This dissertation describes an experimental project to devise forums for “civil” public discussion. It is an analysis of the project in terms of the Coordinated Management of Meaning theory, and discusses implications for the de-escalation of tension and the management of conflicts where passions are unusually strong and the positions taken by disputants are particularly intractable. There has been an interesting effort to improve the quality of public discourse at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The usual form of educational discussion is the ‘debate’ and true to form, the administration called for debates to be held in order to allow informed and civil discussants to educate the student body on the issues surrounding events in the Middle East during the mid-eighties. But a turning point was made when The Kaleidoscope Project was announced as “not a debate,” but as “an experimental forum for the non-adversarial public discussion of intractable disputes: to ‘discuss the undiscussible’.” Through the late eighties and into the early nineties, Kaleidoscope forums were held and the format refined. Subsequently, “people of good will” on the campus have attempted to increase the opportunities for students and faculty to engage in non-adversarial forums, increasingly citing a perceived need for dialogue. “Dialogue” has become the watchword for educational and mediated conversations. The subject of this study is The Black/Jewish/Other Video Exchange Project which allowed self-identifying student members of three groups, “Blacks”, “Jews”, and “Others”, to use videotaped interviews to “enter a dialogue” or—as the BJO Committee referred to it, to have a “distanced conversation”. The dissertation holds the premise that different forms of communication construct different ways of being human, and thus the communication process constructs the specific forms and outcomes of conflicts in human systems. I hypothesize that interventions designed to produce dialogue rather than debate or dispute are rooted in differences in cultural constructions of “conflict” and “dialogue” and that the way people communicate rather than what they think contributes more significantly to the form of the conflict. Successful conflict management is a matter of second order change; the success or failure of peacemaking interventions depends upon the maintenance or the collapse of the interventive control of contextual reconstruction. The dissertation provides a conversation analysis of the videotapes from the BJO Video Exchange Project in order to advance a deeper understanding of cross-cultural “dialogue” and the characteristics of “transformative discourse.”

This dissertation investigates the role of familial racial socialization and formal education in black college students' racial ideologies. I argue that the ascendance of claims that America has become a colorblind, post-racial society necessitates a scholarly consideration of the sources that promote and sustain these empirically unsubstantiated notions. The mass media, through its coverage of highly visible examples of successful people of color, accomplishes some of this work. However, I contend that familial racial socialization and the high school U.S. history course, through its coverage of African American history, are two additional sources of racial messages that assist in promoting colorblindness and post-racialism. While researchers have identified parents as an important source of racial socialization, my interviews revealed that other family members, such as grandparents, siblings, and aunts, also played a significant role in students' racial socialization. Further, while students' racial socialization existed along a continuum of acknowledgment of contemporary racial oppression, the substance of what their parents and family members conveyed to them was generally of one of two types, critical or colorblind. Approximately half of the students in my sample received colorblind racial socialization, an important finding that contrasts with much of the literature on racial socialization. Additionally, high school U.S. history, through its coverage of African American history, interacted with students' familial racial socialization to help shape their racial ideologies beyond high school. Once these students matriculated at college they did not necessarily reproduce the racial ideologies into which they were socialized. Rather, depending on the nature of their racial socialization from family and the high school U.S. history course, I found that students were more or less likely to diverge ideologically from the racial interpretive framework developed prior to and during high school. The primary factor that motivated this process was whether students chose to take college coursework that exposed them to more critical interpretations of race and racism. A secondary factor was the substance of the racial ideologies of those in their peer group.

This thesis introduces map interactivity as a new learning resource for historical geography subjects. The purpose of the research is to examine the ability of interactive maps to improve the learning process in social studies classrooms in Utah's public schools. An interactive map and paper maps focused on Utah settlement and hypothetical geographical attractors were created for this research. A two-group experiment was conducted in six classes of Utah Studies; the experimental group used an interactive map, and the control group used a series of paper maps and corresponding tables. Students' conceptual knowledge was tested before and after they used the maps via a pre- and posttest. In addition, at the conclusion of the unit, students rated their feelings about the unit and their assigned maps on a bipolar adjective (semantic differential) scale. Students using the interactive map showed significantly better improvement on two sections of the test: matching and multiple choice. The cognitive processes and the types of knowledge the questions tested likely contributed to this result. Although a significant difference was not found for the attitude assessment, the slow speed of the computers may have increased students' frustration with the interactive map and, consequently, negatively impacted their attitudes about the unit. Integrating interactive maps in social studies classrooms can enhance learning, as these maps can promote an environment in which students learn more effectively and are more interested in the subject matter. As schools update their technology with faster computers, educators should implement more technological mapping resources that may enhance students' learning and attitudes about social studies.

In the current educational climate of federally mandated assessments of student learning, the survival of the elementary social studies curriculum may depend on interdisciplinary instructional methods to link social studies to the accountability-favored discipline of literacy. The purpose of this content analysis study was to examine and identify social studies content embedded within a second grade and a fifth grade basal reader from the 2008 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. Each of the basals were read and coded using the Utah State Office of Education Social Studies Standards indicators and the National Council for the Social Studies Standards as a priori categories. Data from both basal readers provided some encouragement that social studies learning opportunities for students are available within the texts. While some of the social studies concepts are explicitly presented, the majority of the learning opportunities are implicit in nature, requiring additional teaching beyond what is included in basal texts. To take advantage of these explicit and implicit social studies learning opportunities, teachers need to be aware of them and be prepared to teach social studies content and standards as part of the daily literacy routine. In spite of opportunities available for teachers to integrate social studies in the literacy curriculum, these opportunities will not replace the independent teaching of social studies content within the elementary curriculum.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how teachers teaches about controversial topics in the subject of social studies in relations to Albert Banduras theory of self-efficacy. Nine high school social studies teachers have been interviewed in order to fulfill this purpose. The teachers answers where then categorized into different categories of teaching strategies and influencing factors. The result shows that all of the teachers in the study applied teaching strategies that requires a high degree of self-efficacy. These strategies where pupil-centered to a high degree and correlates with ideals of deliberativ democracy as consensus weren’t necessarily the goal with the education. The source of the high degree of self-efficacy amongst the teachers seemed to be prior teaching experiences about controversial topics as all of the teachers claimed that their experiences where a major influencing factor for their classroom teachings. Other influencing factors such as the degree of heterogeneity in the classroom, type of high school program or the societal discourse surrounding the controversial topics where deemed as important but seemed to affect the choice of teaching strategies in a quite limited way. The fact that prior experiences where theprimary influencing factor supports the hypothesis that self-efficacy is an essential factor when teachers choose their teaching strategies as prior experiences of success (so-called mastery experiences) is the most important source for a strong sense of self-efficacy according to Bandura’s theory. / Denna uppsats har till syfte att granska samhällskunskapslärares undervisning om kontroversiella samhällsfrågor i ämnet samhällskunskap i relation till Banduras teori om upplevd självförmåga. För att uppfylla detta syfte har semistrukturerade intervjuer med 9 samhällskunskapslärare på gymnasienivå genomförts. Utifrån samhällskunskapslärarnas utsagor har en kategorisering kring lärarnas val av undervisningsstrategier samt de faktorer som påverkar detta val av undervisningsstrategier genomförts. Resultatet visade att samtliga lärare använde sig att undervisningsstrategier som i hög utsträckning förutsätter en stark upplevd självförmåga. Dessa strategier är elevcentrerade och bygger på samtalsdemokratiska ideal där konsensus inte nödvändigtvis är målet. Källan till denna starka upplevda självförmåga hos lärarna förefaller vara tidigare erfarenheter av undervisning om kontroversiella samhällsfrågor då samtliga lärare lyfte fram deras erfarenhetsgrad som en viktig påverkansfaktor för deras undervisning. Övriga påverkansfaktorer som graden av heterogenitet i klassrummet, typ av gymnasieprogram eller den samhällsdiskurs som omgärdar den kontroversiella samhällsfrågan uppgavs som viktiga men tycktes relativt sällan påverka valet av undervisningsstrategi i någon nämnvärd utsträckning. Att det är just erfarenheter som framförallt styr valet av undervisningsstrategi stödjer hypotesen att den upplevda självförmågan är central för valet av undervisningsstrategi då erfarenheter av framgång (s.k. mastery experiences) utgör den främsta källan till en stark känsla av upplevd självförmåga enligt Banduras teori.

We are currently witnessing a trend in which schools are transitioning from using traditional, printed textbooks to digital books. The digitalisation brings both advantages and disadvantages, wherefore it is interesting to analyse and discuss variables that may support this transition. The aim of this study is to analyse and compare digital and printed versions of textbooks for social science courses in Swedish upper secondary education, in order to investigate whether the digital versions contain tools, features and/or additions made possible by their digital nature that make them preferable to their printed counterparts. The study is based on Fred Davis’ 1986 technology acceptance model and the idea that variables related to the usability of a technological device can serve to explain our attitude towards it. The results of the qualitative content analysis show that the digital textbooks do indeed contain a number of technology-based tools, features and additions that allow for individual customisation and make the material more inclusive as it adheres to different learning strategies that students prefer or even need. / <p>Godkännande datum: 2022-06-02</p>

Florida's United States History End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment performance outcomes are scheduled to impact student course grades, educator evaluation scores, and school grades. A professional learning plan to improve teaching and learning in support of student achievement on the Assessment does not exist. Neither Florida Statute nor the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) facilitate or fund professional learning in support of these influences. This dissertation in practice proposes the use of the U.S. History EOC Assessment Professional Learning Series to build educator capacity in support of student achievement on the Assessment. Implementation of professional learning could address the disparity between the legislated Assessment and its potential impacts. Tyler's (1949) curriculum development rationale and Shulman's (1986) notion of pedagogical content knowledge provided a conceptual framework for the proposed professional learning. Professional learning experiences were designed to include (1) an assessment simulation, (2) a correlation of simulated assessment items to item specifications, (3) a test item writing practicum, and (4) model lessons. The series was designed to support pedagogical content knowledge growth in planning, teaching, and assessing United States History; and improve instructional and professional efficacy. The ultimate purpose of the series is to improve teaching and learning to support student achievement on U.S. History EOC Assessment.

Reacting to an impression that history is not viewed as significant as other curricular subjects such as reading, math, or science, there were multiple purposes for this research: first, to document the attitudes of the fourth grade teachers in one county in Florida towards the subject of Florida history. The teachers' perceptions of the importance of the topic to and for the students, to the administration, and to them personally was surveyed in addition to the perceived preparation of the teachers to teach Florida History. The second purpose was to ascertain the perception of fourth grade teachers regarding preference and efficacy of their methods; third, to discern the teachers' views as to the effectiveness and value of the available materials; fourth, to determine the amount of instructional time devoted to the teaching of Florida History; and fifth, to discover if there is any correlation between teacher attitudes toward Florida History and the methods and materials that they use to teach the subject. Eighty-eight of the 210 fourth grade teachers employed in the county during the research interval responded to a survey that was part Likert scale and part fill-in. The results of this research were in agreement with the premise that teachers perceive themselves as unprepared to teach history; however, the teachers of this county thought that Florida History was important to and for their students, the administration and them personally. Although the teachers advocated the use of constructivist approaches to teaching Florida History such as cooperative learning, student projects, and role-playing, the majority of the teachers utilized lecture as their predominant instructional method due to insufficient classroom instructional time (only one in five teachers included Florida History in the daily schedule). The textbook was the leading material of choice overwhelming tradebooks, computer software, and videos. Although there was a relationship discovered between the teachers' attitudes and the methods they espoused, there was no relationship between the teachers' attitudes and the materials they employed to teach Florida History.

As more and more students with intellectual disabilities are included in the general education middle school setting, the culture and context of the literacy instruction they are receiving is severely limited in the existing literature. In this study, the researcher employed an ethnographic research design to observe the literacy culture of two middle school general education social studies teachers in the context of a district and school that had focused on more inclusive practices over the past five years. The learning environment and the general education teachers* perceptions and expectations of the nature of literacy for students with intellectual disabilities in the general education setting were observed over a nine week period using two theoretical frameworks; the culture of inclusion (Giangreco, Cloninger, Dennis, & Edelman, 1994) and socio-cultural literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 1998). The data gathered is reflective of the literacy practices used with the four students with intellectual disabilities who agreed to participate in the in-depth analyses, though nine were enrolled in the three general education classes. The themes of socialization for students with intellectual disabilities in general education classes, and the immersion in and isolation from literacy practices within the general education social studies literacy culture emerged and are discussed in detail. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research for students with intellectual disabilities in general education middle school settings are provided.

The author examined the motivation for why, and methods of how, some secondary social studies teachers incorporate women’s voices into the traditional history framework. A multi-layered qualitative methodology was employed for this study using survey, case study, and phenomenological approaches, including interviews and classroom observations of participants. The researcher discovered the percentage of teachers who claim to incorporate women’s history/perspectives into their lessons; how teachers incorporate women’s history/perspectives into their lessons; and, the factors that contribute to teachers including women’s history/perspectives into their classes.