The Influence of Secondary Social Studies Teachers ’ Opinions on Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this research was to determine whether secondary social studies teachers’ opinions impact the way they teach and how that impacts the students ’ learning. Neutrality is important within a classroom, but passion is rarely neutral and can spark interest and motivation in some students but it is also possible it can have a negative effect. There were 14 participants in this study which included teachers from a middle and high school suburban district in Central New York. All participants responded to a questionnaire and three out of 14 participated in an individual interview and classroom observations during social studies lessons. It is clear from this analysis that teachers ’ enthusiasm creates a positive impact on students ’ learning and the converse is also true. Teachers may want to reflect on their opinions to maximize students learning in the social studies classroom