Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions ofthe Learning and Teaching of Civil Rights

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Although civil rights are central to United States history, elementary classrooms often teach the topic within a limited scope. This study investigates elementary preservice teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and background knowledge about civil rights to clarify how they understand the content and its teaching. Findings show preservice teachers view civil rights mainly as equality, yet most cannot identify major figures beyond those commonly referenced in textbooks, suggesting later schooling may be more suitable and that methods courses need more coherent approaches and strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Civil rights in elementary teaching

Literature Review

Curriculum and Instruction

Gaps in standards and representation

Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions ofthe Learning and Teaching of Civil Rights By SusanneI. Lapp ∗ & Rina Bousalis ± Although civil rights have been a major part of United States history, it is often taught within a limited scope in elementary classrooms. As preservice elementary teachers have the potential to build the foundation of youth’s participatory citizenship, this study aimed to investigate elementary preservice teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and background knowledge about civil rights in order to gain insight as to how they understand the content and teaching of civil rights. The findings indicate that while preservice teachers primarily and appropriately viewed civil rights as a matter of equality for all citizens, a majority of participants were unable to recognize significant figures other than those that textbooks commonly mention as contributing to the advocacy of civil rights. Moreover, the data suggested that the topic of civil rights should mainly be taught during middle school – or even later during college. As the study revealed that elementary preservice teachers entering their education program methods courses have contradicting ideas about learning and teaching the topic of civil rights, suggested activities and strategies are offered for preservice teachers to better understand civil rights and create lessons that reflect the diversity in their classroom. Keywords: elementary preservice teachers, civil rights, United States history, social studies, perceptions Introduction Civil rights, the basic human rights that every United States citizen has under the laws of the government, are protected by the U.S. Constitution and laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that established that regardless of race, nationality, or religion, no person should experience discrimination. Yet, this philosophical stance has been challenged over the centuries with matters centered on diversity and inequality. In an era of diversified classrooms, cultural movements, and growing tensions, it is vital that elementary preservice teachers build the foundation of their future young students’ civil rights knowledge and understanding of how historical individuals took enormous steps to acquire and safeguard civil liberties (Hubbard, 2019). However, given that it is daunting for some teachers to incorporate cultural history into lessons, particularly when there is a breadth of academic content standards that methodically need to be met, the textbook has often become teachers’ main source of instruction (Gautschi, 2018). Although textbooks may advance students’ background knowledge of basic facts, textbooks have the tendency to weaken interpretations of civil rights ∗Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University, USA. ±Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University, USA. significant leaders, events, and issues (Jimenez, 2020). Since a majority of preservice students who enter university teacher programs were they themselves educated within a standard-based curriculum, the study’s aim was to explore how elementary teacher candidates perceive civil rights and what they bring with them into their social studies and English language arts methods courses by investigating: a) What are elementary preservice teachers’ attitudes towards civil rights? b) What is elementary preservice teachers’ background knowledge about civil rights? and c) What are elementary preservice teachers’ previous experiences learning about civil rights? The results of the study provided university methods instructors the groundwork to strengthen or enhance preservice teachers’ ability to learn and teach civil rights. Literature Review Curriculum and Instruction The National Council for the Social Studies (2018) stresses the need to assist educators and students into becoming well-informed citizens in order to establish and maintain democracy. Giroux (2016), a staunch supporter of democratic education, promotes t

FAQs

What does the study aim to understand about elementary preservice teachers and civil rights?

It examines preservice teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and background knowledge about civil rights, including how they understand both the content and how it should be taught.

What key finding describes how preservice teachers view civil rights?

Most participants viewed civil rights primarily as equality for all citizens, but many struggled to recognize significant figures beyond those typically mentioned in textbooks.

Why does the study suggest changes to when civil rights may be taught?

The data indicate that civil rights should mainly be taught during middle school or even later in college, and that elementary methods courses involve contradictory ideas that require better activities and strategies.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa