Religious knowledge among pre-service secondary teachers of English and History
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- David Euell Smith (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
- Advisor
- Michael W. Dale
Abstract: Recent studies have revealed that Americans do not possess the level of religious literacy necessary to make sense of a multicultural world. Believing that public schools are institutions of ideological management, this research explored religious literacy among pre-service teachers of English and History/Social Studies. The specific research questions for this study were: 1) What is the level of basic religious knowledge among pre-service teachers of History and English? 2) Do pre-service teachers of History and English demonstrate higher-level thinking skills as relates to religion in public life? and 3) What knowledge do pre-service teachers of History and English demonstrate when confronted with a discipline specific section from a standard North Carolina textbook or an interdisciplinary text dealing with religious knowledge?
The results revealed that only pre-service teachers with higher scores in basic religious knowledge did well in areas demanding higher level thinking skills. The study also revealed a decline in the ability to apply religious knowledge to the modalities of contemporary life or to the evaluation of textbooks. The study found that less than 5% of pre-service teachers are prepared to address religion in the classroom, although 80% believed they had been prepared.
Religious knowledge among pre-service secondary teachers of English and History
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Created on 3/9/2012
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Smith, D.E. (2011). Religious knowledge among pre-service secondary teachers of English and History. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
- Language: English
- Date: 2011
- Keywords
- religious literacy , religious knowledge, secondary education Social Studies , secondary education English, teacher education