Cultivating Informed Learners:

Finding Purpose and Passion in Social Studies

Anna Ralph

TE 872: Teachers as Teacher Educators

Michigan State University

Summer 2021
 Agenda for Today
1. Explore ways to shape social studies instruction so that it is meaningful,
relevant, and long-lasting for students.

2. Discuss how changing the way the material is presented can create more
passionate, informed, and culturally aware students.

3. Take a critical deep-dive look into an inquiry project

4. Connect this new information to current practices

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 Activate Prior Knowledge: Stop & Jot

Question: How can or how have you

already shaped your social
studies instruction so that it
is meaningful, relevant, and
long-lasting for your
students? Be prepared to
share your
thinking with
your table group.

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 Findings Through Research

Student Discussion Student Choice Inquiry-Led Approaches

The implementation of
. inquiry question, rather
frequent discussion
opportunities for students
allows them to project
their findings, take
ownership of their
learning, and further drive
their passion toward their
content knowledge.
Providing choice in
students’ learning allows
students to take
ownership and place
importance on their own
interests, while
continuing to engage
their passion.
Beginning a unit with an
than asking students to
open up to the
“introduction” page in
their textbook
automatically sparks
curiosity and ignites
passion in their learning of
the topic.

Are any of these findings related to what you discussed with

your table groups?
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 Reflect & Discuss

Question: Have you already

implemented any of these
strategies? If so, what
impacts have you seen
within student learning of
social studies content? Be prepared to
share your
thinking with
your table group.

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 Read & Reflect
Read the article from The Clearing House:
Social Studies Skills or Something Else? An Analysis of How the “Essential Social Studies Skil
ls and Strategies” Reflects Social Studies Instruction

As you read think about the following & come prepared to

discuss with your table group:

● What is the difference between the transmission and

social criticism approach?

● What benefits can teaching with inquiry lead to?

● What is something you found to be profound?

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 Think, Pair, Share
Brugar and Whitlock (2018) mentioned that an important aspect of inquiry-led
approaches is the idea that the teacher becomes a facilitator, and essentially takes a
step back from the teacher role to guide students’ questions and learning, but in return
also allows them to drive the process and their wonderings.

What are some content-areas within our social studies curriculum that you could
allow students to drive the discussion? Where could you incorporate inquiry-led
learning? How can changing the way the material is presented create more passionate,
informed, and culturally aware students?

.
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 Inquiry Project Deep-Dive
Goal
I wanted to create
. meaningful connections
and lifelong learning about
historical events and the
current world through the
use of an inquiry approach
to drive student curiosity
and learning.
Here is a complete look at the Action Research I conducted
Guiding Question
. Why is it important
to continue learning
about Native
American cultures in
social studies class?
How does it affect
our lives?
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Outcome
Taking a closer look at Native
American cultures and
contemporary culture, as well as
providing discussion
opportunities and choice of
research sparked students’
interest created a greater
understanding and appreciation
of the pas and how it affects
decisions today.
 Student Responses

A powerful theme emerged from the data I collected through this inquiry project: Empathy
develops within students when they are presented with multiple perspectives on history,
real-life stories, and are given opportunities to discuss their thoughts.

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 Final Inquiry Creations
Students were given choice in which Native American cultural region. Through many weeks
of looking at primary and secondary documents, research, and discussions students created their
research projects (shown below).
.

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 Takeaways & Current Practices
Upon looking at research regarding how to shape social studies instruction so
that it is meaningful, relevant, and long-lasting, reading about inquiry practices,
and taking a look at an inquiry unit and the data and outcomes, what are your
thoughts?

● How can we incorporate inquiry into more of our instruction?

● What is the benefit of incorporating inquiry?

For next time: come with ideas for how we can begin to incorporate it!

.
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 References
Bauml, M. (2016). Is it cute or does it count? Learning to teach for meaningful social studies in elementary grades. The Journal of Social Studies Research,40(1), 55-69.

doi:10.1016/j.jssr.2015.02.001

Brugar, K. A., & Whitlock, A. M. (2018). Social studies skills or something else? an analysis of how the "essential social studies skills and strategies" reflects social

studies instruction.Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(3), 111-117. doi:http

://dx.doi.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1080/00098655.2017.1418129

Hess, D. E. (2004). Discussion in social studies: Is it worth the trouble?Social Education, 68(2), 151-155. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/210638740?accountid=12598

Martinson, D. L. (2005). Building a tolerance for disagreement: An important goal in social studies instruction.The Clearing House, 78(3), 118-122. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/196855016?accountid=12598

Powerful, Purposeful Pedagogy in Elementary School Social Studies. (2017). Retrieved fromhttps

://www.socialstudies.org/position-statements/powerful-purposeful-pedagogy-elementary-school-social-studies

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