The educators that I interviewed for this post are involved in three very different parts of social studies education. The first, Mrs. Croshaw, teaches 5th grade at Wilson Elementary School. The second, Mrs. Morgan, teaches US and world history at Mountain Crest High School. The third, Dr. Spencer Clark, teaches pre-service teachers how to teach social studies at Utah State University. I was equally impressed with what all three of these educators had to say in their interviews.
Both Dr. Clark and Mrs. Morgan emphasized the need for many types of texts in the social studies classroom. They reminded us that there are always going to be multiple literacies in the classroom and that we should strive to develop those in our students. Both Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Croshaw cited lack of time as one struggle with literacy in the social studies content. Mrs. Morgan meant it in that she admonishes future teachers to be willing to take the time to assign and give assessments that really can measure literacy skills in the content. These activities do take time for students and for teachers. Mrs. Croshaw meant it more in a manner of speaking to the fact that other high-stakes tested areas of content take up the majority of the time in her classroom.
To me, the most meaningful interview was with Mrs. Croshaw. She said some things about social studies that were really good to hear from an elementary school teacher. (Elementary school teachers sometimes get a bad reputation for avoiding social studies or for not teaching it well.) Mrs. Croshaw told me that every year on the first day of school she tells her fifth-graders, "By the time you leave my class, social studies will be your favorite subject." I loved this! In 5th grade in Utah, students study US history. Mrs. Croshaw explained to me that she specifically uses the social studies to teach and reinforce literacy skills. She is using multiple texts in her classroom, teaching her students to cross-reference to check for accuracy in research, and to read deeply then discuss what they have learned. She often has her students perform short skits for each other- if you have to reenact an event, you really have to know it!
All three of the educators I interviewed are doing literacy right. I love social studies and I am passionate about the importance of literacy in social studies. These interviews made me honestly excited to begin my teaching career and I look forward to implementing methods they all suggested to me.
I love reading the answers and analysis you have gotten and given to the interviews. It’s interesting to learn from others and to see how what they say will either influence us in our teaching, or reinforce the reasons we reject the status quo and strive to teach differently than what we’ve seen. It’s clear that most people in their interview data discovered that people find literacy an important topic in their teaching…my hope is you’ll continue to extend your learning and be a positive contributor to the ways in which teachers bridge the knowing/doing gap and actually implement literacy instruction rather than just say it’s important. Well done with your interview analysis!
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