“A Better Vision of What Social Studies Can Be”: How Elementary Teachers’ Philosophies Influence Their Use of theHistory Alive!Textbook

In this qualitative research project, I investigated curricular decision making and the relationship among teacher philosophies, textbook materials, and classroom practice. Participants included 5 experienced 5th-grade teachers who used a comprehensive social studies textbook package, History Alive! America's Past. Information was gathered through classroom observations and interviews with each participant. Results indicate that teachers whose beliefs about the purposes of social studies aligned with the textbook publisher's stated philosophies took full advantage of the program's innovative features. Four teachers used the textbook to put their beliefs into practice. One of the participants who had less clearly defined goals retained some classroom practices from previous textbooks.