Dave Powell

Associate Professor

Education

Contact

Email

djpowell@gettysburg.edu

Phone

(717) 337 - 6552

Box

Campus Box 0396

Address

Weidensall Hall
Room 111
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400

Website

https://www.profpow.com

Education

PhD University of Georgia, 2008
MEd University of Georgia, 2000
BA College of William & Mary, 1996

Academic Focus

Teaching History & Social Studies, Education Policy, Philosophy of Education

Before coming to Gettysburg in 2008, Dave Powell taught high school social studies for six years in suburban Atlanta, where he earned a certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 2004. He likes the Atlanta Braves and the Georgia Bulldogs and has a not insignificant amount of Tribe Pride; he spends his free time questioning the judgment of umpires and listening to music. He lives in Gettysburg with a strong woman and four above average children—just please don't ask for the test scores to prove it.

Teaching Scholarship & Governance

Dr. Powell's scholarly work focuses on teaching and teacher education, with particular emphasis placed on how teachers come to know and understand the subjects they teach and how they communicate that knowledge to students. His current projects explore the development of pedagogical content knowledge in teachers of history and social studies, with a special emphasis on the role "signature pedagogies" might play in the development of professional knowledge. He is also interested in the American blues and folk music traditions, and teaches a First-Year Seminar, "'This Machine Kills Fascists!': Protest Music & Social Change in the American Experience," that focuses on the role political music has played in shaping American values and aspirations. His courses combine explorations of history and politics to help students reframe their understanding of American life and culture.

Dr. Powell has served two stints as chair of the Education Department––one from 2014-17, and another from 2019-20––and also served as chair of Interdisciplinary Studies in 2018-19. He is project director of "On Hallowed Ground: Gettysburg in History & Memory," a professional development program for teachers sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has recently been rescheduled and will be held in the summer of 2022. More information about the program can be found by visiting the project website at https://www.gettysburgneh.org.

View Dr. Powell's CV by clicking here. You can also view his published work in Gettysburg's institutional repository, The Cupola, or on his website.

Courses Taught

Introduction to theories and methods associated with teaching social studies for active democratic citizenship. Special attention is given to conceptualizing social studies as a school subject and to the integration of art, music, and film in the social studies classroom. Required of all students seeking secondary teacher certification in social studies, social science, or citizenship. Prerequisite: MUS_CLAS 149 or EDUC 199, and EDUC 201; or permission of the instructor.
Who owns history? Who decides what’s important to know in our past? What “version” of history should be taught in schools, and what do we know about effective history teaching? This course provides aspiring teachers of history with an introduction to the debates surrounding history teaching, the cultural context of those debates, and practical strategies for interpreting the history curriculum and teaching it to students at any level of educational development. Prerequisite: None; Education 201 recommended.
Charters. Choice. Testing. Standards. Equity. Over the past three decades public opinion has coalesced around the idea that our public schools are failing and desperately in need of reform. How much truth is there in these assertions? This course explores the implications of public school reform policy choices, focusing especially on the way reformers have framed the debate to their advantage. Special attention is paid to teacher quality, urban education, school choice, testing, and other issues raised by reform advocates.
Course utilizes teacher action research to develop informal and formal assessment techniques for teaching special needs students and English language learners within an interactive assessment-instruction framework. Offered in conjunction with EDUC 476 Student Teaching. Designed for all education students seeking professional licensure, this course addresses the processes for administering assessments through the development of a special needs or English Language Learner student case study. Students articulate an educational philosophy and create a reflective teaching portfolio including the action research case study. Limited to those students accepted and enrolled in the Education Semester. Prerequisite: MUS_CLAS 149 or EDUC 199, and EDUC 201; or permission of the instructor.
The famous inscription Woody Guthrie placed on his guitar in 1943 says something profound about how many artists and musicians view their work: while art entertains us, it also can enlighten and liberate us as well. Unfortunately, the history of America often taught in schools focuses largely on names, dates, and other facts pieced together in an effort to tell a particular kind of story about America--one that does little to help us appreciate the struggle that runs like a swift current just beneath the surface of daily life. In this seminar we will revisit some of that history, focusing primarily on the way musicians--from 19th century slaves to 20th century bluesmen, from Depression-era balladeers to Civil Rights marchers, and from war protesters of forty years ago to war protesters today--have attempted to right wrongs, educate sensibilities, and awaken the consciences of people in an effort to make America a place that lives up to its promise.

Article Brother, Can You Paradigm?: Toward a Theory of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies Journal of Teacher Education 69(3), 252-262 (2018)
Chapter The History You Don't Know, and the History You Do: The Promise of Signature Pedagogies in History Education The Palgrave Handbook of History & Social Studies Education (New York: Palgrave), 575-595 (2020)
Article Moving Forward, Looking Back: The Struggle for a New American Curriculum Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy 8(2), 136-154 (2011)
Chapter Join, or Die!: A Pragmatic Case for Reflective Self-Study in Social Studies In Advancing Social Studies Education Through Self-Study (New York: Springer), 21-36 (2010)