Browsing by Subject "Social studies"

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“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around” : learning about race in the early grades
(2020-06-22) Falkner, Anna Christine; Adair, Jennifer Keys; Payne, Katherina A.; Salinas, Cynthia; Brown, Anthony L; Smith, Christen A
Young Children of Color in the United States are experiencing the effects of racism on a daily basis. There have been calls for anti-bias and anti-racist education across the field of education, yet most recommendations are based on older students or studies in laboratory settings. In this ethnographic study of two early childhood classrooms, children used diverse strategies to learn about race, racism, and difference across the school day. Children explored individual and collective racialized identities, investigated the role of race in the lives of children across time, and applied theories of justice to ideas about race. Their strategies were nuanced, embodied, and socio-historically and socio-culturally influenced. Teachers supported children’s inquiry by valuing and extending their learning and ideas. Findings suggest racial pedagogy should support students’ racial inquiry by acknowledging what they already experience, do, and wonder about race.
Beyond resistance : transgressive white racial knowledge and its limits
(2014-05) Crowley, Ryan M; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)
This critical case study investigated the experiences of ten White preservice social studies and language arts teachers as they learned about race and racism during the first semester of an urban-focused teacher preparation program. Through observation, interview, and artifact data, this inquiry analyzed how the preservice teachers engaged with the topic of race through the conceptual framework of critical Whiteness studies. This theoretical lens seeks to identify the normalized, oppressive practices of Whiteness with the goal of reorienting those practices in antiracist ways. The author identified two broad themes of transgressive White racial knowledge and conventional White racial knowledge to characterize the progressive and problematic aspects, respectively, of the preservice teachers’ engagement with race. The participants displayed transgressive White racial knowledge through the way they combatted deficit thinking toward urban students and through their knowledge of the mechanics of Whiteness and structural racism. They displayed conventional White racial knowledge through their stories of early experiences with racial difference, their use of subtle resistance discourses during race conversations, and their tendency to misappropriate critical racial discourses. As a whole, the racial knowledge of the ten White preservice teachers points to conflicted, ambivalent feelings at the core of their racial identities. Their desires to talk about race and to develop an antiracist teaching practice were mediated by competing desires to maintain their identities as “good Whites” and to protect their investments in Whiteness. The complex ways that these White preservice teachers engaged with critical racial discourses have significant implications for critical Whiteness studies, teacher education, and social studies education. Their willingness to explore race in a critical fashion should push teacher educators to resist homogenizing, deficit views of the antiracist potential of White teachers. However, their problematic engagement with race points to the importance of viewing White identity as conflicted. If antiracist pedagogies begin with this understanding of White racial identity, they can encourage profound shifts in the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of Whiteness. These shifts can help White teachers to develop racial literacy and to build an antiracist teaching practice.
Citizen making in religious spaces : encountering the "other"/each other on school mission trips
(2020-06-22) Kim, Esther June; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Salinas, Cynthia; Payne, Katherina; Hsu, Madeline; Adair, Jennifer; Wang, David
This dissertation focuses on ideologies that shape the civic agency of students and how ideologies that divide between human beings might be deconstructed both at home and abroad. Using Sylvia Wynter’s (1995) hybrid human, and her application of subjective understanding to examine what makes a moment in history possible (e.g. Columbus’ voyage), as well as Thomas Holt’s (1995) analysis of race and racism in the everyday, this ethnography took place alongside students, teachers, and parents from a religious high school. The context is the intersection between ideology and civic education, where the following questions may be explored: how do ideologies shape the interactions between students, teachers and “others” on short term missions, and, how might ideologies shift? While multiple dilemmas emerged around doing civic work in religious spaces, three themes related to ideological movement emerged. Shifts were often facilitated by a combination of teacher mediation, the consistent leaving of home, and steadfast engagement with counter narratives offered by insiders from “other” communities. A constant dilemma, however, was the barrier of racism within the school community. Participants of color across race and grade levels expressed a shared pain in their racialized encounters with classmates and teachers. A common sentiment of feeling alone in a predominantly white space facilitated the formation of theories on their own or within their church communities to make sense of the injustices they and their families both faced and witnessed. My research with this community builds on the work of scholars who study race and ideology in the classroom, specifically how ideological shifts occur in schools (Giroux, 1991; Philip, 2011). I extend this in my research by considering how a confluence of identities and ideologies, including religion, come together and how they may be deconstructed by students and teachers.
Connecting the links : socio-constructivism, historical thinking and online discussion forums
(2010-12) Blankenship, Whitney Gordon; Salinas, Cinthia; Field, Sherry L.; Obenchain, Kathryn M.; Brown, Anthony; Lee, John K.; Hicks, David
This qualitative interpretive research study of students participating in online discussion forums explores how the socio-constructivist nature of online discussion forums fosters the development of historical thinking. The study also focuses attention on the development of the historical understandings of students as they participant in online discussion forums in particular significance, empathy and agency. Set within the context of discussion forums and framed by socio-constructivism and historical thinking, the study uncovered what it means for students to “do history” and how students construct their own historical narratives as they interact with their peers online. Data collection included transcripts of online discussion forums, interviews with participants and the collection of other related artifacts. Findings suggest that the online discussion forums facilitate socio-constructivism in the classroom by providing students with extended opportunities to engage with their peers ideas and assumptions. Additionally, the findings also conclude that students understanding of significance, empathy and agency are related to their interactions with both the official and unofficial curriculums and the temporal and physical proximity of examples to students lived experiences.
Democratizing the process of teacher professional development
(2019-08-14) Zanin, Anthony John; Salinas, Cinthia
Professional development is typically viewed by teachers in a negative way because of the impression of its inability to meet the actual needs of a teacher and its inability to have an immediate, direct impact on their instruction. The purpose of this work is to review the ways in which researchers have studied teacher knowledge and apply the theories developed in a manner that calls for and allows for a shift in how teacher knowledge is created to all stake holders involved. Examining teacher knowledge and the creation and implementation of professional development through a deliberative democratic framework (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004) may help to explain ways in which teachers can partake in the ownership of their own knowledge creation, which can have greater benefit within their own classrooms.
A description of an elementary social studies program based on eight generalizations from the social sciences
(1966) Rice, Marilyn Anne, 1939-; Not available
The development and present status of the social studies in Texas high schools
(1948) Young, Morgan Martin, 1903-; Umstattd, James Greenleaf, 1896-1988
Effects of social studies-embedded literacy instruction on the informational writing of adolescent emergent bilinguals
(2024-05) Andress, Tim T. ; Vaughn, Sharon, 1952-; Powell, Sarah R; Baker, Doris L; Roberts, Gregory J; Capin, Philip
The literacy instruction that adolescent emergent bilingual (EB) students currently receive is insufficient to improve their writing proficiency (Graham et al., 2021; National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). To promote improvements in EBs’ writing, evidence-based practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive must be provided not only in English language arts classes but across content areas at the Tier I level (Baker et al., 2014; Linan-Thompson et al., 2018). The purpose of this dissertation study was to (a) examine the effects of a set of social studies-embedded integrated literacy instructional practices and materials that were modified for EBs (i.e., CSEL PACT) on the total words written and writing quality produced by EBs in Grade 11 as measured by an informational writing prompt, and (b) determine the extent to which pretest vocabulary, social studies content knowledge, and reading comprehension skills predicted EBs’ total words written and writing quality. A secondary analysis of data was conducted using a subset of data collected as part of a larger randomized controlled trial. EBs were randomly assigned to a treatment condition (n = 98) in which two units of CSEL PACT were taught consecutively or a business-as-usual condition (n = 59) in which they received their typical U.S. History instruction. Results of mixed effects models in which participants were nested within teachers yielded small, nonsignificant (p > .05) effects of CSEL PACT instruction on EBs’ total words written (g = 0.05) and writing quality (g = 0.07). Additionally, pretest vocabulary predicted (p < .05) total words written and writing quality was predicted by pretest reading comprehension and fixed effects of teachers. The small, nonsignificant effect sizes related to CSEL PACT instruction on adolescent EBs’ writing skills correspond to findings in previous research (De La Paz et al., 2017; van Drie et al., 2015). Moreover, the significance of reading comprehension skills as a predictor of writing quality matches prior research and theory (Kim et al., 2022). Further investigation into how the role of vocabulary differs in predicting total words written between EBs and non-EBs is needed.
Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction for ELLs in secondary school
(2012-05) Smith, Regina Maxine; Callahan, Rebecca M.; Horwitz, Elaine
This report explores the concept of sheltered instruction in response to the shifting demographics of English language learners (ELLs) in educational institutions across the United States. Following a discussion of the goals of and threats to sheltered instruction, I recommend the integration of social studies pedagogy and English language development in the sheltered classroom. The blending of social studies instructional practices and language acquisition pedagogy promotes a safe, culturally-sensitive environment in which ELLs can develop linguistic, socio-cultural, and academic skills in secondary school. I also acknowledge that teachers’ attitude toward ELLs can potentially influence their academic achievement. Therefore, I recommend that all teachers participate in three areas of professional development: socio-cultural sensitivity, pedagogical practices, and policy awareness. Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction and participating in professional development have the potential to provide ELLs with quality grade-level education and the means to become successful secondary students.
Experiencing crisis in schools : examining preservice teachers' reflections on September 11 and their notions of citizenship
(2012-05) Bellows, Mary Elizabeth; Field, Sherry L.; Salinas, Cynthia; Brown, Keffrelyn; Obenchain, Kathryn; Larson, Bruce
Teachers and children who were in schools on September 11, 2001 harbor unique, personal, and accessible memories of the events that occurred that Tuesday morning. Educational research has attended to this (inter)national crisis in a multitude of ways, yet there exists a gap in the literature that attends to how today’s preservice teachers remember the crisis through the lens of citizenship. To add complexity, adolescents who were in classrooms on September 11 are now adults, and some are studying to be teachers. This dissertation study aims to highlight how preservice teachers remember 9/11, how they understand citizenship, and how they plan to teach about 9/11 as an historical event to elementary students. This study presents the findings of a qualitative instrumental case study of five elementary preservice teachers’ memories of September 11, 2001 as experienced as adolescents in school. The author investigates how the preservice teachers’ memories intersect with understandings of citizenship, and how the young teachers plan to teach about 9/11 in an elementary social studies setting. Preservice teachers in the study participated in two interviews and one think-aloud lesson planning session with the researcher. Data analysis indicate the preservice teachers’ understandings of citizenship are still evolving, yet the crisis of 9/11 further complicates—or interrupts—more critical notions of citizenship. The participants’ memories of 9/11 are vivid and include reactions of their classmates and teachers. When participants were asked to create a lesson plan for elementary students, they felt overwhelmed by the amount of resources on the topic, and that they did not know enough about 9/11 to teach about it effectively. Findings suggest the singular understandings of citizenship held by participants are temporal and contextual. During a time of crisis—and specifically during and following 9/11—citizens succumbed to more belligerent notions of citizenship, and later, their memories contribute to their still evolving teacher identities. Drawing from their own civic understandings and memories of 9/11, four of the five preservice teacher participants planned to use their lessons about 9/11 to teach children how citizens come together in a time of crisis. One participant chose to design a week-long unit of instruction that allows students to examine the events of 9/11 in more critical ways. Finally, the study raises questions about the drastic range of possibilities in teaching 9/11 in elementary school, and exposes how teachers choose to include and exclude certain images, narratives, and accounts from the story.
Hope and the post-racial : high school students of color and the Obama American era
(2015-05) Smith, William Louis; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Salinas, Cynthia; De Lissovoy, Noah; Epstein, Terrie; Urrieta, Jr., Luis
Drawing on critical race theory, racial formation theory and the extant literature on the so-called post-racial turn in American life, this research explored the broad question of how young people of color make sense of issues of race and equity in the era of the first Black president. Using a case study design, as well as elements of visual research methods and narrative inquiry, I examined how a group of high school students of color at a predominantly White high school have learned about race and Obama, considering both formal school curricula and out-of school sources. I also sought to understand what significance the students placed on president Obama’s election, including their views on racial progress in the U.S. and their beliefs in the plausibility of a post-racial American era. Through the collection and analysis of interview, classroom observation, and artifact data, my findings suggest that schools can be unfriendly spaces for learning about these topics, but students pick up rich, though scattered, information through out-of-school sources such as family, community, and media. Additionally, students exhibited contradictory beliefs about race in America, with experiences of racial marginalization at school juxtaposed with measured optimism about racial progress in the U.S. Students also expressed personal inspiration in having a Black president and a willingness to hold multiple, competing narratives about race, Barack Obama, and their own lived experiences. These findings suggest a need for history and social studies teachers to provide formal curricular spaces for open discussion about race and President Obama to allow students to discuss and extend their multiple Obama narratives. Researchers must also consider the hybridized racial stories of both students of color and of the 44th president.
Museum educators conceptualizations : teaching social studies through art
(2021-09-07) Krueger, Justin Heath; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Salinas, Cinthia; Payne, Katherina; Waldman, Louis; Petrosino, Anthony
This case study on museum educators examined how they conceptualize and actualize their efforts in teaching for social justice and about social studies through the engagement of works of art. The study utilized research on museum and memory studies, activity theory, and aesthetic education to situate the findings. Interview participants included museum educators (both museum employees and volunteers) of the education department at the Arlen Museum of Art. Because of protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic interviews were conducted via Zoom. Each museum educator elucidated on their gallery teaching and discussed the negotiations and decisions present in their efforts. Interview data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. My findings suggest that museum spaces and museum educators illustrate significant possibilities for both learning outside of formal classroom settings and also for how teachers can engage works of art in their own classrooms with more critical intentionality. This study also highlighted works of art and the different ways in which the educators utilized them to engage students in necessary conversations of social importance.
Neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats as a racial project: depictions of children and families in urban environments
(2014-05) Falkner, Anna Christine; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)
Much of the research and writing about the neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats has centered on depictions of his character ‘Peter’ as a non-racial ‘every child,’ or on the role of play in his stories. This thesis analyzed Keats’s neighborhood books and his research for them within the context of race and class discourses of the 1960s and 1970s. This work used a racial literacy framework and drew on ideas about power inscribed in space and hierarchical representations in children’s picture books. This research found Keats’s neighborhood books and research materials function as a racial project by constructing a cultural memorial to the atmosphere of the great transformation (Omi & Winant, 1994) and to a systematically produced racialized and classed space (Hankins, et al, 2012). Findings indicate that future research is needed to consider spacial depictions of race and class in picture books, and that there is a need for place-based historical inquiry among elementary students.
Promoting critical multicultural citizenship : a case study of preparing social studies teachers
(2009-05) Castro, Antonio Jamie; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)
Given the growing cultural and economic diversity of today’s students, this qualitative case study investigates how 4 social studies preservice teachers taught for critical multicultural citizenship during their student teaching semester. The tenets of critical citizenship emerge out of the intersection of critical pedagogy and multicultural education. These tenets for critical multicultural citizenship education include seeking out and challenging gaps in democracy, promoting critical reflection and consciousness, and advocating for collective action to transform institutional injustices. This case study traced perspectives held by participants about the nature of democracy and citizenship and explored how these preservice teachers enacted these views in their classroom teaching. Data collection measures included five observations, reflective journals, three interviews, and other assignments related to the participant’s student teaching coursework. Findings suggest that these participants, all preservice teachers of color, adopted views and teaching practices that aligned with critical multicultural citizenship; however, participants struggled to overcome constraints in their student teaching contexts in order to teach for this kind of citizenship.
Reading, interpreting, and teaching African American history : examining how African American history influences the curricular and pedagogical decisions of pre-service teachers
(2012-05) King, Lagarrett Jarriel; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Field, Sherry; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Keffrelyn; Moore, Leonard
African American history and how it is taught in classroom spaces have been a point of contention with activists, historians, and educators for decades. In it current form, African American history narratives often are ambiguous and truncated, leaving students with a disjointed construction about U.S. history. Additionally, the pedagogical decisions made by teachers regarding African American history are sometimes problematic. To fix this problem, critical scholars have surmised that both pre- and in-service teachers need to be more knowledgeable about African American history. This knowledge will help teachers move past simplistic constructions of the past and provide a transformative educational experience. In essence, these scholars believe that teachers cannot teach [African American history] because they do not know it. This study, however, examines what if they do know [African American history], will they teach it? The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge influences teachers’ pedagogical decisions. Using the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of cultural memory and knowledge construction, this qualitative case study explores how four pre-service teachers interpreted African American history after engaging in a summer reading program and how that knowledge was implemented in their classroom during their student teaching semester. The reader, entitled A Winding River, was a collection of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and primary and secondary source documents. Data collection measures included three classroom observations, reflective journals, three interviews, and other classroom documents related to the participant’s student teaching experience. Findings indicate that knowledge acquisition is complex and the process to teach is a generative process. Although knowledge is an important component in teaching, sociocultural factors also influenced the divergent ways African American history was interpreted and taught. The study indicates that the access of African American history is not always a prerequisite in teaching the subject in transformative ways.
Step by (HS)STEP : figuring humanizing social studies teacher education pedagogy & social justice teacher identity
(2022-05-06) Robinson, Heath Tyler; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L; Blevins, Brooke E; Magill, Kevin R; Payne, Katherina A
Within the field of teacher education, critical and social justice-oriented social studies education researchers call for teacher preparation aiming to transform traditional, neoliberal-oriented day-to-day practices of classroom teachers. Accordingly, if the social studies is to be a site of civic education concerned with democracy, equity, and social justice, classroom teaching must move from a critical/humanizing pedagogical stance. Theoretical scholarship supports this view, while empirical research underscores the challenges novices encounter as they learn to navigate unjust neoliberal school landscapes and negotiate affordances and constraints at the intersection multiple figured worlds pertaining to social studies teaching. Humanizing social studies teacher education pedagogy represents one framework for aiding preservice social studies teachers (PSSTs) in the development of a critical/humanizing pedagogical stance. This critical qualitative case study examined preservice social studies teacher (PSSTs) responses to humanizing social studies teacher education pedagogy through a practice theory of identity and agency lens, paying particular attention to how they learned to interpret and socially negotiate multiple figured worlds in the process of producing humanizing teacher identities. This study underscores the significance of particular organizational structures of teacher preparation conceptually framed by humanizing social studies teacher education pedagogy. Such structures afforded PSST conceptual and identity formations which in turn aided efforts to navigate constraining social studies teaching contexts and improvise aspects of humanizing social studies pedagogy as both preservice and in-service secondary social studies teachers. Ultimately, this study illustrates the significance of conceptual and procedural identity production via humanizing social studies pedagogy cultural resources to critical, social justice-oriented teacher preparation efforts. Furthermore, such efforts hinge on the facilitation of cultural resource production leading to the cultivation of critical consciousness and the development of dialogic images of teaching and a humanizing pedagogy frame of reference among preservice teachers.
Straight from the underground : teachers of Color, Hip Hop, and the remixing of social studies
(2021-05-06) Hall, Delandrea Serita; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L; Childs, Joshua; Duncan, Kristen E; Payne, Katherina; Vickery, Amanda E
The curriculum narrative found within the social studies centers the lives, experiences, and positions of middle/upper-class cisgender white men while excluding or silencing the experiences of people who have been historically marginalized. Scholarship regarding Teachers of Color demonstrates the ways these teachers’ pushback against this narrow curriculum. Yet, the practices of social studies Teachers of Color who participate in Hip Hop culture has largely been ignored. This critical qualitative case study examined how five Black and Latina/o(x) teachers utilize Hip Hop music and culture in their classrooms as a disruptive pedagogy in the social studies. Explored through interwoven framework of intersectionality, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and Critical Hip Hop Pedagogy (CHHP), this study revealed that the teachers’ deep understandings and knowledge of Hip Hop culture, desire to be change agents, context and content intent informed how these teachers incorporated Hip Hop as a disruptive pedagogy. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the critical Hip Hop praxes (through CHHP) of Black and Latina/o(x) teachers works to disrupt and transform traditional notions of citizenship and the social studies curriculum.
Understanding gender differences in achievement on the Social Studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge Skills : an interactive qualitative study
(2007-08) Ungurait, Michelle D.; Estes, Nolan; Northcutt, Norvell
The Texas Education Agency’s Social Studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills results show an achievement gap between males and females for every criteria on every test given since 2003. The most dramatic achievement difference is in the area of “traditional” U.S. History. The Texas results mimic a gender gap reported by College Board Texas AP U.S. history exams and the 2006 National Assessment of Education Programs United States assessment for 8th and 12th graders. Literature and education research outline a contentious background the current social studies and history education programs a, a history of social studies assessment programs, and different theoretical frameworks regarding male and female learning. A Transformative Sequential Mixed Method/Model Design was used for this study. Social Studies TAKS quantitative data collected by the Texas Education Agency formed the basis for an Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) study. The Researcher gathered data from a statewide sampling of social studies supervisors, administrators, teachers and Austin Independent School District social studies students. Findings show perspectives regarding the social studies are different and crucial to effective instruction. Both female and male student focus groups believe the teacher to be in complete control of student learning whereas social studies supervisors, administrators, and teachers find the teacher to be a recipient of the pressures from the statewide assessment, accountability, external influences. Female students are shaped by the influences of their outside life and find the entire subject matter covered by the social studies irrelevant. Male students are more personally involved in the history and social studies subject matter finding it important and interesting.
Understanding the relationship between critical pedagogy and social studies : dialectics, agency, and solidarity
(2017-05-03) Magill, Kevin R.; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L; Payne, Katherina; Rodriguez, Arturo; Ross, E. Wayne
The purpose of this study was to understand how social studies teachers interested in critical theory understood it and how it actually emerged in ideology, pedagogy, and recognition. This critical qualitative case study examined the critical consciousness of the participant teachers and ways they addressed the dialectical tensions situating their social studies teaching experiences. Through ethnographic methods of observation, interviewing and artifact analysis, I describe how the focal teachers understood critical social studies teaching by: centering student experiences as a means of critical social studies teaching; and by utilizing the social studies curriculum to critically enter practice or by utilizing social studies curriculum as a vehicle for criticality. Emerging from these themes I found: dialectical tensions exist which serve to influence the scope of critical teaching; criticality circles content and pedagogy; teachers tend to be more conceptually/abstractly than materially critical; teachers demonstrate a range of reflexivity as praxis and; what unites critical social studies teachers is their desire for social justice and transformation. Participant teachers also taught critically in their engagement with civic instruction by: first, attempting to trouble uncritical ways citizenship is defined through negating the traditional civic archetype. Second, teachers centered issues of race, power, and politics to illuminate inequity inherent to civic discussions. Emerging from these themes I found: critical social studies teachers attempt to make clear temporal connections between citizenship and disciplines; teachers attempt to work through student experiences to support possibilities for current consciousness and future civic transformation and; that teachers believe critical transformative teaching includes dialogue. Third and lastly, the teachers demonstrated a range of critical interpretations and pedagogical practices, however each engaged in relational recognition of dialectical positioning and intellectual solidarity with students.
Using online primary source resources in fostering historical thinking skills : the pre-service social studies teachers’ understanding
(2010-05) Liaw, Hongming; Resta, Paul E.; Salinas, Cinthia; Liu, Min; Hughes, Joan; Galloway, Patricia K.
This dissertation entailed a qualitative case study on the confluence of technology and social studies in fostering a constructivist education. Through the examination of pre-service social studies teachers’ understanding of the online primary source resources (OPSR), three themes emerged. The first exposed the fragmented understanding of important pedagogical theories of constructivism and historical thinking among participants; the second suggested that OPSR was mostly valued by pre-service teachers for its provision of primary sources; and the third related to how pre-service teachers viewed the current state of technology and context as problematic for technology integration. Accordingly, four findings were revealed. First, the pre-service teachers in the study demonstrated a limited understanding of the application of foundational theories central to their field of study; second, there were instances of deeper appreciation of the potential of OPSR, indicating that pre-service teachers’ theoretical understanding is ix nascent and may deepen overtime; third, the full potential of technologies such as OPSR was not recognized; and fourth, the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of school and educational system conditions tended to negatively influence their views toward the integration of technology into their teaching practices. Implications indicate that first, foundational pedagogical theories are critical with regard to technology integration in education and as such teacher preparation programs must not assume what is taught is what is learned; second, instances of deeper understanding among pre-service teachers only appeared during the application of their theoretical understandings; third, context is critical in how OPSR would be used in classrooms and such contextual issues must not be ignored by teacher preparation programs; and fourth, teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (PCK/TPCK) is critical in the integration of technology in education.