Running head: Analytic and Personal Essay
Analytic and Personal Essay
Katherine M. McKeon
George Mason University
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Analytic and Personal Essay
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Analytic and Personal Essay
While second language acquisition, studying abroad and facilitating the creative mind are
key to 21st century education, the one area that has emerged during my studies for me that is
critical for our nation’s secondary students to understand is the role of religion within cultural
and historical contexts and its importance in all areas of human agency. There is clearly a
disconnect between the Euro-American secular structure and worldwide society dynamics.
When religion is omitted from the public sphere, we leave out a critical element that contributes
to worldwide relations, economics, societal structures and philosophies (Shah, 2012). While a
separation of church and state may work in American society, to ignore the role of religion in the
United States education realm is to graduate students who are unprepared for a worldwide
community.
“With globalization and the end of the Cold War, interreligious contacts have
proliferated. Faith communities are more engaged in civil society and the developing world and
these communities increasingly find themselves engaged in international political issues ranging
from war and peace to human rights, global development and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”
(Banchoff, p.212). Yet, one reason our secondary schools shy away from mandatory comparative
religion classes is because of a misunderstanding of the establishment clause Prothero (2013). If
this is so then our secondary schools must turn to the social studies to include this highly
important element in the curriculum. However, since “No Child Left Behind” was introduced,
30% less time is spent teaching this content (Gieselmann, 2008).
My academic goals are an International Education specialization with a secondary focus
on religious studies. Within this specialization I will focus on religious studies, regional studies,
political and economic histories and conflict resolution. By grounding my academics in these
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areas I will be more adept at designing or replicating a study that will focus on cultural and
religious literacy among our secondary students. My area of focus for my Masters degree was
secondary education and social studies so by focusing on the religious, regional, anthropological
and conflict resolution areas under the International Education framework I will strengthen my
background for future publications, presentations and research.
My research areas of interest include how teachers are including religion in their social
studies courses at the secondary level. Knowing that 30% less time is spent teaching social
studies content since No Child Left Behind was enacted, I am curious about how much time is
spent teaching religious content within social studies, what content is included, and what
teaching methods are used. I am also interested in research that addresses long term memory and
empathy among secondary students regarding prejudice, racism and those they perceive as the
“other.” United States public education is geared towards creating a future person in the
workforce, not a creative, inquisitive, enlightened individual. My goal is to teach beyond
tolerance, as the revolutionary hero Thomas Paine stated, “toleration is not the opposite of
intolerance but the counterfeit of it” (Paine, 2015). Dissertation ideas include the visual sense
and long term memory in the adolescent, the arts and empathy in the adolescent and student
centered pedagogical methods.
My professional goals are to create teacher development tools that address the role of
religion as it relates to the social studies and to influence United States education policy
regarding how religion is addressed within the curriculum. I am hoping to take what are teacher
centered curricular goals within social studies and make them student centered while focusing on
long term retention and empathy among our secondary students. I plan to teach at the University
level within a school of Education, develop publications that influence pedagogical methods and
Analytic and Personal Essay
continue research that refines the most influential ways of promoting empathy among
adolescents.
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Bibliography
Banchoff, T. (2012). Interreligious Dialogue and International Relations. In Shah, T. S., Stepan,
A. C., & Toft, M. D. (Eds.), Rethinking religion and world affairs. NewYork:
Oxford University Press.
Gieselmann, S. (2008). Graphic Organizers in the Social Studies Classroom: Effective Content
Integration Tools for Preservice Teachers. Kentucky Journal Of Excellence In College
Teaching & Learning, 619-30.
Paine, T. (2015). The Rights of Man (Kindle version). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Harper Collins.
Prothero, S. (2013). Religious Literacy: What’s at Stake? (Video File). Retrieved from Harvard
University. November 7, 2013. http://hds.harvard.edu/news/2013/11/20/religiousliteracy-whats-stake-video.