Student & Teacher Perceptions of Teaching/Learning Processes in Classrooms: How close is the partnership? Robert G Baker Curtin University of Technology Wally Moroz, Edith Cowan University Abstract As Hornstein observed in the beginning of the 1990's, the "enduring pattern" of instruction in social studies lessons is that which revolves around traditional "teacher-centred and text-centred" teaching strategies (Hornstein, 1990). However, other research programs which have investigated the status of social studies (Cuban, 1991; Good & Harmon, 1987; Haladyna, et al., 1982) have indicated that the core subject rates well with students when teaching strategies are interactive, inductive, and student-centred. As Hutchens (1990) found, students became "hooked" on social studies when it involved cooperative learning, and student research strategies. In 1995, Moroz, Baker & McDonald, reported the findings of a large survey of over 3000 Western Australian primary school children (grades 4-7) and noted that social studies rated second last to religion out of a list of 13 school subjects. The teachers, however, had a disparate view of the subject from that of their students; they rated the subject third after maths and reading. An investigation of the teaching/learning strategies experienced by these children revealed lessons were mainly copying from the blackboard, reading, whole-class discussion, colouring in, and looking at pictures and diagrams. This paper investigates the differing perceptions of the key members of the teaching/learning partnership in our classrooms and explores ways to bridge this perceptual gap and improve the status of an important core subject in our schools. The paper suggests that an interactive and collaborative partnership between teachers and students in the classroom will elicit a more positive learning environment. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education. Singapore, November, 1996 Student & Teacher Perceptions of Teaching/Learning Processes in Classrooms: How close is the partnership? Robert G Baker & Wally Moroz Abstract As Hornstein observed in the beginning of the 1990's, the "enduring pattern" of instruction in social studies lessons is that which revolves around traditional "teacher-centred and text-centred" teaching strategies (Hornstein, 1990). However, other research programs which have investigated the status of social studies (Cuban, 1991; Good & Harmon, 1987; Haladyna, et al., 1982) have indicated that the core subject rates well with students when teaching strategies are interactive, inductive, and student-centred. As Hutchens (1990) found, students became "hooked" on social studies when it involved cooperative learning, and student research strategies. In 1995, Moroz, Baker & McDonald, reported the findings of a large survey of over 3000 Western Australian primary school children (grades 4-7) and noted that social studies rated second last to religion out of a list of 13 school subjects. The teachers, however, had a disparate view of the subject from that of their students; they rated the subject third after maths and reading. An investigation of the teaching/learning strategies experienced by these children revealed lessons were mainly copying from the blackboard, reading, whole-class discussion, colouring in, and looking at pictures and diagrams. This paper investigates the differing perceptions of the key members of the teaching/learning partnership in our classrooms and explores ways to bridge this perceptual gap and improve the status of an important core subject in our schools. The paper suggests that an interactive and collaborative partnership between teachers and students in the classroom will elicit a more positive learning environment. This paper addresses the question ÒHow close is the perceived 'partnership' between teacher and student in a school classroom?Ó and poses the problem of how close the student/teacher partnership ever may be while the perceptual frames of the 'partners' remain so disparate. The question arose from an earlier paper (Moroz, Baker & McDonald, 1995) which reported on student attitudes toward social studies and other school subjects in middle and upper primary classrooms. The lowly and declining status accorded social studies by over 3000 primary school students and their views of the teaching/learning activities they experienced in their respective classrooms is revisited in this paper and on this occasion compared with those attitudes expressed by their 112 teachers. The term partnership may mean any of the following: joint venture, cooperation, collaboration, alliance, association, union, understanding, agreement, contract, fellowship, informed participation and shared approach. In the primary school classroom it is a partnership which may be defined as a compulsory association between two parties who participate in a joint venture in the pursuit of learning. Research data suggest the partnership would benefit by being more of a shared cooperative venture and that such an alliance would assist in attaining a more positive engagement of students (Ireland & Malone, 1995; Catline & Kalina, 1993; Herwitz & Guerra, 1995). Educational leaders who wish to maximise student learning outcomes in key learning areas such as Studies of the Society and Environment, may need to encourage regular on-site research and monitoring of the classroom learning environment as it pertains to the teacher/student partnership in a classroom. A recent Australian study of teacher and student attitudes toward social studies and other school subjects (Moroz, 1996) has provided an insight to this partnership problem. While this study focussed largely on the status of social studies as perceived by students and teachers, it also revealed a wide disparity between the perceptions of both groups. In reporting on how they think students perceive the status of social studies and other classroom activities, teachers showed little understanding of the low and declining status of the subject as expressed by their students. On the other hand, students showed greater comprehension of the way teachers viewed the status of this subject and other classroom activities. The low status of social studies accorded by students has been known for a number of decades in the United States, where there have been widespread status studies conducted for over fifty years. The majority of studies over this period report that students not only accord low status to social studies, such as reported in the Australian study (Moroz, 1996), but generally have negative attitudes towards the subject. However, in surveying Grades 4-7 in Western Australia, Moroz found negative attitudes occurred only in the upper primary grade level. The literature repeatedly presents findings showing it to be the least-liked subject at both primary and secondary levels of schooling. Haladyna and Thomas (1979) found social studies to be the least popular subject studied at the elementary and junior high school level. They also concluded that student antipathy toward social studies was not directly correlated to their antipathy toward school in general. The research teams of Shaver, Davis and Helburn (1979) and Schug, Todd and Berry (1984) concluded that a majority of students found social studies to be uninteresting, unimportant and insignificant. In 1985, Shaughnessy and Haladyna found that most students surveyed indicated that social studies was boring and irrelevant. The problem for social studies in schools in the United States according to Shaughnessy & Haladyna (1979:2) is that "social studies is the least stimulating and the least liked subject". Borton (1985) presented findings which showed social studies was the least liked subject of students from grade two to nine. An associated concern with the low status of social studies is the grade-level decline in attitudes toward the subject. It seems the longer students stay at school the less they like the subject. Research by Kaoru, Thomas and Karns (1969), Haladyna and Thomas (1979), Fraser (1981) and Moroz and Washbourne (1989) have shown there exists a significant deterioration in attitude toward social studies as students progress from one year to the next. Generally, students' attitudes toward school also have been shown to decline with age but recent research, using large samples of students, suggests that the dislike for school does not translate into a dislike for all subjects: some decline slightly, others show a greater decline and some even show a slight upward trend (Moroz 1996). Clearly, the nature of the decline requires investigation. It seems that students consistently report they do not like social studies, do not consider it to be important and place little value on it. Student learning outcomes in such a subject will be adversely affected if the learners have negative attitudes toward that subject and the way it is taught and this must have significant repercussions throughout the whole community of social educators. It will be of great concern to teachers, curriculum designers and teacher educators who have a major investment in this subject. So what can be done to address this sorrowful situation in what is recognised as one of our core and supposedly important key learning areas? While it is clear a massive shake up is needed in social studies, solutions are not as easily accessible or readily recognisable. The WA Study Our review of research literature on the status of social studies has revealed a wealth of studies conducted overseas, mainly in the United States, but the absence of much needed similar research in the Australian context. The few studies that have been conducted have produced results that generally confirm and, in some minor instances, contradict findings from other parts of the world (Moroz & Washbourne, 1989; Fraser, 1981; Print, 1990). The respondent group in the recent study conducted in Western Australia (Moroz, 1996) consisted of over 3132 students and their 112 teachers from 21 government (K-7) primary schools in the Perth metropolitan area. There was a reasonable balance of male and female students evenly distributed across Grades 4 to 7 (age 9-12yrs), however, one-third of the students were in mixed grade classes and one-third had male teachers. The majority of the teachers were female and were aged between 40 and 49. Most had between 11 and 15 years teaching experience, had class sizes of between 31 and 35 students, and had as their highest qualification, a Diploma of Teaching. Just over half the teachers had not completed either a major or a minor in social studies curriculum as part of their undergraduate studies. Overall, the teachersÕ background in any of the social sciences was very limited. The greatest proportion of respondents had studied sociology (44%) and social psychology (32%), while a few teachers had completed Asian studies (7%) and political science (10%). Only 10% of the respondent group had undertaken post graduate studies in social studies. Of 13 subjects investigated for their status across the primary schools, according to students, social studies ranked twelfth, ahead only of religion (see Table 1). The "most-liked" subjects were sport, computing and creative writing. Overall, students rated social studies as OK, that is, just above the midpoint on the five-point scale, however, by Grade 7 the rating was below the midpoint and into the negative category. The most significant differences in attitudes toward the subjects being investigated were found by comparing responses on the basis of grade level, sex and whether the respondent was a teacher or a student. Table 1: A Comparison of Student & Teacher Attitudes Toward Social Studies The Status of Social Studies and Other School Subjects Students (n = 3132) Teachers (n = 112) Rank Item Mean SD Rank Item Mean SD 1 Sport 4.65 0.83 1 Maths 4.48 0.69 2 Computing 4.45 0.87 2 Reading 4.39 0.68 3 Creative 3 Social Writing 3.98 1.23 Studies 4.26 0.61 4 Music 3.90 1.35 4 Creative Writing 4.26 0.73 5 Reading 3.88 1.24 5 Spelling 4.12 0.81 6 Science 3.82 1.25 6 Health 3.99 0.92 7 Library 3.75 1.31 7 Library 3.86 0.82 8 Maths 3.68 1.41 8 Writing 3.85 1.09 9 Spelling 3.59 1.29 9 Sport 3.81 1.26 10 Writing 3.59 1.27 10 Science 3.79 1.22 11 Health 3.49 1.29 11 Computing 3.39 1.08 12 Social Studies 3.38 1.37 12 Music 3.02 1.36 13 Religion 3.08 1.42 13 Religion 2.51 1.20 Scale: 5 = positive, 1 = negative While social studies was not rated highly and was ranked lowest of the 'core subjects', students generally perceived it to be a useful and important subject: they felt they learned a lot, that it was important and it would help them with an understanding of the world around them. They also believed that social studies would help them gain employment if they did well in it and expected to make use of what they learned. Students had a strong positive attitude toward school (see Figure One), were happy to go to school, found most subjects interesting, and were moderately positive about school rules and liking school. However, although they tried to do well in social studies, overall their attitude toward the subject was only marginally positive. With respect to their enjoyment of activities and topics and liking for social studies, students ratings were barely above the neutral mid-point of the 5 point scale (see Figure Two). Even though middle and upper primary students like school and think social studies is an important school subject, they clearly do not like social studies in its present form. In contrast to their students, the 112 teacher respondents had a very positive attitude toward social studies. Over 92% of teachers liked the subject, 95% indicated that they liked teaching it and 84% regarded social studies as important. Teachers ranked the subject third from a list of thirteen school subjects with a highly positive mean of 4.26 on a five point scale (see Table One). Figure One: Grade level decline: Student attitude to school and social studies Figure Two: Grade level decline: Student attitude to social studies lessons The subjects teachers liked teaching the most were: maths, reading, social studies and creative writing. Their least preferred subjects to teach were religion, music, sport and computing where, apart from religion, an active student learning approach is usually required. The data showed that teacher attitude toward some aspects of social studies was more positive in Grades 6 and 7 than in Grades 4 and 5. The upper school teachers were more positive about their preference for teaching values, their belief in their own excellence as a social studies teacher, the adequacy of training to teach social studies values and in their training in assessment techniques in social studies. In spite of this, the upper school Grade 6 and 7 students liked social studies significantly less than their counterparts in Grade 4 and 5. The grade level analysis confirmed that the middle grade teachers were more accurate about their studentsÕ perceptions of social studies than their colleagues who taught the upper primary Grade 6 and 7 classes. Teachers appear not to have obtained from their students objective feedback about the social studies learning environment in their classrooms. For example, high percentages of the respondent teachers were unsure about whether the students thought social studies was boring (32%), homework was interesting (45%) and social studies was enjoyable (32%). Table Two: - Student perceptions of teacher attitudes to students Percentages of total students Item no. Item 5 4 3 2 1 Item SD mean 13 In social studies lessons the teacher is interested in my opinion* 32.1 24.4 27.2 8.6 7.7 3.65 1.23 22 In social studies lessons the teacher tells me when my work is good 40.5 38.8 12.5 4.8 3.4 4.08 1.01 31 In social studies lessons the teacher likes most of the students 27.2 32.3 28.8 6.3 5.4 3.70 1.10 40 In social studies the teacher is fair* 35.1 34.6 18.3 6.1 5.8 3.87 1.14 49 In social studies lessons the teacher encourages me to do well 36.2 36.5 17.1 6.7 3.5 3.95 1.06 Standardised alpha coefficient = 0.661 Scale: 5 = Strongly agree, 3 = Unsure, 1 = Strongly disagree * Negatively-phrased survey items and scoring have been reversed Due to rounding, row totals may not sum to 100% SD = Standard deviation Students perceived that their teachers enjoyed social studies, were interested in it, and thought it was an important subject. They felt their teachers were seen to be fair, to praise good work and to encourage students to do well. However, about 40% of all students disagreed that teachers were interested in the opinion of students or even liked most of their students. Fewer than 40% of students looked forward to their next social studies lesson but agreed that in social studies classes they generally worked well together, tried to get higher marks than their friends and found lessons not too noisy. Students thought their teachers' explanations were clear and that the teachers had control over the students in their classrooms. Students had a moderately positive perception of their ability to do well in social studies. Table Three: Teachers' Perceptions of Students' Attitudes to Social Studies Percentages of total teachers Item no. Item 5 4 3 2 1 Mean SD 60 My students do not think social studies is boring* 7 44 32 16 1 3.40 0.88 65 My students find their social studies homework interesting 3 40 45 10 2 3.32 0.77 68 My students enjoy project work in social studies 24 61 14 1 1 4.06 0.77 74 My students enjoy their social studies 4 56 32 9 - 3.54 0.71 76 My students find social studieseasy 2 23 29 43 3 2.79 0.90 Standardised alpha coefficient = 0.680 Scale: 5 = Strongly agree, 3 = Unsure, 1 = Strongly disagree * Negatively-phrased survey items and scoring have been reversed Due to rounding, row totals may not sum to 100 % SD = Standard deviation Table Three reveals that teachers' perceptions about the learning evironment in their social studies classrooms differ markedly from that of their students (see Table Two, also Figure One, Figure Two). This data illustrates that teachers are not accurately aware of what their students think about social studies and how it is taught in their classrooms and that this inaccuracy is greater in upper primary than in middle primary levels. This finding will be of major concern to educators who support the notion that student and teacher negotiation and agreement about the classroom environment is conducive to student learning. Teachers are not accurately aware of what students like or dislike about social studies. Of the "likes" for social studies expressed by the students, instructional practices accounted for 46%, skills items 17% and content 18%. Most "dislikes" related to instructional practices (48%) while only 4% of the items mentioned as "dislikes" were associated with content. A most-mentioned "dislike" response for an opened ended question answered by students was that "social studies was boring". Female students were happier about coming to school than male students, found school subjects more interesting, liked school, liked the teachers and thought the school rules were good. They had a more positive attitude towards school and social studies in every respect except with the perception of their own ability. Males were more positive about this matter. Male students were more positive towards science, computing, sport and mathematics, while females were more positive about other subjects eg., social studies, english, reading, spelling and writing. In almost every case, the younger the student, the more positive his or her attitude to social studies. There was a significant decline in student attitudes towards social studies from Grade 4 to Grade 7 (see Figure Three). Overall, the attitudes of Grade 7 students were significantly less positive than those of Grade 4 students - even in cases where Grade 7 student attitudes were very positive (sport and computing). While there was a deterioration in attitude toward all school subjects to the order of 8.66%, the decline in attitude toward social studies (23.22%) was almost three times as great as the average rate of decline for all subjects. Figure Three: Grade level decline: social studies & other subjects The low status of social studies and the magnitude of grade-level decline as perceived by students is of major concern to social studies educators. Students generally consider social studies to be important and useful but by Grade 7 their attitudes toward it have become firmly negative. In order to arrest or reverse this decline, it appears educators need to focus on the teacher-centred instructional practices disliked by students, who have clearly indicated their preference for more active, participatory learning activities. The most-frequently undertaken activities in social studies were copying from the blackboard, reading, whole class discussion, colouring-in, and drawing pictures and diagrams. Least-frequent were role-plays (acting), newspaper activities, projects, films, guest speakers and excursions. Students agreed there should be more computer activities, that they had learned how to use maps and they liked working in small groups. They disagreed that there were too many tests, too much colouring in and too many excursions in social studies. Teachers scheduled very little time for social studies: 75% of the teachers had one or two social studies lessons per week but approximately half taught less than the state Education DepartmentÕs suggested minimum of 100 minutes per week. This may explain why teachers avoided the time consuming, student-centred activities in social studies lessons. In spite of the fact that 60% of the teachers found it difficult to cover all the social studies skills for their class and while 84% of teachers regarded social studies as an important subject, there was no strong agreement among the teachers as to whether or not more time needed to be devoted to social studies. The content or topics being taught also contribute to the poor status of social studies in Western Australian government primary schools, particularly at the upper grade levels. Researchers need to establish what it is about the existing syllabus content that the students dislike and then embark on producing a curriculum framework designed to meet the needs of both students and society for the 21st century. In terms of the topics and content of social studies lessons, students were in strongest agreement that they learned about Australia and Western Australia, how to use maps, how people used to live in the past and facts about the world. They felt that they learned least about note-taking, how to use different kinds of books, how to solve problems and things that would help them to get on with people. Discussion One of the major causes of poor student attitudes toward a school subject lies with the intricate and dynamic relationship among student, teacher and learning environment variables (Haladyna, Shaughnessy and Redsun 1982). Currently, in social studies, the relationship appears static, or if it is moving it is slow, uni-directional and grossly out of balance. Researchers have concluded that teacher variables hold the key to students' attitudes toward school subjects because teachers, to a large extent, influence what happens in lessons, determine the content and teaching/learning processes and are responsible for the duration and placement of lessons in the daily timetable (Superka 1982; Eslinger & Superka 1982; Schug, Todd & Berry, 1983; Haladyna, et al, 1982a; 1982b). Fancett and Hawke (1982) and Weible and Evans (1984) found that general instructional practices used in social studies classrooms were strongly correlated to student attitudes A major and long-standing concern for social studies educators, recognised in the literature, is the limited range of teacher-centred instructional practices utilised (Haladyna, et al, 1982a, 1982b). The findings repeatedly suggest that most teachers conduct social studies lessons in a similar way and that little has changed over the years, that is, they continue to use teacher-centred delivery rather than student-centred inquiry strategies. It seems that this adherence to traditional teaching practices in social studies, more than the content, is what annoys the students most about the subject. Teachers tend to repeatedly use recitation, textbooks, note-taking, whole-group instructional practices and, occasionally, audiovisual materials. Small group work, interactive cooperative learning activities, and inductive inquiry approaches to student learning, are used infrequently. There is some evidence to suggest that a shared cooperative venture in the form of action research involving the classroom partners could assist in the development of a more positive student/teacher partnership and lead to improved participation, achievement and attitudes toward school subjects, fellow students and teachers. Ireland and Malone (1995) recently reported that action research, conducted in a lower secondary mathematics classroom, was able to achieve positive improvement in the development of a cooperative partnership. ÒThe students were more active participants in their own mathematics learning and culture than they had been at the beginning of the year. This was achieved by frequently surveying the students for their assessment of the classroom environment. Observations from this study illustrate the social outcomes that developed in the students, such as listening, caring for the progress of others, providing help and guidance, negotiating explanations and solutions into a group consensus and peer teaching. Findings also demonstrate that the teacher had progressed towards a more socio-cultural constructivist approach in his teachingÓ (Ireland & Malone, 1995). Recent Best Practice Awards in higher education (Higher Education Supplement, Australian, 23/10/96) reveal the success of a 'Reciprocal Feedback System' in teaching, that is, a 'collaborative process' and a frequent 'data collection system' that provides a better two-way 'communication strategy' similar to that reported by Ireland & Malone. Every few weeks students fill out a triplicate form that encourages reflection on the teaching/learning process in the classroom, assessment of its effectiveness and suggestions for improvement. To safeguard the lesser partner (student), an independent party collates the answers and discusses criticisms with the teacher. A classroom discussion between the partners in teaching and learning, and based on the survey results, concludes the process. The teaching/learning partners in the classrooom need to be more aware of each others differing perspectives of the teaching/learning environment they experience. The findings above demonstrate how improvements in the student/teacher partnership can result in a shift in focus from one of curriculum delivery to that of a dynamic interactive teaching/learning process more suited to the individual needs of the students. Catline and Kalina (1993) also wrote about the impact on teaching practices of quick, anonymous written feedback from students about their understanding of course content and their reactions to the instruction they received. The feedback allowed the teachers to adjust instruction to meet the needs of the learners and thus to improve the classroom environment. They obtained the feedback by using the Cross/Angelo Classroom Assessment Model. More recently, Herwitz and Guerra (1995) have demonstrated that 'effective collaboration (partnership) is brought about when boundaries are negotiated by participants as they learn how to learn through each others' values'. Newell (1994) suggests investing largely in cooperative learning techniques to help develop positive student attitudes toward a core aspect of the social studies curriculum, that is, responsible citizenship. She found that students engaged in cooperative learning processes in social studies lessons developed positive self acceptance and self esteem, improved learning skills, a greater liking for school, and greater motivation to participate in classroom activities. Newell based her definition of cooperative learning strategies on that developed by Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec (1990), that is, cooperative learning is instructionally using small groups so that students work together to support their own and each others learning. Similarly, Hutchens (1993) advocates ÒHooking Primary Children on Social StudiesÓ, by using cooperative learning, student research strategies, and integrating social studies with the language arts and educational technology. McKinney and Jones (1993) report students find social studies more interesting when children's books are used rather than a formal social studies text. Not only does the student attitude toward social studies improve with the use of children's books report the authors, but there is also more knowledge gained by students. Similar to that advocated by Ireland & Malone (1995) and the Reciprocal Feedback System reported recently in the HES, Downs (1993) advocates using student surveys and interviews with parents to maintain a positive learning environment in social studies classrooms. Clifford (1993) believes the social studies teacher can improve the situation by Òbringing history alive in the classroomÓ. To do this the teacher needs to Òinclude active learning, integrate it with the language arts, and appeal to multiple intelligencesÓ. McGowan and others (1990), in a study of sixth graders, linked the solution directly with teaching style, while Fouts (1987) felt the negative attitude was partly due to classroom environment "which the teachers can manipulate". Joyce (1986) found a link between positive student attitudes and teachers who made the subject more personally meaningful for their students. Brophy and Van Sledright (1993), at the Institute for Research on Teaching found exemplary social studies teachers used more experiential learning, varied their content resources, and made constant comparisons between contemporary culture and the classroom topics being studied. Conclusion Student perceptions of teachers' attitude toward social studies proved to be astute in this study. However, the teachers' perceptions of student attitude toward social studies clearly indicated that teachers had little idea about what students thought about social studies. The teachers perceived that their students enjoyed social studies and did not think it was a boring subject but rather felt it was a difficult subject to master. Student perceptions of the subject were significantly different from those expressed by their other 'partners', the teachers, in the teaching/learning environment. If the environment of the social studies classroom is to enable the compulsory association of teacher and student to become a partnership or joint venture in the pursuit of learning then one of the first steps to achieving that is a greater awareness of the attitudes and perceptions of the partners. The students appear to be on track but the teachers have a way to travel. Our research shows that the teaching/learning needs of the students in social studies classrooms are not being taken into account by the teachers who, in spite of the strong, student-centred, action-oriented policies in social studies curricula, continue to utilise teacher-centred, text-based instructional practices the students find uninteresting and boring. The students are being turned off the subject in large numbers. While Australian students generally seem to still recognise its importance and usefulness, in other places it is seen as irrelevant, unimportant and the least liked subject in school. However, in contrast, studies conducted where the teaching practices are interactive, inductive and student-centred reveal the development of positive student attitudes toward this important social subject. [RGB1] The message is clear. For social studies to regain its proper status in Australian schools, profound changes are required, particularly in the area of teacher development. Most middle and upper primary teachers in Australian schools appear not to have the requisite teacher education foundations to even begin to redress the situation. A major program of professional development and support for these teachers is necessary if the problem is to begin to be addressed in our schools. Bain (1993) also finds the problem rests squarely with the professional development of teachers and believes better quality teachers would emerge if, during teacher education programs, more stress was placed on learning theory supported by more clinical practice. The recent and continuing work of Baker and Scott (1995) on the transfer of teaching skills and strategies from preservice to professional practice would also support this point of view, however, they would suggest more of the same clinical practice programs may not be the answer. The practice program would need to be better articulated, involve more systematic and reflective peer practice with greater opportunities for modelling and continuing in-field support or reciprocal peer coaching. The work of Joyce and Showers (1996) with inservice teacher education programs finds the structure of these professional development programs for teachers generally lacking any form of systematic process for overcoming transfer. They believe few PD programs ever achieve an outcome that leads to transfer of workshop knowledge and skills into ongoing professional practice. These issues and the ramifications of the grade level declines are profound. Social studies is in need of a major overhaul and doing more of the same is not the solution Kennedy (1994:8), in discussing the complexities and the significance of the task of developing citizenship education in Australia and the central role for social studies, recognised the limitations of existing social studies programs: ÔThere will clearly be a special role for social studies education but this will require considerable Ôgearing upÕ if new demands are to be metÕ. Social studies needs to be reconsidered in terms of the professional development needs of the teachers and appropriate content, resources, and instructional practice, particularly for the benefit of upper primary students who have quite negative attitudes toward social studies. While students appear to be accurately aware of teachers' attitudes toward school subjects, the same cannot be said of the teachers. Our research data suggest the partnership would benefit by becoming being more of an informed and shared cooperative venture. Such an alliance between the students and teacher could lead to an improved participation and a more positive engagement in social studies. This in turn should enhance achievement and attitudes toward social studies. References Borton, T. (ed.), (1985). The Weekly Reader national survey on education. Middletown, Conn.: Field Publications. Catlin, A. & Kalina, M. (1993). How To Create a Dynamic Teaching/ Learning Partnership between Teachers and Students. ERIC Document 359 994. Cuban, L (1991). History of teaching in social studies. In J.P. Shaver (ed.), Handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning (197-209). New York: Macmillan. Eslinger, M.V. & Superka, D.P. (1982). Social studies teachers. In The current state of social studies: a report of project SPAN (159-204). 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Newell, S. (1994). Using cooperative learning techniques to develop responsible global citizens The Social Educator, November, 44-48. Print, M. (1990). Curriculum review of social studies and social sciences education: an inquiry into the social studies and social sciences curricula K-12 in Western Australia. Perth: Ministry of Education. Schug, M.C., Todd, R.J. & Beery, R. (1984). Why kids donÕt like social studies. Social education, May, 382-387. Shaughnessy, J.M. & Haladyna, T.M. (1985). Research on student attitude toward social studies. Social education, Nov/Dec, 692-695. Shaver, J.P., Davis, Jr, O.L., & Helburn, S.W. (1979). The status of social studies education: impressions from three NSF studies. Social education, 43, 150-153. Superka, D.P. (1982). Money, mandates and managers. In Working Papers from Project SPAN (51-57). Boulder, Colo.: Project SPAN Staff and Consultants, Social Science Education Consortium, Inc. Weible, T. & Evans, C.S. (1984). Elementary studentsÕ perceptions of social studies. The social studies, 75, 244-247. [RGB1][need refs and greater discussion of these here ??????]