#5
Although I left the classroom today feeling much better about the reception of the topic (we finished up with the theoretical perspectives on gender), I did recall between yesterday and today that I did in fact have a 5th to add to the list of classroom grievances.
Drum roll?
5. When a question to the tune of, “How does sociologicaltruism influence your behavior?” is offered up for class discussion, an obstinate student responds, “I think it’s up to each individual how they will respond. It’s how you approach the situation and your own personality. It’s different for every person.” This, perhaps more than anything else, makes me feel like I have failed to educate someone sociologically. One of my chief goals in teaching this discipline is to help students see that their actions and ideas are shaped by the cultural context in which they were formed and exist, that their actions and decisions are not made in a vacuum, but are influenced by social structures (patterned social arrangements like family) and the continuous process of socialization. Ironically, given the value placed on individualism in this culture into which students are well-socialized, it is an inconsistent concession to view one’s actions as linked to larger social forces.
