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      A Narrative Inquiry into Students' Use of Family Stories to Find Self in the Social Studies Curriculum

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      Date
      2013-08-07
      Author
      Hagen, Lindsey
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      In this narrative inquiry, I explore student connections to personal and family history and how those connections, or lack thereof, shape their understandings of Social Socials content – in regard to how the students attend to history and each other. I believe there is a disconnect between the rationale of Social Studies programs, which advocates for the development of active and engaged citizens, and the way many programs are being delivered. To explore an alternative approach to Social Studies, I invited Grade 9 students and their teachers to share their perspectives about their engagement in a Roots Project which was intended to enrich students’ understanding and sense of identity, as individuals, as members of families and communities, and as citizens of the world. Research participants included three grade 9 students in a secondary school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and three collaborating teachers, who happened to be at various stages of their careers: an experienced semi-retired teacher, a beginning teacher, and an education undergraduate student. In attending to both student and teacher voices, I found that the incorporation of personal and family history into the secondary Social Studies curriculum provided a range of opportunities for student growth in both personal and social realms. It provided students with an opportunity to step back from the formalized, prescribed curriculum and it exposed them to multiple ways of learning and knowing, through personal conversation about subject matter with which they had an organic connection. I found the importance of relationships, and the acknowledgement of family diversity and inclusion of all family forms and perspectives in the classroom, to be central to interweaving personal and family history into Social Studies subject matter.
      Degree
      Master of Education (M.Ed.)
      Department
      Curriculum Studies
      Program
      Curriculum Studies
      Supervisor
      Pushor, Debbie
      Committee
      Balzer, Geraldine
      Copyright Date
      June 2013
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-06-1114
      Subject
      family diversity
      family stories
      social studies curriculum
      secondary education
      narrative inquiry
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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