Elementary social studies is often viewed as less important than mathematics and reading. Although part of the curriculum, social studies is often overlooked by teachers due to testing demands. Therefore, it was important to investigate preservice teachers’ perceptions and attitudes about social studies upon entering their methods courses to determine what may be needed to enrich the course. The study’s findings suggest preservice teachers often hold negative views of social studies and fail to connect it to citizenship, the goal of social studies. The results have assisted educators in strengthening the methods courses to help preservice teachers teach social studies.

人们通常认为基础社会研究不如数学和阅读重要。尽管社会课程是课程的一部分，但由于考试要求，教师常常忽略了社会研究。因此，重要的是调查进入职前教师对社会研究的看法和态度后，再进入他们的方法课程，以确定可能需要哪些内容来丰富该课程。该研究结果表明，职前教师对社会研究经常持消极看法，未能将其与社会研究的目标即公民身份联系起来。结果帮助教育工作者加强了方法课程，以帮助职前教师进行社会研究。