Research Synthesis
Research selected for this curriculum project was based on three key questions:
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How do identified and studied variables impact social studies education?
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Which curriculum and planning frameworks are best suited for inquiry based social studies?
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What curriculum ideologies and theories best support social studies education today?
The amount of research available is vast. It is through these key questions that a manageable collection of research was identified and used to create an instructional inquiry unit for elementary students. A common thread through all the research is the idea that education in constructed by learners in unique ways and that teachers are the gatekeepers of the knowledge and skills that are necessary for completing the whole learner. Similarly, Connelly and Clandinin (1988) defined personal practical knowledge as “a moral, affective, and aesthetic way of knowing life’s educational situations” (p. 59). The research selected reflects my personal practical knowledge and my conviction to Deweyian progressive education as defined by Eisner (2002), “[Dewey] regards the human being as a growing organism whose major developmental task is to come to terms, through adaptation or transformation, with the environment in which he or she lives” (p. 67). The analytical studies identify variables that can be addressed and modified to create environments that are more conducive to social studies education. The curricula frameworks are similar in that these frameworks support problem based education with inquiry based processes. The narratives selected are more than celebrations of the teacher as educator, but provide knowledge, awareness, and processes to guide educators when creating curricula.
Time spent teaching social studies is the identified culprit as to why social studies has lost prominence among the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. But what has caused this shift in priority? Early analytical studies point to changing perceptions about the value of the sciences, specifically mathematics and science (Thorton & Houser, p. 10). High stakes testing and legislation for testing in mathematics and reading as the reasons why decreased time allotted for teaching social studies has occurred. Other factors revealed in the studies for the continual marginalization of social studies, especially in the elementary grades, included teacher autonomy and teacher curricular decision-making processes (Fitchett, Heafner, & VanFossen, 2014). The Roadmap for 21st Century Geography Education Project identifies current trends in the National Assessment of Educational Progress and provides recommendations for geography educators for improving geographic awareness (Bednarz, Heffron, Huynh, 2013). Snapshots of the big picture to local and broad to specific are accessible by examining all three of the analytical studies.
Frameworks provide a common structure on which to build lessons and activities. The included framework structures for this research base are those that are currently in use in Delaware schools. The most recent framework from the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is provided as a structure that employs inquiry through the use of questions as the curriculum process. This process laden framework is necessary as the Delaware Social Studies Standards are knowledge and principle based and do not provide methods for teaching. The Fraenkel article shares the scaffolded lesson structure that was first shared by Hilda Taba in the 1960s. The scaffolding components of gathering information, extending information, and applying information are indicative of the Delaware Recommended Curriculum for the Social Studies and evident in the model units that are made public by the Delaware Department of Education. Recent model unit adaptations in Delaware have included activities based on the standards that are found in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA). The NCSS framework explicitly references the CCSS-ELA standards and illustrates how those standards are met and can be planned by using the framework.
With the social studies problems identified and a research-based unit and lesson framework established, the missing piece in order to create solid curriculum is that of a method for evaluation, analysis, and reflection. The narratives that have been selected provide insights into all curricula as well as specific social studies curricula. Of note is the analysis by Amy Demarest. Demarest (2015) claimed “that standards can continue to drive best practices when teachers have artistic license to weave them together with authentic experiences…” (p. xii). Common to all the narrative selections is the idea that teachers will implement curriculum based on personal practical knowledge and that there is no one size fits all curriculum. It is in this vein that the curriculum project was created, by understanding the reasons for lack of attention given to the social studies, by creating a curriculum that can be transferred for use by others, and by the realization that a curriculum must be adaptable and should be analyzed and revised as deemed by stakeholders.
