The Study
University Distinguished Professor Jere Brophy and Janet Alleman, professor in the Department of Teacher Education, have in recent years developed a line of research that seeks to understand what children know (or think they know) about topics addressed in the social studies curriculum. They have focused their research on the primary grades, interviewing students about cultural universals such as food, clothing, shelter, families and communication. In their most recent work, they interviewed a sample of 216 students, 54 in each of grades K-3.

The Findings
Brophy and Alleman interviewed the students individually. They asked primarily open-ended questions and typically followed up with planned probes designed to elicit extended statements of students' knowledge and thinking about the topic of shelter. The topic focused on several prototypical Native American homes and on pioneers' log cabins. The researchers recorded, transcribed and then coded the answers. The findings confirmed a significant relationship with grade level. The older the student, the more sophisticated (if not necessarily accurate) the answer. As they progress through the primary grades, most elementary students develop generally accurate ideas about pioneers. They are less knowledgeable about Native American life. Primary-grade students often know that different forms of shelter exist, but not why they exist. Their knowledge and thinking about cultural universals is quite limited, mostly tacit rather than well-articulated, frequently distorted by misconceptions, and rather scattered than well organized. Because of this, primary-grade students do stand to profit from instruction about cultural universals.

What It Means to You
Given some of the findings, do the teachers and instructional materials in your district go beyond showing and describing to point out functions and cause-effect relationships that explain why certain cultural practices were or are used?

More Information
You can read the entire text of Brophy and Alleman's presentation at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies on the College of Education Web site.

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