Constructivism And The New Social Studies

The New Social Studies refers to a flurry of academic and commercial activity during the 1960s and 1970s that resulted in the mass development and dissemination of revolutionary classroom materials and teacher resources. In science as well as social studies, a spirit of “inquiry-based teaching” filled the air during this time, resulting in the development of curricula that were both pedagogically innovative and intellectually rigorous. “Constructivism and the New Social Studies” contains a collection of classic lessons from some of the most successful projects of the era, providing a resource of exceptional ideas and materials that have stood the test of time. These revealing artifacts are presented with commentaries from some of the original directors of major projects, including Edwin Fenton, Barry Beyer, and Suzanne Helburn. In addition to American and World History, groundbreaking lessons are represented in Economics, Government, Sociology, and Geography, including the Public Issues Series (Fred Newann), The Amherst History Project (Richard Brown and Geoffrey Scheurman) and Teaching American History: The Quest for Relevancy (Allan Kownslar, Gerald Ponder, and Geneva Gay), and Man: A Course of Study (Peter Dow). With a Foreword by Jerome Bruner, the volume not only provides a resource of exceptional curriculum ideas and actual materials, it also builds a lucid bridge between the theoretical ideas of constructivism and the pedagogical principles of inquiry learning. With over 50 years of expertise from curriculum history and social studies pedagogy, the editors make the case that “guided inquiry” as presented in these projects was constructivist by design, offering a range of instructional methods that begin with questions rather than answers and considers progress in terms of the development of analytical skills and experimental habits of mind rather than the mere acquisition of knowledge. Projects developed during the New Social Studies serve as both an interesting historical archive of powerful curricular innovations as well as a treasure trove of actual lessons and materials still useful in social studies classrooms striving to become more constructivist. The lessons and other materials we chose should be relevant if you are an historian, researcher, theorist, or teacher of any subject, but it will be especially significant if you are interested in the nature of social, civic, or historical literacy in America, including how to teach for authentic achievement in those areas.

Practical and dynamic are the hallmarks of this popular social studies methods text, and this new edition steps up its focus on motivation and creativity with a fresh, new design and a number of updates that give readers a clear vision of the most effective ways to teach social studies to elementary school students—and to motivate them to become social scientists. Here readers get a close look at actual elementary school classrooms in chapter-opening scenarios that set the theme for the chapter and place the content into a meaningful context. In addition, a number of new, authentic scenarios are used within the chapters to enhance reader understanding and show visually how teachers have actually used suggested teaching strategies in their classrooms. These vignettes, coupled with numerous photos, illustrations, and figures, illuminate and reinforce the information presented in a way that helps pre- and in-service teachers clearly envision the most effective and creative ways to teach social studies to elementary school students.--Publisher's website.

Discusses flexible strategies for teaching today's diverse learner the structure of the knowledge to be learned, how to help students reconstruct and present ideas, and how to translate theory and recent research into lesson plans and units. All within a constructivist framework! September 9 2013 - Ingrid Robinson took this book off the CRC shelf and asked that it be added to the Reserve Books Shelf.

Building on the success of previous editions, Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle Grades provides the structure of the knowledge to be learned, strategies to help students attain more control of their own learning, and models for translating theory and recent research into lesson plans and units for teaching 21st century diverse learners. Not only does the text guide pre-service teachers to teach social studies within a constructivist framework, but it also models that framework of guided inquiry in the organization of each chapter. Every chapter begins with an exploratory activity that challenges students to remember and reflect on their prior knowledge on the chapter's topic, moves into the more teacher-guided phase where students find explanations and activities that develop their understanding and social studies pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and ends in an expansion phase in which students must apply the main ideas of the chapter to other school and life contexts.

No longer relegated to just the classroom, learning has become universal through the use of social media. Social media embodies constructivism itself as the users engage in the development of their own meaning. And, constructivism is relevant to education, and learning theory and technological advance can be better understood in the light of one another. This volume explores: particular areas influenced by constructivist thinking and social media, such as student learning, faculty development, and pedagogical practices, practical and useful ways to engage in social media, and dialogue and discussions regarding the nature of learning in relation to the technology that has changed how both faculty and students experience their educational landscape. This is the 144th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education series. It offers a comprehensive range of ideas and techniques for improving college teaching based on the experience of seasoned instructors and the latest findings of educational and psychological researchers.

In this new text for the Education market, Susan Gibson uses a constructivist framework to guide teacher candidates learning how to teach Social Studies at the elementary level. The basis premise of constructivism is students learn by fitting new information together with what they already know, and students active engagement. Constructivism is the opposite of a didactic approach to teaching, wherein teachers lecture and students receive information sitting passively at their desks. Our author believes that teachers? beliefs about how students learn and the role the teacher plays in that learning affects their decision making across all aspects of planning, instruction, resource selection and reflective exercises.

The book develops the model of institutional constructivism to aid socio-legal research and to account for patterns of socio-legal change.

The Wiley Handbook of Social Studies Research is a wide-ranging resource on the current state of social studies education. This timely work not only reflects on the many recent developments in the field, but also explores emerging trends. This is the first major reference work on social studies education and research in a decade An in-depth look at the current state of social studies education and emerging trends Three sections cover: foundations of social studies research, theoretical and methodological frameworks guiding social studies research, and current trends and research related to teaching and learning social studies A state-of-the-art guide for both graduate students and established researchers Guided by an advisory board of well-respected scholars in social studies education research