Angela: On a Critical Curve

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines one secondary social studies teacher's enactment of her critical constructivist beliefs in teaching for democratic citizenship education. Results are organized around the knowledge, skills, and dispositions addressed, and their consistency with critical constructivism. The teacher's practices were consistent with her beliefs; however, she struggled to balance her critical perspectives with her developing knowledge of critical scholarship and the belief that her students needed to come to their own conclusions.

Hard history in hard contexts: Teaching slavery and its legacy in a Neo-Confederate space

“…first-year teacher, identifying as non-rural, and working in rural school), the present case sampled only one participant. Similar single participant studies have been utilized by other social studies education researchers to example specific phenomena in-depth (see Beck, 2019; Endacott & Sturtz, 2015; Engebretson, 2018; Harris, Shreiner, & Hoelting, 2017; Hawkman, 2019; Heafner & Norwood, 2019; Johnson, 2008; Obenchain, Ives, & Gardner, 2007; Obenchain, Pennington, & Orr, 2010; Thacker, Friedman, Fitchett, Journell, & Lee, 2018; Washington & Humphries, 2011).…”

From Redlining to Benevolent Societies: The Emancipatory Power of Spatial Thinking

“…This approach ties into recent feminist, anti-racist, and internationalist articulations of citizenship education, which advocate a social justice or emancipatory component to teaching, arguing that most prevailing citizenship discourses rely on an “assimilationist view of civic identity and civic engagement.” Obenchain, Pennington, and Orr (2010) continue by noting that these recent theories openly challenge normative ideals of the common good or the autonomous rational thinker, advocating instead for democratic ideals to be forged through reconceptualizing justice by way of studying social inequity and conflict: “Given the increasing global nature of citizenship and the continuing issues of injustice locally, nationally, and globally, preparing citizens with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to actively work toward social justice is desirable” (p. 488; see also Giroux, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 2003; Parker, 2003). …”