THE HISTORY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
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Ryan Knowles

Associate Professor, School of Teacher Education & Leadership
Utah State University
Google Scholar Profile

Research Overview

A modern researcher in history education focusing on the intersection of social studies pedagogy and democratic civic engagement.

Research Focus Areas

  • Pre-service social studies teacher beliefs and development
  • Civic and democratic education theory
  • Quantitative research on ideology in education
  • International civic education using IEA ICCS datasets
  • Anti-racist quantitative research methods

Key Ideas from Democracy for Education

Democracy as Practice: Education should not just teach about democracy, but guide students to practice it in authentic settings.
Empowering Student Voice: The classroom should cultivate active citizenship by empowering students to express their voices and participate in decision-making.
Critical Inquiry and Civic Deliberation: Encouraging students to critically analyze social issues, fostering deliberation and informed action.
Diversity and Inclusion: A democratic education values diverse perspectives, equity, and the inclusion of marginalized voices in classroom dialogue and curriculum.
Connection to Community: Preparing students to engage with and contribute meaningfully to their communities beyond the classroom.

Selected Publications & Projects

View on Google Scholar
Manifesting Destiny: Re/presentations of Indigenous Peoples in K-12 U.S. History Standards
Teaching who you are: Connecting teachers' civic education ideology to instructional strategies
Enhancing citizenship learning with international comparative research: Analyses of IEA civic education datasets
Democratic citizenship education: Researching across multiple contexts and landscapes
Connecting an open classroom climate to social movement citizenship: A study of 8th graders in Europe using IEA ICCS data
The implications of ideology on teachers' beliefs regarding civic education
How common is the common good? Moving beyond idealistic notions of deliberative democracy in education
Anti-racist Quantitative Research: Developing, Validating, and Implementing Racialized Teaching Efficacy and Racial Fragility Scales
Ideology in the schools: Developing the teacher Civic Education Ideology Scale within the United States
Education for Democracy in the Social Media Century

Learn more or connect with Dr. Knowles:

USU Faculty Page | ryan.knowles@usu.edu

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