Preservice Teachers and Religion: Serious Gaps in Religious Knowledge and the First Amendment

Marks, Melissa J.; Binkley, Russell; Daly, James K.

doi:10.1080/00377996.2014.927344

Cited by 10 publications

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“…Despite the potential to engage students in discussions on religion (and other forms of culture) teachers in both the social studies and in other content areas more often than not choose to avoid the inclusion of religion into their pedagogical practice. Avoidance occurs for a variety of reasons including – though certainly not limited to – a fear of offending students or parents, a lack of knowledge regarding specific religions or concern about showing bias (Marks et al , 2014; Moore, 2012). Avoiding speaking about religion does a disservice to students and, subsequently, society as it can perpetuate a consistent problem of ignorance, intolerance and misinformation regarding various religions (Moore).…”

Section: An Introduction To This Special Issue Of Social Studies Research and Practice On Religion’s Place In The Social Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion’s place in the social studies

Sunal

Tannebaum

2019

SSRP

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An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion's place in the social studies Religion's presence permeates across the globe influencing millions of people on a daily basis. Politicians use religion to shape policy, families use religion to celebrate customs and millions of other individuals use religion on a daily basis to both find solace and guide them in their decision making. Religion is everywhere and impacts the lives of all human across the globe. Citizens from all countries and of all backgrounds need to be exposed to various religions from an early age so they have better chances of developing into citizens who can effectively participate in our global pluralistic society that heavily relies on religion to function.No more viable place exists for exposure to the world's wide range of religions than in the pre-Kindergarten-12 classroom. Despite the often-homogenous nature of many classrooms, such environments frequently offer students more diversity in terms of views and beliefs than do students' families, religious institutions, sports teams or friend groups (Gutmann, 1999;Hess, 2004). The classroom, therefore, has the potential to provide students with opportunities to learn about and speak with individuals of different religious backgrounds in a controlled and supportive environment.Within the context of the K-12 school system, there perhaps exists no content area better suited to engage students in inquiry and experiences with diverse viewpoints on various religions than the social studies. The social studies is essential to a powerful curriculum given all of the opportunities it provides students to understand the world around them through conversations on culture, current issues and events and the ways in which humans interact (Parker, 2015). Further, the social studies aim to promote reform-oriented, tolerant citizens capable of entering into a democratic, pluralistic society (NCSS, 2014).Despite the potential to engage students in discussions on religion (and other forms of culture) teachers in both the social studies and in other content areas more often than not choose to avoid the inclusion of religion into their pedagogical practice. Avoidance occurs for a variety of reasons includingthough certainly not limited toa fear of offending students or parents, a lack of knowledge regarding specific religions or concern about showing bias (Marks et al., 2014;Moore, 2012). Avoiding speaking about religion does a disservice to students and, subsequently, society as it can perpetuate a consistent problem of ignorance, intolerance and misinformation regarding various religions (Moore).Though research exists on the place of religion in education, there is limited scholarship exploring religion's place in both the social studies classroom and the preparation of social studies educators. This special issue seeks to explore these topics by collecting and disseminating work from scholars and practitioners within the field of social studies education. To that end, the...

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Section: An Introduction To This Special Issue Of Social Studies Research and Practice On Religion’s Place In The Social Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion’s place in the social studies

Sunal

Tannebaum

2019

SSRP

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“…that candidates have limited, problematic or inaccurate knowledge of world religions, including their own (Marks et al, 2014;Subedi, 2006). Candidates often misunderstand their own rights and responsibilities as future educators related to teaching about religion in public schools (Walker and Langan, 2016).…”

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“…Learning to teach about religion through social studies Several studies have converged on the finding that teacher candidates are lacking in the knowledge required to teach about religion in meaningful ways (Marks et al, 2014;Subedi, 2006;Tannebaum, 2018;Walker and Langan, 2016). A survey of 101 elementary, middle and high school social studies teacher candidates found participants' knowledge of world religions to be "meager" (Marks et al, 2014, p. 251).…”

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“…Subedi (2006) discovered that elementary teacher candidates were surprised to learn that social studies curriculum mandated teaching about religion in early childhood contexts. Less than 35 percent of social studies teacher candidates surveyed could identify any part of the First Amendment's religion clauses, even in generalities (Marks et al, 2014). Only 38 percent knew that the Bible could be used as literature in teaching about religion, and nearly 20 percent did not know it is legal to offer a world religions course in public school.…”

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Secondary teacher candidates’ experiences teaching about religion within a history curriculum

Brooks

2019

SSRP

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Purpose The National Council for the Social Studies (2014, 2017) has called for increased attention to religion in social studies curriculum. A small but growing body of research has examined the preparation of social studies teacher candidates to teach about world religions, but critical questions remain. The purpose of this paper is to explore the question: what is the experience of the secondary social studies teacher candidate as he/she teaches about religion in a high school, world history course? Design/methodology/approach This study employed a phenomenological approach to examine the experiences of six teacher candidates as they endeavored to teach about world religions through a two-semester, intensive internship. Findings Findings, drawn from individual interviews with the candidates, suggest that their efforts to teach about religion were marked by fears, worries and concerns. Additionally, candidates understood their personal religious identities and experiences as significant influences on their experience teaching about religion. Finally, candidates experienced several features of their internship as key supports in their efforts to teach about religion. Originality/value This paper concludes with a series of recommendations for strengthening the preparation of social studies teacher candidates to teach about religion in public school settings.

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“…Within the fields of teacher education and multicultural education research, there is limited research investigating the role of teacher knowledge about religious diversity. Marks, Binkley, and Daly (2014) show that the lack of knowledge preservice teachers have about religious diversity should be urgently considered by teacher education programs in the U.S., not only for the purpose of teaching culturally responsive pedagogy, but also for allowing preservice teachers to practice reflective thinking about their own beliefs. Subedi (2006) pays attention to the lack of research focusing on the role of teaching religious diversity to preservice teachers and highlights how discussions about religion in teacher education intersect with other critical discussions on topics such as racism, power dynamics, and homophobia.…”

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Growing up Between Two Cultures: Problems and Issues of Muslim Children

El-Atwani

2016

JFDE

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Preservice Teachers and Religion: Serious Gaps in Religious Knowledge and the First Amendment

Cited by 10 publications

References 7 publications

An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion’s place in the social studies

An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion’s place in the social studies

Secondary teacher candidates’ experiences teaching about religion within a history curriculum

Growing up Between Two Cultures: Problems and Issues of Muslim Children

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