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Wayne Journell

Wayne Journell

Professor of Social Studies Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Google Scholar Profile

About Wayne Journell

Wayne Journell is a Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research focuses on civic education, political education, media literacy, and how K-12 social studies standards shape what students learn about politics and democracy. He is a leading voice in preparing teachers to facilitate discussions of controversial political issues in the classroom.

Major Contributions

  • Teaching Politics in Secondary Education: Engaging with Contentious Issues (2017): Examines how teachers can effectively address political topics in the classroom.
  • Handbook of Civic Disruption (2021, co-editor): Explores how civic education responds to an era of political polarization.
  • Political education research: Pioneered work on how secondary social studies teachers approach political content and controversial issues.
  • Media literacy in civic education: Research on helping students evaluate political information in digital environments.
  • Civic online reasoning: Examines how students evaluate online political information and how teachers can support critical digital citizenship.

Key Ideas

Teaching Politics Is Inevitable: Social studies teachers cannot avoid politics — the question is how to address it productively rather than avoiding controversy.
Political Education vs. Indoctrination: Teachers can help students develop political understanding without imposing partisan views.
Controversial Issues Discussion: Structured classroom discussion of contentious political topics is essential for democratic education.
Civic Disruption: Traditional civic education models must adapt to an era of political polarization and distrust in institutions.
Media Literacy as Civic Education: Evaluating online political information is a core civic skill in the digital age.

“If we want students to become engaged and informed citizens, we cannot shield them from political controversy. We must teach them how to navigate it.”

Selected Publications

View on Google Scholar
Teaching Politics in Secondary Education: Engaging with Contentious Issues (2017): SUNY Press.
Handbook of Civic Disruption (2021, co-editor): Routledge.
Social Studies Today: Research and Practice (2nd edition, 2015, editor): Routledge.
"Civic Education in a Partisan Era" (2018): Theory & Research in Social Education.

Suggested Reading

Teaching Politics in Secondary Education by Wayne Journell
Handbook of Civic Disruption edited by Wayne Journell
Social Studies Today edited by Wayne Journell

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