In this study, we investigate how a third-grade teacher enacted controversial issues discussion about the use of Indigenous people as sports mascots. We highlight how the teacher supported eight students' sensemaking about the issue during small-group instruction. We provide suggestions for controversial issues teaching in elementary social…

There is a demographic and democratic imperative for social studies teachers to broach the issue of contemporary immigration in their classrooms. In this study, preservice social studies teachers (PSTs) viewed three documentary films that presented stories of immigration that run counter to the narrative projected by the Trump administration and…

This article addresses the need for researchers to move beyond discipline-specific approaches to research and practice and offers an example of how interdisciplinary understandings can increase knowledge in respective disciplines. The specific focus of the article is the shared challenges of broaching controversy in science and social studies…

In the United States courses on civics or government are often marginalized in most states' social studies curricula in favor of courses in United States or world history. The origins of this history-dominated approach have roots in the debates between the American Historical Association and the National Education Association at the turn of the…

The authors make a case for using "The West Wing," a political drama that aired on NBC from 1999 to 2006, as an instructional tool in high school civics and government classes. The show offers a realistic portrayal of life in the White House through the eyes of Democratic President Josiah Bartlet and his senior staff that can further students'…

Latino students, in particular, often feel alienated from politics, especially at the federal level, and this political disengagement often correlates with the immigrant status of students or their families. However, recent research suggests that the amount and quality of social studies coursework taken by immigrant students can reverse these…