Conceptual Shifts: Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions About a Social Studies Methods Course

The sixteen years that preservice teachers spend as students in classrooms influences their perceptions about teaching. Past educational experiences seem to create perceptual filters which have greater influence on how preservice teachers judge pedagogy than do the principles enacted in methods courses within teacher education programs. Preservice teachers tend to resist innovative teaching practices presented in teacher preparation programs and observed during field experiences unless the practices are congruent with their interpretations of past pedagogy. Confronting past perceptions and reflecting on pedagogy are experiences that seem to have consequences for future teachers. This study examines preservice teachers’ perceptions and conceptual shifts made while enrolled in a methods course grounded in constructivist theory and reflectivity. The ways in which preservice teachers examined changes in their perceptions about how to teach social studies, their confidence and ability to plan and teach social studies lessons are captured, examined, and discussed.