DBQA

In this episode of DBQ&A, Mike Stevens, Director of Social Studies at Friendship Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C., joins Tom Hackett & Caroline Lambert to explore what makes social studies essential—and why it’s so often sidelined. From historical empathy and inquiry-driven instruction to the role of AI and the need for dedicated social studies leadership, this episode unpacks what great teaching looks like today ...

We speak with Chip Brady about a recent report on the unique challenges of teaching American history, published by the American Historical Association. We discuss how questions of national identity complicate and enrich history education, how history education has evolved, the turn toward inquiry-based modular learning, active versus passive learning, how to find complexity and ambiguity in seemingly reductive questions, the fun of...

We speak with Dave Johnson about inquiry-based education, how it helps head off criticism of bias, the dialogical process of social studies, his evolution as an educator, the difference between knowing facts and asking questions, wrestling with fraught topics, the benefit of teaching social studies in the early grades, implementing the C3 framework, and other topics.

Dave Johnson is an instructional consultant for the Wexford-Mi...

We speak with Phil Roden about his long and varied career as an educator in the Chicago and Evanston, IL, public schools. We discuss his work in the Peace Corps, teaching in Nigeria, the inspiration he drew from the Civil Rights Movement, the “New Social Studies” movement, and “experiential” education; The DBQ Project and how its six-step method came about; the work he is doing now to promote education in the trades; and other topi...