I taught in both low-income culturally diverse
and middle-class European American elementary schools
in South Bend, Indiana from 1970-1983. I also taught
in a multi-age, alternative program for elementary
students who needed a different setting and experience
from a traditional elementary classroom. Since moving
into teacher education in 1987, I taught introduction
to education and methods courses in social studies,
reading, and language arts. During the past 10 years
I have concentrated on teaching social studies methods
and supervising clinical students.
During the past 15 years, my scholarship has primarily
focused on improving social studies education through
a multicultural, social reconstructionist approach.
I have studied my own teaching and students’
responses as a teacher educator and as a collaborator
with an elementary teacher in a fourth-grade classroom.
I also have researched examples of exemplary Wisconsin
studies teaching. In addition, I have published
a number of articles offering examples of strategies
and resources to enrich social studies education
and implement a multicultural, social reconstructionist
approach.
