Minutes for 4/19/06 Study Circle:
Class began with a discussion among Richard and Kevin regarding an MSA proposal to limit faculty member’s abilities to grade based on class attendance.
- This relates back to a previous conversation that we had in class. Kevin wants to propose a university policy that does not allow for professors to grade based on attendance. Tim gave the warning “Be careful what you wish for,� based on the idea that instead of grading based on attendance, those faculty members who do so will instead change their system such that a written assignment or some way of monitoring class participation will be created. Furthermore, in this previous discussion, we talked about how certain class formats should not be permitted to have attendance requirements (for example, Sociology 3811 – Basic Social Statistics) – such as large lecture classes, whereas in discussion type seminars, it is imperative for all to be in attendance and participating to create a strong intellectual community.
This week’s reading: Chapter 12 – Teaching Criticality
- Presenter = Richard
A. The chapter begins with an overview of each author in the book.
B. Importance of critical thinking – what to think critically about.
C. Balance between theory and practice.
D. Erich Fromm & Angela Davis as key theorists.
E. Class dynamic: Who is feeding the questions that facilitate discussion? Teacher or student?
F. Ideas about personal reflection – is it good to be done in isolation? Is it reflexive? Can it be tainted by others? (for instance, by the teacher’s presentation of the material) – Do/Can teachers thwart out creative and critical thought by superimposing their interpretation of a reading and treating that like the “right� interpretation?
Important Quote from the text:
“Both [Fromm & Habermas] believe that decisions arrived at through fully participatory, inclusive conversation are the cornerstone of democracy, and both believe education can play a role in teaching adults the dispositions necessary to conduct such conversations. As a teacher, I share this dialogic emphasis, though my use of it has changed greatly over the years. When I began teaching I viewed discussion leadership as a wholly artistic process, one distinguished by creativity and constant improvisation. I still believe these factors are important in discussion, but they are very far from being the whole story. Too often what is justified as a laissez-faire approach meant to demonstrate the teacher’s refusal to dominate conversation actually serves to bolster wider social inequities that have been imported into the group. The people who talk the loudest and longest mean their voices get the most attention in the world outside. A misplaced belief that teacher interventions automatically represent an unwarranted domination also led me to think that the best discussion leaders were those who were invisible. If a discussion leader said or did nothing during the conversation to indicate his or her role as the teacher, then I used to argue that this person was an emblematic adult educator. Now I am not so sure. While remaining silent is a legitimate stance in some situations, there are others in which the teacher is required to be strongly interventionist. This does not necessarily mean talking a lot. One can be silent, for example, but have played a strong role in determining the inclusive ground rules governing conversation.�
Points of conversation on this topic:
- being quiet vs. talking out
- over-dominating speakers
- Brookfield’s 3-person rule: 3 other people have to speak before a person is permitted to speak again.
- When teachers read something and present it – they have their own point of view.
- Discussion question about class participation: If a student is generally quiet and not personally willing to volunteer him/her-self to speak in class, is it oppressive or problematic to call upon that student? Does it promote critical thinking by forcing students to verbalize their thoughts when they otherwise don’t do so in an oral format?
- Discussion about an idea Tim came up with last semester for participation in large lecture classes: For participation points in a class, each student would be required to sit in the “discussion rows� twice in the semester – the instructor would pass around a clipboard and those in the discussion rows would sign in – anyone who is sitting in the discussion rows is fair game to be randomly called upon to answer a question.
- Discussion about Socratic method: Is Tim’s proposal the Socratic method? Is the Socratic method an effective method of teaching? Does it promote students being more prepared going into class? The idea of grading based on the ability to defend one’s own position/opinion with reasonable evidence.
- Discussion about the lack of team-teaching / inter-disciplinary courses at the University of Minnesota.
o Richard: Students don’t always recognize that the teacher is voicing an opinion. Having a teacher from a different discipline co-teaching a course can expose those opinion-based statements as opinions and teach students critical thinking by demonstrating where are the areas in research where there are contested debates on any given topic. Providing two or more different perspectives on a topic in a course promotes critical thinking by making students engage with differing perspectives and to weigh the evidence to see what they find more convincing.
o Kevin: There are examples of classes in each discipline that could be co-taught, for example, Basic Social Statistics would be a course well-suited to be co-taught by a Statistician and a Sociologist.
o Tim: Playing devil’s advocate, having two instructors debating a particular topic in front of a class potentially has the ability to undermine the authority and credibility of the instructors – not very many professors are very openly willing to have their own perspective be challenged constantly in front of a class of impressionable undergraduate students.
o Richard: Co-teaching opens the door to opportunities to demonstrate that there is not just one academic opinion on any issue.
o Kevin: Does not mind if professors are made uncomfortable for the sake of promoting critical thinking skills among students.
Richard: Problem with Marxist theory is that it speaks to liberals – it does not help conservatives learn because conservatives resist / have visceral reactions to Marxism. (for example, associating Marxism with the brutality of Stalinism.)
Tim: Sociologists aren’t really trying to buttress the status quo, however – sociologists generally resist conservative ideology due to its largely unsociological basis.
Kevin: Quotes on resistance in the text (pg. 358 and 370) – radical pessimism?
- Concerns over what SHOULD the system be if we break down the current system? What is the plan for reconstruction?
Marcuse: Personal reflection vs. Habermas: Group work & discussion as the key to critical thinking.
Tim: Discussion about graduate seminar structure – students generally have to write at least one reaction paper on the readings for a given week to provide initial thoughts and reactions that are untainted by anyone else’s interpretation / based on personal reflection. These pre-prepared thoughts are then brought in for helping facilitate class discussion.
Richard: It’s tough to teach Marx – perhaps it would be easier to teach Erich Fromm in classes before Marx (citing text – pg. 362).
- Teaching adults – critique capitalism – how do you teach people to be critical a system that they are a part of?
- There are certain readings that one should focus on before others – some students have a visceral reaction to readings on critical theory.
- Richard referencing Tim’s comments from last week regarding the need for everyone to have a sociologically-informed perspective on capitalism.
- Tim’s example: Tim went through an existential crisis working at Best Buy when he first became a Sociology major in undergrad. Tim had major Marxist tendencies at the time and felt very conflicted about working in an environment where he had to sell TV/DVD accessories to people that they really didn’t need, and the entire basis of job performance was based on one’s ability to push these unnecessary items on to customers.
- Richard quoting page 361-362: “This is why it’s important, early on, to get students to distinguish between capitalism’s ideology and functioning and their own role in the system. There are many who work in corporate America who believe strongly in the need for workplaces to be locations for the exercise of human creativity and who think they are working to humanize an inhuman system. When students in my courses read the manuscript on alienated labor, they find it expresses many of their own misgivings about their own workplaces. They would not use Marx’s language to describe their reality, but they recognize the spiritual and creative diminution signified by the relentless devotion to the bottom line of corporate profits.�
Richard: Critical Theory as a response to Marx
Kevin: Critical theory as about more than capitalism – but largely as a good starting pint to talk about critical thinking.
Richard: Thinks Critical Theory reflects Marx / promotes socialism.
- We started talking about how critical theory constantly focuses on capitalism as an oppressive ideology and class as a stratifying variable. We came to the conclusion that this book has not persuasively looked at all the ways in which people may be stratified in the world in terms of life experiences that drastically influence the way they experience the world.
We decided to compile a list of all of the various different ways in which people are stratified in this society or other societies (This may be perhaps the most comprehensive list that any of us have ever seen).
Class & Socioeconomic Status
- Occupation
- Wealth & Landownership / assets and debts
- Income
- Educational Attainment – where did you go to school? Degree level?
- Parents’ class/SES background
Sex & Gender
- Performance of Gender Roles
- Gender Identity
Sexuality
- Slutty vs. Monogamous
- Sexual Orientation
- Sexual Deviance (fetishes, philias, etc.)
Race & Ethnicity
- People may be stratified based upon skin tone within their own race (think about the brown paper bag rule among African Americans.)
Heritage & Ancestry
- Country of origin
Geographic Location
- School district
- Rural vs. suburban vs. urban
- Region and state
- Developing world vs. industrialized world
- Geographic access to valued resources
Citizenship Status
Nation-State Affiliation
Culture
- Cultural practices
- High culture vs. “Crap� (Measures of “Cultural Sophistication�)
- Cultural stereotypes
Religion and/or Creed
- Denomination / sect
- How religious are you?
- Do you adhere to a literal interpretation of scripture? Literal interpretation of certain parts of scripture?
Perceived “Friendliness�
- Pessimist vs. optimist
- Idealist vs. realist
- Introverted vs. extroverted
Organizational Affiliations and Memberships
Language
- What language(s) do you speak?
- English-as a second language?
- Accent?
Networks & Personal Connections
Government Benefit & Welfare Statuses
Military Status
- Honorable vs. dishonorable discharge
- Post-military success?
Political Ideology
- Economic vs. social politics
Status in Society
- Fame / Name Recognition
Perceived Athletic Ability
Perceived Academic Ability
- Book smarts vs. street smarts
- Verbal vs. analytical vs. writing skills
Subcultural Affiliations
- Tribe? Cult? Etc.
Age / Cohort
Health Status
Able-Bodiness / Disability
Hygeine
Attractiveness / Appearance / Image
- Height (think about the treatment of dwarves/midgets)
- Weight
Family Structure
- Parental status
- Relationship / marital status
Criminal Status
- Disenfranchised voter?
- Perceptions of being a terrorist
Philanthropic / Altruistic People
Forms of protesting injustice
- Violent vs. non-violent protest
Transportation status (ie – do you have a car? Do you bus? Walk? Etc.)
Food Choice
- Veganism / Vegetarianism
Discussion of surplus
- Richard: We are a product of a revolution against the Depression generation (conservative consumption) – we always want more and more.
- Tim: Do we have the ability to create a culture based on need rather than surplus?
End of class
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