"One of the primary aims of education is the preparation of young people to contribute to the civic and political life of our democracy. Public school social studies classrooms are assumed to be the main place where such citizenship education takes place, yet much of what occurs in these classrooms has no direct relation to this vital charge. This book describes an altogether different approach to integrating meaningful civic learning into middle and high school social studies classrooms. Using the experiences of teachers and students who are trying out this new approach in three public high schools, it illustrates how social studies can recapture its civic purpose and how social studies classrooms can become places where young people study, ponder, discuss and write about large civic questions while they are learning history.By following the experiences of three teachers working at three diverse high schools, Transforming civic learning in diverse social studies classrooms shows social studies teachers why and how their classrooms can be transformed into powerful sites for civic learning. Drawing upon the latest sociocultural theories on youth civic identity development, the book describes a field tested approach to civic education that takes into consideration the classroom and curricular constraints faced by new teachers. It explains why social studies teachers, particularly those working in diverse and urban areas, should integrate civic education into their teaching, and outlines how this can be done effectively. Directed both at pre-service and in-service social studies teachers and designed for easy integration into social studies methods courses, the volume examines the experiences of students and teachers in the social studies classrooms as they participate in a new approach to the traditional, chronologically organized U.S. History curriculum. Each chapter describes a different aspect of the approach, deftly weaving theory, narrative and research results into a readable text that will inspire social studies teachers to implement a similar transformation in their own classrooms"--Provided by publisher.

"Can social studies classrooms be effective "makers" of citizens if much of what occurs in these classrooms does little to prepare young people to participate in the civic and political life of our democracy? Making Citizens illustrates how social studies can recapture its civic purpose through an approach that incorporates meaningful civic learning into middle and high school classrooms. The book explains why social studies teachers, particularly those working in diverse and urban areas, should infuse civic education into their teaching, and outlines how this can be done effectively. Directed at both pre-service and in-service social studies teachers and designed for easy integration into social studies methods courses, this book examines the experiences of students and teachers in social studies classrooms as they experience a new approach to the traditional, history-oriented social studies curriculum, using themes, essential questions, discussion, writing, current events and action research to explore enduring civic questions. Following the experiences of three teachers working at three diverse high schools, Beth C. Rubin considers how social studies classrooms might become places where young people study, ponder, discuss and write about relevant civic questions while they learn history. She draws upon the latest sociocultural theories on youth civic identity development to describe a field-tested approach to civic education that takes into consideration the classroom and curricular constraints faced by new teachers"--Provided by publisher.