The impact of sociological orientation on pedagogy: A reconsideration of teacher training in sociology Ph.D. Departments

Abstract

The emphasis in sociology Ph.D. programs continues to be on training researchers rather than teachers. This is a serious mistake, given the overwhelming proportion of students who go on to academic careers that require at least some time in the classroom. Departments that offer some type of graduate training in teaching focus almost exclusively on the students' mastery of pedagogical strategies--tools, tips, and techniques for improving their instruction. But this approach neglects students' assumptions about sociology as a discipline--or their sociological orientations--that underlie and intbrm their pedagogical choices. This paper explicates the relationship between sociological orientation and pedagogical practice, and asserts that graduate students need to consider their orientation to the discipline before stepping inside a classroom. This may be effectively accomplished through a required year-long seminar to be taken during the second year of graduate study. The first semester would be devoted to the issues, debates, and questions that currently characterize the discipline. The second would consider the "nuts and bolts" of teaching, and how pedagogical practice derives from sociological orientation. Students would also work as teaching assistants before, during, and after completing the seminar. They would then be required to teach at least one course of their choice before graduating. During this first teaching experience, each graduate student would work closely with a faculty mentor.

“It’s not rocket science!“: High school sociology teachers’ conceptions of sociology

“…One might reasonably assume that it was during their educations or in the course of their professional activities. But it has been repeatedly demonstrated that high school sociology teachers have not been formally educated in the discipline and they have virtually no exposure to academic sociology in the course of their professional lives (DeCesare, 2005a;Dennick-Brecht, 2000;Lashbrook, 2001 ). They must form their conceptions in some other way, then.…”

“…Much of the recent work in the sociology of sociology directly or indirectly addresses what I and others believe to be the most pressing problem currently facing the discipline: its failure to connect with the public (Black, 1999;DeCesare, 2002;Seperson, 1994). It is certainly no secret, especially among sociologists, that the discipline has a public image problem.…”

“…I recently argued that academic sociologists' pedagogical decisions depend largely on their epistemological assumptions and their conceptions about the discipline (DeCesare, 2003). It is difficult to teach sociology without first, or at least simultaneously, formulating conceptions of the discipline.…”

“…Most sociologists who have written about appropriate content and objectives for the high school course, especially those writing since the 1960s, have argued that sociology is a complex science, complete with well-developed theories and rigorous methods of inquiry (DeCesare, 2004). As such, it would naturally prove too difficult for most high school students (Eckenrod, 1974;Hansen and Johnson, 1974;Leavitt, 1982;Simon, 1965Simon, , 1969.…”

A Reflection on Valuing Teacher Training and Pedagogy as Scholarship in Higher Education

“…Someone did teach me how to teach, and yet, I spent years feeling as though it was a handicap. If academia, in general, does not seem to place equal value on teaching as it does on research—and graduate training does the same (De Cesare, 2003)—then it is no wonder that a doctoral student who finds her strength in the classroom rather than in research feels somehow inadequate as a graduate student. Does this have something to do with the conventional belief that we must think of ourselves as researchers first and educators second (despite the “education” in health education)?…”