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Dr. Benjamin Wellenreiter

Associate Professor
Office
DEG Degarmo Hall
Office Hours
by arrangement
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Selected Research

Biography

Informed by 19 years of experience in the middle school classroom, Ben teaches courses in middle-level social studies pedagogy, content-area literacy, middle school teaching methods, and classroom management. Ben also serves as the Executive Director of the Illinois Council for the Social Studies, an affiliate of the National Council for the Social Studies.
Ben is co-author of Teaching Middle Level Social Studies: A Practical Guide for 4th-8th Grade (3rd Edition) (2021) Information Age Publishing. He has publications in Social Studies Research and Practice; The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas; Teaching Social Studies; Middle School Journal; Middle Level Learner; Children, Youth and Environments; and has numerous edited book chapters.
As a middle school teacher, Ben taught geography and US History and served as co-chair of his school district's teacher evaluation process committee, was twice a lead for certified staff contract negotiations, and served on various curriculum and other school district committees.

Current Courses

TCH 306.001 Literacy And Technology Across Middle Level Disciplines

TCH 296.002 Middle Level Education Clinical I

TCH 233.002 Teaching And Learning in Middle Level Education

TCH 104.001 Introduction To Education In The United States

TCH 104.002 Introduction To Education In The United States

TCH 352.001 Social Studies Methods For The Middle School

TCH 233.001 Teaching And Learning in Middle Level Education

Teaching Interests & Areas

Interdisciplinary experiences
Spatial Learning
Student voice

Research Interests & Areas

Patriotism Education
Adolescent social development
Social studies pedagogy

EDD Teacher Education

Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois

MA School Counseling

Bradley University
Peoria, Illinois

BS History-Social Science Education, Secondary and Middle Level

Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois

Outstanding College of Education Service Award

College of Education, Illinois State University
2023

Master Potter Excellence in Education Award

Morton Community Unit School District 709
2017

College of Education and Health Sciences Exemplary Alumni Award for Scholarship

Bradley University, Peoria, IL
2011

Grants and Contracts

Exploring Friendships Between Middle School Students with Disabilities and without Disabilities
Benjamin R Wellenreiter, Yun-Ching Chung
College of Education. 2025 - 2026

Book Review

Review of the book Civic education in the age of mass migration: Implications for theory and practice, by A. M. Banks
Benjamin R Wellenreiter
(2021), Teachers College Record

Book, Chapter

Confronting Mr. Smith: Providing students opportunity to resist authority.
Benjamin Wellenreiter & Thomas Lucey
(2019), Extending the Ground of Public Confidence: Teaching Civil Liberties in K-16 Social Studies Education, Information Age Publishing
Context is everything: Increasing the relevance of preservice teachers’ experiences in classroom management
Benjamin Wellenreiter
(2017), 23-39, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
Garbage trucks and deposit slips: The disconnect between life experiences and the economics curriculum of South Africa
Benjamin Wellenreiter
(2012), 27-45, Re-framing financial literacy: Exploring the value of social currency, Information Age Publishing

Conference Proceeding

School Climates at Country and Prairie High: The Spaces In-Between at Two Rural High Schools
Elke Altenburger & Benjamin Wellenreiter
American Educational Research Association

Journal Article

Preservice teachers and the patriotism of the 1619 and 1776 history narratives
Benjamin R Wellenreiter, Xiaoying Zhao, & Thomas Lucey
Social Studies Research and Practice, (2024), https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-12-2023-0073
Tuesday Night Lights: Preparing Students to Engage in Public Comment Opportunities at School Board Meetings
Benjamin R Wellenreiter
Voices from the Middle, National Council of Teachers of English, 31 (4), 48-51, (2024), https://doi.org/10.58680/vm202431448
P is for Patriotism: Messaging of Patriotic Symbols and Rituals in Picturebooks
Benjamin R Wellenreiter, Xiaoying Zhao, & Christie Angleton
Social Studies Teaching and Learning, 4 (1), 1/22, (2023)
Pictures Alone Don’t Do It Justice: Using Spatial Learning in Middle Level Social Studies Classrooms
Benjamin R Wellenreiter
National Council for the Social Studies, (78), 10-15, (2023)
The influence of loyalty on historical truth and the entanglement of teacher education
Benjamin Wellenreiter & Thomas Lucey
Critical Issues in Teacher Education, 29 (40-51), (2022)
Can people like me be patriotic too? Gender, race, and economics in “patriotic” picturebooks.
Christie Angleton, Xiaoying Zhao, & Benjamin Wellenreiter
Oregon Journal of the Social Studies, 9 (2), 24-37, (2021)
Where the action is: Exploring adolescents' perspectives of middle school social venues
Benjamin R Wellenreiter
Middle School Journal, 52 (1), 5-13, (2021), 10.1080/00940771.2020.1868056
Where to Hang Out: Interplay Between School Building Characteristics, Authority Structures and School Micro-Climates
Elke Altenburger & Benjamin Wellenreiter
Children, Youth and Environments, 31 (2), 1-33, (2021), 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.31.2.0001
On the other side, it did not say nothin': Patriotic art, music, and the promotion of economic loyalty
Benjamin Wellenreiter, Mary-Beth Henning, & Thomas Lucey
Oregon Journal of the Social Studies, (8/1), 91-104, (2020)
Preservice teachers’ perceptions of the “Public Displays of History” Debate.
Benjamin Wellenreiter & Monica Noraian
The Counselor: A Journal of the Social Studies, 81 (2), (2020)
No perfect patriotism: Encouraging students to view patriotic processes from multiple perspectives
Benjamin Wellenreiter
Teaching Social Studies, 19 (2), 59-65, (2019)
When students refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance: Preservice teachers’ responses
Benjamin R Wellenreiter
The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 93 (1), 1-9, (2019), doi: 10.1080/00098655.2019.1690418
Hallways paved with good intentions: Analyzing rules and procedures in non-classroom middle school spaces
Benjamin Wellenreiter
Middle School Journal, 49 (2), 10-15, (2018), doi: 10.1080/00940771.2017.1413272
Hallways paved with good intentions: Analyzing rules and procedures in non-classroom middle school spaces.
Benjamin Wellenreiter
Middle School Journal, 49, 10-15, (2018), 10.1080/00940771.2017.1413272
Within these halls: In situ primary sources in your own school.
Benjamin Wellenreiter
Middle Level Learning, 61, 18-22, (2018)
Looking back at their futures: Preservice middle level teachers’ examination of past educational experiences
Benjamin Wellenreiter, Thomas Lucey, & Douglas Hatch
RMLE Online, 34 (1), 1-11, (2010)
Looking back at their futures: Preservice middle level teachers’ examination of past educational experiences.
Benjamin Wellenreiter, Thomas Lucey, & Douglas Hatch
RMLE Online, 34 (1), 1-11, (2010)
Legislated love and loyalty: An analysis of state patriotism statutes.
Benjamin Wellenreiter
The Counselor: A Journal of the Social Studies, 82 (2), 1-28

Textbook, Revised

Teaching Middle Level Social Studies: A Practical Guide for 4th-8th Grade (3rd Edition)
Scott L. Roberts, Benjamin Wellenreiter, Jessica Ferreras-Stone, Stephanie L. Strachan, & Karrie L. Palmer
(2022), Information Age Publishing