Social Studies Teaching and Learning
Journal for the Kentucky Council for Social Studies
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Overview
Social Studies Teaching and Learning (SSTL), formerly known as the Southern Social Studies Journal, is the official journal of the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies. This peer-reviewed journal addresses social studies-related topics of interests to teachers pre-service teachers, and researchers, particularly in the area of inquiry-based learning. Social Studies Teaching and Learning welcomes research, essays, and practitioner manuscripts that deal with social studies curriculum, instructional practice, perspectives on social studies education, emerging and current topics. Reviews of social studies related-media are also accepted for publication. At least one manuscript in each publication will be directly tied to inquiry-based learning in the social studies.
All manuscript submissions to Social Studies Teaching and Learning will be refereed using a double-blind peer review process.
Journal Issues
We are excited to publish Volume 5, Issue 1 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning. This issue offers three articles that delve into the use of primary sources throughout social studies education. Joshua Duggan explores varied ways special and general education can support students with learning disabilities comprehend text-based primary source material. Julie Anne Taylor presents twelve works of environmental art from two museums and a library that can be used to engage students in art-based inquiry-driven learning in the secondary history and civics classrooms. Finally, Donna Fortune and her colleagues explore how educator preparation programs can equip pre-service teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide inclusive and empowering learning for students through the use of the Inquiry Design Model, primary sources, and picture books focused on social change. We hope you enjoy this issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning and will share the information you learn with others in your schools and community.
-Kimberlee Sharp and Caroline Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 5, Issue 1
- Joshua M. Duggan, Teaching Written Primary Sources to Students with Learning Disabilities
- Julie Anne Taylor, Teaching History and Civics with Environmental Art
- Donna Fortune, Lisa K. Pennington, Mary E. Tackett & Paige Horst, Bridging Disciplines - Driving Change: Promoting Classroom Activism by Utilizing Children’s Picture Books and the Inquiry Design Model in Educator Preparation Programs
We are pleased to present Volume 4, Issue 2 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning. In this eclectic issue, you will read five articles relating to the preparation of social studies teachers and new ways to think about the social studies content you currently teach. We begin this issue with an article by Jennifer Altieri describing a method for pre-service social studies teachers to analyze displayed print, such as teacher-and-student created anchor charts, in classrooms they visit during field experiences. This is followed by Ricky Mullins, who will capture the reader’s attention by referencing the hit series, Yellowstone™ as the inspiration behind his history lesson about the American cowboy. The next article challenges the reader to consider the effectiveness of the Electoral College in presidential elections as Russell Hammack and Linda Mitchell describe a lesson using the Inquiry Design Model (IDM)™ to engage learners in this timely and relevant topic. This is followed by the article by John T. Spence and Christy Mariani-Petroze in which they present a model framework for strengthening student engagement in high school civics classes. Our issue concludes with an article by Timothy Nelson in which he describes his qualitative content analysis of three history-themed picturebooks and the differing views of American patriotism they portray. We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning and share what you learn with others.
-Kimberlee Sharp and Caroline Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 4, Issue 2
- Jennifer L Altieri, Recognizing the Power and Potential of Displayed Print in the Elementary Social Studies Classroom
- Ricky Mullins, The Myth of the American Cowboy
- Russell Hammack & Linda Mitchell, To Erase or Embrace the Electoral College
- John T. Spence & Christy Mariani-Petroze, Using a Simple Conceptual Framework for Informing Thoughtful Student Engagement with Democracy in High School Civics Classes
- Timothy S. Nelson, A Tale of Three Histories: Picturebooks that Represent Differing Views of America
Volume 4, Issue 1 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning includes three related, but unique, manuscripts looking at concepts of civic education, social justice and literacy. Bejamin R.Wellenreiter, Xiaoying Zhou, and Christie Agleton provide a content analysis exploring how concepts of patriotism are portrayed in readily accessible picture books. Sean Corrigan offers a collective case study of how a group of social studies teachers from the Midwest conceptualize and engage in human rights education. Jeremiah Clabough, Caroline Sheffield and Katie Rowland-Ellis share a classroom-tested approach to reading and writing about the violence of the Tulsa Race Massacre using the trade book; "Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre" by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper. We hope you enjoy the articles in this issue!
-Caroline Sheffield and Kimberlee Sharp, co-editors
We are happy to bring you Volume 3, Issue 2 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning. This issue provides an eclectic look into social studies education topics. Sam Evans explores high school graduation requirements for civics education amid increased political polarization in the United States. Ron Morris and Denise Shockley investigate how professional development in the form of educational travel increases elementary teachers' social studies content knowledge and instructional decision-making. In the third article, Caroline Sheffield and Jeremiah Clabough describe the uses and benefits of graphic memoirs to enhance social studies learning and offer several suggested activities aligned with the C3 Framework. We hope you enjoy reading the articles in this issue!
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 3, Issue 2
- Sam Evans, Civic Education: What are the High School Graduation Requirements Across the Nation?
- Ronald V. Morris & Denise Shockley, Making Connections from Narrative and Experience Classroom Instruction
- Caroline C. Sheffield & Jeremiah C. Clabough, The Graphic Memoir Crude and the C3 Framework: Disciplinary Thinking in the Social Studies
We are pleased to bring to you the first issue of our journal’s third volume. In this issue, Rebecca Mueller explores how four early-career social studies teachers in South Carolina engaged with the new social studies standards recently adopted by the state. James Nunez offers a learning experience that utilizes the Constitution, the 1619 Project and the criticism of the project to analyze the contributions enslaved persons made to the culture and economy of the United States. Jeremiah Clabough describes a middle grades lesson exploring how Hubert Humphries' speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention influenced the DNC’s civil rights platform plank. Finally, Ricky Mullins discusses how his 2021 decision to rid himself of his smartphone and social media influenced his thoughts about the civic engagement of a distracted populous. We hope you enjoy these diverse topics in social studies education in Volume 3, Issue 1 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning.
- Caroline Sheffield and Kimberlee Sharp, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 3, Issue 1
- Rebecca G. W. Mueller, A Conversation Too Late: An Examination of Early-Career Teachers’ Experiences With New Social Studies Standards
- James D. Nunez, An Egalitarian Path To and From the 1619 Project
- Jeremiah Clabough, Civic Agency: The Lifeblood of a Healthy U.S. Democracy
- Ricky Mullins, A Government for Distracted People Isn’t by Distracted People: Re-Examining Technology Use in Terms of Active Citizenship
We are pleased to present this special-themed issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning, "Marginalized Voices in the Social Studies." Inspired by recent social and political events --- particularly racial injustices observed within the African American, Hispanic and Asian American communities --- this issue's purpose is to provide social studies teachers background information and inquiry tools for examining marginalized voices through a fair and critical lens. The three articles presented in this issue will surely appeal to all social studies teachers, but especially to those who teach elementary. The first article, by Soyhun An takes readers on a journey exploring U.S. colonial policy in the Philippines during WWII and examines how fifth graders can engage meaningfully with questions having to do with war and imperialism. The second article, by Laura Darolia and Meghan Kessler, begins with the compelling question, "Is culture always celebrated?" and offers readers a touching and compassionate examination of Asian Americans' heritage, culture and accomplishments in a primary grades inquiry lesson. Our last article, by Donald McClure and Courtney Brunn, features the mirror-window framework to teach civic virtues and respect for diversity and inclusion using the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Social Studies Trade Book, "Follow Chester! A College Football Team Fights Racism and Makes History." We hope you enjoy this issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning and that you share these articles with your colleagues and friends.
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 2, Issue 3
- Soyhun An, Fifth-Grade Inquiry into a Convergence of U.S. Imperialism, Racism, and War: A World War II Lesson
- Laura H. Darolia and Meghan A. Kessler, Is Culture Always Celebrated? An Inquiry-based Exploration on Asian Americans for Early Elementary Students
- Donald R. McClure and Courtney G. Brunn, Using the Mirror-Window Framework to Teach Children's Literature in Elementary Civics
We are pleased to bring to you the summer issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning. The six articles in this issue address a variety of topics and approaches to social studies instruction. Ricky Mullins and Molly Erwin explore translating the theoretical into the practical as they conduct discussions in a fourth-grade class. Rebecca Roach and Claire West examine the use of picture books in an Inquiry Design Model (IDM)™ staging activity to engage student curiosity and activate background knowledge in inquiry learning. Russell Hammack, Lisa Matherson and Elizabeth Wilson utilize inquiry-based framework to explore how the Olympics have sparked social change, a timely topic considering the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the upcoming start of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games on August 24. Ronald Morris discusses how second grade students engaged in historical interpretation when they created an Egyptian history museum. Samuel Northern describes how one elementary school utilized targeted professional learning circles (PLCs) to improve social studies instruction, providing a roadmap for others to follow. Finally, Julie Anne Taylor, K. Dara Hill and Jerry W. Tait examined how high school students in Detroit responded to and learned from the creation of a learning garden as a community-oriented service-learning experience. We hope that you enjoy reading about these varied topics exploring diverse approaches to social studies education in Volume 2, Issue 2 of Social Studies Teaching and Learning.
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 2, Issue 2
- Ricky Mullins & Molly Erwin, "This is Our Time to Find Our Voice": Doing Discussion in the Elementary Social Studies Classroom
- Rebecca Roach and Claire West, Picture Books, Posters, and Post-Its: Summarizing Text to Stage the Compelling Question
- Russell G. Hammack, Lisa Matherson, and Elizabeth Wilson, Inquiry and the Olympics: A Catalyst for Social Change
- Ronald V. Morris, Teaching Second-Grade Students to Curate and Interpret the Egyptian Museum
- Samuel Northern, Roadmap to Improving Social Studies Instruction
- Julie Anne Taylor, K. Dara Hill, and Jerry W. Tait, Learning Gardens and Social Education in Detroit
We are excited to present the Spring 2021 issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning. In this issue, you will find six articles focusing on three important facets of social studies education: understanding the role the Cold War played in the shaping of national and international affairs, using creative teaching and assessment methods, and building empathy in both students and teachers. We feature two articles about the Cold War first. Clabough presents an interesting lesson about the scrutinization of the Hollywood Ten by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 – the year in which the Cold War began. Next, Byford and Milam present a unique lesson about the Berlin Wall which involves students in a negotiation decision-making activity designed to build students’ critical thinking skills. Creative instructional practices are featured next. Cole’s article provides an engaging method for employing Craiglist advertisements during historical inquiries, while Swift’s article focuses on creative uses of Play-doh as a formative assessment tool in an Advanced Placement social studies course. Empathy building in social studies is featured next in an article by Yancie, which addresses the importance of empathy building during the discussion of public issues and is followed by an article by Morris and Shockley which spotlights the benefits of professional development on the empathy attainment of Appalachian elementary teachers. We hope you enjoy reading and learning from the diverse topics and perspectives presented in this issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning.
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 2, Issue 1
- Jeremiah Clabough, Can We Get Democracy on the Set? HUAC, Hollywood Ten, and First Amendment
- Jeffrey M. Byford & Alisha Milam, Escaping East Berlin: A Content Centered Cold War Activity
- William Gary Cole, Get in their Heads: Historical Perspective Taking Activities for American History Classes
- Arren Swift Play-Doh: A Hands-on Formative Assessment Tool
- Nefertari Yancie, Examining African American Experiences in the Early1900s: Developing Historical Empathy Skills by Discussing Public Issues
- Ronald V. Morris & Denise Shockley Teacher In-service: Emotional Experience that Moved Teachers to Action
As 2020 comes to a close, it is safe to say that this year was a challenge. Families, communities and schools all have been drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, whether through unemployment, closing of place-based schools or loss of loved ones. This issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning is focused on social studies education within the context of the pandemic. The authors provide a number of different perspectives on the pandemic and social studies education. Dague and Orcutt explore how teachers and museum educators can utilize museum-based digital resources as instructional tools in their virtual teaching. Child, Eddie and Druery discuss how teaching about historic pandemics and their impact on Native Americans can be leveraged to examine effects of racial discrimination on Indigenous communities. Mullins explores the impact of technology-based instructional during the pandemic and the potential long-lasting impacts this move to technology-based practices will have on schools and teaching social studies. Finally, while the Bidwell article does not directly address the pandemic, its focus on how one individual can impact change, in this case Lewis Hine’s efforts to end child labor, offers a positive, yet lesser known, role model.
We hope that this edition to Social Studies Teaching and Learning will provide you with a helpful way to think about and teach during this world-wide pandemic.
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 1, Issue 2
- Christopher T. Dague and Jessica A. Orcutt, , How Museums Can Serve Teachers' and Students' Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: A Self- Determination Perspective
- David Childs, April Eddie, and Jarrod Druery, Teaching the History of Native American Pandemics to Highlight the Effects of Racial Discrimination in Indigenous Communities
- Rebecca Macon Bidwell, Lewis Hine as a Change Agent: Discussing the Fight against Child Labor as a Model for Taking Civic Action
- Ricky Mullins, But I'm a Social Studies Educator, So I Must Stay Connected: A Theoretical Examination of Technology Use During the Pandemic
This inaugural issue of Social Studies Teaching and Learning marks a new chapter for the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies. In an effort to make this peer-reviewed journal accessible to all, it is being published in an open source format and replaces the subscription-based Southern Social Studies Journal.
The journal addresses both the research and practice of social studies education, with an emphasis on inquiry-driven learning. The articles in Volume 1, Issue 1 reflect this balance of research and pedagogy. Included in this issue are studies examining literature circles with pre-service teachers (Pennington and Tackett), how students made meaning while reading history-themed graphic novels (Shelton, Sheffield and Chisholm), and an examination of a history-themed enrichment camp in the Appalachian region (Morris and Shockley). Two inquiry driven lessons are also included. One explores the question of the cost of public lands (Sharp) and the other questions the definitions of patriotism during World War I (Clabough).
We are excited to offer a re-imagined official journal of the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies. It is the organization's intention that this open source journal will be a resource for all social studies educators.
- Kimberlee A. Sharp and Caroline C. Sheffield, co-editors
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, Volume 1, Issue 1
- Lisa K. Pennington & Mary E. Tackett, Piloting Book Clubs with Pre-service Teachers to Address Social Studies Concepts: A Reflection on Action Research
- Ashley L. Shelton, Caroline C. Sheffield, & James S. Chisholm, From Image to Inference: Three Eighth Grade Students’ Meaning Making with an Information History-Themed Graphic Novel
- Ronald V. Morris & Denise Shockley, Into the Wilderness with Lewis and Clark: An Appalachian Enrichment Summer Camp
- Kimberlee A. Sharp, Are Public Lands Worth the Public Cost? A Problem-based Inquiry Lesson about an Appalachia Public Issue
- Jeremiah Clabough, Examining Competing Definitions of Patriotism during World War I.
Volume 6: Issue 1
Journal publication date: May 2025
Manuscripts due date has passed
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
Volume 6: Issue 2
Journal publication date: December 2025
Manuscripts due: September 15, 2025
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
Volume 7: Issue 1
Journal publication date: May 2026
Manuscripts due: February 15, 2026
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
Volume 7: Issue 2
Journal publication date: December 2026
Manuscripts due: September 15, 2026
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
Volume 8: Issue 1
Journal publication date: May 2027
Manuscripts due: February 15, 2027
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
Volume 8: Issue 2
Journal publication date: December 2027
Manuscripts due: September 15, 2027
Theme: Open - accepting manuscripts for all areas of social studies education
Send manuscripts to: SSTLJournal@gmail.com
All manuscripts submitted to Social Studies Teaching and Learning must conform to the following guidelines:
- Times New Roman, 12-point font
- Double-spaced
- One-inch margins on all sides
- APA 7th edition formatting and style guide
Categories
Pedagogical and inquiry practices manuscripts:
- Manuscripts describing pedagogical or inquiry practices in K – 16 social studies should be of interest to the audience of Social Studies Teaching and Learning (i.e., academia, K – 12 teachers, curriculum leaders, etc.)
- Manuscripts describing pedagogical or inquiry practices in social studies should contain the following sections or similarly titled: Introduction, Relevance for Teachers and Practitioners, Context for Teaching and Learning, Topic Implementation and Impact, and Recommendations
- Manuscripts should follow APA 7th edition (October 2019) formatting and style guidelines. Manuscripts must have APA-formatted
- Running header and page numbers
- Title page
- Abstract with 3 to 5 key words
- Figures and tables, if necessary
- References
- Appendices, if necessary
- Word length of manuscript (excluding abstract and references) should be between 3,500 and 5,500 words.
Media Reviews:
- Review manuscripts about K – 16 social studies media (i.e., book, movie, technology reviews, etc.) should be of interest to the audience of Social Studies Teaching and Learning (i.e., academia, K – 12 teachers, curriculum leaders, etc.)
- Review manuscripts should be about media published or released within the last year of submitting manuscript, with a consideration given to media released within two years.
- Review manuscripts should contain a summary which describes the media under review, the author’s perspective, an evaluation of the quality of the media and its correspondence to current scholarship in social studies education, and an explanation of the media’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Manuscripts should follow APA 7th edition (October 2019) formatting and style guidelines. Manuscripts must have APA-formatted
- Running header and page numbers
- Title page
- Abstract with 3 to 5 key words
- Word length of manuscript (excluding abstract and references) should be between 2,000 and 2,500 words.
Joshua Kenna | University of Tennessee |
David Childs | Northern Kentucky University |
Jeremiah Clabough | University of Alabama-Birmingham |
James Akenson | Tennessee Tech University |
John Bickford | Eastern Illinois University |
Natalie Keefer | University of Louisiana-Lafayette |
Dean Vesperman | University of Wisconsin-River Falls |
Scott Roberts | Central Michigan University |
Ricky Mullins | Eastern Kentucky University |
Charles Elfer | Clayton State University |
Sean M. Lennon | Valdosta State University |
Jeffrey Byford | University of Memphis |
Nefertari Yancie | University of Alabama-Birmingham |
Laura Darolia | University of Kentucky |
Sohyun An | Kennesaw State University |