Partnership with pre-service teacher group presents at national conference

November 29, 2024 - Features

by Julie Clover | Public Education Manager

KU graduate Katie McWard, and KU students Ethan Reiter and Conner Thrash present at the 2024 NCSS conference in Boston, MA. Photo courtesy of KUCSS.

For over a decade, the Dole Institute of Politics has partnered with the Kansas University Council for the Social Studies group (KUCSS), a pre-service teacher chapter of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). As public education manager at the Dole Institute, I’ve had the opportunity to work students participating in the organization since 2016. Over the years, students have come and gone as they venture through their studies at the School of Education and eventually become secondary social studies, history, and government teachers.

KUCSS is a student-led professional organization designed to support pre-service teachers with the knowledge and tools they will need to effectively teach social studies curriculum. Members collaborate with students and professional educators to better connect members of our community; better prepare students for navigating the roles and responsibilities of teaching; curate lesson plans and materials that are adaptable to a social studies classroom; and engage students with primary sources as a way to examine and understand the past, present, and future.

This slide from the students’ presentation at the NCSS Conference in Boston gives audience members a brief description of KU’s student organizations. Photo courtesy of KUCSS.

Throughout last spring, KUCSS members gathered information and prepared a lesson plan on disability advocacy. I worked with students to provide background on this issue and context from Senator Bob Dole’s own disability journey by referencing the materials of the Robert & Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections. These meetings culminated with some ideas for a session proposal to the NCSS annual conference that was ultimately accepted.

Their presentation, National Ambitions, Local Shortfalls: Teaching Civil Rights & Government Through ADA Activism, evaluates how disability rights are often absent from civil rights lessons but provide a useful way to teach about civil rights and policymaking. Join us for lessons and primary documents for your classroom. By the end of the lesson, students would be able to answer a central question: Is the world around you build for everyone?

Meetings throughout the fall brought new students into the project in preparation for their upcoming conference session. The lesson plan and work that the students created was entirely on their own, which is a commendable accomplishment for pre-service teachers in a voluntary student group. Through it all, I suggested the use of primary sources to better tell the story of disabilities within the context of Senator Dole’s experiences. Students chose a 1969 press release from Dole’s office detailing his maiden speech in the senate. They also referenced the Dole Archives digital exhibit, “Celebrating Opportunity for People with Disabilities: 70 Years of Dole Leadership.” Students can also take informed action by writing a letter to their representatives with a Dole Archives template. The pre-service teachers also added case study worksheets and project-based learning tasks to foster empathy within their own school systems.

Julie Clover, public education manager, submitted a video to be played within the KU student’s NCSS conference session. Photo by Julie Clover.

Two current students, Ethan Reiter (KUCSS President) and Connor Thrash (KUCSS Vice President), and 2024 KU graduate Katie McWard (former president of KUCSS) presented in-person on Friday, Nov. 22 at the 104^th annual NCSS conference in Boston, Massachusetts. While I was unable to be there with them, I recorded a 5-minute video for the conference presentation detailing my involvement with the group over the past year.

This interesting and important lesson plan on civil rights will be available on the Dole Archives site later this year, along with previous KUCSS student work from past years. Congratulations to these future educators!

Julie Clover serves as the Dole Institute’s Public Education Manager. In her role, Julie leads K-12 and family education programs, including on-site, outreach, and online initiatives. Julie graduated from the University of Kansas with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological research. Most recently, she was an education specialist at the Natural History Museum of Utah and traveled all over the state teaching outreach education programs to thousands of students every year.

About the Dole Institute
The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, a vibrant forum for civil discourse, civic engagement, and idea exchange across the political spectrum, features historical archives, exhibits, and public programs for all ages. Inspired by the public service of native Kansan, veteran, legislator, and statesman Senator Bob Dole and his wife Senator Elizabeth Dole, visitor galleries feature changing exhibits, the Kansas Veterans Virtual Memory Wall, architectural-scale stained glass American flag, and September 11 memorial.