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Preservice Teachers' Reflections onLearning to Teach Elementary SocialStudiesSusan Wunder aa University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 216A Henzlik Hall, Lincoln, NE,68588-0355, USA E-mail:Published online: 18 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Susan Wunder (2003) Preservice Teachers' Reflections on Learning to TeachElementary Social Studies, Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 4:2,193-206, DOI: 10.1080/14623940308270

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Reflective Practice, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2003

Preservice Teachers’ Reflections onLearning to Teach Elementary SocialStudiesSUSAN WUNDERUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, 216A Henzlik Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0355 USA:e-mail: swunder1@unl.edu

ABSTRACT As preservice teachers learn to teach social studies in the elementary school,they have a number of curriculum selection and implementation traditions available tothem. Adopting a reflective approach which considers the teacher’s own learning, thepurposes and content of social studies, and the children whom they teach seems to hold thegreatest promise. This study analyzed the entering beliefs and experiences of a cohort ofelementary education majors and then applied a construct of levels of reflectivity at theconclusion of a semester of social studies methods and a coordinated practicum experience.While the students’ early social studies experiences were sometimes vivid, they were notlimiting. Issues of management and student learning and involvement were more prevalentthan those related to the purposes of social studies.

Introduction

There is no shortage of ideas and recommendations for what should be taught insocial studies classrooms. A number of standards have been developed by pro-fessional groups including the National Council for the Social Studies Task Forcefor Social Studies Standards (1994), the National Center for History in the Schools(1996), the Geography Education Standards Project (1994), the National Councilon Economic Education (1997), and the Center for Civic Education (1994).Additionally, many states and school districts in the US recommend and/or requireparticular content which is to be addressed in social studies.

The possible roles for teachers in implementing these formal curricula as enactedcurricula were identified by Ben-Peretz as: (1) users of teacher-proof materials; (2)active implementors; or (3) curriculum-user developers (Ross, 1997). These rolesmight be considered a continuum of autonomy and involvement with the third beingthe most professional and desirable. The importance of the classroom teacher incurricular and instructional decision making was also recognized by Shaver, Davis,and Helburn (Ross, 1994). In their often-cited National Science Foundation studyof classrooms two decades ago, they acknowledged that teachers’ beliefs are primary

ISSN 1462-3943 print; 1470-1103 online/03/020193-14 2003 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/1462394032000082240

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in determining what students experience in classrooms. More recently, Thorntondescribed teachers as ‘curricular-instructional gatekeepers’ who ‘make the day-to-day decisions concerning both the subject matter and the experiences to whichstudents have access and the nature of that subject matter and those experiences’(1991, p. 237).

Those of us who are educators of prospective elementary teachers must organizeour methods courses to maximize what is often limited time in ways to ensure ourstudents are prepared to make these important decisions about social studiesteaching and learning. How best to accomplish this important goal has been for themost part a matter for individual teacher educators to determine. This is in partbecause there is no long tradition or vision provided through research on socialstudies methods instruction (e.g. Banks & Parker, 1990; Adler, 1991). Indeed, thereare multiple definitions of the content and purposes of social studies to be empha-sized. Almost all definitions, however, include a focus on preparation for thoughtfulparticipation in a democratic, diverse, global society. Also, ideas about social studiesand other methods courses are informed increasingly and changing consequentlythrough theory and research on teacher learning (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Accord-ing to Richardson,

we have shifted our concept of teaching from one that suggests teaching asexhibiting a set of behaviors toward one that views teaching as requiringcomplex thought and decision making within situations of uncertainty anddiverse contexts. (1999, p. 151)

Preservice teachers must become reflective practitioners who contemplate andnegotiate the complexities of teaching and learning social studies in elementaryclassrooms.

Such reflective teaching is not viewed as synonymous with any particularchanges in teacher behaviors … [but rather] seeks to help student teachersbecome more aware of themselves and their environments in a way thatchanges their perceptions of what is possible. (Zeichner & Liston, 1987,p. 25)

The Setting

I was recently one of the instructors in an elementary education program at a largepublic university on the Great Plains in the USA. This program emphasizes theimportance of reflection throughout a five-semester sequence of coursework andpracticum experiences prior to and during student teaching. Preservice teachersregularly write reflective journals and participate in seminars organized aroundinquiring into teaching and learning throughout the program.

The block in which I taught social studies methods and children’s literature wasthe fourth semester in the program and also included methods courses in readingand language arts and a practicum. Our four-member faculty team included special-ists in reading and language arts, multicultural education, and elementary education.

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While this program construct had been in place for several years, we focused onseveral new emphases. First, we sought out an elementary school with a diversestudent enrollment in a large urban district as the practicum site. While all of thestudents in our teacher preparation programs must have a diverse experience, thisinitiative sought to expand and extend that experience to an urban setting. Theelementary school which agreed to work with us is located in a large city one hourfrom campus. It encompasses grades pre-K through 6 and has an enrollment ofapproximately 800, of whom the majority are children of color.

A second goal for our work was to provide our students with a background set ofexperiences in the school community and city. This involved field trips during thefirst weeks of the semester to various locations such as public libraries and com-munity centers as well as inviting individuals associated with various undertakingssuch as the Asian newspaper, the Indian/Chicano health center, and the UrbanLeague to give presentations to our students. Our attempt was to establish anawareness of the diversity of the city and its resources and its relevance to theschools and students.

Twenty-two students volunteered to participate in this cohort. Five were male, 17female, and all European Americans. When asked why they decided to enroll in thisblock, all suggested the importance of learning to teach diverse urban students.Several students’ remarks are representative.

Coming from a small rural community, this semester should allow me tosee the other side of education. (Dirk)

I was very excited to have the chance to see how other school systemsoperate. I also considered the increase in diversity a larger city would bring.(Priscilla)

Each of the classes in children’s literature, reading and language arts, and socialstudies methods involved course-specific assignments. To coordinate and integratethe social studies, literacy, and multicultural emphases of the semester, our studentswere required to prepare and teach a unit organized around a social studies conceptor theme selected in consultation with their cooperating teachers. Students wererequired to provide a rationale, goals, a minimum of four lessons, and assessment forthe unit. At the conclusion, they were assigned the writing of a reflective essay ontheir experiences in preparing and teaching the unit.

The Study

At the beginning of the semester, each preservice student completed a writtenquestionnaire about her/his own experiences as an elementary social studies studentand about present attitudes toward teaching the subject. This information wascollected to acknowledge and understand the backgrounds and convictions studentsheld upon entry into the semester. For this study, students’ responses were analyzedfor emergent themes in their views of the field of social studies based upon their ownlived experiences and upon what they intend for their students.

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The importance and impact of personal experiential factors upon teacher pro-fessional development have been acknowledged elsewhere (e.g. Johnston, 1990;Adler, 1991; LaBoskey, 1994). Previous related studies have found, for example,that preservice teachers viewed social studies through six perspectives: as a non-sub-ject; as human relations; as citizenship; as school knowledge; as the great connec-tion; and/or as social action (Goodman & Adler, 1985). Barr et al. (1978) offeredthree views of social studies: as social science disciplines; as reflective inquiry; andas citizenship transmission.

The second part of the study is concerned with the students’ reflections uponsocial studies after preparing and teaching a unit to elementary students. Previousanalyses of reflective work have resulted in hierarchies of thinking as a number ofauthors have put forth various ways of looking at and ranking reflection. One of theearliest was Dewey (1910) who believed reflection begins with a dilemma, includesa period of exploration, and results in a decision or judgment. In order to reflect, heidentified three essential qualities of open-mindedness, responsibility, and whole-heartedness. The work of Van Manen (1977) and Zeichner and Liston (1987) aresimilar to each other in laying out a hierarchy of reflective considerations. At the firstor lowest level, the emphasis is upon the technical, meaning a concern withefficiency and effectiveness of meeting objectives. Reflection is enhanced at thesecond level to considerations of interpretation and consequences, with attention tothe educational context. At the highest level, social justice and equity concerns arefocused upon and such thinking is termed ethical or critical.

In her study of teacher education programs with an emphasis on reflection, Valli(1992) distinguished technical rationality from reflective practice. For her, technicalrationality refers to giving attention only to the application of ‘generic instructionand management behaviors derived from research on teaching’ (pp. 220–221). Assuch, this does not lie within her definition of reflective practice, unlike the VanManen, and Zeichner and Liston models. Within the range of reflective practiceValli identified four levels: reflection-in-action; deliberative (social efficiency, cogni-tive); personalistic (developmental, narrative); and critical (social reconstructionist).This last category is equivalent to the highest category in the other models. It isimportant to note that Valli sees her categories as useful in either a rank-ordered ordefinitional approach, with her preference being for the former.

In the study described here, each preservice teacher’s reflective essays was ana-lyzed individually and then all of them collectively for themes which were apparentin the reflections. In other words, what did the methods students identify as thesignificant ideas and events which had marked their social studies teaching experi-ences? What were their concerns, their descriptions of episodes and dilemmasabout? Are there varying levels of concern and thought?

The study concludes with a determination of whether those preserviceteachers who reflect more broadly or narrowly view their place in the teachingand learning of social studies similarly. What is the association between beliefsabout social studies at the time of entry to and exit from the social studies methodscourse?

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Methods Students’ Entering Views of Social Studies

On the first day of social studies methods class, students completed a questionnaire(of the 22 students in the cohort, complete data was available for 21 and comprisesthe data set for this study. All students are identified by pesudonyms). One of thequestions was ‘What is your most vivid recollection of social studies as an elemen-tary students?’ Analysis of the responses revealed three main themes or categories:(1) social studies content; (2) activity(ies) in social studies; (3) the social studiesteacher.

Recollections of Social Studies Content

Seven of the 21 students responded in terms of content. Of those in this group, twonamed social science subject areas of geography and history. Two other studentsremembered studying the history of their state, one with the notation, ‘but I don’tremember it being presented in an interesting way’.

The remaining three students in the content group offered very specific knowledgerecollections:

Studying the Tasadie [sic] people in the Philippines only to later learn theywere a fraud. (Dirk)

Learning the fifty states and their capitals, learning all the presidents of theUnited States and knowing the order in which they served. (Olivia)

I remember vividly that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. I don’t knowwhy but this will always be engraved in my memory. (Larry)

Recollections of a Social Studies Teacher

Only one student offered memories of a particular teacher when asked to recollecther elementary social studies experiences.

In fourth grade, we had an Australian exchange teacher. He taught us agreat deal about Australia and its culture in fun ways. (Brenda)

Recollections of Social Studies Activity(ies)

Thirteen of the 21 preservice teachers recounted their most vivid elementary socialstudies experience as participants in one or more activities. These included class-room activities, field trips, and roleplaying/simulations. Of the three students whorecalled classroom activities, they referred to making a family tree, making maps,singing a 50-states song, and copying from the overhead. Field trips were recalled bytwo students, one of whom went to the state capital for a day and one who visitedtwo history museums. Roleplaying and simulations were explained by eight studentsand centered around recreations of historic events and geographic locations.

A game we played with money and we were a certain country and we had

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TABLE I. Preservice teachers’ entering view of social studies Aspirations for students

Content andContent Attitudes Attitudes

Recollections of Content Andy Ashley Oliviaelementary social studies Courtney Lily Valerie

LarryActivity(ies) Stan Dirk Sherry

Eve Sarah HillaryHolly JoanneTad PriscillaCarla Tamara

RobertaTeacher Brenda

to make allies with other countries and work together to survive as acountry. (Tamara)

In fifth grade we re-enacted the Revolutionary War. It was hands-on, fun,and informative. It really made an impression on me as a child. We‘stepped into’ history and that allowed us understanding on a differentlevel. (Sarah)

I remember most a fifth grade lesson in which the class was discussingranchers and cowboys and barbed wire fences. Our class split in half andhad a debate over whether or not it was ‘legal’ to put up fences. (Eve)

Dressing up as a bee to symbolize Utah-the Beehive State. (Dirk)

The beliefs of methods students at the time of entering the course were also tappedby a question asking ‘How do you want your students to remember social studies?’As Table 1 suggests, the responses were grouped into three main themes: content;attitudes; content and attitudes.

Social Studies Aspirations: Content

The first group of five preservice teachers emphasized content in their hopes forsocial studies students.

I want them to be able to make connections to present day. I want themto look back and remember the lessons and to know why they are import-ant. (Eve)

I want them to remember how interesting the world is we live in. And howwe’re only a small part of it. I want them to know that there is so much tolearn from others. I also want them to realize that not every place in thisworld has as many resources as we do. (Courtney)

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Social Studies Aspirations: Attitudes

Nine students responded in terms of attitudes about social studies. These hoped-forattitudes were all related to prospective students’ feelings about learning socialstudies, rather than attitudes developed through study of history, civics, geography,and other disciplines.

I want them to remember social studies as something they looked forwardto everyday. I hope my students will like social studies and will also learnfrom it. (Carla)

It has the potential to be either exciting or boring. I would prefer they enjoyand anticipate social studies. (Tad)

I want them to find it exciting and interesting and eager to learn about it.(Ashley)

Social Studies Aspirations: Content and Attitudes

The third group of students identified their social studies goals for students in termsof both content and attitudes about the subject.

As a fun time filled with tons of relevant information that they can applyto other aspects of their lives. (Sherry)

I hope they remember it as exciting. I hope that they remember andcontinue to seek out throughout their lifetime people and cultures andlands other than their own. (Joanne)

I want them to be able to relate the subject to everyday life. I want themto remember how interesting and enjoyable learning about social studiescan be. I want them to learn life skills as well as history, economics, andgovernment. (Roberta)

Table 1 suggests that personal experiences may be influential but they are notdeterminative. That is, having had their memories tapped by the question asking forvivid recollections, the methods students were not limited by these experiences whenlooking ahead to their own teaching and students. The ideas related to content areconsistent with powerful social studies instruction, including relating historicalevents to the present-day, as well as identifying similarities and differences betweenand among people and places.

Preparing the Social Studies Units

Pairs of methods students prepared and taught a social studies unit with theirpartner for at least one of the five consecutive weeks they spent all day in theirassigned classrooms. Early in the semester they were required to determine thetheme/topic around which this unit would be organized in consultation with theircooperating teacher. The district in which the school is located has a K-6 social

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studies curriculum based on the expanding environments approach and whichidentifies learning goals for each subject in each grade. The methods students usedthese documents as well as guidance from their cooperating teachers in selecting theunit content. In all cases, however, the preservice teachers were clearly the ultimatedecision makers of what was taught and how it was taught.

For example, Andy and Tamara were asked by their cooperating teacher to focuson Europe, Canada, or Latin America, consistent with the sixth grade curriculum.They opted for Mexico with the explanation that a new student from Mexico hadjust arrived in their classroom and that ‘It is imperative that students be able to makeconnections with each other and to be sensitive to others in this society, whetherthey are alike or very different from themselves’.

Eve and Brenda were faced with a complexity when they learned that theircooperating teacher was not the social studies teacher in their sixth grade depart-mentalized organizational arrangement. Therefore, they figured out a way to expanda literature unit to emphasize social studies content. To do this, they selected thenovel, Number the Stars, as the textual material around which to teach a unit onWorld War II. They eventually taught two periods a day for a whole month to meetthe dual purposes of literature and social studies.

In a class where social studies would not be introduced until the second semester,Roberta and Dirk were given a wide berth by the cooperating teacher in selectingtheir unit theme. They selected farms because they determined their urban studentshad little exposure to rural life and both being from rural areas, they wanted to sharetheir enthusiasm and experiences with the children.

None of the methods students used a textbook to determine the content, nor didany even use a textbook during their teaching. Rather, each pair collected materialsranging from children’s literature to artifacts to primary documents for use in theirunits. Many of the students also utilized classroom groupings unlike the elementarystudents had experienced previously with their cooperating teachers. Theirreflections reveal the decision making authority and responsibility each had inpreparing and conducting their units.

Methods Students’ Reflections on Teaching Social Studies

For purposes of this study, I have taken guidance from, and liberty with, thehierarchical models of Van Manen, Zeichner and Liston, and Valli described above.I have attempted to focus levels of reflection more directly on the social studies andon preservice teachers based upon my methods students’ reflective writings(Table 2).

Level 1: Management

In this category are questions and considerations based upon a vision of a smoothly-running classroom. Concerns here include such things as seating arrangements,meeting deadlines, and coping with the inevitable interruptions in the school day.

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TABLE II. Levels of reflection

Management Students Purposes of socialstudies

Focus Smoothly-functioning Student Impact on studentsclassroom involvement and and society

learningSample How do I organize Are students What is thequestions/dilemmas classroom learning? Are relationship

procedures? students engaged? between myWhat adjustments decisions and thedo I need to make? public good?

The center of this reflection is the teacher and his/her comfort level with classprocedures, no small matter for a preservice teacher.

All 21 participants in this study addressed Level 1 management concerns. Thiswas expected in terms of their entry into an extensive classroom experience for thefirst time. While all of the methods students had taught single lessons in previouspractica, this was the first time they had been in a classroom four full days a weekand had primary responsibility for gatekeeping an entire unit of study for a week ormore.

Many of the concerns here centered around issues of time. This was often in termsof planning lessons which ‘fit’ a particular time slot and also unexpected losses orchanges in time from what was planned. Several students’ remarks are typical.

The only thing that upset me was that our [substitute] teacher interruptedthe end of our lesson so the students could have a long recess. (Sarah)

Perhaps my greatest regret about the entire unit is that we ran out of time.(Brenda)

On Tuesday we were forced to leave the classroom because of the powerfailure. [A storm had knocked out electricity in the portable buildings]. Wewere unable to teach the next lesson in the unit which threw off the entireunit. (Ashley)

Another dilemma for the methods students in terms of management was determin-ing how to form groups and how to state and follow through on expectations. Otherlogistical decisions such as posting student work in the classroom were also topics atthis reflective level.

Again, they [the sixth graders] made it a challenge or competition. Nexttime I think we should give the students more problems to work on.(Tamara)

The beginning of our third lesson was a bit of a disaster. We took thestudents outside to show them how the Indians started their earth lodges… The idea was good but did not work with our class. The groups were too

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spread apart so the students had a hard time hearing us, and then otherclasses came out for recess … (Ashley)

All of the preservice teachers experienced and wrote about the logistical decisionswhich are made many times a day by classroom teachers. They indicated that theyrealized when such decisions were intentional on their parts and when they had toaccommodate outside influences.

Level 2: Student Learning and Involvement

In this group of reflections are those which are student-centered. At this level,questions focus on children’s engagement in and learning from the curricular andinstructional decisions made by the teacher. Thoughts address questions such as:Are students learning? What are they learning? How can I, the teacher, makeadaptations and adjustments to enhance student learning and engagement? Whatare the important things students should be learning? How will I know?

Dilemmas addressed at this level consider the learning environment and theteacher’s role in constructing it and the implications for students. Each of themethods students included some aspects of this level. Indeed, reflections on studentlearning and involvement comprised the bulk of students’ writings.

In terms of student engagement, the preservice teachers were very alert to signs ofstudent interest or disinterest. In some cases these were based on informal observa-tions; other students referred to recordkeeping of individual and/or class responses.

As the week progressed we could see a growing interest in the students, andthey were making connections on their own. (Hillary)

One student, Mark, did have a difficult time becoming involved in the unit.The first day, he wasn’t interested at all in taking notes. By watching him,I decided it was because he couldn’t write as quickly as the other students.To intervene, I began to stand next to him as I taught. Also, I beganrepeating to him what he needed to write down. (Eve)

Throughout the whole unit we keep an effort evaluation which graded thestudents when no work was handed in for a grade. The students weregraded on cooperation with group members, attitude towards the lesson,and completing work like within the centers. (Holly)

The issues of what knowledge should be attained by students at what time and placeand by whom this should be decided has a strong presence across the USA today.Guided by the district curriculum and learning objectives and their cooperatingteachers, the methods students were charged with making decisions about thecontent of their unit and lessons and about how to assess student learning duringthem. Each methods student indicated the importance of making curricular andinstructional decisions which would enhance and ensure student learning. They alsoindicated that they were the ones making these decisions. How they made thesedecisions was akin to their determinations of student engagement suggested above

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in that they were impressionistic in several instances but based on careful observa-tion and student work in most.

We played a game with the class where they were asked questions pertain-ing to the unit and received points for every right answer. I was amazed athow much knowledge they retained throughout the unit. (Carla)

It was really hard for Brenda and I to decide which lessons we shouldteach. The way we decided each time, was for us to look at the studentsand ask ourselves what lessons they needed. (Eve)

Priscilla and I could see the progression of the students through theirattitudes, questions, and writing activities; but I am not sure if there wasenough assessment to really get a feel for how the student were understand-ing. (Hillary)

In reflecting upon student learning and involvement, each of the preservice teachersindicated a sense of responsibility and caring. In both areas related to studentprogress, most expressed informed conclusions based on careful observations andstudent assignments.

Level 3: Purposes of Social Studies

At the highest level of reflection, preservice teachers seek to resolve questions andconcerns about the purposes of social studies teaching and learning. Given the intentof the social studies to prepare young people for responsible civic participation asthoughtful individuals with attention to social justice and equity in a global society,the purposes of social studies and the critical/ethical categories of the previously-mentioned reflective hierarchies merge at this level. Here, methods students ques-tion the long-term impact of teaching and learning not only on students and teachersin classrooms, but in the larger society as well.

As might be expected from experience with students a year prior to completingtheir professional preparation, and based upon similar earlier research studies, onlythree of the preservice teachers wrote reflections in this realm. Of those who did,their long-term views of social justice were related to individual incidents with oneor more students. In other cases, the methods students indicated their involvementat this level of reflection through statements about the possibilities in schools.

One particular lesson focused on the students experiencing what it was liketo be part of a group who wasn’t treated fairly, and whose necessities wererationed … Through this lesson I learned how powerful role play can be.But, I also learned that I don’t think I could ever do this type of lessonagain … I felt terrible for the rest of the day. (Eve)

The world has become a little bit smaller for these students as they haveexperienced what life is like in a country so far away. (Joanne)

Through this interaction I believe the class gained an appreciation for

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people who are different than themselves and they also developed afondness or admiration for Lela [a new student from Mexico]. (Tamara)

Summary

This cohort of elementary preservice teachers were studied in terms of their views ofsocial studies teaching and learning at the entry and exit points of the social studiesmethods class. At the beginning, their ideas were explained in terms of their ownelementary social studies recollections. It was learned that their self-identified vividmemories were in terms of a teacher, content or activities, with the third being thedominant theme. Additional insight into their views on social studies was gleanedthrough an analysis of their stated goals for their prospective social studies students.These involved the themes of content, attitudes, or a combination of both. Cross-referencing the two sets of information revealed that while certainly personalexperience may have been influential in deciding aspirations, they were not determi-native.

Analysis of preservice teachers’ reflective essays written after teaching a socialstudies unit was conducted by examining their narratives in terms of a modelconstructed to analyze social studies preservice teachers’ levels of reflection: man-agement; student involvement and learning; and purposes of social studies. All 21students in the study incorporated ideas related to the first two levels. Only threestudents directly addressed the level of purposes of social studies. It must beconsidered here that no guidelines were given the students in terms of what to writeabout, however. While social justice and equity as well as the societal and citizenshipgoals of social studies were presented and discussed in methods class sessions, thestudents were not asked to reflect on these matters in their essays. In other words,more students may have thought on this level than wrote about these concerns.

Connections between students’ incoming ideas about social studies were revealedin their final reflections to some extent. That is, notions about the importance of andconcentration upon content and attitudes were continued in what each of thepreservice teachers wrote about in their reflections. Of the three students who wrotereflections at the highest level, all had stated content goals for students in their initialquestionnaire while none of the students identifying only attitudes as goals did so.

Conclusions

Suggesting the importance of prior experiences in reflection seems rather speculativebased upon this study. It is difficult to factor the combinations of beliefs andexperiences which merge to form views of teaching, including those in the area ofelementary social studies. As Johnston has suggested, teacher beliefs about teachingare likely complex and grounded in a multitude of experiences.

There are multiple influences that interact in any teacher education pro-gram; beliefs will be reconstructed in individual ways by persons withdifferent histories and personalities … As teacher educators we need to

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know what understandings students bring to our courses, and how theyinterpret new ideas. (1990, p. 230)

What seems certain is that students in elementary teacher preparation can and willdevelop a sense of agency about teaching and learning social studies when given thesupporting circumstances. The assignment of an extended teaching project, thethematic unit, was supported by the cooperating teachers. In the case of ourelementary education program initiative, we learned that placing students in adiverse urban practicum experience with a set of goals related to multicultural andintegrated studies was viewed positively by those participating. Twelve of thestudents in the cohort made a request, which was granted, to stay in the sameelementary school for a second semester as they studied science, mathematics, andart methods.

The instructors, too, saw the benefits of this semester focus and arrangement. Asthe reading/language arts instructor concluded during a group interview with theinvolved faculty at the close of the semester:

They felt so appreciated at that school as teacher, and they felt they weremaking a difference so it tapped into this moral dimension of teaching ina good way so it wasn’t like ‘Oh we are going to help these people’. It was‘There’s work to be done here. I can contribute. I have knowledge andexpertise’ and so it tapped into their idealism which is a positive idealism.

As this quote suggests, additional research should be pursued on the topic of whatis involved in the development of elementary preservice teachers’ views of socialstudies teaching. Future studies should incorporate multiple sources of data fromthe students themselves and others involved. The model of levels of reflectionproposed in this paper should be applied to additional cohorts of preservice teachersto determine necessary additions and modifications.

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