New York University
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Department of Teaching and Learning
Trends and Problems in Social Studies Education
SOCED-UE 1135
Instructor:
Office:
Email:
Office Hours:
Stacie Brensilver Berman
611 East Building
[email protected]
By Appointment
Credits:
Course Day/Times:
Course Location:
3 credits
Tues./Thurs. 2:00-3:40
Silver 404
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Social studies, commonly and most often associated with teaching history, has a long and complex
history of its own. Therefore, this course has two major goals: First, to introduce students to the
foundation and evolution of social studies and the educational and historical context and circumstances
that influenced the discipline and the ways in which it changed over time. Second, to discuss and
evaluate the current state of social studies, specifically, and education in general in the twenty first
century. These two goals are connected in important ways, as education develops and evolves in
response to the historical context and, as with all history, the past has significant bearing upon the
present. The course will consider the impact of national and international events and population shifts
and changes on the social studies classroom, exploring questions of opportunity, access, and
responsibility, and discuss how all of these matters inform the design of a social studies curriculum. The
course will examine different concepts of democratic citizenship and multiculturalism in the contexts of
U.S. societies and schools, and how these concepts relate to teachers’ and students’ social identities
(race, ethnicity, class, gender, etc.) and classroom pedagogies (curriculum, instruction, assessment
approaches). The course will explore the evolving intentions underlying social studies education and the
outside forces that impact upon it, evaluating the ways in which social studies education--in the past and
the present--achieves and/or fails to meet its goals.
LEARNER OBJECTIVES:
Through readings, discussions, presentations, projects, and debates, students will be able to:
• Understand the evolution of social studies education in the context of 20th century American
history;
• Situate themselves historically, culturally and socially within the field of social studies;
• Formulate solidly grounded beliefs about teaching philosophies, policies, and practices;
• Explain different conceptions of democratic citizenship, multiculturalism, and patriotism in the
context of real-world U.S. society and schools;
• Recognize the relationship between teachers’ and students’ social identities and classroom
pedagogies;
• Create and explain social studies pedagogies that promote democratic citizenship;
• Develop and implement self-reflexive strategies and practices that enable them to regard
teaching and learning as on-going, dynamic processes.
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COURSE MATERIALS
Required reading for this course consists of a set of articles, essays, and chapters that can be found on
NYU Classes. The syllabus includes full citation information for each.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance and informed participation in class discussions: Students are expected to complete
all of the readings for each session and come to class prepared to discuss the ideas and positions
raised therein. Students will be asked to develop critical and analytical questions to guide the
class discussion of these readings on a rotating basis (20% of grade).
2. Assignments: The course is divided into four sections, each examining a different era in the
development and evolution of social studies. The first three sections will culminate in writing
assignments requiring students to synthesize class readings, outside sources you deem
appropriate, and your own stance on the issues presented and discussed in class. These
assignments will be announced in class and posted on NYU Classes. The topic of each
assignment will be generated by the issues and subject matter on which we focus in class.
These assignments are due on Thursday, September 25, Tuesday, October 28, and Tuesday,
November 25 (each 10% of grade).
3. Reading Response Papers: Short (1-2 pp) responses to reading assignments may be randomly
assigned throughout the semester. These responses will be announced in class and due at the
beginning of the next class session. All students are responsible for submitting these responses
when they are assigned, regardless of absence from the previous class (10% of grade).
4. Final Project: Students should be thinking throughout the course about the implications of the
course readings and discussions for the teaching of social studies. The final project will give you
an opportunity to focus on a particular topic in U.S. History and then integrate your content
knowledge with your ideas about the presentation of history. Your project should provide an
overview of the topic, review of relevant readings, and a discussion of how the ideas and
theories we discuss over the course of the semester influence the way in which this topic might
be introduced in social studies classrooms as a particular level. You will receive detailed
instructions for this assignment in the middle of the semester (40% of grade).
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Students are expected to attend each class, fully prepared to discuss the readings. Poor attendance will
affect the class participation. Students who must miss a class for any reason should e-mail me in
advance of the class. Students may not miss more than five classes and remain in the course. If you
must miss class, please obtain the day’s notes from one of your classmates. I am happy to answer
additional questions that you may have about any information or discussion you missed.
GRADING POLICY:
You should note carefully the dates that written assignments are due. Late assignments will be taken
into account in assigning the grade for course participation, and will also result in a grade reduction of
three points for each day that the assignment is late. Assignments will not be accepted via email, unless
otherwise noted or announced.
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STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Any student attending NYU who needs an accommodation due to a chronic, psychological, visual,
mobility and/or learning disability, or is Deaf or Hard of Hearing, should register with the Moses Center
for Students with Disabilities at 212 998-4980, 240 Greene Street, www.nyu.edu/csd.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do; from taking exams, making oral
presentations to writing term papers. It requires that you recognize and acknowledge information
derived from others, and take credit only for
ideas and work that are yours. You violate the principle of academic integrity when you:
• Cheat on an exam;
• Submit the same work for two different courses without prior permission from your professors;
• Receive help on a take-home examination that calls for independent work;
• Plagiarize.
Plagiarism, one of the gravest forms of academic dishonesty in university life, whether intended or not,
is academic fraud. In a community of scholars, whose members are teaching, learning, and discovering
knowledge, plagiarism cannot be tolerated. It is the failure to properly assign authorship to a paper, a
document, an oral presentation, a musical score and/or other materials, which are not your original
work. You plagiarize when, without proper attribution, you do any of the following:
• Copy verbatim from a book, an article or other media;
• Download documents from the Internet;
• Purchase documents;
• Report from other's oral work;
• Paraphrase or restate someone else's facts, analysis and/or conclusions;
• Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy from you.
Consult your professors for help with problems related to fulfilling course assignments, including
questions related to attribution of sources.
Please note that when a professor suspects cheating, plagiarism, and/or other forms of academic
dishonesty, appropriate disciplinary action may be taken following the department procedure or
through referral to the Committee on Student Discipline.
All Students Must Comply At All Times with All Aspects of New York University's Code for Academic
Honesty.
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COURSE SCHEDULE:
Assignments are subject to change based on the pace of the class and issues/topics that arise over the
course of the semester. Changes will be announced in class or via email. Students are responsible for all
listed and announced assignments.
Foundations and Progress:
Tuesday, September 2
Introduction
Thursday, September 4
Origins of National Ideas on Curriculum
• Kliebard, Herbert, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
3rd ed., (New York: Routledge, 2004), Chapter 1.
Tuesday, September 9
Establishment of the Discipline
• “The Study of History in Schools: Report to the American
Historical Association by the Committee of Seven” (1899);
look over the entire report, but specifically read pages 2743, 86-100.
• “The Social Studies in Secondary Education: Report of the
Committee on Social Studies of the Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education of the National
Education Association” (1916); look over the entire report,
but specifically read pages 9-13, 33- 53.
Thursday, September 11
Impact of National Events and Cultural Change
• Lybarger, Michael, “Origins of the Modern Social Studies:
1900-1916,” in History of Education Quarterly V. 23.4
(Winter 1983), pp. 455-468.
• Herbert Kliebard, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
Chapters 4 and 5.
Tuesday, September 16
Progressive Education
• Herbert Kliebard, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
Chapters 2 (skim) and 3.
• Dewey, John, “The School and Social Progress,” in School
and Society (New York: Cosimo Classics, 2008), pp. 19-44.
Thursday, September 18
Education and Democracy
• Dewey, John, “The Democratic Conception in Education,” in
Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Education, Reprint Edition (New York: Free
Press, 1997), pp. 81-99.
• Kahne Joseph and Joel Westheimer, “Teaching Democracy:
What Schools Need to Do,” in Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 85.1
(Sep. 2003), pp. 34-40, 57-66.
• Ross, E. Wayne, “Remaking the Social Studies Curriculum,”
in The Social Studies Curriculum: Purposes, Problems and
Possibilities, 3rd Ed., (Albany: SUNY Press, 2006), pp. 319332.
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Tuesday, September 23
Education and Social Change
• Counts, George, Dare the Schools Build a New Social Order?,
(Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978),
Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-34.
• Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, “Guardian of
Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools,” (Philadelphia:
Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics of the Annenberg
Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania,
2011), pp. 1-25.
Thursday, September 25
NO CLASS- Assignment #1 Due
• Assignment due via email by 8:00 PM
Social Studies in Changing Times:
Tuesday, September 30
The Great Depression
• Zimmerman, Jonathan, Whose America?: Culture Wars in
the Public Schools (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
2002), Chapter 3.
• Herbert Kliebard, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
Chapter 7.
Thursday October 2
World War II
• Hertzberg, Hazel W., Social Studies Reform, 1880-1980,
(Boulder, CO: Social Science Education Consortium, 1981),
Chapter 4.
• Herbert Kliebard, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
Chapter 8.
Tuesday, October 7
Teaching the Past- Focus on World War II
• Linenthal, Edward and Tom Engelhardt, “Introduction,” in
History Wars, edited by Edward T Linenthal and Tom
Engelhardt (New York: Holt Paperbacks, 1996), pp. 1-7.
• Kohn, Richard, “History at Risk: The Case of the Enola Gay,”
in History Wars, pp. 140-170
• Wallace, Mike, “Culture War, History Front,” in History
Wars, pp. 171-198.
Thursday, October 9
The Cold War and Education
• Jonathan Zimmerman, Whose America?: Culture Wars in
the Public Schools, Chapter 4.
• Herbert Kliebard, The Struggle for the American Curriculum,
Chapter 10; look over the entire chapter, but specifically
read pages 236-249.
• National Defense Education Act (1958) (in class)
Tuesday, October 14
NO CLASS- Fall Break
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Thursday, October 16
Teaching the Past- Focus on the Cold War
• Brensilver Berman, Stacie and Robert Cohen, “War Crimes
in Global Perspective: From the Eastern Front to No Gun
Ri,” in Teaching Recent Global History edited by Robert
Cohen, Laura Dull, Michael Stoll, and Diana Turk, (New York:
Routledge Press, 2014), pp. 170-205 (skim interviews pp.
170-187).
• Turk, Diana with Allyson Candia and Abby Rennert,
“Clashing Ideologies: Consumer Culture and the Fall of
Communism,” in Teaching Recent Global History, pp. 132163 (skim interview pp. 132-141).
Tuesday, October 21
Civil Rights and the 1960s
• Jonathan Zimmerman, Whose America?: Culture Wars in
the Public Schools, Chapter 5.
• Bohan, Chara Hauessler and Patricia Randolph, “The Social
Studies Curriculum in Atlanta Public Schools in the
Desegregation Era,” in Theory and Research in Social
Education, Vol. 37.4 (Fall 2009), pp. 543-569.
Thursday, October 23
The New Social Studies
• Hazel Hertzberg, Social Studies Reform, 1880-1980, Chapter
6 (in World War II folder on NYU Classes).
• Beyer, Barry K., “Gone but Not Forgotten: Reflections on
the New Social Studies Movement,” in The Social Studies,
Vol 85.6 (November/December 1994), pp. 251-256.
• Rice, Marion, “Reflections on the New Social Studies,” in
The Social Studies, Vol. 83.5 (September/October 1992), pp.
224-232.
• Nelson, Lynn R., and Frederick D. Drake, “Secondary
Teachers’ Reactions to the New Social Studies,” in Theory
and Research in Social Education, Vol. 22.1 (Winter 1994),
pp. 44-73.
Tuesday, October 28
Teaching the Past- Focus on the 1960s
• Hazel Hertzberg, Social Studies Reform, 1880-1980, Chapter
7 (in World War II folder on NYU Classes).
• Levy, Peter B., “Teaching the 1960s with Primary Sources,”
in The History Teacher, Vol. 38.1 (November 2004), pp. 9-17.
• Cohen, Robert, Diana Turk, and Stacie Brensilver Berman,
“Teaching the Port Huron Statement,” in Inspiring
Participatory Democracy, (Boulder, CO: Paradigm
Publishers, 2012), pp. 91-101.
• Assignment #2 due in class
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Evolution of Social Studies and Education:
Thursday, October 30
Identity
• Banks, James, Multicultural Education: Issues and
Perspectives, (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
2010), Chapter 1.
• Appiah, Kwame Anthony, “The Politics of Identity,” in
Daedalus, Vol. 135.4 (Fall 2006), pp. 15 – 23.
• Youniss, James, “Civic education: What Schools Can Do to
Encourage Civic Identity and Action,” in Applied
Developmental Science, Vol. 15.2 (2011), pp. 98-103.
• Beck, Terrence, "Identity, Discourse, and Safety in a High
School Discussion of Same-Sex Marriage," in Theory and
Research in Social Education, Vol. 41.1 (Winter 2013), pp. 132.
Tuesday, November 4
Civics Education
• Kohli, Wendy, “Teaching in the Danger Zone: Democracy
and Difference,” in Democratic Social Education: Social
Studies for Social Change edited by David W. Hursh and E.
Wayne Ross (New York: Routledge, 2000), pp. 23 - 42.
• Campbell, David, “Voice in the Classroom: How an Open
Classroom Facilitates Adolescent Civic Development,”
(College Park: CIRCLE, 2005), pp. 2-19.
• Feldman, Doug, “Citizenship Education: Current
Perspectives from Teachers in Three States,” in Education
Research Quarterly, Vol 30.4 (2007), pp. 3-12.
Thursday, November 6
Race and Gender
• Jennings, Kevin, ““Out” in the Classroom: Addressing
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Social
Studies Curriculum," in The Social Studies Curriculum:
Purposes, Problems and Possibilities, 3rd Ed., pp. 255-264.
• Crocco, Margaret Smith, “Gender and Social Education:
What’s the Problem?,” in The Social Studies Curriculum:
Purposes, Problems and Possibilities, 3rd Ed., pp. 171-193.
• Nelson, Jack L. and Valerie Ooka Pang, “Racism, Prejudice,
and the Social Studies Curriculum,” in The Social Studies
Curriculum: Purposes, Problems and Possibilities, 3rd Ed.,
pp. 115 – 135.
Tuesday, November 11
Education Reform in the 1980s
• Jonathan Zimmerman, Whose America? Culture Wars in the
Public Schools, Chapter 7.
• “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform,
1983,” in The American Curriculum: A Documentary History
edited by George Willis, et al., (Westport, CT: Praeger
Publishers, 1994), pp. 401 – 413.
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Thursday, November 13
Standards and Accountability
• Ross, E. Wayne. “Diverting Democracy: The Curriculum
Standards Movement and Social Studies Education,” in
Democratic Social Education, pp. 203-228.
• No Child Left Behind Executive Summary (2002)
• NCSS Standards (2010)
• Nash, Gary B., Charlotte Crabtree, and Ross E. Dunn, History
on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) Chapter 1.
Tuesday, November 18
Beyond the Textbook/Doing History
• Kobrin, David, Beyond the Textbook: Teaching History Using
Documents and Primary Sources, (Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 1996), excerpts.
• Thornton, Stephen, Teaching Social Studies that Matters:
Curriculum for Active Learning, (New York: Teachers
College, 2005), excerpts.
Where are we now?
Thursday, November 20
Testing
• Mathison, Sandra, E. Wayne Ross, and Kevin Vinson,
“Defining the Social Studies Curriculum: Influence and
Resistance to Standards and Testing in Social Studies,” in
The Social Studies Curriculum: Purposes, Problems and
Possibilities, 3rd Ed., pp. 99-114.
• Grant, S.G., “High Stakes Testing: How are Social Studies
Teachers Responding?,” in Social Studies Today: Research
and Practice edited by Walter Parker, (New York: Routledge
2010), pp. 43-52.
• DeWitt, Scott W., “The Lower Order Expectations of High
Stake Tests: A Four State Analysis of Social Studies
Standards and Test Alignment,” in Theory and Research in
Social Education, Vol. 41.3 (Summer 2013), pp. 382-411.
Tuesday, November 25
Student Engagement
• Hess, Diana, “Discussion in Social Studies- Is It Worth the
Trouble?,” in Social Studies Today: Research and Practice,
pp. 205-213.
• Cornbleth, Catherine, “What Constrains Meaningful Social
Studies Teaching?,” in Social Studies Today: Research and
Practice, pp. 215-223.
• Blumenthal, Phyllis C. et al., “Motivating Project Based
Learning: Sustaining the Doing, Supporting the Learning,” in
Educational Psychologist, Vol. 26. 3 & 4 (1991), pp. 369-398.
• Assignment #3 due in class
Thursday, November 27
NO CLASS- Happy Thanksgiving!!
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Tuesday, December 2
Teaching Tolerance
• Avery, Patricia, “Can Tolerance Be Taught?,” in Social
Studies Today: Research and Practice, pp. 235-243.
• Thornton, Stephen, "Silence on Gays and Lesbians in Social
Studies Curriculum," in Social Education (May/June 2003),
pp. 226-230.
Thursday, December 4
Students, Teachers, and Curriculum
• Levstik, Linda, “Articulating the Silences: Teachers’ and
Adolescents’ Conceptions of Historical Significance,” in
Knowing, Teaching and Learning History edited by Peter
Stearns, Peter Seixas, and Sam Wineburg, (New York: NYU
Press, 2000), pp. 284 -301.
• Delpit, Lisa, “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in
Educating Other People’s Children,” in Harvard Educational
Review, Vol. 58.3 (August 1988), pp. 280 – 298.
• King, M. Bruce, Fred M. Newmann, and Dana L. Carmichael,
“Authentic Intellectual Work: Common Standards for
Teaching Social Studies,” in Social Studies Today: Research
and Practice, pp. 53-63.
Tuesday, December 9
History v. Social Studies
• Wineburg, Sam, “Making Historical Sense,” in Knowing,
Teaching and Learning History, pp. 306-325.
• Wilentz, Sean, "The Past is Not a Process," in The New York
Times (April 20, 1997).
• Thornton, Stephen J., “Legitimacy in the Social Studies
Curriculum,” in Education Across a Century: The Centennial
Volume edited by Lyn Corno (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2001), pp. 185-204.
Thursday, December 11
Student Presentations and Wrap Up
FINAL PROJECTS DUE DECEMBER 18
Submit hard copies on my desk at 239 Greene Street, 6th Floor, Room 611
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