Alan Sears
Area: Social Studies, Educational Research
Phone: 506-453-5178
Fax: 506-453-3569
Education summary:
B.Ed. University of New Brunswick, 1977
M.Ed. University of New Brunswick, 1985
Ph.D. University of British Columbia, 1996
Key area(s) of interest/expertise:
Social studies, history education, citizenship education, comparative education, educational research, educational policy
Classroom/practicum teaching summary:
Teaching:
EDCI 3604 Elementary Social Studies
EDCI 2624 Introduction to Social Studies
EDCI 4625 Elementary Social Studies Curriculum
EDCI 5634 Secondary Social Studies Curriculum
EDCI 5656 Global Education
ED 3621 Introduction to Social Studies
ED 4620 Introduction to Teaching Social Studies
ED 4621 Learning to Learn about Teaching Social Studies and Science
ED 4622 Global Education
ED 4623 Introduction to Social Studies in Elementary Education
ED 5001/2/3 Teaching and Learning Theory
ED5071 Education in International Contexts
ED5073 Seminar in Educational Thought
ED 5621 Senior Project in Social Studies
ED 5623 Teaching Canadian Studies
ED6105 Current Issues in Curriculum and Instruction
EDCI 6107 Research Approaches in Curriculum and Instruction
EDCI 6656 Issues in Global Education
EDCI 6605 Research in Social Studies
EDCI 6604 Foundations of Social Studies
ED 6901 Doctoral Seminar in Education
ED 6902 Introduction to Research in Education
Recent Thesis and Reports Supervised:
"Religion Matters: An Analysis of Teaching Religion in Canadian Schools In Consideration of a World Religions 120 Course in New Brunswick High Schools."
"Fostering Ecological Literacy: A Case Study of the Saint John Harbour in Two High School English Language Arts Classrooms"
"Children's Conceptualization of Ethnic Diversity: A Study with Students in Rural Quebec."
"Conceptions of Democratic Participation Among Recent African Immigrants and Native Born Canadians."
"Children's Understanding of Cultural Diversity in England and New Brunswick: A Comparative Study."
"Having Good Days and Knowing Why: Learning from the Stories of Exceptional Experienced Teachers."
Professional practice, committees, volunteer work summary:
I am Associate Editor for the journal Citizenship Teaching and Learning. One of our most exciting initiatives has been the Spirit of Democracy Project. It is a collaborative effort with Russian colleagues focused on developing an approach to teaching key democratic ideas.
My most recent research has focused on how children and young people understand key ideas related to citizenship. I am currently principal investigator on an SSHRC project designed to map how young people in Alberta and the Maritimes conceptualize democratic participation and a co-investigator on a similar project looking at how young people and teachers conceptualize diversity in Canada.
In addition to this program of work, I have recently coauthored a social studies textbook for grade 6 in Alberta titled Voices of Democracy: Action and Participation and I regularly conduct workshops with teachers on social studies and citizenship education.
