To Specialize in Students or Specialize in Social Studies? A Comparative, Longitudinal Study of Two Pathways into Middle School Teaching

Hilary Gehlbach Conklin

Despite the critical role that middle school teachers play in advancing young adolescents’ higher order reasoning skills, their preparation is one of the most neglected areas of investigation in educational research. In this longitudinal, comparative case study, I examine the two different pathways that have been most strongly advocated for certifying middle school social studies teachers—the specialized middle school pathway and the subject-specific secondary pathway—and investigate what teachers learn from their teacher preparation programs about teaching intellectually demanding social studies in the middle grades.By studying these two pathways at one institution and following graduates into their first two years of teaching, this project will illuminate the relationship among the teacher education program opportunities, the graduates’ teaching practices, and their students’ learning. Through the use of surveys, interviews, classroom observations, document review, and student and teacher work sample analysis, this research will provide a critical analysis of the strengths and limitations of these two teacher education programs for shaping middle school social studies teachers’ practice and their students’ learning across time. In doing so, this study will provide a more informed understanding of how to prepare middle school teachers who capitalize on and further all young adolescents’ intellectual capacities.

About Hilary Gehlbach Conklin

Hilary Gehlbach Conklin is an assistant professor of social studies education in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. She earned her B.A. in sociology/anthropology and education from Swarthmore College, her M.A.T. in history/social studies teaching from Brown University, and her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A former middle school social studies teacher, she currently teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in secondary social studies education and teacher education. Her research, which has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, focuses on the preparation of middle school social studies teachers, teacher learning, and the pedagogy of teacher education. She has published articles in journals including Theory and Research in Social Education, American Educational Research Journal, and Harvard Educational Review.