Two-Column Notes

Date:
Name: Morgan Niese
Class/Subject: EDTL 2760
9/14/201
6
MR Title(s): Beyond personality responsible: A study of teacher conceptualizations
of citizenship education
MR Source(s): Patterson, N., Misco, T., & Doppen, F. (2012). Beyond personally responsible:
A study of teacher conceptualizations of citizenship education. Education, Citizenship,
and Social Justice, 7(2), 191-206.
Page #
The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary
204

The participatory teachers deviated from

this position primarily by leveraging
historical content for citizenship aims. They
interwove knowledge and citizenship as a
critical vehicle for precipitating future
action. Theirs was a focus on the value and
use of knowledge beyond local issues,
primarily by including global perspectives,
a healthy application of critical thinking,
self-actualization and, ultimately, social
action. They considered the social studies
classroom an incubator for active
citizenship.

197

Even in the context of high-stakes testing

and content knowledge expertise, the
citizenship purpose ranked highest among
the provided options, followed by

I think this quote really works well with the

topic brought up in BP 3, what makes the
United States the greatest country. It is
important for social studies teachers to really
focus on making the students great United
States citizens. It is the teachers job to inform
the students and prepare the students for the
future as United States citizens so they
continue build a strong democratic society. The
students are eventually going to have to vote
and make political decisions on their own and
whether they know how to understand what is
best for the United States strictly falls on what
the teachers teach their students while in
school. That is why I like the saying, the
social studies classroom an incubator for active
citizenship.
I really liked this quote because it shows that
many of the teachers in this study believed that
it is their duty to prepare the students to
become the best possible citizens of the United

developing language arts skills and

teaching content knowledge. Teaching
social studies because it is required and
preparing students for the next grade level
were ranked last

199

Upon further examination of the interview

data, they became more aligned with a
personality responsible orientation as a
result of their focus on the importance of
content knowledge and involvement define
by voting and service to the local
community. Barry gave a classic example
of a personally responsible orientation,
arguing that it is essential to be: involved
in your community, maybe not necessarily
politically, but at least in something where
you can get out of the house. Church is a
good example- something where you are
giving to society and sharing- and of
course receiving information and input and
the participation of others

States as they can be. They dont just believe

that social studies is a requirement to allow the
students to move on to the next grade or to
graduate but believe that it is a class all
students should take because it will help to
improve their lives in the present and in the
future. It is nice to know that many social
studies teachers are very passionate about
social studies and really care about getting
their students to understand the world around
them and the roles of being a good citizen.
I completely agree with Barry. Social studies is
not all about understanding the world and the
people around you in a political sense but also
a personal sense. Even though it is great to
inform the students of how to become a good
citizen politically, it is also great for teachers to
teach their students how to get involved in
their community and develop personal
relationships with people around them. The
town I grew up in was very good at this. Many
people were involved in church organizations
and many other groups and worked together to
improve our community. Everyone in my
community worked together and worked to
understand everyone. This has made my
community feel like a huge family where almost
everyone was willing to help and support others
out in any way they could. I believe that this is
a very good characteristic to have as a citizen
because it is good to be involved in your
community.

Connections to previous MR:

Altogether, this study was very interesting. I really enjoyed reading through the interview section
because it provided great insight of what other teachers find to be important about social studies.
Mostly all the teachers agreed that it is important for students to understand the responsibilities of a
citizen both politically and non-politically. If teachers continue to be passionate about this, I feel more
students will start to enjoy social studies because they will find that it truly does have a purpose and
will impact their future lives. If more students start to understand and start to get a sense of what a
good citizen should be like, we might be able to improve our nations democracy and make America
great again! Like it was said in the video, American is NOT the best country in the World, the people
that created the United States worked as hard as they could to build the nation we have today. They
reached for the stars, fought in many wars, had many advances in technology, agriculture, economy,
government, engineering, and in the medical field that has made us the country we are today. Other
countries were inspired by our motivation and dedication to make America great and used this
inspiration to make themselves great too. Since then, we have found that they have started to exceed
the United States in many categories which is great for them. It is important that we the people of The
United States, continue in the footsteps of our ancestors to continue advancing our nations democracy.