To briefly introduce myself, my name is Sheri and I am in my second year of a two year after degree program in Education at the University of Lethbridge. I received my first degree in Environmental Science from the University of Calgary and worked in that field for three years before I discovered that that was not the career for me and returned to school to pursue my education degree. As far as sociology is concerned, I have only taken one introductory course in sociology and found the course material quite interesting. I am taking this course to fulfil my foundations requirements and I thought this course would increase my understanding of important issues for teachers, students, parents and society in general and would help in future years as I delve into the world of teaching. I also hope that this course will help me to develop my own opinions on educational issues, however continue to be open to other points of view.
In this first week of class, we discussed what sociology can do for you as an educator. The sociological perspective (these four bullets were taken directly from Runte’s slides):
- helps you to see the ‘big picture’ – place one’s classroom within a larger social context
- counteracts the over-emphasis on the individual when analyzing social phenomenon
- helps educators to see beyond immediate consequences of policy decisions to question their unintended consequences
- helps educators to anticipate trends and so formulate a response before the issue comes crashing into their classroom
For the ‘big picture’ we talked about the big push for math and science in the schools and what impact that has on the arts. I remember experiencing this push when I was in school. When I was in middle school we had a large band program, home economics program, metal and wood shop and art program. However, just before I got to the high school, the school board had decided that our high school would focus on academics rather than the arts. I was crushed that they had removed the shop from the high school as it was one of my favourite options and I was looking forward to continuing with it in high school. We still had a small band and choir program, drama and art program but the focus was definitely on completing the academic courses and the funding for the options had been greatly reduced. I have wondered if the lack of arts forced me to complete all my sciences or if I would have completed it that way regardless of the options available to me. But I do know that I would have enjoyed having more art options throughout my high school years. And I also know that those students that had a definite interest in arts or trades or anything that was not considered the ‘core’ academic areas left our high school to find a high school that would encourage their interests. I also wonder if the academic focus has changed the way I view the arts. I find that I am not too interested in going to plays or seeing concerts (I suppose, this could also be from the lack of funds associated with being a student). As was mentioned in class, could this focus away from the arts change the way society feels about going to the theatre and seeing concerts? I definitely think so!
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