Teachers' Gatekeeping of the Middle East Curriculum

This is a study of teachers' content selection when teaching about the Middle East in The American high school social studies classes. Three questions ground this study: (1) How and why do teachers choose certain curriculum plans and materials to teach about the Middle East? (2) How do teachers' beliefs about the meaning and purpose of social studies influence their content selection? (3) How do the current conflicts in the Middle East and the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on the United States influence teachers' content selection? We learn some important details about teachers' gatekeeping of the Middle East curriculum in the context of the Iraq War, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Iran's nuclear program. It also discusses implications for democracy and teacher education and points toward further research in this area.