Teaching Inquiry About Race and Democracy Through Primary Sources (6-12 Event)

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and National Council for History Education (NCHE) are proud to present a special two-night professional learning event on teaching inquiry about race and democracy through the use of primary sources in K-12 social studies and history classrooms.

Each night, this program will preview a chapter from NCSS’ forthcoming online methods texts, Inquiry and Teaching with Primary Sources to Prepare Students for College, Career, and Civic Life, and a panel discussion and Twitter chat with the chapter’s author and a history scholar, moderated by NCSS and NCHE leaders. Join us to discuss why teaching inquiry about race and democracy through primary sources is essential to social studies inquiry.

This program is made possible through the generous funding from the Library of Congress’ Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) grant.

Tweet and follow: #teachinquiry, @NCSSNetwork, @historyed

The schedule of events is below (all times Eastern):

Thursday, January 28, 2021 - Why Use Secondary 6-12 Inquiry to Teach About Race and Democracy Through Primary Sources?

7:00 - 7:10 Welcome Remarks and Video Introductions from Library of Congress TPS Manager Vivian Awumey and TPS Lead Coach Dr. Scott Waring, NCSS Executive Director Dr. Lawrence Paska, NCHE Executive Director Grace Leatherman

7:10 - 8:00 Secondary 6-12 Inquiry Session with Dr. Tina Ellsworth

8:00 - 8:30 Panel Discussion moderated by NCSS President Stefanie Wager: “Why is teaching inquiry about race and democracy through primary sources so essential to the 6-12 classroom?”

Panelists:

Stefanie Wager

Moderator, NCSS President 2020-2021

Stefanie Wager is the Education Partner Manager for the OER Project. Prior to this role, she served at the Iowa Department of Education providing leadership and guidance at the state level for social studies education. She also taught high school social studies for Des Moines Public Schools and Dallas Center-Grimes Schools and worked at Instituto Thomas Jefferson in Naucalpan, Mexico. In addition, she formerly served as the coordinator of a Teaching American History Grant. She received both a Bachelors and Masters degree from Drake University in Des Moines, IA. Stefanie has been involved in the Iowa Council for the Social Studies since 2010, first serving as co-chair for the Annual Conference, then Vice-President, and now President. She is also currently serving on the National Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors. In that capacity, Stefanie has worked on the Strategic Plan Committee, Executive Director Search Committee and the Associated Group Ad-Hoc Committee, among others. She is also a member of CS4. In 2011, Stefanie was named an Emerging Leader in Education by ASCD. Stefanie lives in Grimes, IA with her husband Jake, who is also a social studies teacher, and their two children, Lincoln and Grace.

Tina M. Ellsworth, Ph.D.

Writer, K-12 Social Studies Coordinator, Olathe Public Schools; Adjunct Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Kansas

Tina is a graduate of the Curriculum and Teaching Department at the University of Kansas earning a Ph.D. in 2017. She also holds an MA in History from the University of Central Missouri. She currently serves as the K12 Social Studies Coordinator for Olathe Public Schools in Olathe, KS where she oversees all K12 social studies programming, professional learning, and resource adoption. She also teaches undergraduate courses in social studies methods at the University of Kansas. Her research interest focuses on pedagogical content knowledge for teaching history, and racial pedagogical content knowledge for social studies education. She has been published in Social Education, Social Studies and the Young Learner, The History Teacher, Theory and Research in Social Education, Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology. Dr. Ellsworth also serves as a member of the National Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors, the Diversity and Engagement Advisory Council for her school district, and the DEI Advisory Committee in her hometown. Dr. Ellsworth is a former middle and high school social studies teacher.

Alana D. Murray, Ph.D.

Historian

Alana is an educator-activist who has taught world history on both the middle and high school levels and currently serves as a middle school principal at Shady Grove Middle School in Montgomery County, MD public schools. In 2005, she served as the co-editor of the publication, Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching with Deborah Menkart and Dr. Jenice View. She is the author of The Development of the Alternative Black Curriculum, 1890-1940: Countering the Master Narrative. This book focuses on the impact of black women in shaping the social studies field.