Conceptualization of a decision process for use in social studies teacher education

Creators of teacher education programs need to acknowledge the desirability of building a curriculum that reflects the rich and varied experiences in a teaching environment. Educators must find ways to develop a trainee's capacity to perceive and act within the confluence of factors that are a teaching environment. These considerations require formulation of new perspectives to guide curriculum development in teacher education. The study advances the position that designing curriculum in teacher education must be based on a specific conception of teaching. The thesis of the study is that teaching constitutes an act subsuming specified decisions that arise from the use of knowledge germane to each specific teaching area. The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the decision process in social studies as the basis for designing a curriculum in social studies education for teachers. The study proceeds along three lines of development: statement of a philosophical base for the study; conceptualization of the decision process; and formulation of a construct for designing curriculum. The philosophical base establishes the socio-cultural nature of man as a decision-maker and relates this capacity to the functions of teaching and the purposes of social studies in the school and teacher education. The concept of a decision process is identified. Key characteristics of decisions about the teaching environment, teaching style, curriculum, and instruction are described. A construct for designing a decision process curriculum is formulated from generalizations expressing relationships between the concepts of decision process and communication. [...]