This article, which was completed in January 2020, expands the author's presidential address, which was delivered at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, on November 22, 2019. In her address, Heafner discusses the new ecology of social studies and focuses on concerns over the civic health of our…

As the world grows increasingly contentious, education for citizenship demands greater attention. Yet at this perilous juncture, social studies has neglected to take up the task of preparing citizens in a democratic and global society. Social studies has become increasingly fragmented and isolated by disciplinary foci that fetishize academic…

The authors encourage teachers to make use of existing, standard social studies curriculum to uncover and to make visible the normative assumptions that underlie American cultural beliefs about gender and sexuality. The article provides an overview of how some cultures within the various Native American nations conceptualize gender and sexuality…

As LGBTQ issues gain prominence in political and social arenas directly related to social studies teaching, the field of social studies can no longer remain silent. The author argues that we need to move beyond marginal programs and an emphasis on anti-bullying measures to examine the heteronormative structures that school students in sexuality.…

In the face of the challenges of globalization, nation states try to reinvigorate their traditional or national values and local identities as a kind of counterbalance to globalizing influences. Hence, social and citizenship education across nations in Asia takes different forms with certain distinctive varieties in terms of policies, practices…

This study examines six US social studies teachers' beliefs and curricular decisions that impact their teaching about Asia. Using interview data, the study seeks to understand the forces that influence what, how, and when teachers teach about Asia in their secondary classes, if and how they position Asians as "others", and what bearing…

Notwithstanding all the studies and data on schooling today, one has to go back more than a decade--to the 1998 Public Agenda study "A Lot to Be Thankful For"--for a serious attempt to examine what parents think public schools should teach children about citizenship. The annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup poll on schooling has not asked…

The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of dimensions of trust and inter-relationships between those dimensions during the adolescent years. Drawing from survey data collected at the beginning and end of a semester in eighty middle- and high-school social studies classes, relationships were assessed between: social trust,…

Globally, gender norms and power differentials profoundly affect both girls' and boys' sexual attitudes, practices and health. One avenue for enabling young people to reflect on traditional gender arrangements that endanger their health--and to lay the groundwork for satisfying sexual lives--is sexuality and relationships education (SRE).…