Archaeology Education for Teachers: Getting Results

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Outreach and Education: Examples of Approaches and Strategies from the Pacific Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists have long considered classroom teachers as partners in our efforts to educate the public about the significance of archaeological sites and the importance of protection. While programs and projects on local, state, and national levels have provided professional development and educational materials for teachers for several decades, we have very little research on what teachers learn from professional development and how they implement these materials in their classrooms. In 2021, Southern Utah University conducted a National Endowment for the Humanities funded institute for 71 teachers from 31 states. The five-day institute featured three Project Archaeology curricula covering the archaeology of the Fremont people in Utah and the rich rock art of the region. Members of local tribes provided a broad perspective on the archaeology and oral history of the Fremont and contemporary people. Field learning at Fremont archaeological sites and expert speakers rounded out the institute. Research uncovered what teachers learned at the institute and their assessment of the value of the institute. A longitudinal study followed how the teachers implemented the materials and professional development in their classrooms over the next academic year. This paper reports research results and potential applications to similar efforts throughout the nation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Outreach and Education: Examples of Approaches and Strategies from the Pacific Northwest   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36642.0