Initiated in 1991, The Professional Development School (PDS) Network in Social Studies and Global Education at Ohio State University is a collaborative effort of selected social studies teachers in ten school districts in Central Ohio and the social studies and global education faculty in the College of Education.

The goals of the PDS are to
(1) improve the education of preservice social studies teachers;
(2) provide on-going professional development for practicing teachers;
(3) improve classroom instruction and strengthen the knowledge base in social studies and global education through collaborative inquiry and action research.

The classroom teachers who serve as field professors for the 2008 MEd cohort are Jon Dawson at New Albany High School (New Albany Plains Local), Anne Baldwin at Reynoldsburg High School (Reynoldsburg),Tim Dove at Phoenix Middle School (Worthington), Jeff Elliott at Metro High School (Franklin County), Alicia Fowler (West High School, Columbus), Robyn Hildebrand at Eastland Career Center (Franklin County), Steve Shapiro at the Christopher Program (Franklin County), Betsy Sidor (Upper Arlington High School, Upper Arlington), Barbara Wainer at Independence High School (Columbus).

The field professors work with program faculty to plan the MEd assessments, team-teach T&L 638 and 639 Methods seminars, and mentor our interns in their schools from late August when school begins to the following May.

Background

Recognizing the need to collaborate with experienced teachers in order to improve the preparation of teachers, the social studies faculty began to work collaboratively with six classroom teachers in 1991. These teachers and others who joined the PDS efforts over the years were selected for their outstanding performance as social studies teachers, their past experiences in mentoring preservice teachers and their involvement in curriculum development and global education. They came to be called “field professors” for their roles in developing programs, working with preservice teachers and their colleagues, and their inquiry into improving practice. Faculty and field professors worked together to develop new goals for the social studies certification program and new methods courses. These goals call for the preservice teachers to demonstrate competence in these major areas:

1. Awareness and concern for their students as individuals and as learners.
2. Knowledge and skills in instructional planning and assessment in the social studies with special attention to global perspectives, authentic learning and multicultural education.
3. The use of a variety of methods for instruction and assessment that encourage active learning and inquiry, meet the different learning styles of students and are congruent with content and educational goals.
4. Questioning techniques that build higher level thinking skills.
5. Progress in reflecting on and improving their own teaching and learning as professional educators. See details below at the end of this page.

Improving Preservice Teacher Education

In the past the major weaknesses in the preservice social studies program were due to lack of long-term collaboration between the university and the schools. There was a need to improve the consistency of mentoring of interns by teachers during their field experiences and the need for beginning teachers to make connections over time between their course work and the actual practice of secondary social studies instruction.

To overcome these problems the faculty and field professors work together to plan and assess both Methods courses (8 credit hours) and field experiences (a total of 17 credit hrs). The Methods courses are field-based with the interns working with their field professors four hours every day during methods and the interns teaching one day a week during Methods. The second component of methods is seminars taught by the field professors and university professor for two hours twice a week out in the schools.

The preservice teachers apply what they learn from the seminars in their classroom teaching each week. The preservice teachers stay in the same schools for their student teaching from mid-January to April.

The methods courses focus on these topics: understanding one’s students and building interpersonal relationships to improve teaching and learning, lesson and unit planning, teaching for equity and diversity, higher level thinking skills and teacher questioning, methods (cooperative learning, individual and group research projects, case studies, simulations, interactive lecture, etc.), using technology, and assessment (conventional and alternative assessments).

The interns are assessed in (1) their planning and teaching one day a week, (2) their work getting to know individual students and understanding their perspectives, learning styles, and experiences, and (3) their development of three weeks of instruction for use during student teaching.

A listserv and Carmen (a course management system, Desire to Learn) is used to support collaboration and communication across the PDS schools, the mentoring teachers, OSU professors and supervisors, and the interns.

The seminars, assessments and collaboration between the field professors and faculty continue during student teaching and secondary field placements that take place after student teaching is over.

Providing Professional Development for Practicing Teachers

The field professors and faculty collaborate in developing and disseminating new instructional materials and holding workshops for practicing teachers in the PDS Network schools. Much of the work with practicing teachers takes place within social studies departments through sharing and peer coaching.

Field professors, interns and supervisors also work together in making professional presentations, writing and providing workshops.

Improving Classroom Instruction Through Collaborative Inquiry and Action Research

The PDS Network in Social Studies and Global Education is dedicated to improving practice. Field professors, other social studies teachers in network schools, and faculty have worked together in several action research projects over the years. Major areas of inquiry include:

1. Global Education: What does it mean to teach social studies with a global perspective? What are the best ways to prepare teachers to teach global perspectives? To teach secondary students to interact effectively with people different from themselves?
2. Field Experience: What are effective ways to mentor and support preservice teachers as they begin to teach? What are effective ways of assessing them as they learn to teach?
3. Reflective Practice: How can preservice teachers learn to reflect upon and inquire into their teaching and learning? What readings, methods, other assignments, field experiences can increase their reflective practice? How can teachers model and teach reflective inquiry to their secondary students?

The findings of collaborative inquiry have been presented at the National Council for the Social Studies, the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, The American Education Research Association, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and the American Forum for Global Education.

Our interns also experience action research as they study their own teaching and carry out action research projects.

Publications from collaborative inquiry include:

• Merryfield, M.M. (2006). Electronic discourse, school/university collaboration and democratic spaces in teacher education. International Journal of Social Education 21 (no.1), 73-94.
• Merryfield, M.M. & Shapiro, S. (2001). Implementing the Reforms of the Coalition of Essential Schools through ‘World Connections:’ Dual Agendas of Reform and Research. In M. Johnston, M. Christensen and J. Norris (Eds.), Teaching Together: School/University Collaboration to Improve Social Studies Education. Washington DC: The National Council for the Social Studies. pp. 129-140.
• Chase, S. & Merryfield, M.M. (2000). After the Honeymoon Is Over: Reflections on What Seven Years of PDS Have Taught Us about School/University Collaboration in Social Studies and Global Education. In Marilyn Johnston, Patti Brosnan, Don Cramer, and Tim Dove (Eds.), Collaborative Reform and Other Improbable Dreams: The Challenges of Professional Development Schools (pp. 123-140). New York: State University of New York Press.
• Dove, T., Norris, J., and Shinew, D. (1997). “School-University Collaboration to Improve the Preservice Education of Social Studies Teachers in Global Education. In Preparing Teachers to Teach Global Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• Merryfield, M. and White, C. (1996) “Issues-Centered Global Education.” In the Handbook on Teaching Social Issues edited by Ronald Evans and David Warren Saxe. Washington DC: The National Council for the Social Studies.
• Shapiro, S., and Merryfield, M. (1995). “A Case Study of Unit Planning.” In Teaching About International Conflict and Peace edited by M. M. Merryfield and Richard Remy. Albany, NY: The State University of New York Press.
• Merryfield, M. M. (1995). “Institutionalizing Cross-Cultural Experiences and International Expertise in Teacher Education: The Development and Potential of A Global Education Network.” The Journal of Teacher Education 46 (1), pp. 19-27.
• Levak, B., Merryfield, M. and Wilson, R. (1993). “Global Connections.” Educational Leadership 51 (1), pp. 73-75.

Other manuscripts have been submitted for publication.

Importance of PDS

The PDS Network in Social Studies and Global Education is the centerpiece of our Master’s in Education (MEd). The school-university collaboration provides critical instruction, mentoring and authentic assessment for beginning teachers.

Many doctoral students in social studies and global education work as supervisors in PDS schools and carry out collaborative inquiry with field professors (see the publication of Dove, Norris and Shinew above; these authors are two field professors and a doctoral student).

Field professors and other social studies teachers in network schools take independent studies with faculty for inquiry and writing as demonstrated in the publications listed above. The PDS Network influences the teaching and learning not only of teachers in network schools, but many other masters and doctoral students.

Factors in the Long-Term Success of the PDS

The PDS Network in Social Studies and Global Education is limited by time and resources. Classroom teachers who become involved in program planning, the development of courses, the mentoring of preservice teachers, on-going inquiry, writing, and professional presentations must find the time for such activities. So must university faculty since collaboration requires a significant time commitment.

It is the success of the interns, the rewards of new interactions and exchanges, and the improvements in classroom teaching and learning that sustain the PDS network. Teachers and faculty can see tangible rewards from collaboration within this community of learners.

Major Goals of our PDS

At the end of the program, the interns will have demonstrated progress in these major areas:
(A) Awareness and support of their students as individuals and as learners.

• 1. Initiate interactions that build rapport and respect from every student.
• 2. Learn about each student’s knowledge base, cultural background, abilities, special needs, and interests.
• 3. Use knowledge of students’ cultures to provide culturally relevant instruction, promote educational equity and make a concerted effort to see that every student learns.
• 4. Create a classroom climate that maximizes student learning.
• 5. Recognize and build upon the multiple intelligences of students.

(B) Knowledge and skills in the basics of instructional planning and assessment

• 6. Plan for a specific course of study (e.g., Global History, World Cultures), through developing a plan for specific time periods including long-term (a term or semester) and short-term (unit or daily lesson plan).
• 7. Use appropriate K-12 scope and sequence of social studies knowledge, skills, and attitudes/values.
• 8. Infuse multiple –global and multicultural– perspectives into instruction.
• 9. Deal effectively with controversial issues in the curriculum and as they emerge in the classroom.
• 10. Find and use electronic, print, and audio- visual materials and resources in the school, community, nation, and world.
• 11. Plan assessment as an integral part of instruction, not as an afterthought.
• 12. Develop and implement a system of classroom management that maximizes student learning.
• 13. Demonstrate best uses of computer-aided instruction to meet students’ needs and educational goals.

(C) The use of a variety of instructional methods that encourage active learning, meet the different learning styles of students and are congruent with content and educational goals.

The intern has demonstrated the ability to use a variety of teaching strategies so that their students:
• 14. Actively find information (from readings, A-V, statistics, library research, electronic data bases, interviews in the community, etc.)
• 15. Process information (categorize, chart, clarify, draw conclusions from, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, etc.)
• 16. Use information (to solve problems, make decisions, analyze values, teach others, relate/apply information to new situations, etc.)
• 17. Examine global/multiple perspectives (more than one point of view on an event, person, issue, action, etc.)
• 18. Evaluate the merit and worth of information (its source/timeframe/geographic reference, point of view of author, possible bias, unstated assumptions, etc.)

The intern has demonstrated the ability to:

• 19. Select teaching strategies to fit both student needs and social studies content.
• 20. Use a variety of traditional and alternative assessment strategies to meet student and content needs.
• 21. Be flexible in modifying lesson plans so that the structure and pacing of the lesson and transition from one activity to another meet the needs of the students.
• 22. Keep students actively involved in learning throughout each lesson.

(D) Questioning techniques that build higher level thinking skills. The intern has demonstrated the ability to:

• 23. Ask questions that require students to go beyond recall of knowledge and comprehension to higher level thinking–the application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of content. Includes motivating (questions that create interest and connections) and divergent questions (open-ended questions that foster creative thinking).
• 24. Lead a discussion to get students to think critically about and articulate what they are learning (from research, readings, guest speakers, videos, news, etc.).
• 25. Promote educational equity by getting all students involved and participating in higher level thinking.

(E) Progress in reflecting on and improving their own teaching and learning as a professional educator.

• 26. Recognize his/her own biases (as well as lack of knowledge or experience) towards people different from himself/herself (in gender, race, class, religion, national origin, ability to speak standard English, sexual orientation, special needs, etc.) and work to overcome such bias.
• 27. Seek out feedback from colleagues and students and reflect upon, evaluate, and continually improve his/her own teaching and learning.
• 28. Articulate his/her own teaching style, including choices in such decisions as management and organization, expectations, extracurricular activities, and different roles with students, parents, colleagues, administrators.
• 29. Develop as a professional. For example, the PT will take all responsibilities seriously, be consistently punctual, master administrative tasks (such as keeping records of attendance and grades, sending progress reports to parents, etc.), seek out ways to learn more about students and the community, collaborate with colleagues, become involved in the community and in professional organizations.
• 30. Demonstrate integrity, ethics, and a positive attitude towards all students, the community, and teaching.
• 31. Demonstrate the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively with students, parents, staff and administrators.