Academic Freedom and the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers

Abstract

By its very nature the social studies curriculum has as a major emphasis the task of preparing students for citizenship. In order to successfully prepare students for this task, teachers must be adequately prepared to provide a learning environment that encourages inquiry and that deals with the most pressing problems facing each group. As a result of dealing with controversial issues, teachers must also be prepared to deal with possible challenges to the curriculum content. To what degree should social studies preservice teachers be prepared to deal with the issue of academic freedom? A recent survey of social studies methods professors indicated general agreement that preservice teachers should be required to investigate academic freedom issues and most reported that they provided the experience in their methods courses. Social studies methods professors were less certain, however, as to whether preservice teachers were aware of academic freedom issues that occurred within their field placements.