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Rethinking place, boundaries, and local history in social studies teacher education

Jason Harshman (Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA)

Social Studies Research and Practice

ISSN: 1933-5415

Article publication date: 20 November 2017

342

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on a qualitative study that examined how pre-service teachers (PSTs) used mobile technology and experiential learning to critically examine the processes that shape places over time. During Summer course work that occurred prior to beginning their field experience and student teaching, participants explored neighborhoods and public spaces, and researched the history as well as contemporary issues relevant to the places in which their future students live, play, work, shop, and go to school. The use of social media as a forum for sharing and reflecting upon their experiences provided opportunity to critique neoliberal and race-based public policies, as well as support reflection on the relationships between geography and teaching about social (in)justice in the social studies. Findings inform the work of teacher educators who seek to help teacher candidates think more deeply about how spatial contexts inform culturally sustaining and critically minded pedagogy in the social studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study included pre- and post-surveys and two one-on-one interviews between research participants and the researcher. Data were also gathered through the use of posts made by participants to a shared social media account. Interested in the interactive process of subjects and their surroundings, symbolic interactionism provided the methodological framework for this study.

Findings

Involvement in the study provided PSTs with new ways of thinking about how places are shaped over time and the importance of incorporating local intersections of geography and injustice in the classroom. Through experiential learning, PSTs developed a critical understanding of how place relates to who they teach, moved away from deficit thinking about people and places, and, as evidenced in the examples shared, approached lesson planning as place-relevant and culturally sustaining social studies educators.

Originality/value

The majority of students enrolled in teacher education courses in the USA remains white and it is well documented that most possess few cultural and geographic ties to the schools and students they work with as PSTs. Interested in the intersection of race, place, and teacher education, this paper discusses research conducted with 12 pre-service secondary social studies teachers (PSTs) who were enrolled in an eight-week Summer seminar course that preceded their Fall field experience and Spring student teaching placements to learn how they interpret their movement through spaces and their understanding of how geography, race, and agency intersect and impact students.

Keywords

Citation

Harshman, J. (2017), "Rethinking place, boundaries, and local history in social studies teacher education", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 341-353. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-08-2017-0050

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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