Date of Award
Fall 2022
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Educational Studies
First Advisor
Elizabeth Currin
Abstract
In this action research study, I facilitated and evaluated student exposure to politically, socially, and economically diverse source material within my Advanced Placement United States Government classroom, seeking to resolve students’ apparent disconnect from experiences that differ from their own, which had made connections to topics like civil rights challenging to grasp. Because the supplemental material I had chosen for my government classes failed to provide opposing narratives for my students to make these connections, this study arose as a way to research and ultimately correct this problem from within my government classroom.
Over the course of a semester, I developed a critical intervention, in which I introduced a series of primary and secondary sources to my U.S. Government students to evaluate the impact these sources had on student engagement with course content as well as their understanding of social justice issues. This study helped demonstrate the role that diverse supplemental readings can have on a predominantly White classroom, impacting how they connected with manifestations of societal inequalities, and suggests the types of sources social studies teachers should seek to include in similar interventions in their classrooms.
Rights
© 2022, Ashley Kristen Wright
Recommended Citation
Wright, A. K.(2022). There’s Action in Silence: An Action Research Study on the Impacts of Diverse Narratives in an Advanced Placement United States Government Class. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/7091