Help Me See the “Magnificent” Side of Sociology: The Outcomes of a Community Action and Involvement Course Designed to Help Undergraduates View Themselves as Agentic
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online April, 2022
Help Me See the “Magnificent” Side of Sociology: The Outcomes of a Community Action and Involvement Course Designed to Help Undergraduates View Themselves as Agentic
The learning outcome, “Students will learn to engage with and impact society,” is common in curricular frameworks addressing undergraduate sociology education; however, it does not receive adequate coverage compared to other competencies. The lack of attention to this outcome coupled with the tendency to focus heavily on social problems may cause some students to leave sociology classes with increased cynicism and helplessness. This research therefore assesses an upper-level elective sociology course designed to challenge this proclivity by guiding students toward the recognition of their agency. Precourse and postcourse surveys (N = 47) are analyzed to uncover student attitudes regarding agency and social change. Results indicate the course prompted an increase in the students’ optimism and confidence in their ability to impact society. This type of course, both as an entity and in its transferable components, can provide support for students who want to learn how to engage with their world.
AtkinsonMaxine P.LowneyKathleen S.2016. In the Trenches: Teaching and Learning Sociology. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
2.
BengstonWilliam F.HazzardJohn W.1990. “The Assimilation of Sociology into Common Sense: Some Implications for Teaching.”Teaching Sociology18(1):39–45.
3.
BergerPeter L.LuckmannThomas. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York, NY: Anchor.
4.
BohmerSusanneBriggsJoyce L.1991. “Teaching Privileged Students about Gender, Race, and Class Oppression.”Teaching Sociology19(2):154–63.
5.
BourdieuPierre. 1990. The Logic of Practice. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.
6.
CollinsPatricia Hill. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge.
7.
ConnellR. W.1987. Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.
8.
DavisNancy J.1992. “Teaching About Inequality: Student Resistance, Paralysis, and Rage.”Teaching Sociology20(3):232–38.
9.
De CerteauMichel. 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California.
10.
EmirbayerMustafaMischeAnn. 1998. “What Is Agency?”American Journal of Sociology103(4):962–1023.
11.
FergusonSusan J.CarbonaroWilliam. 2016. “Measuring College Learning in Sociology.” Pp. 135–87 in Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century, edited by ArumR.RoksaJ.CookA.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
12.
FreirePaulo. [1970] 2000. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
13.
GrauerholzElizabethCopenhaverStacey. 1994. “When Personal Becomes Problematic: The Ethics of Using Experiential Teaching Methods.”Teaching Sociology22(4):319–27.
14.
HaddadAngela T.LiebermanLeonard. 2002. “From Student Resistance to Embracing the Sociological Imagination: Unmasking Privilege, Social Conventions, and Racism.”Teaching Sociology30(3):328–41.
15.
HitlinStevenSalisburyMark H.2013. “Living Life for Others and/or Oneself: The Social Development of Life Orientations.”Social Science Research42(6):1622–34.
16.
hooksbell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress. New York, NY: Routledge.
17.
HowardJayButlerJess. 2018. “The Sociology Literacy Framework and Students’ Views of Learning in Introductory Sociology.”Teaching Sociology46(3):237–46.
18.
JohnsonAllen. 2014. The Forest and the Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice, and Promise. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.
19.
JohnsonBrett. 2005. “Overcoming ‘Doom and Gloom’: Empowering Students in Courses on Social Problems, Injustice, and Inequality.”Teaching Sociology33(1):44–58.
20.
JonesEllisHaenflerRossJohnsonBrett. 2007. The Better World Handbook. 2nd ed.British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers.
21.
KapitulikBrian P.2010. “Critical Teaching in a Social Problems Course: Structure, Process and Reflections.” Originally published 2006 in Critical Pedagogy in the Classroom, edited by KaufmanP.Washington, DC: ASA.
22.
KaufmanPeterRossMindy. 2006. “The Praxis Project.” Pp. 74–80 in Critical Pedagogy in the Classroom, edited by KaufmanP.Washington, DC: ASA.
23.
KebedeAlem. 2009. “Practicing Sociological Imagination through Writing Sociological Autobiography.”Teaching Sociology37(4):353–68.
24.
Keesing-StylesLinda. 2006. “Education for Social Justice in an Uncertain World.”International Journal of Learning13(2):95–101.
25.
KleinmanSherrylCoppMartha. 2009. “Denying Social Harm: Students’ Resistance to Lessons about Inequality.”Teaching Sociology37(3):283–93.
26.
KorgenKathleenWhiteJonathan M.WhiteShelley K.2014. Sociologists in Action: Sociology, Social Change and Social Justice. 2nd ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
27.
MartineauHarriet. 1838. How to Observe Morals and Manners. London: Charles Knight.
28.
Martinez-ColaMariselaEnglishRoccoMinJenniferPerazaJonathanTambahJamesettaYebuahChristina. 2018. “When Pedagogy Is Painful: Teaching in Tumultuous Times.”Teaching Sociology46(2):97–111.
29.
MasseyDouglas S.2007. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
30.
McKinneyKathleen. 2018. “The Integration of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning into the Discipline of Sociology.”Teaching Sociology46(2):123–34.
31.
MillsC. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York, NY: Oxford University.
32.
MillsCarmen. 2008. “Opportunity and Resignation within Marginalised Students: Towards a Theorisation of the Reproductive and Transformative Habitus.”Critical Studies in Education49(2):99–111.
33.
MobleyCatherine. 2007. “Breaking Ground: Engaging Undergraduates in Social Change through Service Learning.”Teaching Sociology35:125–37.
MorganMichelle. 2013. Supporting Student Diversity in Higher Education: A Practical Guide. New York, NY: Routledge.
36.
NettingNancy S.1994. “Can an Individual Change Society? Empowering Students in a Context of Social Reality.”Teaching Sociology22(2):200–203.
37.
NicholsLawrence T.2012. “Renewing Sociology: Integral Science, Solidarity and Loving Kindness.”Sociological Focus45(4):261–73.
38.
TheresaPetrayHalbertKelsey. 2013. “Teaching Engagement: Reflections on Sociological Praxis.”Journal of Sociology49(4):441–55.
39.
PiccaLeslie H.StarksBrianGundersonJustine. 2013. “‘It Opened My Eyes’: Using Student Journal Writing to Make Visible Race, Class, and Gender in Everyday Life.”Teaching Sociology41(1): 82–93.
40.
Ploeger-LyonsNicole. 2017. “t-Test, Paired Samples.” Pp. 1794–95 in The Sage Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, edited by AllenM.Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
41.
RondiniAshley C.2015. “Observations of Critical Consciousness Development in the Context of Service Learning.”Teaching Sociology43(2):137–45.
42.
SnowdenMonica. 2004. “Learning Communities as Transformative Pedagogy: Centering Diversity in Introductory Sociology.”Teaching Sociology32(3):291–303.
