Reassessing the Social Studies Curriculum

Promoting Critical Civic Engagement in a Politically Polarized, Post-9/11 World

Wayne Journell

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9798216287858
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 dramatically changed many aspects of American society, and the ramifications of that horrific event are still impacting the domestic and foreign policies of the United States. Yet, fifteen years after 9/11—an event that was predicted to change the scope of public education in the United States—we find that the social studies curriculum remains virtually the same as before the attacks. For a discipline charged with developing informed citizens prepared to enter a global economy, such curricular stagnation makes little sense. This book, which contains chapters from many leading scholars within the field of social studies education, both assesses the ways in which the social studies curriculum has failed to live up to the promises of progressive citizenship education made in the wake of the attacks and offers practical advice for teachers who wish to encourage a critical understanding of the post-9/11 global society in which their students live.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 International Conflict and National Destiny
• 2 9/11 and the War on Terror in American Secondary Curriculum, Fifteen Years Later
• 3 Including 9/11 in the Elementary Grades
• 4 How Patriotism Matters in U.S. Social Studies Classrooms, Fifteen Years After 9/11
• 5 National Identity and Citizenship in a Pluralistic Society
• 6 The Courage of Hopelessness
• 7 Civil Liberties, Media Literacy, and Civic Education in the Post-9/11 Era
• 8 Role-Playing and Role-Dropping
• 9 The Psychology of Controversial Issues’ Discussions
• Afterword
• About the Contributors