Harmful oversights remain in elementary social studies curricula which overlook or misrepresent minoritized communities. This dissertation explores designs for teacher education which address these oversights through community collaborations. This multi-manuscript dissertation is an empirical-conceptual inquiry design (Cochran-Smith & Lytle,…

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the education technology narrative asserted that "New tools hold great promise for teaching and learning, but only when they are used effectively, appropriately and intentionally". In this dissertation, I explored how early childhood education teachers construct their understanding of technology…

This action research study honors teacher-as-researcher and utilizes qualitative methods of data collection alongside emergent design to study arts-integrated teaching and learning at a mid-sized Midwestern university in a social studies methods course. The thinking and learning of both pre-service teachers and the teacher educator/researcher are…

This dissertation sought to explore the way preservice teachers grappled with race/ism and citizenship during a social studies methods class. Relying on the theoretical framework of racial civic literacy, this instrumental case study examines six white preservice teachers as they confront issues of race/ism in a young adult fiction novel and…

There is urgency for teacher educators to instruct preservice teachers in the core tenants of social justice education. This urgency is based upon the ever-growing shift in the American demographic landscape and the responsibility of educators to teach for equity, justice, identity and community within classrooms across the U.S. Preservice…

The concept of "global learning" has become a pervasive buzzword in higher education in the United States. While the term is well-known, its meanings are multiple. In some instances, global learning refers to a modernization of liberal education initiatives, while in others it refers to the implementation of global experiences abroad. In…

Both history and education courses comprise a significant portion of certification requirements for prospective history teachers. Teaching ambitiously requires mastery of many practices and bodies of knowledge, including disciplinary, pedagogical, and pedagogical content knowledge, learned in that history and education coursework. However,…

As evidenced in the growing achievement gap between English language learners (ELLs) and their non-ELL counterparts, it is clear future teachers need to be better prepared to work with ELLs. This study examined the influence of infusing ELL strategies into methods courses through instructional coaching. This study was inspired by the larger…

This dissertation research examines a teacher educator's instructional practices and preservice teachers' learning in two elementary social studies methods courses. As self-study, it focuses on learning to teach preservice teachers how to select and use visual images to teacher history and social studies. The research uses the Grossman Framework…

In 2009, the National Council for the Social Studies released a position statement calling for the implementation of media literacy in social studies education. If today's students are to become engaged citizens as adults, they must acquire the skills and knowledge associated with media literacy. Using this position statement as foundation, I…

This study explores how one secondary social studies teacher education program prepares prospective teachers for inclusive education. Drawing on theories of democratic citizenship education and Disability Studies in Education, inclusive social studies envisions a socially democratic educational setting that fosters the development of a community…

This qualitative study investigated preservice social studies teachers' thinking about personal agency. This study used a case study design and was conducted in a semester long undergraduate social studies methods course. The findings drew upon data from eight participants. The participants were selected based on their stated purpose for teaching…

Issues of diversity and social justice are critical for teacher education as the student population in the United States becomes increasingly diverse ethnically, racially, socially, and linguistically. It has been traditionally assumed that social studies, more than other curricular areas, should deal with these issues, especially in raising good…

The purpose of the study was to better understand social studies teacher education through preservice professional development that incorporates an online gaming and simulation component. Examination of the impact of online gaming and simulations on the self-efficacy and content knowledge of preservice teachers in the methods course was…

This descriptive case study describes the use of documentary film to teach historical thinking in one undergraduate elementary social studies methods course. The study was situated within a teacher education program at a midsized public university in the Southeastern United States. Eighteen students were enrolled in the course. Of the eighteen…