GATEways to Teacher Education

A journal of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators such as Flocabulary and BrainPOP. Consequently, this study aims to contribute further scholarly insights into how social studies teachers made decisions about which instructional strategies they used, particularly lecture, while engaging in virtual instruction due to COVID-19 school closures.

Theoretical Framework

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) (2016) powerful and authentic social studies framework was implemented as the theoretical framework for this study. In alignment with the NCSS (2013) College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, powerful and authentic social studies hinges upon teaching and learning that is meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active. Specifically for middle and secondary pre-service and inservice teachers, powerful and authentic social studies involves:

1. Meaningful curriculum that builds upon networks of knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes that are “structured around enduring understandings, essential questions, important ideas, and goals” that connect to career preparedness, technology, and reflective teaching and planning (p.180)

2. Integrated curriculum that combines the social studies disciplines, as well as “effective use of technology, communication, and reading/writing skills” inclusive of multiple primary and secondary sources that depict diverse perspectives and opportunities for problem-solving and civic engagement (p. 181).

3. Value-based curriculum that is centered around a commitment to “justice, equality, and freedom of thought and speech” through classroom practice where students engage in critical thinking and decision-making when deliberating problems and issues (p. 181).

4. Challenging curriculum that provides opportunities for students to be “exposed to information that includes conflicting perspectives on controversial issues” that fosters “critical, creative, and ethical thinking on problems faced by citizens and leaders” (p. 182).

5. Active curriculum that is both “handson” and “minds-on” that “develop and/or expand repertoires of engaging, thoughtful teaching strategies for lessons that allow students to analyze content in a variety of learning modes” (p. 182). According to the NCSS national standards for the preparation of social studies teachers, educator preparation programs are called upon to “design experiences that help candidates recognize how subject matter, students, and contexts influence each other in the interest of preparing youth to assess and work against barriers and challenges that impede democratic life” (Cuenca et al., 2018, p. 8). As a result, examination of inservice and pre-service social studies teachers’perspectives on lecture as an instructional method through the application of the NCSS (2016) powerful and authentic social studies framework may contribute to this growing body of research on how teachers make pedagogical decisions that best promote engaged learning in social studies, particularly when instruction shifted to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology, Data Collection and Analysis

Case study methodology was chosen for this research. Acase study is “a detailed examination of one setting…or one particular event” in order to glean new understandings about real-world situations (Bogdan & Biklen, 2006, p. 59). Specific to educational research, conducting