Wayne Journell

Teachers' Controversial Issue Decisions Related to Race, Gender, and Religion During the 2008 Presidential Election

Using the 2008 Presidential Election as a case of curricular controversy, the author describes how six high school government teachers responded to the racial, gender, and religious diversity included on the presidential tickets of the two major political parties. Teachers had to decide whether the issue of Americans challenging the tradition of electing White males to the federal executive branch would be deemed “open” or “closed” in their classes, and if they were deemed open, whether they would disclose their own opinions on the issue. The findings suggest that Obamas race was a closed issue in each of the classes in terms of his eligibility for the presidency; however, the teachers and their students implicitly recognized the openness of the issue within both a broader societal context as well as their own political decision-making. Similarly, Palins gender was also a closed issue in terms of her eligibility for the vice presidency, but the sexist comments made by students and teachers at each school suggest that although they may not have found Palins candidacy controversial, her gender was an open issue with respect to how they judged female politicians in comparison to their male counterparts. Finally, Obamas religious background was a largely closed issue, although individual teachers positioned it as an open issue in their classes and used it to justify their belief that non-Christians should not be elected president. These findings offer implications for the teaching of controversial issues that are contextualized within traditionally taboo topics of race, gender, and religion.

Teaching the 2008 Presidential Election at Three Demographically Diverse Schools: An Exercise in Neoliberal Governmentality

This article describes the disparity in political instruction found in six government classes from three demographically diverse high schools during the 2008 Presidential Election. In general, students from working-class households or those in lower-level classes were rarely given opportunities to discuss politics at a national level or engage in analytical discussions of the election; students in middle-to-upper-class schools and those in advanced-level classes were privy to rich discussions of politics on a regular basis. Using Foucaults (1991) notion of governmentality as a guide, these findings are then discussed as symptomatic of a neoliberal approach to education in which students are trained for the presumed roles they will play in the nations political economy as adults.

Standardizing Citizenship: The Potential Influence of State Curriculum Standards on the Civic Development of Adolescents

The rise of state-mandated standards in public education have allowed legislators to answer the question of what constitutes a proper civic education, a debate that has existed in the United States since the turn of the twentieth century. Through the content they employ in their standards, states may indirectly influence the type of citizenship education students receive in the classroom. The present study focuses on the Virginia Standards of Learning for two courses, civics and economics and U.S. and Virginia government, which are commonly taught to eighth graders and high school seniors, respectively. A content analysis of the essential knowledge found in the standards for these courses categorizes instructional content into seven forms of citizenship: civic republicanism, character education, deliberative, social justice, participatory, transnational, and cosmopolitan. Although the results are specific to the Virginia Standards of Learning, the nature of how citizenship is portrayed within the standards may transfer to other states with similar forms of standards-based education within their social studies curricula.

Perceptions of e-learning in secondary education: a viable alternative to classroom instruction or a way to bypass engaged learning?

This manuscript uses interview data collected during a qualitative study in 2007 of a secondary US history e‐learning course. The teacher, Mr. Harding, and 11 of the 13 students in the class were interviewed about their general perceptions of e‐learning and the ability to effectively learn content online. The findings of the study show that nearly all participants maintained a belief that e‐learning was best used for information transmission and rote memorization rather than active or social learning. Further, Mr. Harding seemed to characterize e‐learning students as uninterested in engaging in social interaction online, a perception that was refuted, at least partially, by his students. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications for secondary e‐learning programs. Wahrnehmung von E‐Learning in der höheren Schulbildung: Eine rentable Alternative zu Unterrichtsanweisungen oder eine Möglichkeit, engagiertes Lernen zu umgehen? In diesem Manuskript werden Interviewdaten benutzt, die während der Erstellung einer qualitativen Studie im Jahr 2007 von einem E‐Learning Kurs in U.S. Geschichte gesammelt wurden. Der Lehrer, Mr. Harding, und 11 der 13 Studenten dieser Gruppe, wurden über ihre generelle Wahrnehmung von E‐Learning und der Einschätzung, ob inhaltliches Lernen online überhaupt effektiv möglich sei, interviewt. Die Ergebnisse der Studie waren, dass fast alle Teilnehmer daran festhielten, dass E‐Learning am wirkungsvollsten war, wenn es zur Informationsübermittlung und – Bewahrung anstatt zu aktivem oder sozialem Lernen benutzt werden würde. Des weiteren schienen Mr. Harding e‐learning‐Studenten als an sozialer online‐Interaktion uninteressiert zu sein, eine Wahrnehmung, die – wenigstens teilweise – durch seine Studenten widerlegt wurde. Das Manuskript schließt mit einer Diskussion der Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerungen über E‐learning‐ Programme für Sekundarstufen. Comment l’apprentissage en ligne est‐il perçu dans l’enseignement secondaire. Une alternative valable par rapport à l’enseignement en classe ou une façon de contourner l’apprentissage approfondi? Cet article (manuscrit)utilise des données recueillies en 2007 au cours d’ une étude qualitative portant sur un cours d’Histoire des Etats Unis en ligne. Le professeur, M.Harding, et 11 des 13élèves de la classe ont été interrogés sur la façon dont ils voyaient l’apprentissage en ligne en général et la capacité d’assimiler vraiment un contenu en ligne. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que la plupart des participants continuaient à penser que l’apprentissage en ligne convenait mieux à la transmission de l’information et la mémorisation par cœur qu’à l’apprentissage actif ou socialisé. En outre M.Harding semblait penser que les élèves en ligne étaient caractérisés par un manque d’intérêt pour les interactions de groupe en ligne, vue qui était réfutée, au moins partiellement par ses élèves. Le manuscrit conclut sur un débat à propos des résultats et de leurs conséquences pour les programmes d’enseignement en ligne du secondaire. Las percepciones del e‐learning en la enseñanza secundaria. ¿Una alternativa viable a la enseñanza presencial o una manera de evitar el aprendizaje en profundidad? El presente estudio (manuscrito) utiliza los datos procedentes de entrevistas llevadas a cabo en 2007 durante un estudio cualitativo de un curso secundario en línea de Historia de Los Estados Unidos. Se entrevisto con el profesor, el Sr. Harding y 11 de los 13 alumnos en la clase sobre sus percepciones generales acerca de le‐learning y de la capacidad de aprender contenidos efectivamente en línea. Los resultados del estudio indican que casi todos los participantes siguen pensando que el «e‐learning» es más adecuado a la trasmisión de informaciones y al aprendizage por repetición que al aprendizaje activo o socializado. Además la impresión era que el Sr. Harding pensaba que la característica de los alumnos en línea era una falta de intérès para las interacciones sociales en línea, una opinión que fue refutada por lo menos parcialmente por sus propios alumnos. El artículo (manuscrito) concluye con un debate sobre los resultados y las implicaciones para los programas de e‐learning de los colegios secundarios.

Facilitating Historical Discussions Using Asynchronous Communication: The Role of the Teacher

This study examines the effectiveness of asynchronous communication in facilitating historical discussions among adolescents, with a specific focus on the ways in which teachers can affect this process. Threaded discussion board posts and teacher-student email correspondence from a five-week American history summer course are analyzed and triangulated with interview and observational data as part of a single case study. Using a social constructivist framework, the results suggest that the students in this particular course did not critically engage in discussions of a historical nature and often relied on unsubstantiated opinions that rarely challenged preexisting or canonical notions of history. The results also suggest that the teachers actions or lack thereof may have contributed to the perfunctory social experience that students received. Although this study only serves as one example of K-12 e-learning, the findings offer implications for teaching and learning social studies within online environments.

Teaching politics in secondary education: Analyzing instructional methods from the 2008 Presidential Election.

This article describes the instructional methods of four high school government teachers during their coverage of the 2008 presidential election. By analyzing the ways in which these teachers attempted to generate interest in the election and further their students’ conceptualization of politics, the author seeks to better understand political instruction at the secondary level. Overall, the author observed that the teachers were successful in capturing student interest in both politics and the election; however, the teachers often missed opportunities to foster this interest into a nuanced understanding of politics.

Joining the Conversation: Twitter as a Tool for Student Political Engagement

This article describes possibilities afforded by using social media, specifically Twitter, as a way to encourage students to join political conversations across the United States and around the world. In this study, we describe a project in which students used Twitter to share commentary about the state of the 2012 presidential election. The experiences of these students illustrate both the potential strengths and limitations of using social media as a tool for political engagement.

Setting Out the (Un)Welcome Mat: A Portrayal of Immigration in State Standards for American History

This article frames history education as a social construction designed to create a national identity through the inclusion, exclusion, and treatment of various societal groups. Using this lens, the author analyzes curriculum standards from nine states that annually assess student knowledge of American history to better understand the depiction of immigration within the American narrative. The results suggest that state standards are yet another way for public education to perpetuate a canonical version of American history by testing students on information related to the traditional narrative and largely ignoring or marginalizing elements of diversity.

Using videoconferences to diversify classrooms electronically.

Abstract In this article the authors make a case for videoconferencing as a way to diversify middle and secondary classrooms. Through a description of the setup of a videoconference between American pre-service teachers and Moroccan undergraduates, the authors attempt to demystify the use of videoconferencing in middle and secondary education. The authors conclude with suggestions for middle and secondary educators who wish to use videoconferencing as a way to incorporate greater diversity and multicultural education in their classrooms.

Learning to Think Politically: Toward More Complete Disciplinary Knowledge in Civics and Government Courses

Abstract Secondary civics and government courses are often framed as a content area in which students learn about processes of government and ways of participating in a democratic society, as opposed to a discipline in which students use specific tools and ways of thinking that mimic those used by professionals within that discipline. In this article, we call for an increased emphasis on disciplinary knowledge in civics and government courses, specifically knowledge that utilizes the tools and methodologies of political scientists. Through a study of an exemplary civics teacher during the 2012 Presidential Election, we illustrate the benefits of a disciplinary approach to civics instruction. Our findings suggest that such an approach allows students to better understand tools of social inquiry and provides them with the skills to think critically about politics and political behavior.