FROM THE EDITORS

The snow has finally stopped falling in Ohio, and outdoor school sports teams don’t have to worry about ice on their playing fields. In social studies classrooms across the state, students are getting jittery for the end of the year, while teachers worry if they are going to be able to make it to those last points in their curriculum map. At the same time, many teachers are very aware of the significant changes coming to schools across Ohio and the country. The implementation of the Common Core, new state social studies standards, new formative testing systems, and a much-debated teacher evaluation system are all on a horizon that no longer looks so far away. All of these changes remind those of us in the field of social studies that debates about the content, teaching strategies, and evidence of student learning matter. These debates are impacting policy and decisions at both state and national levels. This issue focuses on literacy, following up on the OCSS fall conference theme—“Critical Times, Critical Literacies.” Here we are pleased to share 11 pieces, two of which relate details about classroom practice and four of which highlight research related to teaching strategies and key questions. At the same time, we are pleased to share a few special features. Our first special feature is a focus on a classroom teacher, Bill Hilt of Perrysburg City Schools. Mr. Hilt talks us through a significant service learning project and how it impacted one student in his class. Through this piece, we hear more about civic literacy through his thinking around the assignment and the raised awareness that the “Diversity Project” had on in his classroom. Our Social Studies in Practice section presents two pieces about various literacies in various classrooms from visual literacy to just war frameworks to global perspectives. In the first, Journell details how teachers might use the television show “The West Wing” to teach about elections in off-presidential election years. At the same time, in the second piece in the section, Teegarden, Eisenhardt, and Steele take us into a primary classroom and help us understand the possible lives of third graders and how teachers might seek to expand student worldviews through contextualized problem-solving. Manuscripts in the Social Studies in Research section draw our attention to integration, discussion strategies, advocacy, and media literacy. The authors of “Teaching Children about Symbols Using Balanced Integration of Art and Social Studies” demonstrated how integration of art enhanced student learning. Shargel and Passe explored the impacts of dyadic learning and the classic peer-guided havruta tradition on students’ discussion, reporting that “students enthusiastically embraced this format, citing both social and intellectual benefits. Maguth and Moore use test results, policy analysis and context to detail the impact of policy decisions on the lives and thinking of students in Ohio schools. “The Campaign to save World History in Ohio’s Schools” serves as one key piece in understanding the consequences of state legislation, both intended and not. Our last research piece by Ching-Fu Lan leads us toward a possible framework for conceptualizing democratic media literacy. In an age where the digital lives of our students

1 Ohio Social Studies Review, Spring 2013, Issue 50, Volume 1 From the Editors impacts both their learning and their identity formation, Lan reminds us of key points to consider about the roles technology is playing in the education process. Finally, Pearcy critiques textbooks in his piece “Textbook Depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act: A Case for Historical and Moral Literacy,” arguing that “as much as we emphasize historical literacy, we should also remember that social studies, more than other subjects, deals regularly with moral issues.” In our special features section, we highlight a key issue for social studies teachers—how to build inquiry skills in the context of the Common Core. Anderson and Ross give us one possible direction with their C.S.I. (compare, support, inform) approach. In the second piece, James Shiveley shares a bibliography organized by standards and structured to support teachers looking for text resources to guide instruction. This resource list is comprehensive, and will continue to be updated. Finally, we conclude this edition of the Ohio Social Studies Review by sharing the first of submissions to our book and film review feature. Frans Doppen reviewed Howard Zinn’s adaptation--A Youth History of the United States. He relays the positive reactions of his middle childhood methods students toward this history and recommends it as a supplement in methods courses and junior high/middle school classrooms. As always, we encourage you to search the archive for articles from past hard copy editions that are available as PDFs from the Ohio Council for the Social Studies website. Also don’t forget to revisit the first online edition of the journal from Spring 2012. We are hoping you will consider submitting a manuscript for the fall edition of the journal. Submit your full-length manuscript or special feature article to: http://edhd.bgsu.edu/ossr/journal/index.php/ossr/index. The submission deadline is July 5, 2013 and this edition has an open call. We look forward to reading your research, hearing about classroom practices and teachers in the field. We also look forward to your comments and reactions to this issue and hope it contributes to increasing your awareness of literacy in the social studies in these critical times. Engaged, informed voices can do much to move our field forward. We hope this edition does some small part.

Nancy Patterson, Executive Editor John Fischer, Associate Editor Fran Doppen, Associate Editor

Ohio Social Studies Review, Spring 2013, Issue 50, Volume 1 2 MAKING EVERY YEAR A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR: USING THE WEST WING’S SANTOS/VINICK RACE TO SIMULATE ELECTION POLITICS

Wayne Journell, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Abstract This article makes a case for using The West Wing’s Santos/Vinick presidential election as a way to simulate election politics in civics and government courses. The series provides a behind-the- scenes view of the political decisions made by both fictional campaigns throughout the course of the primary and general elections. Teachers can use the content contained within the storyline to make connections to aspects of the formal curriculum found in typical survey courses and creating opportunities for authentic learning by allowing students to place abstract content into a practical context. As the 2012 presidential election unfolded, first through the Republican primary and then the general election, social studies teachers across the United States tweaked their syllabi to include election-related projects and assignments. Presidential elections are one of the few high-profile political events in the United States that captures the attention of both political scientists and the general public, while creating an ideal opportunity for authentic learning that allows teachers to apply the formal curriculum to a real-life context for students (Haas & Laughlin, 2002). Since presidential elections only occur every four years, however, teachers are often unable to offer this type of engagement with electoral politics for the vast majority of their students. In this article, I make a case for using The West Wing’s Santos/Vinick election as a way of recreating the context of a presidential campaign for high school civics and government courses. Writing in Political Science & Politics over a decade ago, Beavers (2002) argued for the use of The West Wing as a pedagogical tool in undergraduate political science courses. The series, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2006, has been the subject of much analysis by both film scholars and political scientists, most of whom agree that the series provides viewers with a nuanced view of the American presidency, albeit within the context of a television drama (e.g., Gladstone-Sovell, 2006; Parry-Giles & Parry-Giles, 2006; Rollins & O’Connor, 2003). Creator Aaron Sorkin went to great lengths to develop storylines that were as realistic as they were entertaining, often employing former White House staffers from both sides of the aisle, such as Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Meyers, as consultants (Levine, 2003; Pompper, 2003). In a special episode that aired at the conclusion of the third season, former Presidents Ford, Carter, and Clinton, as well as prominent staffers dating back to the Nixon administration, all touted the realism of the series based on their personal experiences working in the White House. Of course, the primary mission of The West Wing was to court viewers; therefore, Sorkin and subsequent writers often took dramatic license with certain material that may have created a

Ohio Social Studies Review 6 disconnect between the fictional presidency depicted onscreen and the “real” West Wing (Jones & Dionisopoulous, 2004; Levine, 2003; Parry-Giles & Parry-Giles, 2006; Skewes, 2009). Conservative critics also chided what they viewed as a liberal bias in The West Wing’s depiction of government officials and policymaking. Jon Podhoretz (2003) once described the show as “the ultimate Hollywood fantasy: The Clinton White House without Clinton” (p. 222). Generally, the presidency created by Sorkin is one in which the office is treated with dignity and reverence. Some critics have argued that such a depiction of the presidency is unrealistic in that it portrays Americans’ ideal image of the individual they wish occupied the Oval Office rather than a more accurate portrayal of presidents who are multidimensional and inherently flawed (Giglio, 2000; Parry-Giles & Parry-Giles, 2006; Quiring, 2003). Despite these limitations, Beavers (2002) argues that The West Wing can serve as a pedagogical tool, provided that teachers treat the TV series as a type of text that needs to be critically analyzed and interpreted through such exercises as making comparisons between the series and real-life political events. In order for this type of critical approach to Hollywood fiction to occur, however, teachers must move film viewing from a passive task to an active process in which students are primed for the film through background information about the topic, monitored during viewing through guided questions and occasional checks for understanding, and debriefed after viewing to ensure a critical reading of the “text” (Marcus, Metzger, Paxton, & Stoddard, 2010; Russell, 2007). Depending on the academic level of one’s students, teachers may be able to achieve these goals in a variety of ways, ranging from using advanced organizers that students complete as they watch a film or stopping at regular intervals to debrief important aspects related to content. In a recent study of one high school civics teacher’s use of The West Wing, for example, the teacher had success using guided questions in both honors and general-level classes (to see an example of the guided questions he used, refer to Journell & Buchanan, 2012a). In regular-level classes, however, the teacher found that students had trouble following the fast-paced dialogue used in The West Wing. Students were able to follow the plotlines more effectively when the teacher stopped each episode in 15-minute increments and asked students to summarize what had occurred up to that point (Journell & Buchanan, 2012b). When used correctly, empirical research has shown The West Wing to be an effective instructional tool at both the undergraduate (Holbert et. al., 2003) and secondary (Gaudelli, 2009; Journell & Buchanan, 2012a; Journell & Buchanan, in press) levels. In the aforementioned study of The West Wing in a high school civics classroom, the teacher found that by regularly showing episodes from the first season, he was able to make his political instruction more applicable to students. After each episode, he was able to link what occurred in the show to the real-life political world, which led to a greater understanding of both current events and the political process (Journell & Buchanan, 2012a; Journell & Buchanan, in press). In that study, what amazed the teacher the most about his students’ reactions to The West Wing was their enthusiasm for the show. The engaging characters, consistent humor, and gifted storytelling provided by the screenwriters allow students to get hooked on the show quickly. Once students become enamored with the plotlines, content that students would normally find “boring” becomes more palatable (Journell & Buchanan, 2012a). Moreover, the plotlines remain relevant even though The West Wing went off the air in 2006. Although the details might be slightly different, the show covers topics (e.g., terrorism, immigration, gun control) that are still discussed in

7 Ohio Social Studies Review Making Every Year a Presidential Election Year

Washington today and draws the same distinctions between Democrats and Republicans (e.g., big government versus small government) that were central issues in the 2012 election. Almost all of the content covered in The West Wing could easily be related to contemporary political issues. The majority of The West Wing’s seven seasons were spent chronicling the fictional presidency of Democrat Josiah Bartlet through the eyes of the President and his senior staff. In this article, however, I focus specifically on the campaign for Bartlet’s successor between Democratic Congressman Matthew Santos and Republican Senator Arnold Vinick that takes place over the latter half of season six (Schlamme & Misiano, 2005) and the better part of season seven (Schlamme & Misiano, 2006) of the series. The focus of season six is the primary election process while season seven is devoted almost entirely to the general election. Although coverage of both the primary and general elections tends to focus more on the Democratic side, most likely because those characters were more recognizable to loyal viewers of the series, the writers make a conscious effort to give an insiders’ perspective to both campaigns. Some episodes will only follow the Santos campaign while others will only follow the Vinick campaign, often as both sides grapple with similar issues. Unfortunately, the writers also intermingle episodes focusing solely on the final year of the Bartlet administration with their coverage of the Santos/Vinick contest, which have no real pedagogical value for the purposes of teaching electoral politics. Those episodes can easily be omitted without losing anything from the election storyline. I have included a chart (Appendix A) of each of the election-themed episodes in seasons six and seven, along with a brief plot synopsis and a listing of relevant content that can be found in each episode. There are a total of 23 episodes over the two seasons that are related to either the primary or general elections. Of course, instructors pressed for time could show only the episodes from season six related to the primary election or the episodes from season seven related to the general election as they are not necessarily dependent on each other. In the remainder of this article, I will briefly summarize both the primary and general election storylines for those who may be unfamiliar with the series before ending with suggestions for classroom use.

The Primary Election Campaign Season six takes place in the middle of the seventh year of Bartlet’s presidency, and candidates from both parties are throwing their hats into the ring for their party’s presidential nomination. On the Democratic side, the presumptive nominee is Vice President Robert Russell, although few within the Bartlet administration view him as a serious candidate who could win a general election. With less than two weeks until the filing deadline for the New Hampshire primary, Bartlet’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman, flies to Texas and makes a personal plea for Santos to run for the Democratic nomination. After discussing the offer with his family, Santos agrees with one condition—that Lyman leaves the White House and runs his campaign. At the onset, Santos is one of several lower-tier candidates for the Democratic nomination behind the two frontrunners, Russell and former Vice President John Hoynes. The first primary- themed episodes focus on the crucial primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. In Iowa, all of the Democratic candidates take the “ethanol pledge” (although none truly believe in ethanol as a viable fuel alternative) while in New Hampshire, they engage in a variety of “grip and grin” campaign tactics while simultaneously trying to raise money for television advertisements and

Ohio Social Studies Review 8 collecting as many local endorsements as possible. Without a war chest comparable to the Russell and Hoynes’s campaigns, Santos needs a strong showing in New Hampshire to extend his campaign. Following an effective primetime television advertisement and a strong debate performance, Santos wins 19% of the New Hampshire vote, which still places him a distant third to Russell and Hoynes, but increases his fundraising efforts and allows him to remain in the race. As the race approaches Super Tuesday, the Santos campaign is running on fumes, and without at least a second-place finish in the California primary, Santos’s hopes of securing the nomination are all but finished. However, only days before the crucial vote, the Hoynes campaign is rocked by scandal as allegations that the former Vice President sexually harassed a former staffer become public. This revelation causes a considerable number of Hoynes’s supporters to back Santos, and overnight, the Santos campaign has become the alternative to Russell. Santos ultimately wins the California primary, and he and Russell then split the remaining primary states without either candidate having earned enough delegates to secure the nomination. By the time the race reaches the Democratic National Convention, Russell and Santos are almost even in terms of delegates, setting the stage for a brokered convention. As primetime audiences watch, the delegates engage in multiple rounds of voting while a bevy of backroom deals are being made to try and persuade enough delegates to switch their allegiances so that one of the candidates can reach the magic number needed to secure the nomination. After two days and several rounds of deadlocked votes, the White House puts pressure on Santos to agree to a deal in which he would serve as Russell’s running mate, but Santos refuses. After hearing Santos give an impassioned speech to the Democratic delegation, President Bartlet ultimately intercedes and throws his support behind Santos, which allows him to secure the nomination. On the last day of the convention, Santos emerges as the Democratic nominee, and he quickly chooses Leo McGarry, former Chief of Staff to President Bartlet, as his running mate. Less attention is given to the Republican primary contest; however, viewers are told that unlike in the Democratic race, Vinick has garnered enough delegates to secure his party’s nomination well before the Republican National Convention. After winning the primary, Vinick seeks to unite the party behind his selection of a running mate. As a moderate Republican who is pro-choice, Vinick realizes that he needs to balance the ticket with a socially conservative vice presidential candidate. He is initially turned down by his chief rival in the Republican primary, but ultimately decides on West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan, a socially conservative former prosecutor who Vinick feels can help him connect with the Religious Right. As they await the result of the Democratic primary, the Vinick campaign staff begins a 50-state strategy that is designed to use the senator’s moderate stances to win over independents and conservative Democrats regardless of whom Vinick runs against.

The General Election Campaign Season seven chronicles the Santos/Vinick race, which is eerily similar to the real-life contest that would take place two years later between Barack Obama and John McCain (Funt, 2008). In Santos, the Democrats have nominated a young, relatively unknown three-term Congressman from Texas who would become the first Latino to be elected president should he win the general election, and the Republicans have countered with Vinick, a four-term senator from California who is in his late sixties and is a moderate on most social issues. From the very first episode,

9 Ohio Social Studies Review Making Every Year a Presidential Election Year viewers are led to believe that the race will be a close contest, as the Santos campaign is elated to find that the first Gallup poll after the Democratic National Convention only has them nine points down to the more established and well-known senator. Throughout the season, the focus shifts back and forth between the Santos and Vinick campaigns as both sides attempt to develop a coherent message for the American public. The Santos campaign struggles at the outset as the media questions his selection of McGarry as a running mate. McGarry brings a wealth of experience to the ticket, including foreign policy expertise that Santos lacks, but McGarry also carries considerable baggage, particularly in terms of his health and prior bouts with alcoholism and addiction to painkillers. Santos also faces questions regarding his lack of experience, and his campaign struggles with avoiding turning the race into a referendum on whether a Latino is qualified to serve as president of the United States. Vinick, on the other hand, regularly has to answer questions from the conservative wing of his party about his moderate stances on social issues, especially abortion. In particular, members of the Religious Right put pressure on Vinick to promise to appoint pro-life judges should he be elected, a promise that Vinick makes in private but denies once it is leaked to the press. Throughout the campaign, Vinick has to continually address issues surrounding his age and the fact that he never served in the military, issues that become more visible when Santos is called upon to complete his military reserve duty during the middle of the campaign. Viewers are treated to a behind-the-scenes look into both campaigns as they grapple with many of the same issues, such as when to go negative, how to use the media to their advantage, and how to manage the impact of 527 groups and other outside forces on the campaign. Of utmost importance to both camps, and a reoccurring theme throughout season seven, is the concept of electoral math and how to make the best use of fundraising contributions. Viewers are privy to the difficult decisions that are made in the midst of a hard-fought campaign, such as when to pull money from one state and shift focus to another. Moreover, viewers can see how these decisions are informed by polling data and other factors, such as the expensiveness of certain media markets over others and the ability of the presidential contest to affect down-ticket races in certain states. Other behind-the-scenes issues that are addressed include the negotiations surrounding the number and format of debates, as well as the raising and lowering of expectations for debates depending on the perceived oratorical skills of a candidate, and the preparation for a legal battle should the election be contested or too close to call. As the campaign progresses, Vinick begins to establish a sizeable lead, but that lead quickly evaporates in the wake of two unexpected events that alter the trajectory of the race. First, in a storyline that is reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin shooting in 2012, a young African American who had stolen a car and was carrying a toy gun is killed by a Latino police officer who claims to have shot the adolescent in self-defense. Santos subsequently makes a speech on race that begins to unite the Latino and African-American communities and helps ensure the Black vote on election day. Of more consequence, however, is the meltdown of a nuclear reactor in San Andreo, California, only weeks prior to the election. Once it becomes known that Vinick, a proponent of nuclear power and the senior senator from California, had lobbied for the construction of that plant, the race becomes too close to call. Both campaigns spend the remaining weeks prior to the election shoring up their respective bases and attempting to sway any remaining undecided voters.

Ohio Social Studies Review 10 On election night, the storyline takes an unexpected twist due to the untimely death of actor John Spencer, who portrayed Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Leo McGarry, in the middle of season seven. The writers decide to have McGarry fall victim to a heart attack after the first wave of election results are reported, and his death is announced by the Santos campaign soon thereafter. With the voting booths still open on the West Coast, focus turns to California, which had been predicted to go to Santos. Perhaps buoyed by the announcement of McGarry’s death, Vinick narrowly carries California, which means that the election ultimately rests on the results from Nevada and Oregon, both of which are too close to call. Santos eventually wins both states by the slimmest of margins, and Vinick chooses to concede rather than force a recount.

Instructional Implications Creative teachers can develop a wide range of activities using this West Wing storyline if they are willing to think outside of the box and take time to unpack all of the political detail that is contained in each episode. First, however, instructors need to consider the practical aspects of using this type of film in their classes. Each episode runs approximately 40 to 45 minutes, which may make showing episodes in class challenging in light of the curricular demands found in a typical civics or government course. In a year-long course, showing an episode once a week or once every other week may be an option, but teachers working under the constraint of a semester- long, block schedule may not be able to allot that much time. If showing full episodes is not possible, then a possible suggestion would be to show selective clips from each episode pertaining to the Santos/Vinick election. Once teachers develop a viewing schedule, the content afforded by The West Wing allows for critical discussions on a variety of topics pertaining to national politics. More importantly, these discussions could easily supplement topics found in the typical civics or government curriculum. For example, when discussing the nuances of the electoral college, students could apply what they learned in class to a practical context of how political operatives use that same information to make decisions about where to campaign or spend advertising money. Similarly, when instructors cover polling data in class, they can refer to The West Wing in order to show students how politicians use that information to make political decisions. Other topics that are present throughout both seasons and would be ripe for critical analysis are the relationship between politicians and the media, the divide between the moderate and extreme wings of both political parties, and the importance of certain issues, such as race and religious faith, as litmus tests for those running for office. In addition, research on using The West Wing with secondary students has shown that students have an easier time understanding current political events after they have first been able to contextualize the political decisions made by members of the Bartlet administration (Journell & Buchanan, in press). Therefore, even the more subtle aspects of the Vinick/Santos campaign, such as Vinick being pressured to appeal to the religious base of his party, may better help students understand elements of real-life politics, such as the emergence of the Tea Party as a fiscally conservative wing of the Republican Party. For teachers who regularly engage students in discussions of current events as part of their courses, being able to connect events with the West Wing storyline that all students have seen may be helpful for establishing a common starting point for discussion.

11 Ohio Social Studies Review Making Every Year a Presidential Election Year

Regardless of how teachers choose to use The West Wing in their classes, they must make students aware of the limitations of the series and take steps that allow students to critically analyze the series as a source of political information. For example, there are several storylines running throughout seasons six and seven of The West Wing that have little to do with politics, such as the inevitable romance between Lyman and a member of his campaign staff or the leaking of a classified military secret by a senior member of the Bartlet administration. For many students, these lighter storylines may be the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down, so to speak. However, when creating assignments, teachers would need to be clear that students limit their responses to the political information contained in each episode. Teachers should also make students aware of the liberties that the writers may have taken with certain information in order to make the show more attractive to viewers. In many cases, these liberties may embellish aspects of real-life politics, such as the relationship between the media and political campaigns, or seek to simplify complex concepts so that they can more easily be understood by a general audience (Skewes, 2009). Another obvious limitation of The West Wing is that it is written from a liberal, Democratic perspective, although the show typically does a good job of showing both sides of major issues (see Journell & Buchanan, 2012a) and the writers spend almost as much time on the Vinick campaign as they do the Santos campaign. Teachers, however, may have to consciously balance the liberal slant portrayed in the show with supplemental materials that are more conservative in nature. As Beavers (2002) noted in her original argument for using The West Wing as a pedagogical tool, instructors must take steps to have their students critically analyze the series as a type of text. In terms of using the Santos/Vinick campaign, one way that instructors could achieve that goal is by having students compare what they are watching with accounts of actual presidential campaigns, such as news articles or analysis/commentary from the 2012 election (e.g., Sabato, 2013). Students could then place The West Wing in an appropriate context while still enjoying the pedagogical benefits of being privy to an insider’s view of a national election.

Conclusion Although it is unlikely that most teachers will reap the same benefits from the Santos/Vinick campaign as they might from integrating their curriculum with an actual presidential election, The West Wing does provide a viable alternative for the semesters in between real-life elections. The goal for all teachers should be authentic learning, which involves being able to take theoretical information and place it into an appropriate context (Newman & Wehledge, 1993). For students, being able to apply what they learn in their civics and government courses to a presidential election, real or manufactured by Hollywood, creates a much richer learning experience.

Ohio Social Studies Review 12 REFERENCES Beavers, S. L. (2002). The West Wing as a pedagogical tool. PS: Political Science & Politics, 35, 213-216. Funt, P. (2008). A race straight out of a “West Wing” rerun. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/05/25/AR2008052502282.html Gaudelli, W. (2009). Interpreting democratic images: Secondary students’ reading of visual texts. Teacher Education Quarterly, 36, 111-130. Giglio, E. (2000). Here’s looking at you: Hollywood, film, and politics.New York, NY: Peter Lang. Gladstone-Sovell, T. (2006). Prime-time presidents: Images of politics on The West Wing and Commander in Chief. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA. Haas, M. E., & Laughlin, M. A. (2002). Teaching the 2000 election: A k-12 survey. Journal of Social Studies Research, 26(2), 20-30. Holbert, R. L., Pillion, O., Tschida, D. A., Armfield, G. G., Kinder, K., Cherry, K., & Daulton, A. (2003).The West Wing as endorsement of the U.S. presidency: Expanding the bounds of priming in political communication. Journal of Communication, 53, 427-443. Jones, R., & Dionisopoulous, G. N. (2004). Scripting a tragedy: The “Isaac and Ishmael” episode of The West Wing as parable. Popular Communication, 2, 21-40. Journell, W., & Buchanan, L. B. (2012a). Making politics palatable: Using television drama in high school civics and government classes. The Social Studies, 103, 1-11. Journell, W., & Buchanan, L. B. (2012b). Rethinking “general audience”: A comparison of students’ understanding of popular film in high school honors and general-level classes. American Secondary Education, 41, 31-51. Journell, W., & Buchanan, L. B. (in press). Fostering political understanding using The West Wing: Analyzing the pedagogical benefits of film in high school civics classrooms. Journal of Social Studies Research. Levine, M. A. (2003). The West Wing (NBC) and the West Wing (D.C.): Myth and reality in television’s portrayal of the White House. In P. C. Rollins & J. E. O’Connor (Eds.), The West Wing: The American presidency as television drama (pp.42-62). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Marcus, A. S., Metzger, S. A., Paxton, R. J., & Stoddard, J. D. (2010). Teaching history with film: Strategies for secondary social studies. New York, NY: Routledge. Parry-Giles, T., & Parry-Giles, S. J. (2006). The prime-time presidency: The West Wing and U.S. nationalism. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Podhoretz, J. (2003). The liberal imagination. In P. C. Rollins & J. E. O’Connor (Eds.), The West Wing: The American presidency as television drama (pp. 222-231). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Pompper, D. (2003). The West Wing: White House narratives that journalism cannot tell. In P. C. Rollins & J. E. O’Connor (Eds.), The West Wing: The American presidency as television drama (pp. 17-31). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Quiring, L. P. (2003). A man of his word: Aaron Sorkin’s American presidents. In P. C. Rollins & J. E. O’Connor (Eds.), Hollywood’s White House: The American presidency in film and history (pp. 234-247). Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press. Rollins, P. C., & O’Connor, J. E. (Eds). (2003). The West Wing: The American presidency as television drama. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Russell, W. B. (2007). Using film in the social studies.Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Sabato, L. J. (Ed.). (2013). Barack Obama and the new America: The 2012 election and the changing face of politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Schlamme, T., & Misiano, C. (2005). The West Wing: Season 6. Warner Brothers. Schlamme, T., & Misiano, C. (2006). The West Wing: Season 7. Warner Brothers. Skewes, E. A. (2009). Presidential candidates and the press on The West Wing and in the real world. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 26, 131-142.

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APPENDIX

EPISODE BRIEF PLOT SYNOPSIS INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT

SEASON SIX

Faith-Based Initiative Santos accepts Josh’s invitation Character development to run for the presidency

Opposition Research Santos and Russell campaign Character development; in New Hampshire importance of New Hampshire primary; “grip and grin” campaigning; retail politics; winning statewide support

King Corn Santos, Russell, and Vinick Importance of Iowa caucuses; campaign in Iowa importance of single issues in primary states (e.g., ethanol)

Freedonia The eve of the Democratic Debate negotiations; debate New Hampshire primary preparation; importance of fundraising and advertisement money; free media coverage Drought Conditions Post-New Hampshire primary; Name-recognition; photo Democratic fundraiser at opportunities/access with White House; possible late sitting President entrance into Democratic race

La Palabra Democratic campaigning for Endorsements from key Super Tuesday states; Hoynes individuals and groups; involved in scandal, becomes delegate counting; a two-person race between fundraising; influence of race Santos and Russell on politics

In God We Trust Democratic campaigning for Endorsements from key Super Tuesday states; Hoynes individuals and groups; involved in scandal, becomes delegate counting; a two-person race between fundraising; influence of race Santos and Russell on politics

Ohio Social Studies Review 14 EPISODE BRIEF PLOT SYNOPSIS INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT

Things Fall Apart A brokered Democratic Binding versus non-binding convention between Santos, delegates; super-delegates; Russell, and Hoynes internal politics to flip delegates on subsequent rounds of voting

2162 Votes Santos wins the Democratic Rules/politics of conventions; nomination; selects McGarry possible floor nomination as running mate

SEASON SEVEN The Ticket Santos receives first polling Importance of polling data; data of campaign; worries analyzing polling data; over McGarry being a drag on bureaucracy of presidential the ticket campaigns

The Mommy Problem Shaping the Santos message Life on the campaign trail; for the electorate shaping candidate image and campaign message; deciding when to go negative The Message of the Week Shaping the Vinick message Life on the campaign trail; for the electorate shaping candidate image and campaign message; attempting to unite the party The Al Smith Dinner Both sides respond to Influence of 527 a Republican attack advertisements; deciding advertisement on Santos’s when to go negative; record on abortion importance of abortion issue in presidential politics The Debate A live debate between Santos Outlining traditional and Vinick Democratic and Republican positions Undecideds A racially motivated shooting Debate bumps; targeting in Los Angeles inserts race undecided votes; courting into the election Black and Latino votes

The Wedding Top Democrats question the Electoral math; deciding campaign leadership where to allocate money and manage resources; down- ticket races

15 Ohio Social Studies Review Making Every Year a Presidential Election Year

EPISODE BRIEF PLOT SYNOPSIS INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT

Running Mates The Vice Presidential debate Lowering/raising expectations; impact of campaigns on candidates’ families

Duck and Cover A nuclear facility in Impact of national tragedy; San Andreo, California, using media to spin events experiences a meltdown and influences the campaign The Cold Three weeks until election Deciding when to “shake up” day; dealing with the San a campaign staff; perceptions Andreo disaster of a candidate’s health/age; spinning/controlling media

Two Weeks Out Both campaigns refocus their Electoral math; the strategy for the final two importance of the personal weeks of the campaign lives of candidates Welcome to Wherever Five days until the election Securing turnout; celebrity You Are endorsements; preparing for legal battle over election Election Day, Part I Election day Exit polling data; impact of weather on turnout; electoral math; considering the variety of scenarios on election night Election Day, Part II McGarry dies from a heart The importance of swing attack; Santos wins a narrow states; electoral math election

Ohio Social Studies Review 16 EXPANDING THIRD GRADERS’ WORLDVIEWS

Kellie Teegarden, Xavier University; Sara Eisenhardt, Northern Kentucky University; Emily Steele, Edenfield Education

Abstract This research recounts the collaborative effort of an undergraduate student, a university professor, and an educational consultant that was focused on developing, implementing, and reflecting on classroom experiences for the purpose of promoting pre-service teacher growth in the area of social studies instruction. The social studies unit provided an example of how to meaningfully engage third-grade students in analyzing how people from different countries adapt to changes in their social, political, economic, and geographic environment. The unit was designed to develop knowledge of the social, geographical, political, economic, and historic features of regions and immerse students in experiences and conflicts that would challenge their ethnocentric perspectives. At the conclusion of the unit, students had developed knowledge of the geography, government, currency, and industry of five selected nations and were able to present a perspective on the challenges facing these regions that transcended their own circumstances. Developing student’s natural curiosity about the world through real life connections helped students understand the perspective of the people they were studying. Students were immersed in solving the problems faced by people who seemed very different at first but were then understood to be similar to the students.

The world is becoming more interconnected and complex. It is easier than ever to move goods, ideas, and people from one place to another. Suárez-Orozco (2005) provides implications for education, positing that “an education that is neither anachronistic nor irrelevant to the new world will need to focus on the two domains that will define the global era: difference and complexity” (p. 210). Regrettably, most schools are not keeping up with the changing global dynamics. Social studies education today teaches facts without context and problems with ready-made solutions, leaving students without an understanding of different peoples or the complexity of the issues these people face.

Global Competency and the Young Child The elementary years represents the critical period to begin addressing global issues and competency (Cushner, 2007). Global competency is described as a substantive understanding of the world characterized by the ability to examine the world beyond one’s immediate setting, represent and respect multiple perspectives, interact and connect with diverse groups, and participate in a world community for social action. Mansilla and Jackson (2011) caution against the development of isolated skills and knowledge as educators prepare future world citizens and develop their global competencies: But gaining global competency is not merely of having more information. Rather, it pivots on students’ ability to understand particular contexts, telling phenomena, and revealing transnational connections. Over time such substantive engagement with disciplines and

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topics of global significance will build foundations for students’ understanding of the world. (p. 13) Research indicates that a lack of global awareness in young students can lead to damaging future practices such as stereotyping (Cameron, Alvarez, Ruble, & Fuligni, 2001). There is evidence that bias and stereotyping can be significantly reduced by taking the perspective of others and gaining a perspective on their culture and ideals. “Studies show that by taking the perspectives of others and gaining a perspective on their culture and ideals, bias and stereotyping can be significantly reduced” (Grant, 2006, p. 15). Educators have the potential to contribute to students’ development of global competency through high-quality social studies curriculum. The National Council of Social Studies (NCSS, 2010) advocates that every teacher increases efforts to globalize the curriculum and the classroom using an integrated approach and drawing upon multiple resources including technology, artifacts, and international speakers. As educators, educators should strive toward “an education for lifelong cognitive, behavioral, and relational engagement with the world” to prepare students for global competency (Suarez-Orozco, 2005, p. 211).

The Social Studies Unit We developed the social studies unit to help students think beyond the facts by challenging them to create their own solutions to world issues. Each lesson focused on a different country and a guiding question that represented a big idea of elementary social studies curriculum. It was important that the lessons represented a diversity of countries, because we wanted students to be confronted with people who seemed very different from them but had needs and wants very similar to their own. Our intent was to leverage students’ innate compassion and confront their biases. The big ideas in social studies were selected to represent the country’s significant challenge based on the geopolitical, social, and economic tensions. We embedded the big ideas into the lessons through the use of a central question. We explored the respective question through literature, PowerPoint presentations, video segments, and charts. These aides gave the students the background information needed to intelligently answer the question. At the end of each lesson, the students gave their thoughts on the guiding question based on their own opinion in written form. Students independently responded to the question in their journals and later engaged in a class discussion about the question as they enjoyed representative foods from the respective country. Table 1 provides an overview of the unit. It presents the countries, guiding questions, and the National Council for Social Studies (2010) theme for each lesson in the unit.

Ohio Social Studies Review 18 TABLE 1: OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT

COUNTRY QUESTION THEME

Russia How do people adapt to harsh climates? People, Places, and Environments Mexico Why do people immigrate and what Culture challenges do they face? Australia How does colonization affect Individual, Group, indigenous people? and Institutions Germany What are the pros and cons of the Power, Authority, European Union? and Governance Egypt How does technology impact a Science, Technology, and Society country’s economy?

We chose to present this unit to a certain demographic of elementary-aged students in a rural setting. We recognized that they were naturally curious about the world and had developed few presumptions and misconceptions about other cultures. Two of the authors, from rural backgrounds, felt strongly that students in rural environments needed high-quality social studies education the most. They believed that many such students live in a homogeneous environment and often have few opportunities to interact with diverse cultures.

Russia The first lesson on Russia helped children think about living in a harsh climate. We used charts to compare the population density in the coldest parts of Russia to the population density in the warmer parts. The students discovered that people, generally, do not live in the coldest parts of Russia, due to the harshness of living conditions. We looked at just how cold the northern part of Russia is with a video about the coldest town on earth (located in Siberia). Finally, the use of cloud seeding as a way to push snow clouds away from major cities, such as Moscow, was introduced. Students saw that cloud seeding has a downside when they learned that snow clouds are pushed onto surrounding areas, causing the snow to fall around the city instead of on it. We asked students to write their thoughts on cloud seeding at the end of the lesson, including if they thought it should be used in Russia. Many students gave answers similar to the following, “I think it could be a big problem. I would like it if I lived in Russia but if I lived in another [surrounding] country I would hate it.” This student did not think it was fair to push the snow and let it fall on other people. Another typical response was, “If I lived there I wouldn’t like it with all that snow around. I would be freezing! If I lived there too long I’d get sick of the snow and take a plane to another town or I would try cloud seeding!” This student knew s/he would hate to live in a place with so much snow and would be willing to try anything. Both students were able to put themselves in the position of the people in Russia. They came up with different answers because both considered the factors that mattered to them.

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Mexico The second lesson introduced the idea of poverty as a force for influencing immigration through the country of Mexico. We showed the students pictures one of us took while on a service learning trip in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. The pictures showed children engaged in play and learning, and included images of the city as well as the countryside. The students had the opportunity to see that children in Mexico enjoy many of the same activities they do in the United States. We also discussed some facts learned about Mexico while studying there. For instance, there were very few high schools in rural areas and many jobs required a high school diploma, limiting employment for those in rural areas. We facilitated a discussion about the scarcity of jobs in Mexico and the number of people who were unemployed or underemployed and the potential connection to illegal immigration. We asked the children to take the perspective of a Mexican immigrant to the United States where they did not speak the language or know the culture. One student answered, “It will be hard to cooperate because we do not speak that language and will not know what to do. We cannot speak their language.” Another response, similar to many others in the class was, “If I went to another country, I would feel sad because I would miss my family.” While these students were thinking about different issues, they both brought up relevant points. Immigrants do have to deal with both navigating a foreign country and at the same time, they are separated from their family and friends. Both responses show an emergence of understanding the perspective of and challenges faced by someone from another culture.

Australia During the third lesson on Australia, students explored the effects of colonization on indigenous people. We used videos to help children understand the indigenous people’s struggles. The first video portrayed the experience of native Australasians confronting European settlers. The second video was a song portraying the conditions and feelings of being subjugated by the settler’s laws. Next the lesson explained the Stolen Generation. Between 1910 and 1970 30% of multiracial and light-skinned indigenous children were taken from their home and culture and moved in with non-indigenous Australians, never seeing their families again, thus coming to be known as the Stolen Generation. We showed a third video of the Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 apologizing to the Stolen Generation. Finally, we showed a video of modern day indigenous people and the poverty in which they still live. To follow up this lesson, we challenged the students to solve the conflicts and tensions between the indigenous people and the people of European heritage. One student answered, “I would send all the kids [of the Stolen Generation] to their parents and give them the stuff that the kids got to do and give them something to help their country. And give them [what they] need, they need food, water, and some want stuff!” Another student phrased his/her answer a little differently, “I would not like having to leave my family. I would kick and scream until they let me go back.” While these answers seemed simplistic, they actually showed deeper understanding than a cursory read would suggest. The students demonstrated empathy and outrage for the children taken away from their families because of the poverty in which the indigenous people lived.

Ohio Social Studies Review 20 The first student wanted all the children returned to their homes and thought the means to provide for the families should have been given to the indigenous people. The extreme poverty many indigenous people still live in caused this student to think the government should intervene by giving them money and food. The second student’s response is less expansive but s/he was not persuaded by the government’s argument that the people of European descent would make better parents.

Germany The fourth lesson examined the positives and negative consequences of Germany’s participation in the European Union (EU). We engaged the students in a discussion as they examined a historical timeline of the EU. We showed a PowerPoint presentation with interactive questions to help students realize that the European Union was neither wholly good nor wholly bad for Germany. We engaged the students about the fairness of Germany’s inequitable contribution to the EU because of their economic stability. They also found it interesting that anyone living in a EU member country can freely live in any other EU country. Next, we asked the students to write about Germany’s involvement in the EU. One of the students answered, “They work together because they were fighting in the war and someone on the other side stopped the war and they worked as a team and they were counting on each other, so if someone would have bailed on the others the war would start again.” This student seemed to understand that the European Union was conceived from war as a way to prevent future wars. The student knew the countries under the EU agreement became dependent on one another and that if one country did not cooperate the war could start again. Another student assumed a different perspective, “I think the European Union is a good idea for Germany but I would not like it if we were in something like that. I don’t want to have to give our money away.” This student made a personal connection with what s/he learned.

Egypt The fifth and final lesson was on Egypt and helped students understand the impact of various technologies on the economy of a country. Students examined pictures and discussed the different jobs available in ancient Egypt verses modern Egypt. We engaged them in a discussion comparing ancient and modern farming practices including the irrigation technology in a county that is mostly desert. Finally, we engaged them in a discussion about trading including the concept of bartering and modern Egyptian currency. After the lesson, we asked the students to assume the perspective of an ancient or modern farmer and to describe their life. One student chose ancient Egypt and wrote, “I would live close to the river. My life would be great! I would be a nice farmer. I would work with Samantha, Mia, and Beth. We would take turns going to get water. We all have jobs to do everyday.” Another student answered, “Ancient would be good for me because it always floods there and I would have enough water for my crops and I would have enough food because they give you bread for when you sell something.” Both students choose ancient Egypt but had different methods for solving the challenges they would face. The first student used cooperation to get water for the crops while the second student relied upon the natural flooding to irrigate the crops.

21 Ohio Social Studies Review Expanding Third Graders’ Worldviews

Conclusion The social studies unit provided an example of how to meaningfully engage third-grade students in analyzing how people from different countries adapt to changes in their social, political, economic, and geographic environments. The unit was designed to develop knowledge of the social, geographical, political, economic, and historic features of regions and immerse students in experiences and conflicts that would challenge their ethnocentric perspectives. At the conclusion of the unit, it was clear that the students developed knowledge of the geography, government, currency, and industry of five selected nations and were able to present a perspective on the challenges facing these regions that transcended their own circumstances. Developing student’s natural curiosity about the world through real life connections helped students understand the perspective of the people they were studying. Students were immersed in solving the problems faced by people who at first seemed very different from them and yet were ultimately understood as similar to the students. Educators need to rethink social studies instruction. It is our responsibility to give students the tools to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world. Although we cannot know what the future will hold, we can help prepare students to deal with whatever will come their way. Students need practice solving global problems now so they will understand how to deal with the problems that they face in the future. Whether it is working with the new student from a far away place that moves to their school or with multinational corporations as adults, educators need to help students build these skills early on in their education.

REFERENCES Cameron, J. A., Alvarez, J. M., Ruble, D. N., & Fuligni, A. J. (2001). Children’s lay theories about ingroups and outgroups: Reconceptualizing research on prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 118-128. Cushner, K. (2007). International socialization of young people: Obstacles and opportunities. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32, 164-173. Grant, A. C. (2006). The development of global awareness in elementary students through participation and online crosscultural project. (Doctorial Dissertation). Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Retrieved from http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10252006.../Grant_dis.pdf Mansilla, V. B., & Jackson, A. (2011). Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world. Council of Chief State School Officers’ EdSteps Initiative & Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.statewideafterschoolnetworks.net/educating-global-competence-preparing-our-youth-engage-world National Council for the Social Studies. (2010). National curriculum standards for social studies: A framework for teaching learning and assessment. Waldorf, MD: National Council for the Social Studies. National Council for the Social Studies. (n.d). What are global and international education? Retrieved from: http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/global/whatisglobaled. Suàrez-Orozco, M. M. (2005). Rethinking education in the global era. Phi Delta Kappan International, 11, 209-12.

Ohio Social Studies Review 22 TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT SYMBOLS USING BALANCED INTEGRATION OF ART AND SOCIAL STUDIES

Dean P. Vesperman, Indiana University; Donna J. Bernens-Kinkead, University Elementary School, Monroe Country Community School Corporation; Liesl S. Loudermilk, University Elementary School, Monroe Country Community School Corporation; Gladys I. M. Newsom, University Elementary School, Monroe Country Community School Corporation

Abstract Can balanced integration between art and social studies be created at the elementary level? This article is based on research conducted with three elementary school teachers working under a Teaching American History grant. The intent of the study was to create an environment by which teachers in art and social studies could work together to improve student understanding of symbols as a form of communication. The teachers, with the help of a doctoral student, worked collaboratively to create units that emphasized the importance of symbols and to design activities that crossed both disciplines to reinforce what students had learned in the class. This article covers the lessons learned by all three teachers in implementing these units and holding an art faire that allowed students to share their work.

In an era of increased accountability in math and reading, is it possible to preserve social studies education through integration? Holloway and Chiodo (2009) argue that social studies has been reconfigured in schools as an integrated effort; particularly in regard to the integration of life skills, such as cooperation and responsibility, throughout the school day. VanFossen and McGrew (2008) reported that teachers view integration as a general approach to social studies instruction over 60% of the time at the primary level and over 33% of the time at the intermediate level. However, integration can have false allure. Alleman and Brophy (2006) found insufficient value in integration activities included within social studies textbooks. They noted: Integration across subjects is an appealing idea in theory, but a close analysis of its applications indicates that integration efforts usually either advance the agenda of one of the subjects at the expense of the other or result in content and activities that trivialize both subjects. (p. 437) To illustrate this point, Boyle-Baise, Hsu, Johnson, Serriere, and Stewart (2011) found that “for primary grades, teachers believed that they salvaged social studies through integration” but these attempts at integration were “momentary, unplanned asides” (p. 136). Educators must find ways to promote balanced integration. Balanced integration means attending to the special aims, content, and methods for each subject, which is a challenging task. In our case, we encouraged elementary teachers of social studies and art to collaboratively create and

23 Ohio Social Studies Review Teaching Children about Symbols implement an integrative endeavor: The Presidential Plates and Portrait Project. The participants (three teachers, two doctoral students, and a Teaching American History project codirector) considered the following questions: How can we organize lessons that prompt students to think artistically, master social studies concepts, and meet important curricular standards? What will a balanced approach look like, how will it work, and what resources are needed? We had several after-school meetings to envision the format of the project. These meetings provided an important forum that opened avenues of cross-disciplinary communication. Leisl, the fourth-grade teacher, wanted to focus on state history, while the fifth-grade teacher, Donna, wanted to emphasize the Revolutionary War. Both teachers agreed that a focus on symbols could address curricular standards for historical, social, cultural, and economic understandings of these topics. The art teacher, Gladys, recalled relevant projects, including the construction of Native American bandolier bags and a collage of the preamble for the U.S. Constitution. She suggested the representation of symbols through the creation of flags, portraits, plates, or pins. We decided to focus our lessons on the issue of symbols as a means of communication because students, without formal instruction, are already able to understand symbols. However, they do not always understand that individuals, groups, social institutions, and governments use symbols as a powerful tool of communication or that they can use symbols as a tool for personal communication. One reason for the gap is that individuals mediate the meaning of some symbols without ever consciously considering that they are viewing representations and not words (Vygotsky, 1978). It was for this reason that we decided to focus on lessons in the elementary classroom and art class that focused on developing more complex understandings of symbols, their meaning, and their use as a means of communication. We decided that fourth-grade students would learn about the symbols of Indiana and United States presidents. After learning and thinking about the meaning of these symbols, students would create a commemorative plate of Indiana, applying the principles of pattern, symmetrical and radial balance, and color. Fifth-grade students would examine the portraits of the colonial period, identify the use of symbols in those portraits, and in turn, create their own portraits adorned with their own symbols. These portraits would emphasize the principles of proportion, patterns, symmetrical balance, and color. We further decided that the fourth-grade class would engage in three 45-minute lessons on symbols, followed by three or four art class periods. The fifth-grade lesson on symbols on Revolutionary period portraits had already been taught, and the students would use three or four art class periods to create their portraits. The doctoral student would support the teachers as an aide and consultant.

Fourth-Grade Social Studies Lessons The fourth-grade study of symbols began with a hook lesson: a quiz on common symbols that children see in daily life, including the symbols for Apple Computers, McDonalds, Nike, and famous sports teams. The quiz encouraged students to think about symbols before they developed a formal definition of the concept. Once the quiz was completed, students were shown the Great Seal of the United States and were asked to point out symbols. The students were able to point out items they thought were symbols, for example, “The eagle has a shield.” However, they were not always able to explain why they were symbols or the meaning of the symbol when asked by the teacher or doctoral student.

Ohio Social Studies Review 24 Following the quiz, the students were taken on a scavenger hunt around the school and outside grounds to find symbols and to determine their meanings. The students noticed numerous symbols that they had used previously, but did not “realize it was a symbol.” Students discussed a symbol with their peers: what it was, what it meant, and how it was used. This lesson culminated in a class discussion of their discoveries: symbols are used to communicate ideas in schools, around the state, and throughout the United States. Students noted that “some symbols at our school aren’t used in other schools, like our symbol (a globe surrounded by children)” and that “some symbols might be in all schools, including for bathrooms.” The students analyzed the practical use of symbols as a means of communication. The next social studies lesson continued the discussion on symbols through an exploration of presidential china. Students examined symbols on the china of numerous presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and others. They considered how symbols were used to represent the United States, including an eagle, a shield with stars and stripes, or an interlinked chain. Other plates displayed the personal ideals of the president, such as Washington’s sun or Jefferson’s shield. Or they discussed how symbols communicated the state of the nation at that time, such as the use of a chain and a sun representing a new nation on President Washington’s plate, President Lincoln’s storm clouds surrounding the eagle, or President Harrison’s use of the sun and light-colored clouds. The class also discussed the use of color to provide more symbolic meaning. They noticed that Lincoln’s clouds are dark and ominous symbolizing the Civil War while Harrison’s clouds are lighter symbolizing an age of prosperity and unity. The last lesson focused on the work of Caroline Harrison who designed the china for her husband, President Benjamin Harrison. The class discussed the choices that Mrs. Harrison made in designing the plate, including why did she place corn on the outer rim of the plate and use the same eagle as Abraham Lincoln, and what colors did she choose for the plate? When asked why the students thought she made these design choices, the students suggested that possible reasons were that “Lincoln lived in Indiana” or because “Harrison fought in the Civil War,” and those facts guided her decisions. After this discussion, the students proceeded to investigate Indiana state symbols and their meanings. This investigation included discussing such symbols as the golden torch and 19 stars (the state flag), the tulip poplar (the state tree), peonies (the state flower), the cardinal (the state bird), and limestone (the state mineral). This led to a discussion of the history of Indiana and why the aforementioned items had become state symbols. The class also discussed unofficial symbols of the state, including college and professional sports teams, famous artists, and popular Hoosier activities. This discussion also focused on the history of these symbols and how they represented either the university or sports team, but also Indiana. Students concluded that some symbols have multiple meanings: “stars represent the states and freedom.” Finally, the teacher asked them to consider “If you were to design a plate with three or more symbols of Indiana on it, what colors and symbols would you include?” Students were provided time to think about the symbols they wanted to use on their plates and how those symbols would represent themselves and Indiana. After they completed brainstorming their symbols, they were asked to write down ideas for their work during art class.

25 Ohio Social Studies Review Teaching Children about Symbols

Fifth-Grade Social Studies Lessons The fifth-grade unit centered around two popular misconceptions of the American Revolution: (a) that the revolution was a “heroic adventure,” and (b) that colonists’ cultural norms were entirely their own. The teacher addressed the first misconception by having the students read various novels aloud, including My Brother Sam Is Dead and Forge (Seeds of America). These books helped the students understand that “revolution is dangerous” and that many people risked their lives to fight the British. Furthermore, they began to appreciate that the Revolution was not a “heroic adventure” in which the colonists easily defeated the British. Instead, revolution was dangerous, fraught with the perils of being executed for treason, dying from the cold, illness, and the privations of a winter without adequate supplies. The other misconception was that the colonists had their own culture separate from the British. Through studying the visual and lyrical imagery of the rebellion, students began to see that colonists borrowed British symbols and images for their cultural representations. Students studied Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington standing before a sweeping red curtain and pillar with a rainbow hovering delicately in the background. Some students noted that the pillar was “a symbol of strength,” others pointed out that “the sword and gold chair symbolized that Washington won the war” and was “a great leader.” They examined other images in the painting: a book with an ink stand and quill on a table cover, rolled back to reveal a table leg covered with iconic symbols, the oval medallion and rainbow in the upper-right corner representing the end of the stormy days of the American Revolution. Students speculated about the artist’s intended meanings of all of the symbols. The students then compared George Washington’s portrait to one of King George III. They were surprised to see many similar elements. When shown the portrait of George III from 1781, students initially thought it was another portrait of George Washington due to similarities of dress and symbols. They noticed that both portraits used “swords as symbols as leaders” and that “all that gold meant they were both wealthy.” However, King George III wore “fancier clothes” that symbolized “his power as king.” After researching the symbols in the paintings of George III and George Washington, the students explored the symbols of other paintings of the Revolutionary era. These included famous paintings of Louis XVI by Francois Callet, James Madison by Alanzo Chappel, and numerous paintings by John Singleton Copley. The students noted that the people in the paintings had “different poses” or wore “less fancy clothes” in reference to the painting of Paul Revere. They noted that Paul Revere’s painting was “the most different painting” because “he dressed like a normal person,” which “symbolizes his humility.” Thus, they realized that the colonists’ culture was very similar to the British. More importantly, they learned that images within paintings could be used to communicate ideas and beliefs about individuals without words: power, wealth, heroism, dignity of work, and the value of knowledge. As the fifth-grade students finished their portraits, they also spent several days in the writing lab, working on reflections on the use of symbols in their portraits. They were asked to describe the messages that these symbols conveyed to them. Students were then asked to describe their own choices of personal symbols they were using in their portraits. The reflections required students to write about a favorite Revolutionary portrait, their own portrait, and how symbols were used in both. This was exemplified in what one student wrote about George Washington’s portrait, “I think in Washington’s portrait, the sword he is holding is a sign of violence because he was a patriot, and he fights for them.” He later wrote, “I used my portrait to show that I like

Ohio Social Studies Review 26 soccer . . . The painting I drew is me playing an important match to me because it’s the finals of the decade!” Students may not have understood all of the complex messages within symbols; however, they were beginning to analyze symbols, deciding how to use them to represent their beliefs, values, and favorite activities. The students used the writing exercise to bridge what they had learned in social studies to their personal portraits.

Art Class Lessons The fourth-grade lessons in the art class initially focused on reexamining the patterns and designs of presidential plates. This led to a discussion of the symbols and color choices the designers of presidential china used to convey ideas. The class progressed to considering their possible design choices, including the patterns they might use, the importance of symmetrical and radial balance in the plate design, and color choices. Students noted that Indiana had a lot of symbols from which to choose. Through these activities, the students explored the development of their own symbols to either represent Indiana and/or themselves. The students began the design process by drawing out their designs on white paper, through which they explored their artistic options. They started the process by choosing what symbol or symbols they wanted to dominate the center of their plate to highlight an aspect of Indiana or favorite activity. Students used numerous handouts on how to draw these symbols as they designed their plate on paper. For example, they drew basketballs, symbolizing not only the tradition of basketball in the state, but also their own love of the sport. As one fourth-grader stated: “I put a basketball and IU symbols in the middle of my plate, because I love basketball and I want to go to IU.” Over the next two class periods, the students wrapped up their paper drawings and began to design their ceramic plates. This led students to make a new set of artistic choices including how to recreate their initial design on china plates and how to provide emphasis to the symbols they selected. Students used several methods to accomplish these tasks, including tracing their original design onto the plate or radically redesigning their plate. After completing their initial design, students had to decide how to decorate the plate. Some students chose to use paints that could be used on glass, which turned out to be a little faint and required several coats. Other students colored their symbols using Sharpies. A lot of students used leafing pens to add accents to the design of the plate, thus providing emphasis to the images they thought symbolized themselves and/or Indiana. The art teacher asked the fifth-grade class to think about why artists used particular symbols and colors in the portraits of the Revolutionary era. Students discussed what they had learned in class, noting similarities between portraits of Washington and George III. Many students noted “both men look alike, especially how they stand” and that “both had similar symbols in their paintings, such as swords.” After this discussion, students were given white paper to sketch their portraits. Students were shown how to use a mirror to draw their faces and given handouts on proper proportions for their facial features, body, and hands. Even with the demonstrations and handouts, some students struggled with drawing their hands and faces, which prompted one-on-one demonstrations. Many students needed help with learning how to draw in proper proportions; this led some to draw only a bust of themselves, and others required help in making corrections to their portraits.

27 Ohio Social Studies Review Teaching Children about Symbols

Over the next two classes, students began to transition from their draft portraits to drawings on canvas. The art teacher showed them how to carry out this transition, using carbon paper or redrawing their portrait in pencil on the canvas. Early on, students focused more on drawing themselves and less on the use of symbols. However, during subsequent lessons, they began to consider what symbols they might use. Eventually every student incorporated representative symbols in their portraits, placing them either on their clothing or in their landscapes. Students made diverse design choices, some focused on their favorite activities—sports, socializing, or shopping; others chose objects that symbolized themselves—rainbows, castles, or trees. Another group of students used an art form to represent themselves, such as manga or paint splattering. The painting of the portraits on canvas also proved difficult for some students. Some students needed help mixing paints or learning how to paint carefully. A few students required extra class time in the art room to finish their portraits.

The Art Faire The projects culminated with an informal art faire for the fourth- and fifth-grade classes. The art faire was arranged to showcase students’ artwork, along with written explanations of their historical insights and artistic choices as an informal assessment of the student’s work. In their written explanations, the students addressed the following social studies/art education questions: what symbols did you use in your design, what did you learn about symbols from this experience, what elements and principles of art did you use in your plate design, and what would you change about your design if you could? The students’ written explanations were matted on black construction paper and placed in front of their plate or portrait, allowing visitors to read their explanations about their choice of symbols and what they had learned in social studies. On the night of the art faire, more than 100 parents attended to view their children’s work. We projected a slide show of pictures showing students at work on their projects. Parents met members of the Teaching American History (TAH) grant and discussed the importance of the students’ efforts in social studies and art. The art faire was an informal gathering; parents walked around the room with their children and looked at the various displays.

Balanced Integration: Lessons Learned “The important thing for teachers to remember is integration is a method and not a goal for learning” (Holloway & Chiodo, 2009, p. 5). From the outset, we sought to use social studies content and art methods to deepen students’ understanding of symbols. Students’ written explanations of their plates and portraits demonstrated significant insights about symbols and their use in historical artifacts. A fifth-grade student stated, “I learned that in every portrait or painting there is a symbol that represents something. In my self-portrait, my shirt is a graphic tee because that shows a sense of humor.” In reference to symbols in Revolutionary paintings, another fifth-grade student wrote, “The symbols they used to describe the characters were bravery, swords, and a globe. I think the artist chose them because it shows who [George Washington and George III] they really are and describes them a lot more.” A fourth-grade student wrote that on her plate, “Woods represent all the parks and reserves, and a sun represents life, and a river in the middle represents one

Ohio Social Studies Review 28 of our most memorable rivers, the Wabash River.” Another fourth-grade student wrote “The Abraham Lincoln eagle represents that we are part of the United States . . . the 19 stars represents that we were the 19th state.” Symbols represented a student’s impression of himself or herself or the state of Indiana. Thus, students analyzed and applied symbols using principles from both social studies and art in a concrete fashion. They began to understand how to evaluate symbolic representations used in famous portraits and presidential china in ways they could understand by creating their own plate or portrait. Insights about symbols were reinforced through the use of artistic principles, such as balance, symmetry, and color. A fourth-grader wrote, “A big pink peony, in the center of the plate, is the state flower of Indiana. At the bottom of the plate there’s a red feathery cardinal. The border of the plate has elaborate corn stalks.” Thus, the student organized the symbols of Indiana in a way that reflected her understanding of the principles of art and the use of symbols to communicate past and present ideas and beliefs. We also learned that balanced integration requires several important components. The first is that teachers need to have time to communicate and share lessons they are teaching; time for cross-disciplinary discussions in hectic school days is limited. However, if teachers are provided a forum through which communication can occur (professional learning communities, sharing lesson plans via e-mail) more integration can be fostered. It is also important to highlight teachers’ varied knowledge of and commitment to national and state standards. We believe that through deliberate, balanced integration, educators can achieve the goals set forth by Brophy and Alleman (2006) and avoid the pitfalls described by Boyle-Baise et. al. (2011). Another issue we considered was student engagement, or over-engagement, with technical aspects of the project. When combining art and social studies, we should be aware of the potential for art-making to overpower content-based learning. Some students were so focused on the art project that they underplayed social studies content. In the future, we need to ensure that all components of the project are balanced. For example, students could write more about their grasp of symbols for the art faire display. The group discussed several solutions to this problem. It was decided that in future years, students would practice drawing body features and landscapes in art units before implementing the portraits project. We also considered the need to introduce the idea of symbols as a form of communication in other units, building toward this unit as a culminating lesson in both grades. Lastly, the writing aspect of the unit would have a more central place in the art faire that culminates the unit. In order to support each discipline’s aims, we also suggest formalizing the art faire, including presentations of the children’s work. Finally, although this project was supported by TAH funds, in the future, less expensive materials, such as paper plates, construction paper, and used china, could be utilized, and parent volunteers could assist the effort. We believe that this lesson could be duplicated in numerous ways. Teachers can highlight commemorative plates from National Parks, other states, and even important American cities, or focus on symbols in various types of portraits. In primary grades, children can make their own plates or portraits about their families, their school, or city. We further believe that teachers can implement this project alone in their classrooms. They will need to set aside three to four 45-minute blocks of class time to give students enough time to work on their art projects.

29 Ohio Social Studies Review Teaching Children about Symbols

Yes, social studies can be enhanced through integration. But efforts should carefully balance goals of social studies and other subjects, using integration as a means to enrich student understanding . REFERENCES Anderson, L. H. (2010). Chains (seeds of America). New York: Atheneum Books. Brophy, J., & Alleman, J. (2006). A reconceptualized rationale for elementary social studies. Theory and Research in Social Education, 34(4), 428-454. Boyle-Baise, M., Hsu, M., & Johnson, S., Serriere, S. C., & Stewart, D. (2011, Summer). Trying to revalue elementary social studies: Dilemmas and insights. Social Studies Research 6(2), 135-50. Collier, J. L., & Collier, C. (1974). My brother Sam is dead. New York: Scholastic Inc. Holloway, J. ,& Chiodo, J. (2009). Social studies is being taught in the elementary school: A contrarian view. Journal of Social Studies Research, 33(2), 235-261. VanFossen, P. J., & McGrew, C. (2008). Is the sky really falling?: An update on the status of social studies in the K-5 curriculum in Indiana. International Journal of Social Education, 23(1), 139-167. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ohio Social Studies Review 30 THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE WORLD HISTORY IN OHIO’S SCHOOLS

Brad M. Maguth, The University of Akron; Corbin Moore, Ohio Council for the Social Studies

Abstract This article reports on Ohio’s decision to not include world history as a required course for high school graduation, and its implications in preparing students for citizenship in a global age. Test scores from 2007 to 2009 on the social studies OGT are reviewed and highlight Ohio’s students’ lackluster awareness of the world, its people, and issues. This finding is also grounded in recent global opinion polls and research affirming the lack of U.S. citizens’ understanding toward global events, issues, institutions, geography, and cultures. In order to prepare a globally literate citizenry, and to combat tragic cuts to world history, the authors describe the efforts and progress of the Campaign to Save World History in Ohio’s Schools. This campaign, made up of teachers, teacher educators, and social studies stakeholders, is working with Ohio elected representatives to require that all Ohio students complete at least one half unit of instruction in world history.

“More so than any other generation, today’s students will be actors on a global stage.” —Merry Merryfield, 2005

In an age of globalization, all students need to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the world, its people, and its issues in order to emerge as informed and active citizens. Schools— and the social studies in particular—must play an important part in readying students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for informed and active citizenship (National Council for the Social Studies, May 2001). To ensure all students are prepared for college, career, and civic participation, most states require their students to successfully complete a set amount of instructional hours (Carnegie Units) in courses deemed essential. In order to graduate with a diploma from high school, Ohio students are required to complete coursework in language arts, algebra, physical science, life science, American history, and American government (Ohio Department of Education [ODE], 2011). Unfortunately, Ohio has failed to include world history or any equivalent global course to the list of required courses for high school graduation. We argue that our global age requires a re-examination of Ohio’s graduation requirements to ensure that Ohio students exit secondary school with at least a basic understanding of our world, its people, and its issues. World history courses and their equivalents are best suited to help students better understand phenomena that transcend states, cultures, and people (World History Association, 2007). World history courses provide students with a macro-level frame of reference whereby the vast mosaic of human history, interaction, and exchanges are best understood (World History Association, 2007).

31 Ohio Social Studies Review Save World History in Ohio’s Schools As teachers, avid voters, and citizens deeply concerned about the future of the state of Ohio, we are writing this article to describe our advocacy efforts to support a bill to ensure that every high school student in Ohio learns about the world and the times in which we live. With the passage of Senate Bill 165, which Governor John Kasich signed into law on March 30, 2012, Ohio confirmed that its students would not be required to complete coursework in world history or any global equivalent in order to graduate from high school (Founding of American Documents Bill, 2012). Instead, our elected representatives opted to only require one half unit of American history and one half unit of American government (ODE, 2011). Many social studies stakeholders and citizens would be surprised to learn that world history has never been a requirement for high school graduation in Ohio. A vast majority of Ohio school districts made a local decision to require students to complete instruction in world history due to a portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) in social studies including questions pertaining to world history. Local school districts made a deliberative decision to require world history to bolster students’ performance on this high stakes assessment. However, under the 2014-2015 assessment system, the social studies OGT is being eliminated and replaced by end-of-course exams in American history and American government (Ohio Council for the Social Studies [OCSS], 2012a). In the past 13 years, the education community has come to learn that if a course is not required for graduation or included for high stakes assessments, instructional time and resources are reduced and/or eliminated and overall disinvestments occur (Ravitch, 2010; Strauss, 2012), especially in such difficult economic times for schools. This shortsighted move by the Ohio legislature will have devastating consequences for our students, families, communities, and industry in an increasingly globally interconnected age. We argue that the decision to not include world history or any global course equivalent as a requirement could not have come at a worse time for our nation, its soldiers, and families engaged in ongoing international military conflicts, families and businesses struggling to recover from a global economic recession, and our world facing significant global issues, such as the newfound rise to power of China and India, global climate change, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ohio needs citizens, consumers, workers, and businesses that are knowledgeable about the rest of the world and its people. More so than any other generation, today’s students will be actors on a global stage (Merryfield & Wilson, 2005). Their lives will be shaped by events, movements, and issues from all corners of our planet. Their economic, political, and environmental actions and inactions will have a significant impact on our world. World history is one of the most important courses in the entire social studies curriculum, geared toward helping students develop a global and multicultural lens. Through social studies, students can see the connections between major world events and personalities that have shaped modern society (World History Association, 2007). Under the newly adopted high school graduation requirements and assessments students would only be required to complete social studies coursework in American history and American government, as part of the three Carnegie Units of social studies required for graduation. With world history being downgraded to an elective course, there would be no means of ensuring that every high school student would be proficient in understanding the world, its people, and its issues. For instance, if high school students only completed state-required coursework in American history or American government, they would only learn such topics as the Holocaust, the history and role of the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the

Ohio Social Studies Review 32 African World War II theater, or the politics and reforms of Latin America and/or the Middle East— if students elected to take world history. These global topics are excluded from both the American history and American government Ohio Learning Standards (ODE, 2012a). In essence, we would be fostering a citizenry that is blind and ignorant of the events, histories, and concerns of the bulk of the world’s people.

Research: What U.S. Students Know About the World The decision to exclude world history for high school graduation comes at a time when research indicates our youth are increasingly ignorant of the histories, cultures, locations, and languages of the world’s people. The National Geographic-Roper Survey (2006) found that despite our nation being engaged in a war in Iraq and daily reports of suicide bombing in Israel, fewer than 15% of young U.S. citizens surveyed could locate either country on a map. Another survey administered by the World Public Opinion Association (2010) found that Americans want to tackle a growing domestic deficit by significantly cutting foreign aid from what they perceived to be 27% of the U.S. budget to a more prudent 13%. The problem comes in that foreign aid accounts for around 1% of the U.S. budget. This distorted worldview held by many Americans presents a significant hurdle in creating a citizenry informed and ready to work with citizens in other countries. Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzenzinki notes, “We (the U.S.) can only have as good a foreign policy as the public’s understanding of world affairs. And, the tragedy is that the public’s understanding of world affairs in America today is abysmal” (PBS News Hour, 2012). Ohio’s failure to require the successful completion of world history does not only foster a citizenry uninformed and apathetic to the histories, cultures, geography, and economies of the world but dramatically influences global opinions and attitudes toward Americans. In 2012, the Pew Research Group conducted a study that investigated how people in other countries viewed Americans and the United States in general. In this poll, only 35% of global respondents (across 27 countries) viewed the United States favorably. Over 48% of global respondents viewed the United States negatively (which was a higher negative percentage than North Korea, Russia, and China). It should also be noted that U.S. citizens viewed themselves most favorably (80%) out of all 27 countries—far above the next most favorable country rating which was Italy with a 74% favorability rating of the United States (Pew Research Center, 2012).

Research Methods: Ohio Students’ Lackluster Global Learning To better understand the depth of high school students’ knowledge on the world, its people, and its issues, we reviewed three years of data on Ohio high school students’ performance on the OGT in social studies. Specifically, we wanted to better understand: • What percentage of released social studies OGT questions ask students to think about global issues, history, institutions, cultures, geography, economics, and relationships? And, how does this percentage compare to the number of social studies OGT questions that ask students to think about and reflect on the U.S. and domestic related issues? • After determining how many released social studies OGT test questions are globally focused, U.S. focused, and neutral, were there any significant differences in regards to student performance within these areas?

33 Ohio Social Studies Review Save World History in Ohio’s Schools

This high stakes test that is administered starting in the 10th grade (and as noted earlier will be eliminated at the end of spring 2014) requires students to successfully answer questions in American history, world history, economics, American government, geography, and other social sciences in order to graduate with a diploma from high school. Student scores are released by the Ohio Department of Education annually, while test questions and item analysis are released every three years. For the sake of better gauging how well Ohio students understand the world, its people, and its issues, we reviewed three years of released OGT data in social studies from 2007 to 2009 (ODE, 2012b). On these social studies graduation tests, each test question was coded by three different reviewers individually as having a “U.S. focus,” a “global focus,” or “neutral.” In 95% of all cases, all three reviewers agreed on test question categorizations. When researchers were not unanimous in their categorization, a simple majority vote was used in the question’s determination. For instance, a test question that asked students, “What is one direct consequence of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s?” was categorized as U.S. focused, while a question that asked students to “Identify one example of harsh working conditions for British factory workers in the 19th century” was categorized as global focused. Each test included a total of 38 released questions that included multiple choice (32 items), short answer (4 items), and extended response (2 items). Some questions were not publically released, as they were field-tested items, and thus, were not available for consideration. The coded released test questions were used to audit how many items asked students to think about global issues, institutions, cultures, geography, economics, and relationships versus a United States or local context. Additionally, the percentage of students scoring each multiple-choice test item correctly, as published in the Ohio Department of Education released item analysis, were tallied to determine how well students performed in regard to questions categorized as global or U.S. focused. Our preliminary analysis resulted in these findings: In 2007, the social studies component of the OGT included 24% of all questions being categorized as global focused (9 out of 38—9/38). There were no extended response (0/2) and only one short response question (1/4) categorized as global focused. For the 2007 exam, students answered 66% of the multiple-choice questions categorized as global focused correctly and 68% of all questions categorized as U.S. focused.

TABLE 1: REPRESENTATION & STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON OGT, 2007

OGT SOCIAL STUDIES: SPRING 2007

REPRESENTATION ACCURACY MC Total Short Extended Total % Correct on OGT Response Response MC Global 8 1 0 9/38 66 U.S. 20 3 2 25/38 68 Neutral 4 0 0 4/38 77 Total 32 4 2

Ohio Social Studies Review 34 In 2008, the social studies component of the OGT included 21% of all questions being categorized as global focused (8/38). There were no extended response questions and only one short response question categorized as global focused. For the 2008 exam, students answered 74% of all multiple-choice questions categorized as U.S. focused correctly and only 68% of those questions categorized as global focused.

TABLE 1: REPRESENTATION & STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON OGT, 2008

OGT SOCIAL STUDIES: SPRING 2008

REPRESENTATION ACCURACY MC Total Short Extended Total % Correct on OGT Response Response MC Global 7 1 0 8/38 68 U.S. 22 2 2 26/38 74 Neutral 3 1 0 4/38 71 Total 32 4 2

In 2009, the social studies component of the OGT included 21% of all questions being categorized as global focused (8/38). There were no extended response questions and only one short response question categorized as global focused. For the 2009 exam, students answered 74% of all multiple-choice questions categorized as U.S. focused correctly and only 69% of those questions categorized as global focused.

TABLE 1: REPRESENTATION & STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON OGT, 2009

OGT SOCIAL STUDIES: SPRING 2009

REPRESENTATION ACCURACY MC Total Short Extended Total % Correct on OGT Response Response MC Global 7 1 0 8/38 69 U.S. 20 3 2 25/38 74 Neutral 5 0 0 5/38 75 Total 32 4 2

In each year, from 2007 to 2009, Ohio high school students scored no higher than 69% (grade of a D) on questions categorized as global focused. When the data is aggregated across all three testing years some important findings emerged. First, 22% (25/114) of all social studies OGT questions were categorized as global focused—even though 97% of the world’s population lives

35 Ohio Social Studies Review Save World History in Ohio’s Schools outside of the United States. And, second, Ohio high school students performed less well on social studies OGT multiple-choice questions categorized as having a global focus than U.S. focused (68% versus 72%).

TABLE 1: REPRESENTATION & STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON OGT, 2007-09

OGT SOCIAL STUDIES: 2007-2009

REPRESENTATION ACCURACYACCURACY MC Total Short Extended Total % Correct on OGT Response Response MC Global 22 3 0 25/114 68 U.S. 62 8 6 76/114 72 Neutral 12 1 0 13/114 74 Total 96 12 6

We feel as if this preliminary investigation into Ohio students’ performance on the Social Studies OGT yields important insights into students’ lackluster knowledge concerning global histories, cultures, geography, and institutions. We feel as if this study and its findings hold significant implications for Ohio and its citizens as it redefines its graduation requirements and standards. We see two important implications that need further consideration as Ohio moves to implement these curricular changes: Knowing that, as measured on the social studies OGT, students demonstrated a lackluster awareness of the world, its people, and its issues, what will further disinvestment in world history mean in regards to citizenship education in a global and multicultural age? In deciding not to require world history for high school graduation and/or for inclusion on high-stakes exams, what data will exist for researchers, administrators, teachers, parents, and stakeholders to measure what Ohio’s students know about the world, its people, and its issues? While this study notes that from 2007 to 2009, the social studies OGT only included 22% of all test questions being categorized as global focused, there was data available to sift through and report on student performance. Under the newly proposed graduation and testing requirements that will go into effect in 2014-2015, no such state-based data will exist to gauge what Ohio high school students know about the world, its people, and its issues—and whether this study’s noted achievement gap between U.S.- and global-focused items is narrowing.

Recommendations: The Campaign to Save World History in Ohio’s Schools The authors along with the Ohio Council for the Social Studies (OCSS) have been leading a state-wide advocacy effort to ensure all Ohio’s students are prepared for citizenship in a global and multicultural age (OCSS, 2012a). These collective efforts, entitled “Save World History

Ohio Social Studies Review 36 Campaign in Ohio’s Schools,” are calling on state-elected representatives to support legislation that would require Ohio high school students to complete at least three full credits of social studies in order to graduate from high school (Maguth, 2012a). These three credits must include: • One half a credit of American history, • One half a credit of American government, and • One half a credit of world history/studies. Students need to have a solid background in American history, American government, and world history in order to emerge as informed and competent citizens who respect the world’s diverse cultures and are capable of engaging in meaningful global deliberations and partnerships (NCSS, 2001; Pace, 2007). This half credit of world history could be fulfilled by high school students completing any of the three state supported electives in world history/global studies. These supported courses include modern world history, contemporary world issues, or world geography—all upon which the Ohio Department of Education already has created standards, syllabi, and instructional materials (ODE, 2012a). Because the majority of local school districts currently offer world history (as the OGT will not be eliminated until end of spring 2014), the Campaign’s recommendation to require at least a half unit of world history is a budget-neutral maneuver that preempts any further disinvestments in world history course offerings and instruction. Maintaining courses in world history will not add to staffing, will not require additional instructional materials, and will not add to the number of credits required to graduate from high school. The Campaign, at this time, is not calling for state sanctioned end-of-course exams in world history as is soon to be required in American history and American government courses. While we appreciate that end-of-course exams can efficiently and cost-effectively yield important data for teachers, parents, and stakeholders to measure student performance in a respective content area, requiring such a high stakes exam is not conducive at this time. Such a testing requirement may in fact limit student course offerings in world history, as the Ohio Department of Education currently supports syllabi and model curricula for such offerings as modern world history, contemporary world issues, and world geography. Given the difficult economic realities school districts face, school districts may decide to narrow their world history course offerings and curriculum to bolster student performance on a world history-themed test. This would significantly reduce student choice and district flexibility in offering world history courses. The Campaign to Save World History in Ohio’s Schools—comprised mostly of social studies teachers, teacher educators, and supervisors and curriculum specialists—are employing a variety of tools to spread its message about the importance of world history/studies in a global age. Members have used social media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, and online petitions to spread their message and recommendations. In fact, the Campaign has created an online petition to convince Ohio’s elected representatives to require at least a half unit of world history. This online petition has resulted in hundreds of signatures and messages of support from around Ohio, the United States, and the world (Maguth, 2012b). Outside of employing a host of digital tools to publicize its message, the Campaign has also shared its concerns and recommendations with traditional news media.

37 Ohio Social Studies Review Save World History in Ohio’s Schools

The Campaign’s efforts have resulted in several meetings with state lawmakers and have shown promise. In late March of 2013, Senator Frank LaRose introduced Senate Bill 96, which calls for Ohio students to complete at least one unit of instruction in the history of one or more cultures from around the world other than that of the United States. This bill’s language will allow local school districts to pull from any of the three state-supported world history courses—modern world history, contemporary world issues, and world geography—in helping to ensure that all Ohio’s high school students fulfill this graduation requirement. While we see the introduction of this legislation by Senator LaRose as a step in the right direction, the Campaign faces significant challenges and hurdles as it moves forward. In order to garner the support this legislation needs in the Ohio House, Senate, and governor’s office, supporters of the social studies and world history need to step up and join the Campaign. There are two concrete steps supporters can take to help ensure world history is not downgraded to an elective course but instead emerges as a vibrant course offering in Ohio’s classrooms: 1. Discuss this issue with family, friends, and community leaders. Be sure to emphasize how the decision to not include world history as a graduation requirement or to mandate the state-wide assessment of world history in Ohio will be devastating for our state’s mission of cultivating globally attuned and active citizens. 2. Contact your elected leaders in the Ohio House, Senate, and governor’s office to voice your concern about the failure to include world history as a required course for high school graduation and to voice your support for Senate Bill 96.

Conclusion In an age of globalization, we contend that all students need to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the world, its people, and its issues in order to emerge as informed and active citizens. Ohio’s new graduation requirements fail to ensure students gain this greatly needed global perspective. The new Ohio graduation requirements, which downgrade world history to an elective course, could not have come at a worse time. Test scores from 2007 to 2009 on the OGT indicate that Ohio’s students have demonstrated a lackluster awareness of the world, its people, and its issues. Furthermore, global opinion polls and research consistently affirms the lack of U.S. citizens’ understanding toward global events, issues, institutions, geography, and cultures (Pew Research Center, 2012; World Public Opinion, 2010). We contend that this disinvestment in world history—by not requiring it for high school graduation—will negatively affect our state’s ability to prepare informed and active citizens for a global age. In order to create a globally literate citizenry, and to combat these cuts to world history, the Campaign to Save World History in Ohio’s Schools is proposing that all Ohio students successfully complete at least a half unit of instruction in world history as included in Senator LaRose’s proposed legislation, Senate Bill 96. The voice of supporters championing this cause will be essential in garnering the support we need to advance this legislation.

Ohio Social Studies Review 38 REFERENCES Founding of American documents bill of 2012, Amended Substitute Senate Bill 165, 129th General Assembly. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_SB_165 Maguth, B. (2012a). Save world history in Ohio. Retrieved from http://globalandsocialstudieseducation.blogspot.com/2011/10/as-teacher-educator-avid-voter-and.html Maguth, B. (2012b). Save world history in Ohio’s schools. Retrieved from http://www.change.org/petitions/save-world-history-in-ohio-s-schools Merryfield, M., & Wilson, A. (2005).Social studies and the world: Teaching global perspectives. Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies. National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs. (2006). Geographic literacy study. New York, NY. Retrieved from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/pdf/FINALReport2006GeogLitsurvey.pdf National Council for the Social Studies. (2001, May). Preparing citizens for a global age. Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/global Ohio Council for the Social Studies. (2012a). Advocacy efforts and legislative contacts. Retrieved from http://ocss.wordpress.com/advocacy/legislative-updates-and-contacts/ Ohio Council for the Social Studies. (2012b). Social studies news. Retrieved from http://ocss.wordpress.com/events-and-opportunities/social-studies-news/ Ohio Department of Education. (2011). What it takes to earn an Ohio diploma graduating classes of 2014. Columbus, OH. Retrieved from http://education.ohio.gov/GD/DocumentManagement/DocumentDownload.aspx?DocumentID=98025 Ohio Department of Education (ODE). (2012a). Ohio’s new learning standards: High school social studies. Columbus, OH. Retrieved from http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/DocumentManagement/DocumentDownload.aspx?DocumentID=136075 Ohio Department of Education (ODE). (2012b). Released test materials from the OGT. Columbus, OH. Retrieved from http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=1070&ContentID=7835& Content=136235 Pace. J.L. (2007, December, 18). Why we need to save (and strengthen) social studies? Education Week, pp. 26-27. PBS News Hour. (2012). Brzezinski: U.S. should work with Russia, Turkey to solve global problems. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june12/brzezinski_02-08.html Pew Research Center. (2012). Pew global attitudes project: Opinion of the U.S. New York, NY. Retrieved from http://www.pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=1 Ravitch, D. (2010). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. New York, NY: Basic Books. Strauss, V. (2012, February 12). Principal forced out in Dallas and D.C. says she is innocent. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/principal-forced-out-in-dallas-and-dc-says-she-is- innocent/2012/02/14/gIQAZojjER_blog.html World History Association. (2007). What is world history. Retrieved from http://www.thewha.org/world_history.php World Public Opinion. (2010). American public opinion on foreign aid. Washington, DC. Retrieved 3- 12-2012 at http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/670.php

39 Ohio Social Studies Review RECONFIGURING HAVRUTA TRADITION: DYADIC LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS

Rebecca Shargel , Towson University; Jeff Passe, Towson University

Abstract This research suggests that a dyadic model of studying texts together offers social studies teachers rigorous pedagogy for teaching texts, because it engages students by giving them voice to read and interpret texts. This case study research is grounded in the Jewish havruta tradition of dyadic learning and was conducted in a Jewish school. The authors examined pairs of eighth- graders learning primary historical texts in a social studies class where a teacher deliberately emphasized paired study in a unit of study. Both students’ and the teacher’s attitudes toward learning texts in this way were taken into account. Students enthusiastically embraced this format, citing both social and intellectual benefits. Similarly their teacher applauded students’ opportunities to express their thoughts and feelings but also indicated reservations about giving up control. Implications are applied to best practices for conducting discussion in middle school social studies classes.

Eighth-grade students in a social studies classroom are sitting in pairs, reading and analyzing an ancient text. Sounds of children’s voices abound, reading aloud, answering questions, and debating with one another. In one corner an animated discussion takes place. Two boys discuss the text with the central premise that you are about to be captured and sent from Israel to Rome. One argues that it is better to choose death over slavery because if you cannot live a dignified life, what is the point of living? He adds that to preserve dignity one should cut short his life. His friend answers, “You shouldn’t cut your life short. Perhaps there is a chance that even as a slave, someday you could be freed and have a better life.” The scenario describes middle school students sustaining an independent dialogue about historical texts without the constant monitoring of a teacher. It breaks a typical form of “monologic teaching,” a longstanding pattern where the teacher’s voice dominates the classroom conversation (Roy & Swaminathan, 2002). We propose an alternative method of engaging students in historical texts that is adapted from an ancient, dyadic study form called havruta (Halbertal & Hartman-Halbertal, 1998). Havruta comes from the authors’ Jewish cultural heritage that takes textual study very seriously; it assumes that learning is a sacred act as students read the text aloud in a careful manner and interpret it for each other (Holzer, 2006). This study makes the case for reconfiguring traditional sacred uses ofhavruta into secular use in today’s social study classrooms. It offers social studies teachers rigorous pedagogy for teaching texts because it engages students by giving them voice to read and interpret texts. Students hash out complex ideas with one another in order to fully engage in learning, develop a nuanced understanding of subject, and appreciate multiple perspectives—a practice that has value for all classrooms.

Ohio Social Studies Review 40 Literature Review Havruta is characterized by “slow meticulous open investigation and deciphering of text, helping [one’s] study partner, weighing alternative interpretations, arguing with [one’s] study partner about possible interpretations, and ‘arguing with’ the content of the text” (Holzer, 2006, p. 184). Rooted in an ancient sacred tradition, this form of rigorous study involves a pair of students carefully reading the text aloud and interpreting it. Arguments are typical as partners confront each other’s interpretations of the text and even the text itself. Traditionally, this form of study is an open-ended process in which pairs learn mostly independently of their teacher. The students are at the center of the learning with the teacher rotating among the pairs, much like a cooperative learning classroom. Dialogical aspects emerge in discussing texts among each pair in a style that welcomes argumentation and multiple interpretations. When studying in havruta, students merge both the social and the intellectual because they not only seek out meaning of text but also listen to each other’s interpretation. They become dependent on each other for the learning. This form of learning has great potential to serve diverse learners and could be modified to work in a middle school classroom (Kent, 2006, 2010). Jewish academies emphasize paired study where students actively read and interpret sacred texts such as the Talmud or Bible (Kent, 2006). Movie-goers may recall the 1983 Hollywood filmYentl , which emphasized the emotional dimension that occurred when one study partner, disguised as a man, fell in love with her study partner (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086619/ plotsummary). The setting for this film and traditionalhavruta learning is the yeshiva, the academy of Jewish higher learning. This study tradition dates back to ancient times, where havruta partnerships are documented in the Babylonian Talmud dated from the first half of the third through the fifth century (Halbertal & Hartman-Halbertal, 1998). The Talmud claims that through havruta learning, study partners help each other’s minds develop. In fact, the Talmud’s authors were so committed to this mode of learning that they made this dramatic statement: “Give me havruta or give me death!” (Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 23a cited in Halbertal & Hartman-Halbertal, 1998). In the traditional Jewish learning academy, students sit facing their partners and study together in havruta for 12 hours a day. Within the past decade, there is an increasing body of scholarship examining the application of havruta learning to educational contexts (Brown & Malkus, 2007; Holzer, 2006, 2009; Kent, 2006, 2010). One study found that when learning in havruta, two models of developing interpretation of texts emerged. The first was collaborative, when the pair of students constructed an amalgam of both partners’ ideas to create a new interpretation. The second was more argumentative and emphasized debate (Kent, 2006). Both models are relevant to how learning in pairs plays out in the middle school classroom as well because students may navigate more toward either the collaborative or the argumentative approaches. It should be noted that this type of learning is not common today in public school classrooms because of the current educational emphasis on measurable objectives (Holzer, 2006) and success on standardized tests, which compels teachers to instruct through lecture for students to produce “the right answer.” Furthermore, in many classrooms, students are encouraged to work in isolation and complete tasks on low-level skills, “rather than higher order reasoning” (Brooks & Brooks, 1999).

41 Ohio Social Studies Review Reconfiguring Havruta Tradition

While many teachers have chosen, instead, to use whole class discussion to try to teach higher order thinking, there is a danger that the teacher will dominate the discussion, thus cancelling out some of the benefits of expanded discussion (Passe & Evans, 1996). A havruta approach is well suited to adolescents because of their developmental needs for friendship-oriented activities and verbal interaction (Johnson & Kottman, 1992; Mertens, Anfara, & Caskey, 2007). In addition to havruta learning (Holzer, 2006), this type of learning is rooted in two other discrete areas: constructivism and dialogic citizenship education (Brooks & Brooks, 1999; Schuitema, Veugelers, Rijlaarsdam, & Dam, 2009). Encouraging student-to-student dialogue is a tenet of constructivist teaching (Brooks & Brooks, 1999). The constructivist approach necessitates teachers facilitating dialogical learning so that students will both internalize subject matter and transform it. Because constructivist pedagogy emphasizes “autonomy, initiative, and leadership” (Brooks & Brooks, 1999), dialogical learning is crucial for students to present their ideas to each other, hear the perspective of peers, and make sense of school subjects. Beyond constructivism and havruta learning, citizenship education emphasizes preparing students to participate in democracy through the process of debating about moral values (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004). Such an education fosters students’ abilities to develop their perspectives on “value-related matters and to justify their opinions to others” (Schuitema et. al., 2009, p. 440). Dialogical learning helps students compare vantage points and become confident in expressing a variety of perspectives. Dialogical citizenship education helps students develop perspectives on moral and social issues and justify their opinions (Schuitema et. al., 2009). By expressing multiple perspectives, each student learns that his or her view is one in many and helps students learn how to function optimally in democracy: to express one’s perspectives on moral and social issues and to appreciate the variety of perspectives. The main question for students to address in citizenship education is how people ought to behave. When they articulate their viewpoints to each other, they justify their viewpoints and also develop communicative skills that include tolerance and respect for their classmates’ opinions (Schuitema et. al., 2009). This research builds on this premise, and extends it to consider not just dialogues that occur in full-group discussion, but also the potential of dialogue to occur within a dyad. Particularly for preteens, who suffer from difficulties attending to full-group discussion due to their distractibility, we advocate for dyadic learning so that children can focus on a partners’ perspective.

Methodology We examined one eighth-grade class studying historical texts in dyads in a private Jewish day school in a large metropolitan city in the United States. Although this school had a more uniform population than public schools, it shares the same value of critical thinking and primary text study. We selected this school because we knew a veteran teacher, “Ms. Kone,” was amenable to implementing dyadic learning to primary text study in her social studies classroom and was familiar with the culture of havruta learning. We were drawn to this school because we knew that experimenting with this format would work well within its flexible curriculum and its spirit of freedom to experiment with new pedagogies, especially those that supported critical thinking. We believed that the lessons learned from this study could be applicable to any middle school social studies classroom, including the public school milieu.

Ohio Social Studies Review 42 The class of 17 students included eight boys and nine girls. Students spent intensive time learning in pairs and discussing texts and questions provided by their teacher. Our research questions were as follow: 1. What are the students’ attitudes toward studying texts in a social studies class in dyads? 2. What can be learned from this study in terms of best practices for conducting discussions in the middle school classroom? Believing strongly in teaching critical thinking by exploring various points of view, Ms. Kone developed the eighth-grade Jewish social studies curriculum and selected texts that contained controversy to spark lively discussion and debate. A few months prior to the unit, we met with Ms. Kone and emphasized that we were interested especially in the role of controversy to support lively debate in the social studies classroom. In the winter of 2010-11, we observed her class, which convened three days a week over a six-week period. The unit, developed by the teacher from a variety of primary sources, covered a history of Israel and included the following goals: to experience spiritual and national ties of Jews to Israel from biblical times to the present and to consider different perspectives on the vision for the modern state of Israel in order to hone critical thinking skills. The teacher developed her own questions. Due to the teacher’s reputation, experience, and enthusiasm for dyadic learning, we did not offer specific recommendations regarding this method of teaching. She thought dyadic learning could engage students in discussing content with one another more than a full-group discussion. We observed Ms. Kone’s lessons, particularly work occurring in dyads twice a week for six weeks. The classroom routine was as follows: First, students were introduced to a new topic as a whole class. Next, dyads received a text with guiding questions, which they answered in writing and submitted. Many questions asked students to agree or disagree with viewpoints expressed in the text. Students were encouraged to think together with their study partners to develop a justifiable argument. As students studied together, Ms. Kone rotated among them, adding extra questions when they completed their work. For example, students studied a speech given by a Jewish leader on Masada in the first century, arguing that the group should commit suicide rather than be taken as slaves by the Romans. One guiding question asked whether or not the leaders’ argument was justified. As students read the sources aloud, the teacher circulated to provide clarification as well as give additional questions to discuss with their partners. Data collection included the following: • Observation of class recorded with field notes • Interviews of teacher and students (audiotaped and transcribed) • Analysis of questions asked on classroom handouts • Study of materials explaining the curriculum to parents on the school website. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data (Charmaz, 2006), which were coded for themes and compared. We used three levels of coding: first, line-by-line coding was used to study participants’ language, which revealed a literal set of codes that stayed close to the data. Next we employed “focused coding,” which was “more directive, selective, and conceptual” (Charmaz, 2006, p. 57). We found that these codes helped us sift through the data and compare sets to find

43 Ohio Social Studies Review Reconfiguring Havruta Tradition emerging patterns. We then employed a third stage of coding with which we consolidated the second level of codes into broader themes and further refined the categories and properties. The final themes formed the basis of recommendations for best practices employing dialogic dyadic learning in the middle school classroom. This study, conducted in a Jewish private school, has implications for all classrooms, especially at the middle school level. The issue of maximizing the potential of student discussion is not dependent on whether the setting is public or private or whether the content is secular or religious. The dyads described in this article could have easily been created in a public school studying the American Civil War. Indeed the curriculum emphasized the reading of primary texts much like other social studies curricula.

FINDINGS Description of the Classroom Learning Following our recommendation to the teacher, students were given the choice of havruta partners in their introductory lesson. The students chose the names of others with whom they thought they would work well. Emerging from their choices, the teacher created dyads. Ms. Kone always provided primary sources from a variety of periods in Jewish history for the pairs. Accompanying each text was a series of questions that were mostly at the recall or comprehension levels, requiring little thought. As Ms. Kone rotated among the students, she noted when there was a lack of serious discussion and attempted to engage them in more serious issues. For example, she would make spontaneous comments such as, “How can you apply the lesson from this text today?” Or, “If you were in their shoes, what would you do?” She emphasized the affective domain so that students answered questions about how people felt and then expressed their own opinions. The class consistently repeated the pattern of full-group introduction, breaking into dyads and answering questions, and then reconvening to share opinions. The deeper benefits of dyadic learning (e.g., philosophical debate) only occurred occasionally. While the teacher selected from a variety of texts and prompts, her questions accompanying the texts did not engage the students intellectually nor promote much dialogue about controversial topics. Rather, she emphasized the affective realm often, asking students to attend to feelings in text. For instance, after reading an impassioned letter from a rabbi, students were asked to describe the rabbi’s feelings. It did not require much analytic discussion to determine that the rabbi was angry or fearful. Sometimes, however, enthusiastic debate erupted when Ms. Kone asked students to take stands on controversial issues. The decision over whether to fight back or commit suicide on Masada was discussed from a variety of perspectives. So too was the “what if” discussion related to post-World War II: What would have happened if there was no state of Israel? It was these latter debates that continued to resonate long after the class session concluded. It was clear that students working in pairs had a more active voice than they did in a full-group discussion. The small number of students interacting with each other in the dyadic framework appeared to give each partner a voice. While there were a handful of students who spoke in the full-group discussion, it was usually the same few who expressed their opinions. In contrast, in dyads, more students expressed their ideas to one another. It was clear that they had a shorter

Ohio Social Studies Review 44 wait time to talk and seemed to feel more comfortable talking to one friend or peer as opposed to having an entire class and the teacher as their audience.

Students’ Perspectives During post-unit interviews, we asked students to describe their experiences with dyadic learning during this unit of study and compare it with whole-group discussion. Several consistent themes emerged: compromise, self-expression, efficiency, sharing, and friendship. Compromise. Six of the eight dyadic groups reported using some form of negotiation and compromise in their group work. After discussing their responses to the text and prompts, each sought to resolve any differences. The exception was one pair that agreed to disagree and another that had one person doing all the work. Some students did not compromise, but allowed one partner to convince the others that her opinion was right. Overall, the boys were more likely to compromise than the girls. Boys tended to be more collaborative, seeking a middle ground between their opinions. Girls tended to compete with each other, with one girl convincing her partner to take her perspective in responding to the text. Self-expression. The students were enthusiastic about their opportunities for self-expression in dyadic learning that included a back-and-forth verbal exchange—dialogical learning. They liked being heard. In interview after interview, there was mention of how whole-class discussion limits individual attention because that format is teacher-dominated and only a few students get to speak. One girl compared the full-group discussion to dyadic learning: “There is a very strong difference between communicating with your classmates in a full class setting. You are limited to how much speech you can do when your teacher calls on you. In partners you can talk about what you are thinking. You have more freedom, more time to talk, and more ability to talk about what you want to.” Some students also identified the relative safety of speaking to a single partner as opposed to the entire class. Efficiency. Students claimed to be more focused during dyadic learning because, in the words of one boy, “When you’re working with a friend, you’re more likely to pay attention.” Students who valued successful completion of assignments welcomed the efficient nature of dyadic discussion (i.e., “We’d get more done that way.”). They lauded the ability to focus instead of having “one person saying something, then another person saying something, and the teacher saying something, etc.” One of the more advanced students explained that he was often bored in lengthy whole-group discussions and preferred a dyad because there he could move “at my own pace” and quickly get to the point. One girl noted that the teacher spends a lot of time during full-class discussion trying to recapture the attention of students who drift off. She noticed that students her age have difficulty concentrating during full-group discussions. She concluded, “Pairs are better than group because of more individual attention,” meaning that pairs of students can attend to the material and not have to wait for the teacher to draw in the distracted students as in the case of full-group discussion. Sharing. “Sharing the work” was a commonly cited benefit. Students liked having a partner help them understand challenging content. They also liked sharing ideas with each other because the dyads allowed more time to explore ideas in depth. “You get to prove your point!” One girl

45 Ohio Social Studies Review Reconfiguring Havruta Tradition appreciated how each member of the dyad contributes to the work, “Both of you have to pull the weight” during partner work. Friendship. Working in a dyad with a friend was one favorite aspect of dyadic learning. Even if the topic was deemed boring, partnering with a friend made the work enjoyable. One girl said, “It is more fun working with a friend because you can relate to her.”

Teacher’s Perspective Ms. Kone appreciated the role of dyadic learning as one of many options for teaching social studies. After teaching the unit for six weeks, she reflected that learning “inhavruta ” gave the students more opportunities to express themselves, take responsibility for their learning, have “much greater ownership” of their learning, and engage much more than during a whole-class lesson. These observations confirm the students’ claims. While Ms. Kone valued students’ responsibility for their learning in pairs, she admitted that there is a loss for the teacher. She believed that a teacher who minimizes direct instruction loses her control over the entire class. She missed having students’ physical presence as in a whole-class lesson. As students went off to work in their groups, she felt as if she had lost “the whole class.” Yet despite this loss, Ms. Kone did value dyadic learning. She found that the most successful dyadic learning occurred when students understood the background information behind a text and could understand at least two points of view. That would spark a debate between the study partners. She said, “Give them two opposing texts . . . allow them to wrestle, to argue, to debate, to think it through.” She embraced the idea of having students engage in dialogue around controversies sparked by the text.

Discussion The results address two areas: (a) meeting the developmental needs of middle school students, and (b) improving the quality of classroom discussion. Research on middle school development may help explain our results: Dyads are particularly beneficial for this age because they strongly value interaction with friends (Mertens, Anfara, & Caskey, 2007). Their growing verbal comprehension skills lead them to want to share their thoughts aloud (Johnson & Kottman, 1992). Yet, their intellectual curiosity is so great that when considering multiple ideas, they have difficulty focusing on any one concept (Ames, Ilg, & Baker, 1988). Thus, many middle school students may be frustrated by whole-class discussion due to the format’s limited opportunity for self-expression and the confusion caused by multiple concepts in a wide-ranging discussion. The use of dyads, therefore, especially when pairing friends, would better meet the needs of students at this age. Experts on middle school recommend programs that allow for a wide range of differences (Mertens, Anfara, & Caskey, 2007). Thus, students may prefer dyads because they can work at their own pace in completing assignments. Because students with a high need to achieve experience high stress in a variety of school-related tasks (Ainslie & Shafer, 1996), they would likely welcome the chance to share the burden in completing assignments that are provided by dyads.

Ohio Social Studies Review 46 Another developmental consideration is that early adolescents are hesitant to take unpopular positions because of a desire for peer approval (Savin-Williams & Berndt, 1990). Research indicates that students value peer approval even more than grades (Flynn, 2009; Hess & Posselt, 2002). When working in an intimate situation, such as a dyad, students can more safely disagree with each other and negotiate to find common ground. Our research confirmed this. Students did vary as to their tendencies to build upon each other’s ideas in a collaborative way or to argue with one another. This confirmed Kent’s (2006) findings that learning inhavruta gives the option for each of these modes. For adolescents, having the choice to deliberate in either one of these ways is beneficial because it allows them to put their thoughts together and think together. This research also confirmed that students valued dyadic learning, admitting that it helped them concentrate, work more productively, and was more enjoyable than full-group lessons. The potential for student engagement helps fulfill the tenets of constructivism, as students work together in this format to respond to readings to interpret texts in a way that is meaningful to them. Moreover, the concept of translating havruta learning, a rigorous mode of reading and responding to text with a partner, can infuse the social studies classroom with habits of serious reading and analyzing texts. While students unanimously showed enthusiasm toward dyadic learning, it appears that the instruction did not sufficiently challenge students intellectually. While students got to express themselves, a good start for this type of learning, and appreciated this opportunity, by and large they missed out on responding to prompts and questions that would have facilitated more critical thinking. While there were some prompts that headed in that direction, by and large we do not know from this case study whether the dyadic learning promoted deeper understanding of content as we did not measure student outcomes. If the dyadic learning activities were more suited to higher level discussion, the students would have been better prepared for the challenges of democratic citizenship. Interest, participation, trust, and political knowledge have been shown to be products of in-depth discussion (Andolina, Jenkins, Zukin, & Keeter, 2003.) In addition, students must learn to listen to those who have different views from oneself. Political theorist Danielle Allen has written, “The discovery of such methods is the central project of democracy” (Allen, 2004, p. xix). Indeed students today could benefit from Allen’s awareness of the need to understand different perspectives in order to participate fully in democratic life. The concept of deliberative democracy (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004) includes democratic discussion, not merely as a form of government, but as a way to publicly address issues, seek common ground, and consider alternative solutions. While the dyads are, by definition, not public, the use of them may be viewed as an intermediate step toward large group discussion. It may be that early adolescents need a form of “protected practice” before engaging in large group deliberations. A major criticism of deliberation in classrooms is that some individuals or groups have greater power, which therefore subverts the equity required for democratic deliberation (Sanders, 1997). The data from this study identifies the teacher as the dominant force in whole-group discussions. Dyadic dialogue partially avoids that danger by ensuring that all students participate as partners, with the teacher forced to serve as a facilitator. Yet, as we saw in some pairings, differences in

47 Ohio Social Studies Review Reconfiguring Havruta Tradition student ability and motivation can still create inequity, but in this particular group, those cases were exceptions.

Conclusion The use of whole class discussion has long been valued, when used correctly, for its democratic nature (Passe & Evans, 1996). That format, however, may be over-relied upon. The results of this study suggest that smaller groups like dyads may be more engaging, with their opportunities for self-expression, efficiency, sharing, and friendship. Considering the developmental needs of early adolescents, it may make more sense to use dyads as an alternative to whole-group discussion in the middle school with a gradual move toward whole-class discussion as students mature. Simply put, students working in dyads have a greater opportunity to communicate with a partner because their “wait time” to talk is much shorter than in a full-group. Moreover, this format can help support expression as speaking to one person is usually less intimidating than speaking to an entire group. Dyadic learning also gives students time to collect their thoughts and to think aloud prior to full-group discussion. While the teacher will have to adjust to this format, relinquishing some control, we believe that students benefit tremendously from this forum. We would hope that a full-group discussion conducted after a dyadic discussion might produce even higher participation rates amongst students. Some suggestions are included at the end of this paper indicating ways that teachers can begin to implement dyadic learning to the middle school social studies class. These suggestions could also be applied to dyadic learning in the elementary or high school level. These ideas could also be implemented in the teaching of literature. Ultimately, we learned that studying in dyads generated much enthusiasm. We were surprised how each student embraced this new format; clearly they enjoyed the social interaction that occurred in dyads. Though they might not have been aware of the intellectual opportunities for learning in this way, dyadic process allowed them to hash out ideas and to take turns in an exciting back-and-forth way. The success of dyadic learning, however, appears to be dependent on the quality of the texts and the power of the prompts in promoting thoughtful debate. The ancient rabbis did not have to worry about kindling debate over Talmudic texts in their academies; the questions that arose were famous for lending themselves to multiple answers. For teachers in modern middle schools, careful planning is necessary. This planning would include selecting texts that spark conversation between students as well as crafting engaging questions that could elicit multiple perspectives and compromise.

Ohio Social Studies Review 48 Suggestions for Implementing Dyads in Middle School Social Studies 1. Structure discussion around dyads, rather than whole group, whenever feasible. But also offer whole-class discussions to develop complementary skills and variety. 2. Pair students by friendship and/or compatibility at least some of the time, but especially the first few times using dyads. While it is healthy for students to interact with less familiar classmates, the initial dyad experience should be geared toward comfort and success. 3. Choose texts that permit multiple interpretations and require careful analysis. 4. Structure dyad assignments to emphasize depth and self-expression. 5. Encourage students to seek common ground to develop skills in listening, negotiation, and compromise. 6. Monitor dyads to ensure that one student is not dominating.

REFERENCES Ainslie, R., & Shafer, A. (1996). Mediators of adolescents’ stress in a college preparatory environment. Adolescence, 31(124), 913-925. Retrieved from http://www.vjf.cnrs.fr/clt/php/va/Page_revue.php?ValCodeRev=ADO Allen, D. S. (2004). Talking to strangers. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Ames, L., Ilg, F., & Baker, S. (1988). Your ten-to-fourteen-year-old. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Andolina, M. W. ,Jenkins, K., Zukin, C., & Keeter, S. (2003). Habits from home, lessons from school: Influences on youth civic engagement. PS: Political Science and Politics, 36, 275-280. Brown, S., & Malkus, M. (2007 CHECK YEAR) Hevruta as a form of cooperative learning. Journal of Jewish Education 73(3), 209-226. DOI: 10.1080/15244110701654007 Brooks, J., & Brooks, M. (1999). The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Flynn, N. K. (2009). Toward democratic discourse: Scaffolding student-led discussions in the social studies. Teachers College Record, 111(8), 2021-2054. Retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org Gutmann, A., & Thompson, D. (2004). Why deliberative democracy? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Halbertal, M., & Hartman-Halbertal, T. (1998). The Yeshiva. In A. Rorty (Ed.), Philosophy on Education (pp. 458-469). London, England: Routledge. Hess, D., & Posselt, J. (2002). How high school students experience and learn from the discussion of controversial public issues. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 7(3), 283-314. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/jcs/archived-issues.aspx Holzer, E. (2006). What connects “good” teaching, text study, and havruta learning? A conceptual argument. Journal of Jewish Education, 72(3), 183-204. doi:10.1080/15244110600990163 Holzer, E. (2009). Either a havruta partner or death: A critical view of the interpersonal dimensions of havruta learning. Journal of Jewish Education, 75(2), 130-149. doi:10.1080/15244110902856492 Johnson, W., & Kottman, T. (1992). Developmental needs of middle school students: Implications for counselors. Elementary School Guidance & Counseling, 27(1), 3-12. Retrieved from http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=235 Kent, O. (2006). Interactive text study: A case of havruta learning. Journal of Jewish Education, 72(3), 205-232. doi:10.1080/15244110600990155 Kent, O. (2010). A theory of havruta learning. Journal of Jewish Education, 76(3), 215-245. doi:10.1080/15244113.2010.501499

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Mertens, S. B., Anfara, V. A., & Caskey, M. M. (2007). The young adolescent and the middle school. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Passe, J., & Evans, R. (1996). Discussion leadership in an issues-centered classroom. In R. Evans & D. Saxe (Eds.), Handbook on Teaching Social Issues (pp. 81-88). Washington, DC: National Council for the Social Studies. Roy, K., & Swaminathan, R. (2002, Apr/May). School relations: Moving from monologue to dialogue. The High School Journal, 85(4), 40-51. doi:10.1353/hsj.2002.0012 Sanders, L. M. (1997). Against deliberation. Political Theory, 25(3), 347-376. doi:10.1177/0090591797025003002 Savin-Williams, R., & Berndt, T. J. (1990). Friendships and peer relations. In S. S. Feldman & G. Elliot (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Schuitema, J., Veugelers, W., Rijlaarsdam, G., & Dam, G. (2009). Two instructional designs for dialogic citizenship education: An effect study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(3), 439-461. doi:10.1348/978185408X393852

Ohio Social Studies Review 50 DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION IN THE NEW MEDIA ERA: TOWARD A FRAMEWORK OF DEMOCRATIC MEDIA LITERACY

Ching-Fu Lan, Teachers College, Columbia University

Abstract New media technologies have permeated and affected various aspects of youth civic life. It is important to explore how innovative media practices and new conceptualizations of media literacies contribute to the preparation of democratic citizens, the ultimate goal of social studies education. Grounded on three conceptions of democratic citizenship—deliberative, pluralistic, and participatory citizenship—and on new media and digital literacies, the author of this article proposes a framework of democratic media literacy to help social studies teachers prepare students as democratic citizens in the new media era.

New social practices—enabled by advanced media technologies now available to the general public—prompt educators to reconsider which competencies are crucial for living and thriving as citizens in the new media world. Scholars in media and communication studies have been proposing new conceptualizations of media literacies and digital literacies. Some scholars have suggested applying the core element of media literacy—critical examination of messages carried in various media formats—to new media formats, such as games and webpages (Buckingham, 2006), while others have conceptualized a whole new set of competencies, such as play, simulation, and appropriation, as new media literacies (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, & Weigel, 2006). As technology and media change at a dramatic pace and reshape the world, media literacy and new media literacies have become an imperative for preparing informed and engaged citizens and for democracy to thrive. The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy (2009) believes that America needs “informed communities—places where the information ecology meets people’s personal and civic information needs” (p. xi) so that people can make thoughtful decisions regarding their personal and community affairs and participate fully in a democratic society. To achieve this, the commission recommends integrating digital and media literacy elements at all levels of education to strengthen the capacity of individuals to engage with information. Hobbs (2010) points out that media and digital literacy is “fundamentally implicated in the practice of citizenship” (p. 16). In its position statement, the National Council of Social Studies (2009) advocates “a horizontal expansion and a vertical deepening” of media literacy teaching in the context of social studies. Social studies educators need to broaden their repertoires of “legitimate texts” to include multimedia materials, such as movies and video games, and encourage student expression through interactive multimedia. In addition, these teachers should help students to think critically about the power landscape and dynamic meaning constructions in the current media

51 Ohio Social Studies Review Democratic Education in the New Media Era and information environment. This statement insightfully points out key directions to media literacy integration in social studies education. Reading transmedia materials critically and identifying power dynamics and inequities embedded within various media productions are crucial skills for active citizens. Emerging new social practices urge further explorations of democratic competencies in the new media world. Meanwhile, social studies educators need new pedagogy of media literacy to prepare students as active participants in a democratic society (NCSS, 2009). In this article, I identify new possibilities of civic life in the new media era and suggest corresponding democratic media literacy for engaged democratic citizens. To achieve this goal, I first review the literature on various conceptions of democratic citizenship education and media and digital literacies. Second, I propose a framework of democratic media literacy that corresponds to three conceptions of democratic citizenship: deliberative, pluralistic, and participatory citizenship (Barton & Levstik, 2004). I introduce and review relevant studies that are associated with emerging practices of democratic media literacy. Detailed skills are listed in Table 2 for further discussion.

Democratic Citizenship Education An ideal democracy is a society that provides opportunities for equal social and political participation, enlightened understanding on public issues, and inclusions of people from various backgrounds (Dahl, 2000). Such an ideal democratic society also relies on active participation from its citizens. Competent democratic citizens are informed and thoughtful about public affairs, have civic virtues (e.g., tolerance and respect), and are engaged in both community and political activities (CIRCLE, 2003). Thus, the goal of democratic citizenship education is to prepare deliberative, pluralistic, and participatory citizens (Barton & Levstik, 2004). As for deliberative democracy practice in education, social studies scholars have long been advocating for public issue discussion as an effective approach to prepare informed and thoughtful citizens (Engle, 1960; Evans & Saxe, 1996; Hess, 2002; Parker, 2003). Issue-centered discussion has several strengths. First, it embodies democratic discourse in classrooms and provides teachers with opportunities to model democratic deliberation (Hahn, 1996). In addition, to help youths learn about political tolerance, it is essential that they learn about conflicts and controversial issues in the classrooms (Avery, 2002). Furthermore, Engle (1960) contends that decision-making in social issue discussions requires a synthesis of facts, principles, and values. In this practice, students have to consume more information and knowledge than traditional ground-covering style of learning in order to reach reasoned and defensible decisions on social and political issues. Lastly, issue-centered discussion also enhances students’ critical thinking skills and the likelihood of future civic and political participation (Hahn, 1996). Because one important purpose of democratic deliberation is to deal with moral disagreement among citizens (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004), preparing students to think in a pluralistic manner and helping them embrace diversity become other key dimensions of democratic education. One of the biggest challenges of pluralism in a democratic society is to address the tension between diversity and unity. Banks (2008) notes that “unity without diversity results in cultural repression and hegemony,” while “diversity without unity leads to Balkanization and the

Ohio Social Studies Review 52 fracturing of the nation-state” (p. 59). Due to these challenges in a pluralistic society, Parker (1996) advocates an advanced citizenship that requires pluralistic minds and embraces diversity. In a similar vein, Banks (2001) contends the need for a new conception of multicultural citizenship education. Multicultural citizenship education will help students to understand how knowledge is constructed, to be a knowledge producer, and to act for a more just nation and world. In addition, students will develop cultural, national, and global affinities that can be balanced and sustaining. Multicultural citizenship education not only focuses on intellectual skills, but aims to provide democratic experiences for students in schools and classrooms (Banks, 2008). Classroom-based multicultural democratic education has proven effective in teaching students both official academic knowledge and transformative content, and providing opportunities for students to exchange diverse perspectives and respect differences (Marri, 2005). The ultimate goal of multicultural citizenship education is transformative social action (Banks, 2001). Levine (2007) defines civic participation/engagement as “behavior that influences public matters, which, in turn, include the commons, the distribution of private goods, and decisions about what action to prohibit or promote” (p. 7). This definition incorporates behaviors that contribute to public goods (commons) in civil society, as well as political behaviors that are concerned with policy and distribution of private goods. This conception of civic participation echoes Barber’s (1985) idea of “strong democracy” that envisions every citizen participating in self-governance of political and community affairs at both local and national levels. Kahne and Westheimer (2004) further differentiate a participatory citizen from a justice-oriented citizen. While both types of citizens are actively involved in solving social problems through social actions, participatory citizens focus on organizing community efforts and may fail to address root causes of these social issues, whereas justice-oriented citizens focus on addressing the flaws of unjust social structures as a means to solve social problems. Westheimer and Kahne (2004) suggest that both conceptions of participatory and justice-oriented citizenship should be advocated in civic education. Community service learning is one popular practice to prepare future participatory citizens. Justice-oriented service learning programs embrace the complicated social realities in service learning experiences and promotes a critical stance toward the understanding of social issues (Butin, 2007).

Media Literacy and New Media Literacies Media literacy has been defined as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms” (Aufderheide, 1993, cited in Hobbs, 1998, p. 1). Media literacy helps people “understand, produce, and negotiate meanings in a culture made up of powerful images, words, and sounds” (Aufderheide, 1997). At the 1993 Media Literacy National Leadership Conference, U.S. educators identified key concepts of media literacy: 1. Media messages are constructed. 2. Media messages are produced within economic, social, political, historical, and aesthetic contexts. 3. The interpretative meaning-making processes involved in message reception consists of an interaction between the reader, the text, and the culture.

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4. Media have unique languages and characteristics that typify various forms, genres, and symbol systems of communication. 5. Media representations play a role in people’s understanding of social reality (Aufderheide, 1993, p. 2). New media technologies and practices have urged scholars to revisit the conceptions and content of media literacy. Buckingham (2006) contends that the conceptual framework of critical media understanding in media literacy study—representation, language, production, and audience— remains a useful means in new media environments. Hobbs (2010) suggests five essential competencies of digital and media literacy: access, analyze and evaluate, create, reflect, and act (see definitions in Table 1). Hobbs (2010) contends that these competencies “work together in a spiral of empowerment, supporting people’s active participation in lifelong learning through the processes of both consuming and creating messages” (p. 18). In contrast, Jenkins et. al. (2006) propose a new set of media literacy as a response to the emerging “participatory culture.” Jenkins et. al. (2006) define participatory culture as a culture “with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices” (p. 3). In short, participatory culture emphasizes both individual contributions and social networking. Community engagement, rather than individual expression, becomes the focal point of the new media literacies learning. Thus, Jenkins et. al. (2006) propose new media literacies (see definitions in Table 1), a set of new skills that capitalize on the new affordances of digital media for social collaboration and networking.

TABLE 1: MEDIA LITERACY AND NEW MEDIA LITERACIES

LITERACY CONTENT AND DEFINITION

Media Literacy Media literacy: The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and (Aufderheide, 1993) communicate messages in a wide variety of forms

Digital and Media Access: Finding and using media and technology tools skillfully Literacy (Hobbs, 2010) and sharing appropriate and relevant information with others Analyze and Evaluate: Comprehending messages and using critical thinking to analyze message quality, veracity, credibility, and point of view, while considering potential effects or consequences of messages Create: Composing or generating content using creativity and expressing confidence in self-expression, with awareness of purpose, audience, and composition techniques Reflect: Applying social responsibility and ethical principles to one’s own identity and lived experience, communication behavior, and conduct

Ohio Social Studies Review 54 LITERACY CONTENT AND DEFINITION

Digital and Media Act: Working individually and collaboratively to share knowledge Literacy (Hobbs, 2010) and solve problems in the family, workplace, and community, and participating as a member of a community at local, regional, national, and international levels

New Media Literacies Play: The capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a (Jenkins et. al. 2006, 2010) form of problem-solving Performance: The ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery Simulation: The ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes Appropriation: The ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content Multitasking: The ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details. Distributed Cognition: The ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities Collective Intelligence: The ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal Judgment: The ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources Transmedia Navigation: The ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities Networking: The ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information Negotiation: The ability to travel across diverse communities, while discerning and respecting multiple perspectives and grasping and following alternative norms Visualization: The ability to translate information into visual models and understand the information that visual models are communicating.

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Although Jenkins et. al.’s (2006) proposal of new media literacies is intended to prepare learners to be successful participants in participatory culture, these skills could also connect to the development of deliberative citizenship (e.g., judgment, collective intelligence), pluralistic citizenship (e.g., negotiation), and participatory citizenship (e.g., networking, simulation). Similarly, Hobbs’s (2010) suggested competencies of media and digital literacy echo Jenkins et. al.’s (2006) conceptions of deliberative citizenship (e.g., analyze and evaluate) and participatory citizenship (e.g., act). However, we need more explorations on the connections between media literacy, new media literacies, and democratic competencies. To prepare democratic citizens in the digital era, it would be helpful to conceptualize a framework of democratic media literacy that inherently addresses democratic qualities in the literacy skills.

Democratic Media Literacy Building on the theoretical conceptualizations of democratic citizenship and related literature on media literacy and new media literacies presented in previous sections, this paper proposes a framework of democratic media literacy, defined as understanding and/or competencies of using new technologies and media as a means to take, give, and make meaning in democratic practices. Democratic media literacy not only emphasizes critical consuming/reading of new media materials, but also focuses on the production of various types of new media that facilitate civic engagement. There are three subcategories of democratic media literacy that correspond to the conceptualizations of democratic citizenship introduced in the earlier section. These subcategories are deliberative media literacy, pluralistic media literacy, and participatory media literacy. Proposed skills of democratic media literacy in each subcategory are summarized in Table 2 and explained in detail in the following sections.

Deliberative Media Literacy Deliberative media literacy refers to the understanding/competencies of using new media and technologies to contribute to and/or foster democratic deliberation. Democratic deliberation features a decision-making process that aims to ensure all voices and reasons on social issues are heard and considered before decisions are made by all participants (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004; Parker, 2006). New media environments make perspectives on various social issues easily accessible and change the ways young people access, understand, and disseminate news, a major source of civic information. The Internet has outpaced newspaper and other media except television as the major source for national and international news, and young people learned about presidential campaign from comedy programs such as The Daily Show (Kohut, Keeter, Doherty, & Dimock, 2008). Sources of and contexts for information have become ambiguous in many cases, and increasingly there is a convergence of different content types and media channels. Thus it is crucial to prepare young people with critical media reading and credibility assessment competency (Flanagin & Metzger, 2007). New media environments present new opportunities and challenges for young people to practice discussion skills. For example, online forums could foster the exchange of different opinions beyond the boundaries and limits of time and space (Montgomery, Gottlieb-Robles, & Larson, 2004). However, many message boards suffer from the problem of flaming and irrational attack postings. Winner (2003) contends that online discussions encourage like-minded people to

Ohio Social Studies Review 56 TABLE 2: PROPOSED SKILLS FOR DEMOCRATIC MEDIA LITERACY

DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP CORRESPONDING DEMOCRATIC MEDIA LITERACY CONCEPTIONS

Deliberative Citizenship Transmedia Judgment: The ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information carried through various forms of media texts (adapted from Jenkins et. al., 2006) Online Discussion: The ability to communicate one’s views online with people from diverse backgrounds New Media Expression: The ability to make defensible decisions on social issues and to communicate these articulated ideas through various media formats

Pluralistic Citizenship Virtual Communities Navigation: The openness to visit diverse virtual communities and networks that represent various perspectives Mediated Identity Reflection:The ability to examine one’s own social and cultural positioning and assumptions in various new media environments, such as virtual worlds

Participatory Citizenship Social Group Networking: The capacity to maintain membership in social groups and networks via new media environments and tools Social Action With/Through New Media: The ability to use new media and technologies to coordinate and organize civic projects and to advocate for social justice share their perspectives and diverse views in online discussions often garnered harsh responses. Furthermore, online discussions were often dominated by a few like-minded participants and thus were not conductive for democratic deliberation (Wilhelm, 1998). Despite these challenges, Montgomery et. al. (2004) illustrate a successful case: some young people enhanced their listening skills and tolerance, and learned civic dialogue skills in a structured online forum that required participants to register and introduce themselves before participating, to join an assigned small online group, and to contribute to discussions within a finite period. These arrangements address some drawbacks of regular online discussion forums. In short, young people need to learn respectful negotiations with diverse perspectives in online environments to fully take advantages of online forums for democratic deliberation. Lastly, the advancement of technology and new media makes new media productions more doable and feasible for young people with limited media production experiences. Media production projects could help young people make their voices heard in the daily public life

57 Ohio Social Studies Review Democratic Education in the New Media Era that is dominated mostly by adults (Middaugh, 2012). In my previous case study (Lan, 2011), I investigated an after-school civic education program designed to help urban high school students make social issue machinima (films within 3D virtual environments) in order to communicate their views on global issues to a broader audience. Students in this program expressed strong sentiment for social change and thought social issue machinima was a powerful means to raise the public’s awareness on important social issues and to express youth perspectives. They publicly screened their virtual movies in both physical and virtual spaces to raise people’s awareness about human trafficking. Other studies also suggest that digital video production programs provide opportunities for students to explore, research, and reflect on social issues that impact their daily lives (Goldman, Booker, & McDermott, 2007). In sum, deliberative media literacy emphasizes the critical examination of information from divergent new media contexts, making sense of civic information embedded in various media formats, fostering respectful online exchanges about social issues, and amplifying one’s perspectives through new media productions. I thus propose transmedia judgment, online discussion, and new media expression as essential competencies of deliberative media literacy.

Pluralistic Media Literacy Pluralistic media literacy refers to the understanding/competencies of using new media and technologies to interact with people from diverse social backgrounds for a deeper and broader understanding of diversity and pluralism. Exposure to and engagement with a diverse range of perspectives is an important quality of a democratic community (Kahne, Middaugh, Lee & Feezell, 2012). Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace present interesting cases for closer examination in this aspect as they play an important role in young people’s daily social lives. While the virtual social networking spaces seem to allow participants to build connections beyond the limit of time and space with people from diverse social backgrounds, these online interactions remain mediated by offline social life patterns. In her case analysis of a freshman class at a Middle West college, Hargittai (2008) finds that one’s social network site choice and usage were associated with his/her parental educational background and race and ethnicity: White and Asian students and those with higher levels of parental education were more likely to use Facebook; in contrast, Hispanic and those whose parents had not received a high school education were more likely to use MySpace. boyd’s research (2010) on high school-aged teens reveals a similar pattern and illustrates a “white flight” phenomenon among high school teens in the social network landscape from 2006 to 2007. Although taste, aesthetics, and friendship communities seem to be factors that differentiated young people’s choices between Facebook and MySpace in this study, boyd (2010) contends that these factors—taste and friendship networks—are “deeply entwined with race and class” (p. 4). Whether youths critically reflect on their choices and uses of the increasingly online social networks and their understanding of its implications on diversity thus become an important element of developing pluralistic new media literacy. New media not only present new challenges of exposure to diverse perspectives, they also offer new opportunities for young people to examine their identities, an important process that prepares them to appreciate and embrace diversity. Among various types of new media, the

Ohio Social Studies Review 58 virtual world—a simulated online environment that allows users to create their own identities through designing avatars that interact with other players—has great potential to help young people explore their identities and diversity issues. In Lee’s study (2007), students were engaged in gender-bending activities that asked them to assume an opposite gender role in Second Life. Students experienced differentiated treatments and responses in Second Life because of these intentional choices of opposite avatar gender and gained an expanded understanding of diversity that is not only about race and ethnicity but also about gender. Bers’s (2001) study of a pilot project in Zora, a virtual environment where young people can create objects and virtual homes to represent their values and identities, reveals that this virtual environment makes it easier for minority students to discuss controversial issues such as racism. Alternative means of communication in this virtual world (e.g., typing instead of talking) and the alter ego embodied through the avatars in this environment made minority students feel more comfortable talking about this important topic. In short, technologies and digital media enable people to broaden their social networks and interact with others of diverse social backgrounds. However, the use of technologies and practices of digital media are mediated by participants’ perspectives on diversity. To become pluralistic citizens, young people need to keep the openness to visit and explore various social networks and groups, and critically examine their own social and cultural positioning and assumptions in various new media environments. I propose virtual communities navigation and mediated identity reflection as essential competencies of pluralistic media literacy.

Participatory Media Literacy Participatory media literacy refers to the understanding/competencies of using new media and technologies to engage in various online and offline civic and political activities. Becoming a member in communities and social organizations is an indicator of participatory citizenship. Joining a social organization provides youths with civic learning opportunities to coordinate meetings and events, negotiate with group members holding different perspectives, and practice leadership skills. Youth participation in online political and/or nonpolitical communities is positively correlated with their interests in future offline civic activities (Kahne, Lee & Feezell, 2011). Middaugh (2012) points out that many young people are highly mobile and move around a lot at this life stage, which is one great obstacle for youth civic engagement, but online communities help them to remain connected with their fellow community activists and members and facilitate youth civic engagement. In their research on a social networking site called Taking It Global (TIG), Raynes-Goldie and Walker (2008) found that most young people who are interested in civic engagement go to online social networking sites to seek information about their interests, connect with peers who share similar causes, and find ways to organize social actions. Everyday digital media and technologies such as instant messaging, mobile phones, email, and the like can facilitate collaboration and coordination in youth civic projects (Goldman et. al., 2007). New technology has enhanced efficiency in some civic action practices. For instance, online petitions are much less expensive than offline petition drives because activists and organizations do not need to print out petition materials and hire volunteers to collect signatures. The lower organizing costs of online petitions and other social movement tactics might contribute to the formation of a “movement society” (Earl & Schussman, 2008).

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In short, participatory new media literacy focuses on leveraging new media and technology tools for civic participation. Online communication and engagement could enhance offline community participation. In addition, new media and technology lowers start-up and scaling cost of social participation and enables civic activities coordination to go beyond the limits of time and space. I propose social group networking and social action with/through new media as essential competencies of participatory media literacy.

Conclusion New media technologies have permeated and affected young people’s daily lives and provided new opportunities and challenges for civic activities. On one hand, young people today could go online to get information about various social and political issues, meet people who have diverse perspectives on social topics, use new media to express their views, and connect with others who share similar interests and values from across the world. On the other hand, new media enable a more personalized and customized information and socializing environment and might result in less attention to public issues. It is important that educators prepare youths as not only savvy media consumers but also new digital citizens who can leverage new media technologies for civic causes and democratic life. Grounded on various conceptions of democratic citizenship and new media literacies, the framework of democratic media literacy presented in this paper can serve as a useful guide to help social studies educators effectively prepare deliberative, pluralistic, and participatory citizens in the new media world.

REFERENCES Aufderheide, P. (1993). National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. Report presented at the National Conference on Media Literacy. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute. Aufderheide, P. (1997). Media literacy: From a report of the national leadership conference on media literacy. In R. W. Kubey (Ed.), Media literacy in the information age: Current perspectives. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Avery, P. G. (2002). Political tolerance, democracy, and adolescents. In W. Parker (Ed.). Education for democracy: Contexts, curricula, assessments. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Barber, B. (1985). Strong democracy: Participatory politics for a new age. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Barton, K. C., & Levstik, L. S. (2004). Teaching history for the common good. New York, NY: Routledge. Banks, J. A. (2001). Citizenship education and diversity: Implications for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 5-16. Banks, J. (2008). Diversity and citizenship education in global times. In J. Arthur, I. Davies, & C. Hahn, (Eds.), The sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Bers, M. U. (2001). Identity construction environments: Developing personal and moral values through the design of a virtual city. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 10(4), 365–415. boyd, D. (2010). White flight in networked publics? How race and class shaped American teen engagement with MySpace and Facebook. In L. Nakamura, & P. Chow-White (Eds)., Race after the internet. New York, NY: Routledge. Buckingham, D. (2006). Defining digital literacy. What do young people need to know about digital media.Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 4(1), 263–276. Butin, D. W. (2007). Justice-learning: Service-learning as justice-oriented education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40(2), 177-183. CIRCLE. (2003). The civic mission of schools. New York: CIRCLE and Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Ohio Social Studies Review 60 Dahl, R. A. (2000). On democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Earl, J., & Schussman, A. (2008). Contesting cultural control: Youth culture and online petitioning. In W. L. Bennett (Ed.), Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth (pp. 71-95). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Engle, S. H. (1960). Decision making: The heart of social studies instruction. Social Education, 24(7), 301-306. Evans, R. W., & Saxe, D. W. (Eds.). (1996). Handbook on teaching social issues. Washington, DC: NCSS Publications. Flanagin, A. J., & Metzger, M. J. (2007). Digital media and youth: Unparalleled opportunity and unprecedented responsibility. In A. Flanagin & M. Metzger (Eds.), Digital media, youth, and credibility (pp. 5-27). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Goldman, S., Booker, A., & McDermott, M. (2007). Mixing the digital, social, and cultural: Learning, identity, and agency in youth participation. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, identity, and digital media (pp. 185-206). MA, Cambridge: MIT Press. Gutmann, A., & Thompson, D. (2004). Why deliberative democracy? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Hahn, C. L. (1996). Research on issues-centered social studies. In R. W. Evans & D. W. Saxe (Eds.), Handbook on teaching social issues (pp. 26-39). Washington, DC: National Council for the Social Studies. Hargittai, E. (2008). Whose space? Differences among users and non-users of social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 276-297. Hess, D. E. (2002). Discussing controversial public issues in secondary social studies classrooms: Learning from skilled teachers. Theory and Research in Social Education, 30(1), 10-41. Hobbs, R. (1998). The seven great debates in the media literacy movement. Journal of Communication, 48(1), 16–32. Hobbs, R. (2010), Digital and media literacy: A plan of action, Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute. Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago, IL: The MacArthur Foundation. Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Lee, N. J., & Feezell, J. T. (2012). Youth online activity and exposure to diverse perspectives. New Media & Society. 14(3), 492-512. Kahne, J., Lee. N., & Feezell, J. (2011). The civic and political significance of online participatory cultures among youth transitioning to adulthood. Chicago, IL: DML Central Working Papers. Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. (2009). Informing communities: Sustaining democracy in the digital age. Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute. Kohut, A., Keeter, S., Doherty, C., & Dimock, M. (2008). Social networking and online videos take off: Internet’s broader role in campaign 2008. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2008/Pew_Media Sources_jan08.pdf Lan, C. (2011, April). Civic education in the era of digital media: A case study. Paper presented to the Research in Social Studies SIG of AERA, New Orleans, LA. Lee, J. J., & Hoadley, C. (2007). Leveraging identity to make learning fun: Possible selves and experiential learning in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). Journal of Online Education, 3(6). Levine, P. (2007). The future of democracy: Developing the next generation of American citizens. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England. Marri, A. R. (2005). Building a framework for classroom-based multicultural democratic education: Learning from three skilled teachers. Teachers College Record. 107(5), p.1036-1059. Middaugh, E. (2012). Service and activism in the digital age: Supporting youth engagement in public life. Chicago, IL: DML Central Working Papers. Montgomery, K., Gottlieb-Robles, B., & Larson, G. O. (2004). Youth as e-citizens: Engaging the digital generation. Washington, DC: Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University. NCSS. (2009). National Council for the Social Studies position statement on media literacy. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/medialiteracy Parker, W. C. (1996). “Advanced” ideas about democracy: Toward a pluralist conception of citizen education. Teachers College Record, 98(1), p. 104-125. Parker, W. (2003). Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

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Parker, W. C. (2006). Public discourses in schools: Purposes, problems, possibilities. Educational Researcher, 35(8), 11-18. Raynes-Goldie, K., & Walker, L. (2008). Our space: Online civic engagement tools for youth. In L. Bennett (Ed.), Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth (pp. 161-188). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237. Wilhelm, A. G. (1998). Virtual sounding boards: How deliberative is online political discussion? Information Communication & Society, 1(3), 313–338. Winner. L. (2003). The Internet and dreams of democratic renewal. In D. M. Anderson & M. Cornfield (Eds.),The civic web: Online politics and democratic values. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Ohio Social Studies Review 62 TEXTBOOK DEPICTIONS OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT: A CASE FOR HISTORICAL AND MORAL LITERACY

Mark Pearcy, Rider University

Abstract The textbook exerts a powerful influence over curricula, teacher lesson design, and student historical literacy. This article examines how textbook narratives create opportunities for both historical thinking and moral analysis of a major pre-Civil War event, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. In this study, a two-method analysis is used—a historical narrative method, in which textbook depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act are compared to relevant historiography, and a categorical narrative method, in which these depictions are evaluated with an ethical framework, the “just war” doctrine. Through these analyses, a case is made for both historical and moral literacy in social studies instruction.

Social studies educators know the value of historical literacy, the ability to analyze and interpret historical evidence in a fluent, sophisticated manner. This is a skill that goes beyond information knowledge, the hallowed “names, dates, and places” that form the basic vocabulary of such literacy (Pearcy & Duplass, 2011). Students must be able to empathize with the unfamiliar perspectives of historical figures and avoid reductive explanations for complex events. Though teachers ultimately determine what happens in a classroom (Thornton, 1991), the textbook represents topics and values our society considers essential. This article considers the manner in which textbooks articulate historical and moral literacy, by evaluating narrative depictions of an event that represents both—the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In this study, I examine the moral content of 10 U.S. history textbook narratives, using two different methodologies, a historical narrative approach and a categorical analysis, the latter of which is derived from the “just war” doctrine. I conclude by making recommendations about the value of the “just war” doctrine in promoting both moral and historical literacy in the social studies.

Review of Literature The skills invested in historical literacy emphasize collaboration, understanding, and diversity of perspective. The effort to encourage these skills represents another value educators hold dear—the belief that an uncritical perspective is intellectually and ethically shallow. As educators, aiming to inculcate students with historical literacy is a major effort, but one that goes part and parcel with promoting moral literacy. Clifford (2011) describes “moral literacy” as a “minimal ability to make considered decisions of right and wrong . . . a skill that most people today lack, to varying degrees” (p. 135). This is analogous to historical literacy, in that the former informs the latter. We should consider, then, the moral literacy—represented in the topics we choose to teach, like the Civil War—we are

63 Ohio Social Studies Review Textbook Depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act promoting alongside historical thinking. We should also consider what we are asking students to read so critically. Despite the advent of new technology, the textbook is still the primary resource of content knowledge available to teachers and students (Berson & Balyta, 2004). Even today, the textbook exerts tremendous and often unquestioned influence over what happens in a social studies classroom, encouraging a passive acceptance of its “official” status (Apple, 1993). The manner in which textbooks depict historical events not only informs teacher choices in the classroom, but also student beliefs. All textbook analyses are limited by their focus on a narrative’s content, rather than its impact on the student. Such a limitation is understandable; while content is inert and, to some degree, measurable, student interaction with that content is ephemeral and abstract. While we can’t know with certainty what a student may learn from these depictions, we can evaluate what opportunities the text presents any reader for historical and moral literacy. Promoting historical literacy represents the “ethical value of history teaching,” described by Dewey (1909) in Moral Principles of Education: “When treated simply as a record of what has passed and gone, [history] must be mechanical, because the past, as the past, is remote. Simply as the past, there is no motive for attending to it” (p. 36). The “positive ethical import” of the social studies can be found in what Dewey called “a genuine faith in the existence of moral principles which are capable of effective application” (p. 57). The framework used in this study, the “just war” doctrine, dates to early thinkers like Cicero and Aristotle, and was systematized by the early Catholic Church. “Just war” asserts that for war to be moral, it must be limited. This premise has become foundational to Western law and philosophy over the past 1,500 years, evident today in most international law. The “just war” doctrine includes three broad components: jus ad bellum, “justice before war”; jus in bello, “justice during war”; and jus post bellum, “justice after war.” This study focuses on textbook representations of jus ad bellum, specifically the issue of “just cause.” “Just war” promotes historical literacy by encouraging students “to understand and interpret past events” and to answer an essential question of historical inquiry: “Why did an individual or group of people, given a set of circumstances, act in a certain way” (Yeager & Foster, 2001, p. 15)? Barton and Levstik (2004) write that historical study necessarily includes a moral component: “Although we may not often speak in terms of morality, we nonetheless expect students to celebrate the good things in history and condemn the bad” (p. 91). One reason we teach history is to encourage a proper path to the future, a set of behaviors that we consider correct and virtuous. “Just war” doctrine is, ultimately, a framework that encompasses a moral approach to war, and to life.

Ohio Social Studies Review 64 The Study I evaluated 10 textbook depictions of a historical event that represents a high level of both historical and moral literacy—the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Understanding this event is necessary for historical literacy, given its role as a contributing cause of the Civil War. Similarly, the values implicit in teaching about this event represent the values we encourage in students. The textbook is the primary device for encompassing explicit historical content and implicit value judgments. A measurement of standard textbook depictions of this event, on both counts, is warranted. A measurement of historical literacy includes how textbooks allow students to engage in the skills considered requisite for such literacy—analysis, evaluation, an emphasis on multiple perspectives and accurate historical details. Measuring moral literacy, however, is more difficult, especially considering the contentiousness of varying ethical beliefs. There are many values, however, that are practically universal—honesty, fair play, and courage (Tuana, 2007). In measuring the moral content of a given resource, it is important to avoid the tendency to scrutinize it according to a singular or narrowly held perspective (much as educators would warn students while promoting historical literacy). For this study, I evaluated textbook depictions from two different perspectives—a historical interpretation, comparing textbooks to relevant historiography, and a moral interpretation, comparing them to an ethical framework concerning the moral nature of conflict, the “just war” doctrine.

Methodology This study adopts two different methodologies. With a historical narrative analysis, textbook accounts are compared to relevant historiographical works in the field. This method has several advantages: it relies on the expertise of recognized historians, whose work sets the scope and sequence of the analysis. With the second methodological approach, a categorical analysis, textbook narratives are compared to preselected categories, which allow for a more balanced focus on a textbook’s tone, structure, and style. Additionally, such an approach is free of the linear and chronological restrictions of the first method. Categorical analyses are often critiqued for excessive subjectivity, because the categories are selected by the researcher. This criticism is mitigated in this study, because the components here were not arbitrarily chosen, but are instead the result of sustained historical and moral scholarship in “just war” theory. Textbook analyses vary in their sample sizes, some as few as five (Su, 2007; Watkins, 2008), some much larger (e.g., Harrison-Wong, 2003; Tompkins, Rosen, & Larkin, 2006). This study’s textbooks were produced by national publishers and have appeared on the adoption lists for Texas, California, and Florida, the three states that are the most influential in the textbook market (Ezarik 2005; Harrison-Wong, 2003). See Table 1, below:

65 Ohio Social Studies Review Textbook Depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act

TABLE 1: TEXTBOOK SAMPLE LIST

PUBLISHER DATE TITLE

Pearson/Prentice Hall 2007 The American Journey Pearson/Prentice Hall 2008 The American Nation Pearson/Prentice Hall 2007 America: Pathways to the Present Pearson/Prentice Hall 2009 America: History of Our Nation Pearson/Prentice Hall 2010 United States History McDougal/Littel 2010 The Americans Norton 2008 Give Me Liberty! Pearson/Prentice Hall 2010 Visions of America Houghton Mifflin 2006 American Pageant Houghton Mifflin 2008 The Enduring Vision

For the historical narrative analysis, I relied on two major historiographical works of the era: James McPherson’s This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War (2007) and Christopher Olsen’s The American Civil War: A Hands-On History (2006). For the categorical narrative approach, I focused on the most prominent component of jus post bellum, just cause. I conclude by discussing my findings and making a recommendation about the value of the “just war” doctrine in promoting both moral and historical literacy in the social studies.

Findings Fugitive Slave Law: Historical Narrative Analysis. When California was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850, the South feared the resulting imbalance in the U.S. Senate. The Compromise of 1850 was intended to forestall a descent into violence, and its most notorious component was the Fugitive Slave Act. Technically only a revision of a 1793 law that upheld a slaveowner’s right to recover fugitive runaways, the 1850 version provoked a vicious national reaction in the North. Previously indifferent Northerners found themselves enraged by the “Bloodhound Bill,” and Southerners were embittered by the North’s seeming refusal to carry out the law properly. Though the law was not often enacted, the few widely publicized attempts and captures, occasionally violent, made the Act one of the most important touchstones leading to the Civil War. Historians generally agree that the Act made secession and war more likely. McPherson (2007) asserts that the new law strengthened federal power on behalf of a region that was historically antagonistic to such an expansion: “In the name of protecting the rights of slaveowners, it extended the long arm of federal law, enforced by marshals and the army, into Northern states to recover escaped slaves and return them to their owners” (p. 9). Olsen (2006) also describes the

Ohio Social Studies Review 66 Act’s immense reach: It “literally brought the issue [of slavery] to street corners in the North for the first time” (p. 19). McPherson (2007) points to the Act’s influence on Harriet Beecher Stowe’sUncle Tom’s Cabin, which intensely personalized the fugitive debate. The book captivated Northerners and was bitterly resented by Southerners, who believed Northern abolitionists were aiding fugitive slaves in escaping. This anger was still present when secession began: “In their ordinances of secession, several Southern states cited Northern help to fugitives as one of the grievances that provoked them to leave the Union” (p. 21). Olsen (2006) describes one such ordinance, the Georgia Platform of 1850, in which delegates claimed “that upon the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Bill by the proper authorities depends the preservation of our much beloved Union” (p. 17). Textbook Depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act: Northern Reactions. Textbooks in this sample cover the Fugitive Slave Act in impressive and often dramatic detail. Visions of America (Keene et al., 2010) begins with a full-page political cartoon depicting the standard abolitionist view of the law’s barbarity (see Figure 1): The textbook’s description of the Act’s provisions is blunt: The act created a force of federal commissioners who possessed broad powers to pursue and return suspected escaped slaves to their owners. It also permitted federal marshals to deputize private citizens to assist in capturing fugitive slaves. Those who refused to help were subject to fines and imprisonment. Once apprehended, an accused fugitive had no right to a jury trial. His or her fate was instead decided by a federal commissioner who stood to earn a fee of 10 dollars if he returned the accused to slavery and only five if he released him or her. (p. 349) Most textbooks include detailed descriptions of the angry Northern reaction to the Act. United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010) asserts that “the anger was not restricted to abolitionists; it extended to other Northerners who felt forced to support the slave system” (p. 331). America: Pathways to the Present (Cayton et al., 2007) represents Figure 1: “Effects of the Fugitive the Act as a fundamental flaw of the Compromise Slave Law,” from Visions of America of 1850: “[It] actually made the situation worse by (Keene et al., 2010, p. 349) infuriating many Northerners . . . including Harriet Beecher Stowe, who expressed her outrage in her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (p. 359). America: History of Our Nation (Davidson & Stoff, 2009) uses the heading “Compromises Fail” in describing the Act, while The American Nation (Carnes et al., 2008) portrays “the sight of harmless human beings being hustled off to a life of slavery disturbed many Northerners who were not abolitionists”

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(p. 350). The American Pageant (Kennedy et al., 2006) describes both the legal penalties faced by “freedom-loving Northerners” if they helped runaways and the impact of the Act on provoking general resistance: So abhorrent was this “Man-Stealing Law” that it touched off an explosive chain reaction in the North. Many shocked moderates, hitherto passive, were driven into the swelling ranks of the antislaveryites. (p. 400) Often, dramatic language is used to describe the Act’s impact on Northern Blacks. The American Journey (Goldfield et al., 2007) asserts that “the Fugitive Slave Act brought the danger of slavery much closer to [Northern Blacks]. . . . The lives that 400,000 Black Northerners had constructed, often with great difficulty, appeared suddenly uncertain” (p. 392).The American Nation (Carnes et al., 2008) is more evocative: “Something approaching panic reigned in the Black communities of northern cities when slave hunters arrived to seize former slaves” (p. 350). United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010) presented the danger of the law to freedmen: “Some of the captured ‘fugitive slaves’ were really free people who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery” (p. 333). The textbook includes a full-page graphic with references to the Act, the Underground Railroad, and Harriet Tubman, set against a background image of the antislavery newspaper The North Star (see Figure 2):

Textbook Depictions of the Fugitive Slave Act: Southern Reactions. In contrast, many textbooks provide descriptions of Southern anger over the Act’s impotence. The Americans (Danzer et al., 2005) describes the difficulties in reclaiming a runaway, given Northern legal obstructions: “Northern lawyers dragged these trials out— often for three or four years—in order to increase slave catchers’ expenses. Southern slave owners were enraged by Northern resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act” (p. 311). Visions of America (Keene et al., 2010) describes Southern expectations of the law’s enforcement: Although the number of escaped slaves remained relatively small . . . Southern slaveholders grew increasingly angry over the unwillingness of Northerners to assist in the return of their “property.” Especially galling were the “personal liberty laws” passed by nine Northern states . . . which prohibited the use of state officials or facilities like courts and jails for the capture and return of escaped slaves. With these precedents in mind, Southerners made clear . . . that they expected Northerners to uphold the law. (p. 349) Figure 2: United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010, p. 333)

Ohio Social Studies Review 68 The American Pageant (Kennedy et al., 2006) describes Southern resentment of “the moral judgment” of abolitionists that “seemed, in some ways, more galling than outright theft. They reflected not only a holier-than-thou attitude but a refusal to obey the laws solemnly passed by Congress” (p. 395). The American Nation (Carnes et al., 2008) describes how “White Southerners accused the North of reneging on one of the main promises made in the Compromise of 1850” (p. 350). The American Pageant (Kennedy et al., 2006) portrays the South’s failed expectations:

TABLE 2: SELECT SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ANALYSIS

HISTORICAL TOPIC AREA TEXTBOOK NARRATIVE SAMPLE

Northern reaction to the Act “Part of the Compromise, the Fugitive Slave Act, actually made the situation worse by infuriating many Northerners—including Harriet Beecher Stowe, who expressed her outrage in her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” (America: Pathways to the Present, p. 359) “So abhorrent was this ‘Man-Stealing Law’ that it touched off an explosive chain reaction in the North. Many shocked moderates, hitherto passive, were driven into the swelling ranks of the antislaveryites.” (The American Pageant, p. 400)

The Act’s threat to freedmen “The Fugitive Slave Act brought the danger of slavery much closer to home . . . The lives that 400,000 Black Northerners had constructed, often with great difficulty, appeared suddenly uncertain.” (The American Journey, p. 392) “Black Americans, of course, despised the law. Some of the captured ‘fugitive slaves’ were really free people who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery.” (United States History, p. 333)

Southern reactions to the “The Southerners . . . were embittered because the Act’s passage Northerners would not in good faith execute the law—the one real and immediate Southern ‘gain’ from the Great Compromise.” (The American Pageant, p. 400) “To the slaveowners, the loss was infuriating, whatever the motives. The moral judgments of the abolitionists seemed, in some ways, more galling than outright theft. They reflected not only a holier-than-thou attitude but a refusal to obey the laws solemnly passed by Congress.” (The American Pageant, p. 395)

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“The Southerners . . . were embittered because the Northerners would not in good faith execute the law—the one real and immediate Southern ‘gain’ from the Great Compromise” (p. 400). In terms of historical content, the narratives of the sampled textbooks are detailed and accurate (see Table 2). From one analytical standpoint, these textbooks would serve as useful resources for historical literacy. For the moral content in these narratives, I turn to the categorical analysis. Fugitive Slave Law: Categorical Analysis. When analyzing narratives with the “just war” doctrine, some allowance should be made for textbooks’ inherent limitations. These are American history textbooks, not political science or philosophy, and, obviously, they are not “just war” treatises. More prosaically, textbooks only have so much space that may be dedicated to any given topic. For the purposes of this study, the analysis will focus on one (and arguably, the most important) component of jus ad bellum elements, just cause. Just cause is a major component of “just war,” given that nations regularly appeal to the concept in order to justify conflict. Whether or not such just cause existed is vital in depicting the Civil War, and textbook narratives addressing it should be a fair subject for criticism. Just cause typically includes self-defense from external attack, defense of others or the innocent, or punishment for a grievous wrongdoing that remains uncorrected (Orend, 2006). Most narratives contain detailed passages describing the Act’s impact on both the North and South. United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010) and America: Pathways to the Present (Cayton et al., 2007) both describe the anger felt in the North over the Act’s impact on everyday life, as well as the moral outrage accompanying the “infuriating” incursions by slave catchers. United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010) describes one tactic of resistance: Northerners also resented what they saw as increasing federal intervention in the affairs of the independent states. A few Northern states struck back, passing personal liberty laws. These statutes nullified the Fugitive Slave Act and allowed the state to arrest slave catchers for kidnapping. Many Northerners agreed with abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison when he demanded “nothing less than . . . a Revolution in the Government of the country. (p. 331) One crucial element of just cause is whether or not a given act is threatening to the security of a state or community. United States History (Lapansky-Werner et al., 2010) provides a compelling illustration of Northern Black resistance, under a large heading in bold red font titled “Northern Blacks Mobilize”: In 1851, a small group of free African Americans gathered in a farmhouse in Christiana, Pennsylvania. Heavily armed, they had come to protect several fugitives from their Maryland master, who had brought a federal official to reclaim them. In the scuffle that followed, the slave owner was killed. White bystanders refused to intervene to help the slave-hunting party. Although more than 30 people were tried for the conspiracy, none was found guilty. No one was tried for the murder of the slave owner. The “Christiana Riot” was a dramatic enactment of a scene that was played out in many Northern communities. (p. 333)

Ohio Social Studies Review 70 Other textbooks, too, rely heavily on such personal anecdotes to illustrate the law’s upheaval, though without explicit condemnation of the Act. The Enduring Vision (Boyer et al., 2008) tells the story of Anthony Burns, a former slave who was captured and returned to the South, despite an immense outcry in Massachusetts: No witness would ever forget the scene. As five platoons of troops marched with Burns to the ship, some 50,000 people lined the streets. As the procession passed, one Bostonian hung from his window a black coffin bearing the words, “THE FUNERAL OF LIBERTY.” Another draped an American flag upside down as a symbol that “my country is eternally disgraced by this day’s proceedings.” (p. 401) The text follows this with the compelling account of Margaret Garner, who, “about to be captured and sent back to Kentucky as a slave, slit her daughter’s throat and tried to kill her other children rather than witness their return to slavery” (p. 401). Give Me Liberty! (Foner, 2008) includes three such stories, presenting them as “a series of dramatic confrontations”—the Garner story, the “Christiana Riot,” and the 1851 capture of a slave named Jerry in Syracuse, New York. All of the stories are powerful indicators of the Northern sense of just cause. From the Southern perspective, Visions of America (Keene et al., 2010) refers to the anger Southerners felt not only over their belief that Northerners would not only fail to enforce the laws, but would also actively impede them, primarily through the use of “personal liberty laws” (p. 349). The Enduring Vision (Boyer et al., 2008) details the “frequent cold stares, obstructive legal tactics, and occasional violence” Southerners came to expect on slave-catching missions (p. 401-402), while The American Pageant (Kennedy et al., 2006) describes the “holier-than-thou attitudes” Southerners encountered regarding their “peculiar institution” (p. 395). Despite all this, there is a curious lack of vitality in these passages. At best, the narratives displayed here highlight the Fugitive Slave Act as a contributing factor to the Civil War, but there is no explicit moral condemnation of the Act, in spite of the depictions of “harmless human beings” falling victim to brutal slave catchers, over the objections of “freedom-loving” Northerners. In fact, the closest example of this is found in The American Pageant, which provides the following analysis of the notorious law: Beyond question, the Fugitive Slave Law was an appalling blunder on the part of the South. No single irritant of the 1850s was more persistently galling to both sides, and none did more to awaken in the North a spirit of antagonism against the South. . . . Delay also added immensely to the moral strength of the North—to its will to fight for the Union. In 1850, countless thousands of Northern moderates were unwilling to pin the South to the rest of the nation with bayonets. But the inflammatory events of the 1850s did much to bolster the Yankee will to resist secession, whatever the cost. (p. 400-401) On the whole, textbook narratives don’t present a coherent moral account of justifications for war, North or South. At best, the textbooks hint at the national calamity looming in the future, but there is no explicit discussion of the Act’s potential status as a moral foundation for Southern secession. The moral content in these textbooks, in terms of the “just war” component of just cause, is inferential and diffuse.

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Conclusions and Implications The standard chronological approach to American history often leads to an emphasis on “coverage” and a struggle between balancing depth and breadth in the curriculum (Pearcy & Duplass, 2011). Teachers are faced with a crush of topics and limited time. It is little wonder then, that many teachers, when teaching about war, may resist spending time on the events of the war itself, and instead focus on causes and consequences of the conflict. The “just war” approach has particular utility here, in giving teachers the flexibility to choose specific events,

TABLE 3: SELECT SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS

“JUST WAR” COMPONENT TEXTBOOK NARRATIVE SAMPLE

Just cause (self-defense from Northerners also resented what they saw as increasing external attack; defense of others federal intervention in the affairs of the independent states. from external attack; protection A few Northern states struck back, passing personal liberty of innocents from brutal, laws. These statutes nullified the Fugitive Slave Act and repressive regimes; punishment allowed the state to arrest slave catchers for kidnapping. for a grievous wrongdoing that (United States History, p. 331) remains uncorrected) [On the apprehension of Anthony Burns] “No witness would ever forget the scene. As five platoons of troops marched with Burns to the ship, some 50,000 people lined the streets. As the procession passed, one Bostonian hung from his window a black coffin bearing the words, ‘THE FUNERAL OF LIBERTY.’” (The Enduring Vision, p. 401) [On the death of Margaret Garner] “About to be captured and sent back to Kentucky as a slave, [she] slit her daughter’s throat and tried to kill her other children rather than witness their return to slavery.” (The Enduring Vision, p. 401) themes, or results of a given conflict and then apply the relevant components of “just war.” In teaching the Civil War, for example, a teacher may choose to focus his/her instruction through the concept of the “minimally just community” (Orend, 2006, p. 35): Did the Confederacy, as an incipient nation, satisfy the three basic conditions of a moral state: Was it recognized by the international community? Did it avoid violating the rights of other nations? And did it make “every reasonable effort to satisfy the human rights of its own citizens” (p. 35-36)? With this concept, a teacher can approach the dominant themes of the Civil War—e.g., was it a war or a rebellion—rather than scramble at its edges. Teachers, by necessity, must often be concerned with the prosaic, a fact that applies especially to the role of the textbook. Despite researchers’ advocacy of instructional technology as a potential replacement for traditional texts, it is clear that teachers will give them up only when a better, more readily available alternative exists (Schug, Western, & Enochs, 1997). Textbooks are

Ohio Social Studies Review 72 deserving of much of the criticism aimed at them—but the solution that is most often suggested, simply getting rid of them, is at odds with the reality of most classrooms. What is necessary, then, is not a wholesale abandonment of textbooks, but a set of tools that enable a more meaningful use of them. An emphasis on the “just war” doctrine allows teachers to plan lessons not just using the textbook as a resource or compendium of fact, but as the subject of student scrutiny. “Just war” is a framework against which to judge the sources we give to our students—an especially valuable consideration, given the generally unquestioning acceptance of such texts by those who use them most. A teacher could ask students to examine their own textbooks for moral content, for how they might depict a given conflict or the decisions that may lead to one. Textbooks, as we often assert, are not repositories of disembodied objectivity, but quite the opposite—in truth, “the characteristics of the finished solutions are determined not only by its components, but also by the hand that stirs it” (Paxton, 1999, p. 319). But it would be a mistake to merely substitute “just war” with the textbook as the voice of authority. We live in a world where state-versus-state warfare is at an all-time low (“Human Security Report 2009-2010: The Causes of Peace and the Shrinking Costs of War,” 2010), and conceivably, the moral restrictions on certain types of conduct have changed as well. The conditions of “just war” should be critiqued just as sharply. Students can use “just war” to consider not only the moral status of historical action, but of contemporary policies that may lead to conflict. Is the doctrine of preemption, seemingly at odds with the precept of self-defense (which is, in truth, the moral compass of “just war”) ever defensible? It is a subject of near- constant debate among “just war” theorists, and it certainly should be among our citizens and our students. Social studies classes are an appropriate venue for such debate. If the value of education can be measured in our students’ ability to live meaningful lives, it is vital that we equip them with the skills to make ethical decisions. And despite war’s horrors, there may be no more moral enterprise in human society than war, a conflict begun, at a minimum, to right a perceived wrong. A nation of informed and thoughtful citizens is crucial to the avoidance of war where possible and its ethical prosecution when inescapable. An important distinction is necessary—the use of a moral and empathetic tool, such as “just war,” should not be considered a form of indoctrination. “Just war” is not pacifistic, unilaterally opposed to all violent conflict for any reason; neither is it militaristic, accepting or even endorsing the necessity of war. The empathetic nature of “just war” makes it most valuable as a teaching tool. It is the difference between moral education and moral propaganda. As much as we emphasize historical literacy, we should also remember that social studies, more than other subjects, deals regularly with moral issues. If the resources we use are morally indistinct, the teachers and students who use them may be unable or unwilling to critically analyze the impact of national policies, both historical and modern. What this study has indicated is that textbooks contain moral content, but rarely encourage students to scrutinize the moral character of historical events. The ability to make thoughtful, informed judgments is at the heart of historical literacy. The ability to make ethical decisions is central to moral literacy and is just as vital for students.

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REFERENCES Apple, M. W. (1993) The politics of official knowledge: Does a national curriculum make sense?Teachers College Record, 95 (2), 222-241. Barton, K. C., & Levstik, L. (2004). Teaching history for the common good. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Berson, M. J., & Balyta, P. (2004). Technological thinking and practice in the social studies: Transcending the tumultuous adolescence of reform. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 20(4), 141-150. Boyer, P. S., Clark, C. E., Kett, J. F., Salisbury, N., Sitkoff, H., & Woloch, N. (2008). The enduring vision: A history of the American people. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Carnes, M. C., & Garraty, J. A. (2008). The American nation: A history of the United States. New York: Pearson Longman. Cayton, A., Perry, E. I., Reed, L., and Winkler, A. M. (2007). America: Pathways to the present. Boston: Pearson-Prentice Hall. Clifford, M. (2011). Moral literacy. Teaching Ethics, 11, 2, 125-140. Danzer, G. A., Klor de Alva, J. J., Krieger, L. S., Wilson, L. E., & Woloch, N. (2005). The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. Davidson, J. W. & Stoff, M. B. (2009). America: History of our nation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Dewey, J. (1909). Moral principles in education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Ezarik, M. (2005). The textbook adoption mess—and what reformers are doing to fix it.District Administration, 41(3), 50-66. Foner, E. (2008). Give me liberty! New York: W.W. Norton. Goldfield, D., Abbott, C., Anderson, V. D., Argersinger, J. E., Barney, W. L., & Weir, R. M. (2007).The American journey: A history of the United States. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Harrison-Wong, C. (2003). Educational significance of how U.S. history textbooks treat Hiroshima (doctoral dissertation). From UMI/Proquest database. (AAT 3091254) Keene, J. D., Cornell, S., & O’Donnell, E. T. (2010). Visions of America: A history of the United States. Boston: Prentice Hall. Kennedy, D. M., Cohen, L., & Bailey, T. A. (2006). The American pageant: A history of the republic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Lapansky-Werner, E. J., Levy, P. B., Roberts, R., & Taylor, K. (2010). United States history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. McPherson, J. M. (2007). This mighty scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Olsen, C. J. (2006). The American Civil War: A hands-on history. New York: Hill and Wang. Orend, B. (2006). The morality of war. Peterborough, CA: Broadview Press. Pearcy, MISSING INITIAL, & Duplass, J. D. (2011). Teaching history—Strategies for dealing with breadth and depth in the standards and accountability age, The Social Studies, 102 (3), p. 110-116. Su, Y. C. (2007). Ideological representations of Taiwan’s history: An analysis of elementary social studies textbooks, 1978-1995. Curriculum Weekly 37 (3), 205-237. Thornton, S. (1991). Teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper in social studies. In J. Shaver (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning (p. 237-248). New York: Macmillian . Tompkins, C., Rosen, A, & Larkin, H. (2006). An analysis of social work textbooks for aging content: How well do social work foundation texts prepare students for our aging society? Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 3-23. Tuana, N. (2007). Conceptualizing moral literacy. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(4) 364-378. Watkins, J. (2008). Re-reading the past for relevance, inclusion, and social activism: A history instructor reflects on fundamental events found in five popular post-secondary textbooks (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from UMI/Proquest database. Yeager, E. A., & Foster, S. J. (2001). The role of empathy in the development of historical understanding. In O. L. Davis (Ed.), Historical empathy and perspective taking in the social studies, p. 13-20. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Ohio Social Studies Review 74 COMPARE, SUPPORT, AND INFORM: ONE APPROACH TO THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM

Michelle Anderson, Felician College; Christine Ross, Felician College

Abstract With the introduction of the Common Core State Standards, there have been many opinions regarding how social studies education “fits into” the proposed English language arts (ELA) framework. A review of key components of the ELA standards and their connection to social studies education is provided. This article seeks to demonstrate how the Common Core State Standards actually promote and enhance good social studies content teaching practice. The authors propose the method of CSI: Compare, Support and Inform, as a means to incorporate the core literacy skills of reading, writing, and speaking into the social studies classroom. This method links directly to inquiry-based learning, interdisciplinary instruction, and the Common Core State Standards. The authors outline how teachers can use resources that they currently have available to them to not only teach surface facts and key terms, but provide students with a deeper connection to the content as set forth in the National Council for the Social Studies purpose for social studies education. The framework provided demonstrates a successful merger of the skills needed for competency in English language arts and the content needed for students to become participatory citizens.

The Common Core State Standards do not dictate how teachers should teach, only what should be taught (Strickland, 2012). Best practices would indicate that the standards be used as a roadmap. The Common Core State Standards at the present time call for the social studies to be taught under the English language arts (ELA) standards. The focus of the ELA standards is to integrate the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking with the content areas of the social studies (anthropology, archeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology). At first glance, many teachers may say, “I am not an ELA teacher.” However, under further examination, the ELA standards only enhance good and effective social studies practice. Teaching the skills needed to achieve the ELA standards is a shared responsibility (Strickland, 2012). The integrated model of literacy asks students to read informational text and respond critically. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. For example, the Common Core State Standards for reading for the fourth grade (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) require that when students are working with texts, they refer to details and examples in their explanations and inferences. This useful skill can be the foundation for the lesson. The student compares the information in the textbook to other primary source materials, such as maps, photographs, journal entries, etc., and evaluates what details support the textbook information. Once the information read is supported, the student is prepared to inform through the ELA skills of writing or speaking. 75 Ohio Social Studies Review Compare, Support, and Inform

Teachers should ground student learning outcomes (SLOs) in the Common Core Standards. The SLO can then be informally assessed by the teacher during a classroom discussion or think-aloud activity. A subsequent writing assignment could formally assess students’ skill attainment. Using the standards as a guide to creating SLOs can provide the proper assistance and be a useful check for teachers to ensure they are on track and doing what they say they are going to do. The Common Core State Standards for ELA emphasize the integration of knowledge and ideas. Similarly, interdisciplinary instruction helps students to visualize connections. Therefore, together they make for meaningful instruction. In fact, the core standards consistently ask students to compare and contrast, make connections, and analyze information from media and/ or visuals such as illustrations. Students will need to work with higher levels of critical thinking. Interdisciplinary instruction provides the opportunity for students to hone and strengthen their reading and literacy skills across disciplines. Therefore, subject areas without current standards will not be left behind.

CSI: Compare, Support, and Inform It is vital that students have consistent practice with the ELA skills of reading, writing, and speaking within the content area. What many social studies teachers may not realize is that this can seamlessly be done with the materials they currently use. Based on years of classroom experience, the authors have identified the method of CSI: Compare, Support, and Inform. This investigative approach integrates primary source materials and the inquiry-based process of learning with the textbook to meet the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) standards, as well as the Common Core State Standards. A body of research exists questioning the use of textbooks in social studies education. “Textbooks cannot begin to match the complexity of good primary and secondary sources” (Calkins, Ehrehworth, & Lehman, 2012, p. 93). However, this article focuses on the reality that it is the most readily available resource for teachers (Lent, 2012).

Compare CSI begins with initial step of compare. For the majority of classrooms today, this means utilizing what is viewed as the primary classroom resource, the textbook (Lent, 2012). Comparing the textbook with other sources promotes active readers. An active reader in a social studies classroom regardless of grade is best able to conduct high-level analysis of text. Due to the vague and often broad nature of textbooks, readers must compare the information they read in a textbook with other sources such as maps, photographs, and alternate accounts of people and events. In addition to this best practice, comparing text materials also achieves anchor standard eight of the Common Core State Standards, which reads: “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence” (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). This anchor standard seeks to evaluate evidence from the text and deliberate the validity of the author’s claim. In a classroom application, the student completing a verification of the textbook information achieves this. This not only allows for

Ohio Social Studies Review 76 the student to expand and compare sources but exposes them to the limitations of using the textbook as the only resource.

Support Using strategies that allow students to make decisions and solve problems gives them ownership of their learning (Riggs & Gholar, 2009), and allows students to move to the next step of the CSI process, which is to support what they have read from the text. Classroom application suggestions include offering open-ended activities that ask learners to struggle with ambiguities and use creativity in their response (Cornelius-White & Harbaugh, 2010). Students are more apt to talk out problems and ideas, listen to peers’ input, and draw their own conclusions. In essence, they are engaging in historical inquiry-based learning through their use of evaluation, corroboration, and synthesis. Writing allows students to stretch mentally and is critical to mastery of content. When asking students to think and write in a disciplinary context, they use the writing process to discover meaning (Brown, Phillips, & Stephens, 1993). This assists students’ analysis of an issue using different lenses to create their own interpretation (Cruz, 2001). By engaging in the acts of the historian, writing allows us to witness this negotiation. According to the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges (2003), If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with details, wrestle with facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write. (p. 3) Using writing as a tool for learning focuses on student-centered, inquiry-based classrooms (Doran, Rosen, & Wilson, 1997). Writing allows students to begin sorting out their ideas and perceptions. Entering into a dialogical conversation with these sources can foster a deeper understanding of their content. Writing assignments are meant to aid the student with synthesizing information in addition to explaining their thought process in the interpretation of history. Students need to be able to express their point of view concerning what they learned and how they view what is being studied. Teachers helping students deconstruct and understand historical material requires using literacy practices as a scaffold to ask questions about evidence and information. Wineburg and Martin (2004) state, The teaching of history should have literacy at its core. . . . No celebration of multiple intelligences or learning styles that takes the form of skits or illustrated knowledge posters equips us to answer those who would deceive us the moment we open our browsers. Skits and posters may be engaging, but leaving students there—engaged but illiterate—amounts to an incomplete lesson that forfeits our claim as educators (pp. 44-45). Literacy acts are integral in the process of aiding student understanding of texts, promoting the higher critical thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and creating. During this process, students partake in writing and reading activities in order to help organize basic ideas and concepts. By comparing the information presented in the various texts, the students are clearly presented with a purpose for reading the textbook that is beyond definitions of key terms and surface facts. Students then use that reading to formulate their own ideas and opinions about the topic.

77 Ohio Social Studies Review Compare, Support, and Inform

Inform The conclusion to this investigative process is for students to inform on the knowledge gained through reading and allows for students to demonstrate their learning either in written or verbal form. Informing gives the teacher the oppurtunity to assess the learning and allows the student to continue the learning process if more information is needed to answer remaining questions or investigate new ones that have been created through the inquiry process. This results in the CSI steps proposed to be a fluid learning method.

Conclusion Making connections between students’ lives and their learning furthers the basic purpose of social studies education, which is to “help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (National Council for the Social Studies, 2010). It is the authors’ belief that the ELA standards reinforce best practices in social studies education and create opportunities for those connections to be made. In the authors’ opinion, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards will not further marginalize the content area, but instead provide teachers with the framework for relevant and purposeful instruction. It will shine a light on increased use of the inquiry-based learning methods and decrease the commonness of reading the textbook and just answering the questions. The Common Core State Standards seek to promote increased critical thinking skills and support a solid foundation of literacy skills that can only serve to increase the acquisition of knowledge in the content areas. The discussion should not be about what is lost in the social studies classroom or the current lack of standards in the area, but instead about what is gained—an emphasis on best practices for student learning.

Ohio Social Studies Review 78 REFERENCES Brown, J., Phillips, L., & Stephens, E. (1993). Toward literacy: Theory and applications for teaching writing in the content areas. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Calkins, L., Ehrehworth, M., & Lehman, C. (2012). Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Cornelius-White, J., & Harbaugh, A. (2010). Learner-centered instruction: Building relationships for student success. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. Cruz, M. (2001). Writing to learn as a way of making sense of the world. In H. Scarborough (Ed.), Writing across the curriculum in secondary classrooms: Teaching from diverse perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Doran, R., Rosen, L., & Wilson, M. (1997). Multiple voices, multiple texts. Portsmouth, NH: Boyton/Cook Publishers. Lent, R. (2012). Overcoming textbook fatigue. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges. (2003). The neglected “R”: The need for a writing revolution. New York: The College Board. Retrieved from http://www.writingcommission.org/prod_downloads/writingcom/neglectedr.pdf National Council for the Social Studies. (2010). National curriculum standards for social studies: A framework for teaching, learning and assessment. Alexandria, VA: NCSS. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010).Common core state standards. Washington DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org Riggs, E., & Gholar, C. (2009). Strategirs that promote student engagement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Strickland, D. (2012, February/March). Planning curriculum to meet the Common Core State Standards. Reading Today, pp. 25-26. Wineburg, S., & Martin, D. (2004). Reading and rewriting history. Educational Leadership, 62(1), 42-45.

79 Ohio Social Studies Review USING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TO TEACH SOCIAL STUDIES

James Shiveley, Miami University

In 2008, with the support of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, Dr. Ron Helms and I published Using Children’s Literature to Teach the Social Studies Ohio Academic Content Standards. This monograph organized over 300 children’s literature books according to 6 of the 7 content standards for the social studies from 2002. It further aligned those books to the most relevant Benchmarks for grades K-5. Additional chapters included: an Introduction and Rationale for the use of children’s literature to teach social studies; books that were specific for teaching about Ohio; and helpful websites for using children’s literature to teach social studies. Since that time, Ron and I have taken much of the material used in that publication and converted it to a Wiki site for use in our social studies methods classrooms. As a Wiki site the resource has evolved into something different and, hopefully, more useful. For the past 4 years we have had our students add books to the site and provide reinforcing activities for each book. We have also included books and activities from various conferences we have attended. This past year the Wiki underwent another major revision. We converted the books on the site from the 2002 Standards to the revised Academic Content Standards adopted in 2010. These new Standards are expected to have full implementation by the fall of 2014. When the conversion to the new Standards for a particular book was not easily done, the book was culled from the site. The information now provided for each book on the site include: title; cover picture; bibliographic information; abstract; as well as the Grade, Theme, Topic, and Content Statement where we believe the book best fits. This is followed by a link that provides a reinforcing activity to help teach that Topic and Content Statement. The Wiki site of course remains a work in progress, but we would like to make this resource available to interested elementary teachers in Ohio who are teaching social studies. The site may be accessed at: https://childrenslit-socialstudies.wikispaces.com/ The current site is now organized according to the four content areas of History, Geography, Economics, and Government, with additional pages for the Introduction & Rationale and for books useful for teaching specifically about Ohio. We are not accepting membership to this Wiki beyond our methods students at this time, simply to not complicate the management of the site while our students work on it. However, we do invite any teachers to submit edits and/or book suggestions to: Jim Shiveley at [email protected]. If you wish to add books to the site, we ask that you please provide the information currently found on the site for each book along with a detailed reinforcing activity. We hope that this resource can continue to evolve and provide a useful relevant database of books and activities for all Ohio elementary social studies teachers.

Ohio Social Studies Review, Spring 2013, Issue 50, Volume 1 80 A YOUNG PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: COLUMBUS TO THE WAR ON TERROR

Frans Doppen, Ohio University

Book Review Zinn, H., & Stefoff, R. (2007). A young people’s history of the United States: Columbus to the War on Terror. New York NY: Seven Stories Press. Howard Zinn was born on August 24, 1922 in New York City and died in Santa Monica, California on January 27, 2010. A radical political historian, Zinn became well known for his active involvement in the civil rights and peace movement. While serving as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force during World War II, Zinn participated in bombing missions in Europe that led him to become a peace activist. In 1956 Zinn accepted a position at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia where he became an active participant in the emerging civil rights movement, an experience which he documented in You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, available in print as well on DVD. In 1964, Zinn moved to Boston University, where he became well known for his opposition to American involvement in Vietnam. He retired from Boston University in 1988 and became a professor emeritus. Deeply committed to the belief that all history is political, in his classic A People’s History of the United States (©1980), Zinn interpreted history from the point of view of the working classes and minority groups. Adapted by Rebecca Stefoff, this comprehensive survey of American history is now available in A Young People’s History of the United States version, an excellent text for middle and high school students. The Young People’s History consists of two parts. Part One opens with a discussion of the genocidal impact of Columbus on the Arawaks. Subsequently, Zinn discusses the role of various minorities, including women, in early America, the age of revolutions, the war with Mexico, slavery and the Civil War, robber barons and rebels, and the rise of American imperialism. Part Two discusses World War I, the inter bellum, World War II, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, Watergate, Desert Storm, Carter and the anti-nuclear protest movement, the War on Terror, and the Iraq War. Each chapter is 15-20 pages in length, which the average student should be able to read in less than thirty minutes. Each chapter is written in student-friendly language and richly illustrated with images of primary documents. Recently I introduced the Young People’s History to the juniors in my Middle Childhood social studies methods course that prepares teacher candidates to teach grades 4-9. Only two out of the 30 preservice teachers had ever read anything written by Zinn. After they had finished reading the entire text, I asked them to respond in writing to four questions about how the Young People’s History differed from what they themselves had learned in social studies in middle and high

81 Ohio Social Studies Review Book Review school, to list five historical events that Zinn discussed with which they were unfamiliar, whether they thought the Young People’s History would be an appropriate text for middle level students, and whether they agreed with Zinn that behind every fact there is judgment. The preservice teachers’ responses to the first question were remarkably similar. Their common experience was having been taught “glorifying” and “slanted” history “from the point of view of middle-aged, wealthy, white men.” Many students wrote this was the first time they experienced “historical events in a multidimensional manner instead of from a single perspective” and heard “voices from the other side,” while some were “shocked” by the new information that their textbook had omitted. They liked the “kid friendly way” it was written as opposed to the “very boring, dry and not relatable” textbook they had used. Nearly every preservice teacher was surprised by Zinn’s discussion of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. They had “[grown] up always [thinking] that Columbus was someone who did a lot of good” or even attended a school that actively celebrated Columbus Day. They were “shocked and appalled at what [they] learned” about Columbus and, referring to the quincentennial celebration, “surprised … there was an uprising against the celebrations.” They were also “struck by how little [they were] taught about women. Notably, several female preservice teacher referenced Zinn’s account of the women who organized “their own version of the Boston Tea Party.” Others learned about the Trail of Tears and were amazed that “Andrew Jackson’s visage graces” the twenty-dollar bill, that Claudette Colvin, a teenager, rather than Rosa Parks, was the first to refuse to give up her seat on the bus, and that American involvement in the Vietnam was not “solely due to prevent the spread of communism” but also “because of its natural resources.” Without exception, every preservice teacher thought that Zinn’s text was suitable for middle level students, especially grade 6 and above. While several expressed a reluctance to use a Young People’s History as their main textbook, they nonetheless suggested it would be an excellent a supplementary text that would help expose their future students to a different perspective than the traditional social studies textbook. While one cannot deny Zinn’s unabashed personal interpretation of history, these preservice teachers came to realize that “while some people may present themselves as neutral, …there is usually an underlying opinion.” Agreeing with Zinn that “there are no pure facts” and that it is “impossible to not have any type of bias,” they argued that social studies teachers should teach their students to “ask deeper questions, become actively engaged and never stop questioning.” One student stated that social studies teachers should acknowledge that bias and pre-judgment are just a part of teaching and should bring multiple perspectives into the classroom, asserting that students should “have a voice, too, and they should be empowered by looking at history … through multiple lenses.” As one preservice teacher aptly put it, “Social studies is probably the most difficult subject to present neutrally.” While one may not agree with Zinn’s interpretation of history, using his Young People’s History will enrich students’ learning experience and better prepare them to become thoughtful participatory citizens ingrained with a deeper understanding of social justice.

Ohio Social Studies Review 82 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Ellis, D., & Mueller, D. (Producers). (2004). You can’t be neutral on a moving train. New York City, NY: First Run Features. Zinn, H. (2002). You can’t be neutral on a moving train. A personal history of our times. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Zinn, H., & Arnove, A. (2009). Voices of a people’s history (2nd ed.). New York City, NY: Seven Stories Press. Zinn, H. (2010). A people’s history of the United States, 1492-present. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial. Zinn Education Project. (2013). Teaching a people’s history. Retrieved from http://zinnedproject.org/

83 Ohio Social Studies Review AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

Michelle Anderson is an assistant professor in the undergraduate and graduate departments of the teacher education programs at Felician College. She is currently teaching methodology and technology and assessment courses. Her research interests include student engagement and historical understanding. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Donna Bernens-Kinkead is a fifth grade teacher at the University Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana. She is interested in connecting students to the socio-emotional understanding of the ordinary person in historical events. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Frans H. Doppen is an associate professor of social studies education at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Dr. Doppen has published scholarly articles in several journals, including Theory and Research in Social Education; Social Studies; International Journal of Social Education, and Education, Citizenship and Social Justice. His current research focuses on the intersection of multicultural and global education. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Sara Eisenhardt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Northern Kentucky University. She is currently interested in teacher preparation and mathematics education. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Bill Hilt is a seventh grade social studies teacher at Perrysburg Junior High in Perrysburg, Ohio. He has been teaching for nineteen years and specializes in international civic education, global learning strategies, and project-based learning. In 2011 he became founder and president of the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Wayne Journell is an assistant professor and Secondary Social Studies Program Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research interests are the teaching of politics and political processes in secondary education. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Ching-Fu Lan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Teaching of Social Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research interests include democratic education, issues-centered education, digital media civic education and democratic media literacy. Prior to studying in the United States, he taught middle school civics/government in Taiwan. He can be contacted at [email protected] Liesl Loudermilk is a fourth grade teacher at the University Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana. Her research interests center around the use of technology in the classroom with a focus on iPad usage. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Brad Maguth is currently an assistant professor of social studies education at the University of Akron. He specializes in global education, instructional media and technology, and social studies education. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Corbin L. Moore is an instructional coach for social studies and english as a second language for the Hamilton City School District in Hamilton, Ohio. He is also the incoming President of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies. His research interests are in the areas of historical thinking, economics and financial literacy, technology integration, performance-based learning, and reading and writing across the curriculum. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Ohio Social Studies Review, Spring 2013, Issue 50, Volume 1 84 Gladys Newsom is a K-6 art teacher at the University Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana. Her interests focus on the visual arts; intertwining art history, U.S. history, artists and word cultures; and the use of recyclable materials to create art. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Jeff Passe is a professor and director of the Elementary and Secondary Graduate Programs in the Department of Secondary Education at Towson University. His areas of interest include current events education, and the marginalization of social studies. He can be reached at [email protected]. Mark Pearcy is a professor of teacher education at Rider University. He taught social studies for nineteen years in Florida public schools. He holds National Board Certification and has presented at national conferences including the NCSS and ISSS. His research interests include the “just war” theory and moral analysis in the social studies. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Christine Ross is an instructor at the Felician College School of Education in the Undergraduate Department. She teaches method courses in the areas of social studies and special education. Her research interests include the effect of Common Core Standards on social studies education, and historical inquiry and understanding. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Rebecca Shargel is an assistant professor of education at Towson University in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy. Her research interests include learning through text-based discussion, experiential education, and Jewish education. She can be contacted at [email protected]. James Shiveley is the Condit Endowed Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Miami University where he teaches courses in social studies methods, economics and American government. He is a former social studies teacher in Beavercreek and Wilmington, Ohio. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Emily Steele is Director of Edenfield Education in Brown County, Ohio. She is currently interested in building equity in education, especially in the area of Science and Mathematics Education. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Kellie Teegarden is a graduate of Honor’s International Teaching Fellows at Northern Kentucky University. She is currently attending Xavier University’s Masters of Education, Montessori Program. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Dean Vesperman is currently a doctoral student at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. He taught middle and high school for eleven years in Wisconsin before beginning his doctorate at IU. He received his B.S. in History and International Relations in 1994 and an MEE in education in 2006. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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