The Importance of the Person in the Role of Teacher

This article illuminates the importance of the person who occupies the role of teacher by focusing on three experienced, well-regarded teachers who work in urban schools. Ms. Smith teaches sixth grade social studies in an independent school, Mr. Peters teaches religious studies in a Catholic high school for boys, and Ms. Walsh teaches English and Public Speaking in a public high school. Despite noteworthy differences in setting, in subject matter, and more, all three teachers reveal that good teaching is at once both an intellectual and a moral endeavor. They show how important it is for teachers to develop a sense of community and of trust in the classroom. Finally, their work sheds light on why a teacher's intellectual and moral sensibility plays a significant role in his or her influence on students.     

Social dynamics of the multicultural classroom

Instruction and learning are socially determined activities, where social forces such as classroom atmosphere, social feelings, cultural sentiments, prejudice and stereotyping, interpersonal relations and expectations, as well as the reflection of social reality in subject matter all have a significant influence on the effectiveness of teaching and learning. The effective "multicultural" teacher has to be concerned about each individual student, and also be sensitive to the group and cultural affiliations of each of his or her students. Intercultural relations in the classroom may be a source of knowledge and mutual enrichment between culturally diverse learners if managed proactively by teachers. Frustration, misapprehensions and intercultural conflict are a more likely outcome if teachers do not deal with diversity in a sensitive manner.     

Emotional labour in the classroom: A psychoanalytic perspective

This article explores the nature of the emotional labour that teachers perform in their daily professional lives. It reviews the work of the sociologist Arlie Hochschild in order to assess how applicable her account of the nature of emotional labour is to the world of the classroom. It suggests that her account focuses on emotional labour as exploitative, and therefore ignores its rewarding dimensions. It argues that the Object Relations psychoanalytic tradition offers a richer account of emotional life in general, and emotional labour in particular. Object Relations theory is applied to describe the emotional labour of the teacher. Four observations of teachers at work in their classrooms are presented and analysed. The article aims to show how the unconscious dynamics of recognition and mis-recognition underpin success or failure at effective teaching and learning in the classroom.     

Exploring How an Elementary Teacher Plans and Implements Social Studies Inquiry

Social studies continues to be marginalized in elementary grades, yet the C3 Framework and its Inquiry Arc offer possibilities for high-quality elementary social studies instruction. However, the C3 Framework requires that teachers possess an adequate understanding of how to implement inquiry within the various social studies disciplines, which we argue is an aspect of the pedagogical content knowledge necessary for effective elementary social studies instruction. This single-case study follows an elementary teacher through her use of the C3 Framework, Inquiry Arc, and a related curriculum approach called the Inquiry Design Model as she conceptualized, planned, and implemented inquiries in her fifth-grade classroom. By incorporating this new knowledge into her existing understanding of social studies pedagogy, as well as her knowledge of her students and specific educational context, the teacher was able to successfully navigate some of the challenges associated with implementing social studies inquiry in elementary classrooms.     

Ethnography of Teacher Training: mantras for those constructed as 'other'

This article draws on a 1 year ethnographic study of the process of teacher training from an inclusive position and that of general postgraduate training. Student teachers elected either to teach a given subject or to train in 'inclusive education' which aims to accommodate all learners, regardless of the notion of 'disability' or other forms of difference. The inclusive position challenges the notion of 'difference' and invites examination into how educational policy has the potential to enforce oppressive norms. The research reported here illustrates how socially constructed norms in relation to behavior and achievement are reproduced in the classroom. Ethnographic data demonstrates how educational philosophy is delivered to student teachers that supports either exclusive or inclusive strategies of teaching. The political environment that student teachers are immersed in is examined, together with documentation of the process of training and its inherent politics. Reflective points include how the political environment which teaching is delivered simultaneously creates and enforces dominant discourses of difference. Critical reflection on this research suggests that those involved in inclusive approaches to education need to be vigilant against the inclusive argument becoming a mantra.     

The Rationale and Strategies for Undermining Xenophobia in the Classroom

In the last few years, xenophobic rhetoric and policies have sharply increased across the world and is especially apparent in the rise of far right political parties in Europe, the Brexit vote in Great Britain, and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. In these times, teachers have a responsibility to stand for values of inclusion and justice and be a voice of reason among the growing angst and fear-based policy decisions. This article explores the theoretical rationale for taking this position in the classroom in relation to the purpose of education, promoting the good of all students, and creating a classroom environment based on critical thinking and a strong analysis of current cultural and political trends. The article then looks at practical ways teachers can deconstruct this xenophobia in the classroom through instructional practices, creating a welcoming classroom environment, and curricular choices. Although these concepts are applicable in all subject areas, they are of special relevance to social studies teachers.     

Teaching Social Work and Social Policy in the Era of Hyperpartisanship

ABSTRACT

For social work educators, teaching social policy in the current political climate in the United States may seem daunting and energizing at the same time. Students are often acutely aware of the political and policy-related controversies raging in Washington, D.C. and local governments, and yet their position on these issues may be unexplored or conflicted. The social policy classroom can be a productive place to explore these conflicts, but instructors may be especially wary of undertaking these difficult conversations in the current hyperpartisan era. This article explores how to ground these conversations in social work’s professional values, pedagogical theory, and educational best practices to help students build skill and confidence in developing their own well-informed assessments about policies and politics.     

Developing Discussion Leaders Through Scaffolded Lesson-Study

In this study we report the findings of a two-year professional development study using scaffolded lesson-study to encourage and support four teachers' desire to use discussion with increased frequency and quality. We joined a collaborative community of practice made up of one university researcher, two classroom teachers, and a political science professor in the first year. In the second year, each initial teacher recruited one mentee from his or her school. The four teachers collaboratively designed discussion materials, observed each other lead the discussions, and then reflected and critiqued the materials. Our article reports evidence that lesson-study positively influenced the quality of the teachers' discussion facilitation, their appreciation for lesson-study as a professional development model, and their adoption of broader cultural principles necessary for independent inquiry-oriented teaching practice.     

Revised Historical Viewpoints

The author describes the use of literature circles in a social studies methods course for elementary preservice teachers and analyzes their effectiveness in teaching powerful social studies ideas. Literature circles encourage students to take more of a leadership role in the classroom, expect their active involvement, and challenge them to think more deeply about social studies content within texts. Students can compare different perspectives on the same historical event, such as the encounter between Columbus and the Taino, and reasons for including and omitting important ideas. Students can also note similarities and differences among cultures and current and historical events through literature circle discussions. However, teachers must carefully select texts which focus on powerful social studies ideas, emphasize the goal of thoughtful discussions when introducing literature circles, and be ready to raise significant issues ignored in the literature circle discussions during follow-up class discussions.     

The selfish giant: narration and language instruction in a multicultural pre-primary class as a model for teacher change and development

Within the framework of multicultural education, a school-based teacher training program was implemented in a public preschool in Nicosia, Cyprus, where a large number of migrant pupils were enrolled. The main goal of the program was to create a basis for reflection and interaction among the teaching staff about issues related to the social and learning development of migrant pupils. The approach was based on a model for teacher change which focuses on enactment and reflection. Specific methodological aspects were applied in a session related to language instruction, which was carried out and observed by the school teaching staff. The main conclusion was that most of the migrant pupils reacted positively: they played an active role and their participation increased. This teacher training program enabled the teachers to realize how they, as professionals, are influenced by their own experiences and they also recognized the limits of their competences and expertise.     

Community,Voice, and Inquiry: Teaching Global History for English Language Learners

This in-depth qualitative case study explores how one social studies teacher implemented teaching Global History for Latino/a English Language Learners (ELLs) in an urban newcomer high school. Using a framework for culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education, this article seeks to highlight how the teacher discussed, designed, enacted, and reflected on their Global History curricula through observing, interviewing, and gathering artifacts in a social studies classroom. Findings reveal that although the teacher faced great pressures and demands of implementing a high stakes, standards-based curriculum, he was able to enact a curriculum that focused on accessing and building upon ELL students' cultural, linguistic, and civic assets and experiences. This article explores the curricular and instructional design implemented by the social studies teacher, and aims to provide readers with an example of and insight into how best to meet the needs of ELLs in the social studies classroom. Various examples of social studies teaching strategies and English language learning techniques are discussed, including: experiential learning, writing and revision, inquiry-based learning, discussion, group work, and social studies concept formation.     

Comparing Ourselves to Others: International Knowledge and Attitudes

The authors focus on the collaboration between a university methods professor and two classroom teachers in teaching social studies methods as a way of bridging the gap between university preparation for teaching social studies and putting that preparation into practice in elementary classrooms. The teachers offer recommendations from their own teaching experiences for how preservice teachers can find time for powerful social studies teaching despite pressures to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind in literacy and mathematics. They integrate social studies with literacy and math, use "teachable moments" and transitions between subjects, and incorporate social studies research with computer and media skills. In addition, they employ class meetings to practice the democratic processes of collectively setting and revising class rules, accepting responsibility for those rules, and working together to solve classroom problems. Informal feedback from the preservice teachers reflects their appreciation of advice from classroom teachers with current experience in addressing the challenge of making time for powerful social studies teaching.     

Patterns of sociolinguistic variation in teacher classroom speech

This study investigates sociolinguistic variation in teacher classroom speech. Based on a spoken‐French corpus produced by 59 teachers while teaching secondary school students (aged approximately 14–17 years) in four Ontario localities, it examines five cases of variant alternations. First, the study uses two comparative corpora to establish the social marking of the variants in the wider community. Second, it examines the teachers’ repertoire and frequency of use of variants in light of their social markedness. The study shows that the teachers use the standard variants at rates above even those found in the speech of the highest social strata within the wider community. Despite this normalizing impact of the classroom, the teachers also use all the non‐standard variants found in the wider community. Further, the study examines the impact on the teachers’ variant choice exerted by their socio‐professional characteristics and the communicative functions they perform in the classroom. It shows that the teachers’ use of variants is influenced by their gender, the subject taught, and the communicative functions performed in the classroom in ways that are in line with the social markedness of the variants in the wider community.     

Reading,Writing, and Revolution: Facilitating Social Activism in First Grade

This article examines how teachers can develop a sense of social activism in students through critical multiculturalism. Drawing upon data from a nine-month participant observation study of a first-grade public charter school classroom in central California, this article highlights how teachers can integrate critical multiculturalism within an elementary classroom by connecting artists' lives to social issues to raise awareness of social injustices, promote critical reflection and consciousness, and develop a sense of social activism. Particular attention is paid to how teachers can incorporate this curriculum into their own classrooms.     

Teaching Elementary School Social Studies Methods under edTPA

This article reports a self-study that analyzes my experience as a teacher educator navigating a turbulent educational landscape with the advent of edTPA. The data consist of my journal entries, the syllabi, handouts, work submitted by my students, and course evaluations. Data were analyzed by using an inductive process to describe how the edTPA compounds my work of teaching future elementary teachers for social studies for social justice. I discuss challenges associated with my teaching and the ways that I have grappled with these challenges. Implications for teacher educators are discussed, because we all must deal with important issues in the current era of accountability and testing.     

Paulo Freire in the Composition Classroom

The composition classroom in which students can relate and assess their attitudes and suppositions about sexuality and gender through building on the narrative of their lives, is vital to transforming homophobic attitudes and social structures. Paulo Freire's theories of transformative education and his concept ofpraxishelp to create this classroom. The author discusses how she createspraxisin her classrooms, which she believes is essential to social, legal, and political change: to consolidating and expanding increased equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, indeed to all marginalized peoples.     

'They are not like us and neither should they be': issues of teacher identity for teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties

This article analyses notions of teacher identity for a group of teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Teacher identity is analysed from the perspective of the role it plays in supporting the teachers' ideas of being separate and different from their teaching colleagues in mainstream education. For some of the teachers this is manifested in an identity to a cause, which is deep rooted and complex. It is argued that teacher educators need to be aware of the potential influence of teacher identity when planning and delivering initial teacher training and continued professional development. This is particularly pertinent in a context of supporting greater shared professional identity between teachers who work in segregated and mainstream contexts. It is also argued that the development of the discourses of inclusion needs to take account of the complexities of these issues. Whilst engaged in a doctoral research project exploring teachers' views of how pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities learn, issues of teacher identity emerged as an important element in the teachers' discussions about their work. This article focuses upon these issues, particularly in relation to professional development and a changing school culture that explicitly expects greater inclusive practice. It appears that the discourse relating to identity is about continua, tensions and boundaries that continually interplay. In my own developing understanding of issues of identity, I found the sociological paradigm helpful in offering an appreciation of identity that acknowledges the interplay between the individual and society. Notions of social identity, embracement and distancing offer a conceptual framework for appreciating the teachers' views in this study. Bakehurst and Sypnowich (1995) discuss the synergy of individual and societal influences on the development of identity: 'We are participants in our own construction and exercise some autonomy in the face of the forces of socialization. But conversely, the human mind is not just shaped by society, it is made by society' (Bakehurst and Sypnowich, 1995, p. 5, italics my addition). Jenkins (1996) suggests that changing understandings of identities coupled with changes and developments in society have created a tension and mismatch of identities in a social context:

The popular concern about identity is, in the large part perhaps, a reflection of the uncertainty produced by rapid change and cultural contact: our social maps no longer fit our social landscapes. (Jenkins, 1996, p. 9)

     

Identity,beliefs and community: LDS (Mormon) pre‐service secondary teacher views about diversity

Research shows that pre‐service teachers must engage in a self‐examination of identity, attitudes and assumptions concerning such issues as privilege, group membership, religion, gender and language before entering a classroom. However, this is no easy task for students with little experience of living in or learning about diverse communities. Such a state is Utah in the US, a region whose historical roots are rural and—unlike any other American state—whose citizens, political leaders and educators are predominately Euro‐American and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), commonly known as Mormons. While some teacher educators encourage their predominantly LDS secondary pre‐service teachers to utilize critical pedagogy, it becomes clear that students' religious identity comes into conflict with issues associated with race, class, language and gender. The following qualitative case study examines how the theology of the LDS Church informs the identity and educational belief systems of six female, LDS pre‐service secondary educators as they prepare to teach in diverse communities across the US.