Kathy Swan

Kathy Swan is a professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Kentucky. Swan was awarded UKY’s Great Teacher Award in 2021 and has been a four-time recipient of the National Technology Leadership Award in Social Studies Education, innovating with inquiry-based curricula.  Dr. Swan served as the project director and lead writer of the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards (2013), the national standards for social studies.  She has co-written a number of best-selling books including Inquiry-Based Practice in Social Studies Education: The Inquiry Design Model (2017); The Inquiry Design Model:  Building Inquiries in Social Studies (2018), and; Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum:  Planning with the Inquiry Design Model (2019).  Swan works extensively with museums and other educational institutions including the Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian American Indian Museum, National Geographic, Library of Congress, and the Southern Poverty Law Center where she consults on building inquiry-based initiatives for teachers.  She is the co-creator and co-director of C3 Teachers (c3teachers.org) and Making Inquiry Possible (makinginquirypossible.org) where she facilitates networks of educators around the world who are helping social studies and civic education become relevant in K-12 schools.

John Lee

Dr. John Lee is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. He was an author of the College, Career and Civic Life Framework for Standards in Social Studies (http://socialstudies.org/c3) and is a founder and co-director of the C3 Teachers project (http://c3teachers.org). He has authored or co-authored several books books including, Inquiry-based Practice in Social Studies Education: Understanding the Inquiry Design Model; Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers; Teaching the C3 Framework; Visualizing Elementary Social Studies Methods; and Research on Technology in Social Studies; and Guiding Learning with Technology.

S.G. Grant

SG Grant has been a professor of Social Studies Education at Binghamton University since 2008. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Maine and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He has worked as a high school social studies teacher in the state of Maine and as consultant in the Maine Department of Education and as a professor at the University at Buffalo.

Lawrence Paska

Dr. Lawrence Paska is the Executive Director of National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the largest professional association in the country devoted solely to social studies education. NCSS represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, district and state supervisors and administrators, and educators from around the world focused on social studies learning. As NCSS’ chief staff executive, he is responsible for implementing the strategic priorities, policies, and actions approved by the NCSS Board of Directors, and expanding a network of social studies professionals nationwide.

Larry began his career as a middle school social studies teacher in New York State public school districts. He later served in multiple roles at the New York State Education Department (Albany, NY). He led New York's standards and assessment programs for P-12 social studies education as a state social studies specialist, established the Office of Educational Design and Technology in P-12 Education, and implemented the Board of Regents' Statewide Learning Technology Plan and regulations for online and blended learning as the Coordinator of Technology Policy. Larry returned to schools as the Director of Social Studies for the Harrison Central School District (Harrison, NY), leading K-12 social studies, business, and library media departments. He then served as the Director of Professional Development for the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), where he and his team provided instructional programs and services for 32 public school districts in the greater New York City region, supported data-driven instruction, developed instructional leadership seminars, and implemented New York State's K-12 Social Studies Framework. He has taught social studies education methods at the university level.