Learning and Teaching about Social Studies and Science: A Collaborative Self-Study
This collaborative self-study article explores experiences teaching a cross-curricular undergraduate course that aimed to integrate social studies and science. The course differs from other compulsory components of the teacher candidates’ program of study in that it concentrates on disciplinary structure, as opposed to methods, and it treats two subjects—social studies and science—as opposed to one. For teacher educators charged with instructing curriculum methods courses, particularly elementary social studies and science classes, as well as for administrators planning creative responses to challenges posed by congested teacher education programs, the following study offers reflections on the benefits and pitfalls of cross-curricular courses. Furthermore, it comments on the relative merits of investigating social studies and science as disciplines to be explored rather than as sets of skills or content to be mastered.