Background: Drawing from research with 11th-grade history students, the authors illustrate how students' racial/ethnic and language experiences influence their analysis of Mexican American discrimination. Latinx students' experiences with white privilege helped them understand why 1940s Mexican Americans claimed whiteness to access better schools.…

Social studies texts often pose a challenge for readers because of their complex linguistics features, which can cause comprehension issues. Drawing upon Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this study examines how authors create cohesive messages and meaning in an 11th-grade U.S. history textbook in relation to the history of diseases. Findings…

U.S. politics has been primarily focused on the exploration of presidential power. People have engaged in traditional Master Narratives with the examination of U.S. Presidents where their actions are elevated and the catalysts for seismic societal changes. What is not examined in as much detail is legislative power wielded by members of the House…

This research study examined how students and I navigated learning and teaching about genocide and mass violence in the context of a semester-long high school comparative genocide and human rights elective course at DeWitt Junior-Senior High School in rural south-central Wisconsin. Specifically, the study examined how students individually and…

This study investigated an approach to teaching students to evaluate online information in the context of a high school history class. Over the course of a semester, I collaborated with a teacher to teach and refine a series of eight lessons focused on "civic online reasoning." We aimed to use students' historical reading as a bridge to…

The current political trends to ban the teaching of race and racism in public schools, to eliminate Advanced Placement African American Studies classes, and to whitewash U.S. history standards, maintain hegemonic discourses, while simultaneously devaluing the teaching of Black histories and sanitizing the legacy of race and racism in U.S. society.…

The United States and Brazil were the two largest slave societies in the history of New World slavery, and the legacies of that history remain salient in both nations. Slavery and the slave trade are important topics to be taught in history courses, and future generations need to be given accurate information about the history and legacies of…

Robert Burns Eleazer (1877-1973), a liberal white Methodist from Tennessee, served as the education director and director of publicity of the Atlanta-based Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC) from 1922 to 1942. As education director, he developed a strategy for improving race relations which entailed offering prizes to young people in the…

The potential for quality civic education programs to foster civic empowerment and engagement among young citizens is explored through an examination of three programs for primary and secondary school students implemented by the Center for Civic Education--We the People/James Madison Legacy Project, Presidential and Congressional Academies for…

As secondary social studies education in the United States moves toward inquiry and constructivist models of teaching, much of the history that is taught is stuck in a fairly rigid narrative. This narrative has been written and refined by historians and high school textbook writers until the canon is homogenous across the United States (Brinkley…

The scope of this article is twofold: to revisit the foundational importance of Business Spanish to the United States and to track its early formalization in American secondary and higher education. It will focus on the years surrounding American Independence in 1776, followed by the key role played by the American Association of Teachers of…

Previous research has focused on various methods, strategies and concepts that impact the teaching of history in classrooms (Brush & Saye, 2002; Hicks, Doolittle & Ewing, 2004; Levstik & Barton, 2011; Shepherd, 2010). However, research that examines the practice of using the reenactment process in regard to teachers' beliefs and…

Social studies teachers in the United States are often unprepared or hesitant to teach about race and racism. This is especially true among White teachers. If teachers are to teach American history, they must be prepared to teach about race and racism, starting with the construction of race in Colonial America and continuing to emphasize the…

In this article, Kate Collins begins by explaining how she discovered that "Hamilton: An American Musical," a Broadway show that incorporates a mix of musical genres: hip-hop, jazz, classic show tunes, and show-stopper numbers based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, could be brought into her teaching as a rich resource for her high…

This case examines the pressing need for systemic equity and social justice in educational structures in the society of the United States (US). The case critiques the inadequate responses to racial justice and highlights the challenges faced in enacting meaningful educational reform amidst declining patriotism and cultural schisms. Introducing…