Teachers' Mediation in Social Studies

This paper develops the idea of teachers' mediation and applies it to social studies education. Inquiry on teachers' mediation is distinguished from inquiry on teachers' behavior and cognition, which is, in turn, shown to be embedded in a conceptually limited model of school change. Gadamer's “prior question” and Schon's “reflection-in-practice” are introduced to elaborate the heritage and significance of this distinction. Three illustrative examples of research on teachers' mediation in social studies are then reviewed, suggesting the diverse methods, concerns, and implications of such inquiry for social education.