Preservice Social Studies Teachers' Perspectives and Understandings of Teaching in the Twenty-First Century Classroom: A Meta-Ethnography

Abstract

This meta-ethnography explores the conceptions preservice social studies teachers have toward broad theories of democratic education. The author synthesizes and analyzes empirical research to find a consensus on preservice teachers' conceptions of the social studies. Findings suggest that social studies teacher candidates enter teacher education programs with limited understandings of the broad aims of education and often exit programs unable to make proper associations between the classroom and theories of social justice, democratic education, and equality and equity. The author calls for more research exploring the extent to which preservice teachers internalize theories advocated for within teacher education.

Keywords

• Democratic Education; Citizenship Education; Teacher Education

References

1. Adler, S. (1984). A field study of selected student teacher perspectives toward social studies. Theory & Research in Social Education, 12(1), 13-30.
2. Adler, S. (2008). The education of social studies teachers. In L. Levstik and C. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education, New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.
3. Adler, S., & Confer, B. J. (1998, February). A practical inquiry: Influencing preservice teachers’ beliefs toward diversity and democracy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, New Orleans, LA.
4. Alfano, M. P. (2001). Preservice teachers' perceptions toward the meaning and purpose of democratic education in urban schools: A case study. (Order No. 3025018, The University of Connecticut). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, pp. 236-236. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/276153726?accountid=6167. (276153726).
5. Al-Janabi, H., Coast, J., & Flynn, T. N. (2008). What do people value when they provide unpaid care for an older person? A meta-ethnography with interview follow-up. Social Science & Medicine, 67(1), 111-121.
6. Angell, A. V. (1998). Learning to teach social studies: A case study of belief restructuring. Theory & Research in Social Education, 26(4), 509-529.
7. Atkins, S., Lewin, S., Smith, H., Engel, M., Fretheim, A., & Volmink, J. (2008). Conducting a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature: Lessons learnt. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8(1).
8. Author. (2015; Manuscript in Preparation). Exploring the associations preservice social studies teachers make between democratic education and discussion as a pedagogical approach: A multi-case study. Unpublished manuscript.

9. Avery, P. G. (2003). Using research about civic education to improve courses in the methods of teaching social studies. In J. Patrick, G. Hamot, & R. Leming (Eds.) Civic learning in teacher education: International perspectives on education for democracy in the preparation of teachers, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Wash., DC: 45-65.
10. Barton, K. C. (2012). Expanding preservice teachers images of self, students, and democracy. In D. Campbell, M. Levinson, F. Hess (eds.), Making civics count: Citizenship education for a new generation, pp. 161-182. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
11. Bickmore, K. (2008). Social justice and the social studies. In L. Levstik and C. Tyson (Eds.). Handbook of research in social studies education, 155-171. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.
12. Boyle-Baise, M. (2003). Doing democracy in social studies methods. Theory & Research in Social Education, 31(1), 51-71.
13. Crowe, A. R., Hawley, T. S., & Brooks, E. W. (2012). Ways of being a social studies teacher: What are prospective teachers thinking?. Social Studies Research & Practice, 7(2).
14. Cuenca, A. (2010). Democratic means for democratic ends: The possibilities of Bakhtin's dialogic pedagogy for social studies. The Social Studies, 102(1), 42-48.
15. Cutsforth, J. (2010). Preservice teachers' changing understandings about teaching social studies: The role of three secondary social studies methods courses. (Order No. 3447840, Columbia University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 332. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/858622331?accountid=6167. (858622331).
16. Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). How teacher education matters. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 166-173.
17. Dewey, J. (1900/1915). The school and society: Revised edition. University of Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
18. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. Macmillian Press Limited. London, UK.
19. Dinkelman, T. (1999 April). Conceptions of democratic citizenship in preservice social studies teacher education: A case study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
20. Doppen, F. (2007). The influence of a teacher preparation program on preservice social studies teachers' beliefs: A case study. Journal of Social Studies Research, 31(1).
21. Dumas, W. (1993). Preparation of social studies teachers at major research universities. International Journal of Social Education, 7(3), 59-65.
22. Fitchett, P. G., Starker, T. V., & Salyers, B. (2012). Examining culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy in a preservice social studies education course. Urban Education, 47(3).
23. Goodman, J., & Adler, S. (1985). Becoming an elementary social studies teacher: A study of perspectives. Theory & Research in Social Education, 13(2), 1-20.
24. Guba, E. G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries. ECTJ, 29(2), 75-91.
25. Gulsvig, P. K. (2009). Teacher Candidates' Experience of UbD in a Social Studies Methods Course. ProQuest LLC. Ann Arbor, MI.
26. Gutmann, A. (1999). Democratic education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27. Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere (T. Burger, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (Original work published 1962).
28. Hahn, C. (1999). Challenges to civic education in the United States. Civic education across countries: Twenty-four national case studies from the IEA civic education project, 583- 605.
29. Hertzberg, H. W. (1981). Social studies reform 1880-1980. Boulder, CO: SSEC Publications
30. Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. Routledge Press.
31. Kubow, P. K. (1997 April). Citizenship education for the 21st century: Insights from social studies teacher preparation students in three countries. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
32. Lortie, D. C., & Clement, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study (pp. 1-54). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33. Mathews, S. A., & Dilworth, P. P. (2008). Case studies of preservice teachers' ideas about the role of multicultural citizenship education in social studies. Theory & Research in Social Education, 36(4), 356-390.
34. Misco, T., & Patterson, N. C. (2007). A study of pre-service teachers' conceptualizations of academic freedom and controversial issues. Theory & Research in Social Education, 35(4), 520-550.
35. National Council for the Social Studies. (2013). A position statement of National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/revitalizing_civic_learning
36. Noblit, G. W., & Hare, R. D. (1988). Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies (Vol. 11). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
37. O'Brien, J. L., & Smith, J. M. (2011). Elementary education students' perceptions of" “good" citizenship. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 2(1).
38. Parker, W. (2003). Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life (Vol. 14). Teachers College Press.
39. Parker, W. C. (2005). Teaching against idiocy. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(5), 344-351.
40. Parker, W. C. (2010). Social studies education eC21. Social Studies Today: Research and Practice, 1-13.
41. Patton, M. Q. (Ed.). (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
42. Pryor, C. R. (2006). Pre-service to in-service changes in beliefs: A study of intention to become a democratic practitioner. Theory & Research in Social Education, 34(1), 98-123.
43. Ross, D. D.; & Yeager, E. (1999). What does democracy mean to prospective elementary teachers? Journal of Teacher Education, 50(4), 255-266.
44. Ross, E. W. (1988). Becoming a teacher: The development of preservice teacher perspectives. Action in Teacher Education, 10(2), 101-109.
45. Van Hover, S. (2008). The professional development of social studies teachers. In L. Levstik & C. Tyson (Eds.). Handbook of research in social studies education, New York, NY: Routledge Publishing.
46. Wilkins, C. (1999). Making 'good citizens': the social and political attitudes of PGCE students. Oxford Review of Education, 25(1-2), 217-230.
47. Wilson, E. K., Konopak, B. C., & Readence, J. E. (1994). Preservice teachers in secondary social studies: Examining conceptions and practices. Theory & Research in Social Education, 22(3), 364-379.
48. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th Edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing.
49. Zeichner, K. M., & Tabachnick, B. R. (1981). Are the effects of university teacher education 'washed out' by school experience?. Journal of teacher education, 32(3), 7-11.