Jay Sorensen, MA
Statement of Teaching Philosophy
Sociology is everything to me because it has allowed me to better understand my place in my social world. I decided to become a sociologist after seeing that sociology provides robust and comprehensive methods of analysis capable of better understanding the complex social patterns that shape everyday life. As an undergraduate, it provided a constructive outlet for critical engagement with the various inequalities so readily apparent around me. I found a home in the sociology department because it fostered an environment in which working for social change was not only possible but encouraged.
Above all else, I consider myself a lifelong student of the discipline and have shaped my teaching philosophy to encourage all of my students, regardless of major of study, to incorporate what they have learned from sociological concepts into their academic, social, and professional lives. My teaching methods are deliberately situated within the realm of social justice because I view the teaching of sociology as one of the most significant ways that I can incite social change within the discipline.
As an instructor, it is my goal to: (1) effectively communicate sociological theories, (2) educate students how to best engage with both academic and public scholarship, and (3) encourage my students to become agents of positive social change within their own social environments. To meet these goals, I intend to employ a variety of pedagogical practices in the classroom. I believe that the lecture format of teaching has great utility for the purposes of teaching larger theoretical concepts, but I will rarely rely on it as my primary teaching practice. I will also incorporate in-class discussions, individual and group activities, student presentations, virtual and in-person guest speakers, and the integration of current events and relevant popular culture and media. Regardless of the blend of methods chosen for a particular lesson, my ultimate goal is to encourage each of my students to “think like a sociologist” so they can develop a comprehensive understanding of the social patterns we are studying as they emerge at the individual, interactional, and structural/societal level.
Students learn best when they are able to connect what they learn in the classroom to their own position within their respective social worlds. This is not as simple as seeing course content as relevant to their personal lives; rather, this involves an understanding of why course content matters to how they understand themselves as integral parts of the complex social world around them. This is the fundamental tenant of C. Wright Mills’ “sociological imagination,” which invokes awareness of the relationship between personal experience and wider society. Even for advanced, upper-level courses, engagement of the sociological imagination is at the core of my teaching philosophy.
One of the most important aspects of my teaching is my ability to connect broader concepts and theories to specific examples that provide students the opportunity to understand them as grounded in tangible, “real world” experiences. I structure in-class activities that provide the opportunity for students to engage in this connection on their own, challenging them to start from their own lived experience and employ real-time sociological thinking to further anchor lesson concepts within their own social worlds. For example, a lesson about gender beliefs and stereotypes would involve the following: (a) an introduction to the topic and relevant theories, (b) an activity the asks students’ to assess their own and/or their classmates’ beliefs about gender, (c) a small-group discussion structured to have students to compare what they just learned about themselves and their classmates with relevant research, engaging in analysis as sociologists would, and (d) a discussion of each groups’ results as a whole class that provides a venue for questions and opportunity to learn from each other.
Learning sociology often involves reevaluating beliefs about the nature of social inequalities around race, class, gender, and sexuality. For many students, especially those coming from more privilege, this catalyzes a larger examination of other beliefs about their social world. For others, exposure to course content further confirms what they already know from their lived experienced of social marginalization. Understanding that both of these processes will be happening simultaneously in my classroom undergirds the pedagogical approaches I employ in the classroom. The most effective teaching methods are those that are able to effectively communicate course content to as many students as possible. For this reason, being cognizant of how students of a variety of backgrounds might be able or unable to directly relate to course content guides the way I structure lessons.
When engaging with topics related to social and economic inequalities, grounding my lessons in concepts with opportunities for students to volunteer their own relationship to the content will be of the utmost importance. This affords students the autonomy and respect they deserve because it avoids positioning the most disadvantaged students in the classrooms as teaching tools for concepts that they likely have less to learn about than their peers. I believe that there are more dynamic and effective ways of instilling critical understanding of social structures that do not encourage the creation micro-hierarchies of individual student experiences that alienate those most marginalized and, consequently, do little to successfully teach students of more privilege how their own identities and lived experience might actually fit into the larger social patterns being studied.
In terms of assessment, I shape my approach based on the level of the course and the difficulty of the course content first and foremost. While I do not ascribe to the belief that most students have immutable, ingrained “learning styles,” I do acknowledge that most have developed distinct skill sets that allow them to successfully learn course content in a specific manner. For that reason, I will ensure that I present a variety of ways that students may participate in class activities and even complete coursework when appropriate. It is also my goal to ensure that the neurodiversity of my students is accommodated and intend to go above and beyond baseline expectations for connecting students with disabilities to relevant resources and adapting course content when appropriate. A college education must be accessible for as many students as possible and disability and neurodiversity should be included in making this a reality in the classroom.
The purpose of an undergraduate education is most often understood as preparation for a specific career. While earning a bachelor’s degree is certainly a crucial step toward any professional career, the inherent value of a well-rounded liberal arts education is rarely given proper credence. Learning about sociological concepts and applying the sociological imagination to their own studies and personal lives greatly benefits students of all disciplines, in their chosen careers and in their personal lives. It is my goal as an instructor to foster the kind of learning that encourages students to actively engage with the world around them, hopefully changing it for the better based on what they have learned in their time in my classroom.
All words ©Jay Sorensen, 2020
Jay Sorensen, Ph.D. Candidate 