Using Inquiry Learning to Shift Towards a Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy in Elementary Social Studies

Prentice T. Chandler and Todd S. Hawley (2017) have poignantly noted that social studies instruction has traditionally “erased the histories and experiences” (p. 7) of students of color. This study addresses the question of how white teachers who teach students of color can use inquiry learning to shift traditional elementary social studies instructional practices towards a more culturally sustaining pedagogy. Elementary social studies instruction has traditionally been teacher-centric and rooted in a mono-perspective of historytelling that represents a dominant cultural narrative that often alienates and subtracts students of color from their learning (Valenzuela, 1999). Through a teacher inquiry community that incorporates six-week classroom-based inquiry units, structured participatory conversations, teacher interviews, and teacher artifact collection, this study argues that a shift towards inquiry learning that incorporates student-driven practices that promote building student agency and civic engagement, centering marginalized voices and counter-narratives, and cultivating inquisitive mindsets, is a more culturally sustaining pedagogy that reimagines elementary social studies “where diverse, heterogeneous practices are not only valued but sustained” (Alim and Paris, 2017).

Author dc:creator

• Shawn Reddy (23292004)

• Education
• Curriculum and Instruction

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright
• Open Access after 2028-01-01

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.25417/uic.31451623.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/31451623