007). the web and teachers’ decision-making in global education. theory and research in social education, 35(2), 256–276. patterson, t. (2014). on the modern silk road: a case study of the limits and promise of international in-service teacher professional development. in b. maguth & j. hillburn (eds.), the state of global education: learning with the world and its people (pp. 63–77). new york. ny: routledge. peters, l. (2009). global education: using technology to bring the world to your students . washington, dc: international society for technology in education. schneider, a. i. (2003). internationalizing teacher education: what can be done? washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from eric database (ed480869) seeberg, v., & minick, t. (2011). enhancing cross-cultural competence in multicultural teacher education: transformation in global learning. international journal of multicultural education, 14(3), 1–24. u.s. department of education. (2012, may 3). broadening the spirit of respect and cooperation for the global public good [speech]. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/broadening-spirit-respect-and-cooperation-globalpublic-good west, c. (2010). borderless via technology. international educator, 19(2), 24–33. zong, g. (2009). developing pre-service teachers’ global understanding through computer mediated communication technology. teaching and teacher education, 25(2009), 617–625. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 appendix a invitation letter dear educator, i am dr. chia-ling kuo, assistant professor of instructional technology at kent state university. i would like to invite your participation in a global learning project with my students enrolled in educational technology. in this project, groups of my students will set up a wiki site as a space for sharing information, ideas, thoughts, images, videos, audios, and documents with an overseas teacher (and his or her students). we will use this wiki site to post and respond to one another’s questions. i believe this project is beneficial to both groups of the students in terms of partnership, collaboration, international perspective, and much more. here is a list of requirements for the overseas participants. actively participate in the wiki site that the ksu students set up for the project during the project time frame. post at least 5 questions on the wiki for ksu students to answer. respond to the questions posted by the ksu students. post some pictures (and audios, videos, and links, if possible) on the wiki site. if you decide to participate in the project with us, please email me at ckuo@kent.edu by september 30, 2012. in your reply email please provide me a short introduction, including the subject or grade level you teach so that i can introduce you to my class. project time frame: beginning of october till end of november 2012 if you have any questions regarding the project, please contact me. i am looking forward to working with you. best regards, chia-ling chia-ling kuo, ph.d. instructional technology program college of education, health and human services kent state university email: ckuo@kent.edu phone: 330-672-0599 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 4-21. corresponding author email: ckuo@kent.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 appendix b global learning project survey multiple-choice questions 1=strongly disagree 2=disagree 3=neither agree nor disagree 4=agree 5=strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 i enjoyed participating in the global learning project. 1 2 3 4 5 i was excited to have contact with the educator and students in another country. 1 2 3 4 5 i feel comfortable working with educators in other nations whom i have never met. 1 2 3 4 5 i would like to have more contact with educators and students in another country. 1 2 3 4 5 the project enhanced my knowledge and understanding of another country. 1 2 3 4 5 i would recommend other pre-service teachers to participate in the global learning project. 1 2 3 4 5 participating in the global learning project with the overseas educator and his or her students benefited me professionally. 1 2 3 4 5 i gained technology skills by participating in the project. 1 2 3 4 5 i felt frustrated by the technical problems i experienced. 1 2 3 4 5 the learning activities were appropriate for pre-service teachers. open-ended questions (explain with specific examples) how much did you know about the country you worked with before starting the project? did the results of the project give you different perspectives on the country? what were the most challenging and rewarding experiences? did this project enhance your technology skill? did this project enhance your confidence to work with overseas educators? did this project benefit you professionally? describe your overall experience with the global learning project. microsoft word hawkins with ga edit.doc journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 34 a current analysis of the treatment of japanese americans and internment in united states history textbooks jeffrey m. hawkins oklahoma state university michael buckendorf will rogers high school, tulsa, ok journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 35 many secondary social studies teachers persist in using united states history textbooks as their primary, and in many cases, only instructional tool (stevens, 1988, paxton, 2002, & hawkins, 2005). because of this it is vital that teachers have up-todate, accurate, and true-to-life textbooks for instruction. this article will address the topic of the treatment of japanese americans and their internment in world war ii (wwii), as it has been presented in recent united states history textbooks (2005-2008), and suggest how the content should be updated and expanded. state standards require the study of wwii--key events and their causes and effects, and certain standards include internment policies and their effects as well. this allows students to “confront today’s problems and choices with a deeper awareness of their alternatives and the likely consequences” (ok pass, 2010). although “students still tend to be passive recipients of the knowledge handed down by teachers, the curriculum, and textbooks, rather than active seekers of problems to be solved,” (simanu-klutz, 2006, p. 1) this remains a worthy goal. previous textbook analyses in 1995, romanowski examined the treatment of japanese american internment during ww ii, in united states history textbooks published between 1988 and 1992. this study found that most of the textbooks failed to provide students with complete descriptions of the internment camps, adequately address the loss of personal property, hypothesize a variety of possible motives for the internment, problematize the government’s role in ordering and carrying out the internment, present the topic of restitution made to japanese americans, or raise the issue of whether or not the united states government actions were democratic. in 2000, harada looked at the treatment of asian americans in united states history textbooks published between 1994 and 1996. this study stated that “asian” americans were depicted in textbooks as passive rather than active agents, as a group successfully assimilated into the mainstream culture, and as a model minority. in 2004, ogawa indicated that textbooks adopted for use in idaho schools in 2002 had improved since the romanowski and harada studies, but still lacked an explanation of other possible motives for internment, such as ethnocentrism, discrimination, and racism (one of romanowski’s proposed additions to the textbooks). most textbooks also excluded information about the different historic and economic situations faced by japanese americans living on the mainland and in hawaii. ogawa stated that the textbooks also failed to address the fact that more acts of violence and terrorism were committed against japanese americans at the end of wwii than at the beginning. could such acts have been the cause of “asian” american assimilation and the evolution of asians as a model minority (as harada proposed)? ogawa further stated that additional information was necessary for students to understand the reasons why discrimination toward japanese americans did not end after the war and why american citizens of german and italian ancestries were not put into internment camps. in addition, some textbooks lacked personal accounts of the internment to help students develop empathy for those interned. finally, and most importantly, ogawa argued that textbooks failed to develop students’ critical thinking skills and critical knowledge of united states history, and that teachers needed to go journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 36 beyond their reliance on textbooks for both instructional methods and content material. current study this study updated and expanded upon the conclusions reached by romanowski (1995), harada (2000), and ogawa (2004) regarding the treatment of japanese americans and internment in united states history textbooks. the researchers used the same criteria for content analysis and the same ten history textbooks studied previously. however, they used the more recent editions of those texts, published between 2005 and 2008. researchers read, coded, and analyzed sections of the textbooks that pertained to japanese americans and internment during the wwii era. in addition, they addressed the extent to which the textbooks followed the recommendations, considerations, and conclusions of prior studies. the content analysis took place during the summer of 2009. brief historical commentary wwii is generally considered to be a time of galvanizing national identity and voluntary unity, in contrast with the coercion and intimidation that mobilized the troops during wwi. yet, this was not the case with the japanese americans who lived in the united states during this decade (census, 1940, & smithsonian national museum of history, 2007). what caused the stark backlash against the japanese american population was, of course, the attack on pearl harbor. in november of 1941, the munson report was submitted before congress. it was a factfinding report intent upon gauging the character of america’s citizens of japanese descent. the report found that the nisei population, second generation japanese born in the united states, were loyal americans who longed for acceptance in a society that regarded them as second-class citizens. the report claimed that there was little to fear from asian citizens if a conflict would break out between the united states and the empire of japan (brokaw, 1998, evans, 1998, riley, 2002, bennett, 2007, & smithsonian national museum of history, 2007). none of this information was taken into consideration following the attack on pearl harbor. emotions and national indignation ran too high. while america’s entry into the war served as a rallying point to assimilate and cement several disparate ethnic groups firmly into american society, it had the opposite effect on the nisei and their noncitizen parents, the issei. in february of 1942, a scant two months after the attack of pearl harbor, president franklin roosevelt signed executive order 9066, calling for all japanese american citizens and non-citizens along the west coast to be evacuated from their homes and businesses. the rationale for this was that the public outcry and negative sentiment against asians within the borders of the united states could erupt into violence and rioting. there were already signs of this negativity as banks refused to cash checks written by nisei citizens and insurance companies canceled their policies. many milkmen and grocers refused to deliver their goods or sell to them. buddhist temples were vandalized and ransacked. the writing of racism and prejudice was on the wall, and the argument was made that something needed to be done to maintain order (ibid.). this history is not necessarily included in current united states history textbooks, nor was it mentioned in prior content analysis research by romanowski (1995), harada (2000), or ogawa (2004). journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 37 discussion of findings the purpose of this study was to update and further develop our knowledge of what has been included, overlooked, or added to the most recent united states history textbooks (2005-2008) regarding the treatment of japanese americans and the experience of internment. american anthem, published in 2007 by holt, rinehart and winston, offered two fairly comprehensive, though condensed chapters dealing with wwi. of the 76 pages dedicated to the war, 2 dealt with the japanese american internment. content included generalized and standard recitations of camp locations, privations, and the loss of property, as well as the case of korematsu v. united states. this finding parallels previous studies. the text was also helpful in identifying the often overlooked fact that thousands of italian and german immigrants were forced to carry identification cards, a clear differentiation in treatment from that of the japanese americans. the text mentioned general john l. dewitt, commander of west coast defenses, who was the primary agitator of anti-japanese sentiment on the west coast, although it did not bring up his racist and inflammatory rhetoric. loyalty questionnaires were mentioned, as was the combat record of the 442nd regimental combat team (rct). interestingly, there was also a photo of fred korematsu receiving the presidential medal of freedom from president clinton in 1998. the enduring vision, a history of the american people, published in 2005 by houghton mifflin, was less impressive. the entire period from 1933 to 1945 was presented in only 31 pages. curiously, there was a paragraph pertaining to the cultural treatment of homosexuals in the united states during wwii placed immediately before the section covering the japanese american internment, and it was not connected with other historical events. the researchers did not see such passages in other textbooks, and supposed it might be an attempt to portray diversity, however out of context. here, general dewitt’s racist comments, “a jap is a jap. it makes not difference whether he is an american citizen or not . . . i don’t want any of them here” (p. 805) were stated, but without any identification of their author. also, vague references to korematsu v. united states were noted. and the entire coverage of internment was discussed in less than a full page. the american journey, published in 2007 by prentice hall, took a slightly different, yet interesting introductory approach to the topic. as a precursor to discussing the internment, a section on the clashing of cultures featured the ethnic and racial tensions that exuded across america toward all minorities. race riots in harlem and detroit between blacks and whites, plus the infamous “zoot suit riots” between white servicemen and chicano “zoot suiters” in los angeles were specifically noted. these textbook authors seemingly followed the suggestions of romanowski and ogawa in including this content. in the handling of the internment itself, the textbook provided the different perspectives of the issei and nisei, speculated as to why the army waited months after pearl harbor to begin evacuation, and made observations about racial stereotyping. there was also a twopage, first person narrative from former camp harmony internee, monica itoi stone, which expressed a sense of immediacy and provided an opportunity for empathy on the part of the reader. however, coverage of other aspects of internment lacked inclusiveness. comparisons between japanese american, german american, and journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 38 italian american detainment were present, but little else. while monica’s personal recollections took up two pages, the coverage of pertinent facts concerning the internment took up only one page. a people and a nation, published in 2005 by houghton mifflin, was among the worst of the textbooks. coverage of the internment was relegated to little more than one-half of a page. one paragraph dealt with the alien registration act of 1940, and it served as an example of the prevalent and increased sense of paranoia towards immigrant populations. descriptions were perfunctory. all that stood out was a brief mention of the 6,000 internees who renounced their citizenship and were repatriated to japan, followed by a contrasting paragraph covering the 442nd rct combat record. united states history, modern america, published in 2008 by prentice hall, fared little better in its analysis. coverage of the internment amounted to less than one-half of a page. however, this textbook chose to focus more on the challenges to civil liberties during wartime, which supported a comparison between wwii and today’s war on terror. photographs of nisei families wearing identification tags and waiting at evacuation centers and the manzanar camp would prove useful to students, though a glaring error stood out. a photograph featuring the arrest of japanese ambassador morito moishima was incorrectly labeled as the arrest of a japanese american citizen. the american promise, a history of the united states, published in 2007 by st. martin’s press, proved to be a fairly effective text on many levels. the introduction to the internment came in the context of heightened anxieties and panic after german u-boats attacked shipping off the east coast. this section moved directly into the topic of racial xenophobia directed at japanese americans from excessive fears of espionage, subversion, and sabotage against american industry. the passages detailing the internment directly were very informative, offering excerpts from the memoranda issued by general dewitt to the secretary of war, plus first person memoirs from internee kazue yamane and the diaries of charles kikuchi. dewitt’s paranoia, decrying japanese americans as “subversives” was made manifest in this memorandum, despite the evidence to the contrary supplied by the munson report. yamane’s memoirs, looking back forty years, denote the bitterness many nisei still felt over the degradation of the internment. the fascinating example of the kikuchi diary (showcased in the harada study) as excerpted in this textbook in particular, passionately demonstrated the desire for acceptance by mainstream america on the part of japanese americans, and their overall rejection and ignorance of the imperial japanese militaristic tradition. out of many, a history of the american people, published in 2007 by prentice hall, provided mediocre coverage of the treatment of japanese americans and the internment. while the text itself provided a relatively wide range of coverage of racial issues from the treatment of segregated black troops to the latino “zoot suit” riots of 1943 in los angeles, it relegated the plight of the nisei to a single page. one photo of a family wearing tags and holding their suitcases was present. the best and only coverage of note lay in examples of racial stereotyping exemplified in such songs as, “you’re a sap, mister jap,” and “make a yankee cranky.” also observable, and previously noted by romanowski and ogawa, were the paradoxes of military logic, as in the following example, “the very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 39 disturbing and confirming indication that action will be taken” (p. 900). as far as general overall coverage of wwii, the researchers found america, pathways to the present, published in 2007 by pearson prentice hall, to be the most comprehensive. however, one glaring error was noted. a photograph of a u. s. army uniform worn during the cold war era was presented in the discussion of a different time period. over 77 pages were devoted to covering wwii from all perspectives, albeit in a condensed format. overviews of events leading to the outbreak of global conflict from the spanish civil war to the rise of japanese militarism and atrocities in china and korea were all present within this text. likewise, the details of maps covered key locations, such as pearl harbor, and even the percentage of ships damaged during the sneak attack. at the end of each chapter was a section dedicated to standardized test preparation. while only a page and a half was given to the internment, the global coverage of concurrent events was sufficient to enable students to think critically about why the internment happened in the first place. included were recollections of the inflammatory and inaccurate newspaper reports of japanese sabotage plans and thefts of the property and livelihoods of the japanese americans. the internment camps were undeniably harsh and citizens forced to live there endured any number of privations. their barracks accommodations could be compared to military camps. and the wide range of perspectives offered in this text enabled the expansion of students’ critical thinking skills (e.g., cause and effect, scope of the conflict, and intended and unintended consequences of these events upon various populations, etc.). of the ten textbooks, mcdougal littel’s 2007, the americans, reconstruction to the 21st century, provided the most comprehensive coverage of the internment camp experience. of the four pages addressing this, two of them were devoted solely to korematsu v. united states. this textbook appeared to be quite an extensive text, featuring mini-biographies of several key but typically overlooked figures of the war years, such as journalist martha gelhorn. it also quite effectively covered the contributions of not just japanese americans, but all minorities. conclusions and recommendations this study confirmed earlier research findings by romanowski (1995), harada (2000), and ogawa (2004). it also found that the most recent united states history textbooks continued to improve their depiction of the treatment of japanese americans and their internment. most of the textbooks in the 1995 study failed to provide adequate narratives concerning the loss of individual’s personal property and the government’s motives for the internment. the government’s role in the internment, its restitution to japanese americans, and its application of democratic ideals were issues questioned in the romanowski study. the current study found considerable improvement in these areas. in addition, the current study found, as did the 2000 study, that asians were presented as passive, successfully assimilated, and ultimately a model minority. however, these views were now contextualized through a more diverse lense. some textbooks promoted critical inquiry via the study of civil rights or histories of discrimination that applied to not only japanese americans, but to other minorities as well. as mentioned previously, these aspects of the issues were either not addressed or presented as tokenism in earlier textbooks. the newer editions of the journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 40 textbooks added primary sources (i.e., personal accounts from japanese americans and others) that allowed for a more effective exploration of the issues by students. ogawa (2004) found that textbooks lacked content about other possible motives for internment (beyond the idea of avoiding conflict related to a possible war with japan). additional concerns about content to be included in the textbook revolved around the different situations faced by japanese americans living on the mainland and in hawaii, the reasons why german and italian americans were not interned, the personal accounts of internment, and the goals for developing students’ critical knowledge of the historical events and the application of critical thinking skills to the study of these events. the current study found considerable improvement in these areas in all ten united states history textbooks. the researchers join earlier authors in recommending that united states history textbooks include a complete and clear description of and delineation between internment, relocation, and concentration camps. all ten current textbooks describe internment in some way. however considering the atrocities committed by the american government toward japanese americans, we believe that a complete narrative should be included in future textbooks that clearly differentiates these concepts. finally, some current textbooks did address different historical and economic situations faced by japanese americans living on the mainland as recommended by ogawa (2004). however, in the current study, we found nothing mentioned about those living in hawaii. in addition as in earlier research, acts of violence and terrorism committed against japanese americans at the end of wwi were not mentioned in any textbook in the current study. also, current textbooks still ignored the question raised by ogawa in 2004, “why were there no internment camps in hawaii?” in conclusion, the researchers invite you to review an excerpt from the american pageant (2006) and answer, “is this an adequate or inadequate history? what do you think?” these events changed the lives of some 110,000 japanese americans concentrated on the pacific coast, and they claim a prominent place in our country’s history. “the washington top command, fearing that they might act as saboteurs for japan in case of invasion, forcibly herded them together in concentrations camps, though about two-thirds of them were american-born u.s. citizens. this brutal precaution was both unnecessary and unfair, as the loyalty and combat record of japanese americans proved to be admirable. but a wave of post-pearl harbor hysteria backed by the long historical swell of anti-japanese prejudice on the west coast, temporarily robbed many americansof their good sense—and their sense of justice. the internment camps deprivedthese uprooted americans of dignity and basic rights; the internees also lost hundreds of millions of dollars in property and forgone earnings. the wartime supreme court in 1944 upheld the constitutionality of the japanese relocation in korematsu v. united states but more than four decades later, in 1988, the u.s. government officially apologized for its actions and approved the payment of reparations of $20,000 to each camp survivor” (p. 823). journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 41 references abbot, c., anderson, v., argersinger, j., argersinger, p., barney, w., goldfield, d., & weir, r. (2007). the american journey: a history of the united states. upper saddle river, nj: pearson prentice hall publications. ayers, e., schulzinger, r., de la teja, j., & gray white, d. (2007). american anthem. orlando, fl: holt, rinehart and winston. bailey, b., blight, d., chudacoff, h., katzman, d., longevall, f., norton, m., paterson, t., & tuttle, w. (2005). a people and a nation: a history of the united states. boston, ma: houghton mifflin publications. bennett, w. (2007). america: the last best hope. nashville, tn: thomas nelson, inc. boyer, p., clark, c., kett, j., salisbur, n., sitkoff, h., & woloch, n. (2005). the enduring vision: a history of the american people. new york, ny: houghton mifflin. brokaw, t. (1998). the greatest generation. new york, ny: random house. cayton, a., perry, e., reed, l., & winkler, a. (2007). america: pathways to the present. boston, ma: pearson, prentice hall publications. census (2010). 1940 census data. retrieved april 17, 2009, from http://www.census.gov. danzer, g., de alva, j., krieger, l., wilson, l., & woloch, n. (2007). the americans evanston, il: mcdougal littell, houghton mifflin publications. evans, h. (1998). the american century. new york, ny: alfred knopf publisher. faragher, j., buhle, m., czitrom, d., & armitage, s. (2007). out of many: a history of the american people. upper saddle river, nj: pearson prentice hall publications. harada, v. (2000). the treatment of asian americans in u.s. history textbooks published 19941996. eric. hawkins, j. (2005). smoke signals, sitting bulls, and slot machines. multicultural perspectives.7(3): 51-54. kennedy, d., cohen, l., & bailey, t. (2006). the american pageant. boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. lapsansky-werner, e., levy, p., roberts, r., & taylor, a. (2008). united states history: modern america. upper saddle river, nj: pearson prentice hall publications. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 fall 2010 42 national council for the social studies. (1994). expectations of excellence: curriculum standards for social studies. priority academic student skills. ogawa, m. (2004). treatment of japanese-american internment during world war ii in u.s. history textbooks. international journal of social education, 19(1), 35-47. ok pass. (2010). priority academic student skills. oklahoma state department of education. paxton, r. (2002). from "birth of a nation" to "pearl harbor": the influence of a movie's perspective on students' historical understandings. paper presented at the american educational research association annual meeting in new orleans. riley, k. (2002). schools behind barbed wire. oxford, england: rowman & littlefield, inc. roark, j., johnson, m., cohen, p., stage, s., lawson, a., & hartmann, s. (2007). the american promise: a history of the united states, 3rd edition. boston, ma: bedford/st. martin’s publications. romanowski, m. (1995). impressions of the democratic ideals of justice and equality in u.s. history textbooks: the treatment of japanese americans during world war ii. journal of social studies research, 19(1), 31-49. simanu-klutz, l (2006). integrated curriculum: a reflection of life itself. pacific resources for education and learning. smithsonian national museum of american history (2007). retrieved july 6, 2007, from http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/perfectunion/nonflash/overview.html stevens, e. (1988). tinkering with teaching. review of higher education, 12(1), 63-78. dr. jeffrey m. hawkins is an associate professor and is the director of the secondary social studies program at oklahoma state university in stillwater, ok. mike buckendorf is a social studies educator of united states government and oklahoma history at will rogers high school in tulsa, ok journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 4 exploring youth civic engagement and disengagement in british columbia, canada catherine a. broom university of british columbia, canada __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this paper reports upon the findings of a research study conducted with british columbian university youth in canada, investigating youth beliefs about, and actions towards, civic life and the connections between these factors and youths’ personal conditions and surrounding contexts. the findings illustrate the complexity of connections between youth civic views and behavior. paying more attention to the dynamic interaction between individuals and their lived experiences and considering citizenship education curricula and teaching practices in relation to this complexity may help to improve citizenship education. key words: youth civic engagement, empowerment, citizenship education __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction howe (2010) argues that canadians are less politically engaged over the last 20 years due to social changes that include a lack of interest or belief in government, changes in political culture and a decline in social cohesion. he describes the rise of a group of habitual non-voters who don’t seem to have a political consciousness or interest in politics over their lifetimes. this group, which has disengaged from civic participation, is largest among those with the least formal education. this study adds to howe’s work by exploring university youth’s views of and actions towards civic life through a research study that considers the relations between internal factors, such as personality and attitudes, and external factors, such as family and experiences, that may influence youth’s civic attitudes and behaviors. this research study found that british columbian (bc) university youth were limited in their civic actions and engagement but they did generally value democracy. the results of the study help to clarify various internal and external factors that may influence youth’s civic attitudes and actions. as previous studies have noted connections between youth engagement and civic action (arthur & davies, 2008; beaumont, 2010; gidengil, blais, nevitte, & nadeau, 2004; levinson, 2010) it would seem that fostering civic engagement should be a strong focus for citizenship education. arising from this research the author has identified some key aspects of citizenship education that may increase civic engagement. key terms youth interest in (or attention to) and involvement in civic life, in both the social and political sense, is understood to be engagement, and the processes, concepts and experiences which lead to an journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 5 enhanced sense of self efficacy and thus to greater civic engagement are said to be empowering. to empower means to develop youth’s sense of their political, social or economic efficacy, that is, their belief in their ability to bring change to their communities, societies, or nations, which may result in more active political or social behaviors. citizenship education refers to the planned development of individuals’ civic knowledge, attitudes, and skills, with the aim of developing actions towards the collective life of the community that attempt to improve that life for all (arthur & davies 2008; banks 2007; callan 1997, reid, gill, & sears, 2010; sears, 2009; zajda, holger, & saha, 2009). recently, acknowledging the growth of citizenship education as a significant field of study, sherrod, torney-purta, and flanagan (2010) edited a comprehensive collection that discussed the philosophical and moral facets of civic education, contemporary american civic and political life involvement among youth, and immigrant youth. the chapters illustrated varied and changing forms of youth civic engagement in the united states. international scholars have explored youth civic engagement through such studies as the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea) civic education study. the iea study, which 28 nations participated in, was a comprehensive civic, longitudinal study. it explored the multiple factors that influence youth civic development, including classroom and school conditions. canada did not participate in the iea study. this paper adds to this international work by describing bc youth’s civic attitudes and behaviors, illustrating how some canadian youth are constructing and living their citizenship in a pluralistic nation, and discussing possible reasons for the research findings, some of which connect to the iea study findings and recommendations. research study: methods and data sources canadian youth at a university in british columbia were invited to fill out a survey that included questions on internal (personality and attitudes) and external (experiences, family, school, and culture) factors that may influence civic attitudes and behaviors. questions looked at both types of factors which may influence youth civic attitudes building on positive youth development theory (pyd) (overton, 2010). the theory argues that both internal and external factors influence youth’s attitudes and behaviors. as youth’s attitudes and behaviors are theorized to be the product of the interaction of internal and external factors, they are dynamic and fluid. the survey also collected relevant demographic information (age/race/gender/class), and asked participants to identify which free time and civic processes they engaged in. open-ended questions asked participants their views of government/politics, civic society/democracy and public participation, their ideal political state, and how they envisioned general public and their own participation in civic life (see appendix 1 for the survey tool). after university ethics approval, the surveys were randomly given out to bc university students in varied programs, including arts, sciences, and business studies in the fall of 2014. participants were between the ages of 19 and 28, with youth understood as young adults who are in the process of establishing their careers and lives. participants entered their names in a draw for a $50 gift certificate, which helped to increase the participation rate. the surveys were anonymous. data was not collected on what programs youth were studying. the study’s main questions were: • what are the characteristics and features of university educated youth’s civic engagement and disengagement in a pluralistic democracy? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 6 • how does civic engagement relate to youth’s individual characteristics and experiences? • what recommendations for educators emerge from the findings? summary of research findings data was entered into spss and analysed using descriptive statistics and crosstabs. open-ended questions were grouped into themes using an interpretive lens (glaser, 1992; strauss & corbin, 2008).1 the findings are summarized in table 1, found at the end of this paper. demographics/general characteristics the university where the study was conducted has high entrance requirements and is ranked one of the best universities in canada, so the students are not typical of all canadian youth. participants (n=42) were invited to participate at a public place (a cafeteria in a central location) on the university campus. more females than males participated and the majority identified themselves as middle class. they described themselves as coming from a number of ethnic backgrounds, with white/canadian being the largest category that students used to describe themselves, followed by chinese and punjabi. a few identified themselves as having european, latin american, asian, middle eastern and african backgrounds. the majority identified their first language as english, followed by chinese and punjabi. youth selected varied personality types, with amiable being the most common choice followed by the analytical personality type. half the youth were often or sometimes involved in religious activities. in sum, the youth were culturally diverse young canadians with varied personalities, cultural backgrounds and levels of religious involvement. citizenship education in canada, education is a provincial matter, so provinces mandate their own curricula and textbooks. the development of citizens is stated to be the aim of social studies in bc curricula. however, most of the social studies program is history education, with limited attention to citizenship, or civics, education. while there is some general attention to developing students’ attitudes that are positive towards multiculturalism, the environment and empathy, content directly focused on learning about canada’s government structure and means of participating politically in society are limited primarily to a unit on government taught in grade 11, the last year of compulsory social studies education in the province. there is a new civics 11 course but it is optional. this year and next year, new curricula is being released in bc which focuses on big ideas, or themes, such as how ideas and ideologies influence societies, and on competencies such as communication, inquiry, and critical thinking skills. these are largely framed around historical study, although teachers do have more flexibility to teach their areas of interest. unsurprisingly, then, most youth (67%) mentioned that they had taken civic education when they were in high school. however, only half of the respondents stated that they found it useful. the other students did not remember what they had studied or did not answer the question. of those 1 some survey answers were incomplete. during data analysis, any survey question that was not filled out was coded as missing an answer in spss. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 7 who did find it useful, 18% stated that they wanted to learn more: • “should have spent more time on this content.” (student #41, survey, october 1, 2014) some students mentioned that they focused on learning about government and voting: • “told me about voting.” (student #9, survey, october 1, 2014) • “gave me a better understanding on the elections.” (student #20, survey, october 1, 2014) other students mentioned that their citizenship education had not been taught in an engaging manner: • “not useful. i wish they went more in depth rather then [sic] keeping it dry and boring. young people need to be involved.” (student #10, survey, october 1, 2014) • “important to know but poorly delivered.” (student #14, survey, october 1, 2014) • “did not learn a lot.” (student #19, survey, october 1, 2014) • “i don’t enjoy learning about it.” (student #33, survey, october 1, 2014) • “not memorable.” (student #42, survey, october 1, 2014) the youth were probably referring to the government unit of study in the social studies 11 course in their answers, which can be conceptually difficult for students, and which focuses on government structures and processes with limited attention to how citizens can participate actively in society, beyond getting involved in issues that they care about, thinking critically and voting. we have limited information on how teachers teach this unit, although the most commonly used textbook presents a traditionalist citizenship education program focused on understanding government structures, such as the roles of parliament and the senate and processes, like the passing of a bill and voting. personal experiences and families the majority of students had not had significant lived experiences related to community or governmental issues that had affected their views of government. those who had had experiences or issues described issues with religious members of parliament, the northern gateway pipeline, noise, zoning, transit, and politicians they did not like. in addition, half the young adults stated that they had grown up in families that were political active in some way (voting, talking about politics or other political events). activities the activities that the youth most engaged in during their free time included spending time with friends, interacting with social media or engaging with pop culture. few youth engaged in political activities in their free time or participated in patriotic activities. further, youth identified the political processes that they did engage in as volunteering, their first choice, followed by voting, and following political news. youth seem to view civic engagement as social form of citizenship in the sense of volunteering their time to help others. this is a view shared by adults and youth in other nations. the united kingdom, for example, has a history of connecting volunteering to civic society (brindle, 2015). further, the understanding society survey found that more than half of uk youth volunteer (ivr). few bc youth mentioned participating in more active forms of engagement such as boycotting or protesting. further, while the youth actively engaged with social media, few used this journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 8 social media to participate actively in political discussions or issues, unlike their american peers: research in the united states has concluded that youth engage in discussions about political issues through social media (bennett, freelon, & wells, 2010). almost half the youth (43%) were somewhat active in civic processes. however, most of the rest (47%) were rarely active or not active in civic processes. less than 10% of the youth stated that they were actively engaged. the activities that youth did participate in, moreover, were primarily volunteering or voting. youth gave a number of reasons for their limited engagement: they were not interested or did not find political life relevant to themselves, they did not have time, they had other priorities at their life stage, or they felt powerless and believed no one was interested in youth: • “i vote when voting comes up every time i can. voting happens once every few years. i do not have time to give, otherwise. i do not follow any [sic] news/media.” (student #14, survey, october 1, 2014) • “as a young adult, it is not one of my top priorities.” (student #18, survey, october 1, 2014) • “young adult, not ready to get involved in politics.” (student #20, survey, october 1, 2014) • “i do not participate due to lack of interest. i am a young adult with many commitments and i do not work/live on my own so few issues effect [sic] me directly.” (student #26, survey, october 1, 2014) • “i have very little interest in politics. i don’t believe my involvement will invoke change!” (student #42, survey, october 1, 2014) it appears that youth were limited in their levels of civic involvement as they did not see political life as relevant to themselves at their ages and/or they were involved in their own activities. life stage as an influence on youth civic engagement was a conclusion reached by finlay, wray-lake, & flanagan (2010) in their research with american youth. interestingly, considering their lack of actions, the canadian youth surveyed here valued democracy. views of government/democracy most youth had positive or neutral views towards democracy in general and the canadian government, and most also felt that it was important for people to participate in government processes. thus, while youth’s participation in civic life was limited, they did, generally, value and recognize the importance of democratic forms of government. some of the reasons they gave are those that are often given to support democracy, such as the need for citizens to be involved, to care about their nation and to make the right decisions: • “people should care about the country. officials should get paid little amount so only passionate people will pursue it.” (student #25, survey, october 1, 2014) • “we need responsible/interested people to make the right decisions.” (student #24, survey, october 1, 2014) • “we have the right and opportunity to share our lives.” (student #23, survey, october 1, 2014) • “people should be educated and involved when it comes to their government.” (student #22, survey, october 1, 2014) • “it is our government, we should run it & our voice can’t be heard unless we participate, vote, protest, volunteer, make yourself represented!” (student #14, survey, october 1, 2014) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 9 • “so we can change how politics works and so the government actually does something good.” (student #9, survey, october 1, 2014) further, when asked to describe their ideal government, many youth described features that are often included as key elements or principles of democracy such as fairness, equality, representation of the people, listening to the people and freedom. in summary, the majority of youth of varied ethnic backgrounds at a canadian university valued democracy and saw its processes as important. however, most were limited in their involvement in many civic processes (outside of community service and voting). the youth stated that they did not feel that government affairs were relevant to them at their life stage, as young adults, with other priorities and that time was an issue. in the next section, we describe the findings of a crosstabs analysis carried out in spss. personality-participation type while some studies have found associations between personality type or personality traits and forms of civic engagement and there is emerging interest in this area (dinesen, norgaard, & klemmensen, 2014), this study did not identify any associations. there was a slight tendency for expressive and analytic personality types to state that they voted more than the amiable personality type. as well, the leaders/assertive types tended to be active in both voting and volunteering, the amiable personality types tended to volunteer more than vote, the expressive types to vote more than volunteer, and the analytic personality type to vote more than volunteer. although the numbers were too small to be statistically significant, they do support previous research that found that individuals who identify themselves as kind tend to volunteer more than other personality types. future studies, with a larger sample size, can study this factor further. note that this study explored how people labelled themselves and not necessarily what their actual personality type is. gender-personality type – how active males were more likely to identify their personality type as analytical and females were more likely to identify themselves as the assertive/leader and amiable personality types. however, the figures are not considered to be statistically significant. there was no statistically significant relationship between gender and level of civic activity. family/education-participation youth who remembered having politically active families were more likely to be civically active. this relationship was close to the 5% statistically significant value. parents’ actions appear to influence youths’ values and actions towards civic life, one of the general conclusions of the iea study. there was no statistically significant relationship between stating that one had studied civics/citizenship education in schools and that one voted, unlike other findings have found such as the iea study. the canadian youth researched here did not appear to vote in larger numbers when they had received education on the topic, perhaps as the youth found their citizenship education to be incomplete or boring. cultural identification-participation students in the survey who identified themselves as white/caucasian were likely to state that they journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 10 voted (67%). this voting percentage is higher than the national voting average, since the year 1997. according to the government body, elections canada, the national rate of voting has declined slowly but steadily from percentages in the high 70s in the 1950s down to percentages in the low 60s by the early 21st century. the association between identifying oneself as white/caucasian and voting was statistically significant. the chinese students in the survey, by way of contrast, were more likely to choose the option that they did not vote (86%). this was also statistically significant. there could be a number of reasons for this. firstly, some of the chinese youth stated that they had limited knowledge of democracy. this could be as they have moved to canada recently and are not entitled to vote. the survey did not ask youth this question, but it is worth further research. youth may also choose to participate in society through other means such as volunteering, as many stated they were active in society this way. students who identified themselves as from other cultural groups were too limited in numbers to carry out an analysis; however, the majority did not vote, and they were more likely to select the option that they volunteered as their civic activity than white/caucasian students. only 33% of white/caucasian students stated they volunteered. in contrast, 71% of the chinese students, 80% of punjabi students, and students of other ethnicities including latin american, south asian, middle eastern and african all selected volunteering as a (or the) civic activity they engaged in. youth of varied ethnicities may volunteer rather than vote because the youth lack knowledge of democracy, they are new to canada, they are not entitled to vote, or they don’t feel empowered to participate in voting processes. in her interviews with ethnic youth in canada, for example, parker (2012) found that ethnic minority youth feel less empowered to participate in society than other youth. more research on the relations between ethnicity and civic engagement in canada is needed. there was also a statistically significant relationship between stating that one participated in religious activities and volunteering. participating in religious activities was not correlated to cultural/ethnic background. those youth who stated that they voted also stated they were active. this was statistically significant. thus, youth believed that they were being active, to varying degrees, by voting. this may be as many of the youth identified voting as the significant civic activity, as those youth whose parents were active stated that their parents were primarily active by voting. in other words, the youth had traditionalist views of what citizens do (bennett et al., 2010). some students connected their parents’ actions to their own levels of civic activity or their views of democratic governments: • “democratic government: the people choose, therefore, they should participate.” (student #18, survey, october 1, 2014) • “we voted, voting and attending political events, i.e., rallies are very different.” (student #5, survey, october 1, 2014) • “the way i was raised. . . . i understand the importance of voting and believe everyone should participate; its an honor that needs to be exercised.” (student #32, survey, october 1, 2014) • “talked about politics and voted . . . voting and staying informed is certainly important however it is not necessary for every person to attend rallies or write to government officials.” (student #39, survey, october 1, 2014) culture-attitudes to democracy white/caucasian, european and punjabi students’ answers tended to be skewed towards positive journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 11 attitudes to democratic governments, although these were not statistically significant. in contrast, chinese students were skewed to more neutral or negative views, and these answers were statistically significant. one chinese student wrote “i have no interest” to participate in civic processes (student #6, survey, october 1, 2014). another wrote, in response to the question of why they answered the question on how they feel about democratic governments how they did, with the comment, “don’t know anything about it” (student #28, survey, october 1, 2014). another stated, “china’s not a democratic govt [sic]” and replied to the question of whether it is important to be involved with the comment, “i don’t know much about democracy” (student #36, survey, october 1, 2014). it is possible that chinese students tend to have more neutral views towards democracy as they have learned less about it. further, those students who had backgrounds from some nations, such as kenya and the philippines supported democratic governments. students who had come from other nations such as from mexico and the middle east were less supportive of (or neutral towards) democratic governments in general. more research can look at how students’ experiences and backgrounds may influence their civic views and attitudes. political experience-active involvement youth who had had significant experiences with community issues or government that were memorable for youth were more actively involved in civic life. this was on the border of being statistically significant. discussion and conclusion this research study, conducted with canadian youth of varied ethnic backgrounds, found that youth were mostly occasionally active in political processes, although the majority stated that they had studied citizenship education in school. youth were primarily active in the traditional activities of voting and volunteering thus being dutiful citizens according to bennett, freelon, and wells (2010). they generally believed in (valued) democracy and thought that citizens should be actively involved in democratic processes. these findings support the work of other scholars (gidengil et al., 2004; howe 2010; sherrod et al., 2010). the study also considered how internal and external factors may influence youth’s civic attitudes and behaviors. internal factors personality and gender there was a slight tendency for expressive and analytic personality types to state that they voted more than the amiable personality type, who tended to volunteer more. thus the study provided some support for previous work that has found connections between personality and civic behaviors, in particular, personality type and civic actions (dinesen et al., 2014) and community engagement and personality (metzger & smetana 2010), although the findings in this study were not statistically significant. no relationship was found between gender and levels of engagement. more research to clarify the many components of these results using a larger sample size can be conducted in this area. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 12 attitudes, motivation and efficacy this research explored young people’s attitudes to the government of canada, to democracy in general, and to civic participation. although the youth were limited in their levels of engagement mostly to occasional engagement, most had positive views of the government of canada and democracy and most felt that people should participate in democratic governments. thus, pro-democracy and pro-participation attitudes were present, although few youth were very active themselves. some of the reasons given by the youth match those of american youth in the study by finlay et al. (2010). they stated that it was not important for them to participate at their ages and life stage, as they are still getting their lives organized and they have other priorities, such as school. youth seem to feel they are in the process of becoming citizens, somewhat isolated from the larger society in which they live. some of the comments by youth, included above, also illustrate that youth may feel a lack of efficacy to bring change. perhaps if youth come to feel that a political issue has a direct effect on them while at the same time feeling that they have the ability to do something about it, their participation rates may rise. knowledge and culture most of the students had taken citizenship education in schools, although their comments illustrated the materials to be incomplete, boring, or focused on voting and government processes. future research studies can explore in more detail what content teachers are focusing on and whether they are teaching “traditional” citizenship behavior, such as the importance of voting. studies can also explore how citizenship education can be made more engaging and effective for students. external factors family background influenced youth’s civic behaviors. if youth’s parents were civically active, their children tended to be as well. however, youth who stated that their parents were active stated that their parents were active primarily by talking about political news or voting. as well, having a significant experience in the local community associated with government/politics led to more active civic behaviors in youth. that is, youth who had had such experiences were more active in their communities. this could be as having this experience helps to make the government/local community more real or meaningful to youth. experiences are real learning events through which we build key concepts that structure our thinking (bruner 1997; dewey 1916). experiences have the potential to be civically empowering. overall, many of the findings of this study with young adults at university support those of the iea study conducted with young teenagers. both studies described limited youth engagement and some connection between youth’s views and family background and the type of teaching done in school. they demonstrated youth to have a traditionalist conception of civic engagement, in the sense of voting and volunteering, and to have positive attitudes to democracy and active involvement. youth seem to have a view of citizenship as entailing social and political participation (marshall, 1950). in this sense, youth are engaged to an extent that is similar to that of adults in the community. it would be useful for educators, youth and citizens to consider what kind of democratic society they are aiming at and what type of education will fit this aim. is voting and volunteering sufficient for the majority of citizens to engage in, or is more needed? for example, how important are critical engagement, voice and discussion? how active should citizens be and in what sense? do youth need to be involved in more active and transformative forms of citizenship, such as boycotting, protesting, journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 13 and joining social movements, when the majority of adults don’t engage in such actions? are there some broad characteristics of citizenship that the majority of social members can agree on? who should be involved in the process of determining such concepts and aims? what if citizens disagree on aims and processes? how will these be negotiated? as bc youth appear to receive limited information on canada’s political processes and practices in the current curriculum and some said themselves that their citizenship education was incomplete, youth may benefit from deeper and longer study of these, taught in ways that are more engaging for youth. youth may benefit from more factual knowledge as well as more discussion on and about social issues (hess, 2001). the iea study recommended issues-based instruction. discussing issues can lead to engagement and engagement can be empowering and result in greater civic participation as youth come to feel a sense of connection to issues. educators can also consider which other methods can engage and empower youth. from this study, political experiences were associated with increased political engagement. thus, students may benefit from more experience-based learning. these experiences could include connecting schools with local political activities, venues and people, such as visiting city hall, or getting involved in a civic issue. cargo, grams, ottoson, ward, and green (2003) pointed out that educators can create an empowering experience by identifying possible activities for students in the community with willing partners that are perceived as interesting and relevant to youth. teachers can create a safe and welcoming environment by facilitating dialogue and skills development among youth, providing feedback and understanding of the issues involved, and encouraging and supporting youth to take responsibility for project tasks and to successfully complete project aims. cargo et al. (2003) found that taking responsibility led to an increased sense of self efficacy among youth, and these experiences changed the youths in a cyclical manner: “actualization of potential was an incremental process, a consequence of action and a precondition for further action” (p. s75). an underexplored area which emerged from this study as worthy of further research is how ethnically diverse youth within pluralistic nations may be constructing their citizenship and engaging in civic life. in this study, white/caucasian students had more positive views of democracy than did chinese students. further, white/caucasian students were more likely to engage civically through voting while ethnically diverse students were more likely to participate civically through volunteering. while parker (2012) has identified some differences in attitudes between majority and minority ethnic youth in her interviews, and american research illustrates differences in how latinos and african americans may engage in american civic life (sherrod et al., 2010), more research in general is needed in this area. finally, this paper has considered the relations between youth political and social engagement, empowerment and action. this study illustrated the complexity of youth views and how these are the product of lived experiences, context (including education and family) and selves. it shows that multiple factors shape citizenship attitudes and behaviors and that attitudes do not necessarily mirror actions. what are the educational implications of recognizing multiple influences on attitudes and behaviors? should educators aim to negotiate a tenuous balance between leaving space to recognize various ideologies and ways of being without pushing ideological positions on students, while at the same time balancing our social need for some common aims and vision? how can educators do this? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 14 conclusion this paper discussed the findings of a research study on youth civic attitudes and behaviors in bc, canada. the research study found that youth behaviors are complex, influenced by individuals’ cultural and family backgrounds and lived experiences. supporting and adding to the literature in the field, correlations were found between youth civic attitudes and behaviors (finlay et al., 2010), community engagement and experience (magen & aharoni, 1991), family and civic participation (lenzi, 2014), and culture and civic views (andersen & siim, 2004; moeller, 2013). this study opens us possibilities to explore the complexity of youth civic views and attitudes, as these are embedded in internal and external factors and conditions, and the questions, tensions and possibilities available to citizenship educators. educators can consider teaching more political knowledge to youth and think about how to make citizenship education more relevant, memorable, engaging and empowering for youth. they can also consider what they are teaching about citizenship, how and why they are teaching this and how they can negotiate possible tensions in varied lived conceptions of citizenship. this very process may lead to increased engagement and thus empowerment by opening up diverse possibilities for civic participation. perhaps educators themselves need to move beyond the dutiful conception of citizenship (bennett et al., 2010)? further research can consider which factors may be most significant in affecting behaviors. based on the findings of this study, personality and family were not as statistically significant effects as community experiences and culture/ethnicity. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 15 table 1. summary of the findings canadian youth number of participants: 42 demographics gender class cultural affiliation first language male: 43% female: 57% upper: 33% middle: 59% working: 8% white/canadian: 50% chinese: 17% punjabi: 12% english: 71% chinese: 17% punjabi: 5% yes no don’t remember citizenship education 67% 21% 12% personal political experience 26% 64% 9% family’s political involvement 50% 38% 12% often sometimes never religious involvement 21% 29% 50% personality type assertive amiable humanistic analytical mixed 12% 37% 17% 22% 12% free time activities spending time with friends (19% of responses) interacting with social media (18%) engaging with pop culture (12%) patriotic activities (4%) political activities (1%) important neutral unimportant/ doesn’t matter attitude to political participation 88% 7% 4% active somewhat active rarely active/ inactive civic involvement 9.5% 43% 47% supportive neutral do not care/not supportive journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 16 attitudes towards democracy 59% 34% 7% attitude towards govt. system in canada 50% 36% 15% students’ civic participation volunteering (33.8% of responses) voting (30.9%) following political news (10%) boycotting (9%) using social media to interact politically (6%) protesting (3%) correlations internal personality-voting personality-volunteering gender-personality type gender-civic activity not statistically significant, x2 (4, n= 42) = 3.98, p=.41) not statistically significant, x2 (4, n= 42) = 3.00, p=.56) not statistically significant, x2 (4, n= 42) = 7.2, p=.126) not statistically significant, x2 (4, n= 42) = 7.79, p=.09). external religious activityvolunteer active family-voting culture-voting chinese-neutral view of democracy voted: active political experienceactive statistically significant, x2 (2, n= 42) = 7.8, p=.02). borderline statistical significance, x2 (8, n= 42) = 15.1, p=.057) statistically significant: white/canadian-vote: x2 (1, n= 42) = 4.67, p=.03) chinese-not vote: x2 (1, n= 42) = 4.28, p=.03) statistically significant, x2 (3, n= 42) = 9.89, p=.020). statistically significant, x2 (4, n= 42) = 16.46, p=.002) borderline statistical significance, x2 (8, n= 42) = 15.23, p=.055) journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 17 references andersen, j., & siim, b. (2004). inclusion and empowerment—gender, class and citizenship. in j. andersen & b. siim (eds.), politics of inclusion and empowerment: gender, class, and citizenship (pp. 1–18). london, uk: palgrave macmillan. arthur, j., & davies, i. (eds.). (2008). citizenship education. london, uk: sage. banks, j. (2007). diversity and citizenship education: global perspectives. san francisco, ca: jossey bass. beaumont, e. (2010). political agency and empowerment: pathways for developing a sense of political efficacy in young adults. in l. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & c. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 525–558). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. bennett, w., freelon, d., & wells, c. (2010). changing citizen identity and the rise of a participatory media culture. in l. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & c. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 393–423). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. brindle, d. (2015, june 1). a history of the volunteer: how active citizenship became the big society. the guardian. retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sectornetwork/2015/jun/01/a-history-of-the-volunteer-how-active-citizenship-became-the-bigsociety bruner, j. (1997). the culture of education. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. callan, e. (1997). creating citizens: political education and liberal democracy. oxford, uk: clarendon press. cargo, m., grams, g., ottoson, j., ward, p., & green, l. (2003). empowerment as fostering positive youth development and citizenship. american journal of health behavior, 27, s66–s79. dewey, j. (1916). democracy and education. new york, ny: the free press. retrieved from https://archive.org/details/democracyeducati1916dewe dinesen, p., norgaard, a., & klemmensen, r. (2014). the civic personality: personality and democratic citizenship. political studies, 62(s1), 134–152. finlay, a., wray-lake, l., & flanagan, c. (2010). civic engagement during the transition to adulthood: developmental opportunities and social policies at a critical juncture. in l. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & c. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 393– 423). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. gidengil, e., blais, a., nevitte, n., & nadeau, r. (2004). citizens. vancouver: ubc press. glaser, b. (1992). basics of grounded theory analysis. mill valley, ca: sociology press. hess, d. (2001). teaching students to discuss controversial public issues. bloomington, in: eric clearinghouse for social studies/social science education. https://archive.org/details/democracyeducati1916dewe journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 18 howe, p. (2010). citizens adrift: the democratic disengagement of young canadians. vancouver: ubc press. institute for volunteering research (ivr). (no date). how many young people volunteer? retrieved from http://www.ivr.org.uk/ivr-volunteering-stats/177-how-many-young-people-volunteer lenzi, m. (2014). the role played by the family in shaping early and middle adolescent civic responsibility. the journal of early adolescence, 34(2), 251–278. levinson, m. (2010). the civic empowerment gap: defining the problem and locating solutions. in l. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & c. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 115–137). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. magen, z., & aharoni, r. (1991). adolescents' contributing toward others: relationship to positive experiences and transpersonal commitment. journal of humanistic psychology, 31(2), 126– 143. marshall, t. h. (1950). citizenship and social class and other essays. cambridge, uk: cup. metzger, a., & j. g. smetana. (2010). social cognitive development and adolescent civic engagement. in l. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & c. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 221–248). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. moeller, j. (2013). the differential role of the media as an agent of political socialization in europe. european journal of communication, 28(3), 309–325. overton, w. f. (2010). life-span development: concepts and issues. in w. f. overton (ed.), the handbook of life-span development: vol. 1 cognition, biology, and methods (pp. 1–29). hoboken, nj: wiley. parker, c. (2012). conflicts and “canadian” identities embedded in citizenship education: diverse immigrant students’ experiences. in p. cunningham & n. fretwell (eds.), creating communities: local, national and global (pp. 623–635). london, uk: children's identity & citizenship european association. reid, a., gill, j., & sears, a. (2010). globalization, the nation-state and the citizen: dilemmas and directions for civics and citizenship education. new york, ny: routledge. sears, a. (ed.). (2009). special issue: canadian perspectives on democracy, diversity and citizenship education. citizenship teaching and learning, 5(2), 1–107. retrieved from http://www.citized.info/pdf/ejournal/5%202%20final.pdf sherrod, l., torney-purta, j., & flanagan, c. (eds.). (2010). handbook of research on civic engagement. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (2008). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. los angeles, ca: sage. zajda, j., holger, d., & saha, l. j. (eds.). (2009). nation-building, identity and citizenship education: cross cultural perspectives series. dordrecht, netherland: springer. http://cice.londonmet.ac.uk/publications/$-document.cfm?id=16756 http://cice.londonmet.ac.uk/publications/$-document.cfm?id=16756 http://www.citized.info/pdf/ejournal/5%202%20final.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 appendix 1: the survey tool thank you for agreeing to take part in this study. this will help us understand young people better. please answer the questions honesty. the study is anonymous. please do not write your name on this paper. please mark your answers with an x. 1. please choose:  male  female  other/undisclosed 2. class:  upper middle  middle  working  other: _________________________ 3. cultural/ethnic identification:_________________________________________ citizenship:_______________________________________________________ what is your first language?________________________________________________________ 4. your age:_________________ 5. did you learn civic education/civics/government content in a high school class, where you learned about government, its processes and voting?  yes  no  don’t remember if yes, what were your feelings about this content? (useful? not useful? and so on). why? where did you take the course? 6. have you had any significant experiences regarding issues in your community or the government or politics that have affected your views of politics or government?  yes  no  don’t remember if yes, can you explain? 7. when you were growing up, was your family active in political activities, such as voting, talking about politics, going to political events and so on?  yes  no  don’t remember journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 if yes, what were your parents’ views of government (such as what party did they support)? what types of activities were they involved in? 8. how would you describe your personality? see the attached information about personalities. which is most like you?  leader/driven to succeed/competitive  friendly/relaxed/optimistic  like working with other people and making them happy/outgoing  like working with numbers or alone/organized/introverted 9. how often do you participate in religious events?  often  sometimes  never if yes, what activities do you get involved in?___________________________ 10. what types of activities do you do outside of your school or work? select all that apply.  sports (play or watch sports)  watching tv  cultural (plays, arts)  pop culture (movies, music)  political (join political parties, talk about politics, get involved in issues)  spending time with friends  going out for dinner  community work  interacting with social media (phones/internet/games)  participating in patriotic activities (like canada day)  other:____________________________ 11. which of these civic processes do you engage in? select all that apply.  voting  joining a political party  protesting  boycotting  writing government officials or newspapers  volunteering  following political news  joining civic groups such as environmental groups  interacting in political activities or discussions using social media 12. overall, how active are you in the civic processes listed in question 11?  active  occasionally active  not active journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 13. please explain why you choose the answer you did to question 12. that is, please explain why you are, or are not active, in civic processes. do you think that your participation may be affected by the life stage you are at (i.e. young adult?) why or why not? are you too busy? do you have other interests and priorities? 14. how supportive are you of: • the government in your country  interested in  neutral  don’t care why do you feel this way? • democratic governments in general  interested in  neutral  don’t care why do you feel this way? 15. how important do you think it is for people to participate in government processes, such as those listed in question 11?  important  neutral  doesn’t matter 16. please explain why you answered question 15 as you did: 17. please describe what you think the ideal government type would look like. who would participate in the government? how? what responsibilities would the government have and how would it carry these out? why do feel this way? journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 4-22. corresponding author email: catherine.broom@ubc.ca ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 18. any other comments or questions? (optional) thank you for participating in the survey. personality types2 1. assertive – competitive – lion you are an active person who strives to be the best at everything you do. you are a high achiever, decisive and strong-willed. you are found in leadership positions and are efficient and independent. 2. amiable – spontaneous – otter you have a friendly, outgoing personality. to you, life is an adventure. you enjoy interesting things are optimistic. you are excited about the opportunities that life brings and look forward to the future. you don’t worry about details and are relaxed and don’t worry about doing things perfectly. 3. expressive – humanistic – golden retriever you enjoy making other people happy and are good at bonding with other people. your focus on other people is your greatest asset. you enjoy getting along with people and value happiness, friendship, and respect. you enjoy working with others and are relaxed and don’t worry about details too much or about doing things perfectly. 4. analytical – methodical – beaver you are organized, dependable and rational. you weigh options carefully before making a decision and consider details carefully. you are persistent, serious, and orderly. often, you are a perfectionist, introverted, and like to do your best. 2 modified from: <http://workawesome.com/freelance-2/web-analytics/> introduction key terms research study: methods and data sources summary of research findings demographics/general characteristics citizenship education personal experiences and families activities views of government/democracy personality-participation type gender-personality type – how active family/education-participation cultural identification-participation culture-attitudes to democracy political experience-active involvement discussion and conclusion internal factors personality and gender attitudes, motivation and efficacy knowledge and culture external factors conclusion number of participants: 42 canadian youth references appendix 1: the survey tool review of challenges and prospects for canadian social studies journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 44 fall 2010 challenges and prospects for canadian social studies sears, a., & wright, i. (eds.). (2004). challenges and prospects for canadian social studies. vancouver, canada: pacific educational press. 312pp. isbn 987-1895766721 review by jennifer a. tupper, university of regina, regina, saskatchewan, canada s4s 0a2. in this edited collection, alan sears and ian wright bring together canadian social studies education scholars in an effort to critically examine contextual, content and process challenges and prospects pertaining to social studies education. while the book is intended for a canadian audience, preservice and in-service teachers as well as teacher educators, i would argue that it transcends the canadian context in its efforts to think through and discuss some important issues facing social studies educators regardless of where they might be located. in particular, chapters that focus on teaching historical thinking, citizenship education, gender and sexuality in the social studies curriculum, and multiculturalism, speak to concerns that exist beyond the boundaries of nation-state. more than a methods textbook, this collection attempts to challenge preservice and in-service teachers‟ understandings of what it means to teach social studies to diverse students living in complex times. while practical pedagogical strategies are found throughout the book, they are most often included alongside theoretical considerations intended to interrogate more traditional and narrow approaches to social studies education. part i of the collection, contextual challenges and prospects, begins with a very helpful overview of the historical context of social studies in english canada. in this chapter, penney clark traces the american influences on the emergence of canadian social studies; the various approaches to teaching social studies including the structure of the disciplines, and; the renewed emphasis on citizenship education from the 1970s to the present. this is an important first chapter because it encourages pre-service and in-service teachers to consider the history of their chosen discipline and how this history continues to influence contemporary theory and practice in social studies education. clark‟s chapter is followed by shields‟ and ramsay‟s examination of current social studies curricula across english canada. the authors argue that social studies suffers from an identity crisis particularly because “it has been, and remains, a contentious subject area, perhaps more so than any other subject in the school curriculum” (p. 39). this statement provides an opportunity for social studies educators to consider why their subject is so contentious and what corresponding challenges this poses for their journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 45 fall 2010 own teaching. next, stéphane lévesque‟s chapter provides readers with an historical perspective of history and social studies in québec, and ken osborne‟s piece explores the partnership and rivalry of social studies and history. part i ends with alan sears‟ writing about citizenship education and social studies in canada. sears discusses citizenship as a contested concept despite its centering of the social studies curriculum in canada. he asks and attempts to answer what we mean by citizenship and citizenship education, what the best ways are to educate citizens, and how we might strengthen citizenship education in canada and elsewhere. i use this chapter with my social studies pre-service teachers to grapple with the complexities of citizenship and to critique the privileging of liberal democratic understandings of citizenship underlying the chapter. what is largely missing from sears‟ discussion is consideration of how the narrative through which citizenship education is imagined involves the transformation of students into an engaged citizenry despite differences of race, class, culture, gender, et cetera. these differences which constitute students‟ social locations, mediate the ways in which they are able to imagine themselves engaging as citizens in a country such as canada (tupper & cappello, 2010). sears draws attention to the need for students to not just know about democracy, but to believe in democracy. he argues for reform in the field of citizenship education through a sustained and deep analysis of both what is wrong with citizenship education and “how it can be fixed” (p. 104). this argument could be expanded to include a consideration of how the promises of democracy have not been realized for all citizens in canada. certainly it is important to encourage students to believe in democracy, but this belief should be formed with a clear sense of both the possibilities and failures of the democratic system in which students live (tupper, 2009). in part ii of the collection, content challenges and prospects, a variety of authors explore what content should be included in social studies curriculum. at the outset, readers are invited by sears and wright to consider several questions as they encounter each chapter. these questions provide a means of engaging more intentionally and deeply with each of the chapters, and are particularly useful with pre-service teachers as they begin to form their own perspectives regarding the challenges and prospects of teaching social studies. in their chapter, teaching historical thinking, peter seixas and carla peck advance an approach to history education that provides students with “the ability to approach historical narratives critically” with a stronger focus on specific skill development and rational thinking. recently, however, their approach to teaching historical thinking has been deemed inadequate by some scholars for providing journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 46 fall 2010 little opportunity to “discuss inequities in the past or present by leaving no place to think about history outside of classification and rational thinking” and for running the risk of “reproducing the privilege of the western philosophical tradition for making rules about who and what counts in the study of the past” (cutrara, 2009, p.97). other chapters in this section include: discussions of geography as spaces of possibility for teaching and learning (hurren); law education in social studies (cassidy); global education and the challenge of globalization (richardson); understanding multiculturalism in the social studies curriculum (varma-joshi); understanding first nations issues (orr); gender and sexuality in the social studies curriculum (loutzenheiser); education for peacebuilding citizenship (bickmore), and; visual literacy (werner). perhaps the most challenging chapter in this section is loutzenheiser‟s gender and sexuality in the social studies curriculum: bound and un-determined. my students often approach this chapter with scepticism, imagining that sexuality has nothing to do with becoming a social studies teacher. as they engage with the chapter, however, they come to a better understanding of just how much sexuality and gender have to do with social studies. loutzenheiser does a superb job of blending theory and practice as she calls students to uncover and question the “normal” within classroom spaces, to consider the power of social studies narratives that privilege heteronormativity and how these narratives perpetuate binaries that “leave little room to make visible complicated renderings that can invite more complex understandings” (p. 185). after reading this chapter, i invite my students to revisit the social studies curriculum they are mandated to teach given what they have learned from loutzenheiser. i also encourage them to consider the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, culture, and (dis)ability in light of official curriculum the knowledge, skills and attitudes they are obligated to teach. they almost always come away with new curricular insights that i am hopeful will inform the pedagogical choices they make in their own classrooms and the ways in which they understand and work alongside their own students. part iii, process challenges and prospect, is the final section of the edited collection. again, sears & wright begin with a series of questions for the reader‟s consideration that have the potential to provide more meaningful engagements with the ideas and approaches advanced in each chapter. within these chapters readers will find more practical approaches to teaching social studies. chapters focus on instructional approaches (evans & hundey), concept learning (hughes), critical thinking (farr darling & wright), situated learning (hughes & sears), democratic experiences for early-years students (shreman), computer technologies (gibson), and assessment and evaluation strategies journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 47 fall 2010 (myers). it is appropriate that these chapters come at the end of the collection as their reading may be informed by earlier engagement with the chapters in parts i and ii focussing on contextual and content challenges and prospects. largely missing from this edited collection are the theoretical considerations of social studies education from critical race and whiteness studies standpoints. while certain chapters attempt to challenge dominant (white) discourses of social studies, employing crt and whiteness studies as lenses through which to read and interpret social studies curricula and pedagogy would be powerful both within and beyond the canadian context. these absences are suggestive of the ongoing challenges to transformative social studies in pre-service and in-service educational contexts. despite these shortcomings, the edited collection offers many opportunities for educators to reflect upon their pedagogical approaches and theoretical understandings of what it means to teach social studies to diverse and complex learners in the 21 st century. it is a valuable book for any social studies educator to own. references cutrara, s. (2009). to placate or provoke? a critical review of the disciplines approach to history curriculum. journal of the canadian association of curriculum studies, 7(2), 86109. tupper, j. & cappello, c. (2010). locating citizenship: curriculum, social class, and the „good‟ citizen. theory and research in social education, 38(3), 298-327. tupper, j. (2009). unsafe water, stolen sisters, and social studies: troubling democracy and the meta-narrative of universal citizenship. teacher education quarterly, 36(1), 7794. jennifer tupper is an associate professor of social studies education and curriculum theory in the faculty of education at the university of regina. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 96 a postcolonial discourse analysis of finnish school textbooks: learning about the world from a tourist perspective pia mikander (pia.mikander@helsinki.fi) university of helsinki harriet zilliacus (harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi) university of helsinki abstract: in this article, we ask how finnish basic education school textbooks in social science portray tourism and countries with a big tourism sector. we have analyzed the textbook quotes from a postcolonial perspective, using discourse theory analysis. the idea is to challenge what is considered objective information about tourist locations in school textbooks. the results show that even if some ethical questions are at times debated openly, particularly environmental problems at tourist sites, tourism is considered as something predominantly positive. the textbook reader is assumed to be a potential tourist. some textbook quotes resemble tourist brochures, while people living in tourist locations are given marginal importance. a key argument is that the unequal global power relations between tourists and those living in tourist locations are not challenged. considering tourism from a postcolonial point of view brings a vital perspective to social science education. there is a need to challenge the positions that are appointed to textbook readers. key words: social science education; geography education; postcolonial perspective; tourism; textbook analysis introduction in social science, particularly – but not only – in geography, students learn about the world around them. in this journal, there has been a discussion about the need for education to start prioritizing issues concerning global awareness and global responsibility (reynolds, 2016; pike, 2013; saada, 2014). this article examines finnish school textbook descriptions of tourism and locations with a thriving tourist industry. the phenomenon of tourism is not easily described in academic terms (hall & tucker, 2004). we consider tourism to be symbolic of global inequality. only a limited, privileged part of the global population has the opportunity to travel around the world. bauman has suggested that tourism is a metaphor for contemporary life in western societies (franklin, 2003). the right of the rich in the west to travel the world is rarely questioned, whether in an educational context or in society at large. however, tourism needs to be considered as rooted in colonialism (d’hauteserre, 2004; hall & tucker, 2004). as d’hauteserre (2004, p. 237) suggested, “exotic places are controlled and domesticated through a language that locates them in a ‘universal’ (meaning western) system of references that visitors recognize and can communicate about.” the field of tourism studies has seen a need for more postcolonial analysis, including questioning the material inequality and the power relations that have been perceived as natural (bianchi, 2009; chambers & buzinde, 2015; hall & tucker, 2004; echtner & prasad, 2003; mattsson, 2016). in this chapter, we turn the focus to school textbooks. from a postcolonial perspective, we ask: how are countries and places that are often considered tourist sites and attractions described in the textbooks? mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 97 studying school textbooks from a postcolonial perspective postcolonialism should not only be seen as concerning colonial relations of the past, as the prefix “post” might indicate. instead, the study of current global political and economic power structures would benefit from a postcolonial analysis (hall, 1996). this also concerns education and the portrayal of the world as a subject of school knowledge. as willinsky (1998) proposed, the educational project of postcolonialism in the west is only beginning. according to him, we “need to learn again how the past centuries of studying, classifying and ordering humanity within an imperial context gave rise to peculiar and powerful ideas of race, culture, and nation that were, in effect, conceptual instruments used by the west to both divide up and educate the world” (1998, p. 2-3). the need for postcolonial analysis in education is still present. according to rizvi, lingard, and lavia (2006), this includes integrating postcolonialism with an understanding of contemporary globalization. for educational scholars, postcolonialism makes the history and legacy of european colonialism visible by showing how today’s discursive and material global hierarchies are necessarily linked to historical power relations. consequently, rizvi, lingard, and lavia have suggested that there is a need within education to reveal and resist the continuing hold of colonialism on our imagination. lately, some scholars have joined the theoretical positions of postcolonialism with a critical view of education, showing the potential of postcolonial discourse analysis in teaching. using concepts from postcolonial legends such as said (1978), fanon (2007), and hall (1997), they suggest a need for more postcolonial thinking in social science education (subedi & daza, 2008; saada, 2014; lozic, 2011; burney, 2012). a key argument is that hegemonic interpretations of the world that categorize people hierarchically need to be deconstructed. andreotti and pashby (2013) provided examples of critical questions to pose to educational texts, revealing the necessity to contextualize and historicize education and teaching. school textbooks have a powerful position in society (apple, 2004; schissler & soysal, 2005). studying these can be seen as a way to study society at large. school textbooks include information that is commonly considered objective and useful (loftsdóttir, 2010). since they portray what is considered “common sense,” it can be demanding to see the ideological power perspectives that are reflected as natural in textbooks. discourse theory analysis, as articulated by laclau and mouffe (1985/2001), emphasizes that what is considered objective can be seen as the outcome of an ideological struggle. by analyzing how seemingly objective knowledge is portrayed in textbooks, it is thereby possible to see ruling ideologies in textbooks and society at large. discourses are constructed in society, but they also construct reality. this is central for the study of how school textbooks present the world: representations of places as tourist locations construct and confirm our understanding of them as mainly being there for tourists. discourse theory analysis of school textbooks this study is linked to a thesis project (mikander, 2016). the material for the research project consists of a total of 76 finnish textbooks in geography, history, and social studies for grades 5 to 9 (11–16year-olds), comprising all the textbooks published in these subjects in finnish and swedish by the six major publishing companies in finland between 2005 and 2010. the main focus of the analysis is based on ten textbooks that discuss international tourism or tourists. nine of these are geography textbooks and one is a history textbook. the textbooks are based on the 2004 curriculum (finnish national board of education, 2004), which promotes key concepts such as democracy, human rights, and equality as mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 98 the underlying values for education. equality, as in the equal value of all human beings, could be assumed to mean a portrayal of the world as consisting of human beings of equal value, not one where westerners are superior to others. laclau and mouffe (2001), who have provided a methodological inspiration for this study, do not offer any step-by-step analytical tool for their discourse analysis; however, they suggest a set of concepts for conducting the analysis. this research considered the texts, pictures, and assignments that involved the relation between the west and the surrounding world to be what laclau and mouffe call articulations. the articulations in the textbooks were documented and categorized according to certain topics that were seen as nodal points (winther, jørgensen & phillips, 2002). nodal points are privileged signs around which other signs are ordered. descriptions of “tourism” or “tourists” were regarded as a nodal point. the results of the analysis are presented in three parts. the first examines ethical issues related to tourism. the second concerns descriptions of the tourist and the “local people.” the third looks at the possibility for postcolonial change in the textbooks. tourism and ethics in the material, several geography textbooks included at least some kind of ethical discussion about tourism in general, or about the relations between tourists and the people living in places with a large tourism industry. the ethical discussions in the textbooks revolve around three issues: ecological, economic, and cultural. these are often intertwined in the textbook descriptions. however, as we see it, there is a fourth ethical issue, concerning tourism and power, which is not discussed in the textbooks. in the following, we start by focusing on how ecological, economic, and cultural issues are brought up as topics of ethical discussions in relation to tourism. ecological, economic, and cultural questions are often interwoven in descriptions about the ethics of tourism. the ecological damage caused by tourists is often mentioned, but it is repeatedly seen as of marginal importance, as in the following: safari tourism protects the nature of the savanna (headline) […] tourism may cause local destruction of nature, but it is also a very significant source of income. the income from foreign safari tourists is used to maintain national parks and to protect endangered animal species (leinonen, martikainen, nyberg, veistola, & jortikka, 2010b, p. 128). 1 since tourism is understood to bring money and employment to the area, the ecological damage is here considered less important. the idea that tourism actually saves nature rather than threatens it is, however, fairly common in the geography textbooks examined. the economic value of tourism is often mentioned as something positive, suggesting that the tourism sector brings employment. this is not a clear-cut issue. for instance, in a unesco manual on the impact of tourism, pedersen (2002, p. 33) listed some of the possible risks related to it. tourism is likely to benefit foreign companies more than local populations. the revenues from tourism that remain with the local population tend to be 1 all the quotes were translated by the authors and later checked by a language reviser. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 99 unfairly distributed, disadvantaging those who bear the burdens of the cost of tourism. additionally, the job opportunities provided by tourism tend to benefit the well educated from capital cities rather than people from the local areas. furthermore, since tourism is often seasonal, there are rarely any job opportunities other than temporary jobs. liu (2003) showed how even what is considered sustainable tourism can be criticized. as an economic source, tourism is still particularly vulnerable to external events, such as the weather or political/economic insecurity. one geography textbook series shows a particularly non-challenging attitude to tourism. one chapter on global tourism (leinonen, martikainen, nyberg, veistola, & jortikka, 2010b, p. 53-54) lists the benefits of tourism for people in the “industrialized countries”: “nowadays, many of the inhabitants of industrialized countries are wealthy and knowledgeable about languages, and they have more leisure time.” the benefits include the aspect that tourists leave money at the destination (for lodging, services, and purchases), providing the locals with employment, but also that tourists bring “new ways and ideas.” it is further suggested that: on the other hand, the old traditions in the target states might be strengthened when the local populations’s own culture is presented to visitors. the travelers experience and learn new things. with this increasing knowledge, the feeling of unity between nations grows and prejudices decrease (ibid.). the text suggests that tourists have a positive impact on the culture of their destination, whether this means bringing in new ideas or a demand for the local people to show their ”own culture.” this is problematic in many ways. it starts from the idea that culture is something that needs to be shown to others in order to stay viable. this is a static, even stereotypical view of culture as something that is performed to tourists. simultaneously, the text suggests that the new ways and ideas that tourists bring benefit the local population. the idea that the unity between nations is strengthened when people from different corners of the world meet is honorable; however, in the case of tourism, the meeting between tourists and people living at tourist destinations is often unequal, since one often serves the other. bauman (quoted in franklin, 2003, p. 216) suggested that tourism might not be the best way to get to know others, that people might have a better chance of really meeting others in their own cities than at a faraway holiday inn. in the same textbook series book about europe (leinonen, martikainen, nyberg, veistola, & jortikka, 2010a, p. 64), a discussion about the ethics of tourism focuses on the environmental problems involved. regarding tourism in the mediterranean, it states that “tourism in the mediterranean countries has brought many negative consequences.” as examples, the textbook mentions that hotel villages have been built at the expense of old coastal cities, that waste and waste water facilities have not been built to accommodate the rapid construction, that the mediterranean coasts are “severely contaminated,” and that tourists “waste water carelessly.” it also mentions that the slow lifestyle has become hectic, and that tourism has brought along with it criminality and drugs. similarly to the example above, the chapter, however, then turns to the brighter sides of tourism: on the other hand, the tourists of today demand clean beaches and swimming waters, and because of this, in a way they improve the quality of the environment, too. the local inhabitants benefit from many renovations that were initially made to cater to the needs of tourists, such as good traffic connections, sewage and water treatment plants. historical sites are being repaired continuously, so that they stay attractive (ibid.). mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 100 despite the stated negative consequences, the quote suggests that tourists indirectly improve the environment by their demands for clean beaches and waters to swim in. it also suggests that historical attractions are repaired in order for them to stay attractive (for tourists). the quote includes some descriptions of people that can be seen as problematic from a postcolonial perspective. the text does not challenge the seemingly neutral, objective suggestions that waters are kept clean and attractions are repaired only because “the tourists of today” demand it. this assumption, however, strengthens the idea that some people’s needs or wishes are more important than others’. even though this might often be the case, social science teaching, in this case geography textbooks, would need to keep a distance from such claims, bearing in mind the core values of the curriculum, which state that all teaching should be based on equality, human rights, and democracy (fnbe, 2004). as zilliacus, holm, and sahlström (submitted) show, however, a problematic aspect of the 2004 curriculum is that it generally takes as its point of departure finnish and european perspectives on both local and global issues. this creates a basis for unequal discourses focusing on finnish perspectives also in social science teaching. the new curriculum of 2014 shows a shift towards highlighting global perspectives parallel to local perspectives. it also emphasizes ethical reasoning and the need to see things from the viewpoint of other cultures and to value cultural diversity both in their local community and in the world. however, this curriculum still does not include questions of dominance and power between different cultures and groups within society. this leads us to the fourth key issue in the discourses concerning tourism. whose beaches? in addition to the discussions on the economic, environmental, and cultural concerns regarding tourism, the fourth ethical issue to be debated regards the portrayal of certain geographical locations as “being there for tourists.” this concerns the unquestioned power position that people in the west have in places that are considered tourist attractions. the issue of power links to the fundamental questions of how concerns for ethics and the respect for others are constructed. the previously mentioned textbook quotes do not challenge the position of power that western tourists have. some textbook texts, however, more explicitly connect tourist locations to the tourists in a way that more or less directly claim ownership of them. this attitude can only be seen as colonial: nowadays, the beaches and islands of central america are wealthy tourists’ tropical paradises, where the white sandy beaches bordered with palm trees, as well as the warm water with its coral reefs, the exquisite conditions for sailing and the fishing offer unforgettable experiences (leinonen, nyberg, veistola & jortikka, 2010, p. 72). echtner and prasad (2003) discussed how tourism is marketed, and they showed how the word “paradise” is often used to tempt potential tourists. it is a way to divert the attention from any problems such as poverty. this textbook is particularly explicit in stating that these places “are” the paradises of tourists. in textbook quotes such as these, there are no discussions that might link the right of certain people to move around the planet as a leisure activity with the restricted movement of others on the planet. the seemingly neutral idea that the tourist/textbook reader is expected to use his or her right to travel around the world is as unchallenged as is the equally neutral idea that other peoples’ rights to travel should be limited (see author). this lack of a postcolonial global power aspect is fairly consistent in the revised textbooks. the idea that certain places and attractions “are there” for tourists is noticeable in different ways in the descriptions. one grade 6 geography textbook chapter about egypt (palenius & ulenius, 2008, p. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 101 87) lists the pyramids under the subheading “tourism” (as opposed to, for instance, “history”). this can be interpreted as an example of constructing an image of egypt’s pyramids as being mainly a tourist attraction. in its description of thailand’s beaches, one geography book (cantell et al., 2008, p. 67) states that:” the least rainy period is conveniently in winter, when the inhabitants of rich industrial countries long for sunny, southern beaches the most.” the word ”offer” is used in several articulations when describing the old culture of thailand: “in addition to the sun, the culture, which is thousands of years old, offers a variety of experiences, such as different foods, splendorous temples and palaces, or even riding elephants.” obviously, geography textbooks about countries with a big tourist sector need to mention tourism in the descriptions of the countries themselves. it is also understandable that the focus is on attractions, such as pyramids or beaches, if these are important for the country in general. what we would like to point out, however, is that the perspective makes a difference. when suggesting that a country “offers” its beaches to “rich inhabitants of industrialized countries,” the implication is that these beaches somehow naturally belong to tourists. the beaches, as well as various other elements such as the sun, temples and foods, even elephants, become something that the wealthy “consume.” one way to make this point more evident is to examine alternative ways to write about beaches; in this case, another geography textbook’s description of the beaches of rio: many think rio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. […] the inhabitants and the tourists of rio can relax on the famous beaches of copacabana and ipanema, which, combined, are almost 10 km long (keskitalo et al., 2010, p. 104). by initially mentioning the inhabitants of rio before the tourists, the quote above serves as a reminder that the tourist perspective does not need to be the only approach to describing remarkable places on earth. you, the tourist one question to ask in connection with descriptions about tourism or tourist sites is: who is the tourist? some textbooks very explicitly assume that the reader is an intended tourist. in descriptions of places that are popular tourist sites, it is understandable that geography textbook authors might connect the descriptions of places with students travelling to them. for many young people in rich countries such as finland, it is still possible to live without paying much attention to global inequality. travelling to countries where global inequality is more explicit might provide the first notion that (young) privileged people get about the world as an unfair place. this might be one reason why textbook authors deliberately connect teaching about “tourist sites” with the students’ experiences of tourist trips to these places. yet, this is an issue that would sometimes benefit from a more critical approach. some textbook descriptions are almost identical to tourist brochures: if you ever want to go for a holiday to a tropical destination where english is spoken as an official language, you should head for central america. there you will find belize, where english has remained an official language since colonial times. (keskitalo, et al., 2010, p. 124). and: mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 102 the time zones need to be taken into account …. if you plan to stay at the travel destination for several days, it is worth trying to adapt to the new daily rhythm as quickly as possible. (leinonen, martikainen, nyberg, veistola & jortikka, 2010b, p. 54) using phrases such as ”you should head for” and ”it is worth trying to adapt” assume without questioning that the textbook reader has the right and the resources to travel around the world. the tourist is “you.” by assuming that the student is a potential tourist, the textbook reveals a middle class norm. interestingly, the descriptions suggest that when tourists are described in an unfavorable light, they are not identified with the textbook reader. in the final chapter of a history textbook (rinta-aho, niemi, siltala-keinänen, & lehtonen, 2009, p. 215), the focus is on global challenges for “developing countries” in the future. the text includes the following statement about human trafficking: peasant families suffering from poverty may sell young girls in the cities. there, the girls are forced to work as sex workers. the risk of contracting aids, which affects the developing countries, is big. the wealthy western countries are very reluctant to enact laws that would make it possible to punish those tourists who exploit children in developing countries (ibid.). this quote, which is from a history, not geography, textbook, clearly articulates that there are drawbacks in tourism that are related to global power and the economic relations between people. the text shows a very different discourse around tourism, revealing unequal global hierarchies and ethical problems concerning the meeting between poor people in the tourist destinations and tourists. in these sentences however, “those tourists” are not really considered as “you.” they, the “local people” in the geography textbook descriptions, it is also of interest to examine how people living in places that are considered tourist sites are described. it seems that they are frequently described as benefitting from the employment that tourism brings. questioning the positions that “local people” are given in the textbook descriptions reveals notions of global relations. sometimes the “local people” might be portrayed as playing a sort of supporting role for the main actors, the tourists: many travelers in the andes suffer from altitude sickness, which causes dizziness, vomiting and shortness of breath. the atmospheric pressure falls on the way upwards, causing sickness. some get the symptoms quickly, others only at an altitude of 4 km. local people are accustomed to the thin air (agge et al., 2009, p. 71). when discussing the circumstances of people in the andes, the focus is first and foremost on tourists. the difficulties that the mountains pose to them are described in detail, while the position of the “local people” is secondary. the same geography textbook includes illustrations in the form of postcards from different countries. the postcard from tanzania strengthens the image of “local people” as passive actors, here described as an ‟experience”: jambo from the equator and the safari! nature is wonderful in serengeti national park in tanzania. from a jeep we have spotted the most amazing animals of the savannah, or the big five: the lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhino. in addition, we have seen mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 103 zebras and hippos. an equally great experience has been the really friendly people, who always greet us in swahili, but luckily speak english, too! regards, mara (ibid.,p. 81). the quote, which arguably might not sound very unorthodox for a postcard text, can be considered as an example of a colonialist attitude. reflecting upon colonialized algeria, fanon (2007, p. 206) suggested that while the colonized people were seen as part of the landscape, the colonizers were always the human subjects. from this point of view, the postcard text is an example of a dehumanizing, colonialist attitude. towards postcolonial change? it has been suggested that school textbooks are starting to leave the eurocentric colonial perspectives behind (grammes, 2011, p. 2). mikander (2016) has noted that while old stereotypes about nonwesterners such as derogatory characterizations might have begun to vanish, other postcolonial challenges have remained or even strengthened. in the researched descriptions of conflicts, past as well as current, western violence is systematically hidden (mikander, 2012). there is also a tendency to portray the west as superior, essentially democratic, and egalitarian (mikander, 2015). as an example of how contrarily the same phenomenon can be portrayed in different textbooks, consider the following descriptions about uluru in australia, the first one fairly brief: “here and there in the sand, big sand rock formations arise, the most famous of which is uluru or ayers rock, a sacred rock of the australian primitives” (cantell, et al., 2008, p. 78). to describe the indigenous people, the textbook uses the finnish word for primitive (alkuasukas), which is not the same as indigenous (alkuperäisasukas). the fact that uluru has a sacred meaning to the indigenous people of australia is emphasized in the following textbook excerpt, which includes a longer chapter about the place. while it mentions that many people come to climb it, the meaning of sacred remains ambiguous: “the rock paintings on uluru, even the furrows of the rock, have some kind of meaning for the aborigines. they wish that travelers would respect their traditions and not climb the sacred rock” (leinonen, martikainen, nyberg, veistola & jortikka, 2010b, p. 58). the following textbook, however, focuses on the place as mainly a tourist sight of interest: the most famous of these is ayers rock, which changes color according to the sunlight. it is a rock that is over 300 meters tall, rounded by the windblown sand and by heavy rains. hundreds of thousands of travelers come every year to admire ayers rock. the first rays of the morning sun color the rock a glowing red. the rock should be climbed directly after sunrise, since the temperature during midday often rises to more than 40 degrees. (arjanne, leinonen, nyberg, palosaari & vehmas, 2005, p. 122) this textbook does not mention that the indigenous people consider the rock sacred. the indigenous people are mentioned five pages later in a picture where they dance traditional dances. a new edition of this textbook was published in 2010. the description of the place was left the same, but the name of the rock had changed from ”ayers rock” to ”uluru” (arjanne, leinonen, nyberg, palosaari, & vehmas, 2010, p. 125). the last sentence with the advice to climb early in the morning had also been removed. the page now includes a picture of uluru with the added text: “uluru, which is located in the middle of the desert, is a sacred rock for the indigenous people of australia.” the word sacred has therefore been added in the form of a text next to a picture. nash (2002) discusseed what recognizing the sacred status of uluru means for cultural geography, and suggested that simply naming it sacred does not necessary challenge postcolonial racism. the sacredness might instead increase its value as mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 104 something exotic to consume. textbooks are often considered conservative and slow-changing (karlsson, 2011). this transition could possibly be seen as symbolic for how changes in textbooks take place: there are rarely radical changes; instead, old texts are revised and updated (macgilchrist, 2014). adding the “correct term” for the place, and removing an instruction about how to climb the rock, are seen as sufficient, even though the text itself can be seen as colonialist, even irrelevant from an educational point of view, since it places the visitors in focus, not the people who live around the rock. it seems that the changes made have been only a response to the need to accommodate political correctness rather than any epistemological change. the understanding that textbooks are conservative has been challenged by holmén (2006), who showed that history textbooks in three nordic countries changed rapidly along with the cold war climate. holmén has suggested that textbooks closely follow political trends, and change quickly when it comes to politically charged issues; however, as he suggested, this is not true if the texts are “thought to be harmless, or of limited political interest” (holmén 2006, p. 343). for social science teaching, it would be important to challenge assumptions that date back to colonial times. as merryfield (2002) suggested, the “imperial framework” restricts learning in the social studies in many ways. as long as students are taught that their perspective of the world is the only one worth knowing anything about, social science cannot claim to be globally aware or responsible, let alone based on values such as human rights. concluding discussion in this article, we have asked how school textbooks portray the concept of tourism and how geographical locations with a large number of tourists are described. we have analyzed the textbook quotes from a postcolonial perspective. the results show that even if some ethical questions are at times debated openly, particularly environmental problems at tourist sites, the focus is on the benefits of tourism. a key argument in the article is that the unequal global power relations between tourists and people living in tourist locations remain unchallenged. this is something we wish to draw attention to. considering tourism from a postcolonial point of view brings a needed perspective to social science education. this can be seen as a proposal for educators as well as textbook writers. there is also a need to challenge the positions that are appointed to textbook readers. not all students in social science class can be expected to travel to places described as paradises for tourists. some students might also have parents who have grown up in these locations and consider them from a completely different perspective. traveling the world is often seen as positive, and people who travel as more open-minded than those who stay at home, or are not interested in other cultures or people. we agree that learning about the world can never be wrong. however, there is a need to recognize other aspects to traveling, such as we have shown in this article. critically examining the role of tourism in today’s world might require criticism, not just of power relations but of the global capitalist economy (bianchi, 2009). mainly, there is a need for textbook authors and publishers to keep in mind the aims of the core curriculum when in the process of writing textbooks. in the finnish case, the core values of the curriculum include ensuring that equality, democracy, and human rights are promoted. if school textbooks begin to look like tourist brochures, which have a completely different aim, then it is likely that the textbook writers have deviated from their main purpose. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 105 it seems that the hegemonic status of the tourist’s perspective needs to be challenged, even if this might be a demanding task. we have pointed out the importance of considering ethical issues in the description of the world. this includes the description of places and people who are considered to be linked to the tourist industry. more analysis of power relations, and linking tourism to global historical and current power questions, would help connect education about the world with the core values of the curriculum, such as equality, human rights, and democracy. textbooks quoted agge, k., ahonen, t., heiskanen, s., juuti, k., kesler, m., purme, j., & uitto, a. (2009). biologian ja maantiedon polku 6 [the path to biology and geography]. helsinki, finland: edita. arjanne, s., leinonen, m., nyberg, t., palosaari, m., & vehmas, p. (2005). koulun biologia ja maantieto 6 [school biology and geography 6]. helsinki, finland: otava. arjanne, s., leinonen, m., nyberg, t., palosaari, m., & vehmas, p. (2010). koulun biologia ja maantieto 6 [school biology and geography 6]. helsinki, finland: otava. cantell, h., jutila, h., laiho, h., lavonen, j., pekkala, e., & saari, h. (2008). pisara 6 [drop 6]. helsinki, finland: wsoy. keskitalo, r., laakso, k., leivo, k., petrelius, m., rissanen, m., saarilahti, m, valtiala, s. & väära, a. (2010). avara amerikka [wide america]. helsinki, finland: wsoypro. leinonen, m., nyberg, t., veistola, s., & jortikka, s. (2010). km amerikka 7 [km america 7]. helsinki, finland: otava. leinonen, m., martikainen, a., nyberg, t., veistola, s., & jortikka, s. (2010a). km eurooppa [km europe]. helsinki, finland: otava. leinonen, m., martikainen, a., nyberg, t., veistola., s. & jortikka, s. (2010b). km maailma 8 [km earth 8]. helsinki, finland: otava. palenius, e., & ulenius, m. (2008). biologi och geografi för åk 6 [biology and geography for year 6]. esbo, finland: schildts. rinta-aho, h., niemi, m., siltala-keinänen, p. & lehtonen, o. (2009). historian tuulet 7-8. [winds of history 7-8]. helsinki, finland: otava. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 106 references andreotti, v., & pashby, k. (2013). digital democracy and global citizenship education: mutually compatible or mutually complicit? the educational forum, 77(4), 422—437. apple, m. w. 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(2007). jordens fördömda. stockholm, sweden: leopard. finnish national board of education (2004). national core curriculum for basic education 2004. retrieved september, 22nd, 2015 from http://www.oph.fi/download/47671_core_curricula_basic_education_1.pdf franklin, a. (2003). the tourist syndrome. an interview with zygmunt bauman. tourist studies, 3(2), 205—217. grammes, t. (2011). nationalism, patriotism, citizenship and beyond – editorial. journal of social science education, 10(1), 2—11. hall, c.m. & tucker, h. (2004). tourism and postcolonialism. contested discourses, identities and representations. london, uk: routledge. hall, s. (1996). when was “the post-colonial”? thinking at the limit. in i. chambers & l. curti (eds.). the post-colonial question (pp. 273-325).. london, uk: routledge. hall, s. 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(2002). managing tourism at world heritage sites: a practical manual for world heritage site managers. paris, france: unesco world heritage centre. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi https://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/fi/publications/othering-and-the-co%2841023fad-4028-48dd-91e1-ff13fbb7b8e8%29.html https://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/fi/publications/othering-and-the-co%2841023fad-4028-48dd-91e1-ff13fbb7b8e8%29.html https://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/fi/persons/pia-mikander%2802793c78-e57f-43b2-a60a-ef5128f663f8%29.html https://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/fi/publications/democracy-and-human%284bb7c2d0-a33c-4231-90c8-4d62aba60902%29.html https://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/fi/publications/democracy-and-human%284bb7c2d0-a33c-4231-90c8-4d62aba60902%29.html journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 96-108. corresponding author email: pia.mikander@helsinki.fi ; harriet.zilliacus@helsinki.fi9 ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 108 pike, g. (2013). global education in times of discomfort. journal of international social studies, 3(2), 4—17. reynolds, r. (2016). assessing global competence. editorial comment. journal of international social studies, 6(1), 1—3. rizvi, f., lingard, b., & lavia, j. (2006). postcolonialism and education: negotiating a contested terrain. pedagogy, culture & society, 14(3), 249-262, doi: 10.1080/14681360600891852 saada, n.l. (2014). the use of postcolonial theory in social studies education. journal of international social studies, 4(1), 103—113. said, e. (1978). orientalism. new york, ny: vintage books. schissler, h. & soysal, y. (2005). introduction: teaching beyond the national narrative. in h. schissler & y.n. soysal (eds.). the nation, europe, and the world: textbooks and curricula in transition. new york, ny, & oxford, uk: berghahn books. subedi, b. & daza, s.l. (2008). the possibilities of postcolonial praxis in education. race ethnicity and education, 11(1), 1—10. willinsky, j. (1998). learning to divide the world. education at empire’s end. minneapolis, mn, & london, uk: university of minnesota press. winther jørgensen, m. & phillips, l. (2002). discourse analysis as theory and method. london, uk, thousand oaks, ca, & new delhi, india: sage. wreder, malin (2007). ovanliga analyser av vanliga material. in m. börjesson & e. palmblad (eds.), diskursanalys i praktiken. malmö: liber. zilliacus, h., holm, g. & sahlström, f. (submitted). taking steps towards institutionalizing multicultural education – the national curriculum of finland, multicultural education review. mailto:pia.mikander@helsinki.fi journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 103 yes, you can!: a critical questions approach for developing and incorporating intercultural sensitivity efforts into any classroom randall osborne (ro10@txstate.edu) texas state university _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: the educational literature has blossomed with information on becoming interculturally sensitive (e.g., bennett, 2004, 2009), discussions on theory and practice for education aimed at enhancing intercultural sensitivity in students (e.g., bleszynska, 2008), or how to identify and assess intercultural sensitivity as a learning outcome (e.g., deardorff, 2006). much of this work provides information on why an educational emphasis on intercultural sensitivity is important, and guidance on how to incorporate such an emphasis into particular courses. the difficulty, then, is not in locating a myriad of resources on the topic but how to simplify the concept of intercultural education so that it can be incorporated into the flow of any classroom. in other words, what would intercultural sensitivity look like in students as a result of what we do in the classroom? the present article deconstructs the literature in an attempt to demonstrate how a hands on approach to intercultural sensitivity was gleaned from the literature and put into practice in a course on prejudice, discrimination and hate. _____________________________________________________________________________________ introduction an educational emphasis on intercultural sensitivity (being referred to as awareness, competence or sensitivity) is not new. indeed, much groundwork for what some perceive as a relatively new creation in education has been firmly rooted in the education literature and discussions of pedagogical practice since the late 1980s and early 1990s (e.g., bennett, 1986, 1993, 1998, 2010; martin, 1989; renwick, 1994). but the foundations for intercultural education are almost as old as the education journals themselves. indeed, some of the earliest and still cited work predate many other educational practices (e.g., dewey, 1897; hans, 1958) and emphasized what would become an emphasis on intercultural education as foundational in education. in other words, an intercultural education approach is not (should not be) discipline bound; it is at the core of educating citizens—regardless of degree or major. it seems beneficial, however to ask and answer a series of questions in order to develop an intercultural foundation to one’s educational practices. for each question, then, some resource must be located that works best for the individual in terms of understanding and integrating that work into one’s courses. what follows, then, are the questions the current author found most useful to consider in developing and assessing courses with an intercultural foundation and the work from the literature most relevant to putting that understanding into practice. this is not meant to be, nor does it come close to being, an exhaustive or best practice list, nor is the literature review exhaustive or even comprehensive. it is simply what this author found most useful in thinking about designing an intercultural framework into all of his courses. these questions (outlined in figure 1) include (but certainly are not limited to): mailto:ro10@txstate.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 104 figure 1. critical questions for incorporating interculturalism into any classroom 1. what does intercultural mean? (bennett, 1986) 2. is intercultural sensitivity unique to my discipline? (bleszynska, 2008) 3. what would intercultural sensitivity look like in students? in other words, what would interculturally sensitive students be able to do that they could not do before? (e.g., bennett, 2011). 4. how can i assess if an emphasis on intercultural sensitivity is having an impact on my students? (e.g., tupas, 2014) having taught an online course (often multisite between multiple universities) on prejudice, discrimination and hate for more than 20 years, the author of this article can attest to the struggle that one encounters in turning a belief in intercultural understanding and education into practice in one’s discipline. question 1: what does intercultural mean? the call for papers from the editor in the previous special issue of the journal of international social studies states that intercultural: “broadly emphasizes the development of perceptions and skills that facilitate collaborative interaction between people of different cultural groups” (cushner, 2015, p. 1). cushner’s definition assists the faculty member in placing intercultural sensitivity enhancement efforts into context. no single course, indeed an entire degree cannot make one interculturally competent. in order to assist students in making progress in terms of intercultural competency, though, one must choose a starting point. adopting a definition, even one as well constructed as cushner’s, leaves out an important element of what it means to attempt to teach interculturalism. what does intercultural look like? in other words, what would students who are more intercultural do that students who are less intercultural are not as able to do? this is the brass tacks, if you will, of teaching with the goal of enhancing intercultural sensitivity in students. in fact, this question likely lies at the heart of what intercultural educators need to know. as such, this question will be addressed in a section of its own below. bennett (1986) provides a straightforward answer to this question (that, again, will be explored in more depth below) when he produced his developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. with this model, bennett suggests that intercultural sensitivity develops in a series of stages that facilitate movement away from a more ethnocentric way of thinking about the world to a more ethnorelative way of thinking about the world. question 2: is intercultural awareness or understanding unique to my discipline? bleszynska (2008) discusses intercultural education in comparison to other educational approaches that “cross it or complement it” (p. 538). according to bleszynska, intercultural education is interdisciplinary. as such, it can be incorporated into courses in the behavioral, humanities and social sciences. the key is to acknowledge, based on level of course and degree of required learning objectives, where an intercultural emphasis fits within the context of any given course. but how does one accomplish this? according to bleszynska (2008, pp. 537-545), “competencies should address the following issues: (1) sensitizing students to cultural differences and the construction of a journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 105 sense of commonality with those who have other cultural backgrounds, (2) basic knowledge of culture and cultures and development of awareness of one’s own culture, (3) psychological aspects of acculturation processes and intercultural contact, (4) intercultural communication, (5) peaceful solution of international conflicts, and (6) specialized issues (psychological evaluation, counseling and intercultural education, social work and management of culturally heterogeneous groups etc.).” clearly, some content courses, such as “counseling diverse populations” or “psychology of diversity” (pp. 543544) are directly constructed with intercultural thinking in mind. it seems logical to conclude, however, from blesznyska’s list that any course could be constructed to emphasize an intercultural sensitivity approach to the topic. more guidance on how this might be accomplished will be included later in this work. an important consideration as one attempts to incorporate an intercultural approach into a classroom, was articulated by coulby (2006). he asks, “is our understanding of intercultural education limited by being perceived within states or cities (that is within systems)? the unit of analysis of intercultural education rarely strays across the borders of states.” (p. 248). it seems the same might be said for intercultural education in universities—does it ever cross degree boundaries or is it most often perceived as the purview and responsibility of colleges of education and not so in other colleges such as the sciences or liberal arts? question 3: what would intercultural competence (or awareness, or sensitivity) look like in students? to develop assignments and experiences into our classrooms (be they face-to-face or online) that would promote advancements in intercultural sensitivity, we first have to know what skills are foundational to such an awareness. only by knowing those skills, could a faculty member know what to look for in students. janet bennett (2011) defines intercultural competence as involving cognitive, affective and behavioral skills. as such, faculty should be able to design assignments and experiences in courses that facilitate (and document) progress in each of these areas. the specific skills associated with intercultural competence by bennett are: cognitive • cultural self-awareness • culture-general knowledge • culture-specific knowledge • interaction analysis affective • curiosity • cognitive flexibility • motivation • open-mindedness journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 106 behavioral skills • relationship building skills • behavioral skills: listening, problem solving • empathy • information gathering skills an important part of understanding what intercultural competence would look like in our students, is to know what leads to intercultural competence. though many educators and researchers have provided guidance in this arena (e.g., bennett, 1986: borrelli, 1991; cushner, 2009), the most succinct list might be that provided by bennett in 2011. in this workshop, janet bennett suggests both what we know about intercultural competence and what leads to such competence. specifically, she suggests: “a few things we know about intercultural competence: • cultural knowledge does not necessarily lead to competence. • cultural contact does not necessarily lead to competence. • cultural contact may lead to reduction of stereotypes. • language learning may not be sufficient for culture learning. what does lead to intercultural competence? • intentional and developmentally sequenced program design. • balancing challenge and support; anxiety reduction. • facilitating learning before, during and after intercultural experiences. • depth of intercultural experiences, language immersion. • intercultural competence training. • cultivating curiosity and cognitive flexibility.” (bennett, 2011, p. 5) banks (2011) reminds the reader of the importance of challenging assimilationist conceptions of citizenship. harkening back to piaget’s work on assimilation (see piaget and cook, 1952), banks emphasizes the tendency for students (and teachers not being careful in the development of intercultural efforts in the classroom) to assimilate first. in other words, when confronted with something new, the normal tendency is to attempt to assimilate that information into existing schemas. in a way, then, information needed to enhance intercultural sensitivity is often softened and minimized because the individual assimilates that information (forces if necessary) to fit into an existing worldview. as piaget (e.g, piaget, 1936; piaget & cook, 1952) suggests, however, developing a more complex and complete worldview requires one to accommodate information that does not fit into existing schemas. in a sense, this is what intercultural education is all about. but this does not happen without effort, practice or purpose. the key, therefore, is to balance discipline-based content, with purposeful, frequent and assessed efforts to engage in intercultural thinking. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 107 question 4: how can i assess if an emphasis on intercultural understanding is having an impact on my students? this question, of course, centers on issues of outcome assessment. this kind of outcome assessment is not, necessarily, about programs or about accreditation visits. it is about asking and answering the question of whether what one is doing in the classroom to foster and promote the advancement of intercultural awareness is resulting in such advancement. if a primary emphasis in our classroom— regardless of the content discipline—is the advancement of intercultural competence, then how do we determine if individuals have made progress in this regard? milton bennett (e.g., 1986, 1993) suggests that intercultural sensitivity is developmental in nature. if something is developmental, it does not just appear but unfolds at least partially as a result of experience. according to the american psychological association (apa), developmental means, “interaction between physical and psychological processes and with stages of growth from conception throughout the entire life span” (apa, 2015, p. 4). as such, experiences would be an essential element of advancing any form of development. bennett’s stages, then, could be considered a continuum along which people grow into being more interculturally sensitive (more ethnorelative in bennett’s terms) but experiences are necessary to foster that growth. the stages of the development of intercultural sensitivity according to bennett are: 1. denial 2. defense 3. minimization 4. acceptance 5. adaptation 6. integration the first three stages are considered to be ethnocentric, meaning we experience our own culture as central to what is real. it is our reality, therefore it must be the reality. the final three stages are considered to be ethnorelative. this means we come to view our own culture experienced through the context of other cultures. we might, for example, consider that our cultural view on a certain issue, such as when an individual is perceived as an adult, is not the only way of viewing that issue. but the question as to whether students are making progress in becoming more interculturally aware can only be answered if we ask it. we will not know unless we design and implement methods for measuring such change. if infusing intercultural education into our classrooms is as fundamental to us as content, we should assess progress on it like we do progress on content understanding. if we value this kind of change, then we must assess it like we would content or discipline-based outcomes. as an example, an emphasis on intercultural sensitivity was recently infused in three courses: (1) psychology of prejudice, discrimination and hate, (2) sport psychology and (3) forensic psychology. despite the varied content of these three courses, assignments were developed that required students to consider important content and theories within an intercultural context. in addition to these assignments (see osborne & kriese, in press; and osborne, kriese & davis, (2014) for examples of assignments developed for several courses), self-reported changes on all six levels of bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity were gathered at two points in a semester and students completed a tolerance for ambiguity (tfa) measure (mcclain, 1993). the tolerance for ambiguity measure was included as journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 108 recent research suggests low levels of tolerance for ambiguity might serve as a barrier to progress in developing intercultural sensitivity (e.g., osborne & kriese, in press). if tolerance for ambiguity is a barrier to becoming more ethnorelative (a primary marker of the development of intercultural sensitivity according to bennett, 1986, 1993, 2004), then those who score higher on the tfa measure, should show the most significant drop in ethnocentrism and the most significant increase in ethnorelativism. as can be seen in table 1, tolerance for ambiguity scores are negatively correlated with change scores on ethnocentrism (as tfa scores go higher, ethnocentric ratings go lower and vice versa), whereas tolerance for ambiguity is positively correlated with ethnorelativism scores. in other words, those students scoring higher on tolerance for ambiguity at the beginning of the semester rated themselves significantly lower in ethnocentrism at the end of the semester than at the beginning of the semester. additionally, those scoring higher on tolerance for ambiguity at the beginning of the semester also reported the most positive improvement in ethnorelativism scores. this is consistent with findings by osborne & kriese (in press), who suggested that tolerance for ambiguity might interfere with the kinds of thinking necessary to progress from ethnocentric toward ethnorelative levels on bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. of course, these data do not allow one to draw causal connections. further research is needed to determine if findings such as these occur with non-self-rated scores on bennett’s model and to begin to delineate the causal directions of such findings. table 1. correlations between levels on bennett’s model and tolerance for ambiguity heading 1 tfa cendiff reldiff tfa pearson correlation 1 -.331** .820** n 101 101 101 ethnocendiff pearson correlation -.331** 1 -.450** n 101 101 101 ethnoreldiff pearson correlation .820** -.450** 1 n 101 101 101 ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). the purpose of this paper is a call for practice, not data collection and analysis. as such, further analyses of these data will be held for a different venue. the goal in presenting this limited look at the data, however, is quite straightforward—if we value designing our courses in such a way that students become more ethnorelative (or interculturally aware, or interculturally sensitive, etc.), then we must assess how much progress is being made and make our best effort to uncover factors that promote and/or inhibit that progress. in the current study, tolerance for ambiguity appears to be a characteristic journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 109 that inhibits movement from ethnocentric to ethnorelative ways of thinking. for further discussion of designing assignments to foster intercultural sensitivity and assessing the impact of those assignments, see osborne & kriese (in press) and osborne, kriese & davis (2014). tupas (2014) provides direction in moving from thinking about engaging students in the kinds of critical thought necessary to promote interculturalism and the materials one might design to prompt such thinking. according to tupas (2014), students responses to materials created with the goal of promoting interculturalism can be categorized in three ways: (1) reifying, (2) critical, and (3) conflicted (p. 243). reifying often results in students considering some abstract concept to be concrete. culture, then, would be easy to define and, once someone’s culture is understood and taken into account, those differences can be understood and, perhaps put away. critical responses, however, show that students are able to recognize stereotypes and view culture as less concrete, thereby not losing sight of the reality that culture does not trump all individuality. in critical responses, culture is recognized as an important element in individuality but not a sole determinant. conflicted responses, according to tupas (2014), however, appear to be the most common in classrooms. with these responses, students attempt to critically think about culture but wrap this thinking and the discussions that result from it up in reifying tendencies. in this regard, the student can convince him or herself that they are thinking in intercultural ways but are not. perhaps the most important walking away point from tupas (2014) is that efforts to develop intercultural sensitivity must be deliberate and carefully planned by the teacher. students must be given practice in moving from reifying to critical analyses and shown the difference between critical and conflicting analyses. additionally, tupas discusses (and provides some examples) how classroom prompts (such as examination questions) can prompt a reifying or critical response. as such, the faculty member must be careful to write prompts and create classroom interactions, assignments and activities that prompt and reinforce critical thinking about interculturalism. discussion and conclusions how does one develop a course—regardless of discipline or student level—that can foster advancements in intercultural sensitivity in students? much guidance and advice can be gleaned from the literature already reviewed. but the simplest method might be to keep janet bennet’s (2011) hints about things to know about intercultural competence in mind during syllabus construction. as a reminder, she suggests that: (1) cultural knowledge does not necessarily lead to competence, (2) cultural contact does not necessarily lead to competence, (3) cultural contact may lead to reduction of stereotypes, and (4) language learning may not be sufficient for culture learning. so, knowledge, by itself, is not enough. but it is a place to start. the faculty member can design course assignments, lectures, discussions, etc. that enhance cultural knowledge. one cannot become culturally competent without cultural knowledge. but bennett’s point is that knowledge is not the end point. so, design assignments that require students to learn about other cultures. often, this is the beginning and the end of classroom efforts to foster intercultural competence. but bennett (2011) suggests this is only a first step. cultural contact also will not lead to competence—but it can help. poorly constructed cultural contact situations, however, can actually make things worse (e.g., osborne & kriese, in press). cultural contact journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 110 is likely necessary for the reduction of stereotypes but is best saved for appropriate times and courses. again, not every course must accomplish every element of advancing intercultural competence. it would be wise to consider what is most likely to be accomplished within one’s course—do not dream too small nor too big! modern language programs appear to be built upon the understanding that language learning and culture learning are not one and the same. so, individual courses need not depend one upon the other. the author of this paper teaches a course on prejudice, discrimination and hate. in any given semester, different issues from different countries can become topical in the course. students need not have language understanding in order to begin to understand what is happening in that culture and how those events might reflect cultural difference. on the other hand, even understanding the language does not lead to understanding the culture. the faculty member must stay right sized and recognize how much can actually be accomplished within a single course. a literature course, for example, can expose students to some elements of a given culture but cannot create cultural competence. in conjunction with other courses such as language courses, service-learning courses and even study abroad opportunities, one can create a cultural competence process. regardless of what other opportunities are available to students, though, any course can facilitate progress on the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity if assignments are constructed with these levels in mind and assessments are done often enough to note progress. having kept these concerns in mind during the construction of a draft syllabus, the faculty member could then do a course assessment and consider bennett’s (2011) discussion of what leads to intercultural sensitivity: (1) intentional and developmentally sequenced program design, (2) balancing challenge and support; anxiety reduction, (3) facilitating learning before, during and after intercultural sensitivity experiences, (4) depth of intercultural experiences, language immersion, (5) intercultural competence training, and (6) cultivating curiosity and cognitive flexibility. does my course keep each of these in mind? as an example, the faculty member might ask him or herself, “does my course provide opportunities to facilitate learning before, during and after an intercultural experience”? if i am teaching an art history course, for example, discussion can center on a particular culture before going to an art exhibit from someone from that culture. students can be given culturally-based discussion questions to consider while attending the exhibit, and class discussion after the exhibit can facilitate additional learning. how this looks in a particular course is, of course, unique but bennett’s advice would seem to work regardless of course, discipline or course level. the reality here is simple. intercultural sensitivity does not happen by accident. additionally, no single course can accomplish movement from denial (the first level) to integration (the highest level). but every course can facilitate progress. keeping bennett’s (2011) guidance in mind, one can construct a syllabus designed specifically with the goal of fostering advancement in intercultural sensitivity within the context of a particular course in a particular discipline. additionally, bennett’s advice on what leads to intercultural sensitivity can be used to develop activities and assignments (again within any course in any discipline) that would move a student closer to such competence. lastly, one must assess student progress. the author of this work surmised that tolerance for ambiguity (low levels of it) would be a barrier to the kind of thinking needed to make progress on bennett’s continuum in a course on journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 111 prejudice, discrimination and hate. assignments were designed requiring students to assess themselves on the tolerance for ambiguity measure and to do self-assessments on bennett’s levels (e.g., rate yourself on the level of denial, etc.). as expected, students with the lowest tfa scores were also the most ethnocentric—lower on intercultural sensitivity. assignments such as these can be included in any course. students could do such a self-assessment before and after a series of discussions, for example, in a history course to see if the discussions are prompting movement along the continuum. the present paper is built upon a simple but important assumption that intercultural sensitivity can be built into and assessed in any course. how intercultural sensitivity is infused into and assessed in a particular course, certainly, will differ for a myriad of reasons. if, however, we start with the assumption that it can be done, the challenge is how to accomplish that infusion. the education literature has literally exploded with information relevant to these efforts. the current paper is simply an effort to delineate the questions (and provide some hints about where to find and how to use the answers thus discovered) necessary for building a course (focused on enhancing intercultural sensitivity in students) from the ground up. but infusing assignments, discussions, activities, lectures, etc. with an emphasis in enhancing intercultural sensitivity does not guarantee that students will make progress in developing more intercultural ways of thinking. as bennett has long suggested (e.g., bennett, 1986, 1993, 2004), intercultural sensitivity is developmental in nature and, thus, dependent upon experience. well-constructed assignments and courses should foster progress on the developmental levels of intercultural sensitivity. osborne & kriese (2015) show that this is possible. but what we do and emphasize in the classroom is not the sole determinant of whether students make intercultural sensitivity progress. preliminary work by osborne & kriese (in press) and current findings, for example, demonstrate that tolerance for ambiguity (or a lack of it) can interfere with efforts to promote more ethnorelative ways of thinking. tupas (2014) suggests that assignments (e.g., group discussions, examination prompts, etc.) can be designed in such a way as to promote critical analysis of intercultural issues. indeed, tupas (2014) argues that concerted and deliberate effort must be made on the part of the teacher to ensure that the prompts do not simply encourage reifying or conflicting responses. this is consistent with bennett’s (e.g., 1986) suggestion that intercultural sensitivity is developmental in nature. if the natural tendency is to be ethnocentric (highlighted by denial, defense and minimization), then consistent and concerted efforts must be made to encourage (demand?) that students progress beyond this. in some sense, to ignore this tendency would do more harm than good. in an earlier work, osborne, kriese, tobey and johnson (2009) made a similar argument in terms of advancing student critical reflection in such courses when they stated, in our view, it is important to acknowledge that “understanding” does not mean to “accept.” the goal is not to get everyone to agree; the goal is to get people to truly explore and understand how and why opinions differ. to understand means to realize the circumstances and motivations that lead to differences and to realize that those differences are meaningful. it is our belief that discussing social issues (such as prejudice or racism) without requiring students to explore the roots of their views, understand the roots of other views, and appreciate the nature and importance of different views about those issues perpetuates ignorance. to raise the journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 112 issue without using a critical thinking framework may simply reinforce prejudices by giving them voice without question. (p. 48) references american psychological association. (2015). glossary of psychological terms. retrieved from http://www.apa.org/research/action/glossary.aspx?tab=4 banks, j. a. (2011). educating citizens in diverse societies. intercultural education, 22(4), 243–251. bennett, j. m. (2011, february). developing intercultural competence for international education faculty and staff. paper presented at aiea conference workshop, san francisco, ca. bennett, m. j. (1986). a developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. international journal of intercultural relations, 10, 179–95. bennett, m. j. (1993). towards ethnorelativism: a developmental model for intercultural sensitivity. in m. paige (ed.), education for the intercultural experience (21–71). yarmouth, me: intercultural press. bennett, m. j. (1998). basic concepts of intercultural communication: selected readings. yamouth, me: intercultural press, inc. bennett, m. j. (2004). becoming interculturally competent. in j. s. wurzel (ed.), toward multiculturalism: a reader in multicultural education (pp. 147-165). newton, ma: intercultural resource corporation. bennett, m. j. (2009). defining, measuring, and facilitating intercultural learning: a conceptual introduction to the intercultural education double supplement. intercultural education, 20(4), 1– 13. bennett, m. j. (2010). a short conceptual history of intercultural learning in study abroad. in w. hoffa & s. depaul (eds), a history of u.s. study abroad: 1965 to present (pp. 419–449). carlisle, pa: forum on education abroad. bleszynska, k. m. (2008). constructing intercultural education. intercultural education, 19(6), 537–545. borrelli, m. (1991). intercultural pedagogy: foundations and principles. in d. buttjes & m. byram (eds.), mediating languages and cultures (pp. 275–286). clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. coulby, d. (2006). intercultural education in theory and practice. intercultural education, 17(3), 245– 257. cushner, k. (2009). international perspectives on intercultural education. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 103-113. corresponding author email: ro10@txstate.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 113 cushner, k. (2015). call for manuscript submission for a special issue: intercultural education in the social studies. journal of international social studies,5(2), pp.1-2. deardorff, d. k. (2006). identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. journal of studies in international education, 10(3), 241–66. dewey, j. (1897). my pedagogic creed. the school journal, 54(3), 77–80. hans, n. (1958). comparative education. london, uk: routledge & kegan paul. martin, j. n. (1989). predeparture orientation: preparing college sojourners for intercultural interaction. communication education, 38(3), 249–257. mcclain, d. l. (1993). the mstat-i: a new measure of an individual's tolerance for ambiguity. educational and psychological measurement, 53, 183–189. osborne, r. e., & kriese, p. (2015). using an online course on “hate” to teach students to know self first, then other. international journal of humanities and social science, 5(4), 11–20. osborne, r. e., & kriese, p. (in press). tolerance for ambiguity as a potential barrier to intercultural interactions. unity, diversity and culture (ebook). osborne, r. e., kriese, p., & davis, j. (2014). it can be taught: explorations into teaching the foundations for multicultural effectiveness. journal of online learning and teaching, 9, 534–545. osborne, r. e., kriese, p., tobey, h., & johnson, e. (2009). putting it all together: incorporating "best practices" for teaching interpersonal and critical thinking skills in an online course. insight: a journal of scholarly teaching, 4, 45–55. piaget, j. (1936). origins of intelligence in the child. london, uk: routledge & kegan paul. piaget, j., & cook, m. t. (1952). the origins of intelligence in children. new york, ny: international university press. renwick, g. (1994). state-of-the-art study: a longitudinal analysis and assessment of intercultural education, training and research 1932–1984. unpublished doctoral dissertation. university of pittsburgh. tupas, r. (2014). intercultural education in everyday practice. intercultural education, 25(4), 243–254. introduction question 1: what does intercultural mean? question 2: is intercultural awareness or understanding unique to my discipline? question 3: what would intercultural competence (or awareness, or sensitivity) look like in students? cognitive affective behavioral skills “a few things we know about intercultural competence: what does lead to intercultural competence? question 4: how can i assess if an emphasis on intercultural understanding is having an impact on my students? reldiff cendiff tfa heading 1 discussion and conclusions references journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 54 using service-learning as a tool to develop intercultural understanding april a. mattix foster, phd amattix@gmu.edu george mason university heather b. cunningham, phd hcunningham@pitt.edu university of pittsburgh karen r. wrightsman karenwrightsman@gmail.com george mason university this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. the copyright of this manuscript will be given to the journal of international social studies should it be published in jiss. mailto:amattix@gmu.edu mailto:hcunningham@pitt.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 55 using service-learning as a tool to develop intercultural understanding _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: service-learning provides a wide range of opportunities for students to develop intercultural understanding. as a practice, service-learning has the potential to strengthen the development of student attitudes that support collaboration between people of different cultural groups. the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the ways in which engaging in international service-learning could be used to leverage students’ development of intercultural understanding. nineteen urban high school students from a predominantly low socioeconomic status (ses) school engaged in a service-learning experience for 2 weeks in costa rica. this manuscript chronicles the process and procedures undertaken to prepare and engage students throughout the service-learning process and highlights the understandings that were cultivated. key words: service-learning, intercultural competence, costa rica, high school _____________________________________________________________________________________ intercultural competence is “the appropriate and effective management of interaction between people who, to some degree or another, represent different or divergent affective, cognitive, and behavioral orientations to the world” (spitzberg & changnon, 2009, p. 7). for our schools, where multiculturalism is becoming the norm as student populations are increasingly represented by a wide and often diverse array of students from multiple countries and cultures (kena et al., 2015), developing intercultural competence is a vital component of a positive school culture. what we have learned from research is that developing intercultural competence is not an intrinsically innate ability. rather, it is a set of dispositions, capabilities, a mindset—that people learn and develop (dejaeghere & cao, 2009). promoting intercultural competence requires thoughtful, intentional consideration and active engagement, and it necessitates that we actively work to encourage international understanding. in other words, we must find ways to support our students’ development of knowledge and positive attitudes towards other cultures (perry & southwell, 2011). one way that educators can work to help bolster the development of intercultural understanding is through service-learning. service-learning is a pedagogical method that integrates service activities with academic content and structured reflection on the service experience (wade & yarbrough, 2007). service-learning is a natural fit in social studies education as it is considered to be one of the best ways that schools can develop competent and responsible citizens (carnegie corporation of new york & circle, 2003). service-learning can be a valuable component for building intercultural understanding as it has the potential to strengthen the development of student attitudes that support collaboration between people of different cultural groups. international service-learning, specifically, has been found to promote attitudes such as increased global awareness and intercultural understanding, enhanced civic mindedness, and the development of more humane values among participants (crabtree, 2008). our purpose in this manuscript is to share an example of international service-learning in action and illustrate how the experience served to augment students’ development of intercultural understanding. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 56 theoretical foundation “service-learning is an approach to teaching and learning in which students use academic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs” (national youth leadership council, n.d., para. 1). moreover, as koenig (2013) highlights, service-learning is a strategy that strengthens academic, civic, and character outcomes. it channels youth passion and creativity into an opportunity to make real change in the world around them. service-learning activities may include direct service in which students interact with the people receiving the service, indirect service in which students engage in activities that will help a community as a whole, advocacy activities in which students encourage action or awareness of a public issue, or research activities that produce information related to a topic of public interest (florida state university center for leadership and civic education, 2009). regardless of the type of activity, it is vital that it is “well designed” and incorporates “sufficient preparation; reflection; and intervention plans during the experience and adequate debriefing after the experience” (shalabi, 2014, p. 99). the national youth leaders council’s k-12 service learning standards for quality practice (2008) provides a set of eight criteria for effective service learning experiences:  meaningful service – actively engages students in meaningful and relevant service activities  link to curriculum – intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards  reflection – multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society  diversity – promotes understanding of diversity, mutual respect among all participants  youth voice – provides students an opportunity to plan, implement, evaluate service learning experience with guidance with adults  partnerships – collaborative, mutually beneficial, address community needs  progress monitoring – engages students in ongoing processes to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, uses results or improvement and sustainability  duration and intensity – sufficient to address community needs and meet specified outcomes service-learning can take place in both domestic and international contexts, but international servicelearning (isl) has some distinctions since it usually involves immersing students for a prolonged period of time in a supported environment that is significantly different than their home environment (kiely, 2005). this prolonged immersion allows for shifts in students’ affective processes that help lead to shifts in attitudes related to intercultural understanding (kiely, 2008). isl has been found to increase participant sensitivity to cross-cultural issues and awareness of global realities (rodriguez, 2011). students who participated in service-learning during an interdisciplinary study abroad preparation course and during their time abroad indicated that their time abroad and the cultural experiences they had there “challenged them to rethink their own values and those of the [other]”, and they “showed an improved understanding of multicultural education and intercultural concepts” (smith & moreno-lopez, 2012, pp. 369 & 370). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 57 the potential of service-learning to serve as a conduit for developing international understanding is immense. the experience and study described within this manuscript were guided by this framework of thinking about service-learning, and they function to help demonstrate what service-learning can meaningfully look like in action. methodology and design a naturalistic, qualitative research design was employed to investigate this study’s research question: in what ways can service-learning be leveraged as a tool to develop students’ intercultural understanding? as a naturalistic research design, this study generated data from participants in a natural setting, illuminating how they make sense of their experiences, and drawing upon inductive data analysis to arrive at data themes (hatch, 2002). a variety of sources were used including journals, blog postings and interviews to triangulate emerging understandings and increase the overall validity of study results (graue & walsh, 1998). participants participants were part of the international service learning (isl) program at challenge charter high school. the school is located in riverton, a mid-sized city in the u.s. mid-atlantic region (all proper names are pseudonyms). the school website reports that student body is 56% african american and 39% white, 81% city residents, and 61% free or reduced-price lunch recipients. program participants were selected through an application process open to 11th and 12th grade students. preference was given to students with limited travel experience, and scholarships were provided so that the cost would not prohibit participation. there were 19 isl program participants, 18 of which consented to participate in this study and provided responses. isl program the isl program at challenge charter high, designed to meet the k-12 service learning standards for quality practice criteria, had four goals: enable students to experience personal growth through new challenges, familiarize students with different ways of addressing social problems, promote environmental awareness, and introduce students to the world outside of their region. the country of costa rica was selected as the site for the international experience because it is an interesting case study of a society addressing a number of social and environmental problems in different ways than in the united states. a costa rican tour company specializing in service-learning trips for high school students was utilized to arrange the in country travel, logistics, and experiences of the project. students participated in a number of activities throughout the year to prepare them for the experience in costa rica. these activities included a day-long service-learning activity in the fall, fundraising during winter months, and a 7-week preparation course in the late spring. the program culminated in a 12-day trip to costa rica in early summer. in the fall, students participated in a day-long service-learning activity that involved clearing brush and dead trees in a local state park. the service was followed by a discussion about the importance of participating in community activities and a comparison to the service work students would perform in costa rica. this type of activity was selected because program leaders wanted students to engage in service similar to the work they would do in costa rica and also focus on journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 58 getting to know one another, rather than getting to know the recipients of a direct service activity. in the spring, students completed a 35-hour preparation course. this social studies/science dual elective course included an introduction to cultural foundations, political topics including costa rican current events and history, and environmental topics such as an introduction to rainforest ecology and sustainable development practices. the second author was the program leader and also taught the social studies components of the course. the course also offered limited spanish language practice via two rounds of email exchanges with students at a costa rican high school and four survival spanish lessons with one of the school’s spanish teachers. costa rica experience the experience in costa rica included 5 days in the capital city of san jose, 5 days in the bosque alto rainforest community, and 2 days for rest and transit. students began their experience in san jose and participated in the following activities there: completing a 2-day service project in the el tigre neighborhood, meeting and interviewing two costa rican political leaders, visiting a local dairy co-op and interviewing a co-op leader, visiting a traditional costa rican mask maker and interviewing the maker about the craft, attending a group salsa lesson at a local night club, visiting a costa rican high school and meeting with the students they had connected with as pen pals, and visiting an active volcano. the second part of the experience was in the bosque alto rain forest community. activities in bosque alto included a 3-day service project, playing a soccer game with community members, attending a pig roast, and interviewing the leader of the bosque alto environmental tourism organization that sponsored the group’s stay. the rest and transit days included a 2-hour zip line experience in the rain forest and an afternoon at the beach. two direct service projects were selected for this experience as they allowed participants to have faceto-face contact with service recipients (florida state university center for leadership and civic education, 2009). costa ricans who lived in the communities receiving the service directed both service projects, protecting the integrity of local stakeholders. members of the el tigre citizens association, a grassroots neighborhood organization, directed the service project in their san jose neighborhood. el tigre is a squatter community that was not recognized by the costa rican government and did not receive city services such as road maintenance or garbage collection. in order to receive these services, the community needed to complete certain tasks such as paving all roads. community members were pleased that challenge charter high students were willing to assist them pave road sections by mixing and spreading cement using simple tools such as shovels and pick axes. the community group ensured that many community members worked alongside of students during the 2 service days to allow for one-to-one interactions. the bosque alto service project was directed by members of the bosque alto eco-tourism collective, a non-profit collective that organized eco-tourism activities to provide income to the farmers living in the area. bosque alto had one primary school, and the project consisted of building a cement blockhouse for the school’s only teacher. a cement blockhouse is a typical incentive to attract teachers to work in rural costa rican communities like bosque alto. a number of young men in the community led students in construction of this house and interacted with students. the president of the collective presided over the construction and had organized the group’s stay. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 59 students engaged in a number of reflection activities during their time in costa rica. the group met for hour-long discussions each evening that included time to share and reflect on their experiences as well as discuss logistics for the next day. as the program leader, the second author facilitated most of these discussions. students were also frequently directed to engage in critical incident journaling during these meetings and were given specific journal prompts relating to the albert (1996) framework, a tool by which to help participants think about the context of life in latin america. finally, all students were asked to post a blog entry on the class blog site at least once while in costa rica. the blog was managed by a teacher-chaperone who ensured that a variety of students participated, that all student work was edited for grammar and clarity, and that the blog had pictures to communicate the experience to supporters in the united states. although language development was not a focus of this program, it was an added bonus for some students. those who could speak some spanish had opportunities to converse with costa ricans every day, particularly during the service-learning projects. chaperones and peers translated for students who spoke no spanish. data generation data emerged from the following sources: preand post-questionnaires, student journals, blog postings, and interviews with a representative sample of participants. analysis of the journals enabled us to see how the students understood their experiences in costa rica via a written format not intended for a specific audience, and allowed us to get perspectives from all participants, not just the ones interviewed. analyzing blog postings allowed us a different look into how participants understood their experiences, as these entries were written to communicate their experiences with a public audience. these two unobtrusive data sources were useful in triangulating other data sources such as interviews because some participants could be more comfortable communicating through writing, they provide an alternative perspective on the participants’ experience, and they are relatively easy to collect (hatch, 2002). interviews were selected as a data source because interviewing enables researchers to see the world through perspectives other than their own (rubin & rubin, 2012). furthermore, interviewing multiple people about the same phenomenon helps researchers describe complex processes (rubin & rubin, 2012), such as intercultural learning. student journals. participants were required to keep a journal during their time in costa rica, and journals from all 18 consenting participants were analyzed. students could write in their journals whenever they liked, and knew that these journals would be copied at the end of the experience for research purposes. students were directed to write about cultural incidents during the evening group meetings using focus prompts based on the albert (1996) framework they had explored during the pretrip preparation. this format was used because journal writing that responds to specific prompts has been found to be effective in describing intercultural growth among students participating in an isl program (hendershot & sperandio, 2009), and using a cultural framework to write about isl program experiences has been found to be particularly useful in promoting intercultural growth (parker & dautoff, 2007). blog postings. during their time in costa rica students posted voluntarily on a class blog site, and blog postings from all 18 consenting participants were analyzed. these posts were different in content and journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 60 style from the journals as they did not respond to structured prompts and they were written on a public blog site for sponsors and loved ones. students were simply asked to describe their personal experience of trip activities in the past day. students described their impressions of costa rica, wrote about meaningful experiences, and recounted challenges that they had overcome such as trying new foods or completing exhausting physical labor in the service-learning projects. a chaperone ensured at least one student posted to the blog every day the group had internet access (all but four days), and sometimes up to three students a day posted to the blog. interviews. five students were interviewed on the day the group returned from costa rica. this sample size is a little over a quarter of the 18 consenting participants, and provided for perspectives that varied by race and gender. as the costa rica experience occurred in the summer, interviewing more than this representative sample after the group’s return to the united states was logistically prohibitive. the set of interviews represents our best attempt to reach the goals of interview data saturation and sufficiency given the realities that prevented the second author from interviewing all subjects (seidman, 2006). respondents included one white male, one african american male, one white female, and two african american females. interview questions included:  what activities on the trip had the greatest impact on you?  how do you think this trip has changed you and your view of the world?  what do you think is the difference between an american citizen and a global citizen? are you one, the other, both, or neither? did any trip activities influence your answer?  are americans morally responsible for problems people have in costa rica? did any trip activities influence your answer?  did you meet any costa ricans on this trip who particularly influenced you or contributed to your learning? who did you meet and what did you learn from them? technology malfunctions prevented analysis of the interview with the african american male student, so only the remaining four interviews are considered in the findings. preand post-experience surveys. students were given a seven item survey the day before they left for costa rica. they completed the same survey again on the day that they returned to the u.s. after the costa rica experience. students were asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1 (not competent) to 4 (very competent) with respect to the following statements: 1. i am knowledgeable about contemporary international and global issues. 2. i understand how economic, political, cultural, technological, and environmental forces impact current global issues and problems. 3. i understand how the process of globalization (global interdependence) affects the national interests of the us and those of other countries. 4. i understand the complexities of intercultural relationships and communication. 5. i am knowledgeable about other languages and cultures. 6. i am good at seeing issues from another person or group’s perspective. 7. i can place myself in the shoes of someone who has had very different life experiences than i have. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 61 the first and third authors analyzed the qualitative data to identify salient patterns and themes (glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss, 1987; strauss & corbin, 1990) and examined the survey data to discern any emergent trends. the following section highlights major elements that emerged from this corpus of data. findings while there are many themes that emerged from the data, there were four major components we found relevant for our purposes in examining how the students were exploring and building their intercultural understanding through this project: changing mindsets, engaging in meaningful work in a cross-cultural context, learning about the other, and seeing the bigger picture. the themes were often interwoven throughout participant responses. while these themes are fluid and overlapping, they serve as the basis for our exploration of the development of intercultural understanding that took place during the service-learning experience. each focal theme is explored in the following sections and examples of student responses are shared. changing mindsets one major theme that emerged from the data was the perspective-altering nature of this experience. students were immersed in a new culture. the opportunities this presented to students to see, experience, and think about life from another vantage point created meaningful spaces for reflection and perspective shifting. other ways of thinking and being were discovered, realizations about others and the self were uncovered, and mindsets were altered. as one student wrote, i used to question whether or not this trip would be life changing or if i would get anything out of it. the truth is that this trip changed my life and the way i view many things. i also learned that i can do a lot more than i think i can if i just take the time to try. (thomas, july 1, 2011, blog post) likewise, another student reflected on that the experience had changed the way in which he viewed what he was able to do: "my eureka moment was this whole trip. . . . i was so shocked . . . that i could accomplish all that" (jeffrey, june 30, 2011, journal). through this experience, participants were exposed to new realities, asked to think and work in ways they had not before, and came to understand that there are not only other ways of thinking and doing, but that they, too, could engage in learning through this. engaging in meaningful work in a cross cultural context another theme that emerged centered on the value of engaging in what the participants saw as meaningful work, work that had a direct impact on the well-being and livelihood of others. "i learned one very important lesson: no matter how small a task, or large a project, the hard work you put into it will pay off one day" (megan, june 23, 2011, journal). likewise, another student articulated, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 62 today was tough because we worked! we did so much work. there was so much work to be done and we only scratched it, but that scratch can make a gigantic change. . . . we worked hard and hung with the kids. we sweat, bleed, and almost passed out together. we did so much work, but it feels so good because it helps the people of el tigre have a true home. . . . there’s not even enough to say to describe this feeling. . . . hard work pays off. (bryce, june 23, 2011, journal) the students felt that their work was not just valuable, but it was something in which they could come together with the host community and work together to make a difference. as another student elaborated, “today i felt was very powerful. helping out a community in that way is pretty awesome. everyone came together and helped out. i think it’s really inspiring, and i like the feeling" (christian, june 23, 2011, journal). having participants engage in meaningful work that had high significance for others created a sense of agency in the participants. the activities provided participants the opportunity to see the value of their contributions and the impact that they were able to have on others. learning about the other another important theme that emerged throughout the data was the way in which participants were making discoveries and developing understanding of their hosts. there have been many different cultural patterns which i’ve noticed such as collectivism and individualism. the people in el tigre didn’t take credit for all of the hard work which has been put into their town. they recognized that there were others in the community who helped with the effort to improve their town. another thing i noticed was high contact vs. low contact behaviors. back home you wouldn’t expect a teacher to be so joyous about getting something. ms. jennifer was very joyous when i presented her with a t-shirt. it was shocking because i didn’t expect it. but it did make me feel good to know that she accepted it like she did. (megan, june 22, 2011, journal) other moments demonstrated the joy of learning from their hosts, and their enthusiasm to take their new learning home with them. our breakfast was amazing, especially the banana fritters! the lady that does the cooking said that she’d share the recipe with me! tomorrow morning i can help her and i can get the recipe off of her. if you ask me, it’s so cool! i’m so excited. now i can really take a piece of costa rica home with me. (megan, june 26, 2011, journal) but in addition to learning about the other, participants were able to make connections to themselves and to gain new insights into themselves. some things that we have learned so far are that the people value family more than material possessions. in one interview in el tigre, they said that "when we work together like a community, we are family." i personally found this to be an amazing way of summing up our entire trip so far. we go to school with each other, but that can only bring us so close to each journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 63 other. actually being in costa rica we are growing closer together. we are learning each other's strengths and weaknesses through many things that we do such as learning to salsa dance, paving roads, digging ditch[es], speaking spanish and much more. as said in an interview with the costa rican government official, "for us to forget our own problems and to help others solve their problems generates happiness for everyone." (tony, june 23, 2011, blog post) through this experience, participants had the opportunity to experience seeing life through the eyes of another, and in doing so, it allowed them the chance to consider their own ways of seeing and thinking about the world. while the students were not gone from their home culture long enough to entirely effect a dissonance in their thinking about perspective, the time still allowed participants an entry way into metacognitively thinking about themselves and themselves in relation to others. seeing the bigger picture one of the biggest goals of this work was to encourage students to see and make connections to the bigger picture of their lives and those of the people with whom they engaged in this experience. students were immersed in living lives outside of the context in which they were familiar, giving them opportunities to examine their own lives from a different perspective. at the same time, using that same new lens to view the lives of the other and make connections that illuminated the connectivity of different peoples while still providing opportunities to compare and contrast in the larger sense. as one student described the experience part way through her time in costa rica: this trip and the meaning [of it] is finally starting to kick in. back home we have it good. many people of costa rica have so much less than we do. but yet, we as americans still think we need, need, need. we don't need more things, we need to [do things for] those who need our help. it doesn't matter who they are, or where they live, we're all in this together. we are a family. we live in a world that we care about, and this experience is helping me and the whole group [to] understand these things. . . . i'm starting to see the meaning in this. (megan, july 1, 2011, blog post) likewise, other students reflected after the experience and highlighted the overarching learning and big picture understandings that were developed by participating in this experience. the trip started off kind of bumpy and boring, but it didn’t stay that way at all. i have been able to completely immerse myself in another culture thanks to this trip. i learned that there are a lot of people out there in the world who are less fortunate than me. . . . although everyone wasn’t wealthy they seemed to be very close to each other and welcomed us all with open arms. if i have learned anything from this experience it is that you should appreciate what you have because there are many people in the world who are worse off then (sic) you. i also learned that you should help others whenever you can because people really appreciate that and [it] just feels good to do. hopefully 5 years from now i will appreciate what i have more and continue to help others. (rashad, june 30, 2011, journal) participants were able to glean some powerful insights into themselves, the other, and the world around them—all fundamental elements in increasing one’s intercultural understanding. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 64 by the numbers we uncovered similar trends in the preand post-questionnaires the participants completed, as several positive correlations between the learning experience and the participants’ developing sense of intercultural understanding became apparent. as represented by the following three questions, participants came away from the experience feeling more positive and better equipped to understand others. prior to the trip, participants were asked how competent they felt in terms of understanding the complexities of intercultural relationships and communication. as indicated in table 1, participants reported a marked increase in this area after partaking in the service-learning experience. table 1. understanding of the complexities of intercultural relationships and communication likewise, as indicated in table 2, participants reported a marked increase in how competent they felt after the trip in terms of being able to see issues from another person or group’s point of view. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 65 table 2. ability to see an issue from another person or group’s perspective additionally, most students self reported being more competent in terms of their abilities to place themselves in the shoes of someone unlike themselves. table 3. ability to place oneself in the shoes of someone who has had very different life experiences than i have journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 54-68. corresponding author email:amattix@gmu.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 66 the self reporting competency of the participants in this experience highlights the ways in which servicelearning helped each participant think about intercultural understanding and consider their own self in becoming a more interculturally competent person. conclusions it was as though we actually made a connection even with the people we were only with for a few days. we kind of sewed them into our family. how we created a family and we sewed them into it. like a quilt! there’s different sections to a quilt and we just sewed them into it. (megan, july 1, 2011, interview) research has demonstrated that meaningful service can have substantial positive impact on students’ academic, civic, and developmental outcomes. (neal, leeper, & root, 2009) service-learning provides rich opportunities for participants to enhance their intercultural understanding and competence. it allows occasions for students to see the world through a new lens and it can help bolster students’ empathy, tolerance and respect for others. as demonstrated through the servicelearning experience here, participants gain rich insights into themselves, deepen understanding of others, and move towards a heightened perception of the importance of intercultural awareness, understanding and competence. it is not surprising that service-learning is considered one of the six promising approaches schools can use to develop competent and responsible citizens. (carnegie corporation of new york & circle, 2003). experiences, such as the one highlighted in this manuscript, illustrate the power, the promise and the potential of service-learning to promote and help develop meaningful intercultural understanding in participants. references albert, r. d. (1996). a framework and model for understanding latin american and latino/hispanic cultural patterns. in d. landis & r. bhagat (eds.), handbook of intercultural training (2nd ed., pp. 327–347). thousand oaks, ca: sage. carnegie corporation of new york, & circle. (2003). the civic mission of schools. new york, ny: carnegie corporation of new york. crabtree, r. d. (2008). theoretical foundations for international service-learning. michigan journal of community service learning, 15(1), 18–36. dejaeghere, j., & cao, y. 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(2012). outcomes of an interdisciplinary study abroad course: learning spanish and multicultural education concurrently. intercultural education, 23(4), 359–373. doi: 10.1080/14675986.2012.724876 spitzberg, b. h., & changnon, g. (2009). conceptualizing intercultural competence. in d. k. deardorff (ed.), the sage handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 1–52). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. strauss, a. l. (1987). qualitative analysis for social scientists. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. strauss, a. l., & corbin, j. (1990). basics of qualitative research. newbury park, ca: sage. wade, r., & yarbrough, d. (2007). service-learning in the social studies: civic outcomes of the 3rd–12th grade civiconnections program. theory and research in social education, 35(3), 366–392. journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 1 from the editor: dear readers, friends, and colleagues, i am anatoli rapoport, associate professor of curriculum and instruction from purdue university. i feel honored and privileged to assume editorship of journal of international social studies and i am committed to continue the excellent work of my predecessors. the inaugural issue of jiss was published in 2010 under the editorship of beverly (lee) bisland. now, after working on this issue of the journal, i understand what titanic efforts it took beverly and her team of pioneers, gloria alter, carolyn o’mahony, and michelle frabroni seven years ago to develop the concept, design, and eventually set up a new journal. in 2012, beverly was succeeded by ruth reynolds, who invited me to her team to serve as the international section editor. ruth presided over the journal during a very important period in the history of international assembly and jiss. many ia members, journal readers, and authors could speak of ruth’s commitment to social studies education, social justice, citizenship and international education, as well as her belief in a productive open scholarly dialogue that often extended into social contacts. i would like to take a moment and express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to ruth, whose place i have taken as editor. ncss international assembly and jiss in particular owe much to ruth and journal section editors kate fergusonpatrick, deborah hutton, carolyn o’mahony (also our past chair), and gloria alter. it is because of their patience, persistence, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment that jiss has become a recognized preeminent journal in international social studies education, with a worldwide readership. i personally want to thank ruth, carolyn, and beverly for numerous valuable advice and friendly support. there is an allegedly chinese saying: “may you live in interesting times!” some call it a curse, some call it a blessing. regardless of whether we are cursed or blessed, there is no doubt that we live in interesting times. new questions are being raised about the place of civic education, international contacts and cooperation among educators, civic competence, civic duties, global citizenship, and patriotism. to open the journal to these and other themes, jiss will be placing renewed emphasis on attracting new and important theoretical papers that will extend the intellectual reach of social studies, citizenship education, international and global education, and bridge disciplinary boundaries. ______________________________________________________________________________ mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 2 this volume includes a selection of articles that will be interesting both to scholars and classroom teachers: daniel osborn from dean college in massachusetts explored the ways in which israelis and palestinians are represented in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ instructional discourse in the united states. the author employed critical discourse analysis to analyze the content of five world history textbooks and discourse in two social studies classrooms. the study demonstrated that the depictions of israelis and palestinians in textbooks and classroom discourses were similar in many ways, and while not identical in representation, textbooks and teachers tended towards similar classifications and portrayal of israelis and palestinians that, as the study ascertained, often offered a false sense of uniformity and consensus among israelis and palestinians. such portrayals of both populations limit them to their involvement in the ongoing conflict and lack any substantive content that would expose students to other social or cultural aspects of israeli and palestinian identity. another article in this issue that addresses the problems of stereotypes and prejudices is images of africa: a case study of pre-service candidates' perceptions of teaching africa by hanna kim of the university of delaware. in this case study, the researcher explored pre-service candidates’ perceptions of africa and indicated that, despite having taken world history and african history courses, pre-service candidates were still susceptible to misconceptions and prejudices about africa. the author argued that future social studies teachers’ misconceptions and stereotypes could eventually be transmitted to their students. the results of the study call into question the effectiveness of teacher education courses, underscoring the need of pre-service teachers to look critically at their own preconceptions and deconstruct and analyze their prejudices. what differences exist between the questioning styles of experienced and beginning teachers when they employ knowledge building pedagogy, and what impact do the teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs have on their questioning strategies? these questions were the focus of a study that tamas kiss (xi’an jiaotong, liverpool university) and alex wang conducted in a singapore primary school. two social studies teachers were observed for 10 weeks and then interviewed about their intentions and thought processes in regard to constructing and asking questions in class. classroom teaching experience, the authors argued, has a powerful influence on teacher cognition and questioning techniques, as does knowledge building pedagogy, which provides teachers with tools to promote a dialogical classroom discourse that features high-order questions. mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 1-3 corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 3 one of the goals of social studies programs in nigeria is to develop the ability for a rational utilization of cultural, spiritual, and natural resources and their conservation for national development. however, only a tiny portion of the social studies pre-service teacher curriculum addresses problems of sustainable development. ayodeji p. ifegbesan from the university of johannesburg, m. b. lawal from olabisi onabanjo university (ago-iwoye, nigeria), and isaac t. rampedi from adeniran ogunsanya college of education (lagos, nigeria) presented the results of a content analysis of sustainability themes in the college of education social studies curriculum in nigeria. the authors believe that this analysis, which identified concepts and topics in the national commission for colleges of education curriculum for teacher preparation, will help to promote the goals and ethics of education for sustainable development. step by step, a global discourse is taking its rightful place in citizenship education. it is no longer a question of whether we should educate global citizens but rather how we should do it. teachers who are interested in using global citizenship as a framework in their instruction will find the essay people, pope and planet: a hermeneutic and spectacle analysis of laudato si’ for global citizenship educators by william gaudelli from teachers college, columbia university, very helpful. presenting the encyclical offering pope francis’ vision of environmental challenges and climate change as an example of a global text, gaudelli provided a multifaceted and detailed analysis of the narrative and, what is similarly important, suggested how the encyclical can be used in the classroom. besides being an exciting read, the essay is a passionate appeal to citizenship educators to look beyond textbooks and prescribed curricular texts in search of challenge and opportunities. anatoli rapoport editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 enhancing intercultural understanding for pre-service teachers through developing and sustaining education abroad experiences alan s. marcus ** associate professor, department of curriculum & instruction university of connecticut 249 glenbrook road, u-3033 storrs, ct 06269 alan.marcus@uconn.edu david m. moss associate professor, department of curriculum & instruction university of connecticut 249 glenbrook road, u-3033 storrs, ct 06269 david.moss@uconn.edu **contact author _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this article discusses two education abroad programs that afford pre-service teachers with purposeful opportunities to enhance their intercultural competence through immersion in teaching internships in british schools. the programs, in london and nottingham, provide pre-service teachers with direct experiences that engage them with diverse instructional perspectives and challenge their ideas underpinning u.s. norms for teaching and learning. the nottingham program focuses on the discipline of history and about how the past is taught, while the london program has an urban education focus that serves participants across a variety of disciplines. both programs are a 15 week semester abroad for teaching interns following their domestic student teaching semester. focused on teacher leadership and intercultural learning, this value-added semester builds upon four prior semesters of school placements, requires a master-level research project, and directly engages interns in school-based activities. this paper highlights the two programs with specific attention paid to purposefully facilitating intercultural learning. implications for both initiating and sustaining international experiences for pre-service teacher education are addressed. _____________________________________________________________________________________ this article explores the goals and implementation of two education abroad programs for pre-service teachers that aim to promote intercultural understandings in a way that directly improves their practice journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 as educators. these programs, designed to bring to life the mission of preparing globally competent teachers at the neag school of education at the university of connecticut (uconn), send one group of students to london, england and a second to nottingham, england to intern in schools and become immersed in british society. the international experience and related course work prepares pre-service teachers to deeply consider how they are developing their intercultural skills as they collaborate with k12 students and teachers, university staff and students, and museum personnel, while they engage as teaching interns following their student teaching semester. for the group in nottingham there is a specific emphasis on examining how the past is represented and commemorated across cultures. fostering intercultural competence through direct international experiences promotes the development of historical empathy, particularly the understanding of multiple perspectives. student participants in both programs, from an integrated bachelors/masters teacher preparation program (ib/m), take on the role of professional educators working in schools and museums and are also enrolled in graduate-level classes. these programs provide intercultural learning opportunities not available in their u.s.-based school placements. for each program we address the program aims and activities as well as the approach of each program in developing the participants’ intercultural competence. we also contrast the london program, which has successfully run for over twenty years, to the nottingham program, which is in its first year and by design only targets the secondary social studies pre-service teacher population. thus, we will address the implications of initiating a new program as well as how to sustain a program for long-term success. our primary aim for this paper is to encourage readers to think strategically about how to increase opportunities for pre-service teachers to study abroad as part of their formal professional preparation. ii. education abroad, teacher education, and intercultural competence the vast majority of teachers in u.s. schools are european-american and monolingual in english, and thus, culturally different from many of the students they teach. these teachers often hold ethnocentric beliefs that may negatively influence the educational experiences of their diverse students (gay, 2000). marx & moss (2011a) note, teacher educators must challenge teachers’ ethnocentric worldviews and prepare them to successfully teach culturally diverse student populations. to these ends, teacher education programs typically include a combination of multicultural course work and clinical placements within schools that serve such culturally diverse student populations. however, research cautions that without guided reflection, these experiences may reinforce existing beliefs, confirm stereotypes, and hinder pre-service teachers’ ability to seek alternative ways of teaching (irvine, 2003; sleeter, 2001). multicultural course work and diverse field placements alone may not be enough to develop teachers’ skills and knowledge to thrive in diverse contexts. cushner (2011) contends that a purely multicultural approach, particularly one imbedded in the notion of social justice, is insufficient to prepare pre-service teachers to serve their students. an additional set of experiences built around intercultural understanding or competence could build on and complement social justice education. cushner refers to intercultural competence as “the critical knowledge and skills that enable people to be successful within a wide range of culturally diverse contexts” (cushner, 2011, p. 606). this includes promoting preservice teachers’ perceptions and skills to enable them to effectively collaborate with people of different cultural groups. designing experiences that allow pre-service teachers to immerse themselves in cultures outside of their home country is one important way to develop intercultural competence. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 moving beyond domestic school placements and course work, the literature describes teacher education study abroad programs that afford candidates an opportunity to immerse themselves in an international school setting, but also with the primary aim of participation in a teaching practicum (cushner & mahon, 2002). advocates for such teacher education study abroad experiences suggest that the opportunity to live and work in a foreign culture serves as a catalyst to transform pre-service teachers’ ethnocentric worldviews and begin them on a path towards culturally responsive teaching (cushner & brennan, 2007). we believe these experiences also have the potential to enhance students’ intercultural competence more broadly by providing them with experiences that require them to both observe and actively participate in collaboration with education colleagues and students. the students’ non-academic experiences also necessitate daily interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds and perspectives. although we strongly support such international programs and aims, we contend that the primary design of cross-cultural study abroad work in teacher education needs not be limited to experiences that involve practice teaching. there are further ways to promote important aspects of culturally responsive pedagogies and increase intercultural understanding in our next generation of teachers. one such approach is semester-long education abroad programs that immerse pre-service candidates in experiential programming coupled with more traditional course work prior to, during, and after, the time abroad, but does so after the students have already completed the traditional student teaching. these programs still require school-based placements and add even greater value when combined with classroom experiences and a student-led research component. we advocate that programs follow a trajectory that includes a pre-departure/classroom phase, a semester abroad with field-based experiences, class, and school-based research, and a semester-long re-entry phase. this design has the potential to greatly enhance pre-service teachers’ intercultural skills and knowledge. one conceptual frame for considering intercultural competence is the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (dmis) which can identify where someone is situated along a continuum from highly ethnocentric to highly ethnorelative by capturing one’s orientation to cultural difference (hammer & bennett, 2003). according to cushner (2011), studies show that both pre-service and inservice teachers are “stuck on the ethnocentric side of this scale and may not have the requisite disposition to be effective intercultural educators nor possess the skills necessary to guide young people to develop intercultural competence” (p. 5). an ethnorelative outlook is desirable yet requires a significant shift in thinking (hammer & bennett, 2003). walton, priest and paradies (2013) propose four factors that foster intercultural understanding. these include working with students from majority and minority backgrounds, critical reflection on biases and assumptions in addition to building cultural knowledge, cultural reflexivity that includes perspective taking as well as empathy more broadly, and direct contact experiences that promote positive interpersonal and intergroup collaborations (walton et al., 2013). these factors can be enacted through the model of post-student teaching, semester-long experiences we propose. walton et al. (2013) found that if students participate in experiences related to their lives and that involve deep connections with individuals of different cultural groups, intercultural competence can be developed. these authors also observed that in order for teachers to effectively develop intercultural understanding in their own students, they need support for their own personal and professional intercultural aptitude. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 self-identification along with how one identifies others is a critical part of the process of developing intercultural competence. it is through intercultural encounters that one can critically view one’s own identity and others’ identity in relation to themselves (kramsch, 2009). it is in this self-reflective space that one can move beyond stereotypical identities of themselves and others and realize that identity is not limited to “nationhood, ethnicity, or language(s) spoken” (holmes, bavieri, & ganassin., 2015, p.17) but rather, promotes understandings of otherness that view identification more broadly to include features such as “gender, age, social class, language, power positions, geographical location, history and memory, religion, family, etc.” (holmes, bavieri, & ganassin, 2015, pp. 17–18). thus, intercultural experiences can help one to contest, negotiate and (re)construct identity (holmes, bavieri, & ganassin, 2015). unfortunately, pre-service teachers are an underrepresented group in study abroad. according to a recent report (institute of international education, 2012), only about four percent of all students studying abroad from the united states are education majors (out of over a quarter of a million students who study abroad each year). with a pressing need to produce teachers who are on the path to an ethnorelative worldview, in an ideal position to develop as culturally responsive practitioners, and who show significant change in intercultural competence, well designed post-student teaching study abroad programs can offer significant potential to respond to this urgent call. to purposefully engage students in discourse, reflection and action planning regarding their intercultural learning, the intercultural development inventory (hammer & bennett, 2003) and mycap (my cultural awareness profile) (marx & moss, 2011b; wilder & boer, 2015) are administered to participants prior to their departure. both resources afford explicit opportunities to engage students in dialogue underpinning their intercultural learning and offer clear steps they can take to purposefully engage in such important professional learning. in the following section we will address the aims of the ib/m teacher education program at the uconn, describe the two semester-long international internship programs offered to pre-service teachers, and explore the implications for initiating and sustaining international experiences for pre-service teachers that promote intercultural competence. iii. program context students in uconn’s ib/m teacher education program acquire a strong liberal arts background, develop general and subject-specific pedagogical knowledge, and participate in high-quality clinical placements in a variety of settings. admission to the ib/m program is highly competitive, keeping with the program goals of preparing outstanding educators to be decision makers, leaders and innovators. the program is organized around three themes—student as learner, student as teacher, teacher as leader—that require progressively more complex and demanding course work and clinic placements (howard, levine, & moss, 2014). each cohort takes 3 years to complete their program while engaging in course work, clinic placements, and seminars during each of the six semesters. participant students teach full-time during the spring semester senior year (second year in the program as they are admitted as juniors). during the final year of study, students engage in graduate-level course work and research, and school-based internships. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 as part of this fifth year of the program, students can opt to participate in the international internship programs in london or nottingham. consistent with the teacher as leader theme for that year, internships are designed to build upon student teaching and afford students direct experiences as leaders-in-training. for example, internships directly involve 5th year interns in school reform projects such as after school academic support programs or the planning and implementation of special initiatives such as “history day” and in nottingham, at museums writing educational materials for exhibits and supporting exhibit design. internships are often school and department-wide as opposed to tied to an individual classroom, and are associated with a graduate-level research project involving timely and relevant questions that encourage students to pursue formal inquiry as a teacher-researcher. this leadership lens is layered onto a cultural immersion experience. all program requirements for this international experience are essentially identical to the domestic options, except that students going abroad in the fall term of the 5th year are required to initiate their research project earlier and study intercultural learning and development in the summer term prior to their departure. in that sense, the so-called full-semester education abroad program is actually a whole calendar year program beginning in the summer term with a research methods and cultural theory course. it continues as students travel abroad for the fall term and intern in schools, take graduate-level classes, and conduct the research project. finally, the experience extends into the re-entry spring semester where students are required to take a seminar that both supports their intercultural reflection and the completion of their research project (marx & moss, 2015). although this teacher education model is non-traditional in the sense that it extends the pre-service experience to an internship year beyond student teaching, the school-based work remains the hallmark of the program. in the case of these programs, interns are immersed in the culture of schools in london or nottingham. cultural immersion and reflection are the keys to these programs. supported by significant opportunities for reflection, the programs are designed to help preserve teachers develop ethnorelative perspectives in support of culturally responsive teaching (marx & moss, 2011a) and intercultural competence that requires significant reflection on self-identity and the identity of others and meaningful intercultural collaboration. it is important to note that the two education abroad programs are designed around a similar model which requires pre-departure, study abroad, and re-entry experiences. the key is that in both the planning and execution of each distinct program the outcomes are clearly articulated and experiences are designed to promote such aims. the major difference between the two programs are that the london program sends elementary, secondary, music, and special education pre-service teachers while the nottingham program is focused on secondary social studies pre-service teachers. as a result, the pre-service teachers in nottingham intern one day a week at a history museum in addition to the school placements. furthermore, the nottingham program has some discipline specific objectives, which are discussed below. iv. program design and features both programs include a number of components that are cited as important characteristics of study abroad program design: (1) experiential learning situations that provide opportunities for intensive immersion into the local culture, (2) credit-bearing course work related to cross-cultural issues, and (3) support for guided cultural reflection (engle & engle, 2004). the structure of both programs also journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 requires pre-departure and re-entry experiences which are critical for supporting and learning from the time abroad (byram & feng, 2006) nottingham program an overview of the program in nottingham is provided in table 1. this experience is open to students enrolled in the social studies/history education program at the uconn and is part of their graduate year of study. all students have completed their content course work (history and social sciences) as well as a semester-long student teaching experience. nottingham was chosen because of a pre-existing relationship between faculty at the university of connecticut and the university of nottingham and the availability of school and museum sites to host students (both universities are also members of the universitas 21 higher education consortium). table 1. nottingham program outline key components assessments predeparture summer course work content preparation (british history) intercultural understanding and communication training team/community building museum education preparation idi administration and analysis online work with university of nottingham instructor research on nottingham schools and museums development of research proposal question, literature review, and methods intercultural development inventory (idi) on line journal entries research proposal abroad fieldwork: two days a week in local schools; one day a week in history museums. students work in secondary history classrooms developing curriculum, teaching students, and collaborating with teachers on various projects. in museums students work with staff and visiting student groups. classwork: two classes at the university of nottingham and one class taught through uconn. includes two week visit by uconn supervising faculty. travel: students are provided with long-weekends to travel. weekly journal entries research project presentation/orientation of museums to peers course grades internship grade journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 28 re-entry full semester course museum education work in washington, d.c. international film viewings intercultural understanding and communication follow-up analysis final analysis of research results journal entries research project final paper formal presentations to faculty and peers the nottingham program has several goals specific to pre-service social studies teachers which include preparing social studies teachers who, as a result of increased intercultural competence:  understand and incorporate global perspectives and dispositions into their teaching.  explore their role as global citizens and strengthen their capacity to participate in a global community.  practice and promote the habits of historical thinking including asking compelling questions, developing historical empathy, connecting the past and present, and evaluating sources of evidence.  model and promote civic engagement. first, the pre-service social studies teachers are asked to be both historians and teachers from a global perspective. studying world cultures and history is already a part of the social studies curriculum. the shift we ask pre-service teachers to make as part of this program is to consider culture and history from the point of view of non-american cultures. this shift does not exclude american views, but adds to and enhances them and helps pre-service social studies teachers to see through and use multiple lenses in their teaching. for example, with wwii we ask teachers to consider how the british, french, germans, and russians experienced the war and how their cultures remember and commemorate the war today. this forces students to confront their american identity, not just personally, but in the context of the content they teach. next, the program works with pre-service social studies teachers to practice and promote the habits of historical thinking. historical thinking involves deep content knowledge that is integrated with specific skills (wineburg, 2001; barton & levstik, 2004; seixas, 2006). first, the pre-service teachers must practice these habits themselves as “historians.” inquiry—asking questions, researching, evaluating sources, using evidence to make claims, and taking informed action—is a core component to historical thinking (national council for the social studies [ncss], 2013). in addition, the ability to develop k-12 students’ historical empathy, particularly the ability to recognize others’ perspectives, is an essential element to our social studies education program (barton & levstik, 2004). recognizing other perspectives is directly connected to the goal of learning about and understanding global perspectives. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 29 finally, we model and promote issues of civic engagement (hess, 2009; parker, 2010). we strive to encourage teachers to practice civic engagement and to help their students do so as well. civically engaged citizens are aware of and understand contemporary issues—local, regional, national, and international—can weigh evidence and analyze other points of view, and can communicate and act upon what they learn in order to promote the common good. the content and skills promoted in a rigorous social studies curriculum are critical to promote civic engagement and maintain democracy. all of these goals promote and encourage teachers who value and actively consider issues of intercultural competence in their teaching and in the education community more broadly. issues of intercultural competence are important beyond the borders of the social studies classroom, but also hold a particular relevance as we can explore these issues through the social studies content covered in class. pre-departure prior to departure students complete a three credit graduate-level class that prepares them to carry out a research project while abroad, introduces them to intercultural theory and practice, and requires them to prepare for the specific schools and museums where they will complete field work. for research preparation the students develop a question, complete a literature review, and develop data collection instruments. for example, during the first year of the program (2015–2016) students chose to examine how teachers in england conceive of, and teach, citizenship to their pupils. students are administered the intercultural development inventory (idi) and the results are used to facilitate intercultural reflection and action planning. the students also study british history and research the schools and museums where they will intern. experience abroad while in nottingham the students intern two days a week in secondary history classrooms/history departments in a variety of local schools where they help teachers write curriculum, teach various lessons, and collaborate on other department and school-wide projects. they also intern one day a week in area history museums and archives where they collaborate with staff on exhibit design, create educational materials to support museum education, and work with visiting school groups. in addition the students enroll in two classes at the university of nottingham including one focused on history content where they explore british and european history from a european perspectives and a second centered on history education in the united kingdom. for this second course the students are in class most days with pre-service history teachers from the university of nottingham. taking class alongside their british colleagues affords additional opportunities to collaborate with different cultural groups. finally, the students take one class with their uconn advisor and program director. the students have 3 day weekends to enable them to further immerse themselves in european culture and they travel almost every weekend to various locations throughout the united kingdom and europe. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 30 the nottingham experience for pre-service teachers specifically promotes experiences that require an examination of identity, enhances the ability to consider others’ perspectives, and creates multiple opportunities for positive collaboration. it does so by having the pre-service teachers think about and experience similarities and differences between their home culture and their host culture in societal cultural traditions, in teacher preparation, in historical perspectives presented and analyzed, in k-12 curricular educational practices, in museum education customs, and in behavior/classroom expectations. re-entry students return home for the spring semester where they take a three credit graduate seminar focused on analyzing their abroad experiences, further reflecting on cultural learning, and presenting the findings of their research (marx & moss, 2015). the students enroll in field experiences in connecticut schools as well as complete additional museum education work via a trip to washington, d.c. london program the london program would be classified as an “island program” (norris & dwyer, 2005), where students stay together as a cohort for classes and living accommodation while abroad and are not affiliated with a host country institution. in the london program students remain together as a cohort through the initial summer class, their study abroad in london, and during the seminar in the re-entry spring semester back on their home campus. see table 2 for an overview of the london program. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 31 table 2. london program outline key components assessments predeparture summer course work readings on teacher leadership and research methods intercultural teaching and learning theory and practice community building idi administration and reporting idi mycap research literature review abroad fieldwork: 3 days per week in urban state schools classwork: three graduatelevel classes: seminar to support internship reflection; cultural learning and curriculum; comparative international education students afforded extended weekends for londonbased and international cultural immersion experiences blog entries research project course grades internship grade re-entry full semester seminar course to support cultural reflection research project final paper formal presentation to faculty and peers pre-departure in the summer prior to departure, students enroll in a three credit graduate-level class with the dual aim of introducing intercultural theory and practice while preparing students methodologically to engage as teacher leaders by conducting a research project in schools. the time together also affords the group explicit community building opportunities along with an overall program orientation to issues of safety journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 32 and other key aspects of london living. students are administered the idi and mycap, and the results are used to facilitate intercultural reflection and action planning. experience abroad the core of the program is a 15-week semester in london, where students complete 20-hour-a-week internships in city schools. london was chosen as the international site for this program because it affords ample opportunity for the interns to engage in an urban cultural context while being able to side-step significant linguistic barriers; the students enrolled in the teacher education program are almost exclusively speakers of english. partner schools have been selected that consistently perform at a high level according to the league tables (published rankings of schools). thus, within their internships the london program participants have experienced many best practices of education in culturally complex urban settings. the london program course work that compliments the internship makes the study of culture explicit, with a clear focus on unpacking cultural differences that might otherwise go unnoticed by students. for example, students explore the role of mandated religion education in london schools, and are encouraged to consider the cultural norms and realities that make such a course possible—even desirable— in london and yet fraught with challenges back in the united states re-entry upon re-entry for the spring semester students are required to enroll in a three credit seminar as a cohort. within this intellectual space they reflect upon cultural learning, issues underpinning social justice, and finalize their inquiry project for presentation at a formal event at the conclusion of the semester. v. program planning implications – developing intercultural competence developing and sustaining international programs the two programs described here were developed two decades apart, but revolve around core principles of developing pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence and teacher leadership. both programs also are grounded in intensive immersion into the local culture, course work related to crosscultural issues, and support for guided cultural reflection. however, the programs serve different groups of pre-service teachers and have some different academic goals for students. the nottingham program is built for pre-service social studies teachers with an emphasis on developing and discovering historical empathy, exploring roles in a global community, and promoting civic engagement. the placements include museums as well as school internships. meanwhile the london program serves a multidisciplinary group of pre-service teachers with the aim of enhancing their ability to work in urban settings. in nottingham students are formally connected to a university while in london it is an island program. both programs receive significant support from the education abroad office at uconn; however, these programs were developed by education faculty and the academic curricula are part of the education journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 33 program. this home base in an academic department is part of what makes the programs successful. key faculty hold the primary responsibility for each program, and since the pre-post model of both programs involves substantial faculty involvement, our programs would not be possible without both significant faculty effort and institutional support. for example, the re-entry seminars are assigned to faculty as routine elements of their teaching load. in that way, the neag school has institutionalized both programs by supporting faculty in all aspects of its implementation. as these programs demonstrate there is not a one-size-fits-all when it comes to successful international programs, the programs differ so that they can best meet the needs of particular pre-service teachers and to best utilize available resources in the host country/city. one of the hurdles faced by all education abroad programs is the increasing difficulty of providing genuinely challenging and unsettling cultural experiences (engle & engle, 2004). there are a number of features of the nottingham and london programs that we believe increase the likelihood of success. for both programs the faculty advisors visit school (and in nottingham, museum) sites each spring to strengthen collaboration and identify and build new partnerships. no different than finding student teaching placements domestically, the quality of the school site and cooperating teachers is critical for a successful placement. getting to know the school and teachers also facilities the process of matching students to appropriate schools. second, both programs require three credit courses for both predeparture and re-entry experiences. these are critical for preparing students and for helping them to make sense of the experience as much of their learning will occur upon re-entry (vande berg, paige, & hemming lou, 2012). the quality of faculty teaching the courses in the host country is also critical. for the nottingham program the teaching is done by university faculty who were already collaborating with uconn professors. the curriculum was developed jointly by faculty from both universities. in london, adjunct faculty are carefully vetted, hired by uconn and are experienced k-12 teachers and administrators. another important aspect to the program is how the uconn faculty advisors monitor and support the students. for both programs the advisors teach a hybrid course during the semester abroad which includes online work and skype meetings as well as face-to-face instruction for a week more in country with the students. while abroad uconn faculty also supervise field placements (school/museum sites), and in that sense, the labor intensive work of teacher educators does not change significantly from what is done domestically. one difference between the two uconn international programs is the manner in which the students are chosen. for nottingham, an already existing cohort of up to 15 pre-service social studies teachers is invited to participate. there is a rigorous admissions program to join the cohort at the outset of the program, but no additional admissions are required for the nottingham program. meanwhile, the london program is drawing from a much larger pool of candidates across all programs so there is a special admissions process and screening. on average 16 students are admitted to participate from a pool two to three times that size. finally, we are quite fortunate to have an education abroad office and a school of education (faculty, teacher education program, dean) who are fully supportive of these programs. for example, teaching within these programs is not an overload but reflects the assigned standard load for each faculty member. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 yet, both programs remain a work in progress. partnerships with the office of global affairs at our university, especially education abroad, have been instrumental in assisting with the logistical design and execution of each program. the division of labor required to facilitate such programs is clearly understood by all parties, with the academic side housed within the teacher education faculty and logistical considerations (including risk management and student insurance) with education abroad. each facet of the institution brings their expertise to bear in the running of the programs. it is important to note the academic component of each program evolves along with the literature in the fields of intercultural studies, study abroad, and teacher education—to name but a few. as such the london program has evolved consistently over the decades to leverage the latest thinking in these fields, and it is expected that both programs will continue to do so. at the time of the writing of this article, as a teacher education program at our university we find ourselves in program-wide discussions regarding the further internationalization of our programs to enhance our ability to foster globally competent teachers who implement culturally and linguistically best practices in their classrooms. in a recently developed internal report at our university titled, rationale for the implementation of expanded cultural immersion experience programs (moss, rojas, kaufman, roselle, & wagner, 2014), we addressed the motivation for expanding our study abroad programs in teacher education and that an ethnorelative worldview is a key element of the broader construct of global competence and, for educators, globally competent teaching. as such, we advocate that teacher education candidates should pursue the purposeful development of knowledge, skills, and beliefs that promote intercultural competence. bennett (2004) describes an ethnorelative worldview as one that allows for “the experience of one’s own beliefs and behaviors as just one organization of reality among many viable possibilities” (p. 62). the ethnorelative developmental stages are “ways of seeking cultural difference, either by accepting its importance, by adapting perspective to take it into account, or by integrating the whole concept into a definition of identity” (2004, p. 63). our programs are designed to pursue these 21st century goals. conclusions a key aim for this article was to present and discuss central elements of two semester-long education abroad programs as a means for enhancing pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence and thus preparing globally competent teachers. the development of intercultural competence is explicitly promoted by enhancing pre-services teachers’ exposure to global perspectives while also encouraging a critical examination of sources of information, by supporting cultural reflexivity that includes perspective taking, by promoting collaborative experiences to better see how others view and experience the world, and by reflecting on the advantages and limitations of their own experiences and privilege as americans. it is important to recall that the two study abroad programs discussed are both designed around the pre-departure, study abroad and re-entry model. we assert that such a model is necessary to achieve our aims for promoting intercultural competence as operationalized for each distinct program. both programs require cultural immersion and reflection in an internship supported by a teacher-asresearcher project with differences in location and content focus. the construct of intercultural competence is broad, and the key message is that there are multiple ways to design and implement journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 study abroad programs specifically designed for pre-service teachers—it depends upon which aspects of global competence you prioritize and it is likely that no single program can meet all the various aims. although many successful programs involve student teaching or other school-based activities, semesterlong programs that take place following student teaching offer a viable option to help the next generation of teachers develop as globally competent leaders and professionals. references barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (2004). teaching history for the common good. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. bennett, m. j. (2004). becoming interculturally competent. in j. wurzel (ed.), toward multiculturalism: a reader in multicultural education (pp. 62-77). newton, ma: intercultural resource corporation. byram, m., & feng, a. (2006). living and studying abroad: research and practice. clevedon, england: multilingual matters. cushner, k. (2011). intercultural research in teacher education: an essential intersection in the preparation of globally competent teachers. action in teacher education, 33(5-6), 601–614. cushner, k., & brennan, s. (2007). the value of learning to teach in another culture. in k. cushner & s. brennan (eds.), intercultural student teaching: a bridge to global competence (pp. 1– 12). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield education. cushner, k., & mahon, j. (2002). overseas student teaching: affecting personal, professional, and global competencies in an age of globalization. journal of studies in international education, 6(1), 44–58. engle, l., & engle, j. (2004). assessing language acquisition and intercultural sensitivity development in relation to study abroad program design . frontiers: the interdisciplinary journal of study abroad, 10, 219–236. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. new york: teachers college press. hammer, m. r., & bennett, m. j. (2003). measuring intercultural sensitivity: the intercultural development inventory. international journal of intercultural relations, 27(4), 403–419. hess, d. (2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. new york, ny: routledge. holmes, p., bavieri , l., & ganassin, s. (2015). developing intercultural understanding for study abroad: students’ and teachers’ perspectives on pre-departure intercultural learning intercultural education, 26(1), 16-30. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 howard, e. r., levine, t. h., & moss, d. m. (2014). the urgency of preparing teachers for second language learners. in e. r. howard, t. h. levine, & d. m. moss (eds.), preparing classroom teachers to succeed with second language learners: lessons from a faculty learning community (pp. 3-16). new york, ny: routledge. institute of international education. (2012). open doors 2012 fast facts. new york, ny: institute of international education. irvine, j. j. (2003). educating teachers for diversity: seeing with a cultural eye . new york, ny: teachers college press. kramsch, c. 2009. the multilingual subject. oxford: oxford university press. marx, h., & moss d. m. (2011a). please mind the culture gap: intercultural development during a teacher education study abroad program. journal of teacher education, 62(1) 35–47. marx, h., & moss, d. m. (2011b). my cultural awareness profile (mycap v.1). washington, dc: nafsa: association of international educators. marx, h., & moss, d. m. (2016). coming home: continuing intercultural learning during the re entry semester following a study abroad experience. journal of international social studies, 5(2), 38-53. moss, d. m., rojas, e., kaufman, d., roselle, r., & wagner, m. (2014). rationale for the implementation of expanded cultural immersion experience programs. unpublished report, university of connecticut, storrs, ct. national council for the social studies (ncss). (2013). the college, career, and civic life c3 framework for state social studies standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. silver spring, md: ncss. norris, e. & dwyer, m. (2005). testing assumptions: the impact of two study abroad program models. frontiers: the interdisciplinary journal of study abroad. 11, 121-142. parker, w. (ed.). (2010). social studies today: research & practice. new york, ny: routledge. seixas, p. (2006). conceptualizing the growth of historical under standing. in d. olson & n. torrance (eds.), handbook of education and human development (pp. 765–783). cambridge, ma: blackwell. sleeter, c. e. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52(2), 94–106. vande berg, m., paige, r. m., & hemming lou, k. (2012). student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it . sterling, va: stylus. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 22-37. corresponding author email: alan.marcus@uconn.edu ©2009/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 walton, j.; priest, n., & paradies, y. (2013). identifying and developing effective approaches to foster intercultural understanding in schools . intercultural education, 24(3), 181–194 wilder, h., & boer, p. j. (2015). using technology to facilitate collaboration between new jersey and namibian teacher education students. in d. schwarzer & b. bridglall (eds.), promoting global competence and social justice in teacher education: successes and challenges within local and international contexts (pp. 173–194). lanham, md: lexington books. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. acknowledgements developing and implementing high quality study abroad programs requires involvement from across the university. drs. yuhang rong, along with abi hastillo, cheryl blain and the entire professional staff in the office of education abroad and the office of global affairs at the university of connecticut enable such programs as described within the chapter to not merely exist – but to thrive. we would also like to acknowledge the dean’s office at the neag school of education at the university of connecticut for their longstanding support of the internationalization of teacher education. dean richard schwab, along with drs. tim weinland as department head in the early years of development and mary anne doyle today, have steadfastly supported our international work. finally, financial support in the form of scholarships to participants was provided through the uconn foundation via a gift from the dunn family fund. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 157-160. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 157-160. corresponding author email: c.g.gifford@hud.ac.uk ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 157 review article: citizenship education in china: preparing citizens for the “chinese century”. reviewed by dr chris gifford, university of huddersfield, united kingdom. kennedy, k. j., fairbrother, g.p., and zhao zhenzhou (2014) citizenship education in china: preparing citizens for the “chinese century” abingdon and new york: routledge. isbn 978-0-415-50272-6 _____________________________________________________________________________ in the case of china, political education has been viewed as fundamental to the socialisation of young people into the core doctrines of the people’s republic since its foundation. yet it must now address a generation of young people experiencing capitalist individualism, alongside paternalistic collectivism. in citizenship education in china: preparing citizens for the “chinese century”, kerry kennedy brings together mainland chinese scholars who do not normally publish in english with those from hong kong and the west to provide a compendious overview of the state of the field. the volume begins with two contrasting entries. fairbrother presents a story of remarkable continuity in the chinese state’s concern with the people’s moral education. good governance in china has meant stability and social order, and this is maintained by a paternalistic state. imperial confucianism established an ideological orthodoxy that ever since has seen the chinese state intervene to instil in people the values and legitimacy of a system of political-cultural paternalistic governance and the system of duties, obligations, and mores that this lays down. this ‘rule by morality’ continues to be seen in state directives on strengthening and improving ‘political, ideological, moral, patriotic, and legal education’ (p.25). conversely, xu argues that what has come to be understood as civic education was a response to the threat from the west in the early modern period, and the desire to forge a national character that could resist western domination. in effect, it was part of a process of modernisation and nation-building that meant incorporating western concepts of ‘the people’, ‘the nation’ and ‘the citizen’. modern state sponsored civic education particularly developed during the may 4th movement and the rise of a forthright and distinctive chinese nationalism. for xu, the modern period has meant a transformation from subjects to citizens, yet drawing on national cultural traditions to foster a distinctive chinese civic personality (p. 39). qin outlines a comprehensive programme for civic education reform in china drawing on tradition, ideological education and the practices of other countries. this is a conservative agenda focused on ‘developing civic qualities, and shaping modern citizens who have virtues and are aware of their responsibilities and obligations’ (p.51). its central tenets are national socialist unity, civilised behaviour, chinese culture and servicing society. nevertheless qin rejects ‘traditional force-feeding pedagogy’ in favour of more heuristic approaches that can connect with pupils. this seems particularly pertinent considering that by the time they are in college and universities, according to jiang and xu, students have disengaged from political and ideological education. while qin wishes to distinguish civic education from political and ideological education, jiang and xu argue that these differences are meaningless as the curriculum has been dominated by the latter. their aim is to recover the independence of moral education ‘with a focus on practice and connecting to the daily journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 157-160. corresponding author email: c.g.gifford@hud.ac.uk ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 158 lives of students’ (p.70). they also make a bid for world citizenship claiming that it is inherently consistent with national citizenship (p. 80). criticising its neglect in existing higher education policy, jiang and xu argue that ‘it is necessary to develop the younger generations into citizens of the world’ if china is to adapt to its new global role (p. 82). they are surely right, yet their view that world citizenship is inherently consistent with national citizenship suggests a more exclusive conception than is generally favoured in the citizenship literature. this is not the perspective of yu who is far more critical of chinese moral education, which he considers to be in crisis. recent reforms have either taken a traditional turn emphasising national loyalty and respect for authority, or focused on the individual and seen character building as the solution to perceived problems of moral decline. in contrast to the nationalistic and moralistic agendas a new moral education, yu proposes an approach to citizenship education founded upon the rethinking of patriotism and social justice. on this view, true patriotism is not about loyalty to government but to ‘our home, our country and the moral community made up of our fellow citizens’ (p. 94). moral education for social justice should address inequalities of power and wealth and the forms of group based oppression that underlie them such as ethnic discrimination, classism, sexism and homophobia. this is an argument for a critical world citizenship rooted in virtues that are not particular to any one nation, but grounded in an appreciation of the tensions and conflicts that face citizens in contexts of injustice and inequality. in terms of its clarity of argument and vision, the chapter stands out as one of the strongest in the collection. the remaining chapters in part 2 explore the possibilities and limitations of realising world citizenship through the examination of specific cases and examples. law presents findings from a study of how the shanghai world exposition (swe) of 2010 affected school children’s perceptions of global, national and local citizenship. the hosting of the swe was an opportunity for china and shanghai to introduce a multidimensional citizenship education project, which included a range of initiatives such as the publication of three readers to be used in schools. a content analysis of the readers together with a survey of over 900 students and 30 interviews provided the data for the research. while the strengthening of young people’s appreciation of global citizenship emerges as a finding, the main conclusion from the study was the extent to which swe was used to promote national and city pride. indeed, a particularly strong sense of shanghai identity emerges amongst those who were established residents of the city suggesting the swe reinforced existing ethnic identities rather than promoted a new cosmopolitan citizenship. in a similar vein, pan examines the promotion of multi-level citizenship during china’s hosting of major world event, in this case the 2008 beijing olympics. the main conclusion here is that while the beijing municipal education commission liberalised their policy on citizenship education both in terms of pedagogy and content, this was not followed through at the school level. the opportunity was available for beijing schools to develop a multilevel framework of citizenship education including global, national and local dimensions, and to be delivered by a more student focused, participative approach. nevertheless, pan’s central argument is that schools and teachers did not take up the offer, and continued to deliver a conservative curriculum focused on nationalism and patriotism, employing passive teachercentred methods. the constraints of a system designed for political socialisation, and teachers who knew little else meant that the gap between liberal policy proposals and implementation was simply too wide. conversely, chen’s discussion of bilingualism demonstrates how language policy has journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 157-160. corresponding author email: c.g.gifford@hud.ac.uk ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 159 become a key vehicle for promoting global citizenship. the widespread use of english has been essential to globalisation, and is acknowledged as imperative to individual and national success. the recognition of the importance of english has been central to china becoming part of the global economy. china has the largest english language speaking population in the world, and it is the most widely taught foreign language (p.153). schools and universities have become key sites for developing global citizenship education, as the learning of english can deepen students’ appreciation of difference and diversity and enhance intercultural understanding. chen presents a major shift in citizenship education away from nationally focused political and moral education towards a skills centred global-citizen education geared to economic competitiveness. part 3 shifts the focus to textbooks and learning activities, albeit the first two chapters are quite broadly conceived. tan places citizenship education at the heart of chinese modernisation, as central to the process of human transformation that is a necessary adjunct to social transformation. in an hegelian sense we are witnessing the transformation of chinese subjects into world-historical citizens, and this is enabled through educational democratisation. tan emphasises ‘education through citizenship’, active participation in public life in the school and wider community. however, he is also keen to stress that citizenship education concerns the whole of society and should therefore include adults. it is both an historical necessity and is of practical urgency in building a socialist democratic politics and a harmonious society. if for tan citizenship education is still in its initial stages, the next chapter by wang argues that this is in part addressed by its disciplinary institutionalisation. as such the chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the discipline, summarising key research and developments and emphasising its importance to the progress of citizenship education. wang’s focus is not world citizenship or democratisation but a national citizenship education firmly adapted for china, and traditional chinese culture, where state allegiances and civic identities are mutually compatible. the evidence suggests a shift towards the civic dimension, and this is confirmed by wang and tan’s discussion of changes to textbooks. they argue that new textbooks are indicative of a changed relationship between teacher, text and the student: ‘not top-down and indoctrinating but equal and dialogic’ (p. 204). a key feature is the emphasis on conflict and its resolution, enabling the examination of rights and values through meaningful debate and discussion. the opportunity to put citizenship skills into practise may arise for those who go onto higher education. in the book’s penultimate chapter, zhao discusses the volunteering activities that are available in chinese universities. these are extensive with university students constituting nearly half of china’s 30 million youth volunteers (p. 209). activities range from development work in foreign countries and regions of china, to participating in large-scale government events such as exhibitions and sporting events, to working with non-governmental organisations, either international, national and local. the first two are dominated by the party-state machinery, which fund and organise projects and events and oversee recruitment and selection, while the third involves a partnership between government-party and the ngo, which offer the volunteer greater autonomy. in general, the focus is on service to either country, government or society and volunteers are not expected to be activists for issues and campaigns, or advocates for the rights of disadvantaged groups. nevertheless, this may change with the growth of ngos, bilingualism and international experiences, along with the liberalising of citizenship education documented elsewhere in the book. as zhao points out volunteering embodies the tensions in china in its current incarnation as a ‘hybrid statist and liberal regime’ (p. 220). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 157-160. corresponding author email: c.g.gifford@hud.ac.uk ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 160 china’s hybridity emerges as a central theme in a thoughtful set of conclusions from the editors that neatly draw the volume to a close. fairbrother reprises his earlier argument regarding paternalism emphasising how citizenship education is continuous with this tradition. his central proposition is that the state presents itself as a moral entity, exemplary in its concern with the well-being of the people and consistently engaged in good governance in ensuring their material and spiritual wellbeing. for fairbrother there is limited political space to challenge these overriding objectives that are embedded within the education system. in certain respects, this leads to a questioning of the capacity of the state to tolerate a public sphere on which more democratic forms of citizenship education depend. for zhao its formation is essential to mediate the growing tensions between state paternalism and societal pluralisation. the question remains as to what form a legitimate public sphere can take. what will not be acceptable are the extensive public displays of cynicism and mistrust in political systems that we associate with contemporary liberal democracies. many of the reforms to citizenship education discussed in the book focus less on the development of political literacy that enable participation in collective action than on the individual, their behaviour and skills, and preparation for the market economy. in a marshallian sense this is preparation for civic citizenship alongside political and social subjecthood. kennedy is right to conclude that liberalisation will proceed at a pace that does not threaten the hegemony of the communist party of china (cpc). the likely direction of citizenship education in china is therefore best represented by those contributions from mainland scholars who intertwine liberal and cpc ideology. as he says, ‘they know their country, they know their field, they know the possibilities’ (p.233). in drawing together those working within and without the system, the volume provides a unique insight into the tensions, constraints and possibilities of citizenship education in china. dr chris gifford january 2015 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 teacher education for citizenship in a globalized world: a case study in spain marta estellés, (marta.estelles@unican.es) university of cantabria, spain jesús romero, (jesus.romero@unican.es) university of cantabria, spain ________________________________________________________ abstract: considering the attention that global citizenship education has recently received, it is not much of a surprise that teacher education programs and courses around the world are including stated goals related to the preparation of teachers to educate their students for global and participatory citizenship. this is also the case of the faculty of education at the university of cantabria (spain). this study explores how a group of teacher educators from this university conceptualize citizenship education, if they include global perspectives in their notions, and how they educate for democracy in an increasingly globalized world. although teacher education can contribute to challenge pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the nation state as the only locus for democracy and citizenship, the inclusion of global perspectives done by these teacher educators has been very limited. also, the participants that were more globally concerned were those who had a stronger sense of social justice. key words: global citizenship education; teacher education; global perspectives in citizenship education; teacher educators’ perceptions and pedagogies. ____________________________________________________________________ introduction during the last decades there has been an increasing number of scholars and educational practitioners all over the globe who claim that nation-centered models of citizenship education cannot prepare students for such an interconnected world. many of their discourses, empirical investigations, and proposals have been lumped together in what has been called global citizenship education. considering the attention that it has recently received, it is not much of a surprise that teacher education programs and courses around the world are including stated goals related to the preparation of teachers to educate their future students for global, engaged, and participatory citizenship. this is also the case of the faculty of education at the university of cantabria, which is situated in the north of spain. although there is some evidence from empirical research on teacher education and global citizenship education (an, 2014; gaudelli & wylie, 2012), we still know little about how teacher educators think and do in this regard. this study explores how a group of teacher educators from the university of cantabria conceptualize citizenship education, if they include global perspectives in their notions, and how they educate for democracy in an increasingly globalized world. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 literature review global perspectives in citizenship education the term global citizenship education is a concept more and more frequently used by scholars and educational discourses. however, there is no consensus on what this term means (gaudelli, 2009; noddings, 2005; shultz, 2007). many scholars have tried to bring some clarity to the variety of discourses (gaudielli, 2009; myers, 2010; shultz, 2007). most global or transnational citizenship discourses have based their statements on at least one of the three following premises. the first is directly connected to the ancient stoic tradition of cosmopolitanism, which implies the recognition of human beings beyond one’s state (heater, 2004; nussbaum, 1997). this principle has led many educators and researchers to deem teaching about diversity and human rights as essential, though not always sufficient, in citizenship education (hahn, 2005). the second is related to the consideration of the increasing economic, political, and cultural globalization of the world that challenges traditional ways of understanding citizenship towards others in flux (isin, 2009). as knight-abowitz and harnish (2006) say, “membership is more fluid and transcends national or regional borders” (p. 675). in the field of citizenship education, that interconnectedness, although not particular to our century (held, 1997), requires taking into account that political and social decisions should consider local and global effects. for this reason, hahn (2001) claimed that “[c]itizenship education must acknowledge that decisions made in one part of the globe have consequences elsewhere” (p. 21) and merryfield and wilson (2005) advised of the importance of understanding the interdependence of the global systems, and developing a perspective consciousness (hanvey, 1982). that interconnectedness requires not only awareness but also action in global context. as banks (2008) stated, “[a]s citizens of the global community, students also must develop a deep understanding of the need to take action and make decisions to help solve the world’s difficult problems” (p. 134). in this sense, davies, evans, and reid (2005), for instance, proposed the following guidelines for giving a global approach: a) using global content, b) linking past, present, and future, c) emphasizing the affective, d) exploring issues, and e) encouraging action. the third premise is based on the idea that, as globalization is a social process with lack of control and regulation, often driven by powers with little or no democratic legitimacy (archibugi, 2008; archibugi & held, 2011; held, 1997, 2010; romero & luis, 2008), a global conception of citizenship “augments the sovereignty of the individuals within the transnational community rather than augmenting a state in hopes that it will bequeath such benefits to its citizens” (knight-abowitz & harnish, 2006, p. 677). nevertheless, “[c]itizen education based on identity defined by membership in a ‘nation’ rests on the mistaken assumption that democracy is effectively pursued within the nationstate, whose influence and authority has been reduced by globalization” (enslin, 2000, p. 149). other categories of identity, however, such as race, gender or social class cross national borders (knightabowitz & harnish, 2006). as a consequence, authors such as hill (2002) link global education to the knowledge of “social justice and equity; interdependence; sustainable development; cultural diversity; peace and conflict; population concerns; languages” (p. 26). moreover, held (1997, 2016) argued that, because it is not possible to place effective political power within the national government (since it is shared by agents at local, national and international levels), it is necessary to build global governance. this means that to govern democratically problems that affect all of us, people have to participate in many different political communities configured on different scales. thus, he advocates the necessity of a “multiple citizenship,” a concept that connotes full membership on multiple governance levels. considering the variety of discourses regarding global citizenship education, there are hence many journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 ways of encouraging global perspectives when educating citizens. beyond including global standpoints while teaching current issues, there is a need for “teaching earth citizenship,” based on the awareness of humanity as a planetary fate (morin, 1999). also, understanding the interdependence of global systems is important as well (merryfield & wilson, 2005). hanvey (1982) added to these two aspects a) perspective consciousness, b) cross-cultural/intercultural awareness, and c) awareness of human choices to participate. pike (2000) and banks (2008) also emphasize the dimension of decision-making and action. as banks (2008) highlighted: “[a]s citizens of the global community, students also must develop a deep understanding of the need to take action and make decisions to help solve the world’s difficult problems” (p. 134). similarly, zong (2009) considered the following perspectives: “cultural learning and understanding, appreciating multiple perspectives and fostering tolerance, addressing prevailing global issues, teaching about the connections and collaborations among the nations, promoting peace, and critical understanding of issues and events” (p. 620). thus, developing global awareness and engagement are the key points of most of the models defined. teacher education for global citizenship in spain as logan (2011) said, “if schools are to educate for democratic citizenship, the manner in which preservice teacher education helps teacher candidates to understand citizenship and how it will be utilized in their future teaching practices, is a true concern” (p. 153). in this regard, how well future teachers will be prepared to deal with the challenges of citizenship education in a globalized world is, at least to some extent, related to the democratic experiences and perspectives of their teacher educators (carr, 2008). indeed, not a few scholars (an, 2014; gaudelli & wylie, 2012; rapoport, 2010, 2015; among others) have argued for more attention to global elements of citizenship in preservice teacher programs. however, very little attention has been paid to explore how global citizenship education is perceived and carried out by teacher educators. this demand becomes even more important when research on pre-service teachers’ conceptions shows the superficial understandings they have about citizenship education and democracy (borghi, et al., 2012; de la montaña, 2012; marri, et al., 2014; martin, 2010, 2008; peterson & knowles, 2009; ross & yeager, 1999; sunal, et al., 2009; vera, et al., 2012) and their increasing interest in education for global citizenship (robbins et al., 2003) and the use of global (holden & hicks, 2007) and controversial issues (barchuk & harkins, 2010). in spain, citizenship education was implemented in 2006 as a compulsory subject for elementary and secondary school, following the recommendations of the european parliament (engel, 2014; gómez & garcía, 2013; gonzález & beas, 2012; puig, et al., 2010). since that date, national educational laws have also included, among their stated purposes, preparing children to grow as global citizens. before that year, the democratic constitution adopted in 1978 considered the formation of citizens as an educational aim, but national curricula paid little attention to it (gonzález & beas, 2012; naval & arbués, 2016). the inclusion of this obligatory subject, as well as the european higher education reform, has led to many teacher education curricula to include citizenship as an educational goal (bolívar, 2007). nevertheless, this goal has not always been implemented as a compulsory course in teacher preparation programs, but frequently as a cross-curricular topic without clear guidelines (estepa, 2012). as a consequence, those teacher educators genuinely interested in citizenship education are the ones who voluntarily take the responsibility of achieving this aim in their courses. however, we know little about how those teacher educators prepare their students to become effectively engaged in an increasingly globalized world, and to educate for global citizenship. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 the study this article presents the findings of a study conducted among a group of teacher educators from the faculty of education at the university of cantabria in spain. the purpose of the study was to explore how these teacher educators conceptualize citizenship education, if they incorporate global perspectives in their notions, and what pedagogies they use to address it. participants for the participant selection, it was important to identify those teacher educators most interested in citizenship education within that medium-sized public university in the north of spain. in order to do it, we analyzed all the teaching syllabi of the degree in elementary education. participants were selected based on the next criteria: a) faculty members responsible for any core course b) of the degree in elementary education c) whose syllabi make explicit reference to citizenship education, according to the definition given by the eurydice report (2005, 2012) 1. from the 29 teacher educators in charge of any obligatory course, nine teacher educators fulfilled all the requirements, and all of them agreed to participate in the study. six of the teacher educators were male and three were female. all of them belong to the education department but were part of different knowledge areas of expertise: educational and developmental psychology, didactic and school organization, didactics of social sciences, didactics of experimental sciences, and theory and history of education. data collection and analysis data collection was performed using semi-structured interviews with these nine teacher educators. interview questions were based on previous studies (patterson, et al., 2012; carr, 2008; martin, 2008; davies, et al., 1999). most of them were open-ended and they mainly focused on a) the reasons why they think citizenship education is important; b) how they consider it should be addressed; c) to what extent they believe that goal is achieved in their courses and how it is realized; and d) what they think a good citizen is. we did not mention anything related to global perspectives or global citizenship education while having the interviews, in order to avoid giving them clues of what we ‘wanted’ to hear. interviews were carried out throughout the month of may 2013. they lasted between forty minutes and one hour and they were recorded and transcribed in full to ensure accuracy. also, the interviewees were asked for feedback on the interview transcripts. in order to ensure confidentiality, all the participants were assigned pseudonyms. the data collected were coded using a category system that combined two different classifications in the same heuristic tool. on the one hand, the typology elaborated by the eurydice reports (2005, 2012) identify the essential components of citizenship education. on the other hand, a classification was based on the works of hanvey (1982) and merryfield (1998) on the different dimensions of global education: perspective consciousness, state of the planet awareness, awareness of human choices, 1 according to the definition of eurydice (2012), citizenship education “include[s] four main aspects (a) political literacy, (b) critical thinking and analytical skills, (c) attitudes and values and (d) active participation” (p. 17). we chose this broad definition trying to integrate as many answers as possible, without removing completely the boundaries between citizenship and character education, according to davies, gorard, and mcguinn (2005) and althof and berkowitz (2006). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 cross-cultural awareness, interconnectedness of humans through time and understanding global issues. these two classifications were combined as follows. from the eurydice reports, we distinguished the basic categories: political literacy, development of critical thinking and values, and participation. at the same time, we used the dimensions contemplated by hanvey and merryfield to detect and analyze the possible inclusion of global perspectives in each of these three categories. in other words, both classifications constitute the weft and warp of the analysis system used in this study as a heuristic tool. findings during the interviews, all participants showed very different beliefs of what citizenship education means for them, even though all of them described it as a very important mission that both school and teacher colleges should address. in their interviews a wide variety of thematic threads arose, and the use of the “citizenship education” term often seemed to be characterized by breadth and ambiguity. all the teacher educators contextualized the concept of citizenship education through familiar discourses. in many cases those discourses coincided with the ones derived from their own academic discipline affiliation. for this reason, elia and paula, both psychologists, resorted constantly to psychology to justify their opinions; and ignacio and martin, phd in geology and chemistry respectively, linked citizenship education to the importance of scientific popularization. none of them explicitly mentioned the term global citizenship education, not even any related expression such as international education, cosmopolitan education, multicultural education, etc. however, the absence of this term in their interviews does not necessarily mean that they do not consider global issues for their classes or any global citizenship-related topic. political literacy two teacher educators highlighted the importance of the political literacy dimension of citizenship education, under a strong sense of social justice: daniel and roberto. concretely, they focused on the understanding of social problems: “we always work on issues of social relevance and they have to learn about this problem. that is one of the things we do in the course” (daniel). moreover, for roberto, the study of those social problems should organize the school curriculum: [w]e were interested in reorienting the curriculum in a way that allows students to understand that schools can help boys and girls understand everyday life problems. around that concern of what everyday life problems should be studied, we became interested in citizenship education, in a broad sense. both considered understanding global issues very important to achieve that aim. as they argued, global perspectives should be taken into account to be aware of current social issues, because social problems are increasingly global. in the following answer, roberto explained how globally oriented standpoints are necessary to understand what happens in our everyday life: the child has to understand the world where he lives and the world where he lives is what is close for him but what is close for him is not what is physically close… the nearest may be things that are hundreds of thousands of miles away, why? because through the economy and new technologies, the world has globalized… so we must prepare students to understand what happens in everyday life. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 for these teacher educators, including global perspectives must be connected to social change, fostering therefore an awareness of human choices. even everyday decisions like what to buy at the supermarket may have consequences in other parts of the globe (roberto and daniel). see, for instance, the following response of daniel: i think basically the type of knowledge that we would have to teach is related to what someone, as a citizen, needs to be included, to live and to have a decent life in a concrete society. and not only to have a decent life but also to be able to fight for the improvement, in terms of human development, of the society in which he participates, considering that we live in a global society. we should start thinking more globally. to sum up, they should learn all those contents that help them to live a decent life, which also include gender perspectives. the latter is not the only mention daniel made in his interview to the importance of including gender perspectives. it can be seen in this attempt, which is an interest in developing what hanvey (1982) called a perspective consciousness. something similar happened in roberto’s interview in relation to social class, as most of the examples of social problems he cited were related to it: hunger, poverty, unemployment… he also used this category to interconnect humans through time when asking: “i don’t know why they [children] should learn about the middle ages, why not the poor or the hungry? why princesses and knights? and not hunger or poverty? […] if we take poverty we can take examples from different spaces and times”. in responses like the previous, one might also observe how he questioned traditional disciplines and the justice-oriented vision of education that underlies his answers. this is also obvious in the contents of his course, when he fully embraces the notion of the curriculum as a social construction and teaches about social problems such as hunger and food production. in sum, it seems that the sense of social justice leads them to deem issues of gender and social class as globally oriented and essential in citizenship education, beyond traditional disciplines. for them, social issues are global in nature and, as a consequence, citizenship education should be addressed considering global perspectives. another group of teacher educators also emphasized the political literacy dimension of citizenship education. however, their approach was completely different. the four teacher educators included in this group gave higher priority to disciplinary knowledge and, as a consequence, references to global issues were very scarce. some (alejandro and martín) highlighted the contribution that the knowledge of different disciplines makes to the education of citizens, while others (jorge and lucía) stressed the importance of acquiring civic knowledge (of how the legal and political systems work). an example of the first is found in alejandro’s interview when he stated that: in my opinion, citizenship education shouldn’t be limited to one course like “education for citizenship.” no. the responsibility of educating citizens is from every subject in the school curriculum: mathematics, science, physical science, social science, history, geography, literature… they are all small pieces of a mosaic that aims to shape citizens. which is not to say that there are not specific subjects… i’m thinking of subjects like literature, history, art and philosophy, which of course are aimed at educating citizens. from this perspective, teacher educators outline an indirect approach to citizenship education by assuming that philosophy, literature, art, history or mathematics, as they contribute to develop certain thinking skills or to understand reality, provide per se a service to citizenship education. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 in jorge’s interview, examples of the second can be observed when he insisted on the need to know the functioning of the political system, how the country is governed, the state structures and so on: the first thing is that from a very early age, they must have some understanding, i won’t say theoretical… but they must understand institutions, the functions of institutions… for example, if right now at any university you start asking colleagues about the concept of europe, about the european constitution, about the european parliament, about what happens there… nobody knows anything. there is a tremendous lack of knowledge of the political system we have today in spain. although they did not mention patriotism, both perspectives, however, implicitly assume the limits of citizenship within the boundaries of the country or the european union. that is because, on the one hand, they did not reference global issues in their interviews and, on the other, many subjects based much of their narratives in national settings (history, geography or civics) or in the national language (literature). for example, jorge’s course related to the history of education is mainly focused on the traditional historical development of education in spain, with some references to other european pedagogues such as montessori, milani or makarenko. critical thinking and values two teacher educators (paula and ignacio) stressed the relevance of developing certain thinking skills and values when educating for citizenship. they did not mention anything related to the importance of understanding global issues. however, in their conceptualizations of citizenship education, some global perspectives can be identified in relation to cross-cultural awareness. in her course, paula teaches about human rights because she deems them basic and universal, above personal opinions and cultures. yet she recognized that the knowledge of human rights is not enough and highlights the need to cultivate certain skills and competencies (critical thinking, empathy, conflict resolution…) to put them into practice: “to exercise [citizenship] in a real way we need to have those thinking skills and that appropriate moral development to carry out an action,” because, she explained: “i think that what has influenced me the most (in my training as a citizen) has been the development that i have gained in my personal skills that are prior to those citizenship skills.” that is why she insisted on the need to develop those “previous” personal skills. her defense of not only focusing on the “theoretical” knowledge but paying attention to the “practical” development of certain skills led her to consider teaching methodology as the key issue in the education of citizens: i think sometimes it (ce) has been too focused on knowledge rather than on the skills that are behind to be able to exercise it (c)… then we are not talking only about contents… we are talking about the methodology of how it is taught, right? to what extent are participatory methodologies where critical thinking is generated, where reflection, discussion takes place, where real place is given to different types of opinions… accordingly, she declared using a wide a variety of active methods in her classes to encourage students’ participation, such as role playing games, group works, debates, moral dilemmas, and so forth. the importance of teaching methodology was also stressed by ignacio, who emphasized the need of encouraging respect for diversity through citizenship education. for him, it should be done by fostering debate and other classroom activities: “question: how would you work all that? response: journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 28 mainly, encouraging discussion in class, so that students can see the different opinions that their partners have.” although there is a clear sense of universalism under the term “respect for diversity,” the concrete references that he made to diversity are more related to issues of individual tolerance rather than to issues of social justice. also, when paula mentioned the convenience of teaching human rights and developing certain social and moral skills, it was also noticeable that humanism was behind her proposal. however, those themes were presented in an unproblematic and depoliticized way when believing that those skills can be developed “previously” to face public affairs and social problems. for this reason, the moral dilemmas that she used in her classes referred to personal problems with the family or classmates and the skills she worked on were empathy, assertiveness, teamwork, and creativity. in this regard, we can also observe here another indirect approach to citizenship education by following the logic: as we contribute to the development of certain values and thinking skills, we educate for citizenship, instead of redesigning the curriculum according to the question: what does a citizen need to know, or what skills should a citizen cultivate? in short, the two teacher educators who emphasized the developing of certain skills and values over other dimensions of citizenship education incorporated very timidly some work on cross-cultural awareness that in the end was reduced to the use of active methods in their courses. active participation one remarkable point is that all participants overlooked participation in global contexts, which to some extent is consistent with the fact that participation has been the most neglected dimension of citizenship education. only one teacher educator (elia) considered civic participation as relevant when educating for citizenship, relating it to social change. however, no mention was made to active participation in global issues, nor even when she explicitly talked about the different levels of citizen participation: people should understand the world in which they live and participate. in each context, there has to be spaces where people can participate to transform those contexts: the school, the neighborhood where the school is, the municipality, the region… because the world is understood at different levels… for example, the economy of the town, of the city hall, of the families, of the school… understanding things should also mean creating opportunities for their participation as citizens, in which they can contribute with their views and make some kind of change, for example through initiatives such as service learning. conclusions and implications for teacher education teacher education can contribute to challenge pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the nation state as the only locus for democracy and citizenship. however, the inclusion of global perspectives by these teacher educators has been, in general terms, very limited. the participants who were more globally concerned were those who had a stronger sense of social justice. for these two teacher educators, thinking beyond the limits of the state is inherently linked to principles of social justice and universalism. considering this finding, we embrace carr’s (2008) recommendation when he said that: “colleges and faculties of education need to more conscientiously strive to teach about and for journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 21-33. corresponding author email: marta.estelles@unican.es ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 29 democracy, focusing on social justice at several levels, and striving to achieve authentic discussion and action” (p. 128). as knight-abowitz and harninsh (2006) claimed, “[t]his form of education goes far beyond the instrumentalist constructions of global interdependence for economic trade that predominates in most curricular texts”. two other teacher educators made some references to human rights and universalistic values such as diversity. however, their lack of references to issues of social justice, equity, or cultural diversity seems to be more related to an individualistic approach to citizenship education and a limited inclusion of global perspectives. as davies et al. (2005) said, “we should not be content with educational responses to citizenship in a globalising world that do little more than add international content into citizenship activities or global education activities into citizenship programmes” (p. 73). furthermore, most teachers omitted any reference to global issues and gave great importance to disciplines’ contribution to the education of citizens. this is evidence of a lack of global perspectives of these teacher educators, because they implicitly assumed that national boundaries are framed by traditional disciplines. after all, the tacit identification of the political community with the nation-state continues to preserve an undeniable strength in what ross (1995) called the "folk memory" of the disciplines (romero & luis, 2008). this implicit identification endures even though national narratives have been challenged by globalization, decolonization, and the emergence of the european union (schissler & soysal, 2005). thus the inertial territorial delimitation of teaching content is a naturalized convention that is an obstacle for the promotion of a cosmopolitan citizenship. the construction of a global consciousness, by contrast, would require a greater emphasis on the international and crossborder problems that make nation-states and people interdependent. therefore, the questioning of traditional school subjects in teacher training programs is necessary to educate for global citizenship, as other authors have previously highlighted (evans, 2015; popkewitz, 2008; romero & luis, 2008). yet, this is not an issue frequently mentioned in the literature related to global citizenship education. as a consequence, future research is necessary to explore the mechanisms through which traditional disciplines may interfere with the education of global citizens in teacher training programs. in this study, the teacher educators who were more globally concerned were those who advocated for an interdisciplinary approach to the study of public problems and who had a stronger sense of social justice. however, more research is needed to study the relationship between a sense of social justice and the inclusion of global perspectives in citizenship education. references althof, w., & berkowitz, m. w. 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(1995). the rise and fall of the social subjects in the curriculum. in j. ahier & a. ross (eds.), the social subjects within the curriculum. children's social learning in the national curriculum (pp. 53-78). london, uk: the falmer press. ross, d. d., & yeager, e. (1999). what does democracy mean to prospective elementary teachers? journal of teacher education, 50(4), 255. schissler, h., & soysal, y. n. (eds.) (2005). the nation, europe, and the world. textbooks and curricula in transition. new york, ny, & oxford, uk: berghahn books. shultz, l. (2007). educating for global citizenship: conflicting agendas and understandings. alberta journal of educational research, 53(3), 248-258. sunal, c. s., kelley, l. a., & sunal, d. w. (2009). citizenship education in the elementary classroom: teacher candidates photograph and describe their perceptions. journal of social studies research, 33 (1), 33–70. vera, m. i., seva, f., & soriano, m. c. (2012). ¿están preparados los futuros profesores de ciencias sociales para formar ciudadanos democráticos? in n. de alba, f. f. garcía & a. santisteban (coords.). educar para la participación ciudadana en la enseñanza de las ciencias sociales (pp. 321-338). vol. 2. sevilla, spain: díada. zong, g. (2009). developing preservice teachers’ global understanding through computer-mediated communication technology. teaching and teacher education, 25(5), 617-625. gilbert, r journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 48 fall 2010 the use of tertiary texts in australia gilbert, r. (ed.). (2004). studying society and environment: a guide for teachers (3rd ed). south melbourne, australia: cengage. marsh, c. (ed.). (2008). studies of society and environment (5 th ed). frenchs forest, australia: pearson. review by ruth reynolds, university of newcastle these books are standard fundamental texts for teaching social studies, called studies of society and environment (sse) in most states of australia, in australian universities’ preservice teacher education programs. both books are collections of articles by key teacher educators in various states and cover the disciplinary concepts, the historical underpinnings of where this curriculum area stands at this time and some of the key approaches to teaching sse. the various states develop their own syllabus documents so there are differences across australia in the ways teachers are expected to teach sse so it is always a bit of a juggling act to be able to cater to all states’ needs in a standard textbook. both texts address this by drawing out the fundamental underpinnings of sse and demonstrating how various state authorities address these fundamentals. this is essentially the strength in both these texts. the chapters are meant to be discussion starters. they don’t simply give answers. they bring up crucial issues and provide guidance as to how these issues can be further enhanced. both texts question everyday understandings. gilberts’ text, which is about to be updated, divides the contributions into four areas. the first is an overall framing of sse to discern the approaches to learning (critical inquiry), thinking skills, values and information and communication technologies (ict) approaches. the second area provides a closer investigation of cross curricular perspectives evident in sse: active and informed citizenship, aboriginal and torres strait islander perspectives, gender, sustainability and global futures). the third area speaks to the conceptual strands of studies of society and environment (time, continuity and change; place and space; culture and identity; resources, work and enterprise; natural systems and social systems including decision making). the last and quite small area addresses evaluation. marsh’s text likewise has four sections. the first section is an overview of both sse and how to plan and set out lessons for learning in sse. it is followed by a section of the fundamentals of planning in the areas including concept building, useful teaching and learning techniques, values and assessment. the third section examines the various strands of learning, similarly to gilbert considering some key strategies in each area while the fourth section discusses issues in the teaching of this area of study. marsh identifies the key issues as the teaching of aboriginal and torres strait islander perspectives, civics and citizenship education and multicultural and global studies. the expansive coverage of these texts is both their strength and weakness. there is so much to read and digest, most preservice teachers do not even attempt to read them all, especially when most teacher educators in australia expect students to read outside the set text to more current readings, journals, debates on the internet, and so on. so teacher educators tend to dip into the two books and choose what they journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 49 fall 2010 like from both. myself, i prefer gilbert’s stance on values and teaching thinking and some aspects of the conceptual strands but prefer marsh’s text on planning and assessing. for a country of only 20 million people we are lucky to have two texts that offer so much. the fact that so much is offered, and that both texts are edited collections, is a positive and a negative issue. we are given a wide range of views but a key drawback in both texts is that there is no clear uniformity of approach. some chapters are long and conceptually dense, others are short and cover everything with a brushstroke. neither book offers the reader easily accessible ways to gather key points and perhaps flick through to particular concepts. they are both very traditional texts in that regard and because they are both building on previous editions there is an element of new tacked on to old in a not-altogether seamless manner. i have found both books to be invaluable sources of rich knowledge of studies of society and the environment but my primary and early childhood preservice teachers find it difficult to understand all of the detail and then translate that into practice. to address this i have developed my own text to cater to this audience. perhaps this makes me a somewhat partial reviewer but i hope i can provide this review as one who values the contribution that these texts make to the area but is still cognisant of how they can be improved, particularly for primary and early childhood pre-service teachers. ruth reynolds is a senior lecturer at the university of newcastle journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 64 inclusion of arab-americans and muslim-americans within secondary u.s. history textbooks monica m. eraqi dakota high school (meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: over the past 2 decades, textbook publishers have made large improvements by including multicultural education within their texts. u.s. history textbooks have specifically included diverse perspectives. the increased inclusion of diverse perspectives creates a more historically accurate depiction of how various cultures have contributed to the growth and success of america and promotes cultural pride and understanding. unfortunately, the same is not true of arabs, muslims, and araband muslim-americans. a contextual analysis of five u.s. history textbooks was conducted to determine if arab, muslim, arab-american and muslim-american contributions and achievements were included. the results determined that arabs and muslims are included within u.s. history textbooks, but primarily during times of conflict. araband muslim-americans are typically not included nor are their contributions and achievements. keywords: arab-americans, muslim-americans, stereotypes, education, social studies curriculum, multicultural education, textbooks _____________________________________________________________________________________________ introduction after 9/11, there were attempts to counter stereotypes and biases of arabs, muslims, and araband muslim-americans through the large-scale inclusion of these groups within the curriculum. more than a decade after the catastrophic events of september 11, concerns over the portrayal of arabs, muslims, islam, and araband muslim-americans within public schools have extended beyond the curriculum. there are also concerns over how these groups are included in history textbooks. secondary social studies curricula and textbooks have often presented historical events from a european perspective that highlight major european accomplishments, such as the great cities of rome and constantinople (now istanbul), but ignored muslim accomplishments such as baghdad, damascus, cordoba, or seville (douglass, 2009). little attention, if any, is paid to muslim accomplishments in mathematics, science, astronomy, art, music, poetry and medicine (douglass, 2009). instead, textbook coverage that makes reference to the middle east focuses on topics such as petroleum, israeli/palestinian foreign policy issues, and portrays islam “as a struggle between religious traditionalism and secular modernism" (douglass, 2009, chapter 4, “teaching about world religions”, para. 9). teachers, unfamiliar with islam or the middle east, rely on textbooks to help guide their journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 65 instruction, which has proven to be problematic. in their research, haddad and smith (2009) found that many teachers also showed elements within their teaching that were islamophobic. as a result, textbook portrayals do little to promote positive images of arabs, muslims, islam, or the middle east. the portrayal of islam, arabs, and araband muslim-americans within textbooks is vital as it is one of the ways educators can help students challenge misconceptions about these groups. from a critical race perspective, this requires that textbook publishers critically analyze how they include arabs, muslims, and araband/or muslim-americans. like many immigrants, arab immigrants have made large contributions to the united states. early arab immigrants invented the first ice cream cone, and they later established the joy cone factory, one of the america's largest ice cream cone producers. arab-american, john zogby, founded zogby international, a major polling company. arab-american, paul orfalea, established kinko's, the largest international copy services chain (kasem, 2005). contributions within science and medicine include that of actor and arab-american danny thomas, who established st. jude children's research hospital, one of the leading children's cancer research hospitals in the country. one of st. jude's major fundraising contributors is also arab-american, the american lebanese syrian associated charities (kasem, 2005; arab american national museum, n.d). arab-americans have contributed to science and medical research, in particular, dr. michael debakey, inventor of the heart pump, and geologist, dr. farouk el-baz, who "helped plan all the apollo moon landings and later pioneered the use of space photography to study the earth" (kasem, 2005, p. 8). arab-americans have served as presidents, ceos, and cfos of major companies, including pan-american airlines, ford motor company, and morgan-stanley. for centuries, muslim-americans have also made great contributions. some of the earliest documented muslims in america were african-muslim slaves. many of these african-muslim slaves continued to practice islam in the united states, teaching it to their descendants and establishing some of the earliest muslim-american communities (austin, 1997; diouf, 1998; muhammad, 2013). the story of bilali mohammed, a slave, who helped organize other slaves to defend sapelo island, off the coast of georgia, from british attacks during the war of 1812 is notable. (austin, 1997; muhammad, 2013). muslim-americans continued to actively contribute to american society well into the 20th and 21st centuries. activists, such as malcolm x, greatly influenced the civil rights movement in the united states. muslim-american comedians, such as preacher moss, mohammed amer and azhar usman, have used their talents and diversity to challenge stereotypes about muslims and muslim-americans (kalin, 2008). so too has former miss michigan and miss usa, muslim-american, rima fakih. internationally renowned muslimamerican, dr. mehmet oz, has made many contributions to the medical world and is the host of his own medical tv show (scheifer & ahmed, 2013). another internationally recognized muslim-american is fareed zakaria who is the host of cnn’s fareed zakaria gps, an editor-atlarge for time magazine, and a columnist for the washington post (scheifer & ahmed, 2013). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/azhar_usman journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 66 araband muslim-americans have served within the military and as political servants, activists, poets, artists, emmy award winning actors and actresses and sports icons (kasem, 2005). they have won nobel peace prizes. their contributions to the united states are too numerous to include on a single list, and yet most of their achievements go unrecognized. their contributions are important not only to the history of arabs and muslims, but also to all americans. the dynamic role these two groups have had in science, education, geography, history and exploration should not be underestimated. teaching and learning about their contributions will lead to true multicultural education, one that allows students to study and analyze historical events from multiple perspectives. long held stereotypes that muslims and arabs are of a foreign religion and culture, which do not have a place within the american tapestry will be disproved. arab-americans and muslim-americans have contributed to the history and success of the united states. araband muslim-americans will be better understood as a people, through a truly a multicultural curriculum. research strategy a contextual analysis of five commonly used secondary social studies textbooks, published by the top textbook companies, was conducted. the major research question was to determine whether or not arabs, muslims, and araband muslim-americans were included within the texts and within what context (e.g. cultural/religious beliefs, times of conflict, etc.), and finally whether contributions and achievements by each group were included within the textbooks. the five textbooks analyzed were the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer, klor de alva, krieger, wilson, & woloch, 2007) published by mcdougal littell; history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) published by teachers' curriculum institute (tci); the american vision (appleby, brinkley, broussard, mcpherson, & ritchie, 2010) published by glencoe mcgraw hill; united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsansky-werner, levy, roberts, & taylor, 2013) published by pearson prentice hall; and one advanced placement textbook, american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012) published by mcgraw hill. in light of the scope and focus of this study, only secondary u.s. history textbooks were used. the second criteria used in selecting textbooks for this study was publication date. the selected textbooks are close in publication year, the oldest printed in 2007, and the most current edition printed in 2013. it is equally important to note that all the textbook editions were post 9/11. finally, each of the textbooks was selected from major u.s. publishing companies. the three largest textbook publishing companies are pearson, mcgraw-hill and houghton-mifflin harcourt (davis, 2013). these companies published four of the textbooks analyzed: the american vision, united states history: reconstruction to the present, american history: connecting with the past, and the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century. the fifth textbook, history alive! pursuing american ideals is published by teachers' curriculum journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 67 institute (tci), a company that focuses on k-8 science textbooks and k-12 social studies textbooks. it was selected because it is a leading publisher in social studies textbooks. additionally, more than 36 states currently use tci textbooks, allowing it to maintain 12% of u.s. market shares (teachers' curriculum institute, 2013; m. moorman, personal communication, january 27, 2014). according to american textbook council (atc), an independent national research organization that reviews history textbooks, publishing companies withhold information about sales and distribution of their textbooks to protect performance levels (atc, 2015). therefore, information regarding textbook publishing company ranks was limited, since many publish more than textbooks. since 1986, atc has maintained a database compiled from survey publishers' websites and key state and large school districts to ascertain which history and social studies textbooks are the most commonly used across the united states (atc, 2015). on its website is a list of the most widely adopted history textbooks, along with the publishing companies, for the 2011–2012 academic year. included in the list were american vision and the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century, which were used in this study. in other words, two of the five textbooks used in this study are not only published by the largest publishing companies, but are among the most widely used in the united states. content analysis was used to answer the research questions. content analysis "is a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use" (krippendorff, 2004, p. 18). krippendorff (2004), a leading researcher in content analysis argues that it is "one of the most important research techniques in the social sciences," allowing researchers to view data in "texts, images, and expression that are created to be seen, read, interpreted, and acted on for their meaning" (p. xvii). through content analysis, researchers can categorize or code information into themes that emerge from the texts to answer the research question. according to krippendorff (2004) there are six features of texts that frame content analysis. first, texts are not reader-independent and require all readers to engage with the text and understand the key elements, such as understanding the who, what, where, when and why (p. 22). second, texts have multiple meanings that can be read from multiple perspectives. as a result, the meaning of a text does not need to be agreed upon by all readers, making it the third feature of texts. fourth, texts often convey more than just information. krippendorff (2004), expands upon this fourth feature to include that texts can "invoke feelings, or cause behavioral changes" and sometimes have hidden meanings or agendas (p. 23). fifth, "texts have meaning relative to particular contexts, discourses, or purposes." (p. 24). as such, texts are read, placed within context, and analyzed by the reader to determine its purpose. finally, researchers must "draw specific inferences from a body of texts to their chosen context," in a way that "narrows the range of interpretations," to answer the research question (p. 24–25). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 68 all of krippendorff's (2004) features of texts were utilized when conducting the content analysis of the five textbooks. first, students often engage with the textbook, usually in the form of informational reading, to find answers to questions posed in a worksheet or by the teacher. therefore, which information textbooks put forth or leave out is important to understand because it will influence how students engage with the text. additionally, texts have multiple meanings, which mean that the same historical events can be portrayed differently within each textbook. it also means that students will analyze texts to develop their own understanding of historical events and characters. the fourth feature of krippendorff's (2004) text framework, suggests that texts do more than provide information, but can also appeal to reader emotions or influence behavior. this is a key component of the current research because it suggests that the positive or negative portrayal of arabs, muslims, and araband/or muslim-americans can influence students' emotions or behavior towards these groups. this fourth aspect affects the fifth feature, which allows the reader to determine the purpose of the text. again, whether a textbook positively or negatively include arabs, muslims, and araband/or muslim-americans affects how students view the purpose of the reading. was the purpose of the text to understand the arab-american immigrant's narrative or to understand that the majority of the 9/11 hijackers were arabs? finally, i as the researcher am responsible for analyzing the texts to draw information that answers the research questions, as will be discussed. many researchers have used contextual analysis as a way of evaluating textbooks. through their research, mohammed saleem and michael thomas (2011) analyzed the portrayal of 9/11 in 12 social studies textbooks to understand how the portrayal of 9/11 affected muslimamerican students. the researchers used coding strategies to create themes that emerged from the data. their research suggested that textbook publishers used propaganda "in order to identify arabs, islam, and muslims as the 'other'" as well as in "associating terrorism with islam" (p. 30–31). the study was unique because it also analyzed how the muslim-american students interacted with the text. however, there is also a limitation to the research: only eight students participated in the study, all of whom self-identified as sunni-muslims. gilbert sewall (2008) of the american textbook council used contextual analysis when publishing its review of 10 of the most commonly used junior and senior world and american history textbooks. his review examined how history textbooks characterize islam’s foundations and creeds, terrorism, 9/11, weapons of mass destruction, as well as additions made since 2001. sewall's (2008) results revealed that many textbook publishers made few corrections to their editions since 2001. as a result, many of the textbooks analyzed still had errors regarding the portrayal of islam, misrepresentations of islamic figures, muslims, the middle east and its population. these errors were more prominent in junior high textbooks than in u.s. history textbooks, which do not cover islam, the middle east, arabs and muslims as frequently as junior high texts (sewall, 2008). other researchers, such as douglass (2009), which is expanded upon later in this study, have also contextually analyzed the portrayal of islam and muslims within journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 69 textbooks. there are limitations to both these studies, in comparison to the current study, in that neither concentrate on arabs or araband/or muslim-americans. although multiple studies have been conducted on social studies textbooks, even the inclusion or portrayal of arabs, muslims, islam and the middle east, few have concentrated on the inclusion or portrayal of arab-americans and muslim-americans. the current study expands upon the research of others, to include arab-americans and muslim-americans. content analysis was an important research strategy within the current study because it provided data in regards to arab, muslim, and araband/or muslim-american inclusion within u.s. history textbooks. equally important, contextual analysis provided data on when these groups were included, for example during u.s. immigration, international conflict or terrorism. finally, contextual analysis allows for the interpretation of the texts not available in quantitative research techniques. textbook analysis of araband muslim-americans within u.s. history as part of the analysis, information from each textbook was gathered by first examining their indices to determine if any of the books included arabs, muslims, islam, and arabor muslimamericans. the initial review of the textbooks showed that ethnic and religious groups such as asian-americans, mexican-americans, latino-americans and catholics were included in the indices and several of the books included smaller groups such as dominican-american, koreanamerican, jewish-americans and cuban-americans, all of which demonstrate textbooks publishers' attempts at multicultural education. however, none of the textbooks listed arabamericans or muslim-americans. united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsansky-werner et al., 2013) did not include arabs or muslims. in fact, united states history: reconstruction to the present did not include a reference to islam, only islamic fundamentalists. the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) did not include arabs or muslims within their index, but did include islam. the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) did not include arabs, but did include muslims and islam. history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) did not include arabs, but did include references for shi'a and sunni muslims and islam. american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012) did not include muslims or islam within its index. the text's only indexed reference to arabs was the use of the term street arab, which was used to describe "poor children in the cities, some of them orphans or runaways, living alone or in small groups scrounging for food" (brinkley, 2012, p. 513). preexploration of the new world after reviewing the index, a page-by-page analysis of each textbook was conducted to determine if arabs, muslims, islam, and araband muslim-americans were included in other areas and within what context. all of the texts, with the exception of history alive! pursuing journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 70 american ideals (goff et al., 2013) included brief references to islam, arabs and/or muslims within their first few chapters, particularly on pre-exploration of the new world. in addition, although none of the books included arabs within the index, they all mentioned arabs throughout various sections and chapters of the entire text. the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) included short references about arabs and muslims when describing trade and information exchange with europeans (p. 12–18). specifically, the text mentioned al-idrisi as an arab geographer whose works were used by european explorers (p. 8). the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) specifically mentioned another arab geographer, al-bakri, including a quote about taxes in ghana during the 11th century (p. 9), but later mentioned european explorers who used the works of arab and jewish scholars for cartographic information (p. 12). united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsansky-werner et al., 2013) included only one reference to trade routes that were dominated by muslims (p. 6). finally, american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012) mentioned mayan civilizations having written language similar to arabic (p. 3), muslim societies taking "control of eastern routes to asia" and searching for "faster, safer" routes to asia (p. 10), guinean converts to islam (p. 21), and west african regions that "survived the spread of islam" (p. 22). it is also the only text to refer to the prophet mohammed (peace be upon him) (p. 9). history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) began with the foundation of america in 1776 and, therefore, excluded any pre-exploration or exploration of the new world. early 1900s aside from these sections, arabs, muslims, islam, and arab-/muslim-americans are almost nonexistent within any of the five texts. arabs reappear in the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) 400 pages later, in a long list of immigrant groups that flocked to chicago (danzer et al., 2007). also included in the textbook was a sidebar about the ethnic cleansing of bosnian muslims in 1995. this sidebar was included on a section in the book that discussed bosnia and the assassination of archduke franz ferdinand (danzer et al., 2007). in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), the term arabs is included again, this time in a passing reference about arabs who sided with the allies against the ottomans during world war i. history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) mentioned muslims when describing armenian christians and their attempt to escape from the "muslim ottoman empire," during the armenian genocide (p. 169). in other words, arabs, muslims, islam, and arab-/muslim-americans disappeared from u.s. history textbooks for approximately 500 to 800 years, depending on the textbook. this is misleading for several reasons. first, it implies that arabs, muslims, and araband muslim-americans were not a part of america prior to wwi. there is no mention of africanmuslim slaves brought to the unites states, including omar ibn said, who was captured and journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 71 brought to the united states in the early 1800s, and whose arabic manuscripts document his practice of islam throughout captivity (diouf, 1998). there is also no mention of bilali mohammed, a slave, who helped organize other slaves to defend sapelo island, off the coast of georgia, from british attacks during the war of 1812. mohammed also continued to educate his descendants on islamic studies (austin, 1997). in addition, none of the textbooks specifically mentioned arab immigration patterns, which began prior to wwi, struggles to assimilate or contributions to america. however, other immigrant groups such as irishamericans, german-americans, italian-americans and their contributions were included (danzer et al., 2007; goff et al., 2013; appleby et al., 2010; brinkley, 2012). with the exception of the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), there was no mention of arab contributions to aid the allies during both wwi and wwii. instead, german, american, british, and french leaders and their contributions to win battles within the arab world were included. post wwii to 9/11 arabs, muslims, islam, and araband muslim-americans reappear consistently in the textbooks after world war ii. the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) and history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) reintroduced arabs, first, when discussing the un partition of palestine in 1948. history alive! pursuing american ideals specifically mentioned that arabs rejected the partition, which led to the series of arab-israeli conflicts (goff et al., 2013, p. 425). in all five of the textbooks, arabs, muslims, islam, and araband muslim-americans were most frequently mentioned during times of tension, violence and conflict. these included the 1956 suez crisis, the 1950s nationalization of oil fields in iran, 1970s oil embargo, the arab-israeli crisis, conflict between hindus and muslims in india and the establishment of pakistan and bangladesh, the islamic revolution in iran and the iranian hostage crisis, the 1975 civil war between christians and muslims in lebanon, ethnic cleansing of muslim bosnians and albanians in the 1990s, persian gulf, 9/11, and the iraq and afghanistan wars. in many cases, the textbooks failed to include key background information about the conflicts, which distorted the accuracy of the events. for example, the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) discussed the iran hostage crisis, but failed to mention why the u.s. embassy was stormed and u.s. citizens taken hostage. the textbook did not mention america's prior involvement in the region, america's success in restoring iran's king, shah pahlavi, to power after his initial removal by iranians, or that the u.s. granted the shah asylum within america (several texts did mention that the shah was allowed to enter the u.s. for medical treatment), both of which led to anti-american sentiments within the region. in later chapters, the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) mentioned yasser arafat's rejection of a palestinianisraeli agreement at camp david ii and palestinian violence during the intifada that followed. again, there is no reference explaining why arafat rejected the agreement and how this led to the intifada. history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) briefly mentioned arabs journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 72 rejecting the united nation partition of palestine, but did not mention why arabs rejected the plan. this creates a one-sided version of history where arabs and muslims react to situations in rage and anger with little to no justification. table 1. inclusion of arabs, muslims, araband/or muslim-americans, and islam in textbooks by time period history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsanskywerner et al., 2013) american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012) the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) indices sunni and shi'a muslims, islam islamic fundamentalis m street arab islam muslims, islam preexploration ------------------trades routes dominated by muslims (p. 6) -mayan civilizations written language similar to arabic (p. 3) -muslim societies control of trade routes (p. 10) -guinean converts to islam (p. 21) -west african regions -arab and muslim trade/ exchange of information with europeans (p. 12-18) -al-idrisi (p. 8) -al-bakri (p. 9) -european explorers working with arab and jewish scholars for cartographic information (p. 12) journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 73 "survived the spread of islam" (p. 22) -only text to refer to the prophet mohammed (peace be upon him) (p. 9) early 1900s -muslims mentioned during armenian genocide -----------------------------------arabs included as allies against ottomans during wwi -arab immigrants in chicago -sidebar on bosnianmuslim genocide in 1995 (included in section discussing assassination of archduke franz ferdinand) post wwii – 9/11 -arab rejection of un partition of palestine -arabs and un partition of palestine times of conflict included in most of the textbooks: the 1956 suez crisis, the 1950s nationalization of oil fields in iran, 1970s oil embargo, the arab-israeli crisis, conflict between hindus and muslims in india and the establishment of pakistan and bangladesh, the islamic revolution in iran and the iranian hostage crisis, the 1975 civil war between christians and muslims in lebanon, ethnic cleansing of muslim bosnians and albanians in the 1990s, persian gulf, 9/11, and the iraq and afghanistan wars. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 74 arab and/or muslim political figures arab and muslim leaders were also included within the textbooks, post wwii. figures such as gamal abdel nasser, anwar sadat, hosni mubarak, muammar al-gaddafi, mohammed mossadegh, mohammed reza pahlavi and saddam hussein were mentioned. with the exception of history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) that mentioned saddam hussein being a sunni muslim, none of the leaders were mentioned as being arab or muslim. in some cases, the countries that they represented were identified as being arab or muslim, but not the leaders themselves. in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), sirhan sirhan, who assassinated robert kennedy, was referred to as an arab nationalist, but in the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007), american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012), and united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsanskywerner et al., 2013) he was described as a palestinian. araband/or muslim-american political figures another important finding was the lack of muslim-americans within the textbooks. only two muslim-americans were mentioned consistently throughout all the textbooks, elijah muhammed and malcolm x, members of the nation of islam (danzer et al., 2007; goff et al., 2013; appleby et al., 2010; brinkley, 2012; lapsansky-werner et al., 2013). although the nation of islam is not identical to the islamic faith, an aspect that was mentioned in several of the books, both men were muslim, with malcolm x becoming an orthodox muslim later in his life. only one textbook, the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), included a small reference about muhammad ali losing his license to box after refusing to join the army (p. 837). the reference did not mention his faith. equally important were references to arab-americans. several textbooks did refer to americans who have arab heritage, but not as arab-americans. presidential candidate ralph nader, an arab-american politician, was included in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) and united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsansky-werner et al., 2013), however, any information about his arab heritage was excluded (p. 1033; p. 697). interestingly, other americans and their religious or cultural heritage were recognized. for example, within the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) was joe lieberman, who was included as the "first jewish-american ever to run for vice president," only a page before ralph nader (p. 1032). another arab-american contribution that was overlooked was the establishment of mothers against drunk drivers (madd). the organization was included in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), but there was no mention that the founder, candace lightner, was an arabamerican. today, madd is the “largest crime victims’ assistance organization in the world, with more than three million members and supporters” (kasem 2005, p. 13). aside from these examples, no other arabor muslim-american contributions were included in any of the other journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 75 books. not only does this ignore the cultural capital that arab-americans and muslimamericans possess, it also denies these groups of their contributions to the united states. arabs, muslim, islam, and araband/or muslim-americans, 9/11 and terrorism by far, the most frequent references to arabs, muslims, islam, and arab-/muslim-americans were with regard to terrorism, the attacks on 9/11, and the wars in iraq and afghanistan. in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), the taliban were included as a muslim fundamentalist group. references to the conflict between sunnis and shiites in iraq, palestinian terrorism, and al-qaeda's recruitment of muslims were also made. the book also included a timeline titled, "global war on terror, 2001–2007," which included images and names of arabs and muslims (p. 1044–1045) and a section on the 9/11 causes and effects, which included general references to arabs and muslims and pictures of al-qaeda and osama bin laden (p. 1056). history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) specifically mentioned the arab controlled sudanese government, as well as arab militias that attacked black africans in darfur. the same textbook also included portions of osama bin laden's speech, in which he "declared that all muslims had a duty to kill americans" (p. 674) and that "the 9/11 terrorists were arab muslims" (p. 684). the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) included a timeline of terrorism against the united states. muslims or arabs carried out seven of the nine events on the timeline out; some were mentioned as muslims or arabs and others not (p. 896–897). the textbook noted that palestinian terrorists killed the israeli olympic team in 1972, and that the 9/11 hijackers were arab. finally, the textbook, american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012), referred to osama bin laden as a leader who was "little known outside the arab world," conflating bin laden's arab roots with the muslim world that he operated within (p. 906–907). the book included a map of terrorism titled, "crisis in the middle east," which was supposed to emphasize conflict within the middle east from the 1970s to 2003, and included conflicts within turkey, libya, iran and afghanistan (p. 907). the textbook also included rumors that president obama was muslim (p. 908). there was an attempt by the textbooks to remain unbiased when discussing contemporary history, particularly the september 11 attacks and the iraq and afghanistan wars that followed. for example, when discussing terrorist attacks such as the american embassy attacks in kenya and tanzania, the u.s.s. cole, and 9/11, both american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012), and the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) included examples of terrorism by other groups including the irish republican army (ira) in northern ireland, jewish terrorism against the british in palestine, and the south american group, shining path. some of the textbooks also emphasized terrorist groups as radical islamic or muslim organizations, drawing a distinction between these groups and those who practice the islamic faith. in the american vision (appleby et al., 2010), the textbook included journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 76 statements from one of president george bush's speeches, explaining, "islam and afghan people were not the enemy" (p. 1041). the textbook also included unlawful imprisonment court cases brought forth by muslim prisoners at guantanamo bay, which included rasul v. bush and hamdan v. rumsfeld (p. 1049–1051). history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013), included arab and muslim racial profiling that took place after 9/11 and the arab spring. it was the only text to use the term arab-americans when it discussed the fbi's investigation of more than 400 hate crimes against arab-americans (p. 684–685). table 2. inclusion of arabs, muslims, araband/or muslim-americans, and islam in textbooks history alive! pursuing american ideals (goff et al., 2013) united states history: reconstruction to the present (lapsanskywerner et al., 2013) american history: connecting with the past (brinkley, 2012) the american vision (appleby et al., 2010) the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century (danzer et al., 2007) arab and/or muslim political figures -saddam hussein listed as sunni muslim -sirhan sirhan, palestinian -sirhan sirhan, palestinian -sirhan sirhan, arab nationalist -sirhan sirhan, palestinian arab and muslim leaders were included within the textbooks, post wwii, such as gamal abdel nasser, anwar sadat, hosni mubarak, muammar al-gaddafi, mohammed mossadegh, mohammed reza pahlavi, and saddam hussein. none were identified as arabs or muslims. arabamerican and/or muslimamerican political figures elijah muhammed and malcolm x were the only two muslim-americans to be mentioned and were included in all the textbooks. several arab-americans and their positive contributions were included, such as ralph nader and candace lightner, but their arab heritage was not included. arabs, muslims, islam, and arab -arab controlled sudanese -included palestinian suicide -osama bin laden (p. 906–907). -taliban as muslim fundamentalist -time of terrorism; seven of nine events journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 77 and/or muslimamericans, 9/11 and terrorism government -arab militias attach black africans in darfur -osama bin laden's speech to "muslims had a duty to kill americans" (p. 674) -9/11 terrorists as arab muslims bombers -osama bin laden and islamic fundamentalism -map of terrorism "crisis in the middle east" (p. 907) -rumors that president obama was muslim (p. 908) group -conflict between sunnis and shiites in iraq -palestinian terrorism -al-qaeda's recruitment of muslims -timeline "global war on terror, 2001–2007) (p. 1044–1045). included muslims or arabs (p. 896– 897). -palestinian terrorists at 1972 olympics -9/11 hijackers were arab. conclusion the analysis of the five textbooks demonstrates that publishers have included many ethnic groups, their cultural traditions, contributions and achievements, however, arabs, muslims, and araband muslim-americans are still greatly ignored. overall, arabs and muslims were limited to early contributions that assisted in european exploration of the new world, a topic that is likely to be discussed in a middle school u.s. history or world history course, but not in a high school course, which starts with reconstruction. even so, this is the only discussion of arab and muslim contributions. none of the texts included arabor muslim-american immigrants or contributions by these groups. araband muslim-americans were excluded from textbooks until post-wwii chapters that dealt with conflict within the arab or muslim world, and emphasized the many stereotypes that already exist about these groups. only one text specifically mentioned arab-americans, comparing arab-american stereotyping and discrimination in the aftermath of 9/11, to anti-japanese sentiments after the attacks on pearl harbor (goff et al., 2013). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 78 the analysis of the five textbooks demonstrate that araband muslim-americans are still not included appropriately within textbooks. basic elements of araband muslim-american multicultural education, such as cultural capital, contributions and achievements continue to be ignored. famous arab-americans, even when included in texts are not identified as arabamerican. muslim-americans, their stories and achievements are overlooked and ignored, for example, those of african-american muslim slaves or muslim-americans after 9/11. there was little attempt to acknowledge the way araband/or muslim-americans are a part of america, using these groups’ contributions and achievements to break down stereotypes and construct an accurate portrayal that fosters equity, core elements of multicultural education, particularly through social justice and advocacy. the lack of inclusion of arabs, muslims and arab-/muslimamericans within textbooks contributes to the negative stereotyping and bias that exist. multicultural social studies education requires teachers to teach about islam, not only the basic beliefs, but also the discussion of the multiple views within islam from ultra conservatives to liberals, from religious beliefs to sharia law, and the differences in the practice of islam in iran to saudi arabia and bosnia and indonesia. this will require that teachers dismantle the negative stereotypes and biases that students may already possess to then rebuild and implement araband/or muslim-american studies in a way that emphasizes equity. through multicultural education, teachers can include the narratives of arab christians and muslims across the arab world, particularly within the context of the arab-israeli conflict, changing it from a strictly muslim and jewish struggle to one that includes christians, muslims and jews. teachers can and should utilize resources and activities, which allow students to challenge biases towards arabs, muslims, and araband/or muslim-americans through real world application (for additional teaching resources refer to eraqi, 2015). this empowers students towards social action and justice, a key aspect of multicultural education. while these are only two examples, they provide the foundation for teachers to revamp the current curriculum towards a more pure form of social justice. social studies education gives a voice to minorities, like araband muslim-americans, by recognizing their histories and cultural capital. only then, will the social studies have lived up to its true purpose as a subject that studies the interaction, behavior and culture of all human beings. references american textbook council [atc]. (2015). widely adopted history textbooks. retrieved from http://historytextbooks.net/adopted.htm appleby, j., brinkley, a., broussard, a. s., mcpherson, j. m., & ritchie, d. a. (2010). the american vision (teacher wraparound ed.). columbus, oh: glencoe-mcgraw hill. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 79 arab american national museum. (n.d.). arab americans: an integral part of american society. dearborn, mi: arab american national museum. retrieved from http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/umages/pdfs/resource_booklets/aanmarabamericansbooklet-web.pdf austin, a. d. (1997). african muslims in antebellum america: transatlantic stories and spiritual struggles. new york, ny: routledge. brinkley, a. (2012). american history: connecting with the past (ap ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw hill. danzer, g. a., klor de alva, j. j., krieger, l. s., wilson, l. e., & woloch, n. (2007). the americans: reconstruction to the 21st century. evanston, il: mcdougal littell. davis, m. r. (2013). 'big three' publishers rethink k-12 strategies. education week, 6(2), 22, 42-44. diouf, s. a. (1998). servants of allah: african muslims enslaved in the americas. : new yok, ny: nyu press. douglass, s. (2009). teaching about religion, islam, and the world in public and private school curricula. in y. haddad, f. senzai, & j. smith (eds.), educating the muslims of america [kindle fire version] (chapter 4). retrieved from http://www.amazon.com eraqi, m. (2015). arab-american and muslim-american contributions: resources for secondary social studies teachers. multicultural perspectives, 17(2), 93–98. goff, b., connell, k., fasulo, d., goldblatt, a., melton, h., scher, l., . . . weiss, j. (2013). history alive! pursuing american ideals. rancho cordova, ca: teachers' curriculum institute. haddad, y., & smith, j. (2009). the challenge of islamic education in north america. in y. haddad, f. senzai, & j. smith (eds.), educating the muslims of america [kindle fire version] (introduction). retrieved from http://www.amazon.com kalin, a. (producer & director). (2008). allah made me funny: live in concert [dvd]. united states of america: truly indie. kasem, c. (2005). arab americans: making a difference. washington, dc: arab american institute. retrieved from http://www.aaiusa.org/famous-arab-americans krippendorff, k. (2004). content analysis: an introduction to its methodology. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. lapsansky-werner, e. j., levy, p., roberts, r., & taylor, a. (2013). united states history: reconstruction to the present. upper saddle river, nj: pearson prentice hall. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 64-80. corresponding author email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 80 muhammad, p. r. (2013). muslims and the making of america. retrieved from. ashington, dc: muslim public affairs council. retrieved from http://www.mpac.org/assets/docs/publications/mpac-muslims-and-the-making-of-america.pdf schleifer, s. a., & ahmed, a. (2013). the muslim 500: the world’s 500 most influential muslims, 2013/14. amman, jordan: the royal islamic strategic studies centre. retrieved from http://themuslim500.com/download saleem, m.m., & thomas, m. (2011). the reporting of the september 11th terrorist attacks in american social studies textbooks: a muslim perspective. the high school journal, 95(1), 15-33. sewall, g. (2008). islam in the classroom: what the textbooks tell us (american textbook council). retrieved from american textbook council website: http://www.historytextbooks.org/2008islamreport.pdf monica m. eraqi is a veteran social studies teacher at dakota high school in macomb, michigan. she has served as assistant professor of multicultural education at madonna university in livonia, michigan and is a regular presenter at the arab-american national museum in dearborn, michigan. her research and teaching interests are in multicultural education. email: meraqi@cvs.k12.mi.us introduction research strategy textbook analysis of araband muslim-americans within u.s. history preexploration of the new world early 1900s post wwii to 9/11 arab and/or muslim political figures araband/or muslim-american political figures conclusion references m journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 74 what educators need to do with biased children’s books on religion, gender and race hani morgan (hani.morgan@usm.edu) danielle e. forest university of southern mississippi ____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: children’s books have frequently portrayed groups holding power more favorably than marginalized people. in this essay, we show how such books support a theoretical framework based on the notion that education can either preserve the status quo or change it. we use primary sources consisting of passages from various children’s books in addition to highlighting the findings of previous researchers. we examine gender misrepresentation as well as the biased depiction of religious and racial minority groups. ____________________________________________________________________________________ in pedagogy of the oppressed, paulo freire (2000) asserts that when education promotes oppressive attitudes, it dehumanizes people. he refers to this form of pedagogy as a "banking" approach of education and rejects it, urging for a liberating form of teaching. freire’s ideas are consistent with a theoretical framework based on the notion that education can either preserve the status quo or change it. in other words, education can either keep people with inferior societal status from making progress or help them resist inequalities to ameliorate their condition. in this essay, we discuss how children’s books about various groups of people support this framework by showing that teaching resources can indeed promote abysmal forms of bias, leading to the mistreatment of these groups. we use primary sources consisting of passages from different children’s books in addition to highlighting the findings of previous researchers. background children’s books about varied groups have frequently portrayed people holding power more favorably than marginalized groups. fortunately, today these books are much improved and depict individuals with low societal status better than ever before. however, some recently published children’s literature is still stereotypical. the depiction of various groups in literary material can be dehumanizing in a manner analogous to freire’s description of the “banking” form of education. to prevent this type of teaching, educators need to empower children from marginalized groups by avoiding these biased resources and replacing them with culturally authentic materials, or they can use these offensive resources with older students to create awareness about the oppressive ideas such materials promote, thus teaching pupils to resist racist and sexist practices. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 75 on the following pages, we examine the biased depiction of religious and racial minority groups, and we also explore gender misrepresentation. in addition to exploring stereotypical descriptions of females, we focus on the ways biased children’s books portray africa and its people, the aboriginals of australia and native americans. to illustrate how offensive these resources can be, we first discuss children’s books written during nazi rule. religious bias in children’s books children’s books published during nazi germany portrayed jews in horrific ways. during the holocaust, education was used as a means of encouraging anti-semitic thinking, and one of the leading writers from this period, johann von leers, wrote books and essays that supported anti-semitic attitudes (wegner, 2007). leers used storytelling to persuade elementary school children to adopt anti-semitic values, and his writings were intended not only for children but also for academics, the general public and school teachers (wegner, 2007). other writers and educators attempted to influence children to accept nazi ideology through instruction in school. books for children in nazi germany described jews in a way that made them seem immoral and malicious (mills, 2002). some of the storybooks written during the 1930s and 1940s showed jews stealing homes, taking advantage of people and belonging to an inferior race. mills (2002) discussed one storybook entitled der pudelmopsdackelpinscher by ernst hiemer (1940). this book depicts jews in an egregious manner. in this story, the author compares jews to animals and describes the methods they use to take advantage of people, suggesting these methods are similar to hyenas that prey on animals. one of the abhorrent parts occurs when jews are compared to bacteria that must be eradicated to save humankind. another book mills (2002) mentioned, also written by ernst hiemer (1938), is der giftpilz. in the beginning of this book, franz, a young boy, is walking to collect mushrooms with his mother who explains that good mushrooms are edible and similar to good people, and poisonous mushrooms are comparable to evil people. when franz’s mom asks him who the bad people are, his answer is the jews: look, franz, human beings in this world are like the mushrooms in the forest. there are good mushrooms and there are good people. there are poisonous bad mushrooms, and there are bad people. and we have to be on our guard against bad people just as we have against poisonous mushrooms. do you understand that? yes, mother, franz replies. i understand that in dealing with bad people trouble may arise, just as when one eats a poisonous mushroom. one may even die! and do you know, too, who these bad men are, these poisonous mushrooms of mankind? the mother continued. franz slaps his chest in pride: of course i know, mother! they are the jews! (hiemer, 1938, paras. 3-6) as the story continues, franz’s mother explains that there are different forms of poisonous jews including jewish cattle dealers, butchers and doctors. she explains that these jews disguise themselves as people with good intentions and that they deceive many people. thus, those who know that they are dangerous must warn others: tell me, mother, do all non jews know that the jew is as dangerous as a poisonous mushroom? mother shakes her head. unfortunately not, my child. there are millions of non jews who do not yet know the jews. so we have to enlighten people and warn them against the jews. our mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 76 young people, too, must be warned. our boys and girls must learn to know the jew. they must learn that the jew is the most dangerous poison mushroom in existence. just as poisonous mushrooms spring up everywhere, so the jew is found in every country in the world. just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death. (hiemer, 1938, paras. 12–14) fortunately, shortly after it was published, der giftpilz was translated into english and used to fight antisemitism (mills, 2002). many educators today resist the use of children’s books that degrade a particular group of people and raise awareness of the deleterious effects of such resources on children. although biased children’s books written after world war ii may not be as demeaning as those published during the holocaust, many contain illustrations and passages that can harm young children. the next examples focus on gender bias and involve stereotypical children’s books published more recently. gender bias in children’s literature gender misrepresentation in children’s books can manifest itself in various forms, including the roles women hold and the number of times they appear in comparison to men. some research on awardwinning books found that females were likely to appear less often than males (czaplinski, 1972; davis & mcdaniel, 1999). other research indicates that females too often fulfill roles as submissive and dependent people (jacklin & mischel, 1973; purcell & stewart, 1990) and that even award-winning children’s books represent them in this manner (crisp & hiller, 2011). one example of such a book is margaret hodges’ (1986) saint george and the dragon, a caldecott medal award winner. in this story about saint georgea hero who defeats a formidable dragonmany gender stereotypes prevail. saint george is portrayed as a courageous and powerful conqueror, a traditional masculine stereotype: quickly the knight [saint george] rose. he drew his sharp sword and struck the dragon’s head so fiercely that it seemed nothing could withstand the blow. the dragon’s crest was too hard to take a cut, but he wanted no more such blows. he tried to fly away and could not because of his wounded wing. (hodges, 1984, p. 19) unaa lovely princess accompanying saint george on his journey to defeat the dragonalso fulfills a stereotypical role as she is depicted as a gentle, passive and fearful female who refrains from involvement in the battle between the dragon and saint george: now from the furnace inside himself, the dragon threw huge flames that covered all the heavens with smoke and brimstone so that the knight was forced to retreat to save his body from the scorching fire. again, weary and wounded with his long fight, he fell. when gentle una saw him lying motionless, she trembled with fear and prayed for his safety. (hodges, 1984, p. 23) in addition to award-winning books, researchers have criticized other children’s books for gender bias. moss gown (hooks & carrick, 1987), a cinderella-type tale from the american south, is one such example. when candace’s father decides to divide his land among his three daughters based on how much they love him, they must kowtow to him and persuade him of the depth of their daughterly love. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 77 candace’s simple response of “father, i love you more than meat loves salt” (hooks & carrick, 1987, p. 11) angers him, and she is compelled to leave the house. candace flees and finds her way to a plantation home, where she is given a job as a kitchen hand. aided by a magical gown given to her by a witch woman, candace soon captures the heart of the plantation master, and they marry. multiple gender stereotypes are presented in this story. candace is passive and submissive; she accepts her bad fortune and never exercises agency to change her situation. additionally, the male characters are the ones who wield power in the story: the father has the power to distribute the family fortune, and the plantation master has the power to save candace from her position as a lowly kitchen hand by making her his wife. the only female character with power in moss gown is the “beautiful black witch woman” with “green cat’s eyes” (hooks & carrick, 1987, p. 18) who represents a racial stereotype in her otherness. gender bias in children’s literature goes beyond folktales like saint george and the dragon and moss gown; it also exists in contemporary stories. in ten rules of being a superhero (pilutti, 2014), male characters are positioned as saviors while female characters are portrayed as those in need of help. for example, the first page spread of the book depicts a female doll tied to the leg of a table while a young boy dressed as a superhero swoops over to save her. later in the book, the boy is shown helping an elderly female neighbor with a chore. such portrayals serve two functions: 1) to normalize the position of females as the “weaker sex” in need of help from males, and 2) to reinforce the position of males as dominant and powerful. instead of reinforcing these gender stereotypes, teachers are advised to seek children’s literature offering more balanced portrayals of male and female characters as well as books that upend these stereotypes. one example of the latter is shadows of sherwood (magoon, 2015), a modern take on the robin hood tale in which robyn, an adolescent female, risks her own safety to save a community from an oppressive government while searching for her missing parents. teachers must also find children’s books that depict various racial groups authentically. racial bias in children’s books although australians of non-english-speaking background constitute almost half of the australian population, many picture books have represented them unfairly (bradford, 1995). some picture books suggest that non-white characters are less important because illustrators placed images of people of color in the margins. although this problem has subsided in modern times, it continued to occur, in part, as a result of the conservatism of australian publishers (bradford, 1995). most authors have written australian picture books through the perspective of the dominant culture, leaving a skewed view of the cultural realities of minority groups. this problem happened because book publishers selected few authors and illustrators of non-european backgrounds to write books. australia has historically dealt with its aboriginal communities very poorly. this dreadful relationship manifests itself in distorted children’s books. for example, in the land in which we live (smiles, 1968), the author suggests that the aboriginals are less civilized than other groups: the tragedy of the aboriginal is that of any primitive people faced with a higher civilisation. the breaking down of the tribal structure of their society leaves these people in a kind of vacuum, between two worlds, and unless we make greater efforts to help them, they will soon disappear. (smiles, 1968, p. 26) mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 78 another children’s book that lacks the perspective of the aboriginal people is aborigines of australia (hoyt, 1969). in the beginning of the book, rather than express favorable aspects of their way of life, the author describes the first european encounter with the aboriginal people the following way: a dutchman was one of the first to see the aborigines. when he arrived at the gulf of carepentaria in 1623 he called them “utter barbarians.” a little over half a century later an englishman named william dampier traveled to the west coast of australia and said they were “the miserablest people in the whole world.” (hoyt, 1969, p. 12) in response to concern toward the treatment of the aboriginal people, a government agency launched a study in 1973 to investigate the extent to which children’s resources were biased. this study found ample evidence of inaccurate and negative material. in 1974, researchers evaluating school content for young children on the way aboriginal people are depicted found “a disturbing amount of poor quality and/or racist material” (lippman, 1981, p. 64.) in the recent past, aboriginal writers and illustrators have published much improved children’s books; however, before the 1970s, it was not unusual for a reader to pick up an ethnocentric children’s book that disregarded the lifestyles or values of the aboriginal communities (bradford, 1995). before the 1970s, mainstream authors wrote these books and homogenized the culture of the aboriginal people, portraying them similarly, although they can vary considerably. many children’s resources examined in the 1970s suggest that aboriginal people are unintelligent, ugly and uncivilized (lippman, 1981). furthermore, authors overlooked positive aspects of their culture. the australian government funded a study in 1975 evaluating 600 teaching resources that found that well over half of this material could not be recommended (lippman, 1981). in the united states, authors have portrayed many racial minority groups including african americans, hispanic americans, native americans and asian americans inaccurately in children’s literature (harris, 1997; norton, 2009). in the 1940s, for instance, robert lawson’s (1940) they were strong and good won the caldecott medal, although it contained demeaning content about native american people: when my mother was a little girl there were indians in minnesotatame ones. my mother did not like them. they would stalk into the kitchen without knocking and sit on the floor. then they would rub their stomachs and point to their mouths to show that they were hungry. they would not leave until my mother’s mother gave them something to eat. (lawson, 1940, n.p.) little house on the prairie by laura ingalls wilder (1935) was published a few years earlier than they were strong and good. like lawson’s book, wilder’s contains content that does not represent the native american perspective: she said she hoped to goodness they would have no trouble with indians. mr. scott had heard rumors of trouble. she said, "land knows, they'd never do anything with this country themselves. all they do is roam around over it like wild animals. treaties or no treaties, the land belongs to folks that'll farm it. that's only common sense and justice." she did not know why the government made treaties with indians. the only good indian was a dead indian. the very thought of indians made her blood run cold. (wilder, 1935, p. 211) mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 79 overall, most american minority groups receive better coverage today, but some problems concerning their portrayal persist, including a shortage of children’s books featuring certain subgroups. laotian american children, for example, will likely not find characters showing their cultural group (norton, 2009). although the availability of authentic children’s books has improved for most groups, some researchers still express concern about native american portrayal. common stereotypical books about native americans portray them as savage, inferior and cruel (norton, 2009). researchers tend to criticize more children’s books about native americans than on other groups due to the lack of native authors. reese (1997) explained that although many minority authors write children’s books about their group, native american authors rarely write children’s books about theirs, resulting in content based on popular perceptions rather than genuine perspectives. educators need to avoid prejudiced children’s books about native americans for several reasons. first, the population of native americans has increased at a fast rate and is comparatively younger than the overall population in the united states (heller, cunningham, & heller, 2003). second, many americans have negative views and incorrect knowledge about native americans (fleming, 2006). many misconceptions about native americans exist because they populate isolated locations, leading outsiders to gain much of their knowledge about them from secondary sources instead of direct experience (fleming, 2006). young children learn misconceptions about native americans from the popular media and also from biased children’s books. some researchers (e.g., roberts, dean, & holland, 2005) suggest that native americans are one of the most misunderstood groups in the united states. literary material on africa and its people intended for children has historically covered this continent very poorly. for example, in south africa, children’s literature has been filled with racist attitudes. much of this literature reinforced the ideology of white supremacy (maccann & maddy, 2001). many books that white children in south africa read prior to world war ii were published in britain, and one of these was jock of the bushveld (fitzpatrick, 1907). as the following passage shows, sir percy fitzpatrick, the author of the book, uses stereotypical writing when describing jim makokel, one of the black people in the story: he was simply a great passionate fighting savage, and, instead of wearing the cast-off clothing of the white man and peacefully driving bullock waggons along a transport road, should have been decked in his savage finery of leopard skin and black ostrich-feathers, showing off the powerful bronzed limbs and body all alive with muscle, and sharing in some wild war-dance; or equipped with shield and assegais, leading in some murderous fight. (fitzpatrick, 1907, p. 192.) a study on south african english-language children’s literature published between 1947 and 1982 concluded that blacks were likely to be portrayed as nomadic, uncivilized and inferior (lehman, 2006). for many years, in this area of the world, literary materials served the purpose of continuing the domination of the black population. only books representing the ideals of those in power were chosen for use in schools (lehman, 2006; naidoo, 2007). these books emphasized that history in south africa began in 1652 after the first dutch settlers arrived. after the end of the apartheid government, children’s literature in south africa improved in several ways; publishers began to create books that reflected the backgrounds of black children. in addition, books written in many languages other than english and afrikaans began to be published. after the first mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 80 democratic election in 1994, 11 official languages had been declared equal in status (heale, 2009). in previous years, there were two official languages: afrikaans, a language derived from dutch, and english. before apartheid, there was a rich oral tradition that included the many languages spoken in south africa, but few authors wrote books in these languages (lehman, 2006). newer books encouraged readers to develop accurate information about populations that previously endured the racist regime (petzold, 2005). although numerous improvements have been made in south african children’s literature, many problems remain. even after the democratic elections of 1994, a pro-apartheid attitude persisted, influencing the publication of one-sided children’s books (maccann & maddy, 2001). although publishers urged new books to be written in the many languages spoken in south africa, those written in english and afrikaans remained dominant. even though authors included more accurate and authentic experiences of blacks, a shortage of black authors persisted, and as a result, the black perspective is often missing (lehman, 2006). examples of more recent skewed children’s books on africa and its people include papa tembo (campbell, 1998). although some journals praised this book for various reasons, it depicted africa as an ancient and static place. as the following excerpt shows, the author uses stereotypical words when describing this region: the fire danced deep shadows on the long, red-robed figures of the masai, and their features, transformed by shifting light, suddenly seemed more savage, more primevally alien than before. for a split second he felt a jolt of fear as the knowledge took root that they were in a very different world. a world that had changed little in thousands of years. a world of magic and ancient savagery where life meant little. (campbell, 1998, pp. 90–91) west african children’s literature differs from other african children’s literature primarily because the dominant language in west africa has been french for many years, rather than english or afrikaans. as a result, many children’s books published there are in french. although many people in this area, especially those in urban areas, speak french as a result of interracial marriages, those in rural areas usually have problems learning in this language, since most grow up speaking their native language. each country differs. in some cases, only a few members of the population can read and write in french (tadjo, 2008). as a result, problems occur when children are sent to school to learn in a language other than their native language. although children’s books in west africa frequently depict the culture of the local people, many are written in french. after the period of colonization, many black authors wished to express their culture through literature, but did not do so using their native language. in the 21st century in most of the countries in this region, with the exception of niger and mauritania, most children’s books are in french, and there is a shortage of books written in indigenous languages (tadjo, 2008). conclusion children need to see, hear and read positive aspects about their group in order to develop self-esteem (morgan, 2009). it will be difficult for young learners to feel good about themselves if their group is left out of school materials and other groups are included or if they are not offered books in their native language. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 81 culturally authentic children’s books representing all groups are important for these reasons. such books develop pride in children from minority groups and encourage pupils belonging to the dominant culture to learn accurate information about minority groups. understanding the reasons distorted books could hurt children and using the appropriate criteria to determine whether a book is biased will help teachers avoid these resources. gaining this knowledge is crucial because outdated books with one-sided, skewed content can be found in most schools and libraries (morgan, 2009). teachers need to refrain from exposing young children to this stereotypical material. however, they can use this content with older students, as we did in this essay, to help these pupils gain awareness of inequalities in society in order to fight them. children’s books are a powerful resource; they can empower, but they can also dehumanize. references bradford, c. (1995). exporting australia: national identity and australian picture books. children's literature association quarterly, 20(3), 111–115. campbell, e. (1998). papa tembo. new york, ny: harcourt. crisp, t., & hiller, b. (2011). telling tales about gender: a critical analysis of caldecott-medal-winning picturebooks. journal of children’s literature, 37(2), 18–29. czaplinski, s. m. (1972). sexism in award winning picture books. pittsburgh, pa: know. davis, a. p., & mcdaniel, t. r. (1999). you’ve come a long way, baby−or have you? research evaluating gender portrayal in recent caldecott-winning books. the reading teacher, 52, 532–536. fitzpatrick, p. (1907). jock of the bushveld. london, uk: longmans, green and co. fleming, w. c. (2006). myths and stereotypes about native americans. phi delta kappan, 88(3), 213– 217. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. harris, v. j. (1997). using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom. norwood, ma: christopher-gordon publishers. heale, j. (2009). publishing for children in south african languages. sankofa, 8, 38–44. heller, c., cunningham, b., & heller, h. m. (2003). selecting children's picture books with positive native american fathers and father figures. multicultural review, 12(1), 43–48. hiemer, e. (1938). the poisonous mushroom. nuremberg: stürmerverlag. hiemer, e. (1940). the poodle-pug-dachshund-pinscher .nuremberg: der stürmer-buchverlag. hodges, m. (1984). saint george and the dragon. boston, ma: little, brown. hooks, w. h., & carrick, d. (1987). moss gown. new york, ny: houghton mifflin company. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrvgtqk5jrpavsrirsvkvpp5oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fiva%2brsvgzrrbkszzqeezdu33snoj6u97qgktq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bs7tlwvt0%2bvr7u%2b5oxwhd%2fqu37z4uqm4%2b7y&hid=13 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 82 hoyt, o. (1969). aborigines of australia. new york, ny: lothrop, lee, & shepard co. jacklin, c. n., & mischel, h. n. (1973). as the twig is bent−sex role stereotyping in early readers. school psychology digest, 2, 30–39. lawson, r. (1940). they were strong and good. new york, ny: penguin. lehman, b. a. (2006). children's literature and national identity in the new south africa. sankofa, 5, 6– 19. lippman, l. (1981). racism in australian children’s books. in r. preiswerk (ed.), the slant of the pen: racism in children’s books (pp. 61–71). geneva: world council of churches. maccann, d., & maddy, y.m. ( 2001). apartheid and racism in south african children's literature, 1985– 1995. new york, ny: routledge. magoon, k. (2015). shadows of sherwood: a robyn hoodlum adventure. new york, ny: bloomsbury children’s books. mills, m. (2002). poisoning young minds in nazi germany: children and propaganda in the third reich. social education, 66(4), 228–230. morgan, h. (2009). using read-alouds with culturally sensitive children’s books: a strategy that can lead to tolerance and improved reading skills. reading improvement, 46(1), 3–8. naidoo, b. (2007). south african children's literature: lifting the stones of apartheid. bookbird, 45(4), 18–25. norton, d. e. (2009). multicultural children’s literature. upper saddle river, nj: pearson. petzold, j. (2005). children's literature after apartheid: examining 'hidden histories' of south africa's past. children's literature association quarterly, 30(2), 140–151. pilutti, d. (2014). ten rules of being a superhero. new york, ny: christy ottaviano books. purcell, p., & stewart, l. (1990). dick and jane in 1989. sex roles, 22, 177–185. reese, d. (1997). native americans in children’s literature. in v. j. harris (ed.), using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom (pp. 155–192). norwood, ma: christopher-gordon publishers. roberts, l., dean, e., & holland, m. (2005). contemporary american indian cultures in children’s picture books. beyond the journal. retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200511/roberts1105btj.pdf smiles, j. (1968). the land in which we live. darlington, australia: southern cross international. tadjo, v. (2008). publishing children’s books in francophone west africa. mousaion, 26(2), 192–204. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrvgtqk5jrpavsriptfkvq55oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fiva%2bur060qrdlr6ukhn%2fk5vxj5kr84lpjh9%2fepizf3btzzjzfhrunsuu3p7vjrpzkh%2fdj34y73poe6urjkpia&hid=11 http://web.ebscohost.com.logon.lynx.lib.usm.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dgjymppp44rp2%2fdv0%2bnjisfk5ie4499%2f7kexsa%2bk63nn5kx95uxxjl6rrvgtqk5jrpavsriptfkvq55oy5zyit%2fk8xnh6ueh7n%2fiva%2bur060qrdlr6ukhn%2fk5vxj5kr84lpjh9%2fepizf3btzzjzfhrunsuu3p7vjrpzkh%2fdj34y73poe6urjkpia&hid=11 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, 74-83. corresponding author email: hani.morgan@usm.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 83 wegner, g. p. (2007). 'a propagandist of extermination:' johann von leers and the anti-semitic formation of children in nazi germany. paedagogica historica, 43(3), 299–325. wilder, l. i. (1935). little house on the prairie. new york, ny: scholastic. mailto:hani.morgan@usm.edu background religious bias in children’s books gender bias in children’s literature racial bias in children’s books conclusion references journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 51 rethinking reliability after students evaluate a facebook page about health care in singapore james s. damico, indiana university, u.s.a. mark baildon, national institute of education, singapore ___________________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this article considers what happened when a group of secondary level social studies students in singapore evaluated the reliability of an opposition politician’s facebook page on affordable healthcare. the students in the study found the politician’s facebook page to be unreliable because of its purpose, motive, or agenda. findings suggest that even though students were aware of certain factors used to determine source reliability – provenance, purpose, source content, cross-referencing – they seemed unsure about how these factors might be weighed and used together to determine the extent to which the source was reliable. this study illustrates the need for a more comprehensive conceptual understanding of reliability, especially when working with complex sources (e.g., facebook pages) and complex topics, such as healthcare. the authors outline what this conceptual understanding entails and offer suggestions for promoting discussion among students and teachers in order to help cultivate a conceptual understanding of reliability. key words: source reliability, reliability of resources health care is a complex topic and what intensifies this complexity is that an overwhelming amount of information about health care is but a keystroke, mouse click or finger swipe away. so, how do we make decisions about what information sources to engage with to help us understand health care and to take timely, responsive action when it comes to specific health care issues and decisions? we, of course, want and need sources we can trust. we want reliable information to ensure we understand the topic in order to help us make judicious decisions that impact our personal lives as well as to participate in discussions about ways to best develop and deliver health care across society. discerning the trustworthiness of information, of course, is no straightforward task. in the internet age, we need to contend with the sheer vastness of information available to us (or coming at us) in an ever increasing variety of formats, including youtube videos, facebook posts, tweets, emailed links, etc. our decision making is also shaped by our prior knowledge and experiences, political allegiances, and diverse belief systems. moreover, information sources come with agendas, reflecting particular purposes and values of the author or agency responsible for creating or disseminating the source. in this article, we draw on an example of what happened when a group of secondary level social studies students in singapore (14–15 year olds) evaluated the reliability of a facebook page as part of an activity about singapore’s health care system. we highlight how the work of these students compelled us to rethink how to best guide students to evaluate the reliability of information sources, which, in turn, led us toward a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of reliability, especially for working with 21st century sources like facebook pages and complex topics, such as health care. toward this end, we outline what a conceptual understanding of reliability might include and we make a case that the teaching of the specific skill, evaluating reliability, be rooted in classroom discussions about what reliability as a concept means and how to leverage this conceptual understanding to evaluate sources. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 52 reliability of information sources when someone is reliable, s/he is able to be trusted due to past performance. an information source is reliable when we can trust the author(s), agency, or sponsor of the source has taken appropriate measures to ensure the information is accurate and the claims made are well supported with sound, relevant evidence. in this sense, reliability and credibility are companion concepts. we, in fact, use them interchangeably in our work and in this article. flanagin and metzger (2008) made a similar case, contending that notions of credibility, reliability, trust, reputation, quality, authority, expertise and competence are closely affiliated. they organize these concepts into two dimensions: trustworthiness (e.g., reputation, reliability, trust) and expertise (quality, accuracy, authority, competence). they also outline three components of credibility that pertain especially to web-based information sources. source credibility refers to the accuracy, comprehensiveness, professionalism and sponsor credentials of a website. message credibility requires understanding the ways source structure, language, delivery of information and its currency, use of evidence and citations affect credibility assessment. media credibility is the relative credibility assigned to the media channels through which messages are sent. one aspect of teaching students to assess the reliability of information sources is to emphasize source attribution – identifying the author of a source, her or his motivations, how the source came into being and the intended audience. some have argued that this is a core goal of social studies education (e.g., beck, mckeown, & worthy, 1995; mckeown & beck, 1994;vansledright, 2010; wineburg, 2001). for wineburg (1991), students should learn to apply the “sourcing heuristic” by “looking first to the source of the document before reading the body of the text” (p. 77). this involves reading for the subtext of documents to reconstruct authors’ purposes, intentions and goals (wineburg, 2001). and we do know that students can become more skilled in evaluating information sources with appropriate heuristics. for example, britt and aglinskas (2002) used a computer application called sourcer’s apprentice to help students effectively learn to use the sourcing heuristic to evaluate sources. nokes, dole, and hacker (2007) also found that explicit teaching of the sourcing heuristic in high school history classes had value in helping students learn and apply the heuristic in their work. elementary students taught to use criteria to evaluate the trustworthiness of online sources were also found to improve their assessments of source reliability (baildon & baildon, 2008). however, other studies highlight the range of challenges students have evaluating source reliability. after teaching his young students to critically analyze source reliability, vansledright (2002) noted how they jumped from an initial trust of accounts to the view that all sources were inherently unreliable. much to his dismay, his upper elementary students moved from a naïve trust of sources to an overgeneralized suspicion that authors regularly and intentionally distort the truth. even older students often use superficial or irrelevant criteria to evaluate sources (braten, stromso, & britt, 2009; brem, russell, & weems, 2001). britt and aglinskas (2002) found that neither secondary students nor undergraduate students were able to consistently and effectively evaluate the reliability of historical sources. online information sources present particular challenges for adolescents. in a comprehensive surveybased study, flanagin and metzger (2010) found that most children (11–18 years old) take seriously the issue of the credibility of online information, yet many do not employ a rigorous approach to evaluate online information (p. xiii). their findings also show that children and adults both demonstrate an optimistic bias in their own abilities to discern credible information better than typical or average users. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 53 similarly, the work of literacy scholar, don leu, and his colleagues have shown, for example, that groups of middle school students (13–14 year olds) were unable to discern an internet hoax about a fictitious endangered species called the pacific northwest tree octopus (krane, 2006). fortunately, there is no shortage of instructional resources to guide educators and parents in helping students become more careful and critical evaluators of source reliability. these include lists of questions and suggestions from college or university libraries (e.g., http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/evaluating-checklist), guides specific to academic disciplines, such as social studies (history matters (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/makesense/) and other tools, e.g., schrock guide for information literacy (http://www.schrockguide.net/information-literacy.html)). coiro (2005) outlined a process with a set of questions and tips to guide students to more skillfully and successfully answer the question, “how do i know this [information source] is true?” the questions and corresponding tips were: does this information make sense? be skeptical and ask around. where else can i look? search the internet using keywords in quotation marks, or look in a book. who created the website and why? explore the about us link with a critical eye. who is the author? search the internet using the author's name in quotation marks. who is linking to the site? type link: followed by the url of the website in question into the search box of the google home page (coiro, 2005, p. 34). coiro went on to describe how a student used this question asking process to determine another online hoax site about california’s velcro crop was invalid. while these resources are useful, there is no evidence to suggest that teachers across the united states are systematically engaging students in this type of work. no state in the united states assesses students’ ability to critically evaluate the reliability of online information (leu, o’byrne, zawilinski, mcverry, & everett-cacopardo, 2009) and there is no explicit emphasis on online source evaluation with the common core state standards (council of chief state school officers, 2010). the education context in singapore, however, is somewhat different. the evaluation of source reliability has long been a staple of the singapore social studies curriculum. the emphasis on evaluating the reliability of online sources, however, represents a new frontier. social studies education in singapore at the center of the singapore social studies curriculum for secondary level students are o-level examinations (part of the general certificate of education, or gce, requirements in the united kingdom and many commonwealth nations). in o-level history and social studies examinations, students are asked to do source work – to perform six source-based thinking skills (make inferences, evaluate reliability, evaluate utility, evaluate claims, compare and contrast sources, and construct explanations) with black and white visual sources (e.g., images, political cartoons) and 50–100 word print sources. the use of online sources for the classroom teaching of these source-based skills has not been a focus. in terms of the social studies curriculum, the following questions, taken from the upper secondary social studies 3 express activity book for 9th and 10th grade students (ministry of education[moe], 2007), are prompts to help students determine whether a source is reliable: who produced the source? journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 54 when was it produced? was the creator of the source an eyewitness? where did he get his information from? is there any contradiction within the source? is the source biased in any way? is there consistency when cross referred to other sources? does the source agree with background knowledge? with this set of questions as a guide, teachers help students by using different tools, such as graphic organizers, diagrams or charts that visually present steps or procedures to follow. while students work through this process and consider the questions outlined above, there is no explicit guidance on how a final determination of reliability might be made based on answers to these questions. methods the guiding question for this qualitative inquiry was: what happened when two secondary level singapore social studies teachers asked students to evaluate the reliability of a complex digital text, the facebook page of an opposition party politician, as the students investigated the affordability of health care in singapore? the students did this work with the critical web reader or cwr (http://cwr.indiana.edu/), a technology tool that allows teachers to create curriculum activities using online information sources, whether it be websites, youtube videos, blogs, etc. (baildon & damico, 2011). the cwr takes any online information source, places it within a frame that teachers can customize to provide guiding questions, models, and suggestions that readers use as they engage with the information source. a writing tool is also embedded within the frame where students document their thinking and answer questions with each online source (i.e., their analyses, interpretations, and questions). the cwr infrastructure saves all teacher and student work to facilitate data collection and management. the two teachers in this study created a cwr activity called: “how affordable is health care in singapore?” and implemented it with their secondary 3 students (14–15 year olds). this is an issuebased question because it emphasizes an “authentic and contemporary” policy question (hess, 2009, p. 41). thirty seven students worked on the activity on september 15, 2011, but only 15 completed the entire activity primarily due to time limitations. this was the first time the students had studied health care, which is part of the textbook unit on “understanding governance” that includes a comparative study of singapore’s and britain’s health care systems. students worked individually on the cwr activity in a computer laboratory during two 60-minute class periods. a learning outcome in the unit is to “evaluate the effectiveness of the policies in meeting the health care needs of the people and nation” (moe, 2008, p. 10). our interest here is what happened when students were asked to evaluate the reliability of one source in this activity, a facebook posting titled “is health care affordable in singapore? here is my take” (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=139911682746578) from nicole seah, a 26-year old member of the opposition national solidarity party (nsp). description of web source nicole seah was the youngest person (24 at the time) to run for office in the may 7, 2011 general election in singapore. her party’s goals are to build a multi-party democracy and a “more open, dynamic, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 55 vibrant and inclusive society through consensus and the democratic process” (“national solidarity party (singapore)”, n.d.). no member of the nsp has won an election to gain a seat in singapore’s parliament. although the 2011 election was heavily contested and political opposition parties garnered more votes than any other time in singapore’s history, the people’s action party (pap) has dominated singapore’s government since independence in 1965. seah’s facebook post (seah, 2011) on the affordability of health care in singapore was dated april 21, 2011. there is a link to her facebook home page where she is listed as a “public figure” and the about page notes that she is a member of the nsp, an honors graduate of the national university of singapore, and that she “practices yoga, reads extensively and enjoys good music.” although seah did not win a seat in parliament, she was a popular figure who was able to use social media effectively during her campaign. although criticized for her lack of political experience, during the campaign seah capably defended her positions. she also noted her volunteer work and community involvement since secondary school and described her political awakening as happening when she delivered food to poor elderly people whose basic needs were not being met. while at the national university of singapore, she was managing editor of an independent online journal, the campus observer. she continually made a case for representing young people in singapore to ensure they have a greater stake in society and a voice in government policy decisions. her facebook post outlines her position on the affordability of singapore’s health care. here is a main claim from the post: whether health care is affordable really depends on which group of people you are asking. the reality of the situation is that people who are less well-off or people who belong to the lowerincome group will have a problem managing health care costs. (seah, 2011, para. 2) she went on to argue that the government needs to more aggressively step in by “re-prioritizing the allocation of resources” (n. seah, 2011, para. 10) to ensure health care is affordable for all groups of people in singapore. she concludes her post by saying “it is really a matter of who you ask and whether there is more that can be done for those who need it badly” (para. 12). classroom activity the singapore students in their classroom were asked to answer four questions to evaluate the reliability of this facebook post: 1. what is the provenance of the source? (time, place, and person responsible for the source) 2. what is the purpose of the source? 3. is the content reliable? 4. to what extent is this source reliable? explain. of note, the questions did not explicitly ask students to corroborate or cross-reference this source. the students also worked independently to answer these questions. the two teachers believed the students could readily work with this source because the students had some background knowledge about both the content and the provenance of the source (i.e., they knew about seah and opposition parties). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 56 so, what happened when the group of 15 students was asked to evaluate the reliability of this facebook post from a young opposition party politician? findings when prompted to answer the four questions—1. what is the provenance of the source? 2. what is the purpose of the source? 3. is the content reliable? 4. to what extent is this source reliable? explain.—all 15 students deemed the facebook page unreliable because of its purpose, but there was some overlap as well as differences with how they arrived at this conclusion. (note: some students’ responses fall into more than one of the categories below.) five students did not dedicate much time to analyzing source content and deemed the source unreliable because its provenance (the author’s affiliation with an opposition party) suggested “motive” or an “agenda.” these responses tended to be shorter with a more immediate determination of reliability. for example, one student noted the author had a “hidden agenda, which was to gain more votes for her party in the singapore general election. . . . hence this source is unreliable as it has motive.” another student cited bias as the problem. “the source is biased, in that it was made by a member of the nsp and hence partial to the nsp.” many (10 of the 15) students provided more extensive content analysis in their responses (e.g., 375–500 words) to support the idea that the source was unreliable because of the author’s purpose. for example, one student combined an analysis of provenance and source content to conclude, source b is unreliable in term [sic] of its purpose as nicole seah is one of the national solidarity party (nsp) candidates for the general election, her aim is to convince the singaporeans that the singapore’s health care system is still unaffordable for some of the people. this can be seen from “the reality of the situation is that people who are less well-off or people who belong to the lower-income group will have a problem managing health care costs.” this is so that the singaporeans will start to support her instead of the current government and believe that she can help to improve the health care system. interestingly, three students analyzed the source content and found it reliable, but still deemed the source unreliable because of its purpose. here is one example: this source is reliable in saying that singaporeans that do not earn much will suffer more in paying for health care in singapore. this can be seen from, “the reality of the situation is that people who are less well-off or people who belong to the lower-income group will have a problem managing health care costs.” this shows that the most disadvantaged group of people in singapore is the lower-income group as they would have more issues in struggling with the payment of the health care fees. this source, however, is not reliable because it has a purpose. this source was created to convince singaporeans that she was concerned for their welfare. this can be seen from, “it is really a matter of who you ask and whether there is more that can be done for those who need it badly.” by saying this, it shows that she is empathizing with the citizens so that they will respect and hold her in high regards. more citizens then will then vote for her. this source was created on wednesday, april 20, 2011 at 9:13am, singapore’s general election 2011 was coming journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 57 up and candidates wanted to get into the good books of singaporeans so that they can garner more votes and be elected. therefore by creating this source, it was to help themselves gain seats in the general elections. hence, this source is unreliable. six of the 15 students used cross referencing to help them determine the reliability of the source, even though they were not prompted explicitly to do this. this group of students referred to other sources to both refute and support the source content. they used a singapore ministry of health video to refute seah’s claims about the affordability of health care (this source provided evidence that health care was affordable) and a blog post called “high cost of medical care in singapore,” (which was located on a news site called the online citizen) to support seah’s views (since this source similarly argued that health care was not affordable for low income groups). although these students performed cross referencing, they all concluded that the facebook source was unreliable because of its purpose. one student even viewed the source content as reliable, cited evidence from the source, and used cross referencing with blog post from the online citizen to provide further evidence in support of the claim that singapore’s health care did not meet the needs of low income groups. however, in her final evaluation, this student deemed the source unreliable because nicole seah was an opposition party candidate and wanted votes. in sum, not a single student determined the facebook page to be reliable as a source of information about the affordability of health care in singapore. determining provenance merely pointed to the author having a purpose (to win the election); students analyzed source content but even when students viewed the content to be reliable, their ultimate evaluation settled on problems with the author’s purpose; students cross referenced to other sources but this seemingly did not affect their overall evaluation in any way. discussion reflecting on the students’ responses compelled us to try to better understand what they were really asked to do in responding to the four questions (1. what is the provenance of the source? 2. what is the purpose of the source? 3. is the content reliable? 4. to what extent is this source reliable? explain). what did they need to know and understand to answer these questions and, ultimately, evaluate the reliability of this source? this pushed us to examine the three core concepts embedded in these questions – provenance, purpose, and content; to ask: what conceptual understanding of each does a reader need to have to evaluate information sources in general and this facebook post in particular? for starters, we realized that determining the reliability of this source was not necessarily simple and straightforward. nichole seah discloses who she is and communicates that she cares about the issue and singapore. although young and seemingly inexperienced, she outlines some important issues related to affordable health care in singapore. moreover, while she is obviously trying to persuade readers (and is a member of the opposition party), she presents her views in a straightforward, seemingly honest way. while seah outlines her specific purpose in the title “here is my take” (about whether health care is affordable in singapore), the purposes of social media sites like facebook can operate at multiple levels of meaning and thus, have different purposes than traditional information sources (greenhow & robelia, 2009). facebook tends to be a form of self-publishing where the purpose is to primarily garner emotional support, maintain and mobilize relationships and enhance self-presentation. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 58 seah is explicit in her purpose and respectful to readers. she also presents a reasonable argument, which is consistent with findings based on others’ work, such as barr’s (2001) study of singapore’s health care system which found certain procedures and conditions, such as congenital abnormalities, cosmetic surgery, abortion, infertility procedures, mental illness, and treatment for drug addiction were prohibitive for those at lower income levels. moreover, several studies highlight the success of the singapore system, yet point out that “singapore provides a ‘floor’ of basic health care that is accessible to all the people, but advanced and high-tech care is not equitably distributed, nor was it ever intended to be” (hsiao, 2007). thus, the claims or arguments seah makes are not inaccurate. this source, however, is also limited. it does not provide clear and substantive evidence to support her case, and it is up to readers to draw from other sources to corroborate the claims. she also seemingly takes for granted that readers will come to the source with sufficient background knowledge to understand key aspects of the context, which are central to understanding the source (e.g., the relationships between rising defense spending, public infrastructure and health care expenditures). with the complexities of this facebook page in mind, table 1 outlines our attempt to outline key procedures and associated conceptual understandings for evaluating the reliability of sources. the left hand column lists the three components of reliability; the right hand column describes what we believe are the core understandings required for each component. when considering source provenance it is important for students to know that all authors are in some ways biased, yet that is no excuse to dismiss all sources as equally biased; authors’ backgrounds, experiences, and willingness to be up front about their interests count as well. when considering purpose, it is important to understand that all sources are written with a purpose, sources vary in how up front these purposes are, and that some purposes are more trustworthy than others. in terms of content, the careful evaluation of claims and evidence and corroboration (cross referencing) is key to gauging the reliability of a source. these three concepts also interact dynamically, so an ultimate decision about the reliability of a source needs to be holistic, a careful assessment of the interdependence of these core concepts. table 1. key procedures and conceptual understandings for evaluating reliability procedure key conceptual understandings evaluate provenance 1. author background, expertise, experience affect their competence to speak about particular issue (depends on issue they discuss and their experience with it). 2. all authors are biased or have limited views but we must determine if the bias is acceptable or if it should disqualify them. 3. disclosure which states one’s background, interests and positions is important. if not stated, can do background check. assess purpose 1. all sources written/created with some purpose in mind. 2. some purposes explicitly stated while others may be vague, implied, hidden or not easily discerned. 3. some purposes more trustworthy than others (e.g., inclusive, sincere, respectful, balanced purposes more trustworthy than efforts to mislead, deceive, or solely promote selfjournal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 59 interest). analyze content and cross reference 1. claims and evidence must be evaluated for accuracy. this requires evaluating reasonableness, if content fits with what is already known, what other sources say, etc. 2. need to check content for errors, bias, and tone (e.g., if emotive, one sided, advocacy focused, etc.) to determine if reliable as a source of information. 3. need to corroborate information, check to see if it is consistent with other sources or refuted by other sources. make determination of reliability each of the above factors must be weighed together to make an overall judgment of reliability because informed conclusions and decisions require reliable information. the students in the singapore classroom focused exclusively on the author’s purpose and deemed the source unreliable because it had a motive, intention or agenda. we, instead, would want students to demonstrate that they knew that nicole seah, like all authors, had a purpose (or multiple purposes) when she created this information source, but that this should not automatically make the source unreliable. we would also want students to understand that authors have different purposes with some being more trustworthy than others. we would want students to note, for example, that seah had a purpose, but there is nothing necessarily troubling about her agenda; she’s trying to inform a public about problems related to affordable health care and she does this in ways that are honest with examples that seemingly would resonate with singaporean people. so, while there are limitations of this source (i.e., limited evidence), we have difficulty declaring that, overall, this facebook post is unequivocally unreliable. reliability in history education, reliability for citizenship education in history education, barton (2005) made a case to consider reliability in terms of the evidentiary potential of a source; for each time we encounter a source to ask questions like, “is there evidence in this source that i can use to help answer my questions?” barton argued that use of the sourcing heuristic, which includes identifying the author and her/his purposes (wineburg, 1991) has resulted in a myth that historians use sourcing to evaluate source bias and reliability. according to barton, the bias contained in a source may actually be what makes the source reliable because it provides an accurate view of a particular perspective at a particular time or place. other than for testimonial accounts, reliability rarely needs to be considered because “it is the very fact of the existence of the source that constitutes historical evidence” (barton, 2005, p. 747). thus, if a goal is for students to do the work of historians in the ways barton points to, going through a process of determining the reliability of sources would be mostly unnecessary, or even misguided. we agree that evaluating reliability is not an end in itself and is, in most cases, best viewed and understood as part of an analytical process that emphasizes the extraction of useful, relevant evidence to answer questions. yet, we find it necessary to make two key distinctions: one pertains to working in the realm of historical inquiry; the other is to distinguish investigations in history to more general purposes and practices of inquiry in social studies, which includes an emphasis on citizenship education, and in education more generally. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 60 while historians are most interested in working with the evidence, a source provides about the particular historical event or issue they are investigating, at times they still need to determine source provenance and authenticate sources to make sure they are not working with forgeries or counterfeit documents (and therefore faulty evidence). this might be especially the case for older sources. for example, one of our colleagues, an historian who studies china's international relations during the tang dynasty consistently authenticates sources in his own work (wang, personal interview, 2012). chinese and japanese traders and politicians during this period regularly dealt in the exchange of state letters and insignia for economic and diplomatic purposes and on occasion these were forged to gain court favor and geopolitical advantage in east asia (wang, 2005). although these forged materials do provide evidence about the importance of official documentation in chinese-japanese relations, it is also necessary to authenticate sources to determine which japanese officials, for example, “carried the prestige of the chinese court” (wang, 2005, p. 20). moving outside of historical inquiry (and attempts by middle school or secondary school teachers to help students mirror or approximate the practices of an historian) and into the more general and all purpose roles and responsibilities of being a citizen, (what we see as part of social studies education and education more broadly) we argue it is crucial to have reliable information to reach informed conclusions or to make good decisions about issues, such as affordable health care. as citizens, our first line of defense against making faulty decisions is reliable information. this is highly important because of the misinformation, scams, hoaxes, and unvetted, fake or doctored information sources that circulate in online spaces. identifying purposes, weighing bias and determining the reliability of information, then, is first order intellectual work to ensure useful, relevant and sound information is being consulted. if our goal is to best understand an issue, we do not want to waste our time with sources that mislead, misinform, or are outright deceptive. rethinking source work in 21st century contexts as teachers in singapore, the united states and around the world include more complex online sources of information, such as facebook pages, youtube videos, blogs and websites, as part of classroom instruction, it is essential to help students carefully and critically evaluate the reliability of these sources. but to do this work well requires a conceptual understanding of this core skill. table 1 is intended to help teachers and students understand the nature of reliable sources as they perform key steps to evaluate source reliability. and surely one way to cultivate this conceptual understanding is to provide students with consistent opportunities to use questions like these in table 1 to work with sources in a systematic way. however, we think this approach is limited if students primarily engage in this work individually, which was the case for this group of singapore students. it is important for students to discuss their sense making. walter parker’s (2006) description of two different types of classroom discussion, seminar and deliberation, offers a way forward. the purpose of a seminar discussion is for participants “to plumb the world deeply” toward an “enlarged understanding of the text and one another” (2006, p. 12). a deliberation is focused on decision making, as participants identify and evaluate alternatives and choose a course of action. we see attention to both of these discussion types as pivotal next steps. with a seminar discussion, teachers would guide students to delve into the concept of reliability, posing and pursuing questions like: what does reliability mean to us? is the reliability of some sources more difficult to discern than others? why might we have different views about the reliability of a source? in what journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 51-63. corresponding author email: damico@indiana.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 61 ways has the concept of reliability stayed the same or changed over time? an exploration of the affordances and limitations of different reliability frameworks, formulas and assorted checklists could also be included to enrich a classroom inquiry. in terms of deliberation, teachers could narrow the discussion on a more specific issue, to decide, for example, whether or not a particular source is reliable enough to use in a research report. students would need to ultimately decide whether a source should be deemed appropriate to be included in the report or not. we could, for example, imagine the group of singapore students having a generative deliberation about the nicole seah facebook post. conclusion digital information sources can be complex in several ways: provenance or authorship and sponsorship are sometimes difficult to discern; the purposes of sources can be vague or be intended to deceive; the structure, language features and knowledge demands of sources can make it challenging to evaluate the content’s accuracy; and it is often relatively easy to corroborate the view of one source by locating another source with the same perspective, argument or set of facts. moreover, there is no shortage of pressing personal and public issues—e.g., related to health care, climate change, water shortages, war, terrorism, etc.—to better understand and address. by including the facebook page in the classroom activity, the teachers and students in this study began to consider the challenges of critically analyzing and evaluating this type of information source. our findings indicate the need for conceptual scaffolding to accompany the procedural scaffolding that is often emphasized in singapore’s social studies classrooms. both forms of scaffolding with an emphasis on how students can do this work in online environments with complex online sources deserve greater attention. we want to make sure students are not just answering questions about the provenance, purpose and content of information sources or merely following procedural steps; instead we want to see the development of deeper understandings about how each of these interact in ways that shape a final determination of reliability. to help ensure this 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(1991). historical problem solving: a study of the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. journal of educational psychology, 83(1), 73– 87. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts: charting the future of teaching the past. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. reliability of information sources social studies education in singapore methods description of web source classroom activity findings discussion reliability in history education, reliability for citizenship education rethinking source work in 21st century contexts conclusion references the national council for the social studies (ncss) has a long history with global education and it has taken many forms over th journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 58 fall 2010 an historical account of the international assembly margit e. mcguire, seattle university, usa with contributions from richard beardsley, retired social studies teacher, richmond, bc, canada and robert fowler, professor emeritus, university of victoria, canada the national council for the social studies (ncss) has a long history with global and international education. there have been special interest groups focusing on global and international education and clearly many members have placed a high priority on making the organization more international. the following highlights events that kept the “flame burning” and led to the establishment of the international assembly in 1994. in 1981, president theodore kaltsounis suggested to the ncss board of directors that the national council for the social studies become the international council for the social studies. this proposal did not go forward but many members continued to seek ways to make the organization more international in focus. a milestone was reached in 1988 under the leadership of president jan l. tucker, when the board of directors narrowly passed a motion to establish an international conference to occur every three years. the first international conference was held as a joint venture between ncss and the university of british columbia (ubc) in vancouver, canada with sponsorship from the british columbia social studies teachers’ association and the washington state council for the social studies with support from the alaska and oregon state councils. this joint venture brought together canadian and american educators to plan the first ever conference open to educators from across the world but with a special focus on the pacific rim. the conference, “pacific rim: international conference on social studies education,” drew 1100 educators from sixteen countries and jurisdictions around the pacific rim. under the joint leadership of jan l. tucker, president of ncss, and don wilson, professor of social studies at ubc, the conference clearly established itself as an international event. with great enthusiasm and interest, conference attendees discussed how they might continue these valuable international connections. many attendees viewed ncss as too insular and not outward looking. while there was great enthusiasm and interest, it was clear there was not the infrastructure to support an international organization, and especially so without the aid of technology that is widely available today. however, the idea did not die and continued to simmer as other international conferences were planned and attended, particularly in miami, usa (1991) and nairobi, kenya (1994) * . in 1991, international educators approached ncss president margit mcguire and raised the issue of an international organization again. one suggestion was to create a position on the board of directors for an international * other international conferences followed in sydney, australia (1997) and calgary, canada (2000). sadly this initiative died after the calgary, canada international conference in 2000. journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 59 fall 2010 member. this idea did not seem feasible given the time and cost of attendance and participation in board meetings. additionally, it was not clear how such a position would address the interests of international members. as conversations continued, it became clear that ncss could indeed support the infrastructure of an international component but what was the best venue? consideration was given to a special interest group (sig) but was rejected because of the informality of sigs. after additional discussion, it seemed that the “associated” organizational structure would meet the needs of international members. the first problem was: no one knew how such a group could be constituted as other associated groups had been in operation as long as anyone could remember. additionally, it was not clear how such a body could be established under the bylaws of ncss. there were also issues about whether such a group would “fracture” the organization by establishing yet another entity that stood apart from the rest of the organization. counter positions argued that the international assembly, as it would be called, would provide a home base for international members and visitors alike. the debate continued for the next two years and finally on may 1, 1994, the ncss board of directors voted to establish the international assembly as an associated group. at the annual meeting in phoenix in 1994, the international assembly formally met and approved its constitution. robert fowler, university of victoria, canada, a strong proponent of the international assembly and one of the early advocates for such an organization at the pacific rim international conference, served as the first chairperson. the rationale as stated in the international assembly constitution makes the case for the associated group: for the past twenty years the annual conference of ncss has attracted numbers of social studies educators from many countries. canadians, australians, and, increasingly educators from the european community, in particular, have become active members of ncss. moreover, in recent years, educators from africa, asia and south america have offered significant contributions. these educators have taken advantage of the ncss conference to interact and network among themselves and with their american counterparts on issues of common concern in teaching and learning social studies. this interaction has heightened awareness among all members of the international dimension of the social studies and the transnational nature of issues, developments and concerns in social education of the people of this planet. to its credit, ncss has proved the major, if not the sole forum for an international gathering of social educators. the leadership of the council in offering this forum to all social educators has been very much appreciated by u.s. and “foreign” members alike. in turn international delegates have provided a diversity of perspectives that have enlivened and enriched both the formal program of the annual conference and its informal debates and discussions. the international community welcomes, therefore, the council’s decisions to grant affiliated status to the international assembly. hence, this proposed constitution is put forward for information in order journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number 1 60 fall 2010 that it will be discussed, revised if necessary, and approved by the membership of the international assembly at its meeting in phoenix on november 18, 1994. the international assembly has featured many notable speakers since its inception including former chancellor helmut schmidt in 1999. at that meeting, the international assembly instituted the jan l. tucker memorial lecture that has continued to attract internationally renowned government and policy decision-makers as well as authors and educators. the international assembly has broadened the organization through its network of such notable presenters thus increasing the international focus of the organization and affirming the important contributions that the international assembly makes to ncss. as globalization increases, the international assembly plays an essential role in ncss in highlighting topics from an international perspective, providing a forum for international educators, and supporting international outreach that is so essential to the national council for the social studies. today the international assembly continues to flourish with strong leadership and a commitment to global and international education endeavors. to date there have been eight leaders each serving a two-year term. robert fowler (canada) 1994-1996 hans hooghoff (netherlands) 19961998 gavin faichney (australia) 1998-2000 vickie green (canada) 2000-2002 omiunota nelly ukpokodu (usa) 2002 2004 toni fuss kirkwood-tucker (usa) 2004 2006 gloria alter (usa) 2006-2008 iftikhar ahmad (usa) 2008-2010 margit mcguire is a past president of the national council of the social studies journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 4 examining the historical representation of the holocaust within trade books john h. bickford iii (jbickford@eiu.edu) lieren schuette (lnschuette@eiu.edu) cynthia w. rich (cwrich@eiu.edu) eastern illinois university _____________________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: state and national education initiatives provide american students with opportunities to engage in close readings of complex texts from diverse perspectives as they actively construct complicated understandings as they explore complex texts. opportunities for interdisciplinary units emerge as the role of non-fiction in english/language arts and informational texts in history/social studies increases dramatically. trade books are a logical curricular link between these two curricula. the initiatives, however, do not prescribe specific curricular material so teachers rely on their own discretion when selecting available trade books. scholarship indicates that historical misrepresentations emerge within trade books to varying degrees, yet only a few empirical studies have been conducted. we empirically evaluated trade books centered on the holocaust, which is arguably the most consequential global event in 20th century. it is also a curricular element of u.s. history, world history, and english/language arts. we report various misrepresentations within the trade books regarding the holocaust’s origins, targeted victims, victim totals, contributors, and recognition of other genocidal acts. we provide ancillary primary sources for teachers interested in addressing or balancing the historical misrepresentations. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ the nazi-initiated 1940s industrial genocide, or holocaust, is certainly the 20th century’s nadir and arguably humanity’s low point. it, deservedly, has a prominent fixture in middle level and high school history and social studies. the holocaust has a similar position in english and language arts, especially when one counts the enormity and quality of published young adult literature (hereafter, "trade books"). considering its historical complexities and curricular popularity, we investigated how trade books historically represented and contextualized the holocaust. young adult authors cannot—and should not—detail the history like historians, yet teachers should be aware of the trade books’ historicity, or historical representation and accuracy (schwebel, 2011). scholarship indicates the ubiquity of historical misrepresentations within history-based trade books about slavery in america, child labor in america, thanksgiving, native americans, christopher columbus, abraham lincoln, and impactful 20th century american women like eleanor roosevelt, helen keller, rosa parks and amelia earhart (bickford, 2013a; bickford, dilley, & metz, 2015; bickford & hunt, 2014; bickford & rich, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b; desai, 2014; williams, 2009). these findings are unsurprising considering that trade books, even history-based trade books, are not rigorously vetted for journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 5 historicity like history textbooks (loewen, 1995; schwebel, 2011). until now, no research has mapped the holocaust content that was included, how it was included, and what was disregarded. other considerations contribute to the significance of this research. first, american state and national initiatives, in following some international educational trends, prescribe changes to the reading material in both english/language arts and social studies/history (national governors association center for best practices & council of chief state school officers [nga & ccsso], 2010; partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers [parcc], 2012). a relatively equivalent balance between literature (fiction, historical fiction, etc.) and informational texts (secondary history books and primary source documents like letters, diary entries, photographs, etc.) will replace the preponderance of fiction in english/language arts; increased readings of informational texts and the intentional juxtaposition of primary and secondary accounts will displace, or diminish the deference given to, textbooks in social studies/history. holocaust-based trade books—from historical fiction and various subgenera of nonfiction (narrative non-fiction, biography, diary, memoir, and expository)—have a potentially prominent future position in both curricula. second, the initiatives require changes yet provide little guidance for teachers to traverse the implications of these mandates (sapers, 2015). educators from any country might be entirely unaware of the lacunae within their selected trade books and unacquainted with material to address the misrepresentations. public and accessible digital repositories, like the library of congress, provide diverse informational texts to supplement a trade book or a textbook, yet the tasks of review and selection can overwhelm. even educators who are aware of the historical misrepresentations within previously used trade books might question their own ability to select a new book because of the sheer volume of choices. as holocaust-based trade books far outnumber other history topics for trade books printed in english, teachers have a seemingly inexhaustible selection. prior to purchase, teachers are left to judge a book on little more than its cover due to endemic concerns with online summaries and reviews, which may be written by non-experts (likely teachers or parents) or those with a vested interest in the sale of the book (like authors or editors). it is, therefore, necessary to examine the historical representation of the holocaust within trade books. this inquiry is rooted in the theoretical frameworks of sociocultural theory and cognitive constructivism (nokes, 2011; vansledright, 2014; vygotsky, 1978, 1985; wineburg, 2001). its foundation originates from four presumptions. first, trade books cannot comprehensively detail every aspect of history yet sanitized tales do not substitute for history. second, the holocaust warrants a historically representative retelling more than any other 20th century historical event. third, adolescents— consumers of gratuitous media—are mature enough to grasp the historical realities of the holocaust. finally, historiography informs the trade book analysis. historiography this research, when simplified to its foundation, identifies areas of convergence and divergence between trade books’ historical content and historians’ understandings. this inquiry is accordingly based on the resonant and relevant historiography, which does not begin with adolf hitler and the nazis. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 6 if hitler was the gardener and the nazis were his garden tools, then europe was fertile ground for cultivation with its extensive, dubious history of anti-semitism (bankier, 1992; browning, 2004; goldhagen, 2013). hitler’s oratory, confidence, and promises, coupled with nazis propaganda and ostensible power, persuaded—or solicited active support from—a significant portion of the populace both in and outside of germany (payne, 1973; shirer, 1961). scholars debate middling german soldiers’ and citizens’ motivation to participate and their degree of willing involvement, yet they converge in agreement that ordinary germans’ complicity was essential for the manifestation of the final solution (bankier, 1992; browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997). the third reich’s origin, ascent, and collapse—through which the anti-semitic prose and sporadic, violent action emerged into systematic industrial genocide—relied on myriad personalities not named hitler, like albert speer, and organizations not named nazi, like the catholic church (goldhagen, 2002; shirer, 1960; speer, 1970). hitler’s venom, apparent in various speeches, and nazi action, like kristallnacht, solicited worldwide sympathy for jews; the sympathy manifested in conferences (like in 1938 in evian france, to discuss large-scale jewish emigration) and attempted legislation (like the 1939 wagner-rogers bill intended to rescue jewish refugee children) but no action (browning, 2004; goldhagen, 2002; shirer, 1960). european jews were hitler’s primary—but not only—target and comprised roughly 6 of the 11 million victims (bankier, 1992; browning, 2004; payne, 1973; shirer, 1961). just as the holocaust did not originate entirely in the mid-20th century, genocide did not begin under hitler and did not end in 1945 as has been documented in centuries prior and confirmed in each decade after (goldhagen, 2009; novick, 1999; power, 2002). the holocaust’s significance is unsurpassed; its implications on political and military action regarding subsequent genocides are fluid. while every detail cannot be included in all trade books, it is important to investigate what was included (and omitted) and how it was included in trade books. this research juxtaposes trade books’ content with historiography to explore how the holocaust is historically represented within young adult literature. methods we utilized inductive content analysis, a rigorous qualitative approach, in all research components (krippendorff, 2013; maxwell, 2010; zhang & wildemuth, 2009). in order to establish a representative, sizeable, and current data pool, we used the three largest literature resources, viz. amazon, scholastic and barnes and noble, to collect the titles of all holocaust-based children’s trade books. we targeted only in-print trade books because these are available for teachers interested in adapting their curricula to adhere to state and national initiatives; teachers might be able to locate out-of-print books but it would be unwieldy to gather a class set. to determine the books’ reading level, we triangulated data from advantage/tasa open standard and, where available, lexile, grade level expectations and developmental reading assessment. systematic sampling, the most appropriate form of sampling for literature, ensured a representative sample of appropriate size as 25% (n=50) of the books were randomly selected (see appendix i, entitled "data pool"). the steps to establish a representative, random, current, and sizeable sample are consistent with best practice methods (krippendorff, 2013). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 7 to generate empirically based findings, we utilized both open coding and axial coding (krippendorff, 2013). we individually read each book and recorded observable patterns (and anomalies to the patterns). this initial step was an open coding scrutiny of the books’ narratives. notes about emergent patterns from the initial readings were then synthesized and became tentative codes for an axial coding scrutiny. we then reread each book to determine the presence (or absence) of the tentative codes and their frequency. in other words, we reevaluated each book to determine what was included, how it was represented (or misrepresented), and what was omitted. particular attention was paid to how content was included because an adult writer might include historical content that an adolescent reader—with questionable prior knowledge—might not fully grasp. our intent was to determine whether the historical content would be reasonably clear to a typical adolescent student who reads at the book’s intended reading level. during this second rereading, we noted the need for distinctions between content that was explicitly detailed multiple times and content that was included but minimized or only included in the afterword, a section that a child might not read. distinctions needed to be made, for instance, between books that detailed hitler’s many targets for extermination frequently throughout the narrative with those books that noted only jews as targets within the narrative but mentioned in a single sentence in the afterword that non-jewish victims made a sizeable portion of the victims of the holocaust. the former was termed “explicitly detailed”; the latter earned the “included but minimized” denotation. we accomplished these distinctions during the third rereading. no new patterns in need of testing were located and, therefore, there was no need for a fourth reevaluation (see appendix ii, entitled "content analysis tool"). this qualitative research project—from the data pool to the data sample to the data analyses—followed best practice research methods (krippendorff, 2013; maxwell, 2010; zhang & wildemuth, 2009). the methodology corresponded with similar empirical research (bickford, 2013a; bickford et al., 2015; bickford & hunt, 2014; bickford & rich, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b; chick, 2006; chick & corle, 2012; chick, slekar, & charles, 2010; desai, 2014) and case study research (schwebel, 2011; williams, 2009) on children’s and young adult literature. findings the historical significance of the holocaust is not disputed so neither is its inclusion in world history curricula. the combination of its historical significance and a plethora of holocaust-based trade books contribute significantly to its placement in english curricula. teachers of either content likely trust the history within their selected material yet historicity was inconsistently achieved, as the findings demonstrate. genre and primary sources educators, like their students, largely trust the historicity of their selected curricular resources (loewen, 1995; wineburg, 2001). it would be antithetical to knowingly use historically misrepresentative or inaccurate material in a unit of such magnitude. two particular characteristics about the reviewed literature contribute to this trust: genre and the incorporation of primary source material. the majority of books (n=36; 72%) were non-fiction with a variety of subgenres, which included narrative non-fiction, biography, diary, memoir and expository. a portion was historical fiction (n=14; journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 8 28%) with disclaimers about specific fictionalized aspects and strong claims of historical authenticity, if not accuracy. all of the books, thus, either connoted or denoted their effective historical representation of the holocaust. trade books’ inclusion of primary source material perhaps contributed to an appearance of historicity. the majority (n=33; 66%) incorporated photographs, excerpts from letters and speeches, and newspaper headlines that both supplemented the narrative and were consistent with its content. many that did not include actual documents incorporated artistic representations of primary source material. the integration of historical documents contributed to an appearance of historicity. most of the books, thus, were non-fiction and integrated assorted primary source material (see appendix iii, entitled "biographical content", for specific details of each). such characteristics would likely influence readers—both adolescents and educators—to trust the historical content within the trade books’ narratives. the historical content that trade books omit, however, negatively impacted their actual historicity. history of anti-semitism the history of the columbian exchange did not begin when christopher columbus stepped on soil in the new world just as the civil rights movement did not originate with rosa parks’s bold move on the bus; the roots of each era extend a good distance back from these singular events. historians contextualize the holocaust’s origins with details of centuries of anti-semitic attitudes and pogroms (browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997, 2013; power, 2002), yet only a small amount of the trade books detailed this explicitly (n=15; 30%). a paltry portion included minimized versions of this dubious history in a single sentence (n=3; 6%). an adolescent reader would not likely grasp the historical significance of the holocaust’s origins with considerably minimized content, especially if it were relegated to a single sentence in the afterword like, “although there were periodic outbreaks of violence in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, for the most part the jews [prospered]” (pryor, 2011, p. 154). the vast majority failed to clearly convey germany’s history of anti-semitism as half omitted such content entirely (n=25; 50%) or vaguely implied it (n=7; 14%). four perfect pebbles: a holocaust story illustrates the latter, once again the long-smoldering hatred of the jews, known as anti-semitism—one of the oldest prejudices in the world—was fanned into flames. today the year that is remembered as the beginning of the official racist activity in germany is 1933. (perl & lazan, 1996, p. 14) a young reader (likely) cannot comprehend the social isolation, political marginalization, violence and dehumanization that the author encoded in either of the previous excerpts. many books that entirely omitted the content also included misleading prose, like how the german populace was “brainwashed into believing what they did was for a good cause” (williams, 1996, p. 167). when germane historical context is minimized, vaguely included, or entirely omitted, an adolescent reader cannot effectively seize the nefarious interconnections between europe’s past and hitler’s germany in the mid-20th century. in holocaust: understanding and remembering (strahinich, 1996), for instance, the reader is walked through the roots of anti-semitism, with religious disagreement and its historical corollaries, like the intentional incineration of the talmud and jews themselves, placement in ghettos or their expulsion journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 9 from the country, and social, political and economic marginalization (strahinich, 1996). the historical content is graphic yet accurate; anything less is problematic (see appendix iv, entitled "historical context, pre-war aid, ordinary germans, and culpability", for specific details of each). the intent is not to shame any author that did not include such detail; teachers, though, should be aware of what is included, how it is included, what is omitted, and trade books’ startlingly frequent omission of the holocaust’s origins. pre-war (non-)assistance hitler and nazi germany were brazen in words and action, as noted in contentious speeches, legal decrees, and strategic mob violence like kristallnacht. many outsiders were concerned with nazi germany’s conspicuous hostility and sought to provide refuge for jews intent on resettling or humanitarian aid. as the latter was denied, dialogue and legislation on the former emerged both internationally and within the united states. three dozen countries sent delegates to evian, france for a 9 day conference in 1938, which produced only excuses as to why their strict immigration quotas could not be relaxed. save kindertransport in england and other smaller efforts, the international community collectively turned their metaphorical backs. the wagner-rogers bill, proposed in 1939 and again in 1940 in the u.s. congress, sought to admit jewish refugee children; many senators pleaded with president roosevelt for executive action. the american legislative and executive branches each followed the world’s seeming apathy as the wagner-rogers bill went unsupported and roosevelt offered kind words but no tangible help (goodwin, 2013; persico, 2002; stafford, 2011). trade book authors largely disregarded the world’s apparent indifference. only a small portion (n=8; 16%) explicitly detailed the world’s inaction. for instance, “delegates from 32 countries . . . rose one by one and spoke in sympathetic tones about the german refugee problem but all invariably followed with reasons why their country could not accept additional jewish refugees” (hasday, 2002, p. 68). a similarly small portion included vague content (n=5; 10%) with references like “other countries would not let them in” (davidson, 2008, p. 24). the vast majority of trade books (n=37; 74%) entirely omitted the history of the world’s collective inaction (see appendix iv, entitled "historical context, pre-war aid, ordinary germans, and culpability", for specific details of each). noting that the overwhelming majority of trade books omitted content about the united states’s failure to intervene does not intend to connote that the united states should be directly blamed for the holocaust. that responsibility firmly lies at the boots of nazis, their supporters within germany, and non-german nazi sympathizers. it is through hindsight, or with a presentist lens, that american noninvolvement generates virulence. when contextualized, president roosevelt’s and american senators’ bystander stance appears dismissive of potential danger, consistent with its current practice, pragmatic in action, but not decidedly anti-semitic: the great war—with an entangling start and a brutal, costly result—was less than a generation prior and resonated in isolationist political stance and popular sentiment throughout the 1920s and 1930s; america’s non-assistance mirrored that of the international community; and xenophobic sentiment and an intolerance for renewed immigration was sustained throughout the first half of the 20th century, especially with regard to those who did not hail from western europe. anti-semitism was perhaps a factor, but not the only factor, that contributed to journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 10 inaction. such factors explain, but do not excuse, america’s seeming indifference (goodwin, 2013; persico, 2002; stafford, 2011). while non-involvement to stop genocide from afar (i.e., united states) appears horrendous in hindsight, it should not be given equal blame with those who initiated genocide (i.e., nazi germany), facilitated genocide (i.e., poland), or stood idly by while in close proximity to the aforementioned genocide (i.e., ordinary germans). as santayanan logic—that history’s significance lies in learning from past mistakes—informs curricular decisions to incorporate holocaust content, students should be made aware of the world’s collective bystander stance and the resultant implications (loewen, 1995, 2010). trade books overwhelmingly failed to do. teachers should consider such information when making selections. non-jewish german citizens’ involvement adolf hitler could not have compelled compliance nor gained active participation from unwilling, unreceptive citizens. ordinary germans of non-jewish ancestry hailed hitler’s speeches and cheered nazi parades. in both discourse and deed, ordinary germans actively performed anti-semitic nazi ideology. dissenters concealed their sentiments or risked arrest as nearly all of germany contributed to nazi reign and terror (bankier, 1992; browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997). only a small portion of trade books (n=7; 14%) explicitly detailed ordinary germans’ willingness to marginalize, or their acquiescence in the marginalization of, jewish citizens and other targets. stated differently, over four-fifths of the trade books (n=43; 86%) failed to explicitly note that the vast majority of ordinary germans’ supported—or failed to resist—hitler. in escape: children of the holocaust (zullo, 2009), for example, it was noted that most ordinary germans actively contributed while “only one half of one percent of european non-jews—some of them known as righteous gentiles—risked their lives to assist and hide jews from the nazis” (p. xi). while inimical for those involved, this finding about trade books is historically representative of ordinary germans’ complicity or acquiescence (browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997). large portions of trade books portrayed ordinary germans as benevolent (n=8; 16%) or an assortment of good and bad (n=27; 54%), which is historically misrepresentative. exceptionalism and disproportionality, two distinct historical misrepresentations, emerge when the anomaly is characterized as typical or when not appropriately contextualized. omission, also a historical misrepresentation, manifested as many trade books (n=8; 16%) failed to portray ordinary germans’ involvement at all (see appendix iv, entitled "historical context, pre-war aid, ordinary germans, and culpability", for specific details of each). it is ahistorical to portray the majority of ordinary germans as anything other than contributory to or acquiescent in the marginalization and murder of jews and other members of society. the historical misrepresentations of exceptionalism, disproportionality, and omission need to be disentangled and examined separately. exceptionalism, a historical misrepresentation, emerges whenever only the atypical is presented and the typical is omitted or when the anomaly is not contextualized within the framework of the archetypal (bickford & rich, 2014a, 2014b). while some germans (or citizens under nazi control) heroically aided hitler’s targets and risked everything to resist hitler’s aggressive anti-semitic ideology, they were exceedingly anomalous. most actively supported or passively accepted it. some books, like darryl lyman’s (1999) holocaust rescuers: ten stories of courage, are sated with anecdotes of non-jewish journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 11 rescuers and include only such anomalies. examples of exceptional individuals do exist in history and should be celebrated, yet oskar schindler’s actions do not historically represent archetypal german citizens just as harriet tubman’s experiences fail to historically represent the typical slave’s experience. when only exceptionalist stories like that of oskar schindler are told, young readers’ understandings of germans’ participation are easily skewed. exceptionalism manifests in history-based trade books because the unusual, incredible stories captivate readers (schwebel, 2011). while exceptionalist narratives are historically misrepresentative, they should not be banned but instead balanced with historically representative material. disproportionality, a historical misrepresentation, manifests when narratives balance the good with the bad and fail to note on which side the majority resides. to state that some ordinary germans (and citizens of german-occupied lands) were benevolent and others were malevolent is historically accurate but incomplete; it does not detail proportion, and specifically which portion was larger. disproportionality manifests when ordinary germans are presented as a balanced mixture of benevolent and malevolent. while distinctly different responses to nazi power emerged among the german populace, they were not equal. it is more precise, and historically representative, to state that the vast majority of ordinary germans (and citizens of german-occupied lands) did not act benevolently towards jews and hitler’s other targets. similarly, some white abolitionist women actively agitated in the antebellum american south prior to slavery’s end, yet they were exceedingly anomalous (laughlinschultz, 2013). it would be historically misrepresentative if a trade book only told these white american abolitionist women’s stories and did not designate them as highly unusual within a broad context of white women’s support of, or non-resistance to, slavery. to balance an exceptional example with a typical example connotes, especially to the adolescent reader, a proportional relationship that did not exist. in simon's escape: a story of the holocaust (pryor, 2011), disproportionality is exemplified: although many polish people betrayed their jewish friends and neighbors, many others hid and protected jews [italics added]. the punishment for helping a jew was death, not only for that person but also the whole family. still, after the war jewish people stepped out of attics, basements, and barns where they had been hiding for years. one social worker named irena sendler and her helpers even managed to smuggle 2,500 babies out of the warsaw ghetto. (p. 159) many polish and german citizens did hide and protect jews but most did not. a few thousand babies were smuggled out of the warsaw ghetto, yet millions of jewish children were asphyxiated in the gas chambers near towns filled with houses of acquiescent or enthusiastic citizens. adolescent readers would have a skewed understanding if the only text they read presented—or implied by not explicitly stating otherwise—an equal balance of benevolence and malevolence in nazi germany (and germanoccupied lands). in the research literature about history-based trade books, disproportionality is a previously unidentified historical misrepresentation. omission, a historical misrepresentation, materializes when relevant events and considerations are disregarded (bickford, 2013a; bickford & hunt, 2014). a narrative about the holocaust must include more than simply nazis and jews. to utterly disregard ordinary germans results in their unintentional journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 12 pardoning as they do not receive—in the trade books—the necessary and appropriate blame for their active contribution or acquiescence. to be clear, absolution is not explicitly granted when ordinary germans’ contributions or acquiescence are omitted from trade books’ narratives but neither is blame; blame was historically earned and absolution was not. omission is quite common in history-based trade books (bickford & rich, 2015a, 2015b). exceptionalism, disproportionality and omission emerged in the majority of trade books as the narratives traversed (or failed to traverse) non-jewish germans’ (or citizens of german-occupied lands) involvement and culpability. scholars debate if non-jewish germans were hitler’s willing executioners (goldhagen, 1997, 2002) or ordinary men compelled to contribute (browning, 1998, 2004), yet converge in agreement that nearly germans actively contributed or acquiesced to nazi ideology. it is ahistorical to claim otherwise (bankier, 1992). educators should be aware that trade books largely do. those that historically misrepresent should not be removed from the classroom but balanced with more representative material. origins of the holocaust the holocaust originated from hitler, the nazis, and many other contextual elements of pre-war germany. hitler cannot be solely blamed and neither can the nazis because industrial genocide would not likely have emerged in a land that did not have the numerous, negative variables of pre-war germany. all three variables—hitler, the nazis and the context of pre-war germany—are foundational elements of the holocaust’s origin. while the context of pre-war germany can easily be obfuscated when not overtly addressed, historians recognize its inextricably intertwined nature with hitler and the nazis (bankier, 1992; browning, 2004; goldhagen, 1997; shirer, 1960, 1961). germany’s humiliation at versailles, the subsequent ensnaring financial burdens, the 1930s worldwide depression, and, arguably most relevant, the ubiquity of virulent anti-semitism were endemic to pre-war germany. each factor fertilized the soil for hitler’s garden work. hitler’s vision of an aryan-only empire, refined by various nazi party elite, depended upon and benefited from ordinary germans’ acceptance and involvement. the majority of trade books only attributed blame to hitler and the nazis (n=28; 56%). a smaller portion (n=21; 42%) appropriately noted how the context of pre-war germany contributed. only one book failed to specify blame and included only a faceless, fearsome “them” in black boots and helmets, a likely substitution for the nazis (vander zee, 2003). therefore, while most every author targeted hitler or the nazis as blameworthy, the majority disregarded the context of pre-war germany (see appendix iv, entitled "historical context, pre-war aid, ordinary germans, and culpability", for specific details of each). books that did not reference germany’s pre-war context engaged in two historical misrepresentations: omission (of economic variables and ordinary germans’ culpability) and exceptionalism (of hitler’s persuasion and nazi party power). each historical misrepresentation deserves discussion. german economic conditions contributed mightily as desperation engendered receptivity to ideas or people that might have otherwise generated caution. the german populace was literally starving for assistance and figuratively starving for a scapegoat. anti-semitism, emergent throughout europe, was particularly journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 13 entrenched in germany where it festered through economic, political and social marginalization before eruption in pogroms; this pattern occurred throughout the centuries (goldhagen, 1997). anti-semitism grew not in the german architecture nor in the german exports, but in the german people. hitler directed a thirsty population towards an agreeable pond from which to drink. such omissions—of economic variables and ordinary germans’ culpability—contribute to an exceptional paradigm of hitler and the nazis. stated simply, hitler’s persuasion and nazi power are given preeminence when authors omit germany’s economic desperation and ordinary germans’ ubiquitous anti-semitism. while hitler elicited interest outside of germany, other populations were far less receptive. hitler and the nazis sold a product to a willing customer. scholars recognize the tangled relationship between leader, followers, and the contributing factors endemic to the context of pre-war germany (browning, 1998, 2004; goldhagen, 1997); trade book authors largely did not. such omission generated an exceptionalist paradigm in the adolescent reader’s mind: hitler and the nazis were the bad guys; they started this; without them, no one would have hurt the jews. teachers should be aware of how their selected trade books’ represent the holocaust’s origins, which preceded hitler, the nazis and 1933. considering trade books’ blatant omission of the origins of slavery (bickford & rich, 2014b; schwebel, 2011; williams, 2009), it was unsurprising that the majority of trade books did not adequately historicize the holocaust’s origin. ghetto life the industrial genocide, defined by the systematic use of gas chambers and ovens in concentration camps, was preceded by horrendous living conditions in ghettos and forced labor camps. scholars chronologically characterize the elements of prisoners’ experiences as including relocation, loss of possessions, starvation and disease, arbitrary rules and harsh punishments, and death or near-death survival (bankier, 1992; browning, 2004; goldhagen, 1997; shirer, 1960, 1961). the majority of trade books (n=32; 64%) explicitly noted all or most stages (see appendix v, entitled "ghettos, victims, and other genocides", for specific details of each). for example, “there, in crowded, unsanitary conditions, the jews tried to keep themselves and their dignity alive. in the end, those who did not die of hunger or disease in the ghettos were doomed to death in the concentration camps” (finkelstein, 2004, p. 20). an adolescent reading this narrative non-fiction would grasp the historical significance of the ghettos. the gravity of ghetto life was also effectively told in historical fiction; for instance, “a woman carrying a baby suddenly broke loose from the line and started to run. several shots rang out and the woman fell dead in the street. . . . the soldier killed the baby, too” (pryor, 2011, p. 45). such inclusion was not ubiquitous. a sizeable portion of narratives did not explicitly detail the antecedent to industrial genocide. some books minimized it (n=3; 6%) to a single sentence that contained only a few of the elements noted above. others referenced it vaguely (n=8; 16%). in hidden: a child's story of the holocaust (dauvillier, 2012), a historical fiction example, the only reference was unclear: “i didn’t know what a camp was . . . and no one would explain it to me. they weren’t being mean. they wanted to protect me” (p. 63). a well-intentioned teacher might not realize that crucial details were omitted entirely (n=7; 14%) from a sizeable portion of trade books. even expository texts, like ann byers’s (2012) saving children from the holocaust: the kindertransport, were guilty of omission of this relevant aspect of the holocaust. it could journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 14 be argued that depiction of ghetto life is unnecessary for inclusion in trade books about kindertransport since children rescued through kindertransport did not experience ghetto life or would not have survived the initial reduction line at camps’ entry point. in response, a sizeable number of those rescued on kindertransport were preteens and adolescents, old enough to meet the minimum age requirement to circumvent initial extermination and die of disease, like anne frank who died of typhus in bergenbelsen concentration camp at age 15. kindertransport prevented these children from experiencing ghetto life, but ghetto life was an integral aspect of the holocaust; adolescent readers must be confronted with its reality in order to grasp its historical significance. books that do not detail it explicitly should not be discarded, but teachers can recognize and balance the historical misrepresentations within their selected literature. victims hitler’s primary objective for extermination was jews, yet he targeted many others. these included, but were not limited to, non-europeans and eastern europeans (africans, ukrainians, poles, slavs, etc.), prisoners of war, political enemies (communists, socialists, anarchists, etc.), religious dissidents (catholics, freemasons, jehovah’s witnesses, etc.), homosexual and transgender individuals, and people with cognitive or physical disabilities (browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997; novick, 1999). the majority of trade books, however, explicitly referenced only jews (n=27; 54%) and omitted all non-jewish holocaust victims. a smaller portion (n=22; 44%) denoted a more comprehensive list, yet most of these references were in the afterword and not the narrative (see appendix v, entitled "ghettos, victims, and other genocides", for specific details of each). one book named no victims other than papa, a rebel who died fighting the nazis (russo, 2011). this pattern is, at best, limiting students’ historical understandings and, at worst, disingenuous to the victims. the omission of non-jewish holocaust victims is increasingly more glaring when one considers the total numbers of victims. while pseudo-historians engage in holocaust revisionism (irving, 2002), scholars converge in agreement that 11 million people were killed during the holocaust, six million of which were jews (browning, 1998; goldhagen, 1997; novick, 1999). non-jewish holocaust victims, almost half of the aggregate, were oft-neglected in the trade books. only a paltry percentage of trade books explicitly recognized 11 million jews and non-jewish victims (n=10; 20%). a larger portion made no mention of non-jewish victims and explicitly recognized only six million jews (n=15; 30%). a small collection (n=7; 14%) referenced divergent totals, some higher and some lower than scholars’ accepted figures: “[hitler] had succeeded in murdering over three million jews, along with many of his other ‘undesirables’” (robbins, 2011, p. 82); “six million jews as well as seven million others that hitler declared inferior” (whelan, 2009, p. 116). the largest portion of books (n=18; 36%) failed to denote a specific number of victims (see appendix v, entitled "ghettos, victims, and other genocides", for specific details). the majority of history-based trade books, thus, did not include an accurate total number of victims and did not include an inclusive list of groups targeted. considering the total size and diverse victims within holocaust, such omissions appear egregious and unsettling. mindful educators would not knowingly propagate such omissions. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 15 genocidal antecedents and recurrences santayanan logic, or learning history to avoid repeated mistakes, is manifest within “never again”, an oft-used phrase to memorialize the holocaust (loewen, 2010). the proceedings of the nuremberg trials, the 1948 genocide convention, and the universal declaration of human rights contributed to the world’s collective aspiration to never again permit genocide. while never again is at the foundation for students understanding the holocaust’s place within history’s timeline, the vast majority of trade books failed to properly contextualize it within the framework of 20th century genocide. nearly every book (n=46; 92%) omitted all mention of pre-holocaust genocides and post-holocaust ethnic extermination attempts in cambodia, rwanda, iraq and the soviet union (see appendix v, entitled "ghettos, victims, and other genocides", for specific details). only two (4%) explicitly recognized any other cases of genocide (meltzer, 1991; willoughby, 2001) with prose like, “in indochina, in indonesia, in biafra, in bangladesh, there have been mass exterminations: all post-hitler” (meltzer, 1991, p. 192). a similarly small portion vaguely referenced other genocides (n=2; 4%) with encoded prose like, “and as the world grew more and more advanced technologically, it seemed to grow more and more tolerant of terror and human suffering” (bitton-jackson, 1998, p. 11); “if people don’t speak out, other mass killings will happen. some already have” (houghton, 2004, p. 35). adolescent readers would not likely grasp the historical implications within the indistinct prose. the data indicate the presence of two historical misrepresentations: omission and chronological ethnocentrism. omission of, or vague references to, other genocidal acts misrepresents history by granting an undeserved exclusivity to the holocaust. quite simply, the holocaust was not the only holocaust nor did it register the largest victim count (novick, 1999; powers, 2002). chronological ethnocentrism implicitly emerges when contemporary society is portrayed as better than her predecessors (bickford & rich, 2014b; loewen, 2010). chronological ethnocentrism, thus, is a corollary to omission as a young reader likely (and wrongly) concludes that such hostility and vengeance are relics of a distant past; chronological ethnocentrism manifested through trade books’ omission of more recent genocides. genocide was not exclusive to germany and german-occupied territories during the second world war, yet the holocaust was exceptional for its industrial approach and inhumanity. discussion adolescents could readily identify the misrepresentation within a lottery advertisement that states: some people win the lottery and some people lose. they are old enough to know some people do win but most lose. they have experience with advertisements, advertisers’ skewed claims, and the (un)likelihood of lottery success. research indicates, however, students unnecessarily defer to textbooks’ facts and trust its content (loewen, 2010; wineburg, 2001). considering our findings, students’ trust in trade books’ narratives is unearned. teachers, especially those without a robust history background, may also unnecessarily defer to the content. trade books, however, should not be jettisoned. they have engaging prose and unique tales (schwebel, 2014). teachers have invested a good deal of money to purchase a class set of a single novel or a few sets of multiple titles for differentiated literacy groups (schwebel, 2011). trade books, however, could be used differently. we offer three important suggestions to interested teachers. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 16 first, trade books should be viewed and used for what they are: secondary historical texts written in age-appropriate ways for younger audiences. the narrative is not a primary source but an author’s construction. whether historical fiction or non-fiction, trade books are based on history, yet they are also products of their time period and reveal their author’s fingerprints (schwebel, 2011, 2014). to prepare students for college and career readiness, teachers can facilitate students’ criticality and content area literacy using age-appropriate, discipline-specific resources. students, among other things, are to scrutinize informational texts for perspective (or bias), use of evidence and connections to related informational texts (nga & ccsso, 2010). american educational initiatives mandate these cognitive tasks, which are widely used in other first world countries. such activities enable students to think historically by skillfully deploying historians’ cognitive devices with diverse, complicated texts (bickford, 2013b; schwebel, 2011, 2014; wineburg, 2001). historians scrutinize all historical texts—primary and secondary, visual and text-based—for historicity (nokes, 2011). trade books, like textbooks, are not objective summaries of history and should be used as curricular tools for examination (loewen, 2010; schwebel, 2011, 2014; wineburg, martin, & monte-sano, 2011). trade books should be juxtaposed with each other and supplemented with primary source material for students to examine for areas of convergence and divergence (bickford, 2013b). whether reading a trade book in a literacy circle or whole class format, teachers can target specific historical lacunae through primary source integration. germane historical documents, like those within "supplementary primary sources" (appendix vi), are readily available and free for classroom use within digital repositories like the library of congress and the united states holocaust memorial museum. figure 1 demonstrates anti-semitism’s dubious history; figures 2, 3 and 4 indicate collective attempts to aid hitler’s targets; figures 5 and 6 illustrate ordinary germans’ acquiescence or non-resistance to hitler; figure 7 demonstrates the presence of ghettos; figure 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 indicate that hitler targeted non-jewish citizens; and figures 13, 14, 15 and 16 represent genocidal antecedents and recurrences. this is an illustrative sampling, not an exhaustive collection, of the ocean of primary source material available for teachers. whereas juxtaposition makes the distinctions between two colors more apparent, teachers’ primary source integration enables students to more readily identify distinctions between dissimilar texts. second, educators should resist reliance on a single trade book. critiques could be leveled at every trade book because no single book, especially a historical fiction text or a biography, can cover every topic. trade books should be expected to engage students and immerse them in a topic; they should not be expected to definitively detail every relevant historical aspect. no book—no matter how iconic, compelling, or engaging—is worthy of the implicit deification that goes along with the status as the class novel. the reviewed non-fiction books, which likely had a more rigorous vetting process than historical fiction texts, revealed significant flaws as many failed to detail the influence of pre-war germany context and most disregarded all other genocidal acts. anne frank’s (1993) diary is iconic and deserving of the superlatives it has garnered from international circles; it is historically misrepresentative of the holocaust much like how the events on december 7, 1941 are not representative of a typical day in hawaii. even if the prologue, narrative, and afterword are read in their entirety, the reader must confront various historical misrepresentations, some of which are perhaps obscure to an adolescent. exceptionalism emerged as benevolent non-jewish citizens hide her family. the history of anti-semitism, various factors contributing to the holocaust’s origins, the world’s collective inaction prior to the journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 17 holocaust, ghetto life, non-jewish holocaust victims, subsequent genocides, and various other aspects are all absent. these historical misrepresentations are conspicuous to historians, blurred to adolescents bereft of strong historical background, and entirely concealed to students first learning about the holocaust. frank’s (1993) diary is an iconic book worthy of inclusion in any classroom, yet leaves students ignorant of consequential elements of the holocaust when read in isolation. it must be supplemented with germane primary sources or juxtaposed with a more historically representative trade book. finally, teachers should not jettison or censor graphic content. the holocaust, as much as any other 20th century historical event, deserves full consideration. due to its complex nature and the immense mental capacity required to fully comprehend its atrocities, teachers must grasp important elements— like those noted above—before planning any holocaust curricula (lindquist, 2007). teachers should use discretion in choosing to teach the holocaust because cruel, vile elements are relevant and should not be omitted or sanitized. if students are too young to be exposed to the graphic nature of the events, then they are not ready to comprehend humans’ inhumanity. bombarding students with horrific facts and ghastly images, however, is similarly not an appropriate course of action. holocaust instruction should be carefully constructed with pedagogical appropriateness in mind, in order that students may analyze it both accurately and safely (lindquist, 2007). educators should consider david lindquist’s (2007) suggestions in avoiding inappropriate holocaust pedagogy that reduces victims’ suffering to, say, word problems in mathematics. likewise, to minimize victims’ horrific experiences by having students simulate a cramped, imaginary boxcar can only result in an impossibly skewed view of the historical events. such approaches, regardless of intent, inhibit students’ understandings. educators should cultivate, instead, a sense of empathy for the victims along with the inquiry skills necessary to examine the holocaust’s roots and contemporary reverberations. references bankier, d. 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(2010). a gender analysis of ncss notable picture book winners: 2006– 2008. social studies research and practice, 5(3), 21–31. dauvillier, l. (2012). hidden: a child's story of the holocaust. new york, ny: firstsecond publications. davidson, s. (2008). the holocaust. london, england: usborne publishing ltd. desai, c. (2014). the columbus myth: power and ideology
in picture books about christopher columbus. children’s literature in education, 45, 179–196. doi 10.1007/s10583-014-9216-0 finkelstein, n. (2004). remember not to forget: a memory of the holocaust. philadelphia, pa: jewish publication society. frank, a. (1993). the diary of a young girl (b. m. mooyaart trans.). new york, ny: bantam books. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 goldhagen, d. (1997). hitler’s willing executioners: ordinary germans and the holocaust. new york, ny: vintage books. goldhagen, d. (2002). a moral reckoning: the role of the catholic church in the holocaust and its unfulfilled duty of repair. new york, ny: alfred a. knopf. goldhagen, d. (2009). worse than war: genocide, eliminationism, and the ongoing assault on humanity. new york, ny: public affairs. goldhagen, d. (2013). the devil that never dies: the rise and threat of global anti-semitism. new york, ny: vintage books. goodwin, d. (2013). no ordinary time: franklin and eleanor roosevelt: the home front in world war ii. new york, ny: simon & schuster. hasday, j. (2002). the holocaust. philadelphia, pa: chelsea house publishers. houghton, s. (2004). elie wiesel: a holocaust survivor cries out for peace. bloomington, mn: red brick learning. irving, d. (2002). hitler’s war and the war path. louisville, ky: focal point publications. krippendorff, k. (2013). content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (3rd ed.). washington, dc: sage publishing. laughlin-schultz, b. (2013). the tie that bound us: the women of john brown’s family and the legacy of radical abolitionism. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. lindquist, d. (2007). avoiding inappropriate pedagogy in middle school teaching of the holocaust. middle school journal, 39(1), 24–31. loewen, j. (1995). lies my teacher told me: everything your american history textbook got wrong. new york: simon and schuster.
 loewen, j. (2010). teaching what really happened: how to avoid the tyranny of textbooks and get students excited about doing history. new york, ny: teachers college press. lyman, d. (1999). holocaust rescuers: ten stories of courage. springfield, nj: enslow publishers, inc. maxwell, j. (2010). using numbers in qualitative research. qualitative inquiry, 16(6), 475–482. meltzer, m. (1991). never to forget: the jews of the holocaust. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. national governors association center for best practices & council of chief state school officers. (2010). common core state standards for english/language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. washington, dc: department of education. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 nokes, j. (2011). recognizing and addressing the barriers to adolescents’ “reading like historians.” the history teacher, 44(3), 379–404. novick, p. (1999). the holocaust in american life. new york, ny: houghton mifflin. partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers. (2012). parcc model content frameworks: english language arts/literacy, grades 3011 (ver. 2.0). washington, dc: department of education. payne, r. (1973). the life and death of adolf hitler. new york, ny: praeger publishers. perl, l., & lazan, m. (1996). four perfect pebbles: a holocaust story. new york, ny: avon books, inc. persico, j. (2002). roosevelt’s secret war: fdr & world war ii espionage. new york, ny: random house trade paperbacks. power, s. (2002). “a problem from hell”: america and the age of genocide. new york, ny: a new republic book. pryor, b. (2011). simon's escape: a story of the holocaust. berkeley heights, nj: enslow publishers, inc. robbins, t. (2011). lily renée, escape artist: from holocaust survivor to comic book pioneer. new york, ny: graphic universe. russo, m. (2011). i will come back for you. new york, ny: dragonfly books. sapers, j. (2015, february 26). common core’s unintended consequences? more teachers write their own curricula. the hechinger report. retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/common-cores-unintended-consequence-teacherswrite-curricula/ schwebel, s. (2011). child-sized history: fictions of the past in u.s. classrooms. nashville, tn: vanderbilt university press. schwebel, s. (2014). historical fiction, common core, and disciplinary habits of mind. social education, 78(1), 20–24. shirer, w. (1960). the rise and fall of the third reich: a history of nazi germany. new york, ny: simon and schuster. shirer, w. (1961). the rise and fall of adolf hitler. new york, ny: simon and schuster. speer, a. (1970). inside the third reich: memoirs. new york, ny: macmillan company. stafford, d. (2011). roosevelt and churchill: men of secrets. new york, ny: overlook tp. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 21 strahinich, h. (1996). holocaust: understanding and remembering. springfield, nj: enslow publishers, inc. vander zee, r. (2003). erika's story. mankato, mn: creative paperbacks. vansledright, b. (2014). assessing historical thinking and understanding: innovative designs for new standards. new york, ny: routledge. vygotsky, l. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. vygotsky, l. (1985). thought and language. cambridge, ma: the m.i.t. press. whelan, g. (2009). after the train. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. williams, l. (1996). behind the bedroom wall. minneapolis, mn: milkweed editions. williams, t. (2009). a closer look: the representation of slavery in the dear america series. social studies and the young learner, 21(3), 26–29. willoughby, s. (2001). the holocaust. chicago, il: heinemann library. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts: charting the future of teaching the past. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. wineburg, s., martin, d., & monte-sano, c. (2011). reading like a historian: teaching literacy in middle and high school history classrooms. new york, ny: teachers college press. zhang, y., & wildemuth, b. (2009). qualitative analysis of content. in b. wildemuth (ed.), applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (pp. 308–319). westport, ct: libraries unlimited. zullo, a. (2009). escape: children of the holocaust. new york, ny: scholastic. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 22 appendix i – data pool abramson, a. (2007). who was anne frank? new york, ny: grosset & dunlap. adler, d. (1989). we remember the holocaust. new york, ny: henry holt & company. adler, d. (1994). hilde and eli, children of the holocaust. new york, ny: holiday house. adler, d. (2002). a hero and the holocaust: the story of janusz korczak and his children. new york, ny: holiday house. altman, l. (1998). holocaust ghettos. berkeley heights, nj: enslow publishers, inc. arato, r. (2013). the last train: a holocaust story. toronto, ontario, canada: owlkids books, inc. auerbacher, i. (1993). i am a star: child of the holocaust. new york, ny: puffin books. bachrach, s. (1994). tell them we remember: the story of the holocaust. new york, ny: little, brown, & company. bitton-jackson, l. (1998). i have lived a thousand years: growing up in the holocaust. new york, ny: scholastic. byers, a. (2012). saving children from the holocaust: the kindertransport. berkely hieghts, nj: enslow publications. dauvillier, l. (2012). hidden: a child's story of the holocaust. new york, ny: firstsecond publications. davidson, s. (2008). the holocaust. london, england: usborne publishing ltd. druker, m., & halperin, m. (1993). jacob's rescue: a holocaust story. new york, ny: yearling. finkelstein, n. (2004). remember not to forget: a memory of the holocaust. philadelphia, pa: jewish publication society. fitzgerald, s. (2011). children of the holocaust. north mankato, mn: compass point books. frank, a. (1952, 1993). the diary of a young girl. new york, ny: bantam books. goldman, a. (2000). i am a holocaust torah. jerusalem: gefen publishing house ltd. hasday, j. (2002). the holocaust. philadelphia, pa: chelsea house publishers. houghton, s. (2004). elie wiesel: a holocaust survivor cries out for peace. bloomington, mn: red brick learning. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 23 johnston, t. (2004). the harmonica. watertown, ma: charlesbridge. kerr, j. (2009). when hitler stole pink rabbit. new york, ny: scholastic. landau, e. (2001). holocaust memories: speaking the truth. new york, ny: franklin watts. levi, p. (1956, 2010). survival in auschwitz. new york, ny: collier books. leyson, l., m. j. harran, & e. leyson. (2013). the boy on the wooden box: how the impossible became possible...on schindler's list. new york, ny: antheneum books for young readers. lowry, l. (1989; 2011). number the stars. boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. lyman, d. (1999). holocaust rescuers: ten stories of courage. springfield, nj: enslow publishers, inc. meltzer, m. (1991). never to forget: the jews of the holocaust. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. orlev, u. (1992). the island on bird street (h. halkin, trans.). boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. perl, l., & lazan, m. (1996). four perfect pebbles: a holocaust story. new york, ny: avon books, inc. preus, m. (2012). shadow on the mountain. new york, ny: amulet books. pryor, b. (2011). simon's escape: a story of the holocaust. berkeley heights, nj: enslow publishers, inc. resnick, a. (2000). the holocaust. new york, ny: lucent books. robbins, t. (2011). lily renée, escape artist: from holocaust survivor to comic book pioneer. new york, ny: graphic universe. roseman, k. (1998). escape from the holocaust. new york, ny: union of american hebrew congregations. ruelle, k., & desaix, d. (2009). the grand mosque of paris: a story of how muslims rescued jews during the holocaust. new york, ny: holiday house. russo, m. (2011). i will come back for you. new york, ny: dragonfly books. senker, c. (2006). surviving the holocaust. chicago, il: raintree. strahinich, h. (1996). holocaust: understanding and remembering. springfield, nj: enslow publishers, inc. taylor, p., & nicola, c. (2007). the secret of priest's grotto: a holocaust survival story. minneapolis, mn: kar-ben publishing. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 24 thomson, r. (2011). terezin: voices from the holocaust. somerville, ma: candlewick press. tonge, n. (2009). the holocaust. new york, ny: rosen central publishing. vander zee, r. (2003). erika's story. mankato, mn: creative paperbacks. whelan, g. (2009). after the train. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. wiesel, e. (1960, 2006). night. new york, ny: bantam books. williams, l. (1996). behind the bedroom wall. minneapolis, mn: milkweed editions. willoughby, s. (2001). the holocaust. chicago, il: heinemann library. wiviott, m. (2010). benno and the night of broken glass. minneapolis, mn: kar-ben publishing. yolen, j. (1988; 2004). the devil's arithmetic. new york, ny: puffin books. zullo, a. (2009). escape: children of the holocaust. new york, ny: scholastic. zullo, a. (2012). we fought back: teen resisters of the holocaust. new york, ny: scholastic. john h. bickford iii is a former mid-prairie middle school (kalona, ia) social studies teacher and current associate professor of elementary and middle level education at eastern illinois university (charleston, il). his research focuses on fostering and assessing elementary and middle level students’ historical thinking. lieren n. schuette is a graduate student and research assistant at eastern illinois university. she has a bachelor of science in education and her research interests include social studies education and classroom integration of primary source material. cynthia w. rich is director of the library of congress teaching with primary sources program at eastern illinois university. with a background in language arts, her teaching and research interests include classroom integration of primary source material and oral history collection. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 25 appendix ii – content analysis protocol 1. author’s name, publication date, title, company. 2. what is the book’s genre? would this be clear to a young reader? a. historical fiction b. non-fiction (narrative non-fiction, biography, diary, memoir, expository) 3. did the book incorporate primary sources? a. yes b. no/omitted 4. how did the book note the history of anti-semitism and/or pogroms in europe? a. explicit and detailed* b. included but minimized** c. implicit/vague d. omitted 5. how did the book detail pre-war or pre-holocaust efforts by other countries to help jews? a. explicit and detailed* b. included but minimized** c. implicit/vague d. omitted 6. which specific historical events were recognized or integrated within this book? 7. how did non-jewish, german citizens respond to hitler and nazi ideology? a. contributory or acquiescent towards nazis b. resistant towards nazis and benevolent towards jews c. a balanced mixture of contributory/acquiescent and resistant/benevolent d. indistinct, vague, or omitted 8. how did the book describe the holocaust’s origin, specifically who initiated and contributed? a. hitler and nazi party b. hitler, nazi party, and the context of pre-war germany c. no blame given or indistinct 9. how did the book detail living conditions in the ghettos and death camps? a. explicit and detailed* b. included but minimized** c. implicit/vague d. omitted 10. who did the book identify as holocaust victims? a. jews only i. noted in the narrative (and possibly the afterword or prologue) ii. mentioned only in the afterword or prologue b. jews and others i. noted in the narrative (and possibly the afterword or prologue) ii. mentioned only in the afterword or prologue c. indistinct or omitted journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 26 11. what was the number used to denote the total number of holocaust victims? a. six million jews i. noted in the narrative (and possibly the afterword or prologue) ii. mentioned only in the afterword or prologue b. 11 million jews and others i. noted in the narrative (and possibly the afterword or prologue) ii. mentioned only in the afterword or prologue c. something else d. omitted 12. how did the narrative end? 13. did the book recognize any other cases of genocide after the holocaust? a. explicit and detailed* b. included but minimized** c. implicit/vague d. omitted 14. were any parts of the book historically misrepresentative, inaccurate, problematic, or too vaguely explained for the intended age of the reader? * to earn the denotation of explicit and detailed, it must be the central theme in two or more sentences; at least one of which is in the narrative while the other could be in the afterward or prologue. ** to earn the denotation of included but minimized, it must be clearly noted or mentioned once but only once in either the narrative or the afterward; it does not have to be the main theme of the sentence. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 27 appendix iii – bibliographic content author; year title genre primary sources abramson, a. (2007) who was anne frank? non-fiction no adler, d. (1989) we remember the holocaust. non-fiction yes adler, d. (1994) hilde and eli, children of the holocaust non-fiction yes adler, d. (2002) a hero and the holocaust: the story of janusz korczak and his children non-fiction yes altman, l. (1998) the holocaust ghettos non-fiction yes arato, r. (2013) the last train: a holocaust story non-fiction yes auerbacher, i. (1993) i am a star: child of the holocaust non-fiction yes bachrach, s. (1994) tell them we remember: the story of the holocaust non-fiction yes bitton-jackson, l. (1998) i have lived a thousand years: growing up in the holocaust non-fiction yes byers, a. (2012) saving children from the holocaust: the kindertransport non-fiction yes dauvillier, l. (2012) hidden: a child's story of the holocaust historical fiction no davidson, s. (2008) the holocaust non-fiction yes drucker, m. (1993) jacob's rescue: a holocaust story historical fiction yes finkelstein, n. (2004) remember not to forget: a memory of the holocaust non-fiction no fitzgerald, s. (2011) children of the holocaust non-fiction yes frank, a. (1993) the diary of a young girl non-fiction yes journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 28 goldman, a. (2000) i am a holocaust torah non-fiction no hasday, j. (2002) the holocaust non-fiction yes houghton, s. (2004) elie wiesel: a holocaust survivor cries out for peace non-fiction yes johnston, t. (2004) the harmonica historical fiction no kerr, j. (2009) when hitler stole pink rabbit. historical fiction no landau, e. (2001) holocaust memories: speaking the truth non-fiction yes levi, p. (2010) survival in auschwitz non-fiction no leyson, l. (2013) the boy on the wooden box: how the impossible became possible...on schindler's list non-fiction yes lowry, l. (2011) number the stars historical fiction no lyman, d. (1999) holocaust rescuers: ten stories of courage non-fiction yes meltzer, m. (1991) never to forget: the jews of the holocaust non-fiction yes orlev, u. (1991) the island on bird street historical fiction no perl, l. (1996) four perfect pebbles: a holocaust story non-fiction yes preus, m. (2012) shadow on the mountain historical fiction yes pryor, b. (2011) simon's escape: a story of the holocaust historical fiction yes resnick, a. (2000) the holocaust non-fiction yes robbins, t. (2011) lily renée, escape artist: from holocaust survivor to comic book pioneer historical fiction yes roseman, k. (1998) escape from the holocaust historical fiction no ruelle, k. (2009) the grand mosque of paris: a story of how muslims rescued jews during the holocaust non-fiction yes journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 29 russo, m. (2011) i will come back for you non-fiction yes senker, c. (2006) surviving the holocaust non-fiction yes strahinich, h. (1996) holocaust: understanding and remembering non-fiction yes taylor, p. (2007) the secret of priest's grotto: a holocaust survival story non-fiction yes thomson, r. (2011) terezin: voices from the holocaust non-fiction yes tonge, n. (2009) the holocaust non-fiction yes vander zee, r. (2003) erika's story non-fiction no whelan, g. (2009) after the train historical fiction no wiesel, e. (2006) night non-fiction no williams, l. (1996) behind the bedroom wall historical fiction no willoughby, s. (2001) the holocaust non-fiction yes wiviott, m. (2010) benno and the night of broken glass historical fiction no yolen, j. (2004) the devil's arithmetic historical fiction no zullo, a. (2009) escape: children of the holocaust non-fiction no zullo, a. (2012) we fought back: teen resisters of the holocaust non-fiction yes journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 30 appendix iv – historical context, pre-war aid, ordinary germans, and culpability author; year history of antisemitism pre-war help ordinary germans’ response blame for holocaust abramson, a. (2007) explicit omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler & nazis adler, d. (1989) explicit explicit omitted hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany adler, d. (1994) omitted omitted omitted hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany adler, d. (2002) omitted omitted omitted hitler & nazis altman, l. (1998) explicit omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany arato, r. (2013) implicit omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler & nazis auerbacher, i. (1993) explicit explicit mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany bachrach, s. (1994) explicit explicit mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany bitton-jackson, l. (1998) minimized omitted mixture hitler & nazis byers, a. (2012) implicit explicit mixture hitler & nazis dauvillier, l. (2012) omitted omitted mixture hitler & nazis davidson, s. (2008) explicit implicit mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany drucker, m. (1993) omitted omitted mixture hitler & nazis finkelstein, n. (2004) explicit omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany fitzgerald, s. (2011) omitted explicit mixture hitler & nazis journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 31 frank, a. (1993) minimized omitted mixture hitler & nazis goldman, a. (2000) implicit implicit omitted hitler & nazis hasday, j. (2002) explicit explicit mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany houghton, s. (2004) omitted omitted omitted hitler & nazis johnston, t. (2004) omitted omitted omitted hitler & nazis kerr, j. (2009) omitted implicit omitted hitler & nazis landau, e. (2001) omitted implicit mixture hitler & nazis levi, p. (2010) omitted omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler & nazis leyson, l. (2013) explicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany lowry, l. (2011) omitted omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler & nazis lyman, d. (1999) explicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany meltzer, m. (1991) explicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany orlev, u. (1991) omitted omitted mixture hitler & nazis perl, l. (1996) implicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany preus, m. (2012) omitted omitted mixture hitler & nazis pryor, b. (2011) minimized omitted mixture hitler & nazis resnick, a. (2000) explicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany robbins, t. (2011) omitted explicit mixture hitler & nazis journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 32 roseman, k. (1998) implicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany ruelle, k. (2009) omitted omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler & nazis russo, m. (2011) omitted omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler & nazis senker, c. (2006) omitted implicit resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany strahinich, h. (1996) explicit omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany taylor, p. (2007) implicit omitted mixture hitler & nazis thomson, r. (2011) omitted omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany tonge, n. (2009) explicit explicit contributory / acquiescent hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany vander zee, r. (2003) omitted omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews no blame whelan, g. (2009) implicit omitted mixture hitler & nazis wiesel, e. (2006) omitted omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler & nazis williams, l. (1996) omitted omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany willoughby, s. (2001) explicit omitted resistant to nazis / benevolent to jews hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany wiviott, m. (2010) omitted omitted omitted hitler & nazis yolen, j. (2004) omitted omitted contributory / acquiescent hitler & nazis zullo, a. (2009) omitted omitted mixture hitler, nazis & context of pre-war germany journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 33 zullo, a. (2012) omitted omitted mixture hitler & nazis journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 appendix v – ghettos, victims, and other genocides author; year ghetto conditions victim groups number of victims recognition of other genocides abramson, a. (2007) minimized jews & others something else omitted adler, d. (1989) explicit jews & others six million jews omitted adler, d. (1994) implicit jews only six million jews omitted adler, d. (2002) explicit jews only omitted omitted altman, l. (1998) explicit jews only six million jews omitted arato, r. (2013) explicit jews only omitted omitted auerbacher, i. (1993) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted bachrach, s. (1994) explicit jews & others something else omitted bitton-jackson, l. (1998) explicit jews only omitted implicit byers, a. (2012) omitted jews only omitted omitted dauvillier, l. (2012) implicit jews only omitted omitted davidson, s. (2008) explicit jews & others six million jews omitted drucker, m. (1993) explicit jews only something else omitted finkelstein, n. (2004) explicit jews only six million jews omitted fitzgerald, s. (2011) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted frank, a. (1993) implicit jews & others something else omitted goldman, a. (2000) omitted jews only six million jews omitted hasday, j. (2002) explicit jews & others six million jews omitted journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 houghton, s. (2004) explicit jews & others six million jews implicit johnston, t. (2004) implicit jews only omitted omitted kerr, j. (2009) implicit jews only omitted omitted landau, e. (2001) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted levi, p. (2010) explicit jews only omitted omitted leyson, l. (2013) explicit jews only omitted omitted lowry, l. (2011) omitted jews only omitted omitted lyman, d. (1999) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted meltzer, m. (1991) explicit jews & others six million jews explicit orlev, u. (1991) implicit jews only omitted omitted perl, l. (1996) explicit jews only omitted omitted preus, m. (2012) omitted jews only omitted omitted pryor, b. (2011) explicit jews only six million jews omitted resnick, a. (2000) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted robbins, t. (2011) minimized jews & others something else omitted roseman, k. (1998) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted ruelle, k. (2009) implicit jews only six million jews omitted russo, m. (2011) implicit omitted omitted omitted senker, c. (2006) explicit jews & others something else omitted journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 strahinich, h. (1996) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted taylor, p. (2007) explicit jews only omitted omitted thomson, r. (2011) explicit jews only omitted omitted tonge, n. (2009) explicit jews & others something else omitted vander zee, r. (2003) minimized jews only six million jews omitted whelan, g. (2009) omitted jews only omitted omitted wiesel, e. (2006) explicit jews only six million jews omitted williams, l. (1996) omitted jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted willoughby, s. (2001) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others explicit wiviott, m. (2010) omitted jews only omitted omitted yolen, j. (2004) explicit jews & others six million jews omitted zullo, a. (2009) explicit jews & others 11 million jews and others omitted zullo, a. (2012) explicit jews only six million jews omitted journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 appendix vi – supplementary primary sources figure 1. the jewish pogroms in ukraine: authoritative statements on the question of responsibility for recent outbreaks against the jews in ukraine. library of congress classification, d639.j4 b3 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.00053440307 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 38 figure 2. famous actress urges admittance into u.s. of 20,000 german refugee children. washington, d.c., april 20. speaking 'as an american mother,' actress helen hayes today appealed to a senate immigration subcommittee to approve legislation to admit 20,000 german refugee children into the united states during the next two years. she is pictured with senator robert f. wagner, left, of new york, and rep. edith nourse rogers, right, of massachusetts. harris & ewing, photographer. 1939, april 20. library of congress prints and photographs division washington, d.c. 20540 usa http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 39 wagner-rogers refugee bill backed at hearing; 1,400 adoption offers reported. april 21, 1939 washington (apr. 20). helen hayes, testifying as “an american mother” before a senate-house immigration subcommittee, declared today that adoption of the wagner rogers bill for admission of 20,000 refugee children to the united states in two years would serve as an example to the children of this country in repudiation of oppression and racial brutality. … miss hayes, who has two children, one of them adopted, said she wanted her children to grow up without racial prejudice. it is brutalizing, she said, for a child to read in the papers of refugees being shunted back and forth. if belgium and holland take refugees, why not the united states? she asked. … robert balderston, representative of the american friends’ service committee, who returned from europe yesterday, reported that persecution in germany was not relaxed, that “non-aryans” who were not jewish were also being harmed and that all catholic schools had been closed. he said that in vienna 30,000 persons were being fed in soup kitchens as compared with 20,000 a few months ago. mrs. edward b. huling, of larchmont, n.y., representing the allied patriotic societies, 42 in number, said these societies were absolutely opposed to the bill. she said she did not want “this country to play santa claus when our own people are starving.” figure 3. the global jewish news source (1939, april 21). wagner-rogers refugee bill backed at hearing; 1,400 adoption offers reported. http://www.jta.org/1939/04/21/archive/wagner-rogers-refugee-billbacked-at-hearing-1400-adoption-offers-reported journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 40 figure 4. united states delegate myron taylor delivers a speech at the evian conference on jewish refugees from nazi germany. evian-les-bains, france, july 15, 1938. national archives and records administration, college park, md. http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/media_ph.php?mediaid=2532 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 figure 5. helen baker diary. 1938, march 14. pages from helen baker’s diary describing what she witnessed following the german annexation of austria. us holocaust memorial museum. http://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/helen-baker-diary-entry journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 figure 6. robert harlan journal entry. 1938, november 11. robert harlan describes his journey, in the aftermath of kristallnacht, to help the parents of a jewish friend whose house had been ransacked. us holocaust memorial museum. http://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/americanstudent-reflects-after-kristallnacht journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 figure 7. section of eight-foot high concrete wall encircling jewish ghetto in warsaw, poland. 1940 dec. 20. behind this eight-foot concrete wall some 500,000 jews will begin a new life in warsaw's ghetto. by german decree, all warsaw jews are required to reside in the district, located in the central part of the conquered city. it surrounds more than 100 city blocks and closes off 200 streets and even street car lines. library of congress prints and photographs division washington, d.c. 20540 usa http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003668306/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 jehovah's witnesses, incarcerated in prisons and concentration camps, were given the opportunity to be freed if they signed this statement renouncing their beliefs. few did so, even when beaten or tortured by their guards. declaration renouncing beliefs concentration camp .................................................................... department ii declaration i, the ........................................................................................... born on ....................................................................................... in ................................................................................................ herewith make the following declaration: 1. i have come to know that the international bible students association is proclaiming erroneous teachings and under the cloak of religion follows hostile purposes against the state. 2. i therefore left the organization entirely and made myself absolutely free from the teachings of this sect. 3. i herewith give assurance that i will never again take any part in the activity of the international bible students association. any persons approaching me with the teaching of the bible students, or who in any manner reveal their connections with them, i will denounce immediately. all literature from the bible students that should be sent to my address i will at once deliver to the nearest police station. 4. i will in the future esteem the laws of the state, especially in the event of war will i, with weapon in hand, defend the fatherland, and join in every way the community of the people. 5. i have been informed that i will at once be taken again into protective custody if i should act against the declaration given today. ...........................................................................................dated .....................................................................................signature figure 8. reprinted and translated in jehovah's witnesses: proclaimers of god's kingdom (new york: watchtower bible and tract society of new york, inc., 1993); p. 661. us holocaust memorial museum. http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-material-and-resources/jehovahs-witnesses-victimsof-the-nazi-era/declaration-renouncing-beliefs journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 figure 9. concentration camp badge worn to identify a prisoner as a jehovah’s witness. the badge was issued to lüise jahndorf at ravensbrück concentration camp in order to identify her as a jehovah's witness prisoner. us holocaust memorial museum. http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514317 figure 10. prisoner identification badge shaped as a pink triangle with a t in the center. this pink badge would have been worn by a inmate who was accused, by the nazis, of being homosexual. the "t" may denote that this victim was czechoslovakian. it was one of many badges found by lieutenant colonel charles f. ottoman on april 22, 1945 at forced labor camp zwieberge, a subcamp of buchenwald. it was used to try case #117"alleged atrocities at camp zwieberge concentration camp" and was stored in the war crimes case file at the national archives and records administration, washington, d.c. us holocaust memorial museum. http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn4805 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 figure 11. black triangle badge. black triangle badge to identifying gypsy prisoner. found by milton shurr, april 1945, buchenwald concentration camp. us holocaust memorial museum. http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1002 figure 12. prisoner identification badge shaped as a red triangle with an i in the center. this red badge would have been worn by a inmate accused, by the nazis, of being a political prisoner. the "i" may denote that the wearer was italian. it was one of many badgees found by lieutenant colonel charles f. ottoman on april22, 1945 at forced labor camp zwieberge, a sub-camp of buchenwald. it was used to try case #117"alleged atrocities at camp zwieberge concentration camp" and was stored in the war crimes case file at the national archives and records administration, washington, d.c. us holocaust memorial museum. http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn4807 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 figure 13. report of robert h. jackson, u.s. representative, to the international conference on military trials, 1947, december 15. library of congress books – webpages division. http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/military_law/pdf/jackson-rpt-military-trials.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 48 figure 14. armenians. bain news service, 1899. photograph shows a poor, widowed armenian woman and her children, makarid (on her back) and nuvart (standing next to her). in 1899, after the murder of her husband in the aftermath of the armenian massacres of 1894-1896, the family walked from their home in the geghi region to kharpert (harput), eastern anatolia (turkey) seeking help from missionaries. photograph was published in helping hands series magazine (armenian relief committee) in december 1900 and an image of nuvart wearing the same clothes appears in the december 1899 issue of the same publication. library of congress prints and photographs division washington, d.c. 20540 usa http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2006002495/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 49 figure 15. martyred armenia. a brief description of the recent horrible massacres of the christian armenians in turkey. by rev. s. s. yenovkian. 1896. cleveland, o., the britton ptg.co., 1896. library of congress control number, 05001692 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 4-50. corresponding author email: jbickford@eiu.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn 2327-3585 p a g e | 50 the demographic and socio-economic distribution of excess mortality during the 1994 genocide in rwanda damien de walque the world bank, development research group philip verwimp fund for scientific research – flanders, university of antwerp and european centre for advanced research in economics and statistics (ecares) université libre de bruxelles abstract: there is an extensive literature on violent conflicts such as the 1994 rwandan genocide, but few papers examine the profiles of victims and perpetrators, or more broadly the micro-level dynamics of widespread violence. this paper studies the demographic consequences of the rwandan genocide and how the excess mortality due to the conflict was distributed in the population. data collected by the 2000 demographic and health survey indicate that although there were more deaths across the entire population, adult males were the most likely to die. using the characteristics of the survey respondent as a proxy for the socio-economic status of the family dead, the results also show that individuals with an urban or more educated background were more likely to die. over and above the human tragedies, a long-term cost of the genocide is the country's loss of productive skills. figure 16. de walque, d. & verwimp, p. (2009). the demographic and socio-economic distribution of excess morality during the 1994 genocide in rwanda. washington, dc: world bank http://lccn.loc.gov/2009655579 historiography methods findings genre and primary sources history of anti-semitism pre-war (non-)assistance non-jewish german citizens’ involvement origins of the holocaust ghetto life victims genocidal antecedents and recurrences discussion references appendix i – data pool appendix ii – content analysis protocol appendix iii – bibliographic content media reviews journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume i number 1 43 fall 2010 media review editor’s message electronic circuitry has overthrown the regime of “time” and “space” and pours upon us instantly and continuously the concerns of all other men [sic]. it has reconstituted dialogue on a global scale. its message is total change, ending psychic, social, economic, and political parochialism. (mcluhan, 1967, p 18.). penned more than a generation ago, mcluhan articulated our need to think globally, however it is only in the past decade that communication technologies have lowered in price to the point where frequent international conversations are ubiquitous in academic circles. while the international assembly of the national council for the social studies has existed since 1994, the nature of online forums, such as this new journal, enable us to start a conversation amongst vast numbers of social studies educators around the world rather than just with the few colleagues (their fabulous qualities notwithstanding) who have been able to attend annual conferences of ncss in the usa. the media review column of the journal of international social studies offers a framework for readers interested in sharing resources they have discovered and find useful or perplexing in their efforts to be the most effective social studies educators they can be. the first section offers reviews on a common resource, in this case social studies methods texts. ruth reynolds (australia), jennifer tupper (canada) and andrea milligan (new zealand) provide thoughtful reviews of textbooks used by teacher educators in their respective nations. all three reviews are of edited collections used as social studies methods texts. as you read the reviews you will no doubt be struck by the similarities of the issues deemed important across different geopolitical locations. the second section provides a review of recently released media. carolyn o’mahony (usa) offers a review of visions of global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools, edited by longtime international assembly leader toni fuss kirkwood-tucker. readers are strongly encouraged to respond through the journal website (iajiss.org), to participate in discussions with the reviewers about these texts and the questions they raise about teaching about society, as well as to submit their own reviews of complementary texts. carolyn o’mahony, media review editor references mcluhan, m. & fiore, q. (1967). the medium is the massage: an inventory of effects. new york: bantam books. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 4 the amazing story of how “women” conquered it all: the production of gender scripts in the chilean curricular documents of history and social studies. valentina errazuriz teachers college, columbia university __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this article explores the construction of the category “woman” in the official history and social studies curricular documents distributed by the chilean ministry of education to all public and charter schools in 2014. it answers two major questions: what are the characteristics and acceptable gender performances of the category “woman” in these chilean curricular documents? are there differences in the expected/acceptable performances of “woman” according to her categories of ethnicity/race or social class? i will argue that these curricular documents construct a historical narrative where two archetypal categories represent possible, oppressive gendered citizens. students that wish to be identified as “woman” will be able to read these categories as scripts for gender performance. the objective of this paper is to disrupt untroubled “inclusive” historical narratives. key words: gender, citizenship education, chile, latin america, history education, woman, inequality __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction chilean researchers in the educational field are perplexed by the persistence of the problem of gender inequity. even though the conditions for women have changed, discrimination, poverty, stereotyping, and inequality of access to certain careers and jobs persist (binimelis, blázquez, & hernández, 1992; avalos, 2003; guerrero, valdés, & provoste, 2006; poblete, 2011; castillo, 2011). the constancy of this problem is particularly puzzling in a country that has elected a female president twice in the past ten years. in this article i argue that the “woman problem” in chilean education does not reside exclusively in the disadvantaged situation or mistreatment of women, but in the construction of the category (butler 1988, 1990). this paper analyzes the social construction of the category “woman” in the nationally defined curricular documents of history and social studies in chile. i will argue that the consensual historical narrative of the nation can become a gender script for the responsible citizen. in the paper i will answer two major questions: what are the characteristics and acceptable gender performances of the category ‘woman’ in the chilean curricular documents? and second, are there differences in the expected/acceptable performances of women according to their categories of ethnicity/race or social class? i first review some of the extensive research that has been produced in the last two decades on curricular documents regarding gender, “woman” and lgbtq issues. the second section of this paper is the theoretical framework, where i construct a post-structuralist feminist lens to understand the problem of gender inequality and the category “woman” as a particular gendered citizen. i then mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 5 analyze the historical context of production of chilean curricular documents, and i describe the curricular documents, the research, and the analytic methods used in this study. in the four following sections i present the data and findings, and argue that the chilean curricular documents construct two archetypal categories of ‘woman’ representing two possible and thinkable parts of a gender continuum. finally, in the conclusion, i analyze these findings, explain possible strategies to work through these issues, and propose areas for future research. literature review: varied “concerns” on gender, “woman,” and diverse sexual orientations textbook and curricular analysis is considered a valuable practice: it provides insight into the ways in which the “official knowledge” (apple, 1993) is designed (lebrun, et al., 2002; nicholls 2003). this research practice has been used in feminist and queer studies to determine the state of the “official knowledge” regarding their particular concerns. in these fields there has been a prolific amount of textbook and curricular documents analysis for nearly five decades (blumberg, 2008). there are essentially three different “concerns”’ that drive this type of research. the first group is concerned with issues of inclusion, exclusion, and stereotyping (binimelis, blázquez, & henández, 1992; osler, 1994; sruvastava, 2005; blumberg, 2008; vandergriff, 2008; alayan & al-khalidi, 2010; smolkin & young, 2011). among the motivations in these studies are to find out how consistently women and lgbtq individuals are represented, and to analyze these characters’ complexity. the second group of studies analyze textbooks or curricular documents as a part of larger oppressive structures in society that undermine the position and possibilities of women and the lgbtq population (wright, 1995; commeyras & alvermann, 1996; low & sherrard, 1999; hall, 2000; terrón & cobano-delgado, 2008; schoeman, 2009; aoumer, 2014). they primarily focus on exposing the ways in which textbooks maintain an oppressive social order. the third group of studies analyze the construction of the binary normal/abnormal in educational discourse (temple, 2005; schrader & wotipka, 2011; schmidt, 2012). even though these articles seek to expose hegemonic social structures, they specifically do so by focusing on processes of gender and sexuality normalization. the discourse contained in textbooks is pervasive enough that it “determines what kinds of intelligible statements can be circulated within a given economy of thought” (wilchins, 2004, p. 59). it works as an artifact of oppression that makes the own student police herself, perpetuating the hegemonic social order. discourse should not be understood “as groups of signs (signifying elements referring to content and representations) but as practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak” (foucault, 1972, p. 49). similarly, schmidt (2012) argued that history curriculum works as an identity behavior handbook, and suggested that researchers analyze gender norms in the few representations of women and lgbtq individuals, rather than focusing solely on their absence. in view of these constructions the role of ‘woman’ is specifically focused upon in this study. theoretical framework: the nature of the construction of “woman” as the responsible gendered citizen “woman” is an historical socially constructed category that varies among societies and over time. one is not born a “woman” but is turned into one. butler (1988) explained that; to be female is (…), a facticity which has no meaning, but to be a woman is to have become a woman, to compel the body to conform to an historical idea of ‘woman’ to induce the mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 6 body to become a cultural sign, to materialize oneself in obedience to an historically delimited possibility, and to do this as a sustained and repeated corporeal project. (p. 522) conforming to the (re)produced historical idea of “woman” means to materialize this idea in one’s body over and over again, restricting one’s possibilities and committing to this gender “project” over time. in order to turn our own body into a “cultural sign” of “womanhood” (or other gender identities), one has to “do” or perform gender. we have to signal to our spectators that we possess the ‘natural’ characteristics of that category and should be recognized as such. the idea of “woman” is then embodied by these performances: “woman” is not a mere abstract construct defined by external discourse, but an embodied (re)produced self (butler, 1988). gender can be performed for a public or for oneself, and it has to be performed “right.” it is restricted by the social constraints of the specific society that expects such performance. straying too far away from the acceptable set of gender performances would mean being disciplined (butler, 1988). to avoid punishment and to be fully accepted in the community as “naturally” gendered, the individual has to conform, and to apply herself to do her gender “‘right.” gender scripts are everywhere; we perform and witness them in every aspect of our lives. the same performances of others – when acting as gendered selves – conform to various scripts from where people get information on how to do “woman” (or other gender categories). nevertheless, these performances do not function in a social vacuum. gender is a social construct that relates to specific historical societies. in each of these societies, there are discourses that are defined and sustained through a variety of mechanisms, predetermining the gender scripts that are going to signal who is “woman,” and who is supposed to be considered abnormal or even dangerous. the created “compulsory” conjunction between sex, gender, and sexual desire has a cultural, rather than natural, meaning, and responds to a particular set of rules, determined in a particular context (butler, 1988, 1990). the gender script is (re)produced by social institutions signaling what it means to do gender right. the educational system has officially great responsibility in this process to instill norms in the citizens-to-be. the power of the state and other institutions over the gendered subjectivities should not be understood as a purely coercive rule that forces people to do gender in a certain way. it is true that sometimes individuals must feel that way regarding certain aspects of the expected performances they have to do, but most of the time, we comply “freely” to gender norms, and to the range of “acceptable” possibilities that society determines comes “naturally” to our sex. liberal democracies do not forcefully coerce people to act and think in certain ways; rather they create the conditions where a particular kind of freedom and agency is possible, but is restricted enough that it provides only a limited number of ‘thinkable’ possible choices and thus outcomes. this is called governmentality (foucault in friedrich, 2010). if we think about governmentality in terms of gender, it could be argued that individuals are being managed in this way to ascribe “freely” to a predetermined unnatural category “woman,” and to perform it in a manner that maintains the established social order. even though there are many ways in which the state and other institutions can work to create the conditions necessary to produce such governmentality, friedrich (2010) focused on the role of historical consciousness as a pedagogical device in the process of (re)producing the responsible citizen in schools. as a pedagogical device (constructed by educators and educational researchers), historical consciousness is understood as an acquired skill to understand the past. this “skill” “(…) relates to the mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 7 intrinsic worth that teaching history possesses for instilling sets of values and desired behaviors” (friedrich, 2010, p. 656, italics added). in schools, history would have then the potential to become a moral fable, and historical consciousness would be the skill that would allow the student to draw predetermined lessons from historical narrative. in this way, the production of this disposition in students would make possible the previously described governmentality. the subject uses her historical consciousness (acquired and learned in school) to draw specific lessons from the historical narrative, in this way guiding/limiting her future choices and acts in concordance to the project of the nation. this pedagogical device creates an economy of thought that makes thinkable some possibilities and unthinkable others. the concept of governmentality in a gender framework can serve to (re)produce a gendered responsible citizen. the gendered responsible citizen is choosing her future performances “freely,” basing her choices both on her reasoning and on a consensual predetermined historical narrative, allowing her to learn the range of possible gender performances that are acceptable within the nation’s project. the responsible gendered citizen learns to understand the official historical narrative as a gender script that allows her to hold certain values regarding gender and to perform accordingly. such production requires a singular predetermined historical narrative (the content of the fable). it is important to note the pervasive nature of this kind of gender governmentality. gender is assumed as arising from nature, thus it is not approached in schools and history and social studies classrooms as a separate theme or subject. there is no section in the history textbooks that says “let’s learn how to act as a woman!” but this does not mean that the singular historical narrative does not teach about how to perform “woman” or that the skill “historical consciousness” does not allow students to draw moral lessons on how to perform “woman” from such a narrative. the invisibility of these lessons further naturalizes them, and this naturalization increases control over the possible outcomes of individual behavior and how the gendered responsible citizen thinks about the world and about herself (bourdieau & passeron, 2005). the predetermined historical narrative of the nation in school shows students – in multiple and reiterative occasions – a spectacle of gender performances from different historical characters through time, emphasizing specific performances over others. the narrative gives the individual a sense of what comes “naturally” from sex (even centuries ago) through the power of reiteration. this constructs a script: it (re)produces the possible and thinkable ways in which the individual will be able to do gender within minimal variation. a nationally defined history curriculum – as is the chilean case – could signify the collective witnessing of this gender script in the process of reading the official curricular documents. the collective aspect of this process is another form of governmentality in regards to gender: not only the individual learns what “woman” is supposed to be by reading the curricular documents and working on learning lessons from the past, but because every other student in the classroom (and in the country) is reading the same documents, she also understands that everybody knows what “woman” is supposed to be. this works as a form of personal/public surveillance (foucault, 1972): the individual will police others and her own gender performances driven by the knowledge that everybody is conscious of the way she should perform in order to be considered “normal.” a close scrutiny of curricular documents in history provides some clarification of the narrative of “woman.” mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 8 chilean historical context in chile the curricular documents, distributed freely to every public or charter school in the country, have been disputed by different political entities, and yet they have facilitated “consensus” after the dictatorship of pinochet and during the new neoliberal regime (cox, 2006). the terrible specter of “non-democracy”’ haunts educational policymakers. curricular reform still demonstrates the need to maintain a harmonic consensus for the sake of democracy, although since 2006 civil society has challenged this by demanding radical changes in education. in the past years there have been three complete or partial reforms of the national history and social studies curriculum (2009, 2012, and 2013). even though the ruling party changed through those years (concertación from the center left, or alianza for the right), consensus between these different curricular documents was reached, and even the presentation of the official curricular documents produced by the ministry under different administrations was unified to look the same. for this research i selected two specific types of curricular documents provided by the ministry of education in 2014: the programs and the textbooks for grades one through twelve. the programs include the “learning objectives” (or expected “competences” that consist in content knowledge and ability), a suggested organization of the academic year, activities, and evaluations. these documents are constructed by the ministry for teachers and are widely used as a guide to design classroom instruction. the second type of document is the textbook, created for teachers and students at each grade level. the ministry buys them from publishing companies that compete and enter a public tender. in the area of history and social studies, the textbooks include: content or the historical narrative, activities for instruction, and evaluations. the ministry of education delivers the textbooks and programs to every public and charter school in chile. national standardized tests, like the national system of evaluation of the “quality”’ of education (simce), or the testing system to get into college (psu), apply extra pressure on schools to use the ministry elaborated programs and approved textbooks. the results of simce have high stakes for schools (diminishes student enrollment, funding, teachers’ salary, and even leads to threats of closure), and psu results are publicly paraded in the newspapers and mass media as a sign of the “quality” of schools. research method i focused on reading and analyzing the sections in the programs and textbooks that deliberately included “woman” as a subject to be studied. i selected the parts where the “learning objectives”’ mentioned “woman” or “women.”. i also searched for the words “woman” and “‘women” in the documents (programs and textbooks) and read those sections closely. while reading all these sections, i was writing down every description, taking notes on the activities and evaluations that were centered on “women’s issues.” after collecting the data, i coded it and identified recurrent themes that could answer the research questions. as other academics have done in the past (harris, 2004), i present and analyze the data by creating two archetypical characters that represent two sections in the “thinkable” chilean gender continuum: “pauper-woman” and “active-woman.” as i organized and analyzed the data, i realized that the intersection of issues related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, and social class were central to understanding the curricular documents’ gender script. the construction of these archetypes is not constant nor perfectly rounded. they do not account for age, or all social class, ethnic, or racial variations. nevertheless, they are two distinguishable characters that emerge from the curricular documents historical narrative. “pauper-woman” is the cautionary tale, the morals of the story mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 9 (pauper as a person without any means of support who constantly needs assistance), while “activewoman” is happiness and the model to be followed. i did not focus on the frequency of inclusion of females in the constructed historical narrative, but just to satisfy curiosity on how much “equitable inclusion” of “woman” was done in the selected documents, i counted four of the twelve textbooks: 1st grade, 4th grade, 8th grade and 12th grade. the results confirm what many other studies cited in this paper have concluded over the years: there is no “equal inclusion” in the documents, just small concessions and additive information (75% characters identified as “man” and 25% as “woman”). regardless, it is important to emphasize that the issue of exclusion/inclusion is outside the scope of this paper. the only quantitative observations i make are related to the repetitive association of “woman” with certain characteristics. this is important for the purposes of this study, considering that this reiterative spectacle/performance/script is being exposed to students over and over again in order to produce a particular understanding of this category. finding 1: the interconnections of caring motherhood, working mothers, and activism “woman” and ‘pauper-woman’ are mothers. “woman” is going to be characterized in those terms. this is almost monolithically consistent throughout the curricular documents from first grade until twelfth grade; it is repeated 68 times in historical and contemporary descriptions. in an activity in the first grade textbook, students are supposed to demonstrate reading comprehension by examining a letter and answering questions about family vacation. in the letter, the mother of the family is described as “caring, and cooks nice meals”1 (moreno, paulsen, valdés, & villarreal, 2013, p. 44). in the fifth grade textbook, there is an excerpt from a chilean historian describing the activities of a colonial family in the 1600s, explaining that the use of wet nurses “prevented mothers the possibility of caring for, and caressing their children” (álvarez, barahona, & cisternas, 2013a, p. 81). finally in 12th grade, when discussing the laws of maternity leave – and failing to mention even once that this is a benefit that fathers can take – there is a picture of an informative poster about the new law presenting a mother naked and covered with green leaves, hugging and pressing her face to her baby’s head with closed eyes and a peaceful smile (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 242). “woman” and motherhood are irrevocably linked in an image that is set to evoke nature: skin, green leaves, smiles, peace. it is impossible not to wonder what the poster would be like if it promoted fathers staying at home. “active-woman” breaks into history and acts politically because she is worried and cares about her children and the world they are going to live in: she can be a canadian woman going on a strike so her children learn the value of being tidy (gumucio, muñoz, & ponti del valle, 2013, p. 13); a mother with her child in one arm and a flag waving in the other in a 30s poster calling to a feminist congress (álvarez, barahona, & cisternas, 2013b, p. 136); a mother voting with her baby in her arms or her children observing nearby (amengual, gutierrez, cot, & moran, 2013, p.16; álvarez, barahona, & cisternas, 2013b, p. 147); and an upper or middle class woman challenging the established government marching in the streets making noise with her saucepan protesting food shortage that does not allow her to feed her children (álvarez, barahona, & cisternas, 2013b, p. 161; quintana, 1 this and all other quotes from the textbooks and programs are my own translations. mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 10 castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013, p. 169). these are all safe and acceptable performances for “active-woman”: all are related to the caring love that “woman” “naturally” holds for her children. not every mother is “active-woman.” “pauper-woman” is portrayed as a passive victim, guilty of abandoning her children. in an activity that describes the working condition of poor women in the first decades of the 20th century in chile, the text describes women’s labor hours in these terms: “their workday lasted 12 to 15 hours, which implied that they practically had to abandon their family and children for most part of the day” (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013, p. 124, italics added). “pauper-woman” is abandoning her children and family because she is a victim of her condition. her lack of a husband and her impoverished state can also endanger the life of her children: if the woman had no man responsible for the baby, or if she did not have family ties, she had to work immediately after having the baby, which endangered her own life and the life of the baby. during the 20th century, public policies were developed oriented to diminish the children’s and maternal mortality (…). this protection in the working class sectors consisted in accommodations where the parturient could be for some days, providing counseling for a safe birth at home, and the visit of a social worker that persuaded working class mothers not to abandon their babies, between other help. (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano & thielemann, 2013, p. 126, italics added) a passive victim of her condition of poverty and/or lack of husband, “pauper-woman” is constructed as a failure in the most important aspect of what it means to be “woman”: she neglects her own children, endangering their lives. notably, men and their work are never described in relation to their children. finding 2: everyone wants to have a (white) husband, or compulsory monogamous heterosexuality a monogamous and heterosexual relation must always frame “woman’s” and “pauper-woman’s” maternal condition. this “natural” attraction to men seems compulsory in the narrative of the curricular documents –heteronormative couples appear at least 59 times in the programs and textbooks – and impregnates everything in “‘woman’s” life. it does not matter if the topic is families today (moreno, paulsen, valdés, & villarreal 2013, p. 187) or with the incas and their societal organization (amengual, gutierrez, cot & moran, 2013, p. 132); all these couples are constructed as heterosexual and monogamous. both “active-woman’ and “pauper-woman” seem to want a (white) sexual partner (regardless of their own ethnicity). the difference is that “active-woman” devotes herself in a number of ways to get that partner, while “pauper-woman” (gladly) accepts the (white) sexual partner that it is violently imposed on her: [european] women that decided to go to america came with the intention of bettering their social condition by linking themselves romantically to a conquistador. (…) most of the women came to be protected [by men] and get a better future in a world ruled by men. in spite of being submitted to the control of their husbands, women played a mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 11 fundamental role as transmitter of the material and domestic culture of spain, and, above all, religious beliefs. meanwhile native women did not reject spaniard men. even though many were forced or violated by the conquistadors, many quickly willingly became their concubines and mothers of the first mestizo generation. (álvarez, barahona & cisternas, 2013a, p. 52) “active-woman” knows that a better future for her is dependent on having a powerful man for a sexual partner, and she is “smart enough” to go out and risk herself to find him. “pauper-woman,” on the other hand, while equally heterosexual and monogamous, has a sexual partner as a part of her “condition,” which she gladly accepts even though there may be violent encounters: “pauperwoman” is forcefully taken. the idea that in spite of the sexual violence of the conquest native women accepted and even wanted these relations with the conquistadors is repeated 11 times in the curricular documents. compulsory heterosexuality is not disrupted until three short sections in the eleventh and twelfth grade textbook (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano & thielemann, 2013, p. 135, quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano & thielemann, 2013, p.273; latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 156). in the twelfth grade textbook the case of judge atala is mentioned. karen atala is a chilean judge who divorced her husband and moved in with her female partner, taking her children with her. her ex-husband sued for full custody, arguing that she and her partner were a negative influence on the socio-emotional development of the children. the chilean supreme court ruled in his favor, but atala appealed to the international court of human rights. this court ruled in her favor, forcing chilean law to back down. the description available for students about this case is the one offered by “el mercurio,” a recognized conservative newspaper. “el mercurio” characterizes the ruling of the international court as a “harsh sentence,” while explaining that atala’s ex-husband had provided psychological reasons to the national courts (latorre, henríquez & rocha, 2013, p. 156). in this narrative, judge atala broke the rules: even though she possesses the qualities of “activewoman” – a mother that deeply cares about her children and fights for them – she challenges the state from her non-heterosexual condition, actions that turn her into a dangerous outcast. these sections round up one of the essential messages intrinsically valuable for governmentality in neoliberal democracies: while individuals of diverse (in this case) sexual orientations must be tolerated, and maybe granted second class rights, they should not endanger the unity and consensus of the “nation” by pursuing their own political agendas. atala is outside the continuum of possibilities for gender performances, and even though she is within the given economy of thought, she is produced as an annoying hiccup in the saga of the nation. she is there to signal the danger of performing “not-heterosexual” and challenging the consensus of the democratic state. finding 3: framing it safely: on whiteness, social class, rights, and political/social change “pauper-woman” is neither white nor upper class; she is (re)produced as a pitiful “other,” unrelatable in her misery, a part of a uniform mass of others like her. she is the poorest of the poor, othered by her race or ethnicity. the curricular documents frame working class and/or native/black women at mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 12 least 20 times in this way. there are two significant photographs and descriptions that provide evidence for this. the first one, taken by obden heffer around 1890, shows a mapuche home or “ruca,” and two females in it, an old woman sitting in a dirt floor working on a loom, while the young woman looks directly at the camera from the back of the room. the description at the bottom says, “the life in the reductions provoked changes in the way of life of mapuches, worsening their economical precariousness and social discrimination” (mendizábal & riffo, 2013, p. 197). the second photograph shows a small space, with dirt floors covered with trash. on the floor, two adult women are sitting with fixed stares on their faces; a child (almost a baby) is holding one women’s skirt. the description at the bottom says “a mousetrap where a family lives, 1910” (mendizábal & riffo, 2013, p. 285). both photographs are framed in narratives about exclusion and misery. even though these sections are supposed to incorporate the mapuche and working class women into the narrative, this imagery of poverty and misery is also used as a warning to those who dare not jump onto the train of economic progress and neoliberal democracy: in today’s world “woman” must work hard and perform her role right, or else she will find herself sitting in a dirt floor. the depiction of misery and poverty can be used to praise individual effort, and to foster charitable feelings in students. these photographs seem to be pointing out that sitting around in the dirt only brings more poverty, misery, and defeat. in order to be praised and to have a name that is recognized and spoken, one needs to work hard and reject the old traditional ways. “pauper-woman” signals the thinkable-but-not-preferable gender performances available. on the other hand, “active-woman” is almost always upper class and/or white-mestizo-looking. there are at least 21 white-looking and rich women chosen and presented as “distinguished”’ or “accomplished” identifiable characters. she has a role in the tale of social and/or political changes in the historical narrative, but framed by her condition of companion or subordinate to a “man,” the true hero. in developing activities related to the narrative of chilean independence, the sixth grade program includes one where students are supposed to learn about the “participation of women during the independence” (chile. ministry of education. curriculum and evaluation unit, 2013f p. 103). they are supposed to write a review of the “life and importance of the women that stood up in this process.” all the offered examples are white-mestizo upper class women that were related (wives of, daughters of) to some chilean ‘founding father’ or whose importance is framed by a relationship with one of the “founding fathers.” “active-woman” is not autonomous, and needs the help of “man,” even in the pursuit of her own political agenda. the historical narrative about female access to education and vote in chile reiteratively entitles a “man”’ with the final responsibility of granting such right or benefit. for example, the responsibility of giving women access to higher education is assigned to miguel luis amunategui (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013, p. 125), and the responsibility of granting women the right to vote is given to gabriel gonzález videla (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013, p. 127). “active-woman” has a role in those struggles, but at the end, the narrative frames her actions as previous steps to actually getting to the goal, which is achieved by a reflexive “man.” another example of this secondary role can be found in the narrative about the incorporation of white european working class women to the war efforts during wwi. the text frames the social changes in women’s condition in europe as a causal effect of men going to war, and extols women’s work in the factories of the time explaining that they “had to participate in the hardest kinds of jobs, such as coal extraction and ship construction” (gárate, rodríguez, castillo & morales 2014, p. 33, italics added). “active-woman”’ is praised for doing the same jobs that men did. the narrative points out that not mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 13 only was she working because men left, but also that she is doing a job that is not meant for her – is too hard, too physically challenging – but given the circumstance, she is praised for doing. other changes in the social condition of “active-woman” that are constructed as independent from “man” are characterized in a specific way. the “‘roaring 20s” and women’s newfound freedom are examples of this phenomenon: two different textbooks, from two different publishing companies, that describe two different historical contexts (europe and chile) end up constructing a very similar (and daunting) narrative: society changed its costumes, especially women, whose fashion and behavior acquired a more liberal character. the skirts were shortened, makeup was remarked, and new hairstyles were developed mimic men’s styles; women also started to consume tobacco and alcohol, and to participate in night parties. (gárate, rodríguez, castillo & morales, 2014, p. 44) during those years, expressions of nonconformity started to arise in women, many started to use makeup, smoke tobacco and show their legs. makeup development and the establishment of beauty saloons helped in this process. (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano & thielemann, 2013, p. 126) “active-woman’s” grand solo rebellion is to use lipstick, show her legs and cut her hair in a “bob.” while society is in turmoil, “active-woman” goes to the beauty salon to be ready for her partying, drinking, and smoking at night. it is possible that these sorts of behaviors could be read as ways in which individuals can actively resist social impositions while staying in the frames of what is acceptable – a very privileged way to resist – but that is not the way this story is constructed. this is a meaningful way to do “woman,” while “man” would never be characterized in the same manner. it is interesting to consider which kinds of women will have the privilege to participate in this “thinkable” way of rebellion: women that can pay for the beauty salon, the booze, and the partying, and can afford to lose that precious time. other rebellions, like the one enacted by “guerrilla-woman” will be erased. “active-woman” is not always (re)produced as the featherbrain of the “roaring 20s” or as the upper class wife; sometimes “active-woman” is a working or middle class mestizo woman who is a renowned artist, politician, musician or poet to whom the “‘unsafe,” “unsettling,” or conflictive characteristics are trimmed off. violeta parra, a famous musician and artist with a well-known extreme left political affiliation, is reduced to being the author of pretty songs in the first and sixth grade textbooks (moreno, paulsen, valdés, & villarreal, 2013, p. 152, álvarez, barahona, & cisternas, 2013b, p. 156) and a line mentioning her social critiques is in the eleventh grade textbook (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyan, & thielemann, 2013, p. 185). gabriela mistral is recognized as the very first women and latin american to win a nobel prize in literature, but her personal complex life and her female romantic partner are left out (moreno, paulsen, valdés, & villarreal, 2013, p. 150; quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013; p. 133). mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 14 finding 4: her right place in the job: domestic labor, competing in the labor market, and subordination the ministry programs clearly reject gender stereotyping in relation to labor. the first grade program includes an “observation for the teacher” that points out that it “is important not to incur in gender stereotyping when addressing the issue of different types of jobs” (chile. ministry of education. curriculum and evaluation unit, 2013a, p. 91). what is really interesting here is not the advice, but the model that the ministry constructs of “avoiding gender stereotyping.” one page before this “observation for the teacher,” the program offers an activity for the classroom about different kinds of non-remunerated jobs: guided by the teacher the students name the people who labor without receiving a monetary remuneration, like the stay-at-home mothers or the voluntary services for the community like firefighters, red cross, the “hogar de cristo,” and “un techo para chile,” between others. (chile. ministry of education. curriculum and evaluation unit, 2013a, p. 90, italics added) the usage of the female article (in spanish las dueñas de casa) to mention the stay-at-home mothers is very telling. this is supposed to be an example of an activity that is not using gender stereotypes to address the labor of “woman,” but clearly frames her work in the domestic sphere. “woman” are described at least on 52 separate occasions as working almost always in domestic labor, jobs that mimic domestic labor (similar to cooking, caring for children, washing, steaming and/or repairing clothes, cleaning), or holding unremunerated jobs. the differences between “active-woman” and “pauper-woman” on this matter are sometimes not related to their social class or ethnic background, but with the constructed emergent “needs” of the historical time in the curricular narrative. two already analyzed examples are useful to point out this difference: while a woman that works 12 hours a day as a washer to feed her family is victimized but charged with “abandoning her family and children” (quintana, castillo, pérez, moyano, & thielemann, 2013, p. 124), another one is praised for doing “the hardest kinds of jobs” (gárate, rodríguez, castillo, & morales, 2014, p. 33) when men have to go fight “for their country.” one is “active-woman” and the other is “pauper-woman”; both may be working-class, but the labor of one is allowing the master narrative of men to stand up, while the other one shows a time where things were not as “great” as the present day. one fits the heroic epoch of the nation while the other signs a warning that shows the “bad times” that could return. in present-day narratives this dichotomy is also identifiable. “active-woman” is distinguishable in a section about the chilean labor market: she is an example of non-remunerated labor in a photograph of voluntaries in charitable collection (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 231), or an example of independent labor in a photograph of a hairdresser (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 232). on the other hand, “pauper-woman” is characterized as the ethnically “‘diverse,” and poor ‘other’ that needs assistance from the 1st world countries to insert herself in the global market (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, pp. 252-253). even though “active-woman” has a place in the labor force of the nation (apparently only from the 20th century until today, according to the historical narrative), she is doing jobs subordinated to positions occupied by men. this hierarchy is constructed as the way in which the market works: the invisible hand of the economy places in higher-ranking posts the most suitable candidates. the fact mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 15 that they are men is just a coincidence. a great example of this (re)produced subordination of “activewoman” in the job market can be found in the twelfth grade textbook. in a section about the labor market the textbook explains the following: an important factor during the last century, and especially in the last 50 years in chile has been the incorporation of women to labor; aspect that influences the labor market, because they constitute a new labor force that competes for the available job posts. (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 228, bolds in the original text) this text explains to students that women compete with men for the same job posts. the same textbook includes different infographics that show the results of this competition. the first one shows how the penal system works in chile. this image includes six “men” and five “women,” but “men” get to be the supreme court general attorney, a regional prosecutor, the judge of warranty, a court judge, while the highest position “women” reach is a regional prosecutor (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 39). the second one is an infographic about the process of selection of presidential candidate, in which “women” only get to be pre-candidates, and “men” are pre-candidates and the selected candidates (latorre, henríquez, & rocha, 2013, p. 81), even though in chile we have a woman president for the second time. “active-woman” has a subordinated position because she is not as qualified as “man.” “woman” should work outside the home, but she must not have a job that is too high in the hierarchy of a company or the country. the narrative regarding work and the public sphere determines that “woman” enjoys all the same political and social rights as men today, allowing her the “freedom” to individually choose her own destiny: today, chilean women, without consideration of their social condition, have the right to vote, study in the university if her economic condition allows it, work outside the home and hold political office, but this was not always like this. (álvarez, barahona & cisternas, 2013b, p. 135) this fragment and at least 16 others show how the narrative is framing “woman” in a progressive conception of history. the lesson of the fable is clear: things for “woman” have changed; today she is able to do almost anything, and she can even work outside her home and go to college if she has money. by creating the sense of freedom to act and choose so relevant for neoliberal democratic governmentality, the placement of “woman” in the discussions about historical social change related to social and political rights becomes particularly meaningful. consensus has been reached, equality has been achieved, and order must prevail. conclusion in this article i have made the case for understanding the chilean curricular documents of history and social studies as a script for the gendered responsible citizen. i have argued that the defined historical narrative (re)produces a particular understanding of what it means to do “woman” right. using butler’s (1988, 1990) and friedrich’s (2010) theoretical ideas, i have claimed that in chilean neoliberal democracy, governmentality of the future gendered citizens is promoted by defining an historical mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 16 narrative in acceptable gender codes and giving access to it in the national curricular documents. these documents (re)produce a specific economy of thought about “woman” allowing some freedom of choice but at the same time restricting the available gender performances. these restricted performances go from one archetypal character – “active-woman” – to another “pauper-woman” – one being the desired outcome, and the other the cautionary tale. “activewoman” is an involved mother who fights for her children, and who actively seeks the (white) man she wants to marry and form a family with. she is a white-looking upper class woman or a working class mestizo woman safely framed. “active-woman” works in what she does best – domestic-like labor – and in this way contributes to the international market. she does not want nor can she handle more responsibility. on the other side of the spectrum, we find the “pauper-woman” as a passive victim of her condition, a bad mother that endangers her children or neglects her family by working long hours, and also meekly resigns to a male sexual partner that conquers her by force. she is a working class mestizo/native (or ethnically “diverse”) woman who has no identifiable name or and does not contribute to economic growth. she is a problem that has to be handled in the present, and a sign of how things have changed for the best in the past. “pauper-woman” is constructed in the curricular documents to show the gendered citizen that striding too far away from “active-woman” is not praised but disciplined. this paper seeks to deconstruct the category “woman,” and to provide clues into what is still problematic in the chilean approach to gender equity in education. the oppressive gender norms for “woman” identified in the chilean curricular documents signify an important problem on the road to achieve gender equity in the country. they could be read by students as the only possibilities to recognize as ‘woman’ as a political subject, while promoting acceptance of the current state and role of women in society instead of the disruption of gendered assumptions. in this sense, one can be understood as “woman” if one performs as a mother, performs as a heterosexual, and performs domestic or domestic-like subordinated work; but in all of these performances there is a range of possibilities. other possibilities are prohibited, policed, and erased. they are made invisible for students, because they do not contribute to maintain stability and consensus, and they even attempt to trouble the social order. this historical narrative does not trouble “woman’s” caring labor, or any other redistribution matters. addressing the issue of gender equity from this critical perspective can provide important answers regarding the persistence of “woman’s” oppressed situation in chilean society. it is not enough to change curricular documents so that ‘woman” is more included or recognized. the normalization of certain characteristics, and attention to the redistribution of caring labor, are central matters to consider. educators and researchers can use this critical reading to disrupt “happy” narratives regarding gender equity in chile and other countries. i have examined curricular documents of history and social studies as a gender script, but it is not possible to infer what this gendering processes through historical narratives looks like in classrooms. these processes might be already challenged and emotionally resisted by students and teachers. on paper, the curricular documents can be understood as a system of indirect control, but the definition of the national historical narrative is only one process by which the “ponderous, awesome materiality” (foucault, 1972, p. 216) of the category “‘woman” can be controlled. it is important to conduct research that focuses on the embodied experiences of students and teachers, and their own troubling of the historically constructed category “woman.”. mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 17 bibliography alayan, s., & al-khalidi, n. 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(2004). future girl: young women in the 21st century. new york, ny, & london, uk: routledge. mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu http://www.mineduc.cl/ http://www.mineduc.cl/ http://www.mineduc.cl/ http://www.mineduc.cl/ http://www.mineduc.cl/ http://www.mineduc.cl/ journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 19 latorre, i., henríquez, m., & rocha, p. (2013). historia, geografía y ciencias sociales, iv medio. santiago de chile: zig-zag publishers. lebrun, j., lenoir, y., laforest, m., larose, f., roy, g., spallanzani, c., & pearson, m. (2002). past and current trend in the analysis of textbooks in a quebec context. curriculum inquiry, 32(1), 51-82. low, j., & sherrard, p. 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(2011). research direction: missing mirrors, missing windows: children’s literature textbooks and lgbt topics. language arts, 88(3), pp. 217-225. sruvastava, g. (2005). gender concerns in the social studies textbooks of pakistan and bangladesh. internationale schulbuchforschung, 27(2), 217-234. temple, j. r. (2005). “people who are different from you”: heterosexism in quebec high school textbooks. canadian journal of education, 28(3), 271-294. terrón, m. t., & cobano-delgado, v. (2008). el papel de las mujeres en las ilustraciones de los libros de texto de educación primaria. foro de educación, 10, 385-400. toro, m. e. & sepúlveda, u. (2013). historia, geografía y ciencias sociales, 7 educación básica, santiago de chile: sm publishers. vandergriff, i., barry, d., & mueller, k. (2008). models and usage norms? gender marking in first-year textbooks. teaching german, 41(2), 144-150. mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 4-20. corresponding author email: ve2147@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 20 wilchins, r. (2004). foucault and the disciplinary society. in queer theory, gender theory (pp. 59-70). los angeles, ca: alyson books. wright, r. a. (1995). women as "victims" and as "resisters": depictions of the oppression of women in criminology textbooks. teaching sociology, 23(2), 111-121. mailto:ve2147@tc.columbia.edu introduction bourdieu, p., & passeron, j. (2005). la reproducción: elementos para una teoría del sistema de enseñanza (j. melendres & m. subirats, trans.). mexico d.f.: fontamara s.a. (original work published 1970). wilchins, r. (2004). foucault and the disciplinary society. in queer theory, gender theory (pp. 59-70). los angeles, ca: alyson books. journal of international social studies, vol. x, no. x, 2016, xxx-xxx. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 71 book review: muslims and islam in u.s. education: reconsidering multiculturalism liz jackson, l. (2014). muslims and islam in u.s. education: reconsidering multiculturalism. new york, ny: routledge. a review by: daniel joseph osborn boston university djosborn@bu.edu daniel is a doctoral student studying history and social studies education. the 21st century is in many ways defined by the multiple dynamics of globalization, bringing about contentious questions for citizens of the united states regarding their knowledge of and relationships with the members of this burgeoning global society. in particular, in a post-september 11th world, many americans are grappling with their understanding of islam and muslims, a particularly salient matter considering u.s. interventions in predominantly muslim countries and shifting national demographics. many popular sources of information and entertainment that represent muslims have historically been problematic as they are fraught with reductive depictions and mischaracterizations that play into a clash of civilizations thesis. this thesis posits that western civilization is antithetical to that of islamic civilization as they are each distinctive in their values, social structures and cultures. this thesis is replete with notions of cultural superiority on the part of those who consider themselves to be the bearers of a western tradition. a clash thesis also fails to recognize the interplay between religious, political and societal influences between peoples that allow for a diffusion of ideas and cultural productions. instead of being innate, static and remote, cultures and civilizations are constructed, fluid and porous. the prevalence of a clash thesis has engendered the propagation of stereotypes about muslims as a people and islam as a faith. in bifurcating global societies between western and islamic, pluralistic communities are categorized in a manner that renders them as monolithic and containing essential traits that remain unaffected by cultural exchange. it is this contemporary climate of global interconnectedness and the prevalent perception that islam and muslims are discrete from the west that underpins scholar liz jackson’s work in muslims and islam in u.s. education: reconsidering multiculturalism. jackson’s study examines the question of how knowledge of islam and muslims is constructed in public school settings in the united states. jackson explains, “today, many educators may feel uncertain of what or how to teach in relation to muslims and islam” (p. 2). recognizing that certain forms of knowledge are privileged while others are displaced, jackson explores some of the various educational paradigms within the umbrella framework of multicultural education. in doing so, jackson reveals there journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 72 is no universal consensus regarding how islam and muslims are to be introduced to students, with proponents of certain currents of thought actively reinforcing a clash thesis and others concertedly deconstructing and dismissing it outright. moreover, jackson does not only introduce the contested nature of studying islam and muslims, but also presents the opportunity to better appreciate the selectivity inherent in determining what knowledge is championed in schools and the ideological currents that imbue all the mainstream options espoused by educators of various backgrounds. finally, jackson concludes by introducing intercultural education as a viable alternative to a content-centric approach to multicultural education as it applies to the teaching of islam and muslims. before broaching her evaluation of the content of school knowledge, jackson first establishes a foundation for the imperative to grapple with the manner in which islam and muslims are taught. this is accomplished by discussing the ubiquitous understanding of the mission of education in the united states. according to jackson, schools serve as incubators in society that foster students’ development of the skills, knowledge and dispositions required to actively participate in a thriving democratic society. yet, jackson is cognizant that the reality of life in the united states means that social problems and inequality continue to persist unabated alongside the problem of political polarization. these realities necessitate reflection on the role of schools in the process of promoting democracy under such ongoing circumstances that tend to adversely affect the most vulnerable segments of society. with regards to muslims and islam, jackson contends that schools may not necessarily be satisfying their mission of equipping students with the tools to coexist with muslim citizens or understand muslim cultures and contemporary issues throughout the world. the shortcomings of schools, for jackson, pertain to the paltry space allotted to the study of topics germane to familiarizing students with muslims and islam as well as the low quality of educational experiences when time is permitted for such content. jackson underscores how this is counter to the mission to promote democracy in schools as students who complete their formal studies ignorant of islam are susceptible to internalizing demonizing perspectives that intrinsically associate muslims and islam with terrorism, violence and anti-americanism. jackson explains, “muslims and non-muslims alike are unintentionally harmed by educational tendencies today that preclude students learning much useful information about this religion and community” (p. 3). jackson goes on to explain that popular depictions often fail to convey to students that muslims are not all arab and that the largest population centers are outside the middle east. after formulating this problem, jackson segues into an explication of multicultural education and the inadequacy of certain permutations to redress the underwhelming schooling experience for students in need of more substantive deliberation on muslims and islam in order to thrive in a globally interconnected world predicated upon a democratic ethos. jackson reminds her readers that multicultural education is not necessarily unified but that multiple incarnations exist that differ in outlook and orientation. therefore, no consensus exists regarding how schools should treat difference and diversity. jackson elaborates, “how to understand and manage diversity and inequality in society has been and remains a hotly debated question, with different general solutions implying divergent paths forward in education” (p. 12). the discord between the three currents of thought jackson identifies and introduces produce a tension in schools and society, regarding the preferred way to promote democracy. the complexity of these disagreements is compounded by the fact that schools are not only domains of knowledge production and dissemination but are also instruments of socialization. jackson reminds, “a distinctive feature of u.s. public education journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 73 historically has been its deliberate aim to integrate young members into society, to develop a kind of unity across lines of ethnicity, religion, language, and socioeconomic status” (p. 11). such a mission means that the content of schooling is not objective. instead, it is selected and framed to promote induction of youth into society. as u.s. society is diverse and replete with various social and political interests, some of which do not compatibly align, this rather straightforward mission becomes terrain ripe for controversy and debate. the advent of assimilationism, pluralism, and critical multiculturalism as three variations of multicultural education speak to the absence of any universal understanding of society and the role of schools in satisfying an induction process. in presenting each of the three branches of multicultural education in question, jackson provides a historical overview of their development and the fissures that exist within each. as much of her critique of how americans understand islam and muslims speaks to the tendency of neglect diversity, jackson herself succeeds in avoiding this fault when articulating the various shapes multiculturalism has taken. according to jackson, assimilationism is a response to the disconnect between a normative american society and the diverse demographics of the citizenry. proponents of assimilation seek to equip communities whose cultures, norms, and values differ from mainstream american society with all that is required to migrate from the periphery to the center of society. jackson explains that this outlook defines difference as deficient and that by accepting hegemonic american values minority communities can find success. as such, “education should therefore initiate those disadvantaged by their background to embrace majority cultural values and practices” (p. 120). jackson considers this to do a disservice to students as it is predicated upon an a priori conclusion that american society is just and devoid of major problems. jackson also identifies assimilationism as most likely to embrace the clash thesis, “concluding that muslims are too different and threatening to u.s. society to be positively recognized in schools” (p. 26-27). what this means is that in a post-9/11 america, educators that subscribe to assimilationism tend to overemphasize difference and to cast the particularities of muslims and islam as incompatible and insurmountable. for muslim students, this means that schools may not be places where the value of their identities and heritages are affirmed and for non-muslims this means that schools echo media depictions that illuminate conflict, terrorism, and fundamentalism at the expense of other muslim experiences that are detached from such accounts. while jackson issues criticisms of all mainstream versions of multicultural education, she is particularly critical of assimilationism as one that promotes schooling wherein students are only provided with cursory studies of muslims and islam that these serve to crystalize negative associations. jackson next addresses pluralism and similarly considers it to be an unsound alternative to assimilationism as it is epistemologically grounded in the same reductive and apologetic representational form. whereas assimilationism sanitizes u.s. history and society of social problems and is unabashedly scathing in its understanding of muslims and islam, pluralism is reductive in its own right. jackson explains that pluralism represents a vacillation from one absolutist understanding to another albeit one that favorable champions diversity and encourages students to see muslims and islam in the most flattering terms only. jackson defines it as “a perspective that emphasizes that difference in society is good and that cultures, views, or practices that diverge from mainstream norms are generally worthy of equal toleration and/or positive recognition in the public sphere society” (p. 13). while this serves to humanize and affirm the value of marginalized and dehumanized communities and their traditions, particularly muslims and islam, jackson also takes issue on the grounds that such an journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 74 overcorrection from assimilationism arrests students' and teachers' abilities to be critical in a manner that is not based on cultural chauvinism. critical thought is curtailed, according to jackson, when the attempt to humanize muslims and validate islam is accomplished by removing the option to scrutinize without being disrespectful. additionally, pluralism speaks of muslim society as monolithic and islam as though there is a universally understood notion of the faith. even while concerned with dispelling stereotypes, pluralism as a model for teaching about islam and muslims may resort to broad conceptualizations that presume identity to be innate and fixed and for religion to be easily understood and uncontested territory. founded upon an epistemology of deconstructionism, rather than the more positivistic assimilationism and pluralism, jackson then introduces critical multiculturalism. while ultimately deeming it insufficient for the study of islam and muslims, jackson does laud the effort to cultivate classrooms that interrogate and deconstruct knowledge to expose the ways meaning and perceptions are socially contingent rather than objective truths to be discovered and deemed definitive. the value of this is in enabling students to locate the intersection between the knowledge of subaltern communities and oppression that extends from unchecked notions of superiority and inferiority. jackson writes, “critical multiculturalism is promising in highlighting the contingent nature of social knowledge and learning, and the way ideology can interact with attitudes and beliefs in exploring issues of social difference” (p. 45). while critical multiculturalism unearths the existence of truth regimes in school knowledge, jackson has reservations about its own a priori tendency to produce dichotomous thinking as it “risks the same oversimplification and binary good/bad thinking” (p. 47) when examining power disparities between empowered and disempowered groups. after enumerating the features of these variations of multicultural education and grappling with their unviability when applied to the teaching of muslims and islam, jackson pivots towards a more extensive discussion of the representations that permeate america’s collective consciousness in a post-9/11 world. jackson justifies this by stating, “we learn information and values from media sources, viewing news as truthful, or behaviors in entertainment media as acceptable or normal” (p. 54) and that “muslims have typically been framed as dangerous and violent by news media and popular culture” (p. 59). with the ubiquity of news and entertainment in the 21st century, these sources frame the dominant discourse responsible for perceptions that equate muslims with threats to american security and speak of a global community as though it constituted a unified and cohesive group. such a reality, for jackson, necessitates students acquiring critical media literacy skills. the ability to recognize media as not being neutral or holding a monopoly on truth is a means to validate countervailing perspectives that may be displaced from mainstream sources. jackson considers this to be an empowering skill for students to possess so that they may become discerning consumers of information who actively read and view rather than passively defer to the authority of others. before issuing her proposal for interculturalism as a brand of multicultural education adequately designed for deliberating on topics related to muslims and islam in the classroom, jackson offers an evaluation of school knowledge in contradistinction to the media. jackson concludes that schools are not as blatantly negative in their depictions. rather, there are undercurrents in textbooks and curricular frameworks that are subtly and implicitly complicit in the ongoing negative associations with muslims and islam. according to jackson, textbook quality is improving as authorial sensitivity to stereotypes is journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 75 curtailing their explicit appearance. even still, references to muslims and islam are limited and circumscribed to topics that are intrinsically bound to violence such as terrorism, war and the various unresolved conflicts in the middle east. also problematic about textbooks is, regardless of the narratives they present, that they continue to be written as closed accounts and with a voice of certainty. as historical knowledge is culturally determined and no master narrative exists, textbooks contribute to the fallacy of historical knowledge being objective and singularly valid. jackson understands this as a fundamental problem as it deprives students of recognizing ambiguity, weighing alternative visions of the past, appreciating counter-narratives, and constructing their own personalized appreciation of history and historical actors. the problems of media and textbook characterizations of muslims and islam and need for students to acquire critical literacy skills underpin jackson’s proposal for interculturalism as a tenable brand of multicultural education. unlike the tension between assimilationism and pluralism wherein either camp vies to negate the knowledge posited by the other, interculturalism allows for a marketplace of contending ideas and forms of information to exist in the classroom. whereas critical multiculturalism understands knowledge to be constructed and hence capable of being deconstructed, interculturalism is a way for students to traverse multiple contending ideas and, in doing so, recognize the limitations and simultaneous appeal of all social knowledge. jackson explains, “to benefit from a diversity of views, strengths, and experiences in a society, public institutions must encourage creativity, openness, and innovation, as well as virtues of toleration, empathy and compassion” (p. 114). rather than inculcating students to subscribe to a particular set of beliefs and understandings, jackson considers interculturalism to be a panacea to educational practices that may border on indoctrination. much of jackson’s argument about the teaching of muslims and islam is not strictly about the perpetuation of stereotypes but instead is about the tendency for a particular ideological bent to inform school knowledge as though it held a monopoly on truth. instead, when students are exposed to multiple voices and currents of thought, they are granted the intellectual space to be active participants who can deliberate and engage in the sorts of dialogue that are fundamental to a democracy. jackson’s epistemological shift towards knowledge promotes sensitivity towards worldviews that are dissimilar to those one subscribes to personally. by allowing students to generate their own understandings by responding to problems, jackson contends that the classroom can facilitate the growth of students’ critical consciousness and willingness to be tolerant of those who are different, misunderstood, and even marginalized by the mainstream. in muslims and islam in u.s. education, jackson advocates for an educational experience that is inclusive of diverse voices so that schools can become incubators of tolerance, discourse and respect for muslims and islam rather than grounds for contentious ideological battles that further polarize american citizens. jackson’s work is a reminder that schools are a space where knowledge is couched in ideological undertones. rather than advocating for one ideology over another, jackson subverts this contest by suggesting that schools become inclusive of multiple narratives and that students receive a deliberationbased experience. this would alleviate the vacillation from one perception of muslims and islam to another on the opposite end of an ideological spectrum. instead, students can receive contending visions of muslims and islam without the teacher intentionally endorsing one as inherently more truthful or superior to other understandings. in constructing this sort of learning experience, jackson offers a fundamentally different understanding of knowledge. when applied to the understanding of journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 71-76. corresponding author email: djosborne@bu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 76 muslims and islam, this promotes a degree of cultural relativism that is required to avoid framing difference as deficient. since september 11, 2001, muslims and islam have been subject to scrutiny and suspicion in the united states. by asking students and educators to question their sources of knowledge and concede the limitations of it, jackson is asking them to reconsider the basis of their understandings of this heterogeneous community and this branch of the monotheistic tradition. in doing so, jackson neither denounces nor romanticizes. instead, she carves out an intellectual space to humanize and examine so that teachers may become harbingers of a multicultural education that offers nuance and justice for young learners and marginalized communities alike. journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 images of africa: a case study of pre-service candidates' perceptions of teaching africa hannah kim university of delaware in newark abstract: as much as the history and study of africa have been incorporated into social studies curricula, africa is still a region that is prone to misperceptions and misconceptions. social studies teachers could provide students with an alternative image, but what if they only perpetuate misperceptions of africa? this case study examines preservice candidates’ perceptions of africa and categorizes their responses to determine what one group of future social studies teachers imagines when asked to think about africa. the results show that stereotypes and misperceptions overwhelmingly pervade candidates’ thoughts despite years of study. this work has critical implications on the ways in which we prepare pre-service candidates to teach world history and global studies and how we can help pre-service candidates reflect on their own cultural assumptions and the construction of knowledge. key words: study and teaching of africa, global education, multicultural education, social studies education, teacher preparation, world history teaching. introduction although globalization itself is not new, the pervasiveness of globalization in popular discourse may very well be unprecedented (barchuk & harkins, 2010). it seems logical, then, that teachers should have an important role in preparing their students to be global citizens—to competently negotiate a modern society in which exchange and movement of monies, ideas, products, and peoples are not constrained by political and physical boundaries (gaudelli, 2003; merryfield, 2008). the idea that schools should prepare students to be globally competent is a popular notion, one advocated by professional social studies organizations, politicians, educators, and business people alike (hanvey 2004[1976]; national council for the social studies, 2008, 2013; spring, 2008; nea education policy and practice department, 2010). mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 unfortunately, scholars have noted that american schools have not done enough to prepare students for global competence. while “global education” has a nice ring to it, our teachers are ill-prepared to teach a global perspective (merryfield, 1993; ukpokodu, 2010). teachers may in fact be reinforcing stereotypes and negative images, as they are often unprepared to address the issues of race, power, and privilege that undergird academic content knowledge (matthews & dilworth, 2008; willinsky, 1998). some scholars are critical of teachers for maintaining an imperialist perspective and teaching content that is euro/american-centric (gaudelli, 2003; mangram & watson, 2011). i became curious about this subject when i reviewed course outlines that my undergraduate social studies education students produced in my secondary education social studies methods course. for those who chose world history or global studies, i noticed that there was very little “world” in their course outlines. they seemed to suffer from what ross dunn (2000) called the western heritage model and different cultures model. the former emphasizes a traditional, eurocentric world history in which units of study from areas outside europe are added to an older european history curriculum. the latter, the different cultures model, tends to teach regions as discrete units, and there is little attempt to connect the areas in a global narrative. my students’ course outlines made me ponder their content knowledge of the areas covered in global studies and world history courses. i decided to focus on africa, a region fraught with stereotypes, to narrow the scope of my study. unfortunately, as much as educators from the 1980s onward have incorporated africa into social studies curricula, it is still an area that is prone to misconceptions and misperceptions (hume, 1996; ukpokodu, 2010). as one scholar laments, world history and global studies courses give short shrift to africa, which usually comprises a single chapter or unit (schmidt, 1990). in addition, african cultures are still taught using eurocentric sources, which often reinforce rather than break down stereotypes and myths about africa, and americans frequently use such culturally loaded terms such as “tribe,” “primitive,” and “village” to describe africa or africans (ehret, 2002). my case study was guided by three questions: 1) what images come to mind when my students think of africa? 2) what do these images imply about the perceptions that my students have about africa? and 3) how can these perceptions influence the ways that my students teach about africa? it is my hope that this case study will help other teachers and teacher educators facilitate dialogue with their students about how culture and experience influence our perception of people, place, and region, and that through this process of introspection we will begin to mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 appreciate the need for further research on how we conceptualize and teach world history and global studies. conceptual framework this case study uses a conceptual framework of critical multicultural education, as theorized by banks (2004) and others (sleeter, 1996). in his dimensions of multicultural education, banks (2004) outlines five ways to implement multicultural education: content integration, equity pedagogy, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, and empowering school culture and social structure. while all five are relevant to this study, knowledge construction has been the most helpful because the study probes how knowledge of africa is constructed and taught within a social studies curriculum. other scholars have gone further in examining knowledge construction and have urged educators to incorporate the principles of critical pedagogy to multicultural education in order to challenge and question the dominant narrative, to go beyond mere knowledge acquisition, and to interrogate the source of our perceptions and the sources that we rely on to teach our content (vavrus, 2015). critical multicultural education calls for educators to help students consider the construction of knowledge, who controls that construction, and the subtext of the message (branch, 2005; mcintosh, 2005). merryfield (2001) exhorts students to examine the “origins and assumptions that underlie the mainstream, eurocentric, cold war framework that divides the world into ‘us’ and ‘them’. . . and to inquire into the relationship between knowledge construction and empire-building…” (p. 181). scholars who are engaged in postcolonial thought have best articulated the need to “decolonize” education and to consider the effects of imperialism on education for the colonizers and colonized (pashby, 2012; willinsky, 1998). only in deconstructing knowledge or “decolonizing the mind” can people begin to reconstruct a different narrative that removes the west from the middle of historical narratives and that is culturally responsive to the global community. unfortunately, scholars have noted that teachers, who are primarily white and middle class, often feel guilt or defensiveness when questioning the dominant cultural values and can be resistant to curricular reforms (barchuk & harkins, 2010). these alternative narratives challenge the traditional national curriculum and the notion that america has a unique and special history grounded in liberty and democratic ideals. hence, in order to achieve multicultural global perspectives in world history and global studies, an important step is to help teacher candidates understand that knowledge is constructed and that their own culture and experience influence their perspectives on peoples and regions. mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 many scholars have argued the importance of this type of self-examination in teacher preparation and curricula reform. nitza hidalgo (1993) posits that teachers must first understand their own cultural frames of reference before instituting a multicultural curriculum. likewise, merryfield (1993, 2008) has written extensively on the need for reflective practice to help educators incorporate a global perspective in their teaching. branch (2005) advances the pedagogical value of introspection as a way to combat racism. teacher candidates need to confront their own stereotypes in order to deconstruct them. in essence, a critical multicultural education has to begin with teachers reflecting on their own backgrounds and belief systems, especially since their cultural framework can shape the way they teach students. this in turn can affect students’ perceptions of peoples, places, and regions. methods of data collection and analysis participants the participants consisted of students in my undergraduate secondary social studies methods course (total n=35). with the exception of one student, the participants were in their senior year. most students followed a traditional four-year path from high school to college. the students in this course seek certification in middle-school and high-school social studies, and they must take the course before they can student teach. of the 35 participants, 15 were male and 20 were female. five self-identified as non-white (one american indian, one hispanic, and three multiethnic). the secondary education program at this university resides in the content area departments. students are required to take 54 to 63 credits in content courses (not pedagogy) before they can student teach. the participants in this study came from four different departments: history education (n=28), psychology education (n=4), political science education (n=2), and economics education (n=1). methodology this study utilized an instrumental case study method to investigate what one group of preservice social studies candidates imagines when asked to think about africa. the design of the study was influenced by research conducted by scholars barry beyer and e. perry hicks (1969), who gave 7th and 12th grade students “stimulus terms” in an effort to discern which terms the students associated with africa and which they associated with other continents. their conclusions were based on frequency of terms selected. the most popular choices for africa were wild animals and some sort of “tribal” term such as “witch doctor,” as well as intangible qualities such as “primitive” and “savage.” instead of providing stimulus terms, i had the students draw mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 an image of africa. i coded the images, and a colleague and i separately counted the frequency of images. in year 3 of the study, i used a modified “draw and write” technique, which aided interpretation of the drawings. students drew their pictures and then identified common images with a partner. noreen wetton and jennifer mcwhirter (1998) advocate “draw and write” as a way to gather both qualitative and quantitative data and used this technique while researching students’ thoughts about healthy living. hence, like beyer and hicks (1969), i was able to draw conclusions based on the frequency of images and patterns that emerged. data sources & analysis the data sources for this study consisted of an in-class assignment that the participants completed as students in my undergraduate secondary social studies methods course. all students completed the assignment, but only the work of students who consented to participate in this research study was included in the analysis and findings. i collected qualitative data from three separate classes in three different years, with a total of 35 responses (year 1 n=10, year 2 n=10, and year 3 n=15). similarly to wetton and mcwhirter (1998), i began the assignment without prior discussion. i gave students a piece of paper, which had printed instructions to draw an image of africa. they were not allowed to discuss what they wanted to draw with their neighbor, and i provided no other instructions or guidelines for their drawing. they could draw anything they wished, including stick figures or symbols. i wanted them to draw what first came to mind, so they were not allowed to use any outside sources or electronic devices. the drawing activity took approximately eight minutes, followed by a class discussion about the common images that they drew. i collected the assignment at the end of our discussion, and images were coded and analyzed in terms of frequency of recurring themes. i started by making a list of images that i saw in all of the pictures and then counted the frequency. i took the second and third year of data and added to the list. to prevent the list of images from getting too unwieldy, i compressed a few categories. for example, i combined depictions of oil and diamonds into one category, commodities. to improve the qualitative analysis procedures, a colleague who is a scholar of african history used the categories and topics that i created to separately code the same images. we compared our coding and discussed any image on which we disagreed. we had very few disagreements about the images, and there were a few images that we categorized as unknown. we counted each mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 image individually from each student’s drawing. most students drew over three images in their drawings. images are reported on accompanying tables. limitations of the study there were two main limitations to my study. as the instructor of the course, i administered the in-class assignment that comprised the main source of data. although the assignment was done at the beginning of the class without an explanation of its purpose, students may have drawn pictures of what they thought i wanted. my data analysis method also had limitations since my colleague and i sometimes had to interpret the images. for those images that we could not interpret, we coded them as unknown. findings in this section, i will describe the images that my students drew and the categories that i used to organize and analyze the images. the first thing i noted was that, despite not being told to do so, almost all of the students began with a blank outline map of africa (see figure 1). they then filled in the map with various images that they associated with africa. physical geography was the most popular category, with almost every student (94.3%) making some reference to animal life, climatic regions, or natural features (see table 1). most students (82.9%) drew some sort of natural feature such as mountains, bodies of water, or trees. the nile river was the natural feature drawn most often (48.6% of students). students always placed it in the correct area, and some students drew very fine detail showing the delta region and lake victoria. safari animals were also a heavy favorite. of the 35 students, 21 (60%) drew some combination of lions, giraffes, or elephants (see figure 1e). around 45.7% made reference to climatic regions such as desert or rain forest, but they did not locate those regions with nearly as much accuracy as they had the nile river. table 1. images by category (n=35) category subcategory # of students % of students i. physical geography 33 94.3% 1. animals 21 60% 2. nile river 17 48.6% mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 2. island off coast of southeast africa (unidentified madagascar) 17 48.6% 4. desert 13 37.1% 5. rain forest 5 14.3% 5. climatic zones (lines drawn but not labeled) 5 14.3% 5. sun 5 14.3% ii. social and cultural characteristics 23 65.7% 1. pyramids, sphinx 11 31.4% 2. “tribal” features (thatched huts, spears, villagers, etc.) 9 25.7% 3. violence, guns, genocide 8 22.9% 4. cities/townships 6 17.1% 5. hunger, poverty, health 5 14.3% iii. political boundaries 16 45.7% 1. south africa 15 42.9% 2. egypt 9 25.7% 3. morocco 5 14.3% 3. three or more countries (morocco, congo, sudan, etc.) 5 14.3% the desert was the most popular choice of the climatic regions (37.1% of students) and was generally drawn in the correct area. the tropical rainforest was next in popularity (14.3%) with the savanna close behind. this seems to indicate that students’ mental map of africa’s climatic mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 zones is skewed, because the tropical rainforest region of africa is quite small (approximately 8% of the total land mass) while the desert covers approximately 30% of africa. the largest climatic region in africa, comprising over half of the total land mass, is the savanna, but only 11.4% of the students made direct reference to savannas or sahel, whereas 40% of them made reference to rain forests or deserts. five students (14.3%) drew a sun in their picture, which my colleague interpreted as a hot sun beating down on africa, once again evoking the stereotype of africa as primarily a hot region. social and cultural characteristics were second to physical geography in percentage of students who drew such images (65.7% of students versus 94.3%). images generally fell into four different categories: current issues, history, “tribal” images, and man-made landscapes. images related to current issues centered overwhelmingly on depictions of human suffering. students made references to war, genocide, and child soldiers, and frequently drew pictures of guns and knives (see figures 1a and c). while 22.9% of the students drew images related to violence, the number climbs to 28.6% when combined with images of other current issues such as famine, poverty, and health-related issues (see table 1). certainly the students could be commended for their awareness of current events, but it is troubling that their knowledge of african current events is dominated by violence and misery, a telling tale of the impact of the media and other news outlets. history was another popular topic, which was not surprising given the students’ major, but surprising in how few students depicted any part of african history. only 40% of the students drew pictures related to history, even though 80% of them were history education majors. this number rises to 91% when factoring in those who were history minors. students drew several different historical images, although the pyramids of egypt were the unmistakable favorite (31.4% of the students). clearly, ancient egypt, not modern egypt, rested prominently in their subconscious as an important place in africa. only one student made a reference to current events in egypt (arab spring); otherwise, no students identified cairo, the largest city in africa, the suez canal, or any other allusion to modern egypt. i suspect that the nile river figured prominently in the students’ minds because of history classes that emphasized the importance of the nile in the development of ancient egypt. aside from pharaonic egypt, the other historical depictions involved white european and american interaction with africans such as the west african slave trade, imperialism, and apartheid (see figure 1d). these images would certainly support the notion that american students learn world history as an accompaniment to western history. despite decades of world history in social studies curricula, students still have a limited, mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 west-centric view of history that often begins and ends with western contact with the nonwestern world. images that i labeled “tribal” were the third most popular topic in social and cultural characteristics. nine of the 35 students (25.7%) drew images of thatched huts, village scenes, and people with various “tribal” objects. huts may have been easier to draw than people, but if students drew a person or stick figure, they always distinguished the figures as “tribal” by drawing them wearing a loincloth, carrying a spear, or, in one case, wearing face paint (see figure 1b and d). man-made landscapes ranked fourth as a subcategory under social and cultural characteristics. only 17.1% of the students drew some form of urban landscape, but in every case except one, students drew these images in south africa, a country that has a large white population (see figure 1c). three students made references to cities on the western side of africa, but otherwise the students consistently placed any cities with skyscrapers or cityscapes in south africa. interestingly, no students drew a cityscape or made any reference to cairo, even though it is the largest city in africa and one of the largest cities in the world by population and geographic size. in contrast, johannesburg ranks as the fourth largest city in africa and only 89th in the world by population, according to the united nations department of economic and social affairs (2008). while references to physical geography and social and cultural characteristics ranked high in popularity among the students, political boundaries came in a distant third. only 45.7% of the students made any reference to the geo-political world of africa, and those references were very limited. of the 16 students who drew political boundaries indicating countries, almost all of them delineated south africa on their map (see figures 1a and d). five of these students only drew south africa, making no indication of any other country. nine students drew egypt, but i am unsure if they were making allusions to ancient egypt or contemporary egypt. only five of the students (14.3%) could correctly draw and identify more countries than south africa and egypt, with morocco, sudan, and the democratic republic of the congo appearing most often (see table 1). i was amazed at the consistency of the images that my students drew. the images in themselves may seem innocent or neutral, but collectively they say much about americans’ perceptions of africa. students drew very few, if any, positive images. of the total number of images that i counted, i could only identify four, or 2.6%, as positive. three of those four images were placed in or around south africa. one student drew olympic rings and pointed to south africa. another mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 student drew a map of south africa and indicated a mountain lodge. the third student wrote “decolonization! democracy!” off the coast of south africa. this same student also wrote “yay! african union!” at the top of her drawing. when i looked up the records of these three students, each had taken an african history or political science class. the student who drew the south african mountain lodge had been to south africa on a study abroad trip. i could attribute these positive images to the influence of their classes, but what can i conclude from the other 13 students who had also taken african history and/or politics classes? sixteen (45.7%) of my students had taken these courses, yet only three students (8.6%) drew a positive, nonstereotypical image. table 2. top 20 images (n=35) rank sub-category # of students % of students 1. animals 21 60% 2. nile river 17 48.6% 2. island (unidentified madagascar) 17 48.6% 4. south africa 15 42.9% 5. desert 13 37.1% 6. pyramids/sphinx 11 31.4% 7. “tribal” images (thatched huts, spears, etc.) 9 25.7% 7. egypt 9 25.7% 9. violence/guns/genocide 8 22.9% 10. cityscapes/townships 6 17.1% 11. tropical rain forest 5 14.3% 11. climatic zones (lines drawn but not labeled) 5 14.3% 11. sun 5 14.3% 11. hunger, health, poverty 5 14.3% 11. morocco 5 14.3% 16. trees 4 11.4% 16. savanna/sahel 4 11.4% 16. ocean/waters 4 11.4% 16. atlantic ocean 4 11.4% mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 16. commodities (oil, diamonds) 4 11.4% 16. slave trade 4 11.4% other than those four examples, the pictures generally painted an impression of africans as both violent perpetrators and victims. images of genocide and violence accompanied those of starvation and poverty. even the historical pictures suggested black people as victims, referencing slavery, imperialism, and apartheid. the danger of such images collectively is that they imply that black africans are merely victims and passive actors in their own history. other images round out the implication that africa is a dangerous region of the world. the focus on rainforests and deserts, despite these being the smaller of africa’s climatic regions, perpetuates the stereotype of africa as a harsh, unforgiving continent, a stereotype that has persisted in the western imagination. “tribal” images and drawings of commodities allude to africa as a backwards and underdeveloped continent that is merely a provider of natural resources. even the inclusion of images that could be seen as neutral, such as physical features like the nile river, conveys an impression that africa’s most notable features are landscapes and safari animals. four of the top five images most frequently drawn by students were in the physical geography category (see table 2). with the exception of images in and around south africa, this trend negates the rich political and cultural diversity of africa. figure 1. examples of drawings by pre-service candidates mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 a. b. c. d. e. mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 the first two years that i did this assignment, i led a class discussion about the common images that students drew. the third year, i made a different instructional decision to allow the students to come to their own conclusions about the data. i had the students first compare their images with a neighbor, and then we made a list of the images on the board. students could see patterns beginning to emerge and they were surprised by how similar their images were. from there, we had a discussion about what the list collectively said about africa. the students began to understand that the images depicted africa as a primitive and dangerous place. they could see that their pictures implied that africans were less developed and even backwards when compared to other peoples. i asked the students to consider how these cultural impressions could influence power dynamics in the region, u.s. immigration policies, travel and tourism, and international conflict resolution. two days later, i had the students write a follow-up reflection on how their culture and experience influence their perception of africa and how that could affect their teaching. i also asked them to reflect on what they could do as teachers to change those perceptions. the students recognized the influence of the media and popular culture as well as the shortcomings of their own academic knowledge. many of the students wrote that they felt the need to “do more research,” “learn the truth,” and “provide a more accurate picture” of africa. one student wrote that his students may be confused “when reality and [their] mental constructs do not align.” many wrote that they needed to be more aware of their own biases and to be selective about the content they taught and the materials they used in the classroom. one student wrote: if all i know about africa is that it’s a primitive land, my instruction will definitely be influenced by those beliefs. however, this would not give students a correct nor a complete view of the country. therefore, i would have to make a conscious effort to teach a more holistic version of africa. i emphasized to my students that the point was not to embarrass them for falling prey to these stereotypes but for them to consider that, as highly educated people, some of whom took african history courses, they still succumbed to the same misperceptions of africa that many in our society do. one brave student admitted that she had drawn most of the stereotypical images of africa. after we all chuckled at her brutal honesty, she commented that she did not know anything else about africa. it was a beautiful segue to my point that if this were true for many, if not most, of them, then what can we expect from high-school and middle-school students? who could help them overcome these stereotypes of africa and africans or provide an alternative vision to the ones presented in the media and popular culture? mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 discussion unfortunately, students’ perceptions of africa do not seem to have changed much since beyer and hicks’ 1969 study, despite the increased focus on africa in world history and global studies courses and the emphasis upon multicultural curricula. my students’ images were not much different than what beyer and hicks found. over 50% of the students from the 1969 study chose surprisingly similar terms to the images drawn by my students, such as physical features, animals, and “tribal” stereotypes. my study indicates that pre-service candidates are just as susceptible to misconceptions and prejudices as the middleand high-school students from beyer and hicks’ study. the salient difference is that my students have been through their content courses and are a short distance from teaching their own classes. this of course begs the question of their academic background in the history of africa. all of the students were required to take the first and second half of world history, which is loosely split at the end of the 16th century. almost all participants would have taken these courses before entering their senior year. the students at this university are also required to have taken world history in high school. of the 35 participants in the study, 16 (46%) had taken an african history or political science class at the university. although i cannot generalize how much african history the students were taught in their world history courses because of the plethora of instructors who teach the course, i can confidently conclude that as a group, they had fair exposure to african history, which makes the results of my study all the more troubling. as highly prepared as these pre-service candidates are in their content area, they have not been exposed enough, as students or consumers of information, to an alternative image of africa. they may have had some form of african studies in their high-school curriculum, but their exposure was likely brief, and it may have reinforced rather than broken down stereotypes of africa. even in colleges and universities, african studies programs are under assault, receiving less and less funding and support from their administration (maloba, 2002). instead, the strongest sources of information for students about africa come from popular culture and the news media. cortés (2005) calls the media the “main competitor” of social studies. these images are so strong that they can overcome what academic exposure pre-service candidates have had to africa. the troubling thing, as i discussed with my colleague who teaches an introduction to african history course, which some of my students took, is that they confronted these stereotypes in their courses and still drew those images. in essence, we are fighting not ignorance but an alternate, mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 more attractive narrative, one that holds more power and influence over students’ perceptions than does academic knowledge. just like their future students, pre-service candidates are also heavily influenced by popular culture and the media, two information sources that often encourage stereotypes of africa. movies taking place in africa tend to reinforce the savage, backwards image of africa. even the news media, in its coverage of african current events, tends to focus on genocides, coups, and atrocities, giving americans the impression of a dangerous, wild region. how can we fight against such dangerous yet powerful competition? to illustrate my point, i showed my students clips from two different movies and asked them to consider the scenery in both movies. the first clip i showed was from the bruce willis movie tears of the sun (2003). in this movie, willis plays the commander of an elite special forces unit that is sent to nigeria to rescue an american doctor. while escorting the doctor and some of the native workers from the hospital, the team comes across a village that is under brutal attack from a rebel unit and decides to rescue the villagers. the students instantly noted that the scene takes place in heavy, wet foliage, with dim lighting. thatched huts with dirt floors and crude wooden fences comprise the village, which lies in the middle of a jungle clearing. the setting emphasizes the dangerous situation and savagery of the rebel units. the second clip that i showed was from hotel rwanda (2004). in this scene, the main character, paul rusesabagina, is returning home from his job as the manager of the hôtel des mille collines in kigali, rwanda. he travels along paved roads, passing low storied buildings on his way to his home in a middle-class neighborhood. the neighborhood is clean and well kept. a few tall trees line the street and he enters a gate to get to his home, which has a manicured lawn, shrubbery, and a play area for his children. one of my students said with a slight tone of surprise, “that [rusesabagina’s] house looks like mine.” the students are always astonished when i point out that tears of the sun was actually filmed in hawaii, whereas hotel rwanda was primarily shot in south africa with secondary units in kigali, rwanda. during years 2 and 3 of my study, i showed my students photographs that a family member had taken in kigali. the students almost chuckled in disbelief as they looked at pictures of mansions, modern shopping areas, and golf courses. i tempered these images with pictures of poor housing areas and dingy urban centers. i explained that i was not trying to convince them that rwanda was one or the other, wealthy or destitute. both are realities of life in kigali. likewise, i was not arguing that the scenery in tears of the sun is completely false or that there are not safari animals, mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 huts, jungles, and extreme violence in parts of africa. the question that i urged the students to consider is why negative images overwhelmingly come to mind when they think of africa. the challenge to my students as pre-service teachers is to consider their own cultural frame of reference that they bring to the classroom and to be careful of the stereotypes that they could perpetuate. even when they try to be well intentioned by bringing student attention to human suffering, educators can perpetuate negative stereotypes and make africans appear as passive figures in their own lives. educators need to remember that they can serve as a force to help their students overcome negative images and impressions. they can be a counterforce to a popular culture and media that often presents a very stereotypical view of africa. introspection pushes teachers to explore, investigate, and learn more about the subjects they are teaching, to dig deeper, to increase their knowledge, and to bring a fresh perspective into the classroom. implications as a follow-up to the data collection, i interviewed three of my former methods students, one from year 1 of the study and two from year 3. all three are currently teaching social studies in public schools and have taught at least one year of global studies or world history. all three commented that class discussions and activities about moving world history away from a western perspective made an impact on how they teach. two vividly remembered the drawing activity and incorporated the same activity in their own classes as a way to generate conversation with their students about perceptions of africa. all three commented that the course and activity led them to take particular care with the lessons and materials that they use in their africa units, to supplement class materials with outside sources, and to directly address stereotypes. the teachers felt that it was important for them to discuss with their students why their knowledge of africa was so limited and one-sided and to try to help their students understand the construction of knowledge. some of their students recognized the influence of popular culture such disney’s the lion king (2003), and others merely could not remember learning any other narrative or perspective in school. all three teachers were cognizant that they need to be more knowledgeable themselves in order to address misperceptions and stereotypes, and so recognized the need to constantly improve their own content knowledge not only about africa but other areas and regions. although it was gratifying to hear that former students were internalizing the ideas and experiences from their methods course and incorporating them into classroom practices, my study shows the need for further research on how educators incorporate the ideas of mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 multicultural education into world history and global studies. we need to examine the shift from teacher preparation courses and content courses to the curriculum that is taught in the schools. how well are educators bringing other voices into their lessons and moving the u.s. and europe from the center of world history and global studies? these challenges can be difficult for preservice candidates and young teachers alike. not all teacher candidates or in-service teachers see the value of multicultural education or their role in advancing it. teacher educators have a responsibility to convince pre-service candidates of the need for teaching for social justice and of their important role in this educational imperative. i believe that a pivotal step in this task is to ask pre-service candidates to analyze and deconstruct their own preconceptions and knowledge, not for the purposes of self-flagellation, but to critically analyze the construction of knowledge and ideas. by doing so, they begin an intellectual journey of discovery and take positive steps towards acquiring new knowledge. these are skills that will make them better educators and help them implement a critical multicultural curriculum. teachers can become agents of change in their own classrooms and guide their students in exploring intellectually stimulating and exciting subjects. these teachers do not avoid the tough questions, but instead eagerly investigate how knowledge is attained, constructed, and used. and that is good teaching. acknowledgements the author wishes to thank wunyabari maloba, sohyun an, and barbara brown for their close reading and suggestions for this article. mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 references banks, j.a. (2004). multicultural education: characteristics and goals. in j.a. banks & c. banks (eds.), multicultural education: issues and perspectives (5th ed.) (pp. 3-30). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. barchuk, z. and harkins. m.j. (2010) why teach about globalization? pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of teaching globalization issues. social studies research and practice, 5(1), 13-23. beyer, b. & hicks, e.p. (1969). images of africa: a report on what secondary school students know and believe about africa south of the sahara. retrieved from eric database. (ed023693). branch, a. (2005). practicing multicultural education in “united states history for teachers”: the case of dr. johnson. theory and research in social education, 33(3), 305-328. bryce, i., lobell, m. & rifkin, a. (producers), & fuqua, a. (director). (2003). tears of the sun [motion picture]. united states: sony pictures. cortés, c.e. (2005). the ‘information’ media: social studies’ main competitor. in m.s. crocco (ed.), social studies and the press: keeping the beast at bay? (pp. 25-35). greenwich, ct: information age publishing. dunn, r. (2000). constructing world history in the classroom. in p.n. stearns, p. seixas, & s. wineburg (eds.), knowing, teaching and learning history: national and international perspectives (pp. 121-140). new york: new york university press. ehret, c. (2002). the civilizations of africa: a history to 1800. charlottesville: university press of virginia. george, t. (producer & director). (2004). hotel rwanda [motion picture]. united states: mgm/united artists. gaudelli, w. (2003). world class: teaching and learning in global times. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. hahn, d. (producer) & allers, r. and minkoff, r. (directors). (1994). the lion king [motion picture]. united states: buena vista home entertainment. mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 hume, s.e. (1996). a resource guide to teaching about africa. retrieved from eric clearinghouse for social studies/social science education. (eric ed 416115). maloba, w.o. (2002). challenges in sustaining small african studies programs. african issues, 30(2), 37-41. mangram, j. & watson, a. (2011). us and them: social studies teachers’ talk about global education. the journal of social studies research, 35(1), 95-116. matthews, s.a. & dilworth, p.p. (2008). case studies of preservice teachers’ ideas about the role of multicultural citizenship education in social studies. theory and research in social education, 36(4), 356-390. mcintosh, p. (2005). gender perspectives on educating for global citizenship. in n. noddings (ed.), educating citizens for global awareness (pp. 22-39). new york: teachers college press. merryfield, m.m. (2008). the challenge of globalization: preparing teachers for a global age. teacher education and practice, 21(4), 434-7. merryfield, m.m. (2001). moving the center of global education: from imperial world views that divide the world to double consciousness, contrapuntal pedagogy, hybridity, and cross-cultural competence. in w.b. stanley (ed.), critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century (pp. 179-207). greenwich, ct: information age publishing, inc. merryfield, m.m. (1993). reflective practice in global education: strategies for teacher educators. theory into practice, 32(1), 27-32. pashby, k. (2012). questions for global citizenship education in the context of the ‘new imperialism’: for whom, by whom? in v. andreotti & l. de souza (eds.), postcolonial perspectives on global citizenship education (pp. 9-26). new york: routledge. sleeter, c.e. (1996). multicultural education as social activism. albany, ny: state university of new york press. spring, j. (2008). research on globalization and education. review of educational research, 78(2), 330-363. mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53 ukpokodu, o.n. (2010). teacher preparation for global perspectives pedagogy. in b. subedi (ed.), critical global perspectives: rethinking knowledge about global societies (pp. 121142). charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. vavrus, michael. (2015). diversity education: a critical multicultural approach. multicultural education series. new york: teachers college press. wetton, n. & mcwhirter, j. (1998). images and curriculum development in health education. in j. prosser (ed.), image-based research: a sourcebook for qualitative researchers (pp. 263-83). london: farmer press. willinsky, j. (1998). learning to divide the world: education at empires’ end. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. web-based references hanvey, r. (2004[1976]). an attainable global perspective. the american forum for global education. retrieved from http://www.globaled.org/an_att_glob_persp_04_11_29.pdf hidalgo, n. (1993). multicultural teacher introspection (pp. 99-106). retrieved from http://sidorkin.com/408/hidalgo.pdf national council for the social studies. (2008). curriculum guidelines for social studies teaching and learning. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/curriculumguidelines national council for the social studies. (2013). revitalizing civic learning in our schools. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/revitalizing_civic_learning nea education policy and practice department. (2010). global competence is a 21st century imperative. retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/he/pb28a_global_competence11.pdf schmidt, n.j. (1990, november 3). africans as primary actors in their own lives and lands: validating african curriculum materials. paper presented at the african studies association meeting, baltimore, maryland. retrieved from http://www.africa.upenn.edu/k-12/african_curriculum_16166.html united nations department of economic and social affairs, population division. (2008). urban agglomerations, 2007. retrieved from mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.globaled.org/an_att_glob_persp_04_11_29.pdf http://sidorkin.com/408/hidalgo.pdf http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/curriculumguidelines http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/revitalizing_civic_learning http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/he/pb28a_global_competence11.pdf http://www.africa.upenn.edu/k-12/african_curriculum_16166.html journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 34-54 corresponding author: hkim@udel.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2007/2007_urban_agglomeration s_chart.pdf about the author: hannah kim is assistant professor of history at the university of delaware in newark, delaware with research and teaching interests in secondary social studies education. she teaches undergraduate methods classes and graduate courses in world history for teachers. e-mail: hkim@udel.edu mailto:hkim@udel.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2007/2007_urban_agglomerations_chart.pdf http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2007/2007_urban_agglomerations_chart.pdf mailto:hkim@udel.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 programs and practices: students’ historical understandings in international baccalaureate, advanced placement and regular world history courses di ryter, fort lewis college, durango, colorado (daryter@fortlewis.edu). _____________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: world history has become increasingly important and has often been a required course for high school students in the united states. this multi-case study provides examples and descriptions of students’ demonstration of historical understandings. it also includes multiple perspectives and experiences of world history students and teachers, and analyses of international baccalaureate, advanced placement, and regular world history program curricula. methods and data sources used in this study included participant observations, focus group interviews, student artifacts, and program curriculum documents. the types of historical understanding varied among the three world history programs’ courses, ranging from identifying cause and effect relationships to the inclusion of multiple perspectives in history. the most unique type of historical understanding displayed by students was the acknowledgement of historical humility in international baccalaureate history. findings of this study have implications for pedagogical and curricular approaches to teaching world history. key words: historical understanding, international baccalaureate, advanced placement, world history the purposes and outcomes of k-12 history education in the united states differ greatly across states, academic programs, schools, and teachers (dunn, 2000; shemilt, 2000, stearns, 2000). these differences have sparked debate about the purposes, objectives, and assessment of k-12 history education in the united states and abroad (dunn, 2000; shemilt, 2000; stearns, 2000). political, economic, and social agendas have also influenced social studies and history education (dunn, 2000; levstik, 2000; stearns, seixas & wineburg, 2001). synthesis of the various influences can reveal the overall purposes for history education, which in turn determines the content and skills included in the curriculum. for example, a synthesis can help determine whether an emphasis was placed on certain historical figures and events to enhance national narratives, or whether historical analysis and interpretation are emphasized in order to facilitate students’ critical thinking skills and understanding of multiple perspectives. the forms of historical understanding developed by students are directly influenced by the emphasized purposes (lee, 2005; vansledright, 2014). these same purposes and outcomes that have influenced history education in general, have influenced world history education as well. world history has become increasingly important and has often been a required course for high school students in the united states (bain & shreiner, 2005; cavanagh, 2007; finn & davis, 2006; harris, 2012). this multi-case study provided an analysis of specific international baccalaureate (ib), advance placement (ap), and “regular” world history (rwh) program curricula and detailed views of the students’ historical understanding. the term regular is used for the non-ib and non-ap world history class because that is the term used by the teacher participant. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 ib, ap, and rwh are three programs commonly found in high schools in the united states and american/international schools abroad (bain & shreiner, 2005; cavanagh, 2007; martin, maldonado, schneider, & smith, 2011). the three programs have distinct objectives and curricula that influence their implementation by history teachers and guide students’ learning outcomes. this study inquired into the learning objectives and outcomes of historical understanding included in each of the ib, ap, and rwh programs. although qualities of historical understanding have been detailed extensively in the relevant literature, research that ties historical understanding to particular world history programs in secondary education remains limited, particularly with regards to ib history (davis, 2001; dunn, 2010; harris, 2012; lee, 2005; lee & ashby, 2000; levstik & barton, 2008; seixas, 2004; stearns, seixas & winebrug, 2000; wineburg, 2001; wineburg, mosborg & porat, 2005; vansledright, 2014; yeager & frost, 2001). this multi-case study provides teachers, curriculum developers, teacher educators, and educational researchers with a broader perspective on student learning outcomes of these three programs in one high school on the great plains. how students in the three programs demonstrated evidence of historical understanding within a unit on the cold war was examined through triangulation of student and teacher interviews, content analysis of student artifacts, and content analysis of curriculum documents. the various purposes of history education that support the ib, ap, and rwh programs’ courses influence teachers’ approaches to help students develop historical understanding. although most states adopted common core standards, there are different world history curricula that have inherently different course content, objectives, and assessment protocols. common core standards do not guide ib or ap world history programs. these three world history programs are frequently found in schools across the united states and in international/american schools abroad and are used in the school in which this study was conducted. this article includes a discussion of the historical understanding of students in the three world history programs. it aims to contextualize the background of the programs, practices, and outcomes. also included is a description of the methods of inquiry, findings, and discussion, followed by conclusions and potential implications of this study for world history students’ understanding. conceptualizing historical understanding in world history education world history has been included in american education since the nineteenth century (marino, 2011). over the last two centuries it has evolved from ancient history and classical studies to modern history that includes a focus on 19th century europe and the world wars (marino, 2011). the current approach has included the purpose of aimed understanding of the interconnectedness of the history and people of the world (marino, 2011). rather than defining world history, the national standards for world history aimed “to encourage students to ask large and searching questions about the human past, to compare patterns of continuity and change in different parts of the world, and to examine the histories and achievements of particular peoples or civilizations with an eye to wider social, cultural, or economic contexts” (dunn, 2000, p. 122). though not everyone agrees with the national standards for world history because of political agendas and ideology, this description is supported by objectives of historical understanding identified by researchers and some world history programs (nash, crabtree & dunn, 2000). for example, the national standards for world history description relates to stearns’ definition of historical analysis and the purpose of world history: “historical analysis is empirically formed, it cannot float above some available (if not always remembered) facts, and it must include knowledge of how to use and to assess facts” (2000, p. 422). this definition goes beyond memorizing mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 facts by including learning how to assess the value and reliability of varied perspectives in the past and present. vansledright (2014) refers to these skills and thinking practices as second-order concepts. the next section of the article identifies various models and purposes of world history education followed by descriptions and definitions of historical understanding. models of world history researchers dunn (2000) and bain and shreiner (2005) identified models or patterns of world history. these models helped to identify the purpose and approach to teaching and learning world history. dunn (2000) found that world history classes often follow the western heritage, different cultures, or patterns of change models which provide a description of different approaches to world history and implementing the history course. the western heritage model was eurocentric and focused on the impact of western civilization on the world (dunn, 2000). it also aimed to promote national unity and a shared value system in the united states based on the premise that the west is the instigator of many of the values and inventions found today and is superior in global affairs (dunn, 2000). the different cultures model derived from the multicultural education movement in the united states (dunn, 2000). it did not contest the western heritage model, but aimed to include the study of other civilizations by region, minority groups, and their contributions in addition to western civilization (dunn, 2000). this model often structured the study of world history by teaching units based on regions of the world (dunn, 2000). the third model, patterns of change, focused on an inquiry approach to understanding historical questions and patterns across time and space (dunn, 2000). this approach did not limit the study of history and its disciplinary practices to particular regions, as the different cultures model did, but was based on the premise that a comparative approach to contrasting civilizations was pedagogically sound because it allowed for higher order thinking and generation of historical narratives (dunn, 2000). the patterns of change model incorporated critical thinking and analysis more than the other two models because of the holistic approach it promoted to connecting a phenomena across time and space (dunn, 2000). similar to dunn’s models of world history, bain and shreiner (2005) identified and described four patterns of world history currently implemented in the united states: western civilization plus, social studies world history, geographic history, and global history. bain and shreiner (2005) reviewed state standards and curriculum documents and found that of the four patterns, western civilization plus was the most commonly found approach to world history education. this approach to world history is very similar to dunn’s western heritage model. there has been a conflict between practicing historical thinking leading to the creation of historiography and a standard curriculum that supports an american collective memory (levesque, 2005; vansledright, 2002). historical thinking leading to the creation of a historiographical interpretation requires students to examine, interpret, think critically, analyze, and synthesize the resources they use (vansledright, 2014). those in opposition to the historiographical approach, in particular those from the conservative political right, believe that this approach to teaching history has confused students about their national history because their historical understanding has clashed with the national narrative (nash, crabtree, & dunn, 2000). they have further charged that this confusion will affect students’ degree of nationalism (nash, crabtree & dunn, 2000). this conflict has posed a problem, especially in states that have administered standardized end-of-year exams covering what vansledright (2014) calls first-order understanding (e.g. wilson’s “fourteen points,” 19th-century immigrant job types, etc.). mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 historical understandings there has been no precise or consistent definition of historical understanding. how teachers and students have interpreted historical understanding varies and changes across time (voss and wiley, 2000; wineburg, 2001). one view of historical understanding based on kintsch’s (1998) situation model of understanding came from the mental representation of a text that included previous knowledge or identification of a relationship between concepts (voss and wiley, 2000). furthermore, other researchers state that understanding may be demonstrated by identifying cause and effect relationships, while other types of understanding may identify relationships in terms of category membership or connections to a larger understanding of the concept (parker, 2012; wineburg, 2001). vansledright (2014) described historical knowledge as historical understanding (substantive, or firstorder knowledge) and strategic knowledge. substantive historical knowledge was more content based of knowing the who, what, when, where, why, and how surrounding events and individuals’ decisions (vansledright, 2014). strategic knowledge was the method of critical thinking practices used to achieve substantive knowledge (vansledright, 2014). often substantive historical knowledge can lead to a single narrative-based understanding of the past, which has not always portrayed the complexity of historical events and the decisions made surrounding the event (lee, 2004). vansledright (2014) argued that both types of knowledge are interdependent and that the inclusion of strategic knowledge can lead to deeper understanding of second-order concepts or meta-historical concepts (lee, 2005). second-order concepts include identifying progress/decline, change/continuity, historical significance, rational understanding, and evaluating evidence what many have termed “doing history” or doing the work of historians (lee, 2005; levstik & barton, 2008; wineburg, 2001; vansledright, 2014). vansledright (2014) argued that historical competence includes both historical understanding and thinking; there cannot be one without the other. thus, historical understanding was defined as the inclusion of both the content, or first-order understandings, and the thinking practices, or second order concepts, which lead to a historiographical account (vansledright, 2014). vansledright (2014) and wineburg (2001) identified that it has been a problem that most of the history assessment practices in the united states emphasize first-order understanding, as it has been easier, faster, and cheaper to assess. to assess second-order concepts, or historical thinking, requires document-based questions (dbqs) and historiographies, which tend to take longer to assess and can be more costly (vansledright, 2014). the new common core standards for english language arts & literacy in history/social studies include historical skills that contribute to students’ ability to analyze primary and secondary sources, compare multiple perspectives, and write argumentative narratives supported by evidence (common core state standards initiative, 2013). current dependence on multiple-choice standardized tests, however, does not allow for students to portray their analytical skills (haney and scott, 1987; wineburg, smith and breakstone, 2012; vansledright, 2014). the implementation of writing and thinking historically or “doing history” using dbqs and historiographical narratives falls more in-line with these important common core standards. as doing history involves writing, voss and wiley (2000) measured historical understanding by analyzing the content of students’ essays. they analyzed the organization of the essay, the number of connections made (e.g. how often were connective words like “influences”, “leads to”, or “causes” used), and the originality or transformation of information from the text (voss & wiley, 2000). monte-sano (2012) identified five characteristics of an effective historical argument: factual and interpretive accuracy, persuasiveness of evidence, sourcing of evidence, corroboration of evidence, and contextualization of mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 evidence. determining the level or type of historical understanding has led educators to identify strategies that enhance student learning (monte-sano, 2012; voss & wiley, 2000). the methods and findings in monte-sano’s (2012) and voss and wiley’s (2000) research were relevant to this investigation of ib, ap and rwh programs because they helped identify and code students’ forms of historical understanding displayed in their course work. some of these forms of historical understanding were identifying historical significance, historical empathy, understanding multiple perspectives, causation, continuity, and change. historical significance historical significance was defined as how people select, organize, and periodize events and individuals (bain, 2000, levstik, 2000; seixas, 1997). personal interests and cultural experience have influenced individuals’ placement of historical significance (levstik, 2000; seixas, 1997). various approaches have been used to facilitate students’ identification of historical significance. for example, bain (2000) had students create a time capsule with items that were significant according to one of these four categories: “(a) rare, first-time, or last-time events, b) impacts many people in many places, (c) impacts many areas of human life, (d) effects last across time” (p. 344). through class discussion, students used these criteria to determine significance of the included items (bain, 2000). seixas (1997) studied students’ ratings of historical significance of world events and found that students integrated their personal interests. levstik (2000) found that it was difficult for students of varying ethnic groups to understand historical significance in a history curriculum that excludes multiple perspectives and cultural groups. for this reason it is important to include varying historical perspectives and their historical significance (levstik, 2000). levstik (2000) observed, “teaching and learning national history should include study of the different systems of ethno-racial classification used in the nation, including consideration of the various constituencies empowered or disempowered by these classifications” (p. 285). these studies, and many others, illustrate that there are varying influences on students’ understanding of historical significance. historical empathy and perspective taking historical understanding can also include historical empathy and perspective taking. these aspects of historical understanding help students to place themselves in the time and place of historical events or to periodize the events and the decisions leading to these events. davis (2001) defined historical empathy as being derived from active engagement in thinking about people, events, and situations in their context, as well as from interpreting their meanings in an abstract time. developing historical empathy takes practice (wineburg, 2001). when studying people, cultures, events, and decisions of the past, there is the risk of judgment based on present day criteria (vansledright, 2001). not only should individuals base their understanding of events and people on the culture and context at the time they occurred, they also need to reflect on their own current positionality because this lens influences their interpretation of past events and decisions (vansledright, 2001). wineburg (2001) stated that the study of history and perspective-taking is crucial in today’s age of diversity and globalization. “coming to know others, whether they live on the other side of the tracks or the other side of the millennium, requires the education of our sensibilities” (wineburg, 2001, pp. 23mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 24). it requires students to seek historical understanding from the perspective of different individuals, cultures, and societies across time. chronology, continuity, and causation identifying causation, change, and continuity requires second-order concepts (vansledright, 2014). wineburg (2001) states, “the question of cause lies at the heart of historical inquiry” (p. 145). individuals’ perspectives, experiences, and interests help them to identify historical and current events. wineburg (2001) explained that “chronology was more than discrete dates—dates were held together by trends and themes, patterns and perspectives (p. 144).” some themes revolve around politics, the economy, or cultural/social trends, such as the changing role of women or the oppression of minorities. this type of chronological approach identifying themes, patterns, and perspectives aims to enhance cause and effect relationships, connecting the past to the present and, perhaps, to the future (seixas, 2004; wineburg, 2001). dunn’s (2000) patterns of change model of teaching world history has also been relevant to chronology, continuity, causation, and identifying patterns. this approach to history used an inquiry approach to seek explanations for change at the local and global levels and tends to be socially inclusive by including multiple perspectives (dunn, 2000). the patterns of change model may help students develop an understanding of historical chronology and causation that assists them to see significant contributions and patterns of change from multiple perspectives (dunn, 2000). research questions a content analysis of students’ work can help identify how they are expressing historical understanding and whether this understanding includes empathy and multiple perspectives developed from understanding of global processes and contacts in societies across time and space. this review of the related literature encompassing historical understanding identified varied definitions and approaches to world history education. much of the research and literature about world history education in the united states was designed to investigate regular and ap world history. this study inquired into how the aforementioned definitions and approaches to world history are included not only in ap and rwh, but also ib, an up and coming program in the united states. this study expanded on the identified research and literature reviewed by investigating students’ learning outcomes and their displays of historical thinking and understanding exhibited in each program. the central focus of the study addressed the question: “what historical understandings demonstrated in a unit on the cold war do students display in their ib, ap or rwh program courses?” a unit on the cold war was selected for this study because it was taught in all three courses in the same semester and at the end of the school year, allowing time for students to have developed varied forms of historical understanding. sub-questions of this study specifically addressed aspects of historical understanding and influences on historical understanding rather than the content of the cold war: 1. how do students and teachers define world history? 2. what forms of historical understandings (e.g., historical significance, historical empathy, perspective taking, cause and effect) do students display in ib, ap, and rwh? 3. what are the programs’ purposes and objectives? mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 methods this qualitative multi-case study used classroom observations, student and teacher interviews, and content analyses of student artifacts and program documentation to describe each of the ib, ap, and rwh course objectives and outcomes. each course could have been a case study on its own, but student historical understanding is the focus that was investigated through three individual case studies, making this study a multi-case study. site the site of this study was a public high school in a small great plains city that will be called weber high school. weber high school was selected because it was the only high school that offered courses in all three programs, ib, ap, and rwh, in the selected district and it was one of two high schools in the state to offer ib ib, ap, and rwh courses were selected because of the similar world history curriculum and social studies objectives. additionally, these classes or cases contributed to assessment of contextual understanding of history because they focused not only on american history, but also included global content and/or perspectives. selection of these courses allowed the researcher to identify a commonly taught unit between all three. participants twelve ib students, six ap students, fifteen rwh students, and two teacher consultants from weber high school participated in this study. the researcher implemented purposeful selection of participant consultants. the ib students were in grade 12. the ap and rwh students were in grade 10. mrs. lewis taught both ap and rwh and mr. voss taught ib. mr. voss had also previously taught ap. data collection and analysis data were collected during the second or spring semester of the school year. the time that the units on the cold war were taught during the semester varied among teachers and programs. in addition, the duration of the units varied depending on the programs. the ib unit on the cold war was taught over six weeks, from the end of march to the beginning of may. a total of 21 classroom observations were made during this time. the ap unit took place in may and was taught over four days, which allowed for four classroom observations. the rwh unit on the cold war began in april and took about three weeks of class time. a total of 16 observations were conducted during this time period. the curriculum and objectives of each program influenced the depth and breadth of students’ investigation into the cold war. the length of the unit determined the number of possible observations. data collection used a triangulation approach including observations, interviews, and content analysis. observations were made of the three courses while teachers facilitated units on the cold war to gain first-hand experience with the students and teachers. this allowed for the recording of information concerning students’ historical understanding as it occurred, similar to the methods used by creswell (2009). a content analysis of the program curricula and objectives was conducted. in addition, students’ work (artifacts) were collected and analyzed to identify their historical understanding through their language. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 a total of six focus group interviews were conducted with teachers and students. both teachers volunteered and consented. all students volunteered and gave their assent along with parental consent. two interviews were conducted with nine out of the twelve ib students. one interview was conducted with two out of the six ap students. two interviews were conducted with five out of the fifteen rwh students and one interview was conducted with the two teachers. focus group interviews afforded another opportunity for students and teachers to share their views of the program in which they are enrolled and to demonstrate their historical understanding. interviews were transcribed and then coded by hand. in vivo codes, which included the words used by teachers and students, were identified through analysis of the interview transcripts (creswell, 2009). the transcripts were then read again to group coded data into organized themes. observational field notes were also recorded and analyzed. triangulation of data was used to provide a deeper understanding of students’ historical understanding (denzin & lincoln, 1998). “triangulation has been generally considered a process of using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning, verifying the repeatability of an observation or interpretation” (stake, 2000, 443). different kinds of triangulation can help the critical review of data. denzin (1989) suggested that triangulation can be implemented by using: multiple perspectives (e.g. research, teacher, and students), using more than one research method (e.g., observations, interviews, and document analysis), or use multiple observers. in this study, triangulation of research methods (e.g., teacher and student focus group interviews, observations, and document analysis of the three classes of world history curricula and student work) was used as the basis for drawing conclusions and triangulation of multiple perspectives (e.g. research, teachers, and students) to reduce researcher bias and confirm results. furthermore, all students and teachers who took part in this study were given the opportunity to review the report, a member-checking method used by glesne and peshkin (1992) and stake (2006) to ensure accuracy and verify results,. using the methods of emerson, fretz and shaw (1995), and clandinin and connelly (2000), data were first organized and analyzed by identifying patterns, categories, and themes. initial identification of open codes was followed by focused codes and finally themes. contextual perspectives of historical understanding were used to guide the data analysis. there was some subjectivity in the reported findings because at the end of the day the researcher decided what was pertinent to the study in order to best understand the phenomenon (stake, 2000). however, all efforts were made to minimize the imposition of researcher bias during the analysis process by triangulating the data, viewing the data as closely to the intended meanings, and member-checking (strauss & corbin, 1998). though case studies are not often generalizable (stake, 2000), this study sheds light on factors contributing to students’ historical understanding in one school offering all three programs. the purpose of this multi-case study was to deepen understanding of the program objectives and student learning outcomes. this information is important because there are few or no high schools in the united states that do not offer one or more of these programs (bain & shreiner, 2005; cavanagh, 2007; martin, maldonado, schneider, & smith, 2011). findings may resonate with these schools given familiar circumstances (stake, 2000). limitations mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 the duration of the study was dependent on course schedules of the ib, ap, and rwh programs. the cold war units lasted between four days and six weeks in the spring semester. because this study focused on one complete unit of each course, determination and analysis of students’ historical understanding could be accomplished during the relatively short time frame in which the units were taught. however, the explication of the process through which students developed their historical thinking could not be determined. findings and discussion stearns (2000) emphasized the need for world history to enable the type of historical thinking that citizens need. the forthcoming analysis of ib students’ work, interview transcripts, and course documents illustrates the achievement of students displaying historical understanding in terms of being critically thinking citizens. international baccalaureate history the ib diploma program (ib) is a college preparatory program offering a curriculum that often allows students to receive college credit. it aims to promote “intercultural understanding and respect, not as an alternative to a sense of cultural and national identity, but as an essential part of life in the 21st century” (international baccalaureate organization, http://www.ibo.org/mission, para #3). currently, there is a choice of following one of two curricula: 1) route 1: history of europe and the islamic world, which spans from 500 c.e. to the 15th century: or 2) route 2: 20th century world history. weber high school elected to focus on the route 2: 20th century. the ib 20th century world history course’s syllabus includes the following topics: (a) causes, practices and effects of war, (b) democratic states—challenges and responses, (c) origins and development of authoritarian and single-party states, (d) nationalist and independence movements in africa and asia and post-1945, central and eastern european states, and (e) the cold war. currently there are 799 high schools in the united states that offer the ib program (ibo, world school statistics, n.d.). the ib program has grown substantially in the united states, more so than in any other country in the world (ibo, world school statistics, n.d.). this growth is due to federal legislation that aimed to raise academic standards (bunnell, 2009). weber high school first offered the ib program to students in 2008. as part of analyzing students’ historical understanding through interviews and their work, this study identified how students described world history. the following quotes from two interviews with ib students summarize their views of world history. maria stated, “world history is the story created by different perspectives… the identity of society is created by history.” daniel said, “the purpose of history is not to simply narrate, but to construct based on the little tidbits [of information] we have about the past in the present.” bill: i would say world history is predominantly not an anti-american class, but it broadens the perspective that students receive …the purpose of world history is designed to enlighten students that what they initially learned is not always the truth…like columbus. these descriptions highlight the themes and codes identified in this study. many of the students’ descriptions of world history were illustrated in their work portraying their historical understanding of mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu http://www.ibo.org/mission journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 the cold war. these descriptions identify the inclusion of multiple perspectives, the identification of cause and effect relationships, and the creation of historiographies. furthermore, it is understandable why ib students describe these characteristics of world history because mr. voss, their teacher, described world history as “the story of people reflecting the interconnectedness of the globe.” his view supports the inclusion of multiple perspectives, identifying significant events leading to cause and effect analysis, and includes the creation of narratives. the assignment. the main assignment or student artifact in ib that was analyzed was a two-section assessment activity that included three questions. the first section asked: when did the cold war begin? part a) please offer seven plausible dates and a brief (couple of words) description for each. part b) pick three of the seven and offer a rationale justifying why the cold war began at that particular time. a strong paragraph should suffice for part b. the second section of the assessment activity included two questions, of which students chose to answer one. the questions were: who won and who lost the korean war? please explain. discuss the war from the perspectives of each of the major actors involved. (a paragraph or two for each of the following: the u.s.; china; south korea; and north korea should be sufficient. if in doubt as to whether you have written enough, ask if your answer demonstrates that you have a decent handle on various foreign policy objectives before the war as well as the outcomes of the war itself. also, your answers can go beyond the material that has been covered, but your answer must be plausible.) compare and contrast the u.s. policy of containment pre-1950 and post 1950. your essay should include a discussion explaining the policy, how and why it was implemented, and how it changed after 1949. these questions required students to identify the historical significance of events and policies. they required students to identify cause and effect relationships, change over time, and multiple perspectives. these questions went beyond knowing the facts and required the need to synthesize information to support a “plausible” argument. cause and effect. identifying cause and effect relations was prominent in the ib students’ work. additionally, some students identified cause and effect relationships in reference to current events. several students identified historical significance, while others demonstrated historiography and created their own narratives identifying the significance of cause and effect events or decisions. in terms of why something happened, students discussed the motivation behind historical decisions concerning the cold war. they demonstrated an understanding of causation that went beyond explaining sequence of events. for example, maria in a short answer response traced the roots of the cold war to the bolshevik revolution and explained: some historians suggest that the cold war dates back to as early as the bolshevik revolution in 1917, when the u. s. and western nations supported the whites. the communist reds took power instead, and they resent the western powers for trying to influence soviet russia. they also distrusted the west from this point on, leading to uneasy alliances during wwii, as well as difficulty in cooperation at the end of the war. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 maria clearly identified the cause and effect relationship between the west’s involvement in russia’s civil war and distrust and cooperation 40 years later with one particular term. she used the world “leading” to indicate the cause and effect relationship. she also used “traced back to” and “thus” (voss & wiley, 2000). these types of connecting words used identify cause and effect were common among ib students. every artifact of ib history student work that the researcher had permission to analyze included the display of cause and effect historical understanding. this theme and type of historical understanding was expected due to the central and sub-questions of the study. however, a more unique theme related to historical understanding of cause and effect relationships concerned the connection to current events. current events. one of the purposes of identifying cause and effect relationships is to recognize past events and how decisions shape current events in local and global communities. in the focus group interviews, two ib students identified the need to apply history to understand current events. also, in some of the work the students provided, they demonstrated the ability to explain cause and continuity of past and present events and decisions. mike explained, “it [history] describes how we got to where we are now.” phan stated, “i’m a factual type guy, i define historical understanding as the ability to apply concepts to current events... we may be able to draw parallels from wwii and now.” daniel, in his written work, referred to factors that contributed to south korea’s current economic status: …in the aftermath of the war [korean war], the assured defense of south korea by the u.s. also meant that south korea could grow its economy into the small powerhouse it is today….north korea, however, as an impoverished dictatorship as harsh as any, can really only be said to be a victory for the north korean leadership and not the general populace. daniel included what he knew about the current state of north and south korea in his explanation of who may be considered victors of the korean war. phan also included current events in regards to the korean war. “thanks to post-war economic aid from the u.s. and japan, south korea is now a prosperous democratic state (ever living in fear of an attack from the north, of course).” he referred to the current state of south korea by using the words “is now.” although all of the students’ work identified cause and effect relationships, daniel and phan were the only students to refer to current events and situations in the world today. historiography. it appears that all of the ib students were able to analyze resources and identify multiple perspectives. however, a few students were able to create their own narratives of the cold war, effectively practicing historiography, the work of the professional historian. phan said: we focus on where the conflicts are and try to resolve it by setting the [scene] before, after and during the conflict. so as long as i have reasonable information and i can make an argument for a certain reason why something happened and that argument is fairly substantive, then it is history i have created. two students were able to create narratives during an in-class extended response without the use of the primary sources they had studied previously. jeff wrote: russia would later come to view europe the same way after the marshall plan had become introduced/proposed. the rule that countries accepting aid from the us had to submit financial records effectively banned the ussr from taking advantage of it. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 instead, russia did two things which forever affected cold war relations: it countered the marshall plan with the molotov plan, which would provide economic security for soviet influenced communist countries in eastern europe; it also organized a coup in czechoslovakia, which had seemed interested in the marshall plan. this aggressive and potentially considered expansionist action shrank republicans in the us concerned about cost of the plan out of their economic conservatism and propelled the marshall plan into action. without the coup, a preventative measure against the marshall plan, the plan may never have come to fruition. this great wrong nonetheless marks a decidedly derisive climate and permanently defined the two “camps” during the cold war, especially as economic support systems become military alliances. jeff’s response was one of the most elaborate and supported explanations of the cause or start of the cold war. he weaved together the events leading to the cold war into an argumentative narrative base on evidence he has studied previously, though he was not able to pull in evidence from those primary sources. yet, many of the indicators of effective historical arguments were present (monte-sano, 2012). multiple perspectives. the ib program goals included historical empathy and perspective taking. ib students’ description of world history often included words like “multiple perspectives”, “different viewpoints”, and “a broadened perspective.” as cliff explained, “it’s about how history is written by those in power. so a reasonable definition of world history should not only include the victor’s perspective of events, but also the losers.” most students described the perspective of countries (or their leaders) at war. inclusion of perspectives beyond conflicting countries was limited and not included in the unit on the cold war. individual countries’ perspectives and motives were included, but roles of minorities, women, children, etc., were not. this may be due to the nature of the cold war as a topic, rather than due to the ib program. some students discussed how their views have changed over the course of their ib education. not only are ib students aware of historical humility, they are open to various perspectives which can be part of historical humility. bill stated, “the purpose of world history is designed to enlighten students that what they initially learned is not always the truth.” in this statement, bill was referring to his experience in elementary and middle school and the reliance on textbooks and the lack of multiple perspectives. nikki provided an example of columbus being portrayed as a great explorer, but later they learned that he “directly or inherently caused the enslavement and death of millions of native americans.” this new knowledge and perspective made students like nikki question and evaluate resources for bias, including the typical textbooks they had used. the students realized that the textbooks they had been exposed to in the past lacked varying perspectives and may not have portrayed an accurate account. furthermore, maria explained, “when we can’t study or include multiple perspectives, then we acknowledge that we can’t or that multiple perspectives do not exist and to be aware of the limitation.” ib students have learned that if multiple perspectives are not presented, then it may be a limitation to their understanding of events. in conclusion, the inclusion of multiple perspectives in education and particularly in the teaching of history is vital for a number of reasons. not only do multiple perspectives provide for historical interpretation, they also build skills that are applicable to interpreting events and politics today. multiple perspectives contribute to people in society being informed and making informed decisions. moreover, the inclusion of multiple perspectives in education recognizes the diversity found in our schools and classrooms. when we seek to understand the multiple perspectives and experiences of our diverse mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 student population, we are more likely to tap into their funds of knowledge and build upon their current understanding of society, which includes peoples’ social histories. historical and intellectual humility. historical and intellectual humility is an in vivo code and the most surprising type of historical understanding discussed by ib students. intellectual humility is defined as how we come to hold and retain our beliefs. it is constituted by a state of openness to new ideas, receptivity to new sources of evidence and the implications of that evidence, and willingness to revise even deeply held beliefs in the face of compelling reasons (barrett, 2012, para. 1). several ib students in the two focus group interviews discussed historical or intellectual humility in two different ways: (a) as changing historical evidence and narrative and (b) learning about one’s own knowledge, beliefs, or bias. mike, an ib student, described intellectual humility as, “realizing you have been wrong before in your views and that other people could be wrong in a similar way that you’ve been wrong and they are making big decisions that could easily have been a mistake.” cliff and jeff, together, by finishing each other’s sentences explained, humility is being aware that you can be wrong and that your views and assumptions are not always of the truth…you can’t make conclusions on insufficient bodies of evidence. in history, more than any other subject that i am taking in ib, i felt that i had to have enormous amount of evidence. other ib students also discussed intellectual humility. there descriptions of intellectual humility reflect barrett’s definition. several students in the focus group interview provided examples or explained how interpretations of history change when new evidence is released. the following discussion demonstrates their understanding of historical humility. mike: the orthodox view is that stalin was using north korea as a satellite state so they could go into south korea. the revisionist’s stance was the u.s. was pressuring mao so much that he felt the need to support north korea. cliff said, “this is intellectual humility because what we know changes as new theories come out. our ideas are not rigid.” related to historical humility, ib students in both focus group interviews discussed value, limitations, orientation, and purpose (vlop) as a tool to analyze documents and speeches in the past and present. vlop terminology is used in the international baccalaureate organization history guide (2008) in reference to a primary source analysis question that will be included in the ib history exam. ib students were also aware of the benefit of using these analysis skills in life. use of these skills in life helps us to be engaged and to think critically about society in the past and present. for example, nikki explained: when i am watching something on fox and they say, “the president was recently uncovered to have a relationship with a terrorist.” i consider the source and ask, “what are they trying to accomplish? who is this coming from? how credible is their information?” this critical thinking and application to a real situation is an ultimate goal of history and social studies education. the ib students demonstrated this behavior. collecting, interpreting, and analyzing resources to offer an explanation or tell a story is part of what historians do (lee, 2005; levstik & barton, 2008; wineburg, 2001; vansledright, 2014). ib students were able to provide in depth descriptions of historical events. they were able to interpret and create their mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 own historical explanation and apply these skills to explain the significance of historical events to current events with historical humility. furthermore, they were able to discuss various perspectives or lenses of history. as bill states, “what the ib excels at is the synthesis level questions. it is asking you to take this information you have learned and decide what you can infer about society.” ib students know that what they are learning in school can be applied to current events and society. advanced placement world history ap is a program organized by the college board, a non-profit association that aims to help students attain college success (the college board, 2010). ap world history is the secondary education equivalent to an introductory level college course in world history. the college board’s ap program has been offering college credit courses for over 50 years; however, ap world history was introduced in 2002. ap formerly focused on “habits of mind”. examples of these habits were: constructing and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments, understanding diversity of interpretations through analysis of context, point of view, and frame of reference, and seeing global patterns and processes over time and space while connecting local developments to global ones” (college board, 2010, p. 10). however these “habits” changed and have now been described as “the four historical thinking skills.” these skills include: (a) crafting historical arguments from historical evidence, (b) chronological reasoning, (c) comparison and contextualization, and (d) historical interpretation and synthesis. the literature review section of this paper illustrated that there are varying definitions and approaches to teaching world history. although there were some consistencies, this variation was observed in ap world history among the subject students and teacher. below are two excerpts from ap world history student interviews that described their definitions of world history. shaista: world history is basically everything that has ever happened like major events that happened in the world since humans have been here. … it explains why they are the way they are now…i think that in earlier times it’s basically the world, but as time goes on, closer to our time, it is a western perspective. gladys: it’s everything that has evolved or changed as far back as we know, and how we have grown as human beings because we talk about how civilizations have changed from different societies and different eras….and some of the old, ancient societies are still going on in some regions. it is good to learn about them because everybody is at different stages of development. these two views demonstrate how varied the approaches to world history can be. shaista recognized the western emphasis in modern history and gladys’ description was more in line with the description or purpose offered in the ap course description. the breadth of the ap curriculum is broad compared to other world history programs. this breadth is underscored in the ap guide, which is from approximately 8000 b.c.e. to present day. as gladys stated, “it’s everything that has evolved or changed as far back as we know.” the ap world history teacher, mrs. lewis, described world history similar to the course guide: mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 my definition of world history, and this may be part of my definition of historical understanding too, is the interactions that have happened among groups at different times in history. what are the threads and themes that we see that occur throughout human history? and, what are the cause and effect relationships? mrs. lewis’s inclusion of thematic organization, interaction among groups of people, and identifying cause and effect relationships were all part of the stated purpose of ap world history, with the exception that the ap course description uses “continuity and change” instead of “cause and effect” (college board, 2010, p. 4). the description of world history by mrs. lewis and gladys was in agreement with the patterns of change model described by dunn (2000). ap students and mrs. lewis primarily described and/or demonstrated two types of historical understanding: identifying cause and effect relationships and the inclusion of multiple perspectives. although mrs. lewis mentioned identifying “threads and themes” in world history, this aspect of teaching and learning world history was not discussed or demonstrated in student work. another factor described by mr. voss and mrs. lewis was the focus on content rather than historical thinking. mr. voss and mrs. lewis described this focus as conflicting with their pedagogical and philosophical approach to teaching history, which they describe as actively doing history. the assignments. ap world history students were given two assignment/assessment tasks during the four days they inquired into the cold war. the amount of time they had to cover parts of the cold war was considerably brief. this more than likely impacted students first-order understanding (vansledright, 2014), but since the unit on the cold war came at the end of the year, students should have been able to demonstrate second-order, or meta-historical concepts (lee, 2005; vansledright, 2014). the first assignment required students to “describe, compare, associate, analyze, and argue for or against” the cuban missile crisis. the second assessment task was a 15 question multiple-choice quiz. the identified themes and primary forms of historical understanding that was identified was cause and effect relationships, multiple perspectives, and a conflict over the amount of content to cover versus analytical skills. cause and effect. gladys: we do learn about cause and effect. today we were talking about the korean war and how today it is still at the place that we left it; at the division and communist. we talk a lot about how it is today….it [historical understanding] is understanding how the whole world got to be where it is today. ya, like what we are learning now. how wwi caused wwii and wwii led to the cold war and the list goes on and on. researcher: how did wwii cause or lead to the cold war? gladys: ya, there was lots of tension. even though we were allies with russia. shaista: we don’t like each other. we were like frienimies. gladys: ya, frienemies. shaista: we don’t have the same values. like they were communist and we were not. basically we had different views. we got along for one thing and we basically decided to help each other, use each other, but then it’s over. and, wwii, we dropped a bomb on japan and that started the weapons race. this vignette demonstrated shaista and gladys’ explanation of the cause and effect of the relationship between the united states and the soviet union during world war ii and the cold war. although they did not go into much detail or provide an in depth explanation, they did identify a cause (america mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 dropped two atom bombs on japan) and the effect (the arms race between the united states and soviet union). gladys and shaista also tried to explain continuity and change in world history. shaista described addressing document-based questions on the ap exam. shaista: what stays the same and what changes. like between two countries, what is the same about them and what changes about them? what has changed over a certain amount of time? like how they rose to power. though they talked about continuity and change and a comparison between two countries, they were not really able to provide an example, despite this key emphasis in the ap world history curriculum documents and mrs. lewis’s description of historical understanding. on the sole quiz ap students took during the cold war section or unit, the following multiple-choice question was the closest to a comparison question between two countries, or in this case, individuals across time. which of the following was not a commonality which existed between napoleon’s invasion of russia in 1812 and hitler’s invasion of russia in 1941? a. both napoleon and hitler had been formerly allied with russia. b. both napoleon and hitler traveled and fought alongside their troops. c. both napoleon and hitler had the most well equipped army of their time. d. both napoleon and hitler had supporting troops from other nations under their direction. the answer: both napoleon and hitler were ill-prepared for the russian winter (ap world quiz chapters 37 & 38, 2011, p. 3). this type of question really did not allow for higher-order thinking or identifying threads across time, though it did require students to identify commonalities between hitler’s and napoleon’s strategies in their invasions of russia. this type of question did not require students to identify the historical significance of the individuals or the event, cause and effect relationships, or multiple perspectives. it was merely a description and identification of facts. another assignment required students to write a short answer response in which they described, compared, associated, analyzed, and posed an argument for or against one of these conflicts: the korean war, the cuban missile crisis, or the vietnam war. very few students were able to provide much detail or analysis in their answers. the following sample of student work in figure 1 illustrates one student’s knowledge of the cuban missile crisis. this work is demonstrative of the work produced by many students produced. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 figure 1: sample of ap student work the ap student compared and associated the “cuban mistle crisis” (sic) to “nuclear bombs that were going on between like iraq and the u.s. except the cuban mistle (sic) crisis prevented a huge war because of one man.” although the student placed soviet submarines off the coast of cuba, with “mistles” (sic) pointed at the u.s, and the soviet submarine captain retiring after the u.s. fired warning shots, she did not identify the significance of the event or establish cause and effect relationships. another student associated the cuban “missle” (sic) crisis to “the blocking of trade with china and the u.s. during wwii.” it is unclear as to what aspect of the trade blockade the student was comparing the mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 crisis to, but her response did not appear accurate. perhaps the student meant the trade blockade with japan prior to wwii. as demonstrated above, when asked to compare the cuban missile crisis to any reasonably similar event, most students were not able to offer a quality response. other replies from ap students were: “compare it: well you see cuba has a dictatorship with a strong military government right now which kinda relates to the missile crisis;” and “compare it…this event is a perfect example of the cold war. the arms race between the u.s. and u.s.s.r. could tip into nuclear war at any time. only compromises and a universal want to avoid war would keep the cold war cold.” some ap students demonstrated knowledge of some cold war events, but sophisticated historical analysis was not apparent. even though students were able to include factual knowledge, much of the time it was not accompanied by relevant analysis. one of the concerns of the ap curriculum identified by mr. voss and mrs. lewis was the amount of history content that needed to be covered. this concern is also acknowledged by other ap teachers and the ap of the college board (packer, 2011). they claimed that coverage leaves little room for historical analysis. multiple perspectives. the ap world history guide include historical empathy and perspective taking as goals of their programs. although neither were included in any of the work ap students produced, during the interviews they discussed the inclusion of multiple perspectives in world history. historical understanding in world history can take many forms. shaista described it as: understanding history from different viewpoints and not just thinking from the american side. we bombed japan because of what japan did to us. we have to know basically why they did what in all different countries. it’s not just thinking ignorantly and saying america is the best. it is understanding all viewpoints. although multiple viewpoints were not illustrated in shaista’s, gladys’, or any of the ap students’ work, students still verbalized the importance of multiple lenses contributing to being informed citizens. gladys: mrs. lewis really makes a point of knowing different perspectives…. we read a lot of first hand experiences from a lot of different perspectives. like when we did the wwi and we read from a soldier from this country and a soldier from that country. shaista: yea, mrs. lewis tries to make sure we get all the different viewpoints. for wwii, she showed the video from the american side and the german side and i think japan. they show why they did what, so we understand better. shaista explained that mrs. lewis wanted to make sure students were presented “balanced perspectives” and were “informed,” which addresses mrs. lewis’s pedagogical content knowledge and purposes of social studies education. it was interesting that ap students recognized the importance of multiple perspectives in history and mrs. lewis provided varied perspectives from the participants (individuals or states) involved in an event. despite not explicitly discussing multiple perspectives being part of world history, mrs. lewis did mention that world history is “the interactions that have happened among groups at different times in history” and she presented varying views of events like the world wars to her students. content versus analytical skills. one of the topics debated in history and social studies education is whether the focus should be the breadth or depth of covering content—as much information as time allows versus examining in detail a particular event or theme. world history courses easily deteriorate into survey courses relying on memorization (stearns, 2000). teacher vernacular refers to this as the mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 “plato to nato” or “stone age to the rock age” approach, as seen in the ap course. by covering less content in a given semester or year and examining some of the content more closely, students’ ability to analyze events and develop a deeper sense of historical understandings increases. according to mr. voss and mrs. lewis, the focus on covering the content in ap history classes hindered them from providing opportunities to help students develop skills that allow them to do history—to ask guiding questions that contribute to historical inquiry—and to help students develop their own understanding of the significance of historical events in today’s society. as mrs. lewis stated, it is not just quicker, but necessary to simply deposit the information that students need for the college board ap exam prior to the end of the semester. mrs. lewis explained that giving the information to students was the most efficient method to cover the curriculum. she commented that this contradicted what she was taught in her teacher training and opposed her personal educational philosophy. regular world history rwh is commonly taught in the 10th grade in the united states. in this article the term regular was used because that is the term the teacher in this study used to describe her non-ib and ap course. western civilization plus is the most common approach to world history in the united states with over fifty percent of the states incorporating this model (bain & shreiner, 2005). the western civilization plus model was based on the initial approach to teaching history in the united states by focusing on the rise and fall of civilizations, starting with ancient river valley civilizations to modern history with a focus on the rise of western powers, but also including some non-western cultures and civilizations. the inclusion of these non-western cultures was conducted in a manner that did not disturb the narrative of the rise of the west (bain & shreiner, 2005). this was the approach that was typically followed at weber high school. weber high school changed the course’s name from western civilization to world history approximately ten years ago. rwh at weber high school is a district required 10th grade survey course covering the renaissance to present-day. common to many of the states there was no state mandate of the completion of world history for graduation, but many school districts within the state required it for graduation (bain & shreiner, 2005). the students in rwh provided their own definitions. jenna, clive, and delta respectively believe world history is: jenna: the history of the world; the events that happened in the world…basically to understanding the history of what went on in the world. clive: i believe world history is the covering of events to keep us from doing the same events over again…so we don’t screw it up. delta and clive described world history as also including learning from others. clive: us history covers more of the basics of just the us, and yeah, we can learn from that, but we can learn more from learning what other countries have done. delta: because they go about it in different ways. everyone has problems and different ways to handle things. delta: we should take world history so we know where we came from; we take world history so we can recognize everything people did for us, for freedom, for life. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 jenna, clive and delta started their descriptions of world history in a very basic manner, with “history of the world” and “events.” then they identified one purpose of studying world history, which was to learn from past mistakes. when asked about the differences between american and world history, delta and clive recognized the value of multiple perspectives and learning that there are “different ways to handle things.” delta also hinted at a sense of belonging and perhaps national identity when she said, “we take world history so we can recognize everything people did for us, for freedom, for life.” it is interesting that she associates these entities with world history. delta was the only student to portray a view of world history, and perhaps her national feelings, that are related to the eurocentric focus included in her rwh. this perspective was closest to the western heritage model (dunn, 2000) or western civilization plus (bain & shreiner, 2005). mrs. lewis taught both ap and rwh. although mrs. lewis described world history as “the interactions that have happened among groups at different times in history,” she continued to state that rwh takes a very eurocentric view. mrs. lewis: our curriculum for our regular world is very eurocentric. so it may be defined as, “what did europe do and how did the rest of the world react to it?” but, i do not prefer that…. the book [textbook] and the mega chart that they [the school district] follow are very eurocentric, even though they try to include other things. the problem is that our textbook is extremely, extremely eurocentric. that is our main resource and we struggle to get outside resources. they talk about other groups, but in a way that says, “here is what europe did and this is how other groups reacted to it.” not, “what was this other group doing before the europeans did anything?” like many world history classes offered in high school across the united states (bain & shreiner, 2005), there was still a focus on western civilization at weber high school. in a focus group, kelly and beth described world history similarly to their peers with one difference. beth stated, “it’s learning about different people in different time periods, in different places…. like wars and stuff that happened in other countries…. world history is about all over the world, and us history is about the united states. kelly shared, “i don’t think we studied anything about the us. it was stuff that happened in other places.” kelly and beth described world history as events, different people and time periods, but they also claimed that there was not u.s. history included in world history. however, the very unit observed, the cold war, included the united states as a major player. these descriptions included the themes identified in rwh. they included identifying multiple perspectives, identifying cause and effect relationships, skills, and emphasis on content (events) rather than analysis. two other themes identified in rwh were factors affecting students’ development of historical understanding and the pedagogy used to facilitate students’ historical understanding and skills. the assignments. during the three weeks rwh students inquired into the cold war, several assignments and assessment tasks were included. this class by far required students to produce the most work or artifacts. the assignments and tasks are described below. primarily in rwh, students demonstrated historical understanding by going beyond factual knowledge and including historical empathy/perspective taking and identification of cause and effect relationships. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 historical empathy. as part of her teaching philosophy and pedagogy, mrs. lewis often included questions that made her students think about the perspective of the people they were studying and why they did what they did in history. delta, clive, and jenna described their way of expressing historical empathy. their description is quite similar to davis’s (2000) definition. delta shared, “mrs. lewis asks why would they do this. ‘why?’ makes you think about why they would do it. there is not really a right or wrong answer. it makes you think about if you were in their position.” clive said, “i know when i am learning about it, i try to imagine as if i were there and picture what everyone is seeing. so that way maybe i can get a better understanding of why they did it and try to put myself in the other guy’s shoes.” jenna explained, “basically, you put yourself in their position to know why they made the decisions they made.” delta also added: but then again, you can’t fully understand because you were never there. like it makes me, i want to say “i understand”, but we will never fully understand what anyone went through in the genocide, the holocaust, anything like that. but it makes you recognize the people who did it. and it makes you think about what you would want to do, but not necessarily what you would do if you were in the situation because you don’t know what you would do for sure if you were put in that situation. in this vignette, students emphasized understanding the situation and perspective of historical individuals. furthermore, delta recognized that she could not fully understand the historical events and individuals they studied because she was never there. as davis (2000) claimed, historical empathy is thinking about events and individuals in their context, “a time that no one can really know” (p. 3). kelly and beth also described trying to understand the perspective of hitler or countries involved in the cold war. beth: understanding different ideas, what other people thought when they were doing whatever they were doing. like hitler, what was he thinking about when he was doing it? what did he want out of dominating? how did the citizens or victims feel? researcher: did that happen at all in the cold war unit? where you looked at different perspectives of people or countries? kelly: yeah beth: we looked at different sides of the war. like the ussr, united states, and germany. we looked at the different sides and what was going on in those places. the ussr and the nukes that were pointed at us and how it was frozen, i guess. you looked at both sides of what happened. researcher: what was the ussr’s view? kelly: i think their point of view was they wanted more power and we had it. beth: yeah, we had more money and stuff and the ussr was pointing nukes at us, threatening us, but wanting us to give in to them. researcher: and what was our view, what was the united states’ view? beth: we didn’t give up. we just kept pushing. beth and kelly identified particular perspectives in their description, but when questioned about the perspectives of countries involved in the cold war, they did not accurately acknowledge the countries or their perspective motivating events during the cold war. furthermore, beth’s description seemed to include a lack of perspective taking or historical empathy, and perhaps the inclusion of nationalism, because of her mention that the ussr was “threatening us” and “we didn’t give up” as her explanation of the ussr and us’ perspectives during the cold war. the identification of us and them (us and ussr) mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 supports bain and shreiner’s (2005) and dunn’s (2000) model of world history that does not disturb the american narrative. on a cold-war quiz, one question was, “why did the soviet union/east german government feel the need to build the berlin wall?” trying to portray multiple perspectives, most students stated because “people were escaping” or they “wanted to keep capitalism and communism separate,” or “they wanted to keep communism in.” however, students were not able to explain why or to include the perspective of countries and leaders in further detail. another assignment required students to either select a resident of key west, florida, or a resident of cuba to represent in a “letter home” to family during the cuban missile crisis. students were to write a letter from the perspective of one of the residents, and all but one student selected to write from the perspective of the resident living in key west. although the assignment offered a choice of perspective, most students chose not to take or were unable to take the perspective of a cuban resident. the last assignment that students worked on in class that included perspective taking was a worksheet analyzing a primary document produced by the central intelligence group in the united states in 1947. the worksheet broke down the document by paragraph to help students identify what each paragraph was conveying. the final question asked students to, “describe the point-of-view of this document. how could that point of view impact the tone and information of the document?” many students were not able to answer this question, and those who did responded in vague, incomplete, or unsubstantiated ways. although these students identified perspective taking as an important aspect of world history, a very small percentage of students were able to explain the perspective of others in much detail, especially in written assignments. cause and effect relationships. another type of historical understanding was cause and effect relationships. students discussed identifying cause and effect relationships in world history, particularly related to understanding modern events. mrs. lewis also included cause and effect relationships in her description of world history though there is little evidence of students identifying cause and effect relationships in their work aside from one direct question about the cultural revolution in china during the unit. after reading and doing a jigsaw activity with five handouts of information, students were asked to respond to the following question, “how did the cultural revolution impact china?” students were required to identify the significance of events and/or individuals concerning the cultural revolution and many students were not able to elaborate on their responses. most students responded with “it brainwashed teens,” and one student mentioned the effect of “brainwashed teens” on familial relations. two students acknowledged the limits on freedom of speech and the threats of imprisonment for complaints against the government. one student responded, the cultural revolution impacted china by “brainwashing” teens and tearing families apart. also the people of china’s homes and possessions were torn and ruined. nobody really felt safe anymore, unless they were with mao. even people that were not into the old government were terrorized because a loved one was involved. this response was the most elaborate. the student identified the cultural revolution impacting families and requiring obedience to the government through terror. however, her response included generalizations and she did not provide any connection to current events. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 jenna and clive described cause and effect relationships in terms of understanding events and issues today. jenna explained, “you don’t know all the facts but you have to know certain facts from back then to know what you are doing now.” clive: well, i know my dad works nights, so he is up when i get home getting ready for work, and he has the radio on and he listens to political radio and stuff. and i can understand more of what they are talking about because they refer back to other stuff and i can go, “hey, we just learned this” and i can go back and remember what i learned and help relate that to today’s issues. jenna and clive recognized the importance of understanding events in history in order to fully understand current events in society, but when asked to provide an example of how past events related to what he heard on the radio with his father, clive was not able to cite an example of when he had made that type of connection. students were, however, aware of how historical understanding can contribute to their comprehension of current social, political, and economic issues. furthermore, jenna described the advantage of historical understanding contributed to her ability to analyze past events and make decisions. these traits are one of the five standards of historical thinking drafted by crabtree and nash (nash, crabtree & dunn, 2000). the fifth standard states, “historical issues analysis and decision making—identifying issues that people have confronted in the past and present, bringing historical perspectives to bear on these issues, considering alternative actions people might have taken, and assessing the consequences of decisions made” (nash, crabtree & dunn, 2000, p. 177). while jenna and clive described some of these elements of historical thinking, they were not able to provide an example. conclusions how do the ib, ap, and rwh programs’ courses facilitate learning outcomes? the ib history guide explicitly states that the purpose of studying history should take a historiographic approach by engaging the past “through exposure to primary historical sources and through the work of historians” (ib history guide, 2008, p. 4). the ap world history course description also includes a similar statement that the course “emphasizes relevant factual knowledge, leading interpretive issues, and skills in analyzing types of historical evidence” (college board, 2010, p. 4). no purpose statement concerning students’ learning outcomes is included in the applicable state and the local school district documents for rwh, although that is not to say that individual teachers do not include a purpose statement in their courses. one of the aims of the ib course is to “encourage the systematic and critical study of: human experience and behavior; physical, economic and social environments; [and] the history and development of social and cultural institutions” (ibo, 2008, p. 7). this aim factors in political, economic and social aspects of historical understanding. the college board’s ap world history course description (2010) identifies understanding “global processes” as an aim, but does not specifically address varying causes and effects of historical events. if the ib and ap courses were to be categorized in terms of a model identified by dunn (2000), they seem to follow the patterns of change model. approaches or models closely related to rwh may vary among districts and teachers, but district standards and curriculum guides seem to use a western civilization plus model (bain & shreiner, 2005). although there were common purposes found in all three world history programs, students’ learning outcomes demonstrating these aims vary greatly. all the students express historical understanding in terms of cause and effect relationships and the need for multiple perspectives. the research and analysis reveals that students’ work samples and explanations fell into different types of historical mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 understanding ranging from first-order understanding to second-order concepts (vansledright, 2014). however, ib includes purposes that strive to include students’ identity and reflection of who they are and what they know in reference to the past and present. it is apparent that ib students approach world history by creating narratives that include investigating and analyzing varied sources or perspectives that contribute to their understanding of global events in the past and present. maria claimed, “you see yourself a lot,” and noted that she was able to learn about her own lens and biases through analysis of resources and perspectives. this is unique to ib students. they are able to empathize with varied perspectives of historical accounts and determine how and why events are related to past and present circumstances, while reflecting on their own knowledge. self-reflection and questioning described by vansledright (2010)—avoiding presentism—is evident in ib, but not evident in ap or rwh. the emphasis on events, cause and effect relationships, and temporal change are prominent in ap students’ descriptions of world history. according to the ap world history course description (2010), the overarching purpose is to develop understanding of the evolution of global processes and societal contacts (p. 4), which is reflected in mrs. lewis’s description of world history. however, there is little or no evidence of this in students’ work. rwh students place emphasis on events in their description and why “things” happened; they identified cause and effect relationships, but did not use the phrase “cause and effect.” jenna, for example, described world history as, “to keep a log of what happened in the past so that people know why certain things happened.” although both ib and ap curriculum guides include historical empathy as a goal for student development, examples of historical empathy are only evident in the ib course. however, in an interview, one rwh student, delta, also expresses an understanding of presentism—empathy without the bias of one’s current lens. she explains that she could never fully understand past individuals, cultures and events because she had not been there. a significant observation of this study is how ap was promoted at weber high school. regardless of whether students take the college board exam in the spring or not, students are encouraged to take ap rather than rwh to experience a challenging academic curriculum. academic standards and expectations in rwh are fairly low and as mrs. lewis stated, rwh experiences more issues of classroom management and enhancing social skills, whereas ap concentrates more on academics. differences may be explained by students’ level of academic maturity or previous educational experiences. implications findings of this study have implications for pedagogical and curricular approaches to teaching world history. in addition, findings from this study inform pre-service teacher programs on how students gain historical understandings and the substance of the understanding (the what) students’ gain through varied programs and approaches such as those discussed here. students are exiting high school with discrepancies between the skills and understanding that affects their ability to engage and contribute to a diverse, democratic society. this study can inform educators, curriculum coordinators, administrators, and teacher educators on varied approaches for implementing high school world history education. the implications of this study can help people in these roles make an informed decision about the type of world history they choose to engage in and the learning outcomes they want students to walk away from after having taken a world history course. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 101-128. corresponding author email: daryter@fortlewis.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 prioritizing curriculum goals. educators must decide what they want their students to learn in the amount of time allocated to them. it may be less than ideal that students are walking away from world history courses with very different critical thinking and interpretive skills that influence their ability to communicate and make decisions as local and global citizens. flexible curriculum. the breadth and depth of the curriculum greatly influences the type of skills and historical understanding students demonstrate. a curriculum weighted down by content does not allow for constructivist practices like those identified by ashby, lee and shemilt (2005). in order for students to develop the skills and type of self-awareness that contributes to historical empathy and understanding of multiple perspectives, the content should be limited and more time allocated to practice this type of global historical understanding. a flexible curriculum that allows for variation in the topics investigated allows students to form their own plausible narratives and to inquire into meaningful topics. further research studying variations of student evaluation practices among the three programs could contribute to improving student learning outcomes and how educators measure them. there 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(2012). new directions in assessment:using library of congress sources to assess historical understand. social education 76(6), pp. 290-293. yeager, e. a., & foster, s. j. (2001). the role of empathy in the development of historical understanding. in davis jr., o.l., yeager, e. a., & foster, s. j. (eds), historical empathy and perspective taking in the social studies (pp. 13-19). lanham, maryland: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. mailto:daryter@fortlewis.edu abstract: world history has become increasingly important and has often been a required course for high school students in the united states. this multi-case study provides examples and descriptions of students’ demonstration of historical understandi... conceptualizing historical understanding in world history education historical understandings methods participants limitations findings and discussion international baccalaureate history cause and effect. identifying cause and effect relations was prominent in the ib students’ work. additionally, some students identified cause and effect relationships in reference to current events. several students identified historical significance,... current events. one of the purposes of identifying cause and effect relationships is to recognize past events and how decisions shape current events in local and global communities. in the focus group interviews, two ib students identified the need to... historiography. it appears that all of the ib students were able to analyze resources and identify multiple perspectives. however, a few students were able to create their own narratives of the cold war, effectively practicing historiography, the wor... advanced placement world history the assignments. ap world history students were given two assignment/assessment tasks during the four days they inquired into the cold war. the amount of time they had to cover parts of the cold war was considerably brief. this more than likely impact... cause and effect. gladys: we do learn about cause and effect. today we were talking about the korean war and how today it is still at the place that we left it; at the division and communist. we talk a lot about how it is today….it [historical under... multiple perspectives. the ap world history guide include historical empathy and perspective taking as goals of their programs. although neither were included in any of the work ap students produced, during the interviews they discussed the inclusion ... content versus analytical skills. one of the topics debated in history and social studies education is whether the focus should be the breadth or depth of covering content—as much information as time allows versus examining in detail a particular even... historical empathy. as part of her teaching philosophy and pedagogy, mrs. lewis often included questions that made her students think about the perspective of the people they were studying and why they did what they did in history. delta, clive, and j... cause and effect relationships. another type of historical understanding was cause and effect relationships. students discussed identifying cause and effect relationships in world history, particularly related to understanding modern events. mrs. lewi... further research journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 130 education for enculturating the “thainess” ideology: decolonizing the siamese colonial discourse in the social studies curriculum omsin jatuporn naresuan university, thailand ______________________________________________________________________________ abstract after the junta came to power in may 2014, the military government started exercising their nationcentric hegemony through the educational policies and curriculum planning. contemporary curriculum reform is employed as a mechanism for maintaining the status quo of elites group who have held privileged positions among the thais. looking through the social studies curriculum, it becomes the centerpiece of public schools’ efforts to cultivate younger generations into what it means to be “thainess”. however, thainess becomes inevitably hybrid to certain extents in the era of globalization. by looking into the contemporary context of education from the political dimensions of curriculum and cultural studies, i argue that if educationalists are to educate young thais for global citizenship in today’s pluralistic society, the social studies curriculum must go beyond the siamese colonization of knowledge construction, and also provides pedagogical spaces of the experiences, knowledge, and perspectives of diverse people in thai society. keywords: thainess, internal domination, curriculum ideology, social studies curriculum, global citizenship ______________________________________________________________________________ introduction as the world enters into the 21st century in which the colonial era is long gone, thai education is still reproducing the old kind of knowledge although such conditions and threats no longer exist (winichakul, 2014). in this essence, it can be seen explicitly in the contested notions such as thainess and the essence of what it means to be a thai as well as thai-centrism in which nationalism is a part. these notions are institutionalized to represent the uniqueness of thailand. on the one hand, thainess becomes inevitably hybrid to certain extents because the discourse of multilingualism, cultural hybridity, and linguistic flexibility are gaining recognition as central to the forging of a cosmopolitan identity and diverse lifestyles (padunchewit, 2001). despite the evolvement of thainess, what remains unchanged until the present is its focus on king-centered ideology, which has played a crucial role in shaping the notion of thainess (sattayanurak, n.d.). to some extent, this nationalistic view influences thai people even today and has been reproduced by the government through a variety of pedagogical tools such as historical narratives, textbooks, films, monuments and the like. while mainstream curriculum discourse can provide one frame of reference, it can also seem detached from my critical understanding of curriculum and pedagogy in thai society. additionally, decisions taken about education, curriculum and pedagogy are widely believed to affect the construction and reconstruction of societal and national identities. they must take into account deep processes of social critical reflection on the meaning of citizenship, collective memory and shared identity (tawil & harley, 2004). journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 131 the contents in this paper are mainly based on the documentary study, using various written materials, ranging from research papers, theses, as well as general curriculum studies and social studies education documents, reviewed between 2000 to present. however, i choose to present the results as critical reflection and inquiry into the field of curriculum studies which is threatened less by its internal complexity than by external political conditions (pinar, 2007). in this regard, the studies of political dimensions of curriculum and cultural studies are gaining recognition among the categories of post-1995 scholarly production into multiple specializations in curriculum studies field. this paper, therefore, will provide educationalists a framework for critique “imagination” which is used to construct the seam of a collective narrative in education, curriculum and pedagogy (kanu, 2003) and offers an alternative to the fractured, contested version of thai-centrism, thai nationalism, thainess, and far-reaching yet contested values which have been dominating education in thailand for years. as for the understanding of ideology in the context of curriculum studies, curriculum scholars assert that ideology is read from curricular texts and that the relationship between each text and its culture is traceable to ideological roots. it has been assumed by many scholars that curriculum and society have a more or less mutually reflective relationship; that is, the curriculum is seen as a reflection of the dominant beliefs and values of its society. however, the ideology of a curriculum does not take the form of direct statements or reflections on a culture; rather, it lies in the narrative structure and in the discourse employed. therefore, curriculum represents pictures of reality through the codes, conventions, myths, story, and images. the depiction of reality in the curriculum is that this perspective is offered from the point of view of the ruling classes, in other words, that is an instance of the dominant ideology (paraskeva, 2011). as was noted above, the curriculum in any particular society is made on the basis of that society’s main ideology, which they are supposed to transmit, whether implicitly or explicitly. if the sociocultural ideology of the society undergoes changes, these will be reflected in the curriculum as well. therefore, it can be assumed that in any examination of changes in the curriculum of a society, the changing socio-cultural background of that society necessarily has to be taken into account in the study. for this reason, it was important to look closely into the social studies curriculum as it is manifested in different “curriculum ideologies” (eisner, 2002). the social sciences can, of course, be variously oriented. taking the united states social studies into accounts, social studies curriculum in thailand has shared a common ground in terms of curriculum ideologies. that is, the most widely taught social studies subjects have been to construct a “unifying” national narrative (barton & levstik, 2004; fitzgerald, 1979; moreau, 2004). in the next section, i will provide the contemporary context of social studies curriculum in thailand. the contemporary context of social studies curriculum in thailand social studies education is called sankom-suksa, sasana and wattanatam that means social studies, religion, and culture in thai. it is divided into five learning areas as follows: 1) religion, morality, and ethics, 2) civics, culture and living in society, 3) economics, 4) history, and 5) geography. literally speaking, social studies education is the study of social issues, so the integration is the lifeblood of social studies curriculum and pedagogy. both teachers and students must make use of more than one academic discipline such as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion and sociology as well as appropriate contents from the humanities, mathematics and natural sciences if they would like to resolve any social issues with journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 132 knowledge from various dimensions. however, all parties and stakeholders in education agree that citizenship education is the primary concern of social studies education. in the current national curriculum, social studies curriculum comprises the body of knowledge, significant skills, and desirable characteristics, attainment of which is acquired by all students to be citizens who are “good citizenship” and live “peacefully coexistence in thai society and the world community” and have “faith in religious teaching” and “appreciation of resource and the environment” as well as “patriotism and pride in thainess” (office of the education council, 2013). therefore, social studies education includes the notion of active citizenship and civic engagement in local, national and global contexts: learners also acquire patience, forbearance, and acceptance of differences. they are endowed with morality and the ability to adjust knowledge gained for application in leading their lives as good citizens of the country and desirable members of the world community. (ministry of education, 2008, p. 151) in this regard, students are seen as active learners when they engage in the multifaceted experience of citizenship and civic participation. as the social studies curriculum illustrates, the concept of active citizenship in various contexts has become the educational priority. however, i must state that the state of social studies education in thailand is facing, in some ways, an identity crisis (ross, 2001). as the nature of the field, the social studies education struggles to reconcile multiple and, at times, conflicting rationales and is a particularly ambiguous subject area because it is inextricably linked to values and belief systems and ideas of what makes a “good” citizen (thompson, 2006). thus, the notion of a good citizen is not only contentious but highly complicated and contested one. emerged from my critical reflections toward the current national curriculum, there are crucial questions of whose version of citizenship we (national curriculum) are talking about. is it an inclusive or an exclusive notion of citizenship? how does this relate to questions of local community, nationstate, race, culture, identity, ethnicity, religion and language which is defined and constructed by dominant ideologies of its society? on the side of globalization, the notion of citizenship is further complicated by population migration, as well as common awareness of multiculturalism across countries (sears, 2004) and can never truly be set as realistic and achievable educational goals. sharp and persistent debates regarding both the meaning and the aim of education for democratic citizenship still persist (barton & levstik, 2004; stanley, 2001). perhaps, the greatest results which social studies curriculum can offer its 21st-century learner is the development of active, responsible and democratic citizenship through multiple perspectives for the benefit of fostering a sense of inclusion and a commitment to building a cohesive thai society. toward this end, i propose that social studies curriculum should be read and interpreted in relation to their spatial and political relations to the nation-state, as well as in counterpoint to the projects that dominated people themselves produced in response to internal domination. this kind of geographical sensitivity may help students to critically examine and question their own historical understanding of the society in which they have been living for years. social studies curriculum as a site for struggle over knowledge control the thai junta under the banner of the national council for peace and order (ncpo) came to power in may 2014 and started exercising their nation-centric hegemony through the educational policies journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 133 and curriculum planning. the educational policies are executed through various concerned institutions and the national curriculum is planned for both public and private schools throughout the country while textbooks and instructional-related materials are selected by schools themselves and must be under the approval of the committees appointed by the ministry of education. in this regard, the website of the ministry of education has published the ncpo’s plan for education which reads: “to promote patriotism and national interest amongst thai youth. to promote love for the monarchy, pride in thai history and ancestors and instill a sense of gratitude to the nation, not pushing the way forward and abandoning the good of the past entirely” (thongnoi, 2014). together with these plans, the government proceeds to take control over the educational policies and curricular planning. the military leaders have imposed and instilled in thai children a sense of “good” citizen by following the “thai values” and patriotism via the educational reform and through the policy of “returning the happiness to thailand” as well as speaking in the program “reconciliation to build the nation”. social studies curriculum, therefore, has been the centerpiece of public schools’ efforts to cultivate younger generations into what it means to be “thai”. in a similar manner, the social studies curriculum in the united states has been used as a tool for enculturating new generations and immigrants for being “american” for many decades (merryfield & subedi, 2006). however, it is worthwhile mentioning that the educational policies and curriculum planning in the united states have been carried on under the spirits of democracy and multiculturalism, while the education reform in thailand has currently been under the absolute control of military regime which is in contrast with democratic principles and social justice in education. one of the contemporary contexts of curriculum controversies is that citizenship education or generally known as “civic duty” in thai, together with history education as part of social studies curriculum is designated for 40 hours per year based on the national curriculum. at this scenario, the military government and the bureaucrats expressed their concerns that the amount of time was not enough for students to learn about morality, discipline and the patriotism, religion and the monarchy. in the second semester of the 2014 academic year, the amount of time for the instruction in civic duty from primary grade 1 to secondary grade 9 was 40 hours per year while secondary grades 10-12 was extended to 80 hours throughout three years of the higher secondary level (jirakittikul, 2014). looking specifically in terms of the history of social studies curriculum and development in thailand, it is concluded that thai government utilized the social studies curriculum and textbooks as important tools for transferring ideologies and beliefs as well as instilling the thai values and cultures, civic duty as part of broader social studies curriculum had brought up good citizens ideology for the state’s legitimacy since the change from absolute monarchy to constitutional democracy in 1932. the contents of civic duty subject about political socialization and thais’ duty were clarified according to the new political system relating to the perspective of the imagined nation-state within the democratic society of the revolutionists. later on during 1957 to 1973, the curriculum had been adjusted by focusing on the stability of 3 pillars of thailand: the nation, the religion and the monarch (pungkanon, 2009). until recently, civic duty lessons such as rules and regulations, the balance of power, democratic development, the role of monarchy in reassuring democratic stability, as well as the rights, freedom, and duties of good citizens designated in the social studies curriculum have been explained and more emphasized in detailed rather than any periods. in the similar vein, history education has been exploited by the thai government to instill selected myths and narratives through history curriculum which requires the social studies teachers to teach thai history contents for both primary and secondary students in all levels of basic education. in light of this issue, history curriculum has been, and still is, considered as an inherited tradition of thai journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 134 historiography which has been constructed based on its embracement of the thai values, experiences, worldviews and traditions of the elites and ruling classes in thai society (tawil & harley, 2004). this inherited tradition of history education was due to the fact that the development of a more “popular” and relevant school history including social and economic history, local history and grassroots history in terms of contents, perspectives as well as “hidden history” is imminent in thailand (jory, 2003). because of these intellectual and controversial contexts, studies into trends in popular interests in history as reflected in the history education projects as well as the content selection and perspectives of popular history materials are under the directive of scholars who devoted themselves professionally to revealing the untold histories of others who have been segregated by the nationalistic history written by the elites and ruling classes in thai society for many decades. consequently, these contemporary contexts of history education have influential effects on some elites and ruling classes which seem to be living in a lost paradise vision of history. at this crucial point, the military leader expresses his concerns about how the younger generations don’t know about famous historical figures such as king naresuan, queen suriyothai, or selfless soldier pantai norrasingh. bureaucrats also perceive that the social studies curriculum including citizenship education and history education provide little space to glorify former kings and monarchy-related contents as well as important royal figures. this situation reflects the shortcomings of the present history curriculum in thailand in providing all children with a “historical identity” as implied by the thainess ideology. in light of this, scholars pointed out that the governments of thailand have promoted both the image of a homogenous, united and securely bounded nation, as well as taking action to counter the lively and extensive reality of ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity of the populations that comprise the kingdom (lo bianco & slaughter, 2016), while the history curriculum does not include the experiences, beliefs and traditions of all in thailand’s pluralistic society. therefore, students do not gain a holistic historical understanding of the past. muslims, christians, and children of minorities who were born and have been residing in thailand for years, as well as immigrants from our neighboring countries such as laos, cambodia, and burma inevitably feel alienated because the history of their experiences, beliefs and traditions is not represented in school history curriculum. they are still denied the curricular and pedagogical experience of identifying with the content and exploring more relevant alternative perspectives or voices of the history curriculum and pedagogical approaches. regarding citizenship education, scholars point out that the name the course civic duty is misleading. it needs to be replaced with citizenship education or civic education, which needs to be taught in conjunction with democratic principles and institutions, the rule of law, and human rights. children have to be familiar with these concepts at an early stage before developing a genuine respect for other people. thus, by separating the subject, the students’ ability to perceive the world from various angles can be narrowed. even though the educational policies are strongly criticized by scholars, bureaucrats in the ministry of education still claim that there is an urgent need to divide the history education and citizenship education from the broad fields of social studies education as a single subject in its own right (areerat, 2015). correspondingly, the ministry of education has published new national history textbooks and announced the lists of history textbooks to reinforce the correct version of history as well as thai values among thai students. at this point, there is a sharp contrast between the social studies scholarship worldwide and the contemporary policies of the military government. the national council for the social studies (1994) defines social studies as follows: social studies education is the journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 135 integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. within the school curriculum, social studies education provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. history and geography are the core subjects for social studies but economics, political sciences, sociology, and anthropology make significant contributions as well. scholars of social education propose that topics for study contain subject matter from more than one of the disciplines in primary school level. these integrated studies focus on ideas and concepts that are essential in gaining an understanding of the topic. thus, teaching individual subjects such as history and geography or any of the individual disciplines is not consistent with the concept of thematic social studies curriculum. rich social studies teaching should offer students opportunities to direct their investigations into the world around them and answer those investigations more thoroughly through citizenship, economic, geography, history, and multidisciplinary venues (grant, 2013). in addition, history education has been seen as a school subject that can develop the values of citizenship in the postnational era (phillips, 2002) and many concepts in history that we must learn if we are to understand the past and the present deeply and critically; some are directly related to citizenship (davies, 1992; phillips, 2003). among these concepts are power, force, authority, order, law, justice, representation, agency, individuality, freedom, welfare, democracy, fascism and communism. these concepts help us understand how democracy and the political structures of the modern world have been reshaped. if students learn history as a process of inquiry that deals with substantive concepts like those above they will also develop the skills of active citizenship (demircioglu, 2009). in addition to the educational policies exercised directly through the ministry of education, the ministry of culture was utilized as a means for promoting a correct understanding of thainess and national history as well. in so doing, the use of other media and learning resources such as historical movies, visual media and documentaries based on the lives of heroic kings of siam such as king naresuan and queen suriyothai were used to promote a sense of pride in being a thai citizen and reinforce the royal nationalistic version of thai history (mukdawijitra, 2013). furthermore, the latest version of the textbook on “thai national history” was written by historians of the fine arts department who spent only a short amount of time to complete it after the department was assigned the task by the ministry of culture who was directly responded to the instruction of the military leader with the expectation for promoting patriotism and nationalism among thai citizens and students. one the 3rd page in the prologue section of thai national history book, general prayuth, the military leader, wrote the message which read: “studying history is crucial to help us understand the sacrifices of ancestors who maintained the integrity of the nation and to be grateful for the kindness of the great kings who protected the people from all difficulties and hardships.” further, people would understand the “origin of the thai nation” and be proud of “the thai national sovereignty” (areerat, 2015). in a similar vein, the construction of ratchapakdi park which is a theme park with grandiose monuments of seven ancient kings of siam and the several campaigns for free screenings of patriotic movies as well as the project of thai patriotic songs comprised of the songs composed by the king rama ix and the songs about national victories in the past were used to boost nationalism among thai people and foster reconciliation as promised to the public by the military leader. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 136 having discussed the contemporary contexts of education and the state of social studies curriculum in thailand, it must be noted that social studies curriculum has been exploited by the military government as a space for recounting thainess and instilling thai nationalism. scholars pointed out that thai-centrism plays an important role both in the school curriculum and textbooks especially in social studies education (laongsri, 2001) which can be classified into major themes as follows. first, thailand is presented as the unique country despite numerous studies showing that thailand has long been an integrated part of southeast asia. india and china have been the main sources of cultural and social influence for all countries in the region. among many things, thailand is presented as the only country in southeast asia that was not colonized. this view does not only create an exaggerated pride but also discriminates neighboring countries as if they failed to resist colonization (mukdawijitra, 2013; winichakul, 2000). this theme of the only uncolonized country, however, presents the history of border demarcation during the 19th century in the view that originally owned territories of thailand were seized unfairly by colonizers, and thus it suggests that thailand was a victim of colonization and the seized territories need to be reclaimed. (mukdawijitra, 2013; winichakul, 1994; winichakul, 2000). second, social studies textbooks present neighboring countries as the historical enemy while focus largely on the current monarch and heroic kings who protected the sovereignty of the thai homeland against neighboring states in the past and portray neighboring countries, such as myanmar and laos, as inferior and enemies of the nation (jory, 2003). the texts repeat the ruling class’s perspective on thai history by presenting the ruling class’s history and benefits as if they were the people’s history and benefits. according to this logic, the ruling class’s enemies are people’s enemies (mascharoen, 1990; mukdawijitra, 2013). finally, those countries that are not represented as enemies, are viewed as smaller and/or weaker countries that from time to time need help from thailand. in several instances, some nations are represented as ones who betray thailand. the textbooks are replete with often humiliating images of the thai kingdom’s subjugation of its neighbors. in one famous episode, king naresuan supposedly beheaded the king of lawaek (cambodia) and bathed his feet with his blood. in another, king anuwong (laos prince), leader of a revolt against thai regimes in the 1820s and a nationalist hero in modern laos historical discourse, is paraded through bangkok in a cage before his eventual execution (jory, 2003). in the state-based social studies textbooks, they were depicted as the wicked kings who were relatively lower in the hierarchy comparing with the thai kings in the end and better eventually be loyal to thailand (arphattananon, 2013; laongsri, 2001; mukdawijitra, 2013). today, thai-centrism is still vivid in the minds of the majority of thai people. the thais have been dominated by this overarching ideology since the end of the 1950s, since then, the ideology has functioned as an obstacle to prevent thai people from adapting to the rapid and critical changes in both thai and global society. more importantly, this ideology has been consistently cultivated in the society that it became to be seen as truth that influences the way the thais think and reflect everyday reality in thailand. at present, it is still unclear how history education in social studies curriculum will change from the previous curriculum that was introduced three decades ago. history education has regularly been criticized: on the one hand, critics point out that history education in thailand is onesided and has features of propaganda, on the other hand, conservatives argue that the root of the country’s conflict is because history education is not patriotic and nationalistic enough and should be amended to be even more patriotic to unite all thais (areerat, 2015). the truth is that this kind of grand narrative stands in contrast with the spirit of global citizenship education as well as government’s policy to become a hub in the asean nations. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 137 concluding remarks under the internal domination discourse or otherwise known as the siamese colonial discourse, the military government has been achieved, in most part, in using this discourse to influence the thais. one of the clearest examples of the siamese colonial discourse can be seen in the educational reform agenda. the word reform, in general, gave us a sense of improvement, empowerment as well as transformation. in light of curricular terms, curriculum reform aimed at empowering students, especially those from victimized and marginalized groups, must help students develop the knowledge and skills needed to critically examine the current political and economic structure and the myths or ideologies used to justify it. such curriculum reform must cultivate students’ critical thinking skills, the way in which knowledge is constructed, the basic assumptions and values that undergird knowledge, systems, and how to construct knowledge themselves. in thailand, contemporary curriculum reform, on the other hand, has been employed as a mechanism for maintaining the status quo of the elites and ruling classes. as i mentioned previously, the military government exercised their power through education and school curriculum so that the curriculum will more accurately reflect the selective experiences, visions, and worldviews of some groups. the hierarchy of knowledge and values, most recently repackaged with the discourse of nationalism, is in fact not new at all. the elites and ruling classes occupy more privileged spaces than the general public that is the majority of the society, and it is the general public that usually endures the most pronounced experiences of otherness. thus, we as thais should bravely acknowledge our position and accept such commonalities, the common fate and destiny of the world influenced by globalization and neo-colonization. while the new body of knowledge may have a thai character, it may also have the quality and values to make a meaningful contribution to global knowledge whose diversity we can cherish and embrace them as well. however, through understanding contemporary education in thailand in broader national contexts and particularly through social studies curriculum revealed that the military government has been reproducing the siamese colonial discourse and exercised the internal domination projects to control their population. under this condition, all thais should actively engage in deconstruction and rethinking this colonial mentality, which deeply permeated our ways of thinking, understanding and being in the present (ngugi wa thiong’o, 1986). thai-centrism once has served its purpose in modernization and in fighting communism during the cold war, but that era is long gone. yet, the colonial legacy still exists through internal colonization because it is not only deeply embedded in our social system but also remains mostly unchallenged. by looking into the contemporary context of education in thailand from the political dimensions of curriculum and cultural studies, social studies education scholars, curriculum scholars and educationalists can work with their students in order to bring to light the discourse of internal domination, and to use perspectives from critical, political and cultural dimensions of curriculum in order to understand contemporary education issues, curriculum, the media, pop culture and historical contexts (saada, 2014). if we are to educate young thais for global and democratic citizenship in today’s pluralistic society, the social studies curriculum must go beyond the siamese colonization of knowledge construction, and also provides pedagogical spaces of the experiences, knowledge, and perspectives of diverse people in our society. to do so, students will understand that in studying any society – past or present – they must attend to both the existence and influence of societal perspectives, as well as to be aware of how those perspectives are characterized by dominant hegemony and power relations (barton, 2016). finally, i hope that this paper will shed some greatest journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 130-140. corresponding author email: ajarn.hon@gmail.com ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 138 light for decolonizing our (the thais) mind from the internal colonial discourse which is still powerful in our country. acknowledgment the study was financially supported by the thailand-united states educational foundation (fulbright) through the junior research scholarship program. the author is also grateful to professor dr. keith barton, the school of education, indiana university-bloomington for his insightful comments. 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(2014). asian studies across academics. the journal of asian studies, 73(4), 879-897. http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/421370/ journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. college students' interpretations of financial morality: an international comparison alan bates, thomas lucey, illinois state university taki inose, nippon sport science university, japan eiji yamane, mie university, japan vicki green, university of british columbia, canada __________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this paper interprets comments associated with an open-response item on an online survey of college students in the united states, japan, and canada. the item inquired about their interpretations of financial morality. the paper describes student understandings of appropriate behaviors in relationship to financial practice. the authors claim that the distinction between social convention and moral behavior represents a critical understanding for citizenship education. the value of this research lies within the importance of being cognizant of cross-cultural differences about perspectives of financial ideas in global communications and in educational processes. key words: financial morality, financial literacy, moral education, citizenship education, multicultural education ___________________________________________________________________________ introduction the distinction between social convention and moral behavior represents a critical understanding for citizenship education. social convention claims that possession of resources results from an earnings process. through some act of control, a person or group of persons merits or earns the right to control resources and their distribution or allocation. in a global setting of diminishing natural resources where a small percentage of people argue for their control through a conception of merit, the international social studies community should consider the value of democratic conversations that may lead to a more cooperative approach management of goods and services. diamond (2005) claims that cooperative social dialogues are necessary for solving these problems. farnsworth (2012) observes that patterns of social discourse perpetuate patterns of financial exclusion, thereby reinforcing social conceptions of identity. to what extent might a similar relationship exist with perceptions of financial morality? although morality theoretically represents an objective concept (nucci, 2001), to what extent may it be possible for one’s social context to shape one’s interpretations of what is financially moral? this paper reports how undergraduate and graduate students from three different countries interpret the concept of financial morality. in comparing the responses of students from the united states, japan, and canada, this paper invites dialogue regarding contextual differences in interpretations of financial morality and implications for social studies educators. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 6 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. literature our literature review first considers the meanings of morality and financial morality and the relationship between them. it then conveys the relevance of financial morality to education and to social studies curricula. morality a comprehensive review of scholarly literature that defines morality is beyond the scope of this paper but, we explore literature that interprets morality as a conception of rightness or wrongness that may not be consistent with conventional modes of social thinking. nucci (2001, 2008) distinguished morality, and aspirations to ‘develop young people capable of handling moral complexity, ambiguity, and contradiction’, from social convention (2008, p. 305). nucci’s literature review (2008) provides evidence that children differentiate between behaviors that are conventional (social routines that are common with interactions such as table manners and common courtesies) and moral (those which hurt or harm others). noddings (2008) describes morality as a state of care for others that may be taught through modeling communities of trusting and facilitating safe environments in which members acknowledge their transgressions. social studies educators face a daunting task of differentiating between morality and social convention and how to prepare children to distinguish between them. indeed, it is very well possible that social studies educators themselves do not recognize patterns of difference between these two ideas. for example, how does a responsible citizen act when his or her government creates laws or policies that harm others, yet are justified on the principle of world peace? being moral involves a sense of appreciating that differences in patterns of individual perspective exist, yet recognizing that a core element of human respect guides patterns of thought and conduct towards others. bergman (2002) perceives childhood as a period for shaping and refining moral identity, thus moral development may represent an ongoing negotiation that reconciles personal needs and wants with the expectations of one’s various social environments. recent psychological, archeological, and child development research confirms that cognition involves affective foundations that are influenced by developmental contexts (narvaez & gleason, 2013; panksepp & biven, 2012). thus, noddings’ (2008) care-based approach to education would appear to be consistent with understandings of developmental psychology. if, as bergman (2002) observes, child development represents a process of learning to negotiate social relationships with others, noddings (2008) would present care and compassion as strategies to engender empathy with those who experience challenges imposing their social views on others. thus, morality would appear to represent a pattern of thinking and behavior that recognizes the absolute truth that individuals, groups, and institutions perceive matters in ways that may conflict while acknowledging that all voices should be heard in resolving differences of interpretation. research tends to support the matter of individualized perceptions, as smetana (2006) noted that children perceive similar situations differently. similarly, bacigalupa (2007, 2008) described how kindergarteners view the same books as having different moral themes. such notions may be troubling to a social environment that appreciates standards and neat and tidy solutions. however, they also point to a need to differentiate between morality and social convention and clarify exactly how we would define morality. to provide some elucidation of the link between morality and social convention lucey, agnello, and hawkins’s (2010) comparison of egyptian society, greek philosophies, and the biblical texts of jesus of nazareth, concluded that economic contexts were related to interpretation of moral ideals. even within upper economic class contexts different interpretations of morality may occur (macintyre, corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 7 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. 1988). as education represents a process to preserve the social ideals of the dominant culture, (the economic culture, for purposes of this paper), one may construe these ideals as conventional wisdom; however this process may condition children to mistakenly label socially accepted ideals as “moral”(nucci, 2001; sleeter, 2008). claims about the illegitimacy of ‘commonsense’ notions of educational practice that perpetuate patterns of cultural domination (see tupper, 2008) may contain economic underpinnings that brand undesirable or subversive behavior as immoral, when it may truly be moral, just not conventional. for example, kohlberg’s heinz dilemma, in which a man must decide between theft of a miracle drug and his wife’s imminent death, illustrates how one may associate judgments of human worth with financial limitations to access of social resources. the financial limitations represent constraints of social convention, while the choice between life and death of another constitutes a moral decision. the notion of merit claims one can succeed with perseverance and effort and presumes that one has the ability to control all of the contexts/environments that shape his or her thinking and behavior. this notion ignores or discounts the reality that one does not control his or her point, time, and conditions of origin or the genetic constructs that guide his or her choices. this illusion of merit extends to interpretations of thinking and behavior with regard to financial practice of oneself and of others. financial morality the predominant mode of economic thinking argues that by mastery and application of supply and demand principles, an individual or commercial entity generates surplus or profit funds (smith, 1986). conventional thinking about financial practice holds that one should ideally develop the skills to market oneself for job or career for which there is demand (if one chooses well, he or she could choose a position for which there is limited supply and command a higher income). by acquiring a stable position and controlling his or her financial outflows, one may persevere and develop a financial surplus (garman & forgue, 2006). at the core of the rationale for conventional financial practice lies the concept of choice and the learning of prudent decision-making. the conventional wisdom holds that good choices prompt favorable outcomes while bad choices result in the reverse. this pattern of thinking lends itself to patterns of assumptions about people based on perceptions of their economic status. for example, cozzerelli, wikinson, and tagler’s (2001) seminal work documented the negative dispositions that college students had of people perceived to be in poverty. ruby payne’s popular framework for understanding poverty (1996) recommends strategies for improving schools that serve low socioeconomic status communities by positioning members of low-income impoverished communities as lacking the cognitive skills and experiences to learn information presented in school environments. conventional understandings of financial practice assign responsibility to a person or group of people for the outcomes associated with their choices of resource allocation. those who lack financial resources are construed as making poor choice with regard to their finances. in a work that concerns critical views of financial literacy, arthur (2012) points out that existing financial education environments perpetuate a system of greed founded in abstract numbers that ignores the human elements of financial decision-making. recent work published in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences (piff, stancato, côté, mendoza-denton, & keltner, 2012) indicates that wealth development may not strictly relate to management of financial resources. integrity may take a backseat when it comes to financial development. all other things being the same, those who seek positions of affluence may experience motivations of self-interest. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 8 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. the concept of financial morality includes an element of stewardship and posits that financial decision-making includes elements of personal and social bias and that human values and sustainability merit consideration as part of the process. bobbitt’s (2002) description of global transitions in social identities from nationto market-state conceptions, and the distinction among three (entrepreneurial, mercantile, managerial, ) types of market states points to the importance of defining how social cultures will decide to reconcile economic demands with humane needs. these moral conundrums challenge the previous mentioned classical or conventional interpretations of economy along with corporate and managerial decision-making (loew, 2012; sandlin & mclaren, 2010; sayer, 2005). the concept of financial morality relates to social studies curricula through a bridging of economics and citizenship. we believe that westheimer and kahne’s (2004) illumination of three citizenship types (responsible, participatory, and justice-oriented) and the resistance of educational institutions to educating citizens for the latter have financial connotations. preparing citizens to be responsible and participatory represents generally accepted practice (following rules and working within the existing financial/economic frameworks). however, the development of citizens who possess justiceorientations presents a conceptual and practical challenge because, by definition, acting in a justiceoriented fashion requires a critical reorientation of thinking and practice about the economic system that defines how society perceives itself. the need to address financial morality in k-12 curricula can be justified within the principles of citizenship education and culturally responsive learning. the necessity to consider financial morality occurs because of different patterns of financial decision-making among people of various social contexts (conley, 2001; moschis, 1985; varcoe, et al., 2001) and personal traits (bowen, 2008; devaney, 2008; hira & loibl, 2008; lyons, 2008; mandell, 2008; tisdell, 2014; watchravesringkan, 2008; yao, 2008). differences also occur within various cultures (e.g., johnson, 2012). these variances in the amounts of resources controlled and patterns of financial decisions may lead to personal judgment and bias with regard to perceived differences in wealth ownership (hira & mugenda, 1999; trzcinski, 2002). they may also shape patterns of child rearing (lareau, 2003), thereby extending patterns of judgment for generations. with regard to personal finance, indicators of social bias within a well-known measure of financial literacy (lucey, 2005), calls for contextually sensitive curricula (lucey & giannangelo, 2006), and arguments for a moral component to financial learning (lucey, 2007) would indicate that education for financial literacy does not represent an objective process. for example, pinto and coulson’s (2011) analysis of commercially available financial education curricula indicate inattention to women’s financial needs. wellenreiter’s (2012) description of the blatant inapplicability of south african economic education curricula to segregated black townships indicates that national financial education curricula may lack the contextual relevancy to be meaningful for all students. financial morality interprets financial literacy as ignoring consideration of the different social contexts that shape financial choices and decision-making (lucey, 2012). it also construes a focus on wealth accumulation as distracting from developing a caring sense of self and others in that (lucey, agnello, & laney, under contract). building on nucci’s (2001) distinction between morality and social convention, it construes financial literacy as a conventional concept that emphasizes wealth accumulation, yet perpetuates patterns of capitalist-driven classism. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 9 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. relevance to education and social studies how does financial morality relate to k-12 students and social studies curriculum and the education of teachers? since, from a broad perspective, financial morality redefines the nature of value assigned to individuals within a society. classrooms may interpret individuals in other ways then as means to acquisition of goods or services for consumption or use. a financially moral curriculum would advocate the broad conception of other persons, recognizing that contexts influence their patterns of financial decision-making. the association with education lies within the nature of education and the also the content taught. construing education as a process to produce workers to strengthen the economy represents a financially immoral manner of thinking because it generalizes the natures of individuals as tools to accomplish the resource control by a portion of the populations, rather than viewing them as autonomous individuals. financial morality is a justice-oriented process that reframes economic/financial theory in a manner that shapes conceptions of citizenship. the development of critical thinking and participatory democratic citizenry necessitates the teaching of financial principles that foster re-examination of the principles that undergird economic structures. through a philosophy of stewardship, as opposed to ownership a financially moral environment may promote equitable access to resources on a global scale. in terms of education, sleeter (2008) discusses the challenges that educators face in developing diverse learning opportunities in a standardized setting created by a small percentage of the population. as increasing number of underrepresented students are marginalized by standardsbased learning that does not favor their learning style (oakes, lipton, anderson, & stillman, 2013), so too do conventional choice-based approaches to financial education ignore the factors that create the harrowing contexts in which many youth live. the distinction between morality and social convention is very important in an increasingly standardized k-12 education/schooling setting that values responsible and participatory citizens who adhere to the established laws and assume leadership roles within that system (westheimer & kahne, 2004). financial morality recognizes the subjective interpretations of citizenship (tupper, capello, & savigny, 2010) that necessitate valuing of individual differences. if a mission of schools in k-12 settings includes the development of critically thinking participatory citizens, teaching of financial morality represents a necessary process for reconsidering the nature of financial decisions that perpetuate the intolerances that relate to social classism. bates and lucey’s (2008) interpretation of teacher and pre-service teacher conceptions of financial morality found that respondents tended to interpret the concept as a matter requiring application by others, rather than themselves. interpretations from responses from bates and lucey’s study were distributed among five areas: (1) helping others; (2) using/earning money without harming others; (3) being financially responsible; (4) how one earns and/or spends money; and (5) using/earning money according to one’s personal code of ethics or morals. in a follow-up project, bates and lucey (2012) interpreted undergraduate and graduate education students’ views of issues that related to financial morality and found that indeed participants experienced difficulty conceiving of the concept of financial morality. graduate students were more readily able to apply financially moral ideas to experiences while undergraduates limited interpretations to their own decisions. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 10 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. financial literacy and teachers while financial literacy relates to personal finance, an area of economics within the social studies area, personal finance generally occur within mathematics in early and elementary grades. when students enter middle-level and secondary grades, they may also experience personal finance within economics or social studies learning. surveys by the council on economic education (formerly the national council on economic education) document an increasing number of states that have created standards and required testing for financial literacy within k-12 settings (council for economic education, 2009, 2011; national council for economic education, 2005; 2007). while increasing state level requirements testing and learning of personal finance may seem encouraging pursuits, they present shortcomings as well. research describes the difficulties that teachers experience justifying social studies learning for reasons other than assessment requirements in states that require standardized testing (fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner, lipscomb, & rock, 2006). thus, financial literacy curricula become justified based on their relationship to the testing process. while a push to require financial literacy learning within schools may appear to be praiseworthy, it may also jeopardize curricular creativity and the instructional autonomy necessary to foster divergent thinking about personal finance applications. thus, creative thinking about money that challenges merit-based notion of wealth accumulation may illuminate patterns of social exploitation that maintain order that benefit the elite. cooter’s (2008) finding that secondary teachers were not interested in teaching about personal finance without guidance from curricular standards indicates that teachers depend on the standards to inform their teaching focus, a pattern similar to that in social studies (lucey & meyer, 2013). cross-cultural differences in financial morality interpretations of what is financially moral may also differ among people of various cultural contexts. literature indicates that cross-cultural differences occur between japan and the united states occur with regard to a number of business issues, such as perceptions of ethical work conduct, personal organizational fit; and customer dispositions (e.g., lopez, babin, & chung, 2009; forsyth, o’boyle, jr., & mcdaniel, 2008; kahn, naumann, bateman, & haverila, 2009). cross-cultural differences between other cultures have also been reported to differ with regard to religiosity and business ethics (rashid & ibrahim, 2007) as well as ethics and social responsibility (shafer, fukukawa, & lee, 2006). the literature indicates that a distinction between morality and conventional social practice exists. in an era that witnesses the marginalization of social studies teaching in the united states, this distinction represents an important notion in regards to the education of a critically thinking democratic citizenry. how society views financial literacy, as knowledge for wealth accumulation or as a tool for community stewardship, may influence how citizenry views and relates to the needs of the less fortunate in both its own country and on a global stage. the purpose of this research was to answer the question of whether students from different countries perceive of financial morality in the same manner. in doing so, it provides another platform from which the international social studies community may interpret the moral issues associated with financial literacy education and relationships to citizenship learning. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 11 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. methodology sample data were derived from teacher education and business majors in the united states, canada and japan who responded to an invitation to complete the financial morality topics measure (fmtm). students in these countries were selected to continue research into educator interpretations of financial morality (bates & lucey, 2008), yet recognize the possibility of different perspectives among students prepared internationally. this convenience sample involved one institution, each, in the united states, one in canada, and one in japan. students were invited to complete the online survey during the spring, 2010 semester by three emails over a period of one month. the sample consisted of 5,097 teacher education majors and 3,524 business majors in the united states (n = 8,621). there were 210 education and 90 management students invited in canada (n=300). in japan, 50 prospects were initially invited to participate in the survey. additional japanese participants subsequently were invited to complete the survey. the procedure yielded approximately 486 responses, of which 210 responded to the open-response question, prompting a net response rate of 2.43% overall. instrument this paper interprets responses to an open-response prompt included on a survey, the financial morality topics measure (fmtm) (lucey & bates, 2008). participants were asked to respond to the question, “what does the term, ‘financial morality’ mean to you?” the japanese open responses were translated by one of the japanese authors of this paper. the translation question was posed as: 「金融倫理」について、あなたは、どんな意味をもつと考 えますか, the literal english translation being: about the ‘ethics’ financial, do you have any meaningful? the term “ethics” was used rather than “morality” because in japanese, the use of the term “morality” is controversial in the context of education. this controversy relates societal concerns with governmental decisions on past times. data analysis participants’ responses to the open-ended question on “financial morality” were coded using categories identified in a previous study (bates & lucey, 2008). the five categories included: (1) helping others; (2) using/earning money without harming others; (3) being financially responsible; (4) how one earns and/or spends money; and (5) using/earning money according to one’s personal code of ethics or morals. due to the addition of the data from japan, it was necessary to add a sixth category, economy and general finances. each participant’s response was put into the category that best fitted the response. two coders separately coded the responses by category and the results were similar. differences were then discussed by the two coders and a final category was agreed upon. also, an “other” category contained unique explanations and isolated ideas that did not fall into clear categories. the results section of this paper discusses the six categories of central focus. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 12 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. results findings are organized by each of the six main categories identified. comparisons of agreement patterns between students in the united states and canada and japan were made. table 1 displays the frequencies and percentage of occurrence for all responses by region. the results are sequenced in categories from largest percentage to smallest. table 1: frequencies of categories by region categories all responses (n=210) u.s./canada responses (n=175) japan responses (n=35) using/earning money according to one’s personal code of ethics and morals 74 (35.24%) 72 (41.14%) 2 (5.71%) being financially responsible 29 (13.81%) 27 (15.43%) 2 (5.71%) helping others 35 (16.67%) 34 (19.43%) 1 (2.86%) how one earns and/or spends money 10 (4.76%) 8 (4.57%) 2 (5.71%) using/earning money without harming others 25 (11.90%) 24 (13.71%) 1 (2.86%) economy/general finances 9 (4.28%) 0 (0.00%) 9 (25.71%) other 19 (9.05%) 6 (3.43%) 13 (37.14%) i don’t know 9 (4.28%) 4 (2.29%) 5 (14.29%) using/earning money according to personal code of ethics or morals this category was the most common category across total responses and the u.s./canada sample. it accounted for more than one third (35.24%) of the total responses, 41.14 % of the u.s./canada responses. for the u.s. and canadian students, this situation could be due to the respondents’ lacking a clear understanding of “financial morality”. they tried to include the word “moral” since it is in the original phrase or a related word such as ethical. the category refers to individuals delegating their finances or earning money according to what they believe is right or moral. this also includes following a personal code of ethics that a person has set for himself. some examples include: “this means to have morals when spending your money,” “doing what is right when it comes to money,” and “gaining/using finances in a morally upright fashion.” other respondents, such as this student, provided more detail; i think financial morality means that you maintain a positive, virtuous system of morals regardless of how much money you have. i also feel that it means that you should spend your money in accordance to what your belief/moral system allows, or deems beneficial to your financial situation. none of the respondents provided details in terms of specifically what it meant to spend money morally. although respondents realize that morals are involved in “financial morality,” they failed to articulate what that means. we acknowledge that respondents may have been unfamiliar the term corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 13 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. “financial morality” and that they may have provided more constructive responses to language such as money and values or consumer ethics. this category comprised less than one tenth (5.71 %) of japanese student responses. only two responses from the japan sample were coded in this category; one student responded, “the ethics which are necessary when a person is concerned with the finance.” the low number of responses in this category could be due to a difference in language; they were less likely to use the language of the question in their response. helping others the “helping others” category was very broad and consisted of various elements that include consideration of others when making financial decisions. this category accounted for 16.67 % of the total responses, 19.43 % of the u.s./canada responses, and 2.86 % of the japanese responses. most commonly in this category, respondents defined financial morality as helping others who were less fortunate than they were. this included donating to charities or organizations that help others in need. other respondents did not specify that people should give to those in need, but instead should give if they can afford it, whether it was to their community or society, in general. one respondent wrote, “i believe that if you have the financial stability, you should help others in financial crisis,” while another wrote, “i think that financial morality means using ones finances for the betterment of society rather than their own selfish needs.” only one respondent from the japanese sample made a statement that fitted into this category, “it is financial ethics that a person thinks whether enterprises should contribute to the community even if it makes a profit a sacrifice though it is a principle to aim at the search for the profit in the enterprise.” being financially responsible respondents also defined “financial morality” in terms of being financially responsible. being financially responsible accounted for 13.81 % of the total responses, 15.43 % of the u.s./canada responses, and 5.71 % of the japan responses. however, there were different interpretations of financial responsibility. some respondents thought that being responsible meant considering others when using one’s money. for example, one respondent wrote that financial morality was, “responsibility towards others and yourself in regards to your finances.” other respondents were more general such as “the conscientious use of one's money,” and “being responsible with the money one has.” others defined spending in terms of social responsibility. for example, one respondent wrote, “paying the taxes owed, paying your bills, basically taking responsibility for the items that you need/want in life financially.” as in the previous category, only two responses from the japanese sample were coded in this category, with both responses falling into a more general description of responsibility. for example, one student commented, “to raise it so that a student can spend money suitably.” the low number of responses in this category could be due to a japanese respect for community over individual. using/earning money without harming others many respondents defined “financial morality” as profiting financially but not at the expense of others. respondents also included in their definition spending money in ways that did not harm others. this category accounted for 11.90 % of the total responses, 13.71 % of u.s./canada corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 14 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. responses, and only 2.86 % of japanese responses. respondents did not clearly define what it meant to harm others or who those others might be. the following examples are probably best representative of this category, “financial morality means spending your money on basic needs plus other luxuries, but not spending it on items that demoralize, dehumanize, hurt, or cause damage to other people, places, or things, “being conscious of how your financial decisions affect not only you, but others,” and “do not hurt others or deny others basic rights in order to make money.” only one response fit this category from the japan sample, “…by this, the thing is connected with the human rights.” how one earns and/or spends money a few respondents included phrases similar to “the way that we see and use our money.” when defining financial morality. such phrases accounted for 4.76 % of the total responses, 4.57 % of the u.s./canada responses, and 5.71 % of japanese responses. the responses in this category lacked detail which, if included, may have moved their responses into one of the other categories. but overall, the term “financial morality,” for these respondents, is linked to spending and earning money. the responses from the japanese sample only include two statements placed in this category. the responses were not as clear as the u.s./canada responses for example, “it is finance that is moving with the person's behavior and the mentality.” no elaboration is included but the respondent is refereeing to people’s financial behavior but does not mention responsibility, morality, or helping others. economy/general finances respondents in the japanese sample often used the terms, “economy” and “finance” in their responses, focusing a larger picture of financial morality rather than focusing on one’s own actions. this category was the most common, besides other responses, in the japanese sample, representing 25.71 % of the japan responses. examples include, “the morality which relates to the economy,” “what is taken seriously in the future economic activities,” and “the base which should be formed as a common recognition to inquire into an economy and rationality.” there is no elaboration of these responses but it is clear that they are not talking about individual financial decisions. there were no u.s./canada responses that were placed in this category. discussion the findings are important in relationship to social studies curricula. while much scholarly discussion about the writings of adam smith (1986) and his principles of economic theory relate to the relationship between supply and demand, an increasing amount of work has considered his work in moral thinking (wight, 2006). according to wight, smith held that moral development occurred through emotional maturity, sensitivity to society that subdued personal interests. smith believed that social interaction represented a necessary part of developing that mutual sensitivity, because it prompted the internalization of how others feel. the manner by which social studies educators interpret relationships between economics and citizenship have great bearing on future citizenry. the u.s./canada respondents view financial morality in regards to self or others. the category with the most responses, according to a personal code of ethics or morals, suggests that the basis for financial morality ultimately resides within the individual. each individual must manage their finances in regards to his/her own perception of what is right and wrong. this category may also corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 15 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. have been the largest since it includes the general terminology of the term, “financial morality.” respondents were likely to use words, such as, “finance,” “money,” “morals,” and “ethics.” the category of helping others, which had the second most responses in the u.s./canada data, suggests that these respondents are focused on others that are disadvantaged and in need of some assistance. there is no mention of financial self-betterment. the category of using/earning money without harming others suggests the betterment of one’s’ own financial status but shows concern for others in the sense that they seek to cause “no harm.” the responses from japan provide a different perspective. only one or two responses were made that fit into each of the three most common categories for the u.s./canada data. the respondents from japan made little reference to their own personal gain as well as one’s ability to affect others, either positively or negatively. instead, the category with the largest number of responses for japan data fell into the category of the economy and general finances. the responses in this study imply a bigger picture view of financial morality, in terms of how might influence the nation’s economy and financial sector. there also appeared to be no effort in using similar terms to attempt to define “financial morality.” according to the japan’s “course of study” (ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology of japan, 2004), with regard to all schooling, moral education has a purpose … …to foster a sense of morals that will provide a platform from which children can develop as future-shaping japanese full of initiative, who not only possess the spirit of respecting fellow humans and show reverence towards life, which they demonstrate in their daily lives at home, school and in society at large, but who also possess a rich spirit, contribute to creating a culture rich in individualism, advance the democratic nature of the society and country, and contribute to a peaceful international society. in providing moral education, the school must not only deepen the human element in the relationship between the children and the teachers and amongst the children themselves but it must also involve families and the local community and allow children to develop their inner sense of morals by providing them with rich experiences such as volunteer work and excursions into nature. (p. 4) thus, moral education represents a mandated process within the informal curriculum. concerning specific curricular guidelines, japanese history and geography have more share of the content of social studies than civics. upper secondary education requires 18 standard hours of geography and history, whereas only six hours of civics (i.e., two hours each of contemporary society, ethics, and politics and economics). in civics, the content emphasizes human rights, japanese constitution and government more than economics. japanese economics content emphasizes government financial and economic policy more than individual economic activities. there is little content that concerns economic or financial ethics, except with regards to "environmental problem" and "social welfare". upper secondary education also requires 10 hours of home economics, comprised of essential home economics (2 hours), integrated home economics (4 hours), and life skills (4 hours). japan’s national curriculum also includes economics within specialized studies that relate to agriculture. the results of this study indicate that japanese respondents acknowledged that the concept of financial morality represented an association of "ethics' and finance. morality represents matter of obligation and duty. ethics represents a matter of values. within japanese culture individual ethics, relates to reinforcing the values of humility, honor and obligation to family, community, and government. japanese students considered that financial morality items are social welfare, consumer morality and business ethics. in japan, “finance” means the banking, a credit, and a loan. so, they couldn’t associate "ethics' and finance. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 16 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. literature that examines japanese and american culture describes the values of each as being vastly different (e.g., lopez et al., 2009). the japanese have a tendency to value community and loyalty while americans value individualism and creativity. in regards to their responses on financial morality, the data from japan seem to reflect concern or interest in the general economy with no mention of its effect on individuals, whereas the u.s./canada responses demonstrate a higher concern of how individuals manage their finances, whether it is by considering one’s own values or considering the harming or helping of others. while nucci (2001) may argue that these differences are not matters of moral interpretation, but, rather, are variances in social convention, perhaps it is important to consider the contextual relevancy of morality. if, as diamond (1999) explains, patterns of community development are environmentally driven, dialogues are necessary for reconciling these differences to appreciate the contextual appropriateness of different value systems. such communications are needed to affect responsible distributions of basic goods in a climate of diminishing natural resources (diamond, 1999, 2005). limitations only 14 % of the japanese sample responded to the open-response question regarding financial morality. there are at least two possible explanations. first, the translation of the term, “financial morality” to japanese could have affected the nature of their responses. it is common for the japanese to consider the translation of the word, “financial” as bank system, moneylender, or consumer loan. in addition, the term, “morality” is criticized by educators in japan so the word, “ethics” was used in its place. the low response rate of japanese students may relate to two other causes. first, economics in japan textbooks emphasize finance; however, not ethics. for example, texts discuss the banking system and the government's financial policies; however do not concern the ethical integrity of these decisions. recently though, in japan, financial education was recommended. it currently addresses the sudden deregulation of financial markets, including measures enacted by the united kingdom government in 1986 that abolished fixed commission charges and of the distinction between stockjobbers and stockbrokers on the london stock exchange and change from openoutcry to electronic, screen-based trading. curricula were recently amended to include the concepts of justice, happiness, and fairness; however, japanese students who responded to the items have never learned these topics during high school. japanese teachers struggle with how to teach these value concepts. the second cause relates to a general resistance to writing that does not involve a functional purpose. generally, research that involves japanese students' yields a low response rate when it concerns "free writing". in a pisa survey, the rate of non-responding japanese students was high (national institute for policy in japan, 2009). they tend to avoid responding to such items unless they are certain about the survey topic. additional research studies that use personal or focus group interviews may present more appropriate methods for gathering thoughts by japanese students' about this concept. we also would like to address potential criticisms of this work. first, the study does not yield statistically significant differences among groups. we acknowledge the absence of significant differences, yet note that the purposes of qualitative research is not to find significant differences, but to find patterns or themes among data. the descriptive statistics provided are to help inform the themes discovered. further research, that uses quantitative methods, would help to discern any significant differences in populations. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 17 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. second, our paper does not describe efforts to interpret the validity of the instrument. while we recognize the importance of validating research instrumentation, this paper describes how recipients responded to one open-response item on the survey. conclusion financial literacy education encompasses cultural and social traits that necessitate the scholarly attention of the social studies professional community. the decision about whether or how we view financial education as a moral process has a great bearing on interpretations of citizenship education. this study found that cross-cultural differences occur in articulations of financial morality between japanese education and business students, and those from the us and canada. the value of this research lies within the importance of being cognizant of cross-cultural differences about perspectives of financial ideas in global communications and in educational processes. sensitivity to such issues represents a fundamental tenet of working with members of other global communities toward developing a mutually respectful social learning environment. the following recommendations are provided to build on the understandings provided through this study: (1) extension of research to interpret understandings of financial morality in other cultural contexts to build a broader awareness of the concept and work toward a mutually appreciated framework for its comprehension and teaching. this paper describes responses of participants in three countries. additional studies are needed to provide a broader perspective. (2) experimental studies that interpret patterns of financially moral behavior among children of various cultures. how children of different cultures relate to moral dilemmas is a common theme of moral research. to what extent are these decisions related to financial contexts and financial decision-making? (3) focus group studies that prompt inter-cultural and intra-cultural dialogues about the nature of financial morality. pickett and wilkinson’s (2011) work relating patterns of income disparities to social skills indicates that economic parity is an important part of healthy community. interpreting interpretations of relationships between cultures and financial behaviors would assist to clarify these associations. finally, the question as to whether respondents’ notions of financial morality truly represent notions of morality or convention. western respondents focused on individualist notions and eastern respondents on views of community. as such, these findings suggest that views of financial morality are shaped within a cultural context and, as such, may represent conventional perceptions of appropriate financial behavior. thus, it leads to the question of whether they represent notions of financial morality at all. this conundrum relates to the core philosophical question of whether morality represents a universal or subjective concept. perhaps the most inclusive answer may be found in observing that, it contains elements of both. as communication processes become more expansive and efficient, society realizes the potential to appreciate a variety of influences on patterns of thinking and behavior. at the same time, society needs to respect the rights of individuals to be compassionately respected within the context of their own histories and narratives. financial morality requires that patterns of rationality that guide choices of use associated with financial resources are affectively shaped through compassion for others. by synthesizing the views from all global participants it may be possible to achieve this pursuit. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 18 journal of international social studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, 6-22. references arthur, c. 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(2008). financial behavior of asian americans. in j. j. xiao (ed.), handbook of consumer finance research (pp. 303-318). new york, ny: springer. corresponding author email: tlucey@ilstu.edu ©2012/2015 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org p a g e | 22 journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 109 tendencies in civic education in russia: the perception of patriotism among secondary school teachers anatoli rapoport purdue university, indiana. ________________________________________________________________ abstract: this paper discusses the ongoing patriotic education campaign in russia and how school practitioners interpret patriotism and patriotic education. patriotism is interpreted in russia through terms that span the whole political and ideological spectrum from almost extreme left to extreme right, accurately reflecting the existing dichotomy deeply entrenched in russian culture and mentality. in this study, more than 300 of russia’s teachers participated in a survey about the elements of patriotic education (return rate – 77%). the author argues that despite a strong tendency to rationalize patriotism in political and educational discourses through traditionalistic and militaristic frameworks, teachers’ opinions about patriotism and patriotic education are more nuanced and pragmatic. keywords: civic education, russia, patriotism, patriotic education, teachers introduction on the very last full working day of 2015, december 30, the russian government endorsed a new state program of patriotic education of citizens of the russian federation, 2016-2020 (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2015). this program was the latest in the series of four consecutive state-sponsored programs of patriotic education. the term patriotic education requires special explanation, particularly for readers outside china or the countries of the former soviet bloc. unlike education for patriotism or teaching patriotism, terms that are more familiar to educators in the u.s. and western europe, patriotic education is a much broader term that encompasses a system of centralized government-approved and sponsored activities aimed at instilling patriotic sentiments for the purpose of mobilizing the population to support official policies (sperling, 2003). as such, the term is generally used in countries with authoritarian and semi-authoritarian governments, weak civil society, and centralized systems of education. in schools and other educational institutions, patriotic education is used as one of the major approaches to civic education (lutovinov, 2006; piattoeva, 2005). in many cases, it also determines the content of civic education. a specific role of patriotism-related topics and an increasing emphasis on patriotic sentiments in educational and other discourses in russia have been observed since the late 1990s. these tendencies became particularly distinct in 2001, when the first state program of patriotic education was adopted, to be followed by a number of other state-sponsored federal programs aimed at stirring up patriotic journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 110 sentiments and loyalty among russia’s population, particularly youths (bloom 2006; golunov, 2012; rapoport, 2015). the official purpose of the first program, patriotic education of the citizens of the russian federation for 2001-2005 (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2001), was “to develop the system of patriotic education of the citizens of the russian federation, that will develop patriotic sentiments and consciousness and will be capable of finding solutions to consolidate the society, maintaining societal and economic stability, and reinforcing unity and friendship among peoples of the russian federation” (p. 1). that program was soon followed by a new conception of patriotic education in 2003 (kontseptsiya, 2003). the second state program for the years 2006-2010 (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2005) was aimed at providing a smooth transition from the initial program to a newer version, and adjustments of the patriotic education campaign to new conditions in russia. together with numerous local educational programs in russia’s regions, this campaign presented one of the most intensive patriotic education campaigns in russian history. the third similar program was launched in 2011 (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2010). the preamble to the 930-word document stated that it was a continuation of the previous state programs of patriotic education from 20012005 and 2006-2010, and thus “preserves the continuity in the process of the development of patriotic consciousness of russian citizens as a factor of the nation’s unity” (p. 1). the reference to national unity in the text was particularly important: it clearly alluded to the main rationale of the campaign, namely the development of new identity and unification of the nation. the intensification of the patriotic education campaign in russia is explained by several reasons. valerie sperling (2003) contended that in a system where democratic institutions are weak and the attempts to develop civil society are suppressed by the state, government uses discourses of blind patriotism “to bring the population together in a common bond of support for the current regime” (p. 236). another reason for the campaign is the concern that fewer and fewer young men have expressed their interest to serve in the military (muckle, 2003; sperling, 2009). this obviously heightened official attention to patriotic education, starkly contrasting with the more liberal model of civic education in the 1990s. observers noted that the educational reform of the early 1990s, which was meant to humanize, democratize, and decentralize schools in russia, drastically changed its direction (ioffe, 2006), and the new model aimed at the promotion and restoration of some soviet features, including “centralized control, curricular rigidity and political-ideological functions” (karpov & lisovskaya, 2005, p. 23). they argued that restoration of military education and a focus on patriotic education were vivid signs of stylistic re-sovietization. challenges to civic and citizenship education a curriculum reform that started in the russian federation in the early 1990s has been influenced by two major challenges. with the reemergence of an independent russia, an ideologically and politically new state appeared and distanced itself from the former soviet union by positioning itself as a new republic adherent to democratic development. nation building and identity construction were among major governmental political concerns. thus, the nation building rationale dictated the context, conditions, and priorities of education reforms launched immediately after 1991, particularly a reform in civic education (piattoeva, 2005; rapoport, 2011; tolz, 1998). the second challenge that the russian federation faced was globalization, which deeply influenced school reform development. debates about globalization, curriculum, and pedagogy revealed the centrality of properly negotiated terms and meanings, as well as the importance of culture, both political and imaginary-traditional, or the lack thereof, in the understanding of citizenship. the most journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 111 challenging curricular task in this new environment was to develop the ability to deconstruct previously unquestioned assumptions (smith, 2003) in order to reconstruct and eventually renegotiate newly contextualized meanings. during its short post-soviet history since 1991, russia witnessed two competing curricular models, namely liberal and traditional, which followed one another and mirrored two distinct social and economic developmental models during the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. both models were russia’s response to the two aforementioned major challenges: construction of the new identity and globalization. the choices were highly reflective and demonstrative of the type of citizens that the ruling elite intended to educate. the changes in civic education in the last decade seem to have been determined by ideological intents. thus, civic education, which is particularly susceptible to even miniscule shifts in ideological and political paradigms, found itself at the very intersection of the organic needs of society and individual political ambitions. very few aspects of civic education have drawn as much attention from government officials and practical educators as patriotic education. immense global processes that have occurred since the end of world war ii, including societal and economic changes in the last 50-60 years, emerging new countries and the disintegration of former empires, and rapidly evolving new democracies confronted with much slower developing civil societies have resulted in inevitable tensions between the rationalization and comprehension of citizenship and the level of social and national cohesion. thus questions about patriotism have come to the forefront of debates in political, cultural, and educational discourses. development of patriotic education in contemporary russia although patriotism means many things to many people, it is generally defined as a special affinity one feels toward one’s country, a “sense of positive identification with and feelings of affective attachment to one’s country” (schatz, staub, & levine, 1999, p. 152). despite the expanding theoretical substantiation of the need to shift popular allegiances to the rule of law and constitution rather than to an individual country (habermas, 2001; nussbaum, 1994), the majority of scholars correlate the paradigm of patriotic discourses with an individual country or locality. however, patriotic sentiments are seen differently by different people. on the one hand, patriotism denotes loyalty to the nation and a pride for the nation’s culture and achievements (finn, 2007; fonte, 1997; lutovinov, 2006; ravitch, 2006). on the other hand, patriotic discourses are becoming more inclusive, and their materials more often question subjects and objects of national pride and critically revise and reevaluate national histories and myths (apple, 2002; gomberg, 1990; merry, 2009; nash, 2005; nussbaum, 1994). observers rationalize these variations by applying different terms: pseudopatriotism vs. genuine patriotism (adorno, frenkel-brunswik, levinson, & sanford, 1950), loyal patriotism vs. critical patriotism (merry, 2009), and blind patriotism vs. constructive patriotism (staub, 1997). ontologically, patriotism is a social construct that gradually developed as a result of human cultural activity. in order to become an institutionalized concept, or in other words to be easily recognizable and ubiquitously acceptable, patriotism had to pass three important stages: habitualization, objectivation, and legitimation (berger & luckmann, 1966). an objectivized social construct and the society that created it are in a dialectical relationship: the society impacts the development of the journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 112 construct, and the construct impacts the society. eventually, the construct becomes internalized; in other words, people begin to believe in the reality that they themselves created. the last step in the institutionalization is the need to explain and justify the existence of the construct, to legitimize it. berger and luckmann (1966) argued that legitimization is needed to protect already-constructed reality so that it would be difficult to reverse the process. patriotism is interpreted in russia through terms that span the whole political and ideological spectrum, from almost extreme left to extreme right, accurately reflecting the existing dichotomy deeply entrenched in russian culture and mentality (arkhipenkova, 2004). this dichotomy of loyal or blind patriotism, vs. critical or constructive patriotism, has been present in russian political and educational thought since the time of early russian enlightenment. it is reflective of the two main philosophical and cultural traditions, namely progressivism and traditionalism, which have determined russia’s policies for almost three centuries. however, it should be noted that for the last 15 years, the position of loyal or blind patriotism has dominated political, cultural, and educational discourses in russia. the official patriotic education campaign that started in 2001 is the best example of this dominance. the sheer number of federal and local programs of patriotic education is evidence of the seriousness of official attempts to use broadly the framework of patriotic education in civic instruction and for the purposes of national mobilization. the official institutionalized approach to patriotism and patriotic education is best presented in the conception of patriotic education of the citizens of russian federation, adopted by the government in 2003 (kontseptsiya, 2003). the document, which claims to “reflect the whole complex of officially acknowledged ideas” (p. 2) about patriotic education, unequivocally defines patriotism as “love for one’s motherland, commitment to one’s fatherland, strong desire to serve its interests, and readiness to defend it, even if it requires self-sacrifice” (p. 2). according to the concept, patriotism is a specific type of self-realization and social behavior of citizens determined by the protection of the unity and sovereignty of russia, its national security, stable development, duty, and responsibility. by the latter, the authors mean the priority of public and state interests over individual and personal interests. the specific features of patriotism in russia identified by the conception – togetherness, integrality, obedience to the laws, the need of collectiveness – remarkably resonate with the basic principles of the famous russian triad of autocracy, orthodoxy, nationality, which constituted the quintessence of the policy of state patriotism in the second quarter of the 19th century during the reign of nicolas i. in general, the emphasis on the overall subordination to state interests at the expense of individual interests is central to the concept of patriotism as well as the idea of patriotic education, which is interpreted as a “set of systematic and goal-oriented activities of state bodies and institutions as well as public organizations aimed at forming and inculcating in citizens heightened patriotic consciousness…, readiness to carry out one’s civic duty, and constitutional obligations to defend the interests of the motherland” (p. 4). the document specifically accentuates a military component in patriotic education, declaring military education an inseparable part of patriotic education. it is symptomatic that the concept, which is presented as a traditionalist type of narrative that internalizes uncritical loyalty to the nation and the state, still twice mentions civil society as one of the beneficiaries of proper patriotic education outcomes. although the text does not clarify how the development of civil society can benefit from a hyper-centralized and ideologically conservative system of patriotic education, the very reference to it was at the time indicative of possible shifts, however insignificant they might have been, in the rationale of value-related education among the traditionalists in russia. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 113 the four consecutive five-year state programs of patriotic education passed by the russian government in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2015 (gosudarstvennaya programma 2001; gosudarstvennaya programma, 2005; gosudarstvennaya programma, 2010; gosudarstvennaya programma, 2015) are based on the ideas and goals set in the conception of patriotic education of 2003. although symbolic in nature (the state-funded portions of each five-year program’s budget is about $20-22 million), the programs are eloquent in categorizing and pointing out the directions of ideological development in russia in general and patriotic education in particular. claiming that the ultimate goal of patriotic education is the revival of russia’s greatness and prominence, the programs recommend state activities that would enhance patriotic education, including such elements as an increase of the military component in all areas of education, more careful attention to history textbooks, influence on electronic and printed media, and assuming more control over children’s organizations. the most conspicuous feature of the contemporary patriotic education campaign is probably its military spirit. the word military is used only three times in the text of the program of 2006-2010, but in the most recent program of 2016-2020, military is used 34 times. (both texts are similar in length.) nonetheless, whether the word military is formally mentioned or not, the term patriotic education itself is a code phrase that implies military education, military training, and military preparation. thus, it is not at all surprising that almost all materials about patriotic education, or the implementation of each new program, include information about the military or examples of military training. by 2006, there were 1,350 youth military clubs with membership of 300,000 or more; the russian military established cooperation with 1,130 military-patriotic clubs and organization;, and there were 452 summer military camps in all regions of russia (surzhko, 2006). the 2016-2020 program reported that by 2015, there were 2,000 summer military camps and 22,000 youth military clubs and centers; almost 22% of russia’s youth participated in regional and local patriotic education programs. the list of examples of militarization of consciousness is long and almost emulates, stylistically and operationally, activities and programs from the patriotic education curricula from soviet times (sredin, 1988; vyrshchikov, 1990). this striking resemblance to soviet curricula explains why many in russia see patriotic education as a rationale with a dominating military agenda. the term that was commonly used in the soviet union for patriotic education was military-patriotic education. interestingly, this term was never used in the second program of 2006-2010, but it appears 13 times in the 2016-2020 program. the military rationale of the patriotic education campaign does not need to be explicitly explained or clarified: the mutually shared codes patriotism or patriotic education are normally “correctly” decoded by educators. the centuries-long tradition of military/patriotic symbiotic unity also explains the fact that almost 75% of respondents related patriotic education to military games or military clubs and camps (vtsiom, 2007). how effective is the patriotic education campaign? it is not surprising that the attention to patriotism and patriotic education resulted in more research and more empirical evidence of attitudes and perceptions held by various groups in russia’s population regarding concepts within the patriotism paradigm. mainstream political, sociological, and educational journals focus on such traditional aspects of patriotism, such as love for one’s fatherland, pride in one’s fatherland, devotion – sometimes sacred – to one’s fatherland, and commitment to serve its interests (bykov, 2006a, 2006b; ivanova, 2003; lutovinov, 2006; mikryukov, 2007; pulyaev & shelyagin, 2001). patriotism is a traditional russian moral value that is instilled in the patriotic idea of “a spiritual unity of a person and the russian society,” contended pulyayev and shelyagin (2001, p. 71), who specifically pointed at the incompatibility of patriotism and nationalism or cosmopolitanism. ivanova (2003) developed a journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 114 typological paradigm of patriotism based on the moral function of the latter. the author argued that state patriotism is “an expression of subjects’ pride of the fatherland, their active participation in consolidation and strengthening the state and statehood for the purpose of efficient functioning of social institutions, development of the society and individuals” (p. 295). analyzing relations between patriotism and citizenship in the framework of civic-patriotic education, lutovinov (2006) asserted that compared to vague, blurred, and badly defined concepts of citizenship, patriotism is a clear and theoretically better developed construct that represents a unity of spirituality, civic maturity, and social activity, qualities which motivate a person to serve their fatherland. therefore, patriotism, not citizenship, should be a leading component of civic-patriotic education because “overestimation of citizenship that assumes depatriotization of education of citizens, is a deformation unacceptable for the state, society as well as for the individual whose ultimate predestination is to serve their fatherland” (p. 54). it should be noted that there is also literature in russia that aims to address various aspects of patriotism from a critical-analytical standpoint. in an article with a self-explanatory title, the problematic character of patriotism as a value of contemporary russian culture, bolshakov (2004) argued that those who were mostly worried about the lack of patriotism in russia were people of the older generation. they were disappointed in what they saw around them. patriotism for them was the embodiment of the lifestyle that they were used to; therefore, they constantly called for a revival of patriotism. obviously, the patriotism they wanted to revitalize was soviet, imperial-state patriotism. grigoryev (2005), in his attempt to determine the real meaning of pride in one’s nation, called for more debates and deliberations in patriotic education. galkin (2005) argued that although patriotism and fascism are considered opposing concepts semantically, they are both sociopsychological phenomena with more similarities than differences. a detailed analysis of patriotic education is presented in golunov’s patriotic education in russia: cons and pros (2012), in which the author argued that one could trace certain questionable and dangerous tendencies in russia’s patriotic-educational discourse, namely failure to focus on teaching honesty and integrity, lack of resistance towards aggressive nationalism and intolerance, and latent support for the “official history” policy (p. 271). although both critical and traditionalist positions on patriotism are presented in russian journals and media, the traditionalist position is much more obtrusive and much more often presented in official russian literature. the results of empirical studies (milyukova & vinokurova, 2007; ovchinnikova & ulianova, 2010; sinyagina, 2011; sperling, 2009; tsylev & mulina, 2010) and opinion polls (levada, 2015) demonstrate a certain tension between the perceived and expected goals of the patriotic education campaign and its actual intermediate or final outcomes. the studies about aspects of patriotic education conducted in various regions of russia demonstrate contradictory numbers that are interpreted with caution by researchers. in karelia, 78% of high school graduates understand patriotism as a responsibility for the fatherland, 68% are ready to defend their fatherland, and 81% are proud to be russian citizens. at the same time, only 58% of the respondents called themselves patriots (milyukova & vinokurova, 2007). very similar results are found in the study conducted in the khabarovsk region: 72% of the respondents believe that patriots are those who love and respect their motherland and actively participate in state affairs, and 86% are proud to be citizens of the russian federation; however, only 55% consider themselves patriots (bykov, 2010). a survey conducted among 148 high school students in the rural area of arkhangelsk oblast (ovchinnikova & ulyanova, 2010) demonstrated that the respondents’ idea of patriotism is fragmentary. only one third linked patriotism to practical action. although 67% related patriotism to certain moral feelings, such aspects as civic responsibility, civic journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 115 duties, and national dignity were left out. of those surveyed, 46% said they either doubt whether they are patriots or do not consider themselves patriots at all (p. 77). in the murmansk study of 775 participants aged 15 to 29, 70% said they were patriots, 23.3% said they lacked feelings of patriotism, and 6.4% could not answer the question (tsylev & mulina, 2010). one number must be particularly disappointing for the organizers and conductors of the patriotic education campaign: the majority of polls conducted in different years and in different locations demonstrate that 45-55% of the surveyed young people would like to leave russia after graduating from college (bykov, 2010; milyukova & vinokurova, 2007; sinyagina, 2011; sperling, 2009). of those who want to leave, 65% explain their choice by pointing at a “better life abroad … and better opportunities for self-realization” (sinyagina, 2011, p. 24). the high percentage of those who would prefer to leave russia permanently, or even temporarily, is particularly discouraging because it is one of the most sensitive issues of the russian mentality: real patriots cannot live outside russia – only traitors leave their countries (sanina, 2011). ostensibly, the allegation of non-patriotism of all those who left the country for whatever reason is a characteristic of many traditionalistic, highly centralized societies. that was also one of postulates of both propaganda and domestic policy in the soviet union since the late 1920s. decreasing the level of emigration was also among the goals of the patriotism programs. considering the importance of formal education in children’s socialization and the development of civic competences, this study investigated what classroom teachers think about patriotic education. the purpose of this study was, on the one hand, to determine how patriotism and patriotic education are interpreted and rationalized in official programmatic texts that aim at a proper institutionalization of patriotic education, and, on the other hand, how practical educators interpret patriotism and patriotic education. i argue that despite a strong tendency to interpret patriotism in political and educational discourses through traditionalistic and militaristic frameworks, teachers’ opinions about patriotism and patriotic education are more nuanced and pragmatic. methodology an 11-item questionnaire with multiple choice questions and descriptive evaluative items regarding aspects of citizenship and patriotic education was administered in 2013 to participants of several teacher professional development workshops (n=304, n=238) who came from 14 regions of russia. all respondents (return rate = 77%) were in-service teachers or building administrators, with 2 to 38 years of work experience in education. eleven respondents (almost 5%) identified themselves as building administrators (director shkoly, zavuch); 136 respondents (57%) identified themselves as subject teachers; and 91 respondents (38%) identified themselves as subject teachers with additional administrative or teaching responsibilities such as subject area department head (predsedatel’ metodicheskogo ob’edineniya), teaching methods specialist (metodist), after-school study group teacher (uchitel’ gruppy prodlyonnogo dnya), or librarian. the numerical data of the survey were processed to find the measures of central tendency and frequency distribution. the processed data are presented in the following tables. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 116 table 1. do you know what patriotic education entails? age/ number of responses i know what patriotic education entails yes rather yes than no rather no than yes no > 30 y. o./32 38% 62% 31-40 y. o./66 64% 29% 7% 41-50 y. o./90 78% 22% < 50 y. o./48 71% 25% 4% total 236 67% 30% 3% table 2. how important are the following components of patriotic education? >30 y. o. /30 30-40 y. o./66 41-50 y. o./90 <50 y. o./46 total 232/ % how important is teaching/inculcating love for the place where one lives? very important 93% 82% 80% 87% 84% important 7% 18% 20% 13% 16% not important how important is teaching/inculcating love for one’s nation/country? very important 93% 91% 84% 83% 87% important 7% 9% 16% 17% 13% not important how important is teaching/inculcating love for one’s state? very important 53% 55% 40% 33% 44% important 33% 36% 51% 34% 42% not important 14% 9% 9% 33% 14% journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 117 how important is teaching/inculcating pride in one’s nation/country? very important 80% 67% 73% 70% 72% important 20% 28% 24% 22% 24% not important 5% 3% 8% 4% how important is teaching a critical attitude to one’s nation/country? very important 20% 12% 16% 15% 16% important 53% 76% 58% 53% 60% not important 27% 12% 26% 32% 24% how important is teaching a critical attitude to one’s state? very important 20% 9% 18% 24% 18% important 67% 79% 58% 66% 67% not important 13% 12% 24% 10% 15% how important is military training for patriotic education? very important 7% 12% 14% 23% 14% important 53% 45% 51% 44% 48% not important 40% 43% 35% 33% 38% journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 118 table 3. are you satisfied with patriotic education in: >30 y. o./32 31-40 y. o./66 41-50 y. o./90 <50 y. o. /48 total 236 family satisfied 44% 27% 31% 13% 28% not satisfied 56% 60% 47% 67% 56% do not know 13% 22% 20% 16% school satisfied 50% 45% 44% 20% 41% not satisfied 38% 39% 40% 67% 45% do not know 12% 16% 16% 13% 14% extracurricular educational institutions/clubs satisfied 18% 33% 29% 13% 25% not satisfied 38% 45% 31% 58% 42% do not know 44% 22% 40% 29% 33% mass media satisfied 31% 9% 11% 8% 13% not satisfied 69% 81% 80% 88% 81% do not know 10% 9% 4% 6% discussion almost all participants of the survey were generally confident that they know what patriotic education entails. however, the degree of confidence was visibly lower among teachers younger than 30 years old. this may be a result of two phenomena: first, these teachers belong to the generation that went to colleges and universities in the middle and late 1990s, at the time of painful but healthful reevaluation of the authoritarian past; second, this generation is probably the first to be directly impacted by globalization, which has generated new discourses and has provided new multiple perspectives. the majority of participants of all age groups believe that within the framework of patriotic education, it is either important or very important to instill love for the place where one lives and for one’s nation. although the percentage of those who believe that teaching love for one’s nation/country is very important, similar to the percentage of those who believe that teaching love for the place where one lives (the russian term “little motherland”) is also very important, it is interesting that many journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 119 participants tried to explain in their comments why it is important to teach about “little motherland.” normally, the focus of the general patriotic narrative in media, educational, or political discourses is an abstract love or affinity for the country. it seems that, per additional comments, the participants tried to demonstrate their personal approach to the topic and thus distance themselves from the wellorchestrated general narrative. almost a quarter of the surveyed teachers believe that it is not important to teach children to look critically at one’s nation, and more than half believe that it is important but they are not confident about it. in the same vein, over 80% of respondents considered love for the state an important or very important component of patriotic education. it is essential to keep in mind that state is conceptually very closely linked to government. these data can be interpreted twofold. on the one hand, the number of teachers who reject the critical perspective as an aspect of patriotic education demonstrate that patriotism is still interpreted mostly through its traditionalistic framework. on the other hand, the number of teachers who think that students should be taught to form critical opinions about their nation or state is much higher than the average number of people in russia (12%) who think that it is patriotic to criticize the shortcomings of their own country (vtsiom, 2006). it is also important that unlike, say, personal patriotism, the idea of state patriotism has dominated patriotic narratives in practically all public discourses for decades, if not centuries. first appearing as a reaction to the french revolution and the napoleonic wars in europe (yanov, 1999), the concept of state patriotism outlived both the russian empire and the soviet union, and it is successfully promoted in contemporary russia. for example, ivanova (2003) argued that among all types of patriotism, state patriotism plays the most important consolidating role in society because it manifests the individual’s “active participation in consolidation and strengthening the state and statehood” (p. 295). a stunning 86% of the surveyed teachers do not believe that military training is a very important part of patriotic education, including more than a third that believe that military training is not a part of patriotic education at all. the data call into question official efforts that heavily rely on a military component in promoting a traditionalistic type of patriotism in russia. these numbers are particularly intriguing considering the specific militaristic focus of the latest state program of patriotic education, in which patriotic education is both semantically and contextually synonymous with military training (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2016). another important component is the distribution of choices among age groups. only 7% of teachers under 30 considered that military training is a very important aspect of patriotic education, compared to 22% of those over 50. another interesting and unexpected result is the participants’ dissatisfaction with the role of the media. eighty-one percent of participants said that they were not satisfied with the role of the media in patriotic education, compared with only 13% who were satisfied. the number of the unsatisfied is even higher among veteran teachers who are over 50 years old. traditionally, the media are blamed for problems in all societies, and it would not be surprising to observe some criticism of the media in this survey. however, two factors make this result intriguing, namely the number of the unsatisfied among participants and the fact that the object of severe criticism is the media, which is overwhelmingly either run or sponsored by the state and is usually accused of unbalanced representations of opinions in the society. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 120 limitations of the study at various stages in this study, i encountered limitations that could potentially affect its reliability and validity. first, i had to utilize a convenience sampling procedure rather than random sampling, due to limited time and resources. convenience sampling prevented me from collecting data from a broader and more diverse range of informants. second, the locations and conditions of data collection determined the categories of educators that were surveyed. traditionally, teacher conferences and professional development workshops that require long distance travel are attended by educators who were specifically selected by school administrators and coould afford such travel. this explains a high percentage of administrators among workshop attendees. finally, my own background and active involvement in international programs could make me unintentionally biased regarding the content of the questionnaire, the construction of questions, and also the process of translation. conclusion since the inception of the first state program in 2001, the patriotic education campaign in russia has become one of the defining factors in education, particularly in civic education. as evidenced from policy documents and representations of the campaign in the russian media, the three major rationales of the campaign are: control of the discourse, national unification along with mass mobilization, and the militarization of society. with the demise of communist ideas and pseudocommunist reality, and in the situation of the emergence of a new state, any new ideological paradigm offered by the new national elites should include some form of nationalism and patriotism. patriotic education as a particular form of cultural hegemony has been and continues to be a concentration of very specific codes and symbols. for decades, russia’s population has developed a certain pragmatic competence and awareness that help to decode and deconstruct all types of narratives related to patriotic education and to elicit meanings that adequately correlate with the intents of all agencies involved in the development of official patriotic education campaigns. these competences are the result of the long experience obtained in the time of the reign of soviet ideology and phraseology. in this situation, teachers and other education practitioners have become a critical element of the system – they mediate and interpret meanings and help students, as well as other agents of education, to decode symbolic discourses. due to this role of mediator, gatekeeper, interpreter, and decoder, a teacher has a special place in the society, particularly in a hierarchical semi-authoritarian society. this study demonstrated that the participants understand their roles as mediators and facilitators in the development of students’ civic competences. despite an overwhelming and persistent pressure of a traditionalistic approach to patriotism in all dominant discourses, many participants questioned such an interpretation and offered a more critical approach. although the majority of responses were consistent with themes of the patriotic education campaign, such as the family’s or school’s responsibility for children’s patriotic education, some responses were reflective of an existing resistance among educators to the militaristic rationale of the patriotic education campaign or the role of the media. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 121 references adorno, t. w., frenkel-brunswik, e., levinson, d.j. & sanford, r. n. 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(1997). post-west syndrome: when patriotism is threatened, so are the roots of democracy. national review, october 27. habermas, j. (2001). constitutional democracy: a paradoxical union of contradictory principles. political theory, 29, 766-781. ioffe, a. (2006). sovremennye vyzovy i riski razvitiya grazhdanskogo obrazovaniya v rossii [contemporary risks and challenges of civic education in russia]. istoriya i obshchestvoznaniye v shkole, 9, 19-24. karpov, v. & lisovskaya, e. (2005). educational change in time of social revolution: the case of postcommunist russia in comparative perspective. in b. eklof, l. e. holmes, and v. kaplan [eds.], educational reform in post-soviet russia: legacies and prospects (pp. 22-46). london, uk: frank cass. kontseptsiya patrioticheskogo vospitaniya grazhdan rossiiskoi federatsii [conception of patriotic education of the citizens of the russian federation]. 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(2007). patriotism: k opredeleniyu ponyatiya [patriotism: about the definition of the concept], vospitaniye shkol’nikov, 5, 2-8. http://archives.ru/programs/patriot_2015.shtml http://government.ru/media/files/8qqyuwwzhuxzvkh1jskaerrx2de4q0ws.pdf http://www.ed.gov.ru/junior/rub/patriot/konzept/konzept.doc journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 123 milyukova, i. a. & vinokurova, n. m. (2007). patriotizm v sisteme tsennostnykh orientatsiy starsheklassnikov karelii [patriotism in the value system of karelia’s upper high school students]. petrozavodsk, russia: karelia ministry of education. muckle, j. (2003). russian concepts of patriotism and their reflection in the education system today. tertium comparionis, 9(1), 7-14. nash, m. 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(2011). in search of identity: competing models in russia’s civic education. in m. grumet & l. yates (eds.), world yearbook of education 2011. curriculum in today’s world: configuring knowledge, identities, work and politics (pp.199-213). london, uk: routledge. rapoport, a. (2015). education reform and civic identity construction in russia. russian-american education forum, 7(3), n/p retrieved on january 29, 2016 from http://www.rusameeduforum.com/content/en/?task=art&article=1001154&iid=23 ravitch, d. (2006). should we teach patriotism, phi delta kappan, 87(8), 579-581. sanina, a. (2011). citizenship and civic values in modern russia. retrieved april 23, 2016 from http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/sanina_paper.pdf schatz, r. t., staub, e., & levine, h. (1999). on the varieties of national attachments: blind versus constructive patriotism. political psychology, 20(1), 151-174. sinyagina, n. (2011). o patriotisme i vospitanii patriota [about patriotism and education of patriots]. vospitaniye shkol’nikov, 1, 23-26. smith, d. g. (2003). curriculum and teaching face globalization. in w. pinar (ed.), international handbook of curriculum research (pp. 35-52). london, uk: lawrence erlbaum associates. sperling, v. (2003). the last refuge of a scoundrel; patriotism, militarism and the russian national idea. nations and nationalism, 9, 2, 235-253. sperling, v. (2009). making the public patriotic: militarism and anti-militarism in russia. in m. laruelle (ed.), russian nationalism and the national reassertion of russia (pp. 218-271). london, uk: routledge. http://www.rus-ameeduforum.com/content/en/?task=art&article=1001154&iid=23 http://www.rus-ameeduforum.com/content/en/?task=art&article=1001154&iid=23 http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/sanina_paper.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 109-124. corresponding author email: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 124 sredin, g. v. 1988. osnovy voyenno-patrioticheskogo vospitaniya (foundations of military-patriotic education). moscow, russia: prosveshcheniye. staub. e. (1997). blind versus constructive patriotism: moving from embeddedness in the group to critical loyalty and action. in d. bar-tal & e. staub. (eds.) patriotism in the lives of individuals and nations (pp. 213-228). chicago, il: nelson-hall publishers. surzhko, g. (2006). patrioticheskoye obrazovaniye v rossii: tol’ko fakty [patriotic education in russia: only facts]. narodnoye obrazovaniye, 4, 34-35. tolz, v. (1998). forging the nation: national identity and nation building in post-communist russia. europa-asia studies, 50(6), 993-1022. tsylev, v. & mulina, t. (2010). the many aspects of the phenomenon of patriotism among young people of murmansk. russian education and society, 52(6), 58-73. vtsiom (2006). patriotizm istinnyi i mnimyi [patriotism real and imaginary]. vtsiom press-release 591, 5 december 2006. retrieved on april 12, 2014 from http://www.wciom.com vtsiom (2007). kak vospitat’ patriota [how to raise a patriot]. vtsiom press-release 636, 22 february 2007. retrieved on april 12, 2014 from http://www.wciom.com vyrshchikov, a. n. (1990) voyenno-patrioticheskoue vospitaniye: teoriya i praktika [military-patriotic education: theory and practice]. moscow, russia: pedagogika. yanov, a. (1999). rossia protiv rossii [russia against russia]. novosibirsk, russia: sibirsky hronograf. http://www.wciom.com/ http://www.wciom.com/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 perceptions of student teaching abroad: upon return and two years after frans h. doppen ohio university kristin diki ohio university abstract: this study sought to identify preservice teachers’ perceptions of their student teaching abroad experience and its effectiveness in preparing them to be globally competent educators upon completion of their student teaching as well as two years after. findings indicate that they perceive their experience to have been both advantageous and effective and that it enhanced their global-mindedness. more than two years after student teaching abroad the experience continues to have a personal and professional impact as they find themselves to be more global-minded and seeking opportunities to share their abroad experience key words: international student teaching, global-mindedness, personal/professional impact. introduction as the world is becoming increasingly interdependent, teachers today are faced with the challenge of preparing their students to thrive in a global community and are called upon to become globally competent themselves (stewart, 2013). a student’s capacity to develop a global perspective in an academic setting relies heavily on the attitude and knowledge of the teacher to provide a learning environment that cultivates global-mindedness (colville-hall & adamowiczhariasz, 2010; merryfield, tin-yau lo, & po, 2008). teacher educators need to ensure that global knowledge becomes a core competence of their preservice teachers (stewart, 2013). teachers have the responsibility to educate students to “have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to live and work in a global society” (mcgaha & linder, 2014, p. 305). yet, studies indicate that only a very small percentage of preservice teachers takes advantage of global experiences during their college education to adequately prepare their future students for mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 success in the global age (nafsa, 2014; shaklee & baily, 2012). other studies raise questions as to the effectiveness of international opportunities in actually providing transformative learning experiences for students (vande berg, phoebe, & lou, 2012). as a result, the majority of today’s preservice and in-service teachers can be categorized in the ethnocentric minimization stage on the intercultural development inventory (idi), which places the emphasis on the similarity of all human beings and their shared common beliefs (cushner, 2012) rather than emphasizing and valuing their differences. one way to prepare an increasingly global-minded teaching force is through participation in an intercultural immersion program, such as a long-term international placement during the teacher preparation program (doppen, 2010; cushner, 2012). this study focuses on 13 preservice teachers at a large midwestern university who participated in a student teaching abroad experience through the consortium for overseas student teaching (cost) program during the summer 2013, fall 2013, and spring 2014 semesters. established in 1972 to promote global understanding and intercultural immersion, cost is a collaboration of 15 colleges and universities in the united states that provide an opportunity for education majors to student teach in an overseas setting, typically in a twoto three-month placement. one central goal of the cost program is for its graduates to bring a global perspective back to their future classrooms in the united states. we sought to identify these preservice teachers’ perceptions of their cost experience and its effectiveness in preparing them to be globally competent educators by addressing the following research questions: 1. what advantages did the preservice teachers in this study who completed their student teaching abroad perceive they had in comparison to teacher candidates who did not? 2. did the preservice teachers in this study who completed their student teaching abroad believe their experience prepared them to be effective instructors? 3. how has the student teaching abroad experience impacted the participants in this study in the two years since they completed their student teaching? acquiring a deep understanding of and connection to the world that expands beyond one’s own community and country is an essential element of global education (mcgaha & linder, 2014: gonzález-carriedo, lópez de nava, & martínez, 2017). according to schneider (2004), teacher education programs need to begin incorporating mandatory experiences abroad for all teacher mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 candidates to better prepare them for their future roles. however, in 2014-15, education majors made up only 3.5% of the 313,415 students who participated in study abroad programs, a drop from 4.1% reported a decade earlier (institute of international education, 2016). the low percentage of preservice teachers engaging in international experiences is dismal at best, considering the emphasis placed on teachers’ ability to help students achieve a proficient level of global-mindedness. in a policy brief, the national education association (nea) (2010) specified that “public education, the cornerstone of our republic, is the only avenue through which today’s students – tomorrow’s workers – can attain global competence” (p. 1). the nea provides the following definition of global competence: [t]he acquisition of in-depth knowledge and understanding of international issues, an appreciation of and ability to learn and work with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, proficiency in a foreign language, and skills to function productively in an interdependent world community. (p. 1) educators are the key to fostering global-mindedness in today’s students. however, as the open doors report from the institute of international education indicates, of all the college students spending time abroad, less than one in 25 is an education major, whereas nearly two thirds are in the areas of stem, business and management, and social sciences. in other words, while teachers have a significant responsibility to prepare students to prosper in the global community in which they live, preservice teachers represent one of the smallest populations of college students who seek opportunities abroad. the expressed need for internationalizing teacher education in the united states by several researchers stems from changing demographics and the increase in global opportunities and demands that may present a challenge for tomorrow’s workforce if students today are not being “prepared to live in a globalized world” (mcgaha & linder, 2014, p. 307; shaklee & baily, 2012). based on their research, mcgaha and linder (2014) found that there are three major reasons why teacher education programs in the united states should globalize their curriculum. first, the population of the united states continues to diversify ethnically, culturally, religiously, and linguistically due to the increasing numbers of immigrants arriving since the 1970s. second, one quarter of all american jobs are now connected to international trade, a percentage that continually increases as trade agreements become more profuse. in addition, the major challenges that the united states faces today, such as terrorism and climate change, among mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 others, are global issues that require intercultural competence and cooperation. as mcgaha and linder argue, “simply put, american schools and teachers face unprecedented changes that are global in nature, requiring schools and teachers to teach in a manner that will enable students to understand these global connections” (p. 307). in order to transform teachers into global educators who can enhance their students’ awareness by providing them a global perspective, preservice teachers and teacher educators must believe in the necessity of including enriching international teaching experiences in teacher education programs. it is not sufficient to simply travel abroad; by engaging in a prolonged student teaching abroad experience, preservice teachers will “have the opportunity to learn to see others as well as themselves through new eyes…through interpersonal dialogue and personal encounters” with people who are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically different (cushner, 2007, p. 37). the longview foundation, an organization that recognizes the importance of students having “opportunities to gain broad and deep global knowledge and the language and intercultural skills to engage effectively with people around the corner and around the world,” identifies international experiences as invaluable in preparing globally competent teachers. in its report teacher preparation for the global age: an imperative for change, the foundation highlights effective experiences abroad as those that integrate the following components: significant pre-departure orientation to clarify goals and prepare personally and academically for the experience; expectation and support for in-depth engagement with people from the host country through student teaching, home stays, community based service learning, and structured activities completed on-site; and activities in country or upon returning that connect the experience abroad directly to the students’ teaching practice. (2008, p. 23) the report acknowledges the consortium for overseas student teaching (cost) as one example of a measure some universities are taking to engage preservice teachers in such experiences. cost is a collaborative effort among 15 colleges and universities across the united states to offer opportunities for preservice teachers to complete their student teaching abroad. the goal of the program is to “promote global understanding, intercultural communication, and a meaningful educational experience” (http://www.gvsu.edu/cost/). along with achieving the same objectives as they would in a typical student teaching classroom environment in the united states, students are also enriched with additional objectives that include, but are not limited to, “clarify[ing] one’s position as a u.s. citizen by experiencing life in a different social and cultural milieu and mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 consider[ing] ways to bring an international perspective back to one’s classroom in the united states.” much of the research has focused on preservice teachers’ perceptions before and shortly after completing their student teaching abroad experience (see e.g., vande berg, phoebe, & lou, 2012). however, little research has been conducted on the longer-term impact of such an experience. in her study on the impact of international student teaching in non-western cultures on first-year teachers, martin (2012) found that students had grown both personally and professionally, exhibited an increased intercultural sensitivity, and were able to better meet the needs of a diverse student body as well as infuse their instruction with culturally relevant practices. in a similar study of in-service teachers who had initially taught at least one year in the united states and eventually returned home after teaching internationally, thomas (2012) found likewise that students had grown personally, developed a global perspective and cultural empathy, and adopted culturally relevant pedagogy and curriculum choices. in another study that focused on a short-term abroad classroom experience, shiveley and misco (2015) reported on the long-term impact of exposing preservice teachers to a year-long comparative education course in which students gain in-depth knowledge about education systems existing both in the united states and in europe prior to engaging in their short-term stay in classrooms in various european nations. not only did their findings suggest that the preservice teachers’ experience helped them to secure employment by making them more marketable (shiveley & misco, 2012, 2015), they indicated that long-term benefits were evident in their approach to teaching. as teachers, their experiences helped make them more mindful of and sensitive to the multiple perspectives that exist (shiveley & misco, 2015). methodology this phenomenological case study sought to assess how a distinct group of 13 preservice teachers at a large midwestern university, all of whom were assigned a pseudonym to protect their anonymity and who completed their student teaching abroad, perceived this experience in comparison to student teachers who did not and how it continued to impact them two years later. research has suggested that this method is especially appropriate when studying a contemporary phenomenon to describe the meaning of a lived experience from the perspective of a group of individuals (creswell & poth, 2017; merriam, 2016; stake, 1995; yin, 2002). participants included one early childhood (grade k-3), two middle childhood (grade 4-9), nine adolescent to young adult (grade 7-12), and one spanish (grade k-12) major. they completed mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 their student teaching in australia, new zealand, south africa, germany, ireland, the netherlands, and costa rica (see appendix a). prior to their departure, all 13 participants were required to complete a semester-long cost course to prepare them for student teaching abroad. after completing the course, all 13 participants gave their informed consent to complete a survey upon finishing their student teaching and to participate in an exit interview after their return to the united states. the interviews were conducted face-to-face whenever possible or via skype (see appendix b). to assess the long-term impact of their cost experience two years after they completed their student teaching, using contact information from their original cost applications and social media, we were able to contact all 13 participants during the fall 2016 semester. after granting their informed consent, all 13 participants completed an online followup survey (see appendix c). to analyze the data, we used the four-step process proposed by dana and silva (2003). first, we each separately read through the surveys and interviews. then, as part of the sense-making process, we collaboratively began to ask deeper questions to identify common themes. next, based on the sense-making process, we once again, first separately and then collaboratively, undertook an interpretation to narrow the number of common themes. finally, we looked at the implications of our study for practice and how teacher educators might be able to use our findings in their own settings. upon return advantages. the cost program implemented at the mid-size university in the midwest in this study incorporates the first two of the three factors identified by the longview foundation to create an effective international experience for future teachers. unfortunately, the student teaching abroad experience is typically the last semester of a cost student’s program of study, and subsequently he or she does not return to campus to allow for a coordinated follow-up experience. while all cost students are required to complete a face-to-face or skype exit interview, several students return as guest speakers in the pre-departure course for the next year’s participants. for the purpose of this study, the 13 participants were first surveyed upon the completion of their experience abroad. the first research question aimed to identify the advantages the participants perceived they had over teacher candidates who did not student teach abroad. all participants expressed a belief that they had an advantage over teacher candidates who student taught in a traditional classroom setting in the united states. as maggie revealed, the experience mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 “made [her] a more prepared, diverse, and open-minded teacher.” she further commented, “education is not an ‘american’ thing. it’s a worldly phenomenon, and it’s important to see it from every perspective to really understand it.” madeleine focused on her experience being a minority in her host country: a teacher candidate who completed their student teaching experience at home would have missed out on so many of the challenges i faced. working in a culture where i am the minority has allowed me to view teaching from another angle. i have learned so much about my own communication skills and i feel much better equipped to begin teaching in the united states. marvin and colin highlighted their increased cultural and global awareness. marvin, in particular, emphasized the importance of spending time abroad in preparation for becoming an effective social studies teacher: “i truly feel that to be a good social studies teacher, interactions with cultures and countries outside your own is a must because social studies is a subject that revolves around perspectives.” zabrina, who completed her student teaching in costa rica, commented that she felt “lucky, and that [she was] one step closer to understanding the world.” an additional advantage that several participants shared was the notion of being able to reflect on education through an alternate lens. as kaleigh revealed: i think i am different from teacher candidates who have not had the cost experience because i have had the opportunity to go out and see how a different country handles education. i have the knowledge of what has worked well in a different country and what does not work as well. i can bring this knowledge with me to another school and help better the education system in ways that other teacher candidates may not think of without the experience. another theme that appeared in several of the participants’ responses was the confidence they gained from having taught in a foreign environment. phoebe shared her insight into how she became more confident in her teaching ability: i think what makes me different from other teacher candidates is that i have gained confidence by being completely on my own in a foreign country. it may not sound like it is that big of a difference, but being able to move to a new place, teach classes of my own to students [whose] native language [is not english] and have them learn is something students in the u.s. cannot say. i have taught myself how to learn on my feet and quickly adapt to new situations... [cost] was an amazing experience and i think i grew more as a person and educator because of this program. i was pushed to mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 my limits, and it was tough at some points, but i got through it, and it gave me confidence to be an educator. effectiveness. the second research question targeted the preservice teachers’ perceptions of how effective their experience was at preparing them for their future profession as a teacher. all participants agreed that cost did indeed prepare them to become effective teachers and, except for colin, expressed no inclination whatsoever of leaving the teaching profession. on the contrary, they reported having had very positive experiences that helped them become more confident in their effectiveness as a teacher. colin, on the other hand, indicated that although it prepared him well, he realized through his experience that he did not see himself remaining in the classroom and planned to pursue another area of education. the most common response the participants offered was their increased confidence in their ability to differentiate. marvin said, “cost has given me the confidence to take on any classroom in the united states. i also think i’m more aware of differences among students, and how to differentiate my instruction to a variety of learners.” nico indicated that his experience forced him to become effective rather quickly, which boosted his confidence: i learned a great deal about myself as an educator during the cost program and i feel very prepared to step in a classroom. in fact, before i left for cost, i had doubts in my teaching abilities, but after being thrown into a classroom halfway around the world, within a week of being in the country, you get over simple fears fairly quick. it forced me to learn how to accommodate different students not only with learning differences but also language barriers. masie, who spent her time student teaching in germany, emphasized how her experience helped her develop her skills in differentiating to meet the needs of students of different cultures. the participants also indicated their increased ability to adapt. linda, who taught various age groups, claimed that she had increased her confidence due to having had to plan for multiple ability levels, while maggie said, “i 100% think my participation with cost has prepared me to be an effective teacher ... teachers need to be able to adapt to change and quickly and that is precisely what happens when you teach abroad.” expressing a similar sentiment, kaleigh responded: i believe that the cost program has definitely prepared me to be an effective teacher. having the experience of adapting to a new curriculum and a new area was beneficial. it allowed me to have the experience of adapting to a new school culture and being able to mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 adjust how i believe things should be done the way the school system states it should be done. in addition to feeling more confident in their ability to differentiate and adapt to new educational settings, participants also expressed a feeling of being well prepared for their future classrooms. for instance, madeleine wrote: i absolutely think that my participation in this program has prepared me to be an effective teacher. it has been, by far, one of the richest and most meaningful experiences of my time at [the university]. i feel far more prepared to teach. even more, i feel confident that i could easily use what i have learned here to teach in an american classroom. likewise, phoebe commented, “i think this is the best way i could have prepared myself. it was an amazing experience, and i think i grew more as a person and educator because of this program.” celeste echoed phoebe’s beliefs regarding the effectiveness of having student taught abroad: “i’ll admit that this student teaching experience was far more challenging than i anticipated, but i believe that the experience i received could not be paralleled at home.” two years after as they completed their student teaching abroad, the participants also shared their thoughts about how the experience would influence them once they entered the teaching profession. for example, madeleine responded, “even if i am not conscious of it, i will use my international experience every day in the classroom,” whereas marvin stated, “while i was already aware of it, i think my international experience has made me much more equipped to teach content outside of the american perspective.” others emphasized the importance of international studies and multicultural literature, as well as how to use specific intercultural interactions such as pen pal exchanges and class trips abroad. to assess how the student teaching abroad experience has impacted the participants in this study in the two years since they completed their student teaching, all of the 13 participants completed a survey. whereas maggie, nico, masie, marissa, linda, marvin, kaleigh, colin, zabrina, celeste, and lindsay obtained teaching positions, madeleine decided to return to school to obtain a master’s degree in cultural studies as well as reading education, and phoebe decided to pursue a master’s degree in educational policy. most remarkably, however, five of the 13 participants obtained a position teaching abroad. celeste, who student taught in the netherlands, completed a fulbright in semarang, indonesia, before returning to the states to accept a teaching position. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 after his first year of teaching in the states, nico accepted a position teaching science in abu dhabi in the united arab emirates, one of several countries he has traveled to since his time in cost. he indicated that his experience teaching in cost helped him have a high level of patience, to break “simple-minded stereotypes” his students have developed through media about other cultures, and to always consider situations and ideas from the perspective of others, including those of his students and colleagues. masie, who did her student teaching in germany, also chose to go abroad once her cost experience was complete. she spent two years teaching english at an international language school in osaka, japan, before returning to the united states where she found employment as an educator at the local metropolitan zoo in anticipation of obtaining a new teaching position. likewise, marvin, realizing from his cost experience that “there is so much more to learn [from other cultures] than [he] previously thought,” obtained a teaching position at the american school in guatemala city, guatemala. zabrina, who spent her cost time in costa rica, wanted to continue her global learning and accepted a position teaching english in shanghai, china. she described her cost experience as “extremely valuable” and further indicated that “it’s impossible not to recognize your western privilege when it’s staring you in the face everyday. as westerners, we live privileged lives not just in our home countries, but when we live/travel out of them as well.” whether they chose to return to the u.s. or continued to work abroad, all 13 participants indicated that their experience had impacted them both personally and professionally. marvin explained that it made him “more eager to listen and learn about the cultures around [him].” kaleigh responded that she has “been even more interested in everything that is going on in the world.” she continued, “most students have a very narrow idea of the world. some never leave the county they grew up in.” kaleigh also indicated that she has “been looking into news of other countries” to use for instructional purposes in order to better inform her math students of the world in which they live. “by expanding their knowledge of the world, it makes them better educated and more well-rounded as a person,” she responded. colin, who student taught in the netherlands, found that “people in europe often are more up to date on current affairs in the united states than people here.” reflective of the minimization stage, colin elaborated on the significance of his cost experience: in a general sense, i think the most important thing is gaining an understanding that no matter where we live in this world, we are all part of the human race. creating barriers mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 and separating people into groups will not advance us as a species … my cost experience solidified the notion that we are really all a people of one here on earth. i do whatever i can to display this notion when i hear any sort of bigotry, intolerance, or divisiveness talked about by both kids and adults. the cost experience also had a profound impact on masie. she responded, “it will always have an impact on my teaching. it has made me into who i am today … it has helped me to better reach and understand students from all cultures.” similarly, marissa responded that her student teaching abroad changed her entire worldview. she “actually got to grow up” and become independent. she learned to “trust [her] instincts and to trust [her] students.” she commented, “getting out of the country and realizing that our country isn’t ‘all that’ has made me more aware of problems that really made me care more about the world outside the us.” in addition to their global awareness, participants believed that global education is important for personal and professional reasons as well. similar to marvin, the majority of participants argued that they gained a deeper understanding of the world, have become more open-minded and tolerant, and understand the importance of addressing stereotypes and opening students’ minds to multiple perspectives. for example, zabrina thought that “maybe if we had a global education course required in all schools we could start to eradicate racism.” to further enhance their own global awareness while teaching abroad, marvin and zabrina decided to learn spanish and chinese, respectively. in addition, traveling and meeting new people was another way for marvin, masie, zabrina, and celeste to enhance their personal global awareness, whereas linda reads “biographies and autobiographies written by people around the world” and enhances her “global-mindedness by teaching [her] lessons and talking to family and friends.” she contended that by just being in her classroom and through mini-lessons, her students would become more global-minded. lillian, who student taught in ireland, reflected that she “was pretty sheltered as a child [from] everything going on around the world” and that it “would be great to educate kids about those places.” celeste succinctly argued, “we do not live in a world whereby a community can isolate itself … all young people, regardless of their chosen paths, will enter a global world.” referring to herself as “a small town girl” before student teaching abroad, marissa now found herself “keep[ing] up with what is going on in [new zealand]” and “eager to explore more corners of the globe and to experience the lives of others.” unfortunately, the participants offered few examples of global lesson activities, suggesting that the impact of student teaching abroad is more subtle rather than explicit. whereas marvin indicated that he taught distinct lessons on the un millennium goals and the un declaration of mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 human rights, most responses were less explicit. linda had her kindergartners examine pictures she took in ireland and celebrate st. patricks’ day. nico taught his students about abu dhabi’s global leadership in alternative energy as they watched cnn student news at least twice weekly. also, although celeste felt constrained by a prescribed curriculum, she chose “articles for [her] students to read from other countries” whenever possible. madeleine and phoebe were the only two participants who did not pursue a teaching position, yet they similarly responded that student teaching abroad had a significant impact on their global awareness and chose occupations working in education nonetheless. as a student advisor at a local vocational junior college, madeleine said: even though i’m not working as a teacher, cost has allowed me to reference and expand on skills i learned while teaching abroad. even more, the political and social understanding i gained while teaching has lent itself well to discussions with my students, who often have few reference points for global awareness … [i] consider more deeply the impact of decisions i make every day working with low-income and first-generation students. madeleine found herself unable “to ignore the things that are happening around [her]” and began “pay[ing] attention to international headlines.” similarly, working as a camp director and after-school enrichment coordinator, phoebe argued that it made her more “aware of” and “more open-minded to other cultures, religions and international affairs,” as well as “more willing to try something new and work with people from different cultures.” finally, while marissa initially started a teaching career in her hometown, she commented that “it takes a special breed to teach in the public school system in america.” she argued: i was so happy to teach honors programs, to build curriculum and to actively produce more rigorous examinations and lessons, but i was not able to hold up against school politics and federal control…teach[ing] to the test and worry[ing] nonstop about my students’ success based on percentages … ruined my passion for teaching. after accepting a position as a copy writer and editor for an online apparel company, she decided to go back to school to pursue a master’s degree in english, hoping to one day “find [her] way back to teaching” at the collegiate level. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 conclusion the preservice teachers in this study perceived their student teaching abroad experience to be both advantageous and effective in preparing them for their future classrooms. regarding the advantages they believed to have over teacher candidates who student teach in the u.s., several factors they referenced are key elements of becoming global-minded. for example, they recognized the importance of viewing the world from multiple perspectives rather than seeing everything through an ameri-centric lens. in addition, they expressed an increase in global awareness along with an understanding of the importance of being able to effectively interact across cultures. another advantage they noted was an increase in confidence that surged as a result of the unique condition of being on their own in a foreign country and teaching students who, in some cases, did not speak the same language. in regard to these preservice teachers’ beliefs about the effectiveness of the program in preparing them for their future as teachers, all participants expressed that the program did indeed prepare them to be effective classroom teachers. three main themes emerged: first, they reported increased confidence in how to differentiate across learning abilities, levels of language proficiency, and culture. second, they indicated they had an increased ability to adapt to change, new settings, and new curriculum. third, they shared the general belief that their cost program was the best student teaching experience they could have had to prepare them for their professional future. more than two years after having completed their student teaching abroad, the cost experience continued to have a personal and professional impact on all participants in this study as well as on their students. they argued that student teaching abroad enhanced their global awareness and that global education is important to themselves as well as to their students. while not many offered examples of explicitly taught global lesson activities, their responses strongly suggest the experience continues to inform their instruction and interaction with their students and others in subtle, less explicit ways as they continue to find themselves more interested in the global world and seeking opportunities to share their global experience with others. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 appendix a participants term name program placement summer 2013 madeleine integrated language arts south africa marvin integrated social studies south africa marissa integrated language arts new zealand fall 2013 maggie integrated language arts ireland masie integrated language arts germany colin middle childhood mathematics & social studies netherlands phoebe integrated language arts germany linda early childhood ireland nico middle childhood science & social studies australia lillian integrated mathematics ireland spring 2014 kaleigh integrated mathematics new zealand zabrina spanish costa rica celeste integrated language arts netherlands appendix b exit survey questions 1. what aspects of your orientation experiences at the university proved most helpful during your abroad student teaching experience, including meetings with your cost coordinator, the cost class, your practicum, and the office of education abroad? 2. were there any aspects of your orientation experiences you would like to see strengthened or handled differently? if so, what were they? 3. what discoveries did you make about yourself while student teaching abroad? mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 4. what did you learn from your cooperating teacher[s] that most helped you grow professionally? 5. please describe the student teaching supervision you received. are you satisfied with the level of supervision you received? 6. what parts of your cost experience did you find the most professionally rewarding? 7. who were your best cultural teachers? what did you learn about “being american?” please explain. 8. what did you learn from your participation in your community in which you student taught? 9. what did you learn from your host family or other living arrangements you made? 10. in retrospect, what aspect(s) of your student teaching experience proved to be most difficult or challenging? how did you address challenges? 11. in retrospect, what aspect(s) of your student teaching experience proved to be most rewarding? 12. in what ways do you think you are different from teacher candidates who have not had the cost experience? 13. do you think your participation in the cost program has prepared you to be an effective teacher? briefly describe your answer. 14. describe your most positive or rewarding experience. describe the area or experience you found most difficult. 15. what did you learn about yourself as a result of the cost experience? 16. how will you or how are you using your international experience in the classroom? 17. did the experience meet or exceed your expectations? why or why not? appendix c what are you up to now? please complete part 1 only if you are a current teacher. if not, please skip to part 2. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 part 1: current teachers 1. at what school[s] have you taught since you completed cost? 2. in what city/state/country is/was [are/were] this/these school[s] located? 3. what is the name of the school at which you taught this past school year? please indicate the address and website of the school. 4. will you be teaching at the same school next year? if not, where will you teach? please indicate the address and website of the school. 5 what subject(s) have you taught since you became a teacher? when did you teach each subject? 6. for each subject that you taught, when and at what grade level did you teach it? 7. what was/is the ethnic composition of your school’s student population by percentage? [white, african american, etc.] 8. what percentage of your school’s student population is economically disadvantaged? [for example, what percentage of your school’s students are on free/reduced meals?] 9. what percentage of your school’s student population receives special education services? 10. why did you choose to work at the school[s] where you are/have been employed? 11. how did cost impact your personal global awareness? please explain/elaborate. 12. do you believe your global awareness has had an impact on your teaching? if so, how? if not, why not? 13. if so, how has and/or does your cost experience inform[ed] your teaching? 14. please provide a 1st of three examples of a global lesson activity in which you have engaged your students to enhance their global awareness. 15. why do you believe this lesson was effective or not? mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 16. please provide a 2nd of three examples of a global lesson activity in which you have engaged your students to enhance their global awareness. 17. why do you believe this lesson was effective or not? 18. please provide a 3rd of three examples of a global lesson activity in which you have engaged your students to enhance their global awareness. 19. why do you believe this lesson was effective or not? 20. if you did not teach any specific lesson focused on your students’ global awareness, how did you infuse global awareness into your curriculum? 21. do you think global education is important? why or why not? 22. if so, how do you think your global awareness will continue to impact your students in future years? 23. what are you doing personally to enhance your global-mindedness? please describe, give some examples. part 2: non-teachers 1. are you currently employed? if so, where are you employed? what is your position? 2. why are you currently not employed in a teaching position? 3. do you intend to seek a teaching position in the near future? 4. what have you done [employment/education] since completing the cost program? 5. how did cost impact your personal global awareness? please explain/elaborate. 6. what impact has your global awareness had on you professionally? 7. what impact has your global awareness had on you personally? 8. what are you doing personally to enhance your global-mindedness? please describe, give some examples. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 references: colville-hall, s., & adamowicz-hariasz, m. (2010). going global, a requirement for the 21st century: how teacher candidates and a community benefit from teachers abroad. ohio social studies review, 46(1), 48-55. consortium of abroad student teaching [cost]. (2016). welcome. retrieved from http://www.gvsu.edu/cost creswell, j. w., & poth, c. n. (2017). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. los angeles, ca: sage publications, inc. cushner, k. (2007). the role of experience in the making of internationally minded teachers. teacher education quarterly, 34(1), 27-39. cushner, k. (2012). intercultural competence for teaching and learning. in b.d. shaklee & s. baily (eds.), internationalizing teacher education in the united states (pp. 41-58). lanham, md: rowan & littlefield publishers, inc. dana, n. f., & silva, d. y. (2003). the reflective educator's guide to classroom research: learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. doppen. (2010). abroad student teaching and national identity: why go somewhere you feel completely comfortable? journal of international social studies 1(1), 3-19. gonzález-carriedo, r., lópez de nava, j., & salas martínez, m. (2017). international student teaching: a transformational experience. journal of international students, 7(3), 841855. institute of international education. (2016). open doors data: u.s. study abroad. retrieved from https://www.iie.org/research-and-insights/open-doors/data/us-study-abroad/fieldsof-study longview foundation. (2008). teacher preparation for a global age: the imperative for change. retrieved from http://www.longviewfdn.org/files/44.pdf longview foundation. (2015). our mission. retrieved from http://longviewfdn.org/about/mission mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.gvsu.edu/cost https://www.iie.org/research-and-insights/open-doors/data/us-study-abroad/fields-of-study https://www.iie.org/research-and-insights/open-doors/data/us-study-abroad/fields-of-study http://www.longviewfdn.org/files/44.pdf http://longviewfdn.org/about/mission journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 martin, l. c. (2012). international student teaching in non-western cultures: impact on first year teachers (unpublished doctoral dissertation). iowa state university, ames, ia. mcgaha, j. m., & linder, s. m. (2014). determining teacher candidates’ attitudes toward globalmindedness. action in teacher education, 36, 305-321. merriam, s. b. (2016). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. merryfield, m., tin-yau lo, j., & po, s. (2008). worldmindedness: taking off the blinders. journal of curriculum and instruction, 2(1), 6-20. nafsa: association of international educators. (2014). study abroad participation by state: academic year 2012-2013. retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/_/file/_/studyabroad_statebystate_2012-2013.pdf national education association. (2010). global competence is a 21st century imperative. retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/he/pb28a_global_competence11.pdf schneider, a. i. (2004). what can be done to internationalize teacher training? a research report on the undergraduate training of secondary school teachers. international studies perspectives, 5(3), 316-320. shaklee, b. d., & baily, s. (eds.). (2012). internationalizing teacher education in the united states. lanham, md: rowan & littlefield publishers, inc. shiveley, j. m., & misco, t. (2012). student teaching abroad will help you get a job: exploring administrator perceptions of international experiences for preservice teachers. the international education journal: comparative perspectives, 11(1), 52-68. shiveley, j. m., & misco, t. (2015). long-term impacts of short-term study abroad: teacher perceptions of preservice study abroad experiences. frontiers: the interdisciplinary journal of study abroad, 25, 107-120. stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. stewart, v. (2013). succeeding globally: transforming the teaching profession. international educator, may-june, 82-87. thomas, s. (2012). the influence an abroad teaching experience has on teaching decisions (unpublished doctoral dissertation). boston university: boston, ma. vande berg, m., phoebe, r. m., & lou, k. h. (2012). student learning abroad: paradigms and mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.nafsa.org/_/file/_/studyabroad_statebystate_2012-2013.pdf http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/he/pb28a_global_competence11.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 78-97 corresponding author: doppen@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 assumptions. in m. vande berg, r. m. phoebe, & k. h. lou (eds.), student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 328). sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. yin, r. k. (2002). case study research. beverly hills, ca: sage publications. about the authors: frans h. doppen is a professor of social studies education and chair of the department of teacher education in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. kristin diki is a doctoral student in educational studies in the patton college of education at ohio university in athens, ohio. mailto:doppen@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 the nigeria teachers social studies training curriculum and sustainable development goals: a content analysis ayodeji p. ifegbesan university of johannesburg & olabisi onabanjo university, nigeria m. b. lawal adeniran ogunsanya college of education, nigeria isaac t. rampedi university of johannesburg abstract: the concept of sustainable development has become a widely used construct that is incorporated into virtually all disciplines and discourses. the implementation and achievement of sustainable development goals in the management of our environmental resources cannot be realized without education, especially at a formal level. teacher training institutions (colleges of education and faculties of education in universities) are expected through their courses to engage and create awareness of sustainability issues using their training programs. this paper, therefore, presents a content analysis of sustainability themes and concepts in the college of education social studies curriculum in nigeria. this is with the ultimate goal of exploring how any noticed gaps that could inhibit the promotion of education for sustainable development through teacher training can be filled so that the post-2015 sustainable development goals may be better achieved. keywords: social studies, sustainable development, nigeria, pre-service teachers. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 introduction globally, education has been recognized as fundamentally important to addressing the critical international and national challenges facing humanity. ever since the 1987 brundtland report, “our common future,” expressed international concern for tackling social, economic, and environmental challenges in the issues of sustainability and sustainable development, these have become important issues for teachers and teacher educators. the brundtland report argued that “the world’s teachers have a crucial role to play in helping to bring about the extensive social changes needed for sustainable development.” agenda 21 was emphatic about the role of education in advancing the goals of sustainable development: “education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues. it is critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviours, consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision-making” (unced, 1992, chap 36, 2). what is explicit in this context is the vital role of teachers and teacher education institutions as a key mechanism for building the capacity of would-be teachers in the process of attaining a sustainable future. there is an abundance of research into teacher training curricula and sustainable development goals. (this research, however, is notably lacking in the nigerian context.) in a case study conducted in five faculties of education in manitoba, canada, it was noted that, despite relevant efforts made for the integration of this education into pre-service teacher education institutions, education for sustainable development was poorly incorporated into the curriculum (falkenberg & babiuk, 2014). álvarez-garcía, sureda-negre, and comas-forgas (2016) reported that students indicated that the environmental education course had provided them with new knowledge about environmental matters, improved their environmental awareness, and allowed them to discover new teaching methods for their practice; consequently, it was suggested that courses on environmental issues should be introduced in teacher training curricula in order to improve environmental literacy and sustainability. sustainability is a complex concept to define. its definition tends to connect to the un bruntland commission definition of sustainable development, which is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 according to clough, chameau, and carmichael (2006), sustainability is “a process that helps create a vibrant economy and a high quality of life, while respecting the need to sustain natural resources and protect the environment. it expresses the principle that future generations should live in a world that the present generation has enjoyed but not diminished.” from the viewpoint of the association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education (aashe), sustainability is seen as “encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods and a better world for all generations.” succinctly, sustainability is knowledge and practices in the utilization of natural resources that meet the needs of present generations without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. it is about practices that support human, ecological, economic, and social vitality. three interrelated dimensions of sustainability are common in the literature: environment, sociocultural, and economics. various scholars have advanced the nexus between education and development, and there seems to be consensus that education is and remains an effective means for addressing developmental challenges (resnik, 2006; benavot, 2002). in this respect, teachers have been identified as critical agents for this task. the period of the 2005-2015 decade education for sustainable development (desd) of the united nations educational scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) hinged it on the recognition of the important role of education in the future realization of the sustainability of environmental resources and economic and social well-being. in the post-2015 agenda, the united nations expanded and identified 17 sustainable development goals with 169 targets to be pursued and achieved by the year 2030. the sdg agenda acknowledges the role of education in the socio-economic and political progress of all. goal 4, target 4.7, aims to … ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development (united nations, 2015). mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 undoubtedly, the goal and targets have implications for teacher education. in order for teacher education programs to be effective, the knowledge of sustainable development, theories of teaching and learning, and practical knowledge of teaching skills or experience should be integrated into the training programs. teacher education institutions should prepare teacher trainees to play a role in addressing the ecological and socio-economic concerns and democratic values of the society. teacher trainees, both pre-service and in-service, need to be empowered, well-trained, professionally qualified, and supported within well-resourced, efficient, and effectively planned teacher education programs in order to achieve sdg 4 (rambla & langthaler, 2016). teacher education in nigeria: an overview according to good’s dictionary of education, teacher education includes “all the formal and nonformal activities and experiences that help to qualify a person to assume responsibilities of a member of the educational profession or to discharge his responsibilities more effectively.” from osuji’s (2015) perspective, it is the “professional education of teachers towards attainment of attitudes, skills and knowledge considered desirable so as to make them efficient and effective in their work in accordance with the need of a society at any point in time” (p. 296). lawal (2013), quoting obanya (2007), added that teacher education is a program related to the development of the proficiency and competence of teachers for the purpose of empowering them to meet the requirements of the profession and face the challenges therein. it encompasses teaching skills, sound pedagogical theory, and professional skills. the evolution of teacher education in nigeria can be traced back to the establishment of the hope-waddel training institute at calabar in 1895 and st. andrew’s college, oyo, in 1896. a major significant event in the development of teacher education in nigeria involved the implementation of recommendations of the ashby commission’s 1959 report on education (nakpodia & urien, 2011; ekpiken & ukpabio, 2014; osuji, 2015). at the time of its independence in 1960, nigeria did not have a teacher training college awarding certificates higher than diploma and grade i teacher’s certificates. however, with the report of the ashby commission, which prescribed education as a tool for national economic expansion, tertiary institutions were established, including five universities, and grade i teachers colleges were upgraded to nigeria mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 certificate in education-awarding colleges called advanced teacher training colleges (many of which are now called colleges of education), established to produce well-qualified non-graduate teachers to teach lower classes in the secondary schools (lawal, 2013). another part of the ashby commission’s recommendation was the introduction of courses in education leading to bachelor’s degrees in education (bachelor of arts in education b.a (ed.) or bachelor of science in education b.sc. (ed.) or bachelor of education b.ed.). the university of nigeria started awarding the b.a. (ed.) and b.sc. (ed.) in 1961, the university of ibadan in 1963, ahmadu bello university in 1964, university of lagos in 1965, and the university of ife, ile-ife, in 1967. in nigeria, teacher education programs are offered at both preand in-service levels by different teacher education institutions. the national policy on education (frn, 2014:30) states that “no education system may rise above the quality of its teachers.” it states that the goals of teacher education are to:  produce highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our school system;  encourage further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers;  help teachers to fit into social life of the community and the society at large and enhance their commitment to national goals.  provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and make them adaptable to changing situations;  enhance teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession. in addition, the policy states that “teacher education shall continue to take cognizance of changes in methodology and in the curriculum; and teachers shall be regularly exposed to innovations in their profession” (p.31). the national policy on education (frn, 2013) prescribes the teaching of social studies as a core subject in the primary and junior secondary schools and as an elective at the senior secondary school. the implication of this is that social studies education is recognized as a subject capable of assisting in the realization of the national objectives of education, which in themselves are a reflection of the national philosophy. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 the national commission for colleges of education (ncce) was established in 1989 by the federal government of nigeria to ensure quality control and maintenance of national minimum standards for the training of teachers for the nigeria certificate in education (nce). one of the major responsibilities of the ncce is to design a curriculum for all programs that will meet the aims of the beneficiaries. the ncce pursues its functions through accreditation, monitoring and inspection exercises of all teacher training institutions. the main functions of the ncce include harmonizing entry requirements and duration of courses in the colleges, and laying down minimum standards and accreditations for all programs of teacher education after obtaining the government’s approval. the colleges of education, according to the ncce, are tertiary educational institutions that prepare intermediate-level teachers for a minimum of three years to qualify them to teach their respective subjects. there are a total of 82 colleges of education in nigeria, with 22 federal, 14 private, and 46 state colleges. the nigeria certificate in education (nce) is a three-year program of teacher education designed to expose the students to courses in general education, subject areas, subject methodology, and teaching practice. thus, according to the national commission for colleges of education’s minimum standards (2012), the social studies program is designed with the goal of producing teachers who are both professionally committed and academically competent in its philosophy, content, and methodology. the program is designed to achieve the following:  produce professionally and academically competent nce social studies teachers for the basic 1-9 schools;  prepare teachers who will inculcate in their pupils rational adjustment to their physical and social environment through acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, values, appreciations, and skills necessary for developing social and civic responsibilities;  produce students who are capable of benefiting from further education in social studies and other related areas. these objectives and curriculum structure indicate that the graduates of the nce program are expected to be professionally competent in their chosen career. therefore, the curriculum mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 contains components of real work and professional studies in teaching that will produce a competent social studies teacher. in nigeria, social studies is defined as the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. within the school program, social studies provide a coordinated and systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. social studies education in nigeria is a problem-solving school subject (ogunyemi, 2003, 2005). it implies that the country requires not only citizens who can think critically and constructively, but also those with sound social, political, and environmental orientation. social studies as a discipline and as a way of life strives to equip the young learners with such knowledge, values, and skills through its contents and methods. its content is rich and versatile, the methods diverse and unique. the nigerian social studies program is designed to:  develop a capacity to learn and acquire basic skills including those of listening, reading, speaking, writing, and calculation, together with those of observation, analysis, and inference, which are essential to the formation of sound judgment;  ensure the acquisition of the relevant body of knowledge and information which is an essential pre-requisite to personal development as well as to a positive personal contribution to the betterment of humankind; create awareness that discipline is essential for an orderly society;  inculcate positive values and appropriate values of integrity, honesty, hard work, fairness, justice, and togetherness for the development of the nation;  develop the ability for a rational utilization of cultural, spiritual, and natural resources and their conservation for national development;  appreciate the diversity and interdependence of all members of the local and national communities and the country and international understanding (ogunyemi, 2003). there are few detailed studies on education for sustainability in nigeria (ajayi et al., 2004; raheem et al., 2004; ogunyemi, 2005). research on document/content analysis of sustainability mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 concepts is rare in the literature. the purpose of this study, therefore, is to analyze the content of the social studies curriculum of the nigeria certificate in education minimum standards for arts and social sciences (2012 edition) for sustainability themes and concepts. specifically, the following questions were raised: to what extent do national commission for colleges of education curriculum standards for social studies contain themes and topics of sustainable development and sustainability? what dominant general categories and patterns regarding sustainable development goals and sustainability are expressed in the document? method this qualitative study employed a content analysis tool of relational analysis to assess the extent to which sustainability themes and concepts are reflected in the social studies courses of the college of education in nigeria. the social studies curriculum of the nigeria certificate in education minimum standards for arts and social sciences (2012 edition) is the curriculum document prescribing all the courses in the subject at the college of education level in the country. the study also carried out the identification and development of categories and strands of education for sustainable development (esd). this involved identifying the tripod components of esd with their respective strands, presented in table 1. table 1: the tripod components of esd and their corresponding strands  socio-cultural  food security  human rights  peace and human security  gender equality  cultural diversity, intercultural understanding  health, hiv/aids  governance  environmental  natural resources  climate change  rural development  sustainable urbanization  air quality  biodiversity and habitat  disaster prevention and mitigation  economic perspectives  poverty reduction  corporate responsibility and accountability  market economy mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 the analysis involved x-raying the curriculum content areas using each of the strands to determine the degree of their focus on sustainability and sustainable goals. the nce minimum standards curriculum for nce social studies was also analyzed. this involved exploring the meaning of the topics and the underlying physical messages derivable from them in relation to the earlier identified categories and strands of esd. the percentage of such reflections was calculated for each of the topics using the content of their course description vis-à-vis the major esd categories. the results were then used to draw inferences about the percentage of topics and concepts reflecting esd categories and corresponding strands in the curriculum. results table 2 shows the courses recommended for pre-service social studies teachers, either as a single or double major academic program, and the percentage of esd concepts reflected in them. from our analysis, the social studies curriculum of the nigeria certificate in education minimum standards for arts and social sciences (2012 edition) contains many topics with direct and indirect relevance to sustainable development and sustainability. the program operates course unit system. courses have units and status. the status implies whether it is compulsory (courses a student must take and pass) or elective (courses a student can take in order to make up the required additional units for the award of the certificate) and this determines the number of lecture hours allocated for each course. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 table 2: social studies topics in the ncce in nigeria and percentage of esd concepts reflected in the curriculum year 1 course title course description units course status % foundation of social studies the definition and scope of social studies the philosophical background of social studies a) in relation to the national policy on education b) in relation to theory of interrelationships in learning the concept of integration in social studies the relationship between social studies, the social sciences, and other subjects aims and objectives of social studies the relationship between social studies and population, family life, drug and aids education. 2 compulsory 0% man and his social environment explain the basic concepts of man in the social environment definition and types of man’s social environment* why man lives in groups* family-types, structure, functions, and changing roles* 2 compulsory 64% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl02$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl03$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 forms and problems of marriage: customary, religious, and ordinance safe age for marriage, family formation, child bearing and rearing practices* primary and secondary groups definitions, characteristics, and functions kinship systems in africa* factors that promote living together: love, customs, morality, folkways, mores, laws women education family welfare* gender roles * man and his physical environment apply the knowledge obtained in carrying out their daily activities develop the right attitudes towards issue of environmental control and management* the concept of physical environment: minerals and rocks; relief features, soils; atmosphere, weather and climate; vegetation; water bodies (ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, lagoons, seas and oceans). the influence of physical environment on man’s activities and vice-versa* 2 compulsory 100% introduction to nerdc national 2 0% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl05$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 curriculum for social studies nigeria as a nation the concept of nation nigeria as a geo-political entity ethnic groups in nigeria (number, characteristics, and location) population of nigeria: size and distribution integration: concept and forms efforts at national integration (national symbols, new capital city, constitutions, nysc, unity schools, federal highways, etc.) problems of national integration 1 elective 0% origin and nature of man the various explanations of the origin of man, namely: religious, mythical, and scientific. the beginning of man from apes to homo-sapiens harmonizing forces (tool making, language, social organization and management of man’s prolonged childhood) the uniqueness of man the interdependence of man race and racism humanity universality 1 elective 0% man and his economic activities man’s basic economic problems; scarcity and choice* factors of production* 2 elective 67% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl07$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl08$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 man’s reactions to supply and demand of goods and services production systems: primary, secondary, and tertiary* sources of government revenue in nigeria economic problems: inflation, unemployment, poverty and poverty alleviation programmes* man and his government the concepts and role of government in society power and authority traditional forms of government: family, clan, village, town, empire, etc.* modern forms of government: democracy, autocracy, monarchy, and the military organs of government executive, legislative, judiciary, and the press tiers of government in nigeria local, state, and federal; emphasizing their structure and functions* 2 compulsory 40% year ii nigeria political life the concepts of nation, state, and country nationalist movements and political parties before independence 2 compulsory 0% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 independence, the republics, and the political parties military rule in nigeria political issues (population size, power sharing/shift, revenue allocation, resource control, etc.) constitutions (meaning, purposes, types) constitutional developments in nigeria since 1914 general provision of the current nigerian constitution (fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy, citizenship, fundamental human rights, arms of government, fct and general supplementary provision practicum for nigerian educational research and development council (nerdc) national curriculum an overview of nerdc social studies national curriculum for basic 7-9. distinctions among curriculum, syllabus, scheme of work, unit plan, and lesson plan; locating social studies syllabuses; preparation of lesson plans in social studies; distinction among teaching methods, techniques, and strategies; an overview of social studies teaching methods; an overview of instructional resources in social studies; evaluation strategies in social studies, microteaching (meaning and approaches). 2 compulsory 0% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 social studies research methods and statistics research concept and content of research: types of research; choice of research topic; purposes/objectives of research review of relevant literature research methodology (research design): stating research problem; choice of population; sample and sampling techniques; hypothesising data collection techniques: observation, interview, questionnaire, etc. organisation and presentation of data and statistical representation. appendices bibliography and references statistics: meaning, types, and uses descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency; measures of variability inferential statistics: parametric and non-parametric 2 compulsory 0% field trip the course will afford the students the opportunity to visit both far and near environments in terms of educative interest in social studies. students will be out for one to four days of studying both physical and social phenomenon, human activities in terms of housing, occupational practices, dressing, culture, etc. students will be able to write a 3 compulsory 40% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl05$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 study-report on undertaking field exercise, and by so doing, develop in learners skills of data collection, e.g. interceding, documentation, and reporting. issues and problems of national development and modernization nature and concepts of national development meaning, nature and relationship between modernization and national development* dimensions of national development (economic development, political development, social development, legal development, educational development, technology and health, etc.) problems of national development (poor data base, corruption, poor plan implementation, external manipulations and illiteracy, etc.) factors and processes of modernization* aspects of modernization (population, urbanization, education, science and technology, socio-cultural, political, and economic)* 2 compulsory 50% citizenship education the concept of socialization types of socialization (primary, secondary, adult) 2 compulsory 29% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl07$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 agents of socialization (family, peer group, school, mass media, church, mosque, etc.) processes of socialization political socialization and mass mobilization (mamser, noa, etc.) problems of socialization the role of social studies in the socialization and production of good citizens the concepts of citizen and citizenship education types of citizenship (single and dual) citizenship acquisition in nigeria (by birth, by registration, and by national naturalization) renunciation and denial of citizenship qualities and duties of a good citizen fundamental human rights* lawful denial of fundamental human rights* violation and protection of human rights* ways in which human rights are violated* ways of protecting human rights* social services and social change in nigeria social administration and social policies defined educational institutions: structures and functions in nigeria 1 elective 54% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 health institutions: structure and functions, national aids/std control programmes in nigeria (nascp)* housing policy* other services and utilities: fire, prison, postal, old age pension, nigeria police force, water supply, electricity, transport, communication attitude to public utilities population pressure on social services in nigeria* the concept of change theories of change types of change factors and processes of change changes in nigeria before and after 1960 in demographic, economic, sociocultural and political system* change and its effects on the individual and the family in nigeria* law-related education the process of law making in nigeria -litigations, criminal and civil cases -administration of justice; the function of the police, courts and law and prisons services. the course will equally take a critical look at the role of the judiciary in the implementation of the law, e.g. the hierarchy of courts, personal and independence 1 elective 0% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 a detailed study of “you and the law” transportation and communication the differences between transportation and communication traditional and modern means of transportation: advantages and problems* traditional and modern means of communication: advantages and problems (e-mail, fax, telex, radio, internet. practical application should be demonstrated to students* the role of transportation and communication on national development the mass media-what is mass media, their role in national development problems, etc. students should develop case studies materials on any mass media of their choice (it should form part of student c.a). 1 elective 33% year iii teaching practice 6 compulsory 0% research project 3 compulsory 0% population and family life education the concept of population the concept of family life the family life education the objective of population education 2 compulsory 25% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl03$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 the objective of family life education gender issues and family life education* family size and welfare* the roles of members of the family the responsibility of parenthood population data, i.e. census and vital registration population distribution in nigeria and africa the relationship between social studies and population, family life, and aids education.* national population policy (npp) population dynamics: growth, decline and structure and their socio-economic implication* methods of teaching population/family life education nigeria external relations the concept of internal relation nigerian foreign policies (principles and policies) nigeria and ecowas (formation, functioning and problems) man in international community world tension: causes and solutions (games, conferences and membership, etc.*) nigeria in the commonwealth nigeria in opec 2 compulsory 22% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl05$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 nigeria in the uno (contribution) benefit and problems)* nigeria in the africa union social institutions the concept of the social institution structure and functions of different social institutions such as legal political, economic, religious, educational, health institutions, etc. in nigeria* problems of social institutions in nigeria* religion in society religion in nigeria religion and morality religion and politics conflict and tolerance in nigeria 1 elective 25% globalization the concept of globalization historical antecedents (colonialism, imperialism, europeanization, westernization, americanization, etc.) who is globalizing, and what is being globalized? who is globalizing, and what cannot be globalized? impact of globalization on the south (i.e. developing and underdeveloped countries, including nigeria)* what can nigeria globalize? how? (i.e. nigeria and the globalization process) 1 elective 17% mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 *environmental studies the concept of environment* the scope of environmental studies* environmental hazards:* i) natural: soil erosion, drought, desert encroachment, ocean encroachment, flooding, storms, etc.* ii) man-generated: air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, and despoliation* environmental management in nigeria (laws and policies)* 3 compulsory 100% **contemporary public issues std/hiv/aids scourge* human rights* poverty and poverty alleviation* food crises* human trafficking values education* safety awareness education* life skills, personal skills* drug abuse* peace education* child abuse* cultism religious and ethnic conflicts, etc. corruption – the role of efcc and icpc, etc. 2 compulsory 71% *topics and concepts reflecting esd categories and strands **only offered in the double major in social studies mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 the results of the content analysis revealed that about 16 out of the 25 topics highlighted in the curriculum reflect elements of sustainable development goals and sustainability, as shown in table 3.this is a reflection of high percentage (64%). table 3: sustainable development related topics in nce social studies curriculum in nigeria single major year environmental perspective socio-cultural perspectives economic perspectives i man and his physical environment (100%) man and his social environment (64%) man and his economic activities (67%) man and his government (40%) ii issues and problems of national development and modernization (50%) social services and social change in nigeria (54%) citizenship education (40%) iii population and family life education (25%) social institutions (25%) nigeria external relations (22%) globalization (77%) field trip (40%) transportation and communication (33%) transportation and communication (33%) double major ll environmental studies (100%) contemporary public issues (71%) mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl03$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl08$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl07$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 from the curriculum content analysis in table 2, it was discovered that only four topics reflected the environmental perspectives of sustainability, while eight and four reflected socio-cultural and economic perspectives, respectively. discussion the results of the curriculum content analysis illuminated that only 2.1 % of the social studies curriculum of the nigeria certificate in education minimum standards for arts and social sciences (2012 edition) reflects environmental perspectives, while 3.2% and 1.6% reflect socio-cultural and economic perspectives, respectively. nevertheless, we can still examine the relevance of each of these percentages to each of the three strands of sustainability previously highlighted. social studies pre-service teachers’ curriculum and environmental perspectives when we look at the social studies curriculum in terms of environmental perspectives, we observe that environment is at the core of social studies. with topics like “man and his physical environment,” “man and his economic activities,” “issues and problems of national development and modernization,” “environmental hazards,” and “environmental management” in the social studies curriculum, sustainable development issues such as disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change, rural development, air quality, biodiversity and habitat, and sustainable urbanization can be imparted into the pre-service teachers during training. it was also observed that the curriculum contains topics which can be explored to promote esd values such as social justice, unity, independence, peace, respect, responsibility, citizenship, patriotism, religious tolerance, loyalty, cultural identity, equality, etc. it is believed that exposing the teacher-trainees to these topics can lay a very sound foundation for them to prepare those they are going to teach, post-graduation. furthermore, they become better positioned to prepare for natural disasters and acquisition of sustainable development ethics. social studies pre-service teachers’ curriculum and socio-cultural perspectives the effective teaching of topics like “man and social environment,” “social institution,” “population and family life,” and “citizenship education” prescribed in the curriculum can contribute to the realization of sustainable development goals relating to the socio-cultural mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl04$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl08$labelsubtheme','') javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl06$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 perspectives strand of sustainability, which includes human rights, peace and human security, gender equality, cultural diversity and intercultural understanding, health, hiv/aids, and governance. where the social studies teachers effectively maximize the teaching of these topics with their trainees, they are more likely to become better groomed in the understanding of cultural diversity and intercultural relationships. they will also be up to date in a rapidly developing world, solve the problems they come across, and become more responsible. social studies pre-service teachers’ curriculum and economic perspectives when we look at the social studies curriculum in terms of economic perspectives, we can see that the economy, one of the important fields of social studies, makes its effect felt in the curriculum. yalcinkaya (2013) confirmed this by observing that a “production, distribution and consumption” learning domain has been formed with an economy-based approach. the economic perspectives of the sustainability principle consist of three sub-perspectives, which include poverty reduction, market economy, and corporate responsibility and accountability. these perspectives are well accommodated in the social studies curriculum, through topics like “man and his economic activities,” “globalization,” and “transportation and communication.” in situations where the teacher trainer effectively handles these topics, opportunities for developing in the learners the ethics of sustainable development are quite possible. beyond the content analysis, we conducted interviews with some of the teacher educators who were using the curriculum. the lecturers were unanimous in their opinion that the social studies teacher training curriculum has rich content matter and methodology on sustainability and sustainable development goals. lecturers pointed out that the spiral nature of the design of the curriculum provides students with opportunities to learn about sustainability throughout the program. lecturers were of the view that the social studies curriculum for teacher training was adequate in methods of teaching. methods of teaching taught to the student teachers are those that not only make them responsible citizens, but which they can also use to promote sustainable development concepts, attitudes, values, and skills. student teachers are taught problem-solving, action learning, issue-enquiry learning, and field-based learning. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ javascript:__dopostback('ctl00$contentplaceholder1$gdvthemes$ctl08$labelsubtheme','') journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 117 implications of the findings the goal of the study was to identify concepts/topics in the national commission for colleges of education (ncce) curriculum for teacher preparation that help to promote the goals and ethics of education for sustainable development. findings from the study will be shared with relevant stakeholders: teachers, teacher educators, researchers in teacher education, and the superintending agency in charge of teacher education in nigeria, the ncce. this is very timely now that the ncce will be commencing a content area review of the nigeria certificate in education specialist teachers’ minimum standards curriculum. it is expected that the output of such an exercise will accommodate more content areas that can further help to boost the integration of esd-related content areas while preparing pre-service teachers at the college of education level. furthermore, it is expected that pre-service teachers will be provided more opportunities by their trainers to display esd competencies that will enable them cope with as well as teach the different sustainability challenges effectively. teacher educators will also need to assess whether the training program they are providing is capable of preparing their trainees to acquire knowledge and develop practical skills and ethical values that can effectively assist them with the challenges of esd. researchers working in the area of teacher education are equally expected to explore the various ways by which the contents and pedagogies of teacher preparation in the various training institutions can be made to be fully esd compliant. this is because teachers are part of the major drivers of change in any society; their proper grounding in the integration of esd into the curriculum will help them play this role more effectively. conclusion curriculum content analysis can offer insights into the designs of comparative analyses. a thorough content analysis provides a clear articulation of the relevance of a curriculum to an established perspective. from this review, we have been able to identify contentious issues that merit further consideration and investigation. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 118 from the foregoing, it can be concluded that the content of sustainability and focus on sustainability goals in the social studies curriculum of the nigeria certificate in education minimum standards for arts and social sciences (2012 edition) is limited. the majority of the courses with related content through which sustainability and sustainable development issues can be taught are electives. based on this conclusion, it is recommended that an attempt to enrich the curriculum with topics that focus more on the three strands of education for sustainable development will help in preparing the social studies pre-service teachers for more effective propagation of sustainable development ethics after graduation. it is expected that stakeholders such as teacher trainers, curriculum developers, subject associations, and the superintending agency in charge of teacher education in nigeria will play an important role in a curriculum review that will accommodate the multidisciplinary features of both the social studies curriculum and education for sustainable development, which will focus on sustainable development goals and understanding the various notions of sustainability. more importantly, teacher educators must reconsider their attitudes, tools, methods, and approaches in delivery of the topics. lectures must consciously emphasize sustainability and sustainable development goals and values inherit in the topics. the five essential pedagogical principles of sustainability must be seen to be inculcated in the teacher trainees. this should include critical and creative thinking, participation and participatory learning, systematic thinking, and partnerships. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 119 references ajayi, k., ogunyemi, b., & sotonade, f. (2004). teacher education and the challenge of sustainable development in nigeria. paper presented at the project workshop on measuring indicators of sustainable development in school curricula: a study of ethiopia, ghana and nigeria at the university of jyväskylä , finland, april 2004. álvarez-garcía, o., sureda-negre, j., & comas-forgas, r. (2015). environmental education in preservice teacher training: a literature review of existing evidence. journal of teacher education for sustainability, 17(1), 72–85. benavot, a. (2002). a critical analysis of comparative research: education for learning to live together. prospects, 32, 51-73. biasutti, m., & de baz, t. (2016). assessing the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula. journal of teacher education for sustainability, 18(2), 21-40. clough, g. w., chameau, j-l., & carmichael, c. (2006). sustainability and the university. the presidency, 9(1), 30-38. ekpiken, w. e., & ukpabio, g. u. (2014). repositioning teacher education in nigeria for sustainable national development. journal of emerging trends in educational research and policy studies (jeteraps), 5(5), 585-591. falkenberg, t., & babiuk, g. (2014). the status of education for sustainability in initial teacher education programmes: a canadian case study. international journal of sustainability in higher education, 15(4), 418-430. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-10-2012-0088 federal republic of nigeria. (2013). national policy on education abuja: fme. lawal, m. b. (2013). teacher education and national development in 100 years of nigeria’s existence: how far? how well? and which way? proceedings of the 2nd national conference of college of education academic staff union, eacoed, oyo chapter. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jtes.2015.17.issue-1/jtes-2015-0006/jtes-2015-0006.xml?format=int#aff1 journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 mezieobi, d. i., & ediyang, s. d. (2013). social studies: an introduction. in s. d. ediyang, d. i. mezieobi & i. e. ubi (eds.), selected issues in social studies education. calabar, nigeria: mgesot & company. mezieobi, k. a., & danladi, s. a. (2012). values education. in k. a. mezieobi (ed.), new frontiers in social studies education. owerri, nigeria: acada peak publishers. mezieobi, k. a., & mezieobi, k. c. (2012). a handbook of social studies teaching competencies. umuoma nekede, nigeria: omama publishers. nakpodoa, e.d., & urien, j. (2011). teacher education in nigeria: challenges to educational administrators in the 21st century. the social sciences, 6(5), 350-356. https://doi.org/10.3923/sscience.2011.350.356 obanya, p. (2007). thinking and talking education. ibadan, nigeria: evans publishers. o’byrne, d., dripps, w., & nicholas, k.a. (2015). teaching and learning sustainability: an assessment of the curriculum content and structure of sustainability degree programs in higher education. sustainability science, 10(1), 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625014-0251-y ogunyemi, b. (2003). global citizenship through social studies education: perspectives, problems and prospects in nigeria. in j. lasonen & l. lestinen (eds.), intercultural education: teaching and learning for intercultural understanding, human rights and a culture of peace. unesco conference on intercultural education, june 15-18, 2003. jyväskylä, finland: university of jyväskylä, institute for educational research. ogunyemi, b. (2005). mainstreaming sustainable development into african school curricula: issues for nigeria. current issues in comparative education, teachers college, columbia university. ogunyinka, e. k., okeke, t. i., & adedoyin, r. c. (2015). teacher education and development in nigeria: an analysis of reforms, challenges and prospects. education journal, 4(3), 111122. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 ojedokun, o. e. (2012). diffusing education for sustainability into teacher education programme in nigeria: a theory in use. world journal of education, 2(2), 109-119. ojedokun, o. e. (2016). strategies for mainstreaming education for sustainability into the nigerian social studies teacher education programme. journal of sustainable development, 9(3), 182-191. https://doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v9n3p182 osuji, s. n. (2009). teacher education curriculum in nigeria in the perspective of lifelong education. the journal of international social research, 2(8), 296-301. raheem, k., hanninem, k., & ogunyemi, b. (2004). education for sustainable development: the role of environmental education in developing countries with focus on nigeria. paper presented to the un decade of education for sustainable development conference, braga, portugal, may 19-22, 2004. rambla, x., & langthaler, m. (2016). the sdgs and inclusive education for all: from special education to addressing social inequalities. briefing paper, austrian foundation for development research (öfse), no. 14. resnik, j. (2006). international organizations, the “education-economic growth” black box, and the development of world education culture. comparative education review, 50(2), 173195. smith, g. (2011). developing a sustainability plan at a large u.s. college of education. journal of teacher education for sustainability, 13(2), 5-16. tilbury, d., & wortman, d. (2004). engaging people in sustainability. iucn – the world conservation union. gland, switzerland: iucn publication services unit. world commission on environment and development. (1987). our common future. oxford, uk: oxford university press. yalçinkaya, e. (2013). analysing primary social studies curriculum of turkey in terms of unesco educational for sustainable development theme. european journal of sustainable development, 2(4), 215-226. mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 92-122 corresponding author: apifegbesan@uj.ac.za; ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 unesco (united nations educational scientific and cultural organization). (2011). education for sustainable development –an expert review of processes and learning. france: unesco. available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/ 001914/191442e.pdf. accessed july 2, 2014. united nations. (2015). transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. available at https://sustainabledevelopment. un.org/content/documents/7891transforming our world about the authors: ayodeji p. ifegbesan, ph. d. is senior lecturer in the department of art and social sciences, olabisi onabanjo university, ago-iwoye, nigeria. he is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the dept of geography, environmental management & energy studies, university of johannesburg, south africa. his research interests are in social studies education, environmental education, curriculum development and teacher education. m. b. lawal, ph. d. works at adeniran ogunsanya college of education otto/ijanikin, lagos, nigeria. email: teemlawal@gmail.com isaac t. rampedi, ph. d. works at department of geography, environmental management and energy studies university of johannesburg, p. bag 524, johannesburg 2006, south africa. email: isaacr@uj.ac.za mailto:apifegbesan@uj.ac.za mailto:ayodeji.ifegbesan@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://sustainabledevelopment/ mailto:teemlawal@gmail.com mailto:isaacr@uj.ac.za journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 34 global citizenship education and human rights education: are they compatible with u. s. civic education? william r. fernekes, rutgers graduate school of education, rutgers, the state university of new jersey. __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: global citizenship education (gce) and human rights education (hre) offer substantive contributions to civic education. interconnections between the fields exist in curricula from intergovernmental organizations (unesco), non-governmental organizations (oxfam great britain) and national ministries (learning and teaching scotland). this essay explores how civic education curricula, learning outcomes, and teacher preparation can be developed to enhance the roles played by gce and hre in u. s. civic education. analysis of the relationships between gce and hre yields these conclusions: (1) global citizenship education programs share a philosophy of cosmopolitanism, commitments to universal human rights norms, respect for cultural diversity and sustainable development, and issues-based curriculum designs; (2) a high degree of compatibility exists between gce program goals and the goals of the values-awareness-socialization hre model, and (3) this strong compatibility does not extend to the accountability-professional development or the activismtransformation models of hre. implementing gce faces major obstacles, notably emphases on national identity in nation-state civic education, the potential incompatibility between national interests and cosmopolitan commitments in the study of global issues, and the low commitment to gce or hre in teacher preparation. key words: global citizenship education, human rights education, civic education __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction the shocking photograph of 5 year old omran daqneesh, a syrian child rescued after an airstrike on the rebel-held city of aleppo, was published on august 18, 2016, and was soon distributed worldwide. three days later, the new york times published a follow-up story highlighting seven other children who had also suffered from airstrikes and related violence in aleppo. (barnard & saad, new york times, aug. 22, 2016) the photos of these traumatized children illustrate the failure of the world community to respond effectively to the egregious human rights violations resulting from the syrian civil war, a conflict which has produced over 200,000 casualties and has led to the displacement of over four million syrians. however, simultaneous with the ongoing violence in syria, the xxxi olympiad was underway in rio de janeiro, brasil, where athletes from over 200 world states assembled to compete in a setting where harmony, cooperation, and respect for universal human rights set the standard for daily conduct, and where the fear and violence that characterizes everyday life in syria were noticeably absent. for both young people and adults, the contradictions apparent in the coexistence of the vicious syrian civil war and the peaceful events of the xxxi olympiad raise serious questions about how the future mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 35 of the world can be shaped by citizen action. can humanitarian crises such as the syrian civil war and environmental challenges such as global warming be effectively addressed through proposals developed within the context of traditional conceptions of citizenship education? are traditional conceptions of citizenship that are tied to nation-state identities sufficient in the 21st century, or is it timely to consider the concept of “global citizenship,” whose foundation in universal human rights and cosmopolitanism may offer a more effective approach to educating citizens about global problems and their potential solutions? or can nation-state citizenship and global citizenship coexist, with national commitments being balanced with broader commitments to the overall welfare of humanity and the planet as a whole? to address these questions, this essay examines the relationship between the concept of global citizenship and human rights education, and suggests how the implementation of gce and hre can impact the delivery of civic education programs, focusing specifically on social studies education in the united states. design of the study the concept of global citizenship has gained prominence in the discourse of both citizenship and global education. scholars in political science (appiah, 2007; cabrera, 2012; dower, 2003) and education (andreotti, 2014; gaudelli, 2009 & 2016; merryfield, 2002); non-governmental organizations, such as oxfam great britain; and intergovernmental agencies, such as unesco, have introduced and discussed a) models of what constitutes global citizenship, b) comparisons between global citizenship and more traditional conceptions of citizenship in democratic nation-states, and c) connections between global citizenship and other fields, including global education, peace education and human rights education. three approaches to global citizenship education were chosen for study—one from an intergovernmental organization (unesco), a second from a non-governmental organization (oxfam great britain) and a third representing the official policy of a ministry of education (scotland). each represents a different approach to defining and integrating gce within formal educational programs. each incorporates elements of human rights education (hre) within their conceptual frameworks. as a group, they all illustrate a cross-section of efforts by entities at the intergovernmental, nongovernmental, and national levels to influence educational policy and practice. comparative characteristics of gce and hre global citizenship education the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco) refers to global citizenship as “a sense of belonging to the global community and common humanity, with its presumed members experiencing solidarity and collective identity among themselves and collective responsibility at the global level. global citizenship can be seen as an ethos/metaphor rather than a formal membership” (unesco, 2014, p. 3). being a global citizen does not entail legal or political standing comparable to that enjoyed by citizens of nation-states. unesco recognizes that global citizenship is more of a “psychosocial framework for collectiveness” whose purpose is to motivate individuals who embrace the concept to utilize “civic actions in the public domain to promote a better mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 36 world and future” (unesco, 2014, p. 3). building upon these ideas, it follows that global citizenship education has as its primary goal “to empower learners to engage and assume active roles both locally and globally to face and resolve global challenges and ultimately to become proactive contributors to a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world” (unesco, 2014, p. 3). in doing so, unesco argues that global citizenship education is “transformative”—in other words, it provides learners with the skills, content, and dispositions to “realize their rights and obligations to promote a better world and future” (unesco, 2014, p. 3).1 the content of global citizenship education is interdisciplinary, drawing upon fields of inquiry such as human rights education, peace education, education for sustainable development, education for intercultural understanding, and international education. with its foundations heavily rooted in the study of cosmopolitanism, a concept dating from the time of the roman empire, one can add philosophy as a key subject field contributing to the ‘intellectual foundation’ of global citizenship education (nussbaum, 1997). for brown and held (2010), cosmopolitanism “maintains that there are moral obligations owed to all human begins based solely on our humanity alone, without reference to race, gender, nationalist, ethnicity, culture, religions, political affiliation, state citizenship or other communal particularities” (p. 1). 2 the universalist orientation of cosmopolitanism permeates the three programs examined in this essay, constituting a key element of program goals and learning outcomes. the evolving field of global citizenship education includes but is not limited to the following competencies: a) knowledge and understanding of specific global issues and trends, and knowledge of and respect for key universal values (e.g., peace and human rights, diversity, justice, democracy, caring, non-discrimination, tolerance); 1 unesco’s definition of global citizenship education, and the organization’s elaboration of its salient characteristics is the outgrowth of a series of international meetings they conducted where diverse models and approaches to global citizenship were discussed and debated (2013-2015). competing definitions and conceptions of gce were shared, and the resulting definition offered by unesco at this point in time appears to be one that is broadly representative of work being done in the field. these meetings were part of unesco’s involvement in the united nations secretarygeneral’s global education first initiative, which commenced in 2012. a technical consultation occurred in 2013, with forums following in december 2013 and january 2015. the documents referenced in this essay emerged from these meetings, as well as from expert input solicited by unesco. 2 cosmopolitan political theory is defined by these principles/perspectives: • cosmopolitans believe that the primary units of moral concerns are individual human beings, not states or other forms of communitarian or political association. • cosmopolitans maintain that this moral concern for individuals should be equally applied to every human being. • cosmopolitanism is universal in its scope, maintaining that all humans are equal in their moral standing and that this moral standing applies to everyone everywhere, as if we are all citizens of the world (brown and held, 2010, p. 2). mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 37 b) cognitive skills for critical, creative, and innovative thinking, problem solving, and decisionmaking; c) non-cognitive skills such as empathy, openness to experiences and other perspectives, interpersonal/communicative skills, and aptitude for networking and interacting with people of different backgrounds and origins; and d) behavioral capacities to launch and engage in proactive actions (unesco, 2014, p. 4). at the core of global citizenship education rests a fundamental tension between universality and particularity. universality concerns the development of a common or collective identity and embracing values that are common to all humanity (respect for human life, preservation of the planet, and others) while particularity concerns priorities such as the maintenance of cultural identity and the guarantee of individual rights, among others. tensions also arise between the development of collective identities and universal values that could clash with national interests and priorities promoted in national educational systems or engendered by other means (e. g., through governmentsponsored media). the accelerating pace of globalization from the mid-twentieth century to the present underscores efforts to reconcile these tensions, particularly when humanity is faced with challenges requiring both international cooperation and the resolution of conflicts between the competing interests of nation-states. human rights education the united nations (un) defines human rights education and training as “all educational, training, information, awareness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus contributing, inter alia, to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviors, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights” (united nations general assembly, dec. 2011). the content of human rights education and training is summarized here: a) education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that underpin them, and the mechanisms for their protection; b) education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners; c) education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others (united nations general assembly, dec. 2011). as with gce, human rights education (hre) seeks to empower the learner to embrace universal commitments and take action to secure them, in this case to “enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others” (united national general assembly, dec. 2011). in contrast with global citizenship education, human rights education has a legal and normative foundation in the expanding body of international human rights law and the international human rights treaty framework, much of which has developed since 1945. thus, nation-states who have signed and ratified international human rights conventions and treaties are expected to bring their domestic laws and practices into conformity with these agreements, since these nation-states have voluntarily consented to support and uphold them (tibbitts, 2015). mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 38 an area where gce and hre clearly coincide is their common commitment to engaging all humans as defenders of universal priorities, such as respecting and upholding the rights of others, whether those persons are formal (legal) citizens of nation-states or not. this commitment requires that individuals who deem themselves to be global citizens take considered action on behalf of persons who have no legal standing as citizens in a particular nation-state, a position that can lead to conflict with the interests of governments at the national, state, and local levels. similarly, persons who embrace the goals of human rights education may not be affiliated with a state-sponsored educational institution, preferring to act on behalf of what are termed “non-state actors”—non-governmental organizations, labor unions, religious groups and others. the specific goals of these “non-state actors” may clash with those of nation-state educational institutions, such as when ngos seek to educate the public about guaranteeing the human rights of migrant populations seeking refuge from war, conflict, and natural disasters. as noted earlier, global citizenship education is an emerging field of inquiry that by definition embraces content from human rights education. at the broadest level of analysis, it appears that a global citizen is expected to a) embrace a set of universal commitments to uphold international human rights, b) educate others about human rights content, and c) develop the competencies to educate in a manner that respects the rights of teachers and learners and supports their social activism on behalf of human rights. operationalizing such commitments require that they become part of actual curricula in formal educational settings, such as elementary, middle and secondary schools. see the appendix for a chart highlighting key comparisons between gce and hre. analysis of selected models of global citizenship education (gce) and human rights education (hre) gce and hre curricular and instructional school program guides were examined to determine (1) how human rights education does or does not mesh with the broader goals of global citizenship education, and (2) how human rights education may raise troubling challenges for global citizenship education when put into practice. the gce models selected for analysis include a 2015 unesco gce report and two global citizenship programs—one initially developed in 1997 by the non-governmental organization (ngo) oxfam great britain, and the other, a ministerial initiative by the government of scotland (learning and teaching scotland). education for global citizenship: a guide for schools (oxfam) can be used by teachers who embrace its goals, content, and pedagogical approaches. the approval of state education authorities is not required for implementation. in contrast, developing global citizens with curriculum for excellence (learning and teaching scotland) was designed by and supported with funds from the scottish government, and the program is intended to serve the existing curricular goals of scotland’s national “curriculum for excellence” initiative. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 39 approaches to global citizenship education unesco in 2015, unesco published global citizenship education: topics and objectives, a report summarizing research about existing global citizenship education programs across the globe and offering guidance to education departments and educational program developers regarding the design and implementation of global citizenship education programs (gce). the report built upon earlier work by unesco (unesco 2014), and it provides a useful summary of the current state of global citizenship education. in preparing this document, unesco noted that while the report’s guidance was field tested by stakeholders in selected countries in all regions of the world, the authors’ intent is for the report to function “as a living document.” continuing, the authors stated that “further editions will be produced as necessary and as we learn more from experience of implementing global citizenship education in different contexts” (unesco, 2015, p. 17). this is an important qualifier, since global citizenship education programs have not been uniformly adopted by un member states. gce has a very limited presence in the united states, for example. the unesco 2015 report organizes the aims and content of gce into three sections: learner outcomes, learner attributes, and topics (see tables 1, 2 and 3). they also include a set of specific learner objectives organized by four levels of schooling (primary, ages 5-9; upper primary, ages 9-12; lower secondary, ages 12-15; and upper secondary, ages 15-18). this analysis focuses on outcomes, attributes, and topics, since specific learning objectives will likely need further refinement as gce curricula in un member states are developed and feedback on these specific objectives is collected and reviewed (see tables 1, 2 and 3). table 1: key learner outcomes of the unesco report key learner outcomes--defined by unesco as “the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that learners can acquire and demonstrate as a result of global citizenship education” (unesco, 2015, p. 22). 1. learners acquire knowledge and understanding of local, national, and global issues and the interconnectedness and interdependency of different countries and populations 2. learners develop skills for critical thinking and analysis 3. learners experience a sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing values and responsibilities, based on human rights 4. learners develop attitudes of empathy, solidarity, and respect for differences and diversity 5. learners act effectively and responsibly at local, national, and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world 6. learners develop motivation and willingness to take necessary actions mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 40 table 2: key learner attributes of the unesco report (2015) learner attributes--defined by unesco as “the traits and qualities that global citizenship education aims to develop in learners and correspond to the key learning outcomes mentioned earlier” (unesco, 2015, p. 23). learners who are educated to become global citizens should display these attributes: 1. become informed and critically literate: knowledge of global governance systems, structures and issues; understanding the interdependence and connections between global and local concerns; knowledge and skills required for civic literacy, such as critical inquiry and analysis, with an emphasis on active engagement in learning (unesco, 2015, p. 23). 2. become socially connected and respectful of diversity: understanding of identities, relationships, and belonging; understanding of shared values and common humanity; developing an appreciation of, and respect for, difference and diversity; and understanding the complex relationship between diversity and commonality (unesco, 2015, p. 23). 3. become ethically responsible and engaged: based on human rights approaches and including attitudes and values of caring for others and the environment; personal and social responsibility and transformation; and developing skills for participating in the community and contributing to a better world through informed, ethical, and peaceful action (unesco, 2015 p. 24). table 3: core curriculum topics of the unesco report (2015) curriculum topics: the curriculum topics in the unesco 2015 report are organized by the three learner attributes, and are listed here (unesco, 2015, p. 25). informed and critically literate: 1. local, national and global systems and structures 2. issues affecting interaction and connectedness of communities at local, national, and global levels 3. underlying assumptions and power dynamics socially connected and respectful of diversity: 4. different levels of identity 5. different communities people belong to and how these are connected mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 41 6. difference and respect for diversity ethically responsible and engaged: 7. actions that can be taken individually and collectively 8. ethically responsible behavior 9. getting engaged and taking action the unesco gce document embraces universal norms as a core element of global citizenship education. learning outcomes three, four and five specifically use language such as “a sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing value and responsibilities based on human rights” (#3), “respect for differences and diversity” (#4), and “act effectively and responsibly at local, national and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world” (#5). these outcomes are buttressed by the content of learner attributes two and three, which mention “understanding of shared values and common humanity and developing an appreciation of, and respect for, difference and diversity” (outcome #2); and “developing skills for participating in the community and contributing to a better world through informed, ethical, and peaceful action” (outcome #3). for the core curriculum topics, examples of those emphasizing universal norms and priorities are “issues affecting interaction and connectedness of communities at local, national, and global levels” (topic #2), “different communities people belong to and how these are connected” (topic #5), and “difference and respect for diversity” (topic #6). another common thrust of gce is the imperative of understanding and examining the processes of globalization. this is evident in learning outcome #1, “learners acquire knowledge and understanding of local, national and global issues and the interconnectedness and interdependency of different countries and populations”; learner attribute #1, “become informed and critically literate: knowledge of global governance systems, structures and issues; understanding the interdependence and connections between global and local concerns…”; and in curriculum topic #1, “local, national, and global systems and structures” and curriculum topic #2, “issues affecting interaction and connectedness of communities at local, national, and global levels.” gce also displays a strong commitment to issues-based education, particularly in educating the learner to be an active, engaged citizen who is committed to taking action about global concerns at the local, national and global levels. this is evident in learner outcome #5, “learners act effectively and responsibly at local, national and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world,” and outcome #6, “learners develop motivation and willingness to take necessary actions” (unesco, 2015). learner attribute #3 is entirely about this form of active learning, when it states that the learner should: “become ethically responsible and engaged-based on human rights approaches and including attitudes and values of caring for others and the environment; personal and social responsibility and transformation; and developing skills for participating in the community and contributing to a better world through informed, ethical, and peaceful action.” finally, the topics listed under “ethically responsible and engaged” are consistent with an issues-centered, active learning approach: specifically, #7, “actions that can be taken individually and collectively”; #8, “ethically responsible behavior”; and #9, “getting engaged and taking action” (unesco, 2015). mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 42 another important gce focus in the unesco report is socio-emotional learning (sel). it identifies the sel goals of engaging the learner in developing empathy, respect for diversity, and solidarity in addressing global concerns. these goals extend beyond the cognitive dimension. “understanding the complex relationship between diversity and commonality,” for example, requires that learners develop an appreciation for ambiguity and recognize the importance of engaging diverse perspectives. oxfam great britain and teaching and learning scotland oxfam great britain’s education for global citizenship: a guide for schools can be used by individual teachers or teams of teachers who embrace its goals, content, and pedagogical approaches, but it does not require approval by state education authorities for implementation. in contrast, learning and teaching scotland’s developing global citizens with curriculum for excellence was designed and supported with funds by the scottish government, and the program is intended to serve existing curricular goals in scotland’s national “curriculum for excellence” initiative. in terms of learner outcomes, oxfam subdivides their curriculum into knowledge and understanding, skills, and values and attitudes. the major topics under each of these headings are provided in table 4. the scottish ministry document does not contain as explicit a delineation of knowledge and understanding, skills, and values and attitudes. in contrast, their students’ goals are linked to a set of core principles underlying their gce program (see table 5). table 4 includes a summary of the oxfam great britain global citizenship education curriculum framework. table 4: oxfam global citizenship education curriculum framework knowledge/understanding skills values and attitudes social justice and equity creative and critical thinking sense of identity and selfesteem identity and diversity empathy commitment to social justice and equity globalization and interdependence self-awareness and reflection respect for people and human rights sustainable development communication value diversity peace and conflict cooperation and conflict resolution concern for the environment and commitment to sustainable development human rights ability to manage complexity and uncertainty commitment to participation and inclusion power and governance informed and reflective action belief that people can bring about change source: oxfam (2015). education for global citizenship: a guide for schools. oxford uk: pp. 16-21. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 43 an examination of the oxfam and scottish ministry documents reveals more similarities than differences. oxfam summarizes the attributes of the global citizen as a person who: • is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen • respects and values diversity • has an understanding of how the world works • is passionately committed to social justice. • participates in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global. • works with others to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place. • takes responsibility for their actions (oxfam, 2015). learning and teaching scotland, although not as specific as oxfam’s program, presents a similar set of attributes of the globally educated citizen: in our fast-changing world, it is necessary for children and young people to acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to adapt and to thrive. their education should prepare them for living and working in a global society. the big issues affecting our planet, such as climate change and global poverty, require an innovative generation that knows how to find solutions. our democratic societies need creative people who recognize the importance and value of participation and making their voices heard. the injustice and inequalities in society require people who care about human rights and who recognize that our lives are linked together in our increasingly interdependent and globalized world (learning and teaching scotland, 2011, p. 8). a summary of the learning and teaching scotland curriculum is presented in table 5. table 5: core principles and program goals of the scottish ministry program principle know, respect and care for the rights, responsibilities, values, and opinions of others and understand scotland’s role within the wider world desired results (program goals) -develop learners’ understanding of equality and human rights issues and make links to rights and responsibilities locally, nationally and globally -demonstrate the values of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity both within and outside of the school community -provide opportunities that foster self-esteem, respect, and identity -cultivate knowledge and understanding of how scotland contributes effectively to the global community -enable learners to appreciate the values and opinions of others with particular reference to environments and cultures mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 44 principle develop an awareness and understanding of engagement in democratic processes and be able to participate in critical thinking and decision making in schools and communities at local, national, and international levels desired results (program goals) -demonstrate democratic principles through pupil voice and participation in all aspects of classroom practice -provide meaningful opportunities for children and young people to contribute to decision-making processes -motivate learners to engage in local, national, and global issues -foster political literacy in learners principle understand the interdependence between people, the environment, and the impacts of actions, both local and global desired results (program goals) -engage children and young people in learning about the interconnectedness of biodiversity, climate change and global poverty issues -promote the concept of shared humanity -provide opportunities to discuss the impacts of local and global actions -develop empathy principle appreciate and celebrate the diversity of scotland’s history, culture, and heritage and engage with other cultures and traditions around the world desired results (program goals) -cultivate positive attitudes towards difference and diversity -explore the rich cultural diversity in scotland -encourage learners to be confident in their own identity and actively engage in exploring a variety of traditions and cultures from around the world mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 45 principle think creatively and critically and act responsibly in all aspects of life, politically, economically, and culturally desired results (program goals) -develop in learners a range of literacies that will enable and empower them to act responsibly on local and global issues (e.g., political literacy, financial literacy and media literacy) -engage learners in developing solutions to the challenges they face as global citizens -encourage the development of informed opinions on complex ethical and scientific issues source: learning and teaching scotland (2011). developing global citizens within curriculum for excellence. glasgow, uk: p. 14. similar to the findings about the unesco report, analysis of the oxfam and scottish ministry gce programs reveals these common content areas: human rights, cultural diversity and identity, social justice, environmental stewardship, and globalization and global interdependence. both programs advocate a “whole school” commitment to gce, recognizing that it should not be limited to history and social science curricula. both programs are designed for learners to become critical thinkers, to develop capacities for empathy and self-reflection, to think creatively when seeking solutions to problems and resolve conflicts, to promote the democratic processes of engagement (for example, the inclusion of all stakeholders), and to develop the capacities to take informed action to improve the quality of life on the planet. there is a strong emphasis on universal norms, such as those in international human rights documents and principles of sustainable development, while simultaneously articulating the importance of respecting cultural diversity. lastly, both reports retain the issues-based emphasis evident in the unesco report, with oxfam noting that due to the intensification of globalization, “we live in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world in which the global is part of our everyday lives, and analysis of seemingly local issues benefits from global perspectives” (oxfam, 2015, p. 6). the scottish report similarly states that a core principle of their curriculum design is to employ “complex, ethical, global issues [that] provide rich, relevant, and meaningful contexts for learning in accordance with the principles of curriculum design” (learning and teaching scotland, 2011, p. 12). however, there are two important areas where the oxfam and scottish programs diverge. one concerns the scope of curricular application for the programs, with the oxfam gce program being specifically designed for use at all grade levels and in any school setting, irrespective of who governs or funds the school. in contrast, the scottish gce program is specifically designed to enhance the delivery of gce within scottish schools. the principle “appreciate and celebrate the diversity of mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 46 scotland’s history, culture, and heritage and engage with other cultures and traditions around the world” makes clear that the study of global citizenship should not be removed from the study of scottish culture and history, and that global issues must include the national history, culture, and heritage of scotland (learning and teaching scotland, 2011, p. 16). a second distinction is the inclusion of financial literacy skills within the scottish ministry gce program that are not found in the oxfam program. how “financial literacy” is defined and in what context it is taught and learned is problematic, particularly given the important role both programs assign to critical thinking about global issues, and whether or not critical approaches to the study of economic inequality, global finance, and multinational corporations are employed. this analysis of gce programs reveals that human rights education is prominent in all three programs. however, do the predominant models of human rights education as discussed in the professional literature also reflect the stated aims and content of gce? predominant models of human rights education human rights education (hre) has been viewed as a central element of global education curricula and programs for some time (landorf, 2009; heilman, 2009), and recently the burgeoning literature on global citizenship education rooted in a cosmopolitan ethos has also underscored the importance of human rights education in gce programs. the reliance of human rights education on universal norms and its international focus in terms of legal and compliance procedures closely link gce and hre (gaudelli & wylie, 2012; gaudelli, 2016). recognizing the issues-based emphasis of much gce, tibbitts and fernekes noted that hre is consistent with a “conception of citizenship education that places the study of critical social issues at the center of curriculum design” (2011, p. 92). this approach, which relies on the development of a “critical stance towards governments and institutional abuses of power,” is founded on the premise that students should not only learn human rights content, but also develop the capacities to value human dignity and human rights, participate effectively in civil society at the local, national, and international levels to redress human rights violations, and balance self-interest with the priorities of human interdependence and global responsibility (tibbitts & fernekes, 2011, p. 91). tibbitts has identified and described three predominant models of hre, and in the process delineated their primary target audiences, learning goals and content emphases, and teaching and learning processes (tibbitts, 2015, in press). these three models are values and awareness-socialization (vas), accountability-professional development (apd), and activism-transformation (at) (see table 6). table 6: key features of human rights education models model target audience learning goals/content emphases teaching and learning processes vas students in formal schooling human rights theory and history, history of the un, human rights standards, human rights institutions and ngos, human rights didactic to participatory emphasis on promoting positive social behavior by learning one’s rights mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 47 violations (historical and globally) critical stance not often evident strategy for reducing human rights violations is passive apd civil servants law enforcement justice system health/social workers educators journalists religious leaders varies with audience: human rights content and as background links with national protection systems and codes of ethics for specific professionals participatory to empowering capacity building in areas of skills and values focused on the agency in which the learner works strategy for reducing human rights violations is active—applying human rights standards to eliminate human rights violations in one’s professional role at marginalized populations youth varies with audience: human rights content as background focus on the learner’s own rights contemporary human rights violations work of groups combating these violations oriented to transformation that includes increased selfconfidence, developing capacities for taking action, and participation in human rights activism focus on empowering learners to transform their lives through activism to reduce human rights violations in their personal lives and in the public domain source: f. tibbitts, (2015, in press). evolution of human rights education models. in m. bajaj (ed.), human rights education: theory, research, praxis. philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 48 gce programs and hre models compared: findings a comparison of tibbitts’ three models of hre with the program goals of the unesco, oxfam great britain, and learning and teaching scotland documents indicates that these gce program goals are compatible with the values and awareness-socialization (vas) model of hre. all three gce programs list human rights as a core content element, and they all conceive of human rights content as a set of universal norms providing connections between learners across the globe. yet, there are differing emphases in the three programs regarding the role of human rights in challenging systems of power and privilege. the unesco report makes it clear that a global citizen who is critically informed and literate needs to identify underlying assumptions about power and power dynamics, while developing a deeper understanding of the interrelationships between local, national, and global systems. the oxfam program lists power and governance as a key topic for knowledge and understanding, along with the belief that people can create change. principles from the learning and teaching scotland program include a) developing “an awareness and understanding of engagement in democratic processes,” b) learning how to “participate in critical thinking and decision making in schools and communities at local, national and international levels,” and c) fostering political literacy, but they do not include the concepts of power and governance. the unesco and oxfam program goals exhibit greater potential for developing critical perspectives than those of the learning and teaching scotland program. while each gce program endorses the development of active, participatory citizens, there is little discussion of how human rights content can serve as a foundation for the development of critical stances toward local, national, and global political and governing institutions. unesco claims that they want students to “act effectively and responsibly at local, national, and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world” and to “develop motivation and willingness to take necessary actions,” but they do not explicitly argue for the application of human rights standards and the use of action strategies to challenge prevailing systems of power and privilege. oxfam great britain goes further than unesco when they state that a global citizen is one who is “passionately committed to social justice,” but how that translates into developing human rights action strategies beyond the topics of globalization and interdependence (where respect for human rights is listed as a value/attitude to be developed) is unclear. learning and teaching scotland, while endorsing the development of learners who are “able to participate in critical thinking and decision making in schools and communities at local, national and international levels,” provides no statement or suggestion regarding how human rights standards and action strategies could help learners to develop critical perspectives toward existing political and governing institutions. thus, while at least two of these programs (unesco and oxfam great britain) have the potential to use human rights learning to develop a more critical stance toward networks of political power and governance, none of the three sponsoring groups have embraced a conception of hre as “transformational.” hre in all three programs focuses more on reinforcing “social cohesion” (where state institutions are viewed as capable of being reformed using existing processes of political and social change), than on envisioning hre as “transformative” (the traditional stance of human rights activists who apply international standards and norms to the activities of political and governing institutions and who educate individuals and groups to fundamentally refashion or remove existing networks of political power and related institutions of governance). mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 49 tibbitts has raised concerns about the use of hre to promote social cohesion; already within the formal schooling sector, one sees a tendency for hre to be “reduced” to the principle of social cohesion, promoting values such as positive inter-personal relationships and behavior. these are very worthwhile goals but to reduce hre to such values denies its praxis in relation to its call for critical review and transformation. similarly in schools, hre can sometimes be reduced to the treatment of historical content such as the philosophy of human rights, the founding of the united nations, and so on. i would not consider this approach to be hre but rather only teaching about human rights. but my point is that if gce goes the same route, if it will become one that is entirely palatable to school systems – for example, by promoting second language learning – without necessarily promoting a critical analysis of global politics and trends, then it may not end up encouraging students’ agency to influence the environment around them” (f. tibbitts, personal communication, january 9, 2016). tibbitts’ concern is well founded, particularly when one looks at the dearth of global citizenship education content in existing social studies curriculum standards in the united states. implications for social studies education (usa) gce, hre and u. s. social studies standards several studies have identified the presence of hre and gce in state social studies standards (usa). however, rapoport (2009) examined standards documents and discovered that the term “globalization” appeared in only fifteen of them, while the phrase “global citizen(ship)” was confined to just two. banks (2007) found that “human rights” content was evident, at least to some degree, in thirty-five state social studies standards documents. and recent research commissioned by human rights educators usa and completed by the advocates for human rights, a non-governmental organization based in minnesota, updated previous studies to document the presence of human rights education in the state social studies standards. while research by the advocates for human rights supported banks’ contention that thirty-five u. s. states continued to include the term “human rights” in their state standards documents by 2016, they also noted room for significant improvement. eight states do not address human rights topics at all. other states focus on only one of the topics or present human rights in an extremely limited fashion. twenty-one states, for instance, teach about human rights without teaching about the universal declaration of human rights. historical examinations of human rights topics are more frequent and more likely to be required than standards that ask the students to view human rights as an ethical framework. human rights topics were also almost always international in content; standards included very few examples of human rights issues in the united states. very few states approach human rights comprehensively from kindergarten through 12th grade. (advocates for human rights, 2016, p. 2) given these findings, there is little evidence to suggest that hre is treated comprehensively in social studies education or that discussions of the relationship between hre and gce are present in state level social studies standards. human rights content in state social studies standards still fails to move beyond the vas model. as a result, it appears that the other two models of hre conceptualized by tibbitts, accountability-professional development (apd), and activism-transformation (at), are hardly present in most u. s. state social studies standards. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 50 the subject field most often linked to civic education in formal schooling is social studies, so questions of how social studies education could be transformed by a robust global citizenship emphasis are of great significance. while this discussion is primarily focused on the u. s. context, the implications presented here may be relevant to other civic education systems, notably those where there is a clearly stated commitment to enhancing democratic citizenship education. hre, gce, and social studies education in the united states of america reflecting on his many years as a global education leader, graham pike recently stated, “clearly, nationalism is still a formidable force in shaping public education and, perhaps, poses the most direct challenge to the promotion of the concept of global citizenship in schools” (pike, 2014, p. 11). richardson supports that claim, noting that a serious challenge to the implementation of global citizenship education is the close relationship between nation-building, citizenship, and schooling that has been a pervasive feature of modern educational systems since the mid-nineteenth century (richardson, 2008, p.57). richardson adds that the relationship between national identity and citizenship education contributes to the development of civic pride, national unity, and a patriotism that binds the citizen to the nation-state (richardson, 2008, p. 58). pike’s discussion of two forms of nationalism is helpful in clarifying where global citizenship education may be situated within existing citizenship education programs. for pike, “naked nationalism” represents “an unquestioning patriotism and belief in the moral superiority of one’s own nation or culture,” while “nuanced nationalism does not preclude a love of one’s own country and people, but it demands a critically reflective analysis of the nation’s history and contemporary values, as well as an understanding of how the nation is nested in a wider system of global responsibilities” (pike, 2014 , p. 11). “naked nationalism” would be incompatible with the global citizenship programs discussed in this essay, because they would require students to consider themselves citizens of the world, with responsibilities encompassing universal priorities that could easily conflict with national self-interest. on the other hand, “nuanced nationalism” provides some space for the development of multiple allegiances, not denying the importance of sustaining national civic identities, but balancing them with the development of a global civic identity founded on cosmopolitanism. the cosmopolitan foundation of global citizenship education is a serious challenge to the content of social studies programs in the united states that prioritize the nation-state as the focus of citizenship education. the study of local, state, and national governmental institutions and practices, the practice of patriotic rituals, and the dominant role of historical narratives stressing “american exceptionalism,” would no longer be the sole focus of citizenship education in schools. instead, students would a) learn how individuals and groups could develop and practice activist strategies that challenge existing networks and structures of political power; b) examine universal human needs and priorities along with strategies for conflict resolution; c) develop enhanced respect for cultural diversity that is balanced by a commitment to universal human rights; and d) study critical approaches to national and global histories using an issues-centered approach whose content reflected multiple perspectives about social experience. the idea that global citizenship education could support pike’s idea of “nuanced nationalism” would be consistent with ochoa-becker’s issues-based approach to citizenship education in democratic education for social studies (2007), a revised version of the earlier work she co-authored with shirley engle in 1988. engle and ochoa-becker make the case that early grades “socialization” must be balanced with “counter-socialization” in the upper middle and secondary school grades. they argued mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 51 that in the elementary and early middle grades, “socialization” functions as “a conserving process. it transmits traditions and values that are common place in the experiences of the community and the larger society. however, it does not explicitly prepare the next generation for the unknown future and the changes it might bring.” (ochoa-becker, 2007, p. 66). in contrast, counter-socialization for engle and ochoa “emphasizes creative and independent thinking as well as social criticism that is based on reason and evidence. these are fundamental to improving the quality of democratic life in a changing pluralistic society while continually increasing connections with the rest of the world creates a future of persistent issues and challenges.” (ochoa-becker, 2007, p. 67) in engle and ochoa’s rationale, the concept of “counter-socialization” does not imply absolute rejection of what was learned earlier in life through socialization. rather, it presumes that the reflective examination of ideas, supported by a critical sensibility and in the case of global citizenship, a selection of content that consciously challenges the foundations of traditional national and civic identity, would lead to the development of citizens who can act responsibility in addressing complex issues and contribute meaningfully to democratic society because they are better equipped to address global problems and propose potential solutions for them. what would students know and be able to do after experiencing a gce program? first, they would develop a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of human life across national boundaries, and of the impact of human activity on the natural world. second, they would develop the capacity for critical reflection about how civic identity is constructed and sustained, suggesting that alternatives to the close identification of civic identity with the nation-state could emerge. third, the study of universal human rights and social justice would provide a platform for individual and group social activism at local, national, and global levels of engagement through national and international political structures, as well as non-governmental organizations. fourth, they would develop the capacity to empathize with cultures and experiences outside their local and national environment, while simultaneously improving their skills of intercultural communication, creative thinking, and collaboration and conflict resolution. in effect, they would be guided by a re-conceptualized view of citizenship. these expected outcomes of a gce program are consistent with the definition and attributes of cosmopolitanism, since cosmopolitan global citizens could legitimately prioritize their moral commitments to individuals across the globe over those to citizens of a given nation-state, or view such commitments as of equal importance. where and when these two sets of commitments may clash represents an important area for the future development of global citizenship education, particularly when addressing issues that bring such dissonance into sharp focus (see table 7). mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 52 table 7: potential conflicts between cosmopolitan and nationalistic approaches to civic education as posed in policy questions 1. should the citizen support national security initiatives that enhance the capacity of a national government to advance its own interests when such initiatives can degrade the lives of others, such as the use of unmanned drones in the war on terror? 2. should the citizen advocate arms sales to allied nation-states as a foreign policy strategy knowing that those arms can be used by security forces to violate the human rights of individuals? 3. should the citizen challenge policies that limit the entry of migrants seeking peace and security from violence in other countries even when those migrants violate national laws regulating immigration? in these cases, a cosmopolitan global citizen would likely face conflicts with citizens educated from a nationalistic perspective, and the global citizen could easily be labeled as having an insufficiently developed national civic identity. equally important is the question—how would the global citizen respond to such dilemmas? this relates to the issue raised by felisa tibbitts about how hre is carried out (and by extension, gce): are we simply educating students to learn about such dilemmas (limits of social cohesion), or will global citizenship programs embrace a transformative approach to human rights education and educate students as well as teachers to become activists? the answer to this question will depend upon the capacity of gce programs to embrace a more transformative approach to hre—not abandoning the study of the history of human rights and its international framework of treaties and laws, but complementing it with a detailed examination of human rights standards and their applications to local, national, and global contexts, along with the development and practice of activist strategies by students. further, since most pre-service social studies educators receive training in formal college and university certification programs, it is reasonable to expect that the study of global citizenship (theory and practice) should be included in their training. since global citizenship education is issues-based, it follows that the content of a pre-service global citizenship course or series of courses would require an interdisciplinary orientation and draw upon fields such as history, geography, economics, political science, anthropology, policy studies, sociology, and others from the humanities and social sciences. the program would necessarily include a study of the diverse models of issues-based education, such as those developed by scholars such as engle and ochoa, oliver and shaver, hunt and metcalf, massialas and cox. 3 ideally, pre-service educators would also participate in study-abroad 3 for a detailed examination of these models of issues-centered social studies education, consult s. totten and j. pedersen (eds.), (2011), teaching and studying social issues: major programs and approaches. charlotte nc: information age. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 53 programs that engaged them as interns with non-governmental organizations or intergovernmental organizations, addressing the challenges of globalization, human rights issues, and trans-national global problems. one should not minimize the difficulties of implementing such changes into pre-service programs. a study of social studies teacher preparation programs in new jersey colleges and universities, found significant obstacles to incorporating new hre academic content and pedagogical strategies (fernekes, 2014). obstacles included a) a lack of available courses in certification programs that could be modified to include new content, b) variations in teacher education faculty’s understanding of human rights education content and strategies, and c) the failure of colleges and universities to require that certification candidates actually study human rights content in their major and/or minor fields (fernekes, 2014, pp. 25-26). these findings replicated those submitted for the united nations universal periodic review (22nd session) on human rights education by human rights educators usa and the u. s. human rights network. their report showed clearly that the united states government had not met its international obligations regarding human rights education in teacher preparation stating, “there is a lack of concerted effort at all levels to infuse hre into the formal education sector in order to meet international and national human rights education obligations. areas for improvement include curricular standards, teacher training, and school environment” (hre usa and u. s. human rights network, 2014, p. 2). regarding program characteristics, it reported that current teacher preparation “rarely includes the incorporation of human rights into teaching pedagogies, content about international human rights standards, or strategies to develop student skills and values so that they learn to apply human rights principles in local, national, and global society” (hre usa and u. s. human rights network, 2014, p. 6). consequently, it appears likely that gce, which includes not only human rights education, but many other complex topics, would face similar obstacles in becoming a mainstream component of social studies teacher preparation. conclusions in examining the degree of compatibility between selected programs in global citizenship education and dominant models of human rights education, these findings emerged. 1. global citizenship education programs share a foundation in the philosophical stance of cosmopolitanism, along with commitments to universal norms in the areas of human rights, respect for cultural diversity and sustainable development, as well as issues-based curriculum design. 2. a high degree of compatibility exists between the goals of gce programs and the valuesawareness-socialization model of hre, but such compatibility declines for the accountabilityprofessional development and activism-transformation models of hre. 3. major obstacles to implementing global citizenship education are the continuing reliance in nation-states on strong links between national identity and civic education in schools, the potential for dissonance between national interests and cosmopolitan commitments as learners confront global policy issues, and the lack of commitment in teacher preparation programs to incorporating either gce or hre in pre-service training. if gce and hre become more prominent features of civic education programs in schools and in social studies teacher preparation, challenges to the overtly nationalistic content and tone of existing mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 54 programs in the usa and other societies would become more prevalent. the development of a cosmopolitan orientation among educators, and potentially their students, would force a serious reconsideration of national identity formation that is currently carried out through social studies education programs and related activities, such as patriotic rituals. it would also affect the study of national history and the minimal attention given to universal norms and priorities, such as those articulated in international human rights standards such as the universal declaration of human rights and related united nations human rights treaties. global citizenship education and human rights education have the potential to transform the beliefs and practices of young people, challenging the strong links that exist between civic education and national identity. if global citizenship education and human rights education are to develop further as realistic alternatives to existing civic education programs, further debate and discussion about the value of cosmopolitanism as an intellectual foundation for global citizenship is needed. human rights education must also develop a richer body of research and practice, addressing the effectiveness of approaches that emphasize social cohesion and/or activism. further, civic education scholars should pursue research on the impact of global citizenship programs currently being implemented in schools to learn whether or not they are realizing the knowledge, skill, attitude, and value goals they claim are possible. appendix: global citizenship education (gce) and human rights education (hre) compared topic gce hre content sources interdisciplinary (includes hre) and issues-based interdisciplinary, with legal and normative content from international law and treaties; issues-based goals developing an active and engaged citizenry capable of acting locally and globally to address public issues developing citizens who are willing to advocate for universal human rights guarantees, defend against human rights violations and create a culture supporting universal human rights content scope addresses learner knowledge, skills, and dispositions across curricular subject fields includes education about human rights, education through human rights, and education for human rights across the curriculum core philosophical commitments cosmopolitan ethos emphasizing a moral obligation to all people universalism balanced with cultural particularities—exercising one’s rights while upholding the rights of others mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 55 references advocates for human rights and human rights educators usa. (2016) human rights in state social studies standards: an analysis. minneapolis, mn: the advocates for human rights. barnard, a. and saad, h. (2016, august 22) 1 riveted world. here are other syrian children who did not. new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/world/middleeast/syria-omran-photo-children.html. brown, g. w., & held, d. (2014). editors’ introduction. in g. w. brown & d. held (eds.), the cosmopolitanism reader (pp. 1-15). malden, ma: polity. de olveira andreotti, v. (2014) critical and transnational literacies in international development and global citizenship education. sisyphus journal of education, 2( 3), 32-50. appiah, kwame anthony. (2007). cosmopolitanism: ethics in a world of strangers. new york, ny: w. w. norton and co. banks, d. (2007). promises to keep: results of the national survey of human rights education 2000 (updated 2007). retrieved from https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/survey2007.html cabrera, l. (2012). the practice of global citizenship. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. dower, nigel. (2003). an introduction to global citizenship. edinburgh, uk: edinburgh university press. fernekes, w. r. (2014). human rights education and social studies teacher preparation: is there any “there” there? paper presented at the 5th international conference on human rights education, american university, washington dc. gaudelli, w. (2009). heuristics of global citizenship discourses towards curriculum enhancement. journal of curriculum theorizing, 25(1), 68-85. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 56 gaudelli, w. & wylie, s. (2012). global education and issues-centered education. in s. totten & j. pedersen (eds.), educating about social issues in the 20th and 21st centuries: a critical annotated bibliography (pp. 293-320). charlotte, nc: information age. gaudelli, w. (2016) global citizenship education: everyday transcendence. new york, ny: routledge. heilman, e. (2009). terrains of global and multicultural education: what is distinctive, contested and shared? in t. fuss kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 25-46). new york, ny: peter lang. human rights educators usa and u. s. human rights network (september 2014). human rights education: submission to the un universal periodic review, 22nd session—united states of america. boston: human rights educators usa and u. s. human rights network. retrieved via email attachment from felisa tibbitts. landorf, h. (2009). toward a philosophy of global education. in t. fuss kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools (pp. 47-71). new york, ny: peter lang. learning and teaching scotland (2011). developing global citizens within curriculum for excellence. glasgow, uk: learning and teaching scotland. retrieved from www.ltscotland.org.uk. merryfield, m. (2002) rethinking our framework for understanding the world. theory & research in social education, 30(1), 148-151. nussbaum, m. c. (1997). “citizens of the world.” in m. c. nussbaum, cultivating humanity: a classical defense of reform in liberal education (pp. 50-84). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ochoa-becker, a. (2007). democratic education for social studies. charlotte, nc: information age. oxfam great britain. (2015). education for global citizenship: a guide for schools. oxford uk: oxfam great britain. retrieved from www.oxfam.org.uk/education. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 34-57. corresponding author email: bill41@comcast.net or william.fernekes@rutgers.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 57 pike, g. (2014). global education in times of discomfort. journal of international (social studies, 3(2), 4-17. rapoport, a. (2009). a forgotten concept: global citizenship education and social studies standards. journal of social studies research, 33 (1), 91-112. richardson, g. (2008). caught between imaginaries: global citizenship education and the persistence of the nation. in a. a. abdi & l. schultz (eds.), educating for human rights and global citizenship (pp. 55-64). albany, ny: state university of new york press. tibbitts, f. & fernekes, w. (2011). human rights education. in s. totten & j. pedersen (eds.), teaching and studying social issues: major programs and approaches (pp. 87-118). charlotte, nc: information age. tibbitts, f. (2015, in press). evolution of human rights models. in m. bajaj (ed.), human rights education: theory, research, praxis. philadelphia, pa: university of pennsylvania press. united nations general assembly (december 2011). declaration on human rights education and training. new york, ny: the united nations. unesco. (2014). global citizenship education: an emerging perspective. paris, fr: united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. retrieved from www. unesco.org/new/en/global-citizenship-education. unesco. (2015). global citizenship education: topics and objectives. paris fr: united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. retrieved from www. unesco.org/new/en/global-citizenship-education. mailto:bill41@comcast.net mailto:william.fernekes@rutgers.edu introduction journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 children as bushfire educators just be calm, and stuff like that lisa gibbs greg ireton university of melbourne, australia university of melbourne, australia karen block emma taunt university of melbourne, australia country fire authority, australia abstract: the limited evidence regarding disaster-related environmental education programs for children indicates that these programs can increase disaster resilience and family preparedness activities, and reduce children’s fear and anxiety. however, the literature lacks qualitative studies to provide insights into children’s experiences of disaster education programs, the programs’ influence on citizenship opportunities in disaster risk environments, and follow-ups with children impacted by actual disasters. this paper reports on a pilot study in victoria, australia, of the survive and thrive program, an environmental education program delivered by the local fire brigade and incorporated into the school curricula for upper primary school children in anglesea, a coastal town rated as having an extreme risk of bushfires.1 a mix of longitudinal qualitative methods captured children’s experiences and the program’s impact on child agency. the results showed that the children enjoyed the survive and thrive program and valued the life skills they acquired. the children demonstrated knowledge and skills gained in monitoring environmental risks and bushfire behavior, as well as a more nuanced understanding of the different civic roles of adults and children in responding to a bushfire in different contexts. faced with the reality of a nearby bushfire during the summer holidays, children demonstrated their capacity for critical thinking and application of their knowledge to support appropriate action. key words: holocaust education, testimonies, teacher training, empathy, critical pedagogy 1 according to the victorian fire risk register. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 introduction children have the capacity—but limited opportunity—for citizenship in relation to communitybased bushfire preparedness activities (anderson, 2005; peek, 2008; mcdermott & cobham, 2012). the need to keep children safe from risk can often override opportunities for citizenship, despite the inclusion in the un convention on the rights of the child (uncrc) of children’s right to participate in decisions affecting their lives (uncrc, 1989). case studies in developing countries have demonstrated children’s capacity to contribute to awareness-raising in adults (izadkhah & hosseini, 2005; mitchell, haynes, hall, choong, & oven, 2008), but there is limited evidence of this in developed countries. disaster preparedness and prevention environmental education programs are a primary strategy for promoting child and youth safety, decision-making skills, and resilience. a critical review of the literature on these programs showed a recent surge of studies in this previously underresearched field (ronan, alisic, towers, johnson, & johnston, 2015). this research indicates that disaster risk reduction programs can achieve their objectives to increase resilience, reduce risk, promote home-based disaster reduction activities, and reduce disaster-related fears. there are early indications that child and parent discussions about the children’s involvement in a disaster education program predict increased home-based drr/preparedness activities (ronan et al., 2015). a study of preschoolers in iran showed the capacity of very young children to learn some of the key messages about disaster safety (izadkhah & gibbs, 2015). however, the strength and range of types of evidence of the effectiveness of disaster education programs is limited and in some cases contradictory, and so more rigorous studies are required to determine what works and for whom, when, and why, and to understand children’s experiences of the program (ronan et al., 2015). studies examining the impacts of disaster education programs on children’s critical thinking, decision making, and emotional response to an actual disaster are absent from the current literature (johnson, ronan, johnston, & peace, 2014; ronan et al., 2015). a current pilot study of the survive and thrive program in victoria, australia, is emphasizing the capacity of children as disaster educators. the program is delivered by the anglesea fire brigade of the country fire authority (cfa).2 local primary school children attend the local cfa fire 2 the country fire authority is a government-funded and insurance-levied agency consisting of management, education, and administrative staff and a predominantly volunteer firefighting service throughout rural victoria, australia, responsible for fighting bushfires that occur on private land. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 station for biweekly classes. they learn about living in their bushfire-prone environment, identify risk, and learn about preparedness and response. they use this knowledge to help educate their families, other students in the school, and students visiting from other areas with very high to extreme bushfire risk. this paper reports on the findings from a pre and post mixed method qualitative assessment of the program. the aim of the evaluation was to explore children’s experience of the survive and thrive program and the impact on their sense of agency and capacity to respond appropriately to bushfire risk given the high-risk environment in which they lived. the evaluation was able to incorporate children’s actual experiences of bushfire risk because of a bushfire that occurred in the region prior to the follow-up evaluation. setting this study was conducted in anglesea, a small town in the surf coast shire of victoria, australia. anglesea is a popular tourist destination for australian and international visitors and has many school camps located in the surrounding bushland. it is an extreme bushfire risk area with a history of major bushfires, including devastation in the ash wednesday fires in 1983, which resulted in 75 fatalities and the loss of over 2,545 homes across victoria and south australia. on christmas day, 2015, a bushfire impacted wye river and separation creek townships on a nearby section of the coastline; this fire corresponds with the final stage of the study. survive and thrive program the cfa developed the survive and thrive program in partnership with anglesea primary school, a small rural school with just over 100 students at the time of the study. utilizing a student-led approach, students from the final term of grade 4 through grade 6 (ages 10-12) were taught bushfire behavior and explored bushfire knowledge and understanding to increase their own and their communities’ resilience to bushfires in their environment (see box 1). the survive and thrive program was integrated across all curriculum areas with an emphasis on humanities and social studies (hass) and science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) subjects. the focus was on building children’s knowledge, skills, and sense of efficacy to promote resilience in a disaster risk area. the classes were held in the cfa anglesea fire station and included experiential learning with cfa equipment and field visits in the great otway national park. to support the students’ learning, the partnership included many formal and informal relationships between mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 local and state organizations, emergency management professionals, and the university of melbourne, including provision of environmental sensors by the melbourne school of engineering to support the environmental monitoring component of the program. the later stages of the survive and thrive program concluded with the students designing and delivering bushfire education workshops to their families, peers, community, and other schools. box 1: survive and thrive activities activities year level at the end of grade 4, the students begin their introduction to the cfa fire brigade, radio communications, and how to use field weather instruments. grade 4 grade 5 begins with a series of bushfire behavior lessons about the principles of fire, weather, landscape, forest fire danger index calculations, fire danger ratings, overall fuel hazard calculations, map reading, hand plotting of predicted fire behavior, fire investigation, local traditional aboriginal fire use (cultural and environmental fire), fuel reduction, and local brigade fire history. during the second half of grade 5, students practice what they have learned and start to develop presentation skills. as a soft introduction, the students coordinate a tour of the fire station and a workshop with their family. during the last term of grade 5, students create workshop/presentations that share a message with the audience as to how they can “survive and thrive” in a bushfire. as a student-led process, these workshops are conceptualized by the whole cohort with students selecting or being allocated to groups. each group then proceeds to develop its workshop. at the end of the term, the students present their workshops for the first time to their families and local fire agencies. grade 5 in grade 6, the students deepen their knowledge of bushfire behavior and continually improve their workshops for presentation to a variety of audiences from their town, local towns, and visiting school groups from other bushfire risk areas. grade 6 mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 theoretical framework this study was informed by the sociology of childhood citizen child framework, which is childcentered and considers the rights and capacity of children to have agency in their own lives (macdougall, 2009). in doing so, it employed a rights-based approach that is consistent with the united nations convention on the rights of the child (uncrc, 1989). evaluation methods the evaluation consisted of a mixed method assessment of the impact of the survive and thrive program on children’s sense of agency in relation to bushfire risk and response. recruitment all children in grade 4 (aged approximately 10 years) at anglesea primary school in late 2014 were eligible for participation in the evaluation. plain language statements were sent home via the school for parents/guardians and children to provide written informed consent. data collection the data collection methods included a repeated visual mapping class activity and follow-up interviews. visual mapping. a class-based activity was conducted in 2014 before the grade 4 children began the survive and thrive program in the final term of school. it was repeated in class with the same children in late 2015. the researchers obtained parent and child consent to access this data for the research analysis. the class activity involved a visual mapping technique as an aid to make it easy for children to understand and respond. visual approaches can be useful in qualitative research to make the concepts more accessible for the research participant and the responses more explicit for the researcher (butler-kisber & poldma, 2010). the children were provided with four different sheets of paper, each with a diagram of a circle split into sections representing home, school, and anglesea community. space was also left for “other” in case other settings were referred to by the participant (e.g., grandparents’ house). the children were then asked to write their responses to the following questions as single words or phrases in each sector of their circles: 1) who provides you with bushfire information and support? (if you are at home/at school/in anglesea/somewhere else.) mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 2) who do you provide bushfire information and support to? (if you are at home/at school/in anglesea/somewhere else.) 3) how does the word “bushfires” make you feel? (name up to 3 feelings that come to mind if there is a bushfire and you are at home/at school/in anglesea/somewhere else.) 4) what would you do in a bushfire? (name up to 3 actions if you are at home/at school/in anglesea/somewhere else.) interviews. individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participating children at school in early 2016. semi-structured interviews are one of the most common methods used for qualitative data collection. they are useful for exploring the participant perspective because they are guided by a series of open-ended questions or prompts from the researcher, with scope for additional issues and questions to be raised and discussed by both the researcher and the participant (dicicco-bloom & crabtree, 2006). the interviews were conducted in the first term back at school following the christmas holiday break when bushfires had occurred in the local area. the interviews explored children’s expectations and experiences of the survive and thrive program, their perspectives on potential bushfires and the role of the cfa, their parents, teachers, and themselves, and their family experiences of the nearby bushfires. data analysis visual mapping analysis. the data from the visual mapping activity was combined and grouped into sectors. words that were very similar were adjusted slightly to match (e.g., “scary” and “scared” would both be listed as “scared”). the adjusted data was then entered into the online platform “wordle” (http://www.wordle.net/) to create visual representations of the combined data, with the most commonly used words appearing in larger font. this representation enabled systematic comparison of grouped responses in different settings and examination of changes over time to develop a preliminary analysis of the impact of the survive and thrive program on children’s perceptions of bushfire experiences and appropriate responses in different contexts (jackson & trochim, 2002). interview data analysis. the interview data was coded and categorized and then analyzed using inductive thematic coding (green et al., 2007). similarities and differences within and across categories were examined to develop an in-depth understanding of children’s experiences of the mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 survive and thrive program and evolving perceptions of their own roles and the role of others over time and in response to a nearby bushfire threat. multiple methods integration of data. the data collected from the two different forms of data collection was integrated at two points in the research process. first, the individual visual mapping activities completed by the children were used as additional prompts during the interviews to explore their sense of agency and to understand the reasons for any changes in their responses over time (butler-kisber & poldma, 2010). second, the preliminary analysis of the combined visual maps was integrated with the analysis of the interview data to provide greater breadth and depth to the development of a conceptual understanding of children’s experiences of the survive and thrive program (nastasi, hitchcock, & brown, 2010). this was then compared to the existing empirical literature to address gaps in the evidence base. reporting to protect the anonymity of the child participants, identifying information has been removed from accounts. additional measures have been taken to provide internal confidentiality—an ethical issue when a small number of participants who are known to each other participate in a research study and it is likely that they can identify each other from the responses provided (tolich, 2004). the additional measures include the use of quotes without pseudonyms or other forms of labels to prevent linking of responses, and alteration of gender in some cases to ensure that gender cannot be used to identify participants. there were no apparent gender differences in responses, so this is not likely to affect understanding of the program’s impacts. results a total of 13 students participated in the study. all completed interviews, and nine of the participants also completed pre and post visual mapping activities. one child consented but subsequently left the school and did not participate in the study activities. as detailed below, the predominant theme that emerged from this study was that the survive and thrive program was successful in changing children’s understanding of their role in a bushfire risk environment. this incorporated a sense of place, actions of self and others, and strategies for managing emotional responses to danger. the occurrence of the fires during the christmas holiday period provided a unique opportunity to compare children’s reports of how they would feel and act if there was a bushfire with what actually happened. the results are presented using mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 the key questions asked of children in terms of their knowledge, actions, and feelings about bushfires. who provides bushfire information and support? at time 1, children tended to name the dominant adults in the different settings as their primary sources of bushfire information and support: parents at home, teachers at school, cfa in anglesea, and lifeguards (surf lifesavers) and grandparents in other settings (figure 1). after participating in the survive and thrive program for over a year, they had a clearer sense of sources of reliable bushfire information. the adult roles in each setting were still evident, but children began to recognize that bushfire information was specialized information that not everyone shared, and so the lifeguards, pool staff, and the ses (state emergency service) were notably absent as perceived sources of bushfire information at time 2 (figure 2). some children now felt that their parents had limited knowledge of bushfires and bushfire safety. figure 1: who provides you with bushfire information and support? – time 1 mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 figure 2: who provides you with bushfire information and support? – time 2 children were also more knowledgeable about additional sources of information following participation in the survive and thrive program. some children initially listed sources such as the news, the internet, and signs such as the cfa fire rating sign. some were more specific at followup, referring, for example, to the fireready app,3 which they could access on their parents’ phones (as the children did not have their own phones): you can turn notifications on and it will tell you where there’s a fire or if there’s an accident nearby that can cause a fire. you choose where you are … and then it would say, “best to leave now” or it would say, “pack your stuff and get ready,” because it senses on the map how far away you are. 3 the official victorian government online application for and access to community information and warnings for all types of emergencies in victoria. since replaced by the vicemergency app. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 probably the fireready app or the bom4 on the internet. sometimes the cfa have it where it started. all you need to find out is the direction of the wind, the density of the fuel and leaves in the area and the weather. so, the moisture in the grass and the temperature, and you can pretty much just map out where it’s going to go. children also had a clearer sense of the role of the cfa following involvement in the survive and thrive program, although there was confusion for some about whether or not cfa would go to every house to warn residents in the case of a fire. when children were asked at time 1 who they could provide bushfire information and support to, many named family and friends, but the majority said “no-one” or “not sure” (figure 3). at time 2, as they explained in their interviews, they assumed most people would be aware of an approaching bushfire and that the teachers and older students at their school were also familiar with the program. figure 3: who do you provide bushfire information and support to? – time 1 4 bureau of meteorology website. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 figure 4: who do you provide bushfire information and support to? – time 2 i’m probably wasting time. they probably already know. like what i said before about warning the family, it’s wasting time. they can obviously smell smoke in the air and all that type of thing. so while the children were less inclined to think that they would tell people a fire was approaching, they had more confidence in their ability to provide useful information about bushfires. this was evident in their responses at time 2 (figure 4) and was reinforced by the survive and thrive program presentations in which the students engaged parents, community members, and other school children in various activities to teach them about bushfire safety. it felt really good to know that i can help people with what i know. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 children also felt they could give useful information to younger children and teachers new to their school, and also to tourists. with the juniors, if there was a fire, i have a buddy and her name’s molly and i don’t think she probably understands the concept of fire yet. if there was a fire i would tell her just to be calm and stuff like that. people who come down on holidays might not exactly have an idea of what happens in anglesea or the fire dangers that can happen over the summer when it gets really hot. they might not know to evacuate or have any way of contacting anyone…you can help in any way you can by just letting them know. this was confirmed when the fires did occur and one child was able to give a tourist information about what was happening: i felt good that i was able to provide information because they weren’t sure and they could have died. however, one child didn’t think she could provide anyone with bushfire information and support: i don’t know because i think if there was a fire, i don't think anyone would be listening to the children. children’s confidence in their ability to provide useful information was reinforced by their sharing of knowledge with their families over the course of the program. children were most likely to share their learnings in the program at home when their parents asked about what they did at school that day. my mum and dad, at the table when we're eating, they'll say, “what have you learned at cfa?” and my brother, because he likes listening about it as well. one child even described sharing what he learned with his cousins in anglesea and melbourne. children spoke of increased preparedness activities at home, including having an emergency box with essential items ready. originally when we had a fire plan, we didn't really have a bag, and now we've got the bag, fire plan, and what to do. when the fire was heading towards lorne [a nearby town], we knew more about it and what to do… i don't know what we've done before but we mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 knew “we've got to do this and that,” like clean up, wet the grass and things like that, clear the gutter out and be a lot smarter about it, know what to do. for mum and dad, mum grew up in queensland and there wasn’t as much fire as there was down here because she lived in rainforest and tropical areas. i’d tell mum about it so she’d be mentally and physically prepared to go through a fire. dad, he’s lived here most of his life and he knows a lot about it already, but there were some things that he didn’t quite know and i’ve told him things like that … he didn’t understand how fire will travel faster uphill instead of downhill. from here and lorne there’s heaps of valleys and hills and stuff, so it might take quite a while to get from there to aireys if it was not a very windy day. he didn’t understand that, but i told him that heat rises so it’s faster and then he understood better. when it’s coming downhill, it’s trying to go up, but it’s coming down as well. this showed children’s capacity to influence family knowledge and actions. in some cases, families were already prepared. some children reported that their families still didn’t have a fire plan. in others, this new knowledge translated into changed family preparedness activities. how does the word “bushfire” make you feel? the increased knowledge children gained from the survive and thrive program was an important factor in managing their feelings and emotional response to bushfires. when children were asked at time 1 how the word “bushfire” makes them feel, the dominant responses were “scared” and “worried” in each location (figure 5). at time 2, children continued to associate feelings of fear and worry with the thought of bushfires (see figure 6), but the interviews revealed that this was a rational understanding of how bushfires would be experienced in terms of the emotional impacts of a danger situation: it's changed because i'd still be scared, i'd be rushed to try to get out to a safer place and would be focused because i know the neighbourhood safer places after we did the cfa project, so i'd know where to try to get and i'd be focused on getting to a safe point. children still reported being nervous and scared about bushfires, but it was more contained at follow-up: i wouldn't be as scared because i'd know more about what they do to stop the bushfires and how they keep us safe, but i'd still be a bit nervous because it is still an emergency. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 this was consistent with how they reacted when fires were actually approaching: i felt all over the place and i felt nervous, but i also felt really prepared. they reported that despite this fear, they had learned how important it was to stay calm and described a whole range of strategies to help them manage their emotional responses, including using their knowledge about bushfire behavior to know what to do, knowing that there is more chance of surviving than dying, preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, and listening to teachers: i just keep listening to the teachers and i don't want to get really worried because then i'll think about things which make me more scared. just got to keep calm and listen to the teachers. they were able to assess the differential nature and level of risk in each of the locations nominated by the researcher, i.e., at home, at school, and in anglesea. the children’s assessment of risk at home was based on the environment surrounding the home, the level of family bushfire preparedness, and their parents’ level of knowledge of bushfire behavior. figure 5: how does the word “bushfire” make you feel? – time 1 mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 figure 6: how does the word “bushfire” make you feel? – time 2 all of the children recognized that their school had high levels of bushfire safety because it had been recently built to high fire safety standards, the layout of the surrounding landscape reduced risk, and the teachers were well informed because of the involvement of the school in the cfa program. there was generally a sense of calm about being at school in the case of a fire, with students secure in the knowledge that the school is prepared and the students’ role is to follow instructions: i think it's because if we were in the school we'd still be in their control so we'd listen to them and they know what to do in a fire. it is a pretty fire safe building. if people had to evacuate, this would be one of the safest places to actually come. i learned even more about the things around the school and what things keep us safe…we have the fire extinguishers and the fire blankets and the fire evacuation plan, how we're going to keep safe. i probably feel a bit safe, i guess. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 there was one exception, where one of the children had originally listed feeling safe at school but this was not present in the follow up. the child explained the difference: i found out it's not as safe as you think because the fires are unpredictable and you don't know what they're going to do. it would be the same anywhere. this suggests that the child retained the message about bushfire variability but less about understanding and predicting bushfire behavior. children often spoke of family as a significant factor in the way they would feel and act in response to a bushfire: [at school] i'd feel safe, but because i'm not with the rest of my family, i'd feel a bit nervous and scared because i'm not sure if they were okay. the students were very conscious of the allocated neighbourhood safer places in anglesea that they could go to if a fire occurred and they were not with their parents. at time 2, they were all able to describe at least two neighbourhood safer places in their local area. they also understood the features that made those places safe: i think the beach is just a safe place to be if you were down there, but because there’s the bush on the fencing of the beach it can jump over onto the sand if there are twigs there and the fire can jump over. i think that’s the biggest worry about being down there. on the river, you’ve got the road next to it and on the other side there’s bush but it’s only light bush, it’s not heavy and there’s a big fat tree there, more green than easier to burn. there’s not as much fuel on that side. then you’ve got the caravan park, which is pretty cleared out. it wouldn’t get as hot down there as it would at the beach. a number of the children referred to the speed at which fires travel as reassurance that there is time to get away: if there’s a fire, it does take a while for it to move. fires don’t move as fast as a car; they don’t go 100 kilometres per hour. you’ve got time to do things and that’s one of the best things to know, that you’ve got time to get in and get out of town and away from the fire. however, they did not necessarily take into account the likelihood of traffic on the main access road or in a smoky, chaotic environment. children are often presumed to be egocentric, but their responses throughout the study demonstrated that they were very conscious of the needs of others, including people outside of their family: mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 i'd have to calm myself down, and i might be with other people, so i'd have to try to help them be calm and we'd all try to get somewhere safe. what would you say to someone to help them calm down? “it's all right, we'll get through it. just keep breathing, keep thinking good thoughts. we'll find a safe place.” this showed a sense of agency in terms of sharing their new knowledge and skills to help others. what would you do if there was a bushfire? the greatest shift in student responses from before and after the survive and thrive program was in their reports of how they would act if a bushfire occurred. at time 1, many children were focused on warning others. children’s responses demonstrated care and concern for others, such as “warn others” and “warn neighbours,” but also undirected energy suggestive of a panic response: “go crazy” when at home, “run, run, run home and warn people” when at school, and “run to the beach like a headless chook” when in anglesea (see figures 7, 9, and 11). the children perceived adults as a source of information and support, but they felt responsible for contributing to peer and sibling support and caring for pets. figure 7: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – at home (time 1) mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 figure 8: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – at home (time 2) conversely, at time 2 there was an overriding sense of order and calm in children’s reports of anticipated actions. children described various preparedness tasks at home such as “pack the car” and “get the fire box,” and emotional self-regulation such as “calm myself” (figure 8). at school, they described listening and following teacher instructions (figure 10), and in anglesea, they described calm and focused actions such as “keep calm,” “listen to local authorities,” and “check weather” (figure 12). these children explained why they changed their responses from time 1 to time 2 about how they would behave in a fire: just everything i've learnt about fire. that's pretty weird running with friends up to my house, which is the other side of anglesea, but listening to instructions would be better. i think i thought before i did the cfa that, i thought we could just go to the beach and it’d be that simple, but now i realize that you need the things in your emergency bag to help you if you had to stay on the beach for a couple of days. we would be prepared. leave … not stay at home in case the fire would come. go to neighbourhood safe place because there’d be support and help there. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 help and support are not actually available at the neighbourhood safer places, but these statements made it possible to identify misunderstandings and correct them within the survive and thrive program. there was also a shift from responses at time 1 that included “fire drill” (see figure 9) and “tuck and roll” (see figure 7), indicating a probable level of confusion between responding to a building fire and a bushfire. this appeared to be absent at time 2. figure 9: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – at school (time 1) mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 figure 10: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – at school (time 2) figure 11: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – in anglesea (time 1) mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 figure 12: what would you do if there was a bushfire? – in anglesea (time 1) the children’s accounts of their experiences of the actual bushfires over the school holiday period demonstrated that they were able to make a meaningful contribution and showed that they were able to respond calmly even when they had anticipated they would be scared and worried. on christmas day there was a fire when we got home, because we were in melbourne. usually my parents wouldn't know what to do but they knew exactly what to do this time... because of all the things i've told them, exactly what they need to pack... i told them some things and they thought it was a good idea and they did it, but once the fire wasn't coming, it was fine. when the lorne fire was, i was walking my dog and there was a ting5 on my phone because i had it with me. it said that there was a fire in lorne and wye river. i texted mum saying, “have you checked your fire app?” she said no, and i said, “well there’s a fire in lorne so just explain to [everyone].” it was christmas morning … she hadn’t 5 a notification from the fireready app. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 checked her phone because she was really busy. we all have our own bags that have our clothes and a blanket for us all in it. she said to get everyone and we’ll put them next to the door… before i did the cfa, we had just some blankets and some clothes and mum had some money in there and she had a torch and stuff. then after i did the cfa, she put radios and she wrote down the currency of the radio stations that she could use. she put the insurance papers in there and stuff like that, after i told her some of the good things to put in there. this demonstrated the children’s capacity to apply their knowledge in real life situations and to have the confidence to provide appropriate advice to their parents. experience of the survive and thrive program almost all of the children were extremely positive about their participation in the survive and thrive program and reported that they would recommend it to friends at other schools. the most important outcomes they nominated were that they now knew about how fires behave and what they should do. they recognized that they had learned life skills. i’d say definitely do it, because it’s fun and you actually learn stuff that you can use out of primary school, not just in primary school… if you learn the basics, you know stuff about fire. so, it’s not an ongoing thing you have to do. you just learn in primary school and it will be there, knowledge for your life. the exception was one child who commented: to be honest, i’m not really good at cfa. the child felt inadequate at completing the activities and learning the skills, but later in the interview, the same child provided detailed information about how environmental conditions impact the behavior of the fire and how these conditions can be monitored using environmental sensors (provided by the university of melbourne). some of the children planned to continue their involvement with cfa when they transition to secondary school through the junior fire brigade. discussion this study addresses a current gap in the disaster education literature (johnson et al., 2014) by using a mixed method, qualitative research design to explore children’s experiences of a disaster education program. the original premise for this research was that programs such as survive and mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 thrive provide an opportunity to increase children’s sense of agency and opportunities for citizenship in a disaster risk context. this premise was based on the assumption that the increased knowledge and skills would provide opportunities for children to contribute in a meaningful way to family and community preparedness, and would increase their own sense of safety and agency as a result (mitchell et al., 2008; peek, 2008). what emerged was slightly different, however. studies of confidence and agency, particularly in children, can be complicated by children’s unrealistic understanding of what will happen and what is required. for example, children who have never cooked may be very confident in their ability to cook a meal until they try to cook or learn what is involved. the initial visual mapping activity with children to assess their feelings and anticipated responses to a bushfire showed that they would be scared but felt they were responsible for warning others. this suggests that even though they didn’t know who they would provide bushfire information and support to, they felt a high sense of agency and citizenship when it came to action. however, after participating in the survive and thrive program, they showed much greater insight into what would happen during a fire and how to behave safely. there was a noticeable shift from seeing all adults as holders of bushfire safety knowledge to recognition that this is specialist knowledge, some of which the children now share (mitchell et al., 2008). there was also a shift from thinking that no one will know what is happening in a bushfire event to a clearer sense of different roles and planned actions. this suggests that the survive and thrive program successfully linked the children’s understanding of disasters with their own civic roles within the surrounding systems of home, school, and community (ronan & towers, 2014). as a result, the children in this study recognized the need to behave differently in different contexts, specifically to contribute to packing and leaving early when at home, to go to the neighbourhood safer places when in anglesea, and to sit quietly and respond to instructions when at school. this school response did not represent a reduction in agency to be a “passive victim” but was instead based on a considered appraisal of the safety of the school environment, the knowledge and capacity of their teachers, and their own contribution to a calm response. their reporting of strategies for keeping calm also showed that the children understood the emotional impact of a dangerous situation and their own capacity to manage their emotions. reduced fear and anxiety have previously been associated with disaster education program outcomes (webb & ronan, 2014). the children’s reports of their actual responses to a real bushfire risk demonstrated that they were able to respond as well as or more competently than they had anticipated. this is a unique contribution to the disaster education literature, given the lack of pre and post studies that follow cohorts of participants into response and recovery from mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 an actual disaster event (johnson et al., 2014; ronan et al., 2015). it adds to the emerging reports of child and youth citizenship in relation to family and community disaster response and recovery (peek, 2008). importantly, this study repeated earlier findings that, following the bushfire education, the children involved continued to recognize the inherent danger in disaster events and understood the emotional impact, but felt better prepared and able to cope if one did occur (ronan & johnston, 2001; ronan et al., 2008; ronan et al., 2015). these findings contribute to the developing literature on child disaster risk reduction. the main limitation of this study—the small sample size and a single school community setting—means that the findings cannot be generalized to other settings. this limitation is consistent with the majority of the disaster education literature (johnson et al., 2014). however, the study findings do demonstrate the potential value of immersive programs between schools and emergency management agencies to improve the capacity of schools to manage emergency events, to increase children’s knowledge and competency in hazard situations, and to positively influence family actions. increased hazard knowledge and family adjustments are most likely to occur when the school-based program is integrated with an emergency management focus (ronan & johnston, 2001). the delivery of the survive and thrive program reflects review recommendations that disaster education programs be integrated into core school curricula, providing graduated exposure to new material and refreshment of material previously learned (ronan & johnston, 2001; ronan et al., 2015). the outcomes of this program were also likely to have been enhanced by the inclusion of hands-on experiential learning and the opportunity for the children to train others, enabling them to make a civic contribution for which they were justifiably proud (peek, 2008; ronan et al., 2015). in these times of global risk of increased disaster frequency and severity, children can contribute to disaster preparedness and recovery. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 references: anderson, w. a. (2005). bringing children into focus on the social science disaster research agenda. international journal of mass emergencies and disasters, 23(3), 159-175. butler-kisber, l., & poldma, t. (2010). the power of visual approaches in qualitative inquiry: the use of collage making and concept mapping in experiential research. journal of research practice, 6(2). dicicco-bloom, b., & crabtree, b. f. (2006). the qualitative research interview. medical education, 40(4), 314–321. green, j., willis, k., hughes, e., small, r., welch, n., gibbs, l., & daly, j. (2007). generating best evidence from qualitative research: the role of data analysis. australian and new zealand journal of public health, 31(6), 545-550. izadkhah, y. o., & gibbs, l. (2015). a study of preschoolers’ perceptions of earthquakes through drawing. international journal of disaster risk reduction, 14(2), 132-139. izadkhah, y. o., & hosseini, m. (2005). towards resilient communities in developing countries through education of children for disaster preparedness. int. j. emergency management, 2(3). jackson, k. m., & trochim, w. m. k. (2002). concept mapping as an alternative approach for the analysis of open-ended survey responses. organizational research methods, 5(4), 307 336. johnson, v., ronan, k., johnston, d., & peace, r. (2014). evaluations of disaster education programs for children: a methodological review. international journal of disaster risk reduction, 9, 107-123. macdougall, c. (ed.). (2009). understanding twenty-first century childhood. understanding health: a determinants approach. melbourne: oxford university press. mcdermott, b., & cobham, v. (2012). a road less travelled: a guide to children, emotions and disasters. queensland, australia: tfd publishing. mitchell, t., haynes, k., hall, n., choong, w., & oven, k. (2008). the role of children and youth in communicating disaster risk. children, youth and environments, 18(1), 254-279. mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 nastasi, b., hitchcock, j., & brown, l. (2010). an inclusive framework for conceptualizing mixed method design typologies. in a. tashakkori and c. teddlie (ed.), sage handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research (pp. 305-338). london: sage. peek, l. (2008). children and disasters: understanding vulnerability, developing capacities, and promoting resilience an introduction. children, youth and environments, 18(1), 1-29. ronan, k., & towers, b. (2014). systems education for a sustainable planet: preparing children for natural disasters. systems, 2, 1-23. ronan, k. r., alisic, e., towers, b., johnson, v. a., & johnston, d. m. (2015). disaster preparedness for children and families: a critical review. curr psychiatry rep: child and family disaster psychiatry, 17, 58. ronan, k. r., crellin, k., johnston, d. m., finnis, k., paton, d., & becker, j. (2008). promoting child and family resilience to disasters: effects, interventions and prevention effectiveness. children, youth and environments, 18(1), 332-353. ronan, k. r., & johnston, d. m. (2001). correlates of hazard education programs for youth. risk analysis, 21(5), 1055-1064. tolich, m. (2004). internal confidentiality: when confidentiality assurances fail relational informants. qualitative sociology, 27(1), 101-106. uncrc. (1989). united nations convention on the rights of the child. g.a. res. 44/25, annex, 44 u.n. gaor supp. (no. 49) at 167, u.n. doc. a/44/49 (1989), entered into force september 2 1990. /c/93/add.5 of 16 july 2003. webb, m., & ronan, k. (2014). interactive hazards education program for youth in a low ses community: a quasi-experimental pilot study. risk analysis, 34(10), 1882-1893. about the authors: lisa gibbs jack brockhoff child health & wellbeing program, centre for health equity, university of melbourne; centre for disaster management and public safety, university of melbourne, lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au greg ireton centre for disaster management and public safety, university of melbourne jack brockhoff child health & wellbeing program, centre for health equity, university of melbourne, greg.ireton@unimelb.edu.au mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au mailto:greg.ireton@unimelb.edu.au journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 86-112 corresponding author: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 karen block jack brockhoff child health & wellbeing program, centre for health equity, university of melbourne, keblock@unimelb.edu.au emma taunt country fire authority, e.taunt@cfa.vic.gov.au mailto:lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:keblock@unimelb.edu.au mailto:e.taunt@cfa.vic.gov.au journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 constructing israeli and palestinian identity: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of world history textbooks and teacher discourse daniel osborn, ed. d. dean college abstract: this research critically evaluates the depiction of israelis and palestinians in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ instructional discourse. employing a multimodal critical discourse analysis methodology, this study offers a comparison between written narratives and spoken discourse in order to analyze the portrayals found in classrooms. this research found that israelis and palestinians are almost entirely depicted in relation to war and conflict. this establishes parameters for the ways in which either population can be characterized while obscuring substantive recognition of both communities’ diversity and cultural identities. introduction depictions of israelis and palestinians are diverse and often divergent. in spite of the pluralistic and dynamic nature of either community’s identities, these populations have historically been portrayed in reductive terms. khalidi (1997) asserts that palestinian identity has been dismissed as not being a real national identity. rosenthal (2003) contends that israelis are more diverse than is often presumed by assumptions about who is a jew and that all israelis are jewish. adwan, bar-on, and naveh (2012) explain that israeli and palestinian collective identities have been defined against one another and that the promotion of one group has entailed more critically representing the other. while true when representing any community, the manner in which israelis and palestinians are characterized is never value-free. the selection of language in presenting israelis and palestinians establishes parameters of understanding. these parameters may legitimize or delegitimize actions by either population depending on the perspective of those constructing the representation. actions venerated in one depiction may be condemned in another, allowing israelis and palestinians to be represented in sympathetic or unflattering ways for the same behavior. to varying extents, the members of both communities are responsible for mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 promoting their own forms of self-identification. however, both are subject to having associations and labels assigned to them. within the united states, social studies education is one of many vehicles through which depictions of either population are constructed. textbooks and teachers’ instructional discourse are two mechanisms of transmitting an understanding of israelis and palestinians within formal educational settings. however, there is a dearth of research examining the portrayal of israelis and palestinians offered by textbooks and through teachers’ classroom discourse. because textbooks and teachers both construct representations of israelis and palestinians, there is an existing imperative to ascertain an understanding of the ways these communities are characterized in social studies classrooms. background although collective identities are often presented as immutable, they are socially constructed forms of categorization. in this respect, identity is contingent upon context and the perspectives adopted by those who ascribe characteristics to a given community. colombo and senatore (2005) explain that “community identity can be considered a socially constructed notion intended to lend meaning to experience” (p. 51). the categories that exist in the social world and often purport to be unquestionable realities instead hinge upon historical circumstance and are subject to change (bourdieu, 1985). as hall (1997) contends, “it is we who fix the meaning so firmly that, after a while, it comes to seem natural and inevitable” (p. 21). rather than being innate, these categories are internalized and become the basis for social relations. national identity is one of the most ubiquitous forms of collective identification. according to anderson (2006), national identities constitute imagined communities. nations are imagined because they are not biological formations making determinations of belonging fluid rather than fixed. this understanding of nationhood confounds notions of essential traits among communities. if national identity is a prevailing paradigm of establishing social order and membership rather than an unquestionable condition, there can be no ascription of essential characteristics to the nation. perceptions of communities are the product of representations disseminated in various social settings. through discursive modes, people are able to construct meaning and promulgate perceptions of identity (colombo & senatore, 2005). meaning is not always singular, as numerous contending perceptions abound. however, in social settings, certain representations are promoted and become normative modes of perceiving identity and social realities. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 in particular, schools and the knowledge found in social studies classrooms contribute to youth’s socialization and collective identity formation (apple, 2004). schools are socially sanctioned sites where knowledge is transmitted. school knowledge is granted a sense of legitimacy while also being considered neutral (giroux, 2011). as conduits for identity construction, schools are pivotal in this socialization process. unlike other media transmitting representations and knowledge, youth are compelled to attend school (seixas, 2009). because national identity is inculcated rather than natural, it is “mediated by literacy and an extensive, formal educational system” (gellner, 1981, p. 757). hutchins (2016) argues, “nationalism is deeply connected to education. modern educationand particularly history and social studies educationis inextricably linked to the development of nation-states in liberal democracies” (p. 5). in the united states, this means that social studies education engenders a sense of what it means to be an american (journell, 2011). vansledright (2008) asserts that textbooks and teachers do not necessarily offer students an objective portrayal of the past; instead, they expose students to an american creed. the representations found in schools and social studies classrooms extend beyond promoting a sense of american identity. social studies education entails representing a myriad of national communities. as students are exposed to notions of american national identity, they are also immersed in the study of communities across the globe. these communities are characterized in the process of being introduced to students via textbooks and teacher discourse. students are offered representations that legitimize certain perspectives and ways of classifying global communities. scholars have recognized that social studies knowledge facilitates both collective identity formation and perceptions of other communities. multicultural education researchers have long adopted a critical stance towards the knowledge found in schools and the problems associated with representations of subaltern communities. multicultural education research takes as its point of departure the assertion that representations are not value-neutral but, instead, offer a subjective and particular perspective. banks (1993b) explains, “the assumption within the western empirical paradigm is that the knowledge produced within it is neutral and objective and that its principles are universal” (p. 5). the intent behind multicultural education research has been to integrate more inclusive content, reduce prejudice, pursue equity pedagogy, and develop empowering school cultures (banks, 1995). the cumulative effect of this research and educational framework is to cultivate students’ knowledge base, skill set, and dispositions towards living in an increasingly diverse world (banks, 1993a). this is not in conflict with national mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 identity formation. instead, it represents a departure from a monocultural nationalism towards a transformative one directed towards social justice and respect for difference (giroux, 1995). in spite of the model offered by multicultural education research, it is limited in numerous ways (lee & okazawa-rey, 2006). in the united states, multicultural research tends to concentrate on the depiction of groups from within the demographic makeup of america’s citizenry. in a globally interconnected 21st century, this means that there is little research emanating from a multicultural orientation that examines curricular treatment of communities across the world. relatedly, much of the scholarship in social studies education is bound to studies of textbooks and curriculum frameworks (cf. alridge, 2006; anderson, 2012; ashley & jarratt-ziemski, 1999; brown & brown, 2010; hutchins, 2016; kaomea, 2000; loewen, 1995). such scholarship is premised upon the assertion that textbooks are the primary source of knowledge in the classroom responsible for collective identity formation and offering students representations of communities across the globe. however, such research precludes understandings of the role of social studies teachers in offering their own representations through the discourse they employ during classroom instruction. the lived classroom experience entails more than reading textbooks. schooling is multimodal and involves the interplay of various sources of representation. the limitations in multicultural education and textbook analyses necessitate further research dedicated to critically examining the manner in which textbooks and teacher discourse represent communities across the world. in a world increasingly defined by the trends and tensions of globalization, there is an imperative to appreciate the role of schools in portraying other communities across the globe through assorted instructional tools. while there are numerous populations across the globe who are represented in social studies textbooks and teachers’ discourse, there is an acute imperative to understand the portrayal of israeli and palestinian populations in american social studies education. for reasons including but not limited to the ubiquity of media coverage of the middle east and the united states’ longstanding relations with these populations, there is a need to better understand the ways in which social studies education is characterizing these two populations for students in american classrooms. with this in mind, this research answered the following question: how are israelis and palestinians represented in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ classroom discourse? mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 theoretical framework this research into representations of israelis and palestinians in world history textbooks and social studies teachers’ classroom discourse draws upon postmodernism as a theoretical framework. postmodernist thinkers assert that knowledge is a form of representing reality; therefore, what is often presumed to be innate and discovered is in fact constructed. facts may seem neutral, but postmodernist thinkers recognize that knowledge is not merely the accumulation of facts (brown, 2005). they are selected, arranged, and interpreted, rendering knowledge contingent rather than universal (hutcheon, 1993). this allows the world to be perceived in an intelligible manner with truth being pluralistic rather than singular. brown (2005) explains, “if anybody claims to be able to deliver a certainty that cannot be challenged, written history becomes undemocratic and dangerous” (p. 29). postmodernism is underpinned by the assertion that ambiguity is prevalent in representations. instead of arriving at certainty through the discovery of absolute truths, postmodernists recognize that reality is too dynamic and multidimensional to be fully articulated in knowledge. systems of knowledge enable humans to grapple with reality, but postmodernists are compelled to expose them as limited and constructed. postmodernists contend that knowledge possesses concealed substrata that are often unrecognized. the undercurrents that permeate knowledge are indicative of a power dynamic. power determines which forms of knowledge become normative and which are displaced (foucault, 1993). knowledge construction is a display of power that determines whose voices are heard or silenced. postmodernist thinkers harness their understanding of knowledge in order to deconstruct it (lyotard, 2002). by deconstructing knowledge, postmodernists attempt to illuminate subjectivities and expose the undercurrents within knowledge that otherwise may appear to be neutral. these tenets of postmodernism have undergirded theory and research in education. giroux (2011) asserts that the assumption that knowledge is self-evidently neutral is mistaken because it does not consider the implications for selecting and organizing the content of schooling and the subjective decisions inherent in these processes. apple (2004) contends that the transmission of knowledge in schools contributes to the social construction of reality. banks (1993b) explains, “[a]s critical and postmodern theorists have pointed out, personal, cultural, and social factors influence the formulation of knowledge even when objective knowledge is the ideal within a discipline” (p. 5). similar theoretical positions have been applied to social studies education and the relationship between historical narratives and collective identity formation. seixas (2009) mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 considers the “mythic, nation-building memory” found in schools to contribute to the construction of national identity and the entrenchment of boundaries between communities (p. 720). the postmodernist stance that knowledge is not objective, identities are constructed, and perceptions of social reality are imbued with subjective positions offers a lens to study the content of social studies classrooms. postmodernist thought has meaningful implications with respect to research examining the knowledge introduced in the form of textbooks and teacher discourse. both are positioned as figures of intellectual authority in the classroom. moreover, knowledge found in school has a high degree of normativity and legitimacy associated with it. content knowledge grants students access to representations and characterizations of groups that contribute to their consciousness of the social world and its inhabitants, making postmodernism an appropriate theoretical framework for deconstructing representations of israelis and palestinians found in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ instructional discourse. literature review israeli and palestinian identities the scholarship examining israeli and palestinian identity construction is robust. studies in collective memory and identity formation underpin much of this literature. this work seeks to understand ways in which israeli and palestinian identities have been formulated, transmitted, and internalized by those belonging to either population. almog (2000) studied the concept of the sabra, an archetypal ideal emerging from zionist conceptions of the ways jews experiencing sovereignty in their own homeland would differ from those living under the conditions of diaspora. almog explains, “this was taken as a metaphor for the native israeli, whose rough, masculine manner was said to hide a delicate and sensitive soul” (p. 4). moreover, this native israeli would speak hebrew, talk directly, have an intimate knowledge of the land of israel, and would be guided by zionist idealism. studying the role of trauma in israeli and palestinian identity formation, roberts (2013) also articulated the prominence of the sabra ideal as a construction influencing israeli identity formation. roberts writes, “named after the prickly pear cactus, the sabra was a fearless fighter and hardworking pioneer; confident, spartan, easygoing; deeply loyal to the secular socialist values of the collective” (p. 85). while the sabra vision of israeli identity was not the only one to be proposed by jews within zionist circles, it had longstanding hegemonic influence among israeli-jews after the establishment of the state of israel. however, kimmerling (2001) found that the normative notion of israeliness that emerged from secular labor zionism mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 has been eroding, and alternative visions of an affirmative israeli identity are contending. kimmerling states, “within the israeli state, a system of cultural and social plurality is emerging, but in the absence of a concept or ideology of multiculturalism” (p. 2). rather than a singular and undisputed israeli identity, there exists an ongoing conflict among the citizens of the state over the meaning of being israeli. this has allowed for identity to be reimagined and for countervailing notions of collective identity to surface. for kimmerling, this entails the end of a hegemonic notion of israeli identity. regarding palestinian identity, khalidi (1997) asserts that it is similarly something that has experienced numerous permutations over time and has evolved through changing historical circumstances. khalidi contends that palestinian identity has often been dismissed and its legitimacy as a nationality questioned. this has been due to the lack of sovereignty and accompanying state apparatuses that allow for identity to be inculcated. khalidi explains, “one of the most common tropes in treatments of issues related to palestine is the idea that palestinian identity, and with it palestinian nationalism, are ephemeral and of recent origin” (p. 177). moreover, khalidi explains that palestinian identity is inseparable from christian, muslim, ottoman, arab, local, family, and tribal forms of identification. this also contributes to criticism, questioning its uniqueness as a national identity (p. 6). this scholarship offers insights into the ways in which israelis and palestinians have continually defined and redefined their national identities. it attests to the constructed nature of identity and the fluctuations in how either community has envisioned and been assigned identities from within and without. in addition to scholarship that examines the evolution of collective identity formation among israelis and palestinians, scholars have also focused on illuminating the demographic diversity within either community. this research has focused on the intra-national heterogeneity among israelis and palestinians. gelvin (2007) explains that although national identity is often considered to be homogeneous, such uniformity does not exist among israelis and palestinians. gelvin writes, “although every nationalism attempts to present itself to the world as a monolithic bloc, beneath its indivisible exterior lurk class, gender, geographic, generational, and ideological cleavages” (p. 144). rosenthal (2003) also studied israeli society with these social divisions in mind. expanding the conception of israeli-jewish identity, rosenthal writes, “they are a disparate mix of radically modern and devoutly traditional” (p. 1). moreover, rosenthal’s study depicts a mosaic of members of israeli society inclusive of jews of ashkenazi, mizrahi, and african backgrounds; haredi, orthodox, and non-orthodox forms of jewish religiosity; and muslim, christian, druze, and bedouin non-jewish israeli citizens. arguing that palestinians who have mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 citizenship in israel are often neglected and obscured from perceptions of palestinian identity, peleg and waxman (2011) and pappe (2011) examined this community’s identity. peleg and waxman describe palestinians within israel as having experienced discrimination, marginalization, and neglect. due to decades of residence within israel under circumstances different than palestinians in the west bank, gaza strip, refugee camps in jordan and lebanon, and elsewhere in diaspora, their identity as part of this larger national community has its own uniqueness. peleg and waxman write, “in sum, what has taken place since 1967 is the gradual emergence of a self-identified palestinian national minority in israel” (p. 31) that “remains a distinct, separate, largely unassimilated community on the margins of israeli society” (p. 9). pappe describes this particular palestinian community as forgotten and defined by israeli-jewish society as a potential fifth-column experiencing second-class status. these studies do not necessarily focus on the construction of identity so much as the diversity within israeli and palestinian societies. they remind readers that israelis are not all jewish, judaism is not uniform within israel, palestinians are of diverse religious backgrounds, and palestinians live under multiple political structures allowing for manifold palestinian identities to exist. social studies research in the united states analyses of social studies textbooks are ubiquitous in research examining school knowledge. these studies are premised on the concern regarding the duality of textbooks as both instructional tools and commodities. apple (1996) argues, “they are simultaneously commodities produced for sale, representations of what powerful groups have defined as legitimate knowledge that are at least partially regulated by the state, and they speak to ongoing struggles over cultural legitimacy” (p. 129). hutchins (2016) considers textbooks to represent official notions of identity due to the legitimacy offered to schools and curricular knowledge. for this reason, social studies textbook analyses are often critical of the manner in which communities are represented in textbooks. questions regarding the normativity and presumptions of neutrality underpin research that deconstructs textbooks in order to expose the subjectivities inherent in depictions of communities that have historically been marginalized and subject to stereotyping. many of the studies examining textbooks published in the united states tend to concentrate on segments of american society. this focus has been valuable in investigating the portrayal of native americans (anderson, 2012; ashley & jarratt-ziemski, 1999), african americans (alridge, 2006; brown & brown, 2010), mexican americans (salvucci, 1991), and native hawaiians (kaomea, 2000), among other subaltern communities. these studies have been valuable in exposing the way social studies textbooks have tended to silence, marginalize, and mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 reduce these communities while obscuring the complexity of their respective historical experiences. however, research evaluating social studies textbook representations are dominated by studies of communities within the united states. there continues to be a lack of scholarship concentrated on the representation of other national communities and subaltern groups living outside the united states. in the case of israeli and palestinian identity, there is a wealth of scholarship exploring the construction of these identities and the manner in which these communities are depicted in israeli and palestinian textbooks (adwan, bar-on, & naveh, 2012; al-haj, 2005; brown, 2006; cohen, 2013; nasser, 2011; nasser & nasser, 2008). however, this has not permeated into the research that critically investigates the knowledge found in social studies textbooks and classrooms in the united states. research methodology the purpose of this study is to ascertain an understanding of the ways israelis and palestinians are represented in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ instructional discourse in the context of social studies education in the united states. this research employed critical discourse analysis (cda), and applied the methodology to the analysis of both world history textbooks and world history teachers. cda is predicated upon the assertion that knowledge is not value-neutral. instead, cda recognizes the interplay between knowledge and society and the reciprocal influences one has on the other (van dijk, 2001). according to blommaert and bulcaen (2000), “cda states that discourse is socially constitutive as well as socially conditioned. furthermore, discourse is an opaque power object in modern societies and cda aims to make it more visible and transparent” (p. 448). language is used to transmit certain perspectives that are often considered neutral but are actually subjective depictions of reality. moreover, certain representations become dominant whereas others are displaced. for van dijk (1993), “control of knowledge crucially shapes our interpretation of the world” (p. 258). understanding this power dynamic in discourse is part of the objectives of cda. uncovering the implicit and concealed subjectivities of knowledge and discourse is the impetus behind cda (van dijk, 1995). with regard to understanding collective identity formation and the ways in which discursive tools represent communities, cda is an appropriate methodology. because identities are fluid and subject to reimagining, the processes through which they are conceived and transmitted may be examined. for de cilia, reisigl, and wodak (1999), “national identities are not completely consistent, stable and immutable. they are, to the contrary, to be understood as dynamic, fragile, ‘vulnerable’ and often incoherent” (p. 154). cda is, thus, viable in understanding the contingency of discursive representations of israelis and palestinians. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 research design this research entailed applying the methods of cda to both world history textbooks and the instructional discourse of world history teachers. whereas similar studies exploring issues of representation only evaluated curricular materials such as textbooks, this study considered the multimodal reality of social studies education inclusive of both print materials and verbal forms of instruction. for this reason, both textbooks and teacher discourse were identified as outlets in social studies classrooms for representing israeli and palestinian communities. five world history textbooks were identified and selected for study. these texts were identified because of their popularity (marino, 2011). once textbooks were selected, the table of contents and indexes were read in order to identify relevant passages that introduced content regarding israeli and palestinian populations. these passages were then transcribed in their entirety. the textbooks selected for this study are found in table 1. table 1. textbooks examined houghton mifflin harcourt publishing company: world history: patterns of interaction ny ed. 2012 editors: roger b. beck, linda black, larry s. krieger, phillip c. naylor, dahia ibo shabaka holt, rinehardt, and winston: world history: the human journeyfl ed. 2005 editor: laurel carrington wadsworth cengage learning: world history. 2013. authors: william j. duiker & jackson j. spielvogel pearson education, inc. publishing as prentice hall: world history. 2014 authors: elisabeth gaynor ellis & anthony esler glencoe/mcgraw-hill: world history: the human experience. 2001 authors: mounir a. farah & andrea berens karls the discourse analysis component of this study also involved two world history teachers. teachers were eligible for participation in this study if they taught a course on the modern world mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 that included lessons or a unit involving the study of israel and palestine. teachers were observed during their instructional periods with students when introducing topics related to the study of israeli and palestinian populations. both participants were observed for the full length of their units focusing on israel and palestine. the observation periods ranged from three to five 85minute periods per teacher. teachers’ autonomy in planning their units accounts for the range in classroom periods dedicated to this study between these two educators. these observations took place during the 2015-2016 academic year between january and march, 2016. during observations, classroom discourse was recorded via a digital voice recorder. all classroom audio was captured, including that of students. although all audio was transcribed, only the teachers’ discourse was analyzed. mr. gerard. mr. gerard teaches world cultures at milltown high school, a suburban new england secondary school.1 he self-identifies as a white male of european descent. he has been teaching for nine years at milltown high school. prior to this, he student-taught at a public middle school and a private denominational secondary school in a city near milltown. mr. gerard earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary social studies education from a private university and a master’s degree in history from a public university, both in new england. mr. gerard never enrolled in coursework as a university student focused on the study of israel or palestine. during his nine years as a social studies educator, he has taught introduction to psychology for two years, united states history for four years, and world cultures for nine years. mr. gerard was observed on five different occasions during lessons dedicated to studying the history of what he referred to as the arab-israeli conflict. these five observations constituted the full length of mr. gerard’s unit on the middle east. ms. herne. ms. herne teaches world cultures at milltown high school and is a colleague of mr. gerard. she self-identifies as a white female. she has been teaching at the school as a fulltime teacher for five years and spent one year as a long-term substitute teacher. ms. herne earned a bachelor’s degree from a private university in history and secondary education and a master’s degree in secondary education from a public university, both in new england. during her undergraduate and graduate studies, ms. herne took courses on middle eastern history, studying topics relating to israel and palestine. during her time teaching at milltown high school, she has taught world cultures for five years and united states history for three years. she was 1 teachers and schools have been assigned pseudonyms. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 observed teaching on three different occasions when her class focused on the study of the middle east. these three lessons constituted the full length of her unit studying israel and palestine. data analysis data from textbooks and teachers’ discourse was analyzed using van leeuwen’s (2008) framework on representing social actors. as a tool for conducting cda, van leeuwen’s framework establishes structure for analyzing representations of individuals and communities. he describes the various ways in which a cda can deconstruct representations to garner an understanding of how portraits of populations are constructed. within this structure, van leeuwen describes the ways populations are categorized through classification and relational identification. according to van leeuwen, classifications are the major categories used in identifying and differentiating between communities. he explains, “in the west, these now include age, gender, class, wealth, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and so on. but classification categories are historically and culturally variable” (p. 20). relational identifications are ways of categorizing populations in relation to one another rather than as isolated persons or communities. relatedly, van leeuwen’s framework describes the ways in which groups are aggregated in order to present a purported consensus within a community. moreover, he explains the ways in which discourse may depict populations through collectivization, whereby entire populations appear as monolithic entities. this framework served as an appropriate analytical tool in understanding the manner in which israelis and palestinians are depicted in two salient modes of knowledge found in social studies classrooms. findings the depictions of israelis and palestinians in world history textbooks and social studies teachers’ discourse were similar in many ways. while not identical in the representations offered in print form and during instructional periods with students, textbooks and teachers tended towards similar classifications of israelis and palestinians. through these similarities, salient patterns in the portrayal of israelis and palestinians emerged. classifications of israelis both textbooks and teachers often introduced the study of nationalism in the middle east and the establishment of the state of israel around zionism, thereby presenting israeli-jews as zionists. although zionism took many forms, the presentation of jews as zionists tended towards a uniform definition. world history: patterns of interaction considered zionists “people who mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 favored a jewish national homeland in palestine,” (p. 1017) emphasizing the status of jews as a dispersed population lacking sovereignty in diaspora. this characterization of zionists as jews seeking a national homeland in palestine was also emphasized in world history: the human journey. consistently, zionists were described as responding to anti-semitism through political action and migration. in their classroom discourse, both ms. herne and mr. gerard presented zionists in similar terms, emphasizing a community seeking a homeland. while world history: the human experience and ellis and esler’s world history focused on european jews as victims of pogroms and persecution, duiker and spielvogel’s world history presented jews as a diasporic community living in europe, north africa, and the middle east. while jews-as-zionists tended to be uniformly presented as a consensus community all seeking the same clearly articulated political aspiration, this text recognized jews as a dispersed population experiencing geographic diversity. the study of israelis and palestinians often emphasized conflict. this engendered classifications that were compatible with this type of narrative. rather than describing the demographic makeup of israel, both textbooks and teachers identified israelis in relation to war and violence, often as the recipients of arab and palestinian aggression. in this way, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and other forms of diversity were often excluded in both textbook descriptions and teachers’ discourse in favor of representations that privileged associations with conflict. all of the textbooks and teachers ascribed to israelis the status of defenders against external belligerency. this classification was conveyed across historical incidents with little variability. for instance, world history: the human experience and ellis and esler’s world history described the establishment of the haganah in the early 20th century as a defensive measure by a jewish population suffering from arab attacks. this role of israelis defending themselves against arab aggression continued as textbooks and teachers described the events of israel’s establishment. world history: patterns of interaction explained, “the new nation of israel got a hostile greeting from its neighbors” (p. 1018), while mr. gerard stated, “the arab countries had pledged to destroy israel.” ms. herne emphasized israel as attacked on all sides except the mediterranean sea. classifying israelis as a population subject to attack and assuming the status of defenders was pronounced when focusing on the wars of 1967 and 1973. across textbook narrations and teachers’ discourse, israel was presented in both of these conflicts as fending off belligerency. israelis were consistently depicted as responding to external aggression when launching a preemptive attack on egypt, syria, and jordan in 1967. duiker and spielvogel’s world history mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 referred to israel as “concerned that it might be isolated” (p. 875), while world history: the human experience stated, “fearing possible attack, israel responded with force” (p. 730). ms. herne similarly characterized israelis as fearful of arab aggression, launching its attacks only when “israel can feel the threat.” the decision to maintain possession of territories occupied during 1967 also framed israelis as acting primarily as defenders concerned with safeguarding the nation. duiker and spielvogel’s world history explained, “meanwhile, many israelis argued that the new lands improved the security of the beleaguered state and should be retained” (p. 875). this decision to associate israelis with defense continued when textbooks and teachers introduced the 1973 war. world history: the human experience, world history: patterns of interaction, world history: the human journey, and mr. gerard’s classroom discourse each emphasized israel’s vulnerability in this conflict as war began on yom kippur, the jewish day of atonement. mr. gerard explained, “yom kippur is the holiest day of the jewish calendar. that would be like attacking the united states on christmas.” these portrayals cast israel in the role of a country experiencing an existential threat and acting out of self-preservation. when depicting relations with palestinians rather than sovereign arab nations, the textbooks and teachers tended towards presenting israelis as defending themselves from hostility and terrorism. israel’s 1982 invasion of lebanon was situated in this framework of israelis assuming the role of defenders against aggression. world history: patterns of interaction and world history: the human experience represented israelis as launching this war in order to curtail attacks from the palestine liberation organization. both ms. herne and mr. gerard’s statements in their classrooms echoed this stance that the invasion of lebanon conformed to the pattern of israel taking action to repel violence directed against israelis. this continued into descriptions of israeli-palestinian relations during the two intifadas. ellis and esler’s world history depicts israelis as “sealing off and raiding palestinian towns and targeting terrorist leaders” (p. 1055) during the first intifada. in the second intifada, prime minister netanyahu is depicted in world history: the human experience as instituting restrictions of palestinian mobility as a defense measure. world history: patterns of interaction and world history: the human journey describe the bulldozing of palestinian homes and targeted assassinations as tactics responding to terrorism. similarly, ellis and esler’s world history relates israelis as taking a defensive stance when blockading the gaza strip in response to hamas’s rise to power. mr. gerard’s discourse with students was consistent with this tendency to assign israelis the role of defenders responding to palestinians only to counteract violence directed towards israel. he explained, “now, 2002, you have the beginning of the west bank security barrier. israel begins building a wall between israeli territory and palestinian territory in order to protect its citizens from these intifadas and from terrorist mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 actions.” these numerous examples attest to the propensity for both textbooks and teachers to classify israelis as defenders against aggression consistently across historical episodes. while the circumstances of each historical episode described in textbooks and teachers’ discourse had their own contextual variations, the assignment of this role to israelis was presented as uncontroversial, self-evident, and without the possibility of alternatives. while the 1967 war and its consequences tended to be emphasized in all of the world history textbooks and teachers’ discourses studied, there was much less focus on israeli settlers who would inhabit the various territories occupied by israel after this war. when they were introduced, settlers were often presented as occupants of newly acquired land. ellis and esler’s world history, world history: the human journey, and mr. gerard were most explicit in identifying settlers as a segment of israeli society. these portrayals did not ascribe any explicit characteristics to jewish settlers. while the motives of these have been diverse and varied over the decades since 1967, the textbooks and mr. gerard presented them in a non-descript manner, not taking note of ideological, religious, or pragmatic considerations underscoring their relocation to occupied territories. israelis often appeared in textbooks and teachers’ discourse as acting out of self-defense. however, books did include passages that illuminated acts of violence that did not fit into this particular characterization. in these instances, israelis were characterized as acting violently in a manner that was more antagonistic and detrimental to political affairs. while few in quantity, there were salient examples of jews in palestine prior to 1948 depicted as employing violent means to further their political aspirations. world history: the human experience employed language such as “jewish underground forces” (p. 727), while world history: the human journey described “extremist zionist groups” (p. 893). both textbooks relied on such terminology when referencing violent action directed towards british and arab targets. ms. herne also broached the subject of jewish violence during the interwar years, referring to jews as aggressors in their relations with the british. israelis were also depicted as violent in response to the peace process with the palestinians launched in the 1990s. however, unlike characterizations of israelis as a collective resorting to violence as a defensive stance, members of israeli society who were violent were identified as individuals and outliers rather than part of a broader segment of society. world history: the human journey stated, “many israelis who had settled on the west bank feared violence at the hands of the self-governing palestinian authority. in 1994, a radical israeli settler killed 29 mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 palestinians in the west bank city of hebron” (p. 900). baruch goldstein was not referenced by name, nor were his religious or ideological affiliations identified. in this respect, his status as a “radical israeli settler” is not grounded but rather vaguely defined. moreover, his classification as a radical is prefaced with a statement about the fear of violence at the hands of palestinians. even while introduced as an example of israeli radicalism beyond the more widely acknowledged defensive use of violence, the textbook still invokes israeli fear of aggression. the last salient example found in textbooks of israelis identified as violent is regarding the assassination of prime minister yitzhak rabin. none of the textbooks identified his assassin, yigal amir, by name. however, he was called “an israeli radical” (p. 900) in world history: the human journey, “an israeli student” (p. 733) in world history: the human experience, “an israeli opponent of the accords” (p. 877) in duiker and spielvogel’s world history, and “a right-wing jewish extremist who opposed concessions to the palestinians” (p. 1021) in world history: patterns of interaction. these characterizations, to varying extents, each conceal and divulge various aspects of amir’s identity through these classifications. while his violence is universally recognized across textbooks, each used different descriptors ranging from vague to increasingly more nuanced. textbooks and teachers often referred to israelis in terms of a cohesive collective unit. there was limited emphasis on the fault lines and diversity within israeli society. for instance, ellis and esler’s world history explained that “israelis oppose this right” (p. 1056) in reference to the palestinian right of return. this statement epitomizes the tendency to refer to israelis as a consensus community without internal variation or division. however, duiker and spielvogel’s world history offered one of the most expansive characterizations of israeli diversity: “some were immigrants from europe, while others came from other states in the middle east. some were secular and even socialist in their views, while others were politically and religiously conservative” (p. 875). beyond this description, references to social cleavages within israeli society were restricted to political divergences regarding the peace process. world history: the human journey and world history: the human experience were most explicit in identifying the political variations within israeli society. both textbooks emphasized israelis as divided over the peace process and the future of the west bank and gaza strip, illuminating the political contentiousness between israelis who supported and opposed negotiations with palestinians and land transfers. mr. gerard also characterized israelis as politically discordant, particularly with regard to conflicting stances on the separation barrier in the west bank; he explained to students, “it’s extremists on all sides of this issue that keeps this conflict going.” this emphasis on political divisions and extremism as the underpinning to conflict offers a subtle recognition that israeli society possesses factions and that not all israelis are invested in the perpetuation of mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 conflict. however, these factions were more often implied than explicitly discussed, and the vagueness of terms like “extremists” does not adequately qualify the identities of those categorized in this manner. israelis were infrequently described in ways that alluded to their possession of any essential or contextually relevant traits. however, ms. herne ascribed emotions to israelis at two points during her instructional discourse. she portrayed israelis involved in attacks on the british during the interwar years as “angry.” when discussing the death of civilians at deir yassin in 1948, ms. herne explained that israelis were “sad” to have participated in this incident. these two examples are outliers in the way israelis were described. rarely was the emotional state of israelis referenced. classifications of palestinians textbooks and teachers varied in the specificity with which they articulated a sense of palestinian identity. similar to the ways the demographic diversity of israelis was eclipsed by classifications that related to conflict, there were infrequent passages and discursive moments dedicated to describing the demographic makeup of palestinians. ms. herne simply referred to palestinians as “the people who were living there prior to israel’s creation.” this is a problematic definition because of its vagueness and the absence of any reference to identity components other than residency on the land. mr. gerard offered more specificity, albeit in a manner that excluded some palestinians. he considered palestinians to be “arab muslims living in what is traditionally called the holy land.” ellis and esler’s world history mirrors this definition when referring to palestinians as “the muslim population” (p. 864) of palestine. these instances circumscribe the religious identity of palestinians as muslims while excluding christian members of this national community. duiker and spielvogel’s world history alone referred to palestinians as christians and muslims. world history: the human experience was the only source that identified palestinians as a segment of israel’s citizenry after 1948. relatedly, this textbook also described palestinians as a diasporic community dispersed throughout the globe. there are no other substantive attempts to offer a framework for who has membership to this national community. textbooks and teachers commonly referred to palestinians as a population that has been displaced. this displacement became one of the seminal ways of classifying palestinians. it also underpinned many of the other common ways in which palestinians were portrayed. there is an interplay between displacement and associations with hostility and terrorism that typified ways of describing palestinians. all of the textbooks acknowledged that palestinians were displaced mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 during the events of 1948. however, the language often avoided references to israelis or the manner in which palestinians were displaced. for instance, world history: the human experience refers to palestinians as “homeless” (p. 727), while world history: the human journey, world history: patterns of interaction, ellis and esler’s world history, and duiker and spielvogel’s world history all describe palestinians as refugees. textbooks tended to avoid referencing israelis in the processes of palestinian displacement. ms. herne and mr. gerard also adhered to this pattern of recognizing the displaced status of many palestinians. ms. herne referred to palestinians as those who “have been pushed out” or “refugees who have been displaced from their homes” while mr. gerard described them as a people who fled and are now refugees. these portrayals highlighted the status of palestinians without commensurate attention on israelis and the relationship between either community in palestinian displacement. palestinian status as displaced tended to be represented as a byproduct of war, a classification that did not necessitate characterizing the role of israelis in this process. few textbooks explicitly presented palestinians as a community that has been under occupation since 1967. duiker and spielvogel’s world history indirectly explained that as a result of the war, israel “added one million palestinians inside its borders” (p. 875). this description presents palestinians merely as a population absorbed into israeli territory. world history: the human experience was more pointed when stating that “palestinians found themselves under israeli military occupation” (p. 731). this representation engenders a more nuanced characterization of the situation and status of palestinians as a people subject to military rule. world history: patterns of interaction describes palestinians in occupied territory as “people who lived in the other areas [west bank and gaza strip] [who] were not offered israeli citizenship and simply came under jewish control” (p. 1019). while somewhat muted language is used, this depiction portrays palestinians as a population with an ambiguously defined civic status subject to external determinations regarding their governance. the most common classification of palestinians was that of a population hostile to jews whose hostility manifested itself in terrorist activities. textbooks and teachers traced palestinian hostility and terrorism to the early days of zionist activity and continuing through contemporary events. world history: the human experience and ellis and esler’s world history described palestinians as opposing jewish immigration and attacking jewish settlements in the early 20th century. mr. gerard reiterated this message of palestinian hostility during this period. duiker and spielvogel’s world history described “plo and arab provocations” (p. 875) in the 1960s; world history: the human experience detailed the plo’s use of airplane hijackings and bombings as mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 hostile tactics; and world history: the human journey described the plo as responsible for “guerilla attacks” (p. 899). these descriptions often cast palestinians in a role oppositional to israel. while many descriptions framed palestinians as hostile, many more explicitly cast them as terrorists. a wide variety of actions on the part of palestinians were categorized as terrorist activities. world history: the human experience and ellis and esler’s world history both presented palestinian “border raids” in the 1950s as terrorist activities. mr. gerard determined that all palestinian acts of violence directed towards israel constituted terrorism. however, unlike the textbooks, he associated terrorism with islam. he explained, “so, thus far, in the 25 years that we’ve discussed since israel was created, we’ve seen the creation of modern islamic terrorism as we know it.” when discussing the events in munich during the 1972 olympic games, mr. gerard stated, “obviously, you’re seeing right now the rise of militant islamic terrorism similar to what we know today.” these statements conflate the actions of the secular nationalist plo with the actions of other organizations, effectively entangling disparate actions perpetrated by dissimilar organizations into a purportedly cohesive movement of islamic terrorism. textbooks also focused on palestinian terrorism as a bulwark in the peace process from the 1990s onward. these depictions concentrated more explicitly on the actions of hamas and suicide bombings. duiker and spielvogel’s world history described “terrorist attacks by palestinian militants” (p. 877), and world history: the human experience and world history: the human journey both concentrated on suicide bombings in descriptions of palestinian hostility towards israel and against the peace process. the consistent association of palestinians with terrorism was not selectively applied depending on the actions or time period in question. this encompassed wide-ranging actions in the same category. from palestinians crossing the border into israel in the 1950s to suicide bombings in the 1990s and 2000s, a multitude of violent acts were fitted into this way of representing palestinians. ms. herne was alone in explicitly presenting palestinians as seeking liberation rather than merely acting out of hostility. when describing the plo, she explained, “they are going to launch attacks on israel in order to gain that land back, in order to gain homes back for the people that were displaced” and “they still think that they should be given this land and maybe they should be.” these statements expose the contingent nature of classifications. whereas the majority of textbooks considered palestinian actions as terrorism, ms. herne posited an alternative mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 understanding of this population. in this respect, while still examining acts of violence, terminology such as hostility and terrorism were deemphasized in favor of reclamation of lost territory and liberation. descriptions of the palestinian intifadas offered a more complex characterization of palestinians and their actions directed towards israelis. whereas palestinians were often described as terrorists in all other instances recounted in the textbooks and teacher discourse, the descriptions during the intifadas were more multifaceted. in the context of the first intifada, palestinians were described as protesters and strikers employing various forms of civil disobedience. world history: the human experience and world history: patterns of interaction employed language that focused on this type of depiction. world history: the human journey emphasized palestinians’ roles as demonstrators while also presenting them as “violent” in their use of rocks and other improvised weapons in confrontations with israeli soldiers. ms. herne emphasized the involvement of “civilians, kids, women, everyone,” expanding the scope of palestinian involvement in the first intifada. while the narratives of the first intifada differed substantially, there was a consistent message that palestinians were activists and demonstrators whose activities, while violent, were not part of the reoccurring trope of palestinians as terrorists. similar to the way israelis were presented as having ideological cleavages, textbooks and teachers also introduced palestinians as experiencing a diversity of ideological positions on the issue of peace and negotiations. world history: the human experience described palestinian opponents of the peace process as fearful that sovereignty would be incomplete and that an independent palestine would still be subject to israeli control. however, the text also described hamas as opposed to peace for reasons beyond this skepticism. mr. gerard described the peace process as stymied by “hardliners” and “extremists.” these descriptions do not present the ideological perspectives of many segments of palestinian society. instead, they tend to concentrate their attention on outliers seeking to disrupt peace negotiations. descriptions of palestinians often ascribed emotional states to the population. these tended to be contingent traits that hinged on political situations. palestinians were frequently described as motivated by intense emotions. world history: the human experience described the rejection of the 1947 united nations partition plan of palestine by “embittered arab leaders” (p. 727). ellis and esler’s world history ascribed bitterness to palestinians as they responded to the building of israeli settlements. across textbooks and classrooms, representations of palestinians as angry, infuriated, and full of rage reoccurred. according to world history: the human journey, palestinians were “infuriated” (p. 893) by the establishment of israel; world history: the human mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 experience stated that after 1967, “palestinians lived in a smoldering rage” (p. 732); and ms. herne described palestinians’ desire to return to their homes as a source of “anger.” each of these emotional associations is used in response to unfolding events. in this respect, they are not considered to be essential or immutable aspects of palestinian identity. however, ms. herne called shame “the most painful emotion in the arab culture,” so that palestinians resorted to violence in order to assuage the anguish of shame. unlike israelis, whose emotional states were rarely mentioned, palestinians were frequently assigned emotions that purportedly underpinned their actions and were presented in conjunction with hostility and terrorism. israelis and palestinians as peacemakers textbooks and teachers tended to describe israelis and palestinians as communities who could be identified according to their relations to one another. typically, this resulted in inverse forms of classifications. however, regarding the peace process beginning in the 1990s, both textbooks and teachers introduced israelis and palestinian leaders as committed to peace. descriptions of israeli and palestinian leaders tended to focus on prime minister yitzhak rabin and plo chairman yasir arafat, both of whom were consistently presented as conciliatory and willing to compromise. world history: the human journey presented rabin as “a former army chief who had led israeli forces in the six-day war” (p. 900), underscoring his transformation from a military leader to a peace advocate. whereas most other representations of israelis and palestinians presented the populations as intractably divided, passages on the peace process in the early 1990s focused on a willingness to negotiate and avoid further impasses. discussion reflecting on the contending narratives emanating from israeli and palestinian communities, rabbi michael lerner (2012) wrote, “from all my experiences, i have realized that there are many perspectives on the same facts and that many of them make sense” (p. 23). lerner is expressing an understanding that knowledge is not singular and objective. such an understanding obscures the recognition that facts are not inert. instead, they are selected, interpreted, and ascribed meaning. the subjectivities inherent in this process underpin all attempts at creating knowledge. this is something that multicultural education researchers have recognized and which has galvanized critical investigations into the portrayal of subaltern communities in school knowledge (banks, 1993b). as apple (1996) notes, the power to determine which interpretations and representations become sanctioned by schools and are normalized entails a struggle over legitimacy. the tendency to present representations of israelis and palestinians as mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 uncontroversial and without alternative modes of depiction typifies the manner in which world history textbooks and teachers presented either community. the textbooks and teachers involved in this study cast israelis and palestinians in certain roles. however, there was a dearth of explicit disclosure of the decisions made in these characterizations. presenting israelis as consistently defenders of their sovereignty and safety and palestinians as terrorists acting on rage should not be self-evident. rather, casting either population in these roles entails making determinations about behavior. these determinations remained unspoken and unacknowledged. in this respect, the textbooks and teachers favored certain depictions while silencing other possibilities that would have promoted alternative interpretations and evaluations of either community. consistently, israelis appeared to be a community defined by its national aspirations and defensiveness when presented with belligerency from arab states and palestinians. alternatively, palestinians appeared to be more aggressive and using violence in an unacceptable manner. uniformity and consensus communities world history textbooks and teachers often offered a false sense of uniformity and consensus among israelis and palestinians. although there were instances when intragroup diversity was acknowledged, these were infrequent. diversity tended to be discussed in relation to political discord regarding the peace process. beyond these ideological differences, there were many instances in which the plurality from within each community was eclipsed by characterizations that minimized any meaningful recognition of israeli and palestinian diversity. israeli and palestinian demographic diversity was rarely introduced. neither community is homogenous, but their heterogeneity was not fully illuminated by textbooks or teachers. the diversity within both communities is the product of ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences, among others. rosenthal (2003) recalls that israeli jews are of many ethnicities and practice judaism in ways that range from orthodox to atheistic. moreover, not all israelis are jewish, as the state is also home to muslims, christians, and palestinian populations. khalidi (1997) describes the fault lines among palestinians that fall along religion, but also speaks of divisions among class and location. moreover, the location of palestinians within israel, under israeli occupation, and in exile also complicates any representation that presumes uniformity of historical experience. regarding palestinians with israeli citizenship, rabinovich (2008) contends, “most arabs living in israel see themselves as palestinians and support the ideas of palestinian self-determination and statehood, but they are not interested in becoming part of that state” (p. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 185). relatedly, bishara (1998/2008) argues, “palestinians [in israel] began to realize that they were torn between demanding equality in israeli civil society and demanding an independent national identity” (p. 468). while the variations among palestinians are numerous, rabinovich and bishara illuminate the complexities of identity for this one subset. among palestinians within israel, there is a tension for equality, support for statehood, preservation of national identity, and a desire to integrate into israeli society. neither the textbooks nor ms. herne or mr. gerard explicitly recounted these complexities of identity within any segment of israeli or palestinian populations. the demographics of israelis and palestinians were not fully revealed. therefore, israelis appeared as jews and palestinians, often, as arab muslims. while not inaccurate, these representations are incomplete. this is problematic because a false sense of homogeneity reduces complex identities to the most simplistic terms. both textbooks and teachers offered a streamlined identity of zionists as jews acting to establish a national homeland in palestine. this reduces zionists to a community that collectively yearned for sovereignty. gelvin (2007) identifies various factions among zionists between labor, revisionist, and religious camps. pianko (2010) expands the definition of zionists to include those whose ideological motives did not entail statehood. he refers to this camp as pursuing a counterstate paradigm. moreover, textbooks and teachers failed to consider zionists as a population concerned with anything beyond acquiring statehood. this precluded any discussion of the manifold visions of jewish identity renewal offered by zionists. from ahad ha’am’s spiritually renewed jews, martin buber’s hebrew humanists, and max nordau’s jewry of muscle, zionists were concerned not only with sovereignty but with the condition of jews and the markers of jewish identity that could be cultivated through zionism. without these representations, textbooks and teachers imposed narrow parameters on zionists that veiled the diversity within this subset of jews. conflict characterizations the classifications reserved for israelis and palestinians often framed these populations in relation to one another through conflict. because much of their relations since the late 19th century have involved various forms of conflict, this is understandable. however, as pappe (2004) notes, “most of the histories of palestine and israel are histories of conflict. but life in palestine and israel is not determined by conflict alone” (p. 11). because israelis often appeared as defenders responding to attacks and palestinians as hostile terrorists, the scope of understanding these populations was restricted. by assigning these roles to israelis and palestinians, textbooks and teachers reinforced associations with violence and war and did so in a way that restricted mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 alternative understandings of the roles played by either community in this conflict. as adwan, bar-on, and naveh (2012) reveal, actions that are condoned and legitimized from one perspective are often condemned and chastised by another. in their presentation of dual israeli and palestinian versions of their respective histories, israelis were often depicted as aggressors by palestinians and vice versa. however, this was not the case with the textbooks and teachers involved in this study. massad (2006) problematizes the use of the term terrorist when explaining, “terrorism is a name that is never assumed but always tendered. the taxonomy that transforms it from a practice to an identity is always particular” (p. 1). it is not self-evident that palestinians are terrorists. instead, such a classification scheme entails the adoption of one perspective at the expense of other contending ways of identification. the decision to integrate certain terminology into the way groups are identified is a matter of perception. moreover, the blanket association of palestinians with terrorism did not appear in textbooks and teacher discourse as reserved for individual actors. it was more generally associated with all oppositional acts, aside from those of the first intifada. a consequence of casting israelis as responding to aggression and palestinians as a source of aggression is the tacit, if any, recognition of other aspects of israeli and palestinian identity outside of their connection to conflict with one another. moreover, the terms reserved for either population within this paradigm tended to be highly critical of palestinians while presenting israelis in more forgiving terms. even when palestinians were identified as displaced and occupied, there were not commensurate classifications made for israelis. neither textbooks nor teachers identified israelis as explicitly responsible for displacement, and israel’s status as an occupying force tended to be framed within a broader framework of seeing israelis as defenders of sovereignty and safety. this entailed privileging an understanding of israeli-palestinian relations that absolves israelis of instigating violence or being aggressors while imbuing palestinian behavior with a negative connotation. offering an alternative would not entail ignoring or condoning violence. ms. herne offered one of the few examples of an alternative when she framed palestinians as seeking liberation rather than engaging in terrorism. characterizations are based on subjective decisions. assigning roles to a population is not a neutral decision. instead, it is predicated upon a certain perspective. textbooks and teachers frequently privileged an interpretive lens that was more sympathetic to israelis. the frequent description of palestinians as a group whose emotional range was defined by bitterness and rage reinforced associations with hostility and violence. israelis were almost never mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 described according to their emotional states. however, when they were, it was in ms. herne’s discourse when she described israeli soldiers as “sad” for violence directed towards palestinians. this fits into a broader framework that segev (2002) describes as “shoot and cry” (p. xi). according to segev, this is a means of describing israelis that avoids criticism because israelis appear remorseful rather than malicious. this is in contradistinction to portrayals of palestinians as acting out of more intense emotions. such characterizations of palestinians as full of anger preclude alternative representations that acknowledge other features of their communal existence extending beyond violence and conflict. conclusion the descriptions found in world history textbooks and world history teachers’ instructional discourse constitute two of the primary sources of knowledge in social studies classrooms. they are sources of knowledge replete with subjective assessments that are often not revealed. this means that the characterizations of populations described in historical narratives merit deconstruction in order to unpack these subjectivities. this study examined five world history textbooks and the discourse of two social studies teachers in order to ascertain an understanding of the way they represented israelis and palestinians to students. these two populations were consistently defined by their relationship to one another in the context of conflict. moreover, the roles assigned were antithetical to one another with israelis often appearing as a population defending itself from palestinian terrorism and hostility. such portrayals confine any understanding of these populations to their involvement in an ongoing conflict. this renders these textbooks and teachers’ discourses devoid of substantive content that would expose students to other social or cultural aspects of israeli and palestinian identity. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 references adwan, s.; bar-on, d., & naveh, e. (2012). side by side: parallel histories of israel-palestine. new york, ny: peace research institute in the middle east. al-haj, m. (2005). national ethos, multicultural education, and the new history textbooks in israel. curriculum inquiry 35(1). 47-71. almog, o. (2000). the sabra: the creation of the new jew. berkley, ca: university of california press. alridge, d.p. (2006). the limits of master narratives in history textbooks: an analysis of representations of martin luther king, jr. teachers college record 108(4). 662-686. anderson, b. (2006). imagined communities. new york, ny: verso. anderson, c.b. (2012). misplaced multiculturalism. representations of american indians in u.s. history academic content standards. curriculum inquiry, 42(4). 497-509. apple, m.w. (1996). power, meaning and identity: critical sociology of education in the united states. british journal of sociology of education, 17(2). 125-144. apple, m.w. 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(1997). the work of representation. in s. hall (ed.), representation: cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 15-69). london, uk: sage publications ltd. hutcheon, l. (1993). beginning to theorize postmodernism. in j. natoli & l. hutcheon (eds.), a postmodern reader (pp. 243-272), albany, ny: state university of new york press. hutchins, r.d. (2016). nationalism and history: curricula and textbooks in the united states and france. new york: ny: routledge. journell, w. (2011). social studies, citizen education, and the search for an american identity: an argument against a unifying narrative. journal of thought, 46(3-4), 5-24. kaomea, j. (2000). a curriculum of aloha? colonialism and tourism in hawaii’s elementary textbooks. curriculum inquiry, 30(3), 319-344. khalidi, r. 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(2006). the persistence of the palestinian question: essays on zionism and the palestinians. new york, ny: routledge. nasser, r. (2011). recovered histories and contested identities: jordan, israel, and palestine. plymouth, uk: lexington books. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 nasser, r., & nasser, i. (2008). textbooks as a vehicle for segregation and domination: state efforts to shape palestinian israelis’ identities as citizens. journal of curriculum studies 40(5). 627-650. pappe, i. (2004). a history of modern palestine: one land, two peoples. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. pappe, i. (2011). the forgotten palestinians: a history of the palestinians in israel. new haven, ct: yale university press. pianko, n. (2010). zionism and the roads not taken: rawidowicz, kaplan, kohn. bloomington, in: indiana university press. peleg, i. & waxman, d. (2011). israel’s palestinians: the conflict within. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. rabinovich, i. (2008). from “israeli arabs” to “israel’s palestinian citizens.” in i. rabinovich and j. reinharz (eds.), israel in the middle east: documents and readings on society, politics, and foreign relations, pre-1948 to the present (pp. 183-187). waltham, ma: brandeis university press. roberts, j. (2013). contested land, contested memory: israel’s jews and arabs and the ghosts of catastrophe. toronto, on: dundurn. rosenthal, d. (2003). the israelis: ordinary people in an extraordinary land. new york, ny: free press. salvucci, l.k. (1991). mexico, mexicans and mexican americans in secondary-school united states history textbooks. the history teacher, 24(2), 203-222. segev, t. (2002). forward. in r. carey and j. shainin (eds.), the other israel: voices of refusal and dissent (pp. vii-xiii). new york, ny: the new press. seixas, p. (2009). national history and beyond. journal of curriculum studies, 41(6), 719-722. van dijk, t.a. (1993). principles of critical discourse analysis. discourse & society, 4(2), 249-283. van dijk, t.a. (1995). aims of critical discourse analysis. japanese discourse, 1, 17-27. van leeuwen, t. (2008). discourse and practice: new tools for critical analysis. oxford, uk: oxford university press. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-33 corresponding author: dan.osborn411@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 vansledright, b. (2008). nation-state, historical knowledge, and school history education. review of research in education, 32, 109-146. about the author: daniel osborn, ed.d. is a graduate of boston university school of education. he is an instructor at dean college and a program associate at facing history and ourselves. mailto:dan.osborn411@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 a glimpse inside: considering the impact of curriculum outcomes and personal ideology on social studies pedagogy: a study summary gregory r. l. hadley st. francis xavier university, canada david c. young st. francis xavier university, canada abstract: this article aims to explore how social studies teachers understand their role in the delivery of course content. drawing on data from an interpretive study completed as part of a master of education degree, the article investigates how social studies teachers understand their personal ideology as it relates to their teaching, navigate the prescriptions of the curriculum outcome model, and justify their respective positions on the political, economic, and social issues examined in their classrooms. these considerations will seek to present a clear understanding of contemporary social studies pedagogy, the extent of ideological liberties taken by public school social studies teachers, their implications, and potential impacts on student learning and political, social, and economic understandings. key words: social studies, indoctrination, history, ideology introduction and author positionality the notion of political indoctrination in public schools, a matter that ostensibly reached its academic zenith decades ago, remains a protracted and unresolved matter. great minds from the past (dewey, freire, foucault, popper, mill) and contemporary scholars (apple, hess, galston, chomsky) alike have considered both the structure and function of schooling as a core component of a healthy democratic society, and the implications for political indoctrination within that context to both enhance and toxify discourse. conclusions have varied: some argue (bialystok, 2014; macdonald, 2013) that schools have a duty to engage students in political mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 discourse with differing degrees of neutrality, while others (brandes & kelly, 2001) promote the ideal of evenhandedness and critical open-mindedness. new branches of scholarship have also emerged, each with strong links to political indoctrination. social justice education, controversial issues education, and post-modern critical pedagogy have deepened the pool of consideration for the potential of schools as indoctrinating agents. issues related to political indoctrination in schools drove a course of inquiry spurred by intensely personal motivations. in a previous time, the authors of this article worked as high school social studies teachers, delivering courses in politics and history. we viewed this as an important charge, for the chance to engage young people in citizenship-focused discourse is, to be sure, one of the most important functions of education. this work, however, was not without its professional dilemmas. in the realm of social studies education, this dilemma manifests in the demands of curricula outcomes and how an ostensibly politically minded teacher navigates them under the concern for political indoctrination, department of education directives, and professional accountability. a social studies education there are few school subjects with content as diverse as social studies. in many countries, it is not uncommon for a social studies education to exist as a veritable mix of history, geography, civics, economics, and sociology. this content density often prompts the question: what are the social studies? this is a question with no clear answer. the national education association (nea) (1916) offered the first definition of a social studies education: “…those [disciplines] whose subject matter relates directly to the organization and development of human society, and to man as a member of social groups” (p. 1). this definition was refined by the national council for the social studies (ncss) (2013), which developed and continues to use, in a variety of ways, “to equip a citizenry with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for active and engaged civic life.” this promotion of civic competence refers to nurturing awareness and understanding of students' immediate communities and the many others to which they belong. the temporality of the nea definition is intriguing. developed during a thrust of immigration in western states, social studies education was seen as a mechanism for the promotion of socialization to the democratic values linked with canada, the united states, and the united kingdom. important leaders of the education progressivism movement, john dewey in particular, viewed the public school as an institution that should improve one’s way of life through the mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 experience of freedom and democracy. achieving this meant the creation of a curriculum that heralded the western, democratic values of patriotism, economic self-determination, and social justice. many of these values are still present in global social studies curricula. considering indoctrination, academic freedom, standards-based education, and social justice education defining indoctrination the charge of issuing a universally accepted definition of indoctrination remains a protracted matter of debate among scholars. these debates have focused on the conclusion that indoctrination is a pejorative term versus the assertion that indoctrination might be both morally and ethically necessary. in an earlier temporal context, indoctrination was easier to locate, as thayer (1953) notes that “…our early schools were little more than the agents of religious communities, being charged with the task of indoctrinating the young in the religious tenets of one religious faith” (p. 116). thayer’s sentiments were predated by mcgucken (1937), who claimed that “…the catholic educator makes no apology for indoctrinating his students in these essential matters” (p. 60). mcgucken’s writings signaled the start of an anti-indoctrinationist shift in public education. this shift, championed by dewey, connected pedagogy with western liberalism and the goals of citizenship. although locating the presence of indoctrination in schools is chaotic and undefined, it pales in comparison to the efforts to define the term. dewey (1915) saw indoctrination as the “act of implanting ideas in children” in a manner that “…opposes and undermines the concept of student-centered learning and offends liberal-democratic principles” (p. 68). he called for an educational system that valued and promoted reflection, judgment and reasoning, which he viewed, quite unapologetically, as “central requisites of the true democrat and the faithful pursuit of scientific method” which “cannot be acquired via impositional methods.” raywid (1980), in lieu of indoctrination, uses the term “authoritarian education,” which manifests in the engendering of “attitudes of obedience, docility, submission and passivity” upon students in a manner that “uses the individual as a means to an end,” “denies the recipient the right to choose his own beliefs and simultaneously by foreclosing to the individual the right to function as an independent judge in weighing alternatives,” and “forever restricts the learner” (p. 2). hare (2006) builds on the voluminous definition of pedagogical indoctrination: mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 philosophers who have been concerned with the problem of indoctrination have focused attention chiefly on teaching, text books, and the curriculum… and the fact that they have yet to fully develop their own critical judgment suggests a certain vulnerability and susceptibility to non-rational persuasion. on the one hand, teachers may abuse their power and authority and seek to impose certain beliefs and values, actively discouraging their students from raising problems or objections; on the other hand, certain views may simply escape scrutiny and pass unchallenged in education because they have become part of what karl popper (1975) labels uncritical common sense. in either case, the real danger is that young students will become incapable of assessing such views for themselves. (p. 49) to counter any tendency towards indoctrination in schools and to prepare students to recognize and resist indoctrination, a conception of education is needed that involves teachers with openminded attitudes and a commitment to critical questioning in classrooms. as scheffler (1989) argues, “the manner of teaching should respect the student’s intellectual integrity and capacity for independent judgment” (p. 89). this means that students must be encouraged to develop skills and attitudes that will enable them to assess the reasons and evidence that are thought to support various ideas, to evaluate the credibility of the sources where such ideas originate, and to resist the efforts of those who wish to control their thinking. educational philosophy, with its emphasis on critical thinking, consciousness-raising, and open-mindedness, has done much to remind us of the need to remain vigilant regarding the danger of indoctrination and authoritarianism in schooling (hare, 2006, p. 50). academic freedom issues surrounding academic freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression have existed in education for centuries. abuses of academic freedom are legion in western history, from socrates’ death sentence after having been convicted by the athenian citizenry of “corruption of youth” to galileo and his challenge of ecclesiastical doctrine. as dahlgren (2009) notes, “academic freedom has long been held as a sacrosanct principle in the realm of academia” (p. 26), and in fact, influential philosophers such as descartes and mill wrote frequently about intellectual autonomy as a minimum condition for pluralistic democracy. apple (2011) linked these historical perspectives to contemporary education by surmising that public school teachers have not been afforded the same rights as, for example, university faculty due to the practice of watering down curricula through standardization. apple argues that teachers are expected to toe the line, avoid controversy, and adhere to strict school board rules of governance. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 the concept of academic freedom is not easily defined in the public school realm. unlike those who teach at post-secondary institutions, public school teachers must be careful to present curricula from a more neutral position, a trait enhanced by even-handed textbooks and department-sanctioned resources. socially just curriculum as neo-liberal globalization became further entrenched as the political and economic juggernaut of our times, with its often-associated economic disparity and environmental degradation, public school curricula began a shift toward a new concept: social justice. designed to help students become so-called critical consumers and assist them in becoming flexible regarding their burgeoning political cleavages, social justice meant weaving liberal, social-democratic values into the curricula of public school courses. as reynolds (2012) notes: increasingly, faculties of education in canada and much of the western world are preparing their student teachers to weave social justice throughout the primary school curriculum—in math and science, language arts and social studies, drama and even gym— as well as into a range of cross-curricular activities, events and projects. the idea is to encourage kids to become critical analysts of contemporary issues, empathetic defenders of human rights and gatekeepers of the beleaguered earth. but social justice—which encompasses diversity, sustainability, global affairs and issues of race and class—is a broad term with varying interpretations. it can manifest in wildly different ways. in the hands of one teacher, social justice might entail teaching kids to care for the earth by having them plant trees in the schoolyard. another might have the same children write letters to the government about the environmental effects of mining, urging it to reform how mining claims are processed. (p. 38) teachers began receiving professional learning opportunities on social justice concepts. in addition, new supporting documents like re-thinking globalization: teaching for justice in an unjust world (this series has since grown and includes titles for math and biology), teaching economics as if people mattered, and math that matters: a teacher resource for linking math and social justice populated school resource catalogues. in lieu of the rules of mathematics or the facts of history, students were pushed to question the dominant discourse, consider the constructs of society, and develop empathy for the many forms of inequality in the modern world. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 by extension, social justice education (sje) is a pedagogical methodology gaining momentum in the canadian classroom. defined by ayers, quinn, and stoval (2009) as a methodology that “addresses issues of inequality in society and the way in which burdens and responsibilities are unequally distributed along structurally engineered fault lines that become ciphers or markers of exclusion and inclusion” (p. 5), sje is inherently ideological and pushes students to reconsider dominant social narratives in the interests of the pursuit of social equity. fortin (1997) sees sje as a mechanism that “calls for a radical redistribution of material resources or, short of that, the establishment of a system that reduces as much as possible the distance separating the social classes” (p. 273). other scholars have produced similar definitions, all of which generally include one of the following words: oppression, inequality, hierarchies, disruption, justice, and understanding. social justice education is often confused with citizenship education. lister (1997) makes a distinction between the two disciplines and elucidates citizenship education as “legal status, membership of communities and relationships between members of those communities, but also to relationships between individuals, communities and nations. these definitions may also assume rights and obligations” (p. 1). the issues surrounding the appropriateness of sje can be assembled in two major camps: advocacy and discontent. there has been extensive research on both approaches with no shortage of passionate dialogue, both in a supporting and oppositional frame. people who adhere to the principles of social justice often view it as a moral imperative, a foundation of an “inclusive (educational) community” (meyer & mitchell, 2010, p. 12). walker (2007) argues that maintaining a commitment to social justice values obligates administrators and educators to “facilitate access for and to empower all vulnerable parties so as to achieve equal educational outcomes” (meyer & mitchell, 2010, p. 12). this view complements the work of rawls and fiere who push for the universality of justice and the dismantling of oppressive power systems. russo (2004) sees teachers as a vital part of social justice advocacy: “teachers can interrupt the cycles of oppression….teachers can work as change agents through the content or topics they address as well as through particular pedagogical practices that tend to undermine patterns of oppression”. kelly (2012) sees sje as a means to counter cultural imperialism, marginalization, systemic violence, exploitation, and powerlessness. in terms of objections to social justice in the realm of education, the arguments fall into two categories:  social justice education is too commonly linked with liberalism; and mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43  liberal applications of social justice programs, both in and out of schools, are flawed and worth challenging. some educational commentators have decried aspects of sje in public schools. according to marilyn cochran-smith et al. (2009), there are three major criticisms of the teaching of social justice in the classroom. the first is that the term “social justice” is vague in nature and thus controversial as to what it constitutes. another critique is that in teaching for social justice, regular academic curriculum gets neglected. the belief is that neglect in academics can lead to a decrease in student learning. finally, various other critics feel as though teaching for social justice is instilling specific political ideologies. graff (1997) argues: what right do we have to be the self-appointed political conscience of our students? given the inequality in power and experience between students and teachers (even teachers from disempowered groups) students are often justifiably afraid to challenge our political views even if we beg them to do so. . . . making it the main object of teaching to open students’ minds to leftist…ideas and stimulate them to work for egalitarian change has been the fatal mistake of the liberatory pedagogy movement. (p. 27) standards-based education the historical origins of standards-based education are well documented. often associated with the economic tumult of the 19th century, standardization became part and parcel of the wider push for enhanced industrial efficiency. schools, searching for ways to contribute to economic growth (egan, 1998), sought a more scientific approach to pedagogy. the endgame was a fundamental shift in the purpose and function of public education, as waldow (2014) explains: individual programmes for standards-based reform differ considerably in their aims and in how they are to be implemented in detail, but the general idea of educational standards today is attractive from the perspective of very different educational agendas, from “child-centred education” via “education for growth” to “accountability in education.” (p. 54) in the canadian context, and indeed in many western states, curriculum standards are subject to a creeping enforcement vis-à-vis the creation and propagation of teaching standards. for example, in the provincial jurisdiction associated with this study, the department of education (2016) expects that “teachers are knowledgeable about and utilize provincial curricula, mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 initiatives, policies, learning resources, technologies, and assessment strategies” (p. 1). the language in this directive is quite clear: teachers are to know and teach the provincial curriculum. research questions and aims this study principally aimed to assess the extent, if any, of pedagogical differences between social studies educators who self-identify as “liberal” or “conservative.” more specifically, we were interested in exploring how those who self-identify as being on the left (liberal) of the political spectrum would deliver the curriculum for a senior high social studies course and, conversely, how those who identify as being on the political right (conservative) would deliver the same course content. methodology and design in an attempt to unpack and interpret how social studies teachers confront political indoctrination in their classrooms, we engaged in a course of qualitative inquiry. guided by an interpretive approach, data for this study was gathered from a collection of seven senior high school social studies teachers. the employ of interpretivism was deemed most preferable for the aims of this study as, in human sciences, it is necessary to have understanding rather than mere explanation. interpretivists conclude that, ontologically, there are many differing, socially constructed realities that inform human behavior. in this world, research needs to take into account how human situations, behaviors, and experiences construct realities that are inherently subjective (brooke, 2013). the process of interpreting experience, as per the intention of this study, must be supported by a complementary methodology. given my attempts understand the motivations behind action, i engaged in a hermeneutic analysis of generated data. according to taylor (1985), “...interpretation aims to bring to light an underlying coherence or sense. this means that any science which can be called ‘hermeneutical’ even in an extended sense, must be dealing with...forms of meaning” (p. 206).given the qualitative nature of this study and the preponderance of language-based inquiry, hermeneutics provides the metaphorical equivalent of a rosetta stone for deciphering the sometimes hidden meaning behind language. in specific terms, my aim was to actively engage with the generated data. i began this process with the ontological understanding that my research participants live in a unique, socially-constructed reality, which would differ between participants. their experiences, i assumed, are shaped by a variety of factors (e.g., geographic location, political cleavages, age, mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 economic status) and would account for a heterogeneity of knowledge. uncovering the motivations for behavior while acknowledging the various epistemological and ontological forces at play demanded a focused engagement with data through the continuous, hermeneutic reading and interpretation of text. this hermeneutic process was further supported by an explanatory case study analysis method. according to yin (2008), the explanatory case study earns its stripes by posing “competing explanations for the same set of events and to indicate how such explanations may apply to other situations” (p. 5). guided by this, i set out to compare the responses of teachers in an attempt to find areas of convergence and divergence. through this method of analysis, i discovered a series of contradictions (e.g., some participants espoused an even-handed approach to teaching but then made seemingly contradictory statements about the need to arouse critical thinking through an advocacy approach) that provided fodder for my conclusions. the participant sample was particularistic in that we worked with specific teachers who deliver a specific course. study participants were drawn from colleagues, both past and present, as well as from professional acquaintances. preference was given to social studies teachers who have taught the nova scotia, canada, grade 12 course global history a minimum of three times within a ten-year period. teachers who have limited experience with the course were not interviewed, as i hypothesized that curricula comfort might be a factor that influences political activism—a theory that was ultimately sustained. additionally, i assumed that teachers who had more than a baseline familiarity with global history might be more willing to delve into controversial topics or let their political cleavages be known, as they are able to spend less time on resource accumulation and pedagogical approach. drawing from personal experience, the degree of unfamiliarity with a given class could chart a course of reservation and avoidance. the sample size comprised seven participants, mostly from the school board associated with the geographic area of the researchers; however, two participants were drawn from other locales, as political regionalism is a congruent topic of this study. each participant was interviewed once for approximately an hour and a half. outside of the dedicated interview time, we purposely roamed the classrooms of the participants who are active teachers, making observations and asking informal questions, which were all noted as part of the wider data collection. by situating an interview in the classroom of the participant, we made observations on the supporting resources that were present, such as images around the room, and gained access to course material, including teacher-created power points and lesson handouts. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 three teacher-participants had recently retired after careers in public education spanning more than 30 years. one teacher participant recently changed careers, becoming a university basketball coach after 25 years of teaching social studies in the public education system. three teacher-participants are active social studies teachers in the middle to late stages of their respective careers. the sample selection was drawn from three geographic regions of nova scotia, canada: two that could be described as rural and one urban. participant age major years teaching *location of school / school population howie 62 history/english 35 retired rural / 1000 robert 58 sociology 32 retired urban / 1300 ellen 63 english 33 retired rural / 1100 hank 49 history 27 rural / 760 jerry 43 french 20 rural / 760 arthur 41 history 19 rural/300 john 63 history 33 retired rural / 400 table 1. research participant biographic information. names presented are pseudonyms. *school location and population denotes the average number of students in attendance during the working years of the research participant. among the 11 interview questions posed to participants were three related to the handling of ministry-mandated outcomes:  do you find course outcomes appropriate for helping students reach the mandate of the course? mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47  describe to me your ideal vision for a social studies course; that being, what types of students did/do you enjoy working with and what type of activities/lessons would you like to conduct?  how would you define the “spirit” of a social studies education? participants, as a second mode of data collection, were also asked to explain how they would teach two senior high school history class outcomes:  demonstrate an understanding of factors that contributed to the start of the “cold war” between the “east” and “west.”  examine an issue that illustrates the economic disparity between the global “north” and “south.” both outcomes were sourced from the nova scotia department of education’s global history 12, a survey course that examines post-world war ii (wwii) developments. built around five units of study, students examine the cold war, economics, social change, the concept of justice, and modern globalization. included in each unit is a suite of case studies designed to complement the major themes of the curriculum. for example, the unit on social change includes a case study on the 1949 chinese revolution, and for the justice section, south african apartheid. the prevailing course outcome is to help students understand how the world arrived at its current state. it is a course steeped in ideology. the tenets of liberalism, conservatism, communism, socialism, libertarianism, neo-liberalism, and neo-conservatism are all addressed as the tumultuous decades after wwii are examined. theoretical framework the researcher has identified three major frameworks that provide a foundation for this study. first, corngold and waddington’s 2006 study, strategies for addressing controversial issues in the social studies classroom, enhanced by hess (2012), demonstrates that teachers can, and indeed are, utilizing a range of teaching strategies, from avoidance to advocacy, when they examine political content. their discussion on “advocacy” is of particular interest to this study. second, the nova scotia department of education’s foundation for the atlantic canada social studies curriculum (1999) is a direction-setting document that outlines the expectations of a social studies teacher. it includes provisions for a well-rounded examination of topics with opportunities for students to examine multiple viewpoints. finally, the work of iconic education contributor john dewey (1915) provided the researcher with a context for understanding the mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 harm associated with the political indoctrination of students. dewey’s 1915 schools of tomorrow provides a forceful rebuke of indoctrination by making wider connections to democracy and western liberalism. dewey’s definition of political indoctrination is the anchor of this study when he defines indoctrination as the “...act of implanting ideas in children” in a manner that “opposes and undermines the concept of student-centered learning and offends liberal-democratic principles” (p. 278). his call for an education system that values and promotes reflection, judgment and reasoning, which he viewed, quite unapologetically, as “central requisites of the true democrat and the faithful pursuit of scientific method” which “cannot be acquired via impositional methods” serves as one of a the major motives behind this study. analysis of findings and discussion each of the seven research participants provided valuable insights into contemporary social studies pedagogy. participants converged on many questions and diverged on others, providing a window into the social studies classroom and allowing for the creation of five distinct findings. one: teachers’ adherence to global history 12 mandated outcomes research participants were asked during their respective interviews if they actively took liberties with provincial outcomes in global history 12. taking curricular liberties was defined as knowingly and/or deliberately over-representing some outcomes, under-representing others, and/or teaching topics not included in provincially mandated curricula outcomes. six of the seven participants admitted to taking liberties with outcomes; some stated they were selective and sparing, while others admitted to a wide deviance from provincial outcomes. robert used very strong language in expressing his aversion with the outcome model, viewing it as a set of restrictions on potentially good teaching. ellen stated that she paid little attention to outcomes, choosing to teach according to feel or, as she said, her “gut.” john reasoned his curricula liberties by stating that global history 12 was “outdated” and, in order to stay current, one must navigate outside of the outcomes. arthur gave a similar account, stating that he followed outcomes as closely as he could but admitted that some outcomes are not “real” or “meaningful.” hank saw outcomes as antithetical to the “spirit” of a social studies classroom, while howie stated that he “probably” took liberties with content. the only participant who commented that he did not take liberties with content was jerry, but this was motivated not ideologically but rather in the interests of practicality, as restrictions on contact time with students prevent him from deviating from the provincial mandate. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 the six participants who admitted to curricular liberties share a few traits in common. arthur and ellen enjoy/enjoyed a good deal of independence in their classrooms. ellen was never supervised by an administrator and arthur was confident that no one would be scrutinizing his pedagogical approach. robert stated that he was often “left alone” and even received a tacit endorsement at one point in his career to “teach away from the text book.” it appears that they all viewed this supervisory emancipation in favorable terms and saw it perhaps as a means to sculpt global history 12 outcomes into a shape that matched their intent. additionally, those six participants used similar language when describing outcomes. the words “outdated,” “restrictive,” “limiting,” and their synonyms became a common refrain. two: liberals abound as later points will reveal, it is perhaps not a surprise that more than half of the study participants self-identified as solidly liberal. one participant identified, in a limited way, with conservatism and another described himself as a left-leaning centrist. only one participant self-identified as undefined, stating that he holds a mix of liberal and conservative principles. the liberal affiliation of the majority of research participants was predictable. two participants ran in canadian federal elections for leftist parties, and another was approached to run for a provincial liberal party. a fourth participant was a volunteer for a liberal party candidate in a federal election. liberalism, in the party sense, is a strong presence in the geographic locations of all of the research participants. those participants who self-identified as politically liberal stated that they think liberally on both social and economic matters. those same participants cited concern for the common good of society as their overarching motivation for thinking liberally. related to voting, and contrary to the self-described liberalism of the majority of participants, only one participant could claim exclusive support for leftist parties. the other six participants, despite their varying degrees of liberalism, noted that they have voted across the political spectrum. robert, hank, howie, jerry, and arthur described themselves as issue-specific and claimed to give the personality of the candidate more weight than the policies of their party. ellen stood alone as the only participant who claimed to have voted exclusively for liberal parties. all participants described themselves as politically engaged in one form or another. for some, that engagement took the form of candidacy and political party volunteerism and, for others, that meant the close monitoring of political events and careful inclusion of politics in their classrooms. all participants saw the inclusion of political topics in their classes as important and mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50 in the interests of civics. during election time, all participants spoke of their efforts to engage their students in the democratic process. arthur, john, robert, hank, and jerry made specific reference to activities they sponsored that aimed to help students understand the importance of civic involvement. three: a matter of opinion in every interview, all participants were exposed, in differing degrees of complexity, to waddington and corngold’s (2005) typology of social studies teachers. work in this area is longstanding (warnock, 1975; kelly, 1986), for there appears to be ongoing uncertainty about the role, or presence, of the teacher in the delivery on content. in every interview, participants were briefed on the terms “even-handed teacher” and “advocate teacher.” all participants selfidentified as “even-handed teachers” or, according to waddington and corngold (2006), a “... social studies teacher” who “...discloses his/her own position on a disputed topic, while presenting and soliciting alternative points of view” (p. 4). additionally, all participants reacted negatively to the presumption of advocacy teaching by the researcher. waddington and corngold (2006) define advocacy teachers as a “...social studies teacher” who “espouses a certain position on a given topic, makes that position known and dismisses any positions contrary to their view” (p. 5). as a means of exploring the notion of even-handedness versus advocacy, a series of questions were posed related to the presence of teacher opinion on content in their respective classes. the responses were intriguing and often in conflict. all participants initially explained that they shielded their students from their personal opinions on subject matter, but as the line of questioning became more focused, it was clear that teachers do indeed share their personal opinions on classroom topics. john and hank explained that they would share their opinion on course content at the outset of its examination. they justified this practice by stating that it might spur some classroom discussion on the topic. howie and ellen stated that they were not overly comfortable sharing their opinions in class but both concluded that their students could probably figure out where they stood on particular topics. that figuring out likely came, from their admission, by comments made in class. robert shared similar experiences, agreeing when asked if his students would be aware of his opinion on issues related to global history outcomes. jerry and arthur explained a more restrained approach, both stating that they would only share their opinions in class after they felt students had a good understanding of the topic. jerry claimed to weigh in during the mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51 final phases of a topic examination, while arthur stated that he may not share his opinion at all, choosing to “keep his cards close to his chest,” as it were. those participants who disclosed that they shared their opinions were asked to explain their perceptions of that practice. many explained that they would preface their opinions with statements akin to “this is just my opinion,” or “just because this is my opinion doesn’t mean it is right.” these statements are designed to soften and minimize the potential sway value of the opinion of an authority figure. hank explained that he would even revisit his comments in subsequent classes in an effort to remit any indoctrination that may have occurred from his opinion-sharing. arthur would not, explaining that if his opinion came out in class, he would not revisit it but rather closely monitor through his assessments the presence of his line of thought, and then address it in the context of that assessment. howie and ellen both claimed to revisit their comments in later classes, using statements like “my opinion is just that, my opinion,” in an effort to reduce any possible impact they had on their students’ understanding of a topic. john and robert would preface their comments and explicitly state that their opinion might not be one that resonates with their students. all participants stated that they were not seeking their opinion in the ideas of their students in assessments nor in classroom discussions. four: teachers’ political identity in the global history 12 classroom the presence of political bias in any classroom is difficult to locate and verify. political indoctrination has been so wholly vilified that many teachers, including some in this study, are extremely reticent when confronting topics with political implications. every participant in this study appeared to confirm that political indoctrination in the classroom is undesirable and should be avoided. comments similar to “i would never force my politics on my students” were a common utterance, and all participants recognized that they did hold the power to politically influence their students. with regard to their political identity, all participants except jerry positioned themselves along the official political spectrum—left (liberal), right (conservative). as noted earlier, four participants self-identified as solidly liberal, one identified as a centrist, one claimed small c affiliations, and the last was undefined. early in each interview, all participants seemed to shrug off their various political identities and tended to describe their political views as moderate, presumably to ward off any assumptions of indoctrination by the researcher. many of the teachers also spoke about their political identities in ways suggesting that they believed this aspect of their identity to be open to redefinition. howie, despite his self-identification as a mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 52 liberal, made several references to the fluidity of his political identity, and hank explained that he was an “issues guy,” molding his ideology by the issues of the day. robert explained (as did arthur, jerry, and hank) that over the course of different elections, he had voted for parties on both sides of the political spectrum. robert described how he explained his political identity as complicated and open to change, while ellen noted that she is decidedly on the left and views the world in those terms. neutrality was to be interpreted as the goal for both teaching and learning. every participant at one point or another during their interviews made statements aimed at minimizing the presence of their political identity as a means to uphold their presumed neutral identity status by avoiding positioning themselves ideologically on particular issues. this was in line with another common idea, that teaching students to hold multiple positions on issues is very important. these types of responses were just a sample of indicators of the extent to which the teachers believed that being a teacher meant having a neutral identity, carefully crafted to avoid political indoctrination. many of the teachers viewed identity—and, by extension, strong beliefs, values, opinions, or culture—as an obstacle that stood in the way of producing open-minded students. this belief was predominantly expressed in their articulation of what macdonald (2013) calls the “blank slate ideal for teaching and learning” (p. 254). the blank slate ideal refers to the ways in which participants spoke about their political identity and their associated values, beliefs, and interests as potential obstacles for effective teaching. all participants agreed that a strong political identity was dangerous, a reality that robs students of valuable critical thinking skills. the blank slate was perceived as an ideal condition for social studies pedagogy. all teachers explained that students need to make personal decisions about their political worldviews and that an overly present political identity by teachers could skew this development. indeed, the primary reason teachers gave for believing that the absence of a strong political identity was favorable was the belief that it obstructed students’ capacities to appreciate multiple perspectives, universally decried as an undesirable outcome. five: on teaching economics and communism provincial outcomes for global history 12 call for the examination of five units of study, among which are units titled east-west and north-south. east-west is a history-inspired unit that chiefly examines the cold war, while north-south is largely related to economics, specifically economic disparity. to further support potential conclusions, two interview questions were specifically designed to understand how teachers teach selected outcomes in these two units. those outcomes are: mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 53  demonstrate an understanding of factors that contributed to the start of the “cold war” between the “east” and “west.”  examine an issue that illustrates the economic disparity between “north” and “south.” both outcomes are inherently ideological, and many teachers in this study noted feeling a moral tug when examining them. to develop a sense of understanding of how teachers address the first outcome, and to conquer the vague language of the outcome, the researcher simply asked each participant how he/she would deliver a class on communism, and for the second outcome, sweat shops or labor exploitation. such topics are inherently political and often solicit a visceral response from those pondering its many implications. the charge of teaching communism is challenging and, empirically speaking, teachers have to walk a fine line between condemnation and critical analysis. regardless of one’s attitudes toward communism, it is a matter of great importance in the realm of social studies. each participant in this study agreed that communism holds potential as a viable ideology, with many stating that communism “looks great on paper,” and every participant noted as well the horrors of modern communism. howie and ellen could appreciate the support for communism in states like cuba, vietnam, and china. howie described mao’s communist reforms as “transformational” and explained how he could “understand” why communism was popular in vietnam, while ellen made rather positive comments about communism in cuba. john, a union supporter, noted that he held respect for communist philosophies about the worker and could reason the motivations behind marx’s writings. arthur articulated his views on communism by noting the human obsession with greed, later explaining that communism was the “opposite” of that. none of the research participants were quick to condemn communism, demonstrating a commitment to a critical analysis of it; however, as with opinion-sharing, each participant was quick to qualify their respective statements about communism with commentary on the horrors of its implications. each participant was asked how they would teach a class or classes on communism. the responses were remarkably similar. john and arthur would both start their examinations with class discussions about consumerism, greed, and inequalities. they would then lead their classes through a series of participatory activities designed to explore the nature of human self-interest; john used the term “tension” and arthur “greed.” these activities, by virtue of their explanation, appear to be an effective means of demonstrating the motivations behind the communist ideal. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 54 robert and jerry began their examinations with an analysis of the writings of marx, often putting them into an historical context like the industrial revolution or the lifespan of the union of soviet socialist republics. howie would examine communism almost exclusively through case studies, using vietnam, cambodia, and china as his examples. through these examples, he would explore the various manifestations of communism and compare them with the original writings of marx. ellen took a similar approach, using case studies and writing analysis to uncover the motivations and implications of communism. hank was a bit of an exception in that he did not fully explain how he would teach communism, but rather he explained why he thought communism was largely unfavorable. hank’s approach was reflective of others. he explained that communism placed limits on human potential and allowed for those whom he described as “less motivated” to reap the benefits earned by the motivated, conceding that his line of thought might be a “right-wing” idea. jerry explained that communism is flawed not as an ideology but rather in its application, a view shared by ellen, john, arthur, howie, and robert. every participant made sure that their respective examinations included ample analysis of the ills of communism, something not explicitly stated in course outcomes. the reasons for this might be twofold: perhaps, even in 2015, in the interests of avoiding a far-left label or as a tactic for achieving the coveted multi-sided pedagogical approach spoken of by all participants. no participant went so far as to praise communist ideals, and every explanation followed a similar path: a brief statement about the potential of communism followed by much discussion about its shortfalls. the second outcome presented to participants was related to labor exploitation via the consideration of so-called sweat shops. the topic of sweat shops is a staple in the global history 12 classroom and many ministry-approved resources provide teachers with ideas on how to engage their students in the topic. the notion of exploitation began the pedagogical explanation offered by robert, arthur, and ellen. ellen noted that she would often begin her examination of labor exploitation by considering who, implying young people, works in garment factories in south america. robert and arthur were similar, asking students to consider where their clothing originates from and how much it costs a manufacturer to produce. john used the word “tension” in his description and explained that the topic was a difficult one for him on moral grounds, although he did not elaborate on how that affects his examination of it. hank, while troubled by empathetic considerations, explained his approach in a pragmatic way, simply noting that people need jobs. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 55 it would be correct to assume that all participants had varying degrees of moral reservation about labor exploitation. the consistent calls for students to consider where their clothes are made, why they are made there, who is making them, and the challenges workers face were echoed by all participants. no participants used blunt or harsh language regarding sweat shops, nor did they make any statements along the lines of “they should be happy to have a job” or “that job is better than nothing.” like their presumed concerns about communism, each participant appeared reluctant to remove their sense of empathy from their examination, even in the interests of critical thinking. every activity cited by participants could be construed as critical, not in the sense of diversity of thought, but it terms of actual criticism of sweat shops. there is evidence to suggest that each participant held negative views about sweat shops, and while this could certainly be morally correct, it clashes with the notion of providing a balanced examination of content. discussion and implications the guiding thesis of this study was to examine the extent, if any, of pedagogical difference between global history 12 teachers who self-identify as liberal versus those who self-identify as conservative. unexpectedly, the thesis fell short, as liberalism was the clear winner in terms of political values held by research participants. while it was expected that there would be a strong liberal presence among those who delivered the course, the glaring absence of conservative principles among participants was not. this reality made it difficult to arrive at a conclusion regarding pedagogical difference, as there was simply no means to compare the two ideologies; however, two conclusions are noteworthy and have important considerations for contemporary social studies education. concluding point one: on outcomes and curricula liberties it is certainly reasonable to conclude that the great majority of global history 12 teachers interviewed for this study hold generally negative opinions on the course content prescriptions of the outcome model of pedagogy. indeed, it appears that participating teachers indicated only a passing adherence to the outcome model in favor of a more cafeteria-style approach. these teachers, so it seems, feel completely justified in their practice of picking and choosing learning outcomes informed by their personal vision for social studies education. there are three implications of this: first, questions emerge about the outcome model matching the spirit of a social studies class; second, if outcomes do not hold a place in a social studies classroom, what is the alternative? third, if outcomes are viewed in negative terms and result in global history 12 teachers taking liberties with content, what does this mean for the integrity of the course? mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 56 judging from their commentary, teacher participants would likely agree that outcome-based pedagogy would find a comfortable home in courses with more objective content—math, science or biology—in a manner that fits with the industrial-science motivations (waldow, 2015) behind this education philosophy. this study has shown that global history 12 teachers value their professional autonomy. all interviewees enjoy the curricular freedom to move outside of course outcomes or to mold them as they see fit. this pursuit of curricular freedom perhaps speaks to the spirit of a social studies education. social studies teachers relish the opportunity to examine current events, make connections between topics, and facilitate classes related to the interests of their students the generally unfavorable regard for outcomes could be problematic. if outcomes are deemed restrictive and ultimately a hindrance to effective teaching, then questions must emerge about alternatives. no participants offered an alternative to outcomes, which could lead to deep concerns about what is being taught in the global history 12 classroom. concluding point two: why even-handed? during each interview for this study, participants were asked to consider the type, according to the typology of waddington and corngold (2006) and hess (2006), of the global history 12 teacher they would call themselves. the differences between the “advocate” and the “evenhanded” teacher were explained and, one by one, in every interview, all participants described themselves as even-handed. the preponderance of even-handed self-description has two intriguing implications: a means of assisting student critical thinking and a means of handicapping it. all participants saw the promotion of critical thinking as one of the most important aspects of good social studies teaching, and it appears that the way the teachers in this study internalized that was through a multi-sided examination of topics. however, there might be something of a contradiction here, as respecting diversity of views, customs, and cultures does not mean that you cannot also critically and discursively engage them. doing this kind of work cannot involve accepting all perspectives as potentially valid. according to mcdonald (2013): since when does democracy presuppose neutrality and the adoption of all perspectives? how did this discourse become so engrained in teachers’ thinking and pedagogy for teaching political and social issues? as seen earlier, the all-views-are-equal approach can result in adoption of no one particular perspective on issues. similarly, the avoidance of —rather than critical engagement mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 57 with—perspectives that have been shaped by our multiple identity locations can result in empty democracy, where people have no opinions or positions on issues, where relations of subordination are left unchallenged, where difficult questions about the social construction of identity and difference are discouraged. (p. 317) the findings of this study are specific to nova scotia, canada, and are not necessarily reflective of other geographic areas. in fact, further study about the political identities of social studies teachers and the impact on their pedagogy in other regions would fill a significant gap in scholarly educational literature. additionally, this study was specific to global history 12 teachers in the social studies curriculum stream; no teachers from outside this stream of programming were interviewed. a frequent comment by participants in this study was a consideration of the political identities of teachers in other humanities classes or the sciences, something that provides impetus for further research. finally, future research on the student perspective of the political identity of their teachers would complete the circle of understanding related to politics in the senior high social studies classroom. all of these points provide grounds for further study. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 references: apple, m. 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(1998). civic education in the liberal state. in a. rorty (ed.), philosophers on education: new historical perspectives (pp. 470-480). new york, ny: routledge. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.stfx.ca/pubidlinkhandler/sng/pubtitle/canadian+journal+of+education/$n/37189/docview/215372370/abstract/3e99f2f093414218pq/5?accountid=13803 http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.stfx.ca/indexingvolumeissuelinkhandler/37189/canadian+journal+of+education/02001y01y01$232001$3b++vol.+26+$283$29/26/3?accountid=13803 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 garrison, j. e. (1986). the paradox of indoctrination: a solution. synthese, 68, 261-73. hare, w. 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(1953). sectarian attacks on public education. educational theory, 3(3), 1-116. waddington, d., & corngold, j. (2006). should teachers be neutral?: strategies for addressing controversial issues in the social studies classroom. journal of moral education, 32(2), 2540. waldow, f. (2015). from taylor to tyler to no child left behind: legitimating educational standards. prospects, 45(1), 49-62. mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.ednet.ns.ca/files/curriculum/globalhistory12.pdf http://www.nssba.ca/.../778-nova-scotia-teaching-standards-1-page-reference-document http://www.nssba.ca/.../778-nova-scotia-teaching-standards-1-page-reference-document journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 37-61 corresponding author: ghadley@stfx.ca ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 warnock, m. (1975). the neutral teacher. in s.c. brown (ed.), philosophers discuss education (pp. 159-171). london, uk: palgrave macmillan. about the authors: greg hadley is a ph.d. candidate and lecturer in the faculty of education at st. francis xavier university. prior to this, he was a social studies teacher at rural high schools across northeastern nova scotia, canada. his research interests are in social studies pedagogy, entrepreneurship education, educational philosophy, and school leadership. email: ghadley@stfx.ca dr. david c. young is an associate professor in the faculty of education at st. francis xavier university (stfx) in antigonish, nova scotia. he is also the current chair of the university research ethics board as well as the department of curriculum and leadership. his research is focused on the broad topic of educational administration and policy. more particularly, david’s current writing deals with issues surrounding law and education. his work has appeared in a wide variety of publications including capsle comments, the education & law journal, the canadian journal of educational administration and policy, and the journal of educational administration and foundations. david is also the co-editor of teaching online: stories from within, and editor of education law in canada: a guide for teachers and administrators. email: dyoung@stfx.ca mailto:ghadley@stfx.ca http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 in search of a more effective strategy: using the 5e instructional strategy to teach civic education in senior secondary schools in ilorin, nigeria yusuf abdulraheem university of ilorin, nigeria muhinat bolanle bello university of ilorin, nigeria adesegun olayide odutayo university of ilorin, nigeria abstract: the sociopolitical and economic structure of nigeria is being threatened by youth incivility, while civic virtues in all spheres of life are gradually declining. this study examined the effects of the 5es instructional strategy on the literacy scores of students in civic education. a research question was raised with the corresponding hypothesis. two intact classes in two different schools were selected for this study from the available secondary schools. seventy-seven students participated in the study, in which the experimental group consisted of 39 students while the control group consisted of 38 students. the 50-item multiple-choice objective civic education literacy test (celt) was used for collecting data. the validated celt was tested for reliability, and a value of 0.68 was obtained. analysis of covariance was used in determining the significant differences between the two groups. the results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest literacy scores of students taught civic education using the 5es instructional strategy. thus, the study recommended that teachers should expose students to the 5es instructional strategy in the classroom to develop students' generic skills and civic competence. key words: 5e instructional strategy, civic education, civic competence, literacy score mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 introduction the drive towards re-engineering the process of teaching and learning civic education in the nigerian basic and senior schools has become imperative, especially in the face of dwindling levels of national consciousness, social harmony, and patriotic zeal. as far back as the 1980s, it became painfully evident that the nonexistence of civic education and patriotic orientation had led to disorientation in schools and the larger society. the consequences were felt in all strata of nigerian society. it was on this premise that the political bureau set up by former president ibrahim babangida suggested, in march of 1987, the establishment of a directorate for social mobilisation (mamser), which eventually transformed into the national orientation agency (noa) (ajibola & audu, 2014). okam and lawal (2011) noted that the events of the recent past have shown that nigeria is on the brink of losing its much-cherished sense of nationhood, cultural identity, and hospitable spirit. there is a prevalent trend of corruption, indiscipline, disrespect for elders and the rule of law, abusive security forces, poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. others include injustice, minority marginalization, internal colonization by national dominant groups in league with globalizing and multinational capital, growing inequalities between rich and poor, insecurity, crime, violence, and terrorism. nigeria as a country is also battling pollution, urban decay, lack of basic hygiene, the spread of incurable diseases, ethnic cleansing, deteriorating education, and lack of commitment to duty. there are also several cases of abductions, ethnic conflicts, massive corruption, biafra agitation, a growing rate of cyber-crime among youth, shiite groups, and the menace of boko haram, among others, which, according to okam and lawal (2011), are some of the manifestations of negative values in the nigerian society. these threaten the sociopolitical and economic structure of nigeria and contribute to the gradual decline of civic qualities in all spheres of life. because of their far-reaching impact on national development, significant value reorientation is necessary. in all these, the school cannot be left out. one should, therefore, commend the national orientation agency and the national technical committee on education for the introduction of civic education and initiating the writing of textbooks on the subject for nigerian schools. according to the federal republic of nigeria (2014), civic education is introduced to the nigerian education system at basic and senior school levels to inculcate national consciousness, civic literacy and civic competence, and the right kind of values and attitude through effective teaching of civic education. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 besides, civic education promotes the understanding of the relationships between man and woman, the government and the society. to this end, teachers are critical to the success of this bold initiative. it is gratifying, therefore, to observe that the national orientation agency working in collaboration with other members of the technical committee undertook a capacity-building program for teachers at all levels for the sustainability of civic education in the nigerian school curriculum. it should be noted that the evolvement and sustenance of appropriate levels of social and national consciousness is the responsibility of all citizens. while the government provides the enabling opportunities for individuals and groups to make valid contributions to reviving a value-based nationalistic spirit, it is important to note that education through effective teaching of civic education holds the key to ensuring that citizens exhibit acceptable standards of socialization through the school (ezegbe, oyeoku, mezieobi, & okeke, 2013). former director-general of the national orientation agency alhaji idi faruk said in a 2011 address that the decision to reintroduce civic education was based on a critical analysis of the democratic history of nigeria and a comparative research of advanced democracies in other nations. according to him, the finding was that countries that invested heavily in the socialization of their citizens through the school breed citizens who posses civic consciousness, competence, and high rates of literacy. it can therefore be assumed that many of our national challenges, especially in the civic sphere, are a consequence of the inability of nigerian schools to efficiently teach the appropriate skills and right types of attitudes to the younger generation. this may be caused by teachers’ use of inappropriate instructional strategies, which can make it very easy to assimilate learned materials as well as permanent internalization. however, it is observed that the strategies employed by teachers in nigerian schools have been teacher-centered. the emphasis has been the transmission of civic information rather than civic literacy and civic competence. an observation of classroom interaction of civic education in secondary schools indicates that teachers are likely to be faced with the challenges of how to effectively teach the curriculum content of civic education to achieve its stated objectives. this might be why ikwumelu and oyibe (2011) maintained that when classroom teachers effectively teach the curriculum contents of a subject, it will instill in the students an inquiry attitude that will bring about the development of values in their learning. on the other hand, downey and kelly cited in bozimo and ikwumelu (2008) observed that ineffective teaching does not encourage the development of social awareness and social understanding because students still take for granted what their teachers offer, probably as a result of utilization of inappropriate instructional strategies. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 despite different scholarly findings on modern trends in teaching, adesoji (2004) noted that teachers still make use of teacher-centered strategies like lecturing, storytelling, dictation, and so on, because of the overcrowded classrooms and overloaded curriculum and infrastructural facilities. these invariably have resulted in teachers' reluctance to explore other teaching strategies besides the traditional lecture method. this position remains in this contemporary time of advancement in technology and civilization (adesoji, 2004). learner-centered instructional strategies have repeatedly shown to be superior to the traditional teacher-centered instructional strategies. the learner-centered instructional strategies help to promote mastery learning and ensure long-term retention or depth of understanding of course content. it improves students' level of critical thinking, learning from experience, and creative problemsolving skills, as well as the formation of students’ positive attitudes (oesterreich, 2003). students who learn through learner-centered instructional strategies could achieve more success than their counterparts exposed to teacher-centered instructional strategies, considering the difference in the level of their participation in the learning process (amosun, 2002). for example, pagnotti (2012) conducted a quasi-experimental study that involved 68 middle school students in america in determining the effects of civics-based video games on students' civic engagement. the researcher found that civic-based video games did not enhance civic engagement but also reported a significant difference in the mean changes in civic engagement scores of those students who spent more time playing civic-based video games. it is proclaimed, however, that the relevance of learner-centered instructional strategies for effective teaching and learning process includes active learning, student engagement, and other activities that involve students. a learner-centered lesson engages students in the difficult work of learning and with explicit skill instruction. it teaches students how to think, solve problems, analyze arguments, evaluate evidence, and generate hypotheses. according to weimer (2012), learner-centered instructional strategies—especially the 5es instructional strategy—encourage students to reflect on what they are to learn and how they are to learn it, motivate learners by giving them some control over learning processes, and encourage collaboration. learnercentered instructional strategies shift the focus of activity from the teacher to the students. the strategies also help students formulate questions of their own, and discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class. mbakwem (2005) is equally of the view that a subject’s efficacy depends on the nature and quality of the learning experience that is associated with it. ikwumelu and oyibe (2011) added that it is not only the content of the subject that determines its effectiveness but also the quality mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 of learning experiences, which are in some cases dependent upon teachers' effective application of instructional strategies that enhance active participation of students in and out of the classroom. they advocate for the application of learner-centered instructional strategies in carrying out civic education classroom interaction, since the strategies aimed at promoting learning by doing through guided discovery among students and the teacher in the classroom setting serve to enhance effective decision making while analyzing social issues. statement of the problem nigeria is a vast country with many human and material resources; however, it is observed that despite our resources, nigeria is ranked high among the most corrupt nations in the world, according to transparency international (2017). apart from the problem of corruption, nigeria is also bedevilled with other social vices such as armed robbery, kidnapping, lack of integrity, examination malpractices, election manipulation, lack of civic competence, and so on. these social menaces may be a circumstance of the deteriorating nature of education, of which unprofessional and inappropriate instructional strategies adopted by teachers are a major part. also, there seems to be an urgent need for social and educational researchers to intervene in an attempt to restructure and discover better strategies for transmitting civic education to the students. most studies reveal that the learner-centered strategy is considered one of the best strategies for impacting knowledge and attitudes. however, there is need to investigate the validity of the importance accorded learner-centered instructional strategies, including the 5e instructional strategy. it is observed that there is a scarcity of studies on the effect of the 5es instructional strategy on civic education. most available studies were experimental and adopted different instructional strategies than the 5e strategy. for instance, igba and nwafor (2016) studied the effects of the jigsaw co-operative instructional strategy on senior secondary students' achievement in civic education in ebonyi state. owede (2017) conducted a study on the effects of jigsaw and social learning instructional strategies on senior secondary students' achievement in civic education in bayelsa state. adeniran, akinyemi, and aremu (2016) examined the effect of webquest on civic education of junior secondary school students in nigeria, while nuhoglu and yalcin (2006), madu and amaechi (2012), and ajaja (2013) focused on science-oriented subjects (physics and biology, respectively). perhaps the scarcity of studies on the effect of 5es on civic education resulted from the belief that the 5es instructional strategy is meant for teaching only science-based subjects and not arts mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 or commercial subjects. many of the studies (both foreign and local) were carried out mainly on science-oriented courses. for instance, bybee et al. (2006) conducted a study on the history and effectiveness of the 5es instructional strategy in the teaching of sciences in the united states. what this implies is that there is the need for a study to consider the effect of the 5es instructional strategy on students' performance in the arts and social sciences in nigeria. to fill the gap in the literature, this study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the 5es instructional strategy in the teaching of civic education in ilorin metropolis. purpose of the study the study investigated the effectiveness of 5es instructional strategies in the teaching of civic education in senior secondary schools in ilorin, nigeria. specifically, the study examined the effect of 5es on the senior school students’ civic literacy scores. research question this research sought to proffer an answer to the research question: 1. is there any difference between the civic literacy scores of students taught using the 5es instructional strategy and those taught with the conventional method? research hypothesis one hypothesis was postulated in this study: ho1: there is no significant difference between civic literacy scores of students taught using the 5es instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional method. review of related literature civic education in nigeria: according to utulu (2011), civic education should introduce learners to the process of democratic socialization and promote support for a democratic culture among citizens. cheng (2009) affirmed that civic education is responsible for preparing students to become sensible, active, and responsible citizens in facing challenges arising from their society. okam and lawal (2011) perceived civic education as the means whereby individuals become socially and politically aware, integrated into the social environment, and acquire social skills and competence in order to become socially responsible for efficiency and growth, all in the interest of the state. dagunduro (2012) explained that civic education is a concept that deals with the themes, concerns, and procedures through which people of all ages acquire knowledge, abilities, mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 and characters necessary for individual and national development. ajibola and audu (2014) stated that civic education is one of the subjects taught in schools to inculcate sound moral values in the youths. additionally, ajao (2013) opined that civic education is the kind of education through which individuals and citizens acquire useful and positive habits, attitudes, and beliefs that help them live as useful and functional members of the society. civic education is designed to help people learn how to become active, informed, and responsible citizens. the objectives of civic education in nigeria as stated by the nigerian educational research and development council are: a. promoting the understanding of the inter-relationship between man and woman, the government and the society. b. highlight the structure of government, its functions and the responsibilities of government to the people and vice-versa; c. to enhance the teaching and learning of emerging issues. d. inculcate in the students their duties and obligations to the society. (nerdc, 2008) teacher-centered versus learner-centered instructional strategies: for the objectives of civic education to be achieved, teachers should actively engage learners in the teaching and learning process. the goals can only be achieved when the teacher makes use of instructional strategies that are learner-friendly. instructional strategies are the classroom practices that teachers use to guide students through the learning process (wiggins & mctighe, 2008). the teaching resource guide (trg, 2014) defined instructional strategy as the step-by-step activities a teacher employs to help activate students' curiosity about a class topic. the instructional strategy ideally engages the students in learning, probes their critical thinking skills, keeps them on task, engenders sustained and useful classroom interaction, and generally enables and enhances students’ learning of course content. there are two major classifications of instructional strategies: teacher-centered instruction and learner-centered instruction. at its most extreme interpretation, teachers are the main authority figure in a teacher-centered instructional strategy. students are perceived as "empty vessels" who passively listen and receive knowledge from their teachers through lectures and direct instruction, with an end goal of positive performance from testing and assessment. in this style, teaching and assessment are viewed as two separate entities, and student learning is measured through objectively scored tests and assessments. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 as the primary teaching strategy under the teacher-centered instructional strategy, direct instruction utilizes passive learning, or the idea that learners can learn what they require through listening and watching exact instruction. teachers act as the sole supplier of knowledge, and under the direct instruction strategy, teachers often utilize systematic, scripted lesson plans. direct instruction programs dictate what the teacher should say and do, and activities that students should master, for every minute of the lesson. because it does not include student preferences or give them opportunities for hands-on or alternative types of learning, direct instruction is extremely teacher-centered. it is also fairly lowtech, often relying on the use of textbooks and workbooks. traditionally, lecturing is the most common method of teacher-centred instruction. others are storytelling, dictation, and book study. the new approach is to apply various methods and shift teacher-centered instructional strategies to more student-centered approaches. according to anvar, khademi, meshkibaf, fereidouni, and ebrahimi (2006), there are many reasons to shift to student-centeredness. to them, student-centered learning is more aligned with the lifelong learning skill, which is essential for the workforce in the information era. it includes learning how to learn, team skills, communication skills, problem solving, interacting, and processing information. in a student-centered instructional strategy, the emphasis is on planning, teaching, and assessment around the needs and abilities of the students. a student-centered instructional strategy helps to design effective instruction for the diverse learning needs of every student in the class. a. to plan any lesson, the teacher must first think of the students, rather than the content, and so we are assured that the students' needs are being considered. student-centered instructional strategy has been proven effective in its ability to teach students the material they need to know. b. students taught in a student-centered classroom retain more material for longer periods of time. in order to learn, the brain cannot simply receive information; it must also process the information so that it can be stored, assimilated, and recalled. c. the teacher is not obliged to be the sole, infallible source of information and the students are allowed to explore, experiment, and discover on their own. the students are not just memorizing information, but they are encouraged to work with and use the information alone or with peers. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 d. for this, the teacher must design activities that let students take the initiative and that let students discover meaningful information on their own. they must also get to know the students on an individual basis so that they can better respond to the individual needs and interests of the students. in general, teachers need to focus on the students’ needs, abilities, and interests. e. teachers need to “look at how students learn.” examples of student-centered instructional strategies include cooperative learning (such as jigsaw, student achievement division, peer-tutoring, think-pair-share, etc.), 5es, individualized instruction, question and answer instructional strategies, inquiry, etc. in the opinion of the researchers, the employment of 5es will promote learning from experience, learning by doing, and discovery learning. 5es instructional strategy: the 5es instructional strategy evolves from the constructivist approach, which allows students to actively participate in the learning process as it encourages learners to explore, experience, and discover various subjects, and as a result, it can be considered an effective method for teaching (yadigaroglu & demircioglu, 2012). in studies conducted using the 5es instructional strategy, evidence suggested that the strategy increases the success of students, elevates their conceptual understandings, and positively changes their attitudes (kor, 2006; saglam, 2006). the 5es instructional strategy arouses students' interest (clark, 2003), motivates them, and enhances their cognitive development (wilder & shuttleworth, 2004). according to atay and tekkaya (2008), the 5es instructional strategy has an impact on students' understanding of cognition, helps them take responsibility and actively participate in lessons, helps them have fun during lessons, and increases their academic achievement (evans, 2004). also, it increases interest in lessons and achievement, especially for students with low grades (demircioğlu, ozmen, & demircioğlu, 2004). empirical research examining the effect of a specific instructional strategy on students’ academic performance is nothing new. for example, adesina, okewole, and bodunrinr (2014) studied the effect of advance organizers on learning civic education in lower primary schools and found that the advance organizers were learning strategy aided learning. ayo-vaughan and amosun (2016) assessed the effects of two modes of active learning strategies on school-age children's civic competence in leadership value concepts in social studies and civic education. the significant effect of treatment on school-age children's civic competence was found. a paucity of study exists on the effects of 5es on students' achievement in civic education, as many studies mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 such as nuhoglu and yalcin (2006), madu and amaechi (2012), and ajaja (2013) focused on science-based subjects like physics and biology; however, they have all attested to the positive effect of the 5es instructional strategy on students' academic performance. it is based on this background that this study deems it necessary to investigate the effect of the 5es instructional strategy on civic literacy scores of secondary school students in civic education in ilorin metropolis, nigeria. developed in the 1980s, the 5es instructional strategy was designed to provide an instructional strategy that encourages a constructivist approach to education while introducing aspects of behaviorism and cognitivism (jobrack, 2010). the strategy has been widely employed by science educators and is useful in other subject areas as well. the origins of the strategy can be traced to the work of johann herbart, john dewey, and jean piaget. the rationale behind the strategy is to commence with students’ current knowledge, make connections between current knowledge and new knowledge, make available direct instruction of ideas the students would not be able to learn on their own, and provide opportunities to demonstrate understanding (bybee et al., 2006). the 5es instructional strategy allows learners to build or construct new ideas on top of their prior experience and ideas, and it can be used with students of all ages, including adults. each of the stages of the 5es describes a phase of learning: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. a. engage: this phase attempts to capture students’ attention and interest. students get focused on a situation, event, demonstration, or problem that entails the content and abilities that are the aims of instruction. from the teacher's point of view, asking a question, posing a problem, or presenting a discrepant event are all illustrations of strategies to engage learners (bybee, 2014). the engagement phase tries to activate prior knowledge and determines student preconceptions. preconceptions, misconceptio ns, or naive conceptions are prevalent in society and are often immune to conventional instruction (clement & stephens, 2008). this student-centered phase should be a motivational opportunity that can bring about a desire to learn more about the topic introduced (duran & duran, 2004). this phase should also capture students’ interest and make them curious about the topic and concepts. b. explore: immediately after the engagement phase, which supports a mental focus on the concept, the exploration phase provides learners with a common, concrete learning experience. this student-centered phase integrates active exploration. students are motivated to apply process skills such as observing, questioning, investigating, testing mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 predictions, hypothesising, and communicating with other peers (duran & duran, 2004). bybee (2014) explained that exploration experiences should be designed for introduction and description of the concepts, practices and skills of the instructional sequence. students are expected to have experiences and the occasion to formulate explanations, investigate phenomena, observe patterns, and develop their cognitive and physical abilities. the teachers’ role in the exploration phase is to introduce the activity, describe the appropriate background, provide adequate materials, and counter any misconceptions. after this, the teacher takes up a passive role with the tasks of paying attention, observing, and directing students as they clarify their understanding and begin reconstructing scientific concepts and developing their abilities. c. explain: optimally, the explanation phase allows active participation in the learning process by both the teacher and students. it is a period for introduction of common terms that provide students entry into the topic introduced. (tanner, 2010). students are given the opportunities to express their conceptual understanding or to show new skills or behaviors. jobrack (2010) opined that the teacher could address concerns that students might miss the objective of the lesson, or might even develop misconceptions. according to duran and duran (2004), this can also be called the “minds-on” phase, and it is more teacher-directed and guided based on students’ prior experience during the exploration phase. prior experiences should be used as contexts of the explanation (bybee, 2014). d. elaborate: elaboration theory, which emerged from cognitivism learning theory, is reflected in this phase. the notion is that for the most effective learning to take place, teaching should be organized in increasing order of difficulty (jobrack, 2010). according to duran and duran (2004), students partake in learning experiences that extend, expand, and enrich the concepts and abilities developed in the previous phases. the motive is to orchestrate the transfer of concepts and abilities to related, but new, situations (bybee, 2014). students are advised to inquire for understanding from their peers or to come up with new ideas or strategies based on the new skills they have learned. e. evaluate: bybee (2014) reported that in the evaluation phase, the teacher should involve students in experiences that are understandable and in lieu of those of prior phases and matching the explanations. assessment in an inquiry-based procedure and is very different from that in conventional lessons. both formal and informal assessment approaches are adequate and should be included (duran & duran, 2004). during the evaluation, teachers provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 or mastery of the concepts and skills that have been explored. while evaluation can be an in-class quiz or exam, it need not be restricted to these modalities (tanner, 2010). the 5es, along with adequate instructional materials, can play a substantial role in providing quality education. the 5es can transform the class from a traditional setting into a place where every student’s needs are considered. the focal point of this study is in lieu with one of the principles for designing the new senior school curriculum, which is to develop autonomous learning capabilities in students, or assist students in learning, by developing their generic skills and interest, as articulated by the nigerian educational research and development council (2008) for secondary schools in nigeria (awofala & awolola, 2011). theoretical framework this study is underpinned by the constructivist view of learning. the 5es classroom is designed to foster a constructivist theory of learning. “the core of constructivist theory is the idea that learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to make it their own” (slavin, 2006, p. 243). constructivist learning is the process of establishing a connection between former and new knowledge and integrating each new experience with existing knowledge. according to the constructivist learning theory, knowledge is developed while it is transmitting from an unbalanced to an equilibrium situation. if a new experience overlaps with former understanding, it will be readily added to the existing knowledge, and the individual can rapidly give meaning to new knowledge (olsen, 1999; doolittle, 2001). if a new experience does not overlap with previous knowledge, the individual will likely respond in one of four ways: a. destroying the existing knowledge. b. modifying existing former knowledge to conform to the new knowledge. c. modifying the new knowledge to conform to the former knowledge. d. rejecting the new knowledge. (hand & treagust, 1991) constructivism is a philosophical view of how we come to understand or know. it is, in our mind, most closely attuned to the pragmatic philosophy of richard rorty (1991). this will characterize the philosophical view regarding three primary propositions: a. understanding is in our engagement with the environment. this is the thrust concept of constructivism. we cannot talk about what is learned independently from how it is mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 learned as if a variety of experiences lead to the same understanding. preferably, what we know and understand is determined by the content, the context, the activity of the students, and, perhaps most importantly, the goals of the learner. this is due to the fact that understanding is an individual construction; we cannot share comprehension, but we can assess the degree to which our understandings are compatible. b. cognitive conflict or puzzlement is the stimulus for learning and determines the organization and characteristics of what is learned. there is some stimulus for learning when we are in a learning environment; the learner has a purpose for being there. that goal is not only the goal for learning, it is a primary factor in determining what the learner attends to, what prior experience the learner brings in constructing an understanding, and, basically, what understanding is eventually constructed. in dewey's terms, it is the "problematic" that leads to and is the organizer for learning (rochelle, 1992). according to jean piaget, it is the need for accommodation when current experience cannot be assimilated in the existing schema (vonglaserfeld, 1989). c. knowledge evolves through social negotiation and the evaluation of the viability of learners understandings. the social environment is crucial to the development of our understanding as well as to the growth and development of the body of propositions we call knowledge. at the individual level, other individuals are a primary mechanism for testing our understanding. constructivism as a theory justifies the putting together of new ideas by interpreting new experiences in light of prior knowledge so that the new ideas come to make sense to the learner (cobern, 1995). the strengths of constructivism lie in the construction of knowledge and what that means for students and teachers. a constructivist view of learning suggests that "as we experience something new, we internalize it through our past experiences or knowledge constructs we have previously established" (crowther, 1997 in akpan& beard, 2016). the primary duty of a teacher is to enable children to think outside the box by making connections that result in valid internalized meanings unique to them. in 5es, the teacher leads the children through exploratory activities that enable them to investigate on their own and come to conclusions as to what is happening in the immediate environment (martin, 2003). mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 a typical constructive classroom environment is task-oriented and designed to enhance handson and minds-on learning for all students similar to those encountered in the real world. this type of learning environment should focus on authentic tasks identical to what people see in everyday practice, similar to on-the-job experiences that would benefit all students (larson & keiper, 2007). in a constructivist classroom, the class focuses on problem-based learning (pbl), real-life problem solving, independent investigation, and the pursuit of personal interests, simulation, discussion collaborative learning, think-pair-share, and the utilization of higher-order thinking skills. research studies in cognition, authentic learning, and student engagement support claims that a student-centered instructional strategy is useful for all students, including students with special needs (larson & keiper, 2007). methods the study used a quasi-experimental design which employed pre-test/post-test. two secondary schools were sampled, after which the sampled schools were randomly selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. the experimental group had an intact class of 39 students and the control group had an intact class of 38 students (conventional), making a total of 77 students. the instrument employed in this study for data collection was the civic education literacy test (celt). this study used split-half to measure the reliability of the celt. the celt was administered once to senior school ii students in a school that did not participate in this study, after which the value of reliability index (0.68) was obtained using the spearman-brown prophesy formula. the employment of spearman-brown prophesy is justified because it accommodates dichotomous (e.g., right-wrong) answers that characterized the test. to test the hypotheses, analysis of covariance (ancova) was used. the data were run using a statistical package for social sciences (spss 24.0) window version. results research question 1. is there any difference between the civic literacy scores of students taught using 5es instructional strategy and those taught with the conventional method? in order to answer the research question, the mean was used to determine the mean gain scores of the two groups, as shown in table 1. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 table 1: mean gain score of the experimental and control groups group posttest pretest mean gain score treatment mean 59.64 37.23 22.41 n 39 39 std. deviation 11.03 13.45 conventional mean 40.21 29.58 10.63 n 38 38 std. deviation 10.26 10.57 the findings in table 1 show the importance of the 5es instructional strategy to students’ civic literacy in civic education. the 5es treatment group demonstrates higher civic literacy than their counterpart taught using a traditional strategy in civic education. these findings reveal that the mean gain score of students taught using the 5es instructional strategy is 22.41, while the mean gain score of those taught using a traditional strategy is 10.63; the mean score of those taught using the 5es 5es instructional strategy (59.64) is greater than the mean of those taught using a traditional strategy (40.21). ho1: there is will be no significant difference between the civic literacy scores of students taught using the 5es instructional strategy and those taught using a conventional strategy. table 2: results of analysis of covariance on the differences between the experimental and control groups source of variance sum of squares df mean square f sig. corrected strategy 3381.757a 2 1690.878 43.505 .000 intercept 2221.645 1 2221.645 57.162 .000 pretest 2558.900 1 2558.900 65.839 .000 group 580.633 1 580.633 14.939 .000 mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 error 2604.014 67 38.866 total 57232.00 70 corrected total 5985.771 69 a. r squared = .565 (adjusted r squared = .552) f(1, 67)= 14.939, e. = .000 table 2 shows the result of a one-way between-group analysis of covariance conducted to determine the effect of 5es instructional strategies on senior school students’ civic literacy scores in civic education in ilorin, nigeria. the independent variable was the type of intervention strategy (5es & control), and the dependent variable consisted of post-test scores on the civic education literacy test administered after the intervention was completed. pre-test scores on the civic education achievement test administered before interventions were used as the covariate in this analysis. preliminary checks were conducted to ensure that there was no violation of the assumptions of normality, linearity, homogeneity of variances, homogeneity of regression slopes, and reliable measurement of the covariate. after partial out the effect of pretest scores, because it includes the variable whose effects we want to “partial out” in the analysis in order to separate them from the other effects, there was a significant difference between the post-test scores of experimental and control groups on the civic education achievement test, (f (1,67 =14.94, p = 0.00)). since p value is less than .05, the stated null hypothesis is rejected. therefore, this result concludes that there is significant effect of the 5es instructional strategy on senior school students’ literacy in civic education in ilorin, nigeria. findings the following findings are based on the results of this study: 1. the finding indicates that the mean score of those taught using the 5es instructional strategy is 59.64, greater than the mean of those taught using the traditional strategy, 40.21. in addition, the mean gain of literacy score of students taught using the 5es instructional strategy is 22.41, while those taught using traditional strategy had a score of 10.63. also, there was a statistically significant difference between the literacy scores of students in civic education taught using 5es and those taught using the conventional strategy. the 5es instructional strategy enhances higher civic literacy scores than when taught using traditional strategy. in otherwords, the mean gain scores of those taught using 5es instructional strategy is greater than the mean gain scores of those taught using the conventional strategy. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 discussion of the findings the finding indicates that the teaching strategies used by the teacher have a significant effect on the learning strategies used by students. it was hypothesized that the 5es instructional strategy used by the teacher would not affect the civic literacy of the students. however, this study reveals that 5es instructional strategy has a significant effect on students' literacy scores in civic education in ilorin. the finding indicates that those taught using 5es instructional strategy have greater understanding of civic knowledge than those taught using traditional strategy. furthermore, the finding, reveals that the students taught using 5es instructional strategy learn more effectively than those taught using traditional strategy. the finding also reveals that the hypothesis, which states that there is no significant effect on students' literacy score in civic education, was rejected. this is borne out of the fact that the value is f (1,67 =14.94, p = 0.00) where p< .05. it can be deduced from the result reported above that the 5e instructional strategy allowed students to internalize the concept of civic education, thereby not only showing improvement in their knowledge of civic education but also in their thoughts and actions. this finding agrees with kor (2006) and saglam (2006) in studies conducted using the 5es instructional strategy, concluding that the strategy increases the success of students, elevates their conceptual understandings, and positively changes their attitudes in the sciences. it is also in line with atay and tekkaya (2008), who discovered that the 5es instructional strategy has an impact on students' understanding of cognition, helps them take responsibility and actively participate in lessons, helps them derive pleasure from lessons, and increases their academic achievement. also, the finding tallies with demircioğlu, ozmen, & demircioğlu (2004), who observed that the 5es instructional strategy helps students, especially those with low grades, increase their interest in lessons and achievement. the finding in this study supports nuhoglu and yalcin (2006), madu and amaechi (2012), and ajaja (2013), who found that 5es has a positive effect on students' achievement in the sciences, as they have all attested that the 5es instructional strategy allows students to discover and constuct learning, leading to improved academic performance. conclusion and recommendations the 5es approach exhibits the use of constructivism, a learning strategy that draws on students’ existing knowledge, beliefs, and skills. with a constructivist approach, learners can synthesise new understanding from prior learning and new information. during students’ exposure to the 5e instructional strategy, students showed an improved understanding of civic education mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 concepts as they were given the opportunity to discover and develop their own learning. as such, the classroom was transformed into a place where divergent views were expressed based on their prior experience. furthermore, the long-term effect of the 5e instructional strategy cannot be determined immediately. it can only be assumed that based on the result and observations made, the 5e instructional strategy can help to achieve the objectives of the new senior secondary school civic education curriculum. it is based on the finding and discussion that the study recommends the following: i. curriculum planners should integrate the 5es instructional strategy into the senior secondary school civic education curriculum, as it has been found to improve the literacy scores of students. ii. teachers should expose students to the 5es instructional strategy by incorporating the strategy into their lesson plans and executing it properly for students’ achievement. iii. seminars and workshops on the 5es for secondary school teachers to enhance students’ performance. iv. teacher education in the universities and colleges of education should integrate the 5es instructional strategy into their methodology curriculum to expose the teacher education students to the instructional strategy. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 references: adesoji, f. a. 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(2016). effect of critical dialogue and peer tutoring on students academic performance in economics in ilorin, nigeria. unpublished m.ed. dissertation, university of ilorin, nigeria. oesterreich, d. (2003). the impact of political knowledge and democratic competencies on desirable aims of civic education: results from the german contribution to the iea civic education project. sowi-onlinejournal. retrieved from http://www.sowionlinejournal.de/2003-1/project-oesterreich.htm olsen, d. g. (1999). constructivist principles of learning and teaching methods. education, 120(2), 47-55. mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 okam, c. c. & lawal, h. 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(2012). five characteristics of learner-centered teaching. retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2931660/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 62-85 corresponding author: yuabra25@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 wiggins, g. & mctighe, j. (2008). put understanding first. educational leadership, 65(8),36-41. yadigaroglu, m. & demircioglu, g. (2012). understanding of the gas concept. procedia-social and behavioralsciences, 47, 634-637. about the authors: yusuf abdulraheem, university of ilorin, nigeria social sciences education, associate professor muhinat bolanle bello mail, university of ilorin, nigeria social sciences education, lecturer i adesegun olayide odutayo, university of ilorin, nigeria social sciences education, doctoral student mailto:yuabra25@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 people, pope and planet: a hermeneutic and spectacle analysis of laudato si’ for global citizenship educators william gaudelli teachers college, columbia university abstract: global citizenship education presents a number of challenges for educators, including the wide variety of texts available to be studied. i explore laudato si’, pope francis’ 2015 statement on global warming and human development. laudato si’ includes contents that are broad, connective, and significant/relevant, making it a strong candidate for inclusion in global citizenship education. i examine the text via two theoretical inquiries—hermeneutics and spectacle—to recommend instructional practices appropriate to this text and many similar ones. the pedagogical recommendations focus on supporting teachers engaged in global citizenship education. key words: hermeneutic theory, spectacle, global citizenship education, global warming/climate change. teaching for global citizenship is challenging. the wide berth of content, the range of skills, the ever-changing nature of global discourse, the cacophony of texts and voices, and the ambiguity of global citizenship itself: all of these factors and more confound efforts to educate for and about global citizenship. frameworks for global citizenship education [gce, hereafter] developed by the united nations economic, scientific and cultural organization (unesco), oxfam, and the maastricht declaration, among others, provide broad guidance to sort through what is and is not gce, along with support materials for teachers and schools so inclined (o’loughlin, 2002; oxfam, 2015; unesco, 2014). there remains uncertainty about how one teaches for and about global citizenship, however. my aim in this piece is not to dispel this ambiguity or resolve all of the problems associated with gce. rather, i offer a way of teaching global texts befitting gce through two analytical spaces—hermeneutic and spectacle—to model recommended instructional approaches for reading global texts. what is a global text? people come into contact with a wide range of texts, such as advertisements, memes, reports, news articles, and social media links throughout a normal, mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 digitally connected day. sorting out which warrant attention is a teacher’s problem as classroom time and student attention are limited. i suggest three criteria for educators to use when choosing global texts appropriate for classroom use. first, the text must have a broad scope in terms of what it is about and its intended audience. these are texts that engage with issues that potentially affect a large segment of the worlds’ population rather than one isolated area or concern. this choice presents a certain danger, for texts with a broad scope may not attend to issues of less breadth but of grave significance for particular groups, thus teachers ought to consider the range of materials put before students comprehensively over a course of study so as to invite counterpoints and avoid marginalizing perspectives. second, the text should be connective to other issues or problems and should readily relate and connect to a wider context. third, the text ought to have relevance and significance to the thinking and potential action of student learners (gaudelli & siegel, 2010). some examples of global texts include the sustainable development goals 2015-2030, a world health organization bulletin on ebola, or one of the many manifestos issued by isis. these texts, among myriad others, provide rich learning opportunities to develop students’ understanding of the world. using this sieve, teachers can choose texts that are worthy of already scarce classroom time. i selected the recent encyclical written by pope francis, laudato si’: on care for our common home, since it is broad in the scope of global issues it addresses, connective to a variety of social, environmental, and political contexts that surround it, and significant/relevant to the lives and interests of students. laudato si’, which translates to ‘praise be to you,’ is the vatican’s official statement about global warming. in exploring how laudato si’ might be used by educators interested in promoting gce, i pursue two lines of analysis, a hermeneutic and spectacle path, both revealing ways of teaching for and about global citizenship. background: gce and laudato si’ unesco’s conception of gce provides a useful starting point for educators wishing to engage in gce: global citizenship education aims to empower learners to engage and assume active roles both locally and globally to face and resolve global challenges and ultimately to become proactive contributors to a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world. (unesco, 2014) this admittedly extensive conception has a few noteworthy features. first, the focus on empowering learners to become citizens who see the world problematically and act to improve mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 the situation socially is notable. this represents a fundamental shift in education away from the substance, contents, or inputs toward processes of thinking about what students are able to do with knowledge and content developed in schools. the breadth of content is also significant in unesco’s conceptualization as they implicitly aggregate human rights education, education for sustainability, intercultural education, peace education, and a variety of others to the wider service of gce (gaudelli & schmidt, 2017). multimodal forms of learning and resources are highlighted and participatory modalities are encouraged to harness connective technologies. also, there is recognition that tools alone will not create the gce currently required, as unesco calls attention to the cultivation of dispositions of openness, caring, and empathy accompanied by critical, creative, and innovative thinking. this attention to soft skills and orientations is noteworthy as it suggests a less mechanistic and formulaic approach to gce, one that embraces the uncertain terrain of emotional and aesthetic landscapes. yet, there are problems with unesco’s conception as well as strengths. the phrase “face and solve global challenges” may be alienating since most people are unable to see the direct results of their work, even when aimed at solving global problems. while the phrase is intended as a call for collective action, the tendency to read texts as pertaining to individuals is typical. thus, one might not be able to imagine how one’s individual choices and actions may contribute ultimately to a global solution (see gaudelli, 2016, chapter 2). environment and sustainable development education (sde) represent a species of gce of concern to this article given its relationship to laudato si’. as spring (2004) notes, there are four typical varieties of global education in circulation, including nation-building, global free market preparation (e.g., neoliberal), globalizing morality (e.g., human rights education), and environmental/sustainability education that focuses on human-nature interdependencies. schattle (2008) notes in his review of numerous interviews a similar typology, one that includes environmental concerns as a specific type of global citizenship in wide circulation. oxley and morris (2013) note, however, that while environmental education is in the orbit of what constitutes gce, this type is “uncommon” compared to the neoliberal and nationalistic varieties of gce (p. 313). they explain that one of the confounding dimensions of environmental/ sustainability education is a presupposition inherent within more radical versions of the discourse that attributes rights and protections to “the environment” as a type of sovereign entity. this perspective troubles the default assumption of many that gce should and ought to concern people and their development, primarily, and thus may explain the relative diminution of environmental/sustainable development discourse within gce. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 pope francis offered laudato si’ [ls, hereafter] in july, 2015, a dramatic letter detailing his interpretation of catholic teachings on social development and global warming. ls was leaked a few days prior to its planned release by forces within the vatican who wished to undercut the media spectacle pope francis intended to create. ls is somewhat surprising in that francis has put the catholic church on record on an issue that remains politically controversial around the world, since acting to reduce carbon outputs demands significant economic and social changes. but francis’ tendency to broach controversy has become characteristic given other moments in his papacy—including washing the feet of homeless people at easter, the signal of openness to priests marrying, and the recent decision to allow priests to absolve abortion decisions through confession—all important decisions signaling the direction of francis’ papacy (“pope francis to wash…” 2013; “pope says favors…” 2014; squires, 2015; yardley & goodstein, 2015; yardley & povoledo, 2015). encyclicals are a means of outreach that serve as periodic synthetic statements about catholic doctrine. these “letters in circulation” are intended to offer guidance on a variety of concerns, some tied directly to interpreting church teachings, others oriented to the wider expanse of humanity and its social conditions. the church has used encyclicals since 1891 to offer teachings and commentary on social life (maina, 2011). for example, in sollicitudo rei socialis (the social concern of the church, 1987), pope john paul ii pointed to grave and growing economic disparities in the world as a threat to peace, freedom, and human dignity. according to maina, “through the common good teaching… the integral wellbeing of all people is viewed as central to the church teaching” (p. 5). sollicitudo rei socialis was in fact written to commemorate and update populorum progressio (the development of peoples, 1967), which demonstrates ongoing attention to social issues that transcend catholic faith and positioning to address all of humanity. these articulations have been referred to as the social doctrine of the church. the social doctrine of the church has often stood in opposition to modern society, as the latter is premised on free market liberalism and the economic freedom of individuals, upholding atavistic accumulation over the social good. “the church, in its social teachings, continually stigmatizes the individualism of modern society and the supposed virtues of the free market for ensuring social stability and order” (laurent, 2010, p. 520). ls falls neatly within this tradition of raising concerns about economic freedom that eschews a robust commitment to the commonwealth. francis’ focus on the environment, however, offers prominence to ecology that adds to the church’s extant social doctrine tradition. in populorum progressio (1967), for example, there is mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 no mention of “ecology” or “environment,” and when the earth is invoked, it is situated as being squarely within the dominion of humankind: now if the earth truly was created to provide man with the necessities of life and the tools for his own progress, it follows that every man has the right to glean what he needs from the earth. (p. 4) thus, ls represents a significant departure in church teachings about the environment, leaning away from stewardship and possession and toward interrelationship and mutuality. a hermeneutic analysis of laudato si’ and teaching suggestions in ls, pope francis displays a reverence for nature on its own terms rather than in reference to humanity, a significant revision of the social doctrine encyclicals of the 20th century that focused exclusively on human development and viewed the earth as being at the hands of humankind. francis elevates the environment to something more than resources and repositories. the environment is for francis a sovereign entity comprised of myriad, interdependent species each with dignity in the eyes of god: if we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. by contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. the poverty and austerity of saint francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. (p. 11) nature for francis is a sanctified space that ought to induce awe and wonderment, as compared to a purely economic way of thinking about the environment as filled with resources to be extracted and used by people: each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever. the great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to god by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. we have no such right. (p. 25) mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 francis’ attempt to reinvigorate elements of the church that stand against economic modernism reflects similar movements in judaic kabbalah and islamic sufism, mystic traditions that pre-date modernity and have experienced a revival in an era of rapid economic globalization (cohen, 2003; lawton, 2011; saberi, 2006; suliman, 2016; zajac, 2014). ls is more than a call to better appreciate the wonder of nature and refigure our relationship to it, however, as francis also makes a radical appeal to forego consumption: we know how unsustainable is the behaviour of those who constantly consume and destroy, while others are not yet able to live in a way worthy of their human dignity. that is why the time has come to accept decreased growth in some parts of the world, in order to provide resources for other places to experience healthy growth. (p. 141) the emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. it becomes almost impossible to accept the limits imposed by reality. in this horizon, a genuine sense of the common good also disappears. (p. 150) francis’ invokes degrowth discourse along with the commonwealth notion of previous social doctrine encyclicals (latouche, 1996). he suggests that spiritual fulfillment through being in touch with nature is axiomatic to human satisfaction. francis contends that global warming is a direct result of modernity’s accumulative bent and that an earnest conversation about what constitutes enough, in relation to material goods and economic growth, is desperately needed globally, especially among people who are already affluent by global comparison. francis’ critique differs from advocates of sustainable development. his argument indicts the global economic system, not just the excessive use of carbon by individuals and states in the global north. michael löwy (2016) notes that francis does not focus on individual behaviors but the “system of commercial relations and ownership which is structurally perverse” (p. 50). this move is significant given its radical nature; namely, a challenge to the consumption/disposal cycle that feeds ever-increasing economic growth amidst a growing north-south wealth gap and a beleaguered, warming planet. the more politically palatable call for “sustainability” is actually impugned by francis as a ruse, as löwy notes, one that “absorbs the language and values of ecology into the categories of finance and technocracy, and the social and environmental responsibility of businesses often gets reduced to a series of marketing and image-enhancing measures” (p. 52). francis asserts that sustainable development has been an insufficient intervention, and a more direct, systemic reconfiguration is urgently needed to rebalance what rampant economic globalization has wrought. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 francis’ criticism of north-style economic development also connects to his skepticism regarding scientific ways of knowing. francis and the church are by no means anti-science but are concerned with blind adherence to an economic system without a robust accounting of its benefits and consequences, an approach similar to his thinking about science. the rhetorical distance francis offers in ls from science may also help explain why his voice has garnered such widespread adoration in a time of rising fatigue with science-as-usual. neither francis nor the church is seeking an end to science or global capitalism, per se, but rather a recalibration of how science, economic development, and the biosphere are balanced in relation to each other. as jeffrey sachs (2015) notes: laudato si’ offers a compelling, eloquent and reasoned appeal to a new way of understanding, an inspiring call on humanity to use reason and faith to create a world in which the economy is once again bound by the common good, and in which the common good embraces the reverence for the physical earth and other species [emphasis added]. francis echoes concerns raised in educational research and research among other social service professions about the limitations of scientific ways of knowing of people in complex organizations. fields like education, healthcare, and social work have been beset with scientism, the belief that scientific methodology is the only path to knowledge creation, a stance which diminishes situational and contextual realms of knowledge-making that have long informed these fields (st. pierre, 2006), not to mention discourses of revelation that are foundational to religious teachings. there are other glimpses of francis’ efforts to tamp down the excesses of scientism as the sole basis of planetary climate discussions and economic development. his use of the phrase “well up spontaneously” invokes an embodied response that resounds as true, a turn of phrase of particular interest. his word choice has important parallels to the work of hans-georg gadamer (1960/2011), who writes of the truth “shining forth” around interpretive moments, a type of possession by truth that makes it self-evident, beyond empirical proof or confirmation (p. 478). the modernist division of rational/a-rational and non-rational selves is treated skeptically through francis’ article, as he suggests a more holistic way of knowing and being that includes, but is not limited to, science. and while gadamer could not justifiably be considered a postempirical thinker, he was indeed sharply critical of the hubris that too often accompanies western ways of knowing typified by scientific empiricism (gadamer, 1998). ls posits that rigid scientific empiricism is alone insufficient to move people to know about and act on global warming: mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 it cannot be maintained that empirical science provides a complete explanation of life, the interplay of all creatures and the whole of reality. this would be to breach the limits imposed by its own methodology. if we reason only within the confines of the latter, little room would be left for aesthetic sensibility, poetry, or even reason’s ability to grasp the ultimate meaning and purpose of things. (ls, p. 146) it is worth noting that the second chapter of the encyclical does offer scientific claims about atmospheric warming. francis consulted with leading experts on economics and sustainable development, among them jeffrey sachs of columbia university’s earth institute. clearly, he was concerned that if the whole of the piece spoke to notions of human flourishing in relationship to the biosphere and the need to limit the excessive, consumptive lifestyles of the global north, that the text might be diminished. francis’ focus on the environment, with particular attention to its mystical and aesthetic qualities, reframes the conversation he wishes to engage. but the unmistakable thrust of the encyclical draws upon spiritual evidence of inseparability of people from their environment and the need for the cultivation of human-biosphere relations as familial (e.g., francis’ repeated usage of “sister” and “mother” in reference to earth) and the earth as a sovereign entity/body (e.g., the amazon and congo as “lungs”) hosting other non-human animals deserving dignity and respect. pope francis, previously named cardinal jorge mario bergoglio, was the first of 266 popes to choose the mystic1 st. francis of assisi as his namesake. choosing st. francis was significant, as this saint from the 13th century represents an earlier version of the church, one that predates the modern era. despite belonging to the jesuit order, or the society of jesus founded by st. ignatius loyola in the 16th century and at the dawn of the modern era, pope francis reached back four centuries prior to venerate a saint who was known for speaking to non-human animals, singing to plants, and for his love of the natural world. francis’ choice both to venerate st. francis and to author ls signals a significant shift in catholic teaching, both internally and toward all of humanity, to value the earth, environment, and its inhabitants for their inherent dignity. ls as an encyclical offers a textual forum to signal this shift from human development to environmental sanctity within the church’s social doctrine. as garry wills (2015), a catholic 1 my use of the term mysticism and mystic is not intended in a pejorative sense but rather a descriptive manner, pointing toward a pattern of religious activity that has been described as ‘mystical’ (see underwood, 2009/2010). this description centers on the fact that there is, among all world religions, a desire to move beyond the immediate and material conditions of life and toward a deeper unity with a deity. the path toward communion is often characterized by eschewing materiality in favor of a deeper experience in being. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 historian of a critical orientation, notes, following the loss of state power, popes relied on encyclicals to enunciate beliefs and directions: “the encyclical was the main vehicle for getting world attention” (p. 118). this has led, however, to encyclical wars among left and right forces within and outside the church, as “conservatives and liberals picked their favorite parts of encyclicals to use against each other” (p. 119). francis’ papacy has been interpreted as a turning away from the conservative order of his two most recent predecessors, decried in some quarters and heralded in others. wills demonstrates, however, that the momentary left/right dust-ups are relatively minor compared to the seismic change the church has endured for millennia, not the least of which is the loss of monarchic control and state authority. interpreting encyclicals today, then, it is worth noting this longer trajectory and how the current iteration fits within it. what may appear to be a monumental shift in church thinking both affirms some earlier belief (e.g., mysticism) and is rarely as monumental as it may appear within its own time. the novelties of ls notwithstanding, it would be an error to read the work as fundamentally out of character with other such papal declarations. francis cites, for example, numerous other encyclicals that represent traditional views. to this point, francis largely views his work as continuing rather than fundamentally altering the volition of the church’s teachings, knowing that as a change agent, he is still obligated by the weight of his office to “care for continuity and minimize disruption… he [francis] cannot knock the props out from under the throne he sits on” (wills, 2015, xviii). francis’ work is purposefully not a hermetic text but one that is explicitly ecumenical. what is his thinking within this layer? francis is consciously writing a global text, offered as much for those outside the church as those within or once affiliated with it. ls, like social doctrine encyclicals that came before, speaks of humanity rather than catholic humanity. francis is positioning himself as a global thought leader, not unlike the dalai lama, who reaches far beyond those within the fold to assume a stance of spiritual leadership in a secular world. but francis is also signaling to those who once belonged to the flock and have strayed an assurance that the church is committed to a moral sectarian vision, a commitment that requires not being tone deaf to contemporary social political issues and movements. this can be read as an attempt to overcome the image of inaction that bedeviled the church regarding pope pius xii’s disturbing silence during the holocaust (coppa, 2011; phayer, 1998). mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 teaching suggestions educators pursuing interpretations of ls ought to engage students in a central question: what does the text mean? related questions might include:  what is pope francis saying in ls?  why is he saying that?  how does he use language (and other encyclical references) to make his claims? why?  how have others responded to ls, both within and beyond the catholic faith? these descriptive questions may be dismissed as too didactic to engage students, but a hermeneutic orientation recognizes that description is deeply interpretive. description holds out the possibility that students can connect their personal horizon of understanding—their life experience—with the wider tradition of humanity around the issues raised in the text. students can see themselves, for example, in light of mysticism, materialism, and personal fulfillment, providing them with an opportunity both to grasp what is being said to weigh those issues in their own lives. a second layer of hermeneutic analysis might consider the traditions manifest in ls. the text is built upon substructures of meaning that are delivered up to the present. mysticism, for example, renders a strand of thought that is intelligible in the present and rooted in a tradition of seeing the world through its soulful and aesthetic aspects. reading mysticism may seem utterly foreign to some students, as many are likely to believe that inanimate and non-sentient beings, from rocks to flora, are not spiritually endowed entities but simply inert objects. yet, there are traces of this earlier tradition of thought in everyday commonalities, from the personification of nonhuman animals in literature to the imagery of forests being alive. a third, and by no means exhaustive, layer invites students to read the text connectively, demonstrating how it is offered in response to and in contradiction with other interpretations. the “enough” premise of francis, for instance, points to an ongoing discourse about how modernity may be facing its own end-time, a rising sentiment against instrumentality and objectification, along with an agnostic retreat from scientific inquiry as a singular discourse. by inviting readers to consider climate change differently, focusing less on science and more on sacredness, the text resounds with the growth of “spirituality without religion” gaining traction globally. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 analyzing interpretive layers closely—inside and outside the text, the text as delivered from history and tradition, and the connectivity of the text to the present—provides a rich reading of ls that opens up many plausible interpretations. the aim, however, should not be to definitively assert a true meaning from the text, as this would belie a requisite openness that accompanies interpretation. too, this outline of method is applicable to many similar texts, ones that have the breadth, connectivity, and significance of content that make robustly discursive readings possible. in terms of gce, the encyclical permits many lines of analysis and interpretation. francis’ focus on human development, for example, is a critical piece for gce. inviting students to read and interpret other related sources, such as advocates of increased economic development, those who seek technological solutions to global warming that would allow carbon consumption to increase exponentially, and climate change deniers, could provide an engaging pointcounterpoint analysis of the assertions embedded in francis’ text. too, it would remind students that global learning requires an encounter with diverse and conflicting perspectives while nourishing the skills to ascertain validity, trustworthiness, and reasonableness in public arguments. lastly, gce teachers should invite students to engage in the issues raised in ls beyond time spent in class. questions like:  what civic organizations and non-governmental organizations are addressing global warming?  what is being done? how have policymakers responded in various governments around the world?  what actions have been taken to address global warming and the environment within our local community?  what more can be done? encouraging students to go beyond merely studying topics is fundamental to engaged citizenship. questions like these can spark that type of work to begin, given a sound grasp of the interpretive dimensions within and connected to this global text. a spectacle analysis of laudato si’ and teaching suggestions pope francis was clearly aware of the spectacle-media dynamic he hoped to create as he orchestrated the release as an event and arranged it in the peak of summer in the global north. why would francis play in the space of spectacle when attempting to revive the loss of a sensibility that itself was precipitated by massive mediation? his strategic deploy of media is mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 somewhat ironic given that media is often regarded as a source of humanity’s growing disassociation from the natural world. guy debord’s (1966/2000) writing on spectacle suggests that separation and isolation are foundational both to modernity and to the rise of a society of spectacle. debord writes, “separation is the alpha and the omega of spectacle” (stanza 25). separation from the material aspects, or biosphere, of people from their production allows one to believe they are producing one’s own world, yet “the closer his [sic] life comes to being his [sic] own creation, the more drastically is he [sic] cut off from that life” (stanza 33). this illustrates well what francis is concerned with: the narcissism and dissociative tendencies of hypermediated living. still, he also recognizes that as a public leader responsible for a vast, global organization, he is obligated to make thoughtful use of these media tools and phenomenon like spectacle. as the world has grown increasingly interconnected in an age of spectacle, media delivers images immediately from distant places, giving a sense that distance is closing and time is collapsing. particularly in the industrial era, where societies began marking time with greater precision and compression for economic purposes, time has become a commodity like no other (mosley, 2010). the unanticipated results are all too familiar as the incessant rush of a now-culture has created a hyper-society that leads to exhaustion. it is important to note that most youth under the age of 25 have not experienced a slower world, such that the need for speed—in interactions, activity, engagement, learning—is all consuming and works interactively with a commodity-driven economy. not only is time of the essence, but the desire to draw out the fullness of each moment is coupled with a desire to spend and consume voraciously. as debord (1966/2000) notes: in its most advanced sectors, a highly concentrated capitalism has begun selling “fully equipped” blocks of time, each of which is a complete commodity combining a variety of other commodities. this is the logic behind the appearance, within an expanding economy of “services” and leisure activities, of the “all-inclusive” purchase of spectacular forms of housing, of collective pseudo-travel, of participation in cultural consumption and even of sociability itself, in the form of “exciting conversations,” “meetings with celebrities” and such like. spectacular commodities of this type could obviously not exist were it not for the increasing impoverishment of the realities they parody. and, not surprisingly, they are also paradigmatic of modern sales techniques in that they may be bought on credit. (stanza 152) in an era where there are no quick fixes to long-standing problems of social exclusion, growing inequality, and a beleaguered environment, current circumstances beg for people patient and mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 attentive to long-term changes not realized through inspiring if ephemeral experiences or fleeting images and texts, no matter how poignant. this temporal disconnect is a confounding one indeed, and yet time’s compression and consumption are so fundamentally a part of how society works that educators and citizens are compelled to operate on this terrain: it is inescapable. modernity has offered the illusive prospect of living a kind of bon vivant existence, which permeates media, advertising, and is parasitic on other domains of culture, such as education and spirituality. the rise of certain charter schools that borrow heavily on the theatricality of teaching and learning is one allusion, along with the spectacle of the mega-church movement in the united states. as people move incessantly from one attempt of living fully to another, a chaining of experience that devalues ordinary time or everyday existence as being a waste, the appetite for the “next big event” grows recklessly. as debord (1966/2000) notes in this light: the spectacle manifests itself as an enormous positivity, out of reach and beyond dispute. all it says is: “everything that appears is good; whatever is good will appear." the attitude that it demands in principle is the same passive acceptance that it has already secured by means of its seeming incontrovertibility, and indeed by its monopolization of the realm of appearances. (stanza 12) the desire for events, happenings, moments of fullness, or what debord has called “fully equipped blocks of times” (stanza 152) contributes to a sense of waiting for spectacle, an exhausting vigilance that focuses attention externally in anticipation of the next big moment. francis’ engagement with spectacle through ls illuminates the situation of the text. francis’ call to deemphasize material life and his desire to “slow down” also suggests an alteration in the pace of life amidst the rapidity that is media: nobody is suggesting a return to the stone age, but we do need to slow down [emphasis added] and look at reality in a different way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur. (p. 86) the contextual irony here is puzzling, as francis himself creates made-for-media moments while trying to interrupt them, a tension that illustrates the confounding situation faced by educators who seek to create habits of reflection within a din of rapid fire, inundating media and schools intent on technologizing all dimensions of learning. how does one participate in effectively mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 reading the world amidst a cacophonous flow of media, texts, and information at the same time as one attempts to interrupt the deep grammar of how a mediated society functions? francis’ approach here is to moderate, to remind readers that a return to the past is impossible, but that a retrieval of different ways of being is still within our grasp. teaching suggestions the spectacle path in reading ls suggests other opportunities for learning within and beyond it. how does spectacle work within mediaspace? i first heard about the coming encyclical months before its release, not unlike a news teaser that one might hear in advance of an event. an attempt to raise interest in the release of a significant text is used by governments, corporations, and private organizations to gain attention. the need to anticipate and, in effect, create an event is crucial in a mediaspace that rewards well-organized and planned events, as these create the perception of an organization being in control of the event. the pope, for example, used twitter under the handle @pontifex to excerpt from ls and simultaneously tweeted throughout the day, adding to the event of the text. the aftermath of the ls release was similar as tens of thousands of news articles and social media posts resulted from the controversial issues raised by francis. gce educators must be cautious about embracing spectacle given its episodic and exhausting nature, however. the whiplash of following media’s lead can lead to problems: first, that a curriculum is being set from afar and by those with an eye toward market-share rather than more valuable questions such as how do we promote global understanding?; and second, that rapidfire attention may give students comfort in the instantaneousness that they experience otherwise but lack reflective space needed for genuine and careful thought. as bjørn thommason (2012) notes, to delve into momentary dimensions of being and learning, a pleasure symptomatic of the fascination with perpetual experience in an age of spectacle, runs the risk of exhaustion. those forever in pursuit of the next, great experience, are typically left feeling bereft, or as he offers, “a carnival that never ends stops being fun” (p. 31). the current social obsession of cramming more into every moment is counter-productive to learning, actually, as the seemingly fallow periods of less activity can give the mind a chance to work out what has been experienced. the hard-to-witness changes that are elemental to learning are the foundation for much of what we might momentarily see as change (gaudelli & laverty, 2015). critique, examination, asking questions and thinking twice, or revisiting an issue at a later point, all suggest an inefficiency that is not befitting a social moment of speed and spectacle. and mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 yet, it is precisely these moments that surround the reading of a significant text that educators should seek to extend deliberately, deepen ponderously and even promote reveling within. gce educators might consider a variety of activities to develop the spectacle analysis of ls. first, teachers might address the pace of contemporary classrooms by mindfully and purposefully slowing down. practices in mindful education where students are invited to practice clearing their minds, engage in focused breathing exercises, and developing a meditative practice in classrooms will help to establish a context of thinking carefully and deeply about texts while slowing down the frenetic pace of schools (see jennings, 2015; rechtschaffen, 2014). a mindful approach to classroom teaching will also amount to an experience of otherness as it represents an alternative way of being for many students, a crucial strategy for educators committed to gce. embedding mindful practices into the norms of a classroom are especially useful in studying media and spectacle, as it establishes a counter-practice from which to better understand the way that media promotes episodic thinking through spectacle-making. another practice is to engage a deeper inquiry about ls in light of the spectacle surrounding it. questions might include:  how are spectacles made within and around ideas, texts, and events?  what expectations do participants have for spectacles?  how do spectacles, through anticipation and the events themselves, create an ever-increasing expectation of being entertained? gce provides a viable framework for engaging students in learning about ls and the accompanying spectacle. texts like ls offer pinnacle learning opportunities in that they represent a broad swath of discourse on highly significant global issues, namely economic development and global warming. it would be difficult to imagine teaching a global course of study in a k-12 environment without addressing these twin, related concerns. too, analyzing the media strategies surrounding these texts is itself a form of global learning as it represents the networked dimensions of media and how ancient traditions, like vatican decrees, have been shaped by a rapidly changing media context. a problematic dimension of engaging the spectacle path in reading global texts is the potential blurring of the lines between study and worship, witnessing and participating. at what point does the text become an object of worship, or a surrogate for its author and their faith, as opposed to one that is pedagogical? i vividly recall teaching comparative religions in a secondary school’s mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 multicultural studies course. we visited a variety of religious institutions and many of the students were drawn to buddhism from their visit with the monks of a nearby monastery. they were taken in by the humility, genuineness, and charm of these interlocutors of buddhism in what i recall as deep, aesthetic moments for the class within a hillside sanctuary. we once had the opportunity to hear the dalai lama speak, and the joyousness of that occasion was indeed difficult, perhaps impossible, to separate from the teachings of buddhism. i often wondered if that was appropriate study, given the commitment to secularism that i was charged to uphold in a public school. the same potential arises from ls, it seems, or any other global text that is associated with a media celebrity like pope francis. the deep grammar of schools, teaching, and curriculum, can be viewed as a form of implicit curriculum, one where christian principles and narratives are widely adopted unwittingly by educators (see burke and segall, 2015). analyses like this suggest that, contrary to the idea that religion can be taught “objectively,” orientations of particular religions are already preformed in the deeper culture of a school. with respect to my secondary school teaching about buddhism, i abided by the three “objectivity” principles of teaching about religion in public schools, namely, (1) that it was permitted, (2) that inclusion of religion is important for literary, historical, and social understanding, and (3) that it be done neutrally and objectively, to be academic not devotional (first amendment center, 2008; ncss, 2014). despite my objectivity frame, some students were so moved and taken in by the ecstatic experiences—its own form of spectacle— that they sought out buddhism thereafter. reflecting on this episode suggests that there was a counter-dynamic to the one offered by kevin burke and avner segall, or that within a dominant/implicit christian school, the presentation of an othered religion like buddhism grew in its attractiveness by way of its alterneity. indeed, both aspects are plausible; or it is likely that schools impart christian viewpoints unknowingly while also periodically making counter-spaces as a result of what students might read as the obligatory norms and ways of christianity. a linear conception of curriculum moving from aim to outcome has been widely criticized as an unrealizable vision of learning and teaching (pinar, 2013). the fact that we live amidst an unending cacophony of texts and experiences, all inviting us to think of the world differently, is a foundational condition of learning in a spectacle age and learning for gce. that is not to suggest that aims do not matter for educators, as they do inform a course of educational journeying. but they must be viewed circumspectly, given our awareness of the nature of learning that defies systematic mapping and assured outcomes. entering into conversations about media and the spectacle that surrounds certain texts and events does invite this uncertainty. and yet if we are mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 serious about the contemporary need for education that reckons with the seriousness of the global situation young people stand to inherit, then we must take these risks and step, if so judiciously, into these challenging areas. conclusion one can presume that pope francis’ encyclical, now just a few years beyond its release, will quickly fade in the overwhelming din of a global mediaspace. so is the fate of global texts in circulation, perhaps more quickly now than ever before, that their half-lives rapidly increase as momentary attention carries us onto the next and the next in an endless flow of thumbedthrough feeds in an ever-expanding digital diet. ls is different, though, in that unlike fleeting content delivered onto smartphones, there is unmistakable depth, sincerity, and substance in this work, regardless of how one is disposed toward its content and rhetoric. interpreting a text like this requires a degree of care and knowledge, taking the time to describe the argument, examine the details, and consider its social and historical connections. the pause that one would aim to create around a substantial text like this is increasingly challenging, however, as the encyclical arrives in the same spectacle-context that is flooded with media texts available to teachers. educators, particularly those dedicated to a practice of gce, need discernment about what global texts are appropriate to bring to their students along with the instruction suggested by the same. condensed, commodified time coupled with a need for sustained and careful attention offers a peculiar pedagogical dilemma within a spectacle age. attention given to a fuller engagement with a limited number of worthy texts is much preferable than sweeping, cursory reads of a wider swath. depth is demonstrably more valuable than coverage in learning, particularly when one’s aim is to teach the situation of the world, the problems that we confront, and the actions and interventions needed to develop a quality of life for all on the planet. global citizenship educators working in the context of a media age and myriad texts are offered a great challenge and opportunity. they can choose to constrict the flow of information, and indeed thought, by fortressing themselves and their students in the stable isolation of narrowly construed textbooks and ready-made curriculum texts that stand in for rich material; or, alternatively, they might throw themselves, their students, and their care into a media swirl without attention to slowing down and thinking circumspectly of the losses inherent in this approach and indeed within what modernity has wrought. in this analytic essay, i have aimed to show that careful interpretation is possible in an inundated media context, and yet i know that mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 these are indeed difficult pedagogical dances to synchronize. yet, if educators are to adequately prepare young people for the global situation of the present and future in light of the past, it is urgent that they enter the dance as adroitly and pragmatically as they are able. the times require deep mindfulness about global texts, their many possible readings, and an enveloping spectacle contexts. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 references: burke, kevin j. & segall, avner. “teaching as jesus making: the hidden curriculum of christin schooling.” teachers college record 117, no.3, 2015. chemnick, jean. “u.s. and china formally commit to paris climate accord.” scientificamerican. retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-and china-formallycommit-to-paris-climate-accord/ , 2016. cohen, david. “religion journal; 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"pope piux xii, the holocaust, and the cold war." holocaust and genocide studies 12, no. 2 (1998): 233-56. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.gcatholic.org/documents/data/type-pen.htm http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/global-citizenship journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 pinar, william f. curriculum studies in the united states: present circumstances, intellectual histories. new york, ny: palgrave-macmillan, 2013. "pope francis to wash feet of prisoners in pre-easter mass." march 21, 2013. bbc news. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21877640 rechtschaffen, daniel. the way of mindful education: cultivating well-being in teachers and students. new york, ny: w. w. norton & company, 2014. reuters. "pope says favors celibacy for priests but door open to change." the new york times, 2014. saberi, roxana. "growing popularity of sufism in iran." april 25, 2006. bbc news. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4907406.stm sachs, jeffrey. "the great gift of 'laudato si'." july 6, 2015. america, the jesuit review. https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/great-gift-laudato-si schattle, hans. "education for global citizenship: illustrations of ideological pluralism and adaptation." journal of political ideologies 13, no. 1 (2008). squires, nick. "pope francis washes the feet of tv showgirl who was jailed for fraud." the telegraph, 2015. st. pierre, elizabeth. "scientifically based research in education: epistemology and ethics." adult education quarterly 56, no. 4 (2006). suliman, adela. "sufi sect of islam draws 'spiritual vagabonds' in new york." the new york times, september 23, 2016. underwood, evelyn. mysticism: a study in nature and development of spiritual consciousness. digireads.com (2009/2010). mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 1, 2017, pp. 70-91 corresponding author: wg74@tc.columbia.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 unesco. "global citizenship education: preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st century." 345. paris: unesco: education sector, 2014. wills, gary. the future of the catholic church with pope francis. new york, ny: penguin, 2015. yardley, jim, and laurie goodstein. "pope francis eases path to absolution for abortion." the new york times, 2015. yardley, jim, and elisabetta povoledo. "pope francis announces changes for easier marriage annulments." the new york times, 2015. zajac, anna k. "between sufism and salafism: the rise of salafi tendencies after the arab spring and its implications." hemispheres 29, no. 2 (2014). about the authors: william gaudelli is professor and chair of the department of arts and humanities at teachers college, columbia university. his research areas include global citizenship education and teacher education/development. gaudelli has published over 50 scholarly pieces in journals, including teachers college record, teaching education, theory and research in social education, the journal of curriculum theorizing, the journal of aesthetic education and teaching and teacher education along with two books. his third book, global citizenship education: everyday transcendence, which offers an analysis of global citizenship education in various locales globally, will be published in april, 2016. he is a co-founder of the global competence certificate program, which provides blended professional development for educators. gaudelli is a frequent keynoter at international conferences and guest lecturer at various universities, having previously served as an executive board member of the john dewey society and college and university faculty assembly for the national council for the social studies. gaudelli was a member of the south orange-maplewood (nj) board of education, 2011-2014. he was named a rutgers 250 revolutionary fellow in 2016. mailto:wg74@tc.columbia.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.globalcompetencecertificate.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 78 social studies in south korea: examining teacher and teacher educator’s views matthew s. hollstein kent state university, united states abstract: the republic of south korea is a nation that has seen dramatic changes in its economic and educational systems over the course of the last 50 years. these circumstances present unique views of citizenship and the roles that teachers and teacher educators play in this process. this study presents two case studies, one a classroom teacher and the other a teacher educator. it examines their views of social studies and geography education, the process of training new citizens, and offers insights into what the dynamic relationship between the two offers future educators and teacher educators. key words: social studies education; geography education; teacher education introduction the republic of south korea has seen a dramatic rise in both its educational and economic ranking in the last 30 years. these transformations have been connected to the rapid growth of the south korean economy and the emphasis placed upon the necessity of having an educated and work-ready collection of human capital to staff its growing economy (byun, schofer, & kim, 2012). whatever the reason, south korea has become one of the most highly competitive and respected educational systems in the world, as well as having one of the world’s largest export economies (byun et al., 2012). these and other factors have driven the success of the educational system in south korea to its current position as one of the top five among all participating nations in recent rankings of the world’s best educational systems by the organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd, 2011; 2012; 2015). this presents a unique opportunity to examine two south korean educators, one a k-12 educator and the other a teacher educator, to better understand this phenomenon and the implications on each participant’s instruction and views of social studies education. the specific foci of this study are social studies and, more specifically, geography education. these two south korean case studies may offer some insights for reflection and further questions facing social studies. south korea was chosen due to unique mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 79 opportunities presented to the researcher that allowed for travel to and direct interaction with the case study participants. the two research questions were:  what are the differences between a social studies/geography teacher and a teacher educator of social studies and geography education?  how do these differences impact each participant’s understanding of citizenship education and the role of curriculum in this process? it is the goal of this study to use the insights to inform the practice of teacher educators and k12 educators. it is necessary to examine the history, purpose, methodology, and future goals of social studies and geography education in south korea. a brief history of education in south korea will showcase the dramatic changes in education across time. data collected from two case study interviews, classroom observations, and field notes of south korean educators, one a teacher-educator and one a secondary-level educator, will be examined. while the insights from these case studies are specific to the two participants and their schools, the researcher hopes to gain insights into the current status of social studies education and teacher preparation, in particular geography education. lastly, it is the goal that these insights might inform teacher preparation and current classroom teachers. theoretical framework this study is an exploratory study that utilized two case studies and an emergent design framework. the framework was chosen due to the limited size and scope of the researcher and participant interactions and the necessity for design flexibility and analysis (creswell, 2003). an emergent design was most appropriate because, while the researcher had questions and a focus in mind, it was not clear what might emerge from the data collection. furthermore, case studies were most appropriate due to the very nuanced and specific nature of the interviews and observations situated in classrooms in south korea. in addition, the researcher analyzed the results as a social and cultural outsider. this framework lends itself to follow-up studies in which the researcher is able to complete further check-ins with the participants to determine change over time. limitations this study examines two teachers and is, therefore, situated within their experiences and not the broader spectrum of educators throughout korea. the data was collected over the course of a two-week visit to south korea; the researcher had limited access to the participants due to mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 80 administrative preferences of the school directors. there was also a substantial language barrier, overcome through long and purposeful conversations and allowing the participants access to written versions of the questions. problem statement this study originated from the researcher’s former colleagues and a familial connection to south korea, visiting south korea multiple times while teaching in a k-12 setting. during this time, the researcher had multiple informal interactions with south korean educators and was impressed and intrigued with the commitment to quality social studies education. this generated an interest in determining the reasons, if any, why south korean education—specifically geography and social studies—was so successful and, furthermore, examining how educators established their views. as a result of connections made while completing a graduate degree, the researcher met a highly awarded social studies teacher and a highly respected and well-published teacher educator. the researcher established direct connections in order to examine the two educators. once called an asian tiger economy in the 1990s for its rapid growth, south korea has made dramatic changes in its economy and educational systems in the last 20 years (byun et al., 2012). these factors and the rapid ascent of the position of south korea’s educational system in the oecd rankings (2011; 2012; 2015) shows remarkable improvement from previous decades. in a 2013 study by the economist intelligence unit, south korea was ranked as the world’s second best educational system out of 50 evaluated countries based on a number of factors including literacy rates, graduation rates, and spending per pupil (gayathri, 2013). this is worth noting given that the oecd rankings have been criticized for being too limited and narrowly focused. it is also important to remind readers of the high-stakes nature of education in south korea. these are all reasons to study south korea and determine what is being done well and what gaps exist, with a focus on social studies and geography education. purpose the purpose of this study is to determine if the two case studies might offer insights into the current status of social studies and geography education in south korea through their professional practice. in order to achieve this, a thorough evaluation of the history, purpose, and trajectory of general education, social studies, and geography education, and the detailed examination of the two case studies follows. case study one is byeoung (pseudonym), a social studies/geography teacher educator at a large university in south korea whose insights and responses illuminate a deeper understanding of the structure of current teacher preparation mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 81 programs in social studies/geography education in south korea. case study two is dalnim (pseudonym), a secondary social studies/geography educator in south korea whose responses and insights showcase the application of classroom methods and skills at the secondary level, relevant to student success. while these two participants offer a nuanced view of social studies and geography education and do not reflect all of south korea, their experiences and insights provide valuable information for professional practice. after reviewing the respective histories and evaluating the case studies, this paper will attempt to glean insight into the methods, structure, and application of social studies education and teacher preparation in both social studies and geography education. methodology this was a mixed methods study that relied primarily upon qualitative analysis and the use of some descriptive statistics; it did not use advanced qualitative analysis as it was not appropriate given the nature of this study. this study had an n of two and used a case study framework. this study was orientational, examining data from a predetermined position of the researcher’s perspective on the topic (patton, 2002). given that the researcher already has a preconceived idea about the topic, reflexivity was used through journaling and peer debriefing. this study focused on the participants’ responses, and the researcher’s thoughts and beliefs did not interfere with the work conducted. grounded theory techniques were used to allow for and document potential theories (patton, 2002). the researcher for this study is currently an assistant professor at a small university in the midwestern united states. the data was collected while the researcher was still a high school social studies teacher and had not yet transitioned to higher education. the professional position of the researcher is important given the perspectives of a classroom teacher versus those of a teacher educator. this study utilized case study analysis and examined the unique experiences of two seasoned south korean educators. the study employed interviews, classroom observations, and content analysis. all interactions were conducted in english. an interview protocol contained 15 demographic questions and 45 questions ranging from general education to more specific questions of social studies preparation and geography education (see appendix a). this protocol was lengthy in order to obtain a rich collection of data. interviews and observations were conducted at the university and high school of each respective participant. observations took place across a minimum of two classes for each participant. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 82 data were analyzed using thematic analysis due to the diverse topics examined in the interviews, allowing for a broad collection of themes and topics to potentially arise (patton, 2002). these themes included relationships between teachers and teacher educators, social studies education, social studies teacher education, social studies educator preparation, geography education, and geography education preparation. insights into the multi-faceted nature of social studies education and geography education in south korea were the primary focus. the researcher began by transcribing the interviews and reading them in their entirety to determine if any major themes emerged. next, the researcher coded interviews and used descriptive statistics to determine the prevalence of various terms and ideas. then, the interviews were compared to determine whether there were consistencies or divergences between the participants’ responses. the researcher then examined the notes and observations collected during the field visits to determine if the responses of the participants were congruent with the events taking place in the classroom. a holistic approach to the data was the primary goal for the researcher in order to paint the most effective and descriptive picture of the participants and their responses. this was especially important for the researcher given the language and cultural barriers that existed between the participants and the researcher. a general history of education in south korea south korea has changed much over the course of the 20th century and early 21st century, beginning with the joseon dynasty (rulers of korea for over 700 years), japanese colonization, the korean war, and rapid economic growth with democratization to end the century (choi, 2010; sorenson, 1994). the japanese occupation and forced subjugation of the korean people during this period was evidenced in education (jho, 2006; sorenson, 1994). education during japanese occupation focused on a japan-centric social and academic identity based upon the japanese model of 14 to 15 years of schooling, severely limiting ethnic koreans’ access to a continuation of education (jho, 2006). half of the elementary-age population were ethnic koreans, yet only five percent of those students continued to middle school (jho, 2006; sorenson, 1994). this system was further restricted in higher education, where the colonial japanese government educated primarily native japanese or persons of japanese descent; this system lasted until the liberation of the korean peninsula by allied forces in the later stages of world war ii (sorenson, 1994). after the end of wwii, the korean education system was left in shambles as the country faced high illiteracy rates, and many of the educated elite were japanese citizens who had been running the formal education system for the decades preceding liberation (choi, 2010; sorenson, 1994). in 1948, the contemporary version of the republic of korea was founded mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 83 and was required to create an educational system almost from scratch with few highly trained and highly qualified persons to lead (choi, 2010; sorenson, 1994). after only five years of peace, the outbreak of the korean war caused even more damage and positioned south korea to have to rebuild not only their educational system but much of the country’s infrastructure as well (choi, 2010; sorenson, 1994). in the years immediately following the end of the korean war, south korea began to make changes and show improvements; the educational system encouraged loyalty, patriotism, self-reliance, and anti-communist beliefs while contributing to growing the economy (sorenson, 1994). a large portion of the educational system, specifically the curriculum, was based upon that in the united states due to the influence of the united states military and the subsequent decision to import a us-based curriculum from the state of colorado (jho, 2006). through a joint us and south korean effort, a comprehensive review of the curriculum from colorado was conducted and then used as the primary model for creating the new south korean national curriculum (sung, 2010). south korea established its first national curriculum in 1955 after the passage of the educational law of 1954, creating a national curriculum that would be controlled by the government and that is today still heavily controlled by the south korean government (sung, 2010). to date, south korea has had seven different versions of their national curriculum, with each being revised to reflect social and political changes in the country (sung, 2010). the colorado model remained the educational plan for south korea until the 1970s when a shift occurred in education to begin building social capital towards modernization (choi, 2010; sorenson, 1994). during this period in south korean history, the focus of the nation and its educational system shifted towards building the south korean economy into a modern capitalist entity that would garner the same benefits obtained by the united states, japan, and great britain (choi, 2006; jho, 2010; sorenson, 1994). the most dramatic change in south korean education took place in the early 1990s, which saw the rapid ascent of the south korean educational system in world rankings. coincidentally, it was during this time that south korea ended 40 years of military-based and semi-dictatorial leadership, electing the nation’s first president without military experience (jho, 2006). since the early 1990s, south korea has become a hallmark of educational success and has been applauded by many organizations. however, there are some who have argued that south korea has become what sorenson (1994) called a “testocracy,” where the focus for primary and secondary students centers on various tests that act as institutional gatekeepers. currently, the south korean educational system focuses on what are called the big three: korean language, english language, mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 84 and math education. these three subjects dominate schools, national testing, and overall curricular focus. the goals of the current south korean education system are to prepare students for success after high school and college (ahn, 2012). according to byong-man ahn, former minister of the department of education, science, and technology, the key to future success in south korean schools is to become more student-centered and less about testing (ahn, 2012). he has argued that the current state of education in south korea has become too much about test scores and not enough about the individual child, which is contrary to the model of tests as points of entry and exit. however, some have argued that south korea’s collectivists’ society with confucian roots has allowed it to be successful because of the focus on the good of the collective and the role education plays in achieving those goals (jho, 2006; sorenson, 1994). the changes in education in south korea will be something to follow, as it has transitioned from an ascending nation to one of prominence and status in the world’s economic and educational rankings. one wonders how the nation and its education system will respond and adapt to achieve future goals. a history of social studies and geography education in south korea nested within these educational changes, social studies has been a part of the south korean transition since the very early days of the republic in the early 1950s and the passage of the educational law of 1954 (lee, 1992, as cited in jho, 2006). this law established social studies as a primary subject of the south korean curriculum. again, much of this has been attributed to the influence of the united states military and its goal to foster an american-style system (jho, 2006). the curriculum in general has been heavily controlled by the national government in south korea—one finds clear evidence of this in the annual national review of social studies textbooks to ensure conformity of material (sung, 2010). in south korea, social studies have been divided into divisions of history education, geography education, and general social studies education (jho, 2006). in accordance with the time and the escalation of the cold war, leadership in south korea and a strong american influence caused social studies in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s to focus entirely on citizenship education, and for many south korean social studies educators this became the unified goal of the profession (jho, 2006). furthermore, social studies in south korea in the early 1960s and the decades that followed promoted a curriculum focused on a “reflective citizen who is able to make informed decisions about various social issues and make civic actions in our diverse and interconnected world” (cha, 1996; kyoyukbu, 1998; lee, 1991, as cited in jho, 2006). mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 85 the current goals of social studies in south korea are to cultivate democratic citizens who have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to live in a democratic society (zhao et al., 2007). much of the curricular changes in the seven national curriculums and specifically in social studies have changed to reflect progress towards democratization focused on capitalistic tendencies (sung, 2010). fostering these changes has led to a rise in tension among the three contending groups in social studies: history education, geography education, and general social studies (jho, 2006; sung, 2010). the contention exists over who will have prominence in a field that is seen by its professionals as marginalized as stem education grows in prominence (sung, 2010). changing views of social studies education have forced history, geography, and general social studies to become contentious and fractional while attempting to gain class time, seat time, and funding (jho, 2006; sung, 2010). as a result of these issues, many south korean social studies teacher preparation programs have become sectioned off between history, geography, and general social studies with limited collaboration (jho, 2006). the current national social studies standards reflect integration, but teacher preparation and primary and secondary school departments are still sectioned off by content (sung, 2010). much of the integration movement used the national council for the social studies (1994, as cited in sung, 2010) as a model for how to create a fully integrated curriculum. pro-integration supporters argued that social studies should take an integrated approach to subject matter as a unified discipline instead of the individual subjects as currently exists in south korea (sung, 2010). in response to pushback by university teacher preparation programs and primary and secondary social studies departments, the south korean ministry of science, education, and technology mandated the creation of an interdepartmental program that fosters collaboration between departments responsible for preparing teachers for classroom life (jho, 2006; sung, 2010). currently in grades k-8, social studies are officially presented in an integrated format with three sub-sections consisting of history, geography, and social sciences (korean ministry of education, science, and technology, 2007; sung, 2010). in high school, the curriculum is still officially listed as social studies with separate subjects such as law and society, economics, politics, korean modern history, world geography, and world history (korean ministry of education, science, and technology, 2007; sung, 2010). the future of social studies in south korea appears to be heavily dependent upon how the discipline deals with the mounting social, economic, and political changes currently taking place, such as the push for an integrated approach and a shifting population that is becoming less homogeneous while demographically trending younger (choi, 2010). at the heart of the mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 86 integration debate is the national government’s desire to transition to a fully integrated model in secondary education, similar to that in the united states, while dealing with groups such as history education, geography education, and general social studies and those in these groups who desire to remain independent and semi-autonomous (sung, 2006). choi (2010) notes the shift in the homogeneity of the population of south korea: since 2007, the number of non-native south koreans living in the country has risen to almost two million residents, causing social studies to evaluate the goals of citizenship education (choi, 2010). the future of social studies in south korea will depend upon how educators and the ministry of education, science, and technology choose to respond to these changes. these choices will impact social studies, the nation, and its students for many years to come. geography education has played an integral role in the social studies curriculum since the first national curriculum was established in 1955 (sung, 2010). presently, geography education in south korean social studies is separated into three distinct areas: korean geography, world geography, and economic geography (zhao et al., 2007). currently, all south korean high school students are required to study korean geography in order to understand their place geographically and socially to inform their positions as citizens (zhao et al., 2007). the korean geography curriculum has six primary goals: (1) understand the relationship between natural geography and human geography; (2) understand the regional characteristics and change of korea from diverse perspectives; (3) develop thinking skills while learning geographical knowledge; (4) participate in the society through collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing geographical information; (5) cooperate with people in different provinces of korea; and (6) understand the importance of environments, love korea, and be determined to unify north and south korea (korean ministry of education, science, and technology, 2007; zhao et al., 2007). world geography focuses on natural, human, and social environments of the world (south korean ministry of education, science, and technology, 1998, as cited in zhao, hoge, choi, & lee, 2007). economic geography focuses on the interplay of the economy, humans, and the environment. presently, these three geography courses and others related to them are offered at the high school level and are structured as independent departments in both teacher education and secondary education; teacher education requires future teachers of geography education to focus their studies on geography coursework (lee, 2012). case study one byeoung is a 39-year-old teacher-educator in geography education in the department of social studies education at a large university in seoul, south korea. byeoung primarily teaches mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 87 undergraduate course work in geography education, focusing on methods and theory. all of his students are women, ages 18-21, preparing to become either geography education teachers, history education teachers, or general social studies education teachers. byeoung received his undergraduate and master’s education in geography education at seoul national university in seoul, south korea. byeoung completed his ph.d. in geography education at texas a&m university in college station, texas, usa. most of byeoung’s teaching experiences have been at the collegiate level in geography education, with a brief time as a high school geography education teacher, and the remaining experience at the college undergraduate or graduate level. byeoung’s campus in seoul honored korean history, the history of the university and its founding, and the students. the campus, with its large green spaces, seemed to blend well into the natural environment while being located in one of the world’s largest urban centers. byeoung’s classroom was in a space that was clean and had numerous maps and images in the rear of the classroom. students were arranged in orderly rows and sat attentively during class. the conversations occurred in korean, with some exchanges taking place in english to allow byeoung to explain a concept to the researcher, followed by continued conversations in korean. conversations were orderly, and it was evident that respect for the instructor was paramount. it was clear that byeoung led the classroom and students followed his lead throughout the discussion. the discussion for the day was the understanding of south korea’s place within the world and how south korea’s economic growth has influenced its geographic footprint. the researcher was limited by a lack of command of the korean language and was subject to the assistance of byeoung and the students to explain dialogue. later, the researcher and byeoung debriefed about exchanges that seemed noteworthy. when asked to define geography education, byeoung stated that it was “a discipline that might give some ideas for how to better understand the world, society, and individuals and geography can teach the value of nature and living with nature.” according to byeoung, geography education is not seen as an independent discipline and is not viewed seriously by the university. byeoung further stated that he believed that because of the heavy influence of the united states, human geography dominated the curriculum in south korea; physical geography was just as useful but underrepresented. byeoung attributed much of this to the existence of physical science and its discussion of physical geography. when asked to describe the geographic awareness of his students on a scale of one to five with one being poor and five being excellent, byeoung believed that his students were somewhere around three because they had not yet taken enough geography courses. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 88 when asked about geography’s role at the k-12 level, byeoung stated that south korean primary and secondary students take national exams, but the major focus of administrators is on what he called the three majors: english, math, and korean language; in consequence, geography education is marginalized. byeoung suggested that this was further complicated by the current korean government’s plan to have schools, teachers, and districts compete with one another for salary and funding in order to foster excellence in all areas of education. these directives by government officials helped further shift the focus onto the big three while pushing the remaining content areas to the periphery. byeoung explained that he was responsible for revising the national geography education curriculum at the middle school level and was satisfied with it, and although he was not satisfied with the elementary or high school level curriculum, he was still in favor of the national geography education curriculum. however, as byeoung elaborated on his position, he stated that a major issue in many south korean schools is that some teachers do not read the national curriculum and rely solely on the textbook when teaching their courses. this behavior is supported by the fact that whenever the national curriculum is revised, all textbook companies must revise their textbooks accordingly and must be screened and evaluated by the ministry of education, science, and technology before being used in the classroom. this allows teachers to rely solely on the textbook, as there is the appearance of a governmental guarantee of content and accuracy. kice (korean institute of curriculum and evaluation) is the agency responsible for revising all curriculums in south korea except for math and science education, which have their own agencies. kice is responsible for creating a task force that proposes and makes amendments to the social studies curriculum. byeoung stated that there are no discussions about shifting away from a national curriculum and he does not see a time when there will not be a national curriculum, especially given the heavy reliance upon the curriculum and textbooks by teachers. however, according to byeoung, the characteristics of a high-achieving curriculum are those that offer a deep understanding of all aspects of geography and its role in society. when asked if south korea has a high-achieving curriculum, he stated that it depended upon the case, and if one were talking about knowledge, yes, but deep understanding, no. when asked to provide an example of another country with a high-achieving national geography education curriculum, byeoung offered the united kingdom as an example because of its emphasis on both content knowledge and deep understanding. when asked to evaluate south korean geography education, byeoung noted the curriculum’s identified faults, as the system encourages teachers to rely solely upon the curriculum and textbooks, and schools focus too much on math, english, korean, and science. however, because mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 89 the system is nationalized and unified, one can expect the same results across the nation. byeoung rates the k-12 geography education as poor to fair and dependent upon socioeconomic factors that influence quality of life and teacher training. while south korea has a national test that includes geography via social studies, students are encouraged to focus on math, english, and the korean language. social studies/geography teacher education preparation was rated as very good and very rigorous with a high position of respect in korean society. geography teacher education preparation in universities in south korea focus on content, methods, and theory. currently, south korea’s teacher preparation program in social studies is separated into history education, geography education, and general social studies education. according to byeoung, the current focus of preparation is dependent upon the focus of the future teacher. if students have a concentration in history education, they are required to focus their content and major studies in history, and the same is true for geography education. however, if students are studying general social studies education, they are required to take a wide variety of courses in all areas of social studies. according to byeoung, 30 percent of south korean geography teachers have either a master’s degree or ph.d. in geography. teachers in the general social studies education track tend to teach at the elementary level where everything is integrated. byeoung stated that he does not believe that an integrated model, such as that utilized for general social studies education, is an effective means of educating teachers because they lack content knowledge. currently, the framework for social studies education used as a description of the content areas is similar to that in the united states. however, in the social studies department within teacher education, each discipline has its own internal department: for example, history education, geography education, and general social studies education. there is not an integrated framework in place for the social studies in south korea, and while this is being pushed by the ministry of education, science, and technology, byeoung believes that the integrated model would lead to a reduction in the quality of teachers and content because there would not be enough concentration in the respective areas of social studies. byeoung is not in favor of framing social studies as a collective department, and he believes that one could not frame the individual subjects together into a comprehensive license. byeoung is in favor of maintaining the separate disciplines and separate content specializations to maintain a high quality of education. according to byeoung, integrating social studies programs might better inform the practice of teachers but would be detrimental to teachers and students in the various fields and would not allow for any in-depth study of the subject matter. in all, byeoung suggested that the current mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 90 separation of contents is best, but the fields of social studies and geography education need to focus more on the needs of the students and learning for learning’s sake, not just content memorization. case study two dalnim is a 45-year-old high school social studies/geography teacher in seoul, south korea. dalnim received her b.a., m.a., and ph.d. in geography education from seoul national university. all of dalnim’s educational experiences have been at the high school level, and she identifies her class as a combination of both male and female students with no percentages offered; dalnim estimates that 20 percent of her students and their families receive some form of government subsidies. the ages of her students range from 15-16 years old, as she currently teaches the equivalent of 10th grade at her high school. dalnim’s school was on the southern outskirts of seoul. the school was a part of a larger complex of school buildings neatly arranged on a campus to provide a comprehensive k-12 education for its students. the building was adorned with the artwork of students and various announcements about school events. dalnim’s classroom was similar to one found in the united states, with desks neatly arranged in rows and student work on and near the announcement board, a collection of drill protocols, administration and teacher announcements, and procedural materials. students wore uniforms and sat attentively during dalnim’s lecture, the primary means of instruction. during this class, students discussed historical empires of the world and their geographic locations in order to further their understanding of historical geography. additionally, the class discussed the importance of recognizing knowledge and being informed as a hallmark of good citizenship. when asked to define geography education, dalnim had a difficult time at first and began discussing the nature of seoul and its economic disparities. dalnim defined geography education as a field that shows students how to understand people and how they live in certain areas and how they might get along. dalnim stated that she rates the level of geographic awareness of her students as fair. the role of geography education in her classroom is to teach students to think critically and to open their eyes to the world through study. when stating that she teaches critically to teach her students to think critically, dalnim referenced the social studies’ goal of fostering critical thinking. the role of geography education in dalnim’s school is to prepare students for the university entry exam, while the national curriculum fosters diversity, an understanding of the environments impact on humans, and rational ways of thinking. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 91 when asked if she supported the national curriculum, dalnim stated that she did not like how the curriculum was focused more on content memorization and neglected how students were feeling. dalnim suggested that on a likert scale, she was neutral in her rating of the national curriculum. bureaucrats, professors at major universities, and the korean teachers union—and not classroom teachers such as herself—were influential in deciding the national curriculum. when discussing the arguments for a national curriculum, dalnim began discussing the recent push in south korea to have an integrated model of social studies and the opposition that was raised by representatives of history, geography, and general social studies. dalnim stated that some believe that no one has the expertise of all of those combined subjects to be able to teach them properly. dalnim did not believe there were any arguments or groups in opposition to a national curriculum. when asked to describe a high-achieving curriculum, she responded that in the eyes of the government it is one that allows students to do well on standardized tests. however, dalnim believes that, although difficult to measure, high achievement can be found in what a student learns from the geography teacher. according to dalnim, south korea has a high-achieving geography curriculum based on scores, but she noted that she believes that geography and social studies are being minimized in order to account for math, korean, and english. she indicated that south korea’s geography curriculum was rated fair because there are no separate rooms for the study of the subject. when asked about other countries, dalnim cited the united kingdom as a country with a high-achieving curriculum because it is very specific. major weaknesses of the geography education curriculum in south korea are a perceived disconnect between students’ lives and the lack of critical studies of the subject matter, while the curriculum’s strengths are how well it is organized to prepare students for national tests. if given the chance to improve the current curriculum, dalnim suggested that she would require less lecturing and more student activities to foster active learning. (it is important to note that most of the class observed was lecture-based.) when discussing teacher preparation, dalnim rated geography education teachers as good to very good. she said that much of the preparation for geography education teaching positions is guided by the national curriculum requirements in the field, although universities decide the curriculum for preparing teachers and ensuring that it matches with the national curriculum requirements for k-12 education. dalnim suggested that much of the teacher education preparation at the college level is content-focused with some courses on methodology and theory included. with respect to national tests for certification, dalnim noted that upon mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 92 successful completion of a program in geography education, in order to get a teaching position, one must pass a hiring test. dalnim further stated that under these circumstances, persons applying for jobs are in a competition for the few geography education positions that are available. when asked if she believed that current teacher education preparation requirements in south korea were adequate, dalnim stated that at seoul national university, where she was trained, five of the six professors in the geography education department had backgrounds specifically in geography and not geography education. while their content expertise is necessary, she believes more professors with education backgrounds are needed. dalnim suggested that teachers are having these discussions while universities are not. when dalnim was asked about social studies in the united states, she indicated that she did not know much about the subject but assumed that social studies and geography education were framed and taught in the same way as in south korea. dalnim’s defined social studies as the subject to explain society and humans. after reading the definition of social studies according to the ncss (2011), dalnim indicated that she believed they were very similar, with the exception of the inclusion of the humanities, mathematics, and science. additionally, dalnim indicated that although both focused on citizenship education and preparation, social studies in the us included cultural diversity while south korea did not, instead focusing on the idea of being democratic. dalnim noted that she believed that the us model would work in south korea without the inclusion of interdisciplinary material from the humanities, mathematics, and science. she was in favor of an integrated curriculum and that, although it would be difficult for teachers to achieve mastery in so many areas, it would be more beneficial to students. under the current teacher preparation programs in south korea, this would work, but it might not work in the middle grades or high school because of the focus on content specific preparation for pre-service teachers. according to dalnim, for this model to work in south korea at all levels, system-wide changes would need to be implemented, from the structure of teacher preparation programs to the classrooms themselves. analysis the two research questions for this study were:  what are the differences between a social studies/geography teacher and a teacher educator of social studies and geography education?  how do these differences impact each participant’s understanding of citizenship education and the role of curriculum in this process? mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 93 the results of these case studies revealed some trends with respect to how each participant viewed geography education, geography teacher preparation, and social studies. both byeoung and dalnim indicated that they believed that social studies are marginalized by the national curricular focus on the big three subjects and the subsequent focus on testing and funding. however, both note the contribution that social studies makes to the development of citizens. geography education in south korea was rated highly, but the geographic awareness of each participant’s students ranged from fair to good. byeoung teaches university level students while dalnim teaches high school level students, and with this gap there was still a very similar rating, suggesting a disconnect that cuts across age and experience of students. both case studies were chosen because of their respective teaching positions, but byeoung has only taught at the university level while dalnim has had all of her experience at the high school level. given that a criticism of teacher education preparation by byeoung was that geography education professors do not have enough k-12 educational experience and focus entirely too much on content, byeoung’s experience reinforces this position. therefore, this suggests that dalnim may view byeoung’s lack of k-12 teaching experience as detrimental to preparing students for success as classroom teachers. furthermore, dalnim’s comments suggest that this lack of experience inhibits the ability of university professors to adequately prepare students due to a lack of substantive experience. this leads to the general satisfaction with the national curriculum in geography education by both case study participants. dalnim indicated that she believed it did not reflect students’ needs enough, and byeoung mentioned the need for students to learn for the sake of learning. each would like to see changes, and both believe that there is something lacking, but neither offered a concrete solution. both byeoung and dalnim discussed issues of economic disparities and their perceived impacts upon student learning, and dalnim further indicated that socioeconomic issues heavily impacted the quality of teachers and student success. each indicated being satisfied but followed up with requested improvements. the belief by both byeoung and dalnim that the current curriculum is too content-driven is interesting, as each indicated that content expertise is essential to making students successful. notably, though, dalnim appeared to focus more on the national testing. her focus in this area appears to indicate a potential aversion to the high-stakes testing in south korea. byeoung’s belief that teacher preparation was good, while dalnim believed that it was lacking, indicates a potential disconnect between teacher educators and classroom teachers. this disconnect appears to be connected to dalnim’s assertion that many professors in her university mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 94 preparation programs had content-specific backgrounds in geography, in which one might infer a higher value being placed on content knowledge over theory and practice. furthermore, one might assume that this leads to a culture of content-driven curriculum, which aligns with the issues raised by both participants on the role of content in the curriculum. when discussing whether or not an integrated curriculum model might work in social studies, each offered unique views on this possibility. responses suggest that a perceived lack of content focus at the lower grades is okay, but not for the upper grades. dalnim indicated that she was in favor of an integrated model because she believed it would be more beneficial to students. it must be noted that early in her interview, dalnim indicated views similar to those of byeoung, including a belief that content mastery would be impossible, but at the end of her interview, she changed to an approval of the integrated structure. this divide in belief appears to focus on the issue of content mastery of classroom teachers. this further supports the researcher’s belief that content mastery and memorization is prized as the most important facet of preparation for students, teachers, and teacher educators. each participant noted the importance of social studies as a means of fostering informed citizens through geographic awareness in order to facilitate an understanding of one’s place in their own nation and within the framework of the larger region and global society. neither made an explicit connection to social studies and geography’s role in this process; rather, it was inferred through responses and observations that social studies, and geography education specifically, foster good citizenship through an awareness and sense of place. however, the researcher did not ask directly for either participant to define what good citizenship looks, sounds, and acts like. therefore, assertions were gleaned from the interviews and observations through related questions and responses. regardless, both indicate a level of importance but do not clearly articulate a definitive response. teacher educators and teachers agreement on some points and disagree on others. dalnim indicated that she believed that the curriculum was decided by the government and university professors, and byeoung indicated that it is decided by the government, university professors, and the teachers’ union, which suggests the existence of potential friction with respect to who is able to influence the direction of education in south korea. the two case studies, while unique, reflected some of the findings of the literature, notably the high value placed upon standardized testing. interestingly, both byeoung and dalnim referred to testing not as a measurement of ability but as a contest between takers, thereby making testing a means of separation rather than an evaluation of mastery. further research is needed to determine whether or not these are mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 95 widespread beliefs. one must assume that the consistency of the literature and the responses indicates that others may hold the same feelings and beliefs. conclusions upon reviewing the literature, case studies, and analysis, it appears that many of the same issues that are currently in play in the us are also in play in the classrooms of the two participants in this study. the heavy reliance upon content memorization and the ability to take a test successfully have shifted the focus of the government, teachers, and teacher educators to positions in which they must create test takers instead of focusing on deeper learning. this has produced students and citizens who are high-achieving, but the measurements of this success are tests. are students mastering the content or are they merely great test takers? additionally, the pisa test administered by the oecd for its rankings focuses on the subjects of math and science, which leads one to question how credible a metric it is for evaluating the entire system of education in a country. there appeared to be a disconnect between the teacher educator and the classroom teacher on a number of issues including content, structure of social studies, and educational focus on students’ needs. these factors are relevant because of the broad power given to university faculty and the ability to influence the national curriculum in south korea. how to remedy this gap is a larger question that will need to be addressed. social studies and geography education play pivotal roles in the development of good citizenship through an increased understanding of students’ place in an ever-changing world. the two case studies showcase this importance, and while they disagree upon where and how the curriculum should be generated, both agree upon its place and position. the importance of autonomy for teachers and students in a us-based curriculum is stressed consistently in the public and academic spheres. the two case studies showcase that this debate is taking place in south korea, although it is not clear how prevalent the discussion is outside public forums in south korea. the open discussion of these events is incredibly important, and the perception of the pubic regarding the role of social studies and geography education is pertinent to the prominence or decline of the subject in schools and the general consciousness. an important lesson from these case studies is the cultural focus on education and educational attainment. this raises the question of whether or not the united states should undergo a cultural shift with respect to the value of education. high-stakes testing that fosters competition for educational positions already occurs in the united states, but not at the level currently seen in south korea, with the average high-achieving south korean student spending upwards of 15 mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 96 hours a day on school work. in addition, while neither case study participant fully supports the focus on content specialization, an increase in content coursework may be beneficial to students and teachers in the united states. how to achieve a balance between the two is the prevailing question. the case studies revealed information and insight into the structure, content, and implementation of both geography education and social studies education teacher preparation and classroom applications. what seems to be most important are culturally embedded beliefs, strong influence over all parts of this study, and understanding how each component operates in connection with the others. this is crucial to understanding the nature of not only geography education but all of education in south korea. how to replicate or influence each is a question for further study. future studies should include larger sample sizes and broader economic cross sections of south korean social studies educators. in addition, it would be much more rewarding if there were us-based participants from which a comparison might be created for further insights and analysis. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 97 appendix a demographic information 1. what is your name? 2. what is your current residence (both city, province, and nation)? 3. what is your age? 4. what is your gender? 5. what professional academic position do you currently hold? 6. what is your highest achieved level of education (bachelor’s, master’s, ph.d.)? 7. what programs have you completed in preparation for your current position? 8. what is your academic/professional background in geography education? 9. at what academic level do you currently teach? 10. what are your personal experiences with geography education? 11. have all of your geographic education experiences been in south korea? if not, where else have you had experiences? 12. can you think of an event that pushed you towards geography education? 13. can you think of an event or moment that convinced you of the importance of geography education (your “aha” moment)? if so, can you explain and describe this event or moment? 14. why was the event you described in question 12 so important? remaining questions 1. what is your definition of geography? 2. how would you rate the geographic awareness of the students in the classes that you teach? 1 – poor 2 – fair 3 – good 4 – very good 5 – excellent 3. what is geography’s academic role in k-12 education? 4. please assess and explain the role of k-12 geography education in your classroom. 5. please assess and explain the role of k-12 geography education in your school. 6. please assess and explain the role of k-12 geography education at a national level in south korea. 7. are you satisfied with the k-12 geography curriculum in south korea? 8. are you in support of the national geography curriculum in south korea? 1 – strongly oppose mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 2 – somewhat oppose 3 – neutral 4 – somewhat favor 5 – strongly favor 9. what forces or organizations drive the k-12 geography education curriculum in south korea? 10. does south korea have a national curriculum? 11. is a national curriculum useful and desirable for geography education? 12. what are the primary arguments for a national curriculum? 13. what are the primary arguments against a national curriculum? 14. what do you believe are the characteristics of a high-achieving k-12 geography education curriculum? 15. do you believe that south korea has a high-achieving k-12 geography education curriculum? 16. are you aware of any other countries that have high-achieving k-12 geography education curriculums? 17. how would you rate the quality of geography education in south korean schools in grades k-12? 1 – poor 2 – fair 3 – good 4 – very good 5 – excellent 18. what are the identified weaknesses of the current k-12 geography education in sk? 19. what are the identified strengths of the current k-12 geography education in sk? 20. what improvements might you recommend to the current geography education curriculum in sk? 21. is geography stressed more at one academic level than another in sk? 22. are national tests those that geography students must take and pass? if so, please explain the components as you understand them. k-12 teacher preparation 23. how would you rate the quality of k-12 geography education teachers in sk? 1 – poor 2 – fair 3 – good 4 – very good 5 – excellent mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 24. are there foci in geography education teacher preparation in sk (for example, regionally on the pacific)? 25. are there any national certification tests for preservice teachers to complete in order to become a certified k-12 geography teacher? 26. are there similar teacher preparation tests for teachers of other social science-based classes such as history, economics, government, etc.? 27. what are the general preparation requirements for preservice k-12 geography teachers? 28. are there specialization requirements for preservice k-12 geography teachers? 29. do you believe current geography teacher preparation is adequate? 30. what improvements might you suggest for geography teacher preparation? social studies 31. please rate u.s. students’ geographic awareness and explain your answer. 1 – poor 2 – fair 3 – good 4 – very good 5 – excellent 32. do you know who defines geography education in the u.s.? 33. do you know how geography education is framed in the u.s.? 34. are you familiar with how geography education is taught in the u.s.? please explain and evaluate its quality. 35. what is your understanding of the academic discipline of the social studies? 36. in the u.s. and according to the national council for the social studies, social studies is defined as the following: (present the ncss definition). what is your opinion of this framework? please see bottom of sheet for this portion 37. is there a framework similar to social studies in south korea? 38. under the social studies framework, geography education is framed with other subjects that are classified as social studies, as was just outlined. could this work in sk? why or why not? please explain. 39. do you see this as a potential alternative to the current format for not only geography education but all of the k-12 social sciences in sk? (by this i mean co-framing all of the subjects into a similar fashion, akin to social studies) 40. in your opinion, is it possible to frame social studies within history and not as a separate discipline? 41. in your opinion, is it possible to frame geography within economics and not as an independent discipline? mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 42. is it possible to frame geography within government and not as an independent discipline? 43. in your opinion, how might changing the curriculum to this model impact geographic awareness in sk? 44. is an integrated social sciences curriculum effective? why or why not? please explain. 45. do you think an integrated curriculum is beneficial or detrimental to students? appendix b ncss definition of social studies …the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. the aim of social studies is the promotion of civic competence—the knowledge, intellectual processes, and democratic dispositions required of students to be active and engaged participants in public life. by making civic competence a central aim, ncss emphasizes the importance of educating students who are committed to the ideas and values of democracy. civic competence rests on this commitment to democratic values, and requires that citizens have the ability to use their knowledge about their community, nation, and world; to apply inquiry processes; and to employ skills of data collection and analysis, collaboration, decision-making, and problem-solving. young people who are knowledgeable, skillful, and committed to democracy are necessary to sustaining and improving our democratic way of life, and participating as members of a global community. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 references: ahn, b. (2012). education in the republic of korea: national treasure or national headache? education week, 31(16), 39. bednarz, r. s. (2002). the quantity and quality of geography education in the united states: the last 20 years. international research in geographical & environmental education, 11(2), 160. doi:10.1080/10382040208667477 byun, s, schofer, e, & kim, k. (2012). revisiting the role of cultural capital in east asian educational systems: the case study of south korea. sociology of education, 85(3), 219239. choi, j. (2010). educating citizens in a multicultural society: the case of south korea. the social studies, 101, 174-178. gayathri, a. (2012). us 17th in global educational rankings; finland, south korea claim top spots. international business times. retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/us-17th-globaleducation-ranking-finland-south-korea-claim-top-spots-901538 jho, d. (2006). the making of social studies education in korea: implications for citizenship education. international journal citizenship teaching and learning, 2(2), 31-36. korean ministry of education, science, and technology. (2011). overview of education. retrieved november 1, 2011, from korean ministry of education, science, and technology: http://english.mest.go.kr/web/1692/site/contents/en/en_0203.jsp ncss. (1994). expectations of excellence: curriculum standards for social studies. washington d.c.: national council for the social studies. ncss. (1994). national council for the social studies executive summary. retrieved february 27, 2011, from national council for the social studies: http://www.socialstudies.org/ standards/execsummary ncss. (2011). national curriculum standards for social studies. silver spring, md: national council for the social studies. oecd. (2011). organization for economic cooperation and development 2011 education rankings. retrieved november 23, 2011, from organization for economic cooperation and development: http://ourtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/oecd-educationrankings oecd (2012). organization for economic cooperation and development 2012 education at a glance 2012. retrieved may 29, 2013, from organization for economic cooperation and mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.ibtimes.com/us-17th-global-education-ranking-finland-south-korea-claim-top-spots-901538 http://www.ibtimes.com/us-17th-global-education-ranking-finland-south-korea-claim-top-spots-901538 http://english.mest.go.kr/web/1692/site/contents/en/en_0203.jsp http://www.socialstudies.org/%20standards/execsummary http://www.socialstudies.org/%20standards/execsummary http://ourtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/oecd-education-rankings http://ourtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/oecd-education-rankings journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 2, 2018, pp. 78-102 corresponding author: mhollste@kent.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 development: http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2012%20-%20country%20note%20%20korea.pdf oecd (2015) organization for economic cooperation and development 2015 education at a glance 2015. retrieved march 1, 2018, from organization for economic cooperation and development: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2015-results-in-focus.pdf patton, m. q. (2002), qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. qualification and curriculum development agency. (2011). international review of curriculum and frameworks for south korea. retrieved november 3, 2011, from qualification and curriculum development agency: http://www.inca.org.uk/1398.html#5.4.2 compulsory subjects sorensen, c. w. (1994). success and education in south korea. comparative education review, 38(1), 10-35. sung, y. k. (2010). a critical analysis of national curriculum standards for social studies in south korea’s post democratization era. korean educational development institute journal of educational policy, 7(1), 139-156. zhao, y., hoge, j. d., choi, j., & lee, s. y. (2007). comparison of social studies education in the united states, china, and south korea. international journal of social education, 21(2), 91-122. about the author: matthew scott hollstein assistant professor of social studies education, kent state university, usa. mailto:mhollste@kent.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2012%20-%20country%20note%20-%20korea.pdf http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2012%20-%20country%20note%20-%20korea.pdf https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2015-results-in-focus.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 1-3. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 1 the role of education in 21st century global society editorial ruth reynolds we live in a world of media (including social media) influence, constant updates, confusing argument and counter argument and “fake news”. we are more aware than ever of how what we perceive to be true is not necessarily so. we know news streamed from one source may not give the same spin as news sourced from another. we know that evidence provided for a point of view or a new initiative may not be the full evidence. we are subjected to multiple points of view, advertising of products that may not be as useful as they appear to be, questioning of the role of many longstanding bulwarks of our society such as the family, the clarification of the extent to which we need to share a responsibility for peoples from all quarters of the globe, the reappraisal of the notion of work. 21st century living at a glance seems chaotic. how do we as educators respond to this? the only thing we can do is engage. we need to participate and we need to help our students participate. there is little point in corralling ourselves into “safe zones”. the notion that social media is all too difficult and so let’s ban it in our schools or just avoid it. the idea that we will only accept arguments that align with our own thinking and talk only to people who agree with us is comforting but very short sighted. newscasts from around the world and in multiple languages (translated for us) allow a more nuanced view of what is happening in the world, what we have been “sheltered from” to some extent by receiving vision and commentary from our own cultural stance and mainstream media groups. to some extent president trump’s war with the media has highlighted an important facet of democracy the need for open discussion and multiple levels of scrutiny of government and our societal mores. alternate sources of information such as twitter and facebook and blogs and podcasts by informed researchers adds to our repertoire leaving us less reliant on certain broadcasting giants. however we need to appraise and critique and clarify and verify. we can rebuild our sense of trust in certain institutions by providing scrutiny of how it does things and assisting students to clarify what can be seen as safe sources of information and non safe sources of information. we can check ourselves and our own predispositions to engage with our own likeminded colleagues. we can challenge ourselves to try to understand alternative world views. social studies teachers are crucial to a well functioning society and our skills are fundamental. keep honing them and keep acting for the good of a global and fairminded society. if you are a twitter fan some interesting hashtags and people to follow are: #suptchat #edchat #21stedchat #global @audreyosler #globaledchat #oecdceri #edtech #teachers #education #pblchat #teaching #lgbtq #humanrights and of course #ncss . this is only a taster. another amazing issue of the journal and my last edited issue. congratulations to dr anatoli rapoport from purdue university who was chosen after quite an extensive international selection process to take over the editorship. also congratulations to those who applied. we do have a wealth of talent out there. i have really enjoyed my role as editor, building on the sterling work of dr beverly bisland from queens college, and i am handing over the journal sure of the its continuing excellence under the stewardship of anatoli. we have a little way to go to get it internationally recognised as the journal https://twitter.com/hashtag/suptchat?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/edchat?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/21stedchat?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/global?src=hash https://twitter.com/audreyosler https://twitter.com/hashtag/globaledchat?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/oecdceri?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/edtech?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/teachers?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/education?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/pblchat?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/teaching?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/lgbtq?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/humanrights?src=hash https://twitter.com/hashtag/ncss?src=hash journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 2 for all social studies educators the world over to aspire to be published in but that is our vision and we certainly are on track to succeed due to the ongoing efforts of our editors and authors. i will continue to read it with awe for our amazing researchers in social studies. thanks for the opportunity. in this issue we have seven articles, double blind peer reviewed, on a variety of issues close to social studies educators‘ hearts, as well as an important opinion piece in the international perspectives section reviewed by anatoli rapoport. this piece examines the process of curriculum construction in thailand in particular focusing on how colonial precepts are still permeating the new thai curriculum model of social studies. it is so important to have a perspective on curriculum from an area much less well known to our western readers and we thank anatoli for his work in bringing this to us. in addition kate ferguson-patrick our media reviewer has gathered some reviews associated with the film selma which should be of great interest to international readers looking for children’s literature. these address the theme of diversity and inclusion through the use of picture books. websites are identified where more titles can be found. it has an australian focus in line with the australian focus of the editorial committee at the moment which is about to change. we welcome new perspectives and world views and look forward to these in future issues. in this issue we have three articles that critically address national curriculum narratives, one from china, one from russia and one from chile. the chinese and russian studies address conceptions of citizenship education as expounded in these curriculum documents. lee & misco (2016), seeking moral autonomy in a chinese context: a study of elementary moral education standards examines the links between current “chinese content standards from the moral education curriculum” and views on moral autonomy developed from western and confucian philosophy. although they found that there are discrepancies between overarching ideals and goals of education for children; and practices and implementation in everyday lives within these chinese moral education curriculum standards, there were some substantial cultural perspectives that needed to be accounted for in such research before simple comparisons could be made. similarly in rapoport’s (2016) substantial research on the nuances of civic virtues associated with the state program of patriotic education of citizens of the russian federation, 2016-2020 (gosudarstvennaya programma, 2015) the history of the text belied teachers’ interpretation of what that actually meant in implementation. in his article, tendencies in civic education in russia: the perception of patriotism among secondary school teachers, he pointed to the fact that teachers and other education practitioners have become a critical element of the system of government as they mediate and interpret meanings and help students, as well as other agents of education, to decode symbolic discourses. errazuriz (2016) extensively interrogated current social studies and history curriculum documents from chile with a focus on gender studies exploring conceptions of “woman”. she argued that curricular documents construct a historical narrative where two archetypal categories, “pauper-woman” and “active-woman”, represent possible, oppressive gendered citizens with subsequent scripts for gender performance. all three studies point to the importance of the role of the teacher in assisting students to interpret such documents. a further study by fernekes (2016), global citizenship education and human rights education: are they compatible with u. s. civic education?, undertook a comparative study of how a number of national curricular addressed the somewhat “newer” perspectives of global citizenship education and human rights education in their national curriculum documents. he then clarified how the u.s. could likewise better address these perspectives although acknowledging that implementing gce in the u.s. context faced major obstacles. fernekes thus provided us with and alternative issue how to insert journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 1-3. corresponding author email: ruth.reynolds@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 3 new ideas into curriculum documents which of themselves rest heavily on cultural tradition, as expounded by the previous three research studies. in our final article associated with curriculum documents for this issue we have a discourse analysis covering school textbooks to ascertain how the concept of tourism is variously portrayed in finnish social science texts. mikander and zilliacus (2016), a postcolonial discourse analysis of finnish school textbooks: learning about the world from a tourist perspective, examine the notion of tourism from a postcolonial perspective clarifying the view that images of tourism as a good economic driver do not take on board the inequity that often arises between the tourists and those that they come to observe. our final two articles come from spain and the u.s and they address the teaching of social studies. estelles & romero (2016), teacher education for citizenship in a globalized world: a case study in spain, clarify how teacher education is addressing the teaching of the relatively new perspective of global citizenship. they found that although teacher education can contribute to challenge pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the nation state as the only locus for democracy and citizenship, the inclusion of global perspectives by the teacher educators involved had been very limited. last but not least fitzgerald (2016), pre-planning civic action: an analysis of civic leaders’ problem solving strategies, takes us into a new field of teaching strategies by helping us clarify decision-making approaches to teaching civic action he argued that wineburg’s work on heuristics in historical thinking and how experts thought about history could provide guidance for teachers in civics. he investigated heuristics that may arise when expert civic leaders plan for civic action. this appears to be a new and very profitable approach to teaching civics and i hope he pursues the themes further. so in conclusion, peer reviewed papers from six different national perspectives is an amazing feat and bodes well for our international impact on the world of social studies teaching. keep up the great work. ruth reynolds journal of international social studies http://www.iajiss.org volume 1 number1 1 fall 2010 president’s message it gives me great pleasure to welcome the inaugural issue of the journal of international social studies, the official publication of the international assembly. this journal will not only serve the intellectual and research needs of our members; it will help in building a strong international community dedicated to the promotion and strengthening of global education around the world. educational associations such as the international assembly that seek to bring together teachers, scholars, and activists from around the world to a common forum and to help them share their knowledge and experiences in a supportive environment, need a journal. in a sense, the journal of international social studies is a forum connecting diverse views and perspectives on global education. each year, more and more global educators from all parts of the world join the international assembly. our members participate in our annual conference and present their papers on global education themes including human rights education, peace education, and cultural diversity. to sustain these activities we always wished to have the papers published in a journal. needless to say, it has been a herculean task to put together a journal. nevertheless, all our efforts have finally paid off and the journal of international social studies has arrived. i congratulate the editor, dr. beverly milner (lee) bisland, and associate editor, dr. gloria alter, for their tireless efforts in making our wish a reality, and, on behalf of the ia members and the executive board, i sincerely thank them for their hard work. iftikhar ahmad president international assembly journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 128-129. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 128-129. corresponding author email: debbie.bradbery@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 128 diversity and inclusion – book reviews book reviews by debbie bradbery, lecturer in primary education, university of newcastle, australia debbie.bradbery@newcastle.edu.au _________________________________________________________________________________ migrant by jose manuel mateo, illustrated by javier martinez pedro, rightly won the new horizons award at the 2012 bologna children’s book fair because of its powerful message and outstanding images, as well as its unique codex style presented in one long accordion fold. although a story about the dangerous journey one family makes from mexico into the united states it is very relevant as an allegory of the difficult and dangerous journeys families from across syria are making to western european countries today. as the folds of this exquisite art piece unfold each panel reveals an elongated picture with sparse text on the one side written in english and on the other the same story in spanish. the codex story begins on a mexican farm and follows one family’s arduous journey, which unfolds to a crowded los angeles dwelling. written in the first person it is the story of a young boy who migrates with his mother and sister to escape poverty, live safely and find news of their missing father on the other side of the border. illustrations and text partner beautifully on the accordion style pages. unlike most books or novels, readers are invited to decode astonishing images of pastoral and urbanised settings and in the process develop deep empathy for the critical and life threatening risks surrounding refugees and forced immigrants everywhere. as the author and illustrator note at the close of the book : “they launch themselves on a journey full of danger because they have the hope of finding a job and of living in peace, or because they want to reunite with their family. they leave because of poverty, mistreatment, or violence.” they go onto to say that when many children migrate they cannot legally prove their names upon arrival in their new homeland… “ nor can they request documents to do so; many times they cannot even manage to find out what their real age is. for this reason we have created this book: to demand these children’s right to exist.” this is a powerful and very relevant story that tells its tale in the most beautiful way. another epic tale capturing a turning point in american history is the must-read book because they marched: the people’s campaign for voting rights that changed america. to mark the 50th anniversary of the march from selma to montgomery, alabama, newberry medalist russell freedman, produced this poignant and moving story of the struggle for voting rights in the american south. readers of this text are pulled into the long and sometimes violent struggle through clear, concise storytelling and the many quotes from participants at the time. freedman’s chronicle showcases the various 1965 protests and marches that eventually led to there being over 25,000 supporters from all faiths and skin colours gather outside the capitol building in montgomery on march 25, which then in turn prompted president johnson to sign the voting rights act on august 6 that same year, 1965. the inspirational narrative and often graphic black and white photographs build momentum and richly mailto:debbie.bradbery@newcastle.edu.au journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 128-129. corresponding author email: debbie.bradbery@newcastle.edu.au ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 129 illustrate this story, that although has been told many times, is fresh and new in this version. the use of “eyewitness press reports, interpretive articles, essays by observers who travelled to selma and interviews conducted over years with marchers and demonstrators whose testimonies, even decades later, speak eloquently of the passions of the time.” the wonderful array of photos, many of which are full page, add authenticity and insights into the depth of feeling at the time. this well researched story is fittingly finalised with a timeline, select bibliography, source notes and an index. this is a powerful and important book, not only because it elucidates a key moment in american history, but also because it brings its readers to the realities of current issues. freedman’s epilogue details threats made to the voting act by the supreme court in 2013, releasing nine southern states from requirements to seek federal approval before changing their election laws. he notes that this has resulted in some states immediately setting stricter voter id laws making it harder “for minority voters, older people, students, legal immigrants and the poor of all races to register and vote.” this is especially relevant at this time with donald trump as president. both of these inspiring, moving and unforgettable books should be used in classrooms and lecture theatres around the world to help highlight the plight of all those fighting for social justice and human rights. references freedman, russell (2014). because they marched: the people’s campaign for voting rights that changed america new york, ny: holiday house pub. mateo, jose manuel & javier martinez pedro (illustrator) & emmy smith ready (translator) (2014). migrant new york. ny: abrams books for young readers. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 140 lebanon: a case of history education in a sectarian society paul j. yoder (pjy5rc@virginia.edu) university of virginia _____________________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this paper synthesizes the extant literature on history education in lebanon. the sectarian nature of the country and the recent civil war make the case of lebanon a unique and compelling one. three emerging understandings underscore the complexity of history education in lebanon and demonstrate the ways in which history is used to undercut national social cohesion. first, history education in lebanon is influenced by the tradition of parochial or confessional schools dating to the hands-off approach of the ottoman colonial powers. second, the delay of a state-sanctioned national curriculum has paralyzed educators who have been left to piece together their own curriculum. third, the political gridlock in lebanon continues to make history education a contentious topic. keywords: lebanon, middle east, history education, social studies, social cohesion, confessional, sectarian _____________________________________________________________________________________________ lebanon: a case of history education in a sectarian society among the predominantly muslim countries of the arab world, lebanon stands out as notably heterogeneous country. for this reason, lewis (1995) argued that lebanon has played a role as “the only surviving centre of cultural and religious pluralism and of economic and political freedom within the arab world” (p. 347) dating to the ottoman empire. today lebanon has some 17 christian and muslim denominations, plus a small jewish minority, in its population of approximately four million (el-ghali, 2013; frayha, 2003). this diversity has contributed to frequent unrest in the country, as evidenced by the 15-year civil war starting in 1975, as well as continued sporadic violence. in an illustrative example of the contentious nature of information in this divided lebanon, various authors have alternately described the civil war as ending in 1989 (frayha, 2003), 1990 (abouchedid, nasser, & blommestein, 2002; terc, 2006), and 1991 (volk, 2008). since 2011, the civil war in neighboring syria has dramatically increased lebanon’s longstanding diversity, adding an estimated 1.2 million refugees – or about one third of lebanon’s total population (jalbout, 2015; unhcr, 2015). within this setting, education has served as a vital means of controlling and disseminating information. for this reason, schools have traditionally been divided in lebanon with some 60% of students attending private schools (frayha, 2003; jalbout, 2015). most of these private schools are run as religious schools by various confessional communities (abouchedid & nasser, 2000; bahous, nabhani, & rabo, 2013). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 141 abouchedid and colleagues (2002) demonstrated this diversity in a study of religious and history education in lebanon through identifying and sampling seven schools from the following seven faith traditions: maronite, greek orthodox, armenian orthodox, protestant, druze, sunni, and shi’i. volk (2008) reported that the result of this factious setting has been an emphasis on “the future (almustaqbal) over the present or the past” (p. 293). theoretical framework given the sectarian nature of lebanese society, this paper utilizes a conceptual framework of social cohesion, which frayha (2003) and others (e.g., shuayb, 2012) have previously introduced in their analysis of education in lebanon. social cohesion is analogous to civic education, but reaches beyond the concept of citizenship (i.e., the relationship between the individual and the state) and focuses on the social and cultural dimensions of society (starkey, 2012). given the significant social and political friction within lebanon, social cohesion provides a lens through which to analyze the implications of the realities of education, and particularly history education, in this unique context. social cohesion is a particularly salient framework when examining the stated goals of education in lebanon. for example, the taef (or ta’if) agreement that ended the civil war tasked the governmental educational center for research and development with developing a history curriculum and textbook (fraya, 2003) in an effort to provide “united, post civil war national identity” (volk, 2008, p. 309). however, these instructional materials have been slow in coming and appear to provide an example of mccully’s (2009) assertion that “historians and history educators are often more conspicuous by their absence than by their engagement” (p. 215). shuayb’s (2015) recent analysis of the national lebanese civics curriculum further serves to emphasize the lack of a national history curriculum for which no parallel examination is possible. this reality leads to the research question guiding the present review of the literature: how do lebanon’s heterogeneity and contentious past inform history education in a sectarian society? findings in this section of the paper, i present findings from the extant literature on the teaching and learning of history in lebanon. three themes emerged during analysis. first, history education in lebanon is influenced by the tradition of parochial or confessional schools dating to the hands-off approach of the ottoman colonial powers. second, the delay of a state-sanctioned national curriculum has paralyzed educators who have been left to piece together their own curriculum. third, the political gridlock in lebanon continues to make history education a contentious topic. sectarian schools lead to splintered national narratives the first finding from the literature suggests that the large number of sectarian communities and confessional schools in lebanon contributes to a diverse set of narratives in history classrooms. central to this analysis is the understanding of lebanon as a diverse country with a significant number of confessional (abouchedid & nasser, 2000; abouchedid et al., 2002) or parochial (bahous et al., 2013) journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 142 schools. the current reality stems from the extensive missionary engagement in education when present-day lebanon was under the control of the ottoman empire, a fact that reflected the limited availability of public schools under the ottomans (frayha, 2003). today the political sectarianism and “perceptions that public schools offer lower quality education” (el-ghali, 2013, p. 8) lead many families to seek private education (see also jalbout, 2015). as abouchedid and nasser (2000) and bashshur (2005) found, within this confessional system schools and teachers feel the tension of representing their own communities, while also promoting a shared lebanese identity. abouchedid and nasser (2000) situated their analysis of history teaching in lebanon within the context of confessional or religious private schools. in their introduction, abouchedid and nasser highlighted the importance of history and history education in the formation of a national identity and dialogue. their study focused on analysis of history textbooks used in seven confessional schools and the amount of emphasis each has “on subjects conducive to inter-group understanding” (p. 58). the schools they selected are the same seven included in their later related work (abouchedid et al., 2002): maronite, greek orthodox, armenian orthodox, protestant, druze, sunni, and shiite. abouchedid and nasser’s analysis of the 10 textbooks used across these schools found a consistent “neglect of pluralism in lebanon” (p. 70). specifically, the origins and beliefs of the various confessional communities were omitted, as were the 1958 civil war and the israeli/arab conflict. interviews with history teachers at some of the schools revealed the complexity of teaching when so many diverse viewpoints are present. for example, a history teacher at the shiite school explained that while the textbook did not directly address disparate perspectives, “it is common knowledge in history that some muslims preferred the ottoman rule to the french one. . . . some groups in lebanon view the martyrs who faced the ottomans as traitors others saw them as heroes” (p. 72). other teachers demonstrated a dedication to presenting perspectives other than that of their own tradition, but reported feeling pressure to stick to the basics, arguing, “we have to meet the requirements of the national examinations” (p. 73). abouchedid and nasser (2000) concluded that “history teaching in lebanon is not conducive to national integration” (p. 74). they cited the weak influence of the national government and schools’ loyalty to particular constituencies as major factors. abouchedid and nasser added that there is a lack of political will to change the status quo. their findings suggest that teachers will continue to play an important role in curricular decisions, as discussed in the following section. bashshur (2005) presented similar conclusions based on an overview of history education and history textbooks in lebanon in the 20th century. upon reviewing a collection of text analysis and survey studies, bashshur highlighted the fluidity of the historical narrative, with history textbooks shifting focus based on the audience and primary political power of the era. for example, before the civil war in 1975, history texts had a french or european tilt. additionally, books used in muslim schools emphasized lebanon as an arab country, while textbooks in christian and public schools identified “heroes” among phoenician figures. bashshur’s analysis includes the recent past, following the civil war, noting that a history curriculum was conspicuously missing from the school national curriculum adopted in 1997. when two elementary textbooks were released in 2001, controversy over inclusion of arab conquest in journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 143 a chapter titled “they all went and lebanon stayed: independence of the nation” led to the books being quickly withdrawn (p. 8). bashshur explained that the texts were criticized for insinuating that lebanon was not an arab nation by listing arabs as conquerors alongside ottomans and french. bashshur’s (2005) analysis focused on the nature and role of history. bashshur argued for an “emphasis on inquiry and interpretation” (p. 11) much as recent scholarship and policy documents in the united states have (e.g., barton & levstik, 2010; national council for the social studies, 2013). bashshur also addressed the role of memory in the history classroom, concluding that as schools are situated in a social context “a culture of memory is very likely the breeding grounds for submission and dependence which includes submission to ‘authority’ as well as to ‘facts’” (p. 11). volk (2008) similarly highlighted the importance of collective memory in recounting the steps taken to get the archaeological site of nahr al-kalb on unesco’s world memory list. in each case, the role of the master narrative is recognized, but whereas volk interpreted the recognition of the nahr al-kalb historic site as a means of bringing lebanese together through identifying ancient roots, bashshur called for schools to focus on pedagogy and inquiry as a “starting point of resistance and change” (p. 11) that may in fact upset the status quo. together this research suggests that the sectarian nature of schools fuels contradictory historical narratives in lebanese schools. yet in analysis of the makassed assocation, a sunni islamic organization that runs over 40 schools, terc (2006) argued that a lebanese national identity exists despite the civil war and sectarian divisions, citing makassed as an example of a parochial organization that “took a leading role in articulating a national identity that could accommodate both national allegiance and islamic learning” (pp. 444–445). this counter example demonstrates a way forward for teachers such as those in abouchedid and nasser’s (2000) study who reported being unable to balance multiple narratives. in the process, the need for further examination of the role of history teachers becomes clear and is addressed in the following section. teachers guide the history curriculum the second finding is that the lack of a national history curriculum both emphasizes lebanese history teachers’ role as curricular-instructional gatekeepers (thornton, 1991) and highlights the limitations teachers face in exercising their professional duties. in the previous section, abouchedid and nasser (2000) and bashshur’s (2005) methodological decision to analyze textbooks and national curriculum documents highlights the expectation that these official sources of knowledge will guide instruction, making the absence of the long-awaited national history textbooks all the more paralyzing (see also ayyash-abdo, bahous, & nabhani, 2009). mourad’s (2010) interview study provides additional insights into the factors that influence teachers’ decision making. mourad (2010) presented findings from a study based on interviews with five classroom teachers. mourad explained that the study focused on teacher perspectives precisely because there was no singular history textbook to standardize instruction. a strength of the paper is the clear conceptual framework. mourad articulated an understanding that “history is intertwined with politics. . . . it connects to the broader constructions of society and identity” (p. 3). this understanding is operationalized through discussion of the facing history and ourselves (fhao) curriculum, which journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 144 focuses on using history instruction for character education, as well as the theoretical framework of collaborative for academic, social and emotional learning (casel) with a focus on socio-emotional competencies. mourad’s (2010) participants shared a view of history instruction as contributing to healthy personal and societal development. dr. saleh, one of the participants, described dissatisfaction with an indoctrination (talkeen) or memorization approach perpetuated by the official exams required of history students, arguing instead for a focus on critical analysis. other teachers identified similar concerns, as well as opportunities. ms. zouk and ms. sat saw their history classes as a place for student language development. mourad concluded that the teachers did not provide a “unified voice” among history teachers, but did identify “difficulties history teachers are facing” (p. 16). at the forefront are the limitations of discussing politicized content and a lack of guidance in the absence of an official curriculum. in a recent ethnographic study in five elementary schools in lebanon, van ommering (2015) found similar results as history teachers frequently sought to avoid or silence discussions of the civil war. van ommering argued that teachers operate in a “complex web of power relations,” (p. 204) which he described as consisting of “students’ interest in understanding the society in which they live; the limited contents of the national history curriculum; the didactic outlook that radiates from history textbooks and teacher training; the pressure exerted by political parties to endorse their interpretations of the past; and, finally, the personal conflict histories that teachers brings [sic] along to the classroom, shaping their capacities and perceptions” (p. 204). much as mourad’s (2010) participants reported, van ommering (2015) found that his participants used evasion as a primary tactic in responding to students’ questions about the civil war and present day violence. an emphasis on people and dates served a common means of glossing over the broader subjects that emerged in the curriculum. such an approach reflects fear of personal repercussions for engaging in political discourse. for example, one teacher described how a colleague was dismissed from their teaching position when she was “too outspoken” about a particular political party (p. 205). van ommering (2015) concluded that teachers’ own experiences with the stress of war also serve as a silencing force, as “a key strategy for coping with protracted instability and recurring conflict is expelling it from conversations or portraying it as irrelevant” (p. 205). in short, van ommering (2015) and mourad (2010) demonstrated that the lack of a national history curriculum places considerable pressure on teachers who must navigate personal and political realities in exercising their roles as curricularinstructional gatekeepers (thornton, 1991). in the following section, i further examine the link between history education and politics in lebanon. history education and identity politics in lebanon the third finding is that examples from civics education in lebanon provide insights into how identity politics continues to make history education a contentious issue. bahous and colleagues (2013) made the link between civic and history education explicit through their joint analysis of the two curricular, arguing that the substance of a history curriculum will directly guide the formation of young lebanese journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 145 citizens. they reported that while a national history curriculum has yet to be developed, a common civics curriculum is used by those schools who have adopted the national curricula. the stated goals of the civics education include promoting a unified lebanese identity, developing social skills, and reinforcing the importance of democracy in a diverse country. bahous and colleagues quoted educational leaders, including adnan el amine of the lebanese association for educational studies, as suggesting that history standards be developed instead of an official textbook, so that publishers can “compete on the lebanese market . . . with a creative handling of the content” (p. 69). another unnamed “expert” argued that each social group in lebanon could “write its own history” using primary sources as a way of exposing students to diverse perspectives (p. 70). a secondary school principal reported having difficulty recruiting teachers for history, civics, and geography classes because these are seen as “low prestige” content areas (p. 70). while bahous and colleagues’ (2013) article raises some methodological questions with their mix of cited and anonymous sources, the clear link the authors drew between civics and history education pushes the conversation forward. the questions their sources raised about the nature of a history curriculum map onto broader conversations about the role of teachers in interpreting the curriculum (e.g., frayha, 2003; mourad, 2010; thornton, 1991) and the nature of education in society (e.g., fox, 2007; masemann, 2007; shuayb, 2012). additionally, the principal’s comments about the perception of teachers and social studies curricula raise important questions about the ability to recruit and retain teachers in a unique situation. in related analysis, shuayb’s (2015) recent study of civic textbooks used in lebanon revealed similar findings, particularly regarding the integration of human rights and peace education in the civics curriculum. through a content analysis of civics textbooks and examinations from grades 1–12, shuayb identified numerous objectives and goals. for example, shuayb listed the stated aims of “national and civics education” as established in the 1997 lebanese curriculum, including “to promote his devotion/loyalty to his lebanese identity” and “to raise awareness of his arab identity” (p. 7). by identifying two primary critiques, shuayb (2015) demonstrated how lebanese identity politics has prevented the potential of history education from being realized. shuayb’s first critique is that the civics curriculum contains numerous examples of gender inequality (e.g., presenting women in certain roles; consistently using masculine nouns, verbs and adjectives). shuayb’s second critique is the lack of inclusion of peace education principles or references. she noted that the lebanese government’s “postcivil war curriculum emphasized rebuilding, social cohesion, and reconciliation and adopted citizenship education as one of its main aims” (shuayb, 2015, p. 11). in other words, the specifics of history education proved too contentious (as noted in previous sections) and the government instead articulated broad concepts, leaving each confessional group to “write its own history” (bahous et al., 2013, p. 70). conclusion in their book, history on trial: culture wars and the teaching of the past, nash, crabtree, and dunn (2000) recounted the role of political ideology in shaping history education in the united states during journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 146 the culture wars at the end of the 20th century. they noted that in the u.s. context, the “traditional story, focusing on national politics, elite society, and traditional heroes, has been elegant, linear, and unconfusing precisely because it left out so much” (p. 100). in the complex case of lebanon, such a master narrative has proven illusive as the selection of politics and heroes continues to be controversial and divisive. in order for history education to contribute to increased national social cohesion, the types of “imagined communities” (anderson, 1991) on which national identity is built must be presented in the classroom. such a goal is clearly articulated in the lebanese government’s 1994 plan for educational reform, which states explicitly that schools should contribute to “the formation of a citizen who . . . recognizes the long national lebanese history that, emancipated from extremist beliefs, will attain a unified, open and humanistic society” (as cited in frayha, 2003, p. 85). the research reviewed above suggests, however, that the teaching and learning of history in lebanese schools reflects and reinforces the sectarian nature of society in lebanon, strengthening identification with confessional communities more so than the national community. in the absence of a national curriculum, decisions about what to teach continue to fall to teachers—many of whom have little training or whose lived experience during the recent civil war mediates their instruction—or be made at the sectarian level with politics and religion clearly influencing competing narratives (bahous et al., 2013; van ommering, 2015). in short, lebanon provides a case in which “the interweaving of various historical narratives . . . has transformed common history into controversial history” (carretero, rodríguez-moneo, & asensio, 2012, p. 3). while the tension inherent in this process is not unique to lebanon (e.g., evans, 2004; nash et al., 2000; taylor & guyver, 2012), this diverse and complex country provides a compelling case study for the discussion of the role of history education in a pluralistic society. future research the relevance of the lebanese history education dilemma is clear. societies around the world face the conflict inherent in considering what it means to welcome a plurality of voices into discussions of educational philosophy and practice (masemann, 2007). study of lebanon can be particularly informative because of lebanon’s recent civil war and a history of colonial occupation. lessons learned in lebanon may speak to the role of history in contributing to peace building (see mccully, 2009) in other countries with similar postwar and postcolonial settings. to this end, future research should investigate particular approaches to history education beyond the textbook analysis and initial interviews reported in this paper. another line of inquiry should include comparative analysis between lebanon and other countries with similar social, historical, and political realities. for example, comparing history education in lebanon to that of vietnam and other french directorates may uncover important findings that could help guide policy and instruction across settings. similarly, lebanon and rwanda or other countries in a post-civil war phase would be instructive. furthermore, the case of lebanon serves to broaden the conversation about history education beyond the investigation of primarily western and english-speaking countries that dominates the field (e.g., taylor & guyver, 2012). lastly, the recent influx of refugees from syria into lebanon (jalbout, 2015; unhcr, 2015), as well as the localized nature of the broader sunni-shiite schism found across the middle east (telhami, 2013), makes journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 147 the current paper particularly timely. future empirical research and comparative analysis on lebanon and similar contexts is warranted given these findings. references abouchedid, k., & nasser, r. (2000). the state of history teaching in private-run confessional schools in lebanon: implications for national integration. mediterranean journal of educational studies, 5(2), 57–82. abouchedid, k., nasser, r., & blommestein, j. v. (2002). the limitations of inter-group learning in confessional schools systems: the case of lebanon. arab studies quarterly, 24(4), 61–82. anderson, b. (1991). imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (2nd ed.). new york, ny: verso. ayyash-abdo, h., bahous, r., & nabhani, m. (2009). educating young adolescents in lebanon. in s. b. mertens, v. a. anfara, & k. roney (eds.), an international look at educating young adolescents (pp. 25–46). charlotte, nc: information age. bahous, r., nabhani, m., & rabo, a. (2013). parochial education in a global world? teaching history and civics in lebanon. nordidactica – journal of humanities and social science education, 1, 57–79. barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (2010). why don't more history teachers engage students in interpretation? in w. c. parker (ed.), social studies today: research & practice (pp. 35–42). new york, ny: routledge. bashshur, m. (2005, november). history teaching and history textbooks in lebanon. paper presented at learning about the other and teaching for tolerance in muslim majority societies workshop, istanbul, turkey. retrieved from http://folk.uio.no/leirvik/oslocoalition/bashshurlebanon.doc carretero, m., rodríguez-moneo, m., & asensio, m. (2012). history education and the construction of a national identity. in m. carretero, m. asensio, & m. rodríguez-moneo (eds.), history education and the construction of national identities (pp. 1–16). charlotte, nc: information age. el-ghali, h. a. (2013). success in increasing access and retention in primary education: the case of lebanon. washington, dc: fhi 360. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 148 evans, r. w. (2004). the social studies wars: what should we teach the children? new york, ny: teacher college press. fox, c. (2007). the question of identity from a comparative education perspective. in r. f. arnove & c. a. torres (eds.), comparative education: the dialectic of the global and the local (3rd ed., pp. 117–128). new york, ny: rowman & littlefield. frayha, n. (2003). education and social cohesion in lebanon. prospects, 33(1), 77–88. jalbout, m. (2015). reaching all children with education in lebanon: opportunities for action. london, england: theirworld. lewis, b. (1995). the middle east: a brief history of the last 2,000 years. new york, ny: scribner. masemann, v. l. (2007). culture and education. in r. f. arnove & c. a. torres (eds.), comparative education: the dialectic of the global and the local (3rd ed., pp. 101–116). new york, ny: rowman & littlefield. mccully, a. (2009). the contribution of history teaching to peace building. in g. salomon & e. cairns (eds.), handbook in peace education (pp. 213–222). new york, ny: psychology press. mourad, m. (2010, november). reframing history: understanding teachers' roles in promoting socialemotional competences, and civic, and moral development of students in lebanon. paper presented at the the biennial institute of education and beijing normal university conference, london, england. retrieved from http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/about_overview/mourad_m.pdf nash, g. b., crabtree, c., & dunn, r. e. (2000). history on trial: culture wars and the teaching of the past. new york, ny: vintage books. national council for the social studies. (2013). the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards: guidance for enhancing the rigor of k-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. silver spring, md: ncss. shuayb, m. (ed.). (2012). rethinking education for social cohesion: international case studies. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. shuayb, m. (2015). human rights and peace education in the lebanese civics textbooks. research in comparative and international education, 10(1), 135–150. doi:10.1177/1745499914567823 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 140-149. corresponding author email: pjy5rc@virginia.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 149 starkey, h. (2012). education, social cohesion and human rights. in m. shuayb (ed.), rethinking education for social cohesion: international case studies (pp. 37–49). new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. taylor, t., & guyver, r. (eds.). (2012). history wars and the classroom: global perspectives. charlotte, nc: information age. telhami, s. (2013). the world through arab eyes: arab public opinion and the reshaping of the middle east. new york, ny: basic books. terc, m. (2006). "a modern, integral, and open understanding": sunni islam and lebanese identity in the makassed association. comparative education review, 50, 431–445. thornton, s. j. (1991). teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeping in social studies. in j. p. shaver (ed.), handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning (pp. 237–248). new york, ny: macmillan. unhcr. (2015). syria regional refugee response: inter-agency information sharing portal. retrieved from http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122 van ommering, e. (2015). formal history education in lebanon: crossroads of past conflicts and prospects for peace. international journal of educational development, 41, 200–207. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.06.009 volk, l. (2008). when memory repeats itself: the politics of heritage in post civil war lebanon. international journal of middle east studies, 40, 291–314. doi:10.2307/30069614 lebanon: a case of history education in a sectarian society theoretical framework findings sectarian schools lead to splintered national narratives teachers guide the history curriculum history education and identity politics in lebanon conclusion future research references journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 60 online answers dealing with the internment of japanese americans during world war ii alon lazar program for education, society and culture college for academic studies, or yehuda, israel tal litvak hirsch conflict management and resolution program ben gurion university of the negev, beer-sheva, israel abstract: the internment of americans of japanese descent during world war ii lies at the heart of ongoing discussions in american social studies. we analyzed inputs of members of the yahoo! answers q&a online community following students’ questions dealing with differential treatment of japanese and german and italian american citizens during world war ii, and whether the internment of japanese americans was justified. the questions were submitted to the community by students struggling with their coursework. the majority of responses to the first question justified the differential treatment, citing national security and presenting japanese americans as a threat. the dominant position in the case of the second question negates internment legitimacy and views it as a gross violation of justice and as a racially motivated act. these stances, likely to make their way into submitted assignments by students, necessitate the familiarization of teachers with such discussions as they take place within q&a communities. key words: computers; education; japanese american, online communities; students; homework. introduction the internment of 120,000 americans of japanese descent during world war ii, of which twothirds were native born citizens, adults and children, is an issue which concerns not only those incarcerated and their offspring (nagata, kim, & nguyen, 2015), but also social studies classes in mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 61 american schools (gallavan & roberts, 2005; hawkins & buckendorf, 2010). current discussions of the internment highlight the racial aspects and the inherent unfairness of the policy of the illegal seizure of property and treatment of citizens (miksch & ghere, 2004, p. 213). in addition, it is recognized that internment meant placing americans of japanese descent outside the realms of morality and jurisdiction, no longer an integral part of the national body, as they were deemed to pose a threat to it (verinakis, 2007). the civil liberties act of 1988 acknowledged the wrongdoing endured by those incarcerated, offered a formal apology and $20,000 in compensation, and referred to “the incarceration of japanese and japanese americans as a shameful and tragic chapter in our nation’s history and one of the most unconscionable violations of our government of the civil rights of any people…making the internment as the limit case of us racial violence” (kozen, 2012, p. 106 and p. 109). historical background of the differential treatment of americans of japanese, german, and italian descent nearly 11,000 suspected german and italian aliens were incarcerated on individual bases by december, 1941 (fox, 2000). such a policy was not an exceptional one, as “the internment of enemy aliens during wartime has been considered a normal practice in the united states, canada, australia, and most european countries, where it has been used frequently during the last two centuries” (miksch & ghere, 2004, p. 212). the attack by the japanese army on pearl harbor evoked xenophobia and fear, targeting mainly americans of japanese descent as potential and actual supporters of the japanese government (mccormick, 2008). early in 1942, officials from local, state, and federal authorities demanded internment of all enemy aliens and their families. this led to the relocation of nearly 10,000 german and italian aliens from their homes along the west coast, while japanese americans living in the area were incarcerated en masse (fox, 1986), “based on the rationale that their proximity to japan made them potentially disloyal and capable of espionage or sabotage” (nagata et al., 2015, pp. 356-366). most americans at the time treated the decision to confine these citizens to internment camps to be humane, necessary, and appropriate in a time of war (miksch & ghere, 2004). it is important to note that not all americans of japanese descent were interned. according to smith (1986), the sheer size of the japanese-american population living in hawaii, comprising nearly a third of the island's population, made their internment unfeasible. in comparison, the number of japanese americans who were living on the west coast was much smaller. furthermore, prejudice against asian immigrants had a long history in california, and internment helped to soothe fears among west coast residents following pearl harbor (smith, 1986). in mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 62 contrast to american citizens of japanese descent living on the west coast, residents of german and italian descent were not interned for several reasons. first, their large numbers, political influence, and economic power in california (fox, 1986; smith, 1986) made internment impractical, and it was feared that the internment of tens of thousands of german and italian aliens would compromise the loyalty of their relatives who were american citizens (fox, 1986). second, memories of the persecution of german americans during world war i were still fresh, and information about individual suspects of german and italian ancestry was more readily available in comparison to the japanese (fox, 1986). third, government officials held the belief that while german or italian immigrants were quick to assimilate, asian immigrants had greater difficulties in assimilation (deconde, 1992). fourth, while germans were considered white and thus hard to discern from their anglo-americans counterparts, japanese were distinguishable by their skin color, and their culture was considered to be unapproachable and incomprehensible by westerners (dower, 1996). discussion of internment within social studies curricula and textbooks teachers may use the case of internment to bring their students closer to issues of justice, freedom, and fairness, and to understand the views of those who lived through the period (gallavan & roberts, 2005), while the end results “typically generate various levels of sympathy for the victims, outrage against government officials, and collective national guilt” (miksch & ghere, 2004, p. 213). davis (2007) alternatively suggested that as part of “making a difference” and affecting racial acceptance within american society, teachers may use the case of the japanese-american internment to bring their students to explore “what racial relationships and power dynamics existed among whites, asian americans, and other minority groups that permitted internment to occur” (p. 213). ogawa (2004) stated that “[i]n the united states, people place great faith in united states history textbooks to supply their children with an understanding of american history” (p. 35). however, according to suh, an, & forest (2015), “[t]he inclusion and explanation of events related to the history of asians in the u.s. is done in a way that aligns with the u.s. national story of progress and equality, [and] the textbooks do not provide a more complete and coherent outline of the asian experience” (p. 49). ogawa's (2004) analysis of six history textbooks serving idaho schools found that while all “concede that internment was harsh and unfair treatment for japaneseamerican citizens” (p. 40), only some provided a historical background of the experience of japanese immigrants to the u.s. during the first decades of the 20th century. in addition, according to ogawa, these texts have nearly ignored the motivations for u.s. government mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 63 decisions leading to the internment of japanese americans, mainly stressing the issues of fear and the need for national security, and they have rarely discussed camp living conditions. journell (2009) found that, in the standard american history texts used in nine states, the internment of the japanese was not mentioned at all. an analysis by hawkins and buckendorf (2010) of 10 history textbooks published between 2005 and 2008 revealed, as in previous works (ogawa, 2004; romanowski, 1995), that japanese americans were still depicted as passive victims, and no mention was made of the economic and social losses endured as a result of internment. however, a richer and more complex picture of the treatment of japanese americans and the government motivations were included in these textbooks. camicia (2008) documented the controversies which marked the attempts to incorporate the study of the treatment of japanese americans during world war ii in the social studies curriculum in one locality. two opposing stances were noted. those who demanded a change to the original curriculum did so by returning to “an ideology that favors national security over civil liberties, even if the cost is ethnic profiling” (camicia, 2008, p. 311). on the other hand, there were those who supported the original version of the curriculum, suggesting that it served to present students with questions related to justice, the rule of law, reparation, and civil liberties. the studies mentioned earlier (i.e., hawkins & buckendorf, 2010; ogawa, 2004) found that the textbooks surveyed did not discuss the question of why people of german and italian descent were not put in internment camps. journell (2009) found that the internment of german and italian americans was discussed in only one textbook, and hawkins and buckendorf (2010) reported that only one textbook noted in passing “the often overlooked fact that thousands of italian and german immigrants were forced to carry identification cards, a clear differentiation in treatment from that of the japanese americans” (p. 37). teachers may use an assortment of resources such as books, moot courts, a visit by an internment detainee, and various online resources when teaching about internment (gallavan & roberts, 2005; mccormick, 2008; miksch & ghere, 2004). yet, as suggested by lazar and litvak hirsch (2015), during class hours, students adhere to their teachers' chosen learning material, but in the privacy of their own homes, students might resort to looking for help with their homework assignments by seeking aid on online platforms, most notably online social question and answer (q&a) communities. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 64 homework help exchanges in online q&a communities recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the study of online q&a communities within the context of education. these communities were noted to provide their users opportunities for informal learning opportunities (gurevych, bernhard, ignatova, & toprak, 2009; salmerón, macedo‐rouet, & rouet, 2015), as they offer interactions conducted with many different individuals (jeon & rieh, 2015) and expose them to divergent views. studies have looked into the types of askers and how these communities react to them (gazan, 2007), the resources offered in answers (oh, oh, & shah, 2009), and the context of social education. findings have pointed out that the answers provided in most cases have reflected common notions, without explicating any sources upon which these were based (lazar & litvak hirsch, 2015). the aim here is to investigate online exchanges taking place between students and members of the yahoo! answers (y!a) community, a highly popular q&a community, for help in their homework assignments dealing with the internment of japanese americans. a search of the y!a open archive reveals an abundance of questions posted by students seeking community members' input on this topic. attention here is directed to two issues which appear again and again: the differential treatment of japanese and german and italian american citizens during world war ii, and the question of whether the internment of japanese americans was justified. study 1: why were japanese americans, but not americans of german and italian descent, interned? method askers phrased their questions in the following manner: “why did we put japanese, and not germans or italians into internment camps during wwii?” or “why were the japanese forced to live in internment camps, while germans and italians were not?” considering the large number of these questions, only inquiries which gained at least eight answers are included in the following analysis. results the responses to the 10 questions analyzed here appeared mainly in the history forum (n=9), and one was asked in the homework help forum. these questions were posted during 2006 (n=3), 2007 (n=2), 2008 (n=2), 2009 (n=1), 2011 (n=1), and 2013 (n=1), and were answered by 8 to 22 y!a members (m=11.50; sd=4.67), totaling 109 answers. a content analysis of these answers mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 65 revealed that the answers provided by y!a fall within several superordinate categories. table 1 presents these along with their percentages. table 1 discussing the internment of japanese americans, and not german and italian americans, by y!a members and their percentages. answers percent of answers (n=109) discussing the reaction towards japanese americans retribution for pearl harbor 39.8 japanese americans could be recognized 24.1 racist fear 21.5 japanese americans’ loyalty to japan 13.9 japanese americans were fifth columnists 9.9 poor assimilation by japanese americans 8.4 japanese americans were concentrated in california 6.5 racial profiling at its worst 6.5 japanese americans in hawaii were not compounded 4.6 american soldiers of japanese descent served honorably 4.6 not all were american citizens 3.7 internment was an easy way out for the american government 3.7 the economic benefit of internment 2.8 internment safeguarded the lives of japanese americans 1.9 those interned lost all their life’s work 1.9 mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 66 the first superordinate category of answers combines the responses dealing with japanese americans. one dominant explanation for their internment, offered by nearly 40% of all answerers, stands out: this act was retribution for pearl harbor. an exemplary statement among those who provided this explanation was “[b]ecause germans and italians didn't bomb pearl harbor and japanese were the ones who brought the war to our soil.” other popular suggestions included: “japanese could be recognized immediately and made people nervous, and germans and italians could blend in,” “racist fear,” and “loyalty to japan,” exemplified by the suggestion that “[t]heir [japanese] fidelity is with their country of origin” (24.1%, 21.5%, and 13.9% of answerers, respectively). the remaining responses referring to the japanese were mentioned by 2% to 8.4% of answerers. these answerers suggested contrasting attitudes. on the one hand, some answerers expressed negative attitudes towards the confined japanese americans. these answerers pointed to “japanese fifth columnists,” noting that “[t]here was some intelligence about secret cells in the us (which turned out to be true) and the feds could not as easily infiltrate no evidence of collaboration 1.9 japanese americans lacked political power 1.9 discussing the reaction towards german and italian americans german and italian americans were interned 13 large number of germans and italians made it impossible to relocate them 11.1 presence of nazi spies and sympathizers 8.3 differential treatment towards italian americans 2.8 general remarks regarding internment shameful chapter in american history 7.4 internment was a commonplace policy 5.6 internment was a violation of basic rights 3.7 other 8.3 mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 67 us japanese society as they could with such groups as the nazi bund and other axis loyal groups in the us. action needed to be taken to satisfy the public,” or that japanese americans had poorly assimilated in comparison to germans or italians. in parallel, these answerers noted that “japanese were concentrated in california,” suggesting that “california is located on the pacific coast, and the loyalty of japanese people was put into question.” additionally, there were those who suggested that “internment safeguarded the lives of japanese-americans” from attack by haters or that “[n]ot all were american citizens.” others voiced their criticism towards the conduct of the american government by raising the following arguments: “japanese in hawaii were not compounded,” internment reflected “[r]acial profiling at its worst,” it was an easy solution for the american government, suggesting that “[i]nstead of trying to pick up the spy rings in the islands they decided to intern most of them,” and suggesting that internment served to promote economic benefits following the confiscation of resources of those who were interned. in addition, some expressed their sympathy for interned japanese americans by pointing out that “[s]oldiers of japanese descent served honorably,” that many of those interned lost their life’s work, that there was no evidence of collaboration by japanese americans, or that, in comparison to citizens of german descent, the japanese-american population lacked the political might to counter internment. the second superordinate category reflects discussions of the treatment of americans of german and italian lineage. two responses stood out: 13% of the answerers noted that some of them were also interned, stating that “[t]here were approximately 11,000 people of german descent and 10,000 of italian descent put into camps.” in contrast, 11.1% of answerers noted that “[a]t the time, germans and italians made up close to 10-15% of the general population in the u.s. it would have been impossible to remove that large a population and relocate them to another location. one solution was internment camps. the fact that there were only 110,000 japanese certainly made it easier.” an additional 8.3% of answerers noted that nazi germany had attempted to land its agents on american soil, and that it had gained the sympathy of many members of the german american community. nearly 3% of the replies pointed to “[d]ifferential treatment towards italian americans,” suggesting that “600,000 italian americans were required to carry id cards and about 10,000 were forced to move inland, away from the coastal cities they were from.” the third superordinate category provides a more general historical outlook of internment. here, 7.4% of answerers referred to internment as a “[s]hameful chapter in american history,” 5.6% noted that internment was a commonplace policy in other countries, suggesting that “the usa wasn't the only country, that canada interned japanese canadians after mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 68 pearl harbor” or that “[i]n australia [there] was internment only for the italians and germans.” finally, 3.7% of answerers referred to “[i]nternment as a violation of basic rights.” the “other” category included highly idiosyncratic answers that fit none of the abovementioned categories, like “[b]ecause from 1924 the usa funded hitler and supported the italians they were almost allies of the usa” or “[r]ather than complain about it, most [german and italian american] put it behind them, unlike the japanese.” discussion inspection of the answers given to students asking members of the y!a community to clarify why american citizens of japanese descent were treated more harshly than their german and italian counterparts reveals an underlying dominant view which is echoed in most of the themes identified. this position suggests, either overtly or, more commonly, covertly, that the internment was the result of collaboration by japanese americans with the actions of the japanese army. covertly, this is represented in the most dominant theme, that internment served as retribution for pearl harbor, and to a lesser extent by the themes of “loyalty to japan,” “japanese fifth columnists,” “poor assimilation by japanese,” and “japanese were concentrated in california.” for these answerers, japanese americans were rightfully interned, as they were, and are still, automatically identified as belonging to japanese society rather than to american society. in that respect, this attitude echoes the historical placement of americans of japanese descent as neither an integral part of the national body nor part of the moral community, but rather a threat (verinakis, 2007). moreover, a small number of these answerers pointed out that not all japanese under american rule were interned, that not all were american citizens, or suggested that internment was a positive action as it safeguarded the lives of japanese americans. in conclusion, for these y!a members, the view held by most americans regarding u.s. policy in world war ii was that rounding up these citizens in internment camps was a humane, necessary, and appropriate step in times of war (miksch & ghere, 2004), and it still seems to have been a valid action. other answerers have taken a different stance altogether by suggesting that the internment of the japanese was racially motivated, expressing themes like “japanese could be recognized,” “racist fear,” “racial profiling at its worst,” and by expressing their sympathy for those interned by pointing out that “soldiers of japanese descent served honorably” and that “internment was an easy way out for the american government.” these responses indicated “the economic benefit of internment,” the fact that “those interned lost their life’s work,” that there was “no evidence of collaboration,” and that “japanese lacked political power.” thus, these answerers, mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 69 who are in the minority, echo present day notions regarding “the racial aspects and the inherent unfairness of the policy, the illegal seizure of property and treatment of citizens” (miksch & ghere, 2004, p. 213). while most of the discussion revolved around the interned japanese, far less direct attention was given by y!a answerers to the treatment of german and italian americans. here, answerers aimed to educate the student askers by noting that “german and italian americans were interned,” yet the responses failed to note that those interned were not american citizens but rather aliens, and that relocation was the action most often taken by the american government in their case (fox, 1988). these answerers correctly pointed out that the large numbers of germans and italians made large-scale relocation or internment impractical (smith, 1986). finally, there were those who made more general remarks on the issue, echoing the civil liberties act of 1988, recognizing the internment of japanese as a shameful chapter in american history, and stating that internment was a commonplace policy and that it represented a violation of basic rights. they expressed “sympathy for the victims, outrage against government officials, and collective national guilt” (miksch & ghere, 2004, p. 213). the comparison of these two opposing positions echoes the controversy discussed by camicia (2008) between those who speak of “an ideology that favors national security over civil liberties, even if the cost is ethnic profiling” (p. 311), and those who contextualize the internment of japanese americans within the discussion of justice, the rule of law, reparation, and civil liberties. taken together, these results reflect a rather gloomy picture of the ways many present-day americans make use of online q&a forums to reply to students asking for help in determining the reasons for the differential treatment of japanese americans during world war ii. this leads to the second question directing the current research: what types of opinions are noted when questions target whether this internment was justified? study 2: was internment of japanese americans justified or not? method the topic posted to the y!a members was phrased: “was it justified/wrong to put japaneseamericans in internment camps?” as in study 1, questions which gained at least eight answers were investigated. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 70 results seven questions which asked for y!a members’ input as to whether the internment of japanese americans was justified or not were analyzed. these questions appeared in the following y!a forums: politics (n=3), history (n=2), military, and immigration and current events (n=1 for each), during the years 2006 (n=1), 2008 (n=1), 2009 (n=3), 2010 (n=1), and 2011 (n=2). they were answered by 8 to 16 y!a members (m=12.38; sd=2.97), totaling 108 such answers. here, too, the content analysis of these answers revealed that they were distinguished by a number of superordinate categories. table 2 presents these alongside their percentages. table 2 justifying or refuting the internment of japanese americansy!a members and their percentages answers percent of answers (n=108) justifying the internment of japanese americans it was justified as we were under attack by another country 11.9 understandable for the time and the right thing to do 9.7 fifth columnists 5.8 internment safeguarded the lives of japanese americans 3.9 it was justified 2.9 condemning the internment of japanese americans this was a shameful period in american history 12.6 it was blatantly racist 11.7 the people who were interned were american citizens 10.7 citizens of german and italian descent weren't rounded up and interned 8.7 fdr was a racist 7.8 mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 71 not justified 7.8 internment led to seizing of japanese americans' property 6.8 japanese americans were loyal citizens and heroic soldiers 6.2 internment was unconstitutional 5.8 it was panic control action 3.9 those justifying internment should be ashamed 3.9 tension between freedom and individual rights and protecting national security 1.9 just another form of slavery 1.3 other 12.6 answerers who justified the internment of japanese americans employed the following arguments: nearly 12% of them suggested that within the context of the war with japan, internment was reasonable and that answerers who said otherwise do not understand the situation faced by the american government at the time. in addition, nearly 10% of these answerers, while not mentioning the war with japan, claimed internment was understandable at the time and was the right thing to do. to a lesser degree, those justifying internment averred that japanese americans were loyal to the japanese emperor and aided the japanese army's intentions of invading american soil in various ways, suggesting, for example, that “japanese submarines landed many teams of commandos on our shores in wwii, and all were met by armed u.s. citizens. with shelter, aid, recon and safe harbor offered by their own people within our shores, we could have faced a very serious clandestine incursion.” others claimed that internment was implemented for the good of japanese americans as it safeguarded them from any racial attacks, suggesting that “by putting them in camps, they saved some of the lives of the japanese and soldiers that would have had to be pulled from the war effort to protect the japanese in their homes.” finally, 2.9% did not explain why they considered internment justified and simply stated “yes.” mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 72 y!a members who questioned the legitimacy of the internment of japanese americans provided the following responses: nearly 13% of these answerers declared that the internment of japanese americans represents a shameful period in american history, almost 12% referred to it as a bluntly racist act, and nearly 11% pointed out that the people who were interned were american citizens. nearly 9% of these answerers either mentioned that citizens of german and italian descent were not rounded up and interned, and nearly 8% claimed that president roosevelt was a racist who emulated hitler and stalin or that internment was wrong without explaining why they think so. nearly 7% of these answerers referred to the internment as wrong because it led to seizing of japanese americans' property, and roughly 6% of them declared either that japanese americans were loyal citizens and that some “served with courage and honor in the european theatre of wwii,” or that internment violated the fifth, sixth, and seventh amendments and was unconstitutional. about 4% of these answerers either referred to internment as “panic control” or claimed that those y!a members justifying internment should be ashamed of themselves. nearly 2% stated that for them, internment should remind people that “[t]here is a fine line between protecting the values of freedom and individual rights and protecting national security,” and 1.3% declared internment to be “just another form of slavery.” the “other” category, which comprised 12.6% of the answers, included idiosyncratic responses which fell outside the previously mentioned reactions, including, for example, claims such as “[s]ounds like a great assignment. good luck, i'm sure you'll learn a lot!” or “i don't think america tortured them at least physically or deprived them of fundamental necessities.” discussion among y!a members, a clear division could be noted with regard to justification of the internment of americans of japanese descent during world war ii. those who justify internment mainly cite two reasons: for them, internment was applied correctly, as the u.s. was under attack by another nation, and they present internment as understandable within the historical context (11.9% and 9.7% of answerers, respectively). to a lesser degree, these answerers referred to japanese americans as “fifth columnists” and to internment as a positive act aimed at safeguarding lives, or they justified it without explanation. in comparison, the majority of answerers viewed internment as incorrect and provided a more elaborate set of arguments to back their position. these answerers' views could be grouped together into two distinct underlying positions. most notable is the view suggesting that internment was racially based, as reflected in the themes pointing out that it was a blatantly racist act, that citizens of german and mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 73 italian descent were not interned, that president roosevelt was a racist who emulated hitler and stalin, and referring to internment as another form of slavery. a second view anchors internment within the context of civil rights and justice, discussing the seizing of japanese americans' property, referring to japanese americans as loyal citizens and heroic soldiers, viewing internment as unconstitutional, and suggesting that there is a fine line between protecting the values of freedom and individual rights and protecting national security. likewise, these answerers also discussed internment as a shameful chapter in american history, echoing the stance expressed in the civil liberties act of 1988 (kozen, 2012). they also stated that it was unjustified without giving reasons, treated it as a panic control mechanism, and condemned those who supported it. thus, in comparison to study 1, a mindset that is more oriented toward civil liberty and justice underlies the majority of responses. the internment of americans of japanese descent during world war ii continues to exert its influence upon those who experienced it firsthand and their progeny (nagata et al., 2015). within the context of social studies, research has focused upon its representation in american school textbooks, noting that these only partially present the full complexities of the internment (hawkins & buckendorf, 2010; journell, 2009; ogawa, 2004), and in one case, research has documented the controversy surrounding its inclusion within the curriculum (camicia, 2008). the current research aimed to present the discussion taking place online in one popular q&a community, following queries presented by students asking for help with their homework assignments, dealing with the reasons for the internment of japanese americans and whether it was justified. practical recommendations emerging from the results for classroom teachers the importance assigned to the case of the internment of japanese americans as raising complex questions regarding issues of justice, freedom, fairness (gallavan & roberts, 2005), and race relations (davis, 2007) within american social studies curricula requires the attention of teachers to the views expressed in q&a communities on the matter. comparison of the results across the two studies reveals the following: first, while in the case of the differential treatment of japanese americans, the overall majority of questions appeared in the y!a history forum, while the question of whether it was justified took place in several y!a forums but in hardly any of the various education forums, similar to the findings reported by lazar and litvak hirsch (2015). this suggests awareness on the part of mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 74 teachers and scholars involved in dealing with the japanese-american internment, of the various y!a forums, and avoidance of centering on one particular forum. second, comparing the underlying positions emerging from the two studies suggests that responses offered depend upon the type of question presented. in study 1, which looked into the reasons for internment of japanese and not german and italian american citizens, the dominant underlying frame of mind was that of justifying this act in the name of national security and viewing japanese americans as dangerous. in contrast, in study 2, which assessed whether y!a members justify internment, those who viewed it as a gross violation of american justice and principles of equality prevailed. this suggests that the framing of the question attracts different y!a members holding contrasting views. as a result, in a case in which a student bases his or her work on the responses appearing on a q&a platform, the wording of the question as presented by the teacher, and by the student to potential answerers might considerably influence the final product handed to the teacher. finally, teachers should not shy away from the possibility of presenting their student with the inputs provided within q&a platforms regarding the japanese-american internment. such an examination could help students develop awareness of views held by individuals outside their class on the matter, and enable students to critically examine them through the materials they are exposed to in class and through their own research on the issue. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 75 references: camicia, s. p. (2008). deciding what is a controversial issue: a case study of social studies curriculum controversy. theory & research in social education, 36(4), 298-316. davis, j. r. (2007). making a difference: how teachers can positively affect racial identity and acceptance in america. the social studies, 98(5), 209-216. deconde, a. (1992). ethnicity, race, and american foreign policy: a history. lebanon, new hampshire: university press of new england. dower, j. w. (1996). race, language, and war in two cultures: world war ii in asia. in l. a. erenberg and s. e. hirsch (eds.), the war in american culture: society and consciousness during world war ii (pp. 169-201). chicago: the university of chicago press. fox, s. c. (2000). america’s invisible gulag: a biography of german american internment & exclusion in world war ii. new york: peter lang. fox, s. c. (1986). general john dewitt and the proposed internment of german and italian aliens during world war ii. pacific historical review, 57(4), 407-438. gazan, r. (2007). seekers, sloths and social reference: homework questions submitted to a question-answering community. new review of hypermedia and multimedia, 13(2), 239-248. gallavan, n. p., & roberts, t. a. (2005). enduring lessons of justice from the world war ii japanese american internment. social education, 69(5), 275-281. gurevych, i., bernhard, d., ignatova, k., & toprak, c. (2009). educational question answering based on social media content. in v. dimitrova, r. mizoguchi, b. du boulay & a. c. graesser (eds.), proceedings of the 14th international conference on artificial intelligence in education. building learning systems that care: from knowledge representation to affective modeling (pp. 133-140). amsterdam: ios press. hawkins, j., & buckendorf, m. (2010). a current analysis of the treatment of japanese americans and internment in united states history textbooks. journal of international social studies, 1(1), 34-42. jeon, g. y., & rieh, s. y. (2015). social search behavior in a social q&a service: goals, strategies, and outcomes. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 52(1), 1-10. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 76 journell, w. (2009). setting out the (un)welcome mat: a portrayal of immigration in american history standards. the social studies, 100(4), 160-168. kozen, c. k. (2012). redress as american-style justice: congressional narratives of japanese american redress at the end of the cold war. time & society, 21(1), 104-120. lazar, a. & litvak hirsch, t. (2015). an online partner of holocaust remembrance education: students approaching the yahoo! answers community. educational review, 67(1), 121134. mccormick, t. m. (2008). fear, panic, and injustice: executive order 9066. social education, 72(5), 268-271. miksch, k. l. & ghere, d. (2004). teaching japanese-american incarceration. the history teacher, 37(2), 211-227. nagata, d. k., kim, j. h., & nguyen, t. u. (2015). processing cultural trauma: intergenerational effects of the japanese american incarceration. journal of social issues, 71(2), 356-370. ogawa, m. (2004). treatment of japanese-american internment during world war ii in u.s. history textbooks. international journal of social education, 19(1), 35-47. oh, s., oh, j. s., & shah, c. (2009). the use of information sources by internet users in answering questions. proceedings of the american society for information science and technology, 45(1), 1-13. romanowski, m. (1995). impressions of the democratic ideals of justice and equality in u.s. history textbooks: the treatment of japanese americans during world war ii. journal of social studies research, 19(1), 31-49. smith, g. s. (1986). racial nativism and the origins of japanese american relocation. in r. daniels, s. c. taylor & h. h. l. kitano (eds.), japanese americans: from relocation to redress (pp. 79-85). salt lake city: university of utah press. suh, y., an, s., & forest, d. (2015). immigration, imagined communities, and collective memories of asian american experiences: a content analysis of asian american experiences in virginia us history textbooks. the journal of social studies research, 39(1), 39-51. verinakis, t. (2007). the exception to the rule. social identities, 13(1), 97-118. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 60-77 corresponding author: alon_l@mla.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 77 about the authors: alon lazar received his ph.d. in psychology from ben gurion university of the negev, israel. he is a lecturer and researcher at the program for education, society and culture, college for academic studies, or yehuda, israel, currently researching intergroup relations within the educational setting. tal litvak hirsch received her ph.d. in psychology from ben gurion university of the negev, beer sheva, israel. she is a lecturer and researcher at the management and conflict resolution program at bgu, looking into perceptions of the “other,” identity, peace education, and the long-term effects of the holocaust. mailto:alon_l@mla.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 from empathy to critical reflection: the use of testimonies in the training of holocaust educators lilach naishtat bornstein mofet institute and kibbutzim college of education, israel eyal naveh tel aviv university and kibbutzim college of education, israel abstract: how can we bridge the emotional and cognitive study of holocaust testimonies in israel? can empathy be used as a stepping stone to critical reflection? and how can teachers address the manipulative popular interpretation of these testimonies in israel, which seemingly place them beyond critical reflection? we examine these questions through an undergraduate course at an israeli college of education, using the methodology of collaborative self-study. the fostering of empathy was a key component of the course, with students encouraged to share their feelings, personal experiences, and impressions. at the same time, various pedagogical methods were used to elicit critical reflection, allowing us to explore preconceived notions held by the students concerning the preservation and expression of holocaust memory. the students’ close identification with holocaust victims became in and of itself an effective tool for critical examination. the central foci of the study were the assumptions of israeli jewish students with regard to holocaust memory, and the changes achieved in the course through critical reflection. we conclude with a discussion of future approaches to the teaching of holocaust studies in israel and elsewhere, in light of the experiences gained from this course. key words: holocaust education, testimonies, teacher training, empathy, critical pedagogy introduction in her seminal paper “education and crisis, or the vicissitudes of teaching” (1991), shoshana felman describes the emotional upheaval in her class at yale in the mid-1980s when she screened mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 video testimonies of holocaust survivors. felman interpreted her students’ identification with the survivors as an educational achievement since the testimony evoked the learners’ empathy and engagement. expanding on felman’s findings, educators have developed a pedagogy of remembrance that stresses empathy, in which students identify with a witness and become witnesses themselves (ben-pazi, 2017; farley, 2009; gross, 2011; levitt, 2004; simon & eppert, 1997; simon, rosenberg, & eppert, 2000). this pedagogical approach aims to address the dangers of repression, alienation, and even denial of the holocaust. teaching about the holocaust in israel today relies extensively on this type of pedagogy, using firsthand testimonies and transforming learners into witnesses; the experience culminates in a journey to poland, where students witness survivors’ testimonies on the actual sites of the atrocities (cohen, 2013; cohen, 2016; feldman, 2002; goldberg, 2017; hoffman, 2016).i this pedagogy of remembrance has steeped the israeli educational system in holocaust testimonies. in the classroom, such testimony is treated as a sacred, ultimate source, carrying an undeniable, absolute truth. the desire to achieve affective engagement, on the one hand, and the fear of repression and denial, on the other, has moved teachers to put aside their critical tools when it comes to holocaust testimonies (auron, 2005; barzel, 1997; ben-pazi, 2017; harel, 1994; naveh, 2017). yet the teaching of history stresses the notion of critical pedagogy, in which students develop the ability to examine informants’ interests and situational context with a certain degree of skepticism, and gain insight by understanding historical circumstances and cross-referencing sources. in this approach, the shaping of historical knowledge calls for a critical analytical dimension (barton & levstik, 2004; salmons, 2010; yogev, 2013). the present paper considers the argument, proposed by liora gubkin (2015), that empathetic understanding by itself “may not be our best pedagogical strategy for teaching about historical trauma.... empathetic understanding that depends on identification creates epistemological and ethical problems when teaching about trauma” (pp. 104, 109). in israel, holocaust education through survivor testimony is marked by a dichotomy between formal, academic critical investigation and informal, personal-emotional experience (gross, 2013; keren, 2017). this duality was explored here through an experimental course about holocaust testimonies, designed specifically to test whether these divergent approaches can be reconciled. the intent was to make space for the students’ personal experiences and impressions, while at the same time developing an analytical attitude toward their own assumptions regarding holocaust memory. the study focused on critical responses in a pedagogical context, examining mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 what takes place in practice as teachers are trained to teach the holocaust using survivor testimony. by observing the classroom as a microcosm of israeli society, we sought to shed light on the way that holocaust remembrance is perceived in israel today. our study, conducted more than 30 years after shoshana felman’s class, builds on her synthesis of poetic and pedagogical methods, and examines how israeli teachers-in-training interpret and teach holocaust testimonies, using a mixture of empathy and critical pedagogy. theoretical framework teaching the holocaust in israel studying holocaust testimonies is an emotionally charged process. students often react with anxiety, helplessness, guilt, anger, or, alternatively, defensiveness (felman, 1991). while israel’s first decades were characterized by evasion and the silencing of survivors, the concern in teaching the holocaust in israel today is not the repression of survivors’ voices or the denial of the holocaust. a much more tangible danger is the anachronistic connection made by the learners between the holocaust and current israeli jewish reality. in his critical review of israeli historical consciousness, eyal naveh (2017) cites the oft-heard notion that “every jewish israeli citizen is a holocaust survivor or a potential victim of future holocaust-like events” (p. 175). this view is reflected in the pervasiveness of the holocaust in israelis’ everyday lives (barzel, 1997; goldberg, 2012; kidron, 2003; rothberg, 2009; steir-livni, 2014). israelis who identify with holocaust victims report experiencing feelings of melancholy, passivity, and victimhood (auron, 2005; baron, 1998; goldberg, 2009; resnik, 2003; rothman, 1997). israeli collective memory of the holocaust promotes a sense of in-group victimhood and righteousness (goldberg, 2017), suggesting the use of collective trauma as “strategic practice” (simon, rosenberg, & eppert, 2000) and fueling dynamics of competitive victimhood in relation to others’ suffering (klar, schori-eyal, & klar, 2013). the personal identification of israelis with the victims of the holocaust is an intended outcome of israeli ministry of education policies from the late 1970s to the present (knesset committee on education and culture, 1981; naveh, 2017; porat, 2004; resnik, 2003). testimonies of survivors are deliberately used as a pedagogical tool in order to “confront the student with the horror, to evoke in him a direct identification with the traumatic experience of the reality of the holocaust, and the jewish world which was destroyed and lost” (schatzker, 1982, p. 81). as we approach an era without eyewitnesses, teachers of holocaust studies around the globe are mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 obliged, now more than ever, to become the primary ethical authority mediating between the testimonies and the students (ben-pazi, 2017; gray, 2014; gross & stevick, 2015; hondius, 2015). pedagogy of holocaust teaching critical academic study and emotional experiences are both contradictory and complementary aspects of holocaust education in israel (keren, 2017). while only scant classroom data exist, goldberg’s (2017) findings indicate that teachers are enthusiastic about teaching the holocaust; similarly, cohen (2013) has found that holocaust teachers are highly satisfied with their role. nonetheless, other scholars suggest just the opposite, describing unwillingness and even extreme reluctance on the part of teachers to teach the holocaust (ben-pazi, 2017; keren 2017). though history teachers appear highly motivated to impart knowledge and deal with the cognitive aspect of holocaust teaching, it seems that at least some are hesitant to deal with the emotional challenge of affective engagement. consequently, many schools choose to outsource holocaust education to memorial institutions such as yad vashem and the ghetto fighters museum (dor-shav & yaoz, 1986; keren, 1998; rozenson, 2012; yaoz, 1999; yaron, 2004). holocaust studies in israeli schools take place primarily in history classes and informal education settings (ceremonies, field trips, commemoration sites, etc.). in 2014, israel’s minister of education and yad vashem created a national curriculum on the holocaust, “paths of memory,” to be taught from nursery school through 12th grade. recent educational reforms require history teachers to use various alternative methods, among them experiential learning, when teaching the holocaust (israel ministry of education, 2015).ii as many teachers feel unequipped for this challenge, this new reality calls for the urgent training of teachers of holocaust studies from a variety of disciplines. this raises the question of what constitutes an ethical engagement of israeli jewish students with holocaust testimonies. dominick lacapra (2001) coined the term “empathic unsettlement” to refer to a desirable response to narratives of trauma—in particular holocaust testimonies—that makes it possible to gain critical distance and distinguish between past and present. through this construct, he stretches the limits of the pedagogy of empathy, differentiating between empathy and identification. secondary witnesses (and here he refers to filmmakers or historians) should, in his view, “reactivate and transmit not trauma but unsettlement...that manifests empathy (but not full identification) with the victim...” (lacapra, 1997, p. 267). studying a loaded subject such as holocaust testimonies evokes certain assumptions, which the german philosopher hans-georg gadamer (1998) refers to as “prejudices.” in gadamer’s view, mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 prejudice is a “judgment that is rendered before all the elements that determine the situation have been finally examined” (gadamer, 1998, p. 270). raising awareness of one’s own prejudices and working them through enables one to interpret a text “in all its otherness” (gadamer, 1998, p. 269). in a dialogue with a historical document or a work of art, the learner develops awareness of his/her own prejudices, reexamines them, and replaces them with a more valid approach. gadamer calls for a “fusion of horizons” between the interpreter’s own knowledge and historical experience in order to create “effective historical consciousness” (gadamer, 1998, pp. 346-362). in the present article, personal-emotional investigation refers to the students’ own knowledge, whereas academic study is used to denote a broader, more critical historical perspective. israeli historian and educator esther yogev developed gadamer’s hermeneutic-humanistic philosophy into an educational approach (naveh & yogev, 2002; yogev, 2008). yogev posits that separation from one’s own pre-judgments is essential to the learning process: “a learning encounter that introduces the students to contradictory historical narratives can produce new insights regarding the historical account and its role in their lives…. the inner dialogue with prejudgments enables the learners to discuss the complexity of their own collective identity” (yogev, 2008, pp. 224-225). the course described in this article addresses this need by fostering students’ capacity to “fuse the horizons” of personal knowledge and academic study, between the learner and the testimonies studied (gadamer, 1998; naveh & yogev, 2002). methodology the study was conducted within the framework of a course on holocaust testimonies taught by the lead author at the kibbutzim college of education in israel. the course participants engaged in comparative analysis of a variety of testimonies, mostly on video, moving from the closest circle of holocaust survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders (the firsthand witnesses) to family members, interviewers, and teachers (the second circle) to artistic, popular, and academic works (the farthest removed). the testimonies were chosen because they shaped the collective commemoration of the holocaust, connected in a personal or professional way to the teacher and the students, and could serve the latter in their work as teachers. testimonies used in the course included those with intertextual connections as well as meta-testimonies, which deal with collecting testimonies and teaching them. the students in the course (16 women and 2 men) were jewish pre-service teachers, born and raised in israel, aged 25-30, and in their third year of undergraduate education studies. the course is part of the outstanding students program, in which students from various disciplines mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 (humanities, sciences, special-needs children, preschool children, sports, dance, theater, cinema, and communications) study together. the course consisted of 12 sessions between february and june, 2016, as part of a year-long seminar dealing with the transformative power of narratives (see appendix a for syllabus and course content). since the research was conducted in a class taught by the study’s lead author, we took several steps to ensure compliance with ethical standards. the students gave their written consent to participate in the research, and their evaluation was based on the completion of assignments without regard to content.iii the first semester of the seminar was devoted to reading and discussion of texts drawn from hebrew and world literature from different periods and genres. the learning process combined an examination of the texts themselves with observation of the students’ reactions to them, and included reading and writing assignments, class discussions, student presentations, and a final essay. the second semester, which we will discuss here, dealt specifically with holocaust testimonies. the course did not teach the historical events of world war ii but focused instead on holocaust testimonies and the responses they elicited among the students. it included three lessons by guest lecturers (literary scholars and a sociologist) and student participation in a memorial ceremony. each of the 12 lessons was recorded on video, in addition to which personal diaries, a class diary, and a teacher’s diary were kept. this material, which formed the basis of the study, was subsequently examined by the authors for presuppositions regarding holocaust memory. our approach was to investigate the personal, unmediated experience of the students, meaning that the way they understood and reacted to the lesson was itself considered significant information for purposes of the study. a prime example of this was the “viewer’s report,” produced by two designated student-observers each week, which detailed what happened in the lesson and what the students gained from it. this recounting of what took place in the class became its own form of testimony. the students were encouraged to draw connections between holocaust testimonies and their own experience. for example, when felman’s paper was discussed, the teacher relied on the students’ personal experience as pre-service teachers, asking them: “did something like this ever happen to you when teaching a class? something that could evoke this kind of response?... if she [felman] would prepare a lesson plan, what would its educational objectives be?” weekly entries in the personal diary emphasized this dimension. in many cases, lack of knowledge emerged as an actual advantage. for example, the students watched a segment of german video testimony (karla-raveh-gesamtschule, 2008) without mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 understanding the spoken language, and were asked to describe the body language of the witness and the audience. students were encouraged not to confine themselves to being passive spectators but to participate actively in designing the lesson. the teacher asked for their feedback and was open to making changes based on their suggestions. for example, before screening testimonies, the teacher consulted with the students regarding the choice of material and the ways of approaching it. the students felt free to criticize the teacher’s selections and to suggest alternatives. one of the students described this active participative method as follows: “this class started very much with you [the teacher] as the focus, and became more and more ours. now we have a stake in this class, too.” the students were encouraged to reflect on their own perceptions regarding holocaust memory. when they received the final essay assignment, one of the students asked if she could write about a “holocaust memorial room” that she had created during her military service. the teacher’s response was: “you can take this experience and analyze it. but i want you to add another level, a critical component. meaning, what were your motivations in doing it? what did you achieve through it? and where did you not succeed? how would you do it today? in the present context with pupils, maybe in a better way? in a manner that enables more perspectives?” students were urged to share their experiences and feelings, in contrast to the usual rigidity of holocaust studies. the teacher and students knew each other from the first semester, and the lessons were conducted in a warm, intimate atmosphere. the lessons included eating together, and some of the participants took off their shoes in class. the teacher encouraged the students to share a range of emotions, spoken of less frequently in the context of holocaust memory, such as boredom, confusion, and laughter. a somewhat humorous orientation was fostered, with the students invoking their own brand of “holocaust humor.” on numerous occasions, the participants laughed loudly and applauded to express appreciation. one student commented: “this class is so heavy for us. dealing with such serious stuff. but we started the class with encouragement, applause, and laughter. now we’re ending it the same way.” the teacher constantly connected the study of the holocaust with the students’ everyday lives. discussions often referred to experiences outside the classroom, and students frequently invited the class to outside events. one of the high points of the course was when the entire class went to hear the testimony of a student’s grandfather at a holocaust ceremony. on a different occasion, when a student who brought her baby to class apologized for the child’s crying, the mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 teacher responded by emphasizing the value of bringing outside life into the classroom, citing the joy of including both a grandfather and a baby. data collection and analysis the study was conducted in the ethnographic tradition, utilizing the methodology of collaborative self-study (bray, lee, smith, & yorks, 2000). in keeping with lunenburg and samaras (2011), the subject of the study was the participants’ practices; however, its collaborative framework enabled the participants to develop a reflective approach, enhance their teaching skills, understand the context of their work, and explain their reactions to the testimonies studied (henry & kemmis, 1985; whitehead, 2009; zellermayer & tabak, 2006). the data collection and analysis included three main phases: phase a. all 12 lessons were recorded on video by a professional videographer who attended the class. the students consented to participate in the study and have the classes recorded. all video recordings were uploaded to the course website, accessible exclusively to course participants. each lesson was documented by the two student “viewers” who were chosen at the beginning of each class to observe and document the dynamic in the classroom, the content studied, the reactions of the students, etc. at the end of the lesson, the viewers presented their impressions, which were then published in the class diary on the course site. each student also kept an online personal diary, which only they and the class instructor could read. every week the students received an assignment to read texts or watch videos and compose an essay for their diary, on which the teacher provided written feedback. the final assignment involved independent study of holocaust teaching through testimonies. the participants worked in teams of 2-4 people or by themselves. the process of writing the essays (from proposal to research plan, progress report, and final product) was uploaded to the class diary, which was open to all the students. the teacher also kept a research diary that the students could not read. phase b. in the second phase, 7 of the 12 video recordings were transcribed by a professional (not all could be selected for transcription due to budgetary restrictions). the teacher watched all the recordings and read the transcripts to validate their accuracy. students’ names and descriptions of visual information not included in the transcript (movement in the classroom space, changes in body position, facial expressions, crying or laughing, tone of voice, etc.) were inserted. the teacher also added contextual explanations for events mentioned in the video that occurred outside the classroom but affected or involved participants in the course (for example, mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 a student’s dance performance, various issues from the first semester, or students’ presentations at a conference). the personal diaries, class diary, and teacher’s diary were retrieved from the course website and organized in chronological order along with the transcribed lessons, with the transcriptions comprising the “class discourse.” the personal diaries were also organized separately, enabling the teacher to follow the students’ personal development. phase c. this phase of the study consisted of three parts: a. in the first stage, the teacher analyzed and conceptualized the transcribed lessons and the diaries (strauss & corbin, 1998), looking for statements that expressed one or more of the following thematic categories: personal/collective, past/present, emotional/critical, artistic/historic. b. in the next stage, the statements were checked by the course teacher for prejudgments or prejudicial notions of holocaust memory and holocaust teaching, focusing on the following areas: emotional vs. cognitive, experience vs. study, idolization vs. criticism, victimization vs. heroism. c. finally, the teacher looked at agreement or disagreement with these approaches during class discussions, searching for turning points in the class discourse and the students’ personal process based on the following questions: was there a change in the collective discourse or in their personal approach? what caused this change? are the students aware of it? how did they explain it? in the next section, we will present the key assumptions distilled from the above process. findings assumptions identification with holocaust victims. a major underlying assumption expressed in the class (both implicitly and explicitly) was the identification with holocaust victims and survivors. the students merged the holocaust with their own personal lives: “the holocaust is an integral part of my life”; “i experience the effects of the holocaust every day”; “the holocaust is always there. it has always been part of me, of who i am. i grew into it and was born with it… it had, and still has, a strong influence on our nuclear family. it influenced our growth, who we are today, how we will educate our children.” mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 all of the students mentioned a strong personal connection to the holocaust through a specific survivor, in most cases a grandparent. the holocaust was described as a genetic burden: “the story of my grandfather is a part of my identity. it is in the family genes”; “i was always exposed to the holocaust horrors, the stories, the tattooed number on my grandmother’s arm.” the holocaust was described as a model embedded in everyday life: “whenever things are difficult for me, when i’ve had enough and want to give up, i hear my grandmother’s voice and see her face in my mind. she survived the holocaust and then stalin. so i try not to complain.” students who did not have a holocaust survivor in their family reported “adopting” a survivor as a significant figure in their life. one student described an annual ritual she had from early childhood with a survivor neighbor: “each year on holocaust remembrance day, she would take me to her apartment and reminisce, telling me: ‘i was your age when the nazis came.’” another student spoke of a unique relationship with a holocaust survivor she had met on her school’s trip to poland. (this experience was not confined to the students; the three guest lecturers in the course, as well as the teacher, opened their lessons by describing their personal connection with the topic.) in the view of the students, it is this personal identification that generates the deep commitment to holocaust memory on the part of israelis in general. they themselves expressed an obligation to hear and watch testimonies despite the emotional burden. this was especially true on holocaust remembrance day: “on remembrance day, i always watch television, see films, listen to stories.” this commitment was also reflected in the organizing of memorial ceremonies by some of the students. a personal association with holocaust victims was likewise perceived as a source of commitment. the students saw themselves and other israelis as personally connected with the holocaust, and hence more obligated to watch or listen to testimonies, and to preserve and promote the memory of the holocaust, than people who are not israeli jews. the traumatic imperative. another key assumption expressed in class concerned the manner in which testimonies should be listened to. in the eyes of the students, holocaust testimonies should be experienced in a sad, dramatic, serious way: “you must be sad on holocaust remembrance day, and whenever you talk about the holocaust. i remember as a child i tried hard to uphold this standard. i drew a direct connection between ‘being a good boy’ and ‘being sad on holocaust remembrance day’”; “humor and jokes about the holocaust make me furious. i do not accept laughter or anything that normalizes the holocaust.” mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 the ceremonies were presented as a trauma in themselves, from very early childhood. as recounted by the students, the heavy emotional burden was intensified by pressure from the teachers. the students described their own experiences, as well as those of their pupils: “i remember the long, exhausting ceremonies and the fear that i would laugh and the teacher would get upset”; “the teacher asked the [second grade] pupils, ‘how did you feel [during the ceremony]?’ and one girl said: ‘i was bored.’ so the teacher reprimanded her: ‘it’s a pity you think so, because it’s a very important ceremony and we must respect it…. next week we’ll have the ceremony for the fallen soldiers [of israel’s wars], so you’d better change your behavior.’”iv the expectation to appear sad was not exclusive to the viewers of holocaust testimonies. according to the students, holocaust survivors should also express horror when bearing witness: “a testimony should include this painful emotional aspect”; “it doesn’t matter how good their life is [now]…. holocaust survivors should at least look miserable.” this forced sense of trauma was embodied in particular by the holocaust remembrance day siren. the sound itself was described as a metonymic representation of the holocaust, symbolizing trauma and, in turn, evoking other traumas. the students showed no awareness of the irony of the implied analogy between the trauma of holocaust victims and the secondary trauma they experienced in memorial ceremonies. this assumption was demonstrated by a student who lives with her family in southern israel. over the past decade, this student and her family had suffered from frequent rocket and mortar attacks from the gaza strip, which are generally accompanied by a warning siren. the student shared with the class her experience on the most recent holocaust remembrance day: my son is 4 years old, and goes to nursery school. his teacher decided that the children should not stand quietly [during the siren on holocaust remembrance day] but should express positive energy toward the state of israel. so they stood around the flag...and sent out good energy.... the teacher sent photos to our whatsapp group to show the concerned parents that everything was okay and it went just fine. in one of the photos all the kids are like this [demonstrating “good energy”], and my son has his hands over his ears [crying]. the student shared her distress at witnessing her young child’s suffering. it seemed that the main source of her concern lay in the fact that the child could not choose not to hear the siren. his mother could not protect or spare him from it. the student brought up the notion that israeli children cannot escape the reality of rocket and mortar attacks, on the one hand, and the mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 holocaust remembrance day siren, on the other. like this child, the students did not choose to be born in israel, be exposed to holocaust content, take part in ceremonies, or study holocaust testimonies. the course, like the holocaust remembrance day ceremony, was seen as a traumatic obligation, something an israeli is not free to avoid. it was perceived by the students as a cumulative burden, increasing each week and coloring their total experience in and out of class: “it’s not like you’re studying about the holocaust one day a week. it stays with you the entire week.” nevertheless, the students asserted that their identification with the holocaust demanded a personalemotional approach to the material. at the end of the first lesson, the “viewer” said that the lesson included “few expressions of personal experiences and more analysis of artistic concepts in the text.” in his personal diary, he expressed the hope that “later on in the course...we’ll hear more personal stuff.” students criticized the academic nature of bilsky’s paper (2010) analyzing hannah arendt’s (1963) interpretation of the eichmann trial, and suggested instead that holocaust testimonies should be discussed utilizing emotional tools: “it [bilsky’s paper] is written with a very, very cold approach…like scholars, legal people, and academics use.” this argument is repeated in other contexts as well, such as literature and art (also taught by the study’s lead author), where students often express the notion that the academic analytical discussion is a threat to the holistic, unmediated experience. in the case of holocaust testimonies, the traumatic nature of their personal reaction did not alter the students’ preference for personal-emotional inquiry over critical study. the students’ emotional burden reached its peak following the third lesson, when they received an assignment to watch schindler’s list (spielberg, 1993). after privately expressing anxiety to the class teacher in the wake of the film, one of the students agreed to share her distress with the class. in response to her disclosure, most of the students affirmed that they were experiencing emotional difficulties at this point. the timing of the crisis was explained by them as the result of two factors: first, that “the novelty of the first lessons had dissipated, and the burden began to accumulate”; and second, the viewing of schindler’s list, which marked the first time during the course that they were confronted with graphic images. though it was not historical documentation, the students were evidently strongly influenced by the seductive power of images in a cinematic context. the effect may have been intensified since they watched the film by themselves at home and could not rely on the collective framework, which offered the chance to share and “vent” their emotions. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 despite their distress, students pointed to the emotional approach as a source of profound learning. the critical work, by contrast, was described as a formal obligation that did not generate a meaningful process: “here [in class] something really good is happening, and then when i go home and have to read an academic paper, it brings me back to all the courses where i’ve had to read papers and summarize them just for the sake of an assignment.” critical reflection along with revealing their own assumptions, the students reflected critically on collective israeli attitudes that inform these very beliefs. they were able to see beyond the common presumptions in israeli jewish discourse with regard to holocaust remembrance, allowing themselves to express boredom and even indifference, and thus making room for sincere discourse and a critical reflective approach. for example, in survivor karla raveh’s (2008) testimony in front of a german audience, both the witness and the audience did not follow the “traumatic imperative” posited by israeli jewish norms. a segment from this video testimony evoked strong feelings of disapproval among the students. they claimed that the relaxed atmosphere was not appropriate to holocaust testimony. at the same time, they reflected critically on their own assumptions as israeli jews: “here in our country, we take the holocaust very seriously. you have to be sad, wear a white shirt with a [remembrance] sticker, stand at attention. this is how we relate to the holocaust. other approaches seem to us inappropriate and disrespectful”; “we’re used to instinctively safeguarding our myth. if we see [the holocaust presented with] a happy ending, or it seems to be taken too lightly..., it undermines our ritual.” the expectation of maintaining a sad appearance on holocaust remembrance day, expressed in the early lessons, was later accompanied by a reflective approach that allowed room for a broader range of responses. the student who took a strong stand against holocaust humor in the beginning of the course subsequently admitted: “[when i was in high school] i didn’t understand the siren [on holocaust remembrance day]. it was hard for me not to laugh. the films bored me, and the descriptions of atrocities were hard for me to listen to.” another student apologized at the beginning of the course in case she laughed (“if i smile or giggle, it’s only because i’m uncomfortable..., not because i’m disrespectful, god forbid”). over the course of the semester, this student came to reexamine the issue of laughter in the context of the holocaust. in the final lesson, she asked: “what would have happened if i would have laughed during the siren? a lot of children laugh because of it.” what began as a source of fear and embarrassment for her became mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 an issue for critical reflection. she even allowed herself to consider where a change in the conventional educational approach to the holocaust might lead: “i wonder what would have happened if there had really been laughing, though.” during the first few lessons, we were still under the impression that israelis are keenly interested in holocaust testimonies. later on, an opposing view surfaced as students confessed: “none of us went looking for holocaust testimonies on youtube on our own initiative”; “we don’t go and look for holocaust testimonies in our spare time”; “we didn’t have the emotional space to experience holocaust remembrance day”; “on the journey [to poland], i was not excited. i saw all the shoes; i saw the crematoria. and i’m like: why am i not crying?”; “many times i feel like the holocaust is far removed from me, intellectually and emotionally.” students questioned the israeli collective narrative focused exclusively on the fate of the jewish people: “what do we learn from this terrible crime that happened to the jewish people? how can we connect it to the rest of the world?” students dismissed the notion that jewish israelis are committed to holocaust memory and expressed critical views of israeli society and its educational policy: “on holocaust remembrance day, i was talking with a [jewish israeli] guy my age, and he told me: ‘the holocaust doesn’t mean that much to me.’ and i said to myself, what is he trying to say? why doesn’t it mean that much to him? because he doesn’t have grandparents who survived the holocaust? it raised a lot of questions”; “the journey to poland didn’t really speak to me. the sessions we had in high school destroyed the experience”; “something about the trip to poland…is, in my opinion, a bit problematic. it’s not well-thought-out enough. it somehow misses the mark.” as a result of their critical reflection, the students moved beyond the notion of “competitive memory,” in which the holocaust is an exclusively jewish trauma supported by a rhetoric of uniqueness that marginalizes other traumas, to the realm of “multidirectional memory,” which relates to the confrontation of multiple narratives in situations of extreme conflict (rothberg, 2009). indeed, in the final sessions of the course, the holocaust was no longer perceived solely as the domain of israeli jews. a student who used to avoid talking about the holocaust with a close relative who was not jewish made the comment: “i never cared at all what she thought [about the holocaust]. i remember as a child, i once asked her, ‘your family doesn’t..., you don’t have relatives [who are holocaust victims or survivors]? and she said, ‘no.’ since then, it was as if she was not connected [to the holocaust].” yet for the final essay, it was this relative whom she interviewed about the youth trips to poland. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 a student who was surprised to see non-jewish children touring a holocaust memorial site commented: “just to see these kids—they’re british christian high school kids. and they were really interested. it really touched them.” even students who were unwilling to abandon the assumption of exclusivity agreed to reconsider it: “on the one hand, i see it [the holocaust] as my property. it’s mine. it’s my people’s…. it’s like, don’t touch it! on the other hand, though, yes, do touch it! you should touch it. so where is the balance between the extremes? where do i loosen my hold? and how do i loosen it? how much do i let go of it?”; “it’s like, we want the world to know, but we always say it’s ours.” the sense of criticism toward “others” (such as americans, germans, and arabs) was balanced with self-criticism of israeli jewish individuals as well as state institutions. the students discussed formative moments in israel’s approach as a country toward holocaust survivors: “the eichmann trial was a performance organized by the state of israel. it had goals. one goal was to create some kind of narrative in which the sovereign state of israel judged this terrible criminal”; “where was the state of israel in the eichmann trial? israel was very judgmental toward survivors who were forced to join judenräte [jewish community councils under the nazis], and in general.” notions widely accepted by israeli jews—such as competitive memory, exclusiveness of the holocaust, the traumatic imperative, the need to maintain a somber appearance when commemorating or discussing the holocaust, and the devoted commitment to holocaust memory—gradually broke down as the course progressed. the reflective process sparked critical thinking about the collective israeli narrative of the holocaust as the sole province of israeli jews, the focus on the fate of the jews, and the discrepancy between the zionist collective narrative and holocaust survivors’ private narratives. the tendency to regard holocaust testimony as monolithic, static, and “sacred” was ultimately replaced by the realization that it is affected by multiple circumstances contexts. this shift was manifested in a student’s remarks comparing the setting of the course and the settings of holocaust testimonies: “circumstances play a great role [in shaping the final product]. if we change our places in the classroom, it influences the class discourse. and the same with the person who interviews a witness. gideon hausner [the prosecutor in the eichmann trial] had a very precise goal he wanted to achieve…. so the way he chose to do it was through personal testimonies. he directed very specifically what the witnesses would say, and how they would say it.” the course presented a range of interpretations and attitudes. critical consideration of key junctures in the israeli collective narrative raised the notion that the non-israeli perspective is not only legitimate but can expand the israeli view. one of the students expressed this shift: “for mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 many years, i attended a lot of memorial ceremonies, and even organized many of them…. i was operating on automatic pilot. i knew what i was supposed to be feeling, but i didn’t think about what i wanted to transmit. this course raised many questions for me about collective memory...and the desire to commemorate the past. now i watch holocaust memorial ceremonies and examine them from a critical perspective.” discussion emotional identification with holocaust victims is described in the research not only as an effective tool in holocaust education in both the long (schatzker, 1982) and short terms (romi & lev, 2007) but also as problematic (ben-peretz, 2003) and challenging (gross, 2010). for some of the students, the study of holocaust testimonies evoked feelings of aversion and avoidance, while others described the difficulties encountered during the process as significant in and of themselves. one student pointed to the emotional struggle as an aspect that needs to be heightened: “i need it to be difficult. it should be difficult for us! let’s not make it just another course about the holocaust.” as educators, we strongly reject the use of survivor testimony to produce or intensify identification with the trauma of the holocaust, resulting as it does in a simultaneous sense of victimhood and privilege among many israelis. we are critical of the manipulative use of holocaust testimony that places it outside the bounds of critical reflection, often for political ends. however, we wish to emphasize the distinction between the problematic political manipulation of empathy and the constructive aspects of empathy. according to lacapra (2001), holocaust testimony must be emotionally and intellectually disruptive in order to evoke responsiveness to the traumatic experience of others. “[insisting on an empathy that] resists full identification with, and appropriation of, the experience of the other would depend both on one’s own potential for traumatization...and on one’s recognition that another’s loss is not identical to one’s own loss” (p. 79). in our opinion, empathy has a profound role to play as a means of engagement en route to critical reflection. empathy was used in the course to encourage sharing of feelings, experiences, and impressions. the uncovering of assumptions such as identification with holocaust victims, exclusivity of suffering, behavioral codes surrounding the holocaust, and the like allowed students to criticize their own contemporary culture of commemoration. israeli students are saturated with holocaust educational experiences in school, ceremonies, organized trips to poland, and everyday discourse. their responses are characterized by overmailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 identification, over-involvement, and reverence (auron, 2005; barzel, 1997; harel, 1994; schiff, bar-zohar, kfir, & zieger, 1996). against this backdrop, teachers must find a way to moderate a productive learning process that is relevant to the everyday lives of their students. liora gubkin asserts that “engaged witnessing recognizes emotion as an important and fragile source of knowledge and provides structured opportunities for analysis of affect without exploiting students’ emotional vulnerability” (gubkin, 2015, p. 113). building on her approach, the pedagogical methods employed in the course emphasized maintaining an open atmosphere that promoted the sharing of personal experiences; encouraging the students’ active participation in designing the learning process; connecting class interactions with course content using literary, historical, and educational tools; and reflecting critically on the learning process. in sharp contrast to the general tendency in israeli holocaust education, the emotional experiences in the course served as a springboard to academic study. the identification with holocaust victims was utilized as a subject for reflective learning, thus enabling the students to go beyond passivity and victimhood. conclusions our study found that the initial predisposition of israeli students when discussing holocaust testimonies is to prefer personal knowledge and emotional investigation over a critical perspective and academic study. the course addressed this dichotomy, suggesting a “fusion of horizons” in which emotional responses serve as an entry point for critical academic study, combining attitudes and beliefs from the students’ own lives with knowledge grounded in a universal context. students overcame their total identification with holocaust victims and developed “openness to the other” (gadamer 1998, p. 361). in going beyond their personal horizons, they were able to break free of the “identification trap” and respond to the traumatic experience of other groups and individuals, as discussed by lacapra (2001). the holocaust is a traumatic topic for israelis. our study found that emotional and personal identification can be a fruitful subject for reflective learning, enabling students to go beyond passive, futile reactions to the holocaust such as traumatic regression, horror, and veneration. the study highlights the choices made during the creation and consumption of testimony, expanding the students’ decision-making space and encouraging them to be active agents. the observation of learners’ reactions and practices can serve as an effective springboard for teaching the holocaust and for training future holocaust educators. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 as we near the time when there will no longer be eyewitnesses, teachers must learn how to mediate testimonies. studying holocaust testimonies in israel today is already a complicated task and will become even more so in the near future. teachers cannot serve as semi-authoritative or passive vehicles for the transmission of processed knowledge. they must function not only as knowledge agents but as facilitators of knowledge construction (naveh & yogev, 2002). in israel in particular, given the country’s educational policy, teachers need the tools to build independent, unique holocaust study programs for their pupils. however, as noted by stevick and michaels (2013, p. 10): “our moral orientations [in holocaust education] need to be in dialogue with the empirical realities of the classroom.” teaching the holocaust in the context of students’ everyday lives produces a meeting point between past, present, and future, and constructs a meaningful educational process. connecting the study of holocaust testimonies to the surrounding reality, and using the classroom setting to reflect and deepen the meaning of testimonies, also mitigates feelings of privilege and victimhood. the creation of “multidirectional memory” takes the holocaust out of the realm of an exclusive concern of israeli jews, framing it in universal ethical terms. as this study demonstrates, personal and emotional experiences can serve as an opening to academic learning. the knowledge created in the course examined here not only shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of different teaching methods and materials, it also intensified students’ involvement and critical thinking skills, thereby constructing and fostering an active multidimensional awareness of this very challenging topic. notes i many high schools in israel encourage students to visit concentration camps in poland as part of a comprehensive, professionally led program that includes preparation and assignments beforehand and group processing of the experience both during and after the trip. ii since 2015, israeli high school students are not tested on the holocaust as part of their matriculation exams; instead, alternative assessments are conducted individually by teachers. in a replacement of frontal learning, the pupils structure the knowledge for themselves through alternative learning processes in a constructivist and interdisciplinary manner. iii the study followed the american educational research association code of ethics (2011) and met the requirements of the mofet institute and the kibbutzim college of education review board for the protection of human participants in research. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 ivguilt at not experiencing the expected emotions is not unique to israeli students: eckmann et al.’s comprehensive 2017 study (pp. 263-264) points to kverndokk’s (2011) description of a norwegian student on a school trip to the auschwitz-birkenau memorial and state museum who felt distressed because she could not produce the expected emotional reaction. the same study cites marion klein (2013), who referred to this phenomenon as the “sorrow imperative;” she discusses students’ expectations to feel certain emotions in connection to visiting memorial sites, and the strategies they develop to cope with this challenge. we thank our anonymous reviewer for pointing us to these studies. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 appendix a. a course sylalbus paper lesson no. texts discussed subject homework assignment holocaust testimonies academic research documentary and artistic texts field material students’ texts 1 srebrnik, 1962 srebrnik, 1985 felman, 1991a  crisis in class watcing holocaust testimonies  comparative study of testimonies of same witness  ethical limits in creating effective testimony write an essay ”the holocaust and me” 2 srebrnik, 1962 srebrnik, 2002 bomba, 1985 polish bystanders, 1985 segments from lanzmann, 1985 students’ essays “the holocaust and me”  private and public testimony  institutionali zation of the term “holocaust”  lanzmann's motivations in creating shoah read and respond to one of three texts: felman, 1991a; benzine, 2015; bilsky, 2010 3 lanzmann, 1985 benzine, 2015 felman, 1991b bilsky, 2010 benzine, 2015 spielberg, 1993 students’ response to the academic papers  effect of classroom’s physical structure on lesson contents  ethical boundaries of intereviewer in taking testimony  influence of collective memory on testimonies watch schindler's list and write an essay about the film in relation to collective memory mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 4 dudai, 2015 keneally, 1982 spielberg, 1993 fast, 2003  memory, testimony and poetic representation in schindler's list  credibility of historical cinematic representation  testimony, the structure of human memory, and aristotelian catharsis  artistic manipulations and emotional effects in schindler's list 5 raveh, 1986 raveh, 2002 raveh, 2012 lübke & naishtatbornstein, 2012 gera, 2002 students’ emotiona l distress caused by holocaust testimoni es  purpose of studying holocaust testimonies  differences between german and israeli interpretations of holocaust testimony  repeated patterns and anomalies in holocaust testimony  multiplicity of meanings and voices in the testimony write a proposal for the final essay, on the use of testimonies in holocaust education mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 6 raveh, 1986 raveh, 2002 raveh, 2012 naishtatbornstein, 2016; naishtatbornstein, 2017 kaniuk, 2012  does holocaust memory commemorate death or life? jewish or universal event? focus on past or present?  what are the expectations from holocaust testimony?  what options are open to survivors in shaping their testimonies in relation to the israeli narrative? read one of the following papers and write an essay expressing your thoughts on this case study: naishtatbornstein, 2016a; naishtatbornstein, forthcoming 7 harel, 1990 yeshurun, 2009  avot yeshurun’s poetry as holocaust testimony  archaeological meanings in yeshurun’s poems  influence of the yom kippur war on yeshurun’s poetry  who will carry the memory after his departure?  what does the poetry of yeshurun testify to? mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 8 testimony of mossad agent who participated in eichmann’s capture barbash & lerner, 2015 teaching holocaust curricula in israel; interviews and questionnaires with pupils, teachers, students, pedagogical instructors, and school principals; holocaust remembrance day ceremonies at high schools and community centers; interviews with three generations of a holocaust survivor’s family  teaching the holocaust in different israeli sectors and disciplines: israelipalestinian pupils, preschool pupils, special-needs pupils, dance, sports, and cinema classes  youth journeys to poland  holocaust remembrance day ceremonies  concept of holocaust testimony in kapo in jerusalem write research plan for final esssay 9 cohen & liss, 2016 students’ final essays  idf deputy chief of staff yair golan’s speech at holocaust ceremony, likening recent developments in israeli society to processes in europe before the holocaust  progress and difficulties in writing their final essays mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 10 ben-amos & hoffman, 2010 hoffman, 2016 diaries and commanders’ speeches from idf journeys to poland students personal experienc es from journeys to poland  idf journeys to poland (“witnesses in uniform”)  shaping the ideal idf commander through these journeys  idf as a “memory agent” influencing school system and israeli society read felman’s paper, which opened the course, and write an essay on the question: what happened in felman’s class? 11 menachem s., 1988 laub, 1988 laub, 1992 felman, 1991a  different levels of witnessing: first-, second and third-hand witnesses  how will viewers perceive the testimony in future, when there will be no live eyewitnesses?  instigation of crisis as a legitimate classroom tool  multiple meanings and functions of holocaust testimony ceremony honoring japanese righteous among the nations, chiune sugihara, at tel aviv university sugihara survivor schor, 2016 sugihara’s son, 2016 mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 12 ceremony, tel aviv, 2016 student’ impressio ns of the ceremon y students’ final essays  ceremony as a performance that reaffirms social conventions  reflection and conclusions from the course references: american educational research 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(2008). karla as a guest at karla raveh gesamtschule. lemgo & detmold. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ http://cms.education.gov.il/educationcms/units/mazkirut_pedagogit/history/hativa_elyona http://cms.education.gov.il/educationcms/units/mazkirut_pedagogit/history/hativa_elyona http://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/1.1688165 journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 keneally, t. (1982). schindler’s ark. new york: simon and schuster. keren, n. (1998). preserving memory within oblivion: the struggle over teaching the holocaust in israel. zmanim, 16(64), 56-64 (hebrew). keren, n. (2017). teaching the holocaust: a mission. in s. geva (ed.), the shoah: an educational lesson. tel aviv: mofet institute & hakibbutz hameuchad (hebrew). kidron, c. a. 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(1996). teacher training to handle the subject of the holocaust: program evaluation and proposal for a new model. dapim, 23, 7-26 (hebrew). simon, r. i., & eppert, c. (1997). remembering obligation: pedagogy and the witnessing of testimony of historical trauma. canadian journal of education/ revue canadienne de l’éducation, 22, 175-191. doi:10.2307/1585906 simon, r. i., rosenberg, s., & eppert, c. (eds.). (2000). between hope and despair: pedagogy and the remembrance of historical trauma. oxford, uk: rowman & littlefield. spielberg, s. (director). (1993). schindler’s list [motion picture]. srebrnik, s. (1962). video testimony. eichmann trial. jerusalem: israeli state archives. srebrnik s. 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(2008). the gadamerian dialog. in n. aloni (ed.), empowering dialogues in humanistic education (pp. 214-235). tel aviv: hakibbutz hameuchad (hebrew). yogev, e. (2013). on the need to strengthen political-critical thinking in history education. international review of education, 59(5), 627-645. zellermayer, m., & tabak, e. (2006). knowledge construction in a teachers’ community of inquiry: a possible road map. teachers and teaching theory and practice, 12(1), 33-49. mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=aloedi&proxyid=&u=http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1111%2fj.1469-5812.2011.00789.x https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=aloedi&proxyid=&u=http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1111%2fj.1469-5812.2011.00789.x journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2017, pp. 4-36 corresponding author: lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 acknowledgement: this study was conducted as part of the mofet post-doctoral fellowship (2015-2017). the authors would like to thank the heads of the program, prof. elite olshtain and dr. liat josefsberg ben-yehoshua, for their dedicated, generous hel; the students who participated in the course; the research assistants, mr. yonatan kanonitch and mr. yaron adini; head of the research department in kibbutzim college of education, dr. rinat arviv-elyashiv; dr. tsafrir goldberg, dr. tammy hoffman, dr. rina dudai, ms. karen gold and ms. ravit inbar. about the authors: lilach naishtat-bornstein is a literary scholar and an activist. teaches at the kibbutzim college of education. she holds a phd from tel aviv university (2010). she was a research associate at five college women’s studies research center (amherst, mass. 2011) and was a post-doctoral fellow at the mofet institute for teacher education (2015-2017). naishtat-bornstein directed a documentary film (zwischen heimat und zuhause, 2012. with hans-peter lubke) and published the first hebrew translation of coleridge’s christabel (even hoshen, 2011). her recent books are their jew: right and wrong in holocaust testimonies (hebrew university & mofet institute, 2016), who’s afraid of christabel? the story of a reading group (gama & hakibbutz hameuchad press, 2017), and poetics of the fragment (resling, in press). eyal naveh is a professor of history. he served as the chairperson of the department of general history, at tel aviv university in 2012-2016. he heads the academic council at kibbutzim college of education. alongside his academic publications, professor naveh wrote seven textbooks for the israeli k-12 education system. he also coordinated and advised the israeli-palestinian two narratives history project. his latest book is past in turmoil: public debates over historical issues in israel (mofet institute & hakibbutz hameuchad 2017). mailto:lilach.naishtat@smkb.ac.il http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 4 measuring the relational aspects of civic engagement and action alison k. cohen university of california, berkeley school of public health & graduate school of education jason c. fitzgerald wagner college abstract: civic leaders who are highly and effectively engaged often have strong relationships with key stakeholders across institutions and communities. the prevalence and nature of these relationships is not known among those with more typical levels of civic engagement. we were interested in the perceptions of likelihood of individual versus community action on particular topics. we surveyed a random sample of residents of two neighboring french towns and found that people perceive their neighbors to be, on average, more engaged than they perceive themselves to be, and that few individuals can provide specific action steps for how they would tackle social issues in their community. these results suggest that teaching civic action skills, including how to identify key decision makers as possible allies, is important for civic educators. key words: civic action, civic education, civic engagement, france introduction the field of social studies seeks to develop good citizens by exploring curricular material that could help students construct a better society (evans, 2004). dewey (1938) extended this argument, suggesting that (1) experience was the best way for students to learn, and (2) this experiential education was needed as the cornerstone not just in social studies but in all traditional school subjects. indeed, nearly a century later, education systems around the world are still attempting to heed this call, providing service learning opportunities, internships, and various other constructivist methods for students’ “experiential development.” mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 5 despite these experiential opportunities for students to develop civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, students have fewer opportunities as adults to continue to practice these skills and dispositions. since the 1950s, american participation in voluntary associations, a space where american adults have often practiced (and children have often witnessed) democratic living, has declined (putnam, 2001). (participation in such associations is associated with civic engagement (rice et al., 2016).) what tocqueville (1835) once regarded as the most important piece for understanding american civic culture has been in rapid free-fall for half a century, replaced by engagement in social media and donations to large, staffed organizations. others have found that civic self-efficacy is associated with civic collective efficacy (the likelihood that members of their community will act) (e.g., collins, neal, & neal, 2014), underscoring its importance. despite recent not-for-profit organizations attempting to engage youth in the democratic process through afterschool (e.g., the center for urban pedagogy) and in-school (e.g., generation citizen (2011)) programs, youth often do not see such civic engagement in the lives of adults around them. since many students today do not witness adults practicing democracy, they also do not get to meet others in the community who are not close friends. this civic isolationism limits youths’ abilities to learn how civic life operates in authentic ways, which limits their abilities later to engage in civic life (fitzgerald, 2017). making connections with civically engaged community members and learning from their experiences enables youth to both witness examples of civic engagement and participate in that process, thereby constructing their own civic lives. action civics one of the most pro-active, collaborative models of authentic civics education has been the action civics model (fitzgerald & andes, 2012), which emphasizes collective action, student voice and agency, and reflection rather than strict adherence to traditional political knowledge (maker, cohen, fitzgerald, & pope, 2015; pope, stolte, & cohen, 2011). initially, such programs were paired with more traditional civics knowledge. for example, the action civics program project citizen was designed to be paired with the we the people curriculum (center for civic education, 2014) so that students could develop their understanding of constitutional principles in class while they practiced engaging in public policy, following larry gerston’s (2002) model (haas, 2001). the result of these pairings was action civics work that enabled students to focus on school-based issues. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 6 more recently, action civics programs have been developed with much less of an emphasis on a “knowledge base” component that textbooks traditionally espouse. rather, these programs embed with currently taught social studies classes, either using trained “democracy coaches” (e.g., generation citizen, 2011) or by training the social studies teachers to enact the curriculum (e.g., national action civics collaborative, 2012). to be sure, these latter programs teach students about the workings of the federalist system. however, these latter programs also focus more on engaging in civic action than on producing a whole-scale social studies curriculum with an action civics component. indeed, these three programs in particular illustrate a range of approaches to teaching action civics. while these programs certainly use differing approaches to civics, they interestingly share a process model for “doing civics.” each of these action civics programs are comprised of six steps pulled from their online program descriptions: (1) community analysis, (2) issue selection, (3) issue research, (4) planning for action, (5) taking action, and (6) reflection (fitzgerald, 2017). in these cases, the “knowledge base” is contextually bound to the issue selected by the class, providing a more authentic role for research, action, and civics education. for its successes, this model has been hailed by educators, notably us education secretary arne duncan (2012), as a way to engage students in authentic civic practice. new research, however, suggests that while the process of civic action might be impactful, a pre-condition of wide and various relationships within the community might be key to authentic civic action. in a qualitative study of civic thinking, civic leaders relied on their existing, non-instrumental relationships to inform the process by which they will engage a community problem, if they engage it at all (fitzgerald, 2016). this means that civic leaders have the contact information of a wide variety of people within their network who could help them to problem solve any of various civic issues via “networked publics” (ito et al., 2009, pp. 18-21). while these networked publics may serve a similar purpose to putnam’s voluntary associations, they are less formal and more “flat,” enabling those within the network to engage other members with a level of comfort that more hierarchical structures may not have allowed. as a network, there was little epistemic isolation, enabling various ideas to be explored and the community to decide if, when, and how they might respond. however, it is also possible that the network knowledge dimension may matter more than interpersonal relationships for community residents who are not civic leaders. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 7 rationale for study while it is important for students to meet and work with engaged adults as part of their democratic citizenship development, we do not know the extent to which typical community residents have relationships with or knowledge of civically engaged community members. fitzgerald’s (2016) conclusions from semi-structured qualitative interviews of civic leaders in staten island, ny, identified the following important characteristics: highly effective civic leaders can identify specific people by name, and have the contact information to be able to involve them in response to an issue of civic importance. our study uses a new instrument to assess the extent to which adults who are not civic leaders have relationships that could be useful for civic action. we also measure perceptions of likelihood of individual and community civic action in response to four different scenarios. without this information, it is difficult to discern the extent to which civics educators should be encouraged to facilitate strong ties between students and community members. methods study population we studied a population-based random sample of adults living in two towns, fos-sur-mer and port-saint-louis-du-rhône, in the industrial zone of the marseille metropolitan area (n=252). a systematic random sample of residents was conducted in-person from june through december, 2015; participants had the opportunity to complete the survey in person then, or on the phone or online later. of the households sampled, 21.5% (including those who were not home when we sampled them) participated in our survey, and 30% of those surveyed completed this civic engagement instrument. in addition to our systematic random sample, since this was part of a larger community-based participatory research initiative, we also invited any interested residents to participate in the survey even if they had not been sampled; we refer to this as our volunteer sample (n=57). the virginia tech irb reviewed our study protocol and approved the data collection described here. during recent strikes regarding a proposed new labor law in france in summer, 2016, fos-surmer was one of the towns in which strikes were particularly visible; additionally, fos-sur-mer has a history of civic action on labor and union issues (allen, cohen, ferrier, lees, & richards, 2016; allen, ferrier, & cohen, 2017). this population is similar to that of staten island in terms of socioeconomic position and proximity to a major urban center (marseille is the second largest mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 8 city in france), so in addition to testing our questions, we were also curious whether the questions may be useful regardless of nationality. measures of interest we developed a set of multiple-choice and short answer questions to measure the relational aspect of civic engagement. the set of questions asks the same set of questions in response to four different situations in which people might be interested in organizing to address a community issue. if any of the situations are currently happening in their community or have happened in the past, respondents may answer based on those experiences. the four situations are (1) concern about crime, (2) a new industrial facility opening nearby, (3) a principal of the local school doing a poor job, and (4) a nearby facility emitting high levels of pollution. we chose these four scenarios since they are all relevant to many communities, and we were interested in whether people would respond similarly across all scenarios or differently for each. we asked two questions related to industry and environment, since these were instances that were ongoing and/or had happened in the recent past, to ensure that we would have some opportunities for people to rely on prior experience when answering. then, for each of the scenarios, survey participants answered how likely people in their community would organize to address the issue and how likely they themselves would organize to address the issue. if they responded that they were likely or very likely to organize, they were then asked whom in the community they would contact to plan next steps, how they would contact that person, and if they have that person’s contact information. descriptive statistics and regression coefficients were calculated in stata 14.1. results random sample among our random sample, 54.8% were female, the mean and median age were 51 years (range: 18-93), 34.9% were employed full-time, 49.0% had received a baccalaureate degree or higher, and 43.6% made more than 23,000 euros per year. we also asked more typical measures of civic engagement. from those questions, this population was moderately civically engaged: 77.1% of respondents said that they would vote tomorrow if federal elections were being held, and 28.9% of respondents reported being a member of a local association (e.g., neighborhood association, issue-based non-profit). mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 9 on average, people reported that their communities were more likely to organize to take action than they as individuals were (table 1) (p-values from chi-square tests: p=0.16 for crime, p<0.0005 for new industrial facility, p<0.0005 for school, p<0.0005 for polluting facility). this was particularly true for scenarios in which people were likely reflecting on events of the recent past to inform their responses (i.e., the new industrial facility scenario). the schooling scenario and the pollution scenario appeared to be the most galvanizing for both individual respondents and their perceptions of the whole community. table 1. how likely respondents thought community members would organize and also how likely they themselves would organize, for random and volunteer samples very likely likely unlikely very unlikely don’t know crime random sample (n=247) community 12.2% 21.1% 18.6% 20.7% 26.3% respondents 7.8% 24.5% 12.2% 38.8% 15.5% volunteer sample (n=54) community 3.7% 33.3% 31.5% 14.8% 14.8% respondents 5.6% 14.8% 33.3% 29.6% 11.1% new industrial facility random sample (n=247) community 42.9% 26.7% 8.1% 6.1% 15.8% respondents 10.6% 25.3% 13.9% 38.0% 11.8% volunteer sample (n= 53) community 28.3% 37.7% 11.3% 7.6% 15.1% respondents 1.9% 28.9% 32.7% 25.0% 7.7% school mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 10 random sample (n=242) community 41.3% 31.4% 3.3% 7.4% 16.1% respondents 23.9% 29.3% 5.4% 32.2% 8.8% volunteer sample (n=52) community 26.9% 38.5% 9.6% 1.9% 23.1% respondents 7.7% 32.7% 21.2% 19.2% 15.4% high levels of pollution random sample (n=243) community 52.3% 23.1% 8.6% 9.1% 6.6% respondents 22.8% 23.2% 21.2% 25.3% 7.1% volunteer sample (n=51) community 35.3% 49.0% 2.0% 5.9% 7.8% respondents 16.0% 30.0% 26.0% 16.0% 10.0% we also looked at the proportion of respondents who reported that it would be very likely or likely (as opposed to unlikely or very unlikely) that their community or that they themselves would act for each of the four scenarios, stratified by age. for all four issues, the middle age group (age 36-64) had the highest proportion of respondents say that they as individuals would likely take action on that issue. table 2. percent of respondents by age category who thought that it would be very likely or likely that their community or they as individuals would respond to take action on each issue. age 18-35 age 36-64 age 65+ crime community 46% 56% 35% mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 11 individual 35% 49% 20% new industrial facility community 90% 83% 66% individual 32% 48% 34% school community 92% 85% 84% individual 76% 65% 27% pollution community 65% 84% 92% individual 30% 59% 53% if respondents reported that they were likely or very likely to take action on a given issue, we then asked a series of follow-up questions. we first asked people to identify the name and job title of the person whom they would contact to plan next steps. however, respondents typically reported positions or organizations and did not frequently use the name variable. additionally, respondents sometimes identified multiple people, so the percentages do not necessarily add up to 100%. of the respondents for the crime scenario (n=82), 61% identified the police, 56% identified the mayor (by title rather than by name), 27% identified neighbors, friends or family, and the rest identified government in general, firefighters, the military, or said that they would work alone; only one respondent identified a person by name. for the new industrial facility scenario, only two respondents identified someone by name, and everyone else reported job title only. of the respondents for this scenario (n= 96), 64% identified the mayor, 35% identified local associations, 21% identified friends of neighbors, and the rest identified the new facility’s leader, an internet activism community, a journalist, a scientific organization, local government, police, firefighters, or local businesses. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 12 for the school scenario, only one respondent named an individual. of the respondents for this scenario (n= 90), 46% would contact the mayor, 39% would contact the principal, 23% would contact parents, 22% would contact the parents’ association, 18% would contact the school, and 13% would contact the designated school inspector. the rest of the respondents identified a union, local associations, the federal education department, friends, neighbors, and family, police, unspecified government, teachers, and elected officials. for the polluting facility scenario, two respondents identified someone by name. of the randomly sampled respondents for this scenario (n=53), 57% identified the mayor, 2% identified the prior mayor, 36% identified local associations, 4% identified neighbors, 4% identified the facility director or representative, 2% identified the prefecture, 2% identified “numero vert,” 2% identified colleagues, and 2% identified unions. (percents add up to more than 100% since some identified more than one contact.) for all four scenarios, the most commonly selected way to contact the person identified was in person (table 3). the highest proportion of respondents had contact information in the crime scenario, but this was likely because most respondents identified emergency services (i.e., police) as their contacts, as it is common for residents to memorize the three-digit emergency number (112 in france, equivalent to 911 in the united states). table 3. contact method and contact information on hand, for the random sample crime (n=103) new industrial facility (n=110) school (n=132) high levels of pollution (n=147) how respondent would contact the person they identified by phone 35.9% 10.9% 12.1% 15.0% by e-mail 1.0% 9.1% 7.6% 4.1% in person 48.5% 51.8% 57.6% 53.7% by letter 5.8% 15.5% 9.1% 11.6% other 8.7% 12.7% 13.6% 15.7% mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 13 respondent has that person’s contact information 83.5% 76.6% 68.2% 74.3% we were also interested in exploring the breadth of civic engagement reported: did respondents tend to select specific areas to engage in, or were they engaged more generally? of 315 randomly sampled respondents, 39.1% did not report being likely to organize for any of the four scenarios, 21.3% reported being likely to organize for just one, 18.7% for two, 14.6% for three, and only 6.4% for all four. we were interested in what might be associated with being more broadly civically engaged, so we examined the association between being a member of a local non-profit and the breadth of civic engagement. after adjusting for gender and self-reported likelihood of voting in an election, being a member of a non-profit was associated with an increase in the number of scenarios respondents reported being likely or very likely to organize to take action on (ß: 0.43, 95% confidence interval (ci): 0.10-0.76). age was also associated with the number of scenarios respondents reported being likely or very likely to organize to take action on (ß: -0.01, 95% ci: -0.02-0.001); this means that a respondent 10 years older than another respondent on average participates in 0.1 fewer scenarios. there was no statistically significant association between being likely to vote in the next election and breadth of civic engagement (ß: 0.03, 95% ci: -0.29-0.36). volunteer sample we compared our findings from the random sample to the volunteer sample. we had hypothesized that volunteer participants would be more civically engaged, since they had taken an extra step to participate in the survey, and would have likely heard about the opportunity to participate in the survey through civic channels. the volunteer sample appeared to be slightly more engaged by traditional measures (80.7% said they would vote tomorrow if federal elections were held, and 36.8% were members of a local association), but these were not statistically significantly different from the random sample. interestingly, when we examined how likely they thought their fellow community members and they themselves were to act (table 1), the volunteer sample reported being less civically engaged than the random sample, and they also perceived their community to be less civically engaged. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 14 discussion we were able to successfully operationalize the relational dimensions identified through qualitative interviews into short, mostly closed-ended questions. based on these findings, most community residents were not able to provide much detail in terms of whom they would contact, but they did report knowing the contact information, suggesting that asking the question about contact information may not be as informative in identifying those more likely to take effective civic action. we found it interesting that respondents on average reported that their community was more likely to be engaged on any given issue than they themselves were. this could be due to french inclinations away from acting upon individual interests (lamont & thevenot, 2000), and/or because this area has a history of political action on some topics (allen, ferrier, & cohen, 2017), and so it will be interesting to test these survey questions in other geographic contexts as well. we also found it interesting that the volunteer sample was less civically engaged than the random sample. we encourage future researchers to assess if this phenomenon exists in other geographic settings and for other civic engagement measures. at least for our sample, this suggests that those most interested in participating in a survey may not necessarily be those who are most civically engaged. we asked about four different scenarios, two of which were environmental issues that had happened in the past, and two (crime and education) which were more hypothetical and focused more on personnel. the scenario that respondents from our random sample were most interested in responding to was the education scenario, followed by the two environmental scenarios. the randomly sampled respondents thought that community members would be most likely to act on the two environmental scenarios, for which they may have drawn from what had occurred in these two towns previously. the volunteer sample was most inclined to respond to the two environmental scenarios; because the main focus of the study was on environmental and health topics, it makes sense that those who volunteered to participate may be particularly inclined towards environmental activism. that even those participants who express an inclination towards engagement (a prerequisite for being asked the relational questions) were unable to name specific names of contacts other than those of general political figures suggests that these participants want to engage in important civic issues but lack specific community resources (or an ability to access those that are available), unlike the civic leaders in the original staten island study. thus, civics educators might explore mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 15 ways in which participation opportunities could be created within the community by providing accessible networks of people to lead civic efforts. the relationships that build and sustain community networks can be both instrumental and noninstrumental. however, for the purposes of civics education, curricular models need to selectively support students as they develop instrumental, community-active relationships. such studentdeveloped relationships can only be fostered via student-centered, professionally mentored experiences, such as the ones that action civics curricula offer (fitzgerald & andes, 2012). such an educational context enables students to be cognitively apprenticed (collins, brown, & newman, 1988) in the processes and methods of civic engagement while attending to the ethical and practical issues of civics instruction in school settings (fitzgerald & andes, 2012). implications these findings suggest that civic education must engage students in developing their own civic relationships. highly engaged adults demonstrate access to wide networks of diverse individuals, many from their own community; they are able to draw upon such networks when they need to act in the civic sphere (fitzgerald, 2016). this study illustrates that engaged adults who want to participate in the civic sphere rely on a handful of community actors with whom they have little personal connection in order to engage in action. in some cases, such reliance may work; however, it is not what highly engaged civic individuals do. highly engaged civic individuals foster broad network relationships, which they can call upon when civic action is required; as relationships, the individuals involved have personal connections to each other. while action civics models have demonstrated a better ability to support students in “doing civics” over traditional civics classes (ballard, cohen, & littenberg-tobias, 2016; cipparone & cohen, 2015), this study suggests that the mentors leading such instruction should provide students with the means and capacities to access and build civic networks. for example, action civics mentors could enable students to research key community figures related to a selected issue and enable them to contact such decision makers. mentorship in such communication skills could be valuable for a variety of purposes and enable students to develop a personalized network under supervision. in addition, action civics mentors need to familiarize themselves with various community decision makers. as this study demonstrates, adults need to develop their networks as well. this means that mentors should personally meet with community leaders, forging civic and educational relationships that would make instructing students on the process more effective. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 16 still, more research is needed to explore the ways in which such networks can be developed through action civics instruction. to date, few studies have explored the ways that highly engaged civic actors develop their own networks in the mobile technology society. additionally, few studies have explored the ways in which students create networks as part of a mentored experience. these relationships may develop through the process of expert development, as ito and her colleagues (2009) describe or through some other process. exploring this relational aspect of civic engagement, though, seems important based on this study’s findings. conclusion while initial findings from action civics curriculum implementation have been positive, the field is continuing to try to hew such work more closely with what “civic experts” do. this study demonstrates that adults who want to be civically engaged (“non-experts”) perceive their neighbors to be, on average, more engaged than they perceive to be themselves, and that few individuals can provide specific action steps for how they would tackle social issues in their community. these findings suggest that action civics curricula should engage students in relationship building, enabling them to construct instrumental, personal civic networks that they can draw upon later as adults to deepen their community engagement and, hopefully, increase their success for civic change. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 17 references: allen, b. l., cohen, a. k., ferrier, y., lees, j., & richards, t. (2016). redesigning a participatory health study for a french industrial context. new solutions: a journal of environmental and occupational health policy, 26(3), 458-474. allen, b. l., ferrier, y., & cohen, a. k. (2017). through a maze of studies: health questions and ‘undone science’ in a french industrial region. environmental sociology, 3(2), 134-144. ballard, p. j., cohen, a. k., & littenberg-tobias, j. (2016). action civics for promoting civic development: main effects of program participation and differences by project characteristics. american journal of community psychology, 58(3-4), 377-390. center for civic education. (2011). project citizen. retrieved from http://new.civiced.org/programs/project-citizen center for civic education. (2014). the we the people program. retrieved from http://new.civiced.org/wtp-the-program center for urban pedagogy. (n.d.). cup. retrieved september 29, 2014, from http://welcometocup.org/about cipparone, p., & cohen, a. k. (2015). action civics in the fourth grade: tackling schooland community-based issues. social studies and the young learner, 27(4), 11-16. collins, a., brown, j. s., & newman, s. e. (1988). cognitive apprenticeship. thinking: the journal of philosophy for children, 8(1), 2-10. collins, c. r., neal, j. w., & neal, z. p. (2014). transforming individual civic engagement into community collective efficacy: the role of bonding social capital. american journal of community psychology, 54(3-4), 328-336. dewey, j. (1938). experience and education (60th anniversary edition). west lafayette, indiana: kappa delta pi. duncan, a. (2012). secretary duncan’s remarks at “for democracy’s future” forum at the white house. retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arneduncans-remarks-democracys-future-forum-white-house mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 18 evans, r. w. (2004). social studies wars: what should we teach the children? new york: teachers college press. fitzgerald, j. c. (2016). pre-planning civic action: an analysis of civic leaders’ problem solving strategies. journal of international social studies, 6(2), 58-83. fitzgerald, j. c. 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(2001). using we the people... programs in social students teacher education. in principles and practices of democracy in the education of social studies teachers: civic learning in teacher education (vol. 1, pp. 167–183). bloomington, in: eric clearinghouse for social studies. ito, m., baumer, s., bittanti, m., boyd, danah, cody, r., herr-stephenson, b., … tripp, l. (2009). hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: kids living and learning with new media. cambridge, ma: the mit press. lamont, m., & thévenot, l. (2000). rethinking comparative cultural sociology. cambridge university press. levinson, m. (2012). no citizen left behind. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. maker, e., cohen, a. k., fitzgerald, j. c., & pope, a. (2015). effective civics education pedagogy and programs: a systemic review. presented at the american educational research association annual conference, chicago, il. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 4-19 corresponding author: akcohen@berkeley.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 19 national action civics collaborative. (2012). mikva challenge. retrieved from http://www.centerforactioncivics.org/national-action-civics-collaborative/ pope, a., stolte, l., & cohen, a. k. (2011). closing the civic engagement gap: the potential of action civics. social education, 75(5), 265–268. putnam, r. d. (2001). bowling alone: the collapse and revival of american community (1st ed.). touchstone books by simon & schuster. rice, l. j., hughes, b., briggs, v., delmoor, e., jefferson, m., johnson, j. c., & halbert, c. h. (2016). perceived efficacy and control for neighborhood change: the cross-cutting role of collective efficacy. journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 3(4), 667-675. tocqueville, a. d. (1835). democracy in america. (j. p. mayer, ed.). harper collins. acknowledgements: barbara allen and parissa ballard provided useful comments, and travis richards, johanna lees, and yolaine ferrier helped prepare the data for analyses. this work was supported by a grant from the agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (anses), the french agency for food, environment, and occupational health and safety. (award number: pnrest anses, cancer itmo aviesan, 2014/1/023) about the authors: alison k. cohen (akcohen@berkeley.edu) is a postdoctoral researcher in the youth & inequalities initiative, affiliated with the school of public health and graduate school of education at university of california berkeley. jason fitzgerald (jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu) is an associate professor of secondary education, director of the graduate adolescent program, and director of the higher education and learning organizations leadership at wagner college. he is also professor-in-residence at port richmond high school. mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ mailto:akcohen@berkeley.edu mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 81 principals' and teachers' reports of instructional time allocations in third grade tina l. heafner (theafner@uncc.edu) paul g. fitchett university of north carolina at charlotte _____________________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: using a paired national cross-section of third grade teacher and principal schools and staffing survey data from 2007 to 2008, comparisons were made regarding teachers’ and elementary principals’ reports of instructional time distributions for english language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and reading in third grade during a full week of school. examining how the two most fundamental personnel of schools converge and diverge in their reports of instructional time allocations, allowed researchers to compare, first, how teachers and principals report instructional time uses by subject area, and second, to determine if there were differences in reported time allocations between teachers and principals. researchers were specifically interested in determining if reported time provided evidence of educational problems associated with instructional time as there were conflicts in: (1) time as a function of administration and (2) time as a function of the classroom. furthermore, results yield evidence of marginalization of social studies at the classroom level. keywords: school administration; nclb; elementary school; instructional time; high stakes testing; accountability; national center for education statistics (nces) schools and public school teacher and principal staffing survey (sass); english language arts; mathematics; science; social studies; reading; instructional time allocation; elementary school teachers; elementary school principals; core subjects and instructional time allocations. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ how time is perceived, based on the position one has in relation to the classroom (hargreaves, 1994; werner, 1988), is an important consideration given that time is a measure of students' opportunity to learn (walsh, 2007). instructional time allocations describe the manner in which schooling is structured and establish parameters for how learning is prearranged (stallings, 1980). jane stallings (1980), in her research on effective schools, stated that time allocated "defines the maximum amount of time available for instruction" (stallings, 1980, p. 1) and argued that time provides a measureable variable of learning opportunities. while allocations of time are not the sole determinant of learning, time is a central facet in describing academic learning time accessible to students (walsh, 2007). although simply increasing time may not automatically lead to increased student achievement (nelson, 1990), large cumulative differences in time have been found to impact overall learning (jacobson, 1986; lavy, 2010; walberg & fredrick, 1991). thus, time is recognized as an essential aspect of instruction, necessary for promoting student performance and desired achievement outcomes (berry, smylie, & fuller, 2008; hirsch, 2005, 2010; hirsch & church, 2009; hirsch, emerick, church, & fuller, 2007; ladd, 2009; reeves, emerick, & hirsch, 2006). when time is viewed as a resource for instruction, time allocations serve as a baseline for pedagogical decision-making and can be useful in providing guidance for how time might be used effectively to support student learning (lavy, 2010; stallings, 1980). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 82 time also provides a quantifiable measure of how the schooling environment is experienced by those who enact and direct curriculum. in accordance with hargreaves (1994), "time is a fundamental dimension through which teachers' work is constructed and interpreted by themselves, their colleagues and those who administer and supervise them" (p. 95). instructional time allocations articulated by schools' fundamental personnel—teachers and principals—suggest how academic learning time manifests in the structure of the school day. in this capacity, time also provides a context for examining teachers’ work and is consistently documented as a fundamental issue for teachers (berry et al., 2008; hirsch, 2005, 2010; hirsch et al., 2007, hirsch & church, 2009; ladd, 2009). while instructional time is also a concern for principals, time surfaces more as school scheduling challenges than daily workplace issues (reeves et al., 2006). moreover, teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of time provide insights into how time is leveraged both in the planning of instructional time and how time schedules are created to address educational policy and accountability mandates. aspects of instructional time are understood in the manner in which administrators and teachers articulate time distributions among core academic subject areas prior to instructional delivery. thus, reported time allocations describe the bulwark of what subjects are studied in schools, further defining the opportunities to learn. moreover, allocations provide the basis for determining congruence between administrators' and teachers' perceptions of instructional purpose and collective school vision (blase & kirby, 2009). it is well established that time is associated with subject matter prominence and the stratification of instructional resources (apple, 2004; hargreaves, 1994; werner, 1988). this is a well-documented concern in social studies research (au, 2007, 2009; heafner & fitchett, 2012; wills, 2007). teachers spend more time on tested subject matter than non-tested subject matter (mcmurrer, 2007, 2008) and time decisions are often driven by administrative pushes to respond to accountability pressures (heafner, libscomb, & rock, 2006; rock et al., 2006; vogler et al., 2007). furthermore, constricted time inhibits instructional creativity, content resource choices and depth of learning opportunities (pace, 2011; wills & sandholtz, 2009). referring back to hargreaves (1994), “time compounds the problem of innovation and confounds the implementation of change,” (p. 95) as conceptualized in policy mandates and educational reform. for educational reform to be enacted, administrative and teacher agreement in shared educational goals must be present (blase & kirby, 2009). in this quantitative study, we examined third grade teachers’ and elementary principals’ reported instructional time allocations during a full week of school. the subjectivity of participants’ reported data is a central asset of this study, providing an interpretive understanding for how schools’ two most fundamental personnel diverge in their conceptualization of instructional time. using national center for education statistics (nces) schools and public school teacher and principal staffing surveys (sass) from 2007 to 2008, the most comprehensive and nationally representative source of teacher and principal data in the nation (nces, 2010), we paired a national cross-section of third grade teacher and principal data. we chose third grade as a key transitional point in elementary education, noting the point in schooling where early learning transitions from a literacy driven focus to broader content study and the national emphasis on high stakes testing begins. we compared participants’ responses to a common question regarding instructional time 3rd grade students spend learning english language arts (ela), mathematics, science, social studies, and reading. our primary purpose was to determine how allocated time was conceptualized and prioritized by administrators and practitioners with specific emphasis on the implications for social studies. we based our study on the belief that to understand how time manifests in academic environments, descriptions journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 83 of time allocations for instructional purposes must be the baseline for analyses. we hypothesized that within a school there would exist a general agreement in how instructional time is used for teaching core academic content (cf. blase & kirby, 2009). we also hypothesized that prioritization as defined by distributions of time allocations would align with national subject area priorities reflected in policy and accountability measures. thus, we designed a multi-purpose study to: 1) provide a generalizable, descriptive analysis of how time is allocated by subject area, 2) determine if there were differences in teachers' and principals' reports in time usage across core academic content, 3) examine the significance of time distributions between teachers and principals, and 4) evaluate reports of reading time for evidence of integration of core subjects. the following research questions guided our analysis of this nationally representative sample of 3rd grade elementary school teachers and principals: • how much time do elementary teachers and principals report being allocated in 3rd grade to english language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies? • to what extent is there a statistically significant difference between 3rd grade reported time allocation differences between teachers and principals and core subject area differences? • within english language arts, how many minutes do elementary teachers and principals report allocated to reading in 3rd grade? • to what extent does reported time differ between teachers and principals for reading in 3rd grade? • to what extent are 3rd grade reading, social studies, and/or science time allocations related? method samplei for this study, we examined data from the national center for education statistics (nces) schools and public school teacher and principal staffing surveys (sass) from 2007 to 2008. this database is the most comprehensive and generalizable source of teacher and principal data in the nation (coopersmith & gruber, 2009). nces uses a stratified probability sample design for collection of sass data. principals and teachers nested within their schools were selected from a national, stratified sample of schools. stratification levels included the number of minority teachers at the school, urbanity and region. an inverse-probability equation was devised to select and weight teachers within a given school. weighting was dependent on location of schooling institution. this protocol prevented overrepresentation from a particular region or state and increased generalizability of the sample. to determine the likelihood of type ii error (failure to reject the null hypothesis), we calculated statistical power. statistical power, in probability terms, provides the capacity to test the extent of significance of results. due to the large sample size, power in this study is equal to one (p=1.0); thus, reducing the likelihood of type ii error. further, we paired 2007–2008 sass elementary school principals (n=1430) and third grade teachers (n=1550) under their supervision to examine how differences in core content instructional time is reported. we defined core content as: english language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. within english language arts, we also examined the proportion of time allocated for reading. in aligning principal and teacher data, we included only teachers of self-contained 3rd grade classrooms. this decision was based on the structure of the principal survey question and the nature of classroom instructional decision-making. specifically, we chose 3rd grade as a key transitional point in elementary education, noting the point in schooling where early learning transitions from a literacy driven focus to broader content study and the national emphasis on high stakes testing begins. in addition, we were journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 84 able to identify teachers nested within schools, thus, pairing teachers with principals. we filtered teacher data by self-contained classrooms allowing us to examine issues related to teachers’ instructional time allocation and ensuring that each teacher was responsible for the instruction of all core academic content. when critics argue that self-reported data fail to provide an accurate portrayal of teachers’ time allocation and instructional decision-making, they imply that participants’ responses are biased due to social desirability – skewed reporting in order to be perceived positively by others (nederhof, 1985). nces employs a number of methods to examine both the validity and reliability of items within the schools and staffing survey, such as an anonymously conducted survey and the nature of the survey does not promote any particular direction of research (i.e., a study on the allocation of time) (nces, 2010). while research suggests that anonymous surveys produce far less socially biased results than selfadministered instruments (nederhof, 1985), we acknowledge that it is possible that participants may have felt compelled to distort their responses. we consider this aspect of subjectivity central to our examination of congruence in administrative and teacher time perceptions. given the large sample size of our study, we infer that our findings provide greater generalizability than smaller sample, qualitative studies and offer a broader understanding of how time is allocated for core subject areas. procedure to examine teachers' and principals' time allocations for core content (english language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies), we selected a common question on both the principal and teacher surveys:ii sass 07/08 teacher question #20: during your most recent full week of teaching, approximately how many hours did you spend teaching each of the following subjects at this school? [ela, of these hours, how many were designated for reading instruction?] sass 07/08 principal question #26: during a typical full week of school, approximately how many minutes do most third grade students spend on the following activities at this school? [ela, of these minutes, how many were designated for reading instruction?] a difference in the metric (hours and minutes) between the two items is attributed to two factors (k. gruber, personal correspondence, december 2, 2010). first, the sass teacher time allocation items were initially developed for the 1987/1988 survey. in comparison, the sass principal time allocation items were not introduced until the 2007/2008 survey. survey developers also rationalized that teachers completing the time allocation items self-identified as self-contained teachers and would make hourly estimates of instructional time. in comparison, principals administrate over faculty in which some teachers would be self-contained while others might be single-subject specialists. thus, principals would be more inclined to envision time in minutes per content area. to align teachers' and principals' responses to the selected survey questions, we converted teachers' responses in hours to minutes. we multiplied teacher data by sixty minutes. for an examination of the cumulative effect of time allocations, we calculated total hours per week with an estimation of 6 hours per day used for journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 85 instructional time for an average of 5 days per week. annual estimations of time were based on average length of the school year as 36 weeks. results our purpose was to understand, first, how teachers and principals perceive instructional time uses by subject area, and second, if there were differences in reported time allocations between teachers and principals. findings are described as perceptions of: 1) time allocations by subject area, 2) differences in time allocations for core content, and 3) time usage for reading. reported time allocations provided the basis for examining the malleability of time in association with social studies as both a stand-alone subject, integrated content within ela and reading, and subject area competition for shared or alternated time with science. time allocations by subject area elementary teachers' and principals' reported time distributions in 3rd grade for each of the core content areas: english language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies are presented in table 1. additional analyses of teacher and principal data were performed to explore perceptions of time differences. figure 1 illustrates the distribution of instructional time on a weekly basis as reported by survey respondents. supporting previous research (siskin, 2003), findings indicate that a consensus in reported time allocated for mathematics instruction is shared by administrators and teachers. of the remaining core academic content, divergence between principals' and teachers' perceptions of instructional time allocations was observed. table 1. average academic instructional hours per day for core academic content reported by teachers and principals daily hours allocated to teaching core academic content content area teachers principals english language arts 2 hours 22 minutes 1 hour 54 minutes mathematics 1 hour 10 minutes 1 hour 9 minutes social studies 45 minutes 51 minutes science 45 minutes 52 minutes total academic core instructional hours 4 hours 22 minutes 4 hours 6 minutes journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 86 in examining differences (see table 2), teachers reported 83.3 more minutes (or slightly less than 1.5 hours) of instructional time per week for ela than principals. the annual perceived difference translates to approximately 50 hours (2999 minutes) more of reported instructional time per year. while principals indicated fewer minutes of weekly instructional time for ela, they reported 16.85 more minutes per week for social studies and 19.54 more minutes per week for science than the time teachers stated that they allocated for these subjects. annual differences in teachers' reported instructional time equates to a perceived differences of 10.1 hours less for social studies and 11.72 hours less for science than principals' reports. table 2. instructional minutes per week for core academic content reported by teachers and principals minutes per week academic content area teacher m (sd) principal m (sd) english language arts 661.39 (260.3) 578.13 (202.97) mathematics 331.24 (128.7) 326.55 (99.83) social studies 136.45 (98.83) 153.3 (75.92) science 135.6 (95.09) 155.14 (75.51) using 6 hours as the average length of the elementary instructional day, we calculated reported time allocation distributions by core academic content areas. proportion of time was determined by total 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 english language arts mathematics social studies science average minutes per week reported by teachers average minutes per week reported by principals figure 1. comparisons of reported core content instructional time in minutes per week journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 87 minutes per week divided by the average total available instructional minutes per week. comparisons across teacher and principal data are presented in figures 2 and 3. for teachers, over 70% of the instructional day is viewed as being devoted to core academic content. similarly, principal data suggest that administrators view that core academic content accounts for 67% of daily instructional time. further examining the reported time distributions for academic core content (see figures 4 and 5), principals’ perceptions suggest a difference of 16 fewer minutes per day, which translates annually into 12 days of core academic content instruction. principals indicate greater reported time allotments than teachers do for enrichment activities. if proportion is an indication of how subject areas are prioritized, then teachers view the hierarchy of time for core content as follows: ela, mathematics, social studies and science; whereas, principals view distributed time allocations in the following order: ela, mathematics, science and social studies. data affirm general agreement in how much time is allocated for mathematics instruction as well as the imbalance of proportional core instructional time devoted to ela (4.5% greater for teachers). the overemphasis of time for ela could be an indication of teacher 36.70% 18.40% 7.60% 7.50% 29.80% english language arts mathematics social studies science other figure 2. teachers' reported proportion of weekly instructional time usage by content area 32.10% 18.10% 8.50% 8.60% 32.70% english language arts mathematics social studies science other figure 3. principals' reported proportion of weekly instructional time usage by content area journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 88 decision-making to devote more time than scheduled to a subject area in which other content could be integrated. teachers’, not principals’, priorities of social studies before science could offer further evidence that social studies could be ela integration fodder in 3rd grade classrooms. a difference emerges when reported time differences are compared for science and social studies. combined science and social studies instructional time allocations as viewed by principals are 3.9% greater than the time teachers suggests that they allocate to these subject areas. differences in time allocations for core content we also examined how time allocations differed between teachers and principals for core content areas in 3rd grade and if these differences were statistically significant. using a matched-samples t-test, we compared differences in teachers’ reports and their paired principal’s reports of instructional time allocations by content area (see table 3). we acknowledge that effect sizes were statistically small. however, the interpretation of discrepancies between teachers’ and principals’ perceptions suggest observed differences in how each group conceptualizes instructional time usage. comparisons indicate that over a given academic year (36 weeks) teachers report spending approximately 595 minutes (10 hours) less time on social studies instruction and 688 minutes (11.5 hours) less time on science 52.30% 26.20% 10.80% 10.70% english language arts mathematics social studies science figure 4. teachers reported proportion of weekly academic core content instructional time usage by content area 47.80% 26.80% 12.60% 12.80% english language arts mathematics social studies science figure 5. principals reported proportion of weekly academic core content instructional time usage by content area journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 89 instruction as compared to principals’ projections of time usage within their schools. given that research (heafner & fitchett, 2012) has documented that teachers spend on average 2.5 hours per week on social studies, and 2.5 in science, these statistically significant differences equate to approximately one month of reported instructional time in each subject. curiously, reported time allocations between teachers and principals for science and social studies only account for 46% of the ela time differences. table 3. matched samples t-test of differences in teacher and principal reported time by content area content area m teacherprincipal df t η2 english language arts 82.8 1370 10.00** 0.068 mathematics 3.85 1370 0.942 social studies -16.52 1370 5.19** 0.02 science -19.1 1370 6.26** 0.028 **p<.001 in order to examine whether teachers exhibit greater variability in their perceived allocation of instructional time than their principals, we employed levine’s test for equality of variance to examine teacher-principal differences in standard deviation (variance) within content areas. findings indicate that the difference in variance between principals’ and teachers’ reporting of instructional time was statistically significant at each content area (table 4). table 4. difference in variance between teacher and principal time allocations content area levene’s f (1, 2920) sig. ela 60.413 .01 math 47.19 .01 science 67.73 .01 social studies 94.073 .01 additionally, we examined relationships between reported time differences and content areas. we were interested in the extent to which teachers’ time allocations for ela were associated with time allocations for social studies and science. we calculated correlations evaluating differences in teachers' and principals' reported allocations of time for ela and social studies as well as correlations for ela and science. comparisons were made between teacher-principal differences in ela time and teacherjournal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 90 principal social studies time and between teacher-principal differences in ela time and science time.iii pearson correlations for social studies, r=.068, n=1370, p<.05, and science (r=.100, n=1370, p<.01) suggested a significant association between the differences in principals' and teachers' reported ela and social studies/science instructional time. time usage for reading within english language arts (ela), we evaluated how many minutes elementary teachers and principals perceived to be allocated to reading in 3rd grade. we examined data for reading based on the perspective that reading could provide the context for understanding subject integration, a common practice for social studies instruction, in elementary schools (see table 5). differences between teachers’ and principals’ reported use of ela time for reading were statistically significant; whereby, teachers indicated a greater amount of ela instructional time devoted to reading than their principals. evidence suggests that teachers are diverging from school time allocations as articulated by principals to restructure time for literacy priorities. table 5. average ela instructional minutes per week allocated for reading as reported by teachers and principals minutes per week teacher m (sd) principal m (sd) reading time (within ela) 414.51** (197.12) 328.12 (179.67) **t (1420) = 14.17, p<.001, η2=0.10 to examine whether teacher and principal reported reading time “absorbed” reported social studies (science) instructional time, we correlated teacher-principal differences.iv results from a pearson correlation for social studies (r=.057, n=1360, p<.05) and science (r=.07, n=1360, p<.05) indicated a significant relationship between the level principal-teacher reading time discrepancy and principalteacher social studies and science time discrepancy. thus, data offer evidence that time differences in reading instruction can be associated with time differences for social studies and science instruction. results offer the possibility that integration may be a common teacher choice in time usage for the dual purpose of disciplinary content instruction and additional literacy instruction. however, not all time differences in reading could be attributed to time absorption from these subjects, as noted by the small (albeit significant) correlation coefficients. tradeoffs exist when integration supplants disciple-specific instructional time as reported by principals. teacher decision-making to prioritize reading came at the expense of scheduled social studies and science time. discussion time is a resource for instruction and perceptions of how time is distributed during the elementary school day provides a context for examining the opportunities students have to learn content within various subjects, specifically social studies. furthermore, documented impacts of curriculum time changes (fitchett & heafner, 2010; mcmurrer, 2007, 2008) may be realized differently depending on the relative position an educator has to students. this study reveals divergence in instructional time journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 91 allocations as articulated by schools’ two most fundamental personnel and the tradeoffs of these differences. how perceived time usage was conceptualized from views of: (1) time as a function of school administration and (2) time as a function of the classroom. differences in teachers' and principals' reported time allocations offer verification that perception of how time is distributed varies depending on the proximity to the classroom (hargreaves, 1994; werner, 1988). for example, teachers report spending less time in other core content and ancillary subjects than indicated by principals. we view these differences as possible indicators of discrepancies in valuing or prioritizing of content based on interpretations of educational policy and relative decision-making position in the implementation of mandated accountability measures (apple, 2010; hargreaves, 1994; wills & sandholtz, 2009). principals' reported greater time allocations for traditionally non-tested subjects. the divergence from teachers’ reports may be based on principals’ distance from students. these views may also be informed by the established instructional day schedules that are often determined by school leaders and policy mandates defining minimum time allocations by subject areas. moreover, data provide evidence of another layer of social studies marginalization in which schools convey in their time schedules a distinctly different disciplinary learning opportunity than what manifests within classrooms (hutton & burstein, 2008). these implications need to be addressed through future explorations of why perceived instructional time gaps exist between what is thought to be occurring in the classroom and what is viewed as occurring in the classroom. using proportional time allocations as an indication of how subject areas are prioritized, we infer that teachers' reportedly order core content instructional time differently from their administrators. the reversal of priorities for science and social studies is noted and one that might hold promise for social studies. overall, the consensus prioritizing of ela and then mathematics reflects national policy emphases (fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner & fitchett, 2012; mcmurrer, 2007, 2008), although there are statistically significant differences between principals’ and teachers’ reported instructional time for ela. while this study only examined reported time distributions, there seems to be an indication that teachers perceive a need to spend more time on literacy than administrators may consider necessary. teachers’ overemphasis on literacy instructional time seems to reflect the view that developing literacy skills first is a foundation to all-future learning (boyle-baise, hsu, johnnson, sierrere, & stewart, 2008; maeroff, 2006) and is recognized as an initial standardized measure of student achievement (nclb, 2002). these inferences are supported by research suggesting teachers' decisions to reallocate time are due to perceptions of the hierarchical importance of subjects in addressing high stakes testing and accountability pressures (fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner & fitchett, 2012; crocco & costigan, 2007; wills, 2007). the fact that teachers’ time priorities are not mirrored by their administrators’ suggest that administrators may not experience pressures to redistribute time in a similar manner. principals’ under emphasis on literacy contrasts with teachers' overemphasis. in addition, principals' reported time allocations are more in alignment with national testing mandates in which science is emphasized. why these differences occur and why principals underemphasize literacy as compared to their teachers are important considerations for future research. another possible interpretation is that ela, not mathematics, is a content area that lends itself to integration of other subject areas, such as social studies. by increasing time for ela, teachers may be creating space for content integration. the quality of integration is not measured in this study, but is an area for future research. however, divergence in principal-teacher time allocations should not be overlooked. at the classroom level, data suggest that students have less opportunity to learn social studies as a stand-alone subject. in comparing our results to a prior examination of sass data (piere, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 92 baker & bobbitt, 1997), 3rd grade teachers in this study reported greater proportional core academic instructional time (5%) for ela and mathematics with strikingly less proportion of time (5%) spent teaching science and social studies. these overall differences in teachers' proportional distribution of time by core subject areas suggest an overemphasis on tested curricula at the classroom level and offer evidence of large scale impact of shifting teacher instructional time priorities in 3rd grade. these findings are supported in existing social studies marginalization research (heafner & fitchett, 2012; burroughs, groce, & webeck, 2005; heafner et al., 2006; lintner, 2006; rock et al., 2006; vanfossen, 2005; wills, 2007). based on the results of the levene's test in this study, we infer from the differences in variance, that teachers reported significantly greater variability in instructional time than principals. when faced with time constraints, teachers prioritized instructional time differently and expanded and/or contracted instructional time. the variance among teachers could possibly be linked with professional judgments in supporting student achievement on accountability mandates and a form of instructional time triage (au, 2007, 2009; fitchett & heafner, 2010; heafner & fitchett, 2012; thornton & houser, 1996; vanfossen, 2005; wills, 2007; wills & sandholtz, 2009; zamosky, 2008). ironically, principals' proportional distribution of time for 3rd grade more consistently aligns with results from earlier research (piere, baker, & bobbitt, 1997). we speculate that these findings suggest reported principal time priorities are indicators of administrative interpretations of instructional time expectations needed to balance educational policy reforms and political interests. in addition, principals' reports of time are representative of collective, building level uses of time. thus, differences in time may indicate classroom level differences in time allocations (c.f. wills & sandholtz, 2009). examining differences within schools is recommended for future research. given the generalizability of the sample size within this study, findings suggest potential ramifications (e.g., opportunities to learn) of time differences and content prioritization as a result of administrative perceptions versus classroom teacher reported implementations (apple, 2004; hargreaves, 1994; werner, 1988; wills & sandholtz, 2009; zamosky, 2008). differences in time allocations between principals' and teachers' reports manifest as instructional time expansions and constrictions for ela/reading, science and social studies. findings might be explained by research suggesting that when external pressures to address standardized measures of learning are not met, teachers, not administrators, reallocate time for remediation (wills & sandholtz, 2009). almost half of the instructional time differences for ela can be explained as teachers report annually one month less of social studies and science instructional time than principals. we suggest that this divergence in reported reading time is indicative of curriculum and testing mandates that emphasize literacy skills – pressures that most often burden the practitioner over that of the administrator. these findings affirm theories of aforementioned time prioritization and are interpreted as instructional time triage (hargreaves, 1994; wills, 2007; willis & sandholtz, 2009). another intriguing finding of this study is the lack of statistically significant differences in instructional time allocation for mathematics among principals and teachers. interpretations of consistency in instructional time allocations for mathematics offer insights into the potential variability of integration as a tool for addressing scheduling time constraints and policy mandates. we infer that instructional time agreement between principals and teachers for mathematics is reflective of perceptions that math instruction should occur as standalone instruction and is less likely to be integrated into other subjects (marbach-ad & mcginnis, 2010). these findings bring to light the potential learning opportunity journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 93 differences as a result of an overreliance on integration as a means for teaching social studies in elementary schools (boyle-baise et al., 2008; mcguire, 2007). given that time allocation differences between teachers and principals for science and social studies only account for 46% of the ela time differences, there is evidence that teachers’ emphases on instructional time for ela are being drawn from subjects beyond the scope of this study. similar to the research conducted by roth, brooks-gunn, and linver (2003), these findings suggest that ancillary subjects outside the core content are also being affected. additionally, we infer that principals report a more politically equitable distribution of time which is outlined in daily school schedules. this contrasts with time allocations teachers' report in which decisions to eliminate or keep ancillary subjects are based on professional priorities for children (wills & sandholtz, 2009). implications the implications for social studies are a doubled edged sword. at the school level, there is an administrative perception that the opportunity to learn social studies in elementary school exists. however, these time allocations differ from how teachers report using instructional time. at the classroom level teachers are providing less stand-alone social studies time and they are devoting significant amounts of instructional time to ela. while teachers may be making efforts to integrate social studies within increased ela time, the association between reading and social studies/science time suggests that the time difference in comparison to administrative time cannot be explained by absorbed time alone. at the classroom level, students have more limited opportunities to learn social studies than principals indicate. teachers and principals have a different understanding of baseline learning opportunities experienced by 3rd grade elementary students. curricular priorities, with the exception of mathematics, are not consistent between teachers and administrators. differences may be indicators of greater issues, such as a lack of shared purpose, collective vision for the school, or common understanding of educational policy (blase & kirby, 2009). experienced time becomes an outcome of the interplay among classroom participants and cannot be standardized. classroom time is a scare resource and subjective decision-making by teachers occurs. we categorize the expansion or constriction of learning opportunities as instructional time triage. by triage, we argue that there are objective (administrative) parameters defining the amount of time available for instruction on a daily basis. within these fixed time constraints of the average school day (e.g. approximately 6 hours, with 4 hours of that time devoted to core curricula), classroom decisions are made regarding how time is used, resulting in a top-down, tiered approach to the prioritization of time (see figure 6). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 94 in the first tier, fixed time, in the form of a daily school schedule is set for the sacred subjects, those externally evaluated and directly accountable to administrators, parents, policymakers, and the general public. the uniformity and standardization of time establishes minimum requirements to meet national performance measures. principals’ perceptions of time allocations are school level decisions and are positioned within this tier. in the second tier, classroom decisions have to be made for how to spend remaining malleable instructional time. these time allocations are highly variable; consequently, time allocations become subjective. depending on decision-making processes, divergences in uses of time become evident as teachers make decisions to eliminate required curricula. time allocations by subject area become more diluted as prioritizations of time, such as emphasis on literacy, are made by additional decisions to include or exclude opportunities for content integration and enrichment. limitations we acknowledge that self-reported data may be construed as a limitation of this study but we view the possibility of subjectivity meaningful for interpretations of findings. additionally, large-scale observation of teachers’ allocation of instructional time as opposed to principals’ administration of time was prohibitive; however, the sass dataset is widely recognized as the largest, most generalizable survey of school personnel in the united states and provided the broadest representation of classroom and administrative perspectives on school time structures. furthermore, we recognize that single item analysis is frequently plagued by low statistical reliability. previous studies have confirmed that singleitem analyses are appropriate when the item is narrowly defined, such as reported instructional time (teacher) or expected instructional time (principal) (ilgen, nebeker, & pritchard, 1981; wanous, reichers, & hudy, 1997). finally, while teacher and principal responses were paired, it is important to note that the items responded by teacher and principal were not identical. we assert that these item fixed time for sacred subjects variable time for core but non-tested subjects abstract time for enrichment, perpherial subjects, or literacy remediation the pyramid represents the hierarchy of instructional time decision-making where time is most concentrated at the top and diluted at the bottom. figure 6. pyramid of instructional time prioritization journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 95 differences reflect a professional schism in teachers’ experienced, subjective time and the politically charged, objective brokers-of-time position held by administrators. thus, it is the difference, discrete time, which remained essential to our analysis. conclusions this study illustrates that the complexity of instructional time allocations. results suggest considerable differences between teachers and administrators as noted in the divergence between time as a product of the classroom and time as a product of the school day. these differences affirm prior research indicating that substantial variance exists in how instructional time is translated into practice. thus, time differences serve to explain a critical theory of how time manifests in both bureaucratic (administrative) and procedural (teacher) decision-making. our interpretations of results from this study lead us to conclude that teachers exercise some autonomy over their daily instructional time and that this has an effect on social studies instructional time. teachers, as autonomous instructional gatekeepers, make decisions to allocate time based on what they perceive to be priorities of learning (hargreaves, 1994; thornton, 2005). these views of time priorities diverge from their administrators, creating unanticipated outcomes of policy expectations (houston, 2007). the gap in shared beliefs about time uses poses administrative challenges in enacting educational reform and creates variance in content areas learning opportunities within schools (blase & kirby, 2009). pressures to address high stakes testing and accountability measures to ensure literacy goals, rather than administrators, may be an explanation for why teachers reduce or even forgo teaching non-tested curricula. while we cannot infer directly from our data teacher motivations for decision-making, we can conclude that results indicate differences that are contrary to documented teacher perceptions of administrative control over both time and what is taught (au, 2009; heafner & fitchett, 2012; heafner et al., 2006; rock et al., 2006; vogler et al., 2007; wills & sandholtz, 2009). while teachers from prior studies indicated decisions to eliminate or reduce social studies as an outcome of administrative pressures, these decisions based on study results are more likely a classroom level decision. the extent of time allocated to social studies is associated with teacher decision-making. furthermore, administrators, as , brokers, hold a central role in guiding organizational time parameters, but control over time structures does not imply agreement in perceptions of time nor does it assure that social studies will be taught. if the divergence as realized in time reports is not addressed, hargreaves (1994) would argue that "teachers' needs and demands generated from the particularities of the context may obstruct, undermine or redefine the purposes built into new administrative procedures and time designations and allocations which accompany them" (p. 105). recognizing instructional time differences and exploring how teachers experience time when enacting curriculum and policy mandates are important considerations for administrators to adopt fixed time parameters that more authentically reflect the demands of diverse classrooms, complex student needs and content area learning. additionally, addressing social studies marginalization requires increased collective dialogue and creative solutions to perceived time differences (blase & kirby, 2009). since time is a function of classroom instruction and is shaped by the manipulation of instructional time, realistic time allocations should comprise both administrative and teacher perceptions of time, prioritization of time usage, and shared control over time decisions. results from our study affirm a need to develop within schools a, "sensitivity to lived-time and a willingness to continuously modify timelines, as well as openness to criticism of the reasons for how time is allocated" (werner, 1988, p. 107). for this to be realized, journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 96 collective questions need to be raised as to how much time should be devoted to literacy instruction in order to meet federal and state mandates, as well as, whether or not foregoing less prioritized curriculum, like social studies, is necessary. while the centralization of decision-making may streamline teachers work and is touted as an effective way of ensuring more predictable achievement outcomes (apple, 2010; au, 2007; moe, 2003; wills & sandholtz, 2009), standardization of time does not take into account materialization of time in authentic classrooms where teachers make decisions regarding social studies time. time decisions such as teachers’ decisions to integrate social studies should be transparent to administrators and collectively scrutinized for instructional quality tradeoffs. initiating a professional discourse between principals and teachers to examine instructional priorities associated with time allocations could lead to greater consensus for how time defines the opportunity to learn social studies in elementary school. references apple, m. w. 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(2007). time in school: opportunity to learn. in c. e. finn, jr., and d. ravitch (eds.), beyond the basics: achieving a liberal education for all children (pp. 79–92). washington, dc: thomas b. fordham foundation & institute. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, 81-100. corresponding author email: theafner@uncc.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 100 wanous, j. p., reichers, a. e., & hudy, m. j. (1997). overall job satisfaction: how good are single-item measures? journal of applied psychology, 82(2), 247–252. werner, w. (1988). program implementation and experienced time. the alberta journal of educational research, 34(2), 90–108. wills, j. s. (2007). putting the squeeze on social studies: managing teaching dilemmas in subject areas excluded from state testing. teachers college record, 109(8), 1980–2046. retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=14080 wills, j. s., & sandholtz, j. h. (2009). constrained professionalism: dilemmas of teaching in the face of test-based accountability. teachers college record, 111(4), 1065–1114. zamosky, l. (2008). social studies: is it history? district administration, 44(3), 46–48. i in adherence with the national center for education statistics publication requirements, all sample sizes have been rounded to the nearest 10 in order to avoid respondent disclosure. ii surveys can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/pdf/0708/sass4a.pdf and http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/pdf/0708/sass4a.pdf iii absolute values of instructional time difference were calculated to avoid confounding results of the pearson correlations. iv absolute values for principal-teacher time differences were calculated prior to pearson correlation to avoid confounding analyses. http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/pdf/0708/sass4a.pdf method sample0f procedure results time allocations by subject area differences in time allocations for core content time usage for reading discussion implications limitations conclusions references journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 20 global citizenship education and the development of globally competent teacher candidates michael a. kopish ohio university abstract: this manuscript presents findings from a reflective inquiry of one global educator’s attempt to develop globally competent teacher candidates in an elective general education course for teacher candidates. the course, issues in global education, was offered to 23 undergraduate teacher candidates in the spring of 2016. one goal of this manuscript is to make the tacit and elusive elements of global education more explicit for practitioners. discussed within are two frameworks, global citizenship education (unesco, 2015) and a globally competent teaching continuum (2014), which informed the design and enactment of opportunities for teacher candidates to participate in critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiential learning. a second goal is to demonstrate the extent to which teacher candidates learned and developed global competencies as a consequence of participation in the course. data were collected from teacher candidates’ reflective journals at five different intervals during the 15-week course and analyzed thematically. findings from this inquiry demonstrate the efficacy of global citizenship education practices and the power of collaboration, as resources from the campus and community were leveraged to create a transformative educational experience for all involved. at a time when our classrooms and communities are more diverse and globally connected, this research contributes to a growing body of literature for preparing globally competent teacher candidates and offers several implications for global education practitioners. key words: global citizenship education, teacher education, pre-service teachers, reflective inquiry, globally competent teachers introduction all young people in p-12 school settings are developing civic and cultural identities; they are establishing democratic public values for civil society and preparing for multiple and evolving mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 21 forms of citizenship. in the 21st century, young people must have opportunities to become informed and engaged at local and global levels. several national and international organizations recommend the preparation of young people for a globalized world as an imperative in education (e.g. nea, 2010, 2013-2014; partnership for 21st century skills, 2011; world savvy, 2015; unesco, 2015). the national education association, for example, advances public education as a pathway to develop global competencies in young people and recommends global education should begin in pre-k and continue throughout secondary schooling (nea, 2010, 2013-2014). global competence is defined as “the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance” (boix-mansilla & chua, 2016, p. 3). to facilitate the development of globally competent citizens, we need teachers who possess “a body of knowledge about world regions, cultures, and global issues, and the skills and dispositions to engage responsibly and effectively in a global environment” (longview foundation, 2008, p. 7). across grades levels and subject areas, young people deserve to be in classrooms with globally competent teachers. global competencies of teachers include: knowledge of global issues and international subject matter; pedagogical skills to teach students analytical thinking and critical awareness of worldviews that are needed to consider multiple perspectives; and a commitment to helping students become ethically and responsible citizens globally and locally (longview foundation, 2008). in practice, globally competent teachers connect global trends to local issues and employ a range of critical pedagogies to guide students in examining root causes of issues and facilitate opportunities for students to take action. in short, globally competent teachers “enable young people to learn about their rights and responsibilities and equip them with skills for democratic participation, at all levels, from local to global” (ibrahim, 2005, pp. 178-179). the role of teacher educators in the preparation of future globally competent teachers is crucial (reynolds, ferguson-patrick, & mccormack, 2013; williams, 2014; zong et al., 2008). teacher educators must consider how teacher candidates are prepared, examine curricula, and be equipped to redesign learning experiences, when possible, to more intentionally and regularly teach for global competence in teacher education. over the last several decades, a breadth of important research, shared examples of course design, and curricula that focus on topics to promote global knowledge, perspectives and awareness, and aid in the development of global competencies have become available (asia society, 2011; committee for economic development, 2006; hanvey, 1976; longview foundation, 2008; national research council, 2007; osler & vincent, 2002; standish, 2012, 2014). these resources are diverse and include a range of controversial and competing perspectives, represent multiple disciplines, and promote mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 22 various curricular approaches. navigating these competing perspectives, however, can lead to ambiguity around what constitutes global competence; teacher preparation programs may struggle with the actual dissemination and application of research and resources to support teacher candidates’ development of global competencies (ferreira, 2013). for teacher education programs that aspire to develop global competencies with teacher candidates, there is no prescriptive path. scholars have chronicled the long and contentious history of global education (cf. hicks, 2003; su et al., 2013) in approach and practice. current literature offers global citizenship education (gce) as a framing paradigm to conceptualize global education and as a basis for educators to determine the priorities for learning and the global competencies they want students to develop (unesco, 2015). it is important to acknowledge, however, that gce is a politically and ideologically contested concept with significant tensions and competing visions among different approaches of gce (andreotti, 2006; andreotti & desousa, 2012; dill, 2013). scholars have identified three dominant perspectives of gce: technical-economic agenda, social justice agenda, and an interrogative approach (dicicco, 2016; dill, 2013; marshall, 2011; parker & camecia, 2009). the first approach to gce, a technical-economic agenda, is the prevailing perspective of gce as evidenced by the college and career readiness discourse that emphasizes workforce preparation and academic and professional knowledge. according to marshall (2011), the “technicaleconomic instrumentalist agenda of much of the global citizenship education policy requires of students (and teachers) a pragmatic and mostly neoliberal understanding of legal structures, rights and responsibilities” (p. 417). this perspective of gce is a market-driven approach that seeks to prepare learners for economic competition in a global, knowledge-based economy. the second gce perspective is identified as a social justice agenda that “requires an emotional and often active commitment to, and understanding of, particular interpretations of economic, political, legal or cultural injustice” (marshall, 2011, p. 418). from a social justice perspective, global citizenship education moves beyond an exclusively national perspective of world affairs and seeks to avoid a social-studies approach that tends to tokenize and exoticize foreign places and people. as an ideal, the concept of global citizenship education encourages students to adopt a critical understanding of globalization, to reflect on how they and their nations are implicated in local and global problems, and to engage in intercultural perspectives. (pashby, 2012, p. 9) mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 23 in order for young people and teacher candidates to develop global competencies, scholars advocate for a more reflective, critical, and political pedagogy gce from a social justice perspective (myers, 2010; pashby, 2012). in practice, a social justice approach to gce offers educational opportunities for learners to investigate global issues of power and privilege from multiple perspectives, and empowers people to take action and interrupt injustices. a third perspective, an interrogative approach to gce, seeks to address and respond to the limitations of the priorities and perspectives championed in the technical-economic and social justice approaches to gce (marshall, 2011). an interrogative approach to gce critically examines the normative dimensions of gce in theory and practice using postcolonial and poststructural theoretical frameworks (andreotti, 2006; rizvi, 2009). for example, interrogative approaches critically question universal notions of progress and development, models of the ideal global citizen, concepts such as human rights and freedom, and dominant global neoliberal policies that are entrenched in western ideals. in practice, this approach seeks to help young people …examine the ways in which global processes are creating conditions of economic and cultural exchange that are transforming our identities and communities; and that, unreflexively, we may be contributing to the production and reproduction of those conditions through our uncritical acceptance of the dominant ways of thinking about global interconnectivity. (rizvi, 2009, p. 265-266) given the competing perspectives and visions of gce, teacher educators may require additional incentives and training to teach courses with gce-related ideas (rapoport, 2015) so others can envision the possibility of enacting gce courses as a pathway to develop global competencies in teacher candidates. this study makes a necessary contribution to the literature by examining how one teacher educator at a medium-sized rural university nestled in the appalachians designed and enacted a course to develop globally competent teacher candidates using a gce framework. in the spring of 2016, a course entitled issues in global education was launched as part of a department initiative that encouraged teacher education faculty to explore opportunities to bring international perspectives to their curriculum. the issues course was offered to education majors of all disciplines and grade levels with the goal of developing teacher candidates’ global competencies early in their program of study. learning objectives derived from unesco’s (2015) gce framework and were aligned to the globally competent teaching continuum’s (2014) three domains of global competencies: skills, knowledge, and dispositions. given the course design mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 24 using a gce framework and its stated aim to develop globally competent teacher candidates, this study addresses the following research question: to what extent did students meet the learning objectives of this course designed around a global citizenship education framework? literature review global education and professional standards for teacher candidates teacher education programs are typically oriented toward local contexts rather than global ones (zhao, 2010), and teacher preparation coursework is largely driven by accreditation and standards of the profession. in an already crowded curriculum driven by standards and accreditation, some teacher educators may be skeptical of adding or infusing gce to courses or developing global competencies with teacher candidates. however, research by kirby and crawford (2012) demonstrates that policymakers have already begun to incorporate global competencies in various professional standards for teachers (i.e., caep, 2013; ccsso, 2013; ncate, 2008). gce complements existing standards for developing teacher candidate content knowledge and preparing candidates to meet the needs of diverse learners. the council for the accreditation of educator preparation (caep, 2013), for example, requires teacher candidates to develop content knowledge, skills, and dispositions to advance the learning of all students. one of the many ways teacher candidates may demonstrate this is through intasc standard 5 – application of content: “the teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem-solving related to authentic local and global issues” (ccsso, 2013, p. 8). the hallmarks of a gce course for teacher education would develop candidate content knowledge by promoting deep learning of complex global issues, critical thinking, recognizing multiple perspectives, and taking action at global and local levels to address issues. moreover, gce complements the diversity standard from ncate, which requires teacher candidates to “reflect multicultural and global perspectives that draw on the histories, experiences, and representations of students and families from diverse populations,” (ncate, 2008, p. 36). culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 1994) and culturally responsive pedagogy (gay, 2010; mcallister & irvine, 2000) are approaches to develop cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness to combat inequality where it exists. in the u.s., culturally and linguistically diverse students are now the majority (nces, 2013) with one in five students the children of immigrants (rong & preissle, 2009). with such a diverse student body and families whose citizenship transcends nation-state boundaries, researchers have called for globally mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 25 competent teachers who are able to use knowledge of students’ culture and community differences to create an inclusive learning environment and support all students’ development as global citizens (apple, 2011; o’connor & zeichner, 2011). taken together, these emphases on teacher candidates’ application of content and ability to reflect upon student diversity demonstrate an emerging importance of global competence education. global education for teacher preparation in the united states teacher education programs are among the least internationalized (longview, 2008) and offer limited opportunities for teacher candidates’ preparation in global education (kirkwood-tucker, 2009; zong, 2009). global education, when taught, is infused in courses that focus broadly on culture and diversity (parkhouse et al., 2015; ukpokodu, 2010). thus, k-12 classrooms are directly affected: teachers are not comfortable teaching courses that address global issues or engaging in global education content and practices when they have limited exposure to global content, courses, and experiences during teacher preparation (rapoport, 2009, 2010; steinemann et al., 2001). teacher education programs should work to infuse global content into existing courses, create new global courses, and offer more global experiences, such as international study abroad opportunities, immersion experiences, support for learning other languages, and international exchange opportunities (quezada & cordeiro, 2016). global education should be a coordinated programmatic approach that faculty integrate across disciplines (i.e., early childhood, science, social studies) and offer in multiple courses (i.e., social foundations, methods) for prospective teachers (ferguson-patrick, macqueen, & reynolds, 2014; longview, 2008; robbins, francis, & elliott, 2003). an analysis of the relevant literature on global education in teacher preparation illuminates two core practices educators should consider in the design and enactment of global education courses: 1) engage teacher candidates in international and cross-cultural experiences (cushner & mahon, 2002; merryfield & kasai, 2010; pence & macgillivray, 2008; sahin, 2008), and 2) include diverse content and multiple perspectives including historically marginalized people to engage teacher candidates in critical inquiry (carano, 2013; merryfield, 2008; merryfield & subedi, 2003; myers, 2010; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; poole & russell, 2015). furthermore, given the shift from global education for global awareness to an education that is more critical and action-oriented, the literature on gce reveals a third practice that is critical for teacher educators: create authentic opportunities for teacher candidates to take action on issues related to global citizenship (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; ibrahim, 2005; unesco, 2015). mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 26 international and cross-cultural experiences david hicks (2007) argues, “global education has long recognized that any understanding of the contemporary world needs to be based on participatory and experiential ways of learning” (p. 27). thus, any effort to develop globally competent teachers should involve international and cross-cultural experiences. international experiences such as study abroad or international student teaching programs facilitate pre-service and in-service teacher development of global competencies (cushner & mahon, 2002; merryfield & kasai, 2010; pence & macgillivray, 2008; sahin, 2008). in lieu of international experiences, researchers suggest cross-cultural experiential learning as an approach for developing global knowledge and skills for collaborating and communicating with different cultures (merryfield & wilson, 2005). cross-cultural experiential learning can range from intercultural interviews to an extended cultural immersion experience within an immigrant or refugee community guided by critical reflection. these authentic experiences highlight the importance of creating opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue in classroom and community settings as a way to build cross-cultural awareness, relationships, and communication skills (braskamp & engberg, 2011; crose, 2011). diverse content, multiple perspectives, and critical inquiry research demonstrates that american students have little knowledge about the world and global issues (myers, 2006; rapoport, 2009, 2010), so what educators teach matters greatly in the development of teacher candidates’ global competencies. courses should offer diverse content and teach about countries and regions outside the western world (carano, 2013; merryfield & subedi, 2003; poole & russell, 2015). for example, educators should teach with the voices, experiences, and worldviews of understudied regions of the world such as africa, asia, latin america, and the middle east (merryfield & subedi, 2003). being afforded such opportunities facilitates the development of perspective consciousness where teacher candidates learn that socio-cultural influences result in different perspectives and points of view (villegas & lucas, 2002). recognizing multiple perspectives also encourages reflexivity (andreotti, 2006), which can empower teacher candidates to reflect critically and investigate legacies of power and inequality (o’connor & zeichner, 2011). authentic opportunities to take action from the social justice perspective of gce, there is an overt commitment to develop the capacity for responsible participation and engagement to interrupt injustices at local and global levels (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; gaudelli & wylie, 2012; ibrahim, 2005). developing the capacity mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 27 to take action requires teacher educators to create meaningful and productive learning opportunities within and beyond the classroom on projects related to global citizenship (ibrahim, 2005). this requires a reflective and critical pedagogy and curriculum (starkey, 2012) that explores global relations of power and privilege and encourages engagement with global issues (andreotti, 2006; pashby, 2012; rizvi, 2009). for example, teacher educators can design learning opportunities that partner with muslim student organizations to develop workshops to combat islamophobia or create educational materials that reduce prejudice toward vulnerable people (e.g., immigrants and refugees) for distribution at local events. in other words, projects that provide meaningful and productive learning opportunities for teacher candidates to realize their potential as active and engaged citizens and practice the obligations that global citizenship entails. taken together, these practices informed the design and enactment of the issues course. conceptual framework to begin, it is important to acknowledge the pedagogical perspectives that guide my thinking about teacher education. in my view, preparing teacher candidates for the profession involves empowering individual and collective voices and fostering the development of enlightened and engaged citizens whose actions achieve social and political change. therefore, in my courses i promote an education for civic responsibility by creating opportunities for civic participation (dewey, 1924). through negotiated networks and partnerships, i engage students in the community and structure learning environments to facilitate social interactions where democratic principles are integrated with learning activities—a process dewey (1938) called experiential education. i also strive to create educational environments that foster the development of critical consciousness (freire, 1973) where students are challenged by disorienting dilemmas and conflicting frames (meizrow, 1978, 1990) and engage in critical reflection to examine assumptions, deconstruct and reconstruct personal beliefs and knowledge, and act to address issues of inequality. global citizenship education as a framing paradigm the first framework employed in the course, global citizenship education (gce), represents a shift from global education for global awareness to an education that requires critical thinking, meaningful experiences, activism, and enabling learners to examine discourse and power structures critically. given the aims of gce, the following learning objectives were established for the course: mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 28 1. students will be able to evaluate sources and use evidence to explore and communicate multiple perspectives on complex global issues. 2. students will be able to identify and analyze causes of global issues and their relationship to local, state, and national issues and take action on issues of importance. 3. students will be able to relate prejudice reduction, destruction of misinformation and stereotypes, and acceptance of global diversity to the development of cross-cultural communication and understanding. 4. students will be able to engage in conversation partnerships to gain cross-cultural awareness and cross-cultural competence. these course objectives aligned with existing teacher preparation standards for content and diversity (i.e., caep, 2013; ccsso, 2013; ncate, 2008). each class meeting focused on a topic derived from the three domains of learning in the gce framework (unesco, 2015): cognitive (i.e., local/global systems, issues connecting local/global, underlying assumptions and power dynamics), socio-emotional (i.e., levels of identity, belongingness among different communities, difference and respect for diversity), and behavioral (i.e., actions that can be taken, ethically responsible behavior, engagement and action). the gce framework guided students with a sense of purpose through inquiry processes and cross-cultural experiential learning. table 1 – alignment of gce dimensions, teacher preparation standards, and course objectives core conceptual dimensions of gce teacher preparation standards course objectives cognitive – to acquire knowledge, understanding and critical thinking about global, regional, national and local issues and the interconnectedness and interdependency of different countries and populations (unesco, 2015, p. 15). caep standard 1: content and pedagogy the provider ensures that candidates develop a deep understanding of the critical concepts and principles of their discipline and, by completion, are able to use disciplinespecific practices flexibly to objective 1: students will be able to evaluate sources and use evidence to explore and communicate multiple perspectives on complex global issues. objective 2: students will be able to identify and analyze causes of global mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 29 advance the learning of all students toward attainment of collegeand career-readiness standards. intasc standard 5 – application of content: “the teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem-solving related to authentic local and global issues” (ccsso, 2013, p. 8). issues and their relationship to local, state, and national issues and take action on issues of importance. socio-emotional – to have a sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing values and responsibilities, empathy, solidarity and respect for differences and diversity (unesco, 2015, p. 15). ncate diversity standard: requires teacher candidates “reflect multicultural and global perspectives that draw on the histories, experiences, and representations of students and families from diverse populations” (ncate, 2008, p. 36). objective 3: students will be able to relate prejudice reduction, destruction of misinformation and stereotypes, and acceptance of global diversity to the development of crosscultural communication and understanding. objective 4: students will be able to engage in conversation partnerships to gain cross-cultural mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 30 awareness and crosscultural competence. behavioral – to act effectively and responsibly at local, national, and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world (unesco, 2015, p. 15). objective 2: students will be able to identify and analyze causes of global issues and their relationship to local, state, and national issues and take action on issues of importance. per course objectives 1 and 2, teacher candidates were immediately guided through one of the unique features of gce: a critical investigation of international crises, problems, issues, and global power structures. human experiences of immigrants and refugees served as the milieu for the critical inquiry. in the course, teacher candidates conducted two critical country studies which explored push/pull factors of migration in several understudied regions of the world: latin america, the horn of africa, the middle east, and regions of asia. in collaborative groups, teacher candidates self-selected top source countries of u.s. immigration and top source countries of refugees for the two inquiry projects. by design, these countries were selected so that students could gain access and exposure to u.s. and global perspectives on issues of human migration. the question why do people migrate? served as the compelling question to guide inquiry. teacher candidates were required to incorporate evidence from resources that represented multiple perspectives from governmental organizations (e.g., united nations high commission for refugees), non-governmental organizations (e.g., oxfam), non-profit groups (e.g., community refugee and immigration services), international newspapers of the countries studied, and personal, first-hand accounts of immigrant/refugee experiences. to teach the skills and dispositions required of a critical inquiry approach, modeling was provided through two case studies: a) unaccompanied minors from el salvador and b) the ongoing refugee crisis in syria. public performance was essential to all student-produced work; materials developed from both critical country studies were used in class for an immigrant and refugee policy simulation, and later student work was displayed at an international medical conference on immigrant and refugee health. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 31 globally competent teachers the longview foundation (2008) supported the creation of the globally competent teaching continuum (2014). this framework outlines a set of twelve global competence elements in the domains of dispositions, knowledge, and skills that educators need to live and work in a global society. this framework served as a fidelity check to enhance my own global competencies and helped align course objectives 3 and 4 with cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities i developed for teacher candidates. the course demonstrated the power of collaboration as resources from across the campus and community were assembled to create a transformative educational experience for all involved. collaborations involved various programs and departments in global studies, african studies, the center for international studies, counseling and higher education, linguistics, and global health. during the development of the course, i met with colleagues in the aforementioned programs and departments to discuss readings and course topics and to explore potential overlap of interests for collaborative projects. ultimately, four cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities for teacher candidates were co-created: a) one 90-minute intercultural communication training; b) one 3-hour cross-cultural dialogue session with international students from africa, the middle east, and south asia to discuss lived experiences and perspectives on issues related to human migration; c) one 2-hour workshop on best practices for working with culturally and linguistically diverse students followed by an hour-long discussion with international students from the middle east and asia enrolled in an intensive english program; and d) pedagogical consulting and educational material development to disrupt myths and stereotypes for an international medical conference on immigrant and refugee health to educate health care professionals. methodology for this research, i conducted a reflective inquiry (adler, 1993; tabachnick & zeichner, 1991) to address the research question: to what extent did teacher candidates meet the learning objectives of this course designed around a global citizenship education framework? because the course was offered for the first time, i demonstrated inquiry as stance (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999, 2009), which “positions practitioners’ knowledge, practitioners and their interactions with students and other stakeholders at the center of educational transformation” (2009, p. 123)—in this case, the preparation of globally competent teacher candidates. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 32 participants study participants included 23 teacher candidates enrolled in issues in global education, an elective general education course that satisfied a cross-cultural perspectives requirement. the issues course was offered during the 15-week spring semester of the 2015-2016 academic year. the teacher candidates represented several undergraduate programs: secondary social studies (n=6), early childhood (n=5), english/language arts (n=4), secondary science (n=3), pre-early childhood (n=3), special education (n=1), and secondary math (n=1). teacher candidates represented various levels of schooling: first year (n=1), sophomores (n=6), juniors (n=7), and seniors (n=9). in addition, participants identified as male (n=10) and female (n=13), and 8 of the 23 participants were first-generation college students. confidentiality irb approval for this study was obtained for the 23 teacher candidates. to avoid coercion, written consent was collected from teacher candidates on the final day of the course by a colleague and not shared with the author until after grades were due. in this manuscript, pseudonyms are used in the findings section to preserve anonymity and confidentiality of the participants. procedures in addition to completing the critical inquiry projects and participating in the cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities, teacher candidates completed five reflective journals during the semester about the following topics: (1) initial reflections on global knowledge and experience; (2) reflections on an immigration critical country study; (3) reflections on a refugee critical country study; (4) reflections from cross-cultural experiential learning workshops; and (5) a summative reflection on the course. for each reflection, teacher candidates responded to a series of open-ended questions (see appendix a) and were encouraged to respond with rich descriptions of their experiences with the course content and cross-cultural activities in 10001500 words. analysis data were analyzed using procedures for thematic analysis (braun & clarke, 2006). first, i immersed myself with these data and completed thorough readings to create lists of initial ideas about the data. second, i employed a semantic approach (patton, 1990) and constructed an initial coding scheme using the three domains of globally competent teachers: skills, knowledge, and dispositions (globally competent teaching continuum, 2014). third, i sorted codes into possible mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 33 themes of global competencies (unesco, 2015; globally competent teaching continuum, 2014), compared and adjusted themes based on relevant data, and considered relationships across themes. fourth, i reviewed themes and examples within codes across the entire data set. fifth, i created themes and definitions using clear descriptive language and selected illustrative excerpts to include in this manuscript (see appendix b). finally, i organized the findings to re-align with the three domains of globally competent teachers: skills, knowledge, and dispositions. trustworthiness as a qualitative researcher, subjectivity and positionality are omnipresent; this study is informed by my years of experience and efforts as a high school social studies teacher and teacher educator with interests in the development of global competencies among my teacher candidates through cross-cultural experiential learning. given these experiences, i draw on lincoln and guba’s (1985) four types of trustworthiness employed in this research: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. first, to establish credibility i engaged in ongoing reflexive dialogue and memo writing, analyzed over 400 pages of reflective journals, adopted krefting’s (1991) recommendation to code and re-code data with two-week intervals between sessions, and included direct quotes from participants in this manuscript. second, to establish transferability i engaged with global education (and gce) literature from multiple perspectives (i.e., higher education, student affairs, teacher education, social studies education) throughout the analysis to enhance the relevance of findings (tuckett, 2005); thus, findings from this study may inform future practices and desired outcomes for diverse audiences. third, to establish dependability i provided transparency of methods and procedures (attride-stirling, 2001; holloway & todres, 2003) and described the procedures for data analysis (braun & clarke, 2006). finally, to establish confirmability, i consulted with global education experts throughout the research, a process lincoln and guba (1985) call peer debriefing, and employed a semantic approach (patton, 1990), which allowed me to analyze themes in relation to previous research and conceptual frameworks for global education; specifically, the globally competent teaching continuum (2014), and global citizenship education (unesco, 2015). findings teacher candidates enter education programs with prior global knowledge and experiences (parkhouse, tichnor-wagner, glazier, & cain, 2015), but may differ in quality of opportunity. for candidates enrolled in the issues course, preliminary reflective responses indicated their high school social studies experiences were focused on u.s. history, and candidates’ global knowledge mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 34 was limited to key events affecting the u.s. (e.g., immigrants coming to ellis island) or global events of magnitude that were represented in textbooks (e.g., genocide in rwanda). candidates understood global issues through fragmented facts, parochial perceptions, and a general disconnect from the global community (kopish, 2016). in terms of global experiences, none of the students had previous international experiences like study abroad or international student teaching. only four teacher candidates in the course had traveled outside the u.s.; france, spain, britain, and tourist destinations in the caribbean and mexico were reported. an overall lack of exposure to global education during high school and limited global experiences demonstrate where students were at the beginning of the course. the majority of students in the issues course demonstrated a shift in their skills, knowledge, and dispositions, and the data are organized so as to discuss these three domains. overall, 290 responses were coded. among those, roughly 35% of the total responses indicated that what i identified as critical literacy (37), critical inquiry (30), and cross-cultural communication (34) were perceived as areas of growth in terms of skills; 42% of the total responses indicated awareness of global issues (50), interconnectedness of events in a global system (36), and global complexity (36) as areas of growth in terms of knowledge; 23% of responses indicated empathy (24), critical reflection (20), and commitment to future local/global action (23) as areas of growth in terms of dispositions. table 2 – frequencies of coded themes domain theme total coded passages total number of candidates critical global skills critical literacy and critical media literacy 37 20 critical inquiry 30 19 cross cultural communication 34 21 global knowledge awareness of global issues 50 23 interconnectedness of events in a global system 36 21 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 35 global complexity 36 21 global dispositions empathy 24 16 critical reflection 20 14 commitment to future local/global action 23 15 note. number of candidates with one or more coded passages for each theme. critical global skill set globally competent teachers possess analytical thinking skills, the ability to consider multiple perspectives, and a critical awareness of worldviews. teacher candidates evaluated sources and used evidence to explore and communicate multiple perspectives on complex global issues and developed cross-cultural communication skills to facilitate their understanding. critical literacy. throughout the course, teacher candidates explored historical and social construction of knowledge and discourse using both critical literacy (giroux, 2005) and critical media literacy (kellner & share, 2005, 2007) approaches. critical literacy approaches helped teacher candidates move beyond uncritical or literal consumption of information to see how power and inequality are perpetuated through discourses and language. for example, naomi, a senior in social studies education, reflected on her critical country study: you hear people talk about refugees or immigrants of certain cultures in insensitive or demeaning ways. but they have no idea how status is defined and associated with terms like migrant, refugee, immigrant, and citizen. they certainly have no idea how the history of nativism, nationalism, xenophobia and racism has led to exclusionary laws, quotas, to a new era of reform tied to national security perspectives. through purposefully structured learning opportunities, teacher candidates evaluated and discussed attitudes, ideas, and priorities and how the milieu of political, economic, social and historical factors influences public perception and framing. these learning opportunities also included student exploration of media using a critical media literacy framework (kellner & share, 2005, 2007). the framework teaches young people to analyze the social construction of media representations and communication based on five core concepts: 1) all media messages are “constructed;” 2) media messages are constructed using creative language with its own rules; 3) different people experience the same media message differently; 4) media have embedded mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 36 values and points of view; 5) media are organized to gain profit and/or power. given the prevalence of multimedia information in the lives of students, providing a critical media literacy framework was imperative in their development of global competencies. for example, according to janice, a science education junior, the critical country study taught her to “pay closer attention to the news and the biases different sources have and for whose benefit” and demonstrated to others like chloe, an early childhood sophomore, “how to think critically about the information being put out and to find multiple sources of news information to inform a perspective.” critical inquiry. critical literacy and critical media literacy skills are an important foundation for critical inquiry. in the course, teacher candidates were taught the inquiry arc from the social studies c3 framework (ncss, 2013). this process guides students through an approach to develop questions and plan inquiries, apply disciplinary concepts and tools, evaluate and use evidence, and communicate conclusions and take informed action. similarly, the framework for global competence education designed by the asia society (2008) is grounded in the inquiry process, meaning that teaching and learning for global competence education is well aligned with the conceptual and skill development promoted by inquiry-based learning in social studies education (harshman, 2016a). an epistemological assumption of critical inquiry is that knowledge is subjective, it is grounded in culture and experience, and it is personal. teacher candidates were initially frustrated by the iterative nature of the inquiry process but found it to be helpful with practice. as harrison, a math education sophomore, reflected on the critical country study and policy simulation, “i was frustrated by not having an answer, but emboldened to learn more when we were learning from other perspectives.” learning from other perspectives and lived experiences was an incredibly valuable component of critical inquiry. as candidates explored complex issues, they yearned for a more complete picture and expressed a desire to hear voices and perspectives from beyond the united states. janice, for example, identified whose perspectives are readily present in the media but not those that are directly impacted by refugee crises: we hear from the u.s., russia, england, but i would like to hear more of the perspectives from those already living in the countries where a great majority of refugees from these areas are moving, too. i would like to hear more from those that live in turkey, kenya, iraq and other countries who are soaking up a lot of refugees from certain areas such as syria or for my country, sudan. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 37 throughout the course, teacher candidates were involved in different opportunities to engage in experiences that required re-evaluating their own perspectives, values, and assumptions from multiple points of view, which enabled teacher candidates to deeply explore issues of power and agency related to human migration. cross-cultural communication. in a series of three workshops focused on cross-cultural communication, teacher candidates learned and practiced active listening, critical thinking, and perspective recognition. the integrated experiences challenged prevailing assumptions and allowed teacher candidates to begin to see value in cultural and linguistic diversity. through the experience, teacher candidates learned the significance of listening skills, nonverbal communication, and asking questions—the key attributes of effective communication. reflecting on the workshops, trisha, a junior in language arts education, wrote, “when the international students came to our class, i remembered the workshop on communication and was able to ask students insightful questions and learn about their lives in their home country.” moreover, candidates learned how different types and styles of communication might be affected by culture and identity. to illustrate, lorna, a junior pre-early childhood major, reflected, “i never really thought about how my style of communication could differ from the style of others. when i talked with international students i was definitely more aware of what style of communication i was using and my body language during those conversations.” these workshops had profound implications for teacher candidates and led to greater selfawareness, as many mentioned “stepping outside of their comfort zone” during these experiences. the series of cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities expanded teacher candidates’ perception, awareness, and ability to interact with people from around the world. many teacher candidates initially mentioned they “never had the opportunity to talk with someone from another country;” through critical reflection, teacher candidates realized they “learned information from the perspective of others” and “challenged assumptions and misconceptions about others.” global knowledge course content focused on global issues through an analysis of human migration. for many teacher candidates, it was their first exposure to a myriad of global issues and expanded their ability to conduct research and consider multiple perspectives beyond their circumscribed local surroundings. teacher candidates demonstrated improved awareness of global issues and viewed global issues as interconnected and complex. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 38 awareness of global issues. in reflective journals, teacher candidates openly admitted that prior to the course, they “paid little attention” to global issues and saw them as “unimportant” to their own lives. as teacher candidates learned critical inquiry skills, some expressed “regret” or “guilt” for not being informed or aware of global issues. by engaging in disciplined inquiry, teacher candidates gained deeper awareness of two countries in great detail and additional countries through interactive presentations. celine, a sophomore in special education, reflected that the critical country study and cross-cultural dialogue helped her “develop an understanding of historic events, current events, statistics on healthcare and education access, military conflicts, and violence as well as the effects of those events on the citizens of the countries.” another student, darren, a science education senior, stated, “i, of course, heard about isis but had no idea what was happening in syria or iraq until this class. i am now more aware of so many issues happening outside the u.s.” interconnectedness of events in a global system. throughout the course experiences, teacher candidates learned about the interconnectedness of events and the global ecological system. initially, many teacher candidates demonstrated a penchant for facts about countries that surprised them. for example, teacher candidates were predisposed to memorize and share factual information about issues without seeing connections. discrete information about conditions in countries like starvation in south sudan, persecution in eritrea, or the ostracizing of syrian refugees in greece was expressed as important in early journals. what developed through the critical country studies, however, was teacher candidates’ ability to employ systems thinking and critically evaluate how decisions and actions interrelate and affect people across the globe in interconnected ways. for example, mike, a social studies education sophomore, critiqued the way “sound bites in the news offer a limited point of view that fails to address the interconnectedness of global events.” he learned how the violence in syria is connected to new laws in the middle east and eu which harm the most vulnerable: i hear politicians say ‘help these people’ ‘bomb them’ and miss the way decisions impact people and nations. look at the effects of decisions throughout the multi-dimensional power struggle in syria. the syrian refugee crisis didn’t just happen. assad’s forces, isis, and opposition groups are tearing the country apart. the violence is pushing refugees to lebanon, jordan, turkey, and the eu. now these countries are changing their laws to prevent refugees from entering the country! for this student, previously held assumptions were broken down and he started to identify complexity rather than simplicity to explain global events. as a result of the critical country mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 39 studies, teacher candidates moved beyond viewing the exotic and interesting as the most important information. instead, they viewed immigration and refugee crises and weighed policy options by incorporating international perspectives that assessed humanitarian, economic, and security interests. global complexity. with new knowledge about world systems, global events, and the interconnectedness of the global ecological system, teacher candidates began to acknowledge greater complexity involved in decision-making and problem solving. teacher candidates viewed the critical country study as “a pivotal experience to learn difficult decision-making on a global scale.” for example, sienna, a sophomore in social studies education, developed a heuristic to facilitate her thinking. she explained in a journal entry: i noticed that human migration isn’t a black and white issue, there seem to be different factors that interplay: 1) violence – either from political corruption persecution or instability; 2) resources – either too little or innovation and development doesn’t exist without investment; 3) environment – is too harsh or living conditions are poor; 4) opportunities – little or no opportunities for advancement socially, economically or politically. engaging candidates in simulations that involved problem solving and decision-making allowed students to wrestle with the key issues and controversies facing the vulnerable, policy makers, and other leaders. megan, an early childhood senior, mentioned grappling with complexity during the immigration policy simulation in a journal entry. she wrote, “i was able to see that it is much harder than it sounds to fix these crises as the issues immigrants face is multifaceted and every single case in unique. these crises are like an iceberg—we only see part of the issues at play and not the long histories and legacies that push or force people to migrate.” global dispositions global dispositions include teacher candidates’ ability to reflect on and be aware of their own attitudes and values along with their readiness to advocate for values on a global level. three themes emerged from analysis of teacher candidates’ reflective journals: 1) empathy, 2) critical reflection, and 3) commitment to future action. empathy. for many teacher candidates, their journal entries expressed being reflective of their own thinking and described episodes that reinforced or developed feelings of empathy toward others. reflections indicated that both the critical inquiry and cross-cultural experiences helped mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 40 teacher candidates become more empathetic. for example, through the critical inquiry projects, lorna stated, “i can honestly say that over time i have developed more understanding and empathy for the lived experiences of people in so many countries.” megan also described a change in empathy over the duration of studying the lived experiences in the critical inquiry projects. in one reflection, she stated, “studying the different social norms has created, evolved, and grown my empathy for those oppressed.” empathy also developed from teacher candidates’ participation in the cross-cultural experiences. trisha, for example, met someone from another country for the first time in her life during the cross-cultural dialogue activity. from the experience, she developed empathy and refined her own views. as she stated in a reflection, “i have experienced difference of others for the first time; my empathy has grown and my own views are more cultivated.” another student, sienna, acknowledged that authentic conversations with international students changed her from “feeling sorry for others” to “actually feeling emotionally connected and empathetic from hearing people’s unique stories.” experiencing and acknowledging feelings of empathy certainly appeared to correspond with emerging awareness, which for some was a necessary first step toward developing dispositional global competencies. critical reflection. for many teacher candidates, cross-cultural awareness began with feelings of empathy while some candidates’ awareness expanded through self-reflection and personal evolution of thought. other teacher candidates’ journal entries, however, demonstrated multilayered levels of reflection on the intersectionality of their own culture and status. to illustrate, chloe explored notions of privilege in one of her critical reflections: i think as an african american woman i see all of the areas in which i do not have the privilege but i realized that as an american middle-class citizen i have more privilege than many people in the world. hearing the stories of the refugees and immigrants and their journeys forces me to reconsider my own situation. teacher candidates began to recognize how discourses of power frame media reports and policy discussions related human migration (i.e., “i find myself thinking about how language is used during the campaigns to frame issues of immigration and refugees”). they questioned the pervasiveness of western viewpoints and purposefully explored multiple perspectives from other countries, especially those affected by mass migration of people. darren, for example, reflected on reading stories from international newspapers: my own experiences were present reading the way the greek newspapers castigated refugees from syria; how similar the language used in the paper is to how my middle-class mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 41 family members talk about the crisis yet have no idea about refugees’ experiences. i kept thinking about how privilege frames one’s perception. teacher candidates examined historical, political, social, and economic conditions and wondered why some perspectives were silenced or not considered/presented as viable options. commitment to future local/global action. teacher candidates developed empathy, became more critically reflective, and spoke of plans and commitments for future action. for some, the commitment to action was personal and proximal; teacher candidates, for example, mentioned a desire for “more education and personal research” while others expressed being “more comfortable approaching and talking to an international student.” other teacher candidates saw the course as an opportunity to correct misinformation. janice, for example, stated, “now i cannot ignore others’ misinformed comments and will use every opportunity to spread the stories of personal struggle from around the world.” the course experiences pushed some to want to earn a spanish minor or an international certificate as part of their academic experience. in addition, teacher candidates signed up to be conversational partners and support the international students they met from the intensive english program, sought to participate in events on campus, and re-taught course activities to students at school internships. other teacher candidates pursued broader action and engagement in local and global communities. for example, candidates mentioned that the course increased their commitment to different levels of civic engagement. harrison expressed a personal desire to be a “better informed voter” while celine expressed a desire to engage locally and “start a chapter of medlife on campus.” as teacher candidates’ knowledge of opportunities expanded, they also expressed a desire to “work with refugee/immigrant communities in [a large urban area],” or “intern with [an educational advocacy group] to support immigrant and refugee students.” these teacher candidates demonstrate that they have the power to shape a better world by promoting peace, cross-cultural understanding, and mutual respect. two teacher candidates, megan and sienna, signed up for a teach abroad/service learning summer program in thailand while others looked into student teaching overseas and study abroad programs. sienna also expressed a desire to work at the zaatari refugee camp in jordan and cited the critical case study of syria as influential. discussion toward the goal of developing globally competent teacher candidates, the findings from this study demonstrate the extent to which students met the learning objectives of this course designed around a gce framework. the results, however, are limited to the experiences of mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 42 teacher candidates in an elective course at one university. thus, those enrolled represent a small sample of teacher candidates who were motivated to select the course and may have had initial “buy-in” to the gce perspectives, curriculum, and pedagogies enacted. while the small sample size for this study was comparative to other qualitative studies (kirkwood-tucker, 2004; harshman, 2016b; maguth, 2014; parkhouse, tichnor-wagner, cain, & glazier, 2016), a larger sample of teacher candidates would likely be more diverse and may reveal critical differences in perspectives, differences that may better demonstrate contrasts between candidates who exhibited minimal to little change and those who truly developed global competencies. despite these limitations, the examples of content and pedagogical practices employed using the gce framework provide necessary examples of how teacher educators might approach integrating gce into extant courses and curriculum. specifically, the findings from this study demonstrate a degree of efficacy developing teacher candidates’ global competencies by enacting the following practices: engage teacher candidates in cross-cultural experiences (merryfield & kasai, 2010; pence & macgillivray, 2008; sahin, 2008), include diverse content, multiple perspectives, and critical inquiry (carano, 2013; merryfield, 2008; merryfield & subedi, 2003; myers, 2010; o’connor & zeichner, 2011; poole & russell, 2015), and create authentic opportunities for teacher candidates to take action on issues related to global citizenship (andreotti, 2006; dicecco, 2016; ibrahim, 2005; unesco, 2015). these practices are flexible in application and allow teacher educators to maintain autonomy in determining global content, cross-cultural experiences, and opportunities for action to develop global competencies and meet global citizenship and curricular goals. reflecting on the experience as a whole, there are several recommendations to move this work forward. recommendations for practice first, efforts to prepare teacher candidates for globalized contexts should be a coordinated approach that is integrated across disciplines and in courses and programs for prospective teachers (ferguson-patrick, macqueen, & reynolds, 2014; robbins, francis, & elliott, 2003). integrating gce in teacher preparation courses complements existing accreditation and professional teacher standards for content and diversity and can augment existing curriculum. this requires structures to build teacher educator capacity with gce and related pedagogies by incentivizing teacher educators with opportunities for global travel, university exchange programs, or professional development with the practices employed in this study. teacher preparation programs may also incentivize faculty to create new global courses and offer more global experiences for students (quezada & cordeiro, 2016). any efforts, however, require mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 43 sustained commitments from teacher education programs and practitioners, such as requiring global education courses in programs of study and using global education courses as an incubator for pedagogical development. second, teacher educators who adopt gce as a framing paradigm in their courses must be gritty, reflective practitioners. they must be equipped to address teacher candidates’ incomplete or inaccurate information related to gce issues under study (e.g., “all refugees from the middle east end up in america”) and expand pedagogical repertoires to include more inclusive practices for scaffolding critical literacy and critical inquiry. in this course, teacher candidates were often frustrated by the ambiguity associated with addressing systemic issues of inequality. many candidates initially sought the “right” or “correct” answer during inquiry-based instruction and struggled to navigate multiple viewpoints when analyzing evidence. over time, however, most students were able to critically analyze information and multiple perspectives. there were three students, the uncritical privileged (kopish, 2016), who, despite explicit and critical examination of structural forms of inequality, uncritically reflected upon others’ experiences in comparison with their own lives (e.g., “i have it a lot easier than i think and now after taking this class, i appreciate my life more. i almost feel guilty for not being aware of what is going on in the world”). from this experience, i recommend that teacher educators should anticipate students’ ambivalence (or resistance) to critical inquiry practices and the development of perspective consciousness. identifying student perceptions early and scaffolding critical self-reflection throughout the course will help all candidates examine status and position, challenge relational hierarchies, and confront privilege. when classroom-based approaches seem to fall short of desired outcomes, teacher educators should seek experiential education opportunities for students to take action in local communities. this may help students understand local/global connections between oppression and inequality rather than as abstract and distant issues happening to “others.” efforts such as engaging teacher candidates in cross-cultural service learning are potentially powerful (boyle-baise, 1998; engberg & fox, 2011; glass, 2012) and may be necessary to affect greater change in development of teacher candidates’ global competencies. third, teacher educators should leverage campus and community assets to support gce efforts with an eye on sustainability. too often we are stuck within our own disciplinary borders and rarely seek or create opportunities to collaborate. the overwhelmingly positive perspectives offered by student reflections indicate the high value and importance of the cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities. as i prepared for the course, i learned about global initiatives mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 44 on campus from colleagues in other departments and in the community. i attended events (i.e., forums, guest speakers, film series) and started networking to find allies and potential partners. six months in advance of the course, i approached colleagues from around campus, shared visions of the course, and started conversations about how to collaborate to support global teacher education. to be sure, these efforts take time; the best-designed plans were sometimes compromised by the time constraints of a 15-week course, which limited the number of crosscultural experiential learning opportunities candidates were offered. negotiating schedules with colleagues and international students to develop a coherent series of workshops was difficult to manage and demanded flexibility on my part. as teacher educators consider their own contexts, they should try to establish partnerships that are mutually beneficial and sustained beyond the one semester. with the exception of the annual global health conference, which was held locally only during the semester of the course, future iterations of this course will involve colleagues and programs for improved versions of cross-cultural experiential learning and new opportunities as well. regardless of one’s location or institution, there are potential opportunities for collaboration on global education initiatives. in closing, i sought to make the practices and pedagogy of gce in my attempt to develop teacher candidates’ global competencies transparent. there is no prescriptive path to global education because contexts and access to resources and opportunities differ; however, my hope is that i was able to make some of the tacit and elusive elements of gce as a framing paradigm more explicit by providing concrete examples of key practices employed in the course. as teacher educators, we are at a critical juncture in the development of globally competent teachers. we must continue to examine our own and others’ pedagogy for global education and emphatically communicate the extent to which our efforts help develop teacher candidates’ global competencies. young people have the power to shape a world that promotes peace, mutual respect, and environmental care; education is the key. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 45 appendix a reflection questions 1) initial reflections on global knowledge and experience 1. what were your social studies classes like in high school? 2. how were you taught about countries outside the united states? 3. how were you taught about immigration? 4. how were you taught about refugees? 2) immigration critical country study about immigration a. how much did you know about immigration before the class activities and project? b. after completing the project and activities, what are your perspectives on immigration? c. based on the reading and discussions in class, which approach to immigration policy do you agree with most? why? d. as you reflect on your experience, what more do you want to know about immigration? about the project e. what was satisfying about the project? what did you find frustrating about the project? f. if you were advising the professor, what is something about the critical country study that can be improved? g. as you look ahead to the critical country study on refugees, what is something you would like to improve for next time? 3) immigration critical country study about refugees a. how much did you know about refugees before the class activities and project? b. after completing the project and activities, what are your perspectives on refugees? c. based on the reading and discussions in class, which approach to refugee policy do you agree with most? why? d. as you reflect on your experience, what more do you want to know about refugees? e. what did you find similar about your immigration and refugee projects? what did you find different? written policy response: what should be the united states’ policy for resettling refugees? your response needs to take into account the following: mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 46 a. how do you strike a balance among humanitarian, economic, and security reasons? b. how should u.s. taxpayers pay? where should benefits go? are there limits to benefits? c. should the u.s. establish criteria for “who should be allowed to resettle and who should not?” please explain. d. make a recommendation for where and how the u.s. should respond to refugee crises. about the project e. what was satisfying about the project? what did you find frustrating about the project? f. if you were advising the professor, what is something about the critical country study that can be improved? 4) cross-cultural experiential learning workshops cross cultural communication 1. what did you know about effective communication before the workshop? 2. what did you learn from participation in the workshop? please provide evidence of skills, knowledge, and attitude/disposition that developed during the workshop. 3. how were you able to practice or use the skills you learned from the cross-cultural communication workshop during the conversations outside of class or with international students? 4. as you think about your professional future, how will the skills you developed or knowledge you gained from the workshop help you in the long term? 5. what would you keep from the workshop for use with future classes? how might this workshop be improved for use with future classes? cross cultural dialogue 1. what did you know about the lives and experiences of international students before the workshop? 2. what did you learn from participation in the workshop? please provide evidence of skills, knowledge, and attitude/disposition that developed during the workshop. 3. what skills or knowledge from class were you able to practice or use during the conversations with international students? 4. as you think about your professional future, how will the skills you developed or knowledge you gained from the workshop help you in the long term? 5. what would you keep from the workshop for use with future classes? how might this workshop be improved for use with future classes? mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 47 best practices for working with english language learners 1. what did you know about working with ell students before the workshop? 2. what did you learn from participation in the workshop? please provide evidence of skills, knowledge, and attitude/disposition that developed during the workshop. 3. what skills or knowledge from class do you think will be most beneficial in the near term? 4. as you think about your professional future, how will the skills you developed or knowledge you gained from the workshop help you in the long term? 5. what would you keep from the workshop for use with future classes? how might this workshop be improved for use with future classes? 5) summative questions 1. think about the workshops we had in class as they relate to work with immigrants or refugees. what recommendations would make to someone in your professional field (i.e., teaching, engineering, law, journalism, child and family studies) when working with immigrants or refugees? answers should address key learning from the following workshops: a. cross-cultural communication b. cross-cultural mentoring c. best practices for working with english language learners 2. one of the overarching outcomes of this course and the activities chosen is for students to develop or enhance their global perspectives. please consider your experiences in this class to answer the following questions: a. in what ways did your awareness of and appreciation for different perspectives of the world change? b. to what extent did you develop an understanding of global issues and events and their cause-and-effect relationships. c. to what extent did you develop awareness of diversity of ideas and practices in human societies around the world? to what extent did you develop empathy and your own thinking about ideas covered in class? d. to what extent did you learn about aspects of the world, global change, and interconnectedness? e. to what extent did you develop awareness of the problems of choice confronting individuals, nations, and humans? 3. as a result of the course content and activities, to what extent did your perceptions of immigrants, refugees, and ell students change? please support your answer with specific examples of course content or activities that facilitated perception change. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 48 4. what is next for you on your journey to further develop global competence and global awareness? to what extent has this course encouraged you to exhibit an ongoing willingness to actively seek out and participate in intercultural opportunities? please provide examples of opportunities you are seeking and a rationale for your participation or reasons you are not seeking opportunities and why. appendix b coding table codes theme definition quote total passages  analyze language  analyze discourse  contested concepts  bias  multiple sources critical literacy and critical media literacy teacher candidates describe critical thinking and analytical skills incorporated during course readings. “…pay closer attention to the news and the biases different sources have and for whose benefit” 37  research terms  disciplinary thinking  learn from others’ perspectives  lived experiences of others critical inquiry teacher candidates describe experience with inquiry to learn from perspective of others. “we hear from the u.s., russia, england, but i would like to hear more of the perspectives from those already living in the countries where a great majority of refugees from these areas are moving too. i would like to hear more from those that live in 30 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 49 turkey, kenya, iraq and other countries who are soaking up a lot of refugees from certain areas such as syria or for my country, sudan.”  active listening  nonverbal communication  ask questions  listen to stories and experiences  awareness of own communication cross cultural communication teacher candidates express what was learned and/or practiced (i.e., active listening, critical thinking, and perspective recognition) as they communicated with international students. “i never really thought about how my style of communication could differ from the style of others. when i talked with international students i was definitely more aware of what style of communication i was using and my body language during those conversations.” 34  not knowing  negative feelings associated with lack of knowledge  increase knowledge awareness of global issues teacher candidates demonstrate a change in their knowledge about issues facing countries outside the u.s. “…develop an understanding of historic events, current events, statistics on healthcare and education access, military 50 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 50  examples of issues in countries of study conflicts, and violence as well as the effects of those events on the citizens of the countries.”  issues facing one or more country  cause and effect  direct/indirect consequences  identify trends from events interconnectedness of events in a global system teacher candidates acknowledge how issues and challenges affect people across different countries rather than in isolation. “the syrian refugee crisis didn’t just happen. assad’s forces, isis, and opposition groups are tearing the country apart. the violence is pushing refugees to lebanon, jordan, turkey, and the eu.” 36  difficulties for countries across issues  interplay among factors  thinking in multiple domains global complexity teacher candidates identify global issues as multifaceted and problemsolving to address the issues as challenging. “these crises are like an iceberg – we only see part of the issues at play and not the long histories and legacies that push or force people to migrate.” 36  see refugees differently  see immigrants differently empathy teacher candidates mention growing awareness and “studying the different social norms has created, evolved, and 24 mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 51  hearing stories elicited feelings  meeting people elicited feelings  put self in others’ shoes learning about issues, practices, and ideas around the world and the development of empathy through learning. grown my empathy for those oppressed.”  privilege  self-awareness  expanded thinking  perceptions critical reflection teacher candidates express personal thoughts about their own culture and status during experiences. “hearing the stories of the refugees and immigrants and their journeys forces me to reconsider my own situation.” 20  take action  engagement  seek opportunities  create opportunities for self commitment to future local/global action teacher candidates share visions of 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(2009). a forgotten concept: global citizenship education and state social studies standards. the journal of social studies research, 33(1), 91-112. rapoport, a. (2010). we cannot teach what we do not know: indiana teachers talk about global citizenship education. education, citizenship, and social justice, 5(3), 179-190. rapoport, a. (2015). global aspects of citizenship education: challenges and perspectives. in b. maguth & j. hilburn (eds.), the state of global education. learning with the world and its people (pp. 2740). new york, ny: routledge. reynolds, r., ferguson-patrick, k., & mccormack, a. (2013). dancing in the ditches: reflecting on the capacity of a university/school partnership to clarify the role of a teacher educator. european journal of teacher education, 36(3), 307-319. rong, x. l., & preissle, j. (2009). educating immigrant students in the 21st century: what educators need to know. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. rizvi, f. (2009). towards cosmopolitan learning. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 30(3), 253-268. robbins, m., francis, l., & elliott, e. (2003). attitudes toward education for global citizenship among trainee teachers. research in education, 69, 93-98. sahin, m. (2008). cross-cultural experience in preservice teacher education. teaching and teacher education, 24, 1777-1790. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 58 standish, a. (2012). the false promise of global learning: why education needs boundaries. new york, ny: continuum. standish, a. (2014). what is global education and where is it taking us? curriculum journal, 25(2), 166186. starkey, h. (2012). human rights, cosmopolitanism and utopias: implications for citizenship education. cambridge journal of education, 42(1), 21-35. steinemann, n. k., fiske, e. b., & sackett, v. (2001). asia in the schools: preparing young americans for today’s interconnected world. a report of the national commission on asia in the schools. new york: asia society. su, f., bullivant, a., & holt, v. (2013). global citizenship education. in w. curtis, s. ward, j. sharp, & l. hankin (eds.), education studies: an issue based approach (pp. 231-244). los angeles, ca: sage. tabachnick, b., & zeichner, k. (1991). issues and practices in inquiry oriented teacher education. london: falmer press. tuckett, a. g. (2005). applying thematic analysis theory to practice: a researcher's experience. contemporary nurse, 19(1-2), 75-87. ukpokodu, o. (2010). teacher preparation for global perspectives pedagogy. in b. subedi (ed.), critical global perspectives: rethinking knowledge about global societies (pp. 121-142). charlotte, n.c.: information age publishing. unesco. (2015). global citizenship education: topics and learning objectives. paris, france. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). preparing culturally responsive teachers: rethinking the curriculum. journal of teacher education, 53(13), 20-32. world savvy. (2015). world savvy. retrieved from http://www.worldsavvy.org zhao, y. (2010). preparing globally competent teachers: a new imperative for teacher education. journal of teacher education, 61, 422-431. zong, g. (2009). global perspectives in teacher education research and practice. in t.f. kirkwood-tucker (ed.), visions in global education: the globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: perspectives from canada, russia, and the united states (pp. 71-89). new york: peter lang. zong, g., wilson, a. h., & quashiga, a. y. (2008). global education. in l. s. levstik & c. a. tyson (eds.), handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 197-216). new york and london: routledge mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 20-59 corresponding author: kopish@ohio.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 59 about the author: michael kopish is an assistant professor of teacher education at ohio university where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in social studies education and global education. his research interests include service learning, civic engagement, global citizenship education, and social studies education. dr. kopish is the author or co-author of articles that appear in journal of research on adolescence, democracy and education, and the journal of social studies education research. mailto:kopish@ohio.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 133 mapping the hidden discourse of geographical inquiry and curriculum change – initial case study responses to geography education k-10 in australian schools kay carroll western sydney university, australia abstract: within australia, globalization, contentious connections with asia, and an increasing concern with sustainable development and intercultural education have created a new educational framework and curricula. the australian curriculum is the tangible, multidimensional, and pedagogic catalyst to deliver capable, creative, culturally aware, futurefocused, and critical education to all young people across the nation.1 within this context, geography as unique discipline has been introduced from foundational years to the end of compulsory schooling. australian teachers have responded to the implementation of this new curriculum with fear, reticence, resistance, brave enthusiasm, and pedagogic creativity. this paper analyzes these responses to geographical inquiry and curriculum implementation in the early stages of this process and considers the rationale, context, and potential impact on learning key words: inquiry, geography, pedagogy, curriculum, geographical literacy, global education introduction resulting from the melbourne declaration on goals for young australians, the australian curriculum and assessment authority is a dominant narrative that frames what all young people should know, learn, and be able to do within a nationalistic collective discourse about knowledge and power (ditchburn, 2012). geography is part of this curricular fabric to shape young people into globally literate and flexible workers who can participate in the knowledge economy. 1 http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_g oals_for_young_australians.pdf mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 134 however, the inherent inquiry nature of geography is to question and experience ill-structured, messy issues about space, place, and people. this is a pedagogic tension within the new australian curriculum construct. the curriculum is designed for young learners to flex their cognition and respond critically to the world, yet it is also designed for teachers to implement in a homogenous and unproblematized dispatch mode. these tensions present an intriguing paradox to how teachers negotiate curriculum. this paper reports on the development of australian geography and how it is created by teachers in australian classrooms. geography curriculum development australia has is one of the longest-standing politically stable liberal democracies in the western and post-war world. this stability is derived from a federalist system of government that assumes that individual states and territories are responsible for such matters as education, and the commonwealth federal government is accountable for trade, the economy, defense, and foreign policy. recently, the neo-liberalist alignment of education with the economic future of the nation has resulted in an ambitious curriculum that aims to deliver creativity, critical thinking and employment skills. state and federal political governments have mobilized to shape and frame the values, skills, perspectives, and knowledge of young people. the melbourne declaration of 2008 presented this narrative and resulted in the creation of the australian curriculum, assessment and reporting agency (acara) in order to draft, direct, and dictate the curricula. geography since 2009 has been developed within this flurry of curriculum development. documents such as the shape of australian curriculum: geography (2009) and the shape of the australian curriculum v2.02 have been used to create the fingerprint for the new geography curriculum. this fingerprint defined, with its ridges and wobbles, the nature of the discipline, the inquiry process, key geographical concepts, and the purpose of geography in a post-modern context. smudging this process were key stakeholders such as the states and territory education departments and bodies, the geography teachers’ associations, school sectors, and teachers. the result of this politicization was the new australian curriculum for geography, which covers all ages of schooling. what is geography? geography is a way of being and knowing the world and is defined aptly as a form of “homo geographicus” (sack, 1997). geography is conceptualized as “inquiry into the real world that the 2 http://www.acara.edu.au/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum.pdf mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.acara.edu.au/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 135 students inhabit” (kriewaldt, 2006a, p.159). geography is living, enacted, and transformative. however, traditional approaches such as mapping, memorization of facts and countries’ names, keys, and coloring maps were seen as fundamental tools that enabled students to understand their world. this traditional approach within schools has stifled the critical metaphysical nature of geography. according to the australian curriculum, assessment, and reporting agency, geography is the investigation and understanding of the earth and its features and the distribution of life on earth, including human life and its impacts. it is the study of the many different “places,” or environments, which make up our world and is described as “the why of where.” places are specific areas of the earth’s surface, and can range from a locality to a country to a major world region. geography answers our questions about why places have their particular environmental and human characteristics; how and why these characteristics vary from place to place; how places are connected, and how and why they are changing. geography examines these questions on all scales, from the local to the global, and over time periods that range from a few years to thousands of years. it also looks forward to explore ways of influencing and managing the future of places including their environmental, economic, and social sustainability. (acara, 2009) geography in this form was about inquiry. this inquiry was bounded within the discipline parameters of people, places, and spaces. to see and to interpret, students would need to use tools such as graphs, maps, data, and visual representations. geographic knowledge was the lens to understand questions such as scale, sustainability, environmental impact, and globalization. yet geography within the literature is nuanced with multi-dimensional spaces and ideologies (puttick, 2013). geography is polytheistic. it is about seeing the world from multiple vantage points and scales. the discipline is not about “geography but a site of geographies” (puttick, 2013, p. 357). this space enables students to enact “geographic thinking” (kriewaldt, 2006b, p. 25). this definition focused on inquiry processes, knowledge, and understanding of the physical and human spaces and interactions. combined in this definition were both the coherence of the discipline as a unique body of knowledge and processes and multiplicity of geography as an inquiry about physical and human sites (kriewaldt, 2006a; maude, 2014). geographical thinking embodies both. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 136 geographical thinking geographical thinking involves metacognition and reflection. metacognition is a process of awareness (kriewaldt, 2006b) that enables evaluative judgment. students are challenged to see, understand, and explore how their thinking or opinion can influence or impact an issue, space, place, or people. geographical thinking is a critical and divergent way of organizing and transforming spaces. students are encouraged to see interaction and change as being mutable processes. this metacognitive stance is assertive, grounded in constructivist discourse about learning being active, self-motivated, and regulated (schunk & zimmerman, 1998). geography must be enacted, not taught from texts. the intent is clear: the geography curriculum focuses on active student-centered inquiry learning. geography involves action, fieldwork, and investigation. in fieldwork, students acquire their understanding using a range of tools. fieldwork is at the heart of learning geography, but the approach to fieldwork is problematic. a less student-centered approach may involve the ubiquitous clip board with students following, capturing, and recording all the tasks directed by the teacher. this example highlights the inherent tension between the curriculum and the pedagogic impulse of teachers. teachers in this traditional example appear to be using an inquiry approach to learning geography, but it is in reality a programmed procedural approach that relies heavily on teacher instruction. in contrast, geographical thinking involving metacognition and an evaluative stance that enables students to pose questions for field investigation, select the appropriate tools to acquire their data, and choose how it will be communicated or resolved. this form of fieldwork is a more complicated effort; it requires teachers to enact sensory, discovery, guided, and problem-solving experiences. geographical thinking is a process of looking at phenomena, looking around and beyond this (puttick, 2013). consideration of multiple geographical perspectives and positions opens this discipline to concepts about contestability and geographic change, and it involves examining data to form conclusions from different viewpoints and rigorously substantiating the stance or action undertaken. this broader conceptualization of geographies is perhaps the intent of the new australian curriculum. the initial framing of the curriculum identified a range of concepts and international models that included an understanding of place, key concepts, and human interactions (maude, 2014). within the australian curriculum, the rationale for the study of geography includes these aspects: mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 137 geography is a structured way of exploring, analyzing, and understanding the characteristics of the places that make up our world, using the concepts of place, space, environment, interconnection, sustainability, scale and change.3 however, the pedagogic impulse of schools is to prescribe, mandate, and control. geography in this context has been historically presented as an “outdated, objectivist perspective” (puttick, 2013, p. 358). this approach has stifled the cognitive and creative challenge posed by geography courses in the past. the new curriculum has reopened this possibility for teachers to enable geographical thinking by focusing on inquiry with their students. furthermore, the crosscurriculum perspectives that focus students’ attention on asian connection, sustainability, and indigenous peoples provide students with opportunities to engage with divergent perspectives (maude, 2014). paradoxically, the prescription and politicization of geography within this nationalized australian curricular process has exerted an impetus for inquiry, student-centered teaching, and cognitive dissonance in the classroom. the pedagogic risk the australian geography curriculum is provocative, dangerously intellectual, and steeped in educational risk-taking. teachers are faced with this enormous curriculum change and potential subversions to their practice. this challenge is exacerbated by the reality that few teachers from k-12 have formal pre-service or discipline knowledge or training in geography. studies suggest that over half of classroom teachers in victoria who taught geography in 2003 (prior to the introduction of the australian curriculum in 2008) were not trained sufficiently in geography (see kriewaldt’s study (2006a) showing that 43% of teachers in 2003 within victoria were not adequately trained). similarly, in new south wales (nsw), primary pre-service teachers were not likely to elect to study geography beyond an often singularly or compulsory entry level university course (see gibson & wechmann’s 2012 study of pre-service teachers in new south wales in 2011, showing that only 2.4% of a potential 927 students elected to undertake further study in geography). research study: methods and data sources case studies of 12 primary schools in australia were conducted from term 2 until the end of term 4. these schools were located in different geographic regions of new south wales and included 3 http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/geography/rationale mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/geography/rationale journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 138 four schools in regional areas and eight schools in metropolitan areas. four schools had communities with low socio-economic status (ses) and eight schools had very high ses communities. case studies consisted of interviews with teachers, reviews of programs and documentation, and student work samples. a multi-site case study method was selected to show how curriculum construction and pedagogic choices were being made in a range of contexts. the intent was to analyze how school context may mediate the curricular experience from teachers’ perspectives. according to yin (2009), case study methods comprise multiple data sets such as interviews, physical artifacts, documents, and observations. to facilitate this collection of rich and contextual data, the researchers must insert themselves into the context. this approach is informed by the paradigm of “inquiry from the inside” (evered & reis louis, 1981). in this paradigm, the researcher must understand the social and political values of the organization and understand the nuances and agency of the participants. this is an invaluable tableau of the context of the organization and enables research to be contextualized. multi-site case studies offer a range of different experiences and contexts. identifying common casual or co-relational factors that influence curriculum construction across settings makes the process more rigorous. to penetrate each school context requires relational trust, credibility, and immersion into the cultural context of the system. as the researcher, i was participant in the mis-en-scene of curriculum enactment. at each school, i was involved in reviewing curriculum documents, scope and sequence plans, assessment tasks, and rubrics. as a participant, i was privy to teacher discussions and dialogues about curriculum choices, successes, and limitations. in undertaking interviews, teachers were invited to share what had occurred from their perspective. some of the interviewees were school leaders and other interviewees shared classes or ownership of different stages. the interviews provided another lens to understand the ontological phenomenon. being the active participant in the research provided me with the opportunity to see the norms of the school, the capacity of a range of teachers, and the requirements of curricular change. in this messy context, i was a trusted insider who could detect what may be unconscious, silent, or part of the grammar of each place. the limitation of being native to the study was controlled by the multi-site approach. each site and interaction varied according to the school and teachers involved. factors that arose across multiple sites were therefore treated as worthy of further exploration and analysis. additionally, the thickness and richness of a multi-site case study provided a more complete mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 139 picture of what was happening in the classroom and the wider school approach to the new geography syllabus. table 1: summary of demographic details of the case studies total number of schools regional metropolitan high ses low ses 12 4 8 8 4 the following table provides background details for the participants in the study. it should be noted that more female and experienced teachers were interviewed and observed due to the staffing composition of the school. the highly feminized teaching profile within australian schools is historic and fairly typical of australian education. the large number of experienced teachers is indicative of current teacher demographics nationally. table 2: gender and experience levels of teachers in the case studies total number of participants number of male teachers number of female teachers number of early career teachers (1-3 years teaching) number of experienced teachers (4+ years teaching) 49 8 41 8 41 interview results in these case studies, the following table showed how teachers and schools have engaged with the tools, the inquiry process, and the concepts. in the interviews, teachers were asked about their initial approaches to the syllabus and plans for implementation in the classroom and across the school. teachers were asked to consider what they needed for support or how they might improve their practices. an analysis of the responses identified some main themes and provides an indication of how many teachers approached the new curriculum regardless of gender or career experience. in the results, emergent themes about the following aspects were detected:  geographical thinking evident in approach to curriculum and practice. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 140  geographical tools and innovation adopted with support.  willingness and capacity to use inquiry approaches with geography curriculum.  community of practice critical in the development and emergence of geographical thinking.  desire for continued support, school and system leadership to transition to further and deepening levels of inquiry.  assessment practice not well aligned to classroom inquiry practices. the table below shows percentages of the teachers across the four schools combined where the key themes were detected. table 3: summary of themes emerging from the case studies themes percentage of responses n=48 teachers geographical thinking evident in approach to curriculum and practice. 78% geographical tools and innovation adopted with support. 69% willingness and capacity to use inquiry approaches with geography curriculum. 75% community of practice critical in the development and emergence of geographical thinking. 78% desire for continued support, school and system leadership to transition to further and deepening levels of inquiry. 62% assessment practice not well aligned to classroom inquiry practices. 88% these themes showed that geographical thinking was a critical component of the approach to the new australian geography curriculum. this was detected in the perspectives, planning, and practical approaches in the classroom. there was evidence of strong inquiry practice, and mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 141 teachers incorporated fieldwork studies using geographical tools when provided with guidance and support. reservations about assessing the inquiry approach and geographical thinking surfaced, yet this did not limit teacherand school-based enthusiasm and creativity in adopting and implementing the geography curriculum. a critical factor in determining teacher attitudes and confidence in applying geographical inquiry was support. evidence indicated that collaboration, shared stories, and innovations were key factors in translating the pedagogic risks and intent of this geographical inquiry. this has been defined as a community of practice. a community of practice is “… an inclusive group of people, motivated by a shared learning vision, who support and work with each other, finding ways inside and outside their immediate community, to enquire on their practice and together learn new and better approaches that will enhance all pupils’ learning” (stoll et al., 2006, p.3). communities of practice enhance individual and collective teacher capacity (stoll et al., 2006). developing professional learning communities that link current teachers with pre-service teachers to build this capacity is critically important for the future (le cornu & ewing, 2008). these responses show that teachers were willing to engage with many aspects of the curriculum yet were desperately seeking leadership and space to try and share new approaches. some schools and teachers wanted confirmation or guidance from nearby schools. there was a need to share practice and find resources together. emerging from the interviews was a grassroots community of practice. teachers wanted to share and be nudged along by their colleagues. there was an understanding and a commitment to teach well and explicitly. the interview comments suggest that teachers were developing some resilience and adaptability to meet the new curriculum demands. yet there was a common desire to have leadership either from the school or from a key system provider. schools had responded by deputizing key teachers to plan, undertake professional learning, and lead others. teachers generously shared their knowledge with others at their school and across schools. assessment was an important component of these discussions. there was a sense that the assessment was not there yet, even once programs and resources were developing well. this seemed to be another area of challenge with which the schools engaged. the quality of the learning and the success of the curricular enactment was tested against the assessment. this indicates a high degree of teacher care for the new curriculum, albeit sometimes a lack of confidence. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 142 documentation analysis documents comprising planning programs, meeting minutes, lesson plans, scope and sequence plans, assessment tasks and samples were collected from the school sites. these documents were analyzed using the emergent themes. the following table shows the types of documents collected and the emergent themes detected. table 4: summary of document types and emergent themes document description geographical thinking inquiry evident in questions or tasks knowledge and depth of understanding use of tools, incorporation of fieldwork creativity, flexibility lesson plans √ √ √ programs √ √ √ assessment √ scope and sequence documents √ meeting minutes √ √ √ √ program rationale or overview statements √ √ √ √ a review of the documentation including scope and sequence documents, assessment task schedules, and units of work revealed how teachers were engaging or at times resisting the pedagogic risk and opportunities of the syllabus. analysis of scope and sequences showed a general misunderstanding about the depth of the content, sequencing of topics, and an ignorance of the geographical concepts. schools typically were teaching both topics in one year mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 143 rather than undertaking a deep investigation of one topic sustained over the year or across a semester. scope and sequence documents showed at times more focus on science and technology and less on geography as part of the human society and its environment key learning area. evidence from these documents indicated that teachers and schools were engaging with inquiry questions rather than mapping these to relevant outcomes, often misunderstanding how spirals of inquiry could be coherently framed to build conceptual understanding. there were gaps in recognizing how to build a sustained and deep level inquiry or how to build relevant understanding. there were attempts to domesticate the new curriculum. a clear example was the reluctance to forgo the much-loved topic of antarctica for the new diverse and connected world topic in stage 3 (for year 6 students aged 11-12). this evidence suggests that teachers were interested and willing to engage with inquiry learning yet lacked the collective capacity and skills to negotiate the curriculum. deconstruction of the curriculum was an important step in bringing the nature of geography into reality. teachers felt that they must follow bullet points and cover every topic, place, and context, often at the expense of the stated inquiry question. these documents reveal an inherent tension in curricular practice. curriculum that is enforced or collectively imposed is not easily owned or understood. as a result of the increasing prescription of standards and quality assurance and registration processes, teachers feel concerned to break open a new curriculum and subject it to critical interpretation and reconstruction. yet the challenge posited by the new geography curriculum is a call to take pedagogic risks and open the learning to inquiries relevant to our national, local, and global contexts. the role of the teacher in this curricular discourse is paramount. teachers must disassemble each syllabus direction, outcome, and concept and refashion these to provide an inquiry experience that teaches requisite and agreed skills, tools, and concepts. in a sense, teachers are conduits for the learning experience. failure to engage with the bullet points of the syllabus causes a blockage in the experience, dilutes the intent of the curriculum, and may have an adverse effect on student motivation and interest. observations of classroom and school practice classroom observations were undertaken across the four sites. these included fieldtrips, practicals, demonstration lessons, and open-classroom activities. the observations were recorded across different stages from early stage 1 (foundation years) to the end of primary school (year 6). the following table contains a summary and analysis of the observations of classroom practice and student samples. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 144 table 5: observations of practice across the classroom from field notes key findings themes  students from es1 to stage 3 have engaged in guided fieldwork outside the classroom.  school playgrounds, local parks, and beaches have been mapped, sketched, photographed, and sampled.  schools have engaged with local issues and sites.  year 1 uses aerial maps to lay out places such as schools, shops, libraries, roads, parks within a defined context and then challenge each other about the interconnection and use of these spaces for different purposes.  geographical inquiry and evident use of tools.  in year 1, students have been working with a town planner (parent representative) to consider how spaces and places are planned to meet people’s needs.  geographical thinking being enacted in new ways that involve communities and consider multiple perspectives.  es1 students have explored playgrounds at home and in other contexts and have created new spaces or installations to show their connection and care of a place.  openness to geographical thinking and the concept of agency.  in stage 3, students have explored a community issue or geographical change. this has included students considering development proposals in their community and writing, representing, and sharing their responses based on geographical data.  geographical thinking being enacted in new ways that involve communities and consider multiple perspectives. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 145  global connections have been explored in year 6.  this has included students investigating important issues such as migration, trade, aid, and climate change  transformative citizenship enabled through inquiry practices and geographical knowledge and data.  next year, several schools will host a local short film festival about these global issues.  citizenship and action. in these examples, guided and independent fieldwork is identified. the types of tasks and tools used in these experiences suggest that teachers are developing messy forms of fieldwork to activate geographical thinking about spaces, places, and people. there was evidence that fieldwork was less about procedural documentation and more about seeking to understand a place or site and its purpose, form, and impact on its context. the discovery and sensory practices were evident in the home and playground contexts that students investigated. the inherent agency of geographical thinking was discernible in the observations of different classrooms. students were responding to planning or environmental concerns in a range of ways following intense investigations. these examples included letters, short movies, or multimodal texts to community organizations or the parent community. the meta-cognitive opportunity of the curriculum was being realized in these contexts. students were actively engaged in thinking about their global or local community, critically considering issues of justice, equity, accessibility, wealth, and cultural capital. in these examples, geography was becoming transformative. the inquiry was authentic and living and led to an outcome or response. responses were critically shaped by the multiple data sets and perspectives students had explored. geography was committing young people to act or respond about issues that affect their lives and the lives of others. understanding the intent and direction of the geography curriculum was a critical disruption to these initial responses. as classes and teachers worked with the new curriculum throughout the year, there were moments of breakthrough, crisis, and chaos. these disruptions and fractures included professional learning, frustration at not having opportunities to undertake relevant fieldwork, or the development of a culture of learning within schools. school leadership teams that supported and challenged teachers to grow a professional consciousness about the intent mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 146 of the curriculum were critical to this process. it opened up a space to see the possibilities of the curriculum and authentically engage with inquiry and with geographical tools and concepts. professional learning communities and the ongoing system provided critical injections of knowledge or new perspectives for teachers’ professional consideration. understanding the nuances and approach of the curriculum provided direction and reassurance to schools and individual teachers about their pedagogical approach. units of work and lessons that were “dead in the water” due to limited teacher knowledge were resuscitated. teachers moved beyond survival to stretching students to consider geographical change or scale. interactions between spaces, places, and people and the inclusion of multiple perspectives and data became central to mobilizing the new teaching. the linear presentation of one topic followed by another was questioned. coherence was sought between topics, concepts, and contexts. conclusion these case studies indicate that teacher engagement with geography was robust. resistance and domestication was identifiable in some contexts, but these responses could be successfully redirected with curriculum leadership, professional support, and conversation. the lack of training and deep discipline knowledge that was anticipated to be a major obstacle was less problematic than teachers’ skill levels in curriculum deconstruction and negotiation. curriculum discourse was critical to successful pedagogic risk in the classroom. this discourse could be initiated by school leaders, system providers, and professional teaching associations, and when these were all assembled there was increased engagement with the curriculum. such a voice is a powerful agent in enabling the australian curriculum to achieve its vision of producing creative, culturally aware, and critical young people. however, the curriculum intent is not a sufficient foundation to achieve such lofty and aspirational aims. within the context of geography as a transformative discipline, teachers and school leaders need a professional space to critically enact the curriculum. such space is difficult to find and realize in an increasingly pressured and regulated industrial context that often prescribes rather than energizes responses. a teacher taking some pedagogic risks with curricula is not new terrain yet within more recently in an era of increased accountability these risks have become increasingly hazardous to professional practice and reputation. within this study, teachers were able to successfully navigate some of these potential hazards. driven by curriculum leadership, the experience of these schools and teachers of implementing the geography curriculum has been messy, challenging, and highly rewarding. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 147 references australian curriculum, assessment and reporting authority melbourne declaration on goals for young australians. http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf , accessed june 15, 201 australian curriculum, assessment and reporting authority geography curriculum. available at: http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences /geography/rationale , accessed june 15, 2017. ditchburn, g. (2012). the australian curriculum: finding the hidden narrative? critical studies in education, 53(3), 347-360. evered, r., & reis louis, m. (1981). alternative perspectives in the organizational sciences: “inquiry from the inside” and “inquiry from the outside.” academy of management review, 6(3), 385-395. favier, t., & van der schee, j. (2012). exploring the characteristics of an optimal design for inquiry-based geography education with geographic information systems. computers & education, 58(1), 666-677. australian geography teachers’ association. (2009). towards a national geography curriculum for australiaa background report. gibson, i., & wechmann, k. (2012). who are australia’s future teachers? main report on the 2011 survey. retrieved from http://thewarrencentre.org.au/wp-content/uploads/ 2016/07/ wc1858-0igibson-teq-finalreport-august2012.pdf kidman, g. (2012). geographical inquiry in australian schools: a retrospective analysis. international research in geographical and environmental education, 21(4), 311-319. kriewaldt, j. (2006a). geography and geographical education in victoria. international research in geographical and environmental education, 15(2), 159-165. kriewaldt, j. (2006b). the key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum. geographical education, (19), 24-30. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/%20national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/%20national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences%20%20/geography/rationale http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences%20%20/geography/rationale http://thewarrencentre.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wc1858-0igibson-teq-finalreport-august2012.pdf http://thewarrencentre.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wc1858-0igibson-teq-finalreport-august2012.pdf journal of international social studies, v. 8, n. 1, 2018, pp. 133-148 corresponding author: k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 148 le cornu, r., & ewing, r. (2008). reconceptualizing professional experiences in pre-service teacher education… reconstructing the past to embrace the future. teaching and teacher education, 24, 1799-1812. maude, a. (2013). developing a national geography curriculum for australia. international research in geographical and environmental education, 23(1), 40-52. morgan, a. (2006). developing geographical wisdom: post formal thinking about, and relating to, the world. international research in geographical and environmental education, 15(4), 336-352. puttick, s. (2013). looking at and looking along: a conceptual framework for teaching different perspectives in geography. international research in geographical and environmental education, 22(4), 353-366. sack, r. (1997). homo geographicus. baltimore: johns hopkins university press. schunk, d., & zimmerman, b. (1998). self-regulated learning. new york: guilford press. stoll, l., bolam, r., mcmahon, a., thomas, s., wallace, m., greenwood, a., & hawkey, k. (2006). what is a professional learning community? a summary. department for education and skills, australia. taylor, t., fahey, c., kriewaldt, j., & boon, d. (2012). place and time: explorations in teaching geography and history. frenchs forest, new south wales: pearson australia. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks: sage publications. about the author: dr kay carroll is a teacher educator for social sciences and currently is a lecturer for western sydney university and the coordinator of secondary curriculum. her research has explored teachers' practice in social sciences education and inquiry pedagogy. mailto:k.carroll@westernsydney.edu.au http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 86 international citizenship education research: an annotated bibliography of research using the iea iccs and iea cived datasets ryan t. knowles, utah state university (corresponding author) ryan.knowles@usu.edu marialuisa di stefano, utah state university this project was supported through a grant from the spencer foundation introduction in november 2015, a group of researchers1 met to discuss the role of large-scale international studies to inform social studies research and practice. the conversation focused on published analyses of the iea 1999 civic education study (cived) of 14-year-olds in 28 countries (torney-purta, lehmann, oswald, & schulz, 2001), and the 2009 international civic and citizenship study (iccs) of comparably defined populations in 38 countries (schulz, ainley, fraillon, kerr, & losito, 2010). iea also collected data, from 17-19 year olds in 16 countries in 2000 (reported in amadeo, torney-purta, lehmann, husfeldt, & nikolova, 2002) with very few secondary analyses. in its discussion, the group meeting in 2015 also noted the relatively small number of publications from the two studies of 14-year-olds that have appeared in journals with wide readership among educators in the social studies or citizenship education. this is probably the result of several factors, including the fact that the united states, where social studies scholarship is particularly active, participated in the 1999 cived study but did not participate in the 2009 study. however, torney-purta, amadeo, and andolina (2010) also acknowledged that the interdisciplinary nature of large-scale secondary analysis 1 this meeting was funded through a grant from the spencer foundation. meeting participants include: judith torney-purta (university of maryland), carolyn barber (university of missouri-kansas city), patricia avery (university of minnesota), antonio j. castro (university of missouri), christopher h. clark (university of minnesota), taehan kim (kettering foundation), julia higdon (avenues: the world school), natallia sianko (clemson university), greg white (university of maryland), ryan t. knowles (utah state university), susan jekielek (inter-university consortium for political and social research), and rhoda freelon (spencer foundation). in the preparation of this bibliography judith torney-purta provided editorial assistance, and wolfram schulz provided references to material collected at the international study center for iccs. both are gratefully acknowledged. mailto:ryan.knowles@usu.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 87 tends to create a fragmentary picture of civic engagement. indeed, researchers using cived and iccs data work in diverse fields including political science, educational psychology, sociology, and social studies education. the interdisciplinary nature of this research certainly represents a strength; however, the publication of large-scale international citizenship research at different times and in different venues hampers the visibility of important findings to social studies educators. thus, the central question we propose for consideration in this publication is this: how can we bring attention to empirical research using cived or iccs data within the field of social studies education? we conducted an extensive search of peer reviewed secondary analysis and theoretical work directly related to large-scale international datasets (especially the iea studies of 1999 and 2009). this was completed through three steps. to begin with, we knew that several people involved in the meeting had published articles using these datasets. secondly, we searched through the works’ reference sections to identify additional articles. finally, we searched on google scholar and eric: institute of education services for additional studies. we asked judith torney-purta, active in both studies, to contact some european scholars for their publications. each of the articles was then reviewed and summarized giving particular attention to the statistical methods utilized and the essential findings. the resulting annotated bibliography in this document represents a comprehensive collection of research conducted using cived (sometimes referred to as civ-ed) or iccs data (though some studies published in journals not widely available in the u.s. or studies that did not make explicit reference to iea, to cived or to iccs may have been missed). we did not include conference papers or those published only in a language other than english. where the publication is not readily available through library searches, the web address is included in a footnote. the collection of studies provided within this work can aid in promoting future research among social studies educators. in the past, scholars interested in analysing large-scale data were tasked with searching for articles across disciplines. even with electronic databases it was difficult to be comprehensive. considering the growing interest in quantitative research within social studies scholarship (fitchett & heafner, forthcoming; heafner, fitchett, & knowles, 2016; passe & fitchett, 2012), large-scale international data sets provide an invaluable opportunity for future quantitative analysis. much of the research using cived or iccs represents robust empirical research that considers the role of schools in developing students’ civic knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. this could provide valuable insights for all social studies educators and advocates. in addition, this document could serve as a resource for organizing literature reviews and theoretical frameworks in a manner that effectively builds on previous scholarship (for a recent example with a different topic and purpose see torney-purta, cabrera, roohr, liu & rios, 2015). the majority of the works described within the annotated bibliography are empirical studies. however, each of them is rooted within theoretical frameworks relevant to the field of civic engagement research. there are several handbooks that should act as theoretical companions for any researcher interested in these data sources, including the handbook of civic engagement in youth (sherrod, torney-purta, & flanagan, 2010), the sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy (arthur, davies, & hahn, 2008), and the handbook of research in social studies education (levstik & tyson, 2008; manfra & journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 88 bolick, forthcoming). also, the recent handbook of educational psychology includes a chapter on civic education (carretero, haste, & bermudez, 2016). the theoretical framework should be chosen by researchers and be appropriate for their research questions. some may be interested in the communities of practice model presented by torney-purta, amadeo, and andolina (2010), which considers all aspects of learning as situated within social contexts. this model can help generate research questions involving a set of independent variables assessing person (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, immigrant status), context (e.g., country region, economic situation, opportunities to learn), and process (e.g., observational learning). further it can be used to predict a series of dependent variables, which include content knowledge/meaning, identity (e.g., someone with a particular image of themselves as part of a group), agency/efficacy (e.g., general external, general internal, or other motives), practice/action (e.g., electoral, volunteer, voice in debate). an early attempt to use this framework in relation to teacher preparation can be found in torney-purta & richardson (2003). under this framework a variety of approaches could be incorporated including developmental theory (wilkenfeld, lauckhardt, & torney-purta, 2010) or less commonly applied theories within secondary analysis such as critical theory (dejaeghere & tudball, 2007; diemer & rapa, 2015). the next wave of large-scale international datasets (to be collected in 2016 from the iea study iccs) will become available in about 2017-18. this wave of iccs data will add to our knowledge and conceptualizations across time. while this is exciting there remains ample opportunities to further our knowledge with 1999 cived and 2009 iccs data. indeed, international and comparative citizenship education using large-scale datasets is a dynamic area of inquiry. the annotated bibliography below list studies alphabetically by author. each of the descriptions emphasizes the statistical methods, major constructs, and essential findings from each study. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 89 annotated bibliography alivernini, f., & manganelli, s. (2011). is there a relationship between openness in classroom discussion and students’ knowledge in civic and citizenship education? procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 15, 3441-3445. this article explores the responses of eighth graders using italian iccs data to gain a better understanding of the associations between students’ perceptions of openness in classroom discussion and students’ civic knowledge. using a two-level multilevel regression model, there is a strong positive association between the students’ civic knowledge scores and their experiences of an open classroom climate for discussion. the implications of this study suggest that teachers should encourage the implementation of open classroom climate for respectful discussion of issues in schools. the authors recommend longitudinal study on italian samples to further investigate the points raised in this study. arensmeier, c. (2016). swedish students’ conceptual knowledge about civics and citizenship: an interview study. citizenship teaching & learning, 11(1), 9-28. this article reports a qualitative individual and group interview study that was administrated to 29 eighth-grade students in sweden. the aim of this study was to understand the relationship between students’ civic knowledge and their performances in the iccs 2009 survey. the author focused on the problems that can be identified when students are asked to think aloud about some of the most difficult knowledge items in the iccs 2009 study. using an inductive analytical approach, the authors found that: (a) students are not familiar with some of the concepts included in the iccs 2009 study’s questions (some of them essential to civic understanding, such as civil liberties); (b) students have a limited understanding of democratic and social principles; (c) students’ general reading ability influences their performance on tests like the iccs 2009 study; and (d) immigrant students face additional challenge when asked to answer survey questions like these. implications of the study suggest that deliberative teaching methods, such as discussions in small groups, and a focus on language, reading comprehension and conceptual understanding would be beneficial for civic learning. the author acknowledged that there are limitations in the size of the study’s sample. avery, p. (2007). civic education in the united states: increased challenges. citizenship teaching and learning, 3(2), 22-39. this article explores research and development in the us in the years following the publication of the 1999 iea cived study. young people are currently voting at a higher rate and are more supportive of the rights of minority groups than they were in the past. nevertheless, the challenges to promote active citizenship education continue to be important, especially considering the increased emphasis on testing and accountability, which takes time from civic-related education (above all in the elementary grades). publications from the iea cived study have increased knowledge about practices that can help to increase the level of social and political engagement among youth. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 90 barber, c., fennelly, k., & torney-purta, j. (2013). nationalism and support for immigrants' rights among adolescents in 25 countries. applied developmental science, 17(2), 60-75. this article explores responses from 14-year-old native born students in 25 countries who participated in the 1999 cived study (excluding cyprus, hong kong, and latvia, where the authors could not locate required national-level data). the aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between citizenship policies and national identities (national demographics, histories, and policies), and adolescents’ nationalism and attitudes toward immigrants’ rights. using a multilevel analysis (a twostage, stratified cluster design, also using bivariate correlations) the authors found that protective nationalism is associated with less support for immigrants’ rights only in some countries. this relationship depends on multiple factors at country level (e.g., old or new democracy, religious diversity, etc.). this analysis “demonstrated the importance of considering context at several levels to interpret the relation between protective nationalism and support for immigrants’ rights, especially among young people who are still in educational environments that are often explicitly charged with fostering intergroup tolerance” (p. 72). the authors concluded that attitudes and interventions from longstanding democracies should not necessarily be generalized and applied to newer democracies. barber, c., sweetwood, s. o., & king, m. (2015). creating classroom-level measures of citizenship education climate. learning environments research, 18, 197-216. this article explored the united states data from the 1999 cived study. it considers the relationship between the openness of classroom climate and the development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions for students to become involved citizens. from this consideration, this study aimed to determine the reliability of aggregate measures across classroom of the openness of classroom discussion climate as reported by students. using three-level hierarchical linear model (hlm), student-level covariates, a single-level and a multi-level analyses, the authors found that “students have individual experiences and attitudes that shape their perceptions of their classrooms” (p. 14). in other words, there are different students’ variables (e.g., levels of civic engagement, prior experiences, attitudes, knowledge of civic content) that may intervene and lead students to view “the classroom climate as positive, regardless of the classroom’s ‘true’ openness” (p. 14). this study confirms that “an open classroom climate for discussion relates to higher civic knowledge, stronger expectations of voting, more trust in the government, and a willingness to extend social and political rights to others” (p. 14). the authors recommend that test developers include teachers’ and principals’ perspectives in surveys or pilot surveys along with students’ perceptions of classroom openness. they also recommend that researchers consider controlling some variables at the classroom level in their analyses. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 91 barber, c., & torney-purta, j. (2009). gender differences in political efficacy and attitudes to women’s rights influenced by national and school contexts: analysis for the iea civic education study. in d. p. baker & a.w. wiseman (eds.), gender equality and education from international and comparative perspectives (pp. 357-394). bingley, uk.: jai press. this article explores data from the cross-national sample of young people surveyed in the cived study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between certain characteristics of students, schools, and countries (e. g., students’ gender, average expectations of further education, home literacy, proportion of girls in schools, etc.) and gender gaps in support for women’s rights and internal political efficacy. using multilevel modeling techniques, the authors found that “both proximal and distal social contexts shape gender gaps in each of these areas – support for women rights and internal political efficacy – in specific ways” (p. 383). they also noted that the association between school factors and gendered civic development varies depending on opportunity structures for women available in a given country. males had higher political efficacy than females, while females had higher support for women’s rights. they concluded that “the gender gap is smaller when students attend schools in which women’s political participation is valued and where associated issues are openly discussed, and educational expectations are sufficiently high to meet the demands of civic participation” (p. 388). an open classroom climate for discussion is especially important in enhancing male students’ support for women’s rights. the authors highlighted the need to improve educational experiences and opportunities of young people in schools, taking into account the particularities of each country. barber, c., & torney-purta, j. (2012). comparing attitudes in the 1999 and 2009 iea civic and citizenship education studies: opportunities and limitations illustrated in five countries. journal of social science education, 11(1), 47-63. this article begins by identifying a lack of comparability at the level of attitude scales between the 1999 iea civic education study (cived) and the 2009 iea international civics and citizenship education study (iccs). so the authors compared items (rather than scales) focusing on young people in five countries in the european nordic region (denmark, estonia, finland, norway and sweden). the aim of this study was to explore whether young people’s attitudes toward support for immigrants’ rights and trust in institutions changed between 1999 and 2009. using an item-level analysis with t-tests, and chi-square analysis – the authors performed a cross-cohort comparison of attitudes. they found that in general the attitudes of young people toward immigrants’ rights remained stable in four countries (estonia, finland, norway and sweden), while institutional trust increased in three countries (estonia, finland and sweden). an exception was denmark, where the immigrant rights’ support was higher but the level of institutional trust was lower. the differences in young people’s demographic profiles may be a limitation to this comparison. the authors concluded that overall there is the potential for comparison of attitudes between the cived and iccs cohort (see torney-purta, malak-minkiewicz & barber, in press). journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 92 barber, c., torney-purta, j., wilkenfeld, b., & ross, j. (2015). immigrant and native-born adolescents’ civic knowledge and attitudes in sweden and the united states: emergent citizenship within developmental niches. research in comparative and international education, 10(1), 23-47. this article explores data from immigrant and native-born 14-year-olds in sweden and the united states from the 1999 cived study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between formal education and out of school experiences (e.g., students’ experiences in families and peer groups). the outcomes of interest were students’ civic knowledge and support for women’s rights. using hierarchical linear modeling (hml), the authors found that “immigrants had lower civic knowledge and less support for women’s rights than their native-born peers in both countries” (p. 23). however, many of the same classroom experiences (such as having an open classroom climate) were predictive of knowledge and of support for women’s rights for both immigrant and native born groups and in both countries. an interesting finding regarding out-of-school experience was the association between the amount of time spent in the evening with peers and lower scores on women’s rights and on civic knowledge. the authors recommend further research that considers “how immigrant status intersects with other identities in shaping the development of citizenship” (p. 40). campbell, d. e. (2008). voice in the classroom: how an open classroom climate fosters political engagement among adolescents. political behavior, 30(4), 437-454. this article explores data from students in the united states using the 1999 iea cived study to gain a better understanding of the association between civic instruction in schools and the political engagement of adolescents. the author aimed to explore three hypotheses, related to whether and how an open classroom climate can lead to the development of students’ greater civic knowledge, appreciation for the role of conflict in the political process, and disposition toward being politically engaged. the author found support for the three hypotheses; there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between having an open classroom climate and civic knowledge, the appreciation of conflict, and expected political participation in voting. the author also highlighted that “classroom climate has a considerable impact on students who do not expect to obtain much education and, therefore, are likely to be of low ses” (p. 450). an implication of this study is that open classroom climate can be considered a promising strategy to boost youth political engagement, especially for low ses youth. campbell, d. & wolbrecht, d. (2006). see jane run: women politicians as role models for adolescents. the journal of politics, 68(2), 233-247. wolbrecht, d. & campbell (2007). leading by example: female members of parliament as political role models. american journal of political science, 51(4), 921-939. the analyses in these two articles used data from cived 1999 along with other large scale surveys of adults (such as the european social survey). in the first article the authors looked at us electoral districts in which there were one or more viable women candidates and related this to the likelihood of voting expressed by females students in that district tested in the iea cived survey (using regression analysis). they found that in districts where there were visible and viable female candidates female 14-year-olds journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 93 expressed a higher likelihood of voting than males. they concluded, “contrary to conventional wisdom, this effect does not appear to be mediated by beliefs about the appropriateness of politics for women….instead an increased propensity for political discussion, particularly within families, appears to explain the role model effect” (p. 233). in the second article using the international cived data set, anticipated political activity by males and females in a given country was plotted against percentage of women in the legislature of that country. anticipated political activity by females was higher in countries with larger percentages of women in the legislature. at the highest percentage levels, male and female activity was nearly equal. the authors interpreted these as “role model effects,” and encouraged others to study gender differences in adolescents’ inclinations toward political participation. caro, d. h. & schulz, w. (2012). ten hypotheses about tolerance toward minorities among latin american adolescents. citizenship, social and economic education, 11(3), 213-230. discrimination affects the wellbeing of minorities and of society in general. research in north america underscores the importance of contact with diverse networks, intergroup discussion, gender (being female), and school climate among other factors in explaining variation in tolerance toward minorities. such work in latin america has been limited by the lack of quantitative data. this article used regression models to evaluate 10 hypotheses about tolerance using data from nationally representative samples of 8th graders in six latin american countries who participated in the iea international civic and citizenship education study in 2009. females were more tolerant in all but one of the countries. in a smaller number of countries students from families of higher ses were more tolerant, as were those with extended social networks, those who experienced discussion of these issues at school, and those with higher civic knowledge. countries with relatively more positive views of minorities tended to exhibit relatively small differences in tolerance attitudes among students of varying socio-demographic characteristics and, apparently, more effective mechanisms for promoting tolerance in schools. the authors suggest further analysis within regions. chin, k., & barber, c. e. (2010). a multi-dimensional exploration of teachers' beliefs about civic education in australia, england, and the united states. theory & research in social education, 38(3), 395-427. this article explores civic-related teachers in australia, england and the u.s. surveyed in the iea cived study to gain a better understanding of the relation between teachers’ beliefs (beliefs about subjects, learners and learning, teaching, and self-efficacy) and their organization of classes expected to have an impact on student learning in civic education. using multi-dimensional analyses of variance and intercorrelations, they found that teachers in these three countries “hold beliefs that: (a) engagement-based civic activities are necessary components of citizenship, (b) students should learn about engagement, (c) civic education is valuable, and (d) they are confident in presenting these topics”(p. 395). the implications of this study are that civic education contexts reflect teachers’ educational beliefs; teachers have a central role in shaping civic education; and the concept of citizenship is heterogeneous and is strongly connected with the particular political situation of each of the three countries analyzed in this study. the authors recommend further comparative analyses of the economic, social, and cultural influences on citizenship. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 94 cho, y. & kim, t. (2013). asian civic values: a cross-cultural comparison of three east asian societies. asian-pacific education researcher, 22(1), 21-31. this study explored how lower secondary students from korea, chinese taipei and hong kong perceive asian civic values using data from the asian regional module of the iccs09 study. exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed. latent mean analysis then assessed between-nation mean differences. overall east asian students were negative about undemocratic government and unfairness based on guanxi. they were also moderately critical about issues related to the independence of the judiciary. there was moderate respect for the morality of politicians and the preservation of traditional culture. while perceiving collectivist and confucian contexts positively, students in these societies have also assimilated from western democratic contexts. chow, k. f., & kennedy, k. j. (2014). secondary analysis of large-scale assessment data: an alternative to variable-centred analysis. educational research and evaluation, 20(6), 469-493. this article explores data from 14-year-old students in five asian societies (korea, taiwan, hong kong, indonesia, and thailand) to understand variations in the students’ orientation regarding civic participation. this article reports secondary analysis of the iccs data focusing on the affectivebehavioral domain of the international student questionnaire. using a person-centered approach and a cluster analysis, the authors found that the five asian societies showed heterogeneity in the orientation of students towards future civic participation. the study provided a useful model of a person-centered approach for future researchers. chow, j. k. f., & kennedy, k. j. (2015). asian students’ conceptions of future civic engagement: comparing clusters using person-centered analysis. research in comparative and international education, 10(1), 7-22. chow and kennedy explored data from 14-year-old asian students in taiwan, hong kong, korea, indonesia, and thailand to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the civic values of these five societies and students’ intention to participate in future civic activities. drawing from the iccs 2009 data, cluster analysis was used to compare attitudes in five societies. through this study, the authors identified four different groups of respondents – active participators, conventional participators, radical participators and minimal participators – groups that cut across national boundaries. they found that students’ future civic participation was considerably diverse both within asian societies and across asian societies. in fact, the four groups are represented in each society and, although with some differences, there is similarity in the participation group proportion between countries. asian students concerning future civic participation are not homogeneous, and are difficult to attribute to the history, politics and culture of each specific society. an implication of this study is related to the use of comparative analysis, especially through a person-centered approach, to identify and understand heterogeneity among students. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 95 claes, e., hooghe, m. & reeskens, t. (2009). truancy as a contextual and school related problem: a comparative multilevel analysis of country and school characteristics on civic knowledge among 14-year-olds. educational studies, 35(2), 123-142. these authors used the cived data and conducted multilevel analysis to differentiate between the individual, school and country levels as related to the incidence of truancy. first they noted that high truancy is associated with lower civic knowledge scores even when socioeconomic status is controlled. their results show that schools can have a major impact on truancy levels by promoting school involvement among parents and providing an authoritative environment. their results were significant in 24 of the 28 countries analyzed (not in cyprus and not in denmark, norway, sweden and finland), where the phenomenon appears to differ. the authors conclude that truancy is associated with lower educational achievement but can be reduced by enhancing positive interactions between pupils, parents and schools and especially by bettering the overall school climate. they suggest these actions rather than more authoritarian approaches. cosgrove, j., & gilleece, l. (2012). an international perspective on civic participation in irish postprimary schools: results from iccs. irish educational studies, 31(4), 377-395. the authors analyzed data from students in ireland who participated in the 2009 iccs study, to gain a better understanding of the association between students’ active participation in schools and parents’ participation in school life, and students beliefs about and attitudes towards various civic and citizenship issues. using bivariate analyses through the idb analyzer (a customized add-on spss instrument), the authors found that, in comparison with the international average, irish students have a higher perception of the value of participation at school and a lower perceived level of influence on decisionmaking processes in schools. they also found that, based on principals’ reports, parental participation in irish schools was lower than the international average. the authors recommend further analyses that could take into consideration multiple school and students characteristics, for example associating qualitative data sources (e.g., interviews, focus groups, etc.) to the iccs quantitative cross-sectional data. dejaeghere, j. g. & tudball, l. (2007). looking back, looking forward: critical citizenship as a way ahead for civics and citizenship education in australia. citizenship teaching and learning, 3(2), 40-57. this article explores the impact of iea cived study on teacher professional development and practice, and curriculum and assessment in australia. using critical citizenship lenses, this study analyzes “the civic realities and mega trends facing youth”. “in particular, it suggested how ideas from a ‘critical citizenship’ framework could inform the 2009 iea international civic and citizenship education study (iccs) by including items related to immigration and refugees, globalization and environmental sustainability, and realities facing young people, such as youth violence” (p. 40). this study recommends that international and comparative scholars consider the critical approach to address the present realities of young peoples’ lives in the changing democracies of the world. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 96 diemer, m. a., & rapa, l. j. (2016). unraveling the complexity of critical consciousness, political efficacy, and political action among marginalized adolescents. child development, 87(2), 221-238. diemer and rapa analyzed data from working class african american and latino/a ninth graders in the us who participated in the 1999 cived study, to gain an understanding of the relation between critical consciousness, political efficacy and political action and civic and political participation among marginalized adolescents. using a structural equation model, they found that the perception of inequality and internal political efficacy are positively associated with the engagement in social action. in contrast, egalitarianism and sense of agency are negatively associated with reflection concerning critical action. this last point is important because it contrasted with previous scholarship. consequently, the authors recommend further analyses on how different forms of agency can be related to perceived inequality and social action among marginalized youth in the us. ekman, j. (2013). schools, democratic socialization and political participation: political activity and passivity among swedish youths. nordidactica: journal of humanities and social science education, 2013:1, 1-11. this article analyzed data from swedish 9th graders who participated in the 2009 iccs study, in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between school-related factors (private/public schools, socioeconomic status, classroom climate and students influence over civic education teaching), and citizenship competencies (political efficacy, political literacy, and political participation). using hierarchical linear modeling (hlm), the author found that only one factor, students’ socioeconomic status, was positively related to the development of citizenship competencies. according to the author, the characteristics of the students populating the classroom is what make the difference. therefore, schools should look for opportunities “to level out inequalities in background resources among students, in order to encourage political participation” (p. 8). from this analysis, it appears that in the swedish society “schools mainly matter as political socialization contexts and less as political socialization agents” (p. 9). on this last point, the author recommends further analyses. ekman, j. & zetterberg, p. (2011). schools and democratic socialization: assessing the impact of different educational settings on swedish 14-year-olds political citizenship. politics, culture and socialization, 2(2), 171-192. the article investigates the role of schools in fostering students’ political citizenship, especially providing them with the competencies and skills needed to realize their status as political actors in a democratic society. internal political efficacy, political literacy, and political participation are analyzed using data from nearly 3500 swedish students tested in the 2009 iccs study. the student data is linked with data from the school questionnaire as well as census data providing reliable information about socioeconomic status. the authors conclude that “the development of political citizenship is determined less by what goes on in the classroom and more by the composition of the students that populate a school” (p 171). further analysis on this point is provided in the ekman (2013) article. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 97 gilleece, l., & cosgrove, j. (2012). student civic participation in school: what makes a difference in ireland? education, citizenship and social justice, 7(3), 225-239. this article analyzed data from 14-year-olds in ireland who participated in the 2009 cived study, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between student and school characteristics and students’ civic participation at school. using a multilevel model, they found “boys have lower levels of civic participation at school than girls. among boys only, civic participation at school varies with levels of perceived influence on decision making” (p. 1). the authors concluded that despite the irish government’s effort to recognize children and youth rights, “boys and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have fewer opportunities to exercise their rights of participation” (p. 13). as an implication of this study, the authors suggested that increasing youth civic participation may increase community participation and could promote future adulthood involvement in civic life. hahn, c. l. (2003). democratic values and citizen action: a view from us ninth graders. international journal of educational research, 39(6), 633-642. this article considered us ninth graders from the 1999 cived study. the study explored the development of democratic values, participation in social action as a young person, and anticipated participation as adult citizens. the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the association between elements of effective education in the us and the development of democratic values. the author reported the percentages of students endorsing certain responses. findings of the study suggest that civic education in the united states is generally effective though considerable room for improvement exists. in fact, students indicated that free elections, free expression and the presence of voluntary associations are important in their view of democracy, but they didn’t consider the right to dissent as of equal importance for democracy. other findings suggest that: (a) males are less likely to support women’s rights than females; (b) non-immigrants are less likely to support rights for immigrants; (c) one-third of the students think that it is not important for good citizens to engage in political discussions; (d) us students are relatively unlikely to follow the news and discuss controversial issues in class; (e) school instruction differs by class, race, and ethnicity, as some groups of students consistently do not perform well on tests of civic knowledge. the author concluded that civic education in the us, as in other countries, is facing multiple challenges. hooghe, m. & dassonneville, r. (2013). voters and candidates of the future: the intention of electoral participation among adolescents in 22 european countries. young, 21(1), 1-28. there is growing concern about low voter turnout among those coming of age. the authors investigated the willingness to vote among 72,000 14-year-olds from 22 countries using the iccs 2009 data. there is a clear gender difference. while girls are more likely to expect to vote, boys are much more likely to see themselves as candidates for office in future elections. an open classroom climate at school is associated with the likelihood of voting. a number of elements known to be related to adults’ election turnout are not associated with the expectation of voting among adolescents. the authors recommend further investigation in light of the need to understand the downward trend in voting. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 98 hooghe, m., & oser, j. (2015). the rise of engaged citizenship: the evolution of citizenship norms among adolescents in 21 countries between 1999 and 2009. international journal of comparative sociology, 56(1), 29-52. the authors of this study compared the results of the 1999 cived survey with the 2009 iccs study to observe the evolution of the duty-based citizenship norms. they performed a comparative analysis of trends in citizenship norms in 21 countries that participated in both studies (bulgaria, switzerland, chile, colombia, cyprus, czech republic, denmark, england, estonia, finland, greece, hong kong, italy, lithuania, latvia, norway, poland, russia, slovakia, slovenia, and sweden). using a latent class analysis, they found that: (a) both engaged and duty-based citizenship are norms that can be empirically identified in the studies; (b) a shift toward engaged citizenship appears to be emerging. hooghe, m., oser, j., & marien, s. (2014). a comparative analysis of ‘good citizenship’: a latent class analysis of adolescents’ citizenship norms in 38 countries. international political science review, 37(1), 115-129. this study explored the shift between duty-based citizenship norms and engaged citizenship norms. the authors performed a secondary analysis of the iccs 2009 data collected in 38 countries. they aimed to gain a better understanding of citizenship norms, the status of the students taking the survey and the type of democracies to which they belong. using a latent class analysis, the authors found that both duty-based and engaged citizenship can exist in diverse countries, but they do not cover the full range of normative concepts. an implication of this study is that “the ‘good citizens’ of the next generation do not intend to abandon civic engagement, but apparently they intend to relate to the political system in their own distinct manner” (p. 13). hooghe, m., & stolle, d. (2004). good girls go to the polling booth, bad boys go everywhere: gender differences in anticipated political participation among american fourteen-year-olds. women & politics, 26, 1-23. hooghe and stolle analyzed data from the 1999 cived study amongst 14-year-old students in the united states to gain a better understanding of gender differences in anticipated political participation. the authors found two main patterns: (1) the adult gender gap with regard to the level of participation has not fully emerged by 14 years of age, and (2) the kinds of action favored are different among boys (more explicitly political as well as radical and confrontational action) and girls (social movement-related action). these findings are integral to understanding past and future theories about the gender gap in political participation. hooghe, m., & wilkenfeld, b. (2008). the stability of political attitudes and behaviors across adolescence and early adulthood: a comparison of survey data on adolescents and young adults in eight countries. journal of youth and adolescence, 37(2), 155-167. the authors compared attitudes and behaviors across adolescence and early adulthood in 8 countries (czech republic, denmark, norway, poland, portugal, slovenia, sweden, and switzerland), performing secondary analysis of the data collected in the 1999 cived study, the 2000 cived survey and the 2000 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 99 european social survey. three age groups of participants took one of these surveys: 14 year-olds, 17 to 18 year-olds and 18 to 30 year-olds. the aim of this research was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between political attitudes and behavior and their stability at the different ages. using correlation techniques and principal component analysis, the authors found that “political trust and attitudes toward immigrant rights are already well established by the age of 14” (p. 155), while the intention to vote and actual voting behavior are not as stable through these ages. an implication of this study is that adolescents have already incorporated fundamental attitudes associated with citizenship. therefore, civic education should systematically address how citizenship attitudes are converted into behavior. the findings also argue for renewed attention to the reasons that females prefer less conflictual or partisan political engagement, preferring action for social justice. hoskins, b. l., barber, c., van nijlen, d., & villalba, e. (2011). comparing civic competence among european youth: composite and domain-specific indicators using iea civic education study data. comparative education review, 55(1), 82-110. this article explores data from european youth (14-year-old) responding to the iea civic education study to gain a better understanding of the association between cognitive (knowledge and skills) and affective (attitudes and values) dimensions and how these fit into the broader concept of civic competence (citizenship values, social justice values and attitudes, participatory attitudes and cognitions about democratic institutions). using a confirmatory factor analyses and item response theory at a preliminary phase, then moving to country comparisons, the authors found that “countries offering civic education as a discrete subject have higher rankings that would be expected based on other factors,” such as history, transitions to democracy, socio-cultural influences, etc. (p. 105). the results also suggest that in some cases instability and transitions toward democracy facilitate civic participation, while greater democratic stability intensifies some dimensions of civic competence (at least in the short term). the implication of this study is to encourage scholars to look at the years since a country established democracy as a predictor of civic competence, and to look at citizenship education’s potential. isac, m. m., maslowski, r., creemers, b., & van der werf, g. (2014). the contribution of schooling to secondary-school students' citizenship outcomes across countries. school effectiveness and school improvement, 25(1), 29-63. this secondary analysis of the 2009 iccs study, which used data from 31 countries, aimed to explore the impact of schooling on students’ civic knowledge, conventional citizenship, social movement-related citizenship and intended participation. using a multivariate multilevel analysis, the author found that “schools have a small influence on students’ civic knowledge and hardly an impact on civic attitudes and intended civic behavior” (p. 29). with regards to the types of citizenship outcomes considered in this study, individual student characteristics and influences outside the school play a more influential role. at the school level the factors that seem to make a difference in students’ civic competences are the use of free dialogue and critical debate on controversial political and social issues, which promote a stimulating democratic classroom climate. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 100 isac, m. m., maslowski, r., & van der werf, g. (2012). native students’ attitudes towards equal rights for immigrants. a study in 18 european countries. journal of social science education, 11(1), 7-22. isac, maslowski, and van der werf looked at 14-year-olds in eighteen european countries (austria, belgium (flanders), cyprus, denmark, england, estonia, finland, greece, ireland, italy, lithuania, luxembourg, the netherlands, norway, slovenia, spain, sweden, and switzerland) from the iea iccs study, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between immigrants’ presence in the classroom (including variables at individual, classroom and country level) and native-born students’ attitudes toward rights for immigrants. using a three-level multilevel model, the author found that “the determinants of native student attitudes are mainly student-related, while classroom and country characteristics are likely to have only modest effects” (p. 17). the researchers recommend that future studies focus on the relationship between student attitudes and individual characteristics. kahne, j., & middaugh, e. (2009). democracy for some: the civic opportunity gap in high school. in j. youniss & p. levine (eds.), engaging young people in civic life. nashville, tn: vanderbilt university press. this article explores responses in the1999 cived study (along with some other studies), to gain a better understanding of the relationship between students’ race and academic track, and schools’ average socioeconomic status and school-based civic learning opportunities. using multiple linear regression, independent samples t-tests, and multilevel modeling, they found that “students who are more academically successful or white and those with parents of higher socioeconomic status receive more classroom-based civic learning opportunities” (p. 5). as an implication of this study, it emerged that schools “appear to be exacerbating inequality by not providing equal civic preparation to students in most need of civic skills and resources” (p. 5). the authors recommend: (a) to promote teachers’ professional development and provide curricular support; (b) to develop “new initiatives focused on universal and/or low socioeconomic populations” (p.5); (c) to “undertake assessments that can inform and direct both policy and practice” (p. 6). kennedy, k. j. (2012). asian students' citizenship values and their relationship to civic understanding: an exploratory study comparing thai and hong kong students. research in comparative and international education, 7(2), 248-259. kennedy compared 14-year-old asian students in hong kong and thailand to gain a better understanding of the relationship between citizenship values in these two societies and the development of students’ civic understanding and knowledge. drawing from the iccs data, the author used six scales to represent a range of personal values held by students. the author conducted both scaleand item-level t-tests to determine the statistical significance of the difference between hong kong and thai students. the results suggest that strong civic values are not always associated with strong civic knowledge in students. in fact, thai students scored relatively higher on civic values than on civic knowledge; while hong kong students did the opposite (lower civic values and higher civic knowledge). the author found that contextual factors emerging from the proximal environment and the local contexts are likely to influence students’ citizenship identity. in addition, the comparison between journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 101 these two asian societies suggests “there is no single ‘asian’ citizenship identity” (p. 258). the implications of this study are related to secondary analysis of iccs data. the author recommends further analysis of variables that intervene in different way to shape multiple citizenship identities in asia. kennedy, k. j., hahn, c. l., & lee, w. o. (2008). constructing citizenship: comparing the views of students in australia, hong kong, and the united states. comparative education review, 52(1), 53-91. each of the authors served as a national research coordinator for the iea civic education study in australia, the united states and hong kong, respectively. the authors used both insider and outsider perspectives. this article explores a comparative cross-national analysis of 14-yearold students tested in cived in these three countries. the purpose was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between: (a) political, cultural, economic, and educational variables that characterize the three societies and (b) the views of students regarding what “good” citizens do, how they see themselves participating in their political communities in the future, and what their attitudes are toward rights for different groups in the community. the authors looked for “indications of young people developing attitudes that might support either a thin or thick conception of democratic citizenship” (p. 85). they found that young people in the three societies adhere to a thin view of conventional or political citizenship. in fact, young people think that being a good citizen is synonymous with voting, respecting leaders, and knowing their country’s history. it is less important to join a political party or to follow and discuss issues. in addition, although young people in the three countries give priority to similar citizens’ activities, their level of endorsement of these activities is different across the three societies. the authors also found that young people in the three countries are relatively supportive of rights for women and immigrants. they concluded that the thin and thick citizenship conceptions should not be dichotomized. there are multiple similarities and differences among students across the three countries, but these characteristics are difficult to explain by considering only the geographical and socio-cultural-historical contexts of their societies. one important implication is that “political socialization appears to be a much more unpredictable process than traditional paradigms might suggest” (p. 88). kennedy, k. j., huang, x., & chow, j. k. f. (2012). hong kong students’ levels of political trust ten years after the return to chinese sovereignty. journal of social science education, 11(1), 23-46. hong kong’s “retrocession” to china occurred in 1997. this article explored the cived and the iccs data from samples students in hong kong to understand their conception and level of trust in political institutions. the authors aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between political trust and civic knowledge and citizenship responsibilities. they performed ‘t’-tests to assess statistical significance of differences between cohorts at the item level (on the trust scales) and cohen’s ‘d’ to indicate effect size. to provide another perspective they used additional analyses – an exploratory factor analysis (efa), confirmatory factor analysis (cfa), multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (mgcfa). they found that 15-years-old students in hong kong, both in 1999 and 2009, understood political trust as a multidimensional construct. their results suggest that “hong kong 15 year olds have remained alert to their institutional environment, are able to make nuanced responses to differentiate journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 102 between institutions and are aware of the role that different institutions play in the local context” (p. 41). kennedy, k. j., kuang, x., & chow, j. k. f. (2013). exploring asian students’ citizenship values and their relationship to civic knowledge and school participation. educational psychology, 33(3), 240-261. this article explores 14-year-old students in five asian societies (korea, taiwan, hong kong, indonesia, and thailand) using data from the 2009 iccs study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between students’ traditional citizenship values (the asian regional module) and their civic learning and civic action. using multilevel regression the authors found that “young people in the participating societies hold traditional values associated with a conception of citizenship that is passive rather than active” (p. 18). however, the societies to which these students belong cannot be considered passive, especially considering the strong protest culture found in some asian countries. young people in these five asian societies embrace both tradition and change. therefore, civic education needs to integrate these two perspective into school and community programs. this study also showed that students from these five asian societies “have distinctive citizenship values and these operate in different ways within and across participating societies” (p. 18). knowles, r. t. (2015). asian values and democratic citizenship: exploring attitudes among south korean eighth graders using data from the iccs asian regional module. asia pacific journal of education, 35(2), 191-212. this article explores 14-year-olds in south korea from the 2009 iccs study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between traditional confucian asian values and attachments to democratic citizenship. using secondary analysis (multilevel modeling and structural regression) the author identified two substantial factors, which are the asian civic values and the obedience to authority. the findings suggest that intrinsic characteristics of confucian asian civic values, such as state, moral– state, civic morality, and social harmony, support the key aspects of democratic citizenship; however the obedience to authority is “negatively associated with democratization” (p. 15). the study also showed that female students are more likely to support asian civic values. the findings of this study imply that there is the possibility of reconciliation between traditional asian values and democratic citizenship. the author recommends that future studies consider that confucianism and democracy are not a dichotomy. the author also encourages future research on south korean civic education, considering: (a) the role of school curriculum, pedagogy and climate in influencing traditional values and civic orientations; (b) society influences on asian traditional values among youth; and (c) attachment to traditional values and democratic orientations across demographic groups. knowles, r., & mccafferty-wright, j. (2015). connecting an open classroom climate to social movement citizenship: a study of 8th graders in europe using iea iccs data. the journal of social studies research, 39(4), 255-269. knowles and mccafferty-wright consider “the potential for open classroom climates to foster political efficacy and civic knowledge among 8th grade students in 14 western european countries” (p. 255) journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 103 including austria, flemish belgium, switzerland, denmark, england, spain, finland, ireland, italy, liechtenstein, luxembourg, malta, norway, and sweden. the authors aimed to gain a better understanding of the connection between an open classroom climate, civic knowledge, political efficacy, and social movement citizenship. they utilized data from the iea international civic and citizenship study (iccs). they used descriptive statistics, multilevel regression, and path analysis. they found that “an open classroom climate promotes higher levels of civic knowledge and political efficacy” (p. 11). in addition, the study shows that civic knowledge and political efficacy fostered in an open classroom are associated with an increased attachment to social movement citizenship. these findings support previous studies, which emphasized the importance of classroom climates in encouraging students to actively construct knowledge and skills. in addition, this study shows that there is an inconsistent relationship between civic knowledge and social movement citizenship. finally it confirms a relatively strong relationship between students’ socioeconomic status and civic knowledge. the authors showed that “creating a democratic atmosphere through an open classroom climate promotes efficacy and knowledge” (p. 12). this study encourages future researchers to focus on: (a) how students gain knowledge and skills; (b) how the variations of open classroom climates influence different populations and contexts; and (c) whether an open classroom climate influences various groups in different ways. lauglo, j. (2013). do more knowledgeable adolescents have more rationally based civic attitudes? analysis of 38 countries. educational psychology, 33(3), 262-282. the author links the knowledge and attitudinal portions of iccs09 (with some references to cived99 data). he also incorporates indicators on corruption, government effectiveness and national standard of living from other statistical sources. at the country level he finds that students’ average trust in government is correlated with these indices of governmental performance. he also finds some positive associations between students’ knowledge and their trust in government. however, this is not true for latin american countries. further his analysis shows that students with higher civic knowledge scores are more likely to expect to vote and to support women’s political rights (with a positive but less strong association with support for ethnic group rights). he concludes that: “the findings fit the explanation that better knowledge promotes more rationally based civic attitudes.” (p 262). the author suggests further exploration of this under-studied approach. ljunggren, c. & unemar ost, i. (2012). teachers’ dealing with controversial issues – a typology from the 2009 iea/iccs study. politics, culture and socialization, 2/3.2 the aim of the article was to consider how swedish teachers deal with controversial issues and to contextualize that information by comparing the swedish data with iccs data from other countries. the 2 http://www.budrich-journals.de/index.php/pcs/article/view/7073 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 104 authors present a typology that describes the position of the teacher in these debates. the following four types were identified: the debate leader, the tutor, the mediator, and the rejector. the authors conclude that the position of the teacher in the discourse about controversial issues can have a decisive impact on these classroom discussions. malak-minkiewicz, b. (2007) civic education in times of change: the post-communist countries. citizenship teaching and learning, 3(2), 58-70. this article considers data from 14 year-olds in 11 post-communist countries (bulgaria, czech republic, estonia, hungary, latvia, lithuania, poland, romania, russia, slovak republic, slovenia) who participated in the 1999 cived study, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between epochal change in these countries and development of citizenship concepts and attitudes in adolescents (government responsibilities, attitudes of trust in government, attitudes toward women’s rights, and expectations of voting). comparing the scores of these students with those of students in western european countries, it emerged that students in “several of these eleven countries scored quite high on civic knowledge, but the level of trust in government and support for women’s rights” was relatively low (p. 58). the author recommended further analysis comparing the 1999 cived study data with the 2009 cived study data. [additional consideration of factors operating in the post-communist countries can be found in torneypurta, malak-minkiewicz & barber, in press.] mangenelli, s., alivernini, f., lucidi, f., & di leo, i. (2012). expected political participation in italy: a study based on italian iccs data. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 46, 1476-1481. this article explores data from 14-year-olds in italy who participated in the 2009 cived study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between school characteristics (openness in classroom discussion and value of students’ participation) and students’ characteristics (civic knowledge and political efficacy) and students’ expected political participation. using a multilevel regression model, they found that positive significant correlations exist between the independent variables and the students’ expected political participation. on the basis of these findings, the authors suggest that schools should offer more opportunities for the development of civic knowledge in an open classroom climate, while facilitating students’ participation in decision making processes and political activities. the authors recommend longitudinal designs in studies to corroborate these findings and generalize them across different national contexts. menzer, m. & torney-purta, j. (2012). individualism and socio-economic status distributions as related to schools’ levels of aggression in fifteen countries. journal of adolescence, 5, 1285-1294. the purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine two aspects of the context for peer aggression - individualism as a value at the national level and distributions of socioeconomic status in a particular school. the sample comprised 990 school principals/headmasters from nationally representative samples of schools in 15 countries surveyed as part of the 1999 iea cived study. administrators for each school had reported on their perceptions of the frequency of bullying and violence in their schools. schools with high socioeconomic diversity had more bullying than either homogeneously low or http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/science/article/pii/s0140197112000735#200015633 journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 105 homogeneously high socioeconomic status schools. results suggest that bullying and violence should be investigated as separate constructs. furthermore, contexts such as national culture and schools’ socioeconomic diversity, are important in understanding the prevalence of bullying and violence in schools internationally. mirazchiyski, p., caro, d. h., & sandoval-hernández, a. (2014). youth future civic participation in europe: differences between the east and the rest. social indicators research, 115(3), 1031-1055. mirazchiyski explored data from 14 year-olds in 22 european countries (9 post-communist and 13 established democracies) who participated in the 2009 iccs study to gain a better understanding of the relationship between social transformations and civic participation among young people. the authors intended to assess differences in the levels of expected civic participation across european countries and to evaluate the empirical model fit in regard to political division of the countries (new and established democracies). using multiple linear regression models, they found that new democracies have lower levels of intended future civic participation in comparison with established democracies. however, this study also found that levels of participation in new or established democracies cluster according to cultural and historical similarities (as well as educational and socioeconomic variables). this may have led to a different quality of the democratic regimes across europe regardless whether they are new or well established. quintelier, e. & hooghe, e. (2013). the relationship between political participation intentions of adolescents and a participatory democratic climate at school in 35 countries. oxford review of education, 39(5), 567-589. the authors used a three level multilevel analysis to explore the association of a participatory democratic climate at school with four types of expected participation: legal protest, electoral participation, party membership/candidacy for office, and informal political activities. data from 35 countries participating in the iccs 2009 study were used (excluding the three countries where no teacher data had been collected). students’ perceptions of a participatory democratic climate at school (especially open and respectful class discussion) were related to all four types of participation. however, teachers’ perception of this climate were related only to students’ electoral participation. in general teachers’ and students’ perceptions of school climate were not strongly correlated, arguing that it is the student’s own experience of participation opportunities that counts. reimers, f. (2007). civic education when democracy is in flux: the impact of empirical research on policy and practice in latin america. citizenship teaching and learning, 3(2), 5-21. reimers provided a discussion of the iea cived study’s influence on the curriculum revision and policy discussions in chile and colombia. in these countries, the iea civic education study contributed to the focus on the importance of citizenship education, on the strategies to provide it, and the challenges for scholars and practitioners to develop democratic competencies. these elements are pivotal for the future of democracy at large in these regions of latin america. [see also torney-purta & amadeo, 2004.] journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 106 richardson, w. & torney-purta, j. (2008). connections between concepts of democracy, citizen engagement, and schooling for 14-year-olds across six countries. in b. rubin & j. giarelli (eds.), civic education for diverse citizens in global times: rethinking theory and practice (pp. 79-104). new york: lawrence erlbaum associates. the authors examined cived data from chile, estonia, finland, greece, switzerland and the united states using regression analysis. they looked at predictions of intension to be an informed voter, to join a political party, and to volunteer. for example, intent to be an informed voter was predicted by belief in the importance of voting in democracy (in 4 countries) and by holding norms of good citizenship, by being taught about voting in school as well as by civic knowledge, trust, confidence and interest (in all 6 countries). intent to join a political party and intent to volunteer were less strongly associated with a similar set of predictors. implications are drawn for enhancing school-based social studies education. the authors conclude by recommending attention to enhancing civic education at school: “schools are sensitive to policy directions in a way that families and youth organizations are not” (p 97). schulz, w., fraillon, j. & ainley, j. (2013). measuring young people’s understanding of civics and citizenship in a cross-national study. educational psychology, 33(3), 334-356. the development of knowledge and understanding is widely reported as a key aim of civic and citizenship education and as an important aspect of being prepared for active citizenship. measurement of knowledge and understanding in this domain has grown as a focus of educational research both as an outcome in its own right and to underpin the systematic investigation of factors associated with the development of effective active citizenship. given that civics and citizenship is often seen as a set of cross-curricular capabilities rather than an established discipline, it is crucial to articulate clearly what is being measured and to be sure that measurement is based on sound psychometric properties. this article describes how knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship was conceptually defined and measured in the iea civic and citizenship education study (iccs 2009) conducted in 38 countries. [note that some of the items included in this study come originally from the iea cived study of 1999.] stevick, d. (2007). qualitative comparison in civic education: an ethnographic perspective. citizenship teaching and learning, 3(2), 71-78. stevick presents a qualitative researchers’ assessment of the limitations of the cived studies in focusing too much on quantitative methods and suggests developing future studies based on mixed methods. the author recognized the iea cived studies’ important contributions in conceptualizing large-scale qualitative and comparative research. however, he argued that the quantitative method may have overshadowed the qualitative research. he recommended to consider adopting an ethnographic perspective as a valid method to study the impact of different cultures on the development of adolescents’ civic knowledge and engagement. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 107 toots, a. & lauri, t. (2015). institutional and contextual factors of quality in civic and citizenship education: exploring possibilities of qualitative comparative analysis. comparative education, 51(2), 247-275. the authors investigated whether a systematic association exists between national quality assurance policies in education and achievement in citizenship education. the key assumption is that high civic knowledge is produced by a set of factors embedded in different configurations of quality assurance and evaluation systems operating together with contextual factors in educational systems. by using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsqca), they investigated pathways that were systematically associated with civic education success (test score improvement) in 30 countries. to do this they compared cived results with iccs results in countries participating in both. then they examined the quality assurance policies in these countries. the analysis revealed six configurations of contextual and institutional factors. from these configurations two paths toward a country’s success in improving civic and citizenship education could be identified– the participative decision-making pathway (the absence of strict regulations but strong participation by educators) and the accountability pathway (heavily reliant on testing often originating outside the schools). overall, the model was able to account for the success of some established western european democracies in improving civic achievement. torney-purta, j. (2002). the school's role in developing civic engagement: a study of adolescents in twenty-eight countries. applied developmental science, 6(4), 203-212. this article summarizes the samples, methods, analysis and results of the 1999 iea cived study, conducted over eight years in nearly thirty countries and explores its implications. the major findings of this study are: (a) students in these countries are exposed to different modes of engaged citizenship; (b) the average us student possesses skills in political communication but doesn’t perform as well when asked about fundamental concepts in democracy; (c) students from low socio-economic status and homes with low literacy resources have relatively low levels of civic knowledge and relatively little interest in voting; (d) students in the us are relatively supportive of active political participation; (e) open and respectful classroom climates for discussion encourage civic knowledge and sense of engagement; (f) explicit instruction about voting can encourage students’ willingness to vote; (g) students’ peer interactions in school organizations are important for the development of students’ civic engagement; (h) students’ gender and residency status (e.g., native-born or immigrant) influence political identity development. the implications of this study encourage schools to offer more and richer civic education opportunities and to reach out to cooperate with other organizations in moving toward improved civic education. torney-purta, j. (2002). patterns in the civic knowledge, engagement, and attitudes of european adolescents: the iea civic education study. european journal of education, 37(2), 129-141. torney-purta analyzed data derived from the cived study across 23 european countries, to gain a better understanding of similarities and differences among countries in average performance on the iea test, and to identify factors within countries that are associated with high and low performance. using a summary of data on civic knowledge, engagement, and attitudes by country, overall findings suggested that students placed a greater emphasis on voting, obeying the law, and garnering support for social journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 108 movements than on political party membership and discussion of political issues. this study suggests that civic education is multi-faceted and complex, which requires identifying effective education models that may be particular to each country. torney-purta, j. (2009). international psychological research that matters for policy and practice. american psychologist, 64(3), 825-837. the author argues that psychological research that matters is research that can be reflected in policy change, in the practice of educators or psychologists, and/or in the mindsets of the next generation of researchers. she believes that person-centered analysis has this potential, and illustrates this point with a cluster analysis of attitudinal data from the iea cived study. data from ten countries were included – an equal number of eastern european countries and countries sharing the western european tradition. using these data, five clusters of students were identified: those who supported social justice but were not participative, those active in conventional politics and the community, those indifferent to civic matters, those who were disaffected, and a problematic cluster of alienated adolescents (characterized by very low trust in government and anti-immigrant attitudes). the western and eastern european results were similar but not identical. the author concludes with a discussion of the dynamics of successful internationally collaborative research. torney-purta, j. & amadeo, j.a. (2003). a cross-national analysis of political and civic involvement among adolescents. political science and politics, 36, 269-274. this journal is published by the american political science association for faculty members teaching students in post-secondary education; the article was tailored to that audience. results from both the cived study of 14-year-old in 1999 and the study of 17-18 year olds in 2000 were described (for the countries participating in both – which did not include the united states). across countries lower levels of political trust, higher expectations of government’s involvement in ensuring economic well-being, and higher levels of expected voting were observed among the older respondents. gender differences were similar across the two age groups. torney-purta, j., & amadeo, j. a. (2013). international large-scale assessments: challenges in reporting and potentials for secondary analysis. research in comparative and international education, 8(3), 248-258. the authors consider issues with the presentation of analysis of the international large-scale assessment (ilsa) instruments such as those used in the iea cived and iccs studies (but also in other subject areas, for example, in timss and pisa). they describe the weaknesses and distortions of using country averages and rankings of counties when using these datasets. they argue for more resources put into extensive secondary analysis of these data. in addition, they put forth a model for analysis that could produce a better understanding of the relationship between person-related (e.g., age, gender), contextrelated (e.g., country, school) and process-related variables (e.g., learning opportunities, community engagement) and students’ learning outcomes. based on their model they concluded that “ilsas have the potential to inform teaching and learning processes and foster interdisciplinary and international journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 109 collaboration” (p. 255). they advise against reliance on country rankings using these data and recommend secondary analysis addressing persons, contexts and educational processes. torney-purta, j., amadeo j-a., and andolina, m. w. (2010). a conceptual framework and multimethod approach for research on political socialization and civic engagement. in l. r. sherrod, j. torneypurta and c. a. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement in youth (pp. 497523). hoboken, nj: wiley, 2010. this chapter presents a comprehensive and inclusive conceptual framework and multimethod approach to research on youth civic engagement. the authors “argue for studies that combine quantitative measures (such as surveys) with qualitative measures (such as focus groups or interviews). the purpose of this chapter is to provide suggestions for better ways of aligning studies and their research questions with designs and methodologies” (p. 497). the authors emphasize the importance of stating a clear conceptual framework and congruent research questions. authors’ recommendations include: (a) the support of federal agencies and private foundations to design new studies starting from cumulative reviews of findings and secondary analysis of existing datasets; (b) the creation of specific approaches to connect researchers’ methodologies and findings; (c) the cooperation between scholars, organizations and institutions involved in the development and assessment of civic engagement programs; (d) the elaboration of cumulative reviews and information displays summarizing their context; (e) “support for multimethod studies that employ both quantitative and qualitative measures, capitalizing on the advantages and minimizing the disadvantages of each” (p. 519). torney-purta, j., amadeo, j-a. & richardson, w. (2007). civic service among youth in chile, denmark, england and the united states: a psychological perspective. in m. sherraden & a. mcbride (eds.), civic service worldwide: impacts and inquires (pp 317-331). armonk, ny: m.e. sharpe. the authors used data from the cived study from 4 countries to examine individuals who participated in the equivalent of “service learning” in comparison to individuals who did not participate in such activities. cived (but not the subsequent iccs study) included students’ reports of the extent to which they had learned in school “to contribute to solving problems in the community.” a separate question asked whether the student had participated in “an organization that conducted voluntary activities to help the community.” the following groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance. group 1 had neither volunteer nor school-based discussion of community problems. group 2 had learned about these problems in school but had not volunteered. group 3 had volunteered but had not learned about community problems in school. group 4 had volunteered and had also learned about community problems in school (the equivalent of a “service learning” experience). in the united states group 4 (the service learning group) had higher civic outcomes than the other groups (for example, on holding norms of good citizenship, trust in government institutions and sense of political efficacy). the second highest group on these outcome in the u.s. had learned about community problems in school (but had not volunteered). in england, however, group 3, which had only volunteer experience tended to be similar to the group with service learning experience (group 4). the differences in chile and denmark were similar to the u.s. but with smaller differences between groups. this analysis suggests that the context journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 110 for service learning is important and that neither service learning nor volunteering can provide a universal solution for the problem of enhancing students’ civic development. torney-purta, j., & barber, c. (2005). democratic school engagement and civic participation among european adolescents: analysis of data from the iea civic education study. journal of social science education, 4(3), 13-27. this article explores 14-year-old students’ cived data in 23 european countries to gain a better understanding of the relationship between democratic school engagement and students’ civic participation. this article presented two types of analysis: (a) correlations between democratic school participation (curricular practices, classroom climate, participation in a school council, confidence in the value of participation) and perceptions of citizenship and expected civic participation in 25 countries (23 european countries, plus australia and the us); (b) within-country correlation of citizenship attitudes and expectations (expectation of informed voting and expectation of community participation) in nine european countries (bulgaria, czech republic, denmark, england, norway, sweden, switzerland, italy and germany). the authors found that “within the countries more democratic participation is associated with positive outcomes for students” (p. 22). teaching about democracy and reading the newspaper are positively related to students’ acceptance of norms and their beliefs in democratic values. although students and teachers across countries agree on the importance of open classroom climate, not every teacher is skilled enough to guide discussions on political and social issues. the authors recommend linking schools with local organizations, bringing policy and practice together, improving students’ participation in school management, enriching teacher training, bringing media discussions into class, and encouraging adults to mentor young people. torney‐purta, j., & barber, c. (2011). fostering young people’s support for participatory human rights through their developmental niches. american journal of orthopsychiatry, 81(4), 473. torney-purta and barber (2011) performed a person-centered analysis of data from the iea cived study to uncover clusters or patterns of young peoples’ attitudes with regards to civic issues and human rights. they identified five clusters across three western european countries, the united states and australia. the social justice cluster includes youth who support minority rights, immigrant rights, and women’s rights (but do not plan to take action relating to their beliefs). the conventionally oriented cluster is characterized by adolescents who trust government and support involvement through voting and volunteering in the community. these students also tend to have at least moderate support for minority and immigrant rights. the indifferent cluster contains students who seek to do the minimum as a citizen. those in the disaffected cluster, like the indifferent, seek minimal involvement in civic communities, except that they hold more negative beliefs about minorities’ rights and about government. (p. 476). this group also seems less interested in political engagement. finally, the alienated cluster contains youth who mistrust government, are negative about immigrants and minorities, and don’t believe it important to obey the law. this cluster contains about 10% of young people in the united states (and countries like australia, england, finland and sweden). because of its strong negativity, it should be of concern. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 111 torney-purta, j., barber, c., & richardson, w. (2004). trust in government-related institutions and political engagement among adolescents in six countries. acta politica, 39(4), 380-406. this article explores data from the iea civic education study in 1999 of 14-year-olds across six countries to gain a better understanding of trust and its relation to political socialization in young people. the article considers three types of institutional trust (in institutions with little or no daily contact, in schools, and in other people). associations were examined between individuals’ trust levels and three types of civic engagement (voting, other political participation, and community involvement). in most countries the correlations between trust in the government and civic knowledge were positive. the authors express the belief that a “threshold” level of trustworthiness must be established in order to foster participation civically and politically in young people. torney-purta, j., barber, c., & wilkenfeld, b. (2006). differences in the civic knowledge and attitudes of adolescents in the united states by immigrant status and hispanic background. prospects, 36(3), 343-354. this secondary analysis of the 1999 cived study focuses on the association between being an immigrant and hispanic adolescent in the us and civic knowledge, conceptions of citizenship, political attitudes, and expectations of participation. the authors found that “immigrant and hispanic students are much more likely than non-immigrant, non-hispanic students to endorse rights and opportunities for immigrants,” while there are no significant differences between these two groups in “understanding the concept of citizenship and in their expected political and civic participation” (p. 352). an implication of this study is the importance of recognizing cultural identities in adolescent development. the authors recommend further studies on civic education of subgroups within the immigration population. torney-purta, j., barber, c. h., & wilkenfeld, b. (2007). latino adolescents’ civic development in the united states: research results from the iea civic education study. journal of youth and adolescence, 36(2), 111-125. this article compares latino and non-latino ninth-grade students in the us in terms of civic development. the analysis aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between school factors and students’ civic developmental outcomes. the school (independent) variables considered by the authors were: the perception of open classroom climate, the study of political topics in the classroom, the teachers’ use of interactive activities and their use of official materials in planning, and average parent education. the outcome (dependent) variables were: students’ civic knowledge, students’ expectations of informed voting, and students’ positive attitudes toward immigrants’ rights. the authors also considered: (a) latino ethnicity predictors (student’s report that they are of latino ethnicity, and whether they attend schools with more latino students than the average across all schools in the sample); (b) individual covariate predictors (not born in country of test, and not speaking english -the language of test); and (c) home background (reading news in the newspaper, discuss political topics with parents, residence in the suburbs). the authors “analyzed the three outcomes with multilevel modeling techniques using hlm software” (p. 115). their results shows that “non-latino students have significantly more civic knowledge, are more likely to expect to vote, and are less likely to hold positive attitudes toward the rights of immigrants than latino students. the gap is about half a journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 112 standard deviation for knowledge, and between a quarter and half a standard deviation for expected voting and immigrants’ rights attitudes” (p. 117). these findings have implications for policy and for further research, especially for those who intend to consider how the school experience can make a difference for both latino and non-latin students. torney-purta, j., richardson, w. k., & barber, c. h. (2005). teachers’ educational experience and confidence in relation to students’ civic knowledge across countries. international journal of citizenship and teacher education, 1(1), 32-57. this article explores data from teachers from 27 countries, who took the iea teacher survey in the context of the cived study in 1999. the authors focused on the analysis of teachers’ beliefs about their background knowledge and about civic education. the authors aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between teachers’ confidence in their knowledge and beliefs and their students’ civic knowledge. in particular they focused on teacher experience in terms of professional education and training, teachers’ confidence in teaching civic subjects and teachers’ attitudes towards civic education. the research methods used by the authors included: (a) descriptive analyses of teachers in eight selected countries (australia, denmark, finland, england, hungary, the united states, czech republic, and norway); (b) exploratory factor analyses in the 27 countries; (c) average teacher scores per country compared with the average student knowledge at the country level across 27 countries; (d) a more detailed comparison of teachers’ responses in three countries (finland, hungary, and the united states) with their students’ civic knowledge. the authors found that across the 27 countries teachers’ civicrelated in-service experiences and holding of civic-related degrees related to students’ civic knowledge. “the overall conclusion is that the context of a country, both the history of its political system and the extent to which teachers’ preparation is consistent with the beliefs of the public and curricular policies governing education, are important components defining the effectiveness of educational programmes designed to raise teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (as well as their confidence in teaching about civic-related topics)” (p. 49). the implications are that teacher preparation programs in citizenship education need to be developed considering country specific and educational contexts. the authors recommend future research that can expand the within-country models analyses beyond the three countries they most closely examined in this article. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 113 torney-purta, j. & wilkenfeld, b. (2009). paths to 21st century competencies through civic education classrooms: an analysis of survey results from ninth-graders. chicago: division for public education american bar association.3 civic education, especially when it is interactive and involves discussion of current issues, is an important way to develop the skills that young people need to succeed in the 21st century workforce. in this publication students from four groups who were tested in the u.s. in the iea cived 1999 project were compared. group 1 contained students who reported experiencing interactive discussion-based civic education in combination with more traditional lecture-based civic education. group 2 contained those who experienced discussion-based civic education only. group 3 contained those who experienced lecture-based traditional instruction only, and group 4 was those who experienced neither type of civic education. the group with discussion-based civic education experience (either by itself or combined with lectures and other traditional methods) scored the highest on a set of “21st century competencies,” including working cooperatively with others (especially in diverse groups) and knowledge of economic and political processes. students who experienced neither interactive nor lecture-based civic education had lower scores than the other 3 groups on all of the 21st century competencies examined. this publication has implications for the workforce preparation of students in parallel with their civic preparation. torney‐purta, j., wilkenfeld, b., & barber, c. (2008). how adolescents in 27 countries understand, support, and practice human rights. journal of social issues, 64(4), 857-880. this article explores 14-year-old students in 27 countries surveyed in the 1999 iea cived study to gain a better understanding of between country differences in students’ knowledge pertaining to human rights and associations with students’ attitudes toward promoting and practicing human rights. using hierarchical linear modeling they found that the country’s context for recognizing human rights and the condition of civil and political rights in a country make a difference in adolescents’ knowledge of the convention on the rights of the child, the universal declaration of human rights and the united nations. in general, students, who in their schools are exposed to discussions of democracy, international issues, and open class climates and those who live in countries that pay attention to human rights in their intergovernmental discourse, are likely to perform better on human rights knowledge items. they are also more likely to engage with international topics and have a positive attitudes to immigrants’ rights. females across countries are more likely to support human rights but have a lower level of political efficacy. from this analysis the role that schools and other societal institutions can have in promoting the practice of human rights emerged, especially in supporting democratic practices and encouraging students to become informed about international issues. the 3 http: www.anericanbar.org/content/dam/aba.images/public_education/civiclearningresource_booklet_lores.pdf journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 114 authors recommend future analysis to explore further aspects of national political contexts in relationship to young people’s attitudes toward human rights. wilde, s. (ed.). (2005). political and citizenship education: international perspectives. oxford (uk): symposium books. this book contains chapters reporting analysis from the iea cived study in the u.s. (hahn), england (kerr), australia (kennedy and mellor) and hong kong (lee). the authors served in national coordinating roles for the study. they draw implications for civic education practice from the results and place them in the contexts of these educational systems. the authors decry the often inaccurate headlines produced about most international comparative studies. they argue that the value of international studies such as these goes far beyond comparison between countries to provide rich and useful data for national analysis that can be related to particular national contexts and issues. wilkenfeld, b., & torney-purta, j. (2012). a cross-context analysis of civic engagement linking cived and us census data. journal of social science education, 11(1), 64-80. wilkenfeld and torney-purta examined the responses of adolescents in the us who participated in the 1999 cived study and linked these data to us census data to gain a better understanding of the association between direct and indirect family, peer, school, and neighborhood variables and adolescents’ civic engagement. using multilevel regression methods, they found that students’ civic experiences and discourse in schools are positively correlated with higher civic engagement. this analysis confirmed that adolescents’ civic engagement is also influenced by a large set of variables such as, school and neighborhood contexts, students’ demographic characteristics, learning opportunities, school ses and school climate for open discussion in the classroom. implications of this study are connected with conceptual understanding of development within contexts, methodological considerations, and educational practice. the authors recommend further analysis of differences relating to the social class of neighborhoods. zhang, t., torney-purta, j., & barber, c. (2012). students' conceptual knowledge and process skills in civic education: identifying cognitive profiles and classroom correlates. theory & research in social education, 40(1), 1-34. this article includes two studies of us ninth graders using cived data. in study 1, the authors gained an understanding of the relation between students’ acquisition of basic conceptual knowledge and students’ acquisition of more complex competence in the domain of civic knowledge. using cognitive diagnostic modeling, the authors found that the acquisition of basic knowledge is necessary to acquire more advanced conceptual knowledge. civic skills, however, may be acquired without much conceptual knowledge. in study 2, the authors looked at the relationship between (a) teacher’s approaches and students’ experiences in civics or social studies classrooms and (b) students’ mastery of civic concepts and of civic process skills. using a two level multinomial hierarchical generalized linear model, the authors found that the exposure to civic concepts through classroom interactive engagement is a consistent predictor of conceptual civic achievement. they also argue that in the united states some journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 115 civic skills may be acquired in classes outside of the social studies. they remind readers that knowledge construction is also mediated by social factors, and call for more studies that could explore how these characteristics are related to conceptual knowledge and skill acquisition. the authors also caution that students who demonstrate mastery of civic conceptual knowledge and skills both in the test and in real life settings may have been exposed to more learning opportunities both inside and outside schools. zhang, t. & torney-purta, j., & mislevy, r. j. (2016). understanding civic cognitive assessment tasks: associations between linguistic features and students' task performance. citizenship teaching & learning, 11(1), 29-47. this secondary analysis of the 1999 iea cived study on the united states focused on the relationship between linguistic features and the overall performance of the adolescents who took the test. the authors used the software coh-metrix version 2.0 that analyzes kintsch’s categories such as words, syntax, and situation models, in addition to traditional readability formulas. the authors found that there is a correlation between the inclusion of certain types of words and certain sentence constructions in an item and that item’s level of difficulty. they also related students’ lack of ability to create an accurate situation model based on an item stem to the difficulty of cived test items. implications of this study are related to the impact that reading comprehension has on students’ performance in subject area cognitive assessments. the authors recommend further studies of texts formats and ways of enhancing students’ ability to comprehend an item’s stem in order to form an accurate situation model (and then to complete that situation model with the choice of a correct answer). this could create more valid assessment instruments. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 116 works cited but not listed in the annotated bibliography: amadeo, j., torney-purta, j., lehmann, r., husfeldt, v. & nikolova, r. (2002). civic knowledge and engagement: an iea study of upper secondary students in sixteen countries. amsterdam, nl: iea. arthur, j., davies, i., & hahn, c. (2008). the sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy. london, uk: sage publications. carretero, m., haste, h., & bermudez, a. (2016). civic education. in l. corno & e. anderman (eds.), handbook of educational psychology (pp. 295-306). new york: routledge. fitchett, p. g. & heafner, t. (forthcoming). quantitative research in social studies education. in manfra, m., & bolick, c. (eds.). the handbook of social studies research, new york, ny: routledge. heafner, t., fitchett, p. g. & knowles, r. t. (2016). using big data, large-scale studies, secondary datasets, and secondary data analysis as tools to inform social studies teaching and learning. in a. r. crowe & a. cuenca (eds.) rethinking social studies teacher education in the twenty-first century. switzerland: springer. levstik, l. s., & tyson, c. a. (eds.) (2008). handbook of research in social studies education. new york, ny: routledge. manfra, m., & bolick, c. (eds.) (forthcoming). the handbook of social studies research. new york, ny: wiley-blackwell schulz, w., ainley, j. fraillon, j., kerr, d. & losito, b. (2010). iccs 2009 international report: civic knowledge, attitudes and engagement among lower-secondary school students in 38 countries. amsterdam, nl: iea. sherrod, l. r., torney-purta, j., & flanagan, c. a., (eds.) (2010). handbook of research on civic engagement in youth. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons inc. torney-purta, j. & amadeo, j. (2004). strengthening democracy in the americas through civic education. washington, dc: organization of american states (oas). torney-purta, j., amadeo, j., & andolina, m. w. (2010). a conceptual framework and multimethod approach for research on political socialization and civic engagement. in l. r. sherrod, j. torneypurta, & c. a. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement in youth (pp. 497-523). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons inc. torney-purta, j., cabrera, j., roohr, k. c., liu, o. l., & rios, j. a. (2015). assessing civic competency and engagement in higher education: research background, frameworks, and directions for next generation assessment (research report no. rr-15-34). princeton, nj: educational testing service. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 117 torney-purta, j., lehmann, r., oswald, h. & schulz (2001). citizenship and education in twenty-eight countries: civic knowledge and engagement at age fourteen. amsterdam, nl: iea. torney-purta, j., malak-minkiewicz, b. & barber, c. (in press). cross-national inequalities in preparation for democratic participation: the process and findings of the iea civic education study. in w. no, a. brennan & d. schugurensky (eds.), by the people: participatory democracy, civic engagement and citizenship education. tempe, az: participatory governance initiative at arizona state university. torney-purta, j. & richardson, w. k. (2003). teaching for the meaningful practice of democratic citizenship: learning from the iea civic education study in 28 countries. in j. patrick, g. hamot & r. leming (eds.), civic learning in teacher education: international perspectives on education for democracy in the preparation of teachers (pp. 25-44). bloomington, in: eric clearinghouse for social studies/social studies education. wilkenfeld, b., lauckhardt, j., torney-purta, j. (2010). the relation between developmental theory and measures of civic engagement in research on adolescents. in sherrod, l. r., flanagan, c. a., & torney-purta, j. (eds.) handbook of research on civic engagement in youth, (pp. 193-219), hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. journal of international social studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, 86 -118. corresponding author email: ryan.knowles@usu.edu ©2008/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 118 websites with additional information about cived99 and iccs09: for reports from cived99 and additional unpublished material (including the cedars report on additional scales): http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jtpurta for access to the data from cived99 and iccs09: international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea). (2004). iea civic education study, 1999: [united states]. [data file]. retrieved from http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/icpsr/studies/3892 international association for the evaluation of educational achievement (iea). (2008). iea study data repository. available from the iea data processing center website: http://rms.iea-dpc.org/. for reports from iccs09: http://iccs.acer.edu.au/index.php?page=initial-findings for convention papers and technical reports about iccs09: http://iccs.acer.edu.au/index.php?page=publications-and-papers http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jtpurta http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/icpsr/studies/3892 http://rms.iea-dpc.org/ http://iccs.acer.edu.au/index.php?page=publications-and-papers journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 58 pre-planning civic action: an analysis of civic leaders’ problem solving strategies jason fitzgerald wagner college, new york city, new york __________________________________________________________________________________ abstract: this study explores the civic thinking heuristics that civic leaders use when preplanning action. across eight think-aloud protocols, findings suggest that three heuristics are employed. frame alignment refers to the process of harmonizing personal beliefs and interests with the particulars of a civic action issue to find personal meaning in the work. participants used (1) personal beliefs, (2) lived experiences, (3) their professional roles, and (4) their heritage to facilitate such framing. referencing is the process of using past personal and historical civic action experiences as case studies for planning. contextualization is the process of situating a civic issue within a community’s political and cultural climate. these three heuristics are sense-making activities that could be taught to and used by students to make sense of civic issues and possible actions available to them. implications include the need for increased focus on the historical dimensions and personal relevance of civic action. key words: civics, problem solving, civics heuristics, civic action __________________________________________________________________________________ introduction the value of inquiry-based civics education has gained an increasing amount of recognition over the last decade, especially with the recent release of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework in the u.s. (croddy & levine, 2014). this increased recognition largely began with wineburg’s (1991) descriptive heuristics of the cognitive processes historians use when engaging historical questions. this heuristics research spurred successful inquiry-based curricular work in history education (e.g., vansledright, 2002; seixas, 1996; levesque, 2008) that serves as a foundation for the c3 framework today. as they have done with such work on historical inquiry, teachers have increasingly involved students in authentic problem solving when teaching civics, enabling authentic political and social change in schools and communities across the country (e.g., levine, 2007; the campaign for the civic mission of schools, 2011; campbell, levinson, & hess, 2012). yet while this increased attention on civics education has highlighted a number of promising instructional practices (i.e., deacon crick et al., 2004), social studies teachers do not have the same kind of expert-based heuristics from which to organize their civics instruction as they do when they teach history. little is known about the problem solving strategies that civic leaders employ when preparing for, engaging in, or reflecting on civic action. such information would enable teachers to engage students in the cognitive apprenticeship of civic thinking. this study explores those problem solving strategies as they are used in one aspect of the large and complex process of civic action – preplanning, through which civic leaders individually consider the possibility of taking action on an issue and explore their potential next steps toward such action. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 59 literature review for the past two decades, research (i.e., pagnotti & russell, 2015) has suggested that civics education in the united states inadequately meets the needs of sustainable democracy; the aspects of democratic life that tocqueville (1835) praised in the 19th century are observed less frequently across the country today. despite teachers’ increased efforts to develop students’ civic capacities, indicators of civic knowledge have remained stagnant; students’ civic knowledge scores on the national assessment of educational progress continue to hover around 30 percent (naep, 2015). furthermore, youth are continuing a negative trend set by their parents and grandparents, continuing to disengage from associational living (putnam, 2000), thus limiting the social capital they are able to develop within their communities for the purposes of making political and social change (kahne, chi, & middaugh, 2006; zukin et al., 2006). students’ limited knowledge of the political system coupled with low capacities for building social capital raise concerns about the future health of our democracy (pagnotti & russell 2015). while these data represent trends across all youth demographics, minority students tend to have even fewer opportunities for civic engagement than their white, middle class colleagues (pope, stolte, & cohen, 2011; fitzgerald & andes, 2012; marri, 2011). this disparity is known as the “civic engagement gap” (levinson, 2012b). thus, not only do students across the country have limited civic knowledge and skills but these limitations impact the largest growing demographic groups in the united states (apple, forth-coming). instructional approaches other than those found in traditional civics courses are needed in order to stem the civic disengagement tide that threatens to disenfranchise youth from political and civic systems (pagnotti & russell, 2015) and minority youth from their more civically prepared peers (levinson, 2012a). problem-based learning in response to these conditions, educators have turned to problem-based learning (pbl) as a way to engage students in “doing” civics. john dewey (1916) argued that real-world problem solving is “the best way to engage [students’]… intense, sustained interest and develop their capacities for reflective critical inquiry and collaborative practical action” (benson, harkavy, & puckett, 2007, p. 29). thus, problem-based learning in civics education guides students through a “process of working toward the understanding or resolution of a problem” (barrows & tamblyn, 1980, p. 1). through the pbl process, students are encouraged to develop their civic knowledge and skills while engaging authentic civic problems. the authenticity of the problems and the autonomy students have in engaging those problems fosters students’ motivation towards civics and builds their civic capacities in ways that traditional, lecture-driven civics course may not. the literature on the use of problem-based civic learning practices suggests that teachers take one of two approaches to fostering such engagement: (1) in-class pbl (gorski, 2009) and (2) action civics (maker et al., 2015). in-class pbl often takes the form of simulations (e.g., moore, beshke, & haeussler, 2014) or deliberations (e.g., avery, levy, & simmons, 2013). both strategies engage students in authentic problem solving as a class, developing their civic knowledge as well as their collaboration and critical thinking skills (kahne, chi, & middaugh, 2006). such in-class work enables teachers to explore topics and issues that may not directly impact students’ local community or that may be too difficult to engage in real-time, laying a foundation of interactions that can be transferred to various civic problems that students may encounter in their own lives. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 60 more recently, action civics programs have been developed to provide a more community-based approach to pbl. action civics programs enable students to take collective civic action to address issues within a context that promotes reflection and skills development (bass, 2012; pope, stolte, & cohen, 2011). while action civics programs differ with regards to how closely such learning is tied to a district’s curriculum, who guides students through the action civics projects, and the type of civic engagement opportunities available to students (westheimer & kahne, 2004), action civics programs generally employ a six-step process for engaging students in civic problems: (1) community analysis, (2) issue selection, (3) issue research, (4) planning for action, (5) taking action, and (6) reflection. through these instrumental steps, students are able to practice engaging civic issues important to them in the context of their community while developing their civic capacities (campbell, levinson, & hess, 2012). teachers using either pbl approach to civics instruction construct a condition by which students can develop civic agency (garcia et al., 2015). when students are active participants in the process of reading and responding to civically related texts and situations, their perceptions of their own civic agency increase. not only is such a perception of agency critical for students’ sustained civic engagement (the campaign for the civic mission of schools, 2011) but it has also been shown to reduce the civic engagement gap (beaumont, 2011), making the pbl approach an important tool for increasing students’ current and future civic action efficacy. cognitive apprenticeship in order effectively to guide students’ engagement in authentic civic problems, teachers need to have a foundation in civic ways of knowing. since the “cognitive revolution,” in which behaviorism was largely supplanted by psychological theories based on describing complex mental processes, educational researchers (e.g., pressley, 1979; gagne, 1985) have worked to establish meta-cognitive distinctions between disciplines, leading to the analyses of disciplinary ways of knowing, thinking, and doing (carter, 2007). these distinctions have given rise to the practice of cognitive apprenticeship, both “an instrumental model that teachers use to organize the learning environment and an approach to learning that helps students see the processes involved in complex learning activities” (montesano, de la paz, & felton, 2014, p. 15). central to this approach of modeling disciplinary practices is a teacher’s understanding of how “experts” problem solve. without a clear sense of the ways in which experts approach disciplinary problems, the apprenticeship may be flawed or incomplete. studies of expert’s problem solving strategies began with well-structured problems in mathematics and the sciences (e.g., schoenfeld, 2013; chi, feltovich, & glaser, 1981). more recently, studies have begun exploring how experts approach ill-structured problems, those that involve the integration of multiple disciplines, and/or incomplete or inaccurate information, or necessitate the synthesis of ideas across time and space (voss & post, 1988). think aloud protocols have been used to explore how physicians (schoenfeld, 2010) and historians (wineburg, 2001), for example, engage such problems, developing heuristics by which future physicians and historians, respectively, can learn to think in expert ways. to date, little research suggests how “experts” think civically, possibly because civics is a broad field as opposed to a discipline and civic expertise is difficult to assess. nevertheless, such mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 61 information about how civic leaders1 think would assist teachers in guiding their students in “doing civics.” both in-class pbl and action civics enable teachers to guide students through “ways of doing” civics, which benefits from an understanding of “ways of thinking civically”; thinking well helps people do well (moustakas, 1990). engaging in civic activities (e.g., deliberation) and action requires a specific type of problem solving “that focuses on gathering information from sources, a way of doing similar to [historical research] but performed in the context of solving practical problems in the field” (carter, 2007, p. 405). “doing civics” requires individuals to research issues while simultaneously engaging in cooperative thinking and action (saltmarsh, 2008). civic thinking, then, requires a different type of thinking than it might take to engage in historical thinking, where individuals engage information from across time and space (wineburg, 2001) but do not necessarily have to manage competing perspectives and agendas in real-time. this distinction between history and civics is important, especially if teachers are to teach content areas in constructivist, pbl ways, as some social studies teachers do. just as wineburg’s (1991) heuristics enabled teachers to apprentice students in historical thinking, so too could heuristics specific to civics education foster better apprenticeship of civic action. to be sure, since both civics and history rely heavily on gathering information from sources, there may be some overlap in the heuristics used in both academic spheres; given the differences between the two types of research, however, the same heuristics might not always be useful. while teachers work to develop students’ civic capacities through problem-based learning strategies, little is known about how civic leaders problem solve. in order to apprentice students in civic thinking, the expertise of civic leaders needs to be drawn out, illuminating strategies that they use when engaging civic issues. it is particularly important to understand how civic leaders initially approach novel civic issues because, as other work in problem solving has noted (i.e., schoenfeld, 2010), those initial approaches often guide an individual’s course of action. this study explored the problem solving strategies that civic leaders use when initially considering a civic issue, identifying key strategies that they use to frame future action. methods participants from an initial pool of twenty-five potential participants, four civic leaders (three men and one woman) from a new york city neighborhood agreed to participate in this study. local college administrators, faculty, and students who partner with the community on civic projects had initially recommended all twenty-five participants for their commitments to community unity and civic expertise. those recommended participants were each screened to determine the extent of both their 1 previous studies of experts’ thinking have been able to rely on graduate degree attainment to define “expert;” in these studies, terminal degrees denote expertise. in civics, however, no such credentialing exists. thus, i use the term “civic leaders” as a synonymous term to “expert.” the criteria used for defining “civic leader” is explained in the methods section. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 62 political and civic activism; engagement in both political and civic activities demonstrates an ability to approach civic issues with varied tactics and has been used by previous researchers to discriminate between types of activists (e.g., zukin et al., 2006). after screening, five participants were selected; four agreed to participate. see appendix a for participant details. in addition to their political and civic engagement, these individuals were selected from the larger pool because of (1) their longevity within the community and (2) the number of times they were recommended by members of the college-affiliated selection group. not only did each of these participants garner at least seventy-five percent of the selection committee members’ recommendations for this study but, together, they also represent nearly a century of commitment to the community. ranging from ten to thirty-two years of service, these individuals have strong connections and commitment to the community; they have honed their skills as civic leaders in a large, diverse metropolitan area. materials study materials included a semi-structured interview protocol that gathered background data on all participants (appendix b), as well as two civic issues scenarios that were not current issues within the participants’ local community (appendices c and d). these scenarios were intended to elicit the participants’ thinking as they engaged in pre-planning. each participant reviewed the same two hypothetical scenarios in addition to associated online newspaper articles meant to provide context for the participants regarding the civic issue discussed within each scenario. the first scenario (appendix c) asked participants to imagine that a hydraulic fracturing company was interested in creating jobs in town by extracting gas using the controversial fracturing technique. to help participants unfamiliar with the various arguments around this issue, three print copies of online articles were offered to the participants so that they could contextualize the debate. the first article provided a brief overview of the issue, the second was in favor of hydraulic fracturing, and the third presented arguments against the practice. the same procedure was used for the second scenario regarding a history curriculum revision (appendix d). again, printed copies of three online articles were given to participants. the first article outlined the debate, the second article supported the revisions, and the third article claimed that the revisions were not in keeping with current historical scholarship. these scenarios were selected for two reasons. first, both issues relate to recurring arguments in the united states. while hydraulic fracturing is a new process, arguments regarding industry’s ability to create jobs and the government’s role in protecting public health have a long history. similarly, questions about the role of patriotism in national historical narratives are ones that countries around the world grapple with, including the united states. these scenarios were also selected because they related to participants’ areas of expertise. since two of the participants were in the field of education and two were in the field of healthcare, the study design enabled an exploration of any differences between the ways in which participants would engage the scenario in their field and the one outside their field. in this way, the study was able to discriminate between subject-specific civic problem solving strategies (those strategies participants used only while pre-planning civic action within their field of expertise) and more generalized civic problem solving strategies (those that were common across all participants and scenarios), identifying mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 63 which heuristics might be common amongst all civic leaders, not just those with particular content expertise. procedure each participant individually engaged in two activities outlined below during privately audio-recorded meetings with the principal investigator. semi-structured interview. participants were asked to explain their work and the ways in which they were active in their community, providing background data on their professional and personal lives. these data were used to contextualize their responses to the think aloud exercises. it also had the added benefit of providing a space for participants to speak freely and comfortably before being asked to process the two scenarios. scenario think alouds. after the semi-structured interview, participants were told that they would think aloud about two scenarios related to civic issues. they then practiced thinking aloud by engaging in a three-digit multiplication exercise, per anders ericsson and herbert simon’s (1993) work. then, each participant was given the hydraulic fracturing scenario and associated articles. the interviewer read the scenario aloud and asked the participant if he/she had any questions. each participant was then asked what position he/she would take on this issue and to think aloud about how he/she would plan to take action on the issue. after thinking aloud about the hydraulic fracturing scenario, an identical think aloud protocol was used for the history curriculum revision scenario and associated readings. data analysis after each interview, audio-recordings were transcribed and texts were parsed by proposition (kintsch, 1998). protocol analysis then followed a strategy similar to that described by wineburg (1991), where macroscopic coding was conducted to identify heuristics that were promising for the purposes of problem-based civic learning instruction. prior to protocol analysis, two randomly selected think alouds were inductively analyzed, enabling the identification of possible categories of heuristics. then, these categories were then tested against the remaining un-coded protocols. these categories were then refined, added, and deleted; only those that were present in all eight protocols were kept. in this way, heuristics that were both (1) important to the civic leaders, per discussions of content and skills while thinking aloud and (2) learnable by students who could apply such strategies to their own civic problem solving (bereiter & bird, 1985) were identified. three heuristics were identified through this process: (1) frame alignment, (2) referencing, and (3) contextualization. findings three heuristics were identified from analysis of the eight think aloud protocols: (1) frame alignment, the process of harmonizing personal beliefs and interests with the particulars of a civic action issue, finding personal meaning in the work, (2) referencing, the process of using past personal and historical civic action experiences as case studies for planning, and (3) contextualization, the process of situating a civic issue within a community’s political and cultural climate. to be sure, these heuristics are sensemaking activities that civic leaders employ when planning civic action and could be taught to and used mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 64 by students to make sense of a civic issue and the landscape of actions available to them. they do not, by themselves, help to develop successful civic action plans. heuristic 1: frame alignment research suggests that civically inclined individuals align their personal beliefs, values, and orientations with those of any social movement organization they want to join. this process is called frame alignment (snow et al., 1986). although this term was not explored in the above literature review, it names a process that emerged organically from the data analysis. here, frame alignment describes a process by which participants harmonized their personal beliefs and interests with the particulars of a civic action issue, finding personal meaning in the work. while david snow and his colleagues (1986) use the process of frame alignment to explain the harmonization of individuals’ orientations to the orientations of organizations, this study’s findings extend that process, describing the ways in which civic leaders attempt to harmonize their own beliefs, values, and orientations to the topics/ideas represented in the hypothetical scenarios. to be sure, the civic leaders in this study did not necessarily find the study’s hypothetical examples relevant to their immediate work; this relevance (or lack there of) was by design, as explained above. however, regardless of whether or not the scenarios were of civic interest to the participants, each participant averaged 3.75 instances of frame alignment across both protocols. eight instances of frame alignment were used when considering the hydraulic fracturing scenario and seven instances were used when considering the history curriculum scenario. all four participants created framings of the issue during their history curriculum scenario planning; two participants also personally framed the hydraulic fracturing scenario issue. participants’ framings included references to their heritage (e.g., “i mean because i am of spanish heritage…” (p4, t2, line 8), their professional roles (e.g., i mean for as the principal of….” (p3, t2, line 23), their lived experiences (e.g., “we, [my wife and i], happen to live a couple of houses off the staten island expressway and to see all those trees torn down was terrible” (p2, t1, lines 34-35), and personal beliefs (e.g., “i mean, my own opinion is that history is what happened in the past” (p1, t2 line 12). these subcategories of frame alignment illustrate an array of ways that participants considered these scenario issues important in and connected to their own lives, framing their planning. personal beliefs. of the two scenarios, the history curriculum scenario elicited the most participant belief statements (3 of 4 instances). two of those three instances came from p1’s and p2’s think aloud protocols; p1 and p2 were both professionally focused on healthcare. these two participants’ protocols began by thinking aloud about the question, “what is history?” to this question, they both came to similar conclusions, that history was “the truth” and “what happened” (see appendix e, table 1 for protocol samples; bold text was added for emphasis). in these instances, both participants framed the scenario via their belief that history represents the truth. issues that involve others deviating from a truthful, objective, factual history, then, must be addressed in order to teach students “what happened.” similarly p4 provides a belief statement in relation to the hydraulic fracturing scenario. like p1 and p2 above, the hydraulic fracturing scenario was outside of p4’s professional expertise, education. to frame the issue, p4 situated hydraulic fracturing in relation to his personal beliefs about environmentalism, mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 65 i’m very, like personally, i’m very environmentally conscience person and i’m just in awe of all of the pollution we have around us and especially in poor communities. and we’re, for whatever reason, people don’t stand up and fight off whatever issues are happening in terms of our environment. (t1, lines 13-20) here, p4 explicitly demonstrated the link he intends to make between his personal belief that environmental issues are important, especially those focused on pollution, and his belief that people should take action to prevent pollution in their communities. thus, like p1 and p2 above, p4’s belief statement demonstrates a frame alignment that encourages his own action. in additional, p4’s comments suggest that such beliefs should spur others with similar beliefs to act as well. lived experiences. another way that participants framed these scenarios was through their own lived experiences. p2 engaged in lived experience framing while responding to the hydraulic fracturing scenario and p4 did the same while thinking aloud about the history curriculum scenario. in both cases, participants framed the issues by connecting the given issue to something in their lives that they do not want to happen again. for example, p2, when talking about why it would be important for him to publicly address hydraulic fracturing, referenced the civic inaction that led to the expansion of a local highway, “we happen to live a couple of houses off the [highway] and to see all those trees torn down was terrible. my wife aches with that” (p2, t1, lines 34-36). similarly, p4 referenced an experience that happened in his home country of chile, while talking about the potential impact of inaction on the history curriculum scenario: “i have my own experience against in chile and how the cia and the american government were helping the government then, helping to destabilize the country and you know…” (p4, t2, lines 45-48), suggesting that the ways we talk about (or do not talk) about various groups impacts our ability to have a stable democracy. in both cases, the lived experiences of the participants served as a frame for the topics represented in the hypothetical scenarios. while others also experienced the events they referenced, the importance the participants ascribed to civic inaction in both cases provided a personal call to action, framing the issues within their own perceptions of their personal experiences. professional role. for p3, his professional role as a public school principal shaped his framing of the history curriculum issue. p3 was able to draw upon his specific role in a given, contemporary context to focus on the impact that it would have on his students; “well, i mean for as the principal of [a school], i’ve gotta deal with [this]… because that’s going to impact the, my muslim kids here. that’s going to have a horrible impact on their self-esteem, their understanding of history” (p3, t2, lines 8286). here, p3 drew a causal connection between his role and the scenario’s impact; because he is a principal, he will address the situation to fulfill his professional duty. his framing of this issue, then, comes in part from p3’s perception of what his professional duties are. professional roles also played a part in the framings that the healthcare participants created when engaging the hydraulic fracturing scenario. both p1 and p2 framed the hydraulic fracturing issue in terms of the potential impact of “fracking” on the overall health of the community. p1 found this to be an important issue because of (1) the potential for hydraulic fracturing to cause earthquakes [“i heard… npr did a whole story about this talking about people in pennsylvania having earthquakes over this sh*t! haven’t they learned anything from this?”(t1, 109-113)] and (2) the government’s lack of response to cleaning up industrial disasters [“there was the whole paint factory here that leaked lead into the soil. we have kids playing in parks where there is lead” (t1, 125-129)]. through this mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 66 framing, p1 was able to frame the issue via hydraulic fracturing’s potentially harmful impact on the community, especially disadvantaged communities. although p2 stated that he might support hydraulic fracturing in the community, he found importance in this issue related to the drinking water, not potential environmental health disasters: “i know how dependent new york is on uh, on water supply coming from the catskills and the reservoirs up there and um how new york water is considered like great drinking water. and i’m happy with that and we’re water drinkers at home” (t1, lines 14-17). to p2, this issue is important to the community because new yorkers enjoy the quality of their water. any impact on the water, he later suggested, would harm the health of the community and would be something that the government should regulate against. the education participants also framed in a less direct way the hydraulic fracturing issue as related to their professional roles. while p3 and p4 also echoed the importance of environmental health, they focused much of their community framing on the fiscal impact of such a proposal on the community. for example, p3 talked about concerns that such industry and any potential environmental impact would “impact the house prices in the area” (t1, line 56). on a similar note, p4 talked about the importance of jobs in the community, balanced with the need to protect the environment: “unfortunately a lot of times we’re faced with this dilemma of supporting economic growth or jobs but at the expense of the other part, the pollution and all of that” (t1, lines 43-44). in both cases, these participants focused on financial concerns that environmental damage creates, impacting their own abilities to continue their education work. with regards to the importance of both environmental health and fiscal concerns, all four participants framed the issue in ways that directly relate to their own civic work. p1 and p2 both work in the healthcare sector; contaminated soil and poor drinking water would certainly hurt the health of the people they are trying to help. similarly, p3 and p4 both work in education; the income of a community impacts the amount of tax-supported revenue that they can use to support their programs. thus, although the participants certainly made meaning of these issues in relation to the health and welfare of the community, they also positioned their stances on these issues in terms of their professional role within the community. heritage. only one participant, p4, used heritage to frame a scenario. regarding the history curriculum scenario, p4 stated, i mean because i am of spanish heritage but i think that any type of ethnic studies and already american history is so has overlooked so much any type of a contribution made by any type of immigrants that have come… but you know, again in texas and other states, even here in staten island you know, we are sometimes… a lot of decisions are made by a certain group of people that will affect a large group of people and not everybody’s perspective are being taken into consideration. (t2, lines 3-11 & 93-96) here, heritage is used as a merging point between personal belief and lived experiences. it is because of his heritage that p4 believes that diverse ideas should be included in history curricula. however, it is also because of his observations of the privileged perspectives some history curricula promote that he has such beliefs. to be sure, this statement suggests that his heritage (“…because i am of spanish heritage”) provides a lens for both belief and for lived experience perceptions (johnson 2005), enabling him to make personal significance of this issue. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 67 summary. the above examples suggest that civic leaders use frame alignment to position themselves in relation to the issue. this is especially true for issues that are less easily addressed through political practices (e.g., petitioning, testifying, etc.). for example, p4 said of the history curriculum scenario: um, it’s a tough one, tougher than the other one [the hydraulic fracturing scenario] really, because i think it… there are so many you’re dealing with religion, you’re dealing with church and state, it’s not as cut and dry. you’re dealing with kids that are going to be influenced by this curriculum and the role of education to convey this (t2, lines 33-40). despite differences in the hypothetical scenarios, framings were found throughout the protocols. through this process of frame alignment, participants were able to use personal beliefs, experiences, professional roles, and heritage to connect with the hypothetical civic issues. heuristic 2: referencing in addition to frame alignment, participants also employed the strategy of referencing, the process of using past civic actions as case studies for planning. the past civic actions that they drew upon focused both on those actions that each participant had been involved in and civic actions that others had taken throughout the history of similar issues. there were almost no differences in the ways that participants engaged in the process of referencing in either scenario, either across different domains (i.e., healthcare or education) or in reference to who conducted the action being referenced (i.e., if the participant personally engaged in the civic action being referenced or someone else did). as table 1 illustrates, participants referenced past civic actions in almost equal amounts. table 1: instances of referencing within domains across scenarios participants in healthcare participants in education hydraulic fracturing scenario total = 3 total = 3 participant involved other(s) involved participant involved other(s) involved 2 1 1 2 history curriculum scenario total = 3 total = 4 participant involved other(s) involved participant involved other(s) involved 3 0 2 2 the number of instances of referencing between healthcare and education specialists appears to be similar; there is almost an equal number of participant references involving civic actions that they previously undertook as there are references to past civic actions that other undertook. of the thirteen instances, eleven (85%) were about local civic actions. for example, p1 referenced her public testimony about the (in)famous rainbow curriculum when thinking aloud about the history curriculum scenario, and p3 referenced the political pressure on new york city officials when violence mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 68 against minority groups exploded in their local neighborhoods. whether referencing their personal actions or the actions of others, participants often spoke of past local examples while thinking aloud about how they might plan action in response to these hypothetically local scenarios. p4 was the only participant to engage in non-local referencing, using one internationally focused reference and one u.s. national reference. for example, while speaking about the hydraulic fracturing scenario, he explained that chileans were engaged in debates about the role that thermal energy and dams might play in its infrastructure: there’s a huge controversy there right now about it. i mean, it’s a huge public opposition; over 70% of the country actually opposes the building of any other type of pollution, and more and more people are pushing not only the government but the politicians to be creative and to invest in an alternative ways [sic] of energy. (t1, lines 29-36) he goes on to suggest that chileans must continue to put political pressure on individual politicians and the government as a whole. this is a current reference that speaks to a broader issue of global environmental activism rather than local civic action. the most distinct differences in the ways that participants referenced were in their orientations towards action. while engaging the hydraulic fracturing scenario, all four participants oriented themselves toward political pressure examples. p1 called for contacting the environmental protection agency and p2 spoke of using the “city council day” model to apply political pressure for change. p3 argued that civic leaders must “fuel the fire” so that politicians feel like they are forced to respond to issues, as they did when violence erupted on a local city street. similarly, p4 argued that informed voting is a form of empowerment that enables citizens to shape political decisions. no matter their professional field, all of the participants engaged in referencing that oriented their actions towards political solutions when thinking aloud about the hydraulic fracturing scenario. on the other hand, participants’ referencing suggested more mixed orientations towards action while speaking about the history curriculum scenario. while p3 spoke about the power of voting to change educational policy, the other three participants took a more social-civic approach to the issue. these latter participants focused on initiating “diverse dialogue.” p1, p2, and p4 all referenced times when they (or in p3’s case, the dreamers) met with multiple, diverse groups of people to rally support for their position. these three participants referenced civic action that is not nearly as politically engaged as the action they referenced in the hydraulic fracturing scenario (appendix e, table 2). rather, all three discussed the need to meet with multiple groups of diverse people, even if the civic purpose of such action is slightly different. use of these specific examples is not to say that p3 did not recommend actions that involved diverse groups of people or to suggest that these civic leaders did not suggest coalition building and deliberation regarding the hydraulic fracturing scenario. instead, they serve to illustrate the ways in which the process of referencing frames the issues for civic leaders. to be sure, referencing accounted for nearly forty percent of the participants’ total think aloud propositions, suggesting that these references were an important part of their civic thinking and planning processes. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 69 heuristic 3: contextualization when civic leaders contextualize, they situate a civic issue within a community’s political and cultural climate. in other words, contextualization occurs when participants (1) explore the underlying arguments of an issue, (2) situate a civic issue within a given political climate (e.g., considering the influence of and reactions from party politics and/or specific elected officials), or (3) situate a civic issue within a given cultural climate (e.g., considering the influence of social characteristics like religion and race (johnson, 2005) on how to address a particular issue). to be sure, these three components overlap; race, for example, can be a very contentious political issue, influencing political platforms as well as an underlying argument for some other issues (e.g., the achievement gap in schools). thus, it is instructive to explore the ways that civic leaders contextualize civic issues, identifying the ways that they position their contextualization within the above components. across the four participants, contextualization occurred via analyses of the issues’ arguments and the political climate in which they are situated, related directly to their home community. as the total number of instances presented in table 2 illustrates, participants evenly used both components to contextualize the hydraulic fracturing and history curriculum scenarios, regardless of their professional field of focus. a deeper analysis of these findings, however, reveals important differences in the ways that the participants (a) identified arguments within the two civic issues and (b) spoke about civic action with regards to the their political climate analyses. table 2: instances of contextualization forms across scenarios arguments political climate analysis hydraulic fracturing scenario total = 4 total = 4 dyadic positions beliefs 4 0 history curriculum scenario total =4 total = 4 dyadic positions beliefs 0 4 concepts and beliefs. as table 2 illustrates, there is a clear division between the types of arguments that participants identified within the two civic issue scenarios. while thinking aloud about the hydraulic fracturing scenario, participants explored dyadic positions. for example, after reading the scenario prompt and exploring the provided newspaper articles, p1 said, “i mean, this is really about the tension between the immediate economy and long-term impact on, you know, the environment, the earth, our health” (t1, lines 103-106), explicitly defining the argumentative parameters of the scenario as between job creation and long-term impact on health. throughout the rest of her think mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 70 aloud, she would again reference the economy twice and the impact of industry on the environment and public health three times, even citing the continued impact of a now-closed lead paint factory on the community’s soil. p4 made an almost identical argument. while p1 and p4 were explicit about the dyadic positions they saw within the scenario, p2 only explicitly referenced one position, implying a second. for example, he said, on one hand, i’d like to be trusting that it’s as safe as described, so it provides a great alternative to being dependent on fossil fuel or that at least the type of fossil fuel that’s also polluting our environment and where we american’s are the primary contributor to that type of pollution effecting global warming. (t1, lines 44-48) here, p2 argues an opposite view from p1 and p4; rather than cite “environmental hazards” as one position, he argues that “good government regulation” is a position within this argument. however, he also sees another side to the issue, as indicated by the phrase “on the one hand.” while he never explicitly stated “the other hand” side of his argument, his think aloud suggests that he is also concerned about the potential of environmental destruction. p3 did not make any dyadic arguments in this scenario, instead contextualizing via a political climate analysis. despite the participants’ heavy use of dyadic positions in thinking aloud about the hydraulic fracturing scenario, none of the participants explored dyadic positions when considering the history curriculum scenario. the participants instead focused on the beliefs that people in the community might have about the role of history and on general questions about the role of history and education within the community. these belief statements were unlike those discussed in frame alignment, when participants attempted to find personal meaning in an issue. rather, these belief statements were focused on the ways that others’ beliefs might influence the possibility of action on this issue. for example, both p1 and p3 agreed that the history curriculum scenario was “tougher” to address than the hydraulic fracturing scenario. p1 succinctly argued, i mean the hydro-fracking [sic] is easier because it’s new… and people are still like don’t have all the information so they’re less likely to hold onto you know beliefs that they have. because if they have beliefs it’s…they’re fairly new and they’re not imbedded in their…. something like this is much harder because it is so embedded in people’s psyches… their beliefs are around this kind of stuff. (t2, lines 103-113) p3 concurred, adding that such a debate around history education is one that “you’ll be able to argue forever” (t2, line 69), whereas managing the hydraulic fracturing scenario is “a lot more clear cut” (t2, line 74) because the information is better defined. put another way, p3 suggested that “the fracking issue” is simply a matter of “they can either make the water safe or not” (t2, line 75), whereas the history curriculum scenario requires answers to questions like, “what’s the role of education really with kids? are we teaching them to think for themselves and develop their own critical thinking and opinions or are we trying to skew those opinions with less than objective information?” (t2, lines 7881). these are questions to which none of the participants could answer for the community, driving a need to meet with diverse groups of people to discuss the issue at length, as explained in their referencing above. political climate analysis. when participants contextualized by analyzing the political climate, there was not a clearly defined difference in their responses per the two scenarios. rather, participants’ mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 71 political climate analysis answered two questions, (1) “which political party is in power and where are they likely to stand on the issue?” and (2) “which stakeholders have power to sway the political process?” there was recognition between the participants that the local community is predominantly republican in its voting and beliefs; comparing the community to republican-leaning texas, where the history curriculum scenario played out in real life, p1 said, “thank god [that the new york city board of education would have to revise the curriculum] because [we] could definitively do something like this” (t2, lines 73-75). similarly, p2 thought that local politicians would be in favor of hydraulic fracturing, given the republican party position on such energy issues. more representative of participants’ statements, though, was the way that they critically evaluated the potential for people outside of the community to influence the debate. especially in reference to the hydraulic fracturing scenario, participants were concerned with the influence that exxon mobile might have on the types of information the community read about the topic and the way that politics “trumps the public” (p2, t1, line 106). while sourcing of the texts and a critical questioning of the validity of sources, participants were worried that the community and politicians would get misinformation about the issue. p3 went so far as to worry that big energy companies might create false advertizing fronts to assuage public fears about hydraulic fracturing: so you know this one, exxon’s, easy to realize but you know they could put something out on their you know joe bob’s environmental company and make it look like you know this is completely reliable so i really think part of it is getting a group of people who are really smart who will call a spade a spade. (t1, lines 124-128) thus, the political climate analysis that these participants undertook was not just about the role that politicians may or may not play within civic action but about the ways in which the issues stakeholders might use (and misuse) information to direct conversations within the community. discussion and implications as civics education instruction changes from the lecture-based traditional civics class to a more problem-based learning (pbl) model, it is important for teachers not only to know how to “do” civics but to do it in authentic ways. engaging in civic action, whether that be through dialogue with diverse groups of people, organizing local individuals for a community cause, or coordinating with multiple organizations to address systemic political and social issues, is a complex endeavor that requires skill and a way of thinking. if civic action were as easy as just following a procedure (e.g., identifying an issue, researching the problem, and creating a plan to address it), civic action might happen more frequently. in addition to the vast amount of work that civic action requires, it also requires a mode of thinking about issues in relation to the self and to the community. civic action does not happen in a vacuum. in order for teachers to apprentice students in this process, they need both to understand and to be able to teach the problem solving strategies that civic leaders use when engaging a problem, just like teachers do when apprenticing students in historical inquiry (e.g., wineburg, 2001; seixas, 1996; levesque, 2008). thus, this study explored the problem solving strategies four civic leaders used while engaging two hypothetical scenarios, identifying the heuristics they used when pre-planning civic action. findings drawn from the data suggest that civic leaders engage three heuristics during this preplanning phase: (1) frame alignment, (2) referencing, and (3) contextualization. while these findings mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 72 are not necessarily novel, they are not unimportant to the process of thinking civically. for example, historians engage in the process of contextualization like these participants did (wineburg, 1991) but the specifics of the process are different. whereas historians contextualize by “situating a [historical] document in a concrete temporal and spatial context” (p. 77), the participants in this study situated civic issues with the cultural and economic contexts of their community, engaging in a broader process as a whole. thus, while some of the terms used to describe these civic thinking heuristics may be similar to other disciplinary thinking processes, the enactment of the heuristic processes are specific to civic thinking. from these data, three important questions arise. first, why was there a difference between the types of frame alignment participants engaged in per their areas of specialty (e.g., education or healthcare)? in some ways, the data suggest that participants engaged in alignment based on their personal beliefs when they were considering the scenario that was outside of their field and they engaged in professional role alignment when they were considering scenarios inside their field. however, p2 and p4 used alternate frames as well, countering this trend. it is possible that distinctions between the participants’ framings were not driven by the participants’ specialty area but rather by the type of scenario. as p1 explained above, the hydraulic fracturing scenario was easier to manage than the history curriculum, partly because the history curriculum scenario had to do with people’s beliefs about the nature of history. this explanation, though, does not account for p3 and p4 not using personal beliefs to frame their thinking; if this finding was driven by the scenario, all the participants would be expected to use the same type of framing. however, if the participants’ area of specialty was the driving factor in the type of framing used, p3 and p4 would be expected to use the personal belief framing to engage the hydraulic fracturing scenario, since they were both in the field of education. instead, p3 used the professional role framing when considering both scenarios, and p4 used heritage framing when considering the hydraulic fracturing scenario. thus, neither the participants’ areas of specialty nor the scenario wholly account for the distinctions. instead, it seems that a confluence of specialty knowledge/interest, the specifics of the issue, and the background of the participant all play a role in the type of frame alignment a civic leader uses. the ways that civic leaders frame issues are an amalgam of what they know, the arguments within the issue, and their own orientation towards the world, highlighting the roles and values most important to each individual. for example, p3 is a liberal educator. while he had strong beliefs about the hydraulic fracturing scenario, he framed his response by his professional role, since that role outweighed other considerations regarding that particular issue. similar individual responses can be seen in other participants’ framings. when teachers have students consider specific civic issues, it is important for them to guide students through the frames by which they might individually align with different types of issues. differences in framing can be used as a benefit for the whole class because they expose the multi-faceted nature of civic issues; civic issues do not impact only one group or any one group in any one way. such diversity enables teachers to apprentice students in developing nuanced arguments for engaging civic issues, and broadening the possible ways that students can engage in civic action, including who to build coalitions with, which frame to use with which political leader, and how to attract wide-ranging media attention to an issue. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 73 a second question these data raise is “why did the participants mostly reference local actions?” eighty-five percent of participants’ references were to local civic actions. to be sure, these participants have a wide range of experiences nationally and internationally, as illustrated in the other fifteen percent of their references. yet, the vast majority of their references were to historic and current local actions. one might argue that this tendency towards referencing local civic actions is driven by tip o’neill’s quip, “all politics in local.” however, the large proportion of local references may also be related to the other heuristics. the heavy use of professional role framing as well as of political climate analysis indicate that their civic thinking was situated firmly at the intersection of their work and the lives of the individuals they served. local referencing enabled the participants to select past and current civic actions that (1) had bearing on the hypothetical scenarios and (2) predicted the possible strategies that could be used with the realities of the community and its political structure. while national historical examples may provide some reference for students to situate local civic issues, these findings suggest that students need to know about past and present civic actions within their communities as well. indeed, it is these local examples that situate civic leaders’ thinking more than national and international examples. such work requires teachers to understand a community’s history as well as the work that is already being done, guiding students to think about the relationship between those civic issues and the ones they would like to engage. yet a third question might be why participants contextualized the hydraulic fracturing scenario in terms of a dyadic cost/benefit argument and the history curriculum scenario in terms of beliefs. here, the distinction seems to lie within the nature of the scenario. while participants could have contextualized the hydraulic fracturing scenario in terms of what it means to take care of the environment (much like they framed the history curriculum scenario in terms of what is history), they instead focused on the economics of the issue. the hydraulic fracturing scenario presented an issue that clearly carried physical risks and rewards for the community; hydraulic fracturing could create jobs, boosting the community’s economy, but it could also endanger the environment, polluting the community’s drinking water. such scenarios elicit discussions of cost/benefit analysis, which, as these data suggest, alters the context of civic action. issues such as the one that the history curriculum scenario presented do not have physical risks and rewards. instead, such issues touch upon people’s cultural beliefs and are contextualized in ways that are similar to the personal belief framing. for teachers, this finding suggests that different types of civic issues may be more appropriate for use in some content areas over others. for example, issues like the one found in the history curriculum scenario may be useful for students in a humanities class to consider, fostering text-based and socratic seminar discussions as well as student campaigns to persuade others using disciplinary communication skills. on the other hand, issues that involve physical risks and rewards might be best used in social science and physical science classes, where students can investigate such issues, bringing hard evidence to bear on possible solutions/decisions and future civic action. while these findings provide a base from which teachers can begin engaging students in civic thinking practices, the scale and scope of this work is just a beginning. further research is needed to verify and clarify these findings. using these findings as a priori codes, further research might include a larger sample size across varying geographic, political, and cultural contexts. additional studies might also consider engaging civic leaders in thinking aloud while consuming news in real time, exploring the ways in which civic leaders think in context to their work and real events. in addition to exploring the mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 74 ways that civic leaders problem solve at other stages of the civic action process, such data would support a more nuanced understanding of how civic leaders think. conclusion as in-class problem-based learning and action civics are increasingly used to develop students’ citizenship capacities, teachers are taking on the role of cognitive apprentice to their students’ civic thinking. in order to apprentice students in ways to think civically, teachers need to know the ways in which civic leaders think. the pre-planning heuristics of (1) frame alignment, (2) referencing, and (3) contextualization provide problem solving strategies for teachers to employ as they apprentice their students in the ways that civic leaders think, guiding both the issues that they might select with their students and the knowledge that they might need to think civically. these findings suggest a need to explore further civic leaders’ pre-planning thinking across larger sample sizes, and a need to explore civic leaders’ thinking as they actively plan, engage in, and reflect upon civic action. with such findings, research can better support teachers’ efforts to engage their students in problem-based civic learning. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 75 works cited apple, michael. (forth-coming). global crises, social justice, and teacher education. in n. aloni & l. weintrob (eds.), beyond bystanders: educational leadership for a humane culture in a globalizing reality. new york, ny: sense publishers. avery, p., levy s. a., & simmons, a. s. (2013). deliberating controversial public issues as part of civic education. social studies 104(3),105–140. barrows, h. s., & tamblyn r. (1980). problem-based learning: an approach to medical education. new york, ny: springer publishing company. bass, j. (2012). engaging students in politics. ascd express. http://www.ascd.org/ascdexpress/vol7/723-bass.aspx. beaumont, e. (2011). promoting political agency, addressing political inequality: a multilevel model of internal political efficacy. the journal of politics 73(1), 216–231. benson, l., harkavy, i. & puckett, j. 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(2008). thinking historically: educating students for the twenty-first century. toronto, canada: university of toronto press. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 76 levine, p. (2007). the future of democracy: developing the next generation of american citizens. medford, ma: tufts university press. levinson, m. (2012a). diversity and civic education. in d. e. campbell, m. levinson, & f. m. hess (eds.) making civics count: citizenship education for a new generation (pp.89-114). cambridge, ma: harvard education press. levinson, m. (2012b). no citizen left behind. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. maker, e., cohen, a. k., fitzgerald, j. c., & pope, a. (2015). effective civics education pedagogy and programs: a systemic review. 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(1986). frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. american sociological review 51(4), 464– 481. the campaign for the civic mission of schools. (2011). guardian of democracy: the civic mission of schools.” philadelphia, pa. tocqueville, a. (1835). democracy in america. j. p. mayer (ed.).. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. vansledright, b. (2002). in search of america’s past. new york, ny: teachers college press. voss, j. f., & post, t. a. (1988). on the solving of ill-structured problems. in m. t. h. chi, r. glaser, & m. j. farr (eds)., the nature of expertise (pp. 261-286). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 77 westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of education for democracy. american educational research journal 41(2), 237–269. wineburg, s. (1991). historical problem solving: a study of the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. journal of educational psychology 83(1), 73–87. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. zukin, c., keeter, s., andolina, m., jenkins, k., & dellicarpini, m. x. (2006). a new engagement?: political participation, civic life, and the changing american citizen. new york, ny: oxford university press. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 78 appendix a participant details participant gender race/ethnicity field of work # of years in service to community political engagement criteria2 civic engagement criteria3 1 female white healthcare 32 1, 4 b, d 2 male white healthcare 28 1, 3 b, d 3 male white education 16 1, 3 b, d 4 male hispanic education 11 1, 2 b, d 2 the following codes represent the types of political activities each participant indicated he/she engaged in at the time of the study. each was only asked to select two of the items from the list: (1) “always” voting, (2) volunteering for a political organization or a candidate, (3) trying to persuade someone how to vote, (4) displaying a button, bumper sticker, or sign on behalf of a candidate, (5) contributing money to a party or candidate in the past 12 month (zukin et al. 2006, 64). 3 the following codes represent the types of civic activities each participant indicated he/she engaged in at the time of the study. each was only asked to select two of the items from the list: (a) regularly volunteering for an organization other than a candidate or political party, (b) working with others to solve a community problem in the past year, (c) raising money for charity, through a run/walk or any other means in the past year, (d) actively participating in a group or association (zukin et al. 2006, 63). mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 79 appendix b semi-structured interview questions 1. please tell me about your interests. 2. in what ways, if any, are you involved in your community? 3. tell me about a time when you got involved/interested in a community issue. what made you interested? what did you do? what was the result? 4. how do you define community? is it a place or a set of interests? 5. where do you get your information about community issues? 6. who is most active in this community? why did you select him/her? 7. what issues are most important to this community right now? 8. what assets are present in this community right now? mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 80 appendix c hydraulic fracturing scenario as the early morning sun rises, you look out your kitchen window at the wildlife preserve and see the color of the leaves changing. you’ve lived in dimock all your life and have grown to love the place. your neighbors are pleasant and you had a great childhood. unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of job opportunities here. about 13% of the community lives in poverty and the median income is only $35,000. most people can’t afford to leave the community, even if they wanted to. as you sit, thinking about your town and watching the ducks on the pond, you hear the woman on the news talking about “fracking.” she explains that fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing.” that is when energy companies drill down into the ground and force water and other chemicals into the shale below to release natural gas. these companies can then sell this gas to customers for energy. energy companies say that this type of energy extraction will help our country to reduce its dependence on foreign oil because we can get it right from our own ground. they also say that it will help local economies because they will pay landowners for the rights to drill on their land. if they find that they can get gas out of the ground on that land, the companies will pay the landowners even more money. some people say that this is a dangerous way to get energy, though. some have reported that the chemicals used during fracking have contaminated their water, making it dangerous to drink. there are even youtube videos of people being able to light their drinking water on fire because of the gas that has leaked into it when the fracking occurred. in addition, some worry about the by-products of fracking; something has to be done with all of the chemical water used during the process. as the news report finishes, the woman on the television says that a major energy company would like to begin fracking in dimock. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 81 appendix d history curriculum scenario it seems like the state board of education is always looking at ways to revise the curriculum. as you open the morning paper, this year doesn’t seem to be any different. the school board just announced that they will be revising the history curriculum this time, looking specifically at what is being taught in united states and world history. you’ve always liked history so you are interested to see what they want to revise. isn’t history what happened in the past? what is there to revise? as you look more closely at the newspaper article, you read that the former head of the school board and one of the proponents of the review has said, “history has already been skewed. academia is skewed too far to the left.” he proposes changes that include, but are not limited to, removing a discussion about thomas jefferson being interested in the enlightenment because it did not show that the founding fathers were true christians, and deleting a discussion about the famous hispanic archbishop romero’s fight for equal rights related to the united states’ intervention in el salvador. a lot of your neighbors agree that united states history should teach students about how great america is and how it was founded on christian beliefs. others, specifically college and university historians, are arguing against these changes. they say that the changes skew history and hide the problems and issues that our country has had in the past. they say that the changes will teach students a false history. a school board meeting has been scheduled so that community members might respond to the proposed changes. mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 82 appendix e excerpts from the original data set table 1: personal beliefs about history from p1 and p2 what is history? p1 “ok, so, i mean, my own opinion is that history is what happened in the past and it, it doesn’t have a purpose other than to be instructive in terms of the actual events that transpired, including the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that the most, the best perspective on history and the best learning experience we can get from history is to actually hear about everything…. but, the fact is, if you don’t teach the truth, and the truth is what transpired, and it’s not left or right or center, it’s…. it’s what happened and you shouldn’t be selectively choosing what goes into a history curriculum based on your political beliefs” (t2, lines 11-15 & 24-28). p2 “well, i happen to believe that the truth… we should always try to teach the true or to feel comfortable to speak the truth and truth is very subjective, of course. we all have our own version of what the truth is. but i don’t think we should be afraid to look as objectively as possible at history. so, again, history was written by the victors, by the people who had control over what would be written. and acknowledging or viewing what would be more accurate history shouldn’t diminish how we feel about ourselves but make us more aware and less likely to repeat, to simply discriminate or be harmful to other groups. we need to be… to find truth so i would be at that meeting saying, “you know, we shouldn’t be afraid of discussing those other perspectives and looking at history in different ways and be ready to discuss it not or not to necessarily totally discount the founding fathers and where… the fact that the country was founded on christian beliefs as these make reference to that but some of those christian beliefs came from people who were not necessarily of faith; they had a general christian-centered type of faith” (t2, lines 11-34). mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, 58-83. corresponding author email: jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu ©2012/2018 international assembly journal of international social studies website: http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 p a g e | 83 table 2: referencing dialogue with diverse groups participant text p1 “i tried my best to do everything i could do… i met with the community… i met with community groups, i tried to explain that it’s a public health issue, you know, it’s not promoting drug use…. i just hung in there and i persevered and we kept trying to go around them this way and go around them that way” (t2, lines 270-275 & 300-303). p2 “anyway, so interfaith groups should also discuss this, i think like interfaith councils, council churches, and communities, i think because they have people of different faiths and are more likely to be more open minded on this issue. and that becomes a good venue because if you’re a priest who has regular interactions with a minister and with a rabbi and an imam, then you’re more likely to have a different reaction to this” (t2, lines 116-123). p4 “i mean, we’re very engaged in… we’re part of the education collaborative of the new york immigration coalition, so we work on many issues from getting information to parents in their language, not only spanish but the top languages accepted by the department of education, but also talking to parents, talking to students look’n at basically what is proposed and that’s when you start getting people’s reaction and that’s when you decide [what to do].” (t2, lines 100-109). mailto:jason.fitzgerald@wagner.edu journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 121 the third world perspective on the cold war: making curriculum and pedagogy relevant in history classrooms iftikhar ahmad long island university abstract: american and global history curriculum frameworks for high schools across the 50 states generally present the topic of the cold war from the western political perspective and contain material about the impact of the us-soviet ideological rivalry on american society. this article argues that since the cold war impacted the lives of people in the third world as well, their stories deserve a place in the history curriculum. this article also suggests that since american society is culturally diverse, it is imperative for history educators to teach history in the learners' social and cultural contexts. therefore, both the cold war history content and pedagogy should include perspectives from the third world so that the past is relevant and meaningful for all students learning about the global cold war. key words: cold war, third world, social history, pedagogy, curriculum introduction an examination of the state curriculum frameworks for secondary american and global history suggests that the cold war is recognized as an important topic for teaching and learning. with different emphases, content knowledge about the cold war is included in both american history and global history standards. whereas the american history curriculum presents an interpretation of the cold war from the american domestic perspective, the global history curriculum includes some additional topics such as colonization, decolonization, revolutions, and nationalism in the third world. however, both american history and global history curricula present interpretations that are top-down, and cold war history is presented solely as a history of political conflicts. more importantly, while the global history curriculum frameworks include additional material on the cold war, an adequate discussion on its societal impact on the people of the third world is absent from the narrative. as a result, an important global story that deserves a respectable place in the curriculum is mostly narrowed to political events and mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 122 decision-making in high places like washington, moscow, and european capitals. such a topdown approach to cold war history, whether traditionalist or revisionist, excludes what historian howard zinn (2015) calls the “peoples' history.” more than half of the world population in the third world was, in some fashion, affected by the decisions of the competing world powers during the cold war period, but their experiences are excluded from the narrative and are, therefore, hidden from history. hence, what the curriculum presents is a manichaean perspective that is narrow and parochial. unless that vital story is included in the history curriculum, learners will continue to receive a truncated and jaundiced narrative about the cold war period. to address this lacuna, this article makes two interrelated arguments about teaching and learning cold war history in secondary schools, the first about content knowledge and the second about pedagogical knowledge. first, i argue that since cold war history is unique in that it straddles both american history and global history courses, it offers multiple opportunities for students to learn about change and continuity in the 20th century, both in the united states and in the world beyond its borders. second, i argue that in the globalized and pluralist world of the 21st century, the methods of teaching and learning cold war history in the american classroom should reflect a change from how cold war history was taught in the 20th century. whereas cold war history during the period of the latter half of the 20th century, 1946-1991, was taught as current history or as a history of current events, in the current american curriculum, the cold war belongs to the past and is taught as past history. moreover, american society in the 21st century is demographically different from that in the second half of the 20th century. present-day communities and schools are far more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, faith, culture, and technological skills, which suggests that the educational needs of current students are, indeed, different from the educational needs of students growing up during the cold war period. for students growing up in the post-cold war world—a world that is more culturally diverse, globally interdependent, and technologically advanced—it is imperative that they learn history lessons that are germane, objective, meaningful, engaging, evidence-based, and taught as a systematic inquiry of the past. considering the educational needs of students in the post-cold war pluralist society, i propose that it would be culturally relevant, intellectually beneficial, and pedagogically effective for cold war history to be taught as social history instead of simply presented as the history of the ideological conflict between socialism and capitalism. there is no doubt that the global ideological conflict between the two power blocs remains the overarching context of the cold mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 123 war, but how, when, why, and where that global ideological conflict affected the everyday lives of more than half of the world’s population are questions which warrant consideration in history curriculum and pedagogy. investigating these and other similar questions in the classroom would help students understand how the events of the cold war shaped their present world. also, a case can be made that since american students learning world history lessons in 21st century classrooms belong to culturally diverse communities, they would benefit more by relating the story of the global cold war to their family roots, cultural context, and heritage. linda s. levstik and keith c. barton (2001) suggest that through history projects, students may be able to establish linkages between their own families and national and world events. thus, the history of the cold war in the third world may be assigned to students as a research project in which they have conversations with older members of their families to establish linkages between their own family heritage and the events of the cold war. teaching and learning about the effects of the cold war on third world nations requires an interdisciplinary approach and an understanding of the basic concepts of geography, economics, sociology, and anthropology. in other words, the history of the third world during the cold war period is much more than political or diplomatic history—students should be taught to integrate history with other social sciences to investigate cultures, religions, economies, and political institutions of specific countries in the third world. also, learning the social history of third world countries during the cold war is tantamount to doing history from below, which means that students will focus on the study of the dependent variable, and they will learn about those societies and populations that were affected, positively or negatively, by policy decisions made by the united states and the soviet union. moreover, the history of the cold war is the history of an event with global dimensions encompassing all facets of human experience, which means that through inquiry, students will learn to think globally, develop empathy for the people of the third world, understand their challenges and struggles, and perhaps reflect on the enduring consequences of the cold war. the cold war and the third world as a constructivist teacher, my aim in introducing a new topic is to simplify the material, ignite my students' curiosity, engage them in conversation about their prior knowledge, and learn about their perspectives. to accomplish this, at the outset i define the new concepts or terms and trace their origins. this practice has helped my students and i experience history together. so, what do the terms “cold war” and “third world” mean, and how are they related? mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 124 “cold war” and “third world” are two 20th-century terms that are conceptually interconnected. we can trace the historical origins of both of these terms to the first decade after the end of the second world war. two distinguished cold war historians, john lewis gaddis (2005) and odd arne westad (2012), agree that british novelist george orwell first coined the term “cold war” to describe his vision of the post-war world under an undeclared state of war between the united states and the soviet union. two prominent americans of the mid-1940s, presidential advisor and financier bernard baruch (1960) and columnist walter lippmann (1947), also used “cold war” to refer to the emerging conflict between the united states and the soviet union and the condition of neither war nor peace. since then, western historians have used “cold war” to refer to the period of ideological rivalry and absence of a “hot” war between the united states and the soviet union between 1945 and 1989. the cold war was a period of social, political, and economic change not just in europe where it originated, but all over the world. the cold war ended with the fall of the berlin wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the soviet union into 15 independent nation-states in 1991. while there was a prolonged fear of potential nuclear attacks between the two competing superpowers, the cold war era was paradoxically a period of a “long peace” in that, in spite of the intense hostility between the two rivals, there was peace, and no bullets were exchanged between them (gaddis, 1989). however, the same cannot be said for most of the third world nations, which underwent entirely different experiences during the cold war, including modernization, violence, revolutions, prolonged internecine conflicts, inter-state wars, the rise of nationalism, decolonization, and many coups d'état. what is the “third world?” the term is a cold war construction referring to those regions of the world such as africa, asia, the middle east, and latin america, where the people were non-white, poor, colonized, or in the early stages of their political and economic development. scholar arif dirlik (2007) suggests that in 1952, french scholar alfred suavy first coined the term “third world” to differentiate the newly independent nations from the advanced capitalist nations of the west and the socialist nations of eastern europe. hence, the third world became a new and distinct third category of nations. westad (2013, p. 208) notes that different perspectives existed on the idea of the third world. to anti-colonial radicals of the 1960s and 1970s, the term “third world” was a point of satisfaction: it represented the future of the world because it opposed both the “first world” and the “second world.” however, to right-wing politicians and commentators in the united states and western europe, the third world represented radical, socialist, and anti-capitalist ideologies. in any case, the third world represented a movement seeking equality and social, political, and economic justice for the newly-independent nations. mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 125 nonetheless, at the onset of the cold war era in 1946, most third world nations were either colonized by western imperial powers or, in the case of latin american countries, ruled by military dictators, and were economically dependent on the affluent west. historians and social scientists have categorized the nations of the third world as underdeveloped nations, developing nations, poor nations, the periphery, and, recently, the global south. in any case, the nations of the third world were in many respects different from other nations and faced numerous social, political, and economic challenges. it would be fair to say that during the cold war period, the third world was an ideological battlefield between global capitalism, led by the united states, and international socialism, led by the soviet union and china (rotter, 2013). the cold war rivalry between the united states and the soviet union profoundly affected the social, political, and economic order in societies beyond american and european national borders, especially the colonized, post-colonized, and economically weak and dependent societies of africa, asia, latin america, and the west indies. how did the people in the third world react to the global cold war? how did global competition between the ideologies of capitalism and socialism affect the daily lives of the people? these are questions that deserve analysis in the cold war narrative. asking these questions is important for three reasons. first, contextualizing teaching about the cold war from the perspectives of the united states and the soviet union presents a parochial view of a global conflict that had social, political, cultural, and economic implications for billions of people who were culturally, socially, politically, and economically different from the two competing global power blocs. since the cold war was a global conflict, it is necessary to learn about its impact on all societies, advanced industrialized societies as well as underdeveloped or developing societies, both in the global north and in the third world. second, the post-cold war world is a globalized world: people, ideas, and products cross international borders with relative ease, which was problematic during the cold war period because national borders were strictly controlled due to security and ideological tensions. indeed, current trends in globalization and the increasing role of multinational corporations in international affairs have raised questions about the rationale of the idea of the nation-state itself. also, during the cold war, nationalist and anti-colonial movements led to the birth of many new sovereign nation-states in africa, asia, the middle east, and the west indies. through a variety of international treaties, some new sovereign nation-states joined either the communist bloc or the western bloc. in 1955, however, 29 new nation-states in africa, asia, and the middle east, held a conference at bandung, indonesia, known as the bandung conference, and launched mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 126 the non-aligned movement (nam) that promoted independent foreign policy and resisted the political influence of the two ideological global blocs led by the united states and the soviet union. therefore, to present a comprehensive picture of the cold war in the global context, it is vital to empathize with the people of the third world who, as a consequence of the cold war, went through a variety of experiences, including violence, the rise of nationalism, decolonization, revolutions, ethnic and religious persecution, dislocation of populations, repression, and coups d'état. third, history is personal. when we teach about the cold war in a culturally and ethnically diverse high school classroom, our students learn about themselves and the lives of their parents and grandparents. some students' parents and grandparents may have, at some point, migrated from one of the nations of africa, asia, latin america, the caribbean, or one of the former communist bloc countries. for example, some of our students may belong to immigrant communities such as vietnamese-americans, cuban-americans, arab-americans, russian-americans, iranianamericans, latino-americans, polish-americans, and so forth. some of our students' grandparents may have served with the u.s. troops deployed overseas during the korean war, the vietnam war, and numerous conflicts in the middle east, or may have served as peace corps volunteers in one of the countries in the third world. perhaps some of our students were born into families that became political refugees during the cold war or were persecuted by dictators for their political ideas or religious beliefs. all students can learn about the cold war from a variety of perspectives. therefore, the topic of the cold war could be assigned as a research project in which the students act as historians using the historical method, examining primary and secondary sources to construct narratives about the cold war through their own family heritage. historical inquiry on the third world although history educators levstik and barton (2015) find the inquiry method an effective strategy for learning about the past in elementary and middle schools, one could argue that it is also appropriate for students in secondary schools to do historical inquiry and write reports on the social history of the people of the third world during the cold war period. social history is an eclectic approach that focuses on the struggles of ordinary people and communities rather than on the privileged few. famous historians including eric hobsbawm (2012), edward thompson (1966), and harold perkin (2002) used social history as a tool to document, analyze, mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 127 describe, and explain the social dimensions of different communities and social groups. their purpose was to identify the basic socioeconomic factors that contributed to the historical change. by following the social historians' tradition, the students will be able to make meaning and develop a better understanding of the struggles of the people of the third world during the cold war period. since the students' social history project will focus on chronicling the people's narratives, it is vital to collect authentic evidence—to engage in conversation with those individuals who witnessed the cold war events in the third world, and who may be able to share their experiences of everyday life in one of the third world countries. to accomplish this task, the students will follow the rich tradition of oral history, which has been used effectively by ancient as well as modern historians, including herodotus, thucydides, hubert howe bancroft, leopold von ranke, marc bloch, and studs terkel. renowned oral historian donald a. ritchie (1995) suggests that as a research methodology, oral history has several advantages. first, it brings history home: the students will interview people in their own families and local communities who share their generational memories. second, oral history requires students to have an active rather than passive involvement in learning history. third, using oral history as a method helps students learn important research skills. the students' research project will have two main goals: a) to investigate the impact of the global cold war on the everyday life of the indigenous people in any one of the countries in the third world, and b) to compare and contrast the perspectives of the people of the third world with the perspectives presented in the curriculum and textbooks. the students will begin the project by first learning about the causation and chronology of the cold war from the material in textbooks, class lectures, and encyclopedias. a vast amount of raw material, primary and secondary sources, related to the causation and chronology of the cold war are available at libraries and museums. while using chronology and causation are the essential components of doing history, students also need to learn to use evidence, interpretation, and implications of historical events. for example, people in different parts of the world had diverse experiences during the cold war period and, therefore, hold diverse opinions about it. essentially, there are three main narratives: the american narrative, the communist narrative, and the third world narrative. in other words, the cold war affected different societies differently, so it has a different meaning for different people in different parts of the world. recognizing those diverse perspectives is vital for developing an objective understanding of the history of the cold war. moreover, since the history standards and mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 128 textbooks present the cold war from the american perspective, very little is mentioned about the fear and aspirations of the people in the third world who also were part of the story for almost half a century and, in some cases, even beyond the official end of the cold war. one way to guide the students in their history project on the cold war in the third world is to teach them the process of historical inquiry, which involves studying the “what, who, when, how, and why” of past events, gathering evidence from multiple primary and secondary sources, verifying the chronology of past events, formulating historical questions, understanding the historical significance of the story, identifying causes and consequences, developing historical empathy, and constructing a narrative. while the students' goal is to learn about the cold war and its worldwide social, political, and economic implications, they will also learn about themselves and their heritage. after learning about the causation and chronology of the cold war, students will interview at least two older individuals who witnessed the consequences of the cold war in one of the countries in the third world. the older individuals may include the members of the students' own families, retired military personnel in the community, retired u.s. aid workers, peace corps volunteers, and/or those who, in some capacity, have direct experience with third world countries. the students will use the questionnaire below as a guide to conduct these interviews. the rationale for the interviews is that the students will be able to do history like a historian and will appreciate the zeitgeist of the cold war period. in other words, the students will be able to look at the cold war from non-western perspectives and, by collecting sufficient evidence, draw their own conclusions about the cold war. indeed, as historian robert j. mcmahon (2013) posits, the people of some third world nations such as the congo, korea, vietnam, cambodia, cuba, angola, guatemala, granada, bangladesh, iran, palestine, and afghanistan either experienced or witnessed extreme violence and disruption to the extent that the cold war was for them a “hot” war; millions of people lost their homes, land, family members, businesses, and lives. it is not to suggest, however, that the citizens of the united states and the soviet union, which competed against each other for world domination for 45 years, remained unscathed. needless to say, thousands of american soldiers lost their lives in vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. similarly, in the 1980s, the red army of the soviet union lost thousands of its soldiers in afghanistan while fighting the us-backed mujahideen. since both ideological as well as physical wars were fought in the third world countries, it is imperative to investigate the implications of the global superpower struggle for the populations of those countries. mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 129 asking the following questions should help the students construct narratives as well as learn historical thinking skills such as historical comprehension, chronological thinking, historical analysis, and historical inquiry skills: suggested questions for the interview: 1. did you grow up in a democratic society or under a military dictatorship? 2. was your country ever colonized by one of the western nations? 3. how many political parties were there in your old country? 4. did you enjoy religious and political freedom? 5. were elections held regularly, and were all adults allowed to vote freely in elections? 6. what movies did you watch as a young man? did you watch hollywood movies or russian movies? 7. was mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio, and television) free or controlled by the government? 8. what books, newspapers, and magazines did you read, and in what language? 9. what were the national and international issues that the mass media covered? 10. could you publish an article or a book without being censored by the authorities? 11. did you work for the government or a private corporation? 12. were you a member of a labor union in your country? 13. was your native language the official language of the country or was the dominant language one of the european languages? 14. were you allowed to travel overseas? 15. during the cold war, was the culture of your country predominantly traditional, modern, or transitional? 16. what foreign countries were considered to be friendly to your country and why? 17. what made you decide to migrate to the united states? mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 130 18. was your family ever affected by a revolution, liberation movement, civil war, coup d'état, colonization, or political repression? if yes, please explain. 19. did you write or receive any letters, diaries, and articles during the cold war? 20. what were your fears, hopes, and options during the cold war? after collecting information, the students will write narratives in the past tense that will present a clear perspective of the people of the third world. the students should be sensitive to the biases of the interviewees. as the students construct their narratives, they will also be building tenable arguments. in other words, the students should include multiple perspectives on the topic. the students' projects should describe the social and cultural life of the people explaining change and continuity. that is to say, the students should focus on everyday human experiences such as art and literature, popular culture, customs and traditions, citizens' civic participation, economy, political ideologies, social and political movements, individual freedom or the lack thereof, the role of the media, government policies on censorship, educational opportunities, and change and continuity, but in the end, they should present their own positions that they could defend in a debate. all students will share their projects with the class and hold a discussion. conclusion this article discusses two interrelated issues about the history of the cold war: content knowledge and teaching methods. first, it argues that although current state history curriculum frameworks present the cold war history as a history of the ideological rivalry between the united states and the soviet union, they overlook the impact of the cold war on the nations of the third world. such an approach is manichaean and truncated because it presents the cold war history from the dominant perspectives of the capitalist west and the socialist east. the third, overlooked perspective on cold war history is that of the third world, which also deserves a respectable place in the history curriculum. the rationale for paying attention to the third world perspective is that the cold war was a global event and, therefore, we should present an unabridged narrative. therefore, students should learn about the wider implications of the cold war on the social, political, cultural, and economic life of all people, including the people of third world nations. mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 131 second, the article suggests that since schools and communities in the united states are becoming culturally diverse, we should teach cold war history in the learners’ social and cultural contexts so that it is relevant and meaningful for them. it proposes that the students may benefit more if the cold war history is taught as social history rather than simply presenting it as the history of ideological conflict between the united states and the soviet union. social history integrates other social sciences and focuses on the everyday experiences of the ordinary citizens. in other words, social history is people’s history. moreover, the students could explore the social history of the cold war through the method of oral history by interviewing older individuals in their families and communities, asking them questions about their experiences during the cold war period both in the united states and overseas. by using the techniques of oral history, the students will be actively engaged in doing historical research and, also, learning multiple academic skills. cold war vocabulary détente; mccarthyism; third world; north-south dialogue; containment; colonization; decolonization; iron curtain; communism; capitalism; socialism; marxism; berlin wall; nuclear weapons; disarmament; bandung conference; non-aligned movement; realpolitik; marshall plan; post-colonial world; deterrence; developing world; anti-imperialism; domino theory; cuban missile crisis; nation-state; espionage; modernization; dictatorship; nationalism; nonproliferation treaty; arms race; the atlantic alliance; nato; seato; cento (the baghdad pact); balance of power; military-industrial complex; independence; truman doctrine; cuban missile crisis. chronology of cold war events in the third world first indochina war (1946-1950) birth of the american cia (1946) occupation of palestine and the birth of israel (1948) korean war (1950-53) taiwan crisis (1954-1959) cia overthrow of democratically elected government in iran (1953) u.s. involvement in guatemala (1954) mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 132 vietnam conflict (1955-1975) suez crisis (1956) beirut crisis (1958) cuban revolution (1959) u2 spy plane shot down in the ussr (1960) peace corps founded (1960) bay of pigs (1961) war between india and pakistan (1965) six-day war in the middle east (1967) disintegration of pakistan and the birth of bangladesh (1971) coup d'état in chile (1973) the yom kippur war (1973) fall of saigon (1975) revolution in iran and hostage crisis (1979) the soviet union invasion of afghanistan (1980) war in afghanistan (1980-present) u.s. marines attacked in beirut (1982) the u.s. invasion of granada (1983) iran-contra conspiracy case (1983-1988) tiananmen square incident (1989) the collapse of the soviet union (1991) the end of the cold war (1991) mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 133 films about the cold war from russia with love (1963) dr. strangelove (1964) seven days in may (1965) the spy who came in from the cold (1965) torn curtain (1966) funeral in berlin (1966) state of siege (1972) spies like us (1985) operation condor (1991) thirteen days (2000) lumumba (2000) kandahar (2001) the quiet american (2002) osama (2004) charlie wilson's war (2007) the kite runner (2007) mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 134 references baruch, b. m. (1960). the public years. new york, ny: holt, rinehart & winston. dirlik, a. (2007). global south: predicament and promise. the global south, 1(1), 12-23. gaddis, j. l. (1989). the long peace: inquiries into the histories of the cold war (1st ed.). new york, ny: oxford university press. gaddis, j. l. (2005). the cold war: a new history. new york, ny: penguin. hobsbawm, e. (2012). nations and nationalism since 1780 (2nd ed.). new york, ny: cambridge university press. lawrence, m. a. (2013). the rise and fall of nonalignment. in r. j. mcmahon (ed.), the cold war in the third world (pp. 139-155). new york, ny: oxford university press. levstik, l. s., & barton, k. c. (2015). doing history: investigating with children in elementary and middle schools (5th ed.). new york, ny: routledge. mcmahon, r. j. (ed.). (2013). the cold war in the third world. new york, ny: oxford university press. perkin, h. (2002). origins of modern english society (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. ritchie, d. a. (1995). doing oral history. new york, ny: twayne publishers. rotter, a. j. (2013). culture, the cold war, and the third world. in r. j. mcmahon (ed.), the cold war in the third world (pp. 156-177). new york, ny: oxford university press. thompson, e. (1966). the making of the english working class. london, uk: vintage press. westad, o. a. (2005). the global cold war: third world interventions and the making of our times. london, uk: cambridge university press. westad, o. a. (2012). the cold war and the international history of the twentieth century. in the cambridge history of the cold war (vol. 1; pp. 1-19). new york, ny: cambridge university press. zinn, h. (2015). a peoples' history of the united states: 1492-present. new york, ny: harper perennial. mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 corresponding author: civiceducation@gmail.com ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 135 about the author: iftikhar ahmad is an associate professor at the college of education and information technology, long island university, post campus, brookville, new york. iftikhar completed his doctoral studies in social studies education at teachers college, columbia university, new york. he was the director of the teaching american history (tah) grant project in nassau county, new york. iftikhar's book citizenship education in the united states: a historical perspective was published by routledge press in 2017. he has also contributed to the social studies, teachers college record, social education, religion and education, and educational studies. mailto:civiceducation@gmail.com http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 98 the function and influence of the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad in the discourse on citizenship in social studies education marcus edward johnson abraham baldwin agricultural college abstract: using an analytic informed by nietzschean genealogy and systems theory, this paper explains how two conceptual structures (the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad), along with standard citation practices in academic journal writing, function to sustain and regenerate a progressive perspective within social studies education scholarship. exemplary essays, drawn from social studies education scholarship from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s are presented and examined in reference to the function of the conceptual structures in the evolution of the discourse on citizenship in social studies education. key words: citizenship education, genealogy, discourse, conceptual structures, binaries, discourse analysis, history. introduction in this essay, i examine the contention that a narrative of social and moral progress directs the discourse on citizenship in social studies education in the united states. an analytic derived from nietzschean genealogy and systems theory is used to situate the progressive perspective, to examine salient essays from the last five decades, and to explain the development of the narrative. i argue an emancipatory binary, introduced in the 1970s, has come to frame a narrative of social progress, and this binary-structured narrative is supported, in turn, by what is identified as the progressive triad. i close by reflecting upon the impact of the discourse, thus structured. genealogy as a historical analytic as understood here, genealogy refers to an analytical approach to historical research that examines the evolution of systems of thought (foucault, 1971). genealogical histories often aim to understand and explain how prevailing perspectives and official histories, as well as the mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 99 metanarratives that support them, came to be sanctioned or normalized (e.g., johnson, 2017; qvarsebo, 2013; weiler, 2006). michel foucault’s genealogical work is most familiar within education scholarship, but his approach to history was strongly influenced by friedrich nietzsche. foucault directly discussed the connection between his work and nietzsche’s in several places (e.g., foucault, 2003; rabinow, 1984), but he did so most directly in “nietzsche, genealogy, history” (foucault, 1971). convincing evidence of nietzsche’s influence on foucault can also be found by examining the second essay of nietzsche’s genealogy of morals (in which he discussed the origins of the institutionalization of punishment) alongside foucault’s (1977) discipline and punish. together, these three works provide a theoretical and working introduction to nietzschean genealogy. in addition to being an analytic form of historical research, the genealogical approach is more precisely characterized by its nominalism, or refutation of essences (see sherratt, 2003). nietzsche’s anti-essentialism relates his critique of metaphysics to history, identity, and ethics. moreover, nietzsche’s critique can be understood as the/an origin of postmodern forms of thinking. the primary effect of nietzsche’s influence on historical analysis is a special caution against attempts to find the unbroken continuation of a thing’s essence through time, as it developed or evolved from a primal origin toward its present state. for example, perhaps most would agree that it would be a mistake to try to understand how the human thumb evolved so that it could allow a person to text on a cell phone. the present utility of a thing (such as the thumb) often has little connection to its original development. a similar mistake is to presume that the value we ascribe to our current moral prejudices, such as humility, patience, courage, and so forth, are the reasons for their original development. (many of our present virtues, according to nietzsche (1887), were once considered negative qualities that characterized the weak and powerless. over time, however, the negative characteristics were reevaluated and transformed from vice to virtue by their possessors.) finally, the historian should bear in mind that there is no single origin to which a social fact can be traced. moral beliefs, social structures, norms, and so on are always multiple and complex. as such, the genealogist does not search for unbroken lines of descent that explain the rational and purposeful evolution of an idea or a system of ideas from their origin to their present manifestations. examined instead are how local forces, selfand group-interests, the availability of pre-existing ideas, and other contextual factors have affected the development of perspectives, discourses, and systems of thought. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 100 two views of moral and social evolution the interpretive practices noted above are not limited to genealogical histories; they are common to historiographical approaches wary of universal metanarratives. within social studies education scholarship, however, implicit and explicit acceptance of moral universals (related to justice, equity, universal human rights, and other ideas historically associated with the 19th century progressive metanarrative) continue to influence the discourse on civic and democratic education (johnson, 2016). i believe that nietzsche’s nonessentialism, used as an historical analytic, can begin to pry open the discourse and challenge the residuum of modernist thinking common in scholarship on social studies education in the u.s. the idea that the world is evolving toward universal consciousness and that societies tend to develop toward equality and democracy can be traced back to hegel through marx. it should immediately be noted that the progressive view of historical development has multiple origins, and many different histories of this cosmology could be assembled. moreover, hegel’s thoughts on the topic are complex and contentious. a fuller intellectual history of the progressive worldview would also discuss the work of kant, fichte, schilling, and others (see e.g., fritzman & gibson, 2012). nonetheless, because of hegel’s influence on marx and the frankfurt school, and his place as perhaps the primary theorist of social evolution prior to darwin, hegel’s vision of social progress seems to be the best place to briefly introduce the progressive worldview as manifest in social studies education. as theorized by hegel (1807) in phenomenology of spirit, social evolution, through the dialectical unfolding of history, is guided by the geist (world spirit). in this view, as history unfolds, human society evolves through higher states of consciousness, equality, and freedom. hegel’s vision was in part a response to kant’s (1781) claim that humans do not have access to knowledge of the noumenal (i.e., things in themselves, such as the true, unfiltered nature of god or the world). hegel contended that we can access the noumenal by studying the phenomenal development of the world sprit. that is, we can come to know the direction social history will take by studying natural and human history. his understanding of history was informed by schelling’s notion of the idea (shannon, 2013) and by an eschatological, christian conception of time that infused history with a purpose and meaning (zhang, 2010). the natural flow of history, thus understood, evolves toward higher forms of consciousness. the connection to genealogy is that this view of historical evolution was shared by moral historians of nietzsche’s day. although they believed they had discovered the evolutionary history of moral progress, nietzsche (1887), maintained that they merely presupposed the progress they claimed to have discovered. they did so because mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 101 they tapped into and reproduced what lyotard (1979), a century later, would label a metanarrative: in this case, a narrative of moral and social progress. to avoid theorizing into the blue and merely reproducing existing thought systems, as the moral historians of his time did, nietzsche (1887) advised a careful, etymological study of documents. because the scope of his genealogy of morals covered millennia, nietzsche could employ his training as a classical philologist to study the evolution of words. this method worked well enough for nietzsche, but it is, in fact, rather ineffective for analyses that operate on the range of decades rather than centuries or millennia. as such, other methods aligned to a nietzschean framework must be developed. one promising alternative to nietzsche’s etymological approach can be deduced from bourdieu’s (1981, 1984) examination of differential reproduction (see fuller, 2002; johnson, 2014). this approach proposes studying conceptual evolution by examining the extent to which propositions are either faithfully or differentially reproduced when a cited model or idea is used in an essay. if the model or idea is perfectly reproduced, it is said to be faithfully reproduced. if there is some slight difference in use, the reproduction is said to be differential. the promise of this approach is that it allows the analyst to mark shifts in usage and identify conceptual change. if a change-in-use is then carried forward by others, the bestowed variation indicates a point of discursive evolution. despite its similarities to nietzsche’s philological approach, the method is also problematic, because it conflicts with nietzsche’s antiessentialism, which suggests that all conceptual reproduction is necessarily differential. better aligned with nietzsche’s metaphysical nominalism is an approach developed in association with a biological systems model of language and discourse. here, discourses are understood as open, complex systems that are porously bound to maintain a flexible stability; material from outside the system is internalized, assimilated, and transformed to enable growth and regeneration, or autopoiesis (capra & luisi, 2014). conceptual systems interact with other systems and are nested within larger conceptual organizations – sharing narratives, cognitive tools, and ideas. academic discourses, perhaps more than others, develop internal structures that organize concepts and regulatory processes. these include feedback loops and selection algorithms that function to sustain the discourse by balancing homeostasis and growth. notable among these processes are peer review, the disciplinary socialization of junior scholars, and tenure and promotion. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 102 conceptual structures if discourses are understood as conceptual systems, ideas can be said to function as the nodes of the communal, schematic networks of the conceptual world. the term conceptual structure, then, refers to practices that have become materialized within a thought system. consider a path. the path itself is not a material thing. it is the result, however, of a material process: animals travelling through the woods, for instance. although the path is not a thing itself (but merely the absence of other things), it is nonetheless effectual. the path becomes the path of least resistance, the easiest way to get through the underbrush. perhaps the path later becomes a trail, a dirt road, and a paved road lined with traffic signs and shops. a similar process occurs in conceptual systems when ways of understanding become accepted and then sanctioned. they become ruts, roads, and cognitive tools that efficiently prepackage complex ideas. the analogy of the path has its limitations, however, because although conceptual structures are formed and function similarly to paths, they are also reproducible and portable like memes (see blackmore, 1999). the idea is that a set of ideas gets used in some way, someone else uses the concept in more or less the same way, a third person takes up the idea, and so on. the concept is thereby reproduced, but not in the exact same way. it is differentially reproduced by thinkers who understand and employ the idea slightly differently. at some point, the practice of putting together a set of ideas and using them becomes, like a path, something recognized and used by others. the binary, triad, or conceptual model then changes from a tool present at hand to something ready to hand (heidegger, 1926). we cease thinking about the model as an idea and use it to do other things and to think other thoughts. binaries and triads one way to go about conducting a genealogical analysis of concepts, then, is to identify and examine the conceptual structures that guide a discourse. a study of democracy and citizenship in social studies education, for example, found that scholarship in the u.s. is heavily influenced by the customary use of two conceptual structures: the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad (johnson, 2014). binary conceptual constructions generally function by dividing a field into two groups, whereby the two terms of the binary serve as oppositional poles (good/bad, living/nonliving, land/water, light/dark, etc.). the use of binaries is, of course, not original to this discourse. it likely predates written language. nor is the study of the anatomy and function of binaries new (see e.g., elbow, 1986). but they have been understood and interpreted in very different ways. hegel (1807), for example, understood binaries to be the metaphysical pistons of historical evolution via dialectical synthesis. nietzsche’s beyond good and evil (1886) and mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 103 genealogy of morals (1887) can be understood as critiques of the binaries implicitly common to christianity and hegel. ferdinand de saussure (1959), claude levi-strauss (1958), and benjamin whorf (1956) each maintained that to understand a linguistic community, we must recognize how conceptual categories affect perception and cognition. perhaps the most popular work on the analysis of binaries is that of jacques derrida (1976). he rejected attempts to synthesize binaries and sought to show how they hide and maintain inequality. more recently, slavoj zizek (2009) argued that, although helpful as pedagogical tools, all binaries deceive by hiding alternatives. conceptual origins as noted, nietzsche (1887) and foucault (1971) cautioned against the search for singular origins. though their views differed somewhat (ansell-pearson, 1997), both maintained that concepts and belief systems have contested histories and multiple origins. despite the mistrust of assigning singular origins, the historian must begin a story somewhere. nietzsche (1887) began his genealogical analysis of good and evil with 19th century “english psychologists,” as he called them, even though his scope included all of written history. foucault (1977) began discipline and punish: the birth of the prison with the torture and execution of the regicide damiens in 18thcentury france. foucault explained that he chose this origin not because the torture and death instigated or inaugurated the singular birth of a new age, but because it saliently illustrated an ongoing development that had multiple births, miscarriages, and ancestors. similarly, my analysis begins with three papers from the late 1970s, a time when, according to cleo cherryholmes (1982), social studies education in the united states was in a state of transition. other essays or starting points might also make for valid places to start (e.g., brubaker et al., 1977; bruner, 1969; morrissett, 1977), but the essays by barr, barth, and shermis (1977), anyon (1978), and giroux and penna (1979) serve as representative and somewhat foundational illustrations of the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad. the discourse on citizenship and democracy since the late 1970s, the scholarship on citizenship education has generally organized the field according to whether approaches to education reproduce the status quo or transform society. in recent years, the conversation within social studies education scholarship has drawn more tightly around the now taken-for-granted proposition that, whatever else it might be, good education is transformative. how did this perspective come to dominate this discourse? the issue is complex, and there are various satisfactory ways to explain the development, but the mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 104 answer put forth here is that the binary took root in the field during the 1970s, in association with the importation of the ideas of the frankfurt school. the worldview underlying the frankfurt school was structured around an organizational binary: us (the oppressed) versus them (the oppressors). the binary was infused with basic universal normativity: good versus evil. the normative binary was paired with a progressive or eschatological (zhang, 2010) conception of history that postulated that human society was evolving toward increasing equality or freedom. within social studies education in the us, this neo-marxist confluence of beliefs interacted with a preexisting liberal perspective that also cautioned against the intentional reproduction of the status quo, and gave rise to the emancipatory triad that prevails in contemporary scholarship and preserves the reproduce/reconstruct binary. 1970s: socialization in the late 1970s and early 1980s, social studies education scholars in the us and elsewhere expressed concerns about the direct and indirect role the education system played in protecting and reproducing the status quo (e.g., althusser, 1971; apple, 1971; goldenson, 1978). one view held that because the government had a vested interest in supporting the status quo, the state education system functioned as an ideological apparatus that promoted right and proper beliefs: i.e., patriotism, capitalism, and patriarchal hegemony. althusser’s (1971) formulation portrayed the government as a vague, impersonal source of power and domination, and identified the education system as an ideological state apparatus: a nonviolent, indirect tool used by the government to support the status quo. a second set of ideas popularized by althusser’s essay were the correlative notions of hailing and subjectification. these terms identified a process or event whereby an anonymous person becomes a subject, in both senses of the word (agent and object), when they are called out as an individual by someone in a position of authority, having the power to assign responsibility and culpability. jean anyon (1978) can be read to have merged in use the two notions from althusser’s essay by calling out teachers as responsible agents in the state machine of indoctrination. anyon’s focus on the role of teachers expanded althusser’s critique of the education system’s conservative socialization of students. she did so by troubling the notion of neutral teaching. anyon explained that teachers could never be politically neutral, because when teachers merely presented the facts of the existing social structure, the effect was to normalize, in the students’ minds, the social institutions described. that is, when teachers explained the structure and function of existing institutions without critiquing them, students came to accept existing relations and structures as reasonable, natural, normal, and valid. in this way, anyon claimed, apolitical teachers mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 105 unintentionally supported the status quo. she asserted that if the conservative socialization being sponsored by schools were to be opposed, teachers could not remain neutral; they must actively oppose the institutional socialization through direct counter-socialization. in making this argument, anyon employed a forced-choice, or binary. this binary grouped all teachers into two antagonistic camps: those who actively counter-socialized students and therefore supported social reconstruction, and those who did not and, as a result, intentionally or unintentionally supported the status quo. anyon’s conceptualization of the field negated any and all alternative approaches: each approach was to be characterized as either reproducing or transforming the status quo. anyon’s model exemplifies how binaries function to reduce a multiplicity of choices to one choice. giroux and penna (1979) supported anyon’s contention that active counter-socialization was required to contest the conservative programming imparted by state schools. rather than direct attention to teachers’ unintentional complicity in conservative socialization, however, they discussed how the hidden curriculum, or “the unstated norms, values and beliefs that are transmitted to students through the underlying structure of meaning in both the formal content as well as the social relations of school and classroom life” (p. 22), influenced students’ perceptions of the normalcy and legitimacy of the unequal relationships and social interactions common to schools. giroux and penna suggested that this tacit structure was far more insidious than direct forms of indoctrination that occurred through the official curriculum. it is much easier, the argument suggested, for a student or teacher to recognize and criticize an articulated policy or publicized event as unjust than it is to challenge the untheorized and apparently natural order of things. to oppose the reproduction of the “cultural and economic interests of a stratified society” (p. 26), the authors advocated teaching students how society should function rather than teaching about how society functioned (or was understood to function). giroux and penna’s argument resembled anyon’s in that both endorsed counter-socialization to usher in transformation and to “help implement the rationale for reconstructing a new social order” (p. 39), and both essays sought to reframe neutral or moderate positions as inadvertently conservative. the structure of the arguments differed in other ways, however. giroux and penna’s model of the field did not fully collapse the various approaches to social studies down to a binary. although their essay supported the reproduce/reconstruct binary by evaluating different approaches according to whether they sponsored stasis or change, the approaches were analyzed in reference to three perspectives: structural-functionalist, phenomenologist, and neo-marxist. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 106 giroux and penna explained that the functionalists viewed school as an institution that provided “a valuable service in training students to uphold commitments and to learn skills required by society” (p. 23). that is, the functionalists understood and explained school according to how well it helped students succeed, fit in, and maintain the existing society. the authors rejected this approach because it stressed “consensus and stability rather than movement… and downplay[ed] notions of social conflict and competing socio-economic interests” (p. 24). moreover, because the approach attempted to be apolitical, it failed to problematize “the basic beliefs, values, and structural socio-economic arrangements characteristic of american society” (p. 24). in sum, approaches to education based on functionalism were rejected because the attempted neutrality was believed to serve the status quo. giroux and penna maintained that a second approach, the phenomenological, moved “far beyond the structural-functionalist position in its approach to the study of schooling” because it raised “to a new level of discussion the relationship between the distribution of power and knowledge” (p. 24). the problem with this approach, however, was that by “endorsing the value and relevance of students’ intentionality, the new sociology … succumbed to a notion of cultural relativity” (p. 25). since this pluralistic approach accepted all students’ views as valid, even those who supported the status quo, the approach was rejected. the third and preferred approach discussed was the neo-marxist perspective, which was said to offer “the most insightful and comprehensive model for a more progressive approach for understanding the nature of schooling and developing an emancipatory program for social education” (p. 23). giroux and penna’s model organized the conceptual field in a way that is standard among progressive models. the first approach is said to preserve the status quo. the second, newer model also preserves the existing condition, but does so unintentionally or to a smaller degree. the third approach is said to promote social change. this common way of evaluating approaches to teaching and curriculum along a continuum that runs from reproducing the status quo to transforming society reflects the theoretical perspective of the frankfurt school. a pluralist approach the two preceding essays’ advocacy for social change exemplifies the emancipatory approach to citizenship education as expressed in the late 1970s. the next one aligns with the liberal/pluralist perspective because it aims to cultivate the intellectual agency of students rather than explicitly promote social transformation and justice. if cherryholmes’s (1982) contention that the late 1970s experienced a theoretical shift is accepted, then the three traditions model might be said mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 107 to represent the old guard. originally offered in social education in 1970, the model was published at different times and in different places by various combinations of robert barr, james barth, and samuel shermis (bbs hereafter). the model reflected a commitment to pluralism by endorsing approaches to teaching that supported critical thinking and that sought to prepare “citizens to rule themselves in a complex and shifting environment” (shermis & barth, 1982, p. 13). the model has come to serve as a template for much social studies education conceptualizing since the 1970s. the model contended that there were three basic approaches to social studies education: citizenship transmission, the disciplinary approach, and reflective inquiry. the structure of the schema and its presentation was similar to giroux and penna’s model of the field: the first approach was dismissed for being conservative, the second approach was characterized as improved but flawed, and the third approach was believed to facilitate social progress. the three traditions model supported a classically liberal approach to education and preferred teaching that aimed to cultivate students’ intellectual agency. the model indirectly supported the binary, however, because it supposed (1) that transmission/reproduction is bad, and, more subtly, (2) that if students were given the opportunity to think for themselves, they would, as a matter of course, come to the belief that equality, justice, and democracy are desirable. the model did not call for the inculcation of a progressive worldview, but rather presupposed it (not altogether unlike the moral historians of nietzsche’s day presupposed the evolution of morality). the three traditions model, and the pluralist approach it represented, has been the primary alternative to the emancipatory approach within social studies education literature (johnson, 2014). because the model tacitly supported the idea that the public use of reason leads to social evolution, the model supported the progressive narrative that, in the 1970s, began to direct the discourse on citizenship education in the social studies. 1980s: participatory democracy of recent decades, democracy was most directly theorized in the u.s. in the 1980s. during this decade, the idea that the government was a source of oppressive power to be resisted yielded to the view that people should participate in and engage with the government to further democracy. as such, discussions of citizenship education showed a decreased focus on countersocialization and an increased attention to promoting political participation. the development marked the regular occurrence of a different binary, one that opposed (bad) representative forms of democracy to (good) participatory forms. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 108 according to carole pateman (1970), since the 1930s, political theorists increasingly viewed classical, participatory democracy to be obsolete, and the reason for its obsolescence was that citizens were thought to have become unable to effectively participate in democratic governance. the view was based in part on the fact that in the first half of the century, demagogues who dismantled the democratic state and created totalitarian governments were elected during times of increased electoral participation. the idea was that when the easilyswayed masses became politically involved, they made poor (undemocratic) choices. the political scientists’ loss of faith in the electorate led to a proliferation of protectionist (representative) models of democracy that informed curriculum in public education following world war ii. of concern to george wood (1985) was that the protectionist model was selfperpetuating. curriculum that disseminated the protectionist/representative model taught students that democracy meant electing representatives who governed on behalf of the electorate. the result of this education was that students learned less about active and participatory governance and were, as a result, less capable of effectively participating in government. the approach worked, but for the wrong reasons. the passivity of the population facilitated stability and thereby validated the protectionist model, but only at the cost of a diminished democracy. the good news, claimed wood, was that the fuller, participatory model of democracy could also be self-generating. that is, if students are taught that the value and power of democracy resides in the active participation of discerning and well-educated citizens, and correlatively, if the students are taught how to effectively participate in governing, the result will be a populace prepared to actively participate in democratic governance. wood (1985) framed the field of citizenship education with this binary, and he proposed that teachers generally use either a “citizenship transmission or a social science approach” (p. 44). although this evaluation of the field mirrored bbs’s three traditions model (1977), wood cited giroux (1983), presumably because giroux, like wood, also discussed social epistemology. the binary used by wood conveyed the same primary message of the three traditions model, which is that transmission of the conservative status quo is bad, and teaching students how to make informed and effective social decisions is good. elizabeth guyton (1988), who also discussed democratic participation, provided an example of how a binary model can be reconfigured as a triadic one to allow for more complexity. drawing from weissberg (1974), guyton added an eponymous intermediate approach to wood’s model. the addition understood the field to be more linear and slightly more complex, and the model organized approaches to democratic education into three versions: representative (people mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 109 choose their leaders), intermediate (representatives are responsive to their constituents), and participatory (participation is direct and extended beyond the legislature to include other aspects of social living). guyton began with older approaches to citizenship education that taught students how the government operates, that authority should be respected, and how to be productive citizens who would “generate support for the system and the status quo” (p. 23). characteristic of progressive models such this one is that older approaches are less advanced. such a presupposition is expected: for, if, as hegel suggested, the world advances in accordance with reason, older models will be less advanced than newer ones. if guyton’s model were emancipatory, it would have explained how the new curriculum or pedagogy inspired social change that led to equality and justice. however, because the advanced approaches were said to promote active and effective participation, her model, like wood’s and bbs’s, was pluralistic. beverly gordon’s 1985 essay, on the other hand, did employ an emancipatory binary to make sense of the field. the reading was heralded with a question: “whether we as educators intend for citizenship simply to function as a mode of ideological domination, conforming students to the demands of dominant society; or whether citizenship education should be designed to foster social reconstruction;” it was confirmed in the response: “our task then is to determine how it is that citizenship education functions either to reproduce the social condition[s] … that reinforce a class-stratified society … or reconstitute society according to the principles of social justice” (p. 2). as is common with binary constructions, the conceptual landscape sketched by gordon was a simple and austere one. it held that approaches to teaching could be boiled down to those that reproduced the unjust structure and those that enabled the progressive transformation of society. perhaps due to an awareness of how starkly polarizing this conceptualization of education is, gordon supplemented the binary with a couple of familiar, triadic conceptions from giroux (1980) and bbs (1977). gordon used the interpretive method that has become standard in emancipatory triads: she collapsed the first two elements of the pluralistic model (bbs’s) into the first category of an emancipatory schema (giroux’s) and moved reflective inquiry into the middle of the triad. the third and preferred category for pedagogical and curricular approaches was assigned to emancipatory approaches that sought to transform society. gordon began, then, with a simple emancipatory binary that was perhaps employed to serve a rhetorical function. she complicated that dichotomous field by amalgamating two triadic models and arguing that although reflective inquiry was an improvement over direct transmission, it did not sufficiently support transformation. her reasoning was that teaching based on reflective mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 110 inquiry overlooked “how ideological or structural constraints in the larger society are reproduced in schools,” making it possible that “the basic nature of existing social arrangements in the wider society may remain unquestioned” (p. 3). that is, promoting intellectual agency might support progressive transformation, but it also left open the possibility that some students might favor the status quo. from this, gordon channeled anyon’s (1978) logic, which held that those approaches that do not actively promote reconstruction passively support reproduction. gordon, then, illustrated how the progressive triad is reducible to the reproduce/reconstruct binary. the essays discussed above illustrate the influence of the 19th-century narrative of social progress. in the late 1980s and the 1990s, however, this metanarrative was persuasively challenged. writing from the 1990s reveal scholars attempted to reconcile the postmodern critique of metanarratives with hegelian-inspired visions of history. the totality of social events explained through a tight narrative of oppression and redemption was pried opened a bit to try to incorporate new views of subjectivity that would afford a more complex model than the one that allowed only three subject-positions: oppressor, oppressed, and emancipator. the vitality of the binary on the discourse is recognized, however, when it is observed that rather than abandon the emancipatory perspective, scholars generally sought to accommodate postmodern challenges within the established emancipatory perspective. reproducing and reconstructing the 1990s in the 1990s, democracy continued to be conceptualized through the participatory and representative opposition (e.g., bickmore, 1993; gutmann, 1994; parker, 2003). the ascendant idea, however, home to considerable conceptual theorizing, was multiculturalism. ceola ross baber (1995) discussed the topic and surmised that there were three primary approaches to multicultural education: “cultural nationalism, cultural pluralism, and cultural criticism” (p. 342). according to baber’s interpretation, the cultural nationalists favored one or another hegemonic, unified canon of cultural and political beliefs; the cultural pluralists recognized difference and desired to protect it; the cultural critics promoted the unfolding realization of our democratic potential. or again, the three nodes of baber’s conceptual triad were populated by those who wished to maintain the status quo, those who sought liberal, plural-minded reform, and those who sought to “create a community of authentic, emancipatory, liberatory, critical, and transformative voices” (p. 352). the third and preferred category of the model illustrated the growing tension between the traditional left’s universal conception of social identity based on class, and the fracture developing because of the growing influence of multiculturalism and mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 111 postmodern conceptions of subjectivity. baber’s goal of retaining and acknowledging “voices from microcultures of color” reflected the influence of multiculturalism. she noted that this goal was aligned, however, with that of forging alliances “with progressive voices from the microculture” (p. 344). it is a position that frames group identity and multiculturalism within the traditional progressive vision. as such, baber ended up with a model that was somewhere between the emancipatory and the pluralist models discussed above, using the language of each without quite clarifying whether the goal was to promote intellectual agency or social transformation. marilynne boyle-baise (1995) also recognized tensions between multiculturalism and traditional, class-based oppression discourses. she indicated that her views on multicultural education were sometimes dismissed because she, as a white woman, was on the wrong side of a binary that determined authenticity in reference to race rather than beliefs. citing sleeter and grant (1994), boyle-baise identified five approaches to multicultural education, maintaining that they could be boiled down to two: those that unwittingly maintained the status quo and those that initiated social transformation. specifically, these were the pluralist and the emancipatory approaches. like anyon (1978) and gordon (1985), she surmised that pluralist approaches to multiculturalism failed to promote social progress: “advocating tolerance is different from moving to reconstruct school knowledge and practices. the former promotes plurality, while the second advances systemic reform” (boyle-baise, 1995, p. 335). that is, when the conceptual field is collapsed by the reproduce/reconstruct binary, the ability to identify agents as anything other than emancipator or oppressor is eliminated. the binary functions to simplify and polarize into antagonistic groups. boyle-baise’s essay acknowledged the potential of binaries to congeal into this sort of oppositional construction, and, in her words, “to deintellectualize the field” (p. 333). and yet, rather than deconstruct the reproduce/reconstruct binary, her conclusion reaffirmed the logic that there are two types of approaches to multicultural education: those that maintain the status quo and those that transform it. this strongly attests to the deeply-rooted influence of the binary-based, progressive conceptualization that directs the discourse on democracy and citizenship in social studies education in the u.s. its influence is so strong that scholars, at times, have been compelled to align their conclusions with it, even as they attempt to confront its inconsistencies. a similar phenomenon is observed in chilcoat and lingon’s 1994 survey of citizenship education. the authors found “at least three perspectives on citizenship” (p. 129), which they labeled mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 112 cultural transmission, reflective inquiry into social science knowledge, and democratic transformation. this is another example of taking the three traditions framework, moving reflective inquiry to the middle, and adding the transformative approach to the end. this account is slightly different than emancipatory triads because the third category combines the democratic focus of the 1980s with the notion of transformation (the term transformation, by this point, had mostly supplanted reconstruction). this conceptual triad functioned like most other emancipatory triads in that the authors rejected cultural transmission because it directly reproduced the status quo; it rejected reflective inquiry because it indirectly supported the status quo; and it advocated approaches aimed at transformation. the third node of chilcoat and lingon’s model combined a loose mixture of pluralistic and emancipatory approaches, including the promotion of critical thinking, ethical decision making, and participation. ethical decision making, for example, was forwarded by the authors, but they did not address what or whose standard would be used to adjudicate ethical decisions. that is, like pluralists, no single ethic was offered as the universal standard, but like emancipatory scholars, equality and social justice were (indirectly) granted objective or universal warrant. similarly, critical thinking, often associated with reflective inquiry and pluralism, was promoted, but done so in a manner that channeled critical pedagogy. like bbs before, and others after (parker, 2003; westheimer & kahn, 2004), the conceptualization sought to combine the moral certainty of the emancipatory perspective with the respect for diverse views that characterizes the pluralist position. the essay by chilcoat and lingon, along with those by baber and boyle-baise, indicate (1) that authors were thinking about the challenges posed by postmodern theories to binary-based (and other) metanarratives, and (2) that the reproduce/reconstruct binary had come to direct the discourse itself. although the influence of the binary on thinking within the field is striking, it should not be suggested that no other perspectives have been offered. they have, though with less frequency, and at times their differences have made them stand out (johnson, 2014). two such counterexamples are discussed next. divergence kevin vinson (1998) discussed a study with results that diverged from the then-standard view that most teachers intentionally or unintentionally socialized their students in ways that supported the status quo. vinson’s study found that teachers identified more strongly with reflective inquiry, social criticism, and personal development than with citizenship transmission or social science. his study was theorized through martorella’s (1996) framework, which included five citizenship education perspectives: (1) transmission of the cultural heritage, (2) mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 113 social science, (3) reflective inquiry, (4) social critique, and (5) personal development. martorella’s model is significant because despite initial appearances, it did not replicate the progressive narrative in ways that emancipatory (and even pluralist) models generally have. the five-part model began with the first three elements of the three traditions model, and in that way it carries forward the tradition. martorella’s model was nonstandard, however, because he did not collapse the model into two or three approaches in order to associate pluralist approaches with reproduction or identify the critical approach as the best or most advanced. the justice-orientation remained one approach among others. a second difference was that the fifth perspective, personal development, has not often appeared in the literature since the 1970s. more importantly, despite being the last node in the model, it was not presented as the latest, most advanced approach to develop in the evolution of citizenship education. without having studied the discourse, one might reasonably presume that the order of perspectives within a conceptualization of the field is mostly insignificant. the argument that has been forwarded here suggests otherwise. indeed, the significance of model structure is illustrated by vinson’s (1998) study and a similar one by anderson et al. (1997). both investigations found that classroom practices of teachers were not, in fact, conservatively socializing their students. vinson’s divergent results are more interesting when we consider that his own perspective and his analysis of the martorella model were aligned with the progressive narrative. vinson noted that his own view most closely resembled social criticism, that he held a concern for issues common to critical pedagogues, and that he believed curriculum should include “forms of knowledge that have been historically marginalized or devalued (e.g., those by culturally dominated groups, for example women, the working class, and persons of color, among others)” (p. 51). that his view was affiliated with the progressive perspective, but the results of the study were divergent, suggests that the unusual structure of the model he used was consequential. the contention that the structures we use to organize concepts can become embedded in a discourse and can, as a result, influence thinking, is of course not new. this is a key component of the social epistemology used by critical, neopragmatic, and postmodern pedagogues. an example from within the field was provided by whitson and stanley (1996), who contended that the intellectual legacy of the cartesian mind/body dualism, and similar binaries derived from it, were responsible for many conceptual errors made by both progressives and conservatives in the history of citizenship education. connecting the mind/body dualism to the fact/value distinction, whitson and stanley critiqued the social science model, the student-centered approach, and the mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 114 goal of counter-socialization. whitson and stanley contrasted approaches grounded in these two binaries with the work of pierce and dewey in the united states, and the phenomenological/hermeneutic german tradition in europe. the essay used different binaries and moved in a different direction than this one, but it recognized that dichotomous thinking has been unduly influential in social studies education. in the same book, educating the democratic mind, editor walter parker (1996) agreed with stanley that we should follow dewey’s lead. parker was less optimistic regarding efforts to dissolve the various manifestations of the socialization/counter-socialization binary, warning that “attempts to devise a theory that overcomes the natural tension between [conservative educators’ goal of socialization and progressive educators’ goal of critique] are futile and unnecessary” (p. 16). the caution was accompanied by a model that interpreted the field through the familiar progressive triad: (1) the rational negotiation of private interests, (2) the promotion of a vigorous participatory democracy, and (3) social transformation. the pattern is familiar (conservative, reform-oriented, truly progressive), and parker presented the transformative approach as one that would uncover and contest embedded patterns of understanding that support entrenched ways of thinking and living. parker provides one last example, then, of a model whose prevalence illustrates the influence and ubiquity of the largely unrecognized conceptual triad. the recurrence of the model over the last five decades strongly suggests that the practice of academic citation creates a dynamic between the conceptual structures and the discourse within which they are nested, causing the model, in meme-like fashion, to be differentially reproduced, while supporting the reproduce/reconstruct binary that orders the discourse. conclusion i maintain that two conceptual structures, the reproduce/reconstruct binary and the progressive triad, have been used so regularly in scholarship on citizenship education that the structures, embedded within models of the discipline, have coevolved alongside a normative, progressive narrative whose origins can be traced back to hegel (and elsewhere). the progressive view presupposes that social and moral progress are real and desirable and that human society rationally evolves toward justice and equality. this perspective orders the discourse on citizenship in social studies education. its influence grows as it provides graduate students and junior scholars a familiar narrative with which to read, recount, and understand the world. the progressive narrative, forwarded by hegel and adapted by marx, dewey, the frankfurt school, and many others, allows scholars to imagine a world evolving toward greater justice and equality, mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 115 and by extension it allows emancipatory, liberal, and other scholars to imagine themselves to be on the right side of history. binaries and other conceptual structures support such narratives. they maintain paths for thinking and provide a practical orientation for the intellectual landscape. once sufficiently developed within the discourse through citational practices, the conceptual structures embodied in models and perspectives become integral parts of the conceptual landscape and influence what is seen, discussed, and made familiar. although there is much value in having a shared perspective, i contend there is also value in having access to other, less-traveled paths. the primary goal of this genealogical analysis is to raise awareness of the prevalence of the reproduce/reconstruct binary and the progressive narrative. a secondary goal might be to invite scholars to question several of the associated presuppositions and to thereby begin to explore other paths. i wonder, for instance, if the field has more or less exhausted the value of organizing and evaluating curriculum and pedagogy based on whether the status quo is maintained or transformed? are there other questions we might ask? might we invite into our discussions authors, such as hume (1751), nietzsche (1886, 1887), and mackie (1977), who suggest that justice and equality ultimately refer to little more than a falsely universalized desire for revenge, or a tool to manipulate? or is the field unwilling to entertain such thoughts? should we be more circumspect about the universality of democracy and about spreading the sentiment that democracy is a universal end (rather than a means), since it seems likely that such thinking blinds americans to the limitations of democracy and is used to justify the spread of democracy via cruise missiles and regime change? i would like to see more scholarship that genuinely asks whether more democracy, equality, and justice, for example, are necessarily and universally good and that enquires into the unrecognized shared commitments of conservative and progressive perspectives. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 116 references althusser, l. 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(1916/1959). a course in general linguistics. new york, ny: philosophical library. shannon, d. (2013). hegel’s philosophy of nature of 1805-06; its relation to the phenomenology of spirit. cosmos and history: the journal of natural and social philosophy, 9(1), 101132. shermis, s., & barth, j. (1982). teaching for passive citizenship: a critique of philosophical assumptions. theory and research in social education, 10(4), 17-37. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ journal of international social studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 98-120 corresponding author: mjohnson@abac.edu ©2012/2018 national council for social studies international assembly http://www.iajiss.org issn: 2327-3585 page 120 sherratt, y. (2006). continental philosophy of social science: hermeneutic, genealogy and critical theory from greece to the twenty-first century. cambridge: cambridge university press. sleeter, c., & grant, c. (1994). making choices for multicultural education: five approaches to race, class, and gender (2nd ed.). new york: macmillan publishing company. vinson, k. (1998). the "traditions" revisited: instructional approach and high school social studies teachers. theory & research in social education, 26(1), 50-82. weiler, k. (2006). the historiography of gender and progressive education in the united states. paedagogica historica, 42(1-2), 161-176. weissberg, r. (1974). political learning, political choice, and democratic citizenship. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. westheimer, j., & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? american educational research journal, 41(2), 237-269. whitson, j., & stanley, w. (1996). reminding education for democracy. in w. parker (ed.), educating the democratic mind (pp. 309-336). albany, ny: state university of new york press. whorf, b. (1956/2012). language, thought, and reality: selected writings of benjamin lee whorf. cambridge, ma: mit press. wood, g. (1985). education for democratic participation: democratic values and the nuclear freeze campaign. theory and research in social education, 12(4), 39-56. zhang, d. (2010). “the end of history” and the fate of the philosophy of history. frontiers of philosophy in china, 5(4), 631-651. zizek, s. (2009). in defense of lost causes. new york, ny: verso. about the author: marcus johnson is assistant professor and department head of education at abraham baldwin agricultural college in tifton, georgia, where he teaches courses in the foundations of education. his scholarship examines the evolution of educational discourses and the cultivation of intellectual agency, particularly in rural settings. mailto:mjohnson@abac.edu http://www.iajiss.org/