In Support of Disciplinarity in Teaching Sociology

Abstract

This article argues for the importance of disciplinarity in the education of novice sociologists and considers the impact of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) on opportunities for undergraduate students to achieve a command of the discipline. The promotion of modularization and generic skills integral to establishing the EHEA can be understood as incrementally undermining disciplinarity. Moreover, values enshrined in the EHEA specifically disadvantage sociological disciplinarity by promoting service to the market over mastery of a discipline. This article presents the Republic of Ireland as an example of a national context in which sociology is most commonly taught within multidisciplinary degree programs and argues that the Irish experience may be portentous of more global trends, linking the structural position of sociology in Ireland to the wider European policy context. Finally, the article explores ways in which sociologists teaching in such contexts can nonetheless promote disciplinarity.

The Sociological Canon, Relations between Theories and Methods, and a Latent Political Structure: Findings from a Survey of Sociology Students in Germany and Consequences for Teaching

“…Yet, the formation of a sociological canon is not restricted to theory or themes. Rather, the prevalence of certain methodologies and specific empirical methods is important for the disciplinary identity as well as for the relation to other disciplines (including the degree of interdisciplinarity; for structural processes undermining sociological disciplinarity, see Haynes 2017).…”

Life Paths to Leading Systems-Level Change: Higher Education's Pitfalls and Potential

“…enhanced creativity, innovation, and synergy through collaboration and teamwork; and 3.) higher-order metacognitive skills, such as critical thinking and the ability to view problems through multiple lenses (Ashby & Exeter, 2019;Haynes, 2017;Holley, 2017). Such benefits can help build the skills and knowledge required to enter into and sustain socio-environmental careers.…”

Elusive expectations for a novel program design: Contrast between program intentions and student recruitment and retention

“…Twenty-first-century problems will not be solved by single disciplines (Palmer, 2001). Interdisciplinary engagement, in which students can integrate knowledge and skills drawn from diverse disciplines, can help them to address ill-structured, "wicked" problems (Bridle, Vrieling, Cardillo, Araya, & Hinojosa, 2013;Holley, 2017) and develop creativity, critical thinking, innovation, problem-solving skills, and synergy (Cowden & Santiago, 2016;Haynes, 2017;Mobley, Lee, Morse, Allen, & Murphy, 2014). However, many traditional programs encourage disciplinary specialization, and new graduates are often challenged to venture beyond their discipline to synthesize knowledge, skills, and abilities from other disciplines.…”