Teaching Psychology in the High School: Does Area of Certification Translate into Different Types of Teachers and Courses?

Abstract

This article addresses itself to the description and comparative analysis of Psychology courses taught by Social Studies-certified psychology teachers and teachers of psychology who held certification in other subject areas. After a brief review of the literature on the nature of the precollege psychology offering, the article reports the findings of a status study of psychology in one midwestern state. The authors conclude that, in general, the psychology course is much the same across three very broad groups of psychology teachers trained in very different subject matter areas. In most instances, the differences within each group of teachers seemed greater than those between these groups in respect to their courses. It would seem that the conventional wisdom about what psychology is and ought to be influences teachers in planning, developing and teaching their psychology courses—and this operates to influence teachers regardless of their subject matter college training.