Opportunities Lost: Teachers Learning about the New York State Social Studies Framework

Abstract

The recent spate of state and national curriculum policies promote changes in teaching and learning in social studies. Yet these policies are largely silent on the issue of how teachers will unlearn what they now know and learn to teach differently. In this student of 16 professional development opportunities around the recent New York State social studies framework, I explore three issues: the range of opportunities teachers have to learn about the framework, the content and pedagogy of those sessions, and teachers' responses to the framework and the professional development sessions they attended.