Using Cultural Universals and Images to Develop Temporal Distinctions in Kindergarten-Aged Students: An Action Research Study

This action research project traces how a teacher used images of cultural universals as part of a kindergarten social studies curriculum to help her students develop temporal distinctions between past and present. Students were introduced to the general idea of what cultural universals were, and then they studied two different periods of history using cultural universals. After clearing up some initial misconceptions, the majority of the students were able to make at least a dichotomous distinction between past and present, and many students were able to make additional temporal distinctions among periods of the past.