published_or_final_version / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of this study is to examine literature and thought in the field of elementary social studies curriculum, to establish criteria for determining the adequacy of a fourth-grade social studies program and to examine, analyze and evaluate the fourth-grade social studies programs of ten Texas public school systems in order to determine how effectively they meet these criteria.

The purpose of this study is to make an investigation of the place of the social studies in an integrating curriculum with the objective of determining their value and ways and means of using the social studies to achieve integrating individuals. Attention is directed to the need and nature of an integrating program, to the values of the social studies as an integrating agent, and to ways and means of using the social studies in this manner.

The problem of this study was a survey of social studies programs in Texas high schools during the 1964-65 academic year. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the recommendations of the Texas Education Agency as outlined in Principles and Standards for Accrediting Elementary and Secondary Schools and Description of Approved Courses, Grades 7-12 had been followed and to obtain data pertaining to offerings, innovations, supervisory services and written courses of study.

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between practices reported by elementary school teachers of social studies in selected Texas counties and practices recommended by national social studies education specialists, and college professors of elementary education in selected texas colleges and universities.

Based on the notion that philosophical assumptions and educational aims are important factors that gear educational processes, this study focuses on the ways in which teachers' assumptions and goals regarding citizenship influence their teaching of civics. The research of this topic is pursed based on a set of comparative analytic case studies that observe different ways in which conceptions of the notion of good citizenship manifest in three Israeli high school civics classrooms. This study draws from the research traditions of grounded theory, the use of ideal types, as well as the principles of the qualitative instrumental collective case study approach. This study's main finding is the identification of a stark disparity between the conceptions of citizenship that are promoted in each of the three cases, despite the a-priori similarities between them. This disparity results in the enactment of very different types of civics lessons as well as influences the goals, the relation to the curriculum standards, and the pedagogies implemented in these three settings. As a result of these findings, three ideal types of citizenship and civic education (CCE) are presented, reflecting these different approaches: (1) disciplined CCE; (2) participatory CCE; and (3) critical CCE. The importance of these findings is in the illumination of a civic education gap, relating to these differences. Following the scholarly discourse surrounding this topic, this study contributes to the understanding that not only is there a gap regarding the civic experiences and opportunities to which the students are exposed, but that the fundamental meaning of the term good citizenship is interpreted and promoted in a varying fashion. This focus, on the ways in which these different conceptions influence and reinforce the reality of the civic education gap, forges the connections between these two fields of study, a connection that yet has to been acknowledged in the literature. In fact, this civic education gap implies to the contextual factor of social inequality as it reflects in the classroom settings, in relation to this specific subject matter. An explanation for this gap is the central role that the civics teachers hold, in relation to their students' opinions, academic levels and socio-economic backgrounds. With the help of the theoretical concepts of civic abandonment and civic activity, which relate to the individual's civic identity in relation to the country in which s/he lives, this study documents ways in which teachers frame their civics lessons in congruence to their own perception of their students' civic orientations. In this manner this study points to the dangers of such a reality in which teachers choose to promote civic ideals that do not recognize the complexity and multiplicity of this topic. Based on these findings, a presentation of pedagogical strategies as well as a descriptive theoretical model of the civic education process will be brought forth, utilizing these different approaches to CCE. This presentation will potentially support teachers in designing holistic educational experiences that touch on a variety of CCE conceptions. This stands in contrast to the current reality in which such conceptions are dealt with as mutually exclusive. In this manner, this study promotes the belief that all students should have equitable access to the knowledge, values and dispositions that are crucial for any democratic citizen.

This dissertation study investigated how immigrant youth attending two different high schools for late-arrival immigrants in New York City constructed civic belonging by attending to their everyday enactments of citizenship across the contexts of school, neighborhood and home. Civic belonging refers to the embodied social practices by which immigrant youth cultivate social trust and construct an emotional connection to particular communities and places. In conducting this research, I utilized a critical visual research methodology, as well as interviews and focus groups. Data was collected from 10 immigrant youth from Guinea, the Gambia, Senegal, Yemen, Bangladesh and the Dominican Republic. My findings were that participants constructed civic belonging in school by creating social trust that bridged cultural, religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences. In their neighborhoods, their civic belonging was restricted by a politics of belonging that created distrust and misrecognition of their cultural and religious identities. Finally, my participants constructed civic belonging in relation to their understandings of home. Family relationships mediated their civic belonging by reinforcing home country ties. This study has implications for how public schools can better educate immigrant youth as citizens who build solidarity with diverse others and work towards a common good. This is critical in today’s world that is more connected through the movement of people, and yet, where many nation-states seek to limit the rights of immigrants to belong within their borders.

This qualitative case study examined the efforts of one elementary public school teacher to implement a social justice curriculum unit in her fourth grade social studies classroom. The study was guided by two research questions and one sub-question. With the first research question, I examined the role of the teacher in an elementary public school classroom implementing social justice. With the second research question, I explored the manner in which social justice education was implemented in the elementary social studies and incorporated into a standards-based public school classroom. This study also examined the barriers to implementation faced by the teacher in a public school setting. The data collection for this case study included daily observation notes over a sixweek period, multiple interviews with the teacher participant, and classroom and unit artifacts. Four themes emerged from the data analysis. The first three themes each addressed the first research question and examined the role of the teacher in a classroom implementing social justice education. These themes examined the role of the teacher in terms of establishing a socially-just climate, creating a child-centered curriculum that allowed for voice and choice, and recognizing that education is value-laden. The fourth theme addressed the second research question and sub-question and examined the implementation of the social justice curriculum unit in a fourth grade standards-based public school classroom. The findings of the study suggest that the teacher has a pivotal role in the implementation of social justice education, as the teacher both serves as a model for social justice and sets the context for social justice education to emerge in the classroom. The findings also suggest that the teacher may have to negotiate and/or circumvent standardized curricula to implement a social justice curriculum unit. The findings of this case study further suggest that the structure and substance of the social studies at the elementary public school level may not adequately support social justice education. Finally, although there are many conceptualizations of social justice education, the findings of this study suggest that the teacher’s own perception of social justice education impacts its implementation in the classroom. / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education