Dr. Yu-Han Hung
Biography
My specialty areas are compromised of four intersecting topics: social studies education, teacher knowledge and professional development, curriculum theory, and international and comparative research. These four threads of research are parallel lines of inquiry that overlap in my research trajectory. My current research investigates history teachers' personal practical knowledge and gatekeeping practices as they relate to the teaching of controversial public issues. I am particularly interested in understanding how teachers' life histories enter into the curriculum they teach as well as how teachers mediate broader social tensions in the society while in the classroom.
I also examine the confluence of teacher life narratives, the official curriculum, and the social pressures that teachers face in their working lives. Ultimately, I seek to extend the work of Maxine Greene to the current era of global interaction, interdependence and change as a response to the confluence of teacher life narratives, the official curriculum, and the social pressures that teachers face in their working lives. This work asks, what does it mean to view the world as a stranger in this day and age with social pressures? What are the possibilities for teaching with imagination in this era of cultural change?
In addition, I am also interested in the positionality of ELL students' in social studies classrooms. I focus on the opportunities and challenges facing social studies teachers as they attempt to engage their ELL students, especially with discussions of controversial issues.
Teaching
My pedagogical experiences are inclusive of both K-12 and post-secondary levels. I spent three years teaching in public, urban schools in Taipei, Taiwan. These experiences crystalized and helped bring to fruition the understanding of the many challenges history teachers and students confronted in and outside the classroom. Because of this work, I strove to develop a strongly reflective teaching practice, both for myself and for my colleagues.
At Michigan State University, my teaching focus has primarily been with pre-service teachers at both the secondary and elementary level in face-to-face, hybrid, and online environments. While working with elementary pre-service teacher candidates, I encouraged them to build integrated unit plans connected to their local communities and to discuss current issues with their students. Furthermore, working in the secondary course instructor team, I encouraged students to explore the topics related to social justice and controversial public issues. In addition, I also focus especially on the topics of controversial public issues in the curriculum and best practices for teaching ELL and immigrant students. Lastly, I am rounded out by my comment and experiences as a superior for secondary social studies interns and elementary interns located in many locations. I strove to build strong partnerships between University and local public schools.
Degrees Earned
Michigan State University, Ph.D., 2017
National Taiwan Normal University, Master of Education, 2007
Soochow University, Bachelor of History, 2004
Courses Taught
- Teaching Social Studies
- Critical Social Studies
- Culture of Urban Schools
- Directed Study in Urban Teaching
- Social Studies Method
Experience Qualifications
Associate Professor. Department of Urban Education. University of Houston-Downtown. August 2023- Present
Assistant Professor. Department of Urban Education. University of Houston-Downtown. August 2017- May 2023
Undergraduate Course Instructor. Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Michigan State University. August 2012 – May. 2017.
Graduate Course Instructor. Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Michigan State University. June 2015.
Student Teaching Field Instructor. Elementary Education. Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Michigan State University. August 2016- May 2017.
Student Teaching Field Instructor. Secondary Social Studies Team. Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Michigan State University. August 2011 - May 2014. December 2016- May 2017
Teaching Assistant. Department of Education. National Taiwan Normal University. Taipei, Taiwan. September 2004 - September 2007.
More Information
Hung, Yu-Han. (2023). Exploration of teacher preparation for teaching controversial public issues. The Journal of Social Studies Research. 47(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2022.05.002 (Educational Ranking 572, Impact Factor: 0.458).
Hung, Yu-Han. (2022). Exploration of teachers' teaching civic engagement in Taiwan. Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice. 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/17461979221097359 (Educational Ranking 490, Impact Factor: 0.512).
Hung, Yu-Han. (2021). Learning young children's civic action through themselves, others and issues. Theory & Research in Social Education. 49(3), 477-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2021.1877998 (Educational Ranking 26, impactor factor: 2.377, SSCI)
Hung, Yu-Han. (2021). Exploration of teachers' teaching of controversial global issues in Asian contexts. Alviar-Martin, T. & Baildon, M. (Ed.,) Research on Global Citizenship Education in Asia. Charlotte, NC: Information Age. (Book Chapter) https://www.infoagepub.com/products/Research-on-Global-Citizenship-Education-in-Asia
Hung, Yu-Han. (2020). Exploration of teachers' personal practical knowledge for teaching controversial public issues in elementary school classrooms. The Journal of Social Studies Research. 44(2020), 281-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2020.04.001 (Educational Ranking 572, Impact Factor: 0.458).
Hung, Yu-Han, & Perez, N. (2020). Exploration of immigrant in/pre service teachers' conception and practice of citizenship in Midwest in the U.S. Citizenship Teaching and Learning. 15(1), 101-116. https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl_00022_1
Hung, Yu-Han. (2019). Teach or not teach controversial public issues in Taiwan? Asia Pacific Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2019.1671807 (Educational Ranking 553, impact factor: 0.467, SSCI).
Hung, Yu-Han. (2019). Teacher as stranger: Imaginative engagement of controversial public issues. Journal of International Social Studies. 9(2), 85-103. https://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/view/417
Hung, Yu-Han. (2018). Exploration of teacher life stories: Taiwanese history teachers' curricular gatekeeping of controversial public issues. Teaching & Teacher Education, 70 (2018). 67-77. (Educational Ranking 37, impact factor: 1.945, SSCI). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.003
Hung, Yu-Han. (2016) What can we learn from Taiwanese teachers about teaching controversial public issues. Journal of International Social Studies, 6 (1), 37-52
Kim, Jongsung, Hung, Yu-Han, & Kawaguchi, Hiromi. (In preparation). Teaching WWII in Asia: History education and historical reconciliation. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. (Educational Ranking 553, impact factor: 0.467, SSCI).
Hung, Yu-Han. (In preparation). Exploration of students' civic engagement in Urban settings of U.S and Taiwan. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. (Education Ranking. impact factor: 1.8. SSCI)