Sociology Programs in U.S. High Schools: Current Findings with a National Sample

Short, Alvin P.; Matlock, Donald T.

doi:10.2307/1317356

Cited by 10 publications

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“…Of the 90 remaining teachers, 58 returned a completed and useable questionnaire, yielding a 64.4% response rate. This is higher than the rates reported in the vast majority of previous studies, including some of the most recent and commonly cited ones (e.g., Kraft, 1981;Rienerth et al, 1998;Short and Matlock, 1982;Short et al, 1986;Weber, 1978).…”

Section: Mail Questionnairecontrasting

confidence: 54%

“…Since response rates of less than 50 percent are common in past research on high school sociology (e.g., Bain, 1926;Kraft, 1981;Landis, 1942;Rienerth et al, 1998;Short and Matlock, 1982;Short et al, 1986;Weber, 1978), and have perhaps rendered the results biased, it was important for me to obtain a high rate of response. Of the 94 teachers who were originally mailed a questionnaire, one had retired and could not be reached, and one returned it uncompleted because he did not offer a sociology course during the 2000-2001 academic year.…”

Section: Mail Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most previous research has employed mail questionnaires to gather information directly from high school sociology teachers (e.g., Bain, 1926;Dennick-Brecht, 2000;Fraser and Switzer, 1970;Gillette, 1913;Kercher, 1938;Kraft, 1981;Landis, 1942;Lashbrook, 2001;Rienerth et al, 1998;Short and Matlock, 1982;Short et al, 1986;Sullenger, 1949;Sullenger, Surface, and Corcoran, 1950;Switzer, 1977;Weber, 1978;West, 1930). To overcome the weaknesses inherent in this technique, I augmented my questionnaire with face-to-face interviews with seven randomly selected teachers.…”

Section: Face-to-face Interviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“It’s not rocket science!“: High school sociology teachers’ conceptions of sociology

DeCesare

2006

Am Soc

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Since academic sociology's birth in this country, sociologists have not been shy about publicly praising and ridiculing the discipline. Though sociologists have been the primary participants in the seemingly endless debates about sociology's proper subject matter, methods, and purpose, there is another group that has also struggled over the past 95 years to formulate a conception of the discipline--high school sociology teachers. At this point, we know virtually nothing about what the thousands of high school teachers who offer sociology each year, actually think about the discipline. This paper uses questionnaire and interview data collected from high school sociology teachers to examine their thoughts on four topics: (1) sociology's strengths, (2) its weaknesses, (3) whether high school students are capable of understanding the discipline, and (4) appropriate course objectives. The results indicate that high school teachers view sociology quite differently from academic sociologists, and that their conceptions are based primarily on "textbook sociology." I conclude by discussing the far-reaching implications of teachers' current thinking about the discipline.Sociologists are perhaps the most introspective among social scientists. Since Robert Lynd published Knowledge for What? more than 75 years ago, each succeeding generation of sociologists has struggled to define the discipline's purpose, mark its boundaries, and confront its theoretical and methodological weaknesses. Their most recent efforts have resulted in a number of books, scholarly articles, symposia, and even entire journal issues devoted to debates about, problems with, and reflections on, the discipline (e.g.,

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Section: Mail Questionnairecontrasting

confidence: 54%

Section: Mail Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Face-to-face Interviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“It’s not rocket science!“: High school sociology teachers’ conceptions of sociology

DeCesare

2006

Am Soc

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“…Weber sugeriu que "[...] o foco sobre os problemas sociais... pode ser uma tentativa para resolver este problema" da formação de professores inadequada em sociologia (Weber, 1978, p. 13). Em 1981-1982,3% dos alunos do Ensino Médio foram fazer um curso de sociologia (Switzer, 1986, p. 126). Nesse momento, e como acompanhamento para o estudo de Weber (1978), Kraft (1981) pesquisou os professores de sociologia do Ensino Médio de Wisconsin.…”

Section: Pesquisas Empíricasunclassified

95 anos de ensino de sociologia no Ensino Médio

DeCesare

2014

Educ. Real.

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O centenário da Associação Americana de Sociologia, em 2005, oferece uma oportunidade para os sociólogos refletirem sobre o ensino de sociologia, em qualquer lugar e em todos os lugares que isso acontece. No espírito de contribuir para a história do ensino de sociologia nos Estados Unidos, este trabalho descreve a história de cerca de 95 anos do ensino de sociologia no Ensino Médio. Eu invoco descrições de cursos publicados escritos por professores de sociologia do Ensino Médio e estudos empíricos realizados por sociólogos acadêmicos. Eles demonstram que cursos de sociologia do passado do Ensino Médio têm focado principalmente na análise dos problemas sociais e os eventos atuais, e sobre a promoção da educação para a cidadania.

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“…In the US sociology has been taught in secondary education for many years. Studies reveal that it is one of the most downgraded courses mainly due to the dominance of other social studies subjects, inadequate preparation by teachers, and unsuitable textbooks (see for example , Lashbrook 2001;Rienerth et al 1998;Roberts and Piker-King 1995;Short and Matlock 1982;among others). It seems therefore that the significance of sociology is being questioned.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Adventures” of the Sociology Course in Greek Secondary Education

Kougioumoutzaki¹

2007

Am Soc

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This article reports the results of a study of the sociology course in Greek secondary education. The aim is to reveal under which circumstances the course has ended up becoming one of the most downgraded courses, and more importantly, how the specific rationale of the course's structure has resulted in the (re)production of a distorted image of the science of sociology. For that purpose, the 25-year history of the course has been analyzed from the view of: (1) the sociology curriculum's variations over the years, (2) the underlying rationale of the official documents and the sociology textbooks, and (3) the sociology teachers' perceptions on the course of sociology. The findings have indicated that the downgrading of the course has resulted in the devaluation of the science of sociology inside the educational community, and that through the school's rationale (curriculum and teacher's) a specific interpretation of sociology is being reproduced, which presents it as an everyday and simple science that deals mostly with social problems and their solutions. The ultimate result is that the sociological imagination will possibly never become part of students' views on life.

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Sociology Programs in U.S. High Schools: Current Findings with a National Sample

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

“It’s not rocket science!“: High school sociology teachers’ conceptions of sociology

“It’s not rocket science!“: High school sociology teachers’ conceptions of sociology

95 anos de ensino de sociologia no Ensino Médio

The “Adventures” of the Sociology Course in Greek Secondary Education

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