Are human beings less violent than before? Why do we adopt certain moral and political judgements? Why is the gap between rich and poor getting bigger? How do we decide which criminal policies are effective? What is the Population Challenge for the 21st Century? What is social science? In Big Ideas in Social Science, David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton put these and more of our society’s burning questions to 18 of the world’s leading social scientists including Steven Pinker, Ann Oakley, Lawrence Sherman, Kate Pickett, Robert J. Shiller and Doreen Massey. The result is a collection of thought-provoking discussions that span the fields of sociology, politics, economics, criminology, geography and many more.From the people who brought us the Philosophy Bites series, Big Ideas in Social Science is a fascinating and accessible introduction to the key ideas and findings of the social sciences. The interviews for this book are based on a series of podcasts, Social Science Bites, sponsored by SAGE. Social Science Bites was inspired by the popular Philosophy Bites podcast (www.philosophybites.com), which was founded by David and Nigel in 2007 and has so far had 26 million downloads. Philosophy Bites has spawned three books, Philosophy Bites, Philosophy Bites Back and Philosophy Bites Again.

Are human beings less violent than before? Why do we adopt certain moral and political judgements? Why is the gap between rich and poor getting bigger? How do we decide which criminal policies are effective? What is the Population Challenge for the 21st Century? What is social science? In Big Ideas in Social Science, David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton put these and more of our society’s burning questions to 18 of the world’s leading social scientists including Steven Pinker, Ann Oakley, Lawrence Sherman, Kate Pickett, Robert J. Shiller and Doreen Massey. The result is a collection of thought-provoking discussions that span the fields of sociology, politics, economics, criminology, geography and many more.From the people who brought us the Philosophy Bites series, Big Ideas in Social Science is a fascinating and accessible introduction to the key ideas and findings of the social sciences. The interviews for this book are based on a series of podcasts, Social Science Bites, sponsored by SAGE. Social Science Bites was inspired by the popular Philosophy Bites podcast (www.philosophybites.com), which was founded by David and Nigel in 2007 and has so far had 26 million downloads. Philosophy Bites has spawned three books, Philosophy Bites, Philosophy Bites Back and Philosophy Bites Again.

In this volume teacher educators explicitly and implicitly share their visions for the purposes, experiences, and commitments necessary for social studies teacher preparation in the twenty-first century. It is divided into six sections where authors reconsider: 1) purposes, 2) course curricula, 3) collaboration with on-campus partners, 4) field experiences, 5) community connections, and 6) research and the political nature of social studies teacher education. The chapters within each section provide critical insights for social studies researchers, teacher educators, and teacher education programs. Whether readers begin to question what are we teaching social studies teachers for, who should we collaborate with to advance teacher learning, or how should we engage in the politics of teacher education, this volume leads us to consider what ideas, structures, and connections are most worthwhile for social studies teacher education in the twenty-first century to pursue.

By linking theory to practice with an emphasis on national and state standards, Head Start Performance Standards, No Child Left Behind, and IDEA, the authors coherently combine principles of child development and social studies content to create a solid program for preschool through grade three. The authors maintain the overriding idea throughout the Teaching Young Children series—that strategies derived from knowledge of child development are used to teach content knowledge. It is this concern that makes this volume an excellent resource for teachers and parents. In addition to specific discussions of how to build and conduct a social studies curriculum, the work includes vignettes of teachers and children in the classroom; graphics illustrating concepts and methods; and matrices, charts and tables to enhance understanding. The authors effectively intertwine social learning in young children and development of self-concept with the theme-based curriculum of the National Council for Social Studies, the principles of multicultural education, parent collaboration to support learning, and creating connections between classroom and community.

This one-of-a-kind resource features ideas from over one hundred of our nation’s most thoughtful teacher educators reflecting on their best practices and offering specific strategies through which future teachers learn to teach.

The field of social studies is unique and complex. It is challenged by the differing perspectives related to the definition, goals, content, and purpose of social studies. Contemporary Social Studies: An Essential Reader discusses the contemporary issues surrounding social studies education today. Contemporary Social Studies: An Essential Reader encourages and inspires readers to think. The chapters included in this volume are written by prominent scholars in the field of social studies. The collection inspires and provokes readers to reconsider and reexamine social studies and its contemporary state. Readers will explore the various critical topics that encompass contemporary social studies. This collection provides readers with rich chapters which are sure to be cited as key works. Compelling and accessible, this collection brings to light the critical topics relevant to contemporary social studies and is sure to serve as a cornerstone and seminal text for the future.

This book, resulting from a collaboration among an educational psychologist, a social studies educator, and a primary teacher, describes in rich detail and illustrates with excerpts from recorded lessons how primary teachers can engage their students in social studies lessons and activites that are structured around powerful ideas and have applications to their lives outside of school.

The pause in the traditional structure of schooling due to COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity for openness on many different levels: openness to the science of learning, openness to schoolwork centered around big ideas and authentic problems, openness to responsible assessment practices, and openness to a renewed ethic of social justice. In this book the authors make the case that now is a timely moment to reimagine schools and put the intellectual and social-emotional health of students and teachers at the center of the educational process. They offer practical classroom examples across disciplines and grade levels based on constructivist pedagogy, neuroscience research, psychological theory, and design thinking, as well as on their own experiences in observing and advancing instructional practice that fosters human development. Schools Reimagined will help administrators and teachers to structure their settings in ways that maximize the likelihood of meaningful and enduring student learning. Book Features: An approach for placing the well-being of students, teachers, and community at the center of schools.An accessible explanation of the sophisticated cognitive processes in which all people engage.Strategies and innovations that focus educators on student learning and the student agency that promotes it.Research-based approaches to schooling with specific examples of what they look like in action.Rolling summaries of the main points of each chapter throughout the text.

In the case studies that make up the bulk of this book, middle and high school history teachers describe the decisions and plans and the problems and possibilities they encountered as they ratcheted up their instruction through the use of big ideas. Framing a teaching unit around a question such as 'Why don't we know anything about Africa?' offers both teacher and students opportunities to explore historical actors, ideas, and events in ways both rich and engaging. Such an approach exemplifies the construct of ambitious teaching, whereby teachers demonstrate their ability to marry their deep knowledge of subject matter, students, and the school context in ways that fundamentally challenge the claim that history is 'boring.'