I have used the three perspectives in teaching intro to my students at Queens College, CUNY. Some of them commented on the course evaluation forms that it was their favorite part of the course. I was suprised, as I had started using the three perspectives framework as perhaps a crutch for myself the very first time I was teaching an intro course--it gave me a way to coherently organize the material for the sections of the course that were far outside my areas of specialty.
But I have continued to use this framework because of the students' appreciation for it. And I have developed some ideas about why they appreciate it. The students at Queens College are predominantly first-generation college students who come from less than ideal academic backgrounds, though many of them are exceedingly smart. I often charecature them as feeling like they didn't get their money's worth if they don't leave class with at least five pages of notes. Many of them are exceedingly uncomfortable with my insistance that I am not trying to tell them what to think, that sociology contains room for multiple perspectives, that there is empirical evidence but without it we only have a variety of potential hypotheses. Organizing material in terms of these three perspectives gives the students a chance to slowly move away from their reliance on a model where there is right and there is wrong and there is nothing else and towards an understanding of grey areas and diversity of thought. In fact, I assigned an essay once where they were to choose any social institution (education, family, work, religion, etc.) and outline arguments from each perspective about that institution, and then conclude by noting which perspective they felt matched their own views. It was the first time some of them were able to claim ownership of an authentic voice about the course material, and some were even able to come up with nuanced positions combining two perspectives. I do make a strong point that these are ideal typical positions rather than real ways in which sociologists do their work, but overall I think for intro students (particularly those who will not have further exposure to the discipline) it can help cram as much understanding of the complexity of sociological thought into a semester as possible. --Mikaila John Glass wrote: >:snip: > i also think it is high time for sociologists to get rid of these artificial > heurstics (the three perspectives). in my applied work, i never worried about > what perspective i was working under. i gathered data, checked out what the > findings were, and then attempted to make sense of the findings in lieu of > the relevant social factors. honestly, how many working sociologists care > about what perspective they are using? what difference does it make when > presenting findings? > > I tell my students that they need to pay more attention to specific theories > and research than any of the "three perspectives" * these almost seem sacred > in our discipline * as they are just one more way of categorizing things; > one way too many, IMO. > :snip: --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
