Relating Research on Children's Thinking to Teachers' Professional Practice: A Study of Research–Informed Teacher Planning in Early Grades Social Studies

Abstract

As part of a study on planning in early grades social studies, teachers' unit plans were examined for evidence that reading and discussing a research report about what young children knew about the production, distribution, and consumption of food influenced their choices of curricular goals and instructional practices. Unit plans were characterized by their idiosyncrasies, within and across grade levels. There was little evidence that the research report on children's thinking about food influenced what teachers chose to include in their plans. However, plans were responsive to students' experiences outside the classroom, and lessons were designed to extend into the students' home lives. How three teachers responded to the report on children's knowledge of food and their subsequent unit plans are described and analyzed in this article.