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Teaching Sociology to international students
As an international teacher of Sociology, I am often asked what the biggest differences are when teaching the subject to non-British students. To a large degree, the challenges are the same, teenagers are teenagers the world over and the creativity, surliness, wit and an obsession with looking at their phone differs not, no matter where you are teaching. The biggest challenge however, comes in the verbal feedback and cultural references we often make as teachers. Read the full article......
Bringing some life to teaching methods
For many Sociology teachers, the topic of research methods can be the dullest, often described as dry and certainly an area that has many students groaning or yawning on a Monday morning. While some students grasp the basics really quickly (possibly those who also study a science or psychology), there are other students who continue to muddle up validity and reliability even at the 100th explanation. Read the full article
Using Twitter as a resource for Sociology
Love it or loath it, there is no doubt that Twitter is a hugely effective resource for teachers of sociology, whether it is advice on exam content, sharing teaching materials, useful videos, social and political news or just a tweet to raise a smile, there are a whole host of twitter accounts that can come in handy throughout the academic year ...Read the full article
Changing attitudes towards sexuality
In late June I was living in Madrid and witnessed the success of the World Pride events first-hand. What particularly struck me was the sheer size in support of the ten-day celebrations that attracted visitors from far and wide. On the first weekend of August I also made my annual visit to the wonderful Brighton pride celebrations. As a resident of the city I have grown up surrounded by sexual diversity and difference.....Read the full article
Suicide and Masculinity
On a train journey from Watford back to my home in Brighton following a Saturday football match, the delay announcement came through to make travelers aware there had been a fatality on the tracks. As passengers began to discuss the situation it became apparent that assumptions had been made that it must have been a suicide and pondering why ‘he’ had done it. Sadly, in both cases those assumptions were correct and the truth was this was more than a familiar situation for regular travelers and commuters......Read the full article
School Trips for Sociology
A common question I hear from many teachers is about where to go on school trips for Sociology students as sadly much of the feedback in the past has been that days out away from school were either not that valuable educationally or were a headache in terms of planning and organisation. Having posed the question online to several Sociology teachers however, it does seem that there are many excursions that are both popular and worthwhile from the quick day trip to the more adventurous week away.....read the full article
How to make use of revision lessons in Sociology
It is that time of year again when students panic about the upcoming exams and us teachers worry about how to use the last vital few lessons as the countdown gains momentum. In my time in the profession I have tried all sorts of ways to use the lesson time from quizzes, silent prep, Q&A, group work and a whole host of other creative (and less creative) techniques with mixed results, it is difficult to say exactly what works best for Sociology revision but there does seem to be a con-sensus amongst many experienced teachers that the onus should be on the student........read the full article
Getting discussions and debates flowing with new students
Once you’ve completed the staff training inductions, had your morning coffee and got back into the classroom there is always the awkwardness of the first few lessons and the dreaded ‘breaking the ice’ rituals. For the subject of Sociology then there is no doubt that discussions and debates are an essential learning tool (as well as being the best part of teaching in my opinion) but just how do you get the students to open up and feel comfortable doing this straightaway?.....read the full article here
12 influential and inspirational films for Sociology students
It has never been easier to consume media and in particular TV series and documentaries, in a time of binge-watching though I am often asked by students for advice on actual films to watch rather than just series, in particular films that are both inspirational and useful for Sociology. So, as the evenings close in, the clocks go back and the temperatures drop I decided to compile an essential watch list of 12 films from the last 20 years that are useful for a range of different topics......read the full article here
Analysing monogamy and the rise of polyamory
Louis Theroux’s most recent BBC documentary on polyamory: ‘Altered states: Love without limits’ has got the general public and the sociological world talking. Polygamy, polyamory or non-monogamous relationships in general have long been considered to be structures that are confined to the past or in parts of the non-western world, however it seems that there is a growth in the popularity of such relationships and it is a topic that students seem fascinated in.....read the full article here
The Rise of the single life and solo living
In the last 20-30 years sociologists have been interested in looking at the changing shape of the family such as the increase in single parents, cohabiting couples, same sex relationships and reconstituted families, but there seems to be another type of household and way of life on the rise; that of creative singledom. In Britain in 2017, there were 3.9 million people living alone aged 16 to 64 years and in some cities across the US the number of single occupancy households has tipped over 50%. It is estimated that Scandinavian countries and Japan may have even higher figures of solo livers......read the full article here
