Overcoming Problems of Marginalization by Reimagining Elementary Social Studies Programs

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe ways in which we, as teacher educators, have responded to the marginalization of elementary social studies education. Specifically, we describe two innovative approaches to elementary social studies methods courses, focusing on the processes of developing and enacting these courses with teacher candidates. The first approach is a site-based course in elementary social studies and the second is a year-long block of social studies and literacy methods courses taught by an instructor who loops with students. These approaches have been successful in foregrounding twenty-first century knowledge and skills for citizenship in meaningful ways, and in making a strong connection to the world of practice and to the realities of fitting social studies into a crowded elementary school day. We share the lessons we learned and the challenges we faced as a result of these experiences.