High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) are instructional materials designed to effectively support student learning. This may include textbooks, lesson plans, digital resources, and other materials carefully crafted to meet the needs of diverse learners and promote meaningful learning experiences. By using HQIM, educators can improve the quality of instruction, support differentiated learning, and improve overall learning outcomes.
Although the concept of HQIM has been established and accepted in other key academic disciplines, applying this concept to sociology has been more complex. Unlike content standards for math or science, which are more uniform across states, social studies standards can vary greatly from state to state. These changes reflect the different historical and cultural priorities of the different states. Sociology also encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including history, geography, civics, and economics, each of which has its own unique academic practices. This diversity makes it difficult to produce material that is universally recognized as high quality across all aspects of sociology.
EdSurge recently spoke with Kathy Swan, a 20-year veteran professor of sociology education at the University of Kentucky. Before Swan transitioned to her teaching career, she worked as a bank examiner for the FDIC, a position she continued to hold both domestically and internationally for about 10 years. She subsequently received her Ph.D. After earning her bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia, she joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky.
Throughout her career, Swan has had an interest in inquiry-based pedagogy, drawing on her experience as a teacher. Despite her initial reservations about the standards, she became lead author and project director for the College, Careers, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, a national set of standards for social studies education. Swan sees the C3 framework and inquiry-based learning as guideposts for teachers to create and implement effective and engaging social studies lessons. She leveraged her own expertise to contribute to Imagine Learning, where she served as lead consultant on the development of Traverse, a new social studies program.
EdSurge: What is inquiry-based learning? Why is this considered an effective teaching strategy?
Swan: Inquiry is life. Our lives in the natural world are governed by a series of existential questions. supporting questions (or just-in-time questions) help you navigate each moment. ‘Should I eat that today? What do I think about the state of the union? Should we go for a walk or go straight to work?”
The inquiry-based learning frame learns through questions rather than answers, and in the classroom, students are guided by the teacher to ask these questions. In particular, social studies education often focuses on learning the molecular part of content, focusing on answers to questions about what happened, when something happened, and who someone was. Inquiry attempts to transform students into questions they can think about, providing greater agency for the questions that drive learning. In other words, they don't just memorize the answers.
This is the power of inquiry. It unites us across the education spectrum. In a recent book I co-authored, I suggested that freedom, like democracy, needs to be explored in education. We didn't just discover the quest. I think that's really reassuring as educators because we're in this field where there can be trends every week. The fact that we've been talking about the field of inquiry in education for over 100 years, ever since John Dewey codified it, helps me believe in it and invest time and energy into it. We're just having old conversations with new tricks.
How does the C3 Framework differ from existing sets of standards, and what factors have contributed to its widespread adoption in social studies education?
The C3 framework is equivalent to a national standards document, but ~ no A set of standards. The Common Core for ELA and math was a set of standards for near-universal adoption by states, and almost overnight, nearly 90% of states adopted it. science [standards] I followed that thought.
We understood that a set of standards in sociology can be tricky because of the names, dates, places, and events that people fight over. There can be a backlash, especially for content people are passionate about, so we took a different approach. Instead, we created a framework that describes these dimensions and indicators. could do Used to inform sociology standards. We wanted the social studies standards to have the flexibility to speak about culturally responsive teaching, while not allowing the federal government to dictate to local or state governments how to write curriculum.
The C3 framework was released in 2013. We couldn't wait for our phone to ring the day it was released. We joked about this in the book we just wrote, Revolution of Ideas: A Decade of C3 Inquiry. C3 fell like a feather. No one seemed to care [laughs]. Then, over time, C3 gained momentum in the right direction. It became a vernacular that became the North Star of sociology.
One of the reasons the C3 framework was eventually widely adopted is because it is a flexible document that provides greater agency for countries. But more importantly, the framework offers good ideas that resonate with real-world teachers and policymakers. The foundation is very well laid. Who can argue with the question? C3 won through the power of ideas.
Inquiry-based education prepares students for college, careers, and civic life — C3! The most important thing we do in social studies education is to prepare citizens to live in a diverse democracy. Inquiry is a way to structure democratic laboratory experiences that allow students to live in a deliberative and diverse democracy.
How is inquiry-based learning integrated into the development of HQIM for sociology?
The acronym HQIM may be fairly new, but the concept behind it is not. HQIM is standards-based, inquiry-based and allows for differentiation. The C3 framework is built on: a compelling question: A question designed to encourage multiple perspectives and more than one answer. HQIM social research practices are directly related to C3’s disciplinary practices. And inquiry, as a practice, relies on examining multiple perspectives to understand human phenomena.
The C3 framework and HQIM complement each other. Both support a necessary equity lens for sociology through inquiry. The sources we use within students' research investigations should allow those perspectives to surface. The inquiry process not only considers diverse past and present perspectives, but also highlights students' perspectives as they use evidence and their own reasoning to answer persuasive questions. It is important to unpack these layers of perspectives within the experience of inquiry.
What additional insights can we gain from the C3 framework when defining HQIM for sociology?
As educators, it is important that we teach the entire arc of inquiry, or all four dimensions. Dimension One is about developing questions to drive inquiries. What does it offer? For social studies practice. But sometimes teachers want to move to the second dimension, where there are content concepts and disciplinary practices. Dimension Three focuses on evaluating sources and using evidence. The fourth dimension is important because it encourages students to express their conclusions and take informed action. This can be another tricky space for teachers. Dimensions 2 and 3 are already in most teachers' wheelhouses, but dimensions 1 and 4 can feel like Narnia. But those tricky spaces are the ones that make the difference. They talk about the vitality of the social studies curriculum.
When I look at a social studies curriculum, I don't just think: Can students construct an evidential argument after reading the source for the answer to the question? I'm thinking. Where is life? Where is the energy? Where is the vibrancy that can be brought to the classroom? Students are energized by important questions that make them want to learn more, and at the end, students are able to express themselves and take action. There may be a lot of curriculum that checks the boxes, but can it come to life in the classroom?