Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
3-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Sandra Harris
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Jennifer T. Butcher
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Irma Harper
Abstract
Teachers experience difficulty in introducing some sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom environment. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to identify strategies that exemplary secondary social studies teachers implement when facilitating classroom discussions about sensitive and controversial issues, specifically, racial issues framed within Singleton and Linton’s 4 agreements of courageous conversations: stay engaged, speak your truth, experience discomfort, and accept and expect nonclosure. This study utilized qualitative data collection. Semi-structured, online one-to-one internet-based interviews were used to document the lived experiences of exemplary secondary social studies teachers and the strategies they use when facilitating discussions about sensitive and controversial issues such as race in the classroom. Voluntarily submitted participant artifacts such as lesson plans, strategies, and multimedia resources were utilized to provide in-class strategies and context. The 4 purposefully selected secondary social studies teachers, 3 males, and 1 female, met the criteria to be included in this study by being a recipient of the National Council for the Social Studies, Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year award. Moreover, each participant is a current or previous classroom teacher of 1 or more courses under the content area of secondary social studies. Geographically, all participants reside within the continental United States. An overall conclusion of the findings revealed that teachers need to teach and model how to communicate effectively by acquiring the ability and willingness to share, hear, understand, and accept multiple perspectives effectively both in and of the classroom.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Jasmer, Candice Nicole, "Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 200.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/200
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Other Communication Commons, Other Education Commons, Other Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons